Swine Flu??

Okay so is anyone else freaking out about this new swine flu or is it just me...everyday or even hour that I go on the internet they are talking about more and more people dying or coming down with this. It is spreading like wildfire. They are all saying it is not cause for alarm yet...yeah right. I think they are just trying to cover their ass. I worry most about my kids. Thank god they are not in daycare but we still frequently visit kid filled places and it seems now like everyone everywhere is at risk. Someone next to you could cough or sneeze and they could have it and just not know and boom you are infected which spreads to your family, neighborhood etc. At what point do we panic? Our Governor just declared a State of Emergency for California due to the swine flu and they dont think it is time for panic??? They say this could turn into a pandemic.....HELLO>>> anyone know the definition of a PANDEMIC.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a pandemic can start when three conditions have been met:[1]
Emergence of a disease new to a population.
Agents infect humans, causing serious illness.
Agents spread easily and sustainably among humans.
A disease or condition is not a pandemic merely because it is widespread or kills many people; it must also be infectious. For instance, cancer is responsible for many deaths but is not considered a pandemic, because the disease is not infectious or contagious

Yes, I think it is time to get serious and the press stop writing this off as no big deal. People in the US are starting to die from this. I would say that it is a big deal. Here is a link to a government web site that has a great checklist for families and individuals to prepare for this...anyone else worried about this..let me know. http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/individual/index.html

Tahoe here we come.....

So tomorrow we leave for Squaw Valley Ski Resort, the 2nd largest ski resort in the US. Julie is going to try her hand at Skiing for the very 1st time.....Kaitlyn is dying to try to, but you have to be 3, so she will have to wait until next year. As for Julie, that is all she can talk about. So the kids and I will drive up tomorrow, have some fun in the snow, stay at a hotel and then daddy will either come up tomorrow night or Sunday morn( all depending on how much time he spends in San Fran for the big stamp show!! ...all in all I think it should be a great time. The kids have been asking to go to the snow and we are almost out of time before the snow melts. Julie is also on the verge of losing her 2 front bottom teeth. I can't believe how big she is getting and how fast she is growing up. Her last day of Pre-K is May 29th and then it is on to kindergarten ....OMG!!

In other news, I saw the podiatrist today and it is back to wearing my walking cast for another 5 weeks, physical therapy 2x per week and 24/7 medication patches on my foot...you got to be kidding me....lol.

Well hopefully we will get out of the high 90's for awhile, because I can't imagine having that cast on in this heat....if that happens it is going to be a very very long summer.

The state of the world

Do realize that everyday this world gets more and more scary. Scary for us, scary for our kids....I am really down today. 2 weeks ago a little 8 yr old girl was skipping down the road in front of her house and disappeared. Police and search teams looked everywhere for her, including a room by room search of 3 local hotels. Yesterday they found her body stuffed inside a suitcase in an irrigation canal wearing the same clothes as when she disappeared. What the hell is wrong with people. What kind of freak gets off from taking and killing a little girl. She was only 3 years older then Julie and she only lived like 4 hrs from here.

What happened to the days when you could be a kid and play outside and walk to your friends house or the park and be gone all day having fun and just being a kid. Now it is like we have to lock our kids in the backyard to play. It is getting so bad, that I worry about sending Julie to public school soon. How do you know a weirdo isn't waiting around there. I know it isn't good to be to overly cautious and paranoid, but at what point can you stop being so. It is a scary scary world out there and a place where our kids cant even be kids anymore.....so very sad.

The ending of an Era

How do you close the chapter on 30 years of your life?? That is a question that I have no idea how to answer. The truth is, my grandma is dying. At this point, no one is sure she will even make it to her birthday in April. She told her daughter who is coming out for Easter to make sure that her plane ticket is refundable, because she doesn't think she will make it that long. As each day passes, that thought hits closer and closer to home. Sometimes she is lucid, but most of the time not. When she is lucid, she is in such severe pain that she can't stand it. She can no longer get up on her own, she needs help in every aspect of her life and care. It is so hard to watch someone dying right in front of you and even though you know that it is on the horizon, in no way does it ease the pain or heartache. I know that one day very very soon, I will walk into my mothers house and there will be a terrible void. There will be an empty feeling not seeing her around and being her loving stubborn self. Although I will be happy that she is no longer suffering and in terrible pain, my heart will be broken for all that I will have lost and my children will have lost. I just try and think what a blessing that she got to see my children and that Julie will always remember her now that I know she is old enough. What a great thing to be able to have a great grandma around.....I know that she has a place in my daughters heart for all time. When that time finally comes....we are sure going to miss BIG MAMA!!! So pray for her and send her good loving thoughts......I know we will.

A truley enjoyable time

So this morning ended our 5 day visit with the in-laws and I have to say that other then when my 2 girls were born and they came out, this was the most enjoyable. Now that the girls are older and they know who Grandma Shelly and Papa are, it is so great to see them interact. My father in law actually slept on the floor of Kaitlyn's room the whole time on a mattress. She loved that!! I was so thankful they were here to give me a little break since I am still recovering. As this morning got closer, I was so sad. I DID NOT want them to leave. 5 days went so quick and I wish that they would have stayed longer. I hope that next time they will. It is so great to make such wonderful memories. Both girls woke up this morning asking for them and they were disappointed to know that the day had come that they had to go home....they plan to return in August and we already can't wait.

When you find out who your true friends are

Yes, this is going to be a winy complaint filled post, but oh well. If you don't want to read it, then don't. Lets go back to last Friday...everyone else in my family has bronchitis and is on antibiotics(Kaitlyn also has an ear infection) Anyhow I started to get a cough on Friday and I was thinking oh no, please don't let me get this since I had just finished the antibiotics for my sinus infection the day before. So as the weekend progressed, my cough started to get worse and worse. Sunday I decided to go to urgent care. They told me that I probably had bronchitis too but they didn't want to give me antibiotics since I just finished a course so they sent me home with some cough medicine that didn't work. As Tuesday came around, I was feeling like crap, I had a fever, the chills, and a cough that I thought was going to hack up a lung and I felt like I was going to collapse, so I made a Dr's appt for 3pm that day. As noon rolled around, I realized that I couldn't make it until 3, so I dropped the kids off at daycare and headed to the ER. Boy am I glad that I did. I have a bad case of Pneumonia....so they gave me 2 strong IV antibiotics and fluids and debated if the should admit me or not. Because of my Lupus, my body is less able to cope with such things and I am also on a drug that suppresses your immune system. To make matters worse, when they were drawing my blood, they hit a deep nerve in my arm....(how the hell they did that I have no idea since I have blood draws every 6 weeks and come on, I am 30 so I have had a lot)anyhow, my arm went straight up and a stabbing pain shot from my elbow all the way to the bottom of my wrist. I was in tears.....even after she was done, my hand was numb and my arm was full of pain. Well, today, I am unable to use my arm, for if I move it, I have a stabbing pain in my wrist and my hand, then my hand goes numb. It is supposed to get better in a week or so....great. So to make a long story a little shorter, they sent me home, with strict instructions that I am not like most people who have this. I am more compromised and I need to go home, stay in bed and rest for 2-3 days until I feel stronger and then I need to start back slow. Well, my husband told me that he couldn't miss work and I cant chase after the kids, because as it is, it is hard to breathe and if I move it is 10 times worse.

So I called my "good friend" and asked her if it was possible that Adam drop Julie off after school and then pick her up on the way home from work because Kaitlyn will be napping and I can stay in bed. Well, she said that she couldn't watch her because she had to finish Vacuuming and mopping(her already spotless house). Well that was a kick in the face. So I tried the next person with whom I left a message on their voicemail and they just never called me back. What a feeling, to know that when you are in a bind, no one gives a shit. People who are supposed to be good friends, look for excuses not to help out. Whatever happened to the days when people went out of their way for others in times like this. I know if they had called me, I would have made a way to make it happen. I guess people like that are far and few between. One person who I wouldn't have called a friend before a few months ago, showed her true colors when I broke my foot. Despite her having 4 little kids of her own, she cooked us dinner, made us goodies, watched Kaitlyn and Julie and picked up Julie from school and brought her to my house so that I wouldn't have to go out. She is an angel in disguise. I thought about calling her, but she has helped me so much, I just couldn't do it. When you get older, you have a few select friends and you want to keep those friends that you have, I guess it just makes me sad and hurts my feelings to know that when I need help, they wont be there for me. So I lay here alone, feeling like I was hit by a train and struggling to breathe. I just pray to god I get better soon.

Here are the lyrics to a country song that I have always liked and I guess it really came into play today.

Run your car off the side of the road
Get stuck in a ditch way out in the middle of nowhere
Or get yourself in a bind lose the shirt off your back Need a floor, need a couch, need a bus fare
This is where the rubber meets the road
This is where the cream is gonna rise
This is what you really didn't know
This is where the truth don't lie

{Chorus}
You find out who your friends are
Somebody's gonna drop everything
Run out and crank up their car
Hit the gas, get there fast
Never stop to think 'what's in it for me?' or 'it's way too far'
They just show on up with their big old heart
You find out who your friends are

Everybody wants to slap your backwants to shake your handwhen you're up on top of that mountain
But let one of those rocks give way then you slide back down look up and see who's around then
This ain't where the road comes to an end
This ain't where the bandwagon stops
This is just one of those times when
A lot of folks jump off

{Chorus}

When the water's high
When the weather's not so fair
When the well runs dry
Who's gonna be there?

Enough is enough!!

I AM SO READY FOR THIS WINTER SICK SEASON TO BE OVER......



Okay so now that I said it, I want you to know that I mean it...we have all been sick for one time or another for 2 months straight now....and I have had enough. I am tired of snot, and coughing, and vomit, and grumpiness........Julie had the horrible long cold that we all have had and now she has a bad case of bronchitis and is on antibiotics, now it is spreading to Kaitlyn and she is once again sick with a cold and no longer has a voice and her raw nose was just finally starting to heal....please help us!!! On the flip side of all that....Julie had her 5 yr/school check up today and she is doing great and everything is right on track. Now we just have to go back to the urologist next month to make sure her bladder is okay and then we should be set. I cannot believe that I am going to have a kindergartner in a few months.



Also since it was a long weekend this week, I finally got our playroom started and finished. We have a large bonus room upstairs that was not used for much, so we decided to turn it into a playroom. We installed lower handrails for the kids and moved all of the toys upstairs so they can have their own space. It is actually nice. Slowly things are all falling in place. Also on Friday we had snow which made my year and the kids loved it. I just wish that Julie wasn't feeling so crappy that day and could have enjoyed it more. Oh well, we are planning on spending a weekend in Tahoe in a week or two because Julie wants to learn how to ski...so we will see how that will go.