Me: 14 Years Ago To The Day (ooooooooeeeeeeeeeoooooo)

Me, Status post wisdom tooth extraction (for those of you who delight in others' pain... or just want to see me make good on a promise) :

Now seriously, don't you feel bad for me, even a little bit? Oh, it hurts me just to look at it now! FYI, the swelling finally did go down sometime around 2006. (And no, I did not sue my periodontist.)

I hope your vote was worth it!

Anyway, here's me in 2008 because I don't want that "chipmunk" face to be the last thing you see tonight before you go to bed... (Trust me, it has a way of lingering with you, right Stacie?!?!) And please, purty please, try to erase that image from your brain.

It's not working is it??? Oh well...

PS: It was strictly a coincidence that I posted this pic on its 14-year anniversary. My parents just emailed it to me tonight and didn't even realize the date. I only noticed it because I wanted to be clear on the date myself. I find that downright odd (hence the oooooooeeeeeeeeooooooooo, which is supposed to sound all spooky... at least it did in my head.)

Dems Gone Wild!

First there was John Edwards and now there's a bunch of pics (see tmz.com for more) floating around the web of John Kerry partying with a bunch of coeds in (wait for it...) ...Nantucket. So what's the difference between a Democrat and a Republican? Apparently a penchant for girls.

No wonder Obama can't find a Veep... although to be fair, Kerry sure seems to be rockin' the young vote!

Another bit o' randomness

YOWZA!!!! Not that I ever thought Madonna (or her skeezy 80s styles) were all that attractive but even I didn't predict she'd look like death warmed over this in 2008:

**Photo courtesy of The Superficial... which is, by and by, the source for hilariously biting social commentary. But clicker beware!

Strange bedfellows, indeed!

My guess is you don't want to talk politics with Brangelina...

TiVo or not TiVo, that is in fact my question for you...

So I'd love to post all about the world's happenins' and how wretched this summer week has been but what I really want to know is whether or not you use TiVo. Or do you DVR? Or what? I can't believe I'm about to admit this here on the world wide web but we honestly still use a *ahem* VCR if we ever need to record live TV. Usually we really don't watch much TV at all or we just skip it but lately we've let regularly scheduled programming hold us hostage! Our kids go to bed late, we scarf down dinner, etc just so we don't miss anything on So You Think You Can Dance. It's sad and frankly, it's not very 21st century. So I need to hear your input before we plunk down the dough for a new way of life. And believe me, I know... it will be worth every penny and we won't know how we ever lived without it. I just want to know what IT should be. Much thanks!

PS: Wassup with Will being voted off SYTYCD?!?!?!? IV Real?!?!?

So long, Sophia...

If you know me then you know I've seen every episode of the Golden Girls at least 10 times. So I just had to mention Estelle Getty's passing early this morning. Here is all you'd ever want to know about "Sophia Petrillo."

And here we go again...

It appears that Emma is not going to be kept at the hospital. The very good news is that her platelet count is well over 100,000. That is darn close to the normal range so that's nothing but good news. The bad news? Dude, she had a nosebleed that lasted for an hour. So we're not really sure what's up with that but they have given her some clotting medication and sent her home. Huh? Yeah, me too.

Second verse, same as the first...

Well, I was looking forward to a series of mindless posts about silly things, like drugstore cosmetic products that were--in my humble opinion--a good buy, or posts with pics from our beach trip and other summertime events. But I just got a call that our dear niece Emma is back at the hospital. She was unexpectedly released from the hospital on Friday afternoon because the alleged hematologist felt like she would be fine. And I know hindsight is 20/20 but none of us had a good feeling about it. At the very least, I feel that the doctors should have held off on her release until she was holding her own platelets. Instead, they let her go when her platelets were on a distinct, rapid downward trend. So now Emma is back at the ER awaiting results and hopefully getting a new batch of doctors to look at her. My mother-in-law said the nosebleed has stopped but I'll be very curious to see what the blood tests show. For now, I'm camped out here at home with my two plus a neighbor's boy but if all this continues, I'll be hopping a plane to New Mexico to mount up and regulate. Let's all pray it doesn't come to that!

Emma Update 2.0

Well, Emma is still doing okay but her platelets did drop way down so she will receive another IVIG treatment and stay in the hospital through today. Of course they are all disappointed (it's been my experience that finding out you're not going home is almost as bad as being there in the first place!) but we know it's best for her to stay in the hospital for now. I'll try to keep you posted but if you've ever had a loved one in the hospital, you know it's a ROLLER COASTER RIDE! Thanks for your prayers... and by the way, has anyway donated that pint yet? ;)

PS: Crabman received several rounds of IVIG during his hospital stay and I just learned (courtesy of the link above) that it takes 1,ooo donors for one IVIG treatment! Wow, that means several thousand people helped save Crabman's life. Like, seriously saved his life. PLEASE DONATE... you don't know how much I wish I could! FYI, my birthday is August 11th and you could donate then as a cheap b'day present... I'll even let you keep the free loot they give ya!

Emma Update

Hi everyone... I just talked to the folks in Albuquerque and Emma had a good night. They are awaiting another round of blood counts to see if she is now stable or still losing platelets. If she is stable, she MAY be able to go home later today. If not, she will need another round of treatment and will most likely be in the hospital for another day. She hasn't had any more bleeding episodes since Wednesday night so she is definitely improving. We're all optimistic that the worst is behind her now and that's great news! I'll keep you posted...

Request for your prayers and blood

Hi all... that is a picture of Crabman with his cousin Emma (Plumberboy's sister's daughter). Emma lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico and is 5 years old (that pic is a year old but it's all I could find on short notice!) Anyway, Emma is currently in the hospital for internal bleeding. She has been diagnosed with a condition called ITP. I just got a call saying her hematocrit count has stabilized so they are not moving her to the pediatric ICU at this time. However, we still request your prayers for Emma and her family. I know how scary this situation must be for them and of course we all feel bad because we can't be with them. My mother-in-law was able to get out there very quickly so she can lend a hand (and a shoulder to cry on) but I know they still covet your prayers!

I'd also like to ask that you go DONATE BLOOD! Obviously this won't help Emma right now but I shudder to think how many kids and adults are out there needing blood transfusions right this very moment as I type. That blood has to come from somewhere so please--pretty please--do your part whenever you can (I'm talking directly to you, Mr. Plumberboy!) So help me, I really would give blood whenever possible if they would take it... BUT they will not take my dirty blood because of lupus, no matter how hard I try. I'm even O-neg, the highly prized blood type! They won't even agree to sympathy stick me so I can sit next to others while they donate.

Anyway, pray for Emma to our Father in Heaven through Jesus Christ His Son and then go find one of those honkin' big travelin' RV blood banks and give a pint for little Emma. Hundreds and thousands of other little Emmas and their eternally grateful parents will thank you!

Not ever forgotten, littlest one

...just as it is written:
"The righteous will live by faith."
Romans 1:17

100% Ricky Bobby

Forget the President's theme for Ricky Bobby's birthday... Hopefully the theater will sell us some tickets in bulk!

Am I wrong for disliking Obama just a little less today than before? Yeah, probably.

Mea Culpa

This entry is very hard for me to write so please excuse its brevity. Yesterday the boxer we were "borrowing" for our little big dog experiment bit Crabman in the face. The bite tore through his upper lip, requiring stitches (No, I don't know exactly how many... I just know that somehow I had the presence to make sure it was a plastic surgeon who placed them.) As you can imagine, I feel absolutely, utterly, devastatingly horrible that this happened. Any regular reader to this blog knows that I was the one who longed to bring a big dog into our household, not Plumberboy and not our boys. Therefore, I take complete 100% responsibility for what happened yesterday. There's no need to chime in and say "I told you so!" but I'm leaving the comment option on so that you can do so if you get the hankering. (Really, it's the least I deserve.) I will say that I took every reasonable precaution to guard against such a situation but as anyone with half a brain should know, if you bring in a dog that outweighs your kid 2-to-1 then you should know that this sort of thing is --at the very least-- on the periphery of possible. So again, I TOTALLY GET IT. This is my fault and I just pray I don't have a daily reminder in the form of Crabman's lip. And yes, the dog is outta here. I think she longed to be home and maybe that was at the root of her actions anyway. (Though hopefully as time passes I'll chose to think that maybe she found Crabman's face as irresistibly cute as I do and just wanted to gnaw on it a bit!)

And to address another obvious question (though me thinks the answer is equally obvious)... NO, we are no longer getting another dog. I emailed both rescues that we were working with and withdrew our application. Heck, I might even get rid of our overly aggressive 4-lb poodle while I'm at it (email me!) Maybe someday if either of our kids comes to us of their own volition and asks for a dog, then we may consider trying this all over again. But if they grow up to be the dude that puts the dogs to sleep at the humane shelter then I'm okay with that too. I think they've earned that right.

PS: So yesterday I felt really, really sorry for myself. I mean, like how many boxers go around biting kids in the face? Um, basically none so I can't believe that once again this happened to US! But then God gave me a little (*lot!*) perspective in the form of this. And just to drive His message home, tonight is the night I take dinner to our college minister's family who lost their infant daughter a couple of weeks ago... because of a heart defect. No, seriously, I REALLY DO GET IT NOW!!! And, boyoboy, have I been humbled.

PPS: On a lighter note...In an obvious attempt to redeem their species, our two dogs immediately whizzed on a garbage can in the laundry room and barfed on the kitchen floor. Seriously, thanks.

Online Petition

Okay all you out there in cyberspace... I need your help. I know there are a few of you out there that browse this blog but never ever post a comment. Seriously, that's fine. I get it. I read a few blogs myself that I never actually comment on and I understand that it's even trickier if you somewhat personally know the blogger. Maybe you read all about their lives (mundane or not) but don't necessarily want them to know about it. I get that too. Afterall, myspace was invented for exactly that sort of lurking (and then there's facebook, who will alert the media when you go to the bathroom, when you floss your teeth, when you add a friggin' movie to your Blockbuster queque...but I digress.) So let's be just a little bit honest with one another. I have made it extremely easy for you, the reader, to leave a comment. I have not disabled the anonymous feature and I don't think I even make you type in a code (as a pathetic sidenote, I don't think I have enough daily hits on my blog to trigger spammers... sniff, sniff) so this one favor I'm about to ask really won't be that hard. All I need you to do is leave a comment on this post stating whether or not you are in favor of Plumberboy allowing me to get another dog, in all likelihood an adult female boxer. You don't have to leave your name, location, nada. In fact, a simple "yea" or "nay" will suffice. Just number yourself and post your vote. If it is a nay for you, please elaborate with some little anecdote to support your view. You know, like a boxer ate your baby one time or a boxer unlocked your otherwise unoccupied home for a burglar and helped them load the loot or your boxer threw a wild keg party one weekend while you were gone, leaving behind a smashed Ming vase. I will reward you* by posting an embarassing picture of myself...either me in a bathing suit (universally the last thing any woman wants to do) or me looking a good bit like Barney Rubble while pregnant with my 1st child OR (dun, dun, DUN!) me status post wisdom tooth extraction, which is well worth your vote in case you're wondering. (Both Stacy and Stacie can attest to that!)



*if the vote goes my way!

Dude...

...football season starts next month. Ugh. Wow.

Sorry, but that's about it from me for now. I have tons of good pics from our beach trip (courtesy of Peepaparazzi) but I'll have to post them later. I've been way too busy acquiring school supplies (piece-by-piece, mind you) for 300+ kids... and painting a full-grown boxer dog's toenails.