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Danipaxton

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danipaxton

Don't click on that email from me!

Hi all,

Sheepish grin here; looks like my email got hacked and some false emails have gone out to a few. Most people had a spam filter that caught it; it is an older account from danipaxton@yahoo.com.

Please do NOT click on any links in an email that went out from me in the last week or so; I have reconnected my account but I fear that the damage (them getting my email contact list) is already done. My apologies for your inconvenience!

Happy 2016, and may this year, the spammers and hackers have the elastic in their underwear snap while gigantic zits form on their noses!

 

Danielle Kelley

cell 303 523-9096 

This email communication is intended as a private communication for the sole use of the primary addressee and those individuals listed for copies in the original message. The information contained in this email is private and confidential and If you are not an intended recipient you are hereby notified that copying, forwarding or other dissemination or distribution of this communication by any means is prohibited. If you are not specifically authorized to receive this email and if you believe that you received it in error please notify the original sender immediately. We honor similar requests relating to the privacy of email communications.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

I don't know if you still get stuff at this email addy, but I wanted to wish you a happy HAPPY Birthday! I think of you guys alot and wonder how little bundle of wonder is doing, and if a sibling is on the way? Anyway, just wanted to say hi and hope all is well with you guys! Blessings!! ~Dani Danielle Kelley cell 303 523-9096  This email communication is intended as a private communication for the sole use of the primary addressee and those individuals listed for copies in the original message. The information contained in this email is private and confidential and If you are not an intended recipient you are hereby notified that copying, forwarding or other dissemination or distribution of this communication by any means is prohibited. If you are not specifically authorized to receive this email and if you believe that you received it in error please notify the original sender immediately. We honor similar requests relating to the privacy of email communications.

FINALLY FRIDAY!!!

Where, oh where to begin??? How about with a comment on all the political activity that we've heard lately: "When's it gonna be OVER?!?" Okay, so since McCain announced Palin as his running mate, and I have read/heard some of the absolutely hateful and contrived "news" about her and her family (Hel-lo-oh? You really think that's her grandson? She was in her 40's when she had Trig, and that's a huge risk-age for having a baby with Downs. Besides, she couldn't have had the baby--little Trig is 5 months old, and the little darling is 5 months pregnant. Let me get out my abacus and do the math... Let their family, at least, have some private life!!)

Speaking of political activities, I had the opportunity to be in downtown Denver last week. I wasn't going to post anything about it, but decided it would be okay--heck, you all know that I'm a born and bred Republican anyway, so you all know that I would much rather have been in St. Paul this week than Denver last week. People were for the most part pretty cool, however, I did get accosted by a couple of drag queens who thought it was funny to interrupt me while I was trying to have a serious phone conversation. I just almost turned around and kicked them both in the shins--at least then we would all have gotten a laugh, except that I would have had the last laugh. They didn't need to be rude!! So maybe this week, Denver is back to normal. But then, when in any downtown metropolis, what really is normal? Did you hear that the mayor wanted to get the homeless people out of the downtown area (presumably for security reasons), so he offered them free passes to the zoo. Stupid Democrat. There were homeless people that I saw, and zoo or no zoo, they ain't stupid!! They aren't going to leave town when such an affluent group of fresh meat is coming to town--it must have been like a Christmas bonus for them!

Okay, so have I told you all lately how WONDERFUL my husband is? He works his fingers (and feet, quite literally) to the bone every day at work, and even on his off days, he's making and taking phone calls, checking sales and emails, and sending lists off to people for what to do. All this, and he still comes home after working a terrible long day with huge stressors surrounding payroll and scheduling problems, and the big lug decides to rub my feet and legs to put me to sleep last night. *Ah, sigh.* He's awesome--I am definitely going to keep him!! He's awful cute, too, you know!

Gotta brag on another FAVE of mine. A while back, I learned (from another blog--go figure) about this website called Library Thing. It's SO COOL!!! I now know where approximately half of our books are, and more specifically what they are. Okay, so I know where most of them are, but Library Thing has helped me keep track of the half of the books that I have been able to catalog in. Another thing that Library Thing does is called "Early Reviewer," and they work with publishers and get books earmarked for, surprisingly enough, early review. I have been on the list and requested early review books for months on end, but today I got my first book! Imagine my surprise, though, to open a package with a book in it that I KNOW I didn't order from Abebooks or Ebay... and because I had asked for this and several other books to review (the more you ask for, the better your chances of being selected... supposedly, anyway) back in early August, I didn't know who it was from. There was no note about early reviewing, Library Thing--okay, there was no note!! It took me a while to figure it out, but when I did, I got really excited.

So, on that note, I have to go read a book now! I improve my chances of being selected again if I actually read the book and give it a review, so I've got some homework.

By the way, if your name is Staci, and you're reading this, START A BLOG, BABY!!!

:-)

GREAT place to buy books, and CHEAP!

Hey all--   Wanted to share with you a great website to buy books. I have been using them for a couple of months now, and just purchased Princess #3's college textbooks from them. It's called Abebooks.com. Other resources which I'm sure you are aware of are Ebay, but also don't forget their partner website, half.com. They have managed shipping prices, so it saves you from some of those sellers that would otherwise gouge you for prices.   Also, if you're a bookie, like DH and I are, then you may need a way to manage them. For that, I highly recommend LibraryThing.com, and if you have a TON of books, like we do, then a cuecat will also come in handy.   On that note, we have three potential buyers coming to look at our castle tomorrow, so I gotta go primp the house!!   See ya!

Now is as good a time as any...

So, the latest news on the the NOT Brady Bunch:

Princess #1 is changing where she works. She'll now be working for some British Security Firm... Either that, or some lingerie company. Not our first choice, but a bigger company with a stronger leg on which to stand--at least for now. Of course, the night she came over insisting that she would be dropped from her college classes if we didn't pay for them that night, she informed us that she was thinking about going to work for Starbucks, who reportedly reimburse $1000 per semester. HELLO-OH? We responded by telling her what our favorite drinks were, and that we'd expect her to be at the local location serving us our beverages before the week was out. She didn't buy that, so we're letting her buy her books. Hey, she's got to have some ownership in her edumucation, right? Really, though; we couldn't be more proud of her dedication and work ethic. Even if we are convinced that she works so hard so she can go blow her money on clothes and burritos the size of her head!

Princess #2 has recently started a job at a great sandwich place. She gets to make shakes and come home smelling like toasted lunchmeat & cheese. She seems to enjoy working with everyone except the manager, so we'll see if this one lasts longer than the first job... I think she quit that one as soon as they handed her a mop. She's also starting her official sophomore year in high school, and is trying to convince her dad that it's so different this year because she's not a freshie. Keep dreamin', Honey! It's the same school, the same kids, and the same teachers. And those new freshies were in the 7th grade when you were top of the local junior high!

Update on Princess #3: She did swimming over the summer (after soccer in the spring. In the SPRING, people??? Hello, it's COLD here in the spring!!), and did very well at the swim meets. She's pretty fast, and if she decides she wants to pursue this, then we may look at getting her some lessons for launching off of the blocks and making turns more effectively. She was pretty excited to watch swimming during the Olympics recently. She and one of her best friends are writing their second book, and planning a trip (not anytime soon!) to Japan to ask the creators of Naruto if they can use their characters in their books so they can publish them. We support her all the way, while also advising her that they may or may not agree to sharing their license, and so helping her come up with some alternatives in case they don't. She is starting into the 8th grade, and she's thrilled to have classes with many of her friends, and only one friend that she has neither class nor lunch with this year. It's amazing how important it is to not be the bottom idol on the totem pole.

I don't remember it being such an issue when I was in school, but then, when there are 12 people in your class, and you have essentially every class with them year in and year out, there's not really much change from year to year. The things I remember looking forward to in High School were freshman initiation, which was a week of the seniors having fun with the freshies, but it was good, clean fun, and the freshies enjoyed it as much as the rest of the school did. After that, it was the junior-senior prom, which I didn't have to deal with because we moved, and I got to go to a prom where I didn't have to spend countless hours selling concessions at the b-ball games or hanging streamers in order to go. Then of course, there's graduation, but then, I never looked down on the underclassmen. Or did I, Mom? My memory is a little foggy. I recently missed my ()#&)(%-th year reunion (hey, if you don't remember when I graduated, then I'm sure I'm younger in your mind than would be otherwise!), and Classmates is inviting me to look at all the pics from the event. Did it ever occur to them to send me an invitiation???

Anyway, as far as the family as a collective is concerned, we are going to actively try to sell the palace that required the gross domestic product of a small country to pay the mortgage. We would love to list it with a realtor, but don't have the equity it would take in the current market to be able to do so. SO, we've stuck a for sale by owner sign in the yard, and are going to try something called a 5-day sale in the next month or so if it doesn't sell before then. Hey, who wants (when there are teenagers in the house) to try to keep the whole house spotless in case an agent drops by with no warning? Maybe a better question would be "Who CAN?"

Dear Hubby and I are also working with a financial coach to help us make our dreams become reality. Hey, we've screwed it up enough without help, and if we don't have some serious accountability, we won't put into effect the knowledge that we already have. Okay, so we haven't learned anything that shattered our viewpoints on money, but we are changing our mindset about it. Such as: DH came up with a great idea of a title for a book that we're going to write together: Don't buy a house unless you're debt-free, dummy! (Say it in your best Red Fox voice, and you'll get the feel of it). Anyway, we're experiencing some great successes, and would love to share with anyone who will listen. I won't bore you here, though.

Oh, how about an update on the pooch? Well, Sweet Dog did make it through the first 30 days--in fact, she's still kickin' it in the back yard with Annoying Dog on a daily basis. She "lost" 15 pounds of water weight, thanks to the Lasix, and we quickly realized how skinny she was! We now have a dog that costs us a whole bunch of money (in medicine) each month, but there is NO trade-off: she's a great dog. At least we only have to medicate her twice per day now, and it doesn't have to be EXACTLY 12 hours apart. Good thing, too, or we'd have lost her by now--life is just too hectic to keep such a schedule!

DH's job is keeping him hopping--his schedule changes weekly, and his days "off" begin by checking work emails and calling various personnel at the store. My schedule has also been pretty busy--not like DH's, but then, I'm also behind on laundry, cleaning out the closet, and repairing some holes in the bathroom wall where the towel bar got ripped out... Maybe I should try working as many hours as he does, and then it might all get done! At least we're both getting our homework done in time for our financial coaching sessions. Well, at least mostly!

On that note, I'm gonna call it a post and git on outta here. I've got some homework to do! Hey, feel free to leave comments--it lets me know that people are reading, which encourages me to post more. As in, more frequently. As in, more frequently than three times per year.

CIAO!

SICK of political ads

Okay, I just got an email from a friend in Germany, and he tells me he's glad that they don't get all the political ads over there. He's not too excited about all the stuff he sees on TV about suicide and sex; however... And I have to ask him: Is there a difference between what we're watching, I mean, really???

Okay, back to blogging. You know, I couldn't remember the last time I had blogged until a DEAR friend asked me for the url. When I tried to log in to moderate a comment she had left, I realized (in a bit of a panic, thinking I would have to start a whole new blog, and come up with some other goofy name for it) that I had forgotten my login and password--yes, it's been that long, and I surely do apolgize. That's okay, so many of you know me that you know to expect the next post about the time you get a Christmas card from me (and if you don't remember when to expect one of those, please read my December 12 post--it's only a couple posts down!!). Does it make me feel guilty that my blog is one of Suni's favorite links on her blog page? Uh, YEP!

On that note, I just wanted to stop in and say hi, we're still alive, and we really are going to start blogging again. So, stay tuned!!

I hope to give directions in an upcoming post about how to do an RSS feed, but first, I gotta figure out how to do it!!

Ciao for now!

All you bloggers, BEWARE!

I don't blog this much (OBVIOUSLY!!), but for those of you that do, please be careful!

 

http://www.timeswatch.org/articles/2008/20080407150959.aspx

 

Peace out.

an AWESOME poem!!

By our dearest Princess #3, for a recent school assignment (creatively entitled "Photo Poem"):

Water splashing on my face

Plop Down I go

Giving more of my life to grace

Up I come

Feeling as good as a flower

I made my choice

and now God gave me a big voice

to speak out to others

My sisters and my brothers

Look who's alive!

Okay, so I don't feel as bad as I did... I thought I hadn't posted since before Thanksgiving. I know, you were starting to wonder if you were ever going to hear from us again! Merry Christmas!

Well, okay, so we survived Christmas, barely.

DH's Dad was still ill with the same kidney stones that had been plaguing him since October. They had scoped and stinted and all kinds of stuff; to make a short story long (don't get too excited... it's gonna be long!), the larger stone passed out of one of the kidneys but was too large to pass out of the other (scoping didn't work because it went back up inside the kidney) side. Big stone, full of yucky kidneys-clean-the-crud-out-of-your-blood stuff, with sharp crystal edges and all caused the stone to lodge as it tried to pass, but instead caused scratching and pain and more infection. ANOTHER scope, another stint, another round of antibiotics, and they decided to do the laser treatment to crush the stone on Christmas Eve. Well, all seemed to be good; PawPaw even got to go home that same afternoon. Couldn't get back to the hospital fast enough, though, and complications, internal bleeding and clots and more kept him there until earlier this year. Oh yeah, Happy New Year.

So, DH and I had made an emergency trip out to see his folks when his Dad initially had the complications in early December. You may recall, that there were some horrifically BAD ice storms in December in Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri? Yeah, well, we got out there fine, but woke up the morning we were supposed to leave to a veritable winter wonderland--we felt like we were in Narnia. Yep, it seems that I recall they have no electricity in Narnia, too. Powerlines down across the road prevented us from getting out; we rented another from Enterprise (they come pick you up, you know) so we could get to the airport in time for our flight out that night. On the way to the airport, we found out that our flight had been cancelled and that we had been scheduled for the same flight out the next evening ... Didn't really want to hang out in Wichita for the night; besides, we both needed to be at work! So, DH made the executive decision that we would rent yet another car (can't take Enterprise one-way or there's a ridiculous fee--like $1000 or so), and drive thru Kansas. In the middle of the oncoming ice storm, as another storm was heading east from Colorado. A trip that normally takes 11 hours total took over 24 driving (white-knuckled, all the way), and we only stopped for about 7 hours to get some much needed rest. Do you know, our neighbor called us at 3 a.m., complaining that our dog was barking and that we needed to do something to shut her up. She didn't really seem to care that we were in another state! Argh, that dog. She didn't care that we were in another state, either.

So, got home, and Dear Wifey got sick. Just in time for Christmas... didn't get the baking, shopping, or Christmas cards done, and that's my excuse this time. I'll have to come up with another one for Christmas 2008, so stay tuned for that excuse! I was back up and vertical for Christmas Day, and we had a beautiful, albeit slightly-dangerous-if-you-were-driving day. Dad was supposed to come up, and even set out this direction, but turned back because the roads were pretty slick. I still have his gift waiting for him...

New Year's was fairly uneventful--the laziest 4 days I recall ever having. By the 4th day, I decided that if the fever that was keeping me down didn't break that I was going to go make some snow angels in my delicates. Fortunately (?), I didn't have to resort to such measures, and was able to be back at work on Thursday after working from home on Wednesday. By the next Wednesday, however, the lifelong smoker that works across the hall from me at work suggested that I go see a doctor about that lung I had just hacked up. Can you believe it? I've never had it before, but the verdict was bronchitis. And it's the hanger-on kind, you know, kinda like ... never mind!

So what else? Oh, the dog (the sweet one, that everybody loves--not the pain-in-the-neck one that wakes our neighbors) is very sick. Actually, sick isn't a good way to describe it--she will never get better; she has a condition. It's called Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM for short), and by the time we figured out she was even sick, she was knocking on death's door. Okay, we didn't PLAN to spend $2000 on the dog; it just kind jumped in increments. Initial check, bloodwork, X-rays: $450. Something on the X-ray is funny... water around the heart and lungs, and the heart is enlarged. Need an echocardiogram. $400. OHMYGOSH, the diagnosis; this DCM is literally a death sentence. She can't stay on oxygen ($130) at the vets office overnight, so you have to take her to the overnight facility. If she makes it thru the night, there is some medication that helps dogs w/ DCM, and she should be okay. $450. Back to the vets office in the morning (who needs to be at work by 8:00, anyway?). More X-rays, oxygen, & the like. I've lost track now of how much we're spending... just put it on the card and we'll at least get some miles. Is she gonna live? Well, if she makes it the next 30 days, then her prognosis is good. Take her home, but get some medication (cha-CHING!) after driving all over the area to find it. Oh, and she has to have the diuretic (draws the water off the heart & lungs) at EXACTLY 8-hour intervals, and she's due in 20 minutes at 6:00 p.m. (DO THE MATH: next dosage, 2 a.m. Who needs sleep? Oh yeah, bronchitis-girl does!). Took about 10 days to adjust that so that we could medicate right before Princess #3 goes to school, right after she gets home from school and yours truly gets to stay up until Midnite. Tried the going to bed & setting the alarm. We love the dog, but we also love the snooze button... it's just easier to stay up, and it's not like I'm getting any less rest anyway!

Okay, so are you sick of me griping yet?

Dear Husband and I just celebrated our 2nd year anniversary. Actually, he had to work ALL DAY on our anniversary, but we knew it was coming so we celebrated the day before. Late lunch at this great little tea house not far from home (they have GREAT mac & cheese!), then to explore the local Michael's. My husband is the BEST--he can walk around stores (and even malls, when so challenged) and not get "antsy" like so many men do. I credit that to the fact that he works in retail and always wants to see how things are merchandised, what's sold, etc. I got to show him all kinds of crafty stuff that he never knew that I enjoyed (it's been so long...), and I also got to explain to him why it's not a good idea to cross-sell too many items at a craft store. I'm still not sure that he buys it, but we had a good time. Then we went to see a great anniversary movie (okay, there were some somewhat inappropriate scenes and innuendos, but nothing too over the top, and certainly not as bad as you see on TV these days), 27 Dresses. I tell you what, I almost lost Dear Hubby within the first five minutes--brides peeing is just TMI for him! Well, we got past that, and the movie kinda gets you thinking about what your favorite part of weddings is, and so that's why it's a great anniversary movie. We had already talked and reminisced about our wedding that day, but we did a lot more of it after seeing the movie.

Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE MY HUSBAND!?!!!!! More and more every day--I didn't know that it was possible, but I credit Jesus Christ with teaching me how to love, and showing me daily how to do so.

Okay, so before this BOOK needs CHAPTERS, I'm gonna sign off. I have a really great post coming tomorrow, so (now that you haven't tuned into my blog in weeks), STAY TUNED!!!

Getting to know me...

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends.

NOTE: Okay, people! This is generally sent via email, but I wanted to post it to our blog. Please participate by copying the entry into an email and sending out to all those who love you and would want to know your favorite Christmas traditions!

 Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a  SCROOGE!!!  Just copy not forward) this entire e-mail and paste into a new e-mail that you can send.  Change all the answers so that they apply to you.  Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you......Tis the Season to be NICE!

 1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?  Wrapping paper,generally, unless the size/shape of the gift warrants a bag. Then, it's all-out: matchy-matchy tissue peeking out the top and everything.

 2. Real tree or Artificial?  Prefer real; life dictates artificial until life calms down. Looking like we'll be celebrating with a fake Christmas tree forever.

 3. When do you put up the tree?  Day after Thanksgiving. Who WANTS to go shopping when it's INSANE!?!? Besides, it's my favorite tradition that I have from growing up—we would all bundle up, because in Elbert, it was  inevitable snowing buckets, and all trudge out in the back pasture to pick the perfect tree. Mom always had the final say-so, and no matter how small a tree looks under God's great ceiling, it was always 2 feet too tall for ours!

 4. When do you take the tree down? After New Years'

 5. Do you  like egg nog?  Yes, but it's gotta be chased with some plain ole milk or something—so thick a gal could choke, you know?

 6. Favorite gift received as a child.  I will never forget the Christmas that Santa brought me a whole bunch of sewing stuff. I mean, she – ahem, HE went all out. We three kids would come out on Christmas morning, drop to our knees before our respective collections (so artfully displayed) of gifts from Santa, and dig into the fun. My  little sister, however, did not think that My Pretty Pony (or whatever it was that Santa got her that year—I'm remembering MY favorite, not hers!) was her collection, and Mom had to tell her that that was my stuff and hers was over here. I also remember (may have been the same year?) that Santa brought me a whole slew of art stuff, and I think I still have one of those sketch pads.

 7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes complete with a creche, and also a beautiful cream & gold porcelain one that becomes our Christmas dinner centerpiece. 

 8. Hardest person to buy for? Teenage mutant ninja girls. Just kidding; they give us lists. Um… usually, people I work with. You can't give a gift to everybody, and some will get something more personal, and then there's always the person that you didn't get anything for…

 9. Easiest person to buy for?  Me! I love whatever gifts I get myself. Just kidding. It's pretty easy for me to shop for my husband. He's an extension of me!

 10. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? Christmas what??? Oh, CARDS? I haven't sent those in years. 

 11.  Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I almost didn't put it, but then, it's not like they'll be reading this anyway… a frying pan. Yeah, how would you feel if the gift you got said "get in the kitchen and fix me some chicken pot pie, woman!" (Vernacular changed; I don't talk like that anymore, but the term of "endearment" started with a B and not a W)

 12. Favorite Christmas Movie. The Nativity Story, the Grinch (the Jim Carrey version, too—he did a great job!), It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story (You'll shoot yer eye out, kid!)…  Oh, was I only supposed to name one? Not gonna do it; get over it.

 13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes—and anyone that says no is LYING!

 14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Fudge (I'm going with Margaret on this one!)

 15. Clear lights or colored on the tree? On the tree: both. On the house: varies from year to year, depending upon mood and what strings still light up

 16. Favorite Christmas song?  Silent Night, Holy Night—they REAL version.

 17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay Home – especially this year!

 18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers?  Well, I could, but after Grandma got run over, they all got the chair, and he's got new ones now… Greedy, Dopey, Sneezy, Grumpy, Lumpy, and Clueless… Oh, you think not? Don't you watch the news?

 19. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?  One special one on Christmas Eve, the rest in the morning

 20. Most annoying thing about this time of year?  All the merchants that put stuff out in July and stupid retailers that think I want to buy a Holiday Tree (or worse: a Family Tree. Duh! Those are on paper, you idiots!). Do Jews put up "Hannukah Bushes"? Does anyone besides people celebrating Christmas decorate a tree? Gimme a break!

 21. Favorite ornament, theme, or color? My favorite ornaments are blown-glass; I have some that are "American" blown-glass (generally clear or colored-clear glass), and some that are Czech glass (the shaped and inside-mirrored ones) with the fancy colors. One day, I would like to have a tree with all cream & gold (& glass w/ gold) decorations and white lights. We have so many ornaments in our family, we could easily do two trees, so I may someday get my wish!

 22. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Family and friends  to share it with. And strawberry lemonade!

 23. What do you want for Christmas this year?  To honor Jesus, the Christ and the reason for the celebration, in everything.

 24. Who is most likely to respond to this?  Got it from Margaret, and she's the one I would have said…

 25. Who is least likely to respond to this?  All the rest? Hey, it's Christmas, and these things take TIME! Now, go get on those Christmas emails, ya'll!

 

quick update on DH's Dad

Many of you have been praying, and we thank you for that.

Dear Hubby and I had to leave town rather unexpectedly because his Dad (Colin) was doing poorly. So here we are somewhere in Oklahoma, and I have a few minutes to blog!

A couple of weeks ago, Colin had some pretty serious kidney stones. He had some in both kidneys, and they were fairly large. He went in and had surgery to remove them (via a scope--they didn't have to cut), and they got one but the other one went back up inside the right kidney. It wasn't small. They put a stint in, and he went home, doing very well. A couple days later, they pulled the stint out, and he seemed to be doing well until Tuesday when he woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't urinate and was in extreme pain. They went to the emergency room, and he was in considerable pain. They gave him some morphine, which helped the pain but caused some interesting delusions--he was having a hard time resting because when he was seeing things behind his eyelids.

Well, what basically had happened was this remaining large kidney stone wanted to pass and started to move down and out of the kidney. Because it was so large, and because they're not polished little stones (they're jaggedy, and filled with crud), it scraped and caused damage, and I believe it got "stuck." It was blocking the kidney, and somehow affected the other one--neither one of them was working correctly (1 is good, 7 is bad; both were at about 3.5). There was also a blood clot in the right kidney; again, likely due to the scratchy stone.

Well, they scoped him again that night, and just missed the stone again. Evidently, they want to blast it with the laser, but that's not something that they can do while he has an infection, which he certainly does. He has a stint back in place keeping the stone from moving down again, and got IV antibiotics and is now taking them to control the infection.

To make a long story short: Colin is home, and feeling okay, but worn out. Fortunately, the unpleasant side effects of the morphine has worn off and the pain is much more easily controlled now. He needs to heal and get over the infection so the doctors can take the next step.

Dear Hubby's Mom, Peggy, is also doing very well. You may recall that she has been struggling for the past couple of years and about a year ago was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. This disease is often associated with someone that has a lifetime history of drinking; Peggy never touches a drop. She has been on a number of medications for a number of years, and she has struggled with her health the last couple of years. She was diagnosed w/ cancer and had a kidney removed; the other seems to function just fine. She has experienced no small amount of God's healing in her body, and has been taken off of the liver transplant list. She still gets tired very easily, and it doesn't take much to knock her down, but she is eating well again, and has finally started to regain some of the weight that she lost when she was sick for so long.

It's hard on DH, because we are so far away. We are blessed that they have so much family around, but they also both tend to do too much--can't say no, you know? We continue to pray for them, and God continues to answer. Anyway, thank you everyone for your prayers, and know that we pray for each of you daily that God gives you the strength and support that you need to face whatever life throws your way each day.

God bless, and we'll be back in Colorado tomorrow (Monday).

~DW

Boycotting "The Golden Compass?" Our family will be!

The Golden Compass

You may already know about this, but I just learned about a kids movie coming out in December starring Nicole Kidman.  It's called The Golden Compass, and while it will be a watered down version, it is based on a series of children's books about killing God (It is the anti-Narnia).

It is written by Phillip Pullman, a proud atheist who belongs to secular Humanist societies.

Please follow this link, and then pass it on.  From what I understand, the hope is to get a lot of kids to see the movie - which  won't seem too bad - and then get the parents to buy the books for their kids  for Christmas.  The quotes from the author sum it all up.
http://snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp

The enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy.

Please pass on to everyone you know.

We need to be sure to spread the word about this movie!

Saving Money at the Pump

Easy Ways to Conserve Gas

• Take It Easy - aggressive driving ruins efficiency as much as anything. Revving the engine, quick acceleration, and high speed travel reduce your MPG a lot faster than you may realize. When applicable, use your cruise control to help keep the RPMs level.

• Timing is Everything - Stop-and-go traffic, crowded roads, and looking for a parking space are all fuel-burners. Try running your errands outside of rush hours and peak shopping times. With the amount of stores that are open late or 24-hours, you can find most of what you need later or earlier than peak times. Not only can you save time getting there and parking, but it is often cooler at these times so you don't have to run the air conditioner. Try parking as soon as you get into the parking lot (instead of driving around, looking or waiting for the perfect parking spot—that probably doesn't exist anyway!) and walking the distance.
  
  
• Race ya! – when stopped at traffic lights, do not "punch it" when it turns green; rather, come up to speed gradually, especially if you are just "racing" to another red light. Try to time your stops so that you are still rolling ever so slightly or only just stopped when that next light does turn green—it takes more gas to start from a complete stop than it does from a rolling stop.
  
  
• Don't be a "Gas-Brake-Gas" driver—when it's time to slow down, simply take your foot off the gas and let the car coast slower (unless you're about to hit somebody!), especially if you see a red light ahead or traffic slowing down. Give the car in front of you some space, and then you won't have to hit your brakes, either.
  
  
• Use common sense – if you drive a standard transmission, keep your foot on the brake at red lights, instead of "bouncing" or using the gas pedal to keep you from rolling backwards. No "creeping" either—it's hard on the brakes and hard on the transmission, not to mention your fuel economy.

• Proper Maintenance - Inexpensive do-it-yourself maintenance such as replacing your air-filter and properly inflating your tires, and using only the necessary octane can make a big impact. In addition, using the proper weight of oil and performing scheduled tune-ups can make noticeable improvements as well as keeping the oil topped off at all times.

• If you have more than one car, use the more efficient one - Sure it is a little harder to squeeze the groceries into that small trunk rather than the back of the SUV, but this may help you afford to get that filet rather than chopped liver (unless of course you like chopped liver).

• Lighten the load - the weight that an engine has to push directly affects the fuel efficiency. Take all unnecessary items out of your vehicle (you should probably keep the spare tire and related tools). In addition, although most people like going for rides, try to only take those that need to go.

• Reduce your trips -
  - On the way home stop and pick up what you need so you don't have to go back out later. Use lists so you don't forget anything. Make do with what you have when you do forget something. Call the kids before you leave the store, because they're waiting until you get home to tell you that there's a bake sale at school, and they need you to make 8,000 cookies tonight.
  - Not to support any one type of business, but try to buy what you need at a single location rather than driving to multiple stores (as long as you don't have to drive too much further to get there).
  - Clean out the fridge and cupboard rather than going out for a meal.
  - Order delivery. Sure someone is using gas, but the driver will usually be delivering to multiple people thus having a more efficient trip.

• "Carpooling, it's not just for work anymore" -
  - Go grocery shopping with your neighbor.
  - Split the dropping off and picking up of the kids with the other parents.
  - Get together with friends and family at each other's homes. This way only some, not everyone, will be traveling.

• Buy a Locking Gas Cap – Reports from several automotive parts stores report whenever a spike in gas prices occurs they see a run on keyed gas caps. Many of the people purchasing them tell the clerks the same story, "I went out in the morning and my tank had been drained".

• No Joy-Riding -
  - Remind the kids that driving is a privilege and not a right. The same bike that got them around when they were fifteen probably just needs some air in the tires (and I bet they forgot how much fun it is to pop wheelies).
  - This could be a good time to rebuild the carburetor on your classic weekend driver.

• Explore More Activities at Home -
  - Pay-per-view or home movies vs. the video store or theater.
  - Yard / Housework: finally clean out that attic / basement or weed that flower bed that keeps bothering you. Just quit procrastinating, already!
  - Athletic Activities: play catch, soccer, bike riding, hiking, jogging, walking, meditation, etc.
  - Misc.: board games, darts, reading, family talk hour, call old friends, write letters (REAL LETTERS!!), hobbies, etc.

• Explore More Activities Close to Home -
  - A Little League, high school, or youth organization game can be as much fun and a lot cheaper than taking a road trip or driving into the city for a college or professional game.
  - Explore the nature in the parks in your community rather than driving to the larger parks.
  - The local thrift stores can be more interesting than some museums.
  - Community Service - You could perform some roadside beautification (a.k.a. picking up trash) and give smug looks to all those passing motorist who are wasting gas. Or DON'T—ya' snob!
  
  
• Fill up your car or truck in the morning when the temperature is still cool. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground; and the colder the ground, the denser the gasoline. When it gets warmer gasoline expands, so if you're filling up in the afternoon or in the evening, what should be a gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and temperature of the fuel (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products) are significant. Every truckload that we load is temperature-compensated so that the indicated gallon age is actually the amount pumped. A one-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for businesses, but service stations don't have temperature compensation at their pumps.
  
  
• If a tanker truck is filling the station's tank at the time you want to buy gas, do not fill up; most likely dirt and sludge in the tank is being stirred up when gas is being delivered, and you might be transferring that dirt from the bottom of their tank into your car's tank.
  
  
• Fill up when your gas tank is half-full (or half-empty), because the more gas you have in your tank the less air there is and gasoline evaporates rapidly, especially when it's warm. (Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating 'roof' membrane to act as a barrier between the gas and the atmosphere, thereby minimizing evaporation.)
  
  
• If you look at the trigger you'll see that it has three delivery settings: slow, medium and high. When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to the high setting. You should be pumping at the slow setting, thereby minimizing vapors created while you are pumping. Hoses at the pump are corrugated; the corrugations act as a return path for vapor recovery from gas that already has been metered. If you are pumping at the high setting, the agitated gasoline contains more vapors, which is being sucked back into the underground tank so you're getting less gas for your money. Hope this will help ease your 'pain at the pump'.

~ Some of these tips were derived from Autotrader.com and some from www.FuelEconomy.gov., some from an email I must have gotten 43 times already by some guy that has worked on a pipeline for 31 years, and the rest I made up myself based on my own personal knowledge of the industry. ~

 

 

Things I have learned since becoming a mother:

(and this isn't the same list that has been circulating in emails for a couple of years that talks about a queen-sized waterbed contains enough water to flood a ranch-style home with 2 inches of water, and flushed flashlights illuminate the toilet bowl.)

• I now understand why Dad took away all my toys when I couldn't/wouldn't keep my room clean. We're mostly past the toys stage, and full-blown into the clothing stage: it's called a hamper, Sweetie!
• Kids claim (falsely, I fervently believe) that they can distinguish between clean and dirty laundry, no matter how interspersed the two may be
• Old cats pee on everything. Except kitty litter.
• Old cats barf a lot. Especially on white carpet. White carpet isn't white after cats barf on it. Now it's leopard-print!
• City kids have no idea what a growing tomato, broccoli, cucumber, or pepper plant looks like. Imagine explaining to them where the seeds come from!
• Mice like garages. Especially garages where dog food gets dropped a lot.
• Mice scare the daylights out of Moms when opening a box that was stored in the garage and there he is, peering at you just as frightened of you as you are of him. Maybe more so.
• Parent-teacher conferences are never scheduled at a good time for the parent.
• "huh" and "I dunno" are the first words teenagers learn. Older siblings and peers can be pivotal in helping them learn these words while still tweens.
• Once-A-Month-Cooking gives one much more energy throughout the rest of the month to pursue such hobbies as baking cookies, giving homework help, and haircuts.
• Once-A-Month-Cooking is best performed with help. Useful help is good, but yet oh-so-hard to find.
• Potatoes don't freeze well for once a month cooking. Still not sure how they do it for commercially-sold French-fries and hash browns, and probably don't want to know!
• Celery doesn't freeze well after being cooked, and can ruin an otherwise great quadruple batch of split pea soup
• Teenagers are an excellent example of why some of God's creatures eat their young.
• No matter how much it makes sense to eat them, we still love them—even more so when they're being most edible.
• Parents are human, and humans generally don't eat their children, unless they want to be locked away for years.
• Teenagers will lead parents to question if they will be locked away for years if, rather than eating them, they chain up their teenagers in the basement until they turn 21. They contemplate doing so anyway, and and wonder if they have enough fingers and toes to count the years.
• Parenting is a thankless job, unless and until one starts thanking one's own parents

On that note: I LOVE MY PARENTS (all of 'em!), and I forgive them for any real or mostly imagined faults (especially my part of imagining!) in their parenting of me—thank you for loving me enough to discipline me when I needed it, not that it was very often, cuz we all know what an angel I was and still am! I like to think I turned out okay, and I hate to think that they ever may have wondered how I would make it in the world.

I also understand if they still wonder…

(and just in case you were wondering, we absolutely DO love the kids!)

If Hillary is the answer, it must have been a stupid question. -unknown

Sleep, anyone?

Imagine, in your best snobby, rich-kid, brat-pack from the 80's movie voice, some snotty kid (more on that thought later) querying, "Tennis, Buffy?"

Wow, this wife and mother thing has its challenges! Like the challenge to get up in the morning and get myself ready, and crack the whip to get princess #2 moving so we can get out the door in time that she's not late for school and I'm not late for work... On the weeks that she's here, I take an alternate route to work so I can drop her off, and although I've left the house almost 30 minutes earlier, battling traffic at that beautiful high school (who failed to plan for TURN LANES and TRAFFIC CONTROL??? Sheesh, people! Did you not realize that your several thousand chilluns would be driving to school at the same time their thousands of parents are trying to get to work?), and then battling down one of those roads--you know, the kind with enough lights to make the traffic move so slowly that only two cars can get through on each cycle? It's amazing I get to work at all, some days. But, the Lord has blessed me with some outSTANDing sunrises! Particularly because of the unfortunate fires in Cali these past weeks, the atmosphere has enough junk in it that even when there aren't any clouds for painting, the sky itself is shaded the most unusual and beautiful hues.

Challenges... yeah, that's where I was going (how cool that I got sidetracked by beautiful blessings?). The challenge to get dinner on the table at a reasonable hour. Princess #3 has been an amazing help in this department, as has our family's decision (read: solely my decision, and the rest of them had no choice in the matter) to start Once a Month Cooking. (Go Google it--it's a ton of work up front, but a lot less later) #3 and I gotta work on the final directions--I often forget that she hasn't spent as much time in the kitchen as I have, and directions like "dump the bag into the bowl and put it in the oven on 400" don't get translated into "dump the bag, smash the contents down so there's not a mountain sticking out the top and getting burned and oven-dried beyond reasonable limits of human consumption and pools of liquid surrounding aforementioned mountain like a bubbling moat." Challenges communicating: "Can I go trick or treating with Sally (names always changed to protect the guilty)" actually means "will you come home early from work, help me put the final touches on my costume, and then take me over there--oh, and pick me up when we're done, and no, I didn't study for my 2 tests that I have on Friday like you told me I had to do or I couldn't go with Sally..."

Or how about the challenge of trying to make gravy for the potroast (which has been cooking all day, the mere smell of which has set the tummy monster into a fit of rage) while trying to answer the door for trick-or-treaters? I swear, every time I dumped some of the slurry in, the doorbell would ring. Well, at least it got to cook long enough that the gravy didn't taste like flour. (Again, back to the blessing... Hmm, I guess I'm still a raging "good attitudist"!)

Or, the challenge of getting the hubby home in time to have dinner before the clock tells me that it's tomorrow? I tell you what, he had worked almost 60 hours between Sunday and Wednesday, and not a day off in sight. I do like to see him live and in person every once in a while (I have his picture on my desk for those days when I can't wait to see him--which would only be days that end in "y"), and because he isn't the best at making time for meals while at the store, I like to have something ready for him to eat when he gets home. We then sit at the table and unwind him from the day, and I catch him up on the latest Princess Antics. Occasionally, one or more of the Princesses will stay up so they can see him before bed--oh, and then be so tired that the alarm gets shut off in the morning and DW gets a call saying someone overslept and just woke up and whoops, school started 45 minutes ago and oh, do you think that's a problem to oversleep on the day after All Saint's Day Eve? (Just in case you're wondering, YES, it's a problem. No more trick-or-treating for you, ever. Just kidding. I DO love you, Princess #3! I guess it shows, since I surprised you with the finishing touches for your costume and only reminded me that "you owe me bigtime" about 8 times!)

Then there's the challenge of sleep. Sleep, that blessed state in which one's body is refreshed, rejuvenated, and revived to do it all again another day. That state which has effectively eluded me for far too long. Thanks be to cats, who complain loudly throughout the night that they need food, and such tasty morsels have to be doled out in tiny portions because Old Man Wulfie will barf because he eats too fast and his old tummy can't take it anymore. Or Little Chunk will just starve to death (NOT!) if she doesn't get some food right now. And if it's not food, it's snuggle. As in, snuggle NOW! Oh, were you sleeping? Well, all the better, that means she has a captive audience. I have kicked the cats in my sleep before--would it be wrong if I pretended to sleep and gave them the boot? Hey, they'll never know that I wasn't sleeping... Not that it's all the cats' fault--somehow, I'm just waking up for no apparent reason in the middle of the night. How can a person be so tired and still have such a hard time sleeping?

So, back to Buffy. Sleep, Buffy? Oh, Buffy rhymes with fluffy. As in pillow. Pillow-top bed. Comfy. Calling my name. Now. Gonna go try to snag some of those elusive Z's. Slap-happy? Delirious? Can barely type? Choose "D," all of the above.

Drifting off, thinking, "I can't wait to review this post tomorrow and see what I really wrote." Should be entertaining! Stick THAT in your snobby-voice pipe and smoke it! Gosh, I love those old 80's movies, the really stupid ones with John Cusack in them. I'll probably have a dream where some kid is screaming "two dollars" all night long. Ahh. Dreams. Okay, NITEY-NITE!

check out the link

Even if you've never been to YouTube, all you have to do is click on the link at the right that says "Are you proud?"

Great stuff--and from a 15-year-old! Thanks be to God that there are some teenagers that aren't so absorbed into MTV, Ipods, MySpace and FaceBook that they can see what's really going on in the world.

Thanks to Mimi for the link, and the email entitled "grab a hanky!"