Tics and Such

It's been a while since I've posted on this blog about Pokemon Boy and his Tourette's. Which is awesome, actually. Because that means there is nothing really to report. As I've stated before, he thinks of himself as Tourette's-free. I like it that way. No fear or self-fulfilling prophecy to live into. When I talk about it, I try to do so when he can't hear me.

The Ex was just here for a visit with the boys. He was here for about 10 days. They spent almost every night with him in his hotel room so it was a much closer visit than previous ones. They spent most days with him, as well.

Over the last few days, I noticed a few little facial tics. Just the exaggerated blinking, bulging of the eyes quickly or rolling them up and to the side real quick. The Ex and I were talking about it but I can't peg if this started during his visit or not. I tend to not notice these tics unless they're really bad or just more frequent. So I'm not chalking it up to anything other than he's off his schedule or over tired or who knows what.

At times I think I should keep a journal like I did in the very beginning. But I feel like, when I do that, I'm putting too much energy in something that isn't really a problem. If his tics ever escalate, maybe I'll return to the journal. But for now, he's not worried about it so neither am I. We still pray about it when it rears its head. And God has kept his so incredibly mild. I'll keep my trust in God.

Oh, and as Lil'Bro has passed the 5 yr mark (when we first started seeing things from Pokemon Boy), we haven't seen anything Tourette's-like from him. I'm not really thinking we will. But you never know. Genetics are a strong player in this world. I won't worry. But I will keep an eye and ear out as he gets older.

Anyway, just thought I'd update you all since this is, after all, a blog called Tourette's Mom!

PokemonBoy

Lil'Bro

Heard Today At The Boys' Swim Lesson (#3):

The boys had their 3rd swim lesson today. The instructor asked us to get them goggles and nose plugs. So over the last week, they have discovered the joys of going underwater. It's all they do. Sometimes Lil'Bro would wiggle enough to turn himself in the water - a kind of pseudo-swimming.

At today's lesson, they were eager to show their teacher how much progress they had made. The teacher was totally psyched as was their dad (who is visiting) and I. PokemonBoy swam under water, actually moving forward and changing direction. Lil'Bro did, too, but he looked a bit more like he was drowning. But it was huge and awesome progress. We're thinking they'll be fully swimming by the time school starts. VERY cool!!!

Here are some silly snippets from today's lessons:

Lil'Bro: Hey [PokemonBoy], watch me talk under water! [goes under water and we just see bubbles!]

Lil'Bro [as the dog walks near the pool]: I smell dog...footprints.

PokemonBoy [after being under water near the fountain]: It sounds like people are clapping down there!

PokemonBoy [after finally swimming on his own a little]: Ok, I'm DONE with these lessons! Goodbye!

Lil'Bro: It's a bad idea - breathing under water!

PokemonBoy [after looking underwater at pool floor design]: The mermaid is ULTRA ugly!

SwimTeacher: Hey [PokemonBoy], if you blow bubbles under water, you won't get water in your nose.
PokemonBoy: Thanks for the tip. I won't use it.

Heard Today In The Car

As we headed off to the pool early this morning to beat the triple digit heat, this conversation cracked me up:


Lil'Bro: Mommy, what do you think that stop sign's name is?
Me: Hmm. I'm not sure. What do you think?
Lil'Bro: His name is Stoppy.
Me: Cool. [continues to drive]
Lil'Bro: And that fire hydrant's name is...
Pokemon Boy: Hydranty?
Lil'Bro: No. Fiery. And that light pole's name is...Lighty. And that fire hydrant is...Bob.


Alrighty then.

Really? [#3 in a series]

Oh Facebook right-hand advertising engine, you truly amuse me!

Heard Today At The Boys' Swim Lesson (#2):

Pokemon Boy: "I may be filled with hot air but I don't think I can float."

Lil'Bro: "It just doesn't make sense..."
Me: "What doesn't make sense?"
Lil'Bro: "She [16 yr old instructor] is taller than Miss Suzanne [the instructor's mom]. But she [the mom] is so much older!"

Pokemon Boy: [after viewing my highschool senior portrait] "You looked way better then."

Nine Years Ago Today

Nine years ago, today, a bunch of people in scrubs claiming to be doctors and nurses tossed me on a table, opened the Ziploc pouch in my abdomen and helped little Pokemon Boy enter the world.

He is the one that made me a mom. He is the one that made me realize most of my other important interests in life were mere folly. He has brought me unimaginable joy. He has amazed me with his brilliance, creativity and capacity to love. He has been the best older brother Lil'Bro could have. He is one of the reasons being a single mom has been doable.

Happy 9th Birthday, Pokemon Boy!

Really? [#2 in a series]

Ok, I totally get the right-hand advertisements that appear on most websites. They pick up keywords you use in your emails or social networking sites and plug accordingly. And usually I get why I'm seeing certain ones. Yes, I'm over 40 and single but don't want to use your dating site. Yes I'm a single mom but don't want to make easy money for Google at home.

So anyone who knows anything about me will understand that this is yet another one that oh so misses the marketing bulls eye:

Facebook, you might want to tweak your automated advertising parameters!

Really? I Mean REALLY?!

This was a right-hand advertisement on my Facebook page today.

Really?

God Rockin' The Free Dishwasher Repair & Replacement

Ok. I'm ready for all the funny comments. Hit me, people. I can take it. But I'm still gonna crow about all the good things God keeps doing for me.

SO last summer, you may recall that God totally rocked the free fridge repair when it croaked in August. August in Texas with no fridge? Only thing worse is August in Texas with no AC. But the repair was done one month short of the 3 yr warranty expiring.

Recently, my faithful (albeit LOUD) dishwasher has been pooling water at the bottom every time I run it. I tried the old "if I ignore it, it will go away" thing. As usual, this did not work. Dang. So since God also just rocked me that wonderful financial wind fall and I was able to pad my liquid emergency fund, I tried the "call the GE repair people" thing. As usual, this worked much better.

The same awesome repair dude that fixed my fridge showed up today. He pulled out the washer, took it apart and generally made me groan with thoughts of how much this would take from my newly padded liquid emergency fund.

As it turns out, the leak was from a cracked tub: that inner lining of the whole apparatus. I groaned again. "So, I imagine this isn't under warranty any more, right?" ask I. "Well, here's the deal. The dishwasher isn't under warranty. However, the tub has a 10 year warranty. And since I can't fix the tub or replace just the tub...YOU do the math!"

So check it: I get a free dishwasher replacement. And since they don't make my model any more (the cheapest one GE makes), I get a free upgrade. It's still the cheaper model but it's better than the one I had! AND - as if that wasn't cool enough - the repairman's time was free since he couldn't fix it. So I pay nothing.

The dishwasher is still workable while I wait the 5-7 days for the replacement. It will just leak. Which I can handle.

Dude. I'm just sayin'... God totally ROCKS.

Commence your little jokes about it. But God still rocks.

GET ON YOUR FEET PEOPLE!!!

Ok, here is a reason for all of you to go out and celebrate:

I just paid off my last credit card today. Which means I am now only in debt for my mortgage. No car loan. No credit cards. No 401K loans. No lawyer payments.

Now go out and celebrate appropriately. But DON'T use credit cards!!!

An Open Letter To My Scary Neighbors

Dear Scary Neighbors,

Your dog is lonely. Apparently, he is also without food or water quite frequently. Whose idea was the ginormous metal bowl? Is there a way that you can either keep said bowl filled with, oh...say...food or water or bolt it down to your back porch? Because when he seems annoyed by the lack of food or water, that little toss game he plays with that METAL bowl...on your CEMENT porch...yah, that's good times. It's fun to listen to at, say, 1:18am. So maybe, could you play with him? Or take him inside when it gets hella hot? Because, I'm not sure if you've noticed but this is Central Texas. And it gets hot outside. And your back porch takes the brunt of the afternoon sun and hottest time of day. Your dog doesn't have air conditioning. Or water. I checked.

Oh and also, could you mow your lawn? And perhaps pick up the garbage around your property? And possibly not smoke pot so obviously on your back porch where my boys can see? And can you ask that one guy - you know the one - to please wear a shirt when he's mucking about in the back yard?

Thanks.

Signed your neighbor that was just once again jolted awake by a loud metal-on-cement sound.

Heard In My House Today

Me: [yelling very loudly] "My boys are so stinkin' adorable!!!!"
Lil'Bro: [continuing] "...she can hardly STAND it!"

Hallelujah

I know I'm way behind the times but loving this song so recently. But if you know me, you know my whole life has been a study in loving things way after it's hip. I'm ok with that. And to show you just how under a musical rock I have been, I will share this.

One night, back in 2008, I was flipping around the channels as I am want to do. I stopped to watch this performance. It was by a guy I've never heard of (again because I'm tragically out of touch). It was a song I had never heard (see previous parenthetic comment). I remember being struck by the emotion of the performance. I had assumed it was honoring someone who had died because everyone seemed very moved by the song. And the song itself made me want to cry. The performer sounded as if he was trying not to cry. I now believe it might have been a case of nerves. But who knows.

Either way, the song haunted the recesses of my mind periodically but I knew nothing of it and wouldn't have known how to hunt it down.

Enter my old roommate Darcy. We talked the other night and she told me she's ready to design my album cover. But I had to promise to include a cover of this certain song. It's called Hallelujah. It's by Leonard Cohen. I asked what the song was and she described it. I grabbed my iPod Touch, pulled up YouTube and found the Jeff Buckley version of the song. WOW! It was that song I had seen so briefly back in 2008! And it was still amazing.

So now I knew the song name and author. And if you go to YouTube, you can see like 8 million cover versions of the song. Some good, some they need to just quit it. But the Jeff Buckley version (see embedded video below) or the Damien Rice version (see other embedded video below) seem to really capture the soul of the song - for me anyway. Leonard Cohen's live version is killer. And I love the man. But I'm a sucker for gorgeous vocals. And Leonard is a genius. But he will be the first to admit he is NOT a gorgeous vocalificationer.

Anyway, I thought I'd post the song for you to check out. More than likely you are all way more hip than I and have already heard about 16 versions of it either in Shrek or The OC or some other TV show or movie. But it's a new find for me and I love it.

And if I ever really do get off my duff and record that album Darcy wants me to record, I will probably mangle yet another unnecessary cover of this song. So I ask for your forgiveness in advance.

Here is a link to the Jeff Buckley version. The embed code was disabled by request. Sorry.

Here is the Damien Rice live version from the 2008 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame show I saw.

Tourette's News and Other Stuff

Tourette's News:
I heard this on KLOVE, of all places. Found it out on Reuters. Nothing earth shattering here but an interesting read. Another version of the report points to the fact that TS is found predominately in white kids (compared to black or Hispanic). Also, more prevalent in boys than girls. Just an interesting read.

Other Stuff:
I was just having a quick IM session with one of my favorite friends and authors, Trish. Talking or typing with her always makes me happy. I love knowing her. I often refer to her as one of the pillars of my spiritual support. She is one person I turn to when I want to be happy or freak out in crisis. I love having people like that. She laughed with me when I called her cell to inform her that I just purchased a very respectable "girly" top from Anne Klein. She dropped everything when I called her from a hotel room in pieces because my marriage had just imploded. Friends like that are gifts from God.

But what we were laughing about in our IM session revolved around a recurring amusement in our relationship. How I saw her speak at church one Sunday in February 2005. And I immediately dismissed her as some pampered "Christian wife" that had it all together and wouldn't have anything in common with me. I didn't like her. I wrote her off as just completely out of touch with any reality I might know. A few weeks later, when I took a class on seeking faith, who do you think one of the leaders of that class was? Yup. Trish. I remember seeing her and thinking, well, this class is a bust. Thankfully, God loves to show me how wrong I am but in a fun and humorous way. The long story short (that I think I've blogged about before) is that she is one of my most trusted and loved friends. A true friend sent from God.

I have so many friends in my life that have similar starts. My wonderful friend Kristen and our other friend Alicia - I did a similar thing. My first encounter with them was...I think at a friend's party. They were fans of this band - I was friends with most of them and was very protective about the guys and who tried to gain access to them. I was pretty smug and not very welcoming to girls who tried to enter our tight little circle. I sized these two up as groupies and didn't really pay them any mind. Fortunately, they were NOT groupies. Well, they LOVED the band. But they weren't just vapid chicks trying to hook up with a popular band. They actually ended up marrying two other friends of mine that I knew through that band. And they have been two of the most supportive loving friends I've ever had. They were pretty much the only two people we let babysit Pokemon Boy when he was a baby. They have driven me to doctor appointments, one of them drove us home from the hospital when Lil'Bro was born. And to think I thought they were just annoying groupies!

Yes, I realize all of these stories are a huge revelation that I am one big huge judgemental snot bag. But the beauty of it is, in stead of God stomping on my head with his ginormous steel-toed boots, he just shakes his head and makes these people I have misjudged my new best friends.

I was sitting here going through a list of friends that fit this pattern. It's pretty funny. Well, it's pretty pathetic, from one view. But over all, it's more funny. To me, anyway. Thank you, God, for not stomping on my head.

In another "Woo-hoo, God rocks" report:

God has once again rocked the money thing for me. I'm not sitting here saying that I expect God to constantly drop found money in my lap. But it seems to show up when I least expect it. And I am always seeming to have enough money to provide for my needs.

I remember back in that faith seeking class I mentioned above in my Trish story, they talked about tithing. When that subject came up, I remember thinking, "There it is...the price tag every evangelist eventually tosses at you!" But it wasn't like that. There is so much more to it and I'd need a whole blog to get into where it came from and why we still continue it today. But the part that stuck out in my head has always been the fact that it's the only thing God says "Go ahead, test me in this! See what happens." [ref. Malachi 3:8-12] Most everywhere else God kind of warns us not to put him to the test. But this, he says, go ahead - tithe and see how I bless you. I've seen so many people tentatively try it out. And I know so many people who have amazing stories that surprised them. I tell you, since I became the single person responsible for my household finances, I have finally really given like I wanted to. It started out rather sparingly. I was scared to give too much away at first. But man, every time I have hit the straights, God provides what I need out of the most unexpected ways. I'm not talking excess or lottery winnings. But I'm just blown away how it always seems to appear right at the right time.

So right now, I'm doing ok. I'm still living off of my severance package. And I will confess I have been treating the boys and myself to a few too many frivolities. I've been starting to wonder if it will stretch. Will I be able to keep the house? Will I be able to get out of the non-house debt I've dug myself into before it all runs out? But through it all, I just keep saying, Ok God, I'm trusting in you here. Whatever happens - house/no house, debt/no debt - I know you'll work it out. I'm not waiting for my big American bling bling lifestyle. I don't want that. I just want enough to raise my kids, meet my obligations and still be able to give some away. And I've been able to.

Today, I met with my financial advisors. And without going into boring details, I have basically just had a huge (in my book) amount of found money come into play. And it has no tax implications because it's from after-tax money (I've already paid taxes on it a long time ago). And it's just enough to be able to pay off the remaining amount of non-house debt I have. Still giving me a good chunk to either put into a retirement fund or into a rainy-day liquid fund.

This blows my mind. Because I dug myself into quite a hefty bit of non-house debt since the beginning of 2007. Between the actual legal costs of divorce, what I paid out in settlement and then the whole guilt spending resulting from said divorce, I had quickly racked up an amount that made one of my church friends gasp (but to be fair, she's a completely debt-free person). That was the amount I started chipping away at in January. Right now - 6 months later, I have it decreased by more than half! And I'm about 2 weeks away from being able to wipe it all out and just have a mortgage to chip away at. That is mind blowing to me. And that is all God. Every tiny bit of unexpected found money that has come my way in these 6 months went to pound away at that debt. And now this!

I know this is not very profound because I'm not putting numbers out there. I'm not really thrilled to say, "Hey, I'm stupid enough to have racked up $xx,xxx.00 in debt in a mere two years!" But you can fill in those Xs with any numbers and you can see it's substantial. Especially for a single mom who got laid off this past January.

God just keeps rockin' the rescue. He keeps providing. Even when I mess up my own finances. He's not a head stomper. He's a loving father that is amazingly patient with us. He has always had his hand out to me - my whole life. I'm just so glad I finally realized it back in 2005 and turned and REALLY took it.

God, thank you for the awesome friends you put in my life. Thanks for the new ones you're introducing me to right now. And thank you for always providing what my boys and I need. Whether it's money or love from my parents. You're so awesome. I love you.

Braggin' On Me Boy-O.

Pokemon Boy had the last award ceremony of the year this past Monday. They give out cool dog tags for different things. At the end of the year, they try to make sure everyone has at least one dog tag. But Pokemon Boy got a few I'm pretty durn proud of. There's actually 2 missing from this shot. He got 4 "All-A's Honor Roll" dog tags - one for each quarter. Then he got the gold one because he got "All-A's Honor Roll" ALL YEAR LONG. [How this kid got this smart is beyond me.] He's the lazy mom's dream kid. I'm so wikkid proud. In the immortal words of Stella - "My heart is FULL!"

Check it, yo! My 3rd grader got these:


I should mention here that his teacher (and all school staff) is phenomenal. She worked so patiently with him since she took over his class just after the holidays. She seemed to find such a balance between allowing for his anxiety issues and holding him accountable for his actions. We love her and are lucky to count her as a friend.

A Love Letter

Dear [every restaurant that facilitates online delivery],

I love you.

I love you with every lazy fiber in my soft doughy body. My sand-blasted sinuses thank you. My gray, pasty, mouth-breathing face thanks you. My vice-gripped forehead thanks you. But most of all, my hungry boys thank you.

Yours forever,

The Chick That Just Ordered Two Pizzas

Confounded Comments

Ok somebody help an old lady out here. For some reason, it seems Blogger is setting up people's blog comment entry form differently now. And also for some reason, it seems to be a format that is specifically designed to keep me from commenting on all my friends' blogs!!! Go ahead and call me a paranoid conspiracy theorist if you want. I don't care. JUST TELL ME HOW TO USE THIS NEWFANGLED THING!

Oh sure it looks all intuitive and simple and friendly. Sitting there looking all simplistic and not evil. But I assure you. It is an implement of torture, my friends.

This is what it looks like.

I select the profile (in the "Comment as:" drop down). I've tried the Google Account (because I have one), the name + URL, and a couple other. I fill in my comments, I select the profile and I hit Post Comment. I've even tried Preview. And all my comments just disappear.

Anyone know the trick? I know some of you have posted to these kinds of comments before. I'm wondering if it's a limitation of FireFox. Maybe I have to try it in Safari (I'm a Mac now so I don't do IE).

Whoever solves this issue for me will win my undying gratitude and a bit huge sappy blog post about how awesome you are.

You're all beautiful. Don't change.

How To Feel Old In One Easy Step

This past Friday evening, I was able to hang out with 4 really cool friends. Three of which are friends from my Boston music scene days.

Kay & USAMike were in town with their band Letters To Cleo. A million years ago, my band had opened for Letters To Cleo up in Boston. Kay & USAMike are now married and living in LA. They write, produce, manage, perform - they do it all. They're both extraordinarily talented. Kay is behind the My Friends Tigger and Pooh show on the Disney Channel. She wrote and sang the theme song and incidental music for that show. She also pitched that show to Disney and they ran with it. Kay has also written lots of songs for Hannah Montana and various movies (everything from Josie & The Pussycats to Care Bears). She voiced the singing voice for Josie in the live action movie. I have the soundtrack and it actually rocks. She and USAMike collaborate with a lot of other musicians. I'm just very happy for them that they are making a good living from music. It is an ugly business and can eat you alive. Fortunately, these two have figured out how to do it without being eaten.

Jess & Jeff are two friends now living in my area of Texas. Jess and I were in a Boston Rock Opera production of the Rocky Horror Show together. Seems like that was a million years ago. She's a total sweet heart and we've kept in touch - strangely - through our myriad of mutual friends. I would always see her commenting on a friend's page on MySpace or Facebook. Recently, we realized we both lived in the same area and started talking. This past Friday was our first successful attempt at actually getting together.

I was nervous about meeting Jess's hubby. Their Facebook pictures look very hip and cool. I am anything but hip and cool. They are in a band together - still doing the music thing. I've met enough rock-star-wannabes to be wary of people who are still in the music scene. There are enough of them out there who care too much about the cool/hip factor and it can make a normal person like me feel very out of place. So I was worried about meeting her cool hubby.

As it turns out, both Jess & Jeff are just completely normal goofballs like me. As we all kept saying, we are all quite dorkitudinous. [Spell check loved that word!] I immediately felt at ease with both of them. I mean, keep in mind, I haven't see Jess since before Pokemon Boy was born. Probably 1999. We met for dinner at a little pub down town. We hung and talked. We regaled her hubby with stories of the old Boston music scene. He's from Chicago so doesn't know much about the Boston bands.

Eventually, we texted Kay to get her where abouts. She was headed to the club so we all went over. It was SOOO awesome to see Kay again. I hadn't seen her since Jan 2008. So the last time she had seen me, I was mid divorce. I was also wrestling with depression, anxiety and had just started having migraines. I was also a lot thinner - ah the lovely Divorce Diet!

The last time I had seen her wonderful hubby USAMike...I don't even know. It was when Pokemon Boy was maybe...a year old? We had all gone to their house near Boston. So that would have been 2001 or 2002? Not sure. But way too long.

I hugged them both until their heads popped off. Well, not really. But you get the idea. We did all the intros and hung a bit backstage.

They toured the Texas leg with a band called Cruiserweight. They were awesome. Then Letters To Cleo went on. Now, I have to tell you, when I was doing music and photography in Boston, I rarely ran into these guys. I knew who they were but wasn't a big fan. At that time, there was an explosion of female fronted bands where the ladies were playing up the cutesy pie factor. As a chick who built her entire music persona on "tough chick", I couldn't stand the baby doll girls. I thought Kay was one such vapid chick. Over the years, God did his thing where he put us in close proximity and I realized she was an awesome person, ate some crow and got a great new friend or two out of it. But anyway, as a band, Letters To Cleo has really grown. I personally think they are so much better now than they were back then. Kay is a great front person. USAMike is a great guitarist. They're both awesome song writers. I'm very impressed and glad to know them both. The rest of their band are awesome guys, too.

During their set, Jess, Jeff and I amused ourselves by taking pictures with our various cameras. After the set, we went backstage to say our goodbyes. I'm telling you, at 12:30 midnight, I'm usually either in bed with my iPod Touch playing Sudoku or asleep. So when Kay texted me after the show saying, "Hang around," I wasn't sure I'd make it. Doesn't she realize I'm OLD?!

The band had a meet & greet to sign autographs. I knew I wouldn't make it that long. So we hugged the sweaty rock stars and headed out.

Once at our cars, we realized it had been about 5 hours since we had eaten. So Jess, Jeff & I headed out to an awesome all-night diner thang. I remember thinking, "I am too OLD for these late hours," but I wanted migas!

We hung at the diner for a long time just yapping and eating. I just had so much fun hanging out with these two. Eventually, we parted company and I drove home. I was so tired but made it home fine. I went to bed around 3:15am. This used to be normal for me - back in my 20s. Which was 20 years ago!!!!!

As we all know from multiple previous posts, my mom ROCKS (can I get an amen?). She knew I'd be out later than normal (I doubt she'd thought 3am, though). So she took my boys for a sleepover and planned a morning of fun for them so I could sleep in.

I had a blast. But didn't recover from the late night as quickly as I did 20 years ago. And I have to tell you, my self esteem was struggling. Nothing like hanging out in a club full of very fit and hip people younger than you to really feel good about yourself. HA!

I had a blast. But it reminds me that I have chosen the path in life that suits me. I love being a mom in the suburbs. I'm not a rocker chick any more. Singing backups in my church worship band suits me perfectly. I have never been more fulfilled musically. And I have the freedom to see my friends perform now and then.

God sure has put some cool people in my life.

A Conversation With Lil'Bro

A conversation with Lil'Bro today. I was putting lotion on my arms and he was on my bed playing his Nintendo DS.

Lil'Bro: What's that smell?
Me: Maybe it's my lotion. [extends arm for sniffing]
Lil'Bro: [sniffs] Oh.
Me: Do you like it?
Lil'Bro: [without looking up] It smells really bad.

Excellent. I'll inform Lubriderm immediately.

Updates and Unimportancia

I love making up my own words. It's fun. Unimportancia should be a word. Blogger spell check hates my made up words. I am glad it doesn't force me to correct them.

An update on my Blackberry adventures:
I went to the Blackberry website before accosting that poor boy at the Sprint store. He sells all sorts of phones. If I want Blackberry expertise, I should start with Blackberry. After searching through their website, I found a Q&A forum where someone had my exact problem. The resulting instructions were NOT intuitive and were nowhere in the manual that came with the phone NOR were they in the dowloadable PDF manual on the phone. So...apparently, in order to use your Blackberry, you either need to buy it from one of those stores that will do all the unintuitive setup FOR you, or you have to go searching on their website to get instructions. And a further mini-rant is that the instructions were in about 4 different responses in a conversational thread between an annoyed consumer like myself and some smug techie that answered as if his instructions should have just occurred to the consumer. Smug techies. [shudder]

So the things I want to work on my phone are working. I can get email from my two main accounts all in one email interface. Nice. I can Facebook. And if you know me, that's akin to saying "Oh good, there's oxygen here!" I can take a picture and have it uploaded on Facebook within 30 seconds. Which I like. So now all my friends know exactly what that Frisco Melt looked like that I had for dinner last night. They are also seeing many more casual shots of my kids. And let's face it, the world needs more pictures of my kids.

The one caveat that I'm still holding out on is the bill. The plan I got boasts unlimited email, texting, internet and "data". In my mind, this means I should just pay my monthly rate and then extra charges for roaming and going over my daytime minutes. A friend in Boston just dumped all her internet capabilities because the same plan ended up charging her for all sorts of "data" even though she was on the "unlimited data" plan. When she called to complain, they explained some vague lawyer-like stuff about how data going OUT was covered but data coming IN wasn't. Or something like that. She wasn't very clear. But she warned me to watch my bill for that kind of hook. Today, I will call Sprint and say, "Hey, can you define exactly what 'data' is in your contract here?" Because I use a LOT. The emails I get and the Facebooking alone could put me well up into the million dollar mark very quickly. So we'll see.

But for now, I love my Blackberry. So JenKneeBee, you were right. Big learning curve but well worth the effort. So far...

Things that I have thunk last night or this morning:
Should one really need needle-nose pliers in order to get the foil cover off of a local generic half & half creamer bottle? I believe the answer is NO. And yet, my needle-nose pliers remain in my kitchen drawer.

Stop stressing over Adam vs. Kris. It's just a TV show!!! They'll both do awesome and make way more money than you or I will. So just let it go, people.

Hmmm...Isaiah 54:5 doesn't really say what a lot of people think it's saying.

Why does Blogger spell check want to capitalize the word "internet"? Is it a person? Does it command respect? I'm not quite clear on this.

I'm still having problems with people posting pictures with titles like "Bob and I". I want to send them all links to a previous rant of mine on that very subject. But I don't want to be a smug techie.

He's just not that into you. And by "you", I mean ME.

Those car oil commercials with the sadistic Scottish/Irish dude running around yelling, "Think with your dipstick, Jimmy!" really annoy the snot out of me. Aside from the sophomoric penile innuendo that should insult most American males (because you see, this company thinks you'll buy their stuff if they make a penis joke. You get it?), it's just stupid and low-brow. And to prove what a lousy ad campaign it is, I don't even know the name of the oil. No matter how clever or annoying you think an ad is, if it isn't leaving your brand or product name on the lips of everyone who sees it, it ain't workin'.

An annoying commercial that does work? Head-On. Stupidest commercials in the world. But I don't know a person who can't tell you what the name of the product is! And even better, most people could tell you what the product is supposed to do.

Things I'm excited about:
Tonight, I will have to eat crow. I eat a lot of crow these days. Here's a little tip - a warning, if you will. If you sneer at something, make fun of something, think you're better than something/someone, you can pretty much bet money on the fact that you will end up having to deal with that something or someone later in your oh-so-smug life. You will eat crow.

I have always laughed at people that made a huge deal out of preschool graduations. Seriously, a cap & gown for 4 & 5 year olds? Do I look like I'm made out of money for frivolity? Wait. Don't answer that if you've seen all the frivolous stuff in my house. But my point here, folks, is - I thought preschool graduation was totally dumb. And anyone who buys into is an idiot.

Hello. I'm an idiot.

Tonight, Lil'Bro will graduate from his preschool. Fortunately, they didn't make us buy caps and gowns. I think they know all the parents are scraping just to pay for the school. But Pokemon Boy, my parents and I will head to Lil'Bro's preschool tonight to watch a little ceremony. And I'm thrilled pickles about it! I'm pure hook, line & sinker about this. So make fun all you want. I don't care. I own my hypocrisy. I own my former snobbery. I eat the crow with relish!! My boy is gradumificating from preschool!!!

I can't wait to see my friends' band this Friday night!!! Weeeeeeee!!! My mom rocks for taking my kids for a sleepover. I haven't seen Kay since January 2008 when she was doing backup vocals for a little show that popped through here. I haven't seen her husband USAMike since...wow...I'm not sure how many years. We chat here and there through Facebook but that's not really hanging out. So this will be REALLY cool. And I also get to see another former Boston rocker pal, Jess, who now lives in Austin, too! We haven't been able to get together so it will be a bonus to see her there, too.

Ok. That's it for today, folks. Randomosity and unimportancia for everyone!!! Peace out, yo.

[I'm so street.]

The Jury Is Out

Every two years, I am allowed to keep up with the exponential progression of technology by upgrading my cell phone. Which is nice, seeing as how the most cutting edge of cell phones goes completely archaic 5 minutes after you get it home.

Today, I went to my local cell phone provider store because A) they have a new location next to the Starbucks by my house and B) I qualify for an upgrade. Yippee! I get to get a new phone!

What I really want is an iPhone. I love them. Like 5 to 8 year old boys love a Nintendo DS, so do I love the iPhone. I am an Apple marketer's dream. But alas, that phone is sold exclusively by AT&T. And when I priced the cost of switching over to said provider and phone and the plans you'd need in order to have it do all the cool and nifty things you want it to do? Twarn't worth it. I will stick with my iPod Touch.

I pondered the Samsung version of a touch phone. It was nifty. But had the same problem. To have it do all the nifty things you want a web enabled phone to do, you have to pay too much. And it just felt like a cheap immitation of the iPhone. If I get a touch phone, it will be an iPhone. Some day, my sweet iPhone. Some day.

I pondered all the other phones. I made the poor guy pull about 6 different phones out of boxes so I could actually heft them, feel the weight, check the size compared to my pockets, etc. If anyone is looking for some good "open box" deals in my area, let me know and I'll give you the address of the store.

I went with the Blackberry Curve (a red one - this photo is all I could find that matched my newer model). It's a cute phone. It's very functional. It has a full QWERTY keypad (ie - you don't have to press one button three times just to get to the 3rd letter on that key). It can handle web and email if you want but you don't HAVE to buy the plan for those features like the other touch phones. It comes in red. Very important. I'm pretty sure all phone designers have understood that you MUST offer phones in a minimum spectrum of black, red and pink. I am girly enough to wear pink Converse but NOT to have a pink cell phone.

I bought the upgrade, got the info on the $100 mail-in rebate, switched to a new number (goodbye old 617 Boston area code), transferred over my whole contact list and headed home. I called a few people so they'd have my new number. I emailed everyone on my email list to give them my new number. I put the kids to bed and then sat down with my new phone and the instruction manual.

Now, maybe it's just me, but I'm thinking that if an instruction manual says, "From the home menu, select option A", there should probably be an option A on the home menu. Now granted, I did not graduate from college. And I've only been writing instructional and technical documentation for a good 13 years. But I feel pretty confident that the instruction manual that comes with a phone should actually represent what a consumer might actually FIND in the phone.

So while I've been able to change the display font to all sorts of silly and unreadable fonts and have called a bazillion people in my contact list, I still cannot get the web browser to work, nor have I been able to set up the email capabilities. I also have not found about 6 of the menu items the instruction manual insists I should find in the home menu.

I have 30 days in which to try out my new phone that is - I was told - the top selling phone in America. Even topping the iPhone. I am convinced I will love it. Because my church bass player likes his. And I trust him because he's a total technerdian like myself. But better. And more smarter.

Tomorrow, I plan to make the guy at the wireless store earn his day's wages. I will go back in with my lovely 30 day trial period phone. I will bring the oh so informational instruction manual. And I will ask him to show me where these elusive menu options are. And to show me how to set up the features I paid extra for. And when he shows me all sorts of steps that aren't in the manual, I will then ask him to please inform the Blackberry technical writing staff (which is, no doubt, NOT housed anywhere in America these days) that they kinda missed some vital info and to please stop half-assing it and write a manual that represents what their product actually DOES. OR...when he shows me that I totally didn't read something that is really obvious, I will come back and post a big ol' "DOH!" post telling you all how stupid I am. But I'm kinda thinking it will be the former.

Year Three: Hardly Any Tics!

Man, does God rock or WHAT!



Three years ago this month, Pokemon Boy was diagnosed with Tourette's. As with any diagnosis, your mind immediately jumps to the worse case scenario and your heart breaks.

We have attacked this diagnosis with prayer first and close monitoring by his doctors, therapist and teachers second. As I've stated in many previous posts, Pokemon Boy hardly has any physical tics. Most of his issues revolve around his anxiety issues and difficulty controlling his frustration and anger. And that last bit is pretty much something I still wrestle with so I'm not willing to lay it at the feet of Tourette's.

Today, we had a parent/teacher conference with Pokemon Boy's 3rd grade teacher. She came in around the holidays after his initial 3rd grade teacher "retired" with no notice. This replacement teacher has been an answer to prayer. She is awesome. She is very present and cares greatly about each of the students. The initial teacher seemed to be going through the motions and appeared very overwhelmed. So yay God!

In the conference, Ms. Rockin' Teacher told us (Pokemon Boy was there, too) that she hasn't seen any tics except maybe the one where he shows his top front teeth every now and then. I have to agree. That's about the only one I see. And it's quick and not very noticeable.

Also, his anger issues and meltdowns at school have been getting better. He doesn't seem to have a "nemesis" at school or at church any more (usually a girl with whom he feels competitive). Ms. Rockin' Teacher suggested that Pokemon Boy work on creating a tool box of tricks over the summer. Little tricks he can employ when he's feeling the frustration or anger get the better of him. One that he already uses in gym class is, if he starts getting angry or frustrated, he goes to get a drink of water. His gym coach suggested this one. So Ms. Rockin' Teacher suggested he use that in her class as well. So over the summer, we'll be working on things like that.

She really encouraged him. She told him that she feels he has the skills and tools to enter 4th grade and be very successful.

But the fact that physical tics are what clued us in to the possibility of Tourette's and now there hardly ARE any? That's purely God right there, man. Three years into it, he's at the age where symptoms can really start escalating. But he's not stressed about it. And neither am I. We both figure God's got it. No matter how it goes from here - God's got it.

Prayer Request for Donnie

For those of you connected to me on Facebook, you've already seen this. For the rest of you, I have a prayer request for all my warriors.

Don Perreault is a high school friend of my former boss, Michelle. Michelle has been a huge support to me in my recent life. She has done everything from babysit my boys to cover my butt at work during my divorce. She was the Mama Bear that protected her "kids" on our team with a ferocity usually only appreciated by us. She is a fiercely loyal friend and I'm so lucky that she will remain my friend even though both of us were laid off from the Big Ol' Financial Company.

That said: Michelle is a Facebook addict like me. She has been working tirelessly to reunite many of her high school friends. She recently looked up Don's name in Facebook, not expecting to find him. You see, Donnie had cystic fibrosis as a kid. Most CF patients don't live past their teens or twenties. Donnie has been beating the odds for 49 years now. He even ran - and completed! - the New York City marathon back in 1994!!! This guy is amazing.

Here is Donnie crossing the finish line of the NYC Marathon back in 1994:


Donnie's lungs are not doing well. He has described it to Michelle as having a totally clogged nose and having to breathe through a straw. Can you imagine?

Anyway, yesterday, Michelle told me that they were all excited and terrified because Donnie had received the call - a lung donor had been found! So off he went to the hospital. For some very serious business. A post from one of his friends on his Facebook support group page sums the terror and suspense up quite succinctly: "He called me en route to tell me. He was very nervous, couldnt talk. He texted and I called back. He said he would be in surgery for ten to twelve hours, and in a drug induced coma for at least a week. He then said he'd be in the hospital for six weeks on a ventilator."

So yesterday, I told Michelle that I was all over it. I started praying as we were IMing about it. I told my Facebook friends and I know lots of them started praying, too.

This morning, I logged on first thing and asked Michelle for a status. There is good news and bad news. The bad news is, the transplant didn't happen. Donnie was prepped and drugged and ready to go. When the lung doctor got a look at the donor lungs, he decided they weren't in good enough condition. So now he waits again. The good news is, the doctors recognized bad donor lungs in time.

As you can imagine, this is incredibly stressful and frustrating for Donnie, his family and all of his friends. If you feel led, please pray for them. Pray for good donor lungs to become available. I know that's a weird thing to pray for because someone has to die in order for Donnie to live. But it is a part of the great circle of life. I just ask that, if someone has to die, please let them be a donor and please let their lungs be viable for transplant. But also pray that Donnie's lungs can sustain him until the transplant. Pray for peace for him and his loved ones. Pray for God to be seen in this whole ordeal. Pray however you're led.

Thanks all. You guys are awesome.

If you'd like to join his Facebook support group, you can find it through my Profile/Info page. It's in my Groups listing. It's called Catch Your Breath for Donny.

A Day Off With Lil'Bro

Most days, Lil'Bro asks if he can please PLEASE stay home with me. Seeing how my days should be filled with job-seeking tasks, I insist he go to school to play with his friends. Especially since his school is awesome, safe and costs me MONEY.

Yesterday, he asked again, knowing how I'd say no, you have to go play with your friends and have creative fun all day long. So when I surprised him by saying, "OK," I'm pretty sure he wasn't sure if his ears were working.

So yesterday, I kept Lil'Bro home with me. On the drive home from dropping off the elementary school boys, Lil'Bro informed me that, first, he would play his Nintendo DS. But once he was done with that, he would play with me. An itinerary at the age of 5. Nice.

We started by getting Burger King breakfast sandwiches and taking them home. This time, when the girl said, "Would you like to try some Cini-minis for a dollar today?" I actually said yes. I usually hate their marketing ploys. But today was a special day and we were going to have some Cini-minis!!

Lil'Bro was true to his word. We ate our breakfast and then he played some Nintendo DS. I started some laundry. After a short time, he informed me he was ready to play with me now. So we played Kerplunk! I never had that game as a kid. So was more than happy to buy it for my boys a couple of years ago. I love this game. Love it. It's genius is in its pure simplicity. After Kerplunk! (Lil'Bro totally won), he watched some TV while I cranked out 4 loads of laundry.


Lil'Bro was getting annoyed with his hair constantly tickling his eyes. So he suggested a hair cut (trim). Nice because he needed one. So he sat still for a haircut.


For lunch, I gave him the choice. Bad idea. Back to Burger King for some chicken tenders, apple fries and Star Trek toys. After lunch, we stopped by CVS, filled the car with gas and went to visit grandma and grandpa.

After picking up the school boys, they all stayed at my house. Homework was completed in record time. Then we had freezer pops and freeze tag in the back yard. There was only a few times I needed to intervene. Pretty much, they were all awesome and entertained themselves. I made lemonade, peeled a few oranges, handed out an apple or two. It was very nice and very low maintenance.


PokemonBoy:


Lil'Bro:


Neighbor E.G.:


Neighbor A.R.:


Freeze Tag:


This time off to pretend at being a stay at home mom is probably some of the best time I've had in my life. I wish Monster.com had listings for stay at home moms. Darn.

Which Level Did Dante Have Spammers In?

Dear comment spammer "Sexy",

Thank you ever so much for spamming my comments with your strange Asian characters that were live links to who knows what kind of sites. Thank you so much for putting your useless and annoying spam comments on 10 of my posts, in no particular order, spanning 3 years of my entries. That was fun, going to each one and deleting your comments. Good times, that.

And thank you for forcing me to have to use Comment Mediation. Because, you know, I love having an extra layer of work to go read and approve comments on my blog. I'd like to thank you for making it difficult for my actual friends and family to see real-time comments in my posts. I'd like to thank you for making the choice to join the scum of the earth career path of spamming. You're only one rung higher than hackers, in my book.

So thank you for making me break from my usual attempts at supporting families of Tourette's children or spreading light and laughter. Because these kinds of asides are just uplifting to everyone. So, well done "Sexy".

Oh, and on the subject of your obvious misnomer, your spamming efforts are anything but sexy. Please feel free to do some emotional house cleaning and let me know if you join the human race.

Sincerely,
Tourette's Mom - a new addition to the comment moderating bloggers

The Bunny Lady

I have that sickness where, if you laugh once, I will die beating that same horse to death in order to squeeze another laugh out of you.

So to that end, The Bunny Lady (as she has been dubbed) has been born. I'll show you the videos that I made for my friends on Facebook.

April 8, 2009 - Bunny Lady is born
This is the first appearance. I was just playing with the effects in PhotoBooth on the Mac. I did a few "Dating Videos That Missed The Mark". This one is the one that got the most responses and the most laughs. My former boss called me and couldn't even talk because she was laughing so hard. Oddly, I have gotten no dates from this video.


April 27, 2009 - Bunny Lady sings Happy Birsday
My brother-in-law Pat has a great sense of humor. He and his twin brother celebrated their birthday on the 27th. I decided they needed an entertaining birthday message. The Bunny Lady stepped up to the plate.


Today - A PSA on Swine Flu from The Bunny Lady
Many of my friends and I are amazed at the panic surrounding Swine Flu (which isn't even swine flu). I mean, I get that the flu can still kill people. And my heart goes out to anyone who has lost someone. But what gets me is how quick Americans are to jump on the fear and panic band wagon. My former boss in Boston just called and has been pulled into her doctor's office because of chest congestion and general yuckiness. Because she recently visited here (Texas), they are freaking out and making her wait in her car until they can come down with a surgical mask and bring her in a back entrance. Precautions are one thing. Pandering to public hysteria another. So after hearing this, The Bunny Lady felt very strongly that she needs to fight the message of fear.


If you have any special occasions that The Bunny Lady can help you with, please let me know and I'll post something on YouTube for you!

A Grammatical Pet Peeve

I'm a math major. Or, to be correct, I was a math/compSci major and then dropped out of college after my junior year. So it amuses me to no end that a math/sci dropout can get this right and so many other seemingly edumacated people CAN'T! I know it's a really silly and petty pet peeve but it drives me nuts when I see a photo album entitled "Pics of Bob and I". Really? You have some pictures of "I", do yah? As far as pet peeves go, that's right up there with pronouncing "ESC" words as if they were spelled "EXK" - like EXspecially or EXscape. But I digress.

When to use "Me" vs "I". It's really pretty simple once you get down to it. I'm bad at explaining it, however. So I went to the interwebs to get some explanationating assistance.

Here is a very good write up from http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/difficulties/ime.html. If you don't want to read the whole thing, skip to the bottom for a very good boiled down rule of thumb.

I vs Me

Mistakes made with these two English pronouns have been increasing exponentially for years. The difference is actually very simple - let me explain it to you.

I

I is the first person singular subject pronoun, which means that it refers to the person performing the action of a verb.

I want to go.
This is the one I like.
You and I need to get ready.
Tom and I are going to the movies.

Me

Me is an object pronoun, which means that it refers to the person that the action of a verb is being done to, or to which a preposition refers.

David told me to leave.
He gave me ten dollars.
Between you and me, this is a bad idea.
She needs to talk to Joe or me.

The Bottom Line

This confusion usually occurs when you have I/me connected to another pronoun or name with "and" or "or." I believe that the confusion begins when someone says something like "John and me are ready" and that is corrected to "John and I are ready." The speaker then thinks, "Oh, the word 'and' means that I should always use I." This is not the case. "And" has nothing to do with it; the reason you say "John and I" in that sentence is that "John and I" are the subject. If they were the object, you'd use me: "He told John and me to get ready."

If you are not good with grammar concepts like subject and objects, there is still a very easy way to decide whether to use I or me: try out the sentence with just I or me (or if you need a plural, we or us - "we" is equivalent to "I" and "us" is equivalent to "me."):

He told Tom and (I or me?) to get ready.
He told I to get ready? NO
He told me to get ready? YES
Therefore, He told Tom and me to get ready.

If John and (I or me?) get married, we'll have two kids.
If me get married? NO
If I get married? YES
Therefore, If John and I get married, we'll have two kids.

Just between you and (I or me?), this is a bad idea.
Because "between" needs to be followed by a plural, we'll use "we" and "us" to figure this out.
Just between we? NO
Just between us? YES
Just between you and me, this is a bad idea.

And whatever you do, please don't use a subject pronoun and object pronoun together.

He and I - correct: "He and I are going to town."
Him and me - correct: "She told him and me the truth."
Him and I - WRONG
He and me - WRONG

Ok. This college dropout is done being a grammar snob. Man, I really need to get out more.

The Hissing of Summer Garages

Well I sure do live in Texas. Those of you on Facebook with me already know about this. So bare with me.

Last night, I was putting the boys to bed. Lil'Bro needed Buddy - his favorite stuffed dog. He was in the car. I asked Pokemon Boy to run into the garage and grab Buddy. He didn't feel like it. I didn't blame him after his big day yesterday. So I went into the garage, opened the back door, grabbed Buddy and slammed the car door. That's when I heard it. This weird hissing. Like I had somehow punctured one of the tires and it was just blowing air out of a small hole. I stood in the doorway back into the house listening. Was it a pipe that just blew a leak? Was it a tire? How could I have popped a tire by closing the door? What in the world? If I had been outside, I would have thought a sprinkler head was freaking out. One tiny part of me thought...could that be a rattlesnake????

Then my mind did what happens to lots of people who are now dead. It started talking me out of the most terrifying possibility. I started telling myself "Man, get a grip! You're totally overreacting. There's no WAY you'd have a rattlesnake in the garage!" Pokemon Boy came up behind me and said, "What is that noise?!" I may be trying to talk myself out of the rattlesnake scenario but I wasn't risking his life. I shooed him back into the house and followed him quickly. I stood there thinking, "Now what?"

I grabbed the phone and went out the front door. I opened the garage door from the outside. Maybe I could see from that angle better. As the garage door opened, the weird loud hissing started. As soon as it stopped, the hissing stopped. Oooookaaaay...could the garage door opener be freaking out and making some weird hissing sound? Kind of doubt it. So I took a step forward and the hissing (now, unmistakably having a rattle quality to it) started again.

At this point, the ex had called so I had him on the phone and was filling him in. I looked in to the left, in the corner just beyond the garage door opening and I think I saw a rattler (or snake of some kind) coiled up under my ladder. I'm still not sure. It could have been some old rags back there. But at the time, I was pretty sure I saw a snake with its head up off the ground. I told the ex I had to go call someone and ran inside.

I don't know who you're supposed to call at 9pm to come get a rattlesnake out of your garage. But I called 911. They'd know. My heart was pounding and my kids were freaking out. Well, Pokemon Boy was scared. Lil'Bro was scared but asked if he could go look at it. NO YOU CAN'T GO LOOK AT IT! You...you...BOY!

The 911 operator was nice. And he said sure, I was correct to call them. He told me the sheriff was on another job but he put me next in line. I guess a deadly snake in the garage trumps some other things. He told me to leave the garage door open so the snake might leave. If we shut it, he might go deeper into the garage.

Twenty minutes later, a very nice sheriff showed up. This sheriff was smart. He hates rattlers. I don't blame him. But I figured he had a night stick and a gun. I had bare feet and...a broom? He gingerly checked the perimeter of my garage with his flashlight. My car was still in there so he was a bit too close to the sides and junk there. After he check the perimeter, I got in the car and pulled it out of the garage. We both stood in the middle of the garage and checked more. We made a lot of noise. Nothing. No rattle. No hiss. No movement.

That's all he could really do. He told me to call back if I heard it again. GAH!

I know, I know. Welcome to Texas. And people that live in the country get these things in their houses all the time. But the people I know have brains and still don't like the snakes. Familiarity or not - they're dangerous and should be feared.

So last night, I did a lot of praying. The boys prayed, too. I told God, I am SCARED here. I don't want to live in fear. So we asked for a God snake barrier around the house. Then we extended it to our neighborhood. Then we extended it to everyone we love. So you guys are all protected from poisonous snakes!

After getting the boys into bed VERY late, I picked up my iPod and opened my online bible. I searched every verse for snake, viper, or serpent. And the verse I chose to claim in prayer was Psalm 91. It is one that I've sent to sick friends. It's one that sustained me through my divorce. I love it.

Psalm 91 (New Living Translation)

¹ Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
² This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
³ For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
⁵ Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
⁶ Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
⁷ Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.
⁸ Just open your eyes,
and see how the wicked are punished.

⁹ If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
¹⁰ no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.
¹¹ For he will order his angels
to protect you wherever you go.
¹² They will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
¹³ You will trample upon lions and cobras;
you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!

¹⁴ The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
¹⁵ When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
¹⁶ I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.”

So today, I was still scared. I just kept God in my head all day. I know he understand fear. So he took care of us. I went into the garage a few times. Got the car out, back in, back out again. No events. My fear got less and less. But I'm on guard.

This evening, I was talking to my friend on the phone. He's the dad of one of Lil'Bro's little classmates. I told him about the snake. He insisted on coming over to check the garage. I didn't like that idea. I don't want to be responsible if something did happen to him. He came anyway. He took this big 10 foot pole I have that extends to clean windows and the like. He poked around behind everything in the garage. We made all sorts of noise. Nothing. No hissing, no rattling, no movement of any kind.

I think the snake is gone. I think God got him out of there. I'm still asking God for that barrier around the house. It's snake season. They're coming out now. So I will be vigilant. I'm still on guard. I'm still really wanting to buy snake boots or the full regalia. But I know God's got my back. And I gotta "cowboy up" as one of my friends put it. Gotta get used to this.

Welcome to suburbia in Texas.

Oral Surgery: Good Times...Goooood Times

Well today, Pokemon Boy had his oral surgery. Yes, because I assumed my child had low maintenance teeth like me, I never rode him about brushing or flossing. I didn't take him to the dentist until he had an issue. So his first time was this year - at the age of eight. Granted, I went for the first time at 13 and only had like 2 small cavities. But apparently, I was lucky.

So my unlucky son had to go under general anesthesia today to get one baby molar extracted, two of them crowned and two of them filled. All the molars were sealed.

We were covered in a ton of prayer. And it showed. Pokemon Boy was incredibly calm all day. His appointment time was 11:30am. We got there at 10:45am. They took us back into pre-op around 1:30pm because they were running late. Around 2:15pm, they gave him the "happy juice". It's ibuprofen and something that basically makes kids act drunk. At about 3pm, they came to take him into the OR.

He was completely patient during the whole wait. Even though he hadn't eaten since the night before. He had his last sips of water at 6:30am. I wasn't eating or drinking for solidarity. And by noon, I was parched and cranky. He just kept waiting. Oh yah - did I mention that he brought his Nintendo DS with him? I think that had a tiny bit to do with his amazing patience. At one point I said, "Thanks for being so patient, bud." Without skipping a beat he says, "Of course I'm patient. I AM a patient. Ha ha!" Too funny.

The only nerves showed up when they came to take him away. He kept joking, "Well, I'm one hour closer to the end of my life," which I privately didn't find funny. So when they came for him, the nurse asked, "Do you have any questions?" He said, "Just one. Where will you bury me?" The nurse was horrified but he thought it was funny. Anyway, as he left, he looked back and said, "Are you sure they won't hurt me?" The nurse and I assured he would be fine and not feel a thing.

About 45 minutes later, the doctor came in to tell me she had finished and Pokemon Boy was in recovery. Wow! About 30 minutes later, I could hear a fog-horn of a wail from down the hall. Oh boy. Pokemon Boy fog-horned all the way back to the post-op room. He had a real rough time coming out of the anesthesia. He was very confused & frightened. He kept crying, "Don't let them hurt me!!!" and "Is it all done? Completely??"

If you've ever had general anesthesia, one of the weirdest things is how you have no concept that time has passed. I remember for one of my surgeries, they were putting me under. And suddenly I was being woken up. It was like they were going, "Oh wait, we have to tell you one more thing before you go to sleep." Just no concept of time at all. So I think what was happening was that Pokemon Boy thought he had woken up during or before the surgery. Yesterday, he was very nervous about that happening. That would explain why he kept saying, "Don't let them hurt me!" When I assured him it was all done and he was in post-op, he kept asking me "Are you sure? Really?"

The nurses also explained that some people have this reaction when coming out of anesthesia. One nurse told me, "I'm just telling you this for his college years: he will be an UGLY drunk. What's going on here is just like the 'tears in your beers' you see with some drunks. You need to warn him not to drink because it won't be pretty." I thought that was very funny. But also completely agree with her!

So his recovery was very loud. He was crying in that yelling way. And not screaming. If you've ever met someone that can really PROJECT (like me and Pokemon Boy), you know what I mean. He was crying LOUD. He would answer me LOUD. Even saying, "OK" or "I'm sorry" was at like 952 decibels. So once he was awake enough, I had to make him focus on me and say things like, "Honey, you need to wake up enough to control your voice. You're talking very loud and there are other people recovering here." Then he'd try to "whisper" which brought it down to kind of loud talk. But it was quieter than the LOUD.

As he finally started snapping out of it, he'd be laying there watching the TV in his room and suddenly his heart rate would race and his face would screw up like he was about to start crying again. And just as suddenly, he'd calm right down.

By the time they were ready to kick us out, he was calm but still VERY groggy. When they brought the wheelchair for him, he got upset and asked, "How long will I have to use THAT?!" They explained it's normal procedure for leaving after surgery.

He slept most of the way home. Right now, he's sitting on the couch playing his DS and watching Sponge Bob. He's pretty mellow. He's hungry. Already polished off some applesauce. Now he wants pizza. Can't have that yet. So I must run to find something for him to eat.

Just thought I'd let you all know it went really well. I think the peace he had going in was definitely from God. The procedures went well. We're home and in a pretty normal routine, all things considered.

Oh, my mom picked up Lil'Bro from day care. And she brought us all dinner. Seriously, I'm pretty sure I have the coolest mom in the world. For me, that is.

Fortis Vox Pro Deus

Here's a little something for y'all. It's about the only recording of my voice since probably the late 90's? I'm learning how to use some recording software on this lovely new iMac. It's very basic but very fun. I loooooooove harmonies. So I did a little experiment this afternoon and put a partially written praise song together. I had to make it into a movie because Facebook doesn't let you post pure MP3 files to personal pages. So forgive the quick toss-together. And enjoy.

A Dentist Visit WithOUT Anxiety

In contrast to Pokemon Boy's visit to the dentist a while ago, Lil'Bro had his first dentist visit today. Granted he's five so they don't have a lot of expectations and you can slip a lot past them the first time. But he also doesn't have any of the anxiety disorder Pokemon Boy has either. It was a whole different visit. X-rays? Done. Cleaning? Done. Cavities? None.

I really was so proud of him. He did everything he was told. He didn't like the little plastic things you bite down on while you get x-rays because they cut into the roof of your mouth. I don't know anyone that loves those things. But he bit, held it and released exactly as told. The cleaning, he told the lady he didn't want her to squirt water into his mouth. She said, "How 'bout we try it just once and see how it goes." He agreed and everything went fine.

Since his visit was completely stress free and no drama, I was able to think about taking a picture with my cell phone. Something I hadn't been able to do for Pokemon Boy's first visit. Which bums me out. But oh well.

Here is a picture of Lil'Bro getting his cleaning. They give the kids sunglasses to wear under the bright lights. It's a bit washed out because of the lights but it's cute anyway.