I really bite at this blogging thing........

I have let yet another month go by without a single blog entry! AND so much has happened!



Lets see I will try order so that I will remember it all......



Elliot is definitely in the throes of soccer. He has one more game (last game of the season was rained out so it is a make-up game) in his regular season and supposedly several "friendly" games with teams we played during regular season. He has proven himself once again that he thinks he is invincible on the field. He chases the ball with a passion and determination that is catching to his teammates. He passes, dribbles, shoots, and puts himself in the way of the opposition with skill that amazes me. He catches up to and passes boys that have at least 4 to 6 inches on his stride and at least 30 pounds more in muscles. When I say he is tenacious I am not exaggerating. His coach will often stand amazed after a particularly hard hit on the head by either the ball or an opposing player as Elliot will jump up exclaiming "I'm good" while resuming his enthusiastic approach to play. He has been targeted during games by opponents that out weighed him, out jumped him, out ran him, but in the end he held his head high and knew he stood his ground. To quote his coach "That is one tough little son of a gun". I love to watch him play. In case you can't tell, I am very proud of his accomplishments on the field and then there is the off the field accomplishments also. Ell has been an A/B student since kindergarten. He has not reduced his committment to inteligence while improving his athletic skills. He also excels in friendships. I worried when we moved that I would take Elliot out of his comfort zones and make him start over. I felt he would be fine, but I never realized how easily people would attach to him. He draws you to him. He is that kind of person.



Then my sweet Leenie amazes me daily as she grows as a woman and yet always stays my little girl. She has concentrated on singing this year as her extra-curricular activity.

I was interuppted last May when I began this blog by life I am sure.

It is now December 2010. So much has happened. So much to tell. I am afraid that I will not be blogging publicly for a while. Not that I have been that great at it. :)

We are all okay and getting ready for our 3rd Christmas here in Tuscaloosa.

Merry Christmas ya'll.

Brought everyone up to my birthday........

So June came and went pretty uneventful. Things happened at work to keep me busy busy. We bought a van. Well a month and week later we are still trying to buy a van. We actually were approved, picked one out, drove it for a few days only to discover it had issues. Then after 3 weeks (almost 4) of waiting we received replacement #1. Not happy at all with the service the attitude and there are still issues. We had loaner #1 for over a week and just got replacement #1 back today. Sounds complicated and aggravating right?!

The long story short of the van issue is that sometime in August, I got the van I have been paying for and didn't have to take it back more than twice. I will never buy a vehicle from Car Max again. I miss living in a small town where I know the car lots and dealers! Next one we buy I don't care how long it takes or if I have to drive to Brookhaven to get it, it will be bought there!

Now for those of you following this blog you realize this post was started in JULY. It is now March 2010! SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED!

I am not sure bloggin and me agree! ha ha.......

RECAP by month......

August, finally got the van, school started back, Elliot still in soccer, Coleen in Choir. The world is sane and getting back on kilter for Ian and me. Worked thru issues, yes we still want to be married :)

September, started out okay ended in heartache worry and undiagnosed illness. 6 months later we are finally with doctors who want to figure out what is wrong and fix it.

October, spent our 5th anniversary in the hospital. Ian is still having episodes but the doctors he sees during all this time say it is psuedo-seizures and he needs a shrink. We muddle thru. He isn't working. I am stressed to the max. Soccer is great, Choir is kicking along. Coleen decided to try out for All State.

November, Ian is stabolizing a little. He still has episodes but we are now at least discussing him going back to work. Thanksgiving is coming up we will see. I feel like at times I am a dog chasing its tale. Got to go home for Thanksgiving. It was awesome as usual. I really miss my family. I know that they don't realize how much I miss them but I really do. I could have crawled into Aunt Terry's lap and cried the entire weekend but I am stronger than that. I needed the away time. It did help. I felt more centered than I have in a while.

December, horrible tragedy for my boss and her family. Her brother in law was killed in an act of violence that so completely baffles the mind that no one will ever be able to explain it. He was a police officer in a Birmingham subdivision. He pulled over a man for speeding. NOT in a hood. A well to do surburb, nice car, guy driving it was a pharmacist. Nothing to worry about right. IN what has been discribed as a civil conversation between him and the idiot/psycho the man makes the comment that his own brother is a fellow officer in another Birmingham subdivision. Phillip offers to call the man's brother so that he will not hear his car being called in over the radio to tell him what is happening and the man just shot him. In the face. Nothing provoked. No reason at all. A speeding ticket. So you can imagine the horror we have all dealt with as friends. And then there is the worry I naturally feel for everyone I know and love that also wear a uniform and pull people over. Please Jason Kelly always take precautions. Josh you too and all your friends. It is a horrible waste. Phillip was 32 I think. Has a baby girl and boy, both under 3.

So we all muddled thru December. Ian went back to work the end of November. Elliot's team played in the state championship games again and made it to the final 4. They had been moved up to a new age bracket but they still made a good showing. I am very proud of Elliot and not just for the soccer. He is really smart as well! He and Coleen both were on A/B Honor Roll 1st semester!

January, COLEEN TURNED 16. I will have to post a separate blog to show the pictures from her bash we held for her. It was a lot of work but she really seemed to enjoy herself that night. I was very happy to find my bed!

February, lets just say I survived it. That is (refer to an older blog) the hardest month at my job. My boss is still not 100%. I don't blame her. I also have been at my job for 3 filing seasons now so more was expected of me. I am very happy to say I did not disappoint anyone. I also was able to get Ian to see the Neurology Dept doctors at UAB in Birmingham. The drive there and back was a little unnerving. I haven't really driven in a huge city since my days in Memphis and swim meets. Anyway, the doctors were awesome. They are determined to find out what is causing Ian's episodes. They mentioned several things including a conversion disorder. Dr. Sung says that if it is indeed a conversion disorder he will personally recommend a psychiatrist and follow Ian's progress. He said we would need to be prepared for INTENSE therapy if that was the finding because in his experience anything causing such intense disruptive physical seizures in Ian was going to be very deep and repressed. HE WAS NOT DISMISSIVE like the other doctors have been. For those that may not know, Ian was diagnosed several years ago with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus. The doctors here (and I agree with them) do not believe he has NPH. Dr. Walker says he has congenital hydrocephalus (he was born with it) and it has gone undiagnosed his entire life. Of course Hydrocephalus is still Hydrocephalus. I am just glad that they have taken NPH off the table. It is very dibilitating/rapid loss of mobility and memory. So we are definitely dealing with hydrocephalus. That does not explain the seizures/episodes that Ian has continued to have since September. It is hard to describe them. They are not grand mal seizures. We know that. Hopefully we have found the place and the doctors that will find out what they are and how to treat them!

I have brought you all up to speed or at least up to March 2010! woo hoo......

I solemly swear I will try to do better.

Oh did I mention sometime in the mix of all this, My ANT & LULU became pregnant. Our little Minnie Mouse/Mickey Mouse will join us around the end of July! yes Addy chose the name. :)

ooppss... then a month was gone!

I promised I was going to do better with this posting business. It is not going so well so far. Maybe this month will be the turn around. I have been very busy amassing loads of new memories though. Let's see I left ya'll right around Anthony's birthday. That will be my first memory.

We called Ant on his birthday (he was working and not at home)! I miss my son so very much. He is my best friend and I never get to see him now. And yes Quinn, you are my heart and soul, but Ant understands me cause he was there helping me so much of the time when you were off at Maggie-May's playing! He came home the first weekend of June and we celebrated his birthday then. Here are a few pictures!

So then he left after we swam, ate, and enjoyed each other's company. I missed him the minute he walked out my door. I know that I am not the only mother writing on this blog, but your first baby is the one that always seems to be leaving you! Just makes me sad, although I promise I am so very proud he is independent and so able!

While Anthony and Karen were here visiting, my dads brother, Truman, passed away. He was just recently diagnosed with lung cancer and had been hospitalized mostly since. It is always sad to me when someone diagnosed with cancer succumbs to their illness. I did not attend any of the services. Some folks probably find fault with that. I just found myself in the position that it was not possible for me to plus I felt my presence would not have helped anyone. My dad and he were close but I have never really cared for him. He had problems. He is dead now and if anything, I know that it is very poor form to speak ill of the deceased. I will just close this memory by saying that I am very sad he became sick with cancer. I would not wish it on anyone. I am very sad that my father no longer has his brother as a companion. He is alone again. I hope that anyone that reads my blog and smokes cigarettes will think about quitting. I know that is not the only cause of lung cancer, but it is a major one. In this instance it was the culprit with both my mom and Truman. Stop if you do. Don't ever start if you don't.

So then we muddled through until my birthday. It was pretty much an uneventful day. I worked. My boss, Vickie, took the office out to lunch to celebrate. We ate at Mug Shots. It was delicious! I was so stuffed all afternoon. The night before (my birthday was on a Friday and Ian is off on Thursdays but works on Fridays) Ian and I went to eat suppers at Lupe's and to see a movie. It was our first date in a very long time and judging how it went, it might be our last one for a while. I am not one to discuss our issues, so no I will not go into them now. We had a pleasant enough time. Things are just a little odd at the time with us. Ian, I think, is having some separation issues that he refuses to deal with. Anyway, we saw "The Proposal". It was very good. So I did have a nice birthday. No cake or fanfare, but my kind of birthday.

That night I began to wonder down memory lane in search of pictures of friends I have recently re-acquainted myself with on facebook. Here's one I found.

Yes this is me, before it all. Carefree and happy at an Alpha Sig function I went to as a pledge. I never did make it all the way to "sisterhood". I quit school, joined the Navy, got pregnant, got married, got in an accident, ya da ya da ya da........... I was 19 in this picture. My very dear friend, who happened also to be my date that night, Bob Ivey, took the picture. He was telling me to show a little leg! We had so much fun that night, dancing and being crazy. Anyway, that is how I spent the first night of my 45th year. Remembering........ Here are a couple others.

This is Richard Larson, Theresa Dubison-Larson, me, and Bob. We were a double date that night. Theresa was my big sis. I started out with Gretchen Ulerich, but she finished school before I was half way thru my pledge semester. Theresa was Gretchen's big sis, so by default she got me! poor girl! We were also roomies my last semester at USM. This was the semester I met Chris. We had a lot of fun together she and I! I am enjoying talking with her and Richard now that we have re-connected!

This is Celeste Miller. Her family hosted all of us that night at our formal. IT was about 20 all together, boys and girls. No one slept! We really had a great time that night.

I hope ya'll didn't mind my indulgence too much!

CRMS Yearbook signing......

I know you are thinking how odd. Someone has written on Elliot's face and legs. How did this happen? Was he mugged by sharpie wielding maniacs?

Yes as a matter of fact he was!

Does he look overly bothered by it? Of course not. He actually paid money to be able to allow his classmates to sign various parts of his exposed skin. Why did he do this and not allow them to sign his white t-shirt he wore to school that day? Because he is Elliot! ha ha....

Hope ya'll enjoyed these pictures as much as I did. His skin was raw from scrubbing it all off and yes he missed a couple of spots. Notice the place of honor he allowed his little friend, Cate to sign. She had actually signed and initialed in all the prime spots on his face. I think she was making sure everyone knew she was the first! Ha ha.....

Mother's Day

From my last post you can see what happened in my world on Mother's Day. Elliot had travelled with another family for the tournament that weekend so it was just me and Coleen at home. We both had a terrible cold so Quinn and the babies did not dare come over. Ian was the last to get it the next week. I did however get some beautiful flowers from Leeny & Otters.

The flowers were quite lovely but as can be seen from the photo several of them were wilted upon arrival. Ian had used an online service to order the flowers. He was very upset at the quality of flower that was delivered. He had on a couple of occassions in the past used online ordering services and had never had a problem. The company was very gracious to replace the flowers with another item. I chose a spa basket that was full of scrumptious smelling soaps and candles.

Mother's day is a very difficult time of year for me because I no longer have my mother with me. We have the "relay", her birthday, and Mother's day all in one week so I can get a little moody the first week of May. I decided this year that I have allowed that self pity for the last time. I was miserable on Mother's day because I was sick, but otherwise I tried to think of all the great and wonderful things I shared with my mom in the past. We have laughed, cried, cooked, and eaten our way thru a lifetime of mother's days and I want some day to look back and see that my children have the same memories.

So I hope that like my flowers, being a little wilted is gone and is being replaced with a new and wonderful thing!

Tuscaloosa Arsenal 96

Alabama Div II U-13 Champions

May 10-11 2009

Elliot's soccer team coached by Kevin Freels gave their mom's the best gift ever this Mother's Day. They won by a score of 2-1 (undefeated in the tournament) the state Govenor's Cup in Alabama. They are invited to attend the Div II Regional tournament in Greer South Carolina in June. I am very proud of Elliot, his entire team, and all of the coaching staff! Way to go TUSCALOOSA ARSENAL 96!!!!

Destin Florida

Emeral Coast Cup. Destin Florida. April 24 & 25. Sun. Beach. FUN!!!!! Here are a couple of pictures of the beach and the fun. Lost my camera and didn't get any pictures of the games. OOPS!