An award!

*blush*



Would you look at this . . . Scratchin' the Surface nominated me for my first award EVER!

*giggle* Someone thinks I rock!

She says its been a year *ALREADY?* that we've known each other via a blog bible study. WOW! And here I thought it was me who was getting all the insight and blessings from her! Well, thank you Bev!

And now I get to spread the love to five people I think 'rock' . . . . oh joy!

#1 Tales From the (Momma) Hood is a gal I have been following since she was Cheerio Butt . . . I love her wacky humor, her love for life, and the fact that she can look so good mothering 6 young-uns.

#2 Sarah from Sermon on the Mount of Laundry has been my buddy-prego-gal and a staunch supporter of all that is natal. She has two boys and is going to have a girl ANY DAY NOW! How exciting is that!

#3 is Chaotic Mom from The Chaotic Home. A fellow coffee addict, she speaks like a zillion languages, designed my blog, has three active boys, two of which are deaf with cochlear implants, but still, she and them sign (which I love) . . . she's moved more often then the years she's been married and is EVER learning something new. I am actually in awe of her. In awe.

#4 Barefoot in the Garden used to be Chaotic Mom's neighbor (until CM moved) and is how I got to know her. She is honest with her struggles and joys and I really appreciate that. She, along with her darling kids, has spoiled me rotten and showered me and my kids with love. She's the type of lady that feels like a kindred spirit, even though we have never actually 'met'. I sincerely hope some day we do.

#5 Kelly from I'm in over my head, but under His grace was my neighbor back in the day before she moved, and my good friend and confidant. If there is any dirt to know about me, she knows it, and if I have any rants to rave she hears it. Her husband is hard of hearing and was the pastor here to the deaf of Ensenada for years before they passed the mantel on to Carlos Suarez. People often mistook us for sisters, and in many ways we are. I feel like I've 'grown up' with her. She may not get to post all that often (or as often as I'd like) but she rocks nonetheless!

Well, what do ya know . .

Mingle² - Online Dating

It said that it is based on my use of the word "missionary" 4 times, and "hurt" once.

Interesting.

Wordless Wednesday

For those who love a good pun. . .

I am a pun lover.
As those of you who have been reading my blog can tell.
It generally doesn't go over to well with my deaf friends, but my favorite kind of a joke is a good pun.
So to my delight my friend Kelly posted some good ones . . .
feel like a laugh (or a groan?) then head on over . . . .

Contests, contest

5 minutes for mom is at the contest thing again . . . lots of give-aways, AND (Karen J, and all you other friends of mine without a blog) you don't need a blog to enter!

Come on, it's fun!

40 random questions

40 of The Most Random Questions You Will Ever Fill Out

1) What side of the heart do you draw first? Left

2) Can you dive without plugging your nose? Yes

3) What color is your razor? Blue

4) What is your blood-type? O positive

5) Who would you want to be tied to for 24 hours? I have to agree with Amy here; No one.

6) What is a rumor someone has spread about you? My mother has told others that I speak French. Not true, I took French in collage, can say a couple of phrases . . .BIG DIFFERENCE than being able to 'speak' French!


7) How do you feel about carrots? Buy baby carrots, buy in bulk.

8) How many chairs at the dining room table? 6

9) Which is the best Spice Girl? Thyme. . . . (I missed the fad).

10) Do you know what time it is? time to get the kids in jammies, and I have to check my blood sugars . . . .(gestational diabetes, ya know)

11) Do you know all the words to the Fresh Prince Theme Song? Used to.

12) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator? After using my cell to call for help I'd perhaps call some friends and families . . . if it was going to be a while, I'd take a nap.


13) What’s your favorite kind of gum? sugar free . . . I don't know, I don't chew gum that much. I like it and all, just don't have a 'favorite'.

14) All’s fair in love and war? The question should be "Is it the right thing?"

15) Do you have a crush on anyone? This little 2 foot guy that lives under our roof has me wrapped around his finger, and melts me with just the look of his eyes, but I am committed to his dad.

16) Do you know how to use some words correctly, but not know the meaning? Actually I have the problem of knowing the meaning of a word, but not how to use it correctly.

17) Do you like to sleep? when I get the chance

18) Do you know which US states don’t use Daylight Savings Time? outside of Arizona - no

19) Do you know the words to the song Total Eclipse of the Heart? um . . . no.

20) Do you want a bright yellow ‘06 mustang? I would accept it 'cause I'd like the mustang.

21) What’s something you’ve always wanted? A house keeper or personal attendant.

22) Do you have hairy legs? Not really.

23) What does “Semper Fidelis” stand for? "Always Faithful" Latin, Marines.

24) Would you rather swim in the ocean or a lake? Lake

25) Do you wear a lot of black? yes, but I'm trying to change that

26) Describe your hair. straight, black, natural, short and stacked in back

27) Do you have Entomophobia? Is this a fear of bugs? Not really. I don't think I have a phobia of anything, just a healthy respect for pain.

28) Are you an adult? Yes

29) Where is/are your best friend(s)? all over the place

30) Do you have a tan? Yes, without trying. I don't like to sun bathe.

31) Are you addicted to TV? movies . . . TV on DVD? Possible. TV it's self? . . .not likely.

32) Do you enjoy spending time with your mother? Not really.

33) Are you a sugar freak? More just a chocolate freak.

34) What happened to number 34? It didn't measure up to 'the answerer to everything'.

35) What sign are you? A "M" sign by my temple. . . .it used to me a "M.A." at my temple, but then I got married and my last initial changed, so now it's just "M" but not with the fingers bent over the thumb, but straight up, kind of looks like your giving a salute . . and that suites me.

36) Where do you wish you were right now? At a good chiropractors.

37) Who did you copy this from? From Amy's blah, blah, blog

38) How do you know them? One of my reads.

39) Have you kissed anyone in the past week? Several times, and even some stuffed animals and dolls.

40. Favorite thing to wear to bed? cute comfy jammies

Real mom's.

So Amy did this meme a while ago, I thought is was real cute so, I'm not really going to make it a meme, but just come up with a few of my own "real moms" moments. Here goes…

• Real moms has kid scribblings all over anything paperish in their purse.
• Real moms can walk out of the house with only one hand of painted nails, and not notice, or care.
• Real moms don't shower every day.
• Real moms would rather sleep.
• Real moms have smooshed goldfish in the bottom of their purses (this was amyszoos, but I'm coping it, cause gosh darn . . it's true!)
• Real moms drop pretty much everything for a cry that sounded like it REALLY hurt.
• Real moms know the difference.

Wordless Wednesday

With Uncle J

Pregnancy Brain - fact or fiction?

Pregnancy brain, also known as "Placenta Brains", I thought was myth . . . in fact I'm finding it quite real.

Yesterday, I'm resting when I get a call.

"Hello?" says me, yeah, the only smart thing I said all conversation long . . .

"Hi, . . . (bla, bla, bla) I need to talk to your husband. Is he home?"

"Um, yeah, so . . . when can we expect you over?"

"To your house? Didn't know I was invited."

" . . . (more bla bla bla as I'm scraping together all my brain cells together to figure this out) . . . so, um, how then were you thinking of talking to my husband?"

"*small laugh* um . . . over the phone.?"

True story, y'all. Worst thing was that this was a single guy I was talking to . . . .*ack!*

So it is no surprise then when it took me longer than the average bear to figure out this following e-mail is very tongue-in-cheek . . .

So for any other mothers-to-be that are reading this . . . THIS IS MEANT TO BE FUNNY, NOT TAKEN FOR REAL!

Amazingly Simple Home Remedies

From: "The Good, Clean Funnies List"

1. If you are choking on an ice cube, simply pour a cup of
boiling water down your throat. Presto! The blockage will
instantly remove itself.

2. Avoid cutting yourself slicing vegetables by getting
someone else to hold while you chop.

3. Avoid arguments with the Mrs. about lifting the toilet
seat by using the sink.

4. For high blood pressure sufferers: simply cut yourself
and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure in
your veins. Remember to use a timer.

5. A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will
prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after
you hit the snooze button.

6. If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives
-- then you will be afraid to cough.

7. You only need two tools in life: WD-40 and duct tape. If
it doesn't move and should, use the WD-40. If it shouldn't
move and does, use the duct tape.

8. Remember: Everyone seems normal until you get to know
them.

Received from dean0.

Have a good day.

To answer Kelli's question . . .

Kelli . . . you ask about the PayPerPost post if I get commission for referring people . . .
I can, and I just added the link to my sidebar. :-)

Monday, Tuesday

So, continuing in our story from last post . . .

The emergency had passed, my boy was breathing easier, and with orders from the ER to see his pediatrician that day (Monday), we went to the place we stay when state side, to get some much needed sleep.

Aside from a visit with his pediatrician and a stop at the supermarket for some food items and prescriptions, we slept most of Monday away. Loved it, and my boy was now was only sleepy and clingy but doing well.

As it so happens, a good friend of mine is just a couple houses away. I have written about her before . . . she is 36 weeks pregnant and has a 10 month old. Proof you can get pregnant while nursing.

Anyway . . . for a while now I have been wanting to check out this place called JavaMama. Long time ago I bemoaned that we mamas who are/were former Starbucks junkies needed a coffee house with a play place . . . that is JavaMama in a nutshell.

Since I didn't have anything pressing to do but wait for my hubby to show up on Wednesday for another round of doctor visits (for us, this time) I invited my friend to check out this place with me on Tuesday . . . and so, a little after morning nap time, toting our little boys, our baby gear and our pregnant-selves along we made our way out there.

It's a ways north east of where we were at, but the drive was enjoyable, and with two pregnant brains (equals one whole brain, for the most part) we only had to do one u-turn before we arrived. Pretty good . . . and we enjoyed our time there - the coffee was good, the play area better, and we hypothesised about starting our own JavaMama franchise down south were we KNOW other mothers need it!

Thing was, all day, all through the drive, and all through coffee my friend was having contractions. Not to painful, but some enough to take her breath away, and about 4-5 minutes apart. So just to be sure (for the fun of it) we finished up our coffees and then I drove her to the hospital.

Gear, kids and our pregnant selves waddled into the triage, and in about an hour we all waddled back out. Turns out she is only 1cm dilated, and as for the contractions . . .well *shrug of shoulders* try to rest, and hold out until at least Monday where the baby would be considered full term.

I just called her now . . . she is still pregnant, and if she gets up to walk across the room she gets contractions, which pretty much means that she is experiencing contractions every 4 or 5 minutes- All.The.Time.

Remember; I did say she has a fast crawling 10 month old.

Pretty much, I think this qualifies her to a "I was in labor for weeks!" labor story and buys her way out of dishes at least for a year . . .

but I'm not sure her hubby would agree.

Where have I been?!?!?

"What's with all this fluff and stuff of my blog content lately?" you may ask yourself.

If anything I am wondering the same. It's just that life is threatening to overwhelm me and I've had to keep it light in order to maintain some foothold and not go into a whole "woe is me" tirade . . . . us who are in Christ have the Peace that passes all understanding, doesn't mean life is free from difficulties.

And I am hormonally impaired to handle much of anything . . . at all!

One of the difficulties that we have taken upon ourselves is that we have choosing to keep our medical care state side. One of the options a person has when working this close to the boarder. This works well with my hubby living with peritoneal dialysis, we feel we get the best treatment there.

The sacrifice is the drive. Depending on the boarder wait it is a 2-3 hour (can be longer in Tijuana at times) trip to the doctors.

On Sunday my son was having great difficulties breathing. We tried the usual remedies, hot shower steam, cold night air, nebulizer . . . nothing was helping and he seemed to be getting worse.

I really knew my hubby didn't want to drive up to the states that night. Sunday nights are pretty bad at the boarder, we really don't have the extra gas money and both he and I had doctor appointments on Wednesday so an extra trip up and down would have been a bit to much on everybody.

But the option was to go to the emergency hospital here, and they don't know my son's history, and in my opinion tend to over medicate, and it would all be out of pocket . . and since we didn't even have the gas money . . . .

Yet it so happened that super brother J was down visiting with us, and so I asked if we could ride back state side with him, me and my son. He could drop us off at the ER and we would stay with friends until my hubby came up for the Wednesday doctor appointments.

Phone calls and frantic packing later we were off . . . We got to the ER about midnight, perhaps a bit closer to 1, and were there until about 5 am. My boy had a full blown case of of croup. When we went home he wasn't 'healed' but he was breathing with much less difficulty . . .

Before my bro dropped me off, he asked me my plans since I didn't have a car . . . I told him what I was thinking and he said "Well, why don't I just expect a call from you some time between 3am and 8am . . that way you can leave your suitcase and stuff in the car . . . ."

I can not express how grateful I am for him . . . for his consideration in all of this. And on the way home he buys me a decaf soy Starbucks latte and a breakfast sandwich. Icing on the cake, really . . . . I am blessed. So my boy and I go to our friends house for some sleep - and settle in for our stay until Wednesday.

That was our Sunday to early Monday morning . . . .part two (oh yes, there is a part two) will be posted perhaps tomorrow.

For some spare change . . .

I must say, PayPerPost; ads on blogs, is good for my marriage.

When I first signed up with PayPerPost I was tentative and cautious with it since . . . well, really, how often is it so easy to just get money handed to you? . . . Surely there must be a catch. . So WAAAAAAAAY back in Dec of 2006 I did one post. And waited . . . about one month later in my pay pal account I had about $5. Ok . . . so then later I tried another post, and then a third.

I now have $15.75 and I know that isn’t a pot o’ gold, but that for only 3 posts, really that’s pretty good! Right now I am saving up for a small pop-up pool for the kids (almost there!) and the big dream is for my own laptop computer *sigh* (ways, ways, ways to go yet) but it is conceivable!

Now, I’ll tell you why I love PayPerPost: I get to decide what I’m going to post about, and only when I want to, so it is something I have something to say about, and this then becomes my ‘fun’ money that I don’t have to worry my hubby over.

Hence . . . good for my marriage! LOL!

Very worth it.

Punnies

From: "The Good, Clean Funnies List" GCFL

Punnies

"I can't believe I ate that whole pineapple!" Bill said,
dolefully.

"I haven't caught a fish all day!" Mike said, without
debate.

"I won't let a stupid flat tire let me down," Steve said,
with despair.

"I keep banging my head on things," Marty said, bashfully.

"That is the second time my teacher changed my grade," Donna
remarked.

"The fur is falling out of that mink coat," Steven inferred.

"That's the second electric shock that I've gotten today!"
Stew said, revolted.

"I'll just have to send that telegram again," Samuel said,
remorsefully.

"I've been sick and lost a lot of weight," Rachel expounded.

Received from Mickey Peden.

Linky love, contests

I'm really starting to show this baby now, and 5 minutes for mom is having a give away . . .the prize? A belly band by Baby Be Mine Maternity

How cool is that?!

Do check it out!

AND . . .and they are also giving away some Netflix subscriptions . . . which I LOVE, and if you want to sign up for that one do click here!

Wordless Wednesday

In Mexican Sign Language . . . about the classroom pet fish.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Well, this surprised me