"I can see", continued

Blogger was giving me some issues, so I couldn't post this picture with the earlier post. Wanted to show everyone how beautiful his eyes are and while girls will love his long eyelashes later on when he's waaaaaay older, right now they are making it a challenge to put in contacts!

"I can see!"

Those are the words our son said with lots of excitement as he achieved success in getting one contact lens in his eye. He could see. Those simple words may mean nothing to some, but to a little boy who has been burdened with glasses since he was 3, it means a whole new world is opening up for him. He has very bad vision and is legally blind without glasses. He is terribly farsighted. Playing sports has always been a challenge because he always has to compensate for those glasses.

He's in 4th grade this year and is old enough to play football for the first time ever. We have special glasses for him to play sports in, but these just wouldn't work under his helmet. No matter how hubby tried, the glasses just weren't going to work under a football helmet. Hubby decided we would get serious about checking into contacts as an option. Both hubby and I wear glasses, but neither of us has ever worn contacts. It's a whole new world for us.

They eye Dr. said he really needs hard lenses to be comparable to his prescription but we all agreed that it would be too hard for a 9-yr-old boy to adjust to hard lenses. Ideally, disposable lenses will be best, but it was going to be a challenge to find the right prescription for him. The eye Dr. got him started on a trial pair and we will give it a week to see how it goes. Each day he will get to wear his contacts longer and longer to allow his eyes time to adjust.

He has to learn how to put them in himself and take them out too, but this is something he really wants to do. He was so excited when he called me at work and said he was wearing sunglasses. It's the first time he's had the chance to wear some cool sunglasses. They just don't make cool shades for kids with glasses. He's always had to walk past the sunglasses in the stores. Not anymore. My boy gets to wear whatever he wants.

Pool fun

Thought I'd be a good blogger and add some kids' pics since it's been awhile. The summer flew by and I really wasn't ready for school to start yet. I can't believe summer is over & school started Aug.11 for Cole. He's in 4th grade this year and trying to get adjusted to a new routine with a new teacher. This year will bring lots of new things for him like FOOTBALL! Our school waits until the boys are in 4th grade to start out in football. I took him to sign ups this morning to get fitted in all his gear and it's going to be fun trying to get him suited up in all that gear! That's going to be Daddy's challenge since he's the football guy.

I wish I could say that I've been busy jetting off here and there to all these fabulous destinations this summer and that's why I've been so lax in posting. I check out everyone else's blogs all the time and am a faithful reader of several. I just never get around to posting on my own. Very sad. We've kept busy this summer & the time has flown by, but nothing very exciting to elaborate on. A few weekends ago we cut down some large tree limbs that were blocking the sunlight and view of our house. We are pleased with the way that it has opened up the yard, and has let the light come in. My plants will be thrilled to have more sunlight! But, it also makes our house much more noticeable. This is a bad thing because our house needs to be painted BADLY. We have aluminum siding and the paint has oxidized which means our house looks like it's molting. It's awful and I am not ever happy coming around the corner and looking at our house. It's just depressing to come home & look at our "no-curb-appeal" house.

So, we've been discussing whether to tear off the aluminum, recycle it and put the money towards vinyl siding or painting it. Hubby is not very keen in the construction dept. so hanging vinyl siding was not something he thought he could handle. After talking with a neighbor who is flipping a house down the street, he's decided that he could paint our house. Our plan is to rent a hydraulic lift, purchase a construction grade spray painter and paint the house within the next few weeks. Our weather here has been absolutely beautiful in the mid-80's and no humidity. Hopefully, it will stay that way when we get ready to paint. I will be a good blogger and show the before pics and after so you can all see the progress. Our house is always a work in progress since I am v.v. bad about finishing projects. One of these days...

On the mend

It has been a miserable 10 days. I honestly don't know how I survived working last week. I felt horrible. I have already had 3 sick days this year and was afraid if I took a 4th, then I would get a dreaded warning. Since I'm new in my dept., I felt it best not to push my luck. They all knew I was sick and wondered why I was there and not home in bed. Sometimes I wondered the same thing. I did end up leaving early on Thurs. because I got a sinus migraine that was so incapacitating that I couldn't see. The fluorescent lights in the office, the computer screen, the data entry--none of it was helping. My supervisor took one look at me and I finally said, "I can't do this anymore." I only had 2 1/2 hrs. of work left, but I didn't care. I had to get out of there. I went home and slept, but it didn't phase the sinus headache from hell. Luckily, the next day was the 4th of July holiday and I laid low. I pretty much did nothing all weekend as a matter of fact. My house and flower gardens are living proof that I did pretty much nothing all weekend. By Sunday, I had had enough of the sinus pressure and called my Dr. to ask him to call something else in. He was surprised that I wasn't feeling any better since I was on 2 pretty strong doses of antibiotics already. Gotta love my immune system. The Dr. figured I have bacterial pneumonia instead of viral, so he switched the meds and I'm happy to say that I do feel better today.

Unfortunately, I can't take my RA meds when I'm on antibiotics. Also, I suffer from other bacterial infections because of the imbalance the antibiotics causes in my body. Sometimes I wonder if I should just seek out herbs and supplements. I'm sure my body is so toxic from all the medicines I must take. Our area does not have an herbalist or naturopathic Dr. and I wish we did. We have health food stores and I have contemplated visiting them to see if they have any suggestions. I just have no idea where to begin as far as taking supplements or herbs or vitamins. I will see my doctors before the end of the month, maybe I can get some advice out of them....

I have been seriously slacking in taking pictures of the kids. This weekend we are off to St. Louis for a family event. I will be taking pictures then and try to get some fun things posted instead of my pity party blogs.

I'd be willing to hear any advice any of you have out there....

Sick and tired of being sick and tired

It sucks when your sick in the summer and it seems that I have a knack for it. I have been sick for a week now and it is wearing me down. I have been running a fever all day and it feels like this huge weight is on my chest making it difficult to breathe. Having RA makes me so susceptible to getting sick because my immune system is shit. It is frustrating having a cold last longer than normal or worse, having it go into pneumonia. I started to get sick last weekend while at our local Relay for Life event. I was extremely exhausted and just knew that something was coming. I was covering the event for the paper and was also trying to participate. I didn't do much walking this year---I just couldn't catch my breath. Never mind the fact that it was hotter than hell outside last weekend. As the week wore on, the symptoms did too.

I am just miserable. and bitchy. That always makes for a fun atmosphere with hubby.

I took Thurs. and Fri. off to spend time with the kids and do fun stuff. I had thoughts of going to the local pool, doing some outside projects around the house, cleaning up some things and doing some fun painting projects with the kids...none of which happened. I just hate being sick and tired all of the time and it seems to be the norm moreso than not. I have had a 4-day weekend shot to hell because of this cold/respiratory thing (that I am sure is pneumonia) and it pisses me off that I did not get to do the things I wanted to do with my kids. No bike rides, no working in my flowers, no making cookies.

I am not feeling sorry for myself --I just am extremely frustrated. Staying healthy is just not something I can do. I often think I should just suck it up, join the Y again and swim to gain some strength and maybe I won't be so sore all the time. I have always liked to ride bikes with the kids in the past but this year, riding a bike is extremely painful on my hands and knees. My right hand is becoming more and more impossible to use---especially writing. Friends and family just don't seem to understand the daily struggles. It is a struggle to get out of bed every day and get started in the morning with joints that don't work.

I know I have to work because of our insurance, but sometimes I think I should just throw in the towel and try for disability so that I can have a few good years having fun with my kids while growing up. Right now, I put every ounce of energy into surviving at work so that I can keep my job. There is very little energy left when I get home. My house is never clean enough, there is never enough laundry done and there is always something to do that I can't seem to do.

Can't stop coughing and time for more medicine. Got stories to write tonight for tomorrow's deadline and it's going to be a long night at this point.....

Where to begin?

I'm sitting at the keyboard that has a sticky spacebar just cringing at the thought of how long it has been since my last post. Sure, I've thought of oodles of posts, but always at the times when I am not at a computer with access. Usually, it's at work when I am not able to post or view blogs or surf the net or talk on the phone or do anything fun. I actually have to work now. Ugh.

I'm finally out of the freaking float pool at work. No more filling in for other people. No more bitchy boss. No more BS about being denied days off. No more feeling like pond scum. I have my own desk back, my own phone with my own voicemail, my own place to put my own stuff. I have pictures of the kids all over my cube and I blew up a few cool ones from our trip to China. I am fitting into the new group and trying my hardest to settle into a routine where everything is recorded, your every task timed and your productivity measured. But, it could be worse. I could have no job at all and be without insurance. And, since I carry the insurance, that would be devastating to our family.

It's funny when you are in your 20s and just starting out in the career world what you say you will and won't do in your job. "I will never stay in a job that I hate. I will never work at a job just for the benefits. I want to be happy and useful in my job." And then reality sets in. You get a life-changing debilitating disease (or two), your husband's insurance refuses to cover the medicine both you and your son need and suddenly, you are stuck at a job that you hate because the benefits are too good to leave. Again, it could be worse. I know. I've got 7 1/2 years with the company and while that doesn't seem very long, to me it's long enough that I don't want to start over somewhere else. I just wish I could do a job that I loved instead of one I hated. The dept. I moved into is high stress, but the people joke around to alleviate that stress and I like that. No one is uptight. There is tons of work to keep you busy so the clock flies. I like that. We all get to chat back and forth all day long and it helps. It helps to just be part of a dept. and be included in things. That makes me feel much better about working at my company.

I write part-time for our community newspaper and I love it. It definitely helps to be able to write again and be out in the community. There are new owners and I hope that means positive changes are in store. It definitely needs it and there will be an uphill battle for awhile. I hope that I can continue writing for this paper. It's where my heart is.

This stupid spacebar is driving me nuts. I'm off for now. Maybe I could discover another keyboard in the depths of the computer parts storage closet.

I promise to blog more. I need more feedback on some upcoming posts. Stay tuned.

Catching up

I figured the easiest way to get a bunch of pictures uploaded was to use the slide show thingy. That way you can preview all the photos at one time on one page. In the Boy Scout slide show, Cole and his pack worked on a special badge this year called God and Me. They had to do extra classes on religion at each of their meetings to earn this patch. We also baked a camping themed cake for the cake bake off. It's a fundraiser for the pack and cakes were sold for as much as $80! My Betty Crock.er cake mix was definitely NOT worth $80 but it was all for a good cause. Cole and I fought and fought with tooth picks, a tortilla, twisty ties and pretzel logs in order to make a teepee for his camping-theme cake. I eventually triumphed. The stupid picture on the internet made it look easier than it was getting 3 pretzel logs to form a tripod. Next year, I will have to do a test cake before the real deal goes on the auction block. The next big event was the Pinewood Derby. This is where the kids....er....dads really get to shine. The pack was able to purchase an electronic track that would register the winner crossing the finish line. It made it much easier to determine the winner for the close calls. Cole went with an Indiana State Po.lice inspired design for his car and it was pretty fast. The running joke at the Derby was, 'you can't outrun the law!' Pretty funny. He didn't win overall, but he stayed in the race for a long time.

The next set of pictures are from Cole's birthday. We went out bowling with some friends and everyone had a great time. Can't believe he's 9 already.

The next set are from Easter. It was a crappy, rainy, muddy day. I am pleased with the pictures I had taken of the kids for Easter in their dress-up clothes. We went to a professional place and had them taken, but I took a few before we went. Cole gets a little tense in pictures and it was hard to get a smile without him blinking at the professional place. But, he was very relaxed at home and I think I got some better ones that the professionals did. Oh well. At least I didn't spend a lot! Allison loved her dress and just acted like the Princess she thinks she is while wearing it. I had a hard time getting it off of her when it was time to change for the Easter egg hunt. She would much rather have left it on despite it being cold, wet and muddy outside. Glad I didn't because our graceful daughter fell in the mud as soon as she got outside. It's amazing how she can run in dress up heels, but she will fall walking flat footed.

That should catch me up on picture postings for now. Enjoy!