Once upon a time in a land far, far away lived a very frazzled housewife.
the question is
Instead her day was filled with
and
and
and realizing that
will likely not be a reality for at least another 9 hours because for right now
I'm confident that my next giveaway will draw in more than 5 people! LOL
Oh well, that just makes the odds that much better for those that did enter! :)
Random Number Generator picked number.... 2! Number 2 was Erin! Congrats Erin!
I decided to just give away all 3 books so Erin can pick first and then the next two winners will get the two left.
And so the next two winners are...
#4 Heather
#5 Chare
So if you won, will you please send me an email? Thanks!!
See those zucchini? There are more on the bottom, more on the vine, a few sitting on my porch, a few more I threw in the woods and well, you get the picture.
Corn.
Yuck.
Not "yuck" as in I hate corn but "yuck" as in this picture reminds me of a long, sticky mess.
After shucking(is that how you spell that?), blanching, cutting, mixing, and bagging the corn was finally done. Hallelujah.
And then there's this lone pumpkin. It looked like this a couple weeks ago...
(notice the weeds surrounding the pumpkin?)
And now it looks like this...
(I don't buy into this whole "weeding the garden" thing. A few weeds didn't stop this thing!)
See now NON round it is? Apparently you're supposed to turn them?
*You can still leave a comment on the post below to win a book!
I have a mini library in at least 3 rooms in my house. So, because I'm decluttering and because I like you all so much I've decided to have a book giveaway! Just leave a comment and I'll choose a winner randomly Monday morning and you can have your pick of one of the three books!
These are all devotionals... Two are specific to married couples, one is not. The books & authors are:
Night Light, A Devotional For Couples by James and Shirley Dobson
Never Alone, devotions for couples by David and Teresa Ferguson
Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart by Songs 4 Worship
September 20-26 is Mitochondrial Disease Awareness week.
I know I have shared plenty about Mitochondrial Disease before but I recently put together some information for those that don't know much about mitochondrial diseases and I thought I would share that. Some of the information comes from http://www.umdf.org and http://www.mitoaction.org
What is Mitochondrial Disease?
Mitochondrial diseases occur when the mitochondria, the "powerhouse" of the cell which provides more than 90% of the energy the cell needs to function, fails to produce enough energy a cell needs to function. When cells do not have enough energy to function, they die. When enough cells in any organ system die that organ system fails.
SYMPTOMS:
Symptoms vary from person to person depending on which organs are affected and the percentage of faulty mitochondria within that organ. Most commonly affected are the brain, muscles and heart because they require a lot of energy to function but because most other organ systems are made up of muscles and nerves any organ is susceptible to the disease.
More common symptoms are:
-muscle weakness
- fatigue
- seizures
-gastrointestinal dysfunction
- developmental delay
- vision and hearing loss
-autism, autistic-like behaviors
-increased risk of infection
-autonomic dysfunction(click here for more information)
- organ failure
FACTS:
* Mitochondrial Disease presents differently for every individual
* 1 in 4,000 children will develop a mitochondrial disease by age 10
*Mitochondrial failure causes cell injury that leads to cell death. When multiple organ cells die, there is organ failure.
*The World Health Organization(WHO) calculates that neuro-degenerative diseases, also associated with mitochondrial dysfunction, will become the world's 2nd leading cause of death by the year 2040.
What causes Mitochondrial Disease?
For many people Mitochondrial Disease is an inherited condition that runs in their family. Some acquire symptoms due to other factors, including mitochondrial toxins.
What are the challenges of living with a Mitochondrial Disease?
*Good day-person looks healthy. They have more energy and look rested.
* Bad day- person appears tired of ill. They are obviously fatigued.
What is the prognosis or outlook?
Once a person is diagnosed, proper testing and treatment are received to relieve symptoms and try to delay the progression of the disease. There is no way to predict the course of Mitochondrial Diseases. They might progress quickly or slowly, even over decades. The disease might also appear stable for years.
Today there is no cure for Mitochondrial Disease; treatment is focused on energy conservation and vitamin therapy. The goal is to pace activities, avoid exposure to illness, ensure adequate nutrition and hydration, and to maintain and ideal, environmental temperature.
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Thanks for taking the time to read this. I know quite a few that have read my blog for a while likely know this information but for those that don't I hope you learned something new because awareness is key for families affected by this disease!
Today has been a really frustrating day.
It started off that way when Emeric ended up with a temp after days of "weird" poop and not being able to walk. So, instead of him starting school today we headed back to the doctor for more blood work. Watching your kid shed alligator sized tears this often over blood draws is something I'm sick of trying to get used to. After labs we head to the clinic to get a urine bag to try to catch some urine, bring in our stool cultures and wait to see the doctor.
Two blood draws, a urinalysis, stool cultures and a chest x-ray later we still have no answers as to what's going on with him. I'm sure it's "just a virus". Thankfully our new doctor is awesome and she realizes that you don't say it's "just a virus" when you have a kid who ends up not being able to walk from it. Our old doctor said everything was "just a virus". I could see if I were an overly paranoid mom who took my kid in for every cough or fever how annoying that would be so the last time that Emeric couldn't want because he was sick and she assumed it was "just a virus" was the last time we saw her. She just did not understand.
I'm sure there are at least a few people thinking I'm just overly sensitive or crabby or making a big deal out of nothing but I can't tell you how reassuring it is to FINALLY have a doctor that understands, cares, and is proactive. She realizes that while most kids can run a fever of 105 and need nothing more than to just stay home and rest, Emeric can run a temp. of 99.5 and lose his balance enough to fall off the deck and land face first into a pile of landscaping rocks like he just did.
And then we have school. Emeric was supposed to start today. Emeric's nurse was supposed to go with him 1x a week. Well, neither of those things are happening. The school won't allow Emeric's nurse to come in. They say if he needs a nurse they will hire him one. Ok, whatever. So they ok it for our nurse to at least go in and train in Emeric's para so she knows what to watch for with him. Ok, good I am fine with this. Then the nursing agency calls. No, actually the nurse cannot do that it turns out. It's violation of some law or policy or license or who knows what. So now since the nurse cannot go to school with him that takes 3 hours off her schedule which means she'd only be working for 4 hours and she doesn't want to have a half day. That means we lose the nurse on Thursday's altogether.
Whatever.
Turns out I missed an appt. on Monday for Emeric. Our doctor had just set it up the week before and said this was the only time he could get in to see this hearing specialist and I stupidly didn't write it down right away on my calendar and missed it. Of course I missed it, that's just the perfect ending to an already crappy day.
I guess this is the point where people who are reading wonder if I'm done complaining. I suppose it should be.
I am just really, really, really tired. I feel like I've wrote a post all too similar before? Ah well, it's been a while, I think I'm entitled.
I should know by now that things are never easy. That just when things start going smoothly something has to happen to throw it all off. I should know by now that when I complain about my life a million other people have it much harder than I do. And I do know that, and yet here I am saying it all anyway. Sigh.
I want to be thinking about potty training and time outs. I'd take that any day over medications, therapy, new medications, lab work, hot weather. I want to put Emeric in Awana at church and listen to him memorize the verses. I want to talk about stuff without crying. I want to talk about anything else but this. I want to be able to get excited with my friends whose kids are doing typical things instead of feeling sorry for myself that my kid isn't doing the same thing. I'm tired of rejoicing over sign language instead of actual words.
Today has been a bad day. I know tomorrow will likely be better. I know God is faithful and that he'll give me that peace that I've had before but for today I'd like to believe that God cares just as much about my crappy day and bad mood than he does about my good moods. I do believe that when I wish I could tell Emeric to "be quiet" because he won't stop talking that God cares.
So, with all of that I guess I'll leave you(or maybe just myself) with a verse:
Kylie started school on Tuesday. She is loving it! She isn't thrilled with getting up early or "rest time" at school which she claims is "boring" but otherwise she's having fun. The other two kids and I had plans to just stay home all week but of course nothing ever works out that way. Emeric ended up needing a blood draw up in Fargo and then Bible study started and therapy and yeah, no full days at home.
Our schedule just got much busier with school starting! I'm giving piano lessons again this year and that takes up 3 nights and then I'm doing girl's group for our church which takes another night and Awana and then Kylie wants to be in Girl Scouts and AHHHHHHHHHH it's too much! I know it's bound to only get worse as soon as I have three in school!!
Emeric starts his class next Tuesday. His class consists of 6 BOYS! Those poor teachers! :) I asked him if he was excited and he said "no" but that doesn't mean much as he says no to basically everything.
We're nearly finished with our basement and once it's complete I'll post pictures of the start to finish project. It looks much different and it's going to be weird to essentially have two houses!
The 1/2 marathon I'm running is tomorrow and I am getting really nervous! I'm so afraid I'm going to end up hurting my knee or something stupid and not finishing and then all that training is for nothing! UGH! Ok, I know I need to be optimistic so I WILL finish! :)
Well, I better get ready for the day before the other two kids wake up and need 18 things!
