May Funny Friday

May Funny Friday

Today’s post is May’s Funny Friday, a regular feature published on the last Friday of every month. Funny Friday is a collaborative project. Each month one of the participants submits a picture, then we all write 5 captions or thoughts inspired by that month’s picture. Links to the other bloggers’ posts are below, click on them and see what they’ve come up with. I hope we bring a smile to your face as you start your weekend.

Here’s today’s picture. It was submitted by Baking In A Tornado .

1. The day Thomas the Tank Engine stopped taking his anti-psychotic meds.

2. Where's Dudley Do Right when you need him?

3. HA! Finally time for the little brother to get revenge!

4. "We're going off the rails on a crazy train!"

5. Brother? What brother? He looks like a speed bump to me!

Click on the links below and let some other bloggers make you smile:

Black Sheep Mom (http://www.theblacksheepmom.blogspot.com)

Someone Else’s Genius (http://www.someoneelsesgenius.com)

Confessions of a part-time working mom (http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch/)

The Momisodes (http://themomisodes.com)

Sanity Waiting to Happen (http://sanitywaitingtohappen.blogspot.com/)

On the Alberta/Montana Border (http://dlt-lifeontheranch.blogspot.ca)

Cluttered Genius (http://www.clutteredgenius.com)

Stacy Sews and Schools (http://stacysewsandschools.blogspot.com)

Baking In A Tornado (http://www.BakingInATornado.com)

Fly on the Wall - May 2014

Welcome to a Fly on the Wall group post. Today 12 bloggers are inviting you to catch a glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes. Come on in and buzz around my house.

 

 

Buzz around, see what you think, then click on these links for a peek into some other homes:

http://www.BakingInATornado.com                          Baking In A Tornado

http://www.therowdybaker.com                                  The Rowdy Baker

http://www.justalittlenutty.com/                                Just A Little Nutty

http://themomisodes.com                                          The Momisodes

http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com/                          Spatulas on Parade

http://thesadderbutwisergirl.com                                   The Sadder But Wiser Girl

http://stacysewsandschools.blogspot.com/                     Stacy Sews and Schools

http://batteredhope.blogspot.com                                   Battered Hope

 http://www.someoneelsesgenius.com                      Someone Else’s Genius

 http://www.menopausalmom.com/                                 Menopausal Mother

http://dinoheromommy.com/                                 Dinosaur Superhero Mommy

http://sorrykidblog.com/                              Sorry kid, your Mom Doesn’t Play Well With Others

CAST OF CHARACTERS :

Me 

The Hubby

Jacob - Oldest son - 20

Joshua - 2nd son - 18

Deanna - Oldest daughter - 17

Cailey - Youngest daughter - 10

Colin - 3rd son - 7

Cloud - cat

Derpy - cat

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Colin - Mommy!!! MOMMY!! I have a foot talent!!!

Apparently  he learned how to shoot his bow with his feet!! And now Cailey can as well! 

**************************************************************

Me to Colin - Do NOT stick your toothbrush to the ceiling!!! It will fall in the floor!

(His toothbrush has a suction cup on the bottom. Luckily I bought 2 packs of 4.)

**************************************************************

Me to Joshua - Do NOT rub your brother's butt in your sister's face!

It might be better if I just didn't explain that one...... 

**************************************************************

Deanna - MOM!!! Joshua said that he's going to put butter on his nipples and rub them on my blanket!!!!

**************************************************************

The Hubby - I don't know what was going on but I just walked in on Joshua lying in the bed going "buh buh buh buh buh" to Derpy.

*************************************************************************

Jacob - What are these weird, yellow, corn looking things??

Me - They stick in the ends of the corn on the cob.

Jacob - WHAT?? Why didn't I know this???

Me - Don't ask me, the rest of us have been using them for years!

*************************************************************************

The Hubby - I thought I was dying! I just went to take a dump... I thought I was dying! Someone put a pizza crust in the toilet! I thought after all these years of joking, that I really did have a tape worm and managed to kill it!

*************************************************************************

Cailey - Boobs are like chest butts.

**************************************************************************

Me (while going through the whole plumbing thing) - Ok! Let's all go to Walmart and poop! The family that poops together stays together!

**************************************************************************

Deanna - I don't think I can get a bikini this year. I don't want to look like a busted can of biscuits. 

**************************************************************************

Me - Well, I just had The Talk with Cailey.

Deanna - Wait... WHAT?? Did she freak?

Me - No, she took it all well.

Deanna - You had the REAL talk with her and she didn't freak?

Me - No, she was fine. She had a few questions but that was it.

Deanna - Whoa!! I thought for sure she would FREAK!!!

Later that day...

Cailey - Mommy, Deanna said that when I start my period that I'll have it for a week and that'll I'll have horrible, awful cramps.

Me - DEANNA!!! Are you trying to make her freak????

*************************************************************************

I think that's it, y'all! Well, at least all that I remembered to write down. I'm sure there's more that I forgot! 

Dealing with a Situation

So sorry that I have been so quiet lately. We have been dealing with some rental issues here.




Saturday morning I got up and started laundry. A few minutes later one of the kids started yelling that black water was backing up into the bathtub and toilet.

I grabbed the plunger but it didn't do any good.

I grabbed my laptop, looked up the number to our maintenance line and gave them a call.

Hours later, nothing.

I call again.

Hours later, nothing.

I call AGAIN!

I am assured that someone would be out here within 10 to 20 minutes. HA HA HA!

Nothing.




I didn't try on Sunday. I figured, nothing on Saturday then there's definitely not going to be anything done on Sunday!




Bright and early Monday morning I called the property manager. She says there's nothing she can do, I have to keep calling the maintenance line. WHAT???

I call it AGAIN!!!!

Nothing.

A few hours later I call again!

This time I am assured that someone would be out in the afternoon.

The woman from the construction company calls and says that yes, someone will be out shortly. She's so sorry but she didn't check her emails over the weekend.




3:00 rolls around and someone finally shows up. He pokes around outside for about 15 minutes. He says he can't find the septic tank.

WHAT???

He needs to get a drawing and will be back first thing in the morning. I ask if he's SURE. Oh, absolutely. I'll be the first place he stops.

HA HA HA HA!!!




Tuesday morning. NOTHING!!!

I call the property manager. She says she can't do anything. I have to call the maintenance line again.

So, I called it... AGAIN!!!!

The woman remembers me. Of course she does. I have become increasing hysterical with each call!

She calls the property manager (what a joke).

Next thing I know, the woman from the construction company calls. So very sorry. They had an issue with their first call this morning.

OMG! I went off. I told her that I was told *I* would be the first call.

Yes, but there was an issue with the last call yesterday.

I DO NOT CARE!! I have been dealing with this since Saturday.

I told her I was unsure as to whose fault this whole fiasco was but that SHE was definitely in the running.

I am once again assured that someone would be out this afternoon.




I had to laugh.




Now, during all of this time, I have had to make multiple trips to the Walmart so that we could use the restroom.

My house STINKS to high heaven.


So here we are at 3:03 pm on Tuesday. The man from the construction company has been here about an hour. It turns out, the septic tank is halfway under the deck!!! He said that he pumped one end of it out but can't get to the other. We are still backed up.
He is calling his boss to see what to do. I vote for tearing up that end of the deck and finished the job!!!!! 

Ok.. It's now 5 pm Tuesday and it's finally all done!!! They pulled up half of the deck. 

I still need to scrub the tub some more but the rest of the clean-up is over. 

I have documented all the phone calls and taken pictures. UNBELIEVABLE that it took all of that to do one simple thing.

 

USE YOUR WORDS - May 2014

Today’s post is a writing challenge. This is how it works: participating bloggers picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases for someone else to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once and all the posts will be unique as each writer has received their own set of words. That’s the challenge, here’s a fun twist; no one who’s participating knows who got their words and in what direction the writer will take them. Until now.

Links to the other “Use Your Words” posts:

http://bakinginatornado.com                       Baking In A Tornado

http://batteredhope.blogspot.com                Battered Hope

http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch/              Confessions of a part-time working mom

http://www.someoneelsesgenius.com            Someone Else’s Genius

http://fbxadventures.blogspot.com                 FBX Adventures (In Parenting)

http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com/            Spatulas on Parade

http://stacysewsandschools.blogspot.com/        Stacy Sews and Schools

http://www.outmannedmommy.com                 Outmanned

http://www.eviljoyspeaks.wordpress.com           Evil Joy Speaks

http://www.healingtomato.com                        Healing Tomato

http://themomisodes.com                           The Momisodes
http://www.JuiceboxConfession.com              Juicebox Confession

Your words are: gripping ~ constant ~ always in a pickle ~ which way is up? ~ relief ~ light

They were submitted by: http://batteredhope.blogspot.com

Let me tell you a gripping story about how life was when my oldest son was a little guy.  

He was quite hyper from the time he learned to walk (at 8 months) and was always in a pickle!! I had to stay on constant alert. He was fearless!!!!!

One day I started the washing machine, put in the detergent and went to get the clothes. When I came back with the clothes he was IN THE WASHER!!! Soap suds all over him. He was 1. How he managed to climb up the side of the washer I'll never know! 

Most days I didn't know which way was up!

He once crawled inside the dryer and shut himself in. I was running all over the house yelling his name. I finally heard him calling for help. 

One day when he was 5, he managed to open his bedroom window and jump out!! I saw him run past the living room window and was out the door after him. 

I have endless stories of ER trips and broken bones! Illnesses and injuries!

I can't tell you what a relief it was to get that child into adulthood!! I can still remember when I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

I tell him that he is responsible for every grey hair on my head! 

Sew-A-Longs, Contests and Challenges

I came across an awesome list of social sewing links the other day! I thought I would share that link as well as others that I have found. 

Swoodson Says - Sew A Long Calendar

Le Challenge - Different Craft/Sew A Long Each Month

Crazy Little Projects - Different Sew A Long Each Month

Modern Cupcake - List of Up Coming Sewing Challenges

Elsie Marley - Sew A Long Central Newsletter

Friends Stitched Together - CraftingCon

There you go! Hopefully there's enough there to keep you sewing for quite a long time! ;)

Fibromyalgia Awareness Day - 2014

Today is Fibromyalgia Awareness Day. I know that I have talked about it on here from time to time but today I decided to really lay it all out there. I decided that it's time I talked about what it's really like to live with this day after day after day.....

What IS Fibromyalgia????
This is the definition that pops up - 

1. a chronic disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and tenderness in localized areas.

But it is SO MUCH MORE than that.


It affects every single part of your body. Muscles, nerves, and joints are just the beginning. 

The way I think, called fibro fog. I can spend forever just trying to remember a simple word. It makes me crazy. I used to have a really amazing vocabulary. Well, that has mostly gone out the window. The other day I was telling my friend Eileen about my new Steelers flip-flops. I couldn't remember the word sequins!!! SEQUINS!! I had to ask Joshua! That happens so often. 

It affects my period. OH. MY. GOSH!!!! My periods were always a little rough but now they are almost unbearable!! And they last over a week!!!!!! I know, I know, TMI.....

The migraines... I have them almost all the time. At the least I will have 2 or 3 a week. 

Right this second as I am typing this, my left knee is in excruciating pain and my back, near my kidneys, is hurting so much!! And that's just what is jumping out. If I stopped and became still for a moment, there would be more....

The way I sleep has changed. I am SO TIRED ALLLLLLLLLL THE TIME!!! All the time. Until I try to go to sleep. Then I can't get comfortable and I am up and down and tossing and turning all night long. And it's a bone deep weariness. It's like I almost can't deal with how tired I am.

My body seems to be so stiff, almost like I am holding it in preparation for an attack. When I realize that's what I am doing, I try to consciously relax it. 

My hands and feet swell and go numb all the time. I get sharp, shooting pains up and down my arms and legs. 

Sometimes my skin feels like it's been rubbed raw or set on fire. 

Depression. Doctors don't seem to know if you have depression BEFORE the fibro or if having the fibro gives it to you. Either way, it's there. Always. 

Fibro gets you physically, mentally, emotionally and socially. You just don't always feel that the effort involved in getting ready to go somewhere is worth it. 

There are 3 medications that are FDA approved for treating fibro. You should hear the testimonies... They are definitely less than stellar. I was on Cymbalta for about 8 months. It helped the pain fractionally but it made the tiredness so much worse. I felt like a zombie the entire time. I was also taking a muscle relaxer to help me sleep. It helped. I definitely slept better but it never actually relaxed my muscles! LOL It just made it to where I didn't wake up a thousand times a night. 

This is what it's like living with fibromyalgia. It's not the same for everyone. There are varying degrees of severity. 

Most people go years before they finally get a diagnosis. I believe I had it for at least 2 years before I decided I needed to get checked out. I was having scary chest pains. I was so scared that it was my heart.

I was lucky. The first doctor I went to knew what it was. After running a million tests and asking me a million questions, he started me on a treatment plan. It's not his fault that it didn't work. Because of horror stories I have been a little worried about trying to find a new doctor and I have been trying to treat the symptoms naturally. That's not working either.  

I say all this not for your pity but for awareness. It is an invisible disease. You can't look at me and know that I have it. We have to speak out. We have to let it be known what it's like. It's not made up. We aren't stupid or lazy. We are sick. And there's not much we can do about it. 

Our Week in Review - Outdoor Stuff

We have been CRAZY busy this week! Well, maybe I should say that *I* have been crazy busy.

On Saturday we took the 3 youngest kids fishing! They had a lot of fun, for a little while. I tried to tell The Hubby to not expect to be out there all day. Colin has a very short attention span. The Cs have been fishing before but never caught a thing! 

That is Colin's first fish!! YAY!!!

I spent most of the time visiting with my Dad since the kids were fishing his pond. 

We spent most of Saturday and Sunday away from home!

On Monday we went back to our favorite park but this time we explored a lot more areas!

Deanna, Colin and Cailey on the swings. Joshua prefers to sit somewhere quiet and read.

Colin the Lobster.

We explored the lake area and feed the ducks and geese some of our snacks.

And Cailey fell in the lake! No worries, though... She thought it was fun and asked to do it again! LOL 

Then we explored the Nature Center.

SNAKES!!! BLECK!!!!!!!!!! Cailey loves ALL creatures. Bugs, spiders, snakes, it doesn't matter to her. 

They don't have as many things as the one in Richmond but the kids still enjoyed it.

I really liked the nature themed boxes. They had a ton of wonderful learning items in each box. Some of the items were real samples! Rocks, seeds, snake skins (BLECK!!!), bugs.... 

I managed to get some sewing done on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday!

On the left is a sling strap cover that I made for a friend of mine that will be in a cast for at least 6 more weeks. :(

On the right is a sundress that I made for a friend's daughter to wear to her school's awards day. Now Deanna and Cailey both want one! DEANNA wants me to make her a DRESS!!!! I think pigs must be flying somewhere... 

On Tuesday and Wednesday (all night Tuesday to Wednesday afternoon) I got to babysit for a friend of mine. The sweet little baby that I made the green owl taggie blanket and letter V taggie as a gift. I had a great time cuddling a sweet little guy. I had been getting the baby itch and that helped out a lot! LOL 7 yrs is the longest we've gone between kids and Colin turned 7 in March! 

SHEW!!!! It was a LONG week!! I took Thursday as a bum around day and caught up on some reading. Friday is errands day. Grocery shopping, paying bills... BLECK!!!!

We were hoping to go to the botanical gardens on Friday, Public Gardens Day, but it rained and rained and rained. WAH!!!!!!

HAVE FUN LEARNING and SEWING!!!