Not so Discombobulated

I am feeling much better these days. I finally got rid of that super bug that loved me so much, it hung around for 5 weeks. My house is clean once again. Last Sunday after church, I told Jim that it was time to bust our butts and get this house in a much more healthy state. Yay no more dust bunnies living in the corners and all spider webs are declared gone, the real ones, not the fake decorations.

How is it that today is Halloween? Of course we are planning to go out trick or treating. Jack has chosen to be the red power ranger. How he knows about power rangers, I do not know, because as far as I know he has never watched that show. But he is going around saying "Power Rangers Jungle Fury." And we did it again. Our neighbor's little girl Allison, chose to be the pink power ranger and Jack chose to be the red power ranger. This follows up from last year of her being batgirl to Jack's batman. We really did not plan for them to dress alike, it just worked out that way again. Anyway, there should be mighty cute pictures coming tomorrow of the two of them.

I also have pictures of our second annual visit to the corn maze last weekend. It was a lot of fun and we made it through the maze with Jack leading us at every turn. I will post those also tomorrow.

In other news, I joined facebook the other day. I was out with some girlfriends on Saturday and they were telling me that I just HAD to join, so I had to look it up. Who knew how fun facebook could be? I have found long lost friends and a few not so long lost. Fun times. Another thing to obsess over on the internet.

Discombobulated

That is how I have been feeling for over a month now. I am STILL fighting the superbug from hell. It is now going on five weeks since I started feeling sick. I have the horrendous cough that is entirely too embarrassing when out in public. Yeah it sounds like I am going to hack up a lung in the very near future. I am also completely and utterly exhausted. I have not felt this tired since Jack was a newborn and you are supposed to feel like crap. Even Jim came down with some crud and was pretty much over it in three days. Wahhh! Not that I don't want him to get over the sickies, I just want to do it too.

Anyway, needless to say life has been feeling a bit discombobulated lately. There are other factors that have led to this feeling.

1. Jim's mother, Grammy C., has been in the hospital for over a week now. She is not doing well and has a lot of problems, with the major one being diagnosed with kidney cancer. She is 86 years old and up until now was going unbelievably strong. But she is not going to have any surgery or any treatment. She is going home to get her "affairs in order" and spend some more time with her family and friends. We support her decision and understand it. But we are going to miss her when that time comes and spend as much time as we can up there.

2. The house is a mess. I mean it is bordering on health hazard right now. I hate the feeling when there is chaos going on in the house. And this house is chaotic right now!

3. What is going on in the world right now. It seems like the world is ending with all this financial mess. I don't know what that means to my family. I think we are pretty safe, but ya never know. And should we cancel our Disney trip in January? We have a good portion saved for the trip, but should we just keep that money? But then the memories and the look on Jack's face on Big Thunder Mountain is priceless.

4. I have been gaining weight during this sickness because I have been doing the bare minimal of going to work, shopping for the bare essentials (toilet paper when we had not one square in the house) and parenting to Jack. In between all of that, I have sat or laid my butt in the family usually moaning to some degree. I have been taking vitamins and eating lots of fruit high in anti-oxidants and C in hopes to actually fight this bug. But when that day comes that I actually feel human again, I will get back to walking the dog, and exercising.

5. Our puppy Molly, has been chewing up the house. She chewed up the ottomon to my rocker. It is ugly now. I don't know if I can reupholster it or not. She also has trashed my furniture after she comes in from outside and has flthy paws from digging up the yard. She then has to jump on every single piece of furniture in the house leaving little muddy paw prints. I just realized that this one has a lot to do with #2 above.

Anyway, it has just been a hard time here in the Jackaroo house. But Jack is the bright spot in all of our lives with his constant singing and the why questions. Love that kid. I just don't know how to tell him that Grammy C is going to die soon. He still brings up Bob, our dog we had to put down in June. He misses him and is asking me why we had to bury his body. He must be thinking about Grammy C's death because he is always asking about people being buried and why we bury them and what happens after they die. All tough questions to answer a four-year-old.

Jack Singing and Being His Four-Year-Old Self

Thoughts and Other Random Tid Bits

I realize that I have not been keeping my blog posting up lately. In fact this entire year has been pretty pathetic in the posting department. Maybe that is just part of the life of a blog. I have been doing this for over four years and that is a long time. I have some online friends that have watched my child and I have watched their children grow from little babies to full-fledged four-year-old kids. Where has the time gone?

I have become a news junkie. In the past week, Fox news has been on just about 24/7. I think this whole financial mess is despicable. I remember "back in the day" people had to have an actual down payment to buy a house, but then it became people didn't need a down payment and could take out 2 or more mortgages on their house. It just baffles me and now we all are suffering because of it.

Another news junkie item is Sarah Palin. I just have to say that I want to be like her when I grow up (even though she and I are very very close in age). She has it going on. She is smart and articulate and very capable in my opinion of being a leader. And I believe the media has done a hatchet job on her and it is entirely not fair. Oh and she has really cool glasses. If I have to wear glasses, I want to wear hers.

Jack has been singing a lot in school. He comes home with these so adorable and cute songs about Jesus and being a Christian. One of the projects I want to do this weekend is get him on video singing some of these songs for ya'll. He also is learning about vowels and consonants. He does get them mixed up and this morning he was out and out fighting me by saying that "L" is a vowel. I kept trying to tell him that it is not a vowel, but a consonant. He actually started to cry as he was trying to convince me otherwise. Just one more reason of the many reasons that I could never home school my child. I am not against homeschooling, but for me and my child - no way in the world would it work.

Superbugs. I am still fighting mine that I have had for the past three weeks that feel like months. I went to the doctor two weeks ago and this perky little doctor told me that I only had a viral infection and I was at the "tail end of it." Um don't think so. I went back to the doctor (not the perky little one) and it turns out that I now have bronchitis and strep throat. Gee is that why I have been feeling like crud barely making it through each day, even though I was at the "tail end of it." I walked out with no less than SEVEN prescriptions.

We are praying for Grammy C. tonight. She is in the hospital suffering from a severe bladder infection and they are running some tests. She is such an inspiration because at 86, she gets around and is better dressed than any of us. I hope that I am as good as her at 66. We just hope she feels better soon. Jack loves to play tea parties with her and at 86, she gets down on the floor and plays cars with him. Feel better soon Grammy!

Why Mom Why?

Jack's brain is constantly working these days. The questions are coming fast and furious and they have no rhyme or reason. He just comes out with the why questions and I have to admit that they are sometimes tough to answer.

Here are just a few of the why questions that he has asked in the last few days:

Why do scissors have handles?

Why do people sneeze?

Why did God made the world?

Why are there vowels? (they are learning their vowels at school right now)

Why does Grammy and Papa have a basement and we do not?

Why did the hurricane not break our windows? (he is quite concerned about hurricanes and other storms ever since we had to board up)

Why is the sun so bright?

Seriously ya'll they never stop. I love the fact that he is trying to figure out the world around him. But I do need a break every now and then. That is when I am very thankful for the DVD player in the car.

A Week Later

Yes I realize that it has been over a week since I posted anything. This superbug that I somehow caught has put me in just survival mode for almost two weeks. I have been doing what I absolutely have to do like taking Jack to school and back and basic mothering tasks and other must-do tasks. But anything beyond the must do, well that just hasn't been happening. Today is the first day that I actually feel like I might survive this thing. I did go to the doctor last Friday and was told "it is just a viral thing, can't help ya, but here is some knock-out cough medicine for ya".

Anyway, I think I might be back with land of the living very soon. We have big plans this weekend by going to see Bill Cosby in concert at one of the casinos in Biloxi. It is an actual date night thing for Jim and I! Wow!

I also want to share with you the Jackism that happened last night. As most of you know, I let Jack sleep with me when Jim is on duty. I like it that he is right there with me in case anything happens and it is a special thing for us that I know won't last forever. So last night, he was in a very loving mood. Sometime in the middle of the night, he woke up and gave me a big hug and said "I love you Mom". Yes my heart melted. Then he was laying there thinking about something. And this conversation proceeded:

Him: "Mom?"
Me: "Yes Baby?"
Him: " Why are computers so heavy?"
Me: HUH? WHAT?

What goes on in that brain for him to ask such a question after midnight? I tell ya, his brain is working overtime all the time!

Start Early These Days

So yesterday Jack came home from school (preschool K4 for those not playing at home) and told me that his friend Tanner has a girlfriend! This is how the conversation went:

Me: that is nice that he has a friend that is a girl

Jack: no Mom he has a girrrlllfriend. You know.

Me: how do you know this?

Jack: he told me and her name is Kara and she is his girrrlllfffrriiieend.

Me: (slightly freaking out) you don't have a girlfriend do you?

Jack: no! girl pooties (his word for cooties)

So there you have it my son's four-year-old friend has a girlfriend! Now this is the child that is in trouble everyday and had so many spankings in the Principal's office last year that his Mom lost count. He is also the kid that more than one mother requested their child NOT to be in the class with him this year. I am kinda rethinking my decision to give the kid a break and let Jack be in the same class.

He is definitely the class leader and the "bad influence" (at FOUR). Jack's teacher talked to me last week about Jack pushing another K3 child on the playground and then laughing about it. That is all Tanner and his teacher told me as much. Mrs. Nix (Jacks teacher from last year) was on the playground at the same time and said she could not believe that Jack did that and it was the influence from Tanner who told him to do it. Of course, we had a long talk about nice boys and playing nice and if I hear he does that again, he will be in time-out with NO toys for a very long time.

Ugh, who knew that Junior High playground antics started in Preschool! Geesh!

In other news, I seem to have caught some super-bug or something. I was down for the count most of the weekend, even on Jim's birthday on Saturday. We ended up doing nothing for his birthday because I was pretty much comatose that day. The super-bug has now travelled down into my chest and this morning, I do believe I coughed up a lung or two. Fun stuff.

Yeah and I can probably blame the preschool for the super-bug also!

Feeling the Effects

We are hundreds of miles away from Galvaston, however we are definitely feeling the effects of Ike. The above picture was taken this morning at the Gulfport pier that was severly damaged in Gustav and now from Ike. It is amazing that we are feeling such heavy effects being so far away. The beach road is closed and the wind is enough to blow your head off. Forget having a good hair day in this wind. I feel bad for Texas and hope that the people who are being told they face "certain death" actually heed the warnings and get out of there. I have seen what the storm surge from Katrina did here and they need to know that storm surges are downright deadly.

I hope everybody says an extra little prayer for all those in harms way from Ike. I know that I will sure breath a sigh of relief when November 30th comes around (the end of hurricane season).

Too Much Fun

I think the boy had too much fun/candy/cake/heat yesterday at the birthday party. They brought the Tumble Buggy to the party, which is an old school bus where they have taken out all of the seats and replaced with all kinds of jumping and bouncy things. If you watch Jon and Kate plus 8 they had the Tumble Buggy at their house for one episode. Anyway, it was so hot for the kids because the people said that the air conditioning was not working that well inside the bus and when all the kids came off that bus, they all had red faces and sweat pouring off of them. But everyone of them said it was fun.

So that brings me to last night around 1 am and Jack woke me up with the words "Mom I just threw up". He was sleeping in my bed with me. So I turn on the light and sure enough all of his pillow and sheet and his pajamas. So I strip the bed of sheets and put on the other sheets, strip him and put on new pajamas. He said he was feeling better and so we went back to sleep. About 20 minutes later, I hear that wonderful gagging sound and this time it got all over everywhere. So since that was the only other sheets I have for our bed, I stripped the bed yet again and went to wash the sheets. I put Jack on the couch with Thomas playing on the tv and we were then up for the next couple of hours with him sitting there with a bucket. Fun times.

So needless to say, the boy won't be going to school today. And the way it looks, he might get to go tomorrow and MAYBE Wednesday, but we will probably be evacuating on Thursday AGAIN. I found a cool model prediction online here that shows the eye landing just about where Gustav landed (those poor people in Louisiana) however it looks like it will be a much bigger storm and we will be on the "bad side" of it again and well it isn't looking good for us. Even More Fun Times.

Busy Sunday and More Talk of Hurricanes

We are super busy today, so I thought I would get on here and tell ya about it all in between events of the day.

We went to church this morning and everybody is talking about the possibility of Ike. They even had the sand bags out front of the church left over from last week's storm.

In a few minutes, we will be leaving to go to a birthday party for our friend's three-year-old girl, where lots of candy and sugar will be consumed by the boy. Then we have to leave somewhat early from there to go to a bridal shower for our neighbor who is getting married next month. The shower was actually supposed to be last week, but Gustav pretty much did everyone's plans in last weekend.

Then I also have to leave the shower early and go back to church to help out with the youth group. I signed up to be a youth group leader and that means that my Sunday nights are now taken. Then it will be back home, do a load of laundry (the boy needs clothes for school), get the boy in bed and relax for a few minutes before I go to bed myself. I doubt that I will see Jim at all today as he is sleeping right now and then will be working tonight while Jack and I are off doing our thing.

Thanks for everybody's concern about the hurricane threats. And Evelyn it is great to see you again. I see that you have been watching the hurricane tracking about as much as I do. We are hoping that it will hit over in Texas somewhere and not affect us that much. However, if it does hit to the west of us, we will be on the "bad side" of the hurricane. Until lately, I had no idea that there was a "bad side" to a hurricane, but evidently the northeast of the eye gets hit by the bad winds. Who knew? I tell ya before this hurricane season is over, I will feel like I have earned an education in hurricanes!

Enough Already

Geesh it seems like all I have been posting about is hurricanes and threat of hurricanes. And here we go again. It is looking like Ike is heading toward the Gulf now and could come our way. Seriously, never in my life have I looked at hurricane tracking so closely. I have looked at www.noaa.gov way too many times in the last couple of weeks. I know that it is bad to wish it to go to someplace else, but that is now what I am doing. We need a break ya'll. My poor husband has carried our patio furniture to and from the garage way too many times and it is looking like it will need to be done again. There are people around here who still have their houses boarded up in anticipation for Ike to come our way. Enough already. I really would like to plan something more than a week out without having to say "if the storm doesn't hit us."

Back To Normal

We survived Gustav very well. We had absolutely no damage, except for one tree limb fell down. Jack and I had a mini-vacation at Grammy's and Aunt Ann's and Aunt Carla's, where he was spoiled beyond belief. On Monday, he literally stayed in his pj's all day long. It was a very lazy day for all of us as we watched the weather channel most of the day.

Just a little editorial here on the coverage. I get so irritated with the media because I really do believe that they have absolutely no idea that Mississippi exists. It got to be hilarious after awhile as most of their coverage was in New Orleans where they had like no weather at all. They kept showing the same baby palm tree down about fifty times. However, to the west was where the actual hurricane landed and then to the east where Gulfport is, the guy standing out there could hardly stand up. But they insisted on covering New Orleans. And at one point, they actually said that Gulfport was on "the southeast shore of Louisiana"! Excuse me? I live in Gulfport, MISSISSIPPI! Just a little irritation is all.

Jim had to work Sunday night, Monday night and Tuesday night for 12 hour shifts. I guess he slept through the whole thing during Monday in the very dark boarded-up bedroom. Also he housed a couple of other cops on his shift to sleep the day away at our house. It is funny, because I have always said that man could sleep through a hurricane and now he has.

We came home yesterday morning, which was probably not the smartest thing I have ever done. When we left, it was drizzling and no weather at all. However, we got almost half way home and we were driving through the WORST weather that I have ever driven through in my life. We were on the interstate and literally inching our way. At one point, I could not see anything at all, very much like a fire hose spraying on the windshield. I decided to pull off and we went to McDonalds to sit it out. I watched a lake form in the next parking lot and the fools driving through the water up to axles. I was contemplating going back to Grammy's house, but heard that they were having severe weather with tornado warnings, so I decided to head south once the rain let up a bit. It was very nice to get back home, which took twice as long as it usually does.

Everything is back to normal today. Jack went to school today and all the businesses are back open today. They moved the tons and tons of sand off the beach road and even that is open again today. Thank God that it wasn't Katrina. But it looks like we aren't out of the woods yet for the year with more tropical storms out there brewing. Even with all the threats of hurricanes, I still love this place and wouldn't move. But it would be better without all the humidity and the stupid love bugs every year at this time of year. Hate those things.

Hatches - Battened Down

Our house is boarded up in anticipation for Gustav. There was a little neighborhood "lets board up the houses" today. It was nice that everybody helped everybody with the job. We went to Lowes this morning and they had the whole system down where you go and pay for the plywood and hurricane clips then drive around and they load it up for you. Pretty cool except for the 30 minute wait in line for the plywood.

It is getting pretty real that this thing is coming, even though the weather is not in the least bad. It was sunny and extremely hot today with the heat index at 99. But as we were eating out tonight, we saw the Army National Guard come to town in their convoy of military humvees and trucks with water, food, and fuel. They are taking this whole thing very seriously. I just hope that it doesn't do the devastation that Katrina did after all the rebuilding process that has gone on around here. The people around here need a break this time.

Jack and I and the dogs are heading up to my mother-in-law's house tomorrow afternoon. We plan to go to church and then head north. Jim has to work Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday night and possibly more if needed. They are talking about having the guys do 16-18 hour shifts during the crisis. I just hope they keep them safe is all.

I will try to update after tomorrow, but not sure if it will be possible for a few days. Just pray it isn't another Katrina.

It Is Getting Real

This whole hurricane thing coming is getting real now. Because this is the first possible hurricane threat that we have had since we lived here, it seemed a bit surreal at first. But just today, the signs are out there that a real live hurricane just might come.

We went to Petsmart today for the puppy training class for Molly and Petsmart already had their windows all boarded up. And when we came home tonight, we noticed that a few of our neighbors have their windows boarded up already as well. I just wonder if they boarded up and left town early or if they are living in there in like total darkness. How creepy. Jim is going down to Home Depot tomorrow to get plywood for our windows. We decided to just board up our southside of the house, but unfortunately that is the side of the house that is nothing but windows. I think it has two french doors and 6 windows.

So as it stands right now, we will probably leave early early Monday morning to head up to Grammy's house. I hope to not be stuck in traffic for hours and hours. I have heard horror stories about the traffic prior to Katrina hitting.

In the meantime, I will be doing every bit of laundry that I can, packing up all the important papers, and getting me and Jack and dogs packed up. Oh and I also have to clean my house, because if the house is blown away, at least it is clean!

And Again

It looks like we will be going northward to Grammy's house in a few days. It seems that Gustav is coming to town and everybody around here is gearing up for him. Seriously, I just came home from Walmart where it was a zoo. Not only were there about a million people there (give or take a few), but the shelves were bare, especially in the canned food section. And of course everyone was talking about their Katrina stories and what they went through 3 years ago. Hopefully Gustav is not another Katrina. But we will be prepared as Jack and I and the dogs head north. Jim will have to stay behind and do the policing.

Speaking of dogs, good grief! We have spent a small fortune at the vet in the past two weeks. First off, Molly, our new puppy, had to have all her shots and then had a rare form of worms (of course) and the expensive medicine to get rid of it. And today we found out that she has mites and is on antibiotics for the next week. Oh yeah and the heartworm medicine and flea medicine thrown in there for good measure. And then Tosha, my 12-year-old dachshund, decided to get sick also. She has some respiratory infection going on with lots of snot and sneezing going on and yes she is on antibiotics for the next two weeks. Oh and she needed her teeth cleaned because they were super bad and the vet thought that the bacteria from the teeth were what was causing the infection. And the heartworm and flea medicine for her. It is not fair because I don't feel like we have the money for me to go and get my teeth fixed up like they should, but for the dog - sure no problem. Not fair.

So now both dogs are on antibiotics and we are probably going to have to evacuate north. That is basically what is going on around here.

She Did Not Want To See Us

Well I guess Fay just didn't want to come visit us today, instead she swung North and headed up toward my MIL's house. Instead of the massive amounts of rain, we just got the drizzling all day yuckies. From what they are saying, it is supposed to be raining for the next two or three days like this. And I was looking forward to having an excuse to stay home from church and just kinda vegging in front of the tv all day long, something I never get to do. But the boy wants to go to church, so I guess we'll go and get out in the drizzly yuckies.

Here She Comes

First of all, I want to say thank you for all the wonderful comments everybody made in regards to the sad day we had. It was very touching and meant a lot to me. We are getting back to normal, however, Rob's family is never far from my thoughts. President Bush was in town the other day and I thought it was very nice that he spent some time with Leslie and the kids in private. No matter what you think about the man's politics, I do think Bush is a very nice man.

Anyway, now we are looking at Fay coming our way in the next 24 hours or so and from what we have heard it looks like we can expect 10-12" of rain and lots of wind. Jim cleared out the backyard today by putting all the chairs, bbq, bird feeder and what not into the garage. He also made sure we have enough gas for the generator and got all the lanterns and weather radios out. So we are ready for her. This is going to be our first big storm while living in Mississippi, thank goodness it is only a tropical storm and not a full-fledged hurricane. And hopefully this will be it for this hurricane season, although we do still have a couple more months left.

I'll be sure to say hi to Fay for ya when we see her :).

Sad Day

This was a very sad day. Jim and I attended the funeral of a fallen police officer. There were about 1000 people with hundreds of police officers from all over. I have put myself in Rob's wife's place a thousand times over the past few days. By the grace of God, it was not me sitting in the front row looking at her dead husband's casket. She has two children the same ages as Jack and Laura. Her son, Trevor, just didn't get it, I could tell. But that is probably a good thing. How do you tell a five-year-old that his Daddy is never coming home. I also kept thinking that his daughter will never have a father walk her down that aisle on her wedding day. It is just beyond sad. I have no words to describe the emotions of today.

After the funeral, we drove in the funeral procession to the gravesite. Jim and I were in his patrol car with the lights going, just one of hundreds of patrol cars, fire trucks, and ambulances that made its way through the streets of Gulfport. It seemed incredibly surreal as the people lined the road with American flags, signs and were saluting us as we drove through. The fire department had a huge American flag drapped over the ladder that we all drove under. Very surreal.

At the gravesite, they played Taps, had the gun salute, and bagpipes playing Amazing Grace. It was incredible to see all the police officers in their dress uniforms saluting the casket as it went by. And the saddest part of all was at the end when dispatch called out the last call to Rob on the radio. "Gulfport 107 ... Gulfport 107... silence and then "Gulfport all units Officer 107 is now 10-7" which means officer is out of service. The sobs rang out throughout the graveyard. There was one officer who was standing beside us who literally dropped to his knees sobbing. And my husband next to me was sobbing as was I. I have to say that I am so proud of my husband for the job he does. It scares the crap out of me everytime he walks out of this house in uniform, but I am so incredibly proud of him. He chooses to put himself in danger every night to help all of us. And I know that every single wife there today felt the same way about her husband and also thanking God that we have our husbands tonight, while Leslie does not.

This is one day that will live with me forever and I hope and pray that I never have to relive another policeman funeral, especially my own policeman

A Little Bit of Humor

I thought that I would share with you a little Jack funny he made this morning, which is something that we needed (especially Jim).

We have decided that we are going to buy Jack one of those battery-powered cars or four-wheeler that he can ride around in our cul-de-sac. Jim was showing him the different ones available online this morning and was trying to steer the boy toward the four-wheeler instead of the car because he won't outgrow it quite as fast. But Jack in all his four-year-old wisdom said that he wanted the Mustang because "it has horse power and can go really fast"! Hehe get it - mustang ... horse power. He is a hoot that one.

If you are the praying kind...

just say a prayer for Lt. Rob Curry's family. He is the police officer who died yesterday in the line of duty. Here is a link to the story. He was on his motorcycle and was hit by a woman trying to turn left by crossing three lanes of traffic. She said she didn't see him and was quite hysterical at the accident scene, so say a prayer for her also as I am sure this is devastating to her as well. Rob's wife, Leslie, is also a police Lt. and has given us many clothes for Jack that her son has outgrown. I feel so bad for her and can't even imagine the pain that she is going through right now and their two children. The entire Gulfport police force and community are very shaken up by this death and is the second police officer to die in two weeks. Again, I just pray everyday that I never receive that phone call. Just something you live with when you love a cop.