Dentists

Have I mentioned how bad I hate going to the dentist? They terrify me. I get really bad panic attacks at the thought of having to go much less being stuck in their chair. My mom used to have to trick me into going, which looking back, probably made it worse for me. So I didn't go to one for years and now I am paying the price. I had a really bad tooth ache a little over a month ago that sent me to the e.r. because it was late at night and I had no pain meds here that would kill the pain. I went to the dentist the next day and he was going to send me to an oral surgeon and an endodonist because I needed some teeth extracted and a root canal. I got a second opinion and found a dentist who would do it all for me. Yesterday I had my bottom two wisdom teeth pulled and 2 other teeth that had broke and weren't able to be saved. He told me I wouldn't like him very much last night and he was right. It felt like my mouth had been hit by a Mack truck then crudely shoved back together. He had given my Vicodin for the pain when I first went and saw him. I had taken 2 of them a couple of weeks ago because of a toothache and found out I am very allergic to them. I let him know that yesterday and he gave me a prescription for Percocet. Found out last night that I am allergic to them to, but not as bad as the Vicodin. So, I took a couple of pain pills and a couple of Benadryl and I was out cold for the night. Today I feel a million times bettter. I have only taken 2 pain pills all day. I even made an appt. to get some cavities taken care of and get that root canal done. After the pain I had yesterday I have no desire to have another tooth pulled if it's at all possible!

We're back!

We are back from vacation, I don't know if that's a good thing or not..... The good thing is we were able to finally defrost and we got to sleep in our own beds. When we left Green River Sunday morning it was cold. By the time we got to Rawlins we were in the middle of a blizzard and the snow was sticking to the roads. We kept going since the roads were still open, I didn't want to get stuck in Wyoming! Between Rawlins and Laramie it was horrible. We watched a semi slide across both west bound lanes of traffic, slide through the median, slide across both east bound lanes of traffic and hit the fence in the field. And that was about 100 feet in front of us. Thankfully we were going slow because the roads were so bad so we were able to stop in time. The truck didn't hit anything other than the fence, I'm sure the driver needed a change of underwear by the time he came to a stop. Oh, then there was the time I was trying to very slowing pass a semi and hit whiteout conditions. That was fun. I couldn't see 2 feet in front of me. I needed a change of underwear after that. It was kind of fun to watch the weather change on our way back south. The coldest temperature was 16 degrees. By the time we got into town it was 73 degrees and the kids couldn't get in the door fast enough to change into shorts and t-shirts.

We were going to head back on Saturday but my daughter Logan got sick. She woke up and said she didn't feel good and pretty much spent the rest of the day in the bathroom. We wound up taking her to the e.r. for some good anti-vomiting medicine. We don't know what happened, but she wasn't running a fever, and nobody else was sick. She gets like that about once a year (according to her dad) and she requires a trip to the e.r. She has a really weak stomach so it doesn't take much to make her sick. I told her that was a pretty bad way to get an extra day of vacation, but her sister and her brother were thanking her. Logan didn't think that was very funny. We made it home ok though without any vomiting breaks thanks to the nice dr. that prescribed her meds to get home on.

Zack didn't want to leave. He cried the night before we left, then cried again right before we left. Dad enticed us to come back with a Wii. By then it was too late. We were already on the road and there was no turning back. Jeff wants to move up there, I think he is crazy. It's too cold!!!!! We decided that the wind in Wyoming is worse only because it is bitter cold. I can handle the wind much better here now. You only get a mouthful of sand instead of getting bone chilling cold. When we got home we found that 2 of our fish were dead. One of them was Zacks beta fish and the other was our sucky fish in the other tank. Shhh...Zack only knows about the beta. He had a meltdown when he found out. Then he got upset because the girls flushed him down the toilet (it's nasty down there mom!) so I had to tell him he was in fishy heaven and he would go down a different tube where the water was clean. Thanks to my oh so wonderful brother in law, he thought the fish needed lots and lots of food and they really needed bread too. Yeah, bread. Who gives little tropical fish bread? Both tanks were so gross, and we were only gone for a week. The poor sucky fish couldn't open his mouth without eating and Jeff swears he gorged himself to death, but he couldn't help it.

Anyway, we had a great time and none of us really didn't want to come back to reality. Unfortunately we had to. Now that we are home and settled again we are glad to be back. The kids are back in school, Jeff and I are back at work and life continues on. Thanks to dad and Chris for putting up with us for the week and thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for putting up with us for a couple of days. And thanks to Uncle Kay for coming down to see us for the day! It was a lot of fun to see everyone, and we already miss you all.

Sad day in Charger Land

Well, they played hard, they gave it their all, but it wasn't enough. San Diego Chargers will come back next year and stomp all over the Patriots. They have a score to settle, and they will settle it.
Hopefully whoever wins tonight will put a stop to the "perfect Pats". Somebody has to!

How's this for extreme?

You all know my husband Jeff is an electrician right? If you didn't, you do now. He is also the project manager for the company he works for. His company is also a part of the IEC (Independent Electrical Contractors) chapter here in New Mexico. The IEC got an email a couple of weeks ago about a big job coming to town and needed 20-30 electricians to help out. All of it is to be donated time, money, parts, ect. Who would want to do that right? How about if I said Ty Pennington and the design crew from Extreme Makeover Home Edition was involved?
That would change your mind right!

Well you guessed it, Extreme Makeover is in town! They are building 2 homes for a family in Albuquerque. This family lives in what is called the "war zone" and they take in the homeless and anybody needing a place to stay. Of course it is all over the news here and they did an interview with the family before they took off to DisneyWorld. They seem like an awesome family and Jeff is so excited to helping out with this job.

The door knock was this morning and they really do surprise the family with this. Demolition begins Thursday and they will "move that bus!" at 2pm on Monday. So, pretty much I will be husbandless until then. Jeff is assistant coordinator for all electricians on the job. He got to meet one of the guys on the design team today, the older guy that wears the glasses and of course he will meet the rest of them during the build. He even got me a VIP pass for down there if I want to go. I'm thinking about taking the kids so they can see what is happening but they are expecting between 3-5 thousand people down there a day, and I HATE big crowds so we'll see. They are also closing off 8 city blocks, so you can imagine it's going to be a nightmare!

Hopefully we will be able to get pictures. If we are able to, I will definately post them so all of you can see. If you would like to follow the build, our local ABC channel is www.koat.com and they are following it from start to finish. I will let you all know when it airs so you can watch it if you want, and hopefully you will see Jeff on national t.v.!

You thought I forgot didn't you....

Ok, so I've been really bad at posting, but do you know how hard it is to type with a burnt thumb? You caught me, I haven't had a burnt thumb all year but I have one right now. I was lighting those dang paper sparklers for my kids and the neighbor kids and I now have a white burn mark on my thumb and it hurts already. I can't wait to see what it feels like tomorrow.

So this past year has been very trying for us. I am ready to start a new year fresh and I am praying it turns out better than this last year. When we started the year last year my mother in law was living with us. By March, my brother in law and his girlfriend was here as well. You can imagine the strain that put on our household especially if you have heard anything about my inlaws. By May, they were all out of our house and into their own apartment which was great for us. This year has brought more death than I care to endure. It started with one of my good friends losing her baby a few days after birth, then a grandfather whom I loved very much (my stepfathers dad) and a man who was like an uncle to me.

On the good side, my middle daughter is now living with us for the school year. She made it very clear that she wants to stay but we will see what her dad decides to do at the end of the school year. I think she is old enough to decide what she wants to do, so we will see what happens. I was hired on permanent as an employee at Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Mexico and plan to apply for a higher position in the near future. My schooling has paid off and the benefits are awesome! All of the kids are doing great in school and we have the younger two in soccer. The season starts back up in the spring but the fall season went well I thought considering they have never played soccer before.

Jeff and I are planning a vacation to Hawaii during spring break (sorry dad, but it's the best time for us to go). His boss gave us two round trip tickets wherever we want to go for Christmas. I get my yearly bonus in March so we decided to go when the kids are out of school so nobody would have to worry about getting them to school. We will see how it all pans out. We haven't taken a vacation just the two of us since we have been married and it's time we did!

I am making some resolutions this year. Normally I don't, but this year it seemed fitting that I did. We'll see how I do during the year, and I'm really hoping this is a better year for us. This is the first year since we have been married that Jeff stayed up with me to ring in the new year so that is a good start right?!

It is really late so I better go to bed. I wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year!!

It's Pinewood Derby Time!!

This was our first year to participate in the Pinewood Derby. Zack had a blast and so did we. He came in 3rd place with the Tiger Cubs, 7th place overall for the entire troop and he won the award for the nuttiest car. He is now able to go to Regionals, so Zack and dad will be doing a few modifications to the car so he can win first place. We'll see what happens March 3rd!

Catching up

I know, it's been awhile. A lot has happened since the last time I wrote, so I guess I need to catch up a little. We had a great Christmas. Logan wasn't able to come out this year because she had a doctors appointment for her scoliosis. She already wears a brace and will be in it until a year after she hits puberty. She is 10 and has been wearing it now for over a year. We thought she would have to get a new brace this last doctors visit, but she still fits in this one so they will check again in the spring. She is doing well in school, nothing unusual there.

Jeff's youngest daughter Nikole came out for Christmas. It was the first time we had met her and had a lot of fun with her. She is 16. She is very smart and pretty and down to earth. The girl has so much potential! She is talking about coming out for the summer and we hope she does!

On somewhat of the same note, Jeff's mother is now living with us. She moved out here from the Boston area. It has been somewhat of a challenge, but we are working through it. I think Jeff enjoys having his mother around again, even on the days when she really tries our patience. It's great for Zack too, he has never known her. The last time she saw Zack he wasn't even a year old so Zack doesn't remember her at all. She has the kids call her "Nonie" so she's not confused as to which grandma they are talking about. Zack somehow picked up calling her Aunt Nonie. Don't know where that came from but it's cute and she doesn't mind.

Speaking of Zack he finally lost his 2 front teeth. He lost one New Year's Eve and the other this last Friday night. He is quickly becoming the toothless wonder! He has another loose tooth on the top so of course he is wiggling it like crazy so the tooth fairy will visit him again. Jeff likes to tell him that he can't lose a tooth on the weekends or holidays because the tooth fairy takes those days off. He is terrible! Poor Zack believed him at first, so I had to assure him the tooth fairy would come and visit him any night he lost a tooth.

Taylor is doing very well in school. For those of you that don't know, Taylor is in special ed. She has been since 3rd grade. Every three years they re-evaluate to see if she is still eligible. We had that meeting earlier this week. She is still eligible, which I knew she was but she is doing so well in math that they are going to move her into general ed for that. They also want her to be in inclusion classes for all subjects by the end of the year. Inclusion classes are kind of a mix between general ed and special ed. They are in a regular class room but in small groups so they get the extra help they need. Right now she is in a self contained room and her teacher thinks that is holding her back. She also has a mild hearing loss so they've made accomodations for her to make sure she is close to the teacher so she can hear what the teacher is saying and they also make sure she has visual cues so she knows what's going on. As soon as I get insurance we are going back to the E.N.T. to see if she needs tubes in her ears again. The audiologist at school thinks she still has fluid buildup behind her eardrums so we'll have to do something about that. I am so proud of her, she is a great kid and is trying so hard to get where she needs to be in school.

It's snowing here again!!! A couple of weeks ago we got a foot of snow, set all kinds of records for snowfall here. It was fun for a little while, but I got tired of it. Yesterday we got about 3 inches of snow and now it's snowing again. It's been cold and miserable and I'm ready for spring now.

I chopped my hair off yesterday. I really like it but I have to get used to styling it again. I had it highlighted as well but Jeff wants it lighter so I'm going back later this week to have her redo it.
Jeff now has his General's license for his Ham radio. He is loving it and now wants a radio with a higher frequency I think. It's all mumbo jumbo to me. I just nod my head and act like I know what he's talking about.