Mountain Monday on Feb 25

I have so much to tell you! First, I went to a Utah blogger lunch on Saturday. As far as I know, I only put my foot in my mouth once. Sorry Lucy. I also got to meet Duck Duck Cow, Soggy Cheerios, The Quiltmaker's Gift, and Thou Shalt Not Whine, Twas Brillig. These ladies were all wonderful and made me laugh. Much sparkling wit and silliness ensued. There were nipples and dragons and tap dancing. What can I say?? Thanks!

First up, the Mountains!









And now, some of my favorites from this past week. Grand daughters!





Last night, Bald Man and I didn't hear a thing, but my hubby said, "look at that!"



After we uncoved the bird this morning, the cat continued her antics (check out the furious Meeko down in the right hand corner!)






The cat got nipped and decided Meeko's beak was a bit too sharp!



The Pea got a bubble bath today:









And check out the water! Sometimes I LOVE my camera!



There ya go! Hope your week is starting out well, mine sure is!

It is Fix-it Friday again. My two constant buddies in this journey are here again! Thank goodness for them.
****Edited to Add*****
I feel like such a heel! Please forgive me Gawdess! Go check out Gawdess's Viewfinder awesome talents!! Her pictures will not just amaze you, but inspire you too! Thanks Gawdess!
Katie from the view from the hill has the CUTEST little scotty dog ever, along with a picture of the very cute but faceless Little Man! The pattern is FREE. My very favorite word.
Thanks Katie!
Incredibly enough, Eliza's mom not only survived the Puke Fest of '08 to post a Fix-it Friday post, but she is also having a CONTEST! So go on over, show our Fix-it Friday posters some love, and maybe win something too!

Fix-it Friday

One day a man was walking along the seashore. He noticed that during the night many seashells and starfish had washed upon the beach. Thoroughly enjoying the morning sun and cool sea air, the man walked for miles.

As he strolled along, he noticed a small figure dancing in the distance. It made him chuckle to think of someone celebrating life in such an uninhibited way. As he drew closer, however, it became apparent that the figure was not dancing. Instead, she seemed to be repeatedly performing some ritual.

He drew nearer still and noticed that the small figure was a child. She was methodically picking up starfish and tossing them into the surf. He paused for a moment, puzzled, then asked, "Why are you throwing these starfish?"

"It's high tide," she replied, "If I leave them on the beach, the sun will soon dry them and they will die. I am throwing them into the ocean so they can live." The man considered her actions, impressed with the child's thoughtfulness. Then he motioned up and down the miles of the beach. "There must be thousands of starfish along here," he said, "you cannot possibly make a difference."

The young girl stopped. Her face darkened. She chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip, "You're probably right," she said softly. She looked down at the sand. Then she leaned over, carefully picked up another starfish, pulled back and arched it gently into the sea.

With a tone of gentle defiance, she said, "But I made a difference for that one."

I don't know about the rest of you, I feel the guilt of being blessed in mind, body, spirit and of having my needs met on a daily basis. There are so many others in the world who have so little and while I wish there was more I could do to help others, I face the reality of being time pressed and also being short on the cash end. Something I know, in the deepest center of my being, is that each and everyone of us has a place in this world and that each of us will feel impressed by whatever you wish to call it, karma, spirit or just being human to do something to change our little corner of the world. I have long understood that I can not change everything, but I have also learned I can harness my passion and my love to make a difference, if not not for every starfish, than for the one starfish that is in front of me.
My Fix-it Friday post is about Fixing the World. I want to encourage you to find a place where you can put whatever you have available, time, money, passion to changing something. And the best part? I am going to give you some concrete ways to participate in either your local or global community. And, at the end a promise for you.
As most of you know, something that matters to me is my local politics. I had a chance to go to the capital last week and lobby for a couple of things that are meaningful to me. One of them is the second parent adoption bill here in Utah. Another one is health care for the disabled and other marginalized populations. It really isn't hard. 1. Find out what the issue is. Educate yourself. See if there are any groups you can ally yourself with. Make a short hand out or write a letter to give to your legislators.
2. Find out who your legislators are. (Call your election office, in the county govt pages in your phone book, give them your address and they will tell you if you don't know)
3. Go to the capital when the legislature is in session. Here in Utah, you fill a little paper out with your information and the name of the representative or senator. Make sure you put down you are one of their local constituents. When they come out the door, talk to them. Smile, ask questions, be nice, be passionate. You will be amazed how much they care. Thank them
4. Make sure you follow up later.
Here are a couple of really good websites with lobbying basics:
brief basics
comprehensive guide to lobbying
And you might say, realistically, you don't have that many hours to devote to a cause right now. I hear you, this week I didn't have the time either!
So I have some places where you can get involved with as much time as you can, either minutes or hours and to make it even easier, you can even do it from the very chair you are sitting in!
Here is one of my favorites! Do you love to read? Do you like audio books? Does the word FREE make your heart go pitty pat? Check it out! An opportunity for you to be a voice for others. LibriVox You can go read a chapter or a entire book. The books are provided for free to everyone.
There are even ways to volunteer than involve almost no time from you, just time from your computer on the internet! You could be helping without even leaving your bed. How easy is that?
One way is by joining with Stanford University Fold@home by linking millions of computers together, they are creating a supercomputer to understand how proteins fold. By joining in, you could be part of a cure for Alzheimer’s.
You can help end the AIDS epidemic. Fightaids@home help by identifying which drug molecules could best fight HIV.

Here is a list of 14 different ways to join your computer to others to help in different ways. From the medical to the otherworldly.
Ways to harness your computer

And in closing, if there isn't anything here that makes you think, I need to do that! Then check out this website, I bet you can find something that will harness your heart and mind.
Network for Good

Here is my promise to you. If you can't find anything in this post that speaks to you, feel free to email me and I promise I will help you search your heart and help you find your starfish.

Don't Forget, Tomorrow is Almost Here

I am going to give a good shot with another Fix-it Friday, praying that no disasters await me! I already have tomorrow's and next week's post all planned out, so I am feeling pretty good about it. Barring any more health issues from my boy, we look all set to go.
First, let me share with you a little something we got in the mail!
Little Man was very excited to have a package come in the mail with his name on it!



It was a present from Katie, at the view from the hill Whoo hoo! First the boy pulled out this cool looking pink and white swirly thing, which he then preceded to lick, thinking it was candy, and said, "it doesn't taste good!" Nope it doesn't Little Man, because it was for me! It was THIS! from Lush.com.
And then there was this!


Awww! Isn't the cutest scotty dog ever? Made with love from Katie herself! This is the gift that kept on giving. Not only did the boy have a measure of fun in a string of days that have been less than fun, I, the other day, stressed beyond belief, slid into a bath of fragrant bubbles and scented water. Thank you Katie. You really, really made our day.

So don't forget peeps! Tomorrow is Fix-it Friday. Don't forget to think of something fun or interesting, or informative you would like to share. Shoot me an email or leave me a comment, and barring any other "issues" you will be up front and center tomorrow!

Things Are Looking Up

Your good thoughts must have worked! Along with Yondalla's superpowers. We got to Sick Kids R Us and there was NO wait at the medical imaging! And the contrast study says everything is going where it needs to be. Whoo hoo. If anything is going on, it is either not a big deal, or it will need to get worse. Anyway, a very short trip and I am home again, and things are looking up. I am so happy, really! We are going to just run Pedilyte tonight, and see how things go.
Really, this just seems like a bit much. I would hate for anyone to think I am being overly whiny or being a hypochondriac mom, but come on, it has just not been my day the last few days, right?

Because I Just Haven't Had Enough Suck Lately

I called Dr. Very Nice's office today as ordered on Friday night. Because of the vomiting and swelling, we get to drive the LONG drive to Sick Kids R Us in the big city and get a barium contrast study done. They want to check and see if he is getting fed into places people should not be fed into. Sigh. Big deep sigh. Day number 5 of SUCK people! If you are not counting, I am, dang it!
It feels like last week was a dream. Remember Weds and Thurs when I was running with the big dogs? Smoozing and being smoozed? When I felt I was the captain of my own ship? Friday and the following days have felt very much like a big slap in the face. Don't you forget that you have other things to do! Never mind you don't want to do them, nor like to do them, just do it! So, here we go. Good thing for wireless, I will keep you posted. I just called and they said, come on in, and be prepared to WAIT. Geez, I can't stand it!
****take a wild guess who has a fever of 100.3 and is suddenly very quiet?)****

Bleah

Little Man's school just called, he is complaining his tummy hurts (!) and he is listless. I just can't win. I will shower and leave. A bit worried.
***update***
He doesn't have a fever, he is throwing up, (at least I had enough sense to bring a puke bucket with me!)his tummy is swollen. I have a call into the GI's office. We shall see...
There could be worse things. I have a really good book I am into right now, called the Naming and all Little Man wants is some snuggles. I suppose I could "force" myself into laying down with him and reading. What a good mommy I am! Ha ha!

Monday Isn't Over Yet

It isn't midnight yet in Utah, so this is still an official Mountain Monday post.
Lately I have posted the pictures first, but today, I will make you suffer through my whiny post about my weekend before you get your reward at the end. Don't forget, I don't just post pictures of the mountains, but other favorites from my preceding week and today, oh boy, I have some good ones!
First off, for the curious here is a picture of the tube Little Man yanked out. For the squeamish, you will note it is a link, not a direct picture. Be warned, it will make you squirm.
And here is his new button!



It is so nice, because it is close to his body and as long as he isn't hooked up to a feeding, there isn't a long tube to worry about. I will call Dr. Very Nice tomorrow and see what she wants to do. I have a feeling she will just leave it alone. That would be great.
This weekend sucked! Big time! We don't have Saturday respite anymore, remember? We were able to escape for an hour, Oldest Son wrangled him for us. That hour was our Valentines date. Sad huh? Saturday night, I was asleep next to Little Man, he started to squirm, stood up and proceeded to vomit all over the bed and me. All I could think was how in heck could anyone who didn't eat have so much stuff to spew?? Later I realized, oh yeah, I guess we put that stuff directly into his stomach, so yeah, that is what came up. Neocate stinks. And stains. We unhooked his feed. Took his temp, 102.3. After a long or short night, (long on unpleasant, short on sleep) I took him to the doctor on Sunday. They think he has a sinus infection. He is on abx now. The Pea went to the doctor too, they stuck a swab up her nose, she has the flu. Little Man was FOUL on Sunday. The nice part about his g tube was we were able to run his formula at half strength last night, cut with pedilyte, which he would never ever drink and give him all the fluids he needed! Little Man was foul for the first half of today. I think after that the abx kicked in, because he improved greatly as the day rolled on. Good thing school is back in session tomorrow, because these last four days have been just pure, unadulterated crap.
The whiny part is over and we are moving on to the good stuff!
Mountains first, the good part about Little Man being home today is it was sunset before I got out to take pictures. Pretty pink sunset on the mountains with a rising moon.





Pretty, pretty, no??





A plane flew by with a contrail:





And one more:



Hmm, what next? Torturing the dog or Messy June Bug?

I vote for my poor doggy!





While he hates the clothes, he does love the treat part, as you can tell by the tongue.

Now, my sweet lil Bug!
Grandma loves to give her teething biscuits. As you can tell June Bug loves them too!





I LOVE her smile!


As is true for life in general, even when things are pretty sucky, there are always things to make you smile and feel like life maybe doesn't suck so bad after all!
Thank you for your kind offers to come over and help, and let me tell you, if any of you lived close enough, I so would have taken you up on it! But the offers made me smile.

Tube Update

Little Man no longer has a tube, he is now the proud owner of a button. We didn't get home until one last night. First there was much wrangling between departments. Kind of, I didn't do the first time, so I don't want to do it this time. For some reason the GI resident couldn't do it, radiology wouldn't do it and the general surgeon wouldn't either. Eventually they put in an IV, sedated him, pulled out the catheter that was keeping the stoma, (hole) open and placed a button instead. I will follow up with GI on tues and we will see if they just want to leave it, (my favorite option) and or do something else, (my least favorite option)
I guess it cements the boy's frequent flyer status that almost every single doctor, nurse and IV team member remembered Little Man, and worst, or perhaps best of all, remembered how incredibly difficult he can be. It helps cut down on arguments or impossible suggestions, like doing just about anything without sedation.
I was kind of having a bad day yesterday anyway, so the fact that Little Man began to vomit in the car on the way home, was the perfect topping to an already awful day. He puked BETWEEN the seats. Not between the front and back seats, no, he threw up inbetween the two van seats, the little bitty crack. Dripping vomitus.
Bald Man and I were supposed to go on a date last night for Valentine's Day. It says a lot when neither of us said a word about it, just sighed, straightened our shoulders and went about the business of caring for our boy.
Hopefully I can find some time this weekend to do a proper FIF post. Thanks for your kind comments, I appreciate them.

Fix-it Friday Indeed!

My day has NOT gone the way I had planned. My intention was to do my usual post. But instead, we are at Sick Kids R Us, the ER, waiting for them to fix Little Man. He did what everyone was worried he would do. He kneeled on his tube and yanked it out. Lots of blood and screaming from all parties.
Since I am unable to do links and stuff, would you please go give some Friday Fix-it love to Elizasmom and Katie from View from the hill? It would help keep me from feeling like a complete failure. Thanks.

Very Busy, but in a Good Way!

This peeps, is where I spent yesterday and where I will spend a good portion of Valentine's Day:



Our state capital. I have been invited to do some lobbying on behalf of some causes near and dear to my heart. Could you think of any better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than by showing people how much you really love them? I can't.
The very best part of yesterday was getting to attend a rally on behalf of the 2nd parent adoption bill. I got to meet some of my favorite bloggers!

Two moms a turtle and a butterfly I recognized Jackson before I recognized his moms. Alyssa was harder because her hair was so short, post-self-haircut. They are both beautiful and it was way fun to meet them and support them in this cause for their children.

Next:Role Playing with Kids K was the delightful one who invited me to the rally. I got to see her cute lil baby bump and her delicious kids. I also got to help chase down Spence and Cam, and tickle Syd until she was charmed with me.

Whatever your feelings on homosexality, the important part of this bill is the protecting of children. By allowing second parent adoption, you give children access to another parent who WANTS to help take care of them, death and disability benefits, inheritance, health insurance, things I have taken for granted for far too long.
K is the one who has opened my eyes to the world of privilege that I wander in without a second thought. As a straight married person, I am my husband's next of kin, he is my children's father. We didn't pay a lot of money for the privilege, it happened when we got married. This protected place where her children are NOT allowed and it is not okay with me! I am not threatened by people loving each other. I am, however, very threatened by a society that refuses protection to the children. They are our heart and soul, our hope for tomorrow. Please join with us and support HB 138 in Utah. Make sure all children have a protected place to live. Thanks K!

*******Don't forget!******** Tomorrow is Fix-it Friday! Shoot me an email or a comment and I will be sure to send some bloggy love your way! Wait til you see what I have planned for the next couple of weeks! I am just all excited! Thanks to everyone who partipates, either by posting or visiting other Fix-it people.

Mountain Monday With A Hint of Spring

Those huge mountains of snow piled up by the snowplows are melting in furious haste at the 49 degrees outside. 49! That is like Spring peeps! Warm enough to go out without a jacket. But fear not, it will take many more days like today to completely melt all our snow. Besides, it is going to snow, AGAIN, on Weds.
For your yes-it-is-still-winter enjoyment, behold, the MOUNTAINS!











And now, for some other pictures from my week.

Petco was having a sale. Poor, poor Jack!







He gets lots of treats for being a good poser, so it isn't all bad for him. But I do get the impression he would rather not. But I enjoy it so much, I can't stop myself. Wait'll you see what other fun things I got at the sale! Watch this space in the upcoming weeks. Bwwwwhaaahaaa! Poor Jack!

It is so much fun to see Princess do the Pea's hair. She looks so cute, I have just got to share! Her mommy asks her how many ponytails she wants. Today's answer was THREE!



This one was from a few days ago, ponys AND curls!





The Pea is the mistress of the cheesy grin!





Peek a boo Bam ma!





Two grand babies, aren't I the luckiest???



Attention, please apply a liberal amount of a shield with a high CPF, (cuteness protection factor) because this next part is way over the RDAC (recommended daily amount of cute).

The Pea and I were playing on the computer, and well, I guess her reaction will explain why I was so overly enchanted by my Pea.

(Dang! The code would not allow me to embed this, so you will have to click on the link. Trust me though, it is totally worth it! Make sure your sound is on.)

Cute, cute Pea!


Hope your Monday is starting off well, and I hope this post brings you some happy sappy too!

Tube News

Overall, things have improved greatly with the whole g-tube thing. It is really, really wonderful to know he is getting enough calories every day now. I guess I didn't acknowledge how much stress it was to keep track of his calories and see how he was failing every day to meet any kind of even minimal calorie needs. His school isn't calling me every day to say his pump is beeping and what do they need to do. It still beeps, (I asked) but they know what to do now. Little Man is more cooperative than we expected with the cleaning and dressing and dragging the pump along with him. He continues to be more cheerful and laughing every day, which is an incredible blessing. Once more, I hadn't realized how bad it had gotten until it stopped. He is back to his usual oppositional self, but now with more smiles! As the dietician said at the Large City Sick Kids R Us, his quality of life has improved. Yes it has and along with it, ours!
Now, the not so great news. We lost our Sat. respite person over the tube. (At least that is what we think) She was asked to be trained in emergency g-tube care and said she couldn't come to the first training. When another training was scheduled for her, she quit the day before. So there ya go. No respite until they find someone else. It is a shame because she was really good with Little Man and we liked her. But I understand, some people are seriously squicked out by the tube.
That leads me to the seriously squicky part. Ewww. *****Gross out warning.******
Pea gave Little Man her cold. And while we do encourage her to share, this was a bit over the top! So snuffly, coughy boy. I guess I had never thought about what happens when a kid is snuffling and swallowing mucus. The med port cap popped open yesterday when I was trying to get his feeding hooked up and I got to find out! Eeewww! A tummy full of mucus poured out on the towel I always have handy. Not because something always goes wrong when I am hooking or venting, but because when it does, oh my gosh, gross is far too pale a word for what happens. Yuck.
****** end of grossness******
Last night, after the boy had fallen asleep, I asked Bald Man if he had remembered to give the child his cold medicine for his nose and cough. Opps! No he hadn't. I sighed with disappointment thinking how much I wasn't going to enjoy having to wake up in a few hours with him really coughing and snuffling. Bald Man, with a light bulb lighting over his head, said; "if you get his meds in a liquid form, we can just squirt them in his tube!" And so we did. Wow. Kind of handy dandy that was.
And on it goes! My turn for Church tomorrow and I am looking forward to it. Today, I shall run away for a bit, I have a couple of new books and ya know, life is pretty good. My hubby loves me, (he is still here, isn't he?) no one is causing too much trouble and even though we don't have respite this weekend, I am feeling pretty darn happy with my life. This my friends, let me share one of tools I use and is one reason why:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

I can not fix my boy, and so many other things in my life. But I can be grateful for his wonderful health insurance, and for the medical stuff that keeps him alive and healthy. While his life will never be what I hoped, with God's grace, I can either find the strength or the peace I need. I am blessed.

P.S. One of the things I can change, and will need to screw up my courage to do so: our upstairs neighbors? Well, they woke us up last night with some SERIOUS thumping of the headboard that went on and on. I really need to go up there and ask them to proceed about their business with less noise. Come on, you wouldn't notice that you were make loud thudding noises? I am guessing they didn't realize we could hear it. LIFE!

A bit later than I had hoped. Today has been crazy! Two grand daughters this morning, then just enough time to shower and do my hair before going to Little Man's school and train them on how to unhook the boy from his feeding pump. I have just NOW arrived home, so here we go!

First up Eliza's Mom has returned with her darling Uber Chef Eliza helping the rest of us deal with the ups and downs of cooking! It is s shame, gravity works!

And my other faithful Fix-it Friday poster, Katie from a view from the hill has a fabulously fun website to share!

Fix-it Friday

And because it is already soooo late, I am going to share with you some of my favorite crafty websites.

One of my new loves as you all know, is loom knitting.
Purling Sprite is one of my new favorite websites for learning new stitches and FREE patterns! Whoot! (Watch this space for an upcoming blog tour on her new book!)

And another place that is soooo dang cute and has LOTS of FREE, yes more free patterns is Q.D. Patooties. She has so many patterns for knitting, crocheting, sewing and even paper crafts. Enjoy!

Should you ever need a bit of cheering up, here is a video The Princesses friend made me find and share. (yes, made me!)


And another, just for fun!

Just a Little Reminder

Tomorrow is Fix-it Friday, your chance to either share something you enjoy doing, something you know, or anything you like, and a chance to learn a thing or two! Drop me a comment or an email tonight or even tomorrow, I will put up front and center.

Let It Snow!

And snow, and snow and snow some more! It has stormed off and on for days here. I had to wait a bit for the cloud cover to clear before I could even see any mountains today. Normally I also share some other pictures, but today, we are going to stick with the landscape because it is just so pretty! I took a whole bunch, so settle in for some really pretty Utah.