Slap Happy?

I guess this is a combination of lack of sleep, tooooo much Diet Dr. Pepper, and just plain old good times.

Honestly, I love this. I can remember doing silly things with my friends.

You will want to have the sound on to your computer.
At the beginning Brandon yells something for a second and it sounds really loud because you're not expecting it. Don't turn it down though because the music totally fits this.

Caleb (their friend) did the editing. He did a great job, it's a lot of fun and... very silly.






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Sympathy Pains?

Well... we took Pebbles to the vet. It seems she has a raging UTI. Poor thing. She is a mess. He said it could be something else (other than a UTI), but that would be really bad, so we're praying it's just this. She's on some strong antibiotics and I'm supposed to call and give them an update on her Monday.


As for me, I went to the urologist today. He said the stone is probably way to big to pass. He is scheduling me for one of a few procedures on Monday the 27th - the same week as Fall Fest... of course!

I'll know Monday which procedure they will opt for. The outcome depends on the x-rays I took today.
As for any surgery, we have to make it at least a week out to adjust all the blood thinner meds I'm on.

So as the post is titled... I think Pebbles is having sympathy pains for me.



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Can I share?

The last few weeks have been a bit uncomfortable for me.
To explain, I need to go back a few months... like 12 of them.

About a year ago I had the "little URI that could" - or better yet, wouldn't go away. After some testing we found out I have two stones hiding up in my kidneys - one on each side (hey, at least I'm symmetrical).
Anywho, the diagnosis for that moment was easy, they're there. They may stay there, they may decide to leave at some point, but for now... they're just there.

Since then I've had a some nagging "flank pain" as they call it, but have not been concerned because I knew what it was.
Over the last two - three weeks it got a little more intense, but I've been so busy, that honestly, I haven't thought much of it.

Then about three days ago, other symptoms have come on: bloating, pain as if one of the stones have moved, upset stomach, and a few others I won't go into because it's just gross.
Believe it or not the worst symptom of all... fatigue.
Anytime I get up to do something I just want to go back and lay/sit down. I'm exhausted. I've had stones before, but usually when this part hits I'm on copious amounts of morphine in the hospital and couldn't care less how tired I am.

I went looking for pictures of a kidney stone to show you and I found the one below. On the site they call it a "kidney stone crystal" - sounds so much nicer, doesn't it?




Wanna know why it hurts so much?
Here's a picture of a kidney stone "crystal" under an electron microscope...





Pretty, huh? If it were a flower and not a raging crystal scraping the tissue within you as it tries to birth itself from a teeny tiny tube in your body!

The good news is that I went to the doc yesterday and he said there's no infection... so now,it's just a waiting game - whoopie!

Wanna know the really good news?
This is just the right side, some day I'll get to do this again with the left.


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The Forensics of Daily Chores...

Over the years my kids have done the whole, "I took out the trash last time" or "It's not my turn to empty the dishwasher" bit.
As any mom can tell you, there's a fine line of when we say, "I really don't care who did it last, I'm telling you to do it now" and wanting to also be fair about it all.

There have been times when we would trace what was thrown out in the last bag and who walked out the door with it, because they "remember" having trouble with the door handle and the bag at the same time (or something like that) - which, of course, is total proof and they would be acquitted by any judge and jury in the land.

In the year 2008, we have come to a whole new level of "proof".

I was flipping through my camera and came across a few pictures of the house. First, I was totally confused why someone would take purposeful snapshots of our home in disarray, so I asked around.

Child A wanted to prove to child C he took out the trash...



Child A wanted to prove to child C he cleaned the counters...



Last, but not least, child A would now like to prove to child C he emptied the dishwasher...



To a mother's eye this just proves that the chores need to be done as there is no "after" picture, but whatever.

To some this is just ridiculous, to others (clearly young siblings) it may be ingenious. The reality is that even though child A wants to go into Engineering, I'm really wondering if he should be thinking about a career as an attorney.



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Updates Galore...

Alrighty then, this weekend was the official Elementary launch and it was awesome!

Soooooo, with that out of the way, I've got some time to update tonight.
Hmmmmm... where do I start... how about two months ago at the end of June, with our first official visitors in Colorado - The McLellans.




While they were here we all decided to take a trip up to Rocky Mountain National Park.
On the way up (literally up), I let the boys use the camera to take some "pictures".
There are brief shots of the mountains - totally breathtaking - either that or you can't breath because you want to puke from the scenery flying by.
This is what I found on my camera...



No kidding, I have at least three of these videos on here with things just randomly speeding past. I need to take dramamine just to watch.

Since we had two kiddos with us, we chose Bear Lake because it's an easy hike.



Though that didn't stop them from venturing up a bit further.





Look! It's like "Where's Waldo?" Can anyone find Ben?


I did feel bad for some of the tourists as we reached the beginning of the trail.
To understand why, you need to remember that many people go up to the mountains for peace and quiet. Keep in mind that they are all being extra hush-hush so that they might see a few animals... and then a few families from Austin show up who clearly haven't seen snow in years!





Even with all the chaos, we didn't drive all the animals away.
There was one chipmunk that was what Brandon called Bear Lake's "Paris Hilton".




I'm actually as close as it looks like I am as I'm taking this picture. This little cutie clearly lives for paparazzi. She would turn her head from side to side and pose... that's hot.


We did get to see some other animals, but I wasn't fast enough with the camera.
Brandon and Raine won the prize for the best animal pic of the day. Here they are with the ever elusive pocket moose.



Sorry, a little bit of an inside joke there. Thanks for sticking with me.


At the end of the day/week we had an awesome visit and miss them tons.
Here are just two of the reasons why.







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