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Once again, I have fallen behind on my posting. I started the year out in full force with my 5th quarter of classes. Basketball was also in full swing. We are now facing a tough challenge for sectionals. Our boys are talented, but still young. Young meaning, juniors and seniors. It just means they should be pretty good next year because it will be the same group of kids. Watching my son play is one of the highlights of my life.

One of my boys turned 7 years old on February 5th. I can't believe it. It only seems like yesterday. Well, it was two days later that life changed. On Thursday the 7th, I was helping my 7 year old with his homework. I noticed that my arm was numb, but thought it was because I was leaning on the bed. I forgot about it and proceeded to drive about 25-30 miles to my oldest son's basketball game. On the way there, I touched my right cheek. I noticed it was numb too. I touched my leg and my chest and felt the same thing...numbness. I couldn't feel anything on the right side. I called my husband and told him to call his mom, she's a nurse, and see what could be wrong. He called me back and she said it might be a pinched nerve or a stroke, and I should get checked out. I told my husband I would take care of it after the game and it was probably nothing.

Well, I went to the game and made it there safely. I was still feeling fine, but numb. When I got into the gym, I went to walk up the bleachers and I tripped. I thought it was because I had on hiking type boots. I brushed it off too. I sat down by someone I knew and told her what was going on and that I didn't feel quite right. I asked her to please keep an eye on me and get my son if something happened. Anyway, I made it through the game and proceeded on my way home. I decided to call my sister, also a nurse, while she was at work. I guess I sounded a little weird because they got her pretty quick. I told her what was going on and she wanted to know what I was doing. She wasn't real happy when I told her that I was driving. She told me to head to the ER and I knew I shouldn't argue. To tell you the truth, it's probably the first time I have ever listened to her. She is my younger sister, by 7 years and we haven't ever been that close. We are just very different people, but I love her and her family very much.

On to the ER. I drove to the ER and waited about and hour before they checked me in. They are so slow it is ridiculous. I started feeling worse and notice my speech was slurring. I thought I was having a stroke, but I just could wrap my mind around that. I'm 35 years old and I couldn't feel half my body. I was starting to get disoriented and my balance was getting was out of whack. It tried calling my son, but his cell phone would go through in my ER room, I had to walk out into the hall to use that phone. I made it out there just fine, but standing became a problem. I concluded my phone call from the floor. The guy across the hall helped me up. I was getting freaked out by then because it didn't make sense. I finally saw the doctor and he order a CT scan, blood work, and urinalysis. Well he got the results back and it was positive for Xanax, which I have a prescription for, and he decided that I was just messed up. He told me to go home and sleep it off and see my doctor if I still felt bad in the morning. He then asked if he needed to call the rehab place. I told him no and prepared to leave. I was baffled, but couldn't argue for myself at this point. The male nurse came and told me I could go, but then I stood up to get my coat my legs got twisted and I fell down. He just looked at me and asked if he needed to call rehab. I once again was dumbfounded. I walked myself out of the ER and got into my truck. By this time, my right side feel like it weighs a ton and my speech has gotten worse. I somehow managed to drive through town and make it safely across the by-pass. As soon as I crossed over, I couldn't press the accelerator anymore. I started using my left leg to get myself going again. I called my husband when I got to the stop sign to tell him to watch for me in a few minutes. Somehow or another I made it home. My angels were working hard that night. It was about 12:30 am, so traffic was down.

My husband spent the rest of the night trying to calm me down because I couldn't believe the way I was treated. I finally fell asleep and prayed that things would be fine in the morning, they weren't. I called the doctor around 1:30 and they worked me in. The doctor said he didn't know what was wrong, so he was going to put me in the hospital. By this time, I just wanted to know what was wrong. My husband and 2 youngest boys took me to the hospital around 3:30. An MRI was scheduled for Saturday morning. My mom drove in to see me and ended up spending the night with me Saturday in the hospital. Well, Saturday evening the neurologist came in and had me walked back and forth a couple of times. Then he had me close my eyes and tilt me head back. He promised he would catch me and I found it odd that he said that to me. I soon learned why he said it though. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, and immediately fell to the right. He had a sit sit down and told me all signs on the MRI and his field tests indicated that I have multiple sclerosis. I felt like he just kicked me in the stomach. I felt that way for about 30 seconds and then I made my decision. I wasn't going to let this defeat me. My husband and kids need me and they need me to be strong.

I will fill you in on the rest soon, but I am zapped and can't believe I typed this much.

Well, the Iowa caucus is over and Huckabee is looking great. Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama both came out as winners in last night's caucus. I have never really considered myself a Republican or a Democrat, but I'm swaying more towards the Rrepublican side of things this time around. I listen to what the candidates are saying and see if i agree with them. I try really hard to educate myself before going to the polls.

Speaking of educating myself before going to the polls, more people should try and do that. With the wealth of information that we have available to us, there is no excuse on not knowing what each candidate stands for. Everybody has issues that they would like to see addressed, but we have some overall goals as people. Face it, there is no way to make everybody happy. You can try, but it will be an endless battle.

I think that overall, Huckabee has the right ideals. He may be weak on foreign policy, but that doesn't mean he can't do the job. To me it shows that he doesn't have the foreign ties that a lot of leaders have. He has no allegiance with another country and that should put us in the forefront on his mind. I think that he will be able to communicate with them and do deals that will benefit us as a country. We are never going to find someone that we agree with perfectly, but Huckabee is heading pretty close to that for me.

The kids went back to school today! They started out with a 2 hour delay, but that was ok with me. I needed the extra sleep. My husband and I stayed up late watching movies. We ended up watching 2 instead of 1. We watched the Bourne Identity the other night and Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum last night. They were all 3 really good movies. I have never been much of a Matt Damon fan, but I was impressed with those movies.

We have been members of Netflix for a couple of years and I can't believe we ever went to video stores. It is so convenient to have the movies delivered to the house. We get 3 at a time, which is enough for us. There are some movies we have for a LONG time before we get around to watching them.

The weather is crazy here. It was in the low 20's today and will be in the 50's by Sunday. It is no wonder that everybody is always sick. It seems like Mother Nature can't decide what season we should be in lately. I can't decide what clothes to put away and which ones to keep out. The kids love the snow, but I am not a big fan. It's always nice on Christmas day, but other than that I would prefer none.

My next quarter of classes start on Monday. I am taking Intermediate Accounting I & II and Spreadsheets. I am curious as to how well the intermediate class is going to go because it is mainly a lecture class. It is hard to hear a lecture when you take your classes online. I will do my best though. I passed my Cost Accounting class last quarter with a B, but it was a hard B to obtain. I didn't think that I was going to make it through that class. My other 2 classes were pretty easy and I got A's in both of them. They were Income Tax and Computer & Office Automation. The computer class was over Word, Excel, & PowerPoint. I really enjoyed that class because I learned a lot of things I didn't know. I have learned a lot in all my classes, but this one was fun while learning.

Well, I guess this is my update for today. Two posts in one week has to be a record for me. Have a great night!

MOM

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! I hope that everyone had a safe and happy new year's celebration. My husband and I sat home and watched the ball drop, like we do every year. It is our tradition and it works for us. Dick Clark has been a mainstay for me on New Year's my whole life. It is so sad to see how "America's Oldest Teenager" is showing that life happens to all of us. I am glad to see that he is still doing what we all look forward to at the end of the year.

Other news:

It seems like there is an endless amount of news to see on any news station. If it's not about the death of Benazir Bhutto, then it's the presidential race. I am more drawn to the presidential aspect of things. There also isn't a shortage of celebrity gossip. One of the biggest is the pregnancy of Jamie Lynn Spears. She is so young and not even close to being ready for parenthood. I know how that is firsthand. I was a mom and 17 and it was not an easy job. It may help her to have money, but money isn't everything. I had always wondered whether she would follow in her sister's footsteps. It appears that she is trying to get ahead of Britney. I just can't believe that kids today think they can handle anything, but can't even take care of themselves.

News here at home:

The kids are all doing great. They had a Merry Christmas and are on the way to a Happy New Year. They were spoiled on Christmas, as usual. The oldest made out like a fat rat. He didn't think he was getting anything, but he got more than he bargained for. We managed to get him an Xbox 360. It was not an easy task to get it, but it was accomplished. He was surprised, but tried to hide it. He thought all he would get would be clothes, so it was nice to see the look on his face. He definitely didn't deserve it, but if I based everything on that, they would owe me.

The little ones were happy for the most part. I now have more power rangers and transformers to trip over and step on. It is one of the "perks" of being a mom. Granted, it is one I could live without, but I have learned to act as if I live on a mine field when I walk. The youngest was ready to quit opening gifts because one of his freaked him out. Our 6 year old has made him terrified of the game Operation. He was playing it on the computer and now the 4 year old hates it. Well, we didn't want our son to be afraid of a Milton Bradley game, so we chose shock therapy, I guess. I bought him the game and figured we would show him how fun it was. Needless to say, it backfired. As soon as he saw it, he pushed it under the couch and was done opening presents. I finally calmed him down and he finished unwrapping his gifts. I felt bad, but I think it is silly to be afraid of a game. I know he will get over it, but it will take time.

I am now done with the first year of my classes. My 5th quarter starts next Monday, on the 7th. I am still doing quite well. I know I didn't do any updating during my last quarter, but it was pretty time consuming. It seems like I sit down to do this and there is something else that needs to be done.

Basketball season is also in full swing for the oldest. He is doing wonderful, but overall the team is not doing well. We did beat one of our biggest rivals, but nothing since. I wish that things would start turning more in their favor. They are a young team and need to focus a little more.

Well, it's time to take care of the boys. Have a great night!

Hello
It has been awhile since my last post. I have been busy with school and the kids. With one in scouts and one playing basketball, I am always on the go. I try to take a few minutes at each of the sites below every day clicking links or ads, reading e-mails or something.
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Mom

Finals for my third quarter and I got A's on everything. I ended up with A's in all of my classes. My next quarter starts on Monday. I am a little more nervous about these classes than the others. I have cost accounting, income tax, and computer and office automation. The last one is the least of my worries. I think I will catch on fairly well in income tax because I do my own taxes. Those are different than business taxes, but at least I have a basis to go on. The cost accounting seems like it is going to be the toughest. I would rather think of it like that then I will be surprised if it goes well.

Updates on the kids. My oldest has all 4 wisdom teeth cut out on Friday. Needless to say he isn't feeling all that well. He is doing better than I expected though. He doesn't like needles, so he was put under for the surgery. The surgery cost me $1900. The insurance covered $1200, but I have to pay the other $700 myself. That is the last thing that I need on top of everything else.

Our 6 year old is enjoying the Tiger Scouts. He will get his first badge next week. He is so excited. I went to the meeting on Tuesday for the first time. It was fun to see my husband lead the group. They are going to have such a great time together. I am glad they are going to be able to bond together.

The 4 year old is as ornery as ever. He thinks he runs the show and gets very upset when you let him know he doesn't. Since he is number four, I am used to it.

We are still fixing the damage from our mold problem. It has been expensive, so we have to do a little at a time. Well, I better get back to doing laundry.

Well, once again it is time for finals. This is going to be the end of my 3rd quarter. I can't believe I have stuck with this for that long. I will finish though because of the loans. I would hate to pay for something useless. I am really determined to complete these courses and get my degree.

I have been checking in with FastWeb.com to see what scholarships are expiring and if there are any new ones. I just checked the one that is about to expire and it is not for me. It is from Brickfish.com and it involves music. Not my area, unless I'm singing in my vehicle. I just filled out some information on one that fits me to a T. It is for women over 30, that's me, who are continuing their education to help with their family support. I think they have hit the nail on the head. I am not counting on a scholarship, but you don't know unless you try. I am trying to offset the costs as much as I possibly can.

I got my books in the mail yesterday for the next quarter. I still can't believe that for 3 classes, the books cost $460. That is a little ridiculous in my opinion.

Today was my youngest son's birthday. He is 4 years old now. I can't believe it, it seems like he has been 3 forever. Then there are those days that it seems like yesterday that he was born. He is so smart and cuter than all get out. I am so proud of all of my boys. My oldest has been talking about running cross country. The coach approached him about it because they are a man short to make a full team. He said he is considering it, but I'm not sure what he is going to do.

We are working on getting our mold problem taken care of. The last couple of days have been rough because of the rain. Today was downright nasty. When it rained it pour. My mom was here today for the birthday get together. It was just us and mom, but the little guy was happy. Well I'm going to see if anything is on TV. I am going to check for some Scrubs.

Oh, by the way, we switched back to DirecTV today. We also got DVR with it. We are not going to know what to do with that. We are always missing something because we forget about it. With the DVR we can set it up so that we don't have to worry about it. We have missed a couple of episodes of Meerkat Manor. We just love that show, but we couldn't let the little meerkats die. Okay, I am really going to go now.

When it rains, it pours! I guess that is the best way to describe things here at this point. Last Thursday my husband discovered we had a large amount of mold growing under the siding of our home. The main area is right across the room from the 6 and 3 year olds room. You can go see the damage that we uncovered here at this link:

http://www.nwtwebsites.com/nwtappeal/helppage.htm

Needless to say, we were horrified at what we found. We are in the process of getting it taken care of. This has been possible because of the awesome members we have at our other sites. The other sites we have are free services and we have never asked our membership for anything. Well, until now. When we put out the call, our friends answered it. I have never felt such an outpouring of support from people I have never met. People all around the globe have stepped up and helped us out. We will be eternally grateful to them for their kindness. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be able to get this done. We are still struggling, financially, but we are trying to get this taken care of. Anybody that has had this problem knows the expense that it requires.

Next on the list, our 6 year old had to be rushed, by ambulance, to the emergency room Friday night. He came home from school and said he had been coughing. I noticed a slight, cold-like cough a little later and I gave him some Triaminic. He seemed to be fine after that. About 9:00 he went in his room to watch JETIX and evidently fell asleep. He woke up about an hour later crying and coughing. I noticed a horrible sound when he was breathing. Then he started gasping for air. I knew I had to get him to the ER. I was getting ready to leave and he got worse. The hospital is 20 miles away and I didn't feel comfortable driving that far with his breathing being so compromised. I had my husband call 911 and send for an ambulance. They arrived in force and away we went. After being checked out thoroughly, with blood work and x-rays, they determined he had a severe case of croup. He is doing fine now, but I managed to get a cold out of the whole thing.

Saturday is my youngest ones birthday. He will be the big 4. I feel like he has been 3 forever, but I still don't want him to get any older. They just don't seem to need you as much when they get older. My oldest treats me like I am his personal ATM machine. I'm glad he is only going to be 4 because he won't notice it will be a slim birthday. We will manage though, we always do.

Well, I am almost through with my 3rd quarter of my classes. As I said at the beginning of the month, I am not fond of my Communications instructor. I have had more time to evaluate that and I still feel the same. She has not been in communication with us (funny since it is a comm. class). I am so frustrated right now I could scream. I am not alone either. I have many classmates that feel the same way. We have a research paper do and most of us have done it in the wrong format because of her lack of instruction. We have discussed both MLA and APA formats, but there has been more focus on the MLA style. In our weekly course info there has been 3 references to the MLA format regarding our research papers. We were told to study that for preparation. Well, that is what we have done. Now in week 10 out of 12, we are being told that we were supposed to be using APA. Needless to say, a lot of us are quite mad because we have already done the majority of our paper. I contacted student services because she has not been the type of instructor that we deserve. Evidently, she has friends that were willing to stick up for her and lie. Now the class has to make changes to our papers. I am just very disappointed in their choice of resolution. Oh well, I am almost done and shouldn't have her again.

Okay, next topic. I would like to tell you about a new site I feel needs to be promoted. It is called "Kidtracks" and the url is http://www.kidtracks.net and it is great. The basis of this site is quick access information about your child(ren) in case of emergency. When I say emergency, I mean the possibility of abduction. The site give you quick access to print out fliers for the police or other sources. When a situation like this occurs you are not always in the right frame of mind. With Kidtracks, you have all of your child's information right there in one place. It is a great tool for parents to have. Check it out and let Rhett know what you think. He has the safety of your child in mind. They are our number one priorities.

The kids are doing great. School is in full swing now and boy is it busy. My oldest is already starting basketball practice. He is going to be team captain and I am so proud. I can't wait until November when the season starts. Our 6 year old is in 1st grade and he loves it. He has a teacher that is new to our school system, but he really likes her. The only thing I don't like is not having anyone's opinion about her. I will get to meet her tomorrow at his open house. He just loves her, so I'm sure she is great. He is also joining the Cub Scouts, well actually he will be a Tiger Scout. He is so excited about it. My husband also has signed on to be his scout leader. They are both going to have such a great time. The youngest is adapting to being the only kid home during the day. He has pretty much become my sidekick. Every time I leave the house he wants to go. I am really enjoying the time I have with him.

Once again I think I have given everyone an update. I guess I won't make a promise about writing faithfully. I will try though. Check back soon.

Well, I have finished my midterms and I am now half way through this quarter. I can't wait to see what my grades are. My son is loving being in jumpstart. He was so excited about going back to school.

Well, I am going to watch TV Land Confidential. They are talking about the Partridge Family.