A Georgia Angel

What?  A Christmas miracle, you say?  Shouldn’t this have been posted a few weeks ago?  Well, yes, but you know how sometimes things happen, and you don’t really focus on it until a while later?  That’s what happened to me.   December was a very hard month for me.  Both my daughter and my mother had 2-3 surgeries each since July, and I had numerous doctor’s visits for myself.  I had sleep studies, and an MRI, and a neurological test.  I was busy, to say the least.  Then when the first of January came around, noises are starting to surface that I may not have a job in a few months.  I don’t know that for certain, but of course, it has me terribly worried.  I haven’t worked in an office in 6 years, and I’m not so sure that employers are willing to hire a 47 year old single mom of a special needs child.  It’s not looking good.  So in January, I was reading everybody’s hopeful posts about what a great year 2010 was going to be, and the good things going on in their lives, and I was still in a very bad “bah humbug” mood.  I had no interest in posting anything, or focusing on anything good.

Until, one morning, I woke up and it dawned on me that I had had a Christmas miracle.  In 2008, my dentist discovered that I had a small growth on my tongue and had referred me to an oral surgeon.  The appointment was several months later, and by that time, the growth had disappeared.  The surgeon examined me and said he didn’t see anything, but that sometimes happens.  It was very common, and if it returned to come back and he would remove it.  Well, it came back, sometime around September or October, I think.  By Christmas, it had gotten a little bigger, not huge, but large enough that it was getting irritated by chewing food.  During the last two weeks before Christmas, I was taking care of my mother after her last surgery, and I was taking her out to eat a lot, so I was eating a lot more than I normally do.  Neither one of us felt up to doing anything special for Christmas dinner, so we found the Huddle House on Christmas night and had supper there.  I have to tell you, I was at the point where I almost could not eat because the place on my tongue was so sore, but I persevered eating my beef steak because I knew that was all I was going to get.

It wasn’t until a few days later that I realized that my mouth was no longer sore.  I rushed to the mirror to check it out, and sure enough, the growth was GONE.  I couldn’t believe it.  It took me a few minutes to think about when was the last time I had felt soreness, and it was Christmas night.  You know,  I really hadn’t been praying about it because it was the least of my concerns.  The surgeon had felt confident that it was not cancerous, that it was very common, and there was no rush to have it removed.  In fact, I was scheduled for the surgery during December, but decided to cancel due to my daughter’s and my mother’s surgeries.

God answers prayer in mysterious ways.  I’m still struggling with seeing a bright future for 2010, but I’m getting there.

Current Mood: Happy

Tweet This Post

Technorati Tags: miracles, prayer

I don’t put much faith in horoscopes.  But I do like to read them for fun.  While entering some giveaways from my good friends, Stacey at Super Mommy to the Rescue, and Kim at Mission Mommy, I saw that Twittascope had updated on my twtter account.  It says “You are aware of the assumptions that are behind the current “.  Okay, so that always gets me curious.  I had to read more.   The full horoscope reads:

“You are aware of the assumptions that are behind the current veneer of social etiquette and you aren’t sure that you can meet the expectations. You can sense the pressure, even if others are going out of their way to be nice to you. Don’t give up today; just do the best you can and then move on to what is next. You may be surprised that the same people who were being negative earlier turn out to be your best allies later on.”

Today, I had an appointment with my chiropractor.  As a little background, I have known him all my life.  He started out working with his father.  My mother worked for his father for over 40 years, and I worked for them for a couple of years.  He is a great doctor and always tries to give helpful hints to improve your lifestyle.  Today, he hit me up with the diet spill.  He and his wife tried Jenny Craig earlier this year and lost 30 lbs within the first couple of months.  I tell ya, he looks great.  So he spent a good 20 minutes talking to me about it, in his very subtle way, and suggesting that it is something that I should look into.  If I keep on, I’m going to be 40 lbs. heavier this time next year.  Sigh.  Don’t I know it.   He put  me on the Spinalator and left the room.  I laid there for a little bit, then all of a sudden, tears came to my eyes.  Of all things.  He’s right, I know it.  I hate diets, and I hate dieting alone.  I could really use to lose anywhere from 30-60 lbs.  60 would be ideal, but I’d settle for 30.

When I got home, I checked out the diet systems he mentioned.  They look like they could work for me, but I just can’t manage it, financially, that is.  I would love to.  But that’s a lot of money to come up with in a chunk of change.  Now, granted, I didn’t delve too deep and look at all the plans offered.  I’m sure there is something there that I haven’t seen yet that I could manage.  But it was still very depressing.  My mother called and we talked about all we had going on this month and we were looking forward to maybe having a quiet November.  Ha.  If only.  I told her about what the doctor said today, and her answer was, “well, just put it aside and maybe think about it in December, maybe after Christmas.”

Aha….  see how the horoscope works?  It’s a little freaky.

As for the chiropractor, he really is my best ally.  I already know that.  The chiropractic treatments have worked (even though he tells me “I’m still a mess”).  It has definitely alleviated the bursitis in my hips, and decreased the pain in my low back.  The key is keeping the appointments on a regular basis.

Current Mood: Happy

Tweet This Post

Technorati Tags: horoscope

Custom Glitter Text

Today, I’ve been greeting new members over at Twitter Mamas.  I was hopping around visiting the new members blogs, and I spied a few posts that I think you should check out.

Megan  at Meg’s a Mommy, Christmas Cards Christmas Tradition.  She is in the Christmas mood and planning/making her Christmas cards for this year.  She also talks about passing on her Christmas traditions to little L.

Deborah at Preschool Professional, Halloween Safety for Preschoolers.  A great idea for teaching lights on/lights off Halloween safety to preschoolers.

Nica at Single Moma Diaries, Can of Worms.  Nica shares a moment of tackling the job of cleaning her son’s room.

Mommy in the Making at Operation Motherhood, Stage 1 of Operation Mommyhood Complete.   Congratulations and good luck on the next step.

Alli at Alli ‘n Son, Banana Oat Cookies.  Looking for a yummy cookie receipe?  Alli has one on her blog, and some cute kid photos too.

Stephanie at GeeZees Custom Canvas Art, Painting Kitchen Cabinets? Stephanie and her husband starts a weekend project.  I’m eager to see how the completed project is going to turn out.  It should be fabulous!

I hope you are having a great weekend, and that you are rested and prepared for whatever comes in the upcoming week.

Current Mood: Happy

Tweet This Post

Technorati Tags: I Spy, twitter mamas

Today, I lost my best friend.  I haven’t known my friend for that long, a little over a year maybe, but a close, dear friend nonetheless.  Someone I will cherish forever, but  never be close to again.  I did not lose this friend to death, which might be easier to handle, but I lost my friend through a series of mistakes on both our parts.  A “comedy of errors” if you will.  I don’t see any hope of reclaiming the relationship, and it’s sad, very sad.  I know my friend is hurting too, and I’m so very sorry.  If I could ease the pain, I would.  Good luck to you and best wishes, my friend, my heart.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, I had a follow-up doctor’s appointment this morning.  I drove an hour and a half to get there, they took the vitals (temp of 99.2) and drew blood.  Then I promptly fell asleep on the table.  The doctor comes in, not for the first time finding me curled up, asleep on the table, but wants to know what is going on.  So I just flat out said, “I’m tired, so very tired”.  I sleep from 8 pm at night until 6 am in the morning, and I want to sleep all day.  It makes me grumpy and irritable, it makes me not want to do anything, and it seems as if the more sleep I get, the more I want.  I can’t take a short nap because I can’t seem to come out of it and shake it off.  My arms and legs feel heavy and I can’t move.  So I answered all the questions…  do you snore?  do you wake up frequently with sore throats?  do you wake up gagging or choking?  do you wake up with a dry mouth?  do you kick or thrash your legs?  do you have vivid dreams?  do you feel like you constantly have to move your legs to get comfortable?  do you feel like your skin on your legs is crawling?  do you have to fight sleep?  does it come on suddenly?  do you feel like you are in a daze?  do you fall asleep while reading?  do you fall asleep while watching tv?  do you get sleep when driving long distances?  do you fall asleep as a passenger on long trips?    Those are only some of the questions and I pretty much answered yes to all of them, except if I snored.  I don’t know.  I don’t have anybody to tell me if I snore.  The doctor is mumbling …hypersomnia, paralytic sleep, narcolepsy, it’s not a side effect to the Lyrica because you aren’t taking enough of it.  Depression?  maybe, but not likely.  You say you are sleeping all night and that you are sleeping good?  Yes, yes.  If I take the ambien, I don’t wake up during the night.  The doctor is shaking his head saying “this is not normal and something is terribly wrong.”  Yes, I want to scream, I’ve lost my best friend.  Oh, much better now.  Ahem.  Now, where was I?  Oh yes, the doctor says I’m going to start with a sleep study and that may tell me something.  What’s really weird about all this is that several months ago, and for years this had been happening, but I couldn’t sleep at all at night.  I would stay awake until 2 or 3 am because I couldn’t get my brain to shut down.  The doctor gave me ambien and it works but I still sometimes have to force myself to go lay down at night.  Weird.

Oh, and as a side note, I’m hungry.  I’m hungry all the time, and when I eat, I eat huge platefuls and I eat it all, and I’m still not satisfied.  I’m not having extreme weight gain, but I have gained quite a bit of weight since the beginning of the year, probably close to 14 pounds, maybe?  That is disturbing to me.  I’m also having another symptom, and I really don’t know how to describe it.  It’s not dizziness, but it’s like I’m having a spell (no, not a magic spell), but something passes through the front part of my skull, above my eyes.  At first, these “spells” were coming in very short bursts, but now they are occurring in longer waves.  He didn’t make any real comments about these symptoms, but he was steadily taking notes.

I go back to the see the doctor in 2 weeks and I’ve got to have a sleep study done between now and then.   So what’s the problem you may ask?  My schedule is the problem.   Between now and October 24th, my daughter has a pediatrician appointment, a pre-op hospital appointment, and a dental surgery.  My mama is having a colonoscopy, which for anyone else is a normal procedure, but for her, is not.  My daughter and I are going to have at least five chiropractic appointments.  I have a parent-teacher meeting, three after school field trips, and I have to come up with a 50’s costume for Leah by October 15.   That does not include the Wings & Wheels Car show (my son will be participating), the Mossy Creek Festival, and the Georgia National Fair.  Am I complaining?  Yes, I am.  I know, there’s nothing that can be done about it, but I’m complaining anyway.  I want to sleep, I want to sleep for a week, a month, please just let me sleep.

I’m complaining and I’m sad, but at the same time, I’m thankful.  The good news is that I have connected with another mom locally.  Her and her husband are the parents of one of the little boys in Leah’s class.   They also have a 4 year old daughter.  They moved here from Las Vegas just before school started.  I’m thankful because it appears we have become fast friends.  Her kids aren’t special needs, they are just ordinary every day kids, and they love Leah already, and she loves them in return.  We went over to their house on Saturday, only planning on staying for about an hour or so, and wound up staying almost 3 hours, I think.  And we talked on the phone for an hour and a half the other night.  They are a quirky family, but very friendly and very kind. and I have enjoyed getting to know them.

Okay, I’m getting drowsy now, I’m falling asleep, oh noooooooooo

Current Mood: Sad

Tweet This Post

This is my favorite time of year.  Just a few weeks after school starts and a routine has set in.  The weather is cooling down, and the humidity is decreasing too.  I love stepping out the door and feeling that clip of fresh, crispness in the air.  It’s such a good feeling to draw in a deep breath and feel some of the cobwebs shake loose.

For me, this seems to be the time for renewal, instead of January 1st.  Along with school starting, our wardrobe changes, and we start preparing for the series of holiday events — Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  Plans of fall decorating form in my head.  Bronze and gold colors invade my sense of atmosphere to bring into my home.

It’s time to open the windows and let the fresh breeze flow through my home, swirling and curling, searching the nooks and crannies.  Spreading the crisp fall air everywhere.

Current Mood: Happy

Tweet This Post

Technorati Tags: autumn, fall, renewal

It is my privilege to dedicate my post today to honor Michael James Stewart, 42 years old, and living in New York in 2001.  He was born in Ireland and came to the States about 20 years earlier.  A dedicated rugby player/coach, working hard to provide for his wife and two sons, and finally graduating from Pepperdine University with an M.B.A.  He rose in the ranks of the banking industry, starting out as an entry-level position at the Bank of Scotland in New York City, and then working as an account executive for Carr Futures on the 92nd floor of 1 World Trade Center.  No one heard from Mr. Stewart the day he was killed in the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers.  He was working for Carr Futures on the 93rd floor, believed to be the point of impact of the first plane, American Airlines Flight 11, on the North Tower at 8:46 a.m. on September 11, 2001.

His wife of 16 years, Diana, and his two sons, Eamon and Francisco, honored him by standing with 200 others in reading the names of those who died on that day during the 5 year annniversary memorial in New York.  The 2 sons ended their reading by showing a picture of their dad in his rugby uniform.  Diana believes “The notion of reading names we realized was very important, a sensitive issue and very honorable”. [Read more of the article from wcbstv.com.]

Remembrances by friends

My memories of you are still vivid—as a young first year joining the rugby squad. You were the captain and a leader by example both on and off the pitch. I had the highest regard for you.  Duncan Beckwith on 2009-06-02

I … will remember your husband walking down Lincoln Street in a suit with briefcase in hand with a smile. -Kira

Michael was incredibly passionate about everything he did. He was an accomplished and insightful banker, a rabid rugby player and, I have no doubt, a warm and loving father. As the anniversary of that terrible day approaches, I smile at the memory of Michael’s quick wit and ready smile, and grieve at the loss of a good friend.  ~Chris

He was a gentleman, smart and had a brilliant sense of humour. ~Michael

Michael and I attended Belfast High together. We took A level English and History together and I have fond memories of lively debates in the Sixth Form Centre.  ~Sara

I loved talking to him about poetry and literature. He was truly fun to be around and a great person. I have no doubt he was a great Dad. Michael thank you for always being there as a friend. You are truly missed. ~Kathy

I never even knew that he was a rugby star, or even an athlete. But he was certainly a great team player in the bank, and a real friend to everyone there. ~Peter

Mike was a great captain for our rugby team. He was an inspirational player in that he achieved so much on the field becasue of his mental and physical toughness. ~Jerry

I had the privilege of playing for the Old Blue Rugby club when Mike was our captain. I remember him as a true leader on and off the field, and as a friend who was simply fun to be around. ~Ken

I knew him as a tremendous rugby player then but I only really got to know him when we worked together in a labouring job for the local council in the summer of 1979. I remember he was great company and kept us all entertained with stories from his rugby matches at university. ~John

what a legacy you left! You were an incredible person that was loved and respected by many. You would be surprised how many lives you touched in your 42 years. It was an honor to have known you an considered you part of the family. ~Mark and Roxanne

He was once asked what he would like to be rememembered most as.  This man who was a successful banker and rugby player replied,  ”being a dad”.  It can’t get any simpler than that.

New York Times Tribute

Legacy.com Tribute

Light a Candle

Montclair 9/11 Memorial

September 11th is a new historical event for a country that is hundreds of years old, and outstrips such events as the burning of Atlanta, or the San Francisco fire and earthquake, or even Hurricane Katrina.

That day struck the spirit of America, that spirit which now charges on, witout flinching, to show the world we cannot be brought to our knees.

Today, it is my privilege to remember, no, it is my duty, as an American citizen to honor… Michael James Stewart.  Please join me, along with Project 2,996 in remembering the victims of 9/11.

Follow on Facebook and Twitter hashtag project2996 and project 2,996.

Tweet This Post

Technorati Tags: 9/11 Remembrance, Project 2996

Good Morning MySpace Comments

I hope you all have had a great weekend.  I enjoyed my 3 day weekend, although I didn’t do much.  I stayed with my 83 year old aunt so that my 72 year old mother could go and play, errr, visit with her friends.  I just mostly chilled out all weekend.  I tried out my verizon wireless broadband access to see how that worked.  That worked out pretty good.  The connection wasn’t as slow as I thought it would be, but I was careful with how much time I spent on the internet.  I wasn’t sure how that affected the MB allowance in my plan.

On Saturday, I sat in the chair and just dozed off and on all day long.  I just absolutely had no energy.  Of course, Leah had plenty of energy for both me and my aunt.  She kept her pretty much entertained.  I overheard a conversation between the two of them…

AUNT:  My finger hurts where I had my surgery

5yo:  Right there?

AUNT:  Yeah.  Your little fingers feel good rubbing it, so sweet and light.

AUNT:  My fingers are so old, and brown, and ugly looking.

5yo:  That’s okay.  You’re my aunt, I love you just the way you are.

AUNT:  That’s the sweetest thing anybody has ever said to me.

Hmmm.  Maybe the 5 year old is an “old soul” at that.

Current Mood: Happy

Tweet This Post