BREATHING A SIGH OF RELIEF!!!

THANK YOU GOD!

My mother is doing amazingly well! She was sleeping when I first showed up at the hospital, but once she woke up, her eyes were very clear and not as droopy.

The physical therapist gave her a swallow test with water, ice chips and then some pudding and she did wonderfully. She even fed herself some pudding just fine, so they brought her an entire tray of food and she ate it all.

She was able to speak in clear sentences, naming off all 8 of her children for the doctor and even explained why she stopped naming them with "K's" (long story...I'll tell you later). She was able to name different objects that the doctor pointed to, like a watch and a pen. Although, she called the face of the watch a "walrus." Not sure where that came from, but we're basically on the right path. Wonderful Dr. David seemed very pleased with her progress.

She still has some trouble coming up with the words she wants sometimes. She's using more pronouns because she can't remember names or she'll say "that thing" instead of the objects exact name. One time she even called Sam, "David," but was able to correct herself quickly. We're also going to need to give her a little more wait time to state her answers, but overall she's made LEAPS AND BOUNDS in progress from yesterday.

Dad only got 3 hours of sleep last night, but tonight he's going to go home and sleep there. He's feeling much better about everything too. He has been so patient and loving with her. It's so cute to see them holding hands.

Tomorrow they will get her on her feet and see how her motor skills are and then we'll know more about what kind, if any, of physical therapy she'll need.

A nurse will go to their house twice a week to take her blood until they figure out what level of coumadin (a blood thinner) to keep her on.

Overall, (because of my sister being there.....SUPER GENIE to the rescue again....) we have been very blessed and Mom is on her way to a speedy recovery!

Thanks so much for all the prayers! God Bless

QUICK UPDATE ON MOM

My mother is out of ICU and has been moved to a normal room! THANKS FOR ALL THE PRAYERS! I'm on my way to the hospital to see her now! God Bless!

MY MOTHER NEEDS YOUR PRAYERS

My mother had a stroke yesterday.

Around 1 p.m. I called her and she was short of breath and said she was having one of her atrial fibrillations, which just means irregular heartbeat. She was diagnosed with this about five years ago. She gets very nervous when they happen, but now that she has been trained and knows what they are she is able to get herself out of them. I tried keep her calm and told her to wake up my father (he was napping) so that she had someone to sit with her. I also told her I would call my sister, who is able to keep her calm and goes to all her medical appointments with her. So, I called Genie and she went over there around 2:00 or so. Shortly after that my mother was in the bathroom and Genie said she started "thrashing around" and speaking incoherently, so my father called 911. They called me and I got Richard to come home from work to watch the baby and I went down to the hospital.

The doctors were able to stabilize her and she seemed calmer by the time I got there. Over the next 7 hours and quite a few tests, they realized she did have a stroke. We are hoping it was just a small one, but only time will tell. We aren't sure about her mobility yet, but some of her words were slurred and confused and the right side of her face was a little slack and her eye droopy.

They also know it wasn't a bleeder in her brain, which is great, but a blockage, that they took care of with drugs.

My mother was able to tell who we were and wasn't scared at all, but when the doctors questioned her, she thought she had been in a car accident, she couldn't name the hospital and couldn't find the word for "pen" when the doctor held one up. She was ok with short 2-3 word phrases, but after that it didn't make any sense. We spent the next 5 hours waiting. Sometimes she could explain exactly what she wanted, other times it made no sense at all. The doctors said the strength in her arms and legs seemed to get better, which is a good sign.

I am the eighth of eight children and my sister and I spent many hours on the phone yesterday (Thank God for cell phones.) relaying everything back and forth to our siblings that live on both coasts.

By 7 p.m. last night they had moved her out of the emergency room and up to ICU. They let my Dad stay with her. I got home around 8 p.m.

Now, the waiting continues......

My sister and I are going back over today (visiting hours from 11-8). They are going to put her back on coumadin (blood thinner). She'll probably be in the hospital at least until Monday maybe a little longer and then they will know more as to whether she has to go to a rehab hospital or can have an at home nurse come in. We are hoping for the least amount of hospital time possbile, she will recover much quicker if she can be at home.

There are MANY more emotions and information to share, but for now it helps calm me, just by writing all this down.

PLEASE PRAY FOR MY LOVELY MOTHER AND MY FAMILY. GOD BLESS!

GOD HEAR OUR PRAYERS #85

My mother has always had a prayer list and I've now started one of my own. So each Sunday I will publish the prayer requests of anyone who e-mails me. Please keep us updated as God answers your prayers too.

Who we are praying for this week...

* My mother's hip and heart to be healed.
* Janice needs healing from her cancer.
* Lana wants prayers that she is matched soon.
* BB's husband's job situation.
* K-the birthmother of our baby
* Bri's hubby's job situation.
* Lisa - guidance for hubby & adoption plans to fall into place
* Dawn - husband to hear God and find his way to Him
* Christy prayers and praise
* Rebel may your troubles end soon and blessings for Turtle
* peace in the Middle East
* our economy
* all service men and women that they may come home soon

E-mail me if you have someone for me to add to the weekly prayer request. God Bless.

WHY WOMEN LIVE LONGER THEN MEN!

They used hay bails because they couldn't find 2 more ladders.

They need to hire some taller men!

Why don't they just cut the bushes shorter!?

NOW I BELIEVE!

THE GREAT INTERVIEW EXPERIMENT

PRODUCTION NOT REPRODUCTION will be hosting THE GREAT INTERVIEW EXPERIMENT. Sign up on Heather's blog to be part of the fun.

The details:

1. Sign up no later than March 5.

2. By March 7, I will send you an email letting you know your interview partner's info.

3. Read through that person's blog. You don't need to read their entire archives. But read enough to get to know them a little, especially their posts on adoption.

4. Send your partner 5-10 creative questions by email. They don't all need to be about adoption.

5. Answer the questions your partner sends to you.

6. On March 22, post the interview on your own blog, introducing your readers to another fabulous open adoption blogger.

GO ON OVER THERE NOW AND SIGN UP!!!!

TIME TO ORGANIZE...#3 THE PAPER AVALANCHE

Are you a natural organizer or a natural pack-rat? Either way, this is the place for you.

YES, YOU DO HAVE THE TIME, YOU DO HAVE THE MONEY AND IT IS A PROBLEM IN YOUR LIFE!

Organization is not something that you do once and you NEVER have to do again. Think about your life, pick and choose what will work for you and please leave me your ideas or comments. I am constantly looking for new suggestions.

HOW ARE YOU COMING WITH THE THREE BOXES THAT WE STARTED IN MY LAST POST?

Don't make yourself crazy by trying to do too much. If you just do one box or drawer a day...well, that's one box or drawer closer then you were yesterday. It's an ongoing process. Set aside your 15 minutes a day or 30 minutes a week and make it sacred. If you don't put it into your schedule then nothing will ever get done.

NOW ONTO THE PAPER AVALANCHE.....

DO YOU EVER FEEL LIKE THIS?

Here are my 5 suggestions to control this.....

1. Deal with the mail, immediately. Don't let your mail pile up. As soon as you walk in the door, toss the junk mail that doesn’t have any identifying information and shred junk mail that someone could use to steal your identity. Do it right away and it will not become more clutter.

2. Create a filing system for your bills. I've heard you don't need to, but I keep my copies of bills for a year. It's actually saved me a couple times, when I needed to backtrack to prove I made a payment. I file once a month and in December I spend a couple hours shredding the old bills to make room for the new. At this same time, I also collect all the receipts I need for tax time.

3. Sort through your magazine subscriptions and cancel the ones you're not interested in anymore. This is also a good money saver. Recycle the newspaper as soon as you read it and this won't stack up either.

4. Pay on line or use auto-bill pay. I use auto-bill pay for all but one bill. The mortgage company doesn't allow it. So along with the the baby sitter and the credit card, I only write 3 checks a month. Check into going paperless too. Since the car payment is made automatically through my bank, I have the bill sent to me as an email only. I store these email receipts for a year too and then I delete them.

5. My son is only a year old, but when he starts school I plan on having a basket just for his work. He can put all his papers and projects in it and at the end of the week we'll go through it. We can discuss things he needs to work on and only keep the work he is really proud of. Consider making a "Wall of Fame" from a bulletin board. Every week put up the work and awards they bring home. When you switch out the work, put the most important projects, awards and reports in a large box that he can keep in his closet. I still have all my report cards and a few stories and projects I did from grade school. They are fun to look back on. If you don't want your children to be pack rats you've got to start early.

Fellow organizers, is there anything I forgot? Please leave me a comment and let me know.

Pack-rats, was this helpful? Do you have any questions? Suggestions for future posts? Let me know.

NOW GET TO WORK!

BLACK ROBBERS

For anyone who didn't see David Letterman's take on this: (And it's a true story . . .)

On a recent weekend in Atlantic City , a woman won a bucketful of quarters at a slot machine. She took a break from the slots for dinner with her husband in the hotel dining room. But first she wanted to stash the quarters in her room. 'I'll be right back and we'll go to eat,' she told her husband and carried the coin-laden bucket to the elevator.

As she was about to walk into the elevator she noticed two men already aboard. Both were black. One of them was tall-Very tall . . . an Intimidating figure. The woman froze. Her first thought was: 'These two are going to rob me.' Her next thought was: 'Don't be a bigot; they look like perfectly nice gentlemen' But racial stereotypes are powerful, and fear immobilized her. She stood and stared at the two men. She felt anxious, flustered and ashamed. She hoped they didn't read her mind but gosh, they had to know what she was thinking!!!

Her hesitation about joining them in the elevator was all too obvious now . . . Her face was flushed. She couldn't just stand there, so with a mighty effort of will she picked up one foot and stepped forward and followed with the other foot and was on the elevator. Avoiding eye contact, she turned around stiffly and faced the elevator doors as they closed. A second passed, and then another second, and then another. Her fear increased! The elevator didn't move. Panic consumed her. 'My God,'! She Thought, I'm trapped and about to be robbed! ' Her heart plummeted. Perspiration poured from every pore.

Then one of the men said, 'Hit the floor.' Instinct told her to do what they told her. The bucket of quarters flew upwards as she threw out her arms and collapsed on the elevator floor. A shower of coins rained down on her. Take my money and spare me, she prayed. More seconds passed.

She heard one of the men say politely, 'Ma'am, if you'll just tell us what floor you're going to, we'll! Push the button.' The one who said it had a little trouble getting the words out. He was trying mightily to hold in a belly laugh. The woman lifted her head and looked up at the two men. They reached down to help her up. Confused, she struggled to her feet.. 'When I told my friend here to hit the floor,' said the average sized one, 'I meant that he should hit the elevator button for our floor. I didn't mean for you to hit the floor, ma'am.' He spoke genially. He bit his lip. It was obvious he was having a hard time not laughing.

The woman thought: 'My God, what a spectacle I've made of myself.' She was too humiliated to speak. She wanted to blurt out an apology, but words failed her! How do you apologize to two perfectly respectable gentlemen for behaving as though they were going to rob you? She didn't know what to say. The three of them gathered up the strewn quarters and refilled her bucket. When the elevator arrived at her floor they then insisted on walking her to her room. She seemed a little unsteady on her feet, and they were afraid she might not make it down the corridor. At her door they bid her a good evening. As she slipped into her room she could hear them roaring with laughter as they walked back to the elevator. The woman brushed herself off. She pulled herself together and went downstairs for dinner with her husband.

The next morning flowers were delivered to her room - a dozen roses. Attached to EACH rose was a crisp one hundred dollar bill.

The card said: 'Thanks for the best laugh we've had in years.'

It was signed;

Eddie Murphy
Michael Jordan

BUCKET LIST

We just saw this movie tonight! I am so glad I finally did! What a great movie! I had a very good cry!

HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY

This is what I found when I got home from work today. Richard made them. Do you see anything missing....hmmm...this pan was full at one time, but I missed that part because I was at work and he really LOVES RICE KRISPY SNACKS! Do you see the line going down the row that is half eaten? That's him showing me what is still his to eat. The rest is (supposedly) mine. At least he's sharing!

THOSE IN POWER HAVE NO CLUE!

Last week I went on a tirade....... Since that time, it has become CRYSTAL CLEAR that what we, as parents and teachers, want, feel and know, MEANS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! One board member even said, "These schools are under the assumption that they have a say in these decisions. We need to clarify that they do not." It's a good thing this board member says that this is his last year, because he just sealed his fate.

There was an article published on February 20, School Won't Hold All Pupils, Teachers Say.

APS Associate Superintendent Raquel Reedy said Binford's school is large enough for its neighborhood children. Incoming transfers will not be allowed, so the school will have enough space, she said. APS records show that 679 of the 887 students list an address in the school's attendance areas, and the building's capacity is 847. Reedy said the school can better schedule its lunches, such as cycling in each grade every 15 minutes, to maximize use of the cafeteria, which has a capacity of 210 people.

First of all, we have 900 students on our roll and only 17 are out of district transfers. Why do they think we have so many more? At least 1/2 of those are teacher's kids, so if they don't allow those transfers, then the (great) teachers will leave also.

Second, Ms. Reedy has never been here to see the chaos at lunch time. If she had she would know that we do cycle in our kids every 15 minutes or at least try to. We start at 10:10 (legally you can't serve lunch before 10:00 a.m.) and the last group doesn't go in until 12:00. The only reason we are done at 12:00 is because at any given time 150-200 children are on vacation. Next, year it's looking like finishing closer to 1:00 or 1:30 (We go home at 2:00.). Cycling children through every 15 minutes actually means they get less then 15 minutes to eat. Also, if any teacher is early or late by the least little time, then the line gets severely backed up.

Over the weekend our IC (Instructional Council) put together a letter for the parents and then on Monday a parent meeting was held. We had one meeting at 2:40, which was attended by two assistant superintendents and another meeting at 6 p.m., which a board member attended. We explained to the parents all that had gone on over the past week. Parents and teachers voiced their concerns and they were given plenty of "lip service," but the parents soon realized what we were up against; a mountain of bureaucratic bull-@#$%!

One teacher asked about the loss of pay during the summer, if we are made to switch. His answer, "We'll work with you on that." The teacher then said, "We're all tired of being told this. We need answers. I'm a single woman, living on my own. Are you going to pay my mortgage?" We still haven't got an answer on this!

Those in positions of power are so far removed from reality that they make decisions without truly understanding the impact it will have on those they are over, who have to implement what they mandate.

Have you ever seen the CBS show UNDERCOVER BOSS? The CEO of a company (Hooters, 7-11, Waste Management) goes undercover in his own company, so he can see how things REALLY run and what he can do to improve things and how the decisions he has made affect people.

This is what the school board and superintendents need to do. Can you imagine all they would learn? BOTH GOOD AND BAD!

The board meeting, that I talked about last week, was last night. Over 30 staff members and parents attended and NOT a single one was allowed to speak. It was very unorganized and it was apparent that they had no idea what they were doing. Some members had to ask, repeatedly, what exactly they were voting on. One board member would ask a question and it would never be answered. They still insisted that they would save money by having us all be on the same schedule and that THERE WOULDN'T BE ANY OVERCROWDING! They are already planning on adding on to our cafeteria (Yah, I'll be 107 years old by the time that project is done.). They didn't speak at all to the research that says that year round schools have the biggest positive effect on low income and at risk students.

Two of the superintendents were put in charge of deciding on the calendar for next year and they are still "looking into" the pay issue.

Do all schools need to be cut from the same cloth for them to be successful? Not all programs work for all kids, but if a program is working, why are you cutting it?

So, we know we won't be year round, but we have no answers as to how that will affect us financially and how that will affect our overcrowding. We don't know when our school year will start and we don't know what hours we will be working either.

So, I know I am going to Vegas in July, but beyond that I can't make any plans for next year because my life is just....


........UP IN THE AIR!

I just hope that one of these doesn't come along while they are slowly making all these decisions for us!

A MUST READ

An amazing book that I couldn't put down. I finished it in 2 days. You have to read this book!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY #80...Where do you live?

For more WORDLESS WEDNESDAY pictures go to 5 MINUTES FOR MOM.

POST IT NOTE TUESDAY #5

Go to SUPAH MOMMY to link up. If you want to create your own use SUPER STICKIES. Here are mine:

Submarine Racing Championships!!!

...AND THEY'RE OFF....




Come on....what did you expect?!?

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY....

....AND I'LL YOWL IF I WANT TO!

GOD'S WIFE

An eye witness account from New York City , on a cold day in December, some years ago:

A little boy, about 10-years-old, was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold.

A lady approached the young boy and said, 'My, but you're in such deep thought staring in that window!'

'I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes,' was the boy's reply.

The lady took him by the hand, went into the store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. He quickly brought them to her.

She took the little fellow to the back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with the towel.

By this time, the clerk had returned with the socks.. Placing a pair upon the boy's feet, she purchased him a pair of shoes..

She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him.. She patted him on the head and said, 'No doubt, you will be more comfortable now.'

As she turned to go, the astonished kid caught her by the hand, and looking up into her face, with tears in his eyes, asked her.

'Are you God's wife?'