Just a hat rack today folks!

This is going to be a short post.. but oh the hilarity that will ensue! I don't think I told you that after school ended, I taught summer school for 3 weeks. It is a "gifted and talented" program that these kids come to and we get to make up classes for them to take. For instance, I got to teach the kids American Sign Language. (And before you ask.. yes, I do know sign language.) Ok, so back to the story, the kids get to pick out the classes they WANT to take.. that becomes important later.
So school starts and for the first time, I had boys in my class. Yeah, that was interesting. The girls seem to pick it up and most of the boys did ok, some had a little trouble. But I try to make the class really fun and we play games and work on puzzles etc. I mean, if they aren't gonna have fun, then what's the point right? So at the end of the program, the kids are required to fill out a form that asks them questions like: Did you like all your classes? Which classes did you take that you didn't particularly like? You see where it is going....
So one of the girls in my class, (who did quite well mind you) fills out the form and when asked what class she didn't like, here is her response:

"I did not like my American Sign Language class. All we did was do stuff with our hands the whole class."

........I'll give you a minute to fully digest that statement.......

So folks, just to let you know... not ALL kids who are in the "gifted and talented" programs are just that. Some are genuinely really smart and use their brains, and then there are some who just use it as a hat rack.

Sick and Sicker...

So Makayla and I are sick right, although she has it a little worse than me. On top of that, I might just qualify for the Worst Mommy of the Year Award. Yesterday Makayla had a Dr. 's appointment to get her last Hep. shot and we had to get some forms filled out for school. So in the morning, we went outside and she wanted to swing, I get her up in the swing when something starts buzzing around us. I thought it was just a bug, so I swat it away, big mistake. Next thing I know, it freaking stings me on the hand and then I see Makayla holding her leg and saying, "Mommy, owie." I promptly remove her from the swing and we rush inside so I can inspect her. She ended up getting stung on her leg, poor thing. I still can't tell you what the hell it was. I know it wasn't a wasp or bee... it was smaller and thinner... my husband thinks it was a mud dobber, but oh well. So I put some bendryl on it and we headed to the Dr. I had them check out her bite, but they said she wasn't having a reaction thank goodness. Then it came time for her shot... I felt so horrible making her get that after everything else. But they gave her a lollipop afterwards and she uttered the cutest thing ever.

Mommy: "Makayla, how's that lollipop? Do you feel better?"
Makayla: "Mmmm...it's delicious!"
Mommy: (Laughing too hard to respond)

Where did she learn that word? I have never heard her say it before, but it was pretty darn funny nonetheless. Well we get home and her poor nose is just a faucet and I can't seem to stop it, but I pumped her full of drugs and I think she is a little better today.

Me, on the other hand, not so much. I am at that point where you feel like crap, but don't have a temp. or anything. But you feel just well enough to still function. Yeah, that's a great place to be. I hate that! My body needs to make up it's freaking mind, either be sick or not.. On the other hand, I do have to give it props because I rarely get sick, so thank you dear body for not emitting nasty unmentionable things from thine self and keeping me functioning for my child's sake. We do appreciate it. Now if you could find the time to maybe discard some fat or cellulite, that would be just AWESOME! Love ya!

The one where I tell you about the "C" word...

Hello all! I hope you had a good holiday weekend! Mine was good! Hubby and I took The Princess to see her first fireworks show on Friday and man, was it worth it!!! She kept saying, "Mommy, Daddy, LOOK!!! Whoa.. a big one!!! Look, look!!!" It was so precious!

Well, I am going to dive into a deeply personal subject that I have yet to talk about until now. I feel I can share this with you all since it is a subject that many of you have probably have dealt with in one way or another. In January of 2007, my mom was having some abdominal pains and figured it was her appendix. She dealt with the pain for a week or two, but then it just became unbearable. We took her to the ER one evening and the docs did a CAT scan and sure enough it was her appendix. It had a small hole in it, but had appeared to seal itself over so she was in the clear until the morning. They scheduled her for a routine appendectomy. The next morning arrived and they wheeled her into surgery. The Dr. assured us that it would be very routine and that she would be out of surgery in 45 min. Well, an hour came and went and I wasn't too worried. Then and hour and a half went by, and I started to get nervous. All of a sudden, the Dr. comes out and he doesn't look real happy. I start bombarding him with 20 questions, but he stops me and says, "I have some news." You know that's never good. He explained that when he opened her up, her appendix which is normally the size of your pinky, was the size of a grapefruit. She had a mass inside her appendix and this very experienced Dr. had never seen anything like that before. He immediately took a small slice off and sent it to pathology and they confirmed it as Cancer. He said it looked bad since it was so big and since her appendix had a small hole it in, some of the cancer cells had leaked into her abdomen. He said he would try and get everything out and I shooed him off to go fix my mother ASAP. After another hour or so, he came out and said he had gotten everything he could see out, but that Mom would probably have to do some chemo just to make sure.
After 6 weeks of recovery, we take her to an oncologist and it turned out to be Stage 2 Appendiceal Cancer. We get her started on chemo and luckily it is the kind where she won't lose her hair or make her very sick. So she takes it for six months, but after a while, she starts getting more and more weak. They do a PET scan and found no signs of cancer in her body, so they decide she can stop the chemo. They will keep doing PET scans every 6 months or so to just keep an eye on her. So this past January, she had another scan and sure enough, she is still cancer free. That marked her as being in 1 year remission! YES!!! So, several weeks ago, she had her bi-yearly scan, and sure enough, she is STILL cancer free! I can't describe how ecstatic I am. We are just so thrilled that she has had such a positive outcome! I know that unfortunately, some do not fare as well, which is what scared the hell out of me. I can honestly say, I don't know what I would do without my mom. She is like a best friend to me.. corny, I know but true. However, this has not always been the case. I did have my obnoxious teen years where she and I NEVER got along and I swore to never be anything like my mom. But as I got older and saw that hey, she wasn't so bad after all! Then I had a child of my own, a daughter no less and everything changed. How in the world did she put up with me?? Now Makayla is a pretty good child, but has her moments and I saw just how important being a mom and having your mom by your side really is.
Ok, I now this was kinda of a downer post, but I just thought I would get all this out there now, in case I referenced my mom/cancer in future posts.

Happy Birthday America!!!

Happy 4th of July everyone!!! I hope you all have a really awesome day and stay safe and don't light yourself on fire with the fireworks! Ha!

Mama's Top 10 List

Howdy friends... I realized the other day I had not posted anything in a while. Sorry for the absence, I have been neck deep in Toddlerville and it has been interesting. So interesting in fact, it prompted me to come up with a Top 10 List of things I have liked and disliked during Makayla's Terrible Two's stage. And away we go....

Top 10 Things I Love

1.) She started saying "I love you" seriously... so sweet I want to cry every time I hear it
2.) We can finally communicate with her and she can verbalize what she wants now!
3.) She loves helping us out in and around the house
4.) She eats just about anything we give her (you have no idea how great this really is)
5.) The fact that she finds most everything hilarious!
6.) Whenever she gets scared or gets a "boo boo" she calls for me, not my husband (That's right!)
7.) I can finally fix her hair all different ways!
8.) She is just an all around sweet and kind little girl
9.) Her hugs and kisses
10.) We can play games with her

Top 10 Things I Can Do Without

1.) The meltdowns
2.) When we are out in public and she tries to run around like a hooligan
3.) When she refuses to take a nap and sits in her room and screams
4.) When we ask her not to do something, and she keeps right on doing it
5.) Every once in a while, she just refuses to eat what we give her
6.) Sometimes she gets a hold of my stuff and tries to destroy it
7.) Every once in a while, she will try to hit one of our animals (big no no in our house)
8.) The 2 times she smeared poo on her walls... (yeah, that's all I am gonna say about that)
9.) When I am trying to hurry out the door and she won't cooperate
10.) Her new found love of spitting out any drink she has in her mouth (grrrr)

Ok folks, so there you have it.. now you basically know what a day in the life of Mama G entails, because usually most of this stuff happens on a daily basis! Haha!