Um, can I get a re-write???

Today, I am grateful for... Shelby Mr. King aka Traci's Dad Traci (duh!) Kim Trusting my instincts My wonderful job All of my friends Laughter Not strangling my child in Jewel today (okay, I only thought about it for a millisecond) Hugs and kisses from same child The ability to stand on my own two feet Indoor plumbing The internet Reconnecting with yet another angel from my time in MN :) Cell phones You! On a more serious note, I've added a button on the right "Praying for Stellan". This baby boy and his whole family have captured my heart! If you click on the picture, it will take you to Stellan's Mom's blog. Her strength and faith amaze me! I know not everyone prays, but please, whatever you do, keep them in your thoughts. With love and gratitude, :) mb xo

I say pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffft to all the haters out there, and to those of you who pretend I don't exist. Is it "pretend we don't see her and maybe she'll disappear"???? This summer hasn't been fun, really at all. I have a pre-teen who is going through wonderful, unpredictable mood swings. I am not liking my life right now. Parts of my life I can change. Others, I just have to ride out. I twisted my ankle on July 3rd. I ignored it. It didn't get better. I finally went to the orthopaedic doctor and he wiggled my foot around and told me what a bad girl I am and then said I have to wear a brace for six weeks to allow the grade (or is it level) 2 sprain to heal. I hate asking for help, can you tell? Yesterday, I went for another sleep study. They wanted to try out a CPAP on me. It was HORRIBLE! I slept for maybe 2 hours and after that I was screwed. They even tried a different mask type and finally at 4am, they cut me loose because they knew how misera...

These pictures were taken in March of 2008. The first shot is the northwest corner of my front yard. The second is the west edge of my property, through which a "river" runs. Fast forward to January 2009 when Shelby ice skated in the yard! On to March when things warm up a little... And May where the water is starting to rise and creep south toward the house. There's our much missed Teddy Bear wandering toward the lake, er yard. Oh, our lovely Mallard Duck couple. Yes, this is in our front yard. I know we live in Wonder Lake (called "Wonder Tuckey" by the haters), but who the hell decided it was okay to toss a tire in our front yard??? Ahhh, summer in redneck country! I wonder what that nasty green stuff is. It's like a bunch of green confetti, but slimy! Shelby frog hunting in June! That night, more rain... If it's dark, it's standing water. June 18th, the water rises up to the house! Today, July 19th, now a stream and a marsh???? Looking no...

I am still in a funk and I don't like it one bit. But, have I done anything to change it? Noooooooooooooooo... I'm tired. Worn out. Wishing for some good stuff to come along. It's like I'm two different people. At work, I'm silly and loud and funny. At home, I'm just a pile of flesh. I don't have any money to go out or take Shelby anywhere. I have no desire to seek out "fun". We did get pizza from Dusty's today. It was so yummy. So yummy, in fact, that we both ate way too much and now our tummies hurt :( Is there a cure for the blahs? I'm so tired. Can someone come & fix this for me please? It's as though my energy stores have finally gone dry. ugh. Tomorrow, if the sun is out, I'm going to mow the grass. Maybe I'll feel a little better after that. I want to smile. I want to laugh. The one thing I can't stop doing is worrying. I'm a worrier. I worry about regular mundane things like bills and the bill collectors who ...

I thought extending my weekend to four days would be relaxing. What the heck was I thinking??? Maybe I should break things down between the pros and cons of the weekend. Pros Shelby & I had a great dinner with Nicki at Chili’s on Thursday! We had fun at the Brookfield Zoo with Traci, Bryan, Shawn and Bradley on Friday. I didn’t have to wake up early Thursday, Saturday or Sunday (those are major pros!) It wasn’t SUPER hot this weekend. I got to take some really cool pictures. I talked to some very nice people while watching the parade. I talked to some very nice people while waiting for the fireworks. I saw the mystery man again! Got lots of hugs, kisses & hand holds from my Shelby Grace. Cons Did bills on Wednesday night which reinforced the fact that it’s going to take a long time before I am out of the red. Still thinking about the letter I got on Monday. It also said life is a “solo mission” which is a sad thing to say. It really got under my skin – dag nabbit! I twist...