The Group

Well another school years is coming to an end. The kid's last day is Friday (only a half day). I remember the euphoric feeling that last day of school. You woke up and got ready for school faster than any other day of the year. You couldn't wait for that last bell to ring. Once you heard it you ran home to throw your stuff in the door and off you went with your friends.

Now this was mostly true until Jr. High. This is when I started hanging out with "The Group" as we called ourselves. It consisted of Staci, Jenni, myself, Diego (my boyfriend at the time), Russ (Jenni's boyfriend and now husband), Dave, Curtis, Randi (Staci's ex and eventual baby daddy), and Maria (a very short term friend and Randi's other ex).


Our days consisted of hanging out with each other, mostly at Jenni's house. Days of dancing in Jenni's basement to "Baby's Got Back" and Prince and the like. Days of playing pool and Rummy. Days of sitting around just laughing our brains out. Or worrying over the next drama that we were sure would end life as we knew it. Camping at Mahoney in the pouring rain. Days of me drawing on Jenni's bedroom walls. A day of dressing 3 guys up in makeup and they went to a local grocery store. Even drinking coffee all night at Denny's.

These are such wonderful memories. You see these weren't just my friends, they were/are my family. They were there for me when no one else was. They were there when you needed a shoulder to cry on. We held each other up. We held each other accountable for our mistakes but loved each other anyway. I miss those days. We have all scattered into many different directions. All living our own lives.

I am still very close to Jenni. Jenni has been my best girl friend for years. She is closer to a sister than a best friend. She is a miraculous lady. A true friend. There was a time when we didn't talk and I am so sad we missed out on those years together. When we finally talked after, I think 6 years, we picked up our friendship as if we hadn't missed a day. She has been the only friend in my life who I never hid anything from. It is so sad that we have to live so far apart. We only het to see each only once a year. In that time though we have a ton of fun and a ton of laughs. She has the funniest laugh I have ever heard. She has always been my best audience, I love to get her laughing. She is a mommy to 3 boys and I know that has to be tough being the only girl, but she handles it with grace.

I haven't seen or talked to Dave, Curtis, Maria or Randi in years. I have talked on and off with Staci for about 2 years now. I think that is a relationship that will always be an on and off again kind of thing.

I have resumed my friendship with Diego. It is different friendship now than before. At one point I thought we would marry and live our happily ever after. With his career choice and my pregnancy we just couldn't ever find our way back to each other. So we had a lot of unresolved things to talk out, when we finally caught up with each other. It had been about 7-8 years since we broke up when we started talking again. Things got a little messy as things tend to do. We ended up not talking again for a few years but we've crept back into a conversation between friends that started18 years ago. It is strange now to try and have that great friendship. We are both married with kids and both happy. But Diego always had a way of talking me down from doing something stupid. At the time he knew me more than I knew myself. Yes we were dating but he was more then a boyfriend, he was my best friend. I miss our open and candid conversations. I miss NOT having to watch what I say as to not offend our spouses.

It all comes down to wishing more than anything to have those close relationships back. Most of the friends will never even speak to each other again for various reasons. I am glad that I still have 2 people that have shared so much together.

Our"Group" of people will never share the bond we had with anyone else in their lives. In my dreams I still go back to them and laugh and just hang out. I will always carry a special place in my heart for each and everyone of them.

I hope that everyone has this closeness with someone in their lives............

Da** Squirrels!!!

SO today Noah runs in from getting the mail and says "Mom you have a red strawberry!" So I hurriedly run out to check. Sure enough I see red peeking through the green leaves. My first strawberry I am so excited! I go to pick it and notice it looks odd. The DA** Squirrels ate most of my strawberry! You can even see their little teeth marks. I guess it isn't enough that they spin my bird feeder and throw all the seeds on the ground. Then proceed to gobble them up!!! Now I have been an avid advocate for the squirrels, but not anymore. They have crossed the line! This means war!!!!



P.S. I also included a photo of my tomatoes. They have been green for more than 2 weeks. I am wondering when and if ever they will turn red?

Hey

I had the window repair guy come out to estimate the cost of fixing the window. Oh yeah $228! Doesn't that feel great? Being put out $228 for some idiots funny joke? I so want to catch the little pain that did it.

Morgan is doing much better. She is sore but up and moving around. She has laid off the pain medicine since Sunday. She even crawled to the top bunk to sleep in her own bed tonight. Her check-up is on June 15th.

Noah passed his E.O.G. (End of Grade) tests!!! That means he can move on to 5th grade in July. I was so worried he might not pass with coming in at the end of the year and all. With the extra studying and the catch up work we did, he passed with flying colors. Jimmy is escorting Noah on his first field tomorrow. It will be his first trip in 3 years. Noah is so excited.

Mary has been a trooper this past week with Morgan being sick and all. She has been determined to help her all the time. Well this afternoon Mary had enough helping. She started getting a fever and now has progressed into throwing up.

My stomach hasn't been feeling that great today either....

Can this past couple of weeks get any better?

Updates

Wow it has been 10 days since I last posted a blog. So many updates........

My garden is growing like wildfire! I have almost a dozen tomatoes growing. I have one Chile pepper growing. I have 2 strawberries on there way to sweet goodness. The peas are growing out of control. The carrot tops are sprouting up. The watermelon plants are getting bigger. My flowers are starting to bloom. It is great to see hard work come to fruition.

I have lost 10 pounds total. I have lost 5 inches in my waist. I am not so sore after workouts. I am lifting more weight then I thought I could. Even dong more sit ups than I EVER expected to!

Noah started school on Monday. He was so excited I thought he would faint. I dropped them off at their appointed time (8am) and vowed to be back for lunch. That morning I tried to keep myself very, very busy as to not think of the phone call that he was low. Thankfully it didn't come. When 12:30pm came Mary and I met him for lunch. Noah was just beaming. He couldn't stop talking about how wonderful it was to be in school after 3 years. He loved being in his classroom, his teacher, his classmates, and their mini classroom library that he got to pick out his own book. I said when he got the hang of what to cab at lunch, he could sit with his friends and maybe once in awhile I wouldn't come. His eyes light up and he excitedly said "Really!?" Now in most ways this crushed me, but I didn't show it. I made a joke about he not needing me. Complete with fake whining and fake sobbing. In a strange way this also made me happy. I know it may sound weird. On the inside I realized that I can not keep anything from happening. He was growing up and becoming more independent in his management of diabetes. It is a big step for us both. He is starting to feel more confident in his management of it.

Anyway, I am so thankful for my life. I am so thankful for my family. I am so thankful Noah is in school again. I am grateful that he loves it so much. I am thankful that he feels a step closer to being 'normal' again. I am thankful that God has taken such good care of him. I am thankful I have such a beautiful, smart and wonderful daughter in Morgan. I am thankful I have a funny and rambunctious kid in Mary. And yes, I am very thankful for my husband, who sees so much in me and I him.

Our New Friend

On Sunday I was yet again planting flowers in the back yard when I heard Morgan screaming about a lizard. Now this is normal with Morgan chasing Anoles around our yard almost daily. This lizard seemed to be more exciting then the normal ones. She was screaming for me to come look. I reluctantly went. Well I surprised to see this huge lizard climbing on our wall. Jimmy had heard Morgan screaming and came out to see what the deal was. Jimmy is an expert "lizard wrangler" from growing up in the deserts of CA. He grabbed a bucket and slicker than snot, scooped it right up. We have come to find out he is a five-lined skink. He is pretty neat. His tail is fading from the bright blue. This is from being an older lizard. He is good to have near my garden since he eats bugs and the like. So we let him stay in the Girl's wildflower bed near the garden. He is probably almost the length of my foot, most being his tail. The only problem is now when I am out there I am looking all over so I don't step on him. Or per chance he jumps out of the grass and bites my ear off. Do you think I have a fear of lizards?

These are 2 of the many Anoles Morgan has caught. This weekend she decided they needed to spend the day in the old Hermit Crab house. She named them and all. It is easy to see the green lizard ontop of the container. The brown lizard is below the handled container, just to the left of the blue handle. They are getting used to her constant handling. After she catches them, they didn't put up any further resistance. We have officially dubbed Morgan the "Lizard Whisperer".

New flower bed

I have been working my butt off planting flowers. I had a small flower bed last year. It consisted of Lemon Drops and Bee Balm. Which have grown twice their size from last year already.

This year I decided to make it a TON bigger. Why do I do these things? Actually I have had so much fun. I love working in the yard. In the past few days I planted Shooting Star Dianthus (pink ones), Bumble Bee Day lily, Theresa Hall Day lily, Daring Deception Day lily and East Friesland Sage (purple ones by the peach tree). They are all around my slate stones. I am not done yet. I still have about 20 border stones to finish. I also realized laying the mulch out today, that I didn't have enough. The dirt in the top of the photo, behind the black border, actually does have plants. I planted some seeds a week ago and they are barely sprouting now. I have planted Shasta Daisies, Panted Daises, Blanket flowers and Columbine. Then the yucky black border will come out. I just don't want to pull some weeds and them end up being flowers, so I had to mark it. (If you couldn't tell, my favorite flowers are lilies and daisies.)

I planted 2 flowers in the front yard by the porch as well. I added some rock to finish it off. Noah picked the flowers. I think they are so beautiful.

I am adding photos of the trees in our backyard. They are filling out so nicely. I love listening to the wind blow through the pines. It is so relaxing.

Garden Update

I am so excited! I went to water my garden today and found something GREAT! I found 4 baby tomatoes growing on my tomato plant. I am so very excited. All our plants are moving right along. The pea plants are growing faster than anything else. The carrots are just beginning to sprout. The squash has finally broken through the mound. I love this!! It won't be long before I see some strawberries too.

The wildflowers the girls planted on Easter, are sprouting all over. My Zinnias are growing like mad. My flowers in the back (Blacked Eyed Susans, 3 kinds of daisies and Blanket flowers) I planted last week are starting to sprout. My baby hostas are getting bigger. I am feeling such a pride in my yard. I may have a collage of flowers but you know me, color is key! I will take more pictures soon for you too see the progress on all the flowers and plants.

Squash (1st pic), Baby Tomatoes (2nd pic), Peas (3rd pic)

A family fun day

Today the plan was to go to church. Well about 6:30 am Noah comes in my room and says "mom my pump needs more insulin" (time for a site change). I said OK. He leaves the room and doesn't come back for 5 minutes. I find this odd due to his stuff being in my room. I figured maybe he went to the bathroom. After the 5 minutes he returns and states "Mom I feel low." OK so he checks his sugar. Now usually Noah is above his 150 target when he wakes up. Due to his extra exercise he has been waking up at different numbers. No real pattern so it is hard to adjust his settings. Anyway, he sits on my floor and proceeds to check. Then I hear, "mom it just says lo (low)." "Holy crap chew some tabs fast" I yell as I flop off my bed. . Now the lowest Noah has been is 29. Which is bad. But for the meter to say Lo, that means his sugar was below 20. Now I am freaked out but trying to stay steady for him. I quickly move (run) to my closet looking for his Glucagon, a shot that shoots immediate sugar into him,(like an Epi-pen) in case of unconsciousness or seizure. I am talking to him to make sure he is there. I turn around and he is laying on the floor. "Shit!" (pardon my language) I run over and he opens his eyes and says "what?" Geez he gave me a heart attack. He said he was sleepy and he wanted to lay down. It all worked out in the end. SO instead of church, I had him stay within range. I bulked him up on carbs and we went to the park. He usually just swings. I figured it would be OK. We had a lot of fun. Swinging and walking the trail, was pleasantly fun. The best part was the kids saying they were having so much more fun with me lately. That I am more willing to play. This was the most rewarding part of all the training I have been doing. We went to lunch (our reward on our day off). The kids all made healthy choices on their own. There are getting so good at this. Jimmy offered them ice cream and Mary was the only taker.

Anyway we went out and gardened, played in the hose, caught lizards and had a lot of fun this afternoon. I love my family!!!!

Noah is going back to school!!!!

I am so excited! Noah is going back to school!!!!!

We have worked the situation out with the school. He should be going back next week or the week after. We are waiting for the nurse to educate the teachers he is going to have. They are allowing him to carry his meter and such with him at all times. He will be having lunch everyday with Morgan, Mary and I at school. Then he will know his carb count. This way he will not have to eat 'the not so healthy and not so edible' lunches. I can not explain to you how exciting this is.

Noah is really ready to go back to school. He wants to do all the things he is missing out on. Like art, p.e., library, music, friends, a classroom, field trips, clubs and the like. He is so ready to go to school and then come home. To have the two seperate is a big deal to him. Here he can not escape school. It is just down the hall from him and Grandma is here in the house, so school doesn't really end.

He will be taking the end of grade test in 4 weeks. I am not sure everything the kids at school learned this year is what he has learned. Morgan and Noah have been going over what she has done this year to make sure he has also done it. If not we can work on it before the test. So please pray for him that he is up to speed with the school classes and that he passes.

I recently signed the kids up for the "Kid's Zone" at my gym. There is a giant play area (inside) that keeps them so busy. They have been going all week. Noah can not stop talking about it. He made a friend that likes everything he does. They play everyday and he has given him our number to call him. The change in him just from that is remarkable. He is so happy! I am too. I can not wait to see him come home from his first day. The look on his face will be priceless.

I will update more when he gets into school.

I've had enough...

I have had enough. My bills have gotten out of control and they need to be reigned in.

For example, Time Warner is ridiculous. I have a DVR which I love but you can't have basic cable with it. So automatic bump in price. Then we have the boxes for mom's room, my room and living room. We also get Internet but it has to be wireless due to mom's computer. More bump in price. Once a month Jimmy and I get a fight on P.P.V. So last month our bill was $264. That's right, you read it correctly! I am being swindled.

Then I have to have a land line for our security alarm. $57 there. The line is never used.

Our alarm is 24.95 a month. Not to bad that's $24 and $57 for the phone. $81 is a bit much to have an alarm.

So that is $345 a month that could go elsewhere!

My Power/Sewer/water (PWC) bill is $362 a month on the thrift savings plan. That is a tad outrageous! Plus they are the only power company for me to use in this area.


So I have decided things need to change.

1. We are getting rid of Time Warner. Jimmy and I are debating weather we really need cable or dish at all. If we decided to need t.v we will be going to Dish network. It will be about $60 a month.

2. We are switching our Internet over to Embarq Our phone company. So my bill will go up to about $80 a month.

Just these switches will save me $180 a month!!!!

Now our electric bill needs a change. I have been shutting off everything in my path for a month now. I don't care if anyone is in the room or not. Our dryer and dishwasher run on the air dry setting now. The outside security lights are not on anymore. The air conditioner temp is going up to 74-75. Even though I have allergies the windows will be open whenever possible. The heat when it gets cold WILL NOT go above 68. We will just have to use sweaters and the like. I will be searching deals on food and anything else I find. I have used coupons but will only go on double coupon day from now on.

There are many changes that will occur at the Dooty house. So watch out! Be prepared. The change is a comin'! I mean it, this is it.

** If you have any thrift saving ideas. Don't be shy and let me know. All advice will be taken!!!