I won a Prize!

Tee hee...it's a blogging prize. Thanks Baloney for filling my time since I have nothing to do these days. ;0)

And like all awards, there are rules.
Rules of this award are as follows:
1)The winner may put the logo on their blog.
2)Put a link to the person who sent you the award.
3)Nominate 10 blogs.
4)Put a link to their blogs.
5)Leave a message for your nominees.

I've done the first 2. I'll have to do the last 3 when I have a few moments. In between dealing with fevers and boxes. Don't get bent out of shape! I'll try and do it soon...

Healthcare in America

A friend of mine on Facebook made this comment yesterday:

Health care across the country should be more like the Mayo Clinic. Does that really sound like the socialized medicine the conservative pundits are trying to scare people about?

I don't know a lot about the Mayo Clinic...I know it has a great reputation for research and for taking some of the "lost causes" and helping them to get healthy. Other than that, they are a foreign entity to me. So I got on their website to find out a little bit about them, focusing on their financials because the bottom line is ALWAYS, well, the bottom line.

I agree that it would be nice, utopic in fact, if all of healthcare could be like the Mayo Clinic. Or St. Jude's. But these organizations, after looking at their own published information, need A LOT of public and private support above and beyond what patient care provides.

Would this scenario REALLY work for the general healthcare of America? It doesn't seem so, to me. There is a limited pot to draw from, and organizations like these are already drawing huge amounts. If we tried to make EVERY healthcare organization, clinic, hospital, etc...fashioned after them, they would all be bankrupt. It's just not fiscally sound.

I can see and feel the emotions that would cause my friend to say what she said, but looking beyond emotion to the actual viability of it...a different story.

Healthcare needs fixing. No doubt about that. But socialized medicine? Not the fix we're looking for.

Next time we'll take a look at the Scott & White Healthcare System run out of Texas. Now THAT is an option for more widespread coverage.

100th POST!!!!! Why I Blog

This is my 100th POST! WAHOO!!! It seems that a lot of my momentous occasions are happening very close to one another, so I hope people don't get bored with me hyping myself. :0)

I asked in my last post for people to help me decide the topic for this post. We are still in the middle of a big move, JMonster is STILL sick with fever over 104', and I'm overwhelmed, but I wanted this post to be good. Not just another "here's what we did today" post, but something that'll make people think.

No one gave any specific suggestions, but one faithful reader wrote:

This blog is a way for you to express yourself. What would be really dear to your heart? What would be an expression of something that is uniquely you?

This got me to thinking. Why do I blog? What is the purpose? A HA! That is what I'll write about.

Why I BLOG:
When I started this, I wrote that this blog was an attempt to keep from smothering The Rev when he walked in the door after work. And it was that...for about a week. But then I found that I ENJOY sharing bits of my day, thoughts I have, and my views on certain aspects of politics. I like getting a conversation going, although it doesn't get going QUITE as much as I'd like, but getting people talking is FUN!

I've also noticed that blogging has kept me more attune to what is going on every day. I see things that need taking pictures of. I hear things that just have to be written about so they'll be remembered. I'm more inclined to delve into politics instead of stick my head in the sand.

Instead of doing photo albums, I've made photo books on Shutterfly for JMonster. One for every year. I really believe that blogging is going to help make those books better. I won't be sitting down 3 or 4 months after his birthday trying to remember what happened the ENTIRE YEAR!

Most of all, blogging has helped me make new "friends". Not necessarily just the readers of my blog (I've only accumulated 8 subscribers!), but also of the blogs I read. I may never meet these people in person, but I feel a kinship to many of the people I've interacted with. They help me when I'm down, and they cheer when I'm up.

Thank you for being a part of my blog! May we all continue to learn...together!

Big Boy Bed

As everyone knows, we are moving. Far, far away. To, as my husband calls it, The Motherland...TEXAS! And in moving, we need to sell our house so we are staging it for potential buyers.

One of the things we have done is "purchased" a twin bed to put in JMonster's room. (We actually traded for the frame and borrowed the mattress, but who's keeping track, really?) I put the bed together yesterday and OF COURSE JMonster decided it was HIS new bed and he needed to sleep in it.

In fact, he wanted to go to bed right then...and I would have let him if it weren't 5:00 in the afternoon.

Here are some pics of JMonster snuggling with The Rev before going to sleep:





And here he is, asleep...






Everyone say Awwwwww!

On another note...this is my 99th post. My next one, OBVIOUSLY, being my 100th. I'm taking suggestions for what it should be about. HELP! I'm so busy with the move that my brain is mush, but I want it to be good. Thanks!

Mommy, I got some...

Mommy, I got some (did something, had something, went somewhere...), pretty much any sentence uttered by a 3 year old that states something in the PAST TENSE, will get your ears picked up and make you a little nervous.

Right before nap time, JMonster marches into the office and announces, "Mommy, I got some lip stuff!" Lip stuff means chapstick, or blistex, or in this case Avon brand cherry lip balm. I looked up and saw this:



After trying very hard not to laugh, I took him in the bathroom and cleaned him up. And the bathroom counter. And the cabinets. And the floor.

Independent little booger!

When it rains, it pours!

Don't read this post if talk of poop or throw-up gives you the willies. You've been forewarned!

JMonster told me when we got to preschool yesterday for our teacher workday that he needed to poopie. He went, I wiped, and then noticed that his poop was WHITE. Looked like white clay or white play-doh. Hmmm...that didn't seem right. I went and got the school nurse who looked at it and said, "I've never seen anything like that before! Let's see what his next one looks like and then call his pediatrician if it continues."

Didn't think about it much all day. He ran around like a wild man, as usual, and acted pretty normal. Called the brother-in-law who is the ER doc and asked him what HE thought. "Well, that means there is no bile in the poop. It can mean nothing, or it can mean something is wrong with his liver, gallbladder, etc."

WHAT!?!

Went to bed around midnight. Around 4:30am JMonster strolls into our bedroom and announces he has a tummy ache. "But, I'm okay Mommy." Very matter of fact. Then he crawls up into our bed and lays there for the rest of the night NOT SLEEPING. He started moaning that he needs Benadryl (his everything for medicine), then began to cry, then sob that he needs a doctor.

Around 7:00am, give or take, he decided he needed to poop again. We went into the bathroom where he proceeded to throw up all over everything.

Called the doctor THREE times over a period of 45 minutes and finally got a call back. They had office hours today so he wanted to see him during those hours.

After all of that, the official news is that JMonster has a stomach flu which has given him a touch of hepatitis. Seriously. We are to watch him to be sure he doesn't have any more bouts of white poop, but other than that just bland foods and time.

Funny thing is, when the doc said no greasy food, JMonster actually got upset that he wouldn't get a cheeseburger for lunch. Go figure.

Sensory Integration Dysfunction

Today was the last day of preschool for the year. It was also the day we found out, officially, that JMonster has Sensory Integration Dysfunction.

We've known since he was born that certain things don't sit well with him. He doesn't tolerate cold or heat, he hates loud noises (unless HE is making them), he avoids crowds (that includes parks with more than 3 or 4 other kids), he is picky about his food tastes and textures, and he is intolerant to light. He's also very behind in his gross motor skills and weak, but tends to be high energy.

All of these things combine into a kid who is highly empathetic, but also very needy.

I'm excited to find out about this diagnosis! Now we can DO something to help him. It may sound crazy to be excited about finding out that your child has a "difference", but he has it whether he is diagnosed or not and having a diagnosis just means we can understand him better and do something about it!

Do you have a child, or know a child, who has sensory integration dysfunction? I'd love to hear from you!