ROLLING ON

No pics yet, BUT ALMOST. I came home and worked on it some more today and so did my mom and Dalton and Cole (the next door neighbor child) cut grass. SavyG cleaned out the guinea pig cage. (I threatened to take the cage and pig and all to the dump....ROIDS.) It's all coming together. I'm still feeling really good. I'm looking forward to hearing from the doctor tomorrow to see what the new plan is. I just DON'T want to get back to feeling so bad. I didn't realize until now how terrible I was really feeling.

ANYWAY,

Today was plum NUTS. I had to call Miss Girlfriend's mommy today and have a little chat. I'm not easily intimidated at all. Anyone who knows me will tell you that, but I have to admit, I was a nervous wreck!! I didn't know if this woman would even talk to me or if she would cuss me or what she would do. She was quite receptive to what I had to say and she was kind. Dalton's cell does not have voice mail. Savannah's, however, does. After I turned Dalton's off, she filled Savannah's voice mail up twice from Friday night to Monday morning. THAT'S 40 MESSAGES. I don't mean this ugly at all, but to be honest, I think Dalton is relieved for it to be over. He wasn't ready for all of that. I guess that's what made all of this so hard. I honestly wasn't worried about offending "little girl" or her mother, but I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing by Dalton. It's hard to know when to step in and when not to. I'm very concerned about my parenting abilities. I've been struggling with this for awhile. It's so hard to know if you are doing the right things for your kids at the right times. Their ages are just so quirky right now. When they were born, I stayed home with them until they were 3 and 4 years old. It just about killed me, literally. I LOVE being a Mom, don't get me wrong, but I'm a competitive person that thrives on projects and challenges. Once my entire house had been painted and the curtains were all made, I didn't have any more projects. It was tough and I forgot who I was for awhile. We've had a good balance for the last couple of years. Jeff's schedule has been flexible and so has mine. We have both always been able to be there whenever we needed to be. BUT, Jeff's time has been more and more consumed by construction and other job opportunities that at this point in our lives need to be taken advantage of. It still works fine because my schedule is flexible. I just feel like the kids need one of us to be around pretty much all the time. My mom is always here with them, but I'm just not sure that's getting it anymore. They run over her and she's the Granny and she lets them to an extent. That's just part of that relationship, as it should be. Jeff and I were talking about it again last night. I just feel like the kids may need me around more now than they did as infants. IT'S JUST HARD. Gosh, that got deep....but it's been on my mind. (Don't worry, that mind scares me, too.)

Good news, I remembered to turn the car off every time I got out of it today. I bought myself a planner today, too. I'm just going to keep it with me all the time so maybe I'll know where I'm supposed to be. "Work", that's what I have to call the big A (Are You In Good Hands?) on here since I have my securities license, is "strongly encouraging" me to get a Blackberry. We are all independently owned, so they can't make us do it unless they provide them, but without them, they are making it difficult to access certain information. At first, I thought that would be a good idea and I could use the scheduling app and that should help me. THEN, I went and looked at one of them and broke out in a hot flash with hives. That is WAY over my head!! I'll never be able to work all of that mess. Did you know that I had to take the link to my agent page off of my blog when I passed that stupid test and got that license? I also had to disclose to the company that I had a personal blog and they can police it. They do to. I've seen it on the Feedjit thing when they peep in on me. HA. What's up guys?

Back to my lack of technology prowess, Jessi, quit laughing at me. At least I can admit I am a technology MORON! Poor Jessi did some creative work for me and it took me a week to pay her because I couldn't figure out how to work Paypal. Speaking of which, now that it's all set up, I haven't a clue how to do it again.

I think I have Jeff talked into taking me to Canton at the end of the month. He's going to give me the days he can take off tomorrow so I can find us some places to stay!! I CAN'T WAIT. I've been wanting to go for a year now. Melanie, give me all of the inside tips I need to make my trip a good one.

Ashley is in Florida this week and I MISS HER. I called her today, but I haven't heard from her. If I'm gone next week, I really will be in total withdrawal.

I'm heading to bed. I'm hanging with the kiddos tomorrow. I don't want them to go back to school. Thursday is the "last" day anyway. I really just want Dalton out of the drama. We are going to finish up some stuff around here and then go help set up for the 5th grade reception at school. (The 4th grade parents work it every year.) Have a great rest of the week and hopefully, I'll have pictures tomorrow!! of my colorful backyard. (I was thinking Sesame Street, but Jeff says it is more Fred Flintstone. Whatever, I bet the babies LOVE it.)

Peace,
Kacy

Weekend Warrior!!

I'm so proud. I've actually stayed moving ALL weekend long and am filling strangely fulfilled from everything I got done. The last few weeks have just depressed me because I haven't gotten anything done. While my house is still MO' NASTY, I got some other stuff done that I WANTED to do and that I enjoyed doing. Now, I am slap ass worn out! I never said I was Wonder Woman, but it's that good kind of worn out. Not that fatigued worn out. Yesterday, I woke up pretty stiff and my lower back pain was back. Today was about the same. I figured as the roids tapered off, that's what would happen. That's how it was, before I was diagnosed and that was part of what led me down the arthritis path. But, it is nothing like it was before and despite the hot flashes that come crashing in with roids, I've actually been sleeping some. ANYWAY, I'll stay on top of it. I refuse to just hurt the way I was before. I decided I'd rather deal with the weight and feel better, than try to stay off the steroids for vanity reasons. I'll just have to get a bathing suit with a skirt on it this year! WHATEVER!!

I started a "weekend project" that didn't get completely finished within the time frame. There were too many fun distractions this weekend, BUT, it's almost done! I decided to give my backyard a makeover! IT NEEDS IT. I took before pictures, so I can share before and after! We aren't quite "after" yet, but I'll be ready this week. There was a huge craft fair in Hernando this weekend that took up quite a bit of time on Saturday and then Saturday night, Savannah's best friends parents had a HUGE neighborhood party and Jeff stayed over there singing karaoke until a little after 11. I have been painting my patio furniture and I made (YES, I sewed) new covers for all of my patio furniture cushions!! (No patterns were involved and I haven't told anyone or anything to Jump up my Ass!) THINK BRIGHT COLORS. Last year, I bought bright colored umbrellas for around the pool and I loved them. They just made me happy to look at! So, I decided to stick with that theme. We'll see how it turns out. My back yard is always full of kids and I know they don't care. Today, in the midst of all of it, I thought some of this looks kinda childish. But, who wants stuffy outdoor furniture around a pool that you are scared to sit on because it looks so nice? So far, I have $55 invested in the makeover. If I hate it, I think I'll recover.

Before I "forget", I have to document what I did today. It might be funny in a couple of days, and everyone else has already been laughing about it, but I wasn't.....

Savannah and I went to Home Depot today in Southaven. I had some paint I had bought yesterday that wasn't working and I needed to return it and get some more and I wanted some flowers to plant. So, we got there and returned my stuff and went and picked out our paint colors and headed out to the garden center to look at flowers while our paint was being mixed. We got all of our stuff and checked out about an hour after we arrived. We were heading to the truck (I drive a Suburban) and I was digging in the bottomless pit I call a purse for my keys. It usually takes me a minute to find them, but this minute was getting me nowhere. Savannah and I sat down in the furniture they had for sale out front and emptied my purse. NO KEYS. Yesterday, I had driven Myrtle and left them in the car but I thought, no way I did that today. You have to lock the doors with the clicker. I figured I must have left them at the customer service desk when I was doing my return. So, we went back around there and NO KEYS. NO KEYS anywhere in the store. I was getting a little frustrated at this point and said, "Come on Savannah. Maybe I left them in the truck." The whole time I knew I couldn't have done that, but there was no where else to look. Well, when we got to the truck, sure enough, I had left them in the truck, in the ignition WITH THE TRUCK STILL RUNNING. WHAT? Am I losing my mind? I have NEVER even lost a set of keys and once when I was 23, I had a rental car and I locked my keys in it. I have NEVER done anything like this! I didn't even turn the son of a biscuit eater off!! So, of course now, I'm freaked out about my mental state. I came straight home and haven't left again. I'm honestly, a little scared to. That was NO GOOD.

Savannah has a friend spending the night again tonight. I know it's a school night, but this week doesn't really count anyway. They are in the same class at school and she lives three doors down.

Ok, so the "girlfriend". This just exhausts me! I don't even know how to tell this story and get across the emotion and disdain that is SO wrong for me to have for a child. I have REALLY struggled with this situation.....

Jeff called me Friday while I was still in Memphis with my Grandmother and told me that a child had approached him and said, "Hey Mr. Acree. Did you know I was dating your son?" Jeff said, "Ummm, I think I heard something along those lines." She said, "Well, I just wanted to make sure that was ok with you. The boy's parents I dated before said we couldn't date anymore." Jeff said, "Well, it's not me you need to worry about, it's Mrs. Kacy." (Thanks Jeff!) The little girl asked if I was going to be there and Jeff told her I was on my way. The whole time I was thinking, I know this little turkey is not going to have the cohoneas (I don't know how you spell that version of balls) to come talk to me like that so I'm not even going to worry about it. (My eyebrows are raising up as I sit and type this at 10 minutes to midnight two days later!) BOY, was I wrong. I was sitting enjoying a nice little picnic with my family when she came over and introduced herself to me and told me she was the one dating my son. I said, "No mam, actually you aren't dating my son. Dalton isn't interested in "dating" at 10 years old and I really think you should find something else to occupy your mind at this age as well. I think you and Dalton can be friends and see each other at school, but that's where it's going to end for now." She said, "AWWW come on, that's what all parents say." I said, "Honey, one day, you'll understand what I'm talking about it and if you aren't careful, that day may be here sooner than you think." Then I turned to Dalton and asked if he was okay with that. He said, "That's fine with me. You know she calls me too much anyway." I turned Dalton's cell phone off about a week ago and yesterday the little girl called and left 19 messages for Savannah. Today, she called again and I told her that was it. If she called again, I would have no choice but to talk to her parents about this. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? Where are this child's parents? Am I over reacting? My son isn't even interested. He just doesn't want to hurt any ones feelings but this chick gets on his nerves. It's just not right and if I EVER knew my daughter was acting, calling, and talking to adults that way, I'd lock her happy ass up in the storm shelter and she'd never see the light of day again. This child had a chest the size of Texas! OHHHH NOO! Not my baby boy. Not yet anyway. Just not a good thing. Good God.

I've got to get to bed now!!! I'm going to work tomorrow. I'm breaking the cycle of taking Monday's off! I'm determined.
Peace,
Kacy

Feelin Good

I didn't like the background! Well, let me take that back. I really like the background, but considering I've used MANY colors in my posts, you can't see a bunch of them. That is frustrating. Maybe one day, I'll have the patience to sit and change the colors to something you can read with a background. I'm thinking if I have that much time, I won't be spending it doing that!!!

Let me say that I felt GREAT today. I JUMPED out of bed this morning with NO pain. I even slept on my stomach last night for the first time in over 9 months. That's how I used to always sleep. Now, I just don't sleep much and when I do, I am so stiff. Anyway, this morning, NO TROUBLE. My back did not hurt. I didn't even limp when I got out of bed. I got up and went straight for the shower. I was at my Grandmothers at 10 minutes until 8!!

Her doctors visit went really well. They told her to take an aspirin everyday and fish oil twice a day. She got herself all stressed out for no real reason. That's not to say everything is GREAT. She is 74 and her heart is starting to show some wear and tear. She is going to meet with a nutritionist on Monday for some dietary advice and they are just going to keep a closer watch on her from here on out. She was extremely relieved and so was I. I wish I had words to describe my relationship with my grandmother. I don't, trust me I've tried and it's something I've spent a lot of time thinking about. RESPECT.

I'm still dealing with the roids pretty well. I just took today off work, just in case, but so far so good. I haven't even told anyone or anything to jump up my ass!! I spent the whole day at the school with the kiddos! Tonight was Celebration Night and Jeff and I worked with the PTO. It went really well. Now it is 10:15 and I have 6 little girls in the pool. Dalt went to bed. He said he had had enough. OH LAWD!! I had a "run in" with the "girlie friend" at school today. It did NOT go well. Let's just say, we don't have a girlfriend anymore. I'll elaborate tomorrow for you. I'm exhausted and I've got eyes frequently reading over my shoulder at the moment.

Have a great weekend. I've got a BIG one planned.

Peace,
Kacy

I made the damn pillow!
I swear i did, but I am too lazy and swollen up to go get my camera out of the truck and show it to you. Hopefully, it will be around for awhile and I'll get a picture of it. I have decided FO SHO, that patterns can jump up my ass!! All of that hard work and the pillow needs to be BIGGER. I'm gonna make another one as soon as I get around to it and it's going to be the size I had in mind. It actually wasn't "hard work" at all. The directions just confused me. I just had to put my mind to it and fold those cute little directions up and figure it out my own way.
So what about this background? I don't know about it. I like them when I see them on other folks' blogs, but I just don't know about mine. I'm gonna give it some time.....
(Can you tell I'm on steriods? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA) I'm actually doing pretty good, but I guess it shows just a little. After all, patterns don't typically jump up your ass. I'm making a huge effort to stay calm and I think so far it's working. I am soooo swollen. I'd take some pictures of that for you, too, if it weren't such a long way to the truck. Maybe tomorrow it will be better. If not, I'll show you. My feet swelled up out of my shoes today. I thought these things were supposed to help inflammation. Who knows?
I have to be in Memphis at my Grandmother's house in the morning at 8. That's one of those IMPOSSIBLE feats for me, but for my Grandmother, I'll pull it off. She had her annual checkup last week. They called her this week and said that they needed her to come in for a 30 minute appointment with her doctor so he could explain why she was going to go for a stress test next Tuesday. She completely wigged out. She has scar tissue on her heart. When she had pneumonia last fall, it put a lot of stress on her heart. That was the last time her heart has ever been an issue. She's scared. Her daddy died when he was 74 of a heart attack. She turned 74 in September. She keeps making that reference. I think the thing that scared her the most was the last time the nurse called her after a checkup and said they need to schedule a 30 minute appointment for her to talk to the doctor, he told her she had breast cancer. By the way, she just had that checkup, too, and got the ALL clear of 3 years!!! She is such an amazing STRONG woman. There is NO WAY I was gonna let her go to the doctor by herself tomorrow. I just can't stand it.
Anyway, we've got that in the morning and then both of the kids have their end of the school year parties. Savannah's starts at 11:30 and Dalton's at 12. Then at 6 tomorrow night, it's "Celebration Night" at school. They have all kinds of jumpy things and a Silent Auction and vendors and even a band. It's always a lot of fun. I'm so ready for them to be out of school. I know they are ready. I took Dalton up to watch Tae Kwon Do testing tonight. It wasn't his time to test, but some of his buddies were. It was fun. Jeff went to the BBQ Fest downtown. I had planned to go, but these feet wouldn't have it today. I have PLENTY of energy, but I have a body that won't cooperate.
I've got to get off of here and fold another load of laundry and try to plan a little trip for the end of the month. I have been dying to go to First Monday in Canton. (Thanks Mel for that bug.) I think we are finally gonna work it out. I think we are going to take off this month. It runs the 28-31. Then we are going to head on over to Dallas, which may very well be one of my favorite places in the good ole USA. I LOVE DALLAS TEXAS!! The kids are fond of the Six Flags there, too. And yes, I'll admit it, so are Jeff and I. We are those bad parents that sneak off to amusement parks without the kids even. Well, we have in the past. We don't have to anymore because the turds are big enough to do everything now and neither of them have any fear!!! They kinda take after their momma!! Jeff is pretty fearless, but he has to be majorly persuaded to be hung upside down. He'll do it, but only when you beg him or humiliate him.
So, my brothers nards are better. He went back to work. That was a good thing. I talked to him today and he even sounded like himself. Thanks for enduring my interesting family.
Gotta go fold clothes so I can try to sleep so I can get up early. Hell, I'll probably be back in a little bit. I'm not feeling that tired thing. That's another little sweet side effect of me on roids.
Sleep Sweet and Peace Out,
Kacy

Early Post

Today was hard, but I made it. The next 7 days will be mighty interesting though. I went to see the famous Dr. Boatright today(my most excellent bow tie wearing rheumatologist). I am officially in the midst of a flare up. Hummmm, I kind of already knew that, but at least I know I'm not losing my mind, yet. Have you ever had a doctors appointment that lasted for an hour and a half? I'm not talking about you sitting there for that long...I'm talking about you being with the doctor for that long. It's tiring. Anyway, my xrays showed a lot more damage in my hands and now damage in my lower back. SO, I'm on a 7 day regimen of a lot of steroids. It's like 30 mg of Predisone a day. WHOA. He said my body should feel FABULOUS after tomorrow, but my brain may go berserk!! Given my history with the roids, you can bet your bottom, there will be some interesting happenings around here in the next week. Hang on for a "fun" ride. My pointer and middle fingers on both hands are curving outward and there is no "dip" between my knuckles anymore. They are red and swollen and have no strength. I'm dealing with my hands. Don't get me wrong they drive me nuts, but they don't keep me up at night. They make certain things difficult, but I'm finding little ways to work around those things. My back has been giving me the most trouble. When your back hurts, it's hard to do anything. It keeps me up at night and just exhausts me. At my diagnosis in September, I didn't have any signs in my back. Now, it is there. ANYWAY, we will stay with the same treatment plan if the roids can get this flare up under control. I was feeling really well before it started. If not, he said we will switch gears and alter our medication to a different class.
If you don't mind, your prayers would mean the world to me. Mainly for my mental state. I am really having trouble with anger right now. I know all things happen for a reason, I've just been pleading with God to show me what this reason is. I'm having a lot of trouble figuring it out. I wish I hadn't taken for granted all of those days I felt so great and had so much energy. I certainly won't let that happen again.
Anyway, have a great evening! I'm going to finish this pillow tonight! Oh and guess what, you can get your Triple Grande Fat Free Caramel Macchiato Iced if you want it that way!!!!!!
Peace,
Kacy

Blogging Frenzy (Two Nights in a Row)

When I'm exhausted, I can still BLOG. It works out well. I'm tired and can't do much but sit here, I can type though.

Boy, has today been a day.

I started the day off doing something just ever so slightly INSANE. I took the advice of my darling cousin Ashley. She is definitely a NUT. She explained to me about how she has been starting her day with a Starbucks and how she thinks the caffeine is helping her weight loss efforts. Considering the size of her tiny monkey ass, I decided to take her advice. So I be bopped right on up to Starbucks this morning and read to the lady at the window exactly what Ashley had me write down. Yes, I'll have a Grande Fat Free TRIPLE Caramel Macchiato. I might as well have been speaking Polish considering I don't drink coffee. I had to drive to Cordova from there (about 25 minutes) to go to the ever lovely arthritis doctor for my labs. I drank the coffee on the way. It tasted great. When I got there, I struck up a conversation with an 85 year old woman who used to make paper roses as decorations for her home. We discussed double bud roses and how relaxing a hobby it was for her. Then I hugged my lab tech and told him I missed him last time and that honestly I didn't like the lady that drew my blood last time. I'm not much on change. He used to be a roofer before he got emphysema and had to find another occupation. He still looks like he belongs on a roof and I told him that. He said I didn't really fit in at the Rheumatology clinic either considering I didn't have blue hair.

After all of this, I realized, I was high as a kite. Obviously, TRIPLES make me talk to strangers. On my way back to work, I got a Coke from Sonic to calm my stomach. Yep, just what I needed, more caffeine. Today, it took two hands to hold my Coke. My hands are no good. I have knots coming up in both hands between my pointer and middle fingers. NO GOOD. AND I AM SO TIRED!! I go see the actual doctor tomorrow at two. Hopefully, we will get to the bottom of this!

OH MY GOSH!! I AM NOT A KRIS ALLEN FAN AT ALL BUT HIS VERSION OF APOLOGIZE TONIGHT ROCKED THE FRIGGIN HOUSE!! I LIKED HIM BETTER THAN DANNY TONIGHT! WHOA!

(ok, my coffee might still be working a little.)

I still haven't worked on my pillow anymore. I bought this pattern, that was Patterns for Dummies. I obviously should have taken it back a step or two and gotten a Pattern for Complete and Total Morons! HA. No, actually, I figured out how to do it tonight while I was watching Dalton at Tae Kwon Do.

HOLY CRAP, ADAM WAS BETTER THAN KRIS!! I KNOW HE'S HIGH AND ALL BUT THAT BOY CAN SING HIS ASS OFF. a little less theatrics would be okay with me though, but i like him.

Ok, back to my pillow...I figured it out. The pattern didn't do me much good. I guess it told me how much fabric I needed. That's about all I managed to do with it. Trying to read the directions and do as they said just frustrated me. I still have to sew it together, but my DH was out building houses again tonight so I had full home duty which included tae kwon do and dinner! I was already pooped. Now, I'm heading to bed!

Oh, by the way, check out this interesting form of "fashion" they market to those of us with arthritis. Any shoe designers out there? This is an untapped market!! I know for a fact that I'm not the only 30 something woman out there with RA. I mean, come on. It's bad enough all of the magazines are cover to cover gray headed folks in cardigans. Can we at least have something that might resemble life as we knew it before diagnosis. I have gone from heels to ballet flats. Thank goodness they are considered stylish at the time. (They don't help with the slimming effect on this plump figure, but at least they aren't this.)

That makes me want to throw up in my mouth. And the color choices...Good God, it's summer!

Today has just been stressful. OH, and I'll probably be dead for this, but here goes. Bradley, you know, I love you. (Bradley is my baby brother by 10 years) He REALLY has his nut in a sling tonight! HA. Bless his heart. He'll never hear the end of this one. After spending the day in the ER with excruciating testicle pain, he was relieved to find out it is some sort of infection. He spent the day on IV antibiotics and will be on more antibiotics for the next week or so. All joking aside, his fertility is in question. He is at peace with that at this point. He has two beautiful girls, but I ask that you keep him and his nuts in your prayers. (Oh boy, I'm as good as dead.)

Peace,

Kacy

Belated Mothers Day

Happy Belated Mothers Day

I know I'm late. It's my nature except for when it came to pregnancies. I had a lot of difficulty being late then. But, ALL prayers are answered (not all exactly as we want them to be, but answered none the less) and mine were answered with two incredible children. We had a much needed "lazy" day around here. AND, I got a new toy!!

Oh Boy!!! I just salivate when I see it!! Last night, I made this... It took all of 15 minutes to put together with a sewing machine. Much better than the first one I made with that tiny little machine that ran on batteries. Today, I bought a pattern to make some pillows and it just made me mad. I'm not sure I can do patterns. That's a little too "structured" for me. I couldn't figure it out and got frustrated and set it aside. I think when I go back to it, I'm gonna scrap the pattern and just put the sucker together. Maybe, I'm a design genius...you know like those musical people that just know it but can't read music. Hummmm....we'll go with that for now. HA

Today, Pleasant Hill Elementary, aka Dalton and Savannah's crizzle, had a little pep rally. They are taking their state exams (MCT) for the next three days. The closing act for the Pep Rally was the JONAS BROTHERS WITH BIG ROB, aka Jeff Acree, Chris Perry, Craig Kern and Kacy Acree as Big Rob! We sang Burning UP!

Hopefully, I'll have some video to share soon. I did good to get a picture. When you are rapping on stage, it's a little hard to be in charge of photography. We had a blast and the kids thought it was great! Ours didn't kill us if you can believe that. I'm glad they still enjoy the fact that we are total fools.

This was one of my precious fans. This is my sweet friend Riley. She lives three doors down and told me she was very proud of me. Her dad is Craig and he was on stage with us, too.

OH and update...Alicia's daughter's name is CALLIE!

Saturday, we spent the day in Dyersburg visiting with family at my cousin Logan and his Bride to Be's Couple Shower. They are major cute and I had little tears when I saw them. I used to change this baby's diapers and feed him and rock him to sleep. I can't believe he is getting married, but Tiffany is BEAUTIFUL.

Look at all of those gifts and she registered for the coolest stuff!! I hear we are going to have a new decorator in the family!!! From what I saw, she has GREAT taste.

I think Logan was pretty pumped somebody was thinking about his needs and got him a Lowe's Gift Card. Jackpot. I doubt he was too excited about the lamp I gave them. Sorry Sweetie. The brides choices usually win. Get used to it.

Looks like the honeymoon might be fun!!!

Congratulations you two!!

Of course there were plenty of kids there, too and I had to get some pictures. Savannah went with Mom and I and we stopped on the way out of town to pick up my niece, Mallory. She was so good all day!

Rhett made the trip. He had a blast playing with his cousins. He and Tori really hit it off. Tori is Logan's little sister. My cousin Kim adopted Tori when she was just a couple of weeks old. Isn't it great how God puts people in lives even when we don't expect it? Logan was Kim's youngest until Tori came along!

That's my sweet Uncle Jamie. He is Tori's Grandad. You know, I didn't even ask what she calls him. I have to find that out. The shower was at his house and he came home before everybody left. I don't think he could resist seeing all the kids. Can you tell, he's a big SUCKER?!

Much love guys.

I didn't work again today. It took most of my energy to make it to the school for this little skit and I'm heading back to bed. I don't know what is up with this bod! I do know it is losing weight. THAT IS A GOOD THING! I called today and am going in tomorrow for them to draw labs and schedule an appointment to come in and see the doctor when my labs come back. Hopefully, we can get to the bottom of this. I told Jeff today, I feel like I've lost a day each week and I never get caught up. This is the third Monday in a row I didn't work. I really don't know what I would do if I had a real job! I guess I do have a real job, I just own it so I have flexibility with myself. I'm determined to get back to feeling good, ALL of the time. (and I'm determined to figure out how to get the fringy balls sewn on this damn pillow, too.)(Do you ever wonder why we have hobbies that frustrate the hell out of us?)(Do you ever get stuck on a parenthesis binge?)

Have a good week. We have a busy one with testing and end of the school year parties and celebrations. We are trying to plan a trip to St. Louis for our annual trek to Six Flags. We are hoping to fit it in at the end of the month and surprise the kiddos. We do that every year. We pack their stuff and tell them we have errands or something to run and just leave. I'm so glad they are still young and don't FREAK out on us when we do it. They love it and have already been speculating about where they will be whisked away to this year.

Oh, I almost forgot....the girlfriend didn't make it over to the neighbors Friday. Thank Goodness. AND, Dalton has turned his cell phone off. He said he still likes her but she calls him WAY to much and he guesses he's just gonna have to tell her that!! (SMALL WIN FOR MOMMY) I think I'm gonna have to give him a list of pre approved girls:) Is that allowed?

Peace,

Kacy

Good Stuff

I'm gonna be all caught up by the time the weekend is over. I have made the commitment. Man, we have had a lot going on the last few weeks. I'm ready for some "down" time. I wonder what that really is?!

Tonight, Savannah and I are in my room watching Talldega Nights. I LOVE THIS MOVIE. I promise I actually have some depth in my life. Going back and reading my blog, it doesn't appear that way. I was cruising around some other blogs in the last few days and noticing the different things people write about. I don't really have a theme. I guess I don't really want one. These are just the true days of my life. Some days are better than others. Some days are funnier than others and some days there is just nothing new to really report. I decided going private defeated the purpose of what I wanted out of my blog experience. So here we are....I people watch and enjoy stupid movies.

I moved a recliner into my bedroom tonight. I know, that sounds sexy, huh? HA. It's the same turquoise recliner I lived in when I had pneumonia. I have NO idea where this chair came from. It was in the game room and I had Jeff bring it down when I got sick last fall. My back and hips have been hurting terribly. Last night, I couldn't sleep. By 5 this morning, I was up crying. This has been a rough week. I made the decision today that I was going to have to call the doctor and go on in. I was doing much better (I thought) before this increase in MTX. They said my hands were showing more damage, but I felt good and my hands weren't bothering me!!! We are going to have to find some medium ground. My appointment isn't until July. I was trying to wait but I don't think I can take much more. I spent the day in the car today so I am really stiff. We drove to Dyersburg for Logan and Tiffany's shower. I have to say they are about THE cutest couple I have ever seen. Tonight I'm gonna try sleeping in this chair. (HA, I'm all over the board tonight!)

I think tomorrow is Rhett's REAL birthday, but his party was last weekend. It was at the Children's Museum which is awesome. The kids had a blast.

First they had some YUMMY cake and ice cream!!

Birthday Boy!! Happy Birthday Rhett!

Nash!

Ty!

Judd!

Mallory

Georgia!

Were these babies loving their cake and ice cream or what?

Rhett and one of his little buddies got into a small food fight, but hey, what's a good party without one?

Look at this angel. I wish I knew her name. Ashley, help me on this one. This is Alicia's daughter. She and Ashley have been friends since at least Junior High or at least I remember her from way back then. This is her gorgeous little girl. She wasn't so sure about me taking her picture, but I couldn't resist a shot at those baby blues.

And then it was time for presents....

Ty was a huge help.

Nash took off with the butterfly net and caught Judd.

Nash got mad when everyone starting laughing. HA.

The kids really enjoyed the "River Exhibit".

Ty liked playing dress up!!! How cute was he?

They had one of those old photo booths. Ashley and I looked at each other and took off. We have pictures of us from when we were little girls in a photo booth somewhere. We had to get in there! Did you know those things actually take debit cards now. I'm gonna go back and find some of the great pictures from my lifetime taken in a photo booth.

We were in there acting like fools, which is pretty normal for us and trying to make Jeff stay out of there because we didn't want anybody else to see us acting so stupid. Then they informed us that there was a big monitor on top of the booth and everyone in the museum could see us. HA.

Good Times Rhett. Happy Birthday Sweet Heart!

We still don't have a TV in the hearth room yet. Well actually we have two right now...

One that looks nice but doesn't work.... and.....

one that does. Gosh, that brings back memories of the early days of marriage.

Here is a random picture of the kiddos. They have already started swimming everyday. Lately, that's been in the rain.

They helped Jeff get the furniture out of the pool. The liner appears to be ok and so does my hardwood in the dining room. The roof got fixed that day thank goodness. Now we just need some ceiling and sheet rock repair and a little paint and we will be good to go. I'm not in any hurry. Now is not a good time to be trying to sell a house. The sign is still up but nothing is happening. The realtor still wants us to lower the price. We explained to him again last week that we don't HAVE to sell it and right now we aren't willing to give it away. We go to court next month to let the judge decide what needs to be done with it and the legal mess with Aunt J. We are so over it at this point we don't care. If we stay, we stay. If we don't, we want something smaller. We don't want to leave the street because of all of the friends we have here but it could be a blessing in disguise. We have two more years before we are worried about schools and making that decision for the kids. If we are forced to sell to settle the title issues, we would buy where we would want the kids in school for Jr and High. (That changed after we bought this lot and we were NOT happy about it.) It's kind of sad to us still when we think about all of the planning and hard work that went into building this house and now we have NO attachment to it whatsoever. We planned every corner of this house and planned to stay here so long that this was where our grandchildren would come to visit us and they could sleep in their parent's rooms. I can honestly say that if it sold tomorrow, I wouldn't shed a tear. Oh well...one good thing this mess taught me was that material things don't mean a thing and they sure don't make you happy. It's love and family that makes me happy and I can have that anywhere.

I've been watching this stupid movie while I've been blogging and I got curious about where one could find a Crystal Gayle T shirt if they wanted one. With one little click on Google, there she was.

If I knew how to link I would provide you one but,,,,,,I can't figure it out and Jeff went went to Tunica tonight.

Peace until tomorrow!

Kacy

She's Gonna Blow

I feel like POOP! I haven't felt great all day. Today is shot day. Gotta love a little low dose chemo shot into your stomach every week. When you already don't feel good, it's a little hard to do. I passed on it this morning, hoping I would feel better this evening, but no such luck. Tonight, I had to just roll with it. I have too much going on this weekend to put it off any longer. I'm fairly certain, I'm gonna throw up. Do you have any idea what I would give to keep from throwing up? I DO NOT LIKE IT AT ALL. NOT ONE LITTLE BIT. I think I go back in July to the doctor. I'm ready to go back. I haven't tolerated this change well and just don't feel as well as I was before. It seems like I only have about 3 "good" days each week and I was at 5. I'm sure the back pain will return tomorrow. It comes for 2 to 3 days each week after the shot. It makes it really hard to sleep. My lower back and hips hurt to lay down. Then you are a little sleep deprived.

Apparently it is time to flip my "tude" around and find the light in this tunnel. I already knew that. I guess I just needed to vent it. I get angry that any "extra curricular" activities leave me under the bus for a couple of weeks. Talladega wiped me out. I get upset that I'm 35 years old and I have to pay so dearly for a fun weekend. I don't even drink and it wears me down that bad. I know, there are thousands of things I can be and am thankful for, but I'm not gonna lie and say I don't depressed every time I look up a new RA symptom or advice or treatment and see gray headed women in cardigans. Every time I want to complain, I feel guilty because of the children with JRA and I got to live 35 years without this stinking mess, but that doesn't make my anger go away about why I have to deal with it now. Sorry. Emotional overload.

Let me go ahead and get this off my chest, too. My baby boy has a girlfriend and I'm NOT handling it well, at all. She called his cell phone 13 times today. I finally answered it tonight at 8:37 and had a little chat with the child. I explained to her that he was in bed (he wasn't but he should have been). I told her that when he didn't answer his cell phone she should just leave him a message and he would return the call when he has time. I told her he had been at Tae Kwon Do and outside playing with his friends and it wasn't doing any good to call repeatedly. I also told her that we don't talk on the phone after 8 and I would appreciate it if she wouldn't forget that. Jeff thinks I'm nuts and YES he is home tonight. After Dalton's shower, I told him what I had done. He couldn't care less. THEN, he freaked me out. He told me that tomorrow, this little girl is coming home with one of the little girls that lives on our street and she is looking forward to meeting us. WHAT? Are you kidding me? SO, I guess I will be picking my kiddos up from school tomorrow and taking the afternoon off. There is no way in hell I'm not going to be up his booty. I do realize the child has to grow up and I have to back off, but I'm the mom and I get to do that when I want to and right now is NOT that time. Something is telling me this is NO GOOD. Can you feel my panic? That's what it is! Total Panic.

I got my mom's Mother's Day gift today and couldn't keep it until Sunday. I got her a Pandora bracelet. She loved it and so do I. I want one. Jeff isn't the best gift giver. I'm looking forward to a strange farm animal or maybe a gas card, who knows...I may get a pack of toilet paper but I think I'm gonna have to get myself a bracelet for Mother's Day. Is that cool? Can you buy yourself a gift for Mother's Day? Actually, thinking about it, I bet I get a TV for Mother's Day and that would be nice considering I just watched Grays on the 19 inch and cried all the way through Izzy's wedding.

Alright, let me finish some of my Talladega People Watching fun so I can move on to other things. I haven't down loaded Rhett's party yet and am too lazy to get up and do so now. Hope ya'll don't mind. A lot of you commented and admitted to being "watchers" yourselves. I don't know if you noticed or not, but I went with 5 men. I'd love to have some lady attendees next year. Let me know if you are interested. It is too much fun! The race is awesome. I know I'm not the only woman to love it, I'm just one of the few who will admit it and I still believe that some of you women just like to gripe because your husbands spend all day Sunday watching it. Get over it. You might discover something you like, too. I was the fan in our house and now I've got Jeff addicted, too.

This is what we parked beside! Is that a killer Jeff or what and read the tire cover!? It made me teary eyed that day and again when I just found the picture.

Rohn was about to have a stroke over this young lady. She was definitely cute but I think she went a little over board with her augmentation.

There is my own personal picture of the hole in the fence where Carl tried to come up and sit in my lap while he was still strapped into his race car! GET OUT OF THE CAR CARL! GET OUT OF THE CAR! Ha

Sorry about that. I was checking out the wreck and still trying to make sure I wasn't seriously hurt when I turned around and this was about to knock me down. It was so close the picture blurred and messed up the shot of the stretch marks. I'm all for loving who you are, but when your belly is this big....well, a couple of things. You should probably consider covering it up and I'm thinking the Hooters shirt loses some of it's value. I could be wrong, but that is my opinion. This just wasn't right (and it was about to touch me).

Ladies, we must talk. Its ok to have a gut. I know, I have one, too. But there is a certain level of etiquette one must posses when you have one. Trust me....NO one else wants to see it. Please put it away.

You can get away with this look at the race. She was cute and I'm not just saying that because she was cheering for the right driver.

Gentlemen, the gut rule goes both ways. Put that away!

Lots of these....Do you think she regrets that decision?

Jeff liked her. He followed her around and took several pictures. She liked herself, too.
I think she worked really hard for those beads because she was pooped. You have to admire the skirt though.

Like peas and carrots!

I feel confined just looking at this picture. Can you imagine sitting and sweating in these tight clothes all day?

This poor lady's shorts were about to drive her nuts. I don't know if they weren't short enough for her or what, but she was just a tuggin.

I think she finally got them where she wanted them.

Picking your rear was a common theme.

All ages.

and a little animal print for good measure.

Fast Cars and 130,000 rednecks is always a good time!

Thank Goodness for this...

Peace,
Kacy