Too Cute Tuesday... Ouch with a cherry on top

Monday morning as roll was called, the teacher stopped to ask one little girl if her mother was coming to help us with reading today.

Little Girl's reply...

Oh, uh - no. She can't come. She sprinkled her ankle.

Chick out my show and tell!

As promised although fast and furiously typed....

Guess what we've been doing in our class?

This is as adorable as these things ever get for me. I don't like them. They stink from beginning to end. I will admit, I would totally suck as a farm girl! Still, this one pic turned out sweet and cuddly eh?

Go check out the rest of the class!

Let the sick be gone from here!

Thursday started like any normal Thursday would. I woke up grumbling and still sleepy, forcing myself into the shower and then into my pants. Mom pulled in the parking lot to pick me up and as I walked down the steps of our apartment, I realized my arms and legs felt really heavy. I kicked myself in the butt mentally for going to bed so late the night before and crawled into her car.

She picked me up at 7:20. By 8:00 the nausea had set in and my entire body ached. I kept thinking that if I could just make it till lunch, I would be fine. I called Hubby to bring me some medicine, but he was asleep and I had put the phone in the other room to keep him that way. Darn my kindness sometimes! In the middle of calling my house five million times, my legs started to give way. I was beyond exhausted. I started bawling (something I don't normally do unless I'm really sick) and called my brother to come pick me up and carry my pathetic tush home.

I slept for three days.

Seriously.

That night Hubby came home to a feverish mess of a wife that couldn't eat or stand without help. I had been asleep for about twelve hours at that point. He gave me medicine, tried to get me to eat, tucked me back in, and I was out until one o'clock Friday afternoon. I ate some soup, went back to sleep at two and got up again at seven. I managed three or four hours of television watching before crashing again until sometime this afternoon.

I have no clue what has befallen me, but I am calling it out right now! I demand that whatever this craziness is, leaves my house before tomorrow! Get Out! I have too much to do! I can not be bothered with this silly stuff!

I will say that today I feel almost human again. My head is still splitting and my arms and legs don't seem to want to move that well, but I can eat and sit up which is a drastic improvement!

I will have a post for show and tell tomorrow! The sickness can split my skull, suck the life out of my limbs, leave me writhing in nauseating misery, but By Georgie! there will be a show and tell post!

Letting Go

This song has gotten into my skin, and I'll tell ya, it just sums up how I feel. The freedom and joy in this song are infectious and you just can't help but smile.

Woohoo! A Show and Tell post

I had an amazing weekend. I learned so much and had a chance to truly enjoy myself without the realities of life crashing the party! I am very thankful that I was blessed with a break from the pain I can't seem to shake lately. I'm only sorry that I couldn't bring each one of you with me!

I thought I would keep it short and sweet this week with a few pics from the weekend. I'm sorry these are a bit raw. I still haven't gotten my comp set up (I've been busy!) completely and it seems that my editing program is mia. I promise I will try to have all my duckies in a row by next week!

It has been a long time since I have enjoyed watching the sun come up. It was beautiful and could not have been more fitting for the day we had ahead of us!

This is the second year the festival has been at this particular church. I vowed last year that if I ever came back I would take pictures of these windows. I love them!

This is what happens when a bunch of clowns get together and have too much fun! The clown is looking over at a large parachute they were opening up at the foot of the stage. They used it to bounce beach balls into the audience!

Now quit clowning around and go check out the other showers and tellers this week!

The week of omgolly!

I have so many things brewing right now that I am just itching to get out and talk with you all about. Amazing and wonderful things have been happening this week!

Unfortunately, there have been some irritating and exhausting things too that have put blogging on the back burner.

My comp went kaput for a couple of days. It is now up and running, but it has been wiped clean and it is going to be a painstakingly slow process to transfer everything back and organize it all the way it should be.

This has also been testing week for our school. I proctor (stand around and make sure the kids and teacher don't do anything illegal during the test) a second grade class. The second grade is using a brand new test format this year and it has us all in a tizzie. There are a billion rules and regulations and they are all brand new to us. I'm ready to pull my hair out with all of it. Poor kids, they have had enough of it too. Thankfully, tomorrow is the end!

I am going out of town tomorrow for an awesome weekend learning about dramatic arts in church. My mom and I go every year and I am giddy with excitement about going tomorrow! I won't sleep a wink tonight!

Emotionally there is a multitude of work being done. It is all good and healing, but it has taken its toll on me and I am tired, raw, and drained.

I'm sorry my blogging has been a bit spotty lately. Please bear with me. I promise, there is goodness coming! I just have to get to a place outside and in where I can tell you without it sounding like a jumbled up mess.

Too Cute Tuesday... Superhero edition!

I bet you didn't know that we have Superheroes in our kindergarten!

Well, it's true!

In our class right now, we have one awesomely amazing "Imiana Dones."
(I so wish I could record him saying this for you all! It is the cutest, funniest thing ever!)

I love this kid so much and I swear if it ever came to pass, I would go through flaming hoops to give this little boy a home with the creative outlets he so desperately needs!

So, Imiana Dones was sitting at his table a couple of weeks ago and he was struggling to stay with the teacher during her lesson. He was fidgety and antsy all morning. He didn't complete his work that day and got in trouble several times for unruly behavior. This is not uncommon for our little Imiana, but on this particular day he had been exceptionally wound up.

I came in to the room just in time to hear his exasperated teacher ask him, "Imiana, what on earth has caused you to have such a difficult time today?"

The adorable Imiana looked up at his teacher with wide blue-eyed innocence and then hung his head shaking it just slightly back and forth in disgust. Finally, he looked up and shrugged with his hands in the air never missing a beat.

"I dunno Miss Teacher, it's just - my powers. Dey aren't working wif me today."

I left the room just before bursting into a fit of giggles.

Hollywood's Adoption

I have been spending a lot of time at my parents' house recently. Loneliness has taken over my house and my usual tricks to fill the silence haven't worked. When Hubby goes to work I pack up a few things and hang out over there until he gets off work and things aren't so quiet anymore.

Friday I was watching television and Flashpoint came on. I've never seen it before, but Dad said it was good so I settled in to watch it. The show just happened to be dealing with a baby (of course). The episode dealt with a young girl and boy. The boy had gotten scared and left when the girl became pregnant. In his absence she did what she felt was best for her child. She found an infertile family through an agency and provided her son with a family that could provide for him. The show was heartwrenching and provided an unusual point of view from the birth father and mother.

Amidst the drama and action of the story, I found one aspect of the show that left me unsettled and frustrated. I realized that most movies or television shows depict adoptive parents and birth parents in the same stereotypical light. The family that adopted the little boy was a wealthy couple with a large home and expensive decor throughout. The birth mother was unmarried, young, and alone.

I feel like this is such a misrepresentation of adoption. I think it is the reason why Hubby and I are so afraid to explore the option. Celebreties in the media haven't helped the situation, waving around their millions and gettiing special expedited adoptions. It makes me feel like without a huge home and fancy original gallery pieces, we are unworthy of parenting a child.

Now in reality, I know of several couples in our community that disprove this stereotype. Infact, one of my coworkers and good friends happens to be one such couple. She is a teacher and her husband is a police officer. They don't make a heap of money, but they have the most beautiful little girl and she has everything she could ever need and then some. Still, it makes it harder to consider that opinion with so many conflicting signals out there.

I have always been open to adoption, but Hubby is still on the fence. I know some of his setbacks come from things he has seen and heard on television and in the media. It makes me wonder how many other families are out there that have shaky feelings about adoption because of the media's misguided depictions.

Blustery Days... A show and tell

Friday was a sad and scary day for a lot of people. We were not in the town most affected, but we do not live far away from it. Hubby and I spent a very tense half hour crouched in the bathtub with the pups and a radio as the storm raged by us. Since living here, there have been several scary weather situations, but we have never felt the need to take cover like we did on Friday. Nature was out in full force making sure that everyone could feel her raw power.

It breaks my heart to see the pictures of uprooted lives continuously flashed across the television. My prayers and thoughts go out to everyone affected by the storms Friday.

I am one of those crazies that loves to go out and take pictures of menacing weather. To my dismay, one of my coworkers had borrowed the memory card from my fancy schmancy camera to work on a project this weekend. My little camera has always been wonderful to me, but since getting my new one, it feels grotesquely inadequate. Still, here's a few pics. I didn't feel as brave as normal with this storm and I ducked back in the house long before the worst of it hit.

This was not the worst of the hail but it gives you a good idea of how much there was. About thirty seconds after this pic was taken, the hail started flying sideways onto our balcony. I decided that being knocked out by a golf ball of ice wasn't a very safe thing to do.

This was taken before the hail moved in.

This was taken after the storm moved out. If you look at the trees, you can see that this is almost identical to the previous picture (minus, of course, the storm). It was taken not even an hour after the previous one.

Just to give you an idea of the wind, this was taken after the storm had moved on. We stayed under a tornado watch until around seven that night. The power of the wind was unbelievable!

Buggy Too Cute Tuesday

I was at church a few Sundays ago with my 2 year olds. We were having fun playing a game on the carpet when one of them spotted a bug that had expired. She came to me with a worried look and pointed, saying "Budgh. Wook. Budgh Yuck!"

All four of them crowded around the belly up beetle and waited expectantly for him to scatter away. One of the little boys looked up at me and frowned. "He bwoke," he said, confused. Then I saw eight little eyes looking at me for a response.

I thought it was as good a time as any to introduce them to a gentle explanation of death. I know it is just a bug to some, but for two and three year olds, it is a big deal. I nodded. "Yes, Mr. Bug is broken."

The same little boy smiled and said "Oh, Awian fix."

I shook my head. "No, Mr. Bug is a kind of broken that we can't fix."

With instant understanding the little boy looked up and said triumphantly...

"His battewy wunned out."

All the kids took this as a perfectly acceptable idea and went back to playing.

Who could argue with such a simple explanation?

Dear Senator,

My name is Arian. I am writing you in response to bill HB2159. I think this bill is horrible. It is a shame that we are allowing the actions of one irresponsible doctor to culminate such ridiculous laws that snatch rights away from responsible, loving women who want nothing more than to have a family.

I am 27 years old. My husband and I have been married for 6 years and we have been trying to have a baby just as long. The process is an emotionally traumatic one with the most intimate act of marriage stripped of all dignity and privacy. I can understand the desire to have a child. I know how frustrating it is to see a clock looming in the future and praying that your time doesn't run out.

I think it is wonderful that we live in a country where a woman can choose to remain unmarried and still see her goals and dreams become a reality. We have made so much progress in the past decades and it sickens me to think that we are stepping back in time again. If this bill passes, it is only a matter of time before laws are put in place to prevent couples like my husband and I from ever having a family. It seems like laws these days are backwards, awarding unloving parents that never wanted their children, while taking away the opportunities of loving and able families.

In addition to taking the rights of women seeking motherhood, this bill is also a very expensive addition to an already strained budget. I can't see how you all can talk about letting thousands of jobs go that are integral parts of our lives and in the same breath, suggest a new bill that would cost over $50,000 dollars and provide another job or maybe two. How many people will lose their jobs to fund this bill. Is a single mother seeking to start a family truly such a strain on our state's economy? Have you all considered how much it costs in the state of Tennessee for egg donation and IVF? Thousands of dollars go into one treatment. The average woman has to go through several of these treatments to be successful. The women you are targetting are not irresponsible or looking for free handouts! These are women that make enough to support their children and recognize the cost in raising a child alone. On the other hand, how many social workers and DHS workers will you let go in order to fund this bill? How many parents out there that are unable to take care of their children will suffer? How many babies will be put at risk so that this bill can become a reality?

I think we need to ask ourselves how this money could be put to better use. Which crisis is more pressing? As an elementary school employee, I hear and see daily evidence of our shortcomings with social services and help for our children. Rarely do I ever see problems or suffering children because a woman decided to raise a family on her own or with a same sex partner.

I thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope that you too will see how irrational this bill is, especially in our current financial situation. I hope you can ask yourself how much effect this bill will have on our state's economy. I haven't heard anyone ever say that single women or same sex partners put our state in the economic situation we are in. I haven't seen any major headlines about irresponisble doctors and high order multiples draining our state of valuable dollars. I'm sure you haven't either. Think through this bill and I beg of you, please vote with a clear head and rational reasoning.

Thank you,
Arian



**** I guess we need to start saving for our Clinic treatments sooner than I thought. It is only a matter of time till they start trying to take that hope away from us too...

Thanks Mel for pointing this out!

http://www.eggdonor.com/blog/2009/03/31/tennessee-seeking-to-ban-ivf-for-unmarried-individuals/