Rosebushes Thoughts

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eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:38:00 +0000

Merry Christmas

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 15:45:00 +0000

Please enjoy this little holiday treat by clicking on the title, Merry Christmas...Enjoy!

Just a little music for ya down below...

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 01:23:00 +0000

I am currently really liking this song and found the code to embed the video...hope you enjoy it too!

A couple of pics for ya!

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 00:13:00 +0000

The backyard in it's winter white...

The drawer of my desk where my kitten LOVES to nap!

Just a few quickies....

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 23:50:00 +0000

Well, our first measurable snowfall came today with enough wind to destroy our new thermometer on the back porch. Lying in bed about midnight last night when I heard glass breaking...I nudged the hubby who "mmpphed" and asked what I wanted. I told him I heard glass break and maybe we should check we weren't being burglarized or something. "I'm sure it's nothing" my big brave husband said and turned over. So, we didn't find out until this morning that it was the thermometer that bit the dust...

The other evening I was upstairs getting ready for work and the kids were finishing up their dinner dishes. We had the radio on to the local 80's station. I started to giggle when I heard my nearly 16 year old son singing gustily along with the radio..."Gloria, Gloria...." HAH! Another funny from Peaches. My mom called my cell phone and Peaches picked it up. His voice is really changing lately and he said in his deepest voice, "hello". It must have startled my mother because she said, "who is this?" and Peaches responded helpfully, "it's me". Well...I guess you had to be there, but it is really funny if you know Peaches at all. Then, last night Stu and I were in the basement watching our beloved Amazing Race with the dog of course down there with us. Anywhere I am, there the dog is, right? So, I guess she got tired of laying on the cold hard ground and went over to the cat bed, which we have placed in a box about 2 feet long by 2 feet wide. Daisy decided this looked like a pretty comfy bed for her and we watched in awe as she folded herself up and packed herself into this bed. The funny thing was, she fit! Now, for those of you who don't know, my dog is fairly large, about 60 pounds, with long legs. This was quite a feat I tell you. Even the kitten was impressed, who sat and watched the dog get comfy with a very odd look on her face.

Post-holiday blahs

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 19:06:00 +0000

Yes, it's the post-holiday blahs....not feeling too excited about anything this year. Last year at this time we had our California trip to look forward to but this year? Nothing...blahhhhhh.

Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving. Ours was quiet and tasty...like it usually is. We ate at M.A.'s again this year, with me making my stuffing once again. Lulabell went over to help M.A. with preparations Wednesday night and then spent the night. We brought movies over to watch after dinner, where I promptly fell asleep as soon as the DVD hit the DVD player, as usual. The most disturbing thing that happened was my socially ungraceful son and his socially unacceptable comments. Let me explain. Last year, M.A. decided she had failed because her turkey was "dry". Now, this is patently untrue...the turkey, being turkey, was just fine. However, no amount of my assurances helped. So this year, M.A. had a plan...she would cook her turkey in a bag to insure the moistness. What turkey cooked in a bag could possibly come out too dry, right? Um...well when M.A. was carving the turkey, she whispered to me that the *#)$*#@ turkey was dry....NO! I tried it and really, it was fine, maybe a little dry. Well, right there, M.A. felt she had failed another Thanksgiving dinner....OMG! Not true. I tried to reassure her but my words fell on deaf ears I'm afraid. So, we continued getting all the fixings served up and on to the table where Stu, Lulabell and Peaches were waiting. We placed the platter with the turkey on it next to Peaches and continued serving the food. As we did this, Peaches decided to take a taste of the turkey. Before I could stop him....he blurted out "Oh, this turkey is dry!" I cringed and held my breath...maybe MA didn't hear him, but the silence coming from her confirmed that she did indeed hear him. My husband was shooting dagger looks at my son, who was blissfully unaware of the danger around him. My daughter had a panicked look in her eye, knowing that the shit was going to come down. However, MA held it together and finished what she was doing and came to sit down to eat. I felt absolutely horrible but really just wanted the moment to pass and decided to wait until later before berating my son about his manners. We said grace and commenced eating and really, dinner was just lovely. Kudos to another delicious Thanksgiving from MA.

As you can expect, this put a little damper of our festive feelings but MA sucked it up and was a gracious host. I spoke with my son who understood that he was in trouble, but really didn't understand what all the fuss was about. He was just being honest in his eyes. I have tried to tell people for years that he is socially unaware of the proper way to act sometimes...it just is not how his brain is wired. So, I apologize in advance if my son ever acts inappropriately...honest, he just doesn't get it sometimes, you know?

In other news, Peaches did see the doctor about his recent fainting spell and we had all the testing done. The CT scan does show an arachnoid cyst in the left frontal lobe of his brain, which is something the doctor feels he was born with. His EEG (which measures the brain's electrical activity) was abnormal, with electrical slowing in the left frontal lobe of the brain, consistent with the cyst there. What this means though, is really not known. The doctor doesn't feel it is anything to worry about, that it is not causing any symptoms and certainly did not contribute to his fainting episode, which he feels was due to very hot water in the shower. I know and trust this doctor very much and I understand logically what he is saying, but still, when you see the brain scan and see the spot on your son's brain, and then the abnormal brain waves corresponding to that spot in his brain, it is hard, as a mother, to just "forget about it". You know? In the back of my mind (and Stu feels this too), you are asking if this is what has caused Peaches to be "different". Again, logic says no but this will always nag me, I'm sure. Too much information can be a dangerous thing, can't it?

Bad kitty....

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 23:45:00 +0000

This is a picture of our kitten, Cookie, after she was being bad. This is exactly what you DON'T want to see when you know you have very little toilet paper left in the house and you have to go REAL BAD.....thank God we still had napkins in the house!

Another year, another holiday parade.....

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:23:00 +0000

Well, I know it’s been a couple of days since my last post but it has taken me that long to defrost my fingers after our bone-chilling evening in Hermitage on Saturday night. It was the city’s annual Light Up parade which has turned into quite the event. Over 80 floats in this sucker, along with all the other groups and bands and such….We were honored to be on the Lowes float this year and so gathered the usual crew (meaning our friends D&C). For many years we had been on the Scott’s Furniture float as my friend D’s husband owns Scott’s Furniture (his name is Scott, by the way). The difference is their float is quite small and the Lowes float was on the back of an 18 wheeler, so we had plenty of room, but the weather was probably the worst weather we have ever had for this parade. About 34 degrees with rain and snow (which I think equals sleet doesn’t it?). It was quite something to see how all the people watching the parade came up with ingenious ways to keep warm and dry, some people just sitting in their cars, others using tents and tarps and even recreational vehicles! Seriously, if I was not riding in the parade, I don’t think I would have attempted to go watch it….the weather was that bad. However, the people of the Shenango Valley LOVE a parade and they still turned out in droves…it was kind of heartwarming to see. The fireworks were a bit of a wash though because of the weather. The booms were nice but the clouds were so low, all you got to see were the muted colors flashing…kinda strange, although it did remind me of a Fourth of July show in San Francisco one year with the fog. So, for the hour and a half it took us to go about a mile we got absolutely soaked from the sleet and were just sitting in cold wetness. Our butts and feet and fingers were completely frozen! We finally got to the end of the parade and scrambled down off the truck and stomped and jumped around to warm up. The kids were hungry (of course!) and had been trying to get me to agree to take them to KFC instead of our usual Wendy’s post-parade dinner. So, Stu was the deciding yes vote and off we trekked to KFC. We got there in time to still enjoy the buffet and we fell upon it ravenously using our frozen fingers and teeth to tear at the chicken. We kept going up for more as we were warned the buffet would close in 15 minutes! YIKES! More chicken, more potatoes…oh no – they’re out of biscuits! Are they bringing more? Yes! They are! Finally, we sat back, exhausted but sated, our hands greasy but thawed, the stacks of empty plates in front of us a testament to our hunger and the satisfaction of that hunger…thank you KFC….we sure appreciate you! So, another holiday parade notched on our belt…I think in our 10 years of being here, we have actually watched the parade only 3-4 times and have ridden a float in the parade 6-7 times…a pretty good record, huh?

A bad week for Peaches...A lazy day off for me!

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:56:00 +0000

Whew…so much to say, so little time. I haven’t even had time to call my own grandmother and let me tell you, that is a story in itself, but first, Peaches.
Peaches had a rough couple of weeks recently. About two weeks ago he was taking a shower before school when we heard a yell and then a thump. Now this in and of itself is not unusual for Peaches as he likes to play-act in the shower and yelling is a big part of that. However, this seemed kind of strange and Stu asked, "did he just fall down?" I said, "of course not", but if he had actually fallen, he would have been screaming bloody murder. So, I went in to investigate and what did I find? A naked Peaches slumped over in the shower with blood pouring out of his nose! Peaches! I asked him what happened and he had no idea. He literally had no idea how he had wound up in the bottom of the shower. He didn’t even know his nose was bleeding until I told him it was. He was very shaky as well. He couldn’t get up right away so I had his daddy come help. I was a little stunned at the events and told Peaches he didn’t have to go to school today. He gratefully went to bed and immediately fell into a deep sleep for 1 ½ hours! Now, I have to tell you this worried me a little bit. I called the pediatrician and he told us to go to the E/R for a check. So, off we went, Peaches and I, to the E/R where apparently it was the busiest Monday in all of Sharon Regional Hospital’s history. We sat in the waiting room for three hours. Just when I was about ready to give up and go home, they called us. They checked him out and all his blood tests were negative, including a drug screen (YAY!) However, the CT scan did show a "prominent fluid-filled area" in the left frontal lobe. This was not an acute finding, just something they noticed "incidentally". The E/R doctor told us we should probably get this checked out further with an MRI. Our pediatirician agreed and we scheduled the MRI for a week later. However, one week later, at the MRI Center, we found out that because of his braces, the MRI would not be helpful as the magnet in the MRI and Peaches’ braces did not combine to produce good results. I called the pediatrician back to report this and unfortunately, did not hear back from him for several days. This upset me a bit and I took matters into my own hands by scheduling an appointment with a neurologist. This is the neurologist I work for incidentally, who decided that Peaches needed an EEG which measures the brain’s electrical wave patterns. So, this is scheduled for Thursday. If this is abnormal, we will proceed with further testing, which would probably involve having Peaches’ braces removed so he can have the MRI. The pediatrician finally called me back yesterday and feels he needs an EKG done as well, which measures the electrical tracing of the heart. So, on top of all this…Peaches was pushed at school, fell into a locker and got a bloody nose last week. So, I totally over-reacted by racing up to the school as soon as it happened, where they could tell me nothing as they hadn’t had a chance to investigate the situation. Finally, we were told that the school’s decision was that it was rough-housing that got out of hand and Peaches got the bad end of it. The boy apologized to Peaches and apparently he was suspended for two days over the situation. Sigh…. Otherwise, Peaches is fine except for a sore nose and the worse case of chapped lips ever seen! He has also had a bad cold through this whole thing and in general has been pretty miserable, which means he acts like a rotten scoundrel to his family. He and his sister have just been at each other’s throats lately and I have about had it with both of them. Last night they had to write 100 sentences in both printing and cursive, (I will not disrespect my sister/brother) which took about an hour during which there was no screaming or insulting going on….an entire hour of bliss!

Let me tell you about my day off yesterday. First, it was cloudy and dark and rainy (with thunderstorms), which is exactly what I like for my day off. That way, when I am doing nothing but acting like a slug, I don’t feel guilty about it. So, here was my schedule: 7-8 get kids up and off to school. 8-10:30 watch TV, eat breakfast. 10:30 to 12:30 nap, 12:30 to 2:30 eat lunch and watch TV. 2:30 – 4:00 get kids from school, Wal-mart (got Lulabell’s glasses fixed), 4:00 to 6:00 watch TV, do one load of laundry, 6:00-6:30 dinner, 6:30 to 8:00 watch TV. 8:00 to 9:30 type a little, surf the ‘net, get kids to bed. 9:30 to 11:00 watch TV with hubby who is falling asleep on the couch with a beer in his hand. 11:00 go to bed! Now if this isn’t the dream day off, I don’t know what is. The bad news about yesterday? I only typed one tape (I had five to do, ugh), which means today, my second day off, will be no day off at all as I will be glued to the computer typing. The good news? I was able to watch all my taped TV shows since the previous Thursday and now I am all caught up! YAY!

Lazy Sunday and halloween dreams

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 01:37:00 +0000

Well, it’s almost that very happy day around here, Halloween! We FINALLY got around to carving out pumpkins, the results of which you see above. Now, guess which one Lulabell carved after she got tired of doing the painstaking transferring of the pattern and then the delicate sawing of the design. Mommy was tired of cutting her pumpkin too, but she persevered and you see the excellent result on the left (the skull). Lulabell’s was supposed to be a scary witch in a tree. She did work on it for a good 45 minute before she gave up and started hacking away at the poor pumpkin with a big knife. When she saw how well mine turned out, she asked if she could purchase a new pumpkin and start all over, this time with a simpler pattern. Peaches had no desire whatsoever to carve pumpkins and is in fact quite grossed out by the pumpkin guts…but I made him clean out the pumpkin at least and grab several bare handfulls of pumpkin guts…it’s a tradition, right? Now, he is quite proud of "his" pumpkin.
We had a nice family day today…with everyone off work and school. We went off to Panera Bread for lunch with soup for everyone (sandwich for Peaches) and then off to Wal-Mart, which if you didn’t know, is Stu’s most favorite place in the whole word. We wandered around and I got a new pumpkin candle and then off we went to the pumpkin patch. The first pumpkin patch we went to was awesome several years ago and was really well done with a corn maze and games and food and such. We got there today and turned right around without even getting out of the car. There was what looked like a pile of manure on one side with about 25 pumpkins scattered around the muddy ground on the other side. That’s it. We decided to try another pumpkin place at a farm I had heard of and to our relief, this one was MUCH better. There were hay rides and animals including huge Clydesdale horses and even baby horses and ponies, plus a baby cow that was content sitting in its own poo, with a little black goat jumping up onto the cow’s back. The pumpkins were nice however and we got two and headed on home. The wind was blowing and it was cold! The trees right now are just a little past their prime, but still very nice and it was a lovely day for a ride. We got home and attended to the pumpkins. I got some work done and we had a nice dinner of hot turkey sandwiches and mashed potatoes. YUMMY! Happy Birthday to my nephew C in Florida who incredibly will be 6 on the first. Your card is in the mail honey! Another Happy Birthday to my niece C in California, who will be 4 on the 7th. Her mommy is pregnant and just found out they are having a boy!!!! After three girls. High five to my brother-in-law on that one!

You're the boss, applesauce.....

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 23:23:00 +0000

This is Lulabell at our local park...beautiful, huh? The view is pretty nice too!

Once more at the park with the casino and lake in the background.

The view from the gazebo overlooking the soccer field...awesome day!

Hah! That ALWAYS makes me laugh! Lulabell came out with "you're the boss applesauce" quite unexpectedly one day when I asked her to do something for me. I immediately started laughing….it doesn’t take much to amuse me, you know. Feel free to adopt this as your own….we can start a new phrase craze I’ll bet!

We are in the glorious end of October and the weather has been stunning. I think it hit 80 degrees today….in late October no less! I remember once, on October 15th Stu and I and 7 month old Peaches traveled back to Pennsylvania for a visit and we were delighted to come home to a beautiful snowstorm. It only snowed about 2-3 inches or so, but it was wet and sticky and it made everything look glorious. It was Stu’s first real snow too, and Peaches obviously. Today Stu, Lulabell, Daisy and I went to the park to walk around and revel in the beauty of the fall colors and the warmth of the day. We then picked up Peaches who had been at a friend’s house and we went to dinner at the local Mexican place where we got to sit out on the patio. Very nice. We then stopped at the local video store where Stu told me about the "adult only" section. Lulabell mentioned that everytime she and her daddy go to the video store, he HAS to go in there too! I was shocked! I never even knew about their adult section. So, he and I went off to the secret room and really, it seemed very tame to me, just pretty girls on the covers of the video cases, with names like "Debbie does Dallas" and "Debbie does New Orleans", and "Sassy School Girls" and "Bad Mommies" etc. However, the REAL shocker is when you look on the back of the video cases….then you get quite an eyeful! Lulabell asked if we had rented one of those movies and I said "NO!" in a shocked voice. I told her that if I needed to look at a naked man all I had to do was ask Daddy….and vice versa! She seemed content with the answer and did not pursue it any further.

Our kittens are now almost 7 weeks old and are in the "crazy kitten" stage, running and tumbling and fighting and climbing and generally making huge nuisances of themselves. They are eating and using the litter box now and we are saddened that they will be leaving us soon. We have really enjoyed these babies and will miss them like crazy! It appears that we have lovely homes for them all and I am still trying to convince myself not to keep one (the gray spot). They all got baths tonight, which took the stuffing out of them, I can tell you…very nice, quiet, subdued kittens we have at the moment!

That’s all for now…lots of work to do tonight…more later!

I may be a louse and a bad mom, but boy, am I perky!

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 00:08:00 +0000

This is Stu and four of the "kids"

This is "grayspot", the cutest of all

I’m feeling like a louse, like a heel, like a….I don’t know what. I have a problem that I must confess to. My sister called me last night and diplomatically pointed out that I had yet to call my cousin to congratulate her on the birth of her first baby who was born, IN JUNE!!!! OMG….what is wrong with me??? I am turning into the one thing I hate the most….somebody who gives the appearance of not caring. That is totally not me! I also don’t think it is me when I say terrible things to my kids because I get so frustrated with them about things like their eating or their homework. My son asked very nicely tonight if he could have a fig newton cookie after dinner. Why not? One or two cookies after dinner I don’t have a problem with. However, THE WHOLE PACKAGE of cookies, I have a problem with….which is exactly what my son ate for his dessert tonight --- 24 cookies. Where was I, you ask? Right in the dining room helping my daughter with her homework, which coincidentally, she forgot what math homework she had to do in her book. You see? I feel like I am out of control here….I yelled at my son (with good reason though, don’t you think?), asked him why he was such a pig (I know, I know, that was harsh) and took away his TV and computer privileges for the next few days. Then my son asks me, "jeez, why are you so mean?" I’m speechless. Prior to my suspending his computer privileges, he had to use the computer to look up his vocabulary words because….can you guess why? He forgot his history book. So, I sent him upstairs to start looking up his words and I stayed downstairs and helped my daughter with her homework for about 30 minutes. I then went up to check on my son, and guess what? He was watching TV!!!!!! I was again left speechless… I asked him if his homework was done and he said no, the computer was messed up. So I went to look at the computer and he had screwed it up so bad…it took me 10 minutes to get it back to normal. (why do I have the feeling that he had done this on purpose). I was able to get things under control but could not get on the Internet for some reason…it was stuck. I was so frustrated that I told him to take his shower now and then after the shower to come back and try the computer again. In the meantime, my daughter comes upstairs to say that she can’t possibly do her homework without me because it is too hard and it will take too long. You see? This is what happens when I let her go out to play right after school (I literally did not see this child from 3:30 to 6:00 PM). When you give them an inch , they take a mile, you know? So, she has just ruined her chance to play right after school for the rest of the week, and now she is crying and asking, "why are you so mean?" Sigh……because I love you and I am trying to be a good mom? Unfortunately, they don’t see the big picture, do they?

Anyway, getting back to why I am such a terrible person…my mother informed me several days ago that my aunt, her sister, was diagnosed with breast cancer and will be having a lumpectomy on Thursday. Of course, in my head, I needed to call my aunt right away, but before I knew it, it was four days later and I still had not called my aunt….my helpful sister decided to call me and give me a kick in the ass about it, which is just what I needed. So, I called my aunt and everything is fine, but I still feel so bad. My prayers are with my aunt DD and I am sure she will do just fine.

Now, my cousin, who just had her first baby, is still waiting to hear from me, but I will rectify that situation this evening….I really don’t want to be a bad relative (or a bad mom), but sometimes I feel that’s all I am. My life is crazy and out of control a little bit. The other day prior to leaving for work, I got such a case of the blues. Now, I am NOT a depressed person. I am probably the least depressed person I know, but wow, something like despair just kinda washed over me the other day and I just took off and had to be by myself for a little while before going into work. My husband was a little shocked I think…I did feel better later and really have no explanation for why I suddenly felt so bad. But don’t worry about me…I’m fine. In fact, I went out and bought myself some new boobs, so I am a happy girl! What? New boobs? Yes…a girlfriend of my showed me her little bra implants that make her a brand new woman, all perky. So, I decided I needed those too so I could feel perky. I told my mom about them and she decided SHE needed them too. We went to Sears but they didn’t have them and then yesterday my mom called me to tell me she "got perky" after finding the implants at Macys! Woohooo….so today I went to Macys and found my implants and couldn’t wait to get home to try them. I sat in my car in the parking lot and shoved my little squishy implants into my bra and felt instantly perky! What a difference they made! How nice they looked! When my daughter got home she noticed them instantly…. "wow! Why are your boobs so big and pointy?" Because I LIKE them that way, that’s why…

Our kittens are now four weeks old and just starting to explore. They are just the cutest things ever and I will post a picture here for you as soon a I can. We have them in huge cardboard boxes in the basement now and take them out to play as much as we can. They are really starting to respond to us now and are just so much fun! I don’t know how we are going to give them away…but we must! More soon….

More baby pics!

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 17:08:00 +0000

This is "creamy" at 10 days old, just opening his eyes.

This is Tinker's kitten, "cookie" at 2 days old.

A trip to Niagara and another baby.....

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:31:00 +0000

Well....I have so much to talk about. First, our relatives from California had a fantastic visit with us. I have to say I was really worried about how we were going to accomodate six house guests but in truth, it was rather easy! We had Peaches on the floor in our room, Stu's mother in Peaches' room, Lulabell and her cousin E in the living room and Stu's sister I and her husband L and their other two daughters, C and S on air mattresses in Lulabell's room. We had no major bathroom issues and we were able to keep everyone well fed and happy. It was decided to take a mini-trip to Niagara Falls on Friday, which, even with two cars, wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be (although of course it was double the gas $, but what the hell). The weather was very cooperative as we arrived in Niagara Falls at about 2 PM. It was brilliant sunshine although it was a bit windy, but warm (about 80 degrees). We wandered around the falls a bit on the American side and then Stu decided we absolutely needed to ride the Maid of the Mist, which really, you MUST do when you are there. So, about $100 later, we were racing for the boat and struggling into our blue ponchos. Unfortunately, we didn't make the boat, but we were first in line for the next one, which is rather cool as you get your pick of spots on the boat. The guard at the boat line told us to head for the bottom of the boat in the bow, which is what we did. We were giggly with excitement as the wind buffeted our ponchos. The boat pulled away from the dock on the incredible blue-green water towards the falls. As we got closer to the American Falls, the sunshine provided us with a striking rainbow. It really was rather overwhelming. Then the wind started to blow the spray from the water and that was the last time any bit of was was dry. As we moved past the Bridal Veil Falls and into the Horseshoe Falls, the sun disappeared in the mist and we were almost struck blind by the rushing water and the blowing spray. I quickly hid the camera in my pants...the only place that was even a little bit dry. We all screamed our excitement to each other as we were soaked to the skin, ponchos be damned. We were looking at each other and grinning our fool heads off as our we hair was plastered to our heads. In short, it was a blast! Finally, the boat's captain decided we had had enough and we turned back towards the dock. The whole trip took maybe 20 minutes but really, it is the most invigorating 20 minutes you will ever spend. We trooped off the boat and headed back to the tower but not before getting yelled at by a ranger becasue we were heading in the wrong direction! They had to close parts of the observation area because the wind was so strong and it wasn't safe. We got redirected and headed back up to the 80 foot observation deck where the wind was just having its way with us. We decided to head back and try to dry off. We wandered around the various gift shops for awhile and bought horribly overpriced souvenires. Then, it was decided that the relatives really wanted to go to the Canadian side of the falls. They all had passports with them, except my brother-in-law L. We asked at the information desk if he would have any trouble crossing with only his driver's license and were assured that he would not. (HAH!) So, my kids and I stayed on the American side while they took off across the Rainbow Bridge into Canada. We hung out at the visitor's center and meandered around the town until we found a Denny's where we decided to eat dinner. $39 later (hamburgers for the kids, an omelet for me) we decided to walk down to the falls again for a look around. However, it was rapidly getting dark as clouds from the winds gathered and it was looking rather stormy. Also, we were only in shorts and T-shirts and it was getting a bit chilly. We decided to head back to the car and wait. Meanwhile, while, the authorities at the Rainbow Bridge decided my brother-in-law would not enjoy unlimited access into Canada and so detained the entire group while they checked him out. Finally, after about an hour, they decided it would be okay for thim to go and off they went. They spent the next few hours walking around the Canadian side of the falls and were able to grab a little something to eat. By about 9 PM they decided to head back to meet us. We had been sitting in our car for the last two hours trying to cat nap but not getting anwhere. Oh yeah, it was by now pouring rain and the visitor's center closed at 8PM so we were kinda stuck in the car. As the group drove back towards America, the authorities again decided my brother-in-law should not be allowed back in America (he is an American citizen by the way). They again detained the entire party until they could confirm his benignity, which took about an hour. FINALLY, at about 9:45, Stu and the others drove up to use waiting in the car. The authorities had made everyone turn off their cell phones while they were detained, so I had absolutely no idea why they were so delayed. Finally, we were reunited and began the long trek back home. It takes about 3 1/2 to 4 hours back to Sharon. So, we headed back and only had to make 2 stops for my sister-in-law, who is about 5 months pregnant and needs a bathroom fairly frequently. We made it home at about 2 AM Saturday morning and literally fell into bed. We had to get up and drive to Pittsburgh as their flight was leaving Saturday afternoon. So, after about five hours of sleep, we got up, everyone got packed and we headed to Pittsburgh. We tearfully said goodbye at the airport as the four of use headed back home. It was very subdued on the ride home (except for the temper tantrum I threw by the side of the freeway. I had taken the wrong exit out of the airport because: 1) They are tearing up the exits from the airport and everything is a bit of a mess and 2) I can't see well enough to read the new directional signs. The exit I took was for a toll road and to be able to turn around, we had to pay a 50 cent per car toll, drive to the next exit and pay 50 cents per car to get off the toll road. I seriously was losing it on the side of the damn toll road because I was so frustrated and upset with myself. Stu remained calm and level-headed though). We FINALLY got back on the road home and arrived back at the very empty house. We really missed those guys already. It had been a terrific visit. We are hopeful that they will be transferring back east at some point and will relocate near us. We will see I guess...

The other excitement of the week was, of course, the birth of our kittens as mentioned. We have been enjoying them immensely, except for the morning that Belle decided to move her babies to the highest, scariest, most dangerous part of the basement. She was doing this by carrying her babies by their tummies, which caused the babies to literally scream their displeasure at this treatment. Lulabell and I were in tears over this. You see, Belle is a new mommy and is deaf, so she wasn't sure how to carry them and she also couldn't hear that she was hurting them. I literally had to pry her teeth out of one kitten. We finally got her calmed down and found a cat carrier for her to put her babies in, which she must like because they have been there ever since. We also decided that she needed to be left alone with her babies with no people and no other pets...so we closed her in the basement. This definitely seemed to work as she totally calmed down. We figured out there are 3 males and 1 female in the litter. I suggested naming them Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Moe, but I'm not sure this is going to stick. In fact, I have already renamed the little girl GiGi, after my grandmother. Lulabell named the tan one Creamy. The other excitement occurred on 9/18/07 when our other cat, Tinker, whom I suspected to be pregnant and not ready to deliver for another month, decided to have a baby at 9 PM at night. We frantically got her a birthing box and decided to put her in the front closet where she promptly had one dark-colored kitten. That's right, only one kitten. We stayed up until midnight waiting for her to birth more, but that's all there was. Five days later, there is still only one kitten. We spoke with the vet and although it is unusual, it is not unheard of a cat to have only one kitten. Initially, we were astonished at Tinker's lack of motherly instincts as she was constantly jumping out of the box and leaving her kitten unattended. We continually kept placing her back in her box, where she would lay down and nurse the kitten, but only while were sitting there with her. Finally, I brought her birthing box with the kitten up to our bedroom where Tinker was content to sit in the box with her baby as long as she could see me. Oh brother....as the days have passed however, Tinker's motherly instincts seem to be improving and her kitten is definitely eating becasue it is fat and sassy and very loud. So, we now have five kittens and my mother is desperately disgusted with me for being so "irresponsible" as to let my cats get pregnant. I must agree with her to a point, but I have never seen kittens being born and now I have. So I can check that off my list and as soon as the kittens are weaned, in about 7 weeks, we can safely have the cats spayed. In the meantime, we will keep them in the house as they can go back into heat at any time. So, that is the story of my very busy week. I will have some more photos to post of the kittens soon, so check back, okay? The kittens will be ready for adoption by the first week of November, so if you are thinking of adding to your family, let me know, okay?

Pics for you - Visit from the West!

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 21:35:00 +0000

Here are some pictures to hold you until I have a chance to blog on the visit from the west! Yes, that is Niagara Falls....

We have babies!

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 02:21:00 +0000

This is a picture of our cat, Belle, and her babies, who arrived this morning. She had four babies, as far as we can tell there are 3 boys and 1 girl. She was an excellent first time mother and almost had her babies in our bedroom in a box of computer paper before Stu found her and transferred her to her "birthing box". She began labor at about 8:30 AM this morning with some very loud meowing and restlessness. Then she settled down and began her business. It was quite fascinating for us to watch with the gross part being when Belle ate the afterbirth (ewwww!). We actually went to get Lulabell out of school to watch the birth. This isn't as bad as it sounds as she was only going for half a day anyway because I had to take her to Cleveland for a doctor appointment. Also, we have houseguests at the moment, Stu's mom, sister, brother-in-law and three nieces arrived from California on Saturday and will be with us for a week. Imagine if you will, 10 people in a 3 bedroom 1 bath house! Actually, it is working out rather well and the toilet hasn't exploded yet, although I thought the bathtub was going to die last night! I will have more on everything in a day or two...as you can imagine, things are very busy here at the moment. Enjoy the pic!

Vacation 2007 - Day Three - the long walk home

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 15:45:00 +0000

This is Stu with his leg cramp..at the start of the River trail!

This is Lulabell and Stu FINALLY making it to the river.

Wednesday morning dawned (finally!) clear and delightful. We knew this was our last chance to get out to see the area as we had planned to leave today. Breakfast consisted of cereal and then we jumped in the car and went exploring. Lulabell was hot to check out this deer park that we had passed previously and so that was our destination. We arrived and went inside to find this very weird little store filled to the brim with deer memorabilia including antlers upon antlers. I was a little disturbed before I found out that deer shed their antlers every year and grow new ones, which made me feel a little better. The kids were transfixed by a huge rattlesnake in a tank that kept rearing its head to strike. It was kinda freaky, you know? We determined that the fee for the deer park and museum were a little out of our price range, so with regret, we left and headed off to the fire tower. This was supposed to be quite something to see and the weather was warm and dry. We turned into the road leading to the tower and nearly ran over a large Amish family that were just kind of standing by the side of the road. We continued down the road for several miles and finally parked at the foot of the tower. Stu, D and Peaches and Lulabell ran for the tower as they intended to climb its entire 80 foot height. C and I hung back a little, as we are both a little squeamish about heights. We noticed a sign on the tower that stated only 10 people could be up it at any one time. This gave us a little pause as well. Then, just as we were gathering our courage to climb the rest of the way to the top, several Japanese tourists started clambering up, clearly not caring about the 10 people limit. Well, we were shocked and dismayed that we could not go up to the tower now as the limit was exceeded (damn), so we remained where we were and waited for the rest of our people to make it down. We explored a little bit around the foot of the tower and the boys discovered a trail marker. The name of the trail was River Trail. Doesn’t that sound nice? I thought so too. I was wrong. Stu came off the fire tower grabbing his leg as he was suffering severe thigh cramps (old man). He was frantically rubbing his thigh and I asked if I could help but I got "the look" and so backed off. The kids really wanted to walk the River Trail and I was up for it too. At that moment a man and his young daughter were coming up the trail towards us. As the man spied Stu rubbing his leg, he said cryptically, "if your leg is hurting you now, you better now try the trail….". I didn’t like the sound of his warning and felt maybe we shouldn’t try it if Stu wasn’t feeling well. Unfortunately, at that moment the cramp loosened and Stu yelled "let’s go!" and so, off we went, into the depths of hell. Well, I guess it wasn’t that bad and while the time stamp on my camera assures me that the entire walk down only took 50 minutes or so, I am quite sure it took twice that long. Remember, it had been raining for two straight days so the trail wasn’t exactly in the best shape. D&C scampered off down the trail with Stu right behind while my two kids and I were looking like we regretted getting ourselves into this. Peaches was quite vocal about his distaste for this latest adventure and complained loudly that it was "stupid" and he didn’t want to walk this far. Lulabell was surprisingly quiet and was doing her best to pick her way over the slimy rocks and tree stumps. The boys were wonderful and came back to encourage Peaches and Lulabell to keep going, for the river must surely not be far now. If I had stopped to think about it, I would have realized that the tower of course is at the top of a mountain and the river, of course is at the bottom. So, we literally had a whole mountain to descend. The entire time we climbed down, I was thinking quite darkly that the farther I kept going, the more I had to climb back up the mountain. I wisely kept this to myself. We continued down and got probably 75% of the way to the bottom when Peaches and Lulabell absolutely refused to go any further. D&C and Stu were absolutely determined to see the river at the end of the trail and I "volunteered" to stay with our kids while they finished their little adventure. About 5 minutes later we heard them yelling up to us that they were at the river, they could see it! Well, Peaches gathered his strength and decided to keep going. Lulabell, meanwhile, had to pee something awful and we took this moment of solitude to take care of business. Afterward, we felt that since we had gone this far, we should see the thing to the end and started walking. Well, I soon found out that "seeing" the river and actually being at the end of the trail were two different things. So, grumbling, I continued down and FINALLY, we were at the end of the trail and at the river. It was really quite beautiful and we took some pictures to celebrate. By this time I was quite hot and absolutely dying in my T-shirt. I felt bad for Lulabell, the only one of us in long pants (and sandals!). We rested for a few minutes and then gamely began our climb. Lulabell immediately began to complain and actually sobbed the entire way back up. This did not help our effort and most of my energy was consumed with encouraging Lulabell to keep going. The boys also did their best encouraging her and the rest of us. By this time, about halfway up, I was absolutely soaking wet and turned my T-shirt into a halter by bringing the bottom of my shirt up through my collar. By that time I was past any concerns for showing off my big white belly and plowed on. We took one or two short-cuts straight up the mountain and surprisingly, before we knew it, we were back at the start of the trail. I was astonished that it actually seemed to take a much shorter time to climb than it did to descend. I stood at the top of the trail dripping and breathing and felt very proud that we had made it. I did notice that neither D nor C were even sweating and I seriously wanted to knock them out. Peaches, who had complained the entire way down, kept his head down and walked his way up that mountain with nary a word. We praised the kids and started heading for the bathrooms near the tower in search of water. As we were almost to the top, we had to make way on the trail for a large Amish family as they traipsed down the trail, apparently the same Amish family we had seen on the road. I noticed with horror that most of the women/girls were in sandals of some type. The Amish father good-naturedly asked how the trail was and I felt I had to be honest about the horrors of it. He said "oh well" and kept going. Hah!. Then at the top, we met an older couple, maybe in their late sixties, she in her beautiful white capris and sandals. She took one look at my hot, red, sweat-soaked face and said "Oh Harold, maybe we shouldn’t do this!". I laughed good-naturedly and said, "I wouldn’t do it if I were you…it’s slippery and dangerous and very LONG". The husband laughed heartily and said "oh, I’ve been looking for a way to do away with her for years…this is just the ticket". They both twittered merrily and continued down the trail. You’ll get yours, I thought darkly. We scrambled up the rocks and ran toward the bathrooms with thoughts of drinking out of the taps in the sinks. We all ran into our respective bathrooms and came up short, as there were no sinks to be found. There were toilets and "hand sanitizer". That’s it. GROANNNNN. So, we finally made it back to the car and headed back to the main road. Several times along the narrow road I had to stop and pull over onto the side into the forest to allow another car coming towards us to pass. This pissed me off a little, but we kept going. As we came to the end, we suddenly realized that WE had been the ones that were going the wrong way down a one way road. Uhhhhhh, yeah. So, we headed back to the cabin and gratefully assuaged our thirst. We were sitting outside at the picnic table, in the glorious sun, when I suddenly said, "I don’t want to go home today". Everybody decided they didn’t want to go home either and Stu and I were deciding if we really could stay an extra day. We decided there really wasn’t anything that we desperately needed to get back for and we made phone calls to make sure we could stay. Everything clicked into place and so it was decided we would stay one final evening. The kids were thrilled as this meant we could have a large fire OUTSIDE that evening…which thrilled them. I decided that I really needed to wash my hair and heated up some water for this. Soon, everyone decided a good hairwashing was in order and I ended up washing everyone’s hair outside. Boy, did we look good with our clean, slicked back hair. We felt much better too. The rest of the day was spent hanging out outside, playing cards and cooking the rest of our hamburgers for dinner. D wanted to cook so I let him, with supervision. He did a very good job and got the kids to admit that they liked his hamburgers better than mine! By the time it was getting dark, Stu and the boys had gathered wood around the outdoor fire pit and were trying to get a fire going. I had forgotten my fire starter materials at home (next to the silverware probably) and so they had a little trouble getting it going. I finally took a good look at the wood they were using and realized it was from the big outdoor wood pile, that had just been rained on for two days! I quietly asked Stu if maybe we should actually use DRY wood to start the fire and after some consideration, he thought this was probably a good idea. So we got some wood and kindling from inside the house and had a little better luck getting a fire started. However, Stu, being the impatient man that he is, decided a little gasoline would get things moving a whole lot better. So, against my sane advice NOT TO DO IT, he dribbled a little gasoline onto the wood and SWWOOOOSH we finally had a respectable fire. The children, all of them little firebugs, were delighted at the suddenly roaring fire and kept encouraging Stu to "do it again!" So, Stu obliged them every so often and only once did we have a problem. C was holding a piece of kindling in his hand as he backed away while Stu "ignited" the fire. Somehow, his kindling caught on fire, although he didn’t realize it. I looked down and saw him holding a flaming piece of wood and screamed at him. He immediately jumped and saw what he was holding and threw it into the fire. Whew….that was a close one. No further incidents occurred, except for the attempted fart-lighting, which much to the boys’ disappointment, didn’t work. We cooked our S’mores and talked and laughed around the fire till late. Our last night (for sure) was delightful and we went in to watch our last scary movie (The Descent) of the trip. Lulabell was complaining about her legs being sore, but I felt surprisingly good. Our last night was fairly warm in the cabin and we turned on some fans to help move the air a bit. We were safe and comfortable and wishing we never had to leave. Our trip home tomorrow….

Vacation 2007 - Day Two - slow horses and fast cars...

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 21:21:00 +0000

The first picture is Lulabell making friends with "Barry" the dead bear on the wall. Second picture is Peaches enjoying his "punishment food" a little too much. Third picture, if you can make us out, is Lulabell, Chance the horse and me. Fourth picture is "the crew" chillin in the cabin.

Monday night in the cabin was great. Lulabell decided she was a little freaked out by the movies we had been watching and felt that she could by no means sleep in a bed by herself. She asked her daddy if he would mind letting her sleep with her mom and he could sleep in a bunk bed. He surprisingly agreed and the next morning bragged about how refreshed he felt and how good he had slept (he has not been sleeping well in the past few weeks for some reason). Meanwhile, sleeping with Lulabell is like sleeping with a frisky little furnace, hot and fidgety, so I did not feel quite as refreshed as my husband did, but still, it felt good to be where we were. We slept late, until about 9:30 or 10:00 and had a good old-fashioned breakfast of pancakes and bacon. We noticed that although the skies were gray, there didn’t seem to be any rain at the present time and we decided to hurry up and see if we couldn’t accomplish some of our wishes, like go-kart racing and horseback riding. We drove into Cook’s Forest and noted many fun spots to stop, including checking on the availability of canoes. These cost $26 dollars for a 4 mile canoe trip, 3 people to a canoe, so $52 dollars on a cold, gray river. We decided "not this trip" and moved on. We finally came to a combination horseback riding/go-kart driving place and disembarked. Lulabell went right to the horses and starting rubbing them. We found out that a pony ride was $5.00, which was right in our price range. The only actual pony was taken and so Lulabell had to ride a real horse. I was to lead the horse and its rider on a path into the woods, about a 15-20 minute ride. I felt fine about this. The only thing was getting Lulabell up onto that horse (Chance, by name). The stirrup was up about my waist and Lulabell, being no lightweight, had to swing her leg up into the stirrup and then I had to manipulate and push her way up high into the saddle. With much grunting and straining, we got her up in the saddle, where she was a little scared, I think. The horse was prancing a bit and I managed to calm it down. I confidently grabbed the reins and started off on the trail, remembering not to get too close to the horse that was in front of us. The morning was pretty drippy and gray still, and the trail was a bit muddy, but we pressed onward, stopping every now and then to give the uncooperative pony in front of us time to get some way ahead. I felt confident in leading the horse and even spoke encouragingly to the horse and patting its neck. At one point, during a stoppage, the horse turned its nose to my hand and took my hand into its mouth! I was a little shocked by this and hurriedly pulled my hand out of his mouth. I don’t think it was really trying to bite me, but I wasn’t sure. I made sure I kept my hands away from his mouth from then on, I can tell you. With no further problems, I led the horse and Lulabell back to the stables where Stu took our picture. The boys were waiting over by the go-karts and were frantic with excitement, especially Peaches. The track was still a little wet from the rain and so we had a bit of a wait while the worker’s squeegeed the track and dried off the go-karts. The boys were excitedly picking out which car they wanted and Peaches ended up in a yellow one. I was in front, then D, then C, then Stu and Lulabell in a double car, then Peaches. We got the green flag and off we went. We were told strictly to avoid bumping into each other and for God’s sakes, don’t look back! (I’m not sure why this was). So, ZOOOOM, off we went. I stayed in the lead and threw my head back with laughter at the thrill of speeding out that track. I didn’t seen anybody else as I was in front and of course, I didn't look back!. I came around the first corner and nearly ran into Peaches, who was struggling along in his car, put-put-put-put-put, trying to get up a slight hill. He looked at me with frustration in his eyes and a little of the glee went out of my sails. I sped around him and continued on my way. At my next go-round I saw him still put-put-putting up the hill but thankfully I also saw one of the go-kart workers coming towards Peaches to rescue him, I hoped. Sure enough, they pushed him back to the car area and he got out of that car and into another. I was able to see him get going and thank God this car seemed like a winner!. I happily put Peaches out of my mind and got back to zooming around the course. On my next zoom, I again nearly ran into Peaches, now in a green car, who was put-put-putting up the hill again. OH NO…..I thought and I saw in his face how pissed off he was. What was happening? I thought. Maybe he wasn’t getting up enough momentum at the bottom of the hill or something. I did want to stop and help him and even thought about giving him a bit of a push with my car, but I again saw the go-kart guy coming towards Peaches with an exasperated look on his face. So, I broke off and zoomed around and got into a race with D, who had by now caught up to me and looking to overtake me. Zoom I came around the corner again, now neck and neck with D and we both had to swerve to miss the pissed off Peaches in his car. I felt really bad but had to turn my attention to my competitor. I floored it and took off, with D right beside me. After a total of about 10 minutes, it started to rain fairly hard and the go-kart guys were waving us in. We all zoomed into the stopping area and I struggled to get out of the go-kart, which had trapped my legs somehow. It was raining pretty good by now and I went to look for Peaches, whom I was sure was going to be pissed, which he was. The only thing we could figure out was that he was pushing the brake and the accelerator at the same time. Anyway, since it was raining pretty well by this time, we decided to head into town for supplies and to check what time the movie Superbad was playing at the local theater. We got to the mall and saw that the movie times were 2:20 and 4:40 (it was about 2:00) and we decided to go home for lunch (about 11 miles back to the cabin from town), then come back to town to catch the 4:40 movie. However, Stu decided, at the last minute, to grab a bite to eat at the Taco Bell and then catch the 2:20 movie. So, we raced to Taco Bell, got something small (we were planning on popcorn and pop at the movies) and then raced back to the theater where we caught the movie just as it was starting. It turned out to be a movie that I would rather not have had my 10 year old daughter watching (lots of talk of men’s sexual organs) and I cringed pretty much through the whole movie, berating myself at my poor parental skills. However, I was able to enjoy the movie for what it was and of course, the three teen boys and my husband thought it was a gas……it was definitely a boy’s movie, if you know what I mean. By the end of the movie, I wanted to walk out of there with my head in the popcorn bucket, but we all stopped at the restrooms and made sure we took care of business there, rather than in the outhouse. It is amazing how our bladder and bowel functions became the topic of everyone’s conversations (did you go?, No, did you? Yeah, it was gross…..). By that time, everyone had used the outhouse but D and Peaches. D was bound and determined to control his excretory functions to the best of his ability. (In fact, he managed to control his function so well, he didn’t have to go for the entire time we were there, 4 days!) He was extremely proud of himself, I must say. Peaches was worried about the possibility of his having to use the outhouse at some point and kept asking me if what he was eating would make him go. Sigh….we stopped at Wal-Mart, got some food supplies and things for dinner (spaghetti and garlic bread) and then headed back to the cabin, where it was raining once again. We settled down for a night of cards, movies and general silliness, and had a fabulous spaghetti dinner. We built a fire again in the fireplace and roasted S’mores and watched movies. Another terrific evening for everybody. Lulabell again asked her dad if he wouldn’t mind sleeping in the bunk bed and he agreed a little too quickly if you ask me. So, I was stuck with the fidgety furnace for another night and we all turned in once more. We had plans to go home on Wednesday, but everyone was feeling like we didn’t want to leave. It turns out, we didn’t have to….more tomorrow.

A truly scary movie...and a scary murder

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 21:06:00 +0000

What's this? Twice in two days? A miracle I guess. Just wanted to mention the movie we all saw last night....1408. Peaches and his two friends D and C and Lulabell's friend M went, along with Stu and I. Of course, the girls didn't see 1408 as it was a little too intense so they went to see Evan Almighty, which they liked very much. We went to the late movie and so didn't get out until midnight or so, but that's what made it more fun. The movie is actually very good, with John Cusick doing a fantastic job....I caught Stu jumping to look over his shoulder once or twice when the sounds were particularly disturbing, although he denies this. Peaches watched most of the movie through his t-shirt and C used his fingers as protective devices over his eyes during the more intense parts. I was worried the boys wouldn't like it because it isn't the usual slasher flick they love so much and was gratified when they exited the movie exclaiming it was the scariest movie they had ever seen! It WAS very good though. This morning dawned sunny and hot and the boys had plans to see ANOTHER movie, Transformers, which made Peaches very happy. Lulabell was NOT invited to this one though as Peaches didn't want his little sister tagging along...which I can understand. Lulabell took it well though and wanted to be compensated for not going to the movie by going to McDonald's, which mom vetoed, unfortunately. So, we went home and she scampered off to a friend's house.

Something of note occurred here in the Valley yesterday. Two years ago a prominent urologist was murdered on the Ohio turnpike and talk immediately turned to his wife, who, it was discovered, had been having an affair with a drug addict. It turns out that she got him to kill the good doctor in the guise of a robbery (shooting him in the face) by promising him half of her inheritance. Immediately after it happened the entire valley was convinced she had something to do with it and yesterday the jury came back with a verdict of GUILTY! The entire valley is relieved and now this idiotic woman, who would have received over a million dollars in a divorce settlement, is facing the death penalty, which will be decided on 7/16/07. One of the doctors I type for was a very close friend of the murdered doctor and in fact was an executor of his estate. He testified at the trial and will testify during the sentencing phase. We all hope the greedy woman gets what is coming to her. At the very least, I believe she will spend the rest of her life in jail. Her murdering boyfriend, because he testified against her, was given a sentence of, I believe, 11 years. It's been quite something and I can tell you we are keeping our fingers crossed in the Shenango Valley that the death penalty is decided upon. So, that's what's happening around here...more soon.

Shocked and ashamed....

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 20:17:00 +0000

Well, I am frankly quite shocked at my blatant abandonment of my blog and its many (not!) readers. I am sure everyone has given up on me by now. Please, hang in there and I will try to catch up on things for you.

Let's see, well, school let out the first week of June and both Peaches and Lulabell passed. Lulabell did exceptionally well making National Honor Society (finally!) her last semester. She also received the Music Award for her class, YAY! Peaches passed with a 79 average, which I guess isn't TOO bad, but he did fail two minor classes (automotive and design). I guess they don't make you go to summer school for those. Next September we will be entering the 10th and 5th grades YAHOO!

We have settled down into our summer routine with a new swimming pool which is getting quite the workout, I must say. We managed to get just a modest size, but it is just about right and easy to take care of. The kids have literally been in the pool everyday and Mom and Dad have been known to jump in on occasion! I will tell you that we also got some new fencing that heightens the privacy of the back yard so much that I daringly when skinny-dipping (no!) Yes!. In fact, I'm afraid that I kind of freaked out my daughter in the process. It was just the two of us at home, in the evening and we were in the pool together when I said conspiratorially to my daughter "hey, let's get naked!" She looked at my kind of strangely but I could see the idea would not immediately be shot down. So, after a few furtive looks around, we slipped off our suits and glided seamlessely through the water.....how serene and shockingly good it felt! However, after a bit, my daughter, I guess, began to get a little freaky-deaky about the situation and announced she was putting her suit back on THIS MINUTE! I don't know what happened....now when I suggest skinny-dipping she gets this look of horror in her eyes and quickly changes the subject (MOTHER!). Oh well, maybe Stu and I will try it some late evening.

My friend J and his mom recently took a cross-country trip to New York from SF recently but unfortunately had a few run-ins with the police! Once for alleged drunk-driving (the breathalyzer registered zero however and he was released without incident). Then in New York his precious dog, Sophie, relieved herself in the street and he received a $50 ticket! Yikes! Then, on their way home, he got a speeding ticket! A trip to remember, eh? Seriously though, they did have quite a grand time seeing the country and visiting friends and I am quite envious. Unfortunately, although he got close to us here in western PA, we didn't get a chance to connect, for which I am sorry, but that's the way things go, huh? Another time I hope.

Overall, my summer has sucked so far because I have been so busy....I have been typing my arse off the last few weeks as I am doing some extra typing for some surgeons who are between office transcriptionists. They did offer me the position full time, but I had to turn them down regretfully as I just can't commit myself to even more time at the computer. My wallet said yes, but my heart said, don't do it. However, I will still fill in as necessary when they need me. So you see, I have a good excuse for not posting, although some will feel that it isn't good enough I am sure.

Stu and I finally took the plunge and got new cell phones. We have been with Verizon for several years now and had not gotten new phones in over two years (well one year for Stu - remember the famous swimming telephone incident in Florida?). So, we had some credits built up, enough to get my phone almost completely free. I am in love with my new phone, which is a Chocolate. It is an MP3 player and is bright green in color. It is awesome! Stu got an LG8700 I think and it is slim and cool-looking. We decided to give my old phone to Lulabell (not to Peaches you ask?). Right, Peaches has a bad habit of losing cell phones and besides, he stays pretty close to home most of the time and I usually always know where he is. Lulabell, on the other hand, is a wanderer and is off at someone's house or another alot of the time, playing. This way, we can keep in touch and always have access to her. Peaches didn't seem too annoyed about this apparent lack of respect at his status as eldest child. If he can prove himself worthy, he will get Stu's old phone. However, now his main concern is about driving as he suddenly feels at 15 years, 3 months old, that he should begin to drive. Now, if you know Peaches, you might wonder at the wiseness of putting him behind the wheel, as I do. We are trying to break it to him gently that he MAY not drive right as he hits his 16th birthday in 9 months. I can't even begin to think about it as our insurance will probably double at that time, so putting it off sounds good to me. He starts his day camp next week through the end of July, which will be good for him.

Lulabell's eye troubles are apparently back. We saw the retinal specialist last week to make sure their disease isn't flaring up, it's not. However, you may recall that Lulabell has an issue with swelling of her optic nerves due to a disorder called pseudotumor cerebri. She previously had to undergo several spinal taps and was on medication for several years for this. About two years ago we were told that it had quieted down and were allowed to take her off the medication. However, the swelling is back and there is some hemorrhaging in her eyes now associated with it. So, on Monday, off we go to one of our often-visited places, the Cleveland Clinic! (At least it's not Pissburgh, is all I can say). We will see the eye specialist up there to make a decision on treating this. The danger of this is that optic nerve swelling can cause loss of vision, so we want to take care of this as soon as possible. One option is surgery on the eyes, called optic nerve fenestration. The procedure is, the surgeon cuts little holes in the sheath covering the optic nerves, like little windows. This way, the cerebrospinal fluid that is building up in the nerves, causing the swelling, can leak out harmlessly into the body, hopefully decreasing the swelling of the nerves and preserving the vision. That is what the spinal taps were for, first, to diagnose increased pressure, and also to remove some of the fluid to decrease the pressure. It is not known why the pressure is increased, at least in Lauren's case. It is a very frustrating disease but I have to say, we are grateful that she does not suffer from the hallmark symptom of this disease, headaches. Ever heard of a spinal headache? These are usually caused by low pressure such as when you receive an epidural and too much fluid leaks out (which I experienced during the birth of Peaches - very agonizing). Well, too much fluid causes headaches too, which is how this disease is usually diagnosed. But Lulabell, thankfully, has never had headaches and for this we are grateful. So, I will update you on her condition and treatment once we see the doc.

Well, I guess that about brings this blog up to date...I hope to return to it much more frequently that I have in the recent past. I hope I still have one or two readers out there....

No more teacher's dirty looks....

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Wed, 30 May 2007 15:26:00 +0000

Oh my goodness, where does the time go? My favorite TV shows are finally finished for the year and my goodness, I think I am actually relieved, you know? For the last two weeks I have been in a frenzy taping and watching the finales of all my shows and I am actually breathing a sigh of relief that I don’t have to worry about it anymore. Why do I do this to myself? Lost was by far the most awesome finale ever, although I did spoil it for myself a bit at the spoiler sites on the web. Still, I have found that I would prefer to know what is going to happen instead of being completely surprised. That’s kind of shitty, I guess, but as I review my life, I know that I don’t like surprises. I like to be able to depend on things and know ahead of time about things. I guess that’s why I like behind-the-scenes type of shows and reality shows, and reading a book before I see the movie.

The radio just said the high today will be 90, which is somewhat awesome as I have the day off. I took six days beginning last Friday and I must say how glad I am. The kids and I went to the lake with M.A. this weekend and had a glorious two days there, although the poopy pool wasn’t open yet. Still, we had fun and went fishing, but didn’t catch anything. They were dredging our favorite fishing spot, boo. We had a campfire and roasted marshmallows and enjoyed the beautiful warm night. Stu had to work, as he has been doing nonstop for two weeks, amassing all kinds of overtime, which is good I guess. The Home Depot just opened across the freeway from Lowe’s so they were working very hard to get things spic and span at Lowe’s. He has six days off now, which he deserves after working so hard. Last night we took the kids to the park for a picnic and then a walk, which was really pretty awesome. I think we are going to do it again tonight as Stu has four free subs from our favorite sub shop. He also has like 60 free cups of coffee from his favorite coffee shops about town. So, if you ever need a free cup of coffee, see Stu. Do you have any idea how many cups of coffee he had to drink to get 60 free cups? Well, every tenth cup is free, so you do the math.

Last night we were watching a movie in the basement and I saw a weird white shadow and a rustling of leaves outside the basement window. When I looked closely, I saw that it was our white kitty, Belle. You see, Daisy, our dog, lets herself out the backdoor when she needs to and Belle waits at the door for Daisy to go out, then she shoots out and enjoys a romp in the yard. Now, this is fine, but Belle is deaf and I really don’t want her outside unsupervised. So, Lulabell and I went out to corral her back into the house. Then this morning, I was typing and I heard the bluejays going crazy. So I looked outside the window and there was Belle sitting in the middle of the yard with two bluejays dive-bombing her and screeching to the high heavens. They obviously have a nest close by that they were protecting. Belle was so comical as she ducked to avoid the diving jays. I’m sure if she could have heard them, she would have dived back into the house. So, I guess it’s good that the bluejays will let me know when Belle is outside.

There is something like four more days of school for everybody and I must say, Thank God! We are all quite ready for school to be over. Lulabell has informed me that she WILL NOT return to her summer camp from last year, the one I thought she had fun at. We will have to find something else for her, I guess. Stu mentioned that he would like to have his mother come visit us this summer, which I wouldn’t mind except we would have to pay for her ticket and she would be coming during our vacation in August. Now, I do have a bit of a problem with this as my vacation time is sacred and I don’t particularly want to have a houseguest at that time. I hope you don’t think I’m rude about this as in fact, his mother is really a delight and I am extremely lucky to have her for my mother-in-law. I just can’t relax when there are guests in the house for extended periods of time, you know? I sound awful, I guess. I don’t even want to tell you what my December is going to be like, when Stu’s brother, sister-in-law and nephew are scheduled to spend a month with us!!!!! Again, I love these people very much, but a month??!?!?!?!? I’m stressing just thinking about it. Help me.

The story of Lulabell.....beautiful girl!

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Thu, 17 May 2007 00:53:00 +0000

Ten years ago tonight I was drugged up royally. That’s right, I was in the morphine zone and boy, was it nice. I was in labor with my daughter and it was about 10 PM. You may recall that with the birth of my son, I spent a rather restless labor trying to contact my husband to make it to the hospital. This time, I was smart and wouldn’t let him leave the room, much less the hospital. So, as he napped in the uncomfortable chair beside my bed, the nurses put into something wonderful called a "morphine sleep".

We had come to the hospital about 4 PM that afternoon. It was a hot, blistery day, rather unusual for Northern California in May. I had spent most of the day inside, trying to stay cool and trying to gauge whether the back pain I was having was signaling labor. I was about 36 weeks then, so it was a little early for the baby. However, I was SO ready to have this baby. This pregnancy had been rather hard on me from the beginning as I was diagnosed early on with gestational diabetes and had to take insulin the entire pregnancy. This actually was not too bad, and my sugars and levels were awesome throughout the pregnancy. My doctor was very proud and happy with me. However, I did manage to gain A LOT of weight, nearly 100 pounds, and he was not so happy about that. Neither was I. In fact, by the birth of Lulabell, I basically only had one dress I could wear, along with flip-flops, because my feet were so swollen. The one dress I had was this horrible jungle print that I burned after I gave birth. So, I was laying around the house, trying to stay cool when I began to notice that I was in fact having contractions pretty regularly. I summoned Stu who made arrangements for our friend O to watch little Peaches, who was five years old at that time. He was very excited about his new sister coming and happy to stay with O. So, off Stu and I went and we arrived at the hospital by about 4:30 PM. I was checked and found to be about 4 cm dilated, so they admitted me. Stu had strict instructions not to go roaming and I tried to relax. My father stopped by in the evening and we had a very nice talk. Then, about 10 PM I was put into the morphine zone and oh boy, was that nice! I slept until about 12:30 AM when I woke up to pee and found myself leaking all the way to the bathroom. This annoyed me to no end until I realized that it wasn’t pee I was leaking, that my water had broke! I called to Stu and he ran to get the nurse. I really was not having any major pain at that point, although I was very uncomfortable. Surprisingly, when the nurse checked me, I was close to 10 cm dilated! Wow, that morphine sleep is a miracle. There was no time for an epidural and I was instructed to begin pushing. Stu was by my side as I pushed and pushed. There was a little trouble getting Lulabell’s shoulders through, but a quick slice (see episiotomy - ouch!) took care of that and out she popped. The nurses rushed her to the warming table and I had yet to hear her cry. Of course, every mom yearns to hear the first cry and I was getting concerned because it seemed to be taking awhile. Stu was brought over to the baby where he took some pictures and was asked to cut the cord. The doctors were working on the baby, pounding and patting her, trying to get her to breathe. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I did hear my daughter cry and I began to cry with relief. The doctor was finishing up my stitches and I was finally allowed to see Lulabell. The first thing that struck me was that she had a lot of dark brown hair and it looked like it had just been combed. She also looked like a little Eskimo baby because her cheeks were so fat. In short, she was simply precious. Apparently (and I didn’t know this until later), they were concerned because she didn’t seem to be moving her left arm and were afraid she had nerve damage from being squeezed in the birth canal for so long. However, this soon cleared up and because she was a month premature and the product of a diabetic mother, they whisked her off to the nursery intensive care unit (NICU) for further care. I was cleaned up and sent back to my room with Stu and we were of course, very happy. I was able to go see her that day in the NICU and we were introduced to the hand-washing and gown wearing that was necessary. I was planning on breastfeeding and so was introduced to the pumping machine, which really is very strange. I was able to pump a little milk/colostrum for my baby and then headed back to my room. It was strange not having her available to me whenever I wanted to see her, but I must say I was a little relieved not to have the rooming-in that I had with my son. So, I got a good night’s sleep and Stu managed to alert the family that we had a beautiful little girl.

The next day much of the family came by to visit Lulabell. However, in the NICU visitors are not allowed and we were reduced to holding the baby up to a little window where everyone could peer in. Peaches was having none of this however, as he wanted to see his baby RIGHT NOW! It ended up to be very emotional as I watched my little boy agonizing over not being able to hold his own sister. However, Lulabell was still admitted to the NICU and we had to follow their rules. I stayed in the hospital for about two days and then was allowed to go home. However, it broke my heart to realize that Lulabell was not able to come home with me as she had jaundice (which is rather normal for preemies) and had to have phototherapy. She was placed in a special bassinet with lights and had to wear these teeny tiny sunglasses…what a hoot! Anyway, what this meant was that for the next several days while she was in the hospital, I had to come back about every two to three hours to breastfeed her. I can’t tell you how logistically difficult and exhausting this was. Finally, five days later, we got the good news that Lu could come home and we were ecstatic. We brought her home with us and thankfully, Stu’s mom was staying with us and she was a huge help to me with the baby and with Peaches. We finally settled down into a routine and enjoyed the heck out of our daughter.

We still do enjoy the heck out of our daughter, as she has brought us many smiles and laughs. She is a great kid, as I am sure you know if you have met her. We’ve had some health problems along the way but those do seem to be clearing up. My daughter is a bright, smart, beautiful 10 year old girl and I love her with all my heart. Happy birthday Lulabell!

Had a bad day....

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Thu, 03 May 2007 20:18:00 +0000

We've certainly had better days in our household. This morning I called in (as I do everyday) to make sure everyone is up and ready to go. Lulabell answered the phone and I could tell she was a little stressed out. Her brother in the background was also stressed. However, when I asked to speak to her brother, Lulabell cracked me up by saying in a light, singsong voice "CHRISTINAAAAAA" in a mocking way to her brother. This is her little jab, by feminizing his name. He gets her back with "shut up LOREENA", which never fails to enrage my daughter. Ahhh....the bliss of family life.

So anyway, getting to yesterday, Stu was off and was keeping himself busy by putting together a swing for our front porch. We have two hooks in the ceiling of the porch and I have been forever dreaming of having a swing out there. So, we got a good buy on a nice one and Stu managed to put it together yesterday, even without the help of his power tools, because he couldn't find them, which is obviously my fault because I must have put them somewhere, "all I want are some *#)*$)@! tools" cried my husband. Anyway, he heroically got the swing put together and we joyously hung it from the ceiling, where it looked fabulous. So, he victoriously sat down in it, then Lulabell sat in it, then he got up and I sat in it with Lulabell, then Lulabell got up and Stu sat in it with me...........CRACK!!!! NOOOOOOOO!!!!, He and I sprung off the swing and looked up to see that one of the hooks (the one on my side, alright?) had pulled partway out of the ceiling.....(don't say it!) Oh, man, all that work.....However, all is not lost, because we just have to go back and purchase the frame that holds the swing...which is actually better than hanging it from the ceiling, right? Right. Now, earlier in the day, right when I got home, I got a call from Peaches' teacher from his afterschool program. She was calling to tell me that she was sending my son home because of his behavior in the program that day. Now, this is a bit of a surprise to me because while Peaches is a lot of things, he has never been a behavior problem in school. She proceeded to explain that he had been asked repeatedly to stop talking and to do his homework. Finally, in desperation, she told him and his chatty friend to split up and move to separate tables, wherein they replied "no". I was speechless! "Are you saying that MY SON actually did this?" I asked incredulously. Yes, she assured me, he had. She then told me that my son was inquiring as to what time I would be picking him up? Having recovered my senses, I replied very calmly"you tell my son that since it is such a lovely day today he should have a lovely walk home". She paused a moment and said, "you know, that's just what the other boy's father said!" Ugh.... Then, not 10 minutes later, I got a phone call from Lulabell at HER afterschool program. "Mama?" (she only calls me mama when she wants something. "Mama, can you pick me up, I'm not feeling well". Sigh....okay. So I drove to her school and picked her up where she was looking properly grim as she waited outside the school with her teacher. She climbed into the car and amazingly, perked right up. Ahh, the power of mothers! So I decided, it was just about time for Peaches to be making his appearance up the street from walking home and I decided to spy on him, you know, to see if he would look both ways when crossing, that sort of thing. He just happened to be crossing the street in front of me (he did NOT look) and I pulled the car up behind him to scare him (that's just the kind of mother I am....never pass up an opportunity to scare you children). He was just trudging along with his head down. He got into the car and we drove home, where daddy was waiting (oh no!). We both spoke to Peaches about his behavior but didn't seem to be getting through to him and his responses to our questions, we felt, were very inadequate (along the lines of his usual, "I don't know"). So, daddy decided he would ferry Peaches BACK to school and speak with the teacher. This absolutely horrified Peaches and he put up quite a fuss, but ultimately, daddy won and off they went. We've only got six more weeks of school folks, but if Peaches doesn't shape up, he's going to experience the wonders of summer school. I also threaten him with making him repeat the 9th grade (this is something I would do, not the school, because his grades, I believe, are good enough at this point to pass him). I would do it just for the shock, because Peaches needs a reality check at this point. Just making the motions through school ain't going to cut it and he really only has three more years before he is 18 and has to get a job, you know? So, that was our day yesterday. Let's hope the rest of the week passes by a little more smoothly.

A day at the dance and happy dog.....

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Tue, 01 May 2007 23:20:00 +0000

Kool-Aid cash and the last dance....

eyolar2001@yahoo.com (Lorie) — Tue, 01 May 2007 00:08:00 +0000

Kool-Aid 25 cents! This was the cry coming from in front of our house last night as Lulabell and a friend made some quick cash. Lulabell has a Kool-Aid stand that she hauls out every now and again and last evening in about two hours, she made a cool $12! She was quite excited about this, and I was impressed, although we went through about $3 worth of Crystal Light, but what the heck……Peaches didn’t want anything to do with it until he saw the buckets of cash Lulabell was making and then he was very helpful. So, if you’re ever in our neighborhood and feeling thirsty, listen for the cry, "Kool-Aid - 25 cents!" and stop on by!

The fabulous Spring Spree took place yesterday afternoon and it was bittersweet because it will be our last. Lulabell’s dancing career is over for the time being, by mutual agreement. You will recall how Lulabell hated her dance class so much that she played hooky from it for a month before we caught on to her. Her dance teacher however, was quite understanding and really wanted her to dance in the Spree, and so, we agreed. She looked quite fetching in her 20’s flapper outfit and I will post a picture of her in the next day or too. M.A. graciously attended with us and presented Lulabell with a bouquet of flowers after her dance. Her daddy also presented her with two roses and she was very pleased.

Spring has finally sprung around here and Stu was out last night cutting the grass, what a sweetie! I was slaving away at the computer all evening trying to get my typing done before the end of the month so the billing can go in. UGH! Work is going well, and Stu is back at work as well. He was recently presented with a special hat that is only given out to those employees who have proven their customer service worthiness. In fact, I think he is the only employee at his store with this particular hat. So kudos to Stu, the customer service whiz! He really is very good at his job and I am very proud of him.

The kids are starting to get antsy about school being over, and so am I! About six more weeks and then 4th and 9th grades will be done! I am signing everyone up for their respective summer camps. Peaches has a camp for most of the month of July, culminating with a sleepover in Cleveland for a night. Lulabell is still trying to decide which camp she will attend, but will most likely do what she did last year, with the day camp at the park. It’s pretty nice, from 9-2 everyday with swimming every other day and plenty of crafts and activities. We are planning our weekly vacation for the end of August, but I doubt if we will make any big trips or anything, given that we were quite blessed last year with two big trips. I’ll be content just to stay home from work for a week and mess around with the kids and Stu. Maybe a day trip here and there or up to the trailer (with M.A.’s permission of course!) for a couple of days. I would love to go to a zoo or something, so we’ll see I guess. I hear Erie has quite a nice zoo and with the lake and all, that doesn’t sound too shabby.

Well, keep your eyes open for some Lulabell pictures in the next day or two…..keep on truckin!