Thursday, May 31, 2007

Take that, Mark. D.

I woke up bright and early and had the Zoom done. My teeth aren't bright white, but there is a definite improvement and they said it would continue to improve. We took before and after pictures but I haven't been able to download them for some reason. I will post them as soon as I figure it out.

The Big Man was home today so we spent a good bit of time outside. The Big Man did some yard work, although it was more like weed control. It is so dry here. The grass is brown and crunchy but the weeds are lush and green. Can you explain why that is? There is talk of scattered thunderstorms soon, but we will need much more than that.

Tomorrow MK and I are going to have a night on the town. Our little city is having "Movie in the Park" tomorrow night. So, I guess we'll take chairs or a blanket and bug repellent and spend some time with our neighbors.

I have really been looking for ways to get more involved in the community. I seem to have taken a break since I've been home with T. Willy. I try to think, if I left this town today, what mark would I leave? I'm afraid it wouldn't be much of one. I run into some former students from time to time and they still remember some things I taught them, more about life than academic, I suspect. So that is a little mark. But I'm looking for a way to do more. I'll let you know.

Have a great day!

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Feel free to skip this post...

Because there is not a lot going on. I just wanted to check in. MK is enjoying her summer so far. She has been busy with friends, enjoying sleepovers and a trip to our local waterpark. It's been a little cooler the last few days so we've been taking some walks around the neighborhood and spending a lot of time outside.

I went to the dentist today for my Zoom impressions. They said they would have to call when there is an opening to make the actual appointment. About an hour later they called and said there is an opening tomorrow at 8 a.m. So I will try to post pictures. The initial appointment should brighten my teeth some, but then they are sending trays with me that I will apply at home and that should help more. I am trying not to get my hopes up too much. There is also a part of me that thinks it's sort of vain, but it is not something I would normally do, and that was my mom's directive.

We made some plans to go away in July. We have rented a cabin at DeSoto State Park in northern Alabama. I have wanted to go camping for a long time, but we don't really have the equipment and it's just too hot here. So this is a good compromise. It is near Lookout Mountain. Not that we ever lived near the Rockies or the Alps, but we have lived in Virginia and North Carolina and were always just a quick trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway and mountains of some sort. Now we live near the beach, which is truly beautiful, but I have been missing mountains. So I am really looking forward to this trip.

If you're still awake, leave me a comment and let me know what you're doing this summer!

Have a great day!

Friday, May 25, 2007

In which I reveal a painful secret

If you knew me in real life, you'd know that I have a pretty good memory. This serves me well when playing Trivial Pursuit (or the Big Man's version - Strip Trivial Pursuit. Too much information? Sorry.) However, it also makes it difficult for me to let...things...go.

Two things that are hard for me to let go are these: when I was in middle school, a boy in my class, for reasons unknown to me, blurted out, "You'd be pretty if your eyes weren't so far apart." So, thanks, Curtis Dencker, to this day I still can't receive a compliment without tempering it with the thought that someone is just being kind to poor, homely me. The funny thing is, the few times I have related that story, the other party assures me that my eyes are not grotesquely far apart, and, Curtis Dencker was no Brad Pitt. However, it is one of those things that I can't seem to let...go. The second was thanks to Mark Dettra. He once decided to blurt out, when I was laughing at something, "Your teeth are really yellow." This has been a trial for me, because I am generally a pretty smiley person. Sigh. It may have been true, just unkind, and once again, hard to let...go.

Fast forward to the present. My mom and and dad generously gave me a monetary gift for graduation. My mom's request was that I spend it on something I normally wouldn't. It wasn't quite enough for me to realign my entire facial composition, but it is enough for me to get ZOOM!!!! So Wednesday I am going to start the process of having my teeth whitened. I am cautiously optimistic that it will make an improvement and I will finally let Mark Dettra's words GO.

However, if you ever go on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" and you need a phone-a-friend, I'm your girl!

Have a great day!

And, Happy Birthday to my mother in law!

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

School is out!

MK finished her first year of middle school. We were both dreading it and cannot believe how foolish that was. Middle school has been wonderful for her and she can't wait for 7th grade to begin.

We got the results from the vet, and the cat does have cancer. MK took the news surprisingly well. She is not known for taking bad news well, but I think she was prepared for it. We are just keeping an eye on Sugar for now. She is eating normally and is still her pleasant self, so we'll just have to see what the future holds.

That's about it. There isn't much going on but I wanted to check in. Hope you're doing well!!!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Once faith, now sight







MK with Dr. Falwell July 2006.






I saw the phrase from the title of this post at a Moravian cemetery in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It has always had a lot of meaning for me, because isn't that what this life is all about? Our beliefs will all be proven true or false one day. I have faith in the same Christ that Jerry Falwell did, and am comforted today with the fact that all he preached and taught is known to him now.

I started this blog because of Melissa. I met Melissa when she was my roommate during our Freshman year of college. And that college was Liberty University, founded by Jerry Falwell. No matter what people may think of his politics, I can't think of a negative thing that has been said about his character. There were no scandals involving him and other women, or men, for that matter. He loved his wife and family and let everyone know that. He lived what he believed. Good bye for now, Jerry!



The Big Man, me and MK at TRBC after the first service.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Ode to Sugar



Not the edible kind...our family cat.

I did not grow up with cats. I pretty much had a dislike/fear/apathy for them. My feelings started to change after I met the Big Man because his mom had 2. But I never had any interest in owning one, just visiting hers occasionally.

Then MK started asking for a pet. We were going to get her a dog...as soon as we moved to a house with a fenced in yard. So we moved to this house when she was six and had intentions of getting a dog. Then one day the Big Man learned from a girl at work that she had a cat and needed to find a good home for it. I was skeptical, but it seemed like a great answer to the pet question...free, 5 years old and, did I mention, free? Sugar would not have been our first choice of a name, but since she was 5, we kept the name, because as Miss Kristy said, "She's so sweet." Corny, yes, but so true.

We had it all planned. On the last day of MK's first grade year, Miss Kristy showed up at our door. We had told MK that a friend was coming over and she was completely shocked when that friend showed up with a cat...more shocked when she learned the cat was staying. She entered our home with trepidation but quickly became a part of the family. For the first few days whenever we looked for her, we would just see a tail hanging over the top kitchen cabinets. She stopped doing that and, apart from massive shedding and the occasional hairball, she has been the ideal pet. She was here before T. Willy and never showed any aggression toward him and let him torture her just a little. She has slept with MK many nights and endured a long weekend locked in our bedroom with no food, water or litter box and did not destroy one thing, except some cheap bath mats.

Recently she developed a lesion on her nose. We took her to the vet and treated her. At first it seemed to be getting better, but never completely healed and now has gotten so much worse. Today we took her to the vet and the vet gently predicted that, worst case, it's "squamous cell carcinoma." So, since that is still conjecture, she stayed the night at the vet and will have a biopsy in the morning. There's a chance that it's a deep infection that may respond to steroids, and that is, of course, what we're hoping. However, if it's the worst, it's treatable for BIG BUCKS, and we just can't go there. When her quality of life deteriorates...well, you know.

So this one goes out to Sugar, the cat I never thought I'd care about this much. The house is a bit emptier tonight.

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Big Day

So today was a really big day. It was MK's 12th birthday and Graduation! MK started the day by taking a trip to a waterpark with the school band. We picked her up in the middle of the day and went to graduation. After graduation we went out to dinner and celebrated MK's birthday. They sang to her at the restaurant and we had a wonderful family day. Pictures tell it better than I do...Have a great day!