The one where I totally ramble on because that's what I do best.

I know, I know. I left everyone in the lurch this last week. *hangs head in shame*. Very heartfelt apologies. It has been one of "those" weeks. Who'm I kidding? It's pretty much been one of "those" summers and to tell the truth fall is not looking to be much better. So this post will be a long one and a bit of a mash-up as I catch you all up on what's going down in Spot Town.

Monday I had an MRI on the right knee because it does pretty much the same as the left and if I'm going to get one fixed I might as well try to hit the two for one deal, right? I mean walking is highly overrated, right? Seriously, you save money if you combine surgeries because they only charge you once for the operating room, anesthesia, ect. A surgeon taught me this several years ago. And besides the monetary savings, I only have to freak out once this way. And if you've been here since the beginning you know how bad being put under freaks me out. After the MRI, we headed to Springfield, met my folks at Texas Roadhouse (thanks for dinner Mom & Dad!!). It was super yummy and we had a great time. Then we picked up CJ from his house and headed home. Unfortunately, due to a communication snafu between his school and his home they had already given him his night meds. Which means when we got home at eleven, he was wide awake. He didn't fall asleep til 2:30 am. Which means I didn't get to sleep til then. And while he woke up bright and chipper at 8:30, my butt was dragging.

In spite of that we had a great day. We swam in the lake. CJ does a vicious dog-paddle which he learned at the age of two and still continues to manage to propel himself through the water with. We took golf cart rides through camp (his favorite) and then made a trip to town to run a few errands and pick up pizza. And CJ got his haircut at the salon. This is monumental. He hates haircuts and starts freaking the minute you turn on the clippers. But if we don't cut his hair he grows this wild Harpo Marx 'do. The girl was amazing. She spoke softly and reassuringly, let him hold her hand and warned him before she did anything like "I'm going to turn the chair just a bit now". And it worked. Which was a huge relief.

Wednesday Mike & I had to run to town in the morning for an appointment, so Luke accompanied CJ down into camp to hang out with Lu and her campers. I think this was an eye opening experience for Luke who has not spent alot of time around people with disabilities but he did well. After Mike & I returned we swam again and took more rides.

And Thursday CJ accompanied Mike and Luke to camp while they ran the zip line and I took Lu to the doctor. Mike tried to get CJ to ride the zip line. No go. I warned him. That afternoon we took CJ back to his house and I cried. It's so hard to leave him when we've had a great visit. We've decided that when he turns 21 we will move him to a group home in the nearby town so that we can see him more frequently.

On to Lu's doctor visit. Her counts have dropped back down to 50,000. They have to be brought up for the surgery so we start IVIG treatments again on Monday. She was not happy, but she seems to be taking it in better stride. Mostly she hates missing work and spending hours at the hospital (um Me too!). They will spread it out over five days this time in hopes of lessening her side effects. Fingers crossed. The surgery is getting closer though and this last treatment should keep her boosted up enough for the surgery. They will take a blood test that morning to be sure and they will have blood and platelets standing by in the operating room should they need them. She will be in the hospital about 5-6 days. So you know where I will be as well. And then at home recuperating for several weeks. I guess the silver lining is that I will get to spend some quality time with my daughter before she heads out to start her life.

Wondering about Sean? Yeah, it's cool, I know you are. He called me Sunday from the hotel in Virginia. He enjoyed Gettysburg and took pictures for me. Then he called me again Friday night. He was pretty psyched about scuba diving. And he'd just attended a Jewish religious service. Apparently he was quite impressed because it was fun. They sang and danced.

Me: So are you going to become Jewish now?

Sean: No. Probably not. But if we have the chance to attend a service somewhere around where we live, I'm totally gonna take you. I think you'd like it. And I will never make fun of Jewish people again. I'm still wearing my yarmulke. And we're eating dinner with some Jewish boy scouts so I'm totally eating kosher.

Me: Let me know how that goes. What else did you do today?

Sean: I did some archery. I really suck at it. Then we did air rifles, tomahawk throwing and knife throwing. I'm pretty good at throwing tomahawks and knives.

Me: You get that from me. And that will come in pretty handy during the zombie apocalypse. I can back you up with the archery, I'm pretty good at it. Plus I throw darts like no body's business.

Sean: I think I'm just going to go with a flamethrower in the zombie apocalypse.

Me: Why? You know flames don't kill them and then they just end up setting things on fire.

Sean: I read that blog by the Bloggess too. I'm not going to set them on fire inside my house. And I will for sure close the chimney flue.

Because, no matter how far away he is, he realizes the importance of preparing for the zombie apocalypse. I've taught him well. I may or may not be a little miffed though that he's managed to text a pretty girl the whole time, but not his mama. Rude. They leave the Jamboree Wednesday morning and head for DC. Look out Washington, hear comes Sean.

So lately I've been doing something that I thought I would never in a million years do. Forgetting to eat. For real. I seriously never thought I would forget food. But without Sean to remind me that it's time to cook, I've actually been skipping quite a few meals. I realize sometime in the afternoon (when I get dizzy) that I haven't eaten. I'm also eating less at meals. You'd think that would translate into losing weight wouldn't you? Um. No. The scale refuses to budge. Even when I call it nasty names. I'm also crankier. Seriously, Friday I had to go through a 4 1/2 hour virus removal with the company we get our computer security from. And I had to be here the whole time. I was so cranky that day I threatened to rip some one's arm off and beat them about the head with it. And yesterday? Well, I had to grocery shop. Alone. On a Saturday. I came to the conclusion that I do not really like the general public anymore. Although, I did let an elderly gentleman go in front of me in line because he'd already checked out once and forgot to get ice. I do that every. damn. time. So I let him ahead of me so his ice wouldn't melt. He called me a sweetie. I figured I needed the Karma points since I was going through the express lane with 24 items instead of 20. C'mon, those lines were long!! Anyway, I've concluded that the crankiness is a direct effect of low blood sugar so I'll probably try harder to remember to eat. Now I'm staying chubby to save lives. Is there no end to my generosity??

Happy Sunday,
♥Spot

The one where we learn the phrase "Apocalypse-worthy"

Just when you think things are beginning to percolate along in a much more manageable fashion, WHAM! you're blindsided with a summer cold. Yes, Universe, I hear your infinite wisdom loud and clear "Slow Down Spot!" Got it. And I did. I rested for two days. And really Universe, sorry, but that's the max allowance of time I can devote to me right now. I have readers to satisfy, you know??

So since the last blog was all about how bad things were going, this is going to be about how good things are now going. Mike is still healing well and chafing at the bit to get back to work. Some things will still take a while though. As our friend B so eloquently put it the other day "you get up like an old man". Ha! He does still move slower and rather guardedly. And he doesn't have a quarter of the strength he used to have. We went grocery shopping yesterday and I seriously missed Sean, my usual grocery helper. I mean, it was kind of great that Mike didn't throw things at me in the aisle or push me into displays, but Sean lifts all the heavy stuff (cat litter, cat food, dog food, soda cubes). Mike and I took turns struggling with the heavy stuff. And it took way longer to unload. He has his next appointment next week and I think they may let him go back to work.

Lu is doing good. Her side effects cleared up and she's back down in camp. I saw her briefly yesterday and she looked good. Her appointment is Thursday, so I guess we'll see what her counts are then. Hopefully they will be high.

My cold is clearing up. Mike and I are still getting to spend alot of time together and we haven't killed each other yet. He is getting kind of smart-assed, but then I'm used to that. Yesterday we had this conversation~

Me: So I submitted my favorite story I've written to my publisher friend. But now I'm super nervous. What if she hates it?? What if she hates it so much she doesn't even want to see my novel anymore??

Mike: Then you'll know you're a loser and you'd better learn to flip burgers for a living.

Me: You're such a flippin jackhole! (Jackhole is my new word. It's a combination of Jack-ass and Asshole, without actually cussing so you can use it anywhere, even church. Yes, you can use my word.)

Of course he didn't mean it. He just thought he was being funny. And I did laugh when the shock wore off. But the good news is I'm still submitting. The growing pile of rejection notices is not swallowing my ego. Yet.

And, remember how I said I got a new-to-me SUV? Well I love that car. Seriously. Love driving it. And I just got a new freelance gig that completely makes the car payment each month. How sweet is that? I'm writing articles for a new website. As soon as it's up and running I will post a link on my sidebar. I'd still like a job doing book reviews though, so if you hear of any, you know who to email, right?!

And then, there's my upcoming interview! Yes, apparently one of you thought I was interesting enough to nominate at Say Anything. I've been interviewed by Dee and the interview will be up on July 22nd! Most of you already know me plenty well enough, but maybe we'll be joined by a few new readers. Anyway, to whoever nominated me...thank you, smooches and hugs.

Now...to the best part of this post...As you know, Sean decided to work Cub Resident Camp this year. He was a counselor up at the other Camp during the Cub Scout camp outs and I think he divided his time between helping at the pool and teaching a Scout Craft class (you know, knot-tying, wood working, that kind of thing). Well, one night in between sessions, this conversation ensued~

Luke: So what happened with Twister Girl?

Me: Who's Twister Girl??

Sean: She's this girl on staff that kept trying to get me and K to play Twister with her and her friend. And I told her I only play naked Twister. The next week she brought her Twister game.

Luke: Alright! So what happened?

Me: Hussy! Those are the girls your mother warned you about Sean!

Sean: You didn't warn me about any girls.

Me: Crap. Parenting Fail.

Sean: Anyway, nothing happened. I could lose my job for that. I could lose my job if she even set foot in my tent.

Lu: And that stopped you?

Sean: Well, she really wasn't Apocalypse worthy anyway.

Me: Apocalypse worthy?

Sean: Yeah. I've decided to start making decisions based on how it will affect me in the Zombie Apocalypse. K and I figured it out. She seemed like the kind of girl who would only be a hindrance in the event of Apocalypse.

Me: meaning?

Sean: I think she'd just stand around screaming. An apocalypse worthy girl has to be able to run fast, shoot a gun, and come up with good plans. She needs to smart and kick-ass.

Lu: Am I apocalypse worthy?

Sean: Of course. You've even already got zombie ass kicking boots.

Lu: It's true. I do.

Me: I can shoot a gun in real life, it's just your games that freak me out.

Luke: How about me?

Lu: Sorry hun. You don't know how to shoot. And mom, you don't run very fast.

Me: So basically, this is what you're going to need in a girl you date?

Sean: Yep.

Me: You realize you've just really narrowed the playing field, right?

Sean: Gotta do what you gotta do.


Are you apocalypse worthy?
♥Spot