*Sniff* *Sniff* :,(

Today I continue to cry, lick my wounds....

                                                            
                                                   ...and ask myself WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!

There Is A New Cyber Addiction In Town!!!

 First I LOVED blogging.  I loved reading blogs, making bloggy friends and living in my blog world.  As a stay at home mom I laughed at the comic which stated, "I love my computer, all my friends are in it."  That somewhat sadly described me!
Then I was introduced to Facebook!  That was my new daily dose of cyber-crack!  It was fun hooking up with distant family, and friends I had lost contact with since High School!  Each day I stopped and checked the computer to see who said what, who posted a new pic or just to see what scandalous news was happening in the area.  Now, years later...it's getting old.

Enter my new addiction.....PINTEREST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Really?! You Have Got To Be Kidding!!!!!!!!!!!!

SNOW?!?!?! I am tired of precipitation.  I am so tired of rain!  I even stopped carrying an umbrella.  It seems like wet hair, wet jackets, wet clothes and wet shoes have become an everyday reality for MONTHS!  Now the weather forecasters are calling for SNOW!  Ugh!  I give up!  I can honestly say.....I look forward to a nice drought year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow! It's Been Awhile! This Might Be Why.......

Wow! It has been over a year since I last posted.  It's honestly hard to believe it has been that long!  When I think about it, it makes sense.  I last posted in August  2010.  The end of summer ran directly into the chaos of school starting which was followed by an ill Fall for myself.

The beginning of September my world began to feel, well....crooked.  An extremely odd feeling of motion (when nothing was moving) along with a feeling of constantly being on my side (even when standing) became a constant for me.  It was a bizarre feeling which created a sense of panic.  The doctors thought it was vertigo due to a possible disturbance in my inner ear.  The thought was it should pass within two weeks. Two weeks later the same feeling remained.  A follow-up appointment led me to an MRI which found lesions on my brain which matched the pattern of MS (Multiple Sclerosis).  A spinal-tap backed-up the finding of the MRI.  A second MRI, 3 months after the first, found new lesions.  On December 29, 2010 I received a positive diagnosis of MS. 

I've stumbled over my right foot multiple times over the years.  I just assumed it was because I'm not exactly a coordinated person.  The tingling sensation in my right leg, located ONLY on the inner, front side ONLY from my knee to my ankle....a pinched nerve.....right?  Occasional weakness in my hands?  I'm a busy mom of 3.  I'm TIRED.  No......all signs of MS that I overlooked and excused away.  Then again, as I stated before......I'm BUSY!  I never gave these "symptoms" much thought, it was just the normal life of a busy, working mom.

After diagnosis came the treatment decisions.  I chose Avonex.  It's a once a week inter-muscular (IM) injection.  I chose Avonex due to it's proven 15+ years on the market, I had the ability to speak with patients who have used this drug and "liked" it and it only needs administered once-a-week.  The downside to all MS medications.......side effects and injections.   I learned how to inject the medication myself.  Almost a year later I still DREAD the task.  I inject on Friday evenings so the flu-like symptom side effects do not interfere with working.  Unfortunately, that means FUN Friday nights are out and Saturday AM is spent in a fog.  Ugh!

So......it has been a year since the "craziness" began, 10 months since the diagnosis and 9 months since treatment began.  Here is what I have learned.....
Needles, no matter how many times you use them, are NEVER fun.
Just the sight of a sharps container can bring on sudden nausea.
I have an AMAZING support system in my family and friends...they are there to back me up when the world gets a little *ahem* sideways.
As a mom of 3.....I HAVE NO TIME FOR MS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Photo Finds

Recently, while cleaning, I found several rolls of film.  I had a few developed and found several very cute photos.  It's bittersweet to look back and see the boys as wee-ones.  Ella has spent the morning yelling, "Where am I? Is that me?"  Nope, it was life before Ella was even thought of!  Mom, Dad and Wendy... I needed a tissue.  You might just want to have one on hand. :)

Make your own slideshow

PS. Mom,thanks for the suprise photo drop!

What happened to those sweet little boys?......

My Garden Guy

This week James just asked if we had enough cash for him to get a hoe and plants. 
Thank God I know my man well enough to know he ment these:

Instead of these:

                       

Feeding Time

Recently we've added a new addition to our family.  Yet another mouth to feed....well actually mouths.  Apparently 3 kids, 3 dogs, geckos and a hamster weren't enough.  Now we have a venus fly trap!  Not only is it a carnivorous plant, it is apparently a "special" plant.  Explanation of  "special"....it doesn't catch FLIES!  We found the plant during a recent trip to our local nursery.  The kids were checking it out, which led to the following conversation:

Kids: Does it really catch flies?
Me: I guess so.?
Kids: Can we get it?
Me: No!
Kids: Aw, common Mom! Why not?!
Me: What are we going to do during the winter?  It will die...there are no flies around here in the winter!
(Enter "helpful" Garden Guy): You can feed it small meal worms during the winter.
Kids: We have meal worms for the gecko!

Great now I really had no excuse, other than just plain "No, Because I said so!" Plus, I was kind of curious....would it actually eat flies?   Short answer....NO! Our "special" fly trap is apparently incapable of catching flies!  Since it has gone about 2 weeks without eating any "protein" my husband decided to feed it last evening.  The following pictures illustrate the horror which took place on our kitchen table last evening!

Do you see what is dangling from "mouth" on the left?!  A WORM!  James placed a worm in the mouth and it wriggled away while the mouth was closing! Eeeewwww!

Good-bye Mr. Meal worm! 

As of this morning both heads were still closed and the worms were completely inside.   GROSS!  I think I prefer the simple houseplants that prefer air, water and fertilizer over protein!  Yuck!