Quite possibly my most embarrassing moment.

Ok, I’m gonna tell what may be my most embarrassing moment to date.
Last night the family and I were at The Landing Block Party. The hubby was helping out at one of the 4 BBQ’s and I was standing behind them chatting with friends. As I reached over to grab a bite of brisket from Rickard I lost my balance and started to fall forward.
Have you ever had one of those moments where everything is in slow motion? Well, that’s what happened as I knew I was falling and knew that if I tried to stop myself by putting my hands out on the BBQ I knew I would burn myself. So, instead I just fell forward and, you got it, knocked over the BBQ full of hamburgers.
I’m happy to say that besides a few bumps and bruises, the only thing serious hurt is my pride!
So, will you play along? Share one of your most embarrassing moments.

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A Typical Sunday Service?

I don’t know if I should laugh or cry. Is this your experience with Sunday morning?

Am I really a hypocrite?

It’s been a year or so since I blogged, so I thought I would write about something that is not very controversial, health care.  I am on the fence with this one. I use to be completely opposed to it. However, realizing one day that I was being completely hypocritical, I had to step back and re~think my position. Why a hypocrite you ask. Well, that’s why we’re here, I’m gonna tell ya!

Until 2001 we had health insurance through my husband work. That year he began a job with the school district, and although they have amazing coverage it was going to be more a month to cover me and the kids than he made a month. We were strapped financially. I had thousands of dollars in medical bills from a car accident and his pay had been cut in half or more. We decided to do something that I said I never would. I applied for health insurance for my kids through Health & Welfare. I had to set my pride aside. Ok, fast forward to 2003. Everyone had insurance but me, Rickard was covered through work, the kids Medicaid. In September of that year I found a lump in my right breast. Can you guess what my first thought was. If you guessed “I should see a doctor” you are wrong! My first thought was “OH SHIT, I don’t have insurance!” I even waited a couple of weeks to tell Rickard. When I did and he said I needed to see a doctor, the first words out of my mouth were, yep, I don’t have insurance. I did finally get a mammogram through the Susan G. Komen foundation. I was lucky, I had a cancer that had a Medicaid program and we were poor enough that I qualified for it. So, for 5 yrs. of surgery, doctors, treatment, follow~ups, I was covered by government health care. THANK GOD! I don’t know what we would have done. It would have ruined us if we had to pay for that.

So why are you telling us this, you may ask. Well to paint a picture of where I am coming from in regards to the subject of public, free, socialized, whatever you call it, health care. I still have my concerns. I’m not convinced that the new bill is the answer, however, there needs to be an answer. Families are losing everything because of insufficient or no health care.

Here is my experience with government being in charge of my and my kids health care. They pay a fraction of what is billed therefore few health provider will take it. Sometimes you have to see 2 or 3 doctors when only 1 was needed because of referral and the such. The latest is that Medicaid has no money until July, so my kids who have cavities can’t go to the dentist because Medicaid will not pay until next fiscal year which is July. If I am to be honest,   I see huge potential for failure. I just don’t see how it can work. I hope I am wrong. I hope that people who can’t afford health coverage will be able to have peace of mind that they will be able to take their child to the doctor, or that an elderly person won’t have to choose between food and meds.

These are just a few of my thoughts and rambling on the subject!  🙂

Christainese

My friend sent me this video and I thought it was true, sad and funny all at the same time. Enjoy!

Something good I stole from Chad

Something I read at captainestes. I liked it so I thought I should post it. If you don’t read Chad’s blog you should!

http://captainestes.blogspot.com/2009/05/be-here-now.html

In Her Own Words

My daughter, 14, is in an advance drama class in school.  One of her assignments is to give a dramatic monologue.  Her topic of course moved me.  I am very proud of her and wanted to share it.  It is always interesting to get a child’s perspective on things like suffering and death.  Please keep in mind as you are reading that this is her rough draft, so there are errors.  It’s titled Cancerous.  Enjoy! 

 

 

Cancerous

In my life, there’s one word that has impacted me more than I ever thought a simple word could. Cancer, a word no one wants to hear, but a word that changes lives every day. It was also a word I’d never given any thought to, until October of 2003. While visiting my grandma, they pulled me and my two younger brothers in to a room and delivered the news no seven year old wants to hear. “Mommy has cancer”. At first I didn’t believe it. How could she, she didn’t look sick. But sure enough, my mom had Breast cancer. After a surgery to remove the tumor and surrounding lymph nodes, she started treatment. For six months, two Wednesdays a month, she had chemotherapy. Then after the chemo, radiation. It was funny when she finally decided to shave her head. My poor little brother didn’t like it very much, he was only three.

It’s been five and a half years almost and my mom is officially considered cured. But there are still times when I think of what would’ve happened if things hadn’t gone so well. And that’s when it feels more like a dream than a reality.

So my mom was cured. Isaiah Rodriguez wasn’t so lucky. Izzy, as we called him was one of my brothers best friends. I’d just started the sixth grade, my first year of middle school. It was supposed to be great, but in September of 2006, we got a call from Isaiah’s dad saying he was in the hospital after fainting while on a walk. We all waited with bated breath for his diagnosis. And then we got it.. Izzy had a form of leukemia most rarely found in children. The new shattered not only my family’s world, but the world of our small church. We were scared, mad, sad and anything else associated with finding out that a nine year old boy had a rare cancer.

As was expected, he started treatments. Chemo and radiation. After a while he was bald, not that he let that get to him. Little Isaiah was as alive as ever, even with doctors telling him he might not make it. After a year of praying and hoping, we got the news we’d been waiting for, it looked like the cancer was going into remission. We couldn’t have been happier, and just in time for summer.

But the happiness was short lived, only two months after the wonderful news, we go dreadful news. The cancer was back, full force. And this time his chances were very slim. Doctors said he could only have months left. But that wasn’t going to damper Izzy’s spirit. He fought with everything he had. And to the astonishment of everyone, he made it through the summer with signs of improvement.

However, the cancer had other ideas. Isaiah fought infections and illness. The chemo didn’t help since it only made is immune system weaker. But even that couldn’t stop this now 10 year old. He was determined to stay alive. In honor of his fight, our church through a barbaque call “burgers and Buddies”, where very happy, but a still sick, Isaiah played air soft, hung out with buddies and we all enjoyed our time with the little warrior.

Then things took a turn for the worst. Isaiah was hospitalized with pneumonia and we were told he probably wouldn’t make it through the night. And yet again, Izzy amazed us all with pulling through against all the odds. One week, two weeks, he was determined to prove the doctors wrong. Finally he could go home, but he still needed a mask to help him breathe at night. We all had faith in God and the little man to pull through.

Just a couple weeks after being home however, things took a turn for the worst and we knew it was the end. Though trying to stay hopeful, the reality started to sink in.

Then on the morning of July 3, 2008, we got a call with the worst news we could have gotten. Isaiah had died that night. He was only 11. Our small community mourned the loss of an amazing little boy.

His funeral was held later that month in San Diego, California, where he was buried next to his grandfather.

Yet, even throughout the whole ordeal, we always had hope. And out of the pain and misery, a new dream was born. The dream that one day, kids with leukemia would have a cure. And even to this day, The Overcome organization brings home to families fighting this horrible disease. Overcome was started by Isaiah’s father and is will keep Izzy’s story, his hope and his fight in our hearts.

Now I’ve reached the most current time when cancer has impacted my life. Just a few months ago, grandfather was diagnosed with blood cancer.

So that’s how cancer has impacted my life. And I know that the future could always have more in store for me. But I’ve learned that if I have faith, hope and good friends and a strong family around me, I can get Through anything.

 

 

The End

 

Can you say deadbolt?

I found this story both funny and very, very scary. I can relate, well sorta. When my daughter was 2 she snuck out her window while she was to be napping. Luckily for me it was daytime and our nieghbor watch the whole thing. I think the parents of this little guy need a deadbolt…..or maybe duck tape! Just kidding, a deadbolt probably couldn’t keep him in the house. :o)

Happy Thanksgiving

I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! I have so many things to be thankful for. I have an amazing family. I am surrounded by great friends. I have a church community that continues to stretch me in ways I didn’t think were possible. I have new friends I have had the honor of getting to know online and hope to meet in person someday. I also have my life. It was 5 years ago yesterday that I started my chemo treatment for breast cancer. So, yeah I have many thing to be thankful for.

What are you thankful for?

Shout Out

Hey, my new, well actually kinda old…well it’s a long story, freind Theresa is new to blogging and I told her I’d give her a shout out.  Go check out her blog at http://eyesofhope.wordpress.com/.  Give her some love,she’s feeling pretty lonely in California.

Just Amazing

I have no words to express how I feel about this video.  I would love to have your feed back.