tibial tuberosity

Just when I think things are returning to normal…………..

Sawyer "popped" something in his knee Tuesday night at baseball practice (the first practice for the fall season, I might add). We iced it Wednesday and told him to basically stay off of it in hopes that it would feel much better today. It didn’t. So, we made a trip to the doctor.

The doc poked and prodded, then sent us off for x-rays. The x-rays didn’t show anything broken, but you can never be too sure about the x-rays taken on base, so he gave Sawyer crutches, told him to stay off of it, take some Motrin and come back next Tuesday.

The problem, as the doc explained it, is that where Sawyer is pointing to as the source of the pain is a difficult area to diagnose. I’m not sure I understood it all correctly, but here’s what I think the doc was talking about. The shinbone, also known as the tibia, has a little tip where it meets up against the knee cap on top of the growth plate ~ the tip is called the tibial tuberosity (say that five times fast!). It’s the leg’s version of the end of the elbow (which was recently broken by my husband). Sawyer’s x-rays didn’t show any fractures, and the growth plates in both knees looked the same, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t injure his leg. It just means they can’t see it in the x-rays.

The solution is simply to stay off of it, take some Motrin and rest for a few days. If it still hurts when we go back on Tuesday we’ll have to do something a little more immobilizing, like a cast or a brace or something. If it doesn’t hurt so much, we’ll just go from there. The doc was a baseball player ~ and a catcher, at that ~ himself, so he understands Sawyer’s desire to play. He told Sawyer that as long as Sawyer does what he tells him he should be fine. But if he ignores what the doc tells him and plays through the pain, he won’t be able to play for long because he’ll have injured himself so badly that his body won’t be able to heal correctly.

We may not be playing fall ball this year………

new life

It seems that things are getting back to normal. Roger has been off the Percocet for several days now, and is feeling much better. He even went out to help my dad a little bit this morning. (Dad’s still not completely moved in/unpacked in his apartment, but that’s a story for another time……..) Roger will have to go back to work next week. I enjoy having him home, and hate when he has to go back to being the "bread winner." But, we are very blessed that he has a job we can depend on, a regular income that even increases occasionally, and a work environment that for the most part is pleasant, so I really shouldn’t complain about him having to go back to work!

I had a couple of rough days this week, but I’m feeling much better now. There’s no rhyme or reason to my good days and bad days as far as I can tell. There are certain things that will guarantee me a bad day, but I try to avoid those things. The bad days that I have now are pretty much just random bad days ~ at least that’s how it appears to me. We’ve had a little break in the hot weather, and that always helps me, so I’ve been feeling pretty well for a couple of days.

Patrick seems to be doing well at school. He was home last weekend for the first time since school started. He has already started to grow and mature ~ it’s amazing how much they change in such a short time! I talk to him on the phone nearly every day ~ he’s very good about calling ~ but seeing him in person is different than talking to him on the phone. By the time his junior year is over he’ll be a much more mature young man than the one we sent to school at the beginning of his junior year.

I’m thankful we’re only an hour and a half away from Patrick’s school. I heard some of the kids talking when I was there to pick Patrick up last weekend, and they weren’t going home because they lived so far away ~ one girl said she lived four and a half hours away! I can’t imagine not seeing my son at every opportunity ~ I think I’d be tempted to drive the four and a half hours, even if it is only for a weekend together.

This weekend is an extended weekend ~ Patrick won’t have to go back until Monday evening. We’ve arranged with another family who live in the same town we live in to carpool to and from school. Their son is a senior, and has a leadership position at the school, so he probably won’t be coming home every weekend (like I hope Patrick will), but when he wants to come home he’ll ride with me, and his parents will take him and Patrick back to the school when the weekend is over. His parents will be taking Patrick back on Monday this time. I’m glad to have another family to carpool with ~ even if it’s not every weekend, it will still be a big help to not have to drive both ways every time.

Jake is glad for the break in the super hot weather. He’s actually willing to chase the ball and bring it back now! When it’s really hot, he still wants to go out fifty times a day (which I have yet to understand), but when we throw the ball he just sits there and looks at us like, "Uh, yeah. Dude, it’s really hot out. You don’t really expect me to go get that for you, do you?" Now instead of looking at us like we’re stupid for throwing the ball, he’ll anxiously run after it, bring it back and drop it at our feet, then dance in little circles with his tongue hanging out and flicking slobber everywhere until we throw it again. Oh the glories of owning a retriever!

say hello to my little friend

Remember the cute little calf Jake was playing with a couple of months ago? Well, he’s not so little anymore!

day three

Isn’t it usually Day 3 after a surgery where you feel your absolute worst and after that things start to improve? I sure hope so. Poor Rog ~ he feels awful.

I took a couple of pictures, but I decided not to post the parotidectomy scar pics here because they’re a little yucky. Nothing that most people can’t handle, but I thought it would be better to allow you the option of not seeing them. If you would like to see them, click here.

I do think that most people would be interested in how Roger’s facial nerves and muscles are working, and how his nose looks after the deviated septum correction. The bump he had at the very top of the bridge of his nose (courtesy of some kid in junior high who sucker punched him) is gone ~ his smile is a little lopsided, though. If you look at the left side of his face (his left, your right) you’ll notice how his smile isn’t quite right. We think this is probably a temporary situation ~ it should go away over the next few months.

His nose is also still swollen, but not nearly as swollen as it was when he was in the hospital. Of course, in the hospital his nose was packed with as much cotton as could possibly be packed in there. He said he felt 100% better just because the doctor removed all of the cotton from his sinus cavity.

I’m praying that tomorrow we’ll start on the road up to full healing. He’s sleeping a lot (a side effect of the Percocet, I’m sure) but he has little bursts of energy now and then. Afterwards he heads back to the couch and promptly crashes out!

at home

Roger was able to come home from the hospital this afternoon. The doctor gave him a prescription for Percocet (which we promptly had filled) so Rog has been pretty out of it all day.

The parotidectomy looks a lot like it did last time, with the exception of this time his ear wasn’t cut off then re-attached. It’s a much bigger incision than either one of us expected. It looks pretty good though, considering. Hopefully this one will heal better and more quickly than the last one.

So for now, Roger will be zonked out ~ I imagine for a couple of days at least. He has 2 weeks of convalescence leave, so he has plenty of time to sleep it off and get well.

doing well

Roger had a second parotidectomy this morning ~ he had a small tumor on his left salivary gland that needed to be removed. The doctor said the operation went exactly as expected, and hopefully there won’t be any more recurrences. Roger had this same operation done a year and a half ago at Elmendorf ~ that time it was quite an ordeal. The tumor had wrapped itself around the facial nerve bundle, and the doctor had a difficult time removing in without damaging any of Roger’s facial nerves. That operation took over 4 hours ~ the one Roger had done today took a little over half an hour.

While the doc had him under anesthesia, he also corrected Roger’s deviated septum. Poor Rog, his face was swollen, his nose was about 4 times its usual size, and he had cotton packed in his nose to keep it from bleeding. He’s spending the night at the hospital and should be discharged sometime tomorrow morning. I’m betting he’ll look like he has 2 black eyes from a broken nose. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some pictures to share regarding the parotidectomy and the deviated septum correction.

would you believe……….

In the last 18 months, NBC made two attempts at exploiting Christian themes in its television shows. Revelations and The Book of Daniel both caused a stir, then quickly tanked—perhaps because of their shoddy and sometimes mean-spirited theology. That’s not discouraging CBS from stepping up to the spirituality plate as well, though. Perhaps encouraged by the success of the film The Exorcism of Emily Rose, the network recently committed to a pilot for an exorcism drama based on what Hollywood Reporter calls the "real-life experiences of Bob Larson, an expert on cults, the occult and supernatural phenomena." Joan of Arcadia creator Barbara Hall has been tapped to write and produce the show.[today.reuters.com, 8/16/06]

This little tid bit was in the Plugged In Online email I received today. It always amazes me how ridiculous film makers and TV show writers can be. I have yet to see a TV show where a Christian was properly portrayed. What a shame.

cooler weather?

The weather guys on the news and the radio are all crowing about how wonderful this "cooler weather" is, but they’re saying it’s going to "get hot" again soon. The high today is "only" going to be in the mid-90’s (as opposed to the low-100’s). WHAT?! THAT’S "cooler weather"?! Not in my book it’s not.

Ok, ok. Yes, technically mid-90 degree temperatures are "cooler" than low-100 degree temperatures. But to imply that mid-90’s temperatures are "cool" and that it’s "going to get hot again soon" is totally ridiculous. Have the weather guys not stepped outside today? Mid-90’s is still HOT, people!

Now Anchorage, THAT’S cooler weather. Highs in the low- to mid-50’s, with some rain. Just the way I like mid August to feel. Every year we were in Alaska I loved mid August to late September. September was my overall favorite month in Alaska ~ just the perfect amount of sunlight, the air is starting to turn crisp, there are days when it’s still warm enough to wear shorts and a tee shirt, and other days when it’s crisp enough to wear a sweatshirt (my all-time favorite piece of clothing). <sigh> I miss that. Right now I’m sitting in my house in a tank top and feather-light cotton pajama pants with the air conditioning running full blast, and I’m still hot. (No, I won’t make the concession of putting on shorts ~ it wouldn’t make any difference, and I scare even myself in shorts!)

As my doc recognized, I’m ready for things to really cool off around here. Temperatures in the 50’s and 60’s would be perfect, please.

today’s visit

I went to the doctor this morning ~ this was a visit with my fibromyalgia doc, not the "regular" doc. I chuckled because the very first thing he said to me this morning was, "The rain and hot weather haven’t been treating you very well, have they?" That may sound like an insult, but it’s not. I’m thankful to have a doctor who recognizes when I’m not doing well.

It was a productive visit. I had made a list of questions, and he was able to answer all of them. He also gave me some new websites to review, and praised the 2 books about fibromyalgia and chronic myofascial pain I’m currently reading. I was a little relieved by that ~ I have been amazed at the number of nonsense books out there written about FMS by quacks. You have to be very careful which books and information you read and digest ~ there’s a lot of ridiculous nonsense written about FMS and CMPS. I’m finding my 2 current reads interesting ~ a little deep on the medical side, but they’ve been very informative.

I have another visit scheduled in 4 weeks. Hopefully I’ll be in better shape by the next time I see the doc.

speaking of dancing……

Writing about the scene from Hitch (see "the white boys can’t dance club" post) made me think of a video I have seen from You Tube. Judson Laippley put together The Evolution of Dance . If you haven’t seen this, you HAVE to watch it. And if you have seen it, you probably want to watch it again!

The part in The Evolution of Dance where Judson does the dance to MC Hammer’s "Can’t Touch This" is so similar to the white guy’s dance in Hitch it’s hilarious. And THAT’S the dance Sawyer picked up on and can do perfectly! I keep trying to get Sawyer to learn the whole Evolution of Dance routine, but he won’t do it. I have a friend (and you know who you are, Sergej!) who does the "Sprinkler", the "Lawn Mower" and those other bits in the "Can’t Touch This" routine. Our family had dinner with him, his wife and their son at their house one evening and he demonstrated for us ~ I was laughing so hard I was gasping for breath!

Sawyer’s favorite dance, which isn’t in The Evolution of Dance is "Stir the Pot." One of these days I’m going to get him to do it for me so I can video tape it. America’s Funniest Home Videos, here I come!

the white boys can’t dance club

Patrick’s school had a dance Saturday night. He was hemming and hawing about not really wanting to go, he was sure it would be boring, he wouldn’t have any fun, etc., etc. I told him to go; just forget about who he’s "supposed" to be and have some fun! Go and do something totally unexpected. Loosen up. Give it at least an hour ~ if you’re not having fun by then, you can leave. But at least give it a try.

Well, apparently he went ~ and had a blast. He said there were about 14 other guys who had pretty much the same attitude he did; so they got together and formed the "White Boys Can’t Dance Club" ~ and after that it was all fun and games to get out on the dance floor and be goofy. I’m glad they did that ~ I know how much Patrick hates to dance because he thinks he can’t dance. I just wish I could have seen it. There’s a scene in the movie Hitch that Roger has insisted I watch (I haven’t watched the whole movie, just this one scene). Hitch (played by Will Smith, who we all know is extremely suave, smooth and good looking) is trying to teach this white guy how to dance. The white guy does his own version of a dance that puts any and all non~dancing males to shame. And it had me laughing so hard I had to hold my stomach because it hurt from laughing. Of course my goof~ball younger son picked up on that dance and can imitate the guy in the movie perfectly (Sawyer doesn’t even try to dance ~ he just jiggles around and does these "moves" intended to make observers crack up with laughter). I would have given anything to be a fly on the wall watching Saturday night as my older son got out on the dance floor. I haven’t asked him if he did, but I sure hope he put a few of those white boy Hitch moves on!

first day of school

Our first day of school went well. Sawyer complained a little about "how much work" he has ~ I told him welcome to the real world. School won’t be so easy this year ~ last year in public school was way too easy for him. Besides, it’s not that bad ~ this year he finally gets to build on that foundation we’ve been laying for so many years. Now through the end of his school career will finally be interesting!

We have our first day at co-op tomorrow. In all the years we’ve homeschooled, we’ve never joined a co-op. When the kids were little, I just didn’t feel that I needed the added stress of having to be at a co-op every week. This year we’re doing Apologia Physical Science (the same physical science we did with Patrick) ~ it has a lot of experiments/labs. The co-op at our church just happens to do the Apologia Physical Science experiments and labs. Once I heard that, I signed Sawyer up. I know from experience that I’m not the person who should be doing the experiments and labs with my son. When Patrick was doing this same curriculum, we had a heck of a time getting the experiments done. This year’s science will be much better with Sawyer going to co-op. Since my fibromyalgia prevents me from being really involved in any activities, I volunteered to be the treasurer for the co-op. That way I can fulfill my responsibilities to participate in the co-op without having to teach a class. The ladies who are in charge of the co-op have been very gracious in allowing me to do this (thanks Dana and Janice!). Sawyer’s looking forward to going tomorrow. He is signed up for the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) course, the Mystery of History class, and the science. Since we’re doing writing at home, and our curriculum is history/literature based, if the added writing and history get to be too much we can always drop those classes at the co-op.

Patrick also had his first day of school today. When I talked to him last night he said he was reading and taking notes on the first chapter of his chemistry textbook. The chemistry teacher had "suggested" to several of the kids that they might want to read the first chapter and take note; in other words, we’re going to have an unannounced quiz, so you’d better be prepared. I won’t talk to Patrick again until later this evening ~ I’m anxious to know how his day went.

purses

I have this thing about purses. I don’t know why ~ I don’t even know when it started. I like purses. Lots and lots of purses. I need variety. And I’m still in search of the perfect purse.

One thing I haven’t learned to do is sew. If I could sew, I would make myself some cloth purses. I’ve found a lady on the web who makes cloth purses similar to those I have designed in my head. You can see them here.

I’m hoping to be able to convince Roger that I need a new purse. (yeah, good luck with that.) Then again, maybe I should ask for a sewing machine and take sewing lessons. Nah ~ it’s cheaper to buy the purse!

up again

My photo albums are working again. Let me know if you have any problems accessing them ~ or if you’ve forgotten the user name and password.

photo albums

My photo albums don’t seem to be working right now. I’m not sure what the problem is, but I have sent a note to SixApart asking for help. Sorry for the inconvenience ~ hopefully I’ll have the problem fixed soon.

new creations

Two of my latest creations: felted purses. I have several more to make, but when they’re all finished I’m going to send them to a friend in Anchorage. She makes hand~stamped cards that she sells at craft shows there. I made her a felted purse, and she suggested I make more and send them to her; she’ll sell them for me at the craft shows she attends. It gives her something else of interest to put in her booth, and it gives me a chance to create fun things and maybe even make a little money doing it. I haven’t tried to sell these purses here ~ I just don’t know if they would be much of a hit here. The ladies here tend to like the really trendy Southern stuff like sequined purses. I’d never buy one of those, but I have friends here who can actually pull it off. Not my style. I have a felted purse I made for myself that I use occasionally, but it hasn’t garnered much interest. My friend in Anchorage said she has had people stop her on the street and in stores to ask her where she got her felted purse. So, maybe they’ll sell there.

droopy dog

We had more thunderstorms yesterday. By yesterday evening we were all about to go mad because Jake was totally freaked out. So, we gave in and gave him some of the phobia medications the vet gave us. They help a lot ~ Jake calms down and doesn’t do his pacing, panting, whining, trying to crawl in our laps stuff. The only drawback is that the meds last a long time ~ Jake looks like Droopy Dog for 24 hours. See how his lower lids hang down and show the pink flesh underneath?

Plus, he has "heavy feet" ~ when he walks his paws go thump-thump-thump like he’s wearing lead shoes. Poor dog ~ we tend to laugh at him because he’s so droopy and dopey, but that’s probably not a very nice thing for us to do. We have tried other phobia meds, but the one we’re using now is the only one that has worked. I give him half of what the vet said to give him ~ he still walks around for the next day or so like he’s, well, like he’s drugged, which he is.

re-organized craft area

As promised:

The re-organization give me more storage space and more working space. Roger and I are discussing buying a craft desk and storage system meant especially for scrapbooking supplies. I don’t think that purchase will happen very soon, but maybe someday.

new craft room

Well, not really a NEW craft room, just a re~organized one. I’ll take some pictures tomorrow when the sun is out; the sunroom/craft room/office has such nice big windows and wonderful skylights ~ no sense in wasting natural light by taking a picture with the flash at night!

smart blonde joke

(Thanks, Jenn!)

A blonde walks into a bank in New York City and asks for the loan officer. She says she’s going to Europe on business for two weeks and needs to borrow $5,000.

The bank officer says the bank will need some kind of security for the loan, so the blonde hands over the keys to a new Mercedes Benz SL 500. The car is parked on the street in front of the bank. She has the title, and everything checks out.

The bank agrees to accept the car collateral for the loan. The bank’s president and its officers all enjoy a good laugh at the blonde for using a $110,000 Benz as collateral against a $5,000 loan. An employee of the bank then proceeds to drive the Benz into the bank’s underground garage and parks it there.

Two weeks later, the blonde returns. She repays the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to $15.41.

The loan officer says, "Miss, we are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multimillionaire. What puzzles us is, why would you bother to borrow $5,000?"

The blonde replies, "Where else in New York City can I park my car for two weeks for only $15.41 and expect it to be there when I return?"

Finally, a smart blonde joke.

first few days

Patrick called Wednesday night, twice Thursday, and once this evening. He says he’s not homesick (yet), but he does miss being with us. It’s kind of weird to get up in the morning and see that his bedroom door is open ~ that’s when I realize he’s not here.

He has spent the past two days in junior orientation. Apparently today they spent 2 hours going over how to work the complicated calculator they’re required to have. Patrick got his at the beginning of his sophomore year and used it all the way through Algebra II, so he was pretty well bored out of his mind today. That’s ok ~ I told him it’s probably the one and only time he’ll be bored in class there, so he should be glad for it!

He seems to be doing well. Of course, he has made lots of new friends ~ more girls than boys, apparently. Not surprising. He learned his lesson about cafeteria eggs yesterday morning (never eat cafeteria eggs ~ they’re extremely nasty); he stocked up on Pop Tarts yesterday when the kids all went to Wal~Mart, so he’s not too afraid to miss breakfast Saturday morning. The seniors will move in tomorrow; Saturday will be full of games and goofy stuff, including a "Wacky Tacky" dance.

On a side note: I met the young lady Patrick seems interested in here at home. I hadn’t met her before Patrick left for school, but had seen several pictures of her. I had the pleasure of meeting her and several members of her family yesterday evening. She and her siblings are homeschooled, and attend the co~op Sawyer will be attending on Tuesday mornings. Lovely girl; I’m looking forward to getting to know her a little better at the co~op. I have no idea whether the "interest" is mutual, but I’m sure Patrick won’t pursue anything more than a casual friendship with her anytime soon. After that first girlfriend disaster, I think he has learned his lesson about "dating." I won’t go into the whole dating vs courting debate, but I will say that as a family we tend to lean towards the basic courting idea. Besides, Patrick doesn’t need to be worrying about or concentrating on anything but his schoolwork for now.

so it begins

Well, we did it. We managed to actually leave Patrick at school. The faculty and staff were all very reassuring and encouraging to all of the parents who were leaving their kids. Patrick has only called home once so far today since we left. He seems to be doing well. I think he’s kind of thinking of it like going to camp. That illusion will wear off in a couple of days, but for now he’s having fun making new friends and getting settled in.

I took a couple of pictures:

This is the "boys’ lounge" on Patrick’s floor.

His desk ~ majorly cramped space!

This is Ethan, Patrick’s roommate. Cool guy.

Patrick can’t come home now for 2 1/2 weeks ~ the next two weekends are mandatory on~campus weekends. After that he can come home every weekend if he wants. The staff assures us that by the end of the first semester the kids won’t want to come home except for the weekends when the dorm is closed. I sure hope not. I hope he wants to come home as often as he can.

last day

Today is Patrick’s last day before moving in at school. He and a bunch of his friends went to lunch together today as sort of a "Hail, hail the gang’s all here" farewell. I hope he finds a group of friends at school like the one he has here. He’ll still get to see his group of friends here, but not nearly as often.

I think we have everything he needs for now. If not, he can get whatever else he needs on one of the school sponsored trips to the local big box store. The kids all sign up, pile in the school van and head off for a couple of hours at the local Wally World ~ from what I have heard, it sounds like the kids have more fun goofing off than they do actually shopping.

Patrick’s roommate, Ethan, sounds nice. He is at the school right now attending a math camp, so he has already moved into their dorm room. He brought a refrigerator (stocked with sodas and other goodies courtesy of the people at his church), a grab bag of candy goodies, a shower curtain, a printer, and all of the cleaning supplies they’re required to supply. The only thing he has asked Patrick to bring is a broom and dust pan. I told Patrick when the printer needs new ink cartridges to let us know and we would buy the next set, as well as the printer paper and the cleaning supplies. After that they can split the cost of the whatever they need.

We’ll be heading out around 8:30 in the morning. Patrick can start moving in around 10:00. Then we have a parent/student meeting at 1:00 we’re supposed to attend. I think parents have to leave the campus by 4:00.

I’m going to go tomorrow, whether I’m feeling well or not. I’ve been feeling awful for several weeks, but there’s no way I’m going to let my son go off to school and not be there to say good-bye! I’m sure I’ll pay for it for several days afterwards, but it won’t kill me. I’m sure my kids, husband, family and friends (including all of you!) are sick of hearing about how bad I feel. I wish there were something I could do about it, but it’s there ~ I’ve NOT talked about it for so many years that now that I DO talk about it I probably sound like I’m whining. Believe me, I’m not.

Anyway, focus off of me and back onto Patrick. He seems to be handling the idea of moving out pretty well so far. He has a lot of experience with moving; he has never had to move away from us before, though. Sawyer acts like he’s glad Patrick’s moving every time someone mentions it, but I’m sure he’s just covering up his distress. Sawyer hates change; having his brother move away is much harder on him emotionally than he’s willing to show or admit.

Tomorrow will be a bitter~sweet day for all of us. I plan to take pictures, and I’ll post them when I have a chance.

kid funnies

More jokes………………….if you have any CLEAN jokes you’d like to share, please email them to me. (thanks again, Cheri!)

A three-year-old boy went with his dad to see a litter of kittens. On
returning home, he breathlessly informed his mother, "There were 2 boy
kittens and 2 girl kittens." "How did you know?" his mother
asked.  "Daddy picked them up and looked underneath," he replied. "I think
it’s printed on the bottom."

Another three-year-old put his shoes on by himself. His mother noticed that
the left shoe was on the right foot. She said, "Son, your shoes are on the
wrong feet." He looked up at her with a raised
brow and said, "Don’t kid me, Mom. They’re the only feet I got!"

On the first day of school, about midmorning, the kindergarten teacher said,
"If anyone has to go to the bathroom, hold up your hand."
A little voice from the back of the room asked, "How will that help?"

A mother and her young son returned from the grocery store and began putting
away the groceries. The boy opened the box of animal crackers and spread
them all over the table. "What are you doing?" his mother asked. "The box
says not to eat them if the seal is broken", the boy explained.  "I’m
looking for the seal."

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, five, and Ryan, three.
The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake.  Their mother
saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. "If Jesus were sitting here, He
would say, "Let my brother have the first
pancake. I can wait"  Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, "Ryan,
you be Jesus.

A father was at the beach with his children when his four-year-old son ran
up to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore, where a seagull lay
dead in the sand. "Daddy, what happened to
him?" the son asked.  "He died and went to Heaven," the dad replied. The boy
thought a moment and then said, "Did God throw him back down?"

After the church service a little boy told the pastor, "When I grow up, I’m 
going to give you some money."  "Well, thank you," the pastor replied, "but
why?"  "Because my daddy says you’re the poorest preacher we’ve ever had."

A wife invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to Their
six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing?"  "I
wouldn’t know what to say," the girl replied.  "Just say what you hear Mommy
say," the wife answered.  The daughter bowed her head and said, "Lord,
why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"

A father was reading Bible stories to his young son. He read, "The man named
Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city, but his wife
looked back and was turned to salt."
His son asked, "What happened to the flea?"

An acquaintance of mine who is a physician told this story about her
then-four-year-old daughter. On the way to preschool, the doctor had left
her stethoscope on the car seat, and her little girl picked it up and began
playing with it. Be still, my heart, thought my friend, my daughter wants to
follow in my footsteps!  Then the child spoke into the instrument:
"Welcome to McDonald’s. May I take your order?"

the baptist & the cowboy

This joke reminded me of one my father-in-law would tell. (Thanks, Cheri!)

A Baptist preacher was seated next to a cowboy on a flight to Texas. After the plane took off, the cowboy asked for a whiskey and soda, which was brought and placed before him. The flight attendant then asked the preacher if he would like a drink. Appalled, the preacher replied, "I’d rather be tied up and taken advantage of by women of ill-repute than let liquor touch my lips." The cowboy then handed his drink back to the attendant and said, "Me too, I didn’t know we had a choice.."

the baptist & the cowboy

This joke reminded me of one my father-in-law would tell. (Thanks, Cheri!)

A Baptist preacher was seated next to a cowboy on a flight to Texas. After the plane took off, the cowboy asked for a whiskey and soda, which was brought and placed before him. The flight attendant then asked the preacher if he would like a drink. Appalled, the preacher replied, "I’d rather be tied up and taken advantage of by women of ill-repute than let liquor touch my lips." The cowboy then handed his drink back to the attendant and said, "Me too, I didn’t know we had a choice.."

20 years ago

At this time 20 years ago, I was headed off to my first year of college. That was quite an experience. All the way around.

I started thinking about college because I ran across this picture:

Kinda scary. My sons don’t like this picture. I don’t really understand why. It’s not the best picture ever taken of me, but it’s not THAT bad. Is it?

french horn

Hubby bought Son#2 a French horn last night on eBay. It’s part of Son#2’s homeschooling ~ he played the French horn last year at the junior high he attended, and said he wanted to continue to play it. French horns are a lot more expensive than I thought they would be! But, the Music Man (our church’s Worship pastor, who’s absolutely amazing, by the way) assures me that IF Son#2 is dedicated to playing the French horn, it could be his ticket to a college scholarship pretty much anywhere Son#2 decides to go.

So, we should be hearing strains of the Star Wars theme throughout the house within a week. Son#2 purchased the French horn sheet music to Star Wars, along with a play-along CD, and has been dying to get started on it. I even heard him in his room practicing on his mouth piece the other day!

niciaw

National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week, held annually in September, is a designated time, worldwide, in which people who live with chronic illness, those who love them, and organizations are encouraged to educate the general public, churches, health care professionals and government officials about the impact of living with a chronic illness that is not visually apparent.

This year, National Chronic Illness Awareness Week will be held September 12-18. Why do I care, you ask? Because I have "an invisible" chronic illness.

8 days

That’s all we have left. 8 days until Son#1 has to move into the residential high school he will be attending for the next 2 years. Wow.

a joke for today

(thanks, Julie!)

The Purina Diet

I have a Labrador retriever & I was buying a large bag of Purina at Wal-Mart and was in line to check out. A woman behind me asked if I had a dog(?). On impulse, I told her that no, I was starting The Purina Diet again, although I probably shouldn’t because I’d ended up in the hospital last time but that I’d lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms. I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way it works is to load your pants pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry & that the food is nutritionally complete so I was going to try it again.

I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was by now enthralled with my story, particularly a tall  guy who was behind her.

Horrified, she asked if I’d been poisoned. I told her no; I’d been sitting in the street licking myself and a car hit me. I thought the guy was going to explode with laughter.

(and I (Trish) must add here ~ in the words of Bill Engval, "Here’s your sign!")