VACAY RECAP

Little Vacations are so wonderful....not very "relaxing" with my crew, but very renewing for the soul. We had a really great time just 25 minutes up the road. Just what we needed.
I love these critters. Our family completely believes in the power of the t-shirt. That is the ONLY thing these two will wear. I have bought TONS of shirts and this is what they want. They even have them categorized in to every day t-shirts and "good" t-shirts. (Dalton's is an every day t-shirt and Savannah's is a "good" one.)

We had a fantastic time at the Tunica Aquatic Center. If you haven't been...GO. Call us and we will go with you. I'll even put on a bathing suit and swim....it was that AWESOME. I don't know too many places a family of four can get four hours of fun for $16 either. LOVED IT.

This is Jeff trying to talk our kiddos into jumping off the 16 foot platform. It took a little bit of time, but NOT much.

If Jeff jumped off once, he jumped off 900 times. He said his legs were sore today from climbing the stairs so many times. He has also announced that this will be the perfect place to have his 40th birthday party. That was news to me. I had NO idea we were having a party.

It didn't take long before Jeff and Dalton graduated to the 22 foot platform. Once they did, they never went back to 16 feet. (That's Dalton suspended in mid-air.) Savannah didn't make the leap. She still had a ton of fun. Sixteen feet was just dandy with her.

When we left there we went to the outlet mall for the quickest pass I've ever made. We were all exhausted!! We did pick up a few things and then we made our way back to the hotel. Everyone was asleep much earlier than the previous night:)

We got home about noon and this little toot wanted some more pictures. She wanted to brighten things up a bit. We thought the tulips were blooming at the Dixon Gallery but they weren't quite ready. (They should be by next weekend and I'm going to take my kids and get some great colorful shots.) So we did what we could and found as much beautiful foliage as possible. We actually did pretty good. (These are straight off the memory card with no Photoshop. Not bad.)

...and of course these are NOT the best ones. I wouldn't dare show the winning shot prematurely!! Haleigh is such a great little girl. Yes, I still call her a little girl. After all, I met her when she was three years old. Her mom (Jenifer) is the BEST friend I have ever had so that makes Haleigh my adopted child.....and she drove ME around all afternoon.

Savy girl had a soccer game tonight. (Yes, thank you for asking, I am worn smack OUT.) She didn't play her best tonight, but she still did a good job. She was worn out, too. Jenifer and Haleigh came to the game to see her. That was very sweet of them.

THAT is what worn SMACK OUT looks like. It kinda looks like someone smacked me. That's my friend Jenifer. Haleigh was sitting in her lap. Dalton cut her out of the picture....that's OK though, I took 197 of her earlier this afternoon.

Savannah is the "throw in queen". She has to do it most of the time. The other girls don't seem to understand that you DON'T want to throw it to the other team. I won't even touch the fact that they don't understand the concept of "throw it up the line" and the worst part is that back foot. It HAS to stay on the ground...Soccer 101. I've never understood why that's so hard but IT IS.

Savy played Goalie for half the game. She hates it, but at least she got to wear the cool green shirt. I was silently thankful because that means not as much running which means less wear and tear on those ankles and knees. They are swollen tonight, but not as bad as last week.

Goal Kick!! Her RUSH team makes her work on her ball arcs. Pretty cool...even cooler to see her putting those new skills to use in this league. I just wish he would get her out of goal.....

Her lab results were back today. Her blood tests were RA negative but her ESR was high...just like mine. We go see her pediatrician next Wednesday to determine appropriate care until we can see the Pediatric Rheumatologist. Approximately 50% people with rheumatoid arthritis are blood negative. Did you know that?

I've decided I'm good with all of this. Life is what is. I don't know where I heard the saying, "That which does not kill us only makes us stronger." I heard it YEARS ago and I really like it. Adaptability is an essential key in life. I used to not have any. I'm not saying I'm totally go with the flow (Jeff is) but I have learned that it is usually best. I wake up every morning with an amazing gift. Somehow while I'm sleeping, God gives me everything I need to deal with the next day. Sometimes I have to call on God to help me get through the day, but that's okay. I think he likes to hear from us. Can you imagine how you would feel if you didn't talk to your children? I know God loves to hear from me and right now, I call on him quite a lot.

Thank you for the prayers and well wishes. Please don't stop. Her negative blood tests mean a long road to diagnosis. In a child, they have to rule out EVERY thing else. Pray for her to have no fear of tests. They scared me to death. I can't imagine how I would have reacted if I were 10 years old. Please keep Dalton in mind, too if you have the time. He's worried about his little sister and has had to take a back seat to all of this. He is such a sweet kid. He inherited the gift of compassion for others. He's been that way his whole life.

They are both in the midst of room makeovers (I call it a HOT MESS at the moment). I should have some pictures this weekend of the progress. Jeff built Savannah a loft bed kinda college dorm room style. It's great with a built in desk on the lower end. Dalton got a bunk bed with the bottom bunk being a futon. It's really cool and they will both have a lot more room now.

I'm out. Gotta work tomorrow!

SHINE,

Kacy

Oh, hey, if you have time leave me a comment on which pictures you are liking...we have to decide by the end of this weekend which ONE we want to enter. (Kinda hard when you took 1000)

Fun Day

I have precisely 40 minutes of Internet access left tonight so I must make this quick.

WE HAD A BLAST TODAY.

The Tunica Aquatic Center is SWEET. Jeff wants to have his birthday party there. I think he told me that like 4 times today. Of course, I have pictures but no time to upload them tonight. We all stayed up until 3 this morning so we are exhausted.

Thank you so much for the well wishes and prayers. I can't tell you how much they mean to us all. I feel like that sounds cliche', but please know I mean it from the bottom of my toes (or heart). We are heading home in the morning. I have to work tomorrow afternoon. This has been an awesome break for us and it was really needed.

I'll get my pictures uploaded tomorrow and share some more crazy things these kids did today. They spent the afternoon jumping off a 16 ft high platform. I spent the afternoon with hives.

I wondered today just how much more I could possibly love them...I love them more today than I did yesterday. Does the heart just grow and grow? It just amazes me.

SHINE,
Kacy

Making Lemonade

Look at that baby's pretty eyes and freckles. I was shooting pictures in the truck in line at the bank the other day. I wasn't really aiming. Just holding the camera down in my lap and shooting. It's a good thing she likes to have her picture taken.
She is also VERY into nails lately. At least once a month we go for a mani/pedi. I mean a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do. We do our best to go twice a month, but sometimes we have to be careful or we will get in trouble. Jeff just can't figure out why we need to spend $80 to have paint put on our nails that only lasts a few days. He sweats bullets when we get the nail polish remover out. It's pretty funny. We have to show him our chipped up nails before he will let us take the polish off. WHATEVER!

After a very stressful couple of days, we decided to leave our issues back home and take a vacation. We drove 25 minutes down the road and checked in....


This is our new home for the next two days. We are in Tunica!! Heck Yeah, Vacay Red Neck Style. Tomorrow we are going to hit the Tunica Aquatic Center and the Outlet Mall. If it doesn't rain we may even hit the RiverPark and we've been told we HAVE to eat at the Blue and White Cafe.

All I know is that I'm in a comfy bed with my pink gnomes on and all is right in my world. I'm piled up with my two munchkins tonight and my husband is downstairs at a BlackJack Table. Everybody is doing something they love. Dalton is watching Star Wars on his laptop and Savannah is making videos with her web cam.

This little toot has a had a rough couple of days. Yesterday, we spent four hours at the doctors office. She basically had her whole body x-rayed, at least all of her larger joints. Today we had to go back and she had to have a lot of blood drawn. She was not so happy about that and neither was I. Ten year old little girls shouldn't have to go to the lab to have blood drawn to find out their SED rates among other things. She is now fully in the midst of a JRA work up. See why we went out of town??? It was time to get away for a day or two and be "normal".

So, we did what we had to do and bought fake nails. Don't those make everything better?

They do for this squirt. This is how she makes Lemonade out of Lemons.....

We will be home on Thursday and I suppose we will have some lab results waiting on us. We were told by our Orthopedic Doc and Pediatrician that the blood work is a formality. While it may show completely negative, the physical symptoms are there and unfortunately so is the family history. The lab tech said we could almost certainly expect a high SED rate as she clotted twice while having her blood drawn. The inflammation is obvious and what finally drove us to the doctor. We have suspected this for the last few months. I am blood negative....We don't know what to expect with her. I've been telling her that we still just don't know and that I want all of her tests back before we decide the next step. We already have an appointment with the ONLY pediatric rheumatologist in Memphis. The two next closest ones are the ONE in Nashville and the ONE in Jackson Mississippi. Given the few doctors, she can't be seen until July. Tonight when we were putting on fake nails, she said, "Mom, I have it don't I?" I told her again that we just had to take it one step at a time. She said, "That's fine, but in my heart I already know I do. I knew it before we went to the doctor." UGGHHH, I HATE IT. If I screamed it from the top of this hotel (which is the second tallest building in the state of Mississippi) how badly I hated it, it wouldn't be enough.

Thankfully, her symptoms and swelling are not inhibiting anything at the moment. Honestly, they are nothing more than a nuisance. It kills me to see her limping on the soccer field, but it isn't bad enough to make her stop. I'm thankful for wonderful doctors who love her and care for her and know the right questions to ask to get a ten year talking about their pain. I told Jeff how amazed I was at the questions and how they were able to break it down for her to answer. I have a hard time telling my doctors about mine. I wish they could ask me like they ask her. Her pain and swelling are all in the larger joints....her ankles and knees mainly but one hip, lower back and neck???? She is taking two anti-inflammatory meds twice a day for the time being.

Thanks for listening to my venting...I didn't even get into what some of the insensitive freaks around us have said. Whew, I thought it was rough when it was me....I just can't sit quiet and listen to someone be insensitive and rude to or about my daughter. Dalton lovingly announced tonight that he was now the ONLY "healthy" one in the family. It actually provided some comic relief...He said, "Well, now I'm the only healthy one we have Mom. You and Savannah both have AR-tha-ri-tis." (You should hear the southern accent on that word, WOW.) I said, "What about Dad, he's OK." Dalt said, "Well, Mom, you know he's fat." I just love kids.

We pulled a "What About Bob?" and are taking a vacation from our problems. I think it's just what the doctors ordered.

SHINE,

Kacy

Hard Day

Today was just NO good. That's about all I can summon up right now. It has left me feeling a little dark and empty and exhausted.

...the greater the love the deeper the pain.... tonight I hurt for my baby girl. Send her some good vibes and prayers for good health if you get the time. I'll do my best to pull myself together. Sometimes it just SUCKS. This is one of "those" times.

SHINE, (I'm trying)
Kacy

Can't Sleep

OK, so the pics were a special request for Lesli...and I actually did that post with a house full of guests...mom and pop in law, without much thought. I realized tonight at 12:50 a.m. that I didn't "say" all I had to say. I have horrible insomnia. I don't think I've mentioned that here before. I know I have on FB and I've found that many of my friends suffer as well. Everyone raves about Ambien, but I might as well swallow a sweet tart. It doesn't touch this mess I have. I can't explain it really, but it stinks. Some nights I crash...gotta love those...about twice a week. Some nights it's normal, lie down, watch some TV or read a book and fall asleep. The other nights, the lights go out and BOING there is NO way I'm going to sleep. UGGGHHHH, I hate these nights. Those darn sheep jumping over my bed keep me up ALL night. And if I dare take an Ambien on those nights it gets even worse. That is some crazy stuff. I stay up all night long, I just have no recollection of what I did the next day. It usually consists of some serious Ebay spending and omelet making, both of which are dangerous considering I don't know what I'm doing.

It also makes me run into things and I score some interesting bruises.

I had a great day with Savy yesterday. I actually had a really fun week with both kids but seemed to spend a little more time with her for some reason. She spent a lot of time at the office with me. Savannah is wise beyond her years. Things that fly over Dalton's head sink right in with her. When Dalton comes to the office he pulls a chair over by the television and camps out. Savannah jumps right in with the office dynamic, answers the phone, runs copies and faxes, wants to know the background on claims and quotes and how our numbers are looking. She cracks me up and I found myself asking Jeff to drop her off when she got out of school for help. I took her shopping on Saturday to the outlet mall in Tunica. She and I both needed some new undergarments and there is an outlet down there so off we went. We were a sight in the dressing room. We were both sweating and it took MANY tries to find the right size and fit...MANY. We were exhausted when we left. We stopped at Sonic on the way home and refueled. It's probably a 25 minute drive from our house...all highway. We cranked up the iPod and sang Sugarland at the top of our lungs. What a great time to spend with my baby girl. I love you SavyG.

Savannah had soccer practice today so Dalton and I hung back at the house. He is undoubtedly the sweetest boy on Earth. I was chosen to ride the bus with the children on the 5th grade field trip to the Space Center in May (YEA ME?). So Friday I had to go to the school to settle my account. His teacher went on and on about what a sweet child he was. I'm scared one day he's gonna get his little heart crushed. I checked him out of school Friday afternoon and took him back to work with me. He hauled all of the trash out to the dumpsters for us. He also had a special little gift in his pants pocket. It took him a little while to get the nerve to show it to me, BUT HE DID. His special little friend that happens to be a girl and on the approved marriage list, gave him 4 Silly Bandz tied up with a ribbon. He pointed out that the ribbon made it even more special. "Mom, she took the time to cut a ribbon with paw prints on it, and tie these up for me." I just love him. I'm really looking forward to his field trip (and so is he) even if I do have to ride the bus. I'm terrified for him to leave the safe little world of elementary school. I hope he toughens up over the summer.

My weight is driving me nuts, but I was kidding earlier tonight when I said it was producing some all time lows in my life. I hope my sarcasm was apparent. I don't like it, obviously, but it doesn't change who I am. It has actually opened my eyes to a world I never knew before. I still don't really know what a calorie is, but I can assure you they never crossed my mind in the past. See, now I have something new to learn. I am thankful to feel good. No, good doesn't mean perfect like I used to, but good means good and that I can do most of the things I used to do. For that I am thankful. I made a commitment to myself this weekend to do what I can to get as much weight off as I can while I feel good. Hopefully I will feel good forever and get ALL of it off, but if not, that's okay. I just have to feel good about what I do everyday to feel good in the long run.

Well, it's 1:35 now and Jeff is fussing at me in between snores. He hates these nights. Just another reason to get my craft/utility/closet room finished. Jeff ran satellite to that room for me and my big over sized chair and ottoman are going in there too. I can see me spending many sleepless nights in there. Now he is trying to get Izzy to snuggle with him and making fun of my lipstick (lipstain). Savannah took pictures of me with her web cam tonight and changed my profile picture on FB. She said I needed lipstick....???? If you are a FB'r send me a friend request. Especially if you are an insomniac. Maybe I should start a page...I bet there is one already.

Peace out and SHINE,
Kacy

Photo Shoots

Here is some of my artistry from the last couple of weeks. I think we have decided that we aren't using any of these (I hope so, considering I'm going "public" with them.) These are shots from our second trip out.
This little toot is absolutely too cute. Her mom has been showing some of these around and others are asking if I will take pictures of their families and kids. I don't think so. Haleigh is a dream to work with and up for anything.

I can also tell her when something isn't working and why....I'm not so sure I could be myself with just anybody. Today, we got her alterations done on her dress and cocktail dress and interview skirt. It must be hard to be a double zero.

I certainly wouldn't know. We are going to do one more photo shoot on Thursday. While we were able to make plenty of head shots out of what we did, we never concentrated on just that. After thinking about it more, we realized that is probably what we needed. SO, we will give it one more try.

Hopefully I won't take 787 pictures this time. It gets to be a little overwhelming especially since the majority of her pictures are GREAT.

Now, I'm looking forward to the flowers blooming (which they are starting to do) so I can take my own kids out and get some new pictures of them. The ones hanging in my office are three years old and look nothing like them anymore.

Thanks Haleigh for all of your patience with me. I had a great time both days! (These are only pictures from the second day.)

I still can't move pictures around. Maybe someday that feature will return. For now, I just have to load them in and go with the flow.

It's Spring Break around here. Tomorrow, I have to take Savannah to see an Orthopedic doctor. I spoke with my doctor this past week at my check up and he said we needed to go ahead and schedule an appointment with a Pediatric Rheumatologist for her. She has swelling in both ankles and one knee and periodically her elbows. She also complains of stiffness in her neck frequently.

He said while there may not be anything to it, given her family history (ME) and the involvement of multiple joints, it was better to be safe than sorry. I'm sure you can imagine, the lump in my throat when he put into words what I already suspected. There is only ONE pediatric rheumatologist in Memphis. SO, the appointment is 4 months away.

In the meantime, we are going to see an Orthopedic doctor to see if we can go ahead and get started on NSAID's. She is staying active and playing a lot of soccer but by the end of her games or conditioning practices, she starts limping and we have to ice her at night. She's tough, but it is breaking my heart.

My eyes are doing better, but not great. I am tapering off the OmniPred and I will try a different contact later this week. I'm still in these glasses. They were able to adjust them so they didn't hurt my ears anymore. Now they just slide down my nose all the time, but I don't care. At least I didn't have to buy a new pair yet. We have a couple of options of contacts that are apparently Uveitis friendly (at least for part time use). I hope one works. I DESPISE my glasses. I don't know about you, but I prefer peripheral vision.

We are mainly hanging around the crib for Spring Break. We booked our trip to Florida for June. Jeff is off all week and I'm trying to keep my schedule pretty open for whatever. I definitely want to get my kitchen painted and the washer and dryer moved to my craft room. We are converting the utility closet into a pantry and my craft room into a craft/utility/closet room. That will make such a big difference for us. Jeff plans to take the kids to the Aquatic Center in Tunica with a couple of friends one day. I think we are going to spend a night or two down there in one of the casino hotels. The kids always like doing that and since I have a gambling man, we have a few nights comped.

I decided yesterday I had hit an all time low. Ya'll know I'm not shy so just endure with me....Last year I bought a one piece bathing suit. I never wore it but I had it just in case (actually I think I wore it once, not much considering we had a pool). To date, the purchase of the one piece suit was one of the lowest points in my life. I topped it yesterday. I actually loaded a calorie counting app on my phone. Even though the app is really cool and has a lot of information, the mere fact that I have to count a calorie is just NO GOOD. I weighed in at a whopping 166 pounds at my check up. THANKS A LOT PREDNISONE. When I was diagnosed a year and a half ago, I weighed 131 pounds. Mrs. Rotundo is just not good with me. I've always thought that a tan helped the big girls out a lot. Oh sunshine, where are you? I need your help. I am now one of the aforementioned BIG GIRLS. My dear husband even went so far as to tell me that he didn't think I could be that "little" girl anymore. Humm, it's too bad he's a fat ass, too. (Sorry to offend...just sayin')

Well Savy and I are headed to the gym tonight. I need to figure out how to fit it back into my schedule. I had some pretty good results with it last time I went. The hardest part is making the time. I figure this is as good a week as any.

Hope you all have a great week. I'll try to keep you up to date with all of our fun this week.

SHINE,

Kacy

No New Hairs (At least that I can see)

You sick of my ear hair??? I AM. Sorry to leave that post up so long.

Methotrexate caught up with me this week. After two weeks off, it kicked my booty. I did some serious sleeping the last few days but all seems headed back to normal. The ole hair is getting a little on the thin side, but the bodacious bod seems to be working. My eyes on the other hand, aren't exactly cooperating. The opthamologist mentioned the ole Uveitits to me, but I'm ignoring it for now...YEP, my Scarlet Syndrome is kicking in. The Omnipred eye drops (Prednisone for the eyeballs) seems to be helping. Most of the redness seems to be gone. They are still a little itchy and scratchy. Hopefully, Friday they will tell me that the internal inflammation is better as well. Until then, I'm sporting no eye makeup and a really old pair of glasses :) Good Times!!

Today was a fabulous beautiful day. The weather was great and I spent most of the afternoon outside shooting photos of great little girl....more pageant pictures. I think I shot somewhere around 400 today. I took my camera card and card reader to her mother tonight and left it so I haven't seen them all yet. I'm pretty sure we got "THE" shot today. I'm anxious to see them. We also did a fitting this morning of her dresses. She's a tiny little 00 (as in double zero). The pageant is on the 27th. I'm looking forward to it.

The kids had school yesterday (Saturday School). I think it went better than they expected. It made for a short weekend though. I can't wait for Spring and good weather for an extended period of time. I am so ready to finish this little house. Spring Break is the week after this week. Jeff took off all week. I'm going to take off as much as I can (SURPRISE JEFF). I want us to be able to work together on some of these "projects". We are going to have a fun "at home" break.

Jeff and I are catching up on a backlog of TiVo. (I told you I've been sleeping.) Have a fabulous week!! I know I will.

SHINE,
Kacy

Ears

well...ummm yeah...how do i say this????

i, uhh, just found a 4 inch hair growing out of the back of my ear. now i'm disgusted and going to bed before i find anything else.

SHINE, (even if you have hairy ears)
Kacy

Computer Angels

Well, we all prayed for computer peace last night (Thank You Lesli, Missy, and Maria) and I guess in a sense we got what we asked for. After many life saving attempts this morning by two different computer experts, my computer was taken to go live in Heaven. It could not be saved. It apparently had computer HIV. It had the really bad kind. It's gone. It lived a really short life. It was only 10 months old.

R.I.P.

I don't mean to sound heartless, but now I need you to pray a replacement comes in early tomorrow!!! The insurance business does not flow smoothly without a computer and working on this laptop in the office creates an extreme amount of frustration. UGGHHHH!

WOW, what a day! I have a new fella in training and my main gal called in with serious car issues today. So not only was I dealing with the computer undertaker, I was manning (or should I say womanning) the phones, moving the new guys furniture, taking payments and handling claims!! AND, I still managed to to have my monthly argument with my health insurance company regarding an unpaid claim, and speak to Savannah's teacher. Then I did a little photo editing tonight, and realized that I think we have THE SHOT for the pageant on the first try!! At least I didn't have to unstop a toilet today, OH WAIT, I did. The FedEx man had to go, I guess. YUCK! And did I mention I did all of that in a 3 inch heel!! Oh yes I did!!

What a blessing to have the energy to deal with all of this!! You know what today was? Today was life and I made the most of it. I laughed hard and I even shed a tear. When you lay down at night and you've done both of those things...you know you had a good day. I'm looking forward to what tomorrow has in store. (I hope it is a computer birth.)

SHINE,

Kacy

P.S. I almost forgot to welcome Stacey! She ain't skeered. She just signed right on up as follower. How does that make all you lurkers feel?? HA. I'm kidding. I've been reading Stacey's blog for a couple of weeks now. What an inspiration! You are one strong gal!! I admire you.

Broken Hearted!

My heart is BROKEN!!! Today is a sad sad day. My favorite bracelet in the whole wide world broke today and pieces went flying all across my bedroom. By the time I hit my knees scrambling to pick up as many pieces as I could find, the tears were streaming down my face. Jeff had this bracelet made for me as a Mother's Day gift when the children were babies. I had wanted one since Dalton was born. Since I had made the decision to stay home with my babies, luxuries like this were few and far between. It is sterling silver and I think it cost about $85. It's funny how we simply DID NOT have $85 back then. I literally wanted one of these bracelet's for two years.

Jeff SHOCKED me with this that year. I have pretty much worn it everyday since then. It had two strands of silver beads with each of the kids names on them. Dalton's is the one that broke.

In the last year, I added a medical charm to it with the names of my meds and Jeff's number to call in case of emergency. This is the only piece of jewelry I wear everyday no matter what so that was the safest place to wear it. (That's Dalton's spelling list.) I found all of the letters and picked up as many beads as I could find. I know this isn't really a big deal and super easy to fix but it truly broke my heart. I guess it was all of the meaning in the bracelet and I just absolutely cherish it. Isn't it crazy how attached to something we can be? My fingers have been too swollen to wear my wedding rings, but I haven't cried over that. I guess I would if I lost them or it BROKE! I'm thinking I'm gonna have to have that sucker sized soon. (That's a whole other topic of conversation. This last round of steroids really packed it on and that whole concept of...oh it'll come off...yeah right!!! It doesn't come off!)

So, there you have it! My most prized piece of jewelry, and everyone knows I have WAY to MUCH jewelry, broken into tiny pieces. I can fix it. I know I can, but it's more than that. I guess I'll give it some thought and maybe change it up a bit. It's already not the same to me.

I spent a couple of hours today chasing this cutie patootie around town. I took a little over 200 pictures of her all over downtown Olive Branch. She'll be in the Miss Olive Branch Pageant later in March and has entered Miss Photogenic. We are hoping to capture the "winning" shot. I got some good ones today and also learned some things "not" to do as far as lighting and such. I've got to sort through some of those tonight so I can send them to her mother in the morning. She'll ring my neck if I don't!

It's going to be another busy week. I say bring it on!!

SHINE,

Kacy

Pray for computer peace in the morning! I'm not sure you can get much more stressed than when you own your own business and NONE of your computers work. HA, not good. HUMM, maybe if the phones were out.... That's happened before, too. This too shall pass!!

Weekend!!

Crazy busy day with kids!! Well, every day is crazy and every day is busy and for the last 11 years every day has involved kids. I'm not even going to attempt the picture thing this evening because that would probably send me right on over the edge. The girl had a slumber party last night to attend that I found out about at 3 yesterday afternoon. From the time I found out about the party she had to be at at 6 both of my computers at worked locked up and shut down. That will be loads of fun Monday morning. I was finally able to leave the office last night at 6 to fly across the street to a little gift shop to grab a gift for the party. Of course they closed at 6, so we beat on the door and they let us in, we got our gift and they were kind enough to wrap it up. Sometimes I just LOVE living in a small town. Anyway, we finally got her to her party at about 7.

Jeff picked the girl up at 9 this morning (from a party where she went to sleep at 4) to take her to another party from 10:30 till 12:30. I, on the other hand, took the boy to Taekwondo at 10:30. Then we all met up for the girl's indoor soccer game at 3. She played well considering the state of exhaustion she was in. The boy was asked to join the Extreme Team at Taekwondo and he accepted. That starts next week. Did I mention the girl has had soccer practice EVERY day this week and again tomorrow? WOW, welcome back to the full swing of life MOM.

Then, the cat is sick again. I haven't been home all week to notice any strange behavior or extra clingyness. BUT, last night after a near mental breakdown over the state of my computers at work and buying gifts for parties I knew nothing of (the invites were lost in her room which at this point should just be condemned) and getting her to the party and taking Dalton to exchange some things at Wal-Mart, I was really looking forward to climbing in bed. I climbed into bed with a nice fat puddle of cat pee. THAT is a sure fire sign that Tony is sick. That means, "YO woman, I've done everything I am capable of trying to show you that I am not well, and you have not noticed, but guess what? I happen to know this gets your attention in a MAJOR way." Of course, he had to pull that trick on Friday night when the vet doesn't open up until Monday. And yes, he has been up under my chin every moment I have been home. Last night Jeff and I slept on the mattress with no sheets. It was kind of ole school. I don't even think we owned sheets back in the early days of marriage. Somehow, at this point in our marriage we only own one set and last night they were in the washer and then dryer and I was just too tired to put them back on the bed. I did make a note to self to pick up another set of sheets.

Tomorrow's schedule is almost as hairy as today's. Good times, huh? NOW, I need your help. I have questions....like when you are 36 (I think that's how old I am....I might be 37...but I'm just gonna be 35 till I'm 40...I like multiples of 5) what kind of jeans do you wear? Especially when you've hit double digits in size. That was a dark day, but one I've just come to accept. I don't know how to dress double digits, but I've got to learn and I'm not going to pay a fashion consultant. My expertise seems to be with the single digits. AND, how many sets of sheets should one have for each bed? When we moved, we all switched things up to maximize the space we were moving into. Somehow in that process, we all ended up with one set of sheets for our beds. I typically change the beds all in one day and it works out, but I would like to have a spare pair and it would be much easier. Somehow, in all of my years I never learned how many sheet sets one should have. Also, shouldn't you have a deciduous tree in your front yard? I'm very troubled by this. I believe you are and I do. My entire lot is surrounded by trees...lots of trees including the front of the house all the way around to either side of the driveway...both of the driveways as a matter of fact. On the left of the drive is a big tree, on the right of the driveway is the biggest crepe myrtle I've ever seen. It is lovely and could be even lovelier it were trimmed and shaped up. BUT, I just don't think it is supposed to be in the middle of my front yard. Thoughts???? We have some yard clean up and work and of course exterior painting and such to do this spring. So this is becoming more and more on my mind. ALSO, painted brick??? We have no choice in painting the brick on this house. It is positively horrific as it stands now and plus we will be adding brick to make the porch more aesthetically pleasing and we can't match this brick circa 1965. I've got a very pale yellow in mind which scares my family. My color choices always scare my family and then they love them when it's all said and done. You know, lime green in the whole house with an orange kitchen and slate counter tops. They were freaking out and now they love it. You should have seen Jeff's face when I had him go order brown and linen Tunisia for the curtains in the living room with the lime green walls!! HA! The house has extensive flower beds...a really large tall bricked in flower bed that I want to add another level to. I'm thinking if the house is a pale yellow with a brown roof and a lighter off white trim and red front door, some broad use of colors in the flower beds will bring it all together. Can you tell I'm getting excited about Spring. I am a flower freak, which you know if you've been reading with me awhile. That's a lovely trait I inherited from my Grandmother. I even found a couple of planters for the front porch I really liked today.

The girl and I are watching movies. She's worn out and I'm experiencing a little intestinal distress (TMI?). I see an early night in our future. Izzy is at my feet and Tony is trying to take over the laptop (poor guy is not feeling well). Actually now, the girl is shaving the hair out of her dads ears. Isn't it interesting how life changes?

SHINE,
Kacy

BUSTED LURKERS!!

Today has just been one of THOSE!! You know "those". I got up at 6 a.m. which is no small feat for me. I have never been a morning person and with this RA diagnosis I became even less of one. It typically takes me a little while to stretch out in the morning and start walking normally. My morning gait is similar to that of C3PO. My new med (Lyrica) seems to be helping in that category although it makes me sleepy and tad bit spaced out...OK maybe more than a tad bit. The night before last, after taking my medicine, I typed a pretty long email to a friend and sent it to myself....SPACE CADET!! Anyway, I had to be at the hospital early today for an abdominal ultrasound, but I'll get to that in a minute. As I'm getting ready, I run completely out of my favorite lipstick. You know how you dig down in the tube with a brush to get the very last little bit out...that proves it was a fave!! So I chunked it. Knowing that I didn't have a lipstick, I made a point to pick one up today. Here is what I came up with....

CoverGirl Outlast Lipstain...yeah, DON'T DO IT. They take that word STAIN seriously. It literally goes on like a magic marker and not the washable kind. It is now in the garbage with the empty tube. This stuff was a nightmare, and I was stuck wearing it all day. Unfortunately, I bought it at Walgreens and they do not take make up back. Did you know that CVS does? That's where I usually shop, but I was in a hurry to get to work because the hospital was running behind (go figure). Sephora will also take anything back if you get home and don't like it. The great thing about there is you can try pretty much everything out in the store.

OK, so abdominal ultrasound...I basically have morning sickness. I'll be driving along in the truck, everything is cool, and then, stop the press, pull over and bluaaaak....clean up and keep on going. Showering in the morning, bluaaaak. On the way home from dinner, pull over, bluaaak. No rhyme or reason....sooooo, everything checked out this morning. It was all good. Of course, there are kidney stones on both sides, but those little boogers are cool until they start moving. Right now, we have no movement, so it's all good. I started a beta blocker yesterday to slow this nutty heart rate down. It's been bouncing around from 100 to 130 since last Wednesday. The thyroid checked out fine (good news) so we are blaming it on steroids and stress.

I've decided to change my diet up a bit. Red meat leads to an inflammatory response in the body, so I quit eating it. I'd like to call myself more of a vegetarian, but I'm not quite there. Tonight for dinner I had this...

Do those count? They were good. Any of you lurkers vegetarians?? If you are share some info, anything...I'm a newbie.

I also had these...can you tell those are grapes? Those were yummy grapes!! I'm also back to writing myself notes on my hand. It seems to be the most foolproof way of remembering things. I've been so busy, yesterday the whole side of my hand was covered. I had written all the way from the bottom of my thumb all the way up across the back of my hand. BUT, I got everything I meant to done. Now lets talk about my wrist. This could possibly be controversial. That is a temporary tattoo. I've worn one on my wrist for the last two days ( I keep TONS of them at work for the kids that come in). I secretly (well not so secretly now) want a real one on the inside of my wrist. I think I want a tattoo. Shane (my artistic cousin) is working on a design for me in exchange for some repair work I am doing on a pair of his jeans. Jeff says I'm not the tattoo type. I think I am and since I'm so mad at him tonight I could spit nails, I'm not taking his opinion into consideration. I want Shane to draw one on there (henna) and let me "wear" it a few days. Red nail polish makes me NUTS so I have to make sure this won't bother me. Anyone who REALLY knows me, knows that I wear a TON of jewelry all the time. That in mind, it would hardly be noticeable. HUMMM, I'm not jumping into it, but I am thinking about it. MO, I wish you were around to draw on me!!! Maybe in your spare time (BAHAHAHAHA) you could work me up some designs...peace sign with wings...I love your hearts with wings but I'm not a heart girl.

Jeff took this picture of Tony and I sleeping. I found it on my camera tonight along with 124 pictures of someones house whose foundation is sinking. That's NOT a good thing, but Jeff can fix it. MAYBE, if he wasn't so busy being a jerk to me!!! Flowers Jeff, call the florist and MAYBE we can make up. It's just not looking good for you right now. Tony is my friend now. Ever since I took him to the vet when his paw was practically killing him. I guess he realizes I was helping him and now he loves me.

I'm really impressed with you braveheart lurkers. THANK YOU for introducing yourselves. All of you found me though MO which ultimately means you found me through Jake. What an amazing testimony to that child. I'm glad I make you all laugh. That isn't my intention but I gravitate toward people that make me laugh as well. Jake and his family had a dramatic impact on my life. I don't know if you all know the story, but I didn't know Jake or his family. I had followed his CaringBridge for a month or so at the encouragement of another St. Jude child I knew. I prayed for Jake everyday and sometimes more than once a day. I felt led to go meet his family and to do whatever I could to help them. I knew Hunter and Hayden were at the hospital and trying to kill each other with pool sticks. I thought maybe I could get them out of there for a bit and give Don and Staci a break. Jake was on a ventilator fighting a fungal infection. I walked into that hospital a total stranger and walked out after meeting Jake and spending time with him with his two older brothers. I brought them home with me that day and we went swimming and cooked out!! We had a blast and I took them back about 10 p.m. I made new friends for life. Jake never left St. Jude after we met that day until he went home for his remaining few days. I spent many nights and Saturdays or Sundays visiting with Jake or making jewelry with Mo or playing games with the boys or watching movies with Staci or just cleaning up the waiting room after all of that nights visitors left. Jake came off the vent and we got to "officially" meet. He was watching SpongeBob on a laptop and wasn't real into our "meeting". I was so happy to see him sitting up in bed, I wouldn't have cared if he stuck his tongue out at me. I was honored that Staci taught me how to wash my hands and let me visit with him in the ICU. Even when Jake was his sickest, she always took me to see him. She let me hold his hand and talk to him or sing to him or just pray over him. What an honor!!

SO, Suzi from New Baltimore MI, yes, I ran in the St. Jude Marathon two years. I broke my foot the second year and have since developed RA so I don't run anymore. Now my kids run for Jake. They met him, too. If you identify with my crazy life and have teenagers, for heavens sake, you should blog, too. Start one and try it. You might just like it. Feel free to lurk anytime you like. I promise, I'll never call you out on it again. Like I said, anonymity is powerful in some cases.

Kim in Spring Lake Park MN, I love Mo AND Jessi. I told Jessi if she ever wants to move further north, I'd hire her!! We all know Mo is the bomb, but Jessi rocks herself. She designed my banner for my blog. It's about time for a new one. I need to give her a shout. She also designed some stuff for my Etsy store that I have never gotten up and running. She did all that for me last summer right before we moved and since my craft room isn't functional yet....well, I haven't gotten to it.

Maria, if you want the deal that tracks who visits your blog...go HERE. Click on widgets and then choose what you want and click on Add to Blogger. It's easy. Call my cellular metal if you get confused.

Nice to hear from you again, Renee from South Louisiana. I don't consider you a lurker. You talk to me from time to time. Thanks for the love. I have several Louisiana folks that show up. Which town are you in?

Jonesboro? Is that you Jenny? I know you are in Arkansas, but I think Radstitches is, too. AND, who is in Jackson MS??????? Come out Come out whoever you are????!!!! If you are a FB'r, click on my link and be a fan of my AGENCY, PLEASE. If you do it by the end of the day Friday, you'll be in the drawing for some TShirts. I need to get to 100 fans!! I have just over 60 in the first 24 hours, NOT too bad.

Congratulations if you made it through this long post. You deserve a prize if you did. I guess these new meds make me wordy, too. They sure do make me feel better!! TG tomorrow is F!! Make it a good one.

SHINE,

Kacy

Who are You? Who? Who? (Think CSI)

OK, cats! I'm wiped out! I finally figured out how to make a page on Facebook for my agency!! I realize that most of you have probably done this before, but NOT me. To say I am not very technologically inclined would be a severe understatement. Jeff got me a "smart"phone for Christmas and I still don't know how to use it. I can't even manage to answer a phone call about 3 out of 5 times that it rings. I absolutely can't do call waiting, but I am getting better at texting. It took me all night to figure this out, but it's done and I think I even put a link on the blog, if it works. I still can't figure out how to make my blog feed to my Facebook page, hummm....maybe another night.

I'm gonna keep this short tonight, but I have a question. I installed this Feedjit thing on here because I saw it on someone else's blog and thought it was pretty neat. Actually they had a map of the USA on there with dots on it where people had visited from. I didn't end up with that, but instead got a feed of where folks were from. I know I have many more readers than are actual "followers" and that is fine....TRUST ME...I like anonymity (I'm gonna FALL OUT. I spelled that right on the first try). BUT, some of these places I have never even heard of and others I don't even know folks that live in these places. Please leave me a note and introduce yourself, PLEASE! I don't expect comments ever. I honestly don't even write for you...this is a journal for myself and my family and most of the time it just turns out to be a bit comical. I give Jeff and these crazy kids all of the glory for that. Now who lives in Mount Juliet, TN because you seem to be a regular. I don't even know where Rochester MI is and I know I don't send you a Christmas card???? How did you end up reading about my family? I do know where Boliver TN is but I didn't know I knew anyone there either. And what about Seymour WI and New Baltimore MI and Osseo Minnesota? Come on guys....introduce yourselves, I promise I don't bite!! I'm a germophobe.

Ya'll have a good night, you lurkers, you!

SHINE,
Kacy

BUSY BODY!

I've spent the last ten minutes looking for a picture that would sum up my day. I couldn't find one. Instead, I found three.

The top one was pretty good but that little briefcase could easily be confused as an overnight bag, which to me means business trip, but to some could be confused as "a fun time". The second one shows how much a mom has to juggle. Yeah, well, how about being that mom AND a business owner. Sometimes it gets a little complicated. Today was one of those times. A particular member of management had an appointment that HE set with me today at 9 a.m. I spent all weekend preparing for that meeting to make sure I maximized the time we had allotted. Instead, he showed up after 1 p.m. Jeff had me pick the kids up from school today. I had another MALE agent (are you starting to see a trend?) call me on my cell this afternoon after I had picked up the kids. We were on a serious search for Silly Bandz. While I was discussing my retention ratio with him, I was talking to Dalton about his Bandz out of the other side of my mouth. HE asked me how I could switch gears that fast! Ya know, you just do it, and most days you do it in a three inch heel. While overwhelming at times, I can't imagine life any other way. When my babies were actually babies, I stayed home for 3 years. That was the best decision for my family and what I thought I wanted. In hindsight, I nearly lost my mind. I wouldn't trade that time for anything in this world or beyond, but I don't think I could do it again. Jeff and I had a serious conversation about it last year. As the kids are getting older, there are times when I feel like it might be best for them for me to be home NOW. It's a constant internal struggle. Jeff and I also came to the conclusion rather quickly, that after about two weeks, I would pull my hair out and then it wouldn't be a positive experience for anyone involved. The good thing is, I can leave to go pick up my kids ANY day of the week. I really do have the best of both worlds.

I am now officially the ONLY female Allstate Agent in Desoto County. There are eight of us, seven men and me! My meeting in Nashville last week was interesting. Us girls are few and far between. We had four breakout sessions with panels of four people speaking in each one. Oh, and a "moderator" in each session. All four "moderators" were....guess...men. And of the sixteen panel members only two were women. To say the football analogy was over used would be a terrible understatement. UGGGHHHH! It's frustrating at times. I think it's time to read a book I read when I began this venture..."How to Pitch Like a Girl". Sorry about that tangent. I just did an awful lot of juggling today that MOST of my colleagues don't have to deal with and in turn, don't understand or appreciate.

OK, time to lighten the mood. THIS has been in my head all night long. And then, Savannah and I were trying to watch the Bachelor (and ALL of its ridiculousness) when THIS came on. I fell out of the bed laughing and Savannah spent the rest of the night doing her own reenactment. Who watches this show? I never have until now and actually didn't start until about two or three weeks ago. It is a total train wreck. You know the kind of story that is just terrible, but you can't look away. It's AWFUL but I am enjoying every minute and I'm on pins and needles. I told Jeff tonight if Jake picks Vienna he better restrain me because I really may go through the TV. I'm a true believer in love at first sight, but not on a television show where women or men were picked for you off a piece of paper (oh and for rating purposes). No Thanks!
Whew, it's been an interesting day. I read somewhere online today that it was National Margarita Day. I didn't do any looking into that but it sure sounded kinda good. Too bad I don't drink. Instead I had an Icee! You gotta love a good Icee.

OK, long day, gonna be a long week. Savannah had soccer practice tonight with the rec team she is playing with. She has practice with them again tomorrow night and then practice with the RUSH team on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday (I think. Jeff if you are reading, call me about that. He's snoring right now, or I would ask.) Dalton has Taekwondo tomorrow and Wednesday night. AND Dalton has 3 books to read over the next three weeks (which means I have to read them to). UGGHHHH. Fast paced, is there any other way? I guess summer will be here soon enough and the children will be yelling, "I'm bored" in no time.

Hope you survived your Monday!

SHINE,

Kacy