Wild-Heart.net

Thank you for the birthday wishes. They meant more to me than you or I could have guessed.

Every year around this time I have an eleven card Celtic Cross spread Tarot reading done. I always find the results interesting and like to go back to them throughout the year for inspiration.

Self: Temperance
POSITIONAL (MAIN) MEANING
The time is now for self-healing.
The card in the Self position reveals aspects of how you perceive yourself right now.
With Temperance in this position, you are ready to take responsibility for getting well, no matter what it takes. The quest for health could be on a physical, emotional or mental level, or it may have to do with paying off “karmic dues.”
The work is to clear up past dysfunction and address entangled emotions. The process will purge the toxic waste of unfinished business that disables you. When you are ready, mix your powerful medicine. This is the right time to start healing yourself.

Situation: The Lovers
POSITIONAL (MAIN) MEANING
You are faced with a choice, one that challenges your ability to trust yourself.
The card that lands in the Situation position refers to social or circumstantial factors which could be affecting your life at this time.
When the Lovers card appears in this position, you may be coming to a fork in the road. One path must be chosen, the other path let go of. It is hard to know which is the correct choice.
There may be no way the long-term results can be predicted, because there are no outer references that can be relied upon. You’ll have to use your intuition. If you go within and are honest with yourself, you could make the appropriate choice. However if you are just fooling around, it could turn out to be a costly decision.

Challenges/ Opportunities: Six of Wands
POSITIONAL (MAIN) MEANING
Define your mission and get organized so that tremendous energy is not wasted.
The card that lands in the Challenges/Opportunities position refers to ways that you can turn obstacles into stepping stones.
The Six of Wands in this position says to rally the attention of others around the next essential steps, before the energy that is available to you becomes scattered. As enthusiasm builds, you may have to deal with some confusion or contention, but a team leader needs to assess the situation and take charge before too much energy is wasted.
You may or may not choose to be that leader, but it’s advisable to evaluate your role in the project or situation — it is gathering momentum and building up a tremendous amount of energy that may prove to be valuable to you.

Foundation: Five of Wands
POSITIONAL (MAIN) MEANING
Knowing how teamwork sometimes fails and situations can change for the worse, you are challenged to sidestep conflict and set your sights on the greater good.
The card in the Foundation position points to influences from your personal history, your roots and background.
The Five of Wands in this position suggests that you have witnessed how the spirit of teamwork can disintegrate into disagreement and reproach. Perhaps an opening that once seemed agreeable and optimistic is now blocked by petty bickering.
You have learned from bitter experience the kinds of losses such a situation can sustain. Your challenge is to hold to the greater good despite the fact that those around you are floundering. If you don’t know how to steer clear of their conflict, recall negative experiences from the past and try not to repeat them.

Recent Past: King of Swords
Exposure to a person imbued with the spirit and style of true justice is an inspiration to you.
The card in the Recent Past position refers to events that are just departing, recently influential but now diminishing in power.
The King of Swords in this position indicates a fair-minded soul who sorts through things very carefully until he discovers the original facts. His conclusion has taken everything into account. It is a powerful example to witness someone make sense of things from an unbiased and unattached point of view.
It’s even more powerful to realize that you are, or are becoming, such a person. Traditionally, the King of Swords is a judge or a lawyer, and his word becomes law. This king’s integrity and powers of perception are unparalleled, and his or her influence leaves a mind-expanding legacy. You have received an example of an authoritative and trustworthy person’s style of thinking, communicating, and doing business. Increasingly, you are able to translate such examples into your own life here and now.

Higher Power: Ace of Coins
A door is opening to a higher level of function and experience.
The card in the Higher Power position reflects the broader perspective and influence of your conscience, Guardian Angel, inner wisdom.
When the Ace of Coins appears in this position, a door is opening that can lift you closer to your dream. You will become increasingly aware of how meaningful your assignment is.
In a certain way, you have been chosen to hold or carry something of high value, and that thing you hold and invite others to participate in is going to bless those who get involved with you. You are gaining a sense of the larger meaning of your life, and everything looks new and fresh. Take the ball and run with it!

Near Future: Eight of Cups
Become more careful in your choices. Avoid naively opening yourself to unnecessary trauma.
The card in the Near Future position indicates which way the wind is blowing with regard to your situation. If you follow the Advice card, however, you can improve on or neutralize tendencies.
With the Eight of Cups in this position, you will be lucky to get through an upcoming situation without being taken advantage of. Such experiences can be humbling and harm our feelings of security. This may be a tough situation, so keep your eyes open and remain vigilant. It is not a safe environment. For now be less open, less willing to just let things happen to you. Be protective of your boundaries.
If you are about to put yourself in a challenging or unpredictable situation, take full responsibility. Only foresight can provide you any safety. Once you are caught up, rescue is unlikely and you will then be forced to go through it alone. Preparation may be your ally.

Blocks & Inhibitions: Ten of Swords
The card in the Blocks position points to self-undermining tendencies, areas where you could be in denial, where you could get stuck — unless you examine yourself and make some corrections.
With the Ten of Swords in this position, listen to yourself talking with friends and familiars over a twenty-four hour period. Recognize your primary subject matter, tone and slant, because right now you are eating your words. Every sword in this picture is one of your own pronouncements, having comeback to you in the fullness of time. It’s important to understand that what you speak, what you breathe life into, is what you harvest. Remember, your subconscious hears and believes what you say and produces equivalent results. In this moment, you have a chance to become more conscious and start fresh.
Learn to frame your thinking in terms of what you love, are inspired by and are striving toward — rather than what you disagree with, are judging or rejecting. There is nothing inherently wrong with having a setback. This is how we humans learn. The problem arises when you don’t learn from your experience and fail to recover, rebound and move on.

Allies: The Moon
Certain people around you are like psychic litmus paper — they register the slightest change in the environment. Watch them closely for signs that it’s time for you to shift your focus too.
The card in the Allies position points to people who can be supportive or helpful to you at this time.
The Moon in this position suggests that you seek and spend time with the most intuitive people you know. Turn to those who understand transformation, who can lead you into the shamanic depths.
These guides know the territory and how to relate to its strange inhabitants. Associate with those who are tuned in when everyone else is losing focus. A shift is coming that will be challenging to those who do not track the subtle signs.

Advice: Five of Coins
Pooling resources allows you to make bolder moves and larger investments in future projects.
The card in the Advice position suggests a course of action which will harmonize what you want with what is currently possible.
The Five of Coins in this position advises you to create contractual agreements with those around you who have similar interests. In this kind of situation, there is strength in numbers. Put your heads together and devise a bold plan for future objectives and decide how to invest in their success. This Five of Coins recommends teamwork and the mutual benefits a combined effort can yield.
Note: In the English decks, like the Rider-Waite, the sickly poor freezing outside a well-lit church warn of the painful outcomes of bad choices, rather than focusing on the dynamic tension of the choosing itself, as in the traditional Continental decks.

Long-term Potential: Ten of Coins
Realize that you can stop being worried or stressed and then decide how you can use your energy in a positive way.
The card in the Long-term Potential position points to unknowns still taking shape. It is the “wild card” yet to be played.
With the Ten of Coins in this position, the long term potential is that you have a real opportunity in some endeavor or relationship to achieve security and success that’s great enough to be passed on to future generations. You and yours stand to be well taken care of.
Ask yourself what you will do with the energy you no longer squander in fear, worry or stress? What new kind of power does it bring you to have a feeling of security? Share with others how you are doing it. Express your passion in an abundant way.

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Hope y’all have a fabulous weekend!

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My Boy #1 is home from six weeks on the farm in Iowa.

My mom is here for 10 days.

School starts in 10 days.

My 35th birthday is tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be a Jamie Oliver style birthday party for thrown by myself for myself.

Is it just me or is Season 4 turning out to be the best season thus far? This is from one of the earlier episodes of this season. I’ve had a love/hate thing with this show from the beginning but I can honestly say that each episode thus far of season 4 has been fabulous.

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This week was a bit of a downer on the weight loss front. I only managed to drop 2 lbs. Not bad I suppose considering this was “that week of the month.” Since several have asked how I’ve managed to drop over 40 lbs since this past February I suppose I’ll fill you in.

I’ve sort of been following the Slim Fast diet plan. When I sort of, I mean that I have to modify the shakes or they taste horrible. Well the Cappuccino one is alright but the rest suck. Shortly after starting on the 2 shakes and a sensible supper plan they came out with the Slim Fast Optima variety which is supposed to help control hunger longer. I have no clue how it does this but it does quiet well. But I still have to bulk up the shakes. I usually keep a can of the French Vanilla powder and a can of the Milk Chocolate powder on hand. I use the 8 oz. of skim milk but then I’ll add frozen fruit or ice into the blender with the milk and powder. Sometimes adding a tablespoon of instant cappuccino mix makes it a really heavenly treat. When I get hungry during the day I usually make some popcorn. But not the microwave variety. I want to control the amount of sodium and fat that goes into it so I pop it in a pan on the stove and it’s generally the afternoon snack for all of the boys and myself with them eating far more of it than I do.

When I first started on the Slim Fast plan, I had a lot of people snicker and tell me, “Oh boy, you’re going to be running to the bathroom a lot!” But as a person who’s lived with severe IBS for the last 20 years, this diet seems to have done a great deal to keep that under control. I think it’s because I’m finally getting the dietary requirements that I need and my body isn’t having to struggle to digest what it’s taking in. That and lots of water. As an added bonus, my blood pressure, while it still tends to go sky high during moments of intense stress, has stabilized to a reasonable  123/76 which any medical professional will tell you is outstanding for a person with diastolic heart failure. Even my pulse has settled down to the low 90’s and upper 80’s. I attribute that to medication changes, though.

So there you have it. That’s how I’m doing it and it seems to be working.

Everyone has their favorite site for finding the best bargains when shopping online. Mine used to be HotDlz.com. I swear that the fact that I’m getting paid to tell you about this site has nothing to do with the fact that it is my new favorite place to find out about great bargains and promo codes.

They even feature deals from NewEgg.com. For me that’s a most excellent thing because I’m sick to death of NewEgg tinkering with their site design but I still love to shop there. They also feature coupon codes for my favorite shop for wedding and house warming gifts, LinensNThings.com. Honestly, I am overwhelmed by the sheer amount of shops with codes and deals listed here.

If you spend any time and money shopping online it’s silly not to search for promo codes and KeepCash.com does an excellent job of keeping having over 1000 stores in their database of those they track. So, keep them in mind next time it’s time to shop! What else would you expect from the people who bring us the official Black Friday website? Bargains, Baby! Bargains!

Momma.

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Because it is a beautiful song no matter how overplayed most say Collective Soul is. I never tire of this song. They lyrics may border on teen angst but are somehow surprising in the end. My gorgeous song of the day.

All around me I see what weakness has made
Too much tomorrow I think I’ll take all today
Am I a poison, Am I a thorn in the side
Am I picture perfect subject tonight

I don’t need nobody
I don’t need the weight of words
To find a way to crash on thru
I don’t need nobody
I just need to learn the depth
Or doubt of faith to fall into

Here I slumber to awaken my daze
I find convenience in this savior I save
Am I a prison, Am I a source of dire news
Am I a picture perfect reason for you

I don’t need nobody
I don’t need the weight of words
To find a way to crash on thru
I don’t need nobody
I just need to learn the depth or doubt
Of faith to fall into

In this time of substitute
It’s my needs I’ve answered to (All the while)
And the hope that I invest
Still turns to signals of distress (All the while)

I don’t need nobody
I don’t need the weight of words
To find a way to crash on thru
I don’t need nobody
I just need to learn the depth or doubt
Of faith to fall into

You’re all I need…….oooooooo
When the water runs deep
You’re all I need…….
No I cried my soul to sleep
You’re all I need
You’re all I need
You’re all I need…

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Someday I’ll have all of Barry’s albums to hang on my wall as my mother owns them all and somehow I doubt my sister will want them. Some days nothing gets my rear in gear like cleaning to Barry’s crooning.

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Not only is the living room now void of all furniture, it is also completely void of carpet. The property manager chose a lovely dark walnut shade of floating vinyl linoleum. It’s a wide plank look so it will go perfectly with the decor we have going on. Dark and cool in the summer and a warm feel in the winter. Not that it ever gets cold enough to actually need heat more than a couple of months out of the year here.

Supposedly the living room will be done today and the carpet will be removed from the stairs and the upstairs hallway. Tomorrow the stairs will be rebuilt and the Berber carpet laid on the stairs and upstairs hallway and the exhaust fan installed in the bathroom. After that he won’t be back until Tuesday and thinks he’ll be able to get both bedrooms done that day. I don’t think he’ll be able to get it done in one day and it’s cutting it very close. But if he gets one room done it will be the master bedroom. Upon hearing the plan I let Joseph know so he could schedule that day off to help with the furniture in our room. He has a circa mid 80’s government issue metal and laminated monstrosity of a desk that easily weighs 300 lbs. There is no way I can help move that thing. Heck, after the last moving of furniture to help with the painting there is no way I’m going to attempt to move a single thing. That resulted in a 3 week Fibromyalgia flare-up from hell.

But all of this is being cut very close to the call. My mother and Boy #1 fly in next Thursday. It had all better be done by then. So much to do so little time and so little out of my hands. Sucks to be a control freak!

And still no java. Why? Because with all of the livingroom furniture crammed into the kitchen I can’t reach my coffee maker. This is not a pretty site.

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As the day went on and no dumpster arrived, as 19:00 approached I sent my son outside to call the maintenance man to let him know that the dumpster has not yet arrived. He was told, “Oh, that’s right. I should have called and told you. It won’t be there now until Thursday.”

As I sit here in my empty living room void of all furniture except my desk and  office chair. I just knew as soon as my neighbor said, “Hey! I’ve got energy to burn. Let me move that stuff into the kitchen for you!” That I would be doomed to two days of my life on hold for just one room.

This had better be worth it.

So. You know the remodeling we’ve done to the townhome that we don’t own? The house full of new Ikea furniture and gallons of paint? And the waiting for the property manager to let us know if we get wood-grain linoleum instead carpet in the major living areas?

I just found out 30 minutes ago that yes indeed we really finally do and guess what?! They start tomorrow morning! I have to have all furniture out of the living room by 8am. Where’s Houdini when you need him?

At least it’s all going to be done before Boy #1 gets back home… With my mother along to visit for the first time in… well… ever since I moved to Georgia. Six years.

With the lottery winnings. You know from the lottery that I never play… I dream of this house often. My husband’s version goes something along the lines of purchasing a decommissioned bomb silo and converting it into an underground oasis. Not me. One would think that seeing as I have become an unpredictable cripple in recent years, I would want a one story home. But I don’t. I wasn’t raised in a one story home and even before I caved into my husbands fear of moving I had a very difficult time finding “the” house for us because it meant giving up a second story.

I wish I had thought to check into stairlifts. While this may be a UK company, I’m sure there are plenty in the SE States that offer the same. But I’m sure that they’d do quite well for the home I’d love to purchase and remodel “across the pond” someday. You know, when I finally purchase that lottery ticket and win. These stairlifts don’t look anywhere near as unattractive as those that you used to see advertised on TV. Heck, I think I want one for the townhouse!

Song of the day followed of by a brief photo *cough* essay *choke* if you can call that of what the rest of my day will entail if only I lived in my fantasy world.

If the books and supplies are put away that must mean that the homeschool day is finally finished.

Yeap. Looks like the family workstation and homeschool central is straightened up for the day.

And I’ve already prepared Zen central. Even more supplies stashed away under the coffee/altar table.

Not quite yet though. Must make meatloaf first. And this is what awaits in the kitchen. *le sigh* What do you use your Ikea Blue Bag for? Awesome laundry bag for us.

I might sell my soul to for someone just to do my dishes. My mother tells me that’s what teenagers are for. I’d rather they pile up than listen to them complain about a sink full when there’s a dishwasher. Why I remember when I was a teenager we didn’t have a dish washer. And we had to walk barefoot in the snow… five miles up hill…Seriously though.. no dishwasher until this house.

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I once owned a life sized poster of Rick Springfield. I practically drooled over his character on General Hospital. Noah Drake. *dreamy sigh*

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Not only did I grow up watching General Hospital. But it has only been 6 years since I completely gave up Soap’s. Now the part that’s really painful, should you chose to watch the video below, know that I not only remember watching each of those very old scenes as they happened, I also can’t watch it without crying.

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While my uncle Jim may have “given” me the song from whence came the domain name of where we now are, my mother gave me two to be be stuck with forever. First was that Beatles tune which will forever haunt me and second was this Carpenters tune. Cheese city, no?

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For those of you close enough to have read the now temporarily defunct other blog, you know we, as a family have been through a whole lot of hell with Baby Boy since December of last year. The short of it is that eventually he was diagnosed with severe early onset schizo-affective disorder… two weeks prior to my mother finally being diagnosed with the same disorder. I feel like it’s something I’ve been dealing with all of my life in caring for others. But when it’s your own child, it’s something else entirely.

This came about just as I finally won my 4 year fight for disability. During those years I was without medical coverage. As an asthmatic with diastolic heart failure as a result of giving birth one too many times while having pulmonary stenosis and ventricular incompetence, I knew better than to let a sinus infection or bronchitis go untreated, but I did on more than one occasion which led to the development of COPD.

Myself and my children are extremely sensitive to stimulants of any sort. They tend to make us a bit manic. Add the stress of what we’ve gone through with Baby Boy and the addition of COPD medications, which are all stimulants  and I became a ball of manic anxiety. It got to the point that 1mg of Xanax taken 4-5 times daily didn’t settle my nerves. Not even the additon of an antipsychotic mood stabilizer did the trick.

Baby Boy and I had our monthly appointment with the neuro-pyschiatrist on Friday. He was finally able to review my lumbar MRI screens and devise the best pain/anxiety/and mood treatment to give a try. So now for me it’s 5mg of Abilify 2x daily, 2mg Xanax 3x daily and 50 mg. of Tramadol at bedtime. I now sleep at night. Since starting the Spiriva for COPD two weeks ago, I had been fighting insomonia to no avail. Not even Melatnonine would knock me out. Nor Benedryll.

The numbness in my thigh isn’t bothering me nearly as bad, my daily migraine had disappeared,  and I haven’t been this relaxed in years. Sure, I’m still up tight. But nothing like I had become after watching my child lose his mind six months ago. The Tramadol is also supposed to help the Fibromyalgia and while I cannot say that I am pain free, I can say it no longer is taking me 3 hours to get moving every morning.

So far, so good. Mellow is good.

Every year, as the days approaching my birthday grow shorter, I go through this self absorbed introspection of my entire life. The hope is that it’s never pointless. That I can come to a better understanding of who I am and what has made me the person that I am and there is also the hope that I can point out some mistakes that I don’t want to make again. The end goal accepting that life is a beautiful thing that shouldn’t be wasted and every moment has an impact and it’s up to me in the end, how things will impact my life and view of the world. Sometimes that means facing some daemons along with beautiful moments in the past. This year, thus far, it’s been about realizing what bits and pieces of me are directly influenced and shaped by family and friends that have come and gone throughout my life thus far. This introspection won’t be finished until I am smashed and enjoying the actual birthday at the end of the month. Until then, you might be seeing more than one Song of the Day. You might get information about where those songs fit into the soundtrack of my life. Then again, you might not. I’ll always know and always remember when I hear the music.

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A couple of months ago, Joseph was given a used XBox as partial payment on a loan he’d given a friend. Knowing how much I enjoyed the Myst games, and in an effort to get me over my hatred of the vast amounts of time he is able to spend playing various games on this console, he found me a used copy of Dreamfall - The Longest Journey.

I want my Tetris Worlds back.

I feel compelled to finish a game once I start it but this one… I haven’t even made it through all of Chapter One yet and I want to bitch-slap the main character. Why? Because everyone she encounters in the game she tells about her current state of being disaffected and how she just doesn’t seem to care about anything at all these days. I’ve heard this schpeal at least 3 times between each save-gave point thus far and as I said… Not even through the first Chapter yet.

Anyone willing to tell me how far into this game I have to get before she stops complaining about not giving a damn about anything?

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• Paid blogging = The final payoff for all of those years of therapy for millions everywhere.
• Not to mention the return on the self-help books purchased during the 80’s.
• If only I had Stuffr for Linux… I would have clicked “Publish” by now.

*Note: I was not paid by Slobokan in anyway to tell you to get Stuffr. This was not a paid post!

Blame the resurrection of my music collection. Heck blame my mother or my Aunt Mary Anne. Life isn’t complete without Earth, Wind & Fire. Disco, Baby! It’s Friday’s song of the day. Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!

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I very rarely talk about matters of weight loss. Having been a person of “normal” weight until reaching my senior year of HS, I don’t know why I still find it difficult to talk about. Name any other subject and I’ll happily discuss it for hours. But my weight and diet struggles and triumphs I usually tend to keep very private. I think growing up watching my mother’s struggles with weight have a lot to do it with it, maybe. My mother owned two copies of a nutritional guide book through the years. One an updated version of the other. I grew up knowing more about nutrition and eating healthy than most children probably do.

That knowledge didn’t stop me from turning into a slowly inflating human balloon as an adult though. I am still reluctant to join any groups. Even free ones such as this free calorie counter. I’ve browsed through their website and typed a few things into their database search and honestly, I think it’s a very smart place for those who don’t know what they are doing to their bodies and want to start learning and keeping track. Their database is full of nutritional label facts for a wide variety of prepared foods. My only wish is that there was a way to put a recipe into their database and see what end results are.

I know that already prepared food is a boon for those of us struggling to lose weight and then maintain that weight-loss once it is achieved. I just can’t bring myself to deal with the preservatives that are packaged along with the food. I think far too many of us are going to end up being well preserved long after death as a result of preservatives. Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t admonish those who eat them now and then. Especially those with families or who are on a tight food budget. I just know that personally, I feel a lot healthier when I’m eating fresh whole foods.

Kate got me again! Here are the rules and it seems that this time around they are more specific:

The rules are simple…Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. Fact: I love a violent thunderstorm. I never feel more alive than when the wind is blowing and the sky is screaming with thunder and lightening and the trees are shaking their lose branches to the ground.
2. Habit: I play with my lip piercing way too much. If my hands aren’t occupied then I’m playing with my lip ring. Then again as a child my bottom lip was forever chapped do to my constantly playing with it.
3. Fact: I don’t mind pain if it is for a worthy cause and actually hated giving birth to Boys #2 and Baby Boy because of the epidural.
4. Habit: I smoke and I shouldn’t. It’s likely going to kill me. What can I say other than another excuse?
5. Fact: I grew up in Iowa but was born in Nebraska.
6. Fact: Boy #1 and Boy #2 were born in the same hospital that I was and some of the same Nuns were still fulfilling their vocation there.
7. Habit: I curse too much when I’m agitated. I have 4 boys and a husband. Agitated happens a LOT.
8. Habit: Coffee. I can’t give it up. Not completely. Not ever. Nope. Don’t touch my damned coffee!

You know, I’m feeling slightly rebellious and I seem to recall the old saying, “Rules are made to be broken.” I’m not going to tag anyone this time around. But if you’d like to play along feel free and send a trackback so I’ll know!

When a neighbor told me one evening that I remind him of this song. He said, “You have The South in your soul now but you’ve got that Chicago Italian thing going on and yet you’re a farmer’s daughter and damn girl, you’re a little bit of everything just like Kid Rock in that ‘I Am’ song.” And with that, since it’s been a few day since a Song of the Day, you are now subjected, if you chose to click the play button, to Kid Rock.

I wouldn’t want anyone to think I’m getting soft.

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It’s not always a bad thing. Boy #2 just brought down a bunch of discs they had taken off to their room with. What was in the stack of discs but a DVD backup that I had completely forgotten about. Why is that exciting? I now have my lost music collection back! This has got to be a good omen!

My parents and Boy #1 are currently en route to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. After many years and many surgeries, and lots of praying, my mother finally consented to submitting her medical history and files to the surgical department at Mayo.

I hope and pray that this gives her some hope and a new positive outlook. You see, my mother has connective tissue disease, a form of muscular dystrophy. No one knew this until after she’d given birth to me and then my sister a year and four days later. When she was expecting me, the doctor that she went to never once did a pelvic exam. Had he done so just once he would have known that instead of having the usual female pelvis structure that allows for cervical expansion, she instead has a solid pelvic base. He would have known that she would never be able to have a vaginal birth and would have known to deliver me, her first born via a scheduled c-section. Instead he let her lay in full hard labor for 32 hours before she was full of infection and we were both in life or death jeapordy and they then transported her to Bergan Mercy in Omaha.

My birth, in effect, was the beginning of the destruction of her abdominal muscular tissue. The last (in two weeks) 35 years have lead to over 30 surgeries to repair abdominal hernias. With each surgery came more Dupont experimental mesh which her body would then promptly reject and the simple strain of moving around in this world would cause further connective tissue damage causing the mesh to tear away from whatever muscular tissue was left.

For several years, my sister, my father and I have all begged and prayed for her to consent to submitting her records to the surgical team at Mayo. She had always been very depressed about the state of her health and in turn always emphatically stated, “No. There is nothing anyone can do for me anymore.” I don’t know what it took exactly to get her to change her mind. Perhaps it was the explanation from the department at Mayo that they would review her records first and if they thought they could help her they would contact her and let her schedule a consultation or they would contact her and let her know that the team felt there was nothing more they could do for her than has already been done.

Thankfully they called to schedule a consultation. I cannot begin to convey the hope this gives our family. Mom is still a bit reluctant and negative and I pray that this day will give her a chance to hope for a better life. I will be anxiously waiting as the day goes on for her to call late this afternoon after she’s met with the team of surgeons.

Pft. Anxious doesn’t even begin to describe it. I will be checking the clock all day and the phone won’t leave my side.

**Update**

Just heard from Mom. They think they’ll be able to help her. They are staying the night in Rochester and she has a few tests and labs to be done tomorrow. She has to go back on the 23rd for more testing. As a bonus they told her they want to wait until it has been at least a year since her last surgery before they operate. But they will be taking those 6 months to let her body heal as much as it can on its own and devise the best surgical strategy.

While there are many naysayers out there. I for one have realized exactly what the recent barrage of sponsored posts has done. It’s put the personal back into the blogs that I read. It’s made regular blog reads more interesting as the individual bloggers, while choosing what products and services to promote with a simple link, more creative and more personable in their writing. Bloggers are revealing more “intimate” details about themselves, all of those things that the previous tide of political blogging left them jaded and hesitant to reveal. It’s brought the bloggers who’s blogs have been dormant, out of their jaded closets eager and happy to share again.

If it took paying bloggers to bring that back to the blog world then I say long live sponsored blogging.

• Hunkin’s Experiments (over 200 home experiments)
  More fun for the kids!
  (tags: homeschool science experiments howto)
• Science of Cooking: Candy
  This should make time in the kitchen more bearable since Baby Boy has turned into a food cop. Can’t make anything w/out him telling me how I’m doing it wrong.
  (tags: kids science cooking activities)
• It’s Just a Plant
  Intersting what you find while Stumbling through the K-12 Education category.
  (tags: books marijuana kids)