Long week already and it's only Wed!

STAAR testing was today and yesterday and although I am sure the testing grade teachers are pretty tired, I just gotta say that keeping a bunch of 7 and 8 year olds quiet is pretty dang tiring all on its own.  


Good news is that things are sorta looking up for Bree.  Bad news is Matt isn't feeling well and has had a lot of pain.  Good news is that Traci has a soccer game on Saturday.  Bad news is that Matt may not be well enough to go.  Good news is that Carebear will be in the Rodeo Parade on Saturday.  Bad news is that I probably will miss it because of Traci's soccer game.  


Good news is only two more days until the weekend.  Bad news is there's still two more days until the weekend.


I'm still working on Keri's pages for the spring program.  I sent in her personal ad pictures and text.  All the pictures we have of her in her uniform are with her long dark hair so we went out and took some of her in the bluebonnets.  I just hafta say, my i-phone takes good pictures.

There are so many good pictures that I don't know which to choose for her Senior profile page.

 I just figured out how to get pictures to the left or the right
instead of having them all be in the middle. YAY for me. It's different than when I first started doing this and I don't take well to change. It's not like I really know what I am doing or anything.  Also above, I tried out the caption feature.  So proud of myself.

I am sad that Keri's senior year is almost over.  My baby is leaving me.  She's growing up.  How dare she!  I can't get over how beautiful and talented my daughter is. She has been an amazing captain. I'm still almost in shock that she made captain but thank goodness she did.  Although it's been a rough year for her in many ways, it's one that she'll never forget.  She told me when she was a ninth grader that she wanted to be captain of the drill team.  She didn't try out for j.v. or Varsity Belles until she was a sophomore but she did just that.  She gave up soccer and cheerleading and all of her other activities (except choir) and focused on dance and it paid off for her.  I remember when she was a freshman that Traci often had to take up for her and put the bullies in their place. Keri was afraid for Trace to graduate and leave high school but she grew up that first year without Trace.
I love all of my sweeties, through the good and the bad.  We have had so many easy years and it must be our turn to struggle.  We'll make it through in one piece I surely hope.

Here's the most recent picture of my first baby.  LOVE HER to pieces!  

Spring Break fun!

I had so much fun with Traci at the Dallas World Aquarium. We were on our way to lunch and the Galleria but changed our minds on the way.  I am very spur-of-the moment and VERY random.  That's just how I roll.  That part of me bugs Traci to no end but this day it worked in her favor.  


The aquarium has changed a lot since the last time I was there, probably eight years ago.  I wonder if the alligator they have was the same one but was tiny my last visit and is now pretty big.  One of our favorite animals was the sloth just out in the open with a handler.  The jaguar and the sharks were cool too. OH so were the penguins and flamingos. We avoided the tarantula and the other creepy things.  Somehow we missed the bats.

 It was VERY hard to get a picture of this thing even though he moved VERY SLOWLY.

 The manatee wanted to pose with Traci.

 Love me some penguins!

 "Hey Traci!" and this is what I got.  This is a far cry from 15 years ago when she was terrified of sharks (even one inch ones) and dinosaurs and Halloween and masks and I don't even remember what else.

 The jaguar didn't cooperate nearly like the manatee did!

Me and my baby!  Thanks for the wonderful day Traci!  I could never spend too much time with you!


We FINALLY GOT KERI A CAR!  Whew!  She waited three months to the day before we got it, and I will say not extremely patiently either.  Eh, while we're at it, let's also getcha a prom dress.  OK so stop asking for things!  This is IT.

OK, whatever. I'll get the prom dress one on later.  It'll be worth the wait, I promise!

Life sure sucks sometimes

I just wanna say that I know how blessed my family and I are.  Things could be a whole lot worse.  Matt could be dead and he's not.  Bree's situation could be much worse than it is now.  We just keep hanging on and trying to endure one day at a time.

Back in January Bree got into some serious legal trouble that looks like it won't be ending anytime soon.  She is very scared and I am sick to my stomach over it.  No matter what has happened she is still my first baby girl. I am scared for her and dreading the inevitable and praying every day for a miracle. I've lost fifteen pounds, which is a good thing, but the way I've lost it hasn't been great.  My heart breaks.

While that was at its height, Matt got sick.  He had been having stomach pains for a couple of days when on Friday, February 17, the pain got so bad that one of his work buddies called 911.  A heart attack was ruled out pretty quickly and Matt diagnosed himself with a gall bladder problem.  Tests soon showed that he supposedly had a tumor that was bleeding and he needed emergency surgery.  He had a laproscopy procedure done that night to try and stop the bleeding tumor only to find out there was no active bleeding.  My visiting teacher, her husband and the bishop came and sat with Keri and I during the procedure.  They barely missed Matt beforehand but afterward Alan and the bishop gave him a blessing.  The next morning the doctor saw or heard that Matt had been on effiant, a blood thinner and could not have the surgery he needed for a week.  Things went really quickly that day while the hospital people tried to figure out what to do about him.  Matt told me Saturday morning that he was fine and I didn't have to go see him (Keri had a dance competition that day.)  Coincidentally her competition was only about 10 minutes from the hospital so that worked out!  I dropped her off and went on to the hospital.  He was OK as I parked and wound my way to his room (I got lost in the hospital.)  By the time I got there he wasn't doing well. His blood pressure had gone down and continued to go down all day.  He was bleeding internally but because of the effiant, surgery was very risky.  He was given many units of platelets (at times three units at a time) trying to reverse the effects of effiant and at least three units of blood.  He was freezing and feeling crappy. I thought he was going to die.  My brother came to the hospital as did Georgia and my dad.  I hadn't had one of my anti-depressants and was getting really upset.  Mark even volunteered to go get my medicine and bring it back to me.  That would have been at the very least an hour trip.  Matt's blood pressure was down to 85 and we were told if it went down any further he would be put in ICU.  The platelets and blood brought it back up to an acceptable level and the doctor decided not having surgery would be riskier than having it.  Traci was with us by then, thank goodness.  My dad took Keri home and Mark also left.  My visiting teacher and her husband came up and brought Matt flowers.  They hadn't realized the complications of that day.  It was very nice to have them there yet again.The surgery itself didn't take as long as they said and we found out that he had a huge blood clot and not a tumor.  2.4 liters of blood was drained from his abdomen.  The effiant had caused so much damage to his spleen that it had to be repaired in several areas.  Great news!  No cancer, no removal of his stomach or any of the other possibilities we were told about.  YAY.  Matt spent the night in ICU.  Traci and I got to see him once they had him settled although he was sedated and on the vent.  Matt spent at least the next three days in the ICU then moved back to the intermediate care wing where he had been on Saturday. He finally was moved to a regular room late in the week and got to come home that next Monday, February 26.  Since then he has slowly been recuperating.  He hasn't gotten back to work yet.  He is just too tired.  An hour of activity wipes him out for the rest of the day.  I am just glad he's alive.

In the midst of Matt's crap, my dad and I went to Virginia and got Bree.  Traci missed a week of school and hardly left Matt's side.  She was my rock in Texas and my dad was my rock in Virginia.  I don't think I would have made it without either of them.  Keri did her part by taking care of herself and the animals at home and not complaining or causing any added stress.  She spent at least two nights home alone which I did not like but there was no other choice.

Stresses at work and regular home life crap continue on even when tragedies happen.  I know these things weren't really tragedies.  Like I said, I am glad Matt is alive.  He may not have made it.  I thank God for making him better.  And we did have a wonderful doctor and several wonderful nurses.  Everyone at Charleton Methodist was fabulous except for the ICU nurses.  We loved the respiratory therapist and nurse Larry but the others were lazy and not giving Matt the care he deserved.  Medically he was taken care of but things like bringing him ice chips or a wash cloth for his head were not done.  I chewed them out a couple of times.  If it weren't for Bree's mess and being so stressed myself I would have thrown a couple of fits just for them.  Mike and Del were his intermediate care nurses on the bad Saturday and were absolutely God-sent.  They kept things light and positive during a trying time.  Tracy and Kerry, his nurses in intermediate care the second time around, were also wonderful. I don't remember the regular room nurses as I was in Virginia most of that time but Matt says they were great too.

Spring Break came at the perfect time.  Traci came back home and having all three of my babies and husband back at home was more than I had hoped for just a few weeks earlier.  We finally got Keri a car and a prom dress.  We only had to go out ONCE before we found the dress!!  We got a good deal on her car and she loves it.  Her prom dress is gorgeous.  We splurged a little because she not only will wear it at prom but will wear it for her last choir thing and twice for her drill team spring show.  Of course the captain has to shine!  Pictures of the car and the dress will come after I get them on i-photo.

Traci and I spent the last Friday of spring break at the Dallas World Aquarium.  We went to dinner and had a great time. I loved having me a Traci day as they are few and far between.  After dinner Traci could not get home quick enough. She said she had spent way too much time with me.  HA  Thanks Traci.  Way to be honest!