Holiday tree...oopsy.

Okay, after doing some reading on this, I found out that the "holiday tree" has been around since the 90's. It is politically correct to call it a holiday tree. But I say, like I always say, screw being politically correct. Maybe Christ wasn't really born on Christmas day, but that is when we celebrate it. I don't think it is a secret that I am not an Obama fan. I am glad people know who I voted for. I don't think that should be such a big secret. I am firm in my beliefs, and I don't want people to have to question that about me. I got this email the other day that I thought was hilarious! And I looked it up, and it really says this...

Obama Bumper Sticker

We were in Pigeon Forge over the week end. On Sunday, we left to come
home. Traffic was moving slowly, and a car in front of us had an Obama
bumper sticker on it. It read: "Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8".


Mike's Bible was lying on the dash board. He got it, opened it up to
the scripture, and read it. He started laughing and laughing. Then he
read it to me. I couldn't believe what it said. I had a good laugh,
too..



Psalm 109:8
"Let his days be few; and let another take his office."

One nation under God?

I was listening to Scarlett this moring while she was saying the pledge of alligence. When she got to ,"one nation under God", it made me think. My kids are growing up in a world where they might try to take "one nation under God" out of the pledge of alligence! I can accept that there are other people who don't have the same political veiws as I do. What I can not accept, is when people say things like, "separation of church and state", "Take, in God we trust, out of our monetary system, and off of our money", and the worst one yet, "we are going to have a holiday tree this year!" I can accept that they don't want prayer in school, but I can not accept taking "one nation under God" out of the pledge of alligence. Or for that matter, creating a new pledge of alligence.
I am a Christ follower! And I will stand up for that until the day I die! I do not want to see what this world becomes when these things are changed. God blesses us with our jobs, which means our money comes from Him. You can't take God out of money and expect things will stay the same. You can't separate church and state, and expect things to stay the same. In a country that was founded on God and christian beliefs, we will always be one nation under God. However, if we as that nation turn our backs on God, all I can think about is these verses in Romans...

Romans 1:18-23 For God's wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and wickedness of those who in their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God himself has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes-his eternal power and divine nature-have been understood and observed by what he made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. Instead, their thoughts turned to worthless things, and their ignorant hearts were darkened. Though claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images that looked like mortal human beings, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. Romans 1:24-25 For this reason, God gave them over to impurity to follow the lusts of their hearts and to dishonor their bodies with one another. They exchanged God's truth for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.

This is a little scary for me. No matter if you consider yourself libral or conservative, God is still the only God, and there ultimatly is no escaping Him. I know that, no matter waht happens in the future, God is in control. I will still be saying the pledge of alligence as long as I am living, and I will teach it to my kids! Oh and we will NEVER have a holiday tree! It is christs birthday we celebrate at my house, and it always will be a Christmas tree!

just some thoughts...

I am in a wierd place in life right now, and I have been here since the beginning of the summer. Sine I have been married and in the real world, I have been stessed out for one reason or another. I take on too much, and I know it, but I don't feel like I ever have a choice, so that is why I do too much. I keep telling myself that all the things I am doing right now will pay off, but now I am questioning that. I am now to the point of being so stressed out that it is causing me to be physically ill. The pressure I feel is so intense sometimes, I feel like my head will explode...literally. I will say that 2009 has been the most stressful year of my life, which says a LOT considering the last 5 years of my life. I am really learning to cut people slack, because I know how I feel when someone expects me to be perfect and don't take into consideration what I am going through. I get angry sometimes when people say, "I know how you feel", when I know they have no idea how I feel. I don't need the sympathy, I just don't like it when people try to relate when they don't have a clue. When I don't know how somone feels about something, I tell them that I can't understand how they feel, but I am here for them to talk to.
I thought by selling River's edge, we would be less stressed, but that does not seem to be the case. I am still in school full time and working full time, and trying to be the best mom I can be full time. the things that stress me out the most are coming home to a dirty house, and trying to figure out finances without river's edge. FINANCES were supposed to get easier when we sold the business! For some strange reason, I can't let go of the fact that we don't have to pay taxes monthly, and we don't have rent to pay. I also can't seem to grasp the fact that Mike and I get paid twice a month now, instead of everyday. This is such a learning process! It is wierd to go to the grocery store and have a list with a buget.
The icing on my cake is that I just got promoted. This is such a great thing, but it comes with a little pressure. I have to be in Albuquerque for the first two weeks of December (wich also happens to be finals week) to take tests so I can sell insurance. I love the insurance business, and I can't wait to start my new position, but I am a little frazzled right now. I think I am more stressed out about being alone in a big city without Mike and the kids, than the tests. Oh well, it is just one more thing I have to get through.

Down ten pounds!

I am so happy, I have lost ten pounds in two weeks. My goal is 20 more by Christmas. I know that might be a little unrealistic because of thanksgiving, but I am going to try my hardest!

Poo on the swine flu!

On Saturday afternoon, we decided to work outside. I had offered to keep my friends three kids, so that they could get some moving done, and my kids love to hang out with her kids, so it worked out for all of us. We cleaned up the yard, that Salmon has destroyed. We cleaned off the back deck, and cut wood. I even went to the grocery store with 4 kids under the age of 4! I got lunch ready, and sat all 5 kids down to eat, and they all scarfed down the food. All but one of them...Owen. I checked his forehead, and noticed he was a little warm, but nothing too bad, so I gave him some Tylenol, and put him down for a nap. Then I laid Ben down for his nap, and turned on Noggin for the other three kids, so they could relax. After about 20 minutes, I heard Owen crying, so I went in to check on him, and I decided to take his temperature. He hates for me to stick a thermometer in is mouth, so I don't, I take his temp in...you guessed it, his butt. His temp was 99.5, which is nothing for a kid. His nose was a little runny, so I gave him a tiny bit of benedryl, thinking he was having some allergy issues. Both of the 2 year olds took 2 1/2 hour naps, and when they woke up, everything seemed fine.

We took the kids home, and went back home and made dinner. Then we decided to watch bolt on netflix. At 6:35, Scarlett yawned, and said, "I am having a hard time keeping my eyes open", and two seconds later she was out. I decided I had to get up and move around because I was falling asleep, and Mike had been asleep for 20 minutes. Just me and Owen were awake. At 7:30 I went in to get Owen to brush his teeth and get him ready for bed, and I noticed he was EXTREMELY hot! So again I took the butt temp, but this time it was 104.5. I called my mom, who rushed over to stay with Scarlett so we could get Owen to the ER. Let me just say that this is not normally what I do. I would normally put him in a cool bath to drop his temp, and then see how things go. But given the H1N1 scare, I was not willing to risk anything.

By the time we got to the hospital I could tell he was getting warmer. WE walked into the waiting room, with all of the other sickies, and waited for a nurse to look at him. Luckily we did not have to wait long, because I was thinking about yelling, "HE has swine flu!" so people would leave so we would get bumped up in the ER line. There were two nurses, and they took all of his clothes off, and took his rectal temp again, and the nurse said, "oh shit it is 105.5", twice. That could never be a good sign I thought, and it freaked me out! Then while I was holding him, they were asking me questions, and I could not think, I just started crying. They got him to a room, and the doctor came in, and said he is going to be here a few days, and we are going to be running tests, and he needs an IV immediately. SO some more nurses came in along with two nurses that we knew, and they said you can hold him down or we can put him on a board and strap him down. I said, "I will hold him". Then one nurse said, "well you are going to have to hold him tight, do you think you can do that?" I thought about saying, "look at me, do I look like a frail mouse to you?!" but, I said I will hold him thanks.
Mike held his arms down, and I held his legs, and the poking began. The first nurse tried and after two tries she was told to stop. I was getting mad, because it sounded like this was practice for her. Lesson 1, always request a skilled IV tech. Then one of the nurses that I knew, said she was going to try, but she could not get it either! I said "Okay this is the last try!" So they said, one of the anesthesiologists were in the building, so they asked if we wanted them to call him, and we said heck yes! he came in and finally got it in. During this I stared to see spots, and had to ask someone to hold Owen for me, because I was about to pass out! So I sat down and started crying AGAIN! My mom was in the waiting room, and could not come in because there was a limit to two people in the room with him. she had no idea what was going on other than he had a dangerously high temp. One of the pastor's (and one of our closest friends) was somehow allowed to come back, and I asked him to go let my mom know what was going on so she could stop worrying. After they got the IV in and Owen had started calming down, I went out in the waiting room, and had a good cry. I don't even know what I said, but I just cried. I told my mom to go see him, and then a nurse walked in and said she would let my mom and John (the pastor) go back with him.
When we got back to the room, Our nurse friend Kathy, came in to take some blood samples. She said that the worst part of her job it taking blood from kids, because they see her around town and immediately start crying! But they got his blood, and he started to calm down enough that he fell asleep. He was so traumatized that he kept jumping in his sleep. It was awful! They said that only one of us could stay overnight with him, and because I was feeling sick, Mike said he would stay. So I went home and could not fall asleep, because my baby was lying in a hospital bed without me...again! The Last time Owen had to be hospitalized, I got the stomach flu and had to let Mike stay with him. I woke up early the next morning and went to stay with him so Mike could sleep. Owen actually slept good the whole time we were there. He slept through his breathing treatments, and vital checkings. He kept saying, "Scarly GO?" which means where is Scarlett. That is what he calls her. Every time a nurse or doctor came in to see him, he would say, "no like it!" I was a little heartbreaking!
We are now home, and I am so happy. The doctors said that we did the right thing by bringing him in immediately. He tested negative for influenza A, but the won't have the H1N1 results back for a few more days. They said they are pretty sure that it was a form of H1N1. So my message to all the other moms that read this is this:
1. Take your kids to the ER as soon as they start to get a high fever. DON'T HESITATE!
2.Make sure you ask for trained professionals, not people in training.
3.Get vaccinated!

Weight Watchers take two!

I quit doing weight watchers a year ago, after I had lost 30 pounds. But for some reason, those 30 pounds enjoyed hanging out on my body, to they have returned. Yippee for me! I will attribute the weight gain to my stressful year, but now the stress is gone, so the pounds need to go too. I have lost 4 pounds already. It is going to work this time!