Monday positives

Well, there is only one positive for today, mainly because I don't have much time. We are leaving today for Oregon. Mark, my youngest brother, is getting married on February 6th. I am hoping that we will be able to stay for a little while and visit with my family and friends. So you probably won't hear from me until after the 14th. I'd like to spend Aidan's birthday with my family. Take care everyone.

PBS and Margaret Spellings.

I was very disappointed that PBS is backing down. Have you heard about the kids program they have called "Post Cards from Buster"? It's an animated show about a bunny who travels around the country with his airline pilot Dad visiting with families along the way. In one episode he visits Vermont, where he meets two same sex families. I hear that they are not going to distribute this episode because "Margaret Spellings, the new secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, criticized the episode as inappropriate for children." I had hoped that PBS would be able to stand up for all American Families and not bow to oppression. Perhaps the threat of the loss of some funding, although just the amount of money that one episode cost, was enough to make them back down.

Mommy's little Sailor boy. 

Aidan and Buddy. 

My boy. 

A Monday Positive and a Monday Negative.

I went to the Doctor this morning. All the blood work came out really good. She said that except for my weight I'm very healthy. Blood sugar and cholesterol levels are VERY good according to her. She said that she isn't worried about the Celebrex, because there hasn't been enough research and the main genetic factors I need to worry about have to do with clots and cholesterol and Celebrex actually thins the blood a little. As for the dizziness, she just wants me to keep track and see if it's related to a cold or sinus problem or perhaps the ... I don't remember how to spell it, meniers disease or something like that. There isn't much that can be done about it anyway. She and the Health Educator, Katherine, are ok with my progress even though I haven't lost any weight in the last month, I also didn't gain any weight either.

Last night Aidan decided to get Howard's cup out of the microwave. I was on the phone, and Howard had to run to the bathroom, when the microwave beeped. A few seconds later I heard Aidan yelling. He had climbed up onto the ice chest that is in front of the table the microwave is on and taken the cup of hot water out. In the process of climbing down with it he spilled it on his right arm at the elbow. He had a slight scald, it was red for a few minutes. There are still some patches that are pinkish and one area that looks like if might blister, but he doesn't seem to be in pain. He keeps doing everything that he always does. The only time it seemed to hurt was when I grabbed his arm to keep him from falling. I am so glad that he is ok. It was scary.

This and that.

For those of you who are on our Friends and Family message board, I want to apologize to you for the inappropriate message Howard's Mom posted. She thinks she is the Queen of the guilt trip, but in reality she is more of a Drama Queen. I've asked her not to post such things there again.

Aidan is saying more words now. He says something that sound close to "I Love you" when I say "I love you" to him. He is trying to make the sign for I love you. I wish I could give you a clear description of it, but today my mind seems to want to take the long way around everything.

He covers his mouth with his hand and says "Skoos me" whenever I burp. Because I do that. He hasn't connected that when he burps he should do it too.

I wish Buddy would eat more. He is looking really skinny. We give him plenty of food, and he even has an extra bowl where it's harder for the neighbor dogs to get to, but he doesn't eat it. I don't know what to do. On the other hand Miss Kitty is getting pretty fat. I thought she might be pregnant, but I held her last night and it's all just chubbiness, her legs and chest are also getting fatter, not just her tummy. I didn't feel any babies when I was petting/squeezing her belly, I hope that she will hold off on her first heat so that I can get the money to get her fixed. I don't want to add to the unwanted cat population.

I'll see the Doctor and the Health Educator on Monday. I'll talk to the Doctor about the Celebrex, because my family has a history of heart problems. We will also discuss the blood test results and other health questions I have for her. I'll talk to the Health Educator about what I've done to adjust my eating habits, and what kinds of exorcise I've been doing, or not doing. I've worked on reducing my portion sizes, partly by using smaller plates and by cooking less food at any given meal. I've walked some and danced some, but not enough. Probably only about 20 minutes a week on average. I need to up that to closer to 80 minutes a week. But I do have a plan, so I've got a good start. It's going to take a lot of time, to work up to the right eating and exorcise habits, but I'm determined to do it.

Last night my left leg slipped out from under me and I fell hard on right hip and left arm. I almost fell on top of Aidan. I don't know what caused me to slip. My left arm hurts, that achey feeling just before a muscle cramp is closest to how it feels. My right leg will have bruises from the hip down to the knee because I fell into Aidan's carseat. But I missed Aidan and didn't break or sprain anything so I guess I'm lucky. Oh, and I think I'm going to have a nasty bruise on the upper part of my left knee.

I've been using my slow cooker a lot, well once or twice a week. I've made Rroasts, Swiss steak , Cchili Verde, and today I'm making Chili. I really like the way things turn out, tender with the flavors well mixed. So far everything has been pretty easy to put together. The hardest part is the cutting and chopping of the veggies. The house smells so good when I use it.

We are working on coming up with the money to get up to Oregon for Marks wedding. I want to be up there a couple of days before our money comes in, but I may not be able to pull that off. I guess we could leave really early on the 3rd, and hope to be up there and not totally exhausted for the bachelor's party on the 4th. The wedding is the 6th so I'm sure I'll make it in time for that. I don't know if Howard will be going with me or not. I'm not looking forward to driving that far alone with Aidan, but I could do it if I need to. Or maybe it would be better to go by train? Hmm I'll have to check out the cost of tickets.

I'm feeling a little divided, I want to move into a bigger place, and I want to move back to Oregon. Howard is looking for jobs up there, and if he goes to the Wedding with me he will spend some of his time looking through the papers, and actually going to the places he would like to work to put in applications. If he doesn't go with me then I'll bring back the papers for him. It might not be wise to move into the bigger house just to have to sell it and move to Oregon, but I REALLY want to move into the bigger space. And what if Howard doesn't get a job in Oregon for a couple of years? I don't want to live in this place for that long.

Monday Positives.

It's been quite a while since I last took the time to think of the good things in my life.

Aidan is happy and healthy.
Learning to use my slow cooker.
Eating better, and loosing 2 pounds last month.
Talking to the people I love on the phone.
Finally getting a new cell phone. (Now if only I can talk Jimmy into letting me keep it.)

I hope everyone has a good week.

The right side of Aidan's bad hair cut. 

The back and left side of Aidan's bad hair cut. Howard won't let me try to even it out. He thinks I'll end up shaving it all off. LOL 

Aidan updates.

While Aidan still isn't talking as much as I would expect him to be at 22 months, he did pick up a couple of new words over the Holidays. He says "baby" and "WOW!" I call him baby sometimes, and I'm sure he got the Wow from me while he was opening his presents. He also says "I see." and "See it." So maybe everyone is right and he has just been too busy with other things to worry about talking.

He can climb out of his bed, but doesn't do it often. Thank goodness! He likes to try to sweep, which bothers me because the broom is so long I'm afraid he will knock something down on himself. He understands about reading, and will sit with his books and pretend to read them. Sometimes he points at the words and says "A b c". He brings the books to me so I'll read them to him. Until recently he didn't want to sit still long enough to be read to.