Music today

Every generation has gripes about the music the "young kids" are listening to, so why should this be any different, you ask?

Maybe I'm getting old OR maybe it's just where I am in my relationship with God that this has finally started bothering me.

Growing up, I always turned to music. I loved getting lost in a song. But as I sit and watch CMT with my girls, I find myself changing the channel more than actually watching it.

For example, a new group, Lady Antebellum. When I was listening to their songs recently and actually pulled up the lyrics to make sure I heard them correctly!

"NEED YOU NOW"
Another shot of whiskey, can't stop looking at the door
wishing you'd come sweeping in the way you did before
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind
For me, it happends all the time

It's a quarter after one, and I'm a little drunk,
And I need you now.
Said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now.
And I don't know how I can do without, I just need you now.

"LOOKIN FOR A GOOD TIME"
Girl, you're beutiful
You're 'bout near perfect
but I bet somebody's already told you that.
Name your poison,
Name your passion
Cause a boy like me just couln't help but ask
Keep on talkin to me baby.
I'm hanging on your every word.
Keep those drinks a comin' maybe
We'll both get what we deser ve
(chorus)
How bout baby we make a promise,
to not promise anything more than one night.
Complicated situations
only get worse in the morning light
Hey, I'm just looking for a good time.

What kind of message are we teaching? I am now more and more aware of what my kids are listening to. With lyrics like this, its no wonder why we're having such issues in society.

Don't get me stared on movies or TV.

I practically turn off the TV during commercials - they scare the crap out of me and the kids! Movies, I don't watch movies... I can't handle the violence, language, or sexual content. My dear friend, Marsha, showed me a great website http://www.pluggedin.com/. It shows the content and values of movies. I use it all the time.

I know there's nothing I can do, except vent, but it just angers me that no one cares what kids hear or watch on TV and movies........

guess I'm just getting old AND the Spirit is working overtime in me! Thank God!! I know my kids will grow up with morals and values. Life is hard enough, so why go into it with the wrong foundation?

Good luck and God Bless you all!

Thursday, May 14th

You know when you wake up on certain days, you know it's not going to be the best of days...

This is how I felt when I woke up on Thursday, I overslept slightly. I knew I didn't have a choice, I had to go to work because I am in training for my new position. I got up and went to work. When I got to the parking lot, i got a call from Shane saying that Katy's stomach was still hurting * tremendously* on the right side.

Katy had told us of simple indigestion on Tuesday and a tummy ache on Wednesday night as she was going to bed, but pushed she made it sound like JUST a tummy ache. So she got a TUMS on Wednesday and the typical question - "did you poop?". I told her if she didn't feel better by Thursday, we would see what else we could do.

When shane called, I had my fears but I still called Mom then the Doctors office for advice. I called work and told them that I had a sick kid and would let then know what was going on as I knew it. We took Katy to the doctor and he said to bring her into the ER. They could better help her than he could.

We got to the ER about 9am and were seen by Dr Linda by 930. She said she was 99.99% positive that Katy had Appendicitis but she would consult with the surgeon. The next 4 hours were a blur of waiting, a CT Scan and more waiting. We were blessed to have our friend Candy, who works in the hospital, stop by and we enjoyed a visit from our Pastor who was visiting another little one from our church.

Finally at 130, we got the word that yes Katy had appendicitis and it was perforated and she was taken to surgery. She wasn't scared at all, she was very brave. Not to mention she had been on pain medication since about 10. My friend Theresa from work came at about 130ish to hang out with us. We took the opportunity to go to the cafeteria and get a bite to eat, then go to the waiting room - and wait!

I was called to the recovery room at about 4 and stayed with Katy until she was moved to the Children's floor, about 5. She was groggy and in pain, but in good spirits. Shane went to get Nicole from daycare and take her home to Theresa who offered to stay the night with her. Shane grabbed a few things and came back for a few hours. We finally got to talk to the doctor at about 930. He said he looked for us, but didn't know what waiting room they stuck us in. He had said that when he opened Katy up, her appendix had ruptured and all but disintegrated. He felt confident that he cleaned everything up and only left his "little punkin" with a little scar.

Shane went home about midnight to get a little rest and I slept on this - interesting fold out cabinet - for a few hours. She is doing much better this morning. She is awake and alert. She has even gotten up to go potty (slowly and carefully) Soon we will have people visiting other than nurses. She is going great and we are all really proud of her!

One year update

Can you believe it's been 1 year?! We arrived in Alaska on April 19, 2008... where has the year gone?

Things are very exciting here! Its been in the upper 40's and low 50's, the snow is gone, the moose are moving around and the girls constantly bug me to to go out ride their bikes - this all means spring is very near!

We have started making spring/summer plans and almost all my Saturdays seem to be full. Mothers day weekend we're going on our first real camping trip. Since we left our trailer in Washington, we bought a tent and are ready to go! Hopefully it won't be too cold. We went to Eklutna Lake to "scope" out the area and get the girls excited. I don't think we will be doing the 13 mile hike to the glacier. 13 mile to the glacier means 13 back and that is just too far in one day!! We've gathered a few friends from work, so it should be fun to fish, hike or just sit around and look at the fire. We can't wait!

Katherine will finish 4th grade soon... I still can't believe that, but you can see that from my other blogs. She just got recently glasses and she LOVES them. Now, most kids don't want glasses and will do whatever they can to avoid wearing them, but not Katherine. She is tickled pink to look like me! I spent my life hearing how much I looked like my mom or even Grandma!

Here is a picture of me at about 24 and my Grandma at about the same age.

and Katherine and I at Bring your Child to work on April 23rd.

Nicole is doing great! She loves to learn. Her new daycare is amazed at her skills. She knows all her letters and her numbers. She is even starting to read. She is always texting her Grandma in Washington or IMing Cyndee on the computer. Anymore, I can't even get on the computer anymore without her running over saying, "I wanna type something."

Shane and I are doing great. We are working seperate shifts, but still find time to have fun! Right now, Shane is on a 930am to 8pm shift. Crappy to say the least! Luckily within the month, he will be going back to a 6am to 330 pm shift. Then we can still have dinner together every night! I have applied for in for a new and different job within Social Security and hopefully find out soon if I got it! I really want to get this promotion to a Claims Representative. Cross your fingers and toes for me!


You know the more I write this, the more it sounds like my annual Christmas letter! This is the only way to let everyone know what all is going on! Feel free to write comments or suggestions for my next posting! I love hearing from y'all too!

Katherine

I am so proud of Katherine. If I don't watch it - I'll cry... ask Shane!

Let me start at the beginning....................

I made a call to Katherine's teacher, we had some concerns that we needed to talk about. Katherine just didn't seem to enjoy the things that she used to about school, especially reading. During our conversation, she stated that she wanted to have Katherine tested.

TESTED!!?? My mind was racing. What on Earth did she want to test her for? ADHD was the first thing that came to mind, then I came to my senses... ADHD - yea right!

Her teacher wanted to test her for IGNITE.

What the heck was IGNITE? Was this some new childhood disease? Is it 'catchy'?

IGNITE is the gifted program. THE GIFTED PROGRAM!??! She said that Katherine was very smart and it was almost as if she was bored in school. Well, that would explain why she didn't enjoy going school anymore. I said I was ok if she was tested and that was about it. The permission slips came home and we waited for the test.

Well, Katherine had the test and I figured it would be 2 or 3 weeks for the results. I was SO surprised when my boss came up to me and said that I had a call on the office line, for Katherine's mom from a gifted teacher. The teacher said that Katherine has been accepted to the IGNITE program and that she was exceptionally smart. By this time I was all but in tears. I couldn't believe what I had just heard. I have never been so proud of her. Katherine later told me that she was ranked in the top 97%. HOLY CRAP!!! I wasn't even smart enough to get tested!!!

Where did she get these smarts from? Me...her Grandma...her "exceptionally smart Aunt Alice"...who knows!

When did they grow up so fast?!

Katherine loves Sugarland and Taylor Swift. This evening for instance, as we are driving down the road listening to a nauseating Taylor Swift sing some song about teardrops and guitars, I hear Katherine in the back seat singing the chorus in very off key tone!!

This of course is no where near as bad as Nicole's favorite songs. Some include Kid Rock's 'All summer long' and Joey and Rory's 'Cheater Cheater'! Which she LOVES to sing at the wrong time and place. Cheater Cheater is not appropriate, say, in church or the middle of Safeway! Maybe they watch too much CMT!

Tonight we went neon bowling. What a blast! Dark bowling alley with flashing lights, loud music and black lights - does Saturday nights get any better than this? Katherine started out bummed out in the beginning. She started off loosing to Nicole (thank goodness for bumpers) then she was elated when she finally ended up beating her! To see the girls rolling an 8 pound ball with no help from anyone... then come running back to sit on my lap to see the pins fall ...... they do need me, the really do!!

I just wish they wouldn't grow up so fast!

Will it or will it not?

Ok, so Mother nature is unpredictable. This should not be anything new.

So why is the top story in Anchorage these days when will Mt Redoubt erupt? Do reporters really think if they keep bugging the scientists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory that they will automatically have an answer. C'mon! The fact that volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters are still unpredictable, is just a reminder that we are living in a very unpredictable time and that we should not become complacent.

We made sure we had all our "volcano survival kit." (as the major stores are promoting) We have our masks to prevent inhalation of ash, flashlights for loss of power and our generator. I could not believe that the area stores are selling these "Survival kits" at a higher price and attempting to make money off a natural disaster. I guess this is true everywhere though. Yes the prices have increased - but for 2 masks the price was twice as much as it was a month ago!!! I know, supply and demand - but this is stupid!!

Since the masks in the hardware stores are for adults, we had to improvise for the kids. We went to my all time favorite store, Walmart, got some fabric and string and I will make masks for the girls. They 'should' look like the masks the Japanese use when they are sick. See, living in Japan actually did me good!

Making the masks are my project for tonight! Wish me luck!!

In the beginning....

This sounds like everyone else's first blog.... "this is my first blog so bear with me....' When did I become just like "everyone else?" Holy crap!

I thought I would start to blog to help others keep up with us here in Alaska! Its been almost a year already. The move was not too bad, expensive, but not too bad. We found a great condo to rent, right in the middle of everything, close to schools and work and a starbucks for the hubby.

We settled into work fairly easy. For Shane, it was just a transfer to the same job - different location. For me, I went from a call center to working in an office. Te principles were similar but the jobs are TOTALLY diferent! I eventually got the hang of it. It's strange, going from a job that I knew alot and was comfortable to knowing NOTHING and feeling like an idiot everyday!

The Katherine is doing well in school. She'd improved tenfold over last year. Maybe it's the new school, maybe it's the teachers - who knows, but I like it! Nicole has finally been enrolled into a daycare center with other kids. She loves it. She has done well and is more animated than ever!

Alaska is BEAUTIFUL!!! When we got off the plane, we got a great view of the snow capped mountains. Its amazing how you think when you think you've seen the most beautiful thing in the world, the next day you see something even more beautiful. God has worked his glorious wonders here and man has not yet destroyed it all the way!

Keep checking back for more!!!