Favorite Time of the Year!!

Although fall is my favorite season, spring is my favorite time of the year. Everything is in bloom, and the color of flowers and trees paints the landscape. I love the warm weather that chases away the brisk cold of winter. But the main reason I love this time of the year is because of the Missions Meeting, a meeting our church has every year in May.

Excitement! All of us at the church feel it as we prepare for our guests. Sometimes we have close to a dozen missionary families that come to our meeting. Most of the time we have about half a dozen missionaries that come to share their burden. Because we try to make their stay comfortable, we always have a lot of work to do.

We can accommodate about 3 families at the church, depending on the size of the family. We have several cleaning days prior to our meeting, inside and out! The men work on the outside, while the women strive to make the inside spotless. One of my favorite parts of the preparation is the hanging of the flags from each country we help send a missionary to.

There's always so much anticipation leading up to the meeting. This year we have some very special guests. The Hof family, who have a Christian film and photography ministry, will be with us. Bro. Hof was with us a couple of years ago and made a wonder DVD set of the meeting. His work is very high quality. When he was with us in '07, he brought 2 of his 5 children with him. This year, his entire family will be coming. We are so exited about this! Our children and other kids from the church fell in love with the Hof kids, even the ones they haven't met in person yet. Sam and Rio came two years ago, and several of the teenagers have kept in touch with them over the past two years. It will be great for the teens to get together again. I am anticipating some very late nights! But that's o.k. Mission's Meeting comes only once a year!

Forum Problems

I'm a people person, but I never dreamed I would have so many "circles" to which I belonged. I'm talking about forums, and they are one of my favorite things to do. Unfortunately, they can be a tad bit time consuming. Actually, I got in over my head. At one point, I belonged to about 8 different forums. It all started when....

A few years ago, actually two, I was diagnosed with an extremely painful condition called Chronic Interstitial Cystitis. Many people think that the term "cystitis" means that the condition is simply characterized by a bladder infection. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is actually no bacteria present.

Anyway, I had a kidney stone in the summer of '07 that landed me in the emergency room. Long story short, I was refered to a Urologist. Even though the stone had passed, I was still having a lot of pain and going to the bathroom about 20+ times a day. I thought I had a bladder infection, but pathology proved different. After a cystoscopy, my Uro diagnosed me with IC. Weirdly enough, I had 6 more kidney stones to contend with, 3 in each kidney. (Yes, I had to pass everyone of them.)

Well, anyway....the sudden onset of this terrible condition caused me to do a great deal of web research. In that research I found some health related forums. Bingo! I could actually find people that had this terrible disease! Up to this point, I had never even heard of IC, much less know anyone that had it. I joined several IC related forums, but then I decided to spread out. I ended up joining one called HysterSister, and then a political forum, and a couple of Baptist forums. I went hog wild!

Now, I'm not into Facebook or Myspace, not my thing. In fact, this blog is the most personal thing I have on the web. But one thing that bothered me was that on the first few forums I joined, I saw people posting their entire name, address, etc. Can we say TMI...too much info!?!?! I always came up with some catchy log in name, but there was no way in this world I would post my real name and address. Too many freaks in the world, and they love to hang out on the internet.

I had one situation where someone sent these weird emails to me, acting as if they knew me and wanted to see me, blah, blah, blah....They kept telling me that they were daily getting closer and closer to my residence. What freaked me out is that the email address it came to was one that I rarely used. In fact, I only used it for all the forums I joined and my Paypal account. (I didn't want my main email address getting bombarded with a bunch of mail that I would rarely read). Another thing that freaked me out was that I was lame on my feet. I had just had foot surgery, and I kept thinking, "Is some nut going to show up at my house? I won't even be able to run!!"

I finally received the "punch line" of the email. What was eerie was the fact that the email address these letters came to were only used to sign up on the 8 or so forums I belonged to. Hmmm.....I finally decided that it had to be one of the forum moderators. Nice...someone was having a lot of fun taunting me.

One of the health forums I belong to just recently had a post about the nonsecure status of that site. People were posting all kinds of panicky responses. You could just about hear them screaming! They were warning people, "Don't post your real name, Don't use your real name as a login name, Don't post your location, Don't talk about your work place! People can trace your address!" One of the members said they could google their login name, and everything they had posted on the health forums came up in the search results.

I was sitting there thinking, DUH! Exactly why I don't use my real name to begin with. It's not that I want to pretend; I just don't know who is behind another computer screen. I have never posted anything that I didn't want others to read. That health forum had a lot of people changing their avatars, screen names, etc. I just sat back and breathed a sigh of relief that I didn't have to worry about a lack of security. If people are ashamed of what they post, it might not be a good idea to post it!

There's been other issues...I've had my password intentionally changed by either a hacker or a moderator. I guess they were having some innocent fun, but it really compromised the integrity of the site. I've had my profile changed without my consent. Needless to say, I don't post of those kind of forums. Actually, I never did. And now I'm glad. What in the world would a rogue hacker or rogue administrator do my with actual words?? My guess is twist them. Whoever it was, they were also writing on other guestbooks and forums under my screen name. I'm not sure what they thought they would accomplish by doing that. I guess some people are hopelessly bored.

Well, I can honestly say that I don't have enough time to post on all the forums I'm a member of. I got so carried away, I can't even remember the web address of some of them! I enjoy engaging in conversation and healthy debate, but it can be way too time consuming. I try to make my blog the primary place of voicing my opinions and concerns. And unless there's a really good hacker out there, I don't have to worry about someone changing or twisting my words.

I've crawled out from under my rock just to say that I do have a kidney stone. And to add insult to injury, it has caused a kidney infection. The nausea hit me yesterday, and the pain has increased over the weekend. The doctor is going to run a test that will identify what type of kidney stones I have. Knowing the answer to that will help prevent further stones.

So, right now I'm on antibiotics and pain meds. I don't have much of an appetite...I hope this will pass soon. I feel just plain 'ole horrible.

That's all folks. Back under my rock....

Work....

The children have been very busy lately. Even though school takes up much of their time, we always have to make time for work, especially yard work!

Jordan using the new weed eater.

Daniel getting the hedge trimmer ready for use.

Daniel picking up the hedge clippings.




This is how the city expects us to bag leaves now. We ended up with 15 30 gallon bags full of leaves and grass.

....And Play

After a long week of school (and yard work for the Whitman kids), the young people of the Church got together for a day at the park. Softball, football, and of course, food!!!

The guys enjoying lunch after a game of baseball.

Savannah enjoying her lunch!


Timothy eating a GARGANTUAN sandwich.

All the little youngin's!

Brandon taking a much needed rest.

Brandon holding a captive audience.

Amanda and Hunter holding hands...how sweet!

The Top 20 Reasons to Homeschool

Some of you may have seen this before, but I thought it was worth posting on this blog. Of course, these aren't my primary reasons for home education, but they're honorable mentions!!

The Top 20 Reasons to Home School

20. Your kids never tell you that you're a lot dumber than their teacher.

19. If you can't find matching socks for your child first thing in the morning, who cares?

18. Cleaning out the refrigerator can double as chemistry lab.

17. Your kids never have a reason to think they'll get beat up by a gang at school.

16. If the principal gives the teacher a bad evaluation, she can stick her icy feet against his legs at night.

15. You can post the Ten Commandments on your school room wall, and you won't get sued.

14. You never have to drive your child's forgotten lunch to school.

13. Your child will never go to their 20th high school reunion, meet an old flame, and recklessly abandon their marriage.

12. You get to change more than diapers, you get to change their minds.

11. If you get caught talking to yourself, you can claim you're having a PTA meeting.

10. It's better to be slightly concerned about socialisation than very concerned about socialism.

9. Your child will never suffer the embarrassment of group showers after PE.

8. The only debate about the school lunch program is whose turn it is to cook.

7. You never have to face the dilemma of whether to take your child's side or the teacher's side in a dispute at school.

6. If your child gets drugs at school it's probably Tylenol.

5. The teacher gets to kiss the principal in the faculty lounge and no one gossips.

4. Your kids recognize that this list is numerically in reverse order.

3. Your honour student can actually read the bumper sticker that you have put on your car.

2. If your child claims that the dog ate his homework you can ask the dog.

1. Some day your children will consider you to be a miracle working expert and will turn to you for advice.

Tsk Tsk Tsk...

How long has it been now??

I can see from my stat counter that some of you wonderful readers have been checking in every day to see a new post, only to be sorely disappointed. I'm truly sorry. Shame on me...but really, I have been insanely busy.

My dear husband has been very sick. He has been out of work for a couple of days. He seems to have a nasty upper respiratory infection; those things take forever to get over. And antibiotics don't really help. Over the past couple of days, he's been inhaling alot of chicken noodle soup and resting as much as possible. Poor thing...he's worn out! He preaches with every fiber of his being, and doing so on top of this crud he's nursing is making it difficult to get well.

I'm feeling some better since my surgery. But...I went to my Uro on Friday, and it seems I have very few options for treating my IC. The surgery wasn't an overwhelming success, so we have now moved on to a new treatment, pretty close to being the last option. Since I can't take Elmiron orally, I am now having to do self cath injections. I won't go into detail, but if you want to ask questions, fire away.

On top of starting "new" treatments, I have been having a lot of pain in my right side. The Uro found the presence of protein in my last urinalysis, which probably means kidney stones. Lovely, I say. I had a CT scan today, so maybe I will know something by Thursday. This sounds terrible, but I hope it's a kidney stone. If not, protein in the urine could mean Lupus related nephritis. ****shudder****

The thyroid issue still isn't resolved, but at least I know it isn't cancer. Thank You, Lord! I will get a second opinion from an ENT and maybe even have my esophagus scoped again, just to make sure there is no other issue causing the problem. If I can possibly live with these symptoms just to keep my thyroid, I will.

Spring!! It's here and it's beautiful! I plan on planting this year since I completely missed out on it last year. Dreaded foot surgery....I've missed alot over these two feet of mine!

If we can ever have a dry spell for a few days, the boys are going to cut and bag the lawn, bag leaves, and clean the gutters. Some of the leaves have already been bagged, but I recently found out that the city will no longer pick up leaves in plastic bags. They aren't biodegradable. We now have to put them in paper bags. (This explains the reason I had a 'lone bag' for so long-please refer to post titled 'The Lone Bag.')

Oh yes! I have some new patterns for Savannah. I found a super easy pattern for a nice Sunday dress. I haven't settled on a fabric yet, but I think I might go for the black w/tiny white polka dots fabric at Hancock's. I'm trying to let my dear daughter make the choice herself, but her main interest is comfort. As long as it's not too frilly and lacey, she will be pleased.

I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN the "Seasons" series. I have four more chapters to post, but honestly, it is such an emotional thing to write about, it drains me. I will have "A Time to War" by Sunday.

TTFN...hopefully it won't be as long until my next post!

Some News...

My endocrinologist called with good news today. The biopsy showed no malignancy, Thank the Lord! However, I still need bloodwork to determine whether or not I have Hashimoto's disease. The only problem is, the question of why I feel like I am choking has not been answered.

The endo suggested that I see an ENT before I opt for a thyroidectomy. She felt like we needed complete reassurance that there is absolutely nothing else wrong. I suppose I will be seeing an ENT within the next few weeks. Dr. Harris doesn't think they will find anything any different.

It seems that all other doctors are figuring that my problems are coming from my thyroid, yet the endo thinks my thyroid isn't swollen enough to cause such problems. She did tell me that I could possibly be the "atypical" patient that shows greater symptoms even without huge enlargement.

Wouldn't that be just like me? Atypical?

Appt. with Endocrinologist

Well, I'm back from my first appointment with the endo. I am pleased with the doctor. At first I was a little put out because I didn't feel like she was listening to me. But after some time talking with her, I was much more at ease.

Unexpectedly, she did the FNA Biopsy today. YIKES! All I had heard was how painful this was. She offered to send me to the hospital, but I would have had to wait until Tuesday of next week. So, I decided to bite the bullet, endure whatever pain I must, and have it done today.

The biopsy wasn't too terribly bad. The lidocaine to numb my neck was like a bee sting, a bad one! She had the pass the needle through my neck 4 times to get adequate sampling, which was pretty good. They often have to do it 5-6 times to get enough cells to send to the lab. The third pass through was the most painful, but I managed to stay calm. I should have the results by next Wednesday.

Basically, Dr. Harris says my thyroid is functioning normally and that the low TSH was because of the contrast in my system from my previous CT. She feels there is a possibility of Hashimoto's, which will be confirmed by this biopsy. Of course, she is looking for malignancy.

If the biopsy comes back with no malignancy and no Hashi's, then I would have to decide whether or not I want to have my thyroid removed in order to alleviate the symptoms of neck pain, choking, hoarseness, and difficulty swallowing. She isn't very impressed with the size of my goiter, so she said there is a possibility that my thyroid isn't causing the problems I'm having. ????????? We have checked for everything else. I just can't imagine what else it could be. We know it's not reflux, allergies, or asthma. There are also no other growths in my neck that would be pushing against my esophagus. It's a mystery, and to be honest, I hope to get an answer. It's no fun going to the doctor, hoping that you will get an answer, only to face more uncertainty.

But for now, that's all we have...uncertainty. Hopefully on Tuesday, I will have an answer that will at least rule out cancer.