Happy Halloween

Sweetling is WordGirl. Little Guy is Captain Huggyface.

No Flash

For some reason, both Webkinz and K12 have suddenly decided they don't like the version of flash that I'm running. This might be a good thing, because it means I've done a little laundry this morning while Sweetling has been conquering pre-algebra. (Little Guy is watching his morning shows).

But I need my webkinz fix, so I'm posting my new sig picture that I'm using on Webkinz Insider.

Ode to Mango

I was so sure, so absolutely certain, so beyond any shadow of a doubt positive, that I explained why Mango is Mango. But, since blogger has a search function, I did a search on my blog.....and I don't think I ever *did* explain why Mango is Mango.

If I'm wrong, its because I have weak google-fu.

This post is all about Mango. Mango had the misfortune of being talked into being my assistant leader for AHG last year. Now, this is a terrible fate for two reasons --1) I should not be "in charge" of anything...not if you want things to run smoothly; and 2) in a group of giggling, excited, little girls...I am the most giggly and excited of them all. But poor Mango didn't know this when Telephone talked her into 'helping' me. Maybe Telephone thought the girls needed a responsible adult with them. I certainly don't fit that category. I am a great girl leader though :) But I digress... we went through several AHG meetings and a few phone calls being friendly. I was very grateful and appreciative of Mango, because she would call me the afternoon of the meeting and ask what we were doing that night....at which point I'd start brainstorming, Mango would listen and support, and then bring snacks, craft supplies, photocopies, library books...and whatever else we needed based on my zany ideas. It was almost like we were organized.

But, while I liked and deeply, deeply appreciated Mango during the year....it wasn't till Camporee that I truly became a number-one Mango fan :) For a few weeks after the Camporee weekend (ok....it felt like weeks), I followed the Jedi around talking about Mango, and how I really, really hoped Mango would be my friend, and did he think I should call Mango, or would that be too pushy? Maybe I should just send her a gift on Webkinz? I think I drove the Jedi crazy. Or maybe the Jedi has just perfected the art of tuning me out when I'm irrational.

Irrational or not, the point is....it was over Camporee weekend that I realized how cool Mango was, and how neat we clicked together. And thus, it was right after Camporee that Mango needed a blog name. And, since Mango had confessed to me her secret love of mango margaritas during camporee....and since Mango needed a name that was a) unique and different, b) sounded like fun, c) just a tiny bit fruity, and d) would always remind me of that camporee weekend.... Mango Margarita it was. I had tiny pangs of guilt about the name later....when she went and named me Mary Poppins on her blog (cause I'm practically perfect in every way). But I think there's an unwritten rule that stipulates blog names should never be changed. Something about the universe unraveling. And really, I've tossed around other name ideas for Mango....but secretly, I really *like* the name Mango. I liked it when I picked it....for all the reasons already outlined, and I still like it. I could call her MM (for Mango Margarita of course)....or let those initials become M&M....cause chocolate is always always a good thing. Or "The Other Pea" cause the Jedi says we two are like two peas in a pod. Or ENFP, cause she is, like me. Or BFF if I'm being cutesy and elementary again. Or Kindred Spirit, but that sounds too...I don't know, not playful enough. But I like Mango the best of all the options I can come up with.

Anyway, Mango brought me dinner last Saturday, when we got back from North Carolina. And I started this post on Sunday....but I'm a me....and more than a week later I 'm getting around to finishing my post. She also brought me a webkinz, a littlekinz bunny which I promptly named Jennikins. And in return I derailed her week by getting her addicted to the fall leaf hunt on Webkinz world. Cause that's the considerate sort of friend *I* am. But, in the true spirit of togetherness, I sat on the phone and chatted with her while we both were sitting in front of our computers hoping a leaf would drift across our screens. See, I can be giving ;) (And then she in return sent me the fall poster...which is the one prize I couldn't bag during the leaf hunt...along with virtual fudge, and virtual chocolate of course).

To sum up....

Hooray for Mango! I'm so glad she's my friend :)

Doctors and Otters and Donuts...Oh MY!

The doctor visit today went really well. Everyone was really nice and explained every little step to me. They also said that they could do an epideral, if I preferred, but that they would have to keep me in recovery longer for that. They said they do many, many MH biopsy tests all the time, and that the anesthetic they use for MH patients is a very safe anesthetic and no one has ever had a reaction to it. They also said that if I was feeling natious, they would be sure to give me some anti-nausia medication in the recovery room. (They said a lot of people are more worried about getting nautious from the anesthesia than they are worried about whatever surgery they are going to have). I really liked everyone I talked to, and am feeling much better about the proceedure now.

I am supposed to check in tomorrow at 6am. i forgot to ask how long they anticipated the procedure taking. But they were doing me as one of the first cases in the morning. Apparantly the test they need to do with the muscle takes 4-6 hours, and has to be done right away, so they always do the MH biopsies early. The good news about that is that Dr Lin, who will be experimenting on my muscle in her lab, said she'll call our cell phones that afternoon with the result. That's much better than I expected. I figured I'd have to wait until next week sometime to know. She also asked for a lot of family history info (not all of which I knew) trying to trace possible MH episodes through the family tree. If I test positive, I promised I'd sit down with mother and put together a more accurate family tree to email her. They try to keep records of how it effects families, since it is genetic, in the hopes of being able to understand it better. Apparantly there is a combination of multiple genes that come together to make MH.

The bad news is, since they need the muscle tissue fresh, and since certain clotting agents would render it useless as a biopsy sample, when they do the incision they cant use any of the clotting agents they would normally use. So, there's a lot of bleeding with an MH biopsy. They said to expect a lot of blood (like bruising) under the skin. The doctor that will be taking the biopsy said that in rare cases someone has had to go back in to have excess blood trapped under the skin drained away. That falls into the yuck category.

The other good news is....I saw otters today at a nature preserve. They were adorable. So curious and playful when we were there. They popped there little heads up and watched us, and then started doing back flips off the ledges for their audience.

I also had the best donuts EVER. We went to Krispy Kreme, because Pastor Tim told us we had to ;) And OH....the boxes of donuts in the grocery totally doesn't do them justice. Inside the store, they had a little production line of donuts with glass windows so costumers can watch the donuts being made. That in itself was super cool. THEN they gave us free sample donuts, right off the line, dipped it a chocolate fountain. The donuts were so warm when they handed them to me they were almost too hot to hold. We let them cool a little, and then bit into them....ahhhhhhh.....soooooooo good!!! They were literally melt in your mouth good. The little guy and I sat at the table eating our donuts. I actually held his donut for him, and fed him, cause the warm chocolate icing was so messy. Even so we *both* wound up with chocolate all our our faces and hands. We were giggling and having a great time. (I think it was the little guys excitement at seeing the donuts made, and his great smile that earned us the free donuts. No one else got offered samples, just our family.)

Telephone's email

As much as I tease Telephone...even giving her the blog name Telephone, she is a really good friend. I emailed her the same thing I posted earlier tonight, and this was her response... (names have been changed to protect the innocent of course. And should any member of your team be captured...)

So they are putting you under. We will pray that there is no reaction when they do this Friday . Let me know what time this will all take place, so I can be praying. I did not realize the incisions would be that big. I hope that you will not be sore from the incision site. If when you get back and the Jedi is back at work on Monday I can come and help if you need it. I just need to be back here by 2:00 for babysitting. You took such good care of me and now I can return the favor to a really good friend. I'm glad that God has placed you in my life. You are such a special and close friend, if not one of my best friends. I love ya!! Take care and talk to you later.

Just a teeny bit nervous

The Caffeine Halothane Contracture Test (CHCT), a test performed on freshly biopsied muscle, is the “gold standard” for diagnosis of MH. It can be performed only in roughly 30 centers worldwide, eight of which are located in the United States and Canada. The patient must travel to one of these sites for the test because the test must be completed within hours after muscle is removed.

Following administration of a non-triggering anesthetic, the CHCT will require the removal of approximately two grams of muscle (less than one-tenth of an ounce, about the size of a dime), through a two- to three-inch incision usually from the thigh. The force response of the muscle after exposure to caffeine and separately to halothane in the laboratory is characterized and recorded electronically. Comparison of the strength of contracture (sustained muscle tension) with previously established standards allows determination of MH susceptibility. Muscle from MH susceptibles (MHS) is more sensitive and elicits contractures at lower levels to the administered trigger agents.

This is the other thing we're going to North Carolina to do.

People reply! People reply!

Only Smurf will get the title of this entry. I'll explain it to the rest of you, cause i'm nice that way...but as most inside jokes, it probably won't be funny even after its explained.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Smurf started an rp board based on the Harry Potter series. We (cause she drafted many of her friends into filling staff positions at Hogwarts) quickly became the largest, and best Harry Potter rp site on the internet. No exageration. Despite being the best, and despite the fact that we carefully screen all applications to join by having them submit a character history and writing sample...we still had several individuals who were still just a tiny bit immature. There were often several attempts at hosting a party. The opening post would go something like this...a brief description of assorted charms to create streamers or twinkling lights, an assurance that butter bear had been smuggled in, and some sentence about how cool their character was.

The opening party post often went ignored by the rest of the school, or at best was attended by a couple students posting with how cool their character was. Invariably though, these threads degenerated into the original poster spamming the tread with one or two line posts reading "This is going to be the best party ever" and then many posts each reading "People reply! People reply!"

so, I'm sitting here, cause the laundry monster is lurking downstairs. I'm trolling blogs that no one is updating cause many of my friends have gone over to the dark side of the force and only do facebook now. And in my head I'm chanting, 'People reply! People reply!'

And now you know, the rest of the story.

Check out where we're going this week. Hooray for us :)

I have pink feathers in my hair

This weekend was our women's conference at Dayspring. Every fall, we have either a women's retreat at a state park lodge or a hotel....or we have a conference at church. (We alternate between those two options.)

A few days ago, I was writing in my Beth Moore devotional book. The question was, "Think of a time when you sensed the power of God 'come upon you' in a moment of crisis, or worship, or perhaps on an otherwise ordinary day. What was it like, and why do you think He chooses when and how to reveal His presence so tangibly?"

at first, it seemed that all of my remembrances of when I really felt close to God, felt his presence, had to do with childbirth, pregnancy, motherhood. Whether through a 'coincidence' to big to be a coincidence, or through feeling him near when we would be at the altar praying for Little Guy or Vaya while we were waiting for God to bring them home to us...or a thousand little things about being a mother.

Then I started thinking of other times that I felt His presence, felt His nearness, felt His hand...and nearly all of my list happen at women's retreats or conferences...
--the wreath of flowers I made and wore during my prayer walk
--the words of prophecy and encouragement spoken to me under the veiled canopy
--the communion of smores around the campfire last year as I burnt pages filled with the hurt of the past that I've finally been able to acknowledge
--the arms of a sister I never met before around me as we both cried together
--the words of comfort 'spoken' to me when I was hiding in a restroom stall, crying for Mammaw's death, feeling very alone


Sometimes, it is the message shared during the retreats that speaks to me, changes me. Sometimes it is the fellowship of women that I cherish most. This year, I think it was the fellowship that was most meaningful, though I did need the message to refocus myself. I've been sliding into a slump over the last couple of weeks, not focusing where I needed to focus, feeling like a failure, and looking for any means of 'escape' from my daily life that I could. This year's theme was "On the Dot". I want to remember each day, that the little things do make a difference in my life and in the life of my family members. Sometimes its so discouraging to wash the dishes, clean the kitchen, sweep and mop the floor....and by the next day the efforts of that labor seem to have been for naught. Its easier, and more appealing, to give up, surf the web....do whatever. but that only leads to me feeling frustrated and inadequate. And then school with Sweetling and Little Guy starts to slip....and we've started this downward spiral. "Hour by hour I commit my days to you." I don't need to be Susy Homemaker or Martha Stewart. I just need to be me, to be the wonderful woman God created me to be....to love and teach my children and care for my home and family. To write and draw and dance and sing. To not give up just because things aren't perfect.

But, I digress. I love being with the women at Dayspring. I can be myself. I can stick pink feathers in my hair. I can stand on a chair. I can sit in a room of women blowing bubbles with the rest of them. I can hoard the chocolate kisses (yes, yes, I did share them....but someone was trying to "clean them up" after lunch....I had to save them from that fate.) I can scoot to the edge of my chair, and three women around me will be encouraging me to stand up and share my thoughts, knowing that I'm considering it, but was hesitating, just by the subtle shift in my posture. I can walk down the hallway singing. I can wax poetic. I can tease and be teased. I can laugh and cry and hug and share with them.

So, I have pink feathers in my hair today. The chairs were decorated with tulle bows, some of which had feather puffs. Yesterday, I took two of the bows, and placed them on the heads of two of the young girls at the conference. One of the other women put a puff of black feathers at the top of her short, blonde, straight hair. Today, several of us were wearing bows and feathers in our hair. We were enjoying ourselves, enjoying each others company, enjoying our time of renewal and refocusing.

Zerburts are coming

I'm not allowed to blog about this, but it made for a good title. So I shall now ramble about something else instead, lest the nine year old's lips are permanently distorted from pouting so hard. Go do your vocabulary, you nine year old you.

Have I mentioned that I love being the one in charge?

I called Mango today, because I needed to explain to someone the latest soap opera that HoneyBee has called me with. Yes, yes. I am such a girly girl that way. Someone calls me with a problem, and I immediately get off the phone and call someone else.

Mango, I learned, has a completely separate log that she was HOLDING OUT ON ME. But I think I made her late to her carpool for dance keeping her on the phone trying to talk me through typing in a simple URL. The Force is not with me. We all know this. But now I have her OTHER blog, and I put it in my links.

Facebook, by the way, is absolutely the dark side of the force. Christopher Robin has deserted me for Facebook. Its evil. Evil. Vaya is on Facebook too....but at least she does both. Smurf deserted blogging so long ago it doesn't bear mentioning. (And yet you notice I'm mentioning it anyway.)

Little Guy threw up in the middle of the night. I changed his sheets, got him all cleaned up and tucked back into bed. I unrolled a sleeping back and slept, fitfully, on his floor the rest of the night. This morning he was fine. He immediately went to the whiteboard in the kitchen to practice his letters. He spent the rest of the morning alternating between laying on the couch watching PBS kids, and jumping up and down on the trampoline watching PBS kids.

I took one bite of my lunch today and my stomach said, "dont send down another bite." So, I didn't. I feel crappy, but not crappy enough to declare myself sick and put myself to bed. I had a piece of toast an hour ago, and that's stayed with me. I know all of you are totally enthralled by whether or not my stomach is a tiny bit quesy. Don't worry, I'm totally here for your entertainment needs like that.

And because we've just firmly established that I'm NOT pathetic.... I'm tagging myself. Someone tagged Mango....and I'm sure Mango *meant* to tag me. So, I'm just helping her with that, so that she doesn't feel bad later or anything.

Here are the rules:
1) The player starts with 8 random facts about herself.

2) The person who is tagged must post on her own blog her answers and post the rules first.

3) Then the player must pick 8 people and tag them. Also leave them a note on Message that lets them know that you tagged them. You can write who you tagged on your blog also!

(The downfall here being that I don't have 8 people to tag, because Facebook is *evil*.)

But 8 random facts about myself:

1. I generally do not like stories in which vampires are the protagonists in any way. Vampires, as a rule, should be staked and decapitated. None of this nouveau misunderstood sensitive brooding goth figure. No no. Blood-sucking creatures of the night as a rule do not get sympathy points in my book. (Rules of course, do have exceptions.)

2. I am so disappointed that Sweetling was never into the Barbie movies. I lost my excuse to watch them. I'm not overly fond of Barbie dolls, but darn it, I did want to watch Barbie Swan Lake.

3. Coffee is a nasty, nasty drink. Why do grown people choose to drink coffee? It tastes like medicine.

4. I had a few years of my life, maybe a decade, in which I was cute and physically attractive, and I didn't appreciate it at the time. Now, I'm always surprised when i catch sight of myself in a mirror. I expect to see the 20 year old me staring back at me...but middle age has crept up on me. (Ok, in fairness, middle age and a bigtime lack of exercise).

5. Exercise is boring. I would like to be active...bikeriding, dance, hiking....but that involves fitting stuff into the schedule.

6. If we won the lottery, the first thing I would want is a new house. I like this house, but there are so many little things that just bog me down all the time. Even the Jedi notices. We were watching tv and a Stanely Cleaner add for carpet cleaning came on. The Jedi said, "Our carpet needs taken out back and burned." He's so right. So, I don't want a mansion. I just want a house with everything fresh and new and clean.

7. Or a castle in a forest. That wouldn't disappoint me either.

8. I hate the phrase "If your bored its cause you're boring."

Teacher In-Service Day

I love being the one in charge. And since no one that has a job reads this (except Vaya, and I already told her), I was absolutely irresponsible today.

I spent the day reading the third book in this cool series....I don't know what the series is called, but the first book is Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I was going to post the link to her page...but it has too many spoilers in it. But you must all go to the library and find this book and read it. Look deep into my eyes....repeat after me....'I must read Twilight...I must read Twilight....' "

See how painless that was.

Crap. Ok, I have to post the link...but ONLY THE MAVEN is allowed to go read the link first. The rest of you have to read the book first, then the link. And by saying that, everyone is going to click the link immediately. You nosey people you.

Fine. I'm not going to post it. Tptptptptp.