Torture or inspiration?

Many of you are probably saying..."OK, I give...What is it?" That's exactly what the TSA agent said to us when I tried to go through airport security with it.

It's my cervical traction machine.

I get to lay on the floor (good thing I don't have bad knees too), and stick my head into this contraption  1-3 times a day (usually 2 times) for 15 minutes at a time. 

I won't explain how it works, but it's not really all that bad. 

Especially when:

(1) I get to lay undisturbed, even when other people are in the house,  for 15 minutes.

(2) I get to listen to my iPod (do you see it sitting next to the traction machine, in a jumbled mess?)

(3) I get inspirations come to me while in it (or is that on it) quite frequently.

(4) and finally...My neck (and back) feels better when I get out of it.

Hey...It can't be too bad if it allows me to get inspirations. The first time I had to use one of these things, I was inspired to make my purses. And thanks to my friend Carrie, from washmycloth, I now also have a shop. She convinced me to do it. Other inspirations such as, ideas for purses and solutions to problems, have come to me while doing my traction.

This past week, while laying in my torture machine thinking...a few more inspirations came to me. 

Dare I say it?

I love this thing! 

Bad Evening (revised)

Pete left to go to the gym and all hell seemed to break loose! Why does this usually happen when he leaves the house? It's almost as if the children's personalities change when he walks out of the room.

For some reason, every thing I said led Danny to be "short" with me. Then of course, I got ticked at him. The whole evening went on like that. GAAH!!!

Then a little later, Alex handed me back the sheets I tried to take to sign earlier, but he took back from me. Now he was deciding to tell me that I "needed to fill them out now". I asked him if he "was kidding me"...he couldn't believe it. I then proceeded to tell him that "I would get it done in my own sweet time since he took it from me in the first place". Some nerve that kid's got! I wonder where he got that from? It couldn't have been from me could it? Nah!


Then when Pete gets home...he stays away from me. Now I feel totally alienated! He didn't even come and say "hi" to me when he walked in the door.

All in all it was a wonderful evening! (Can you hear the sarcasm?)

The only saving grace is that when Danny woke up this morning, first thing he said to me was "I'm sorry".

Now, that one put a big smile on my face...all is good with the world again.

A best friend?

A best friend...what is a best friend?


The UrbanDictionary.com defines it as "Best Friends are very special people in your life. They are the first people you think about when you make plans. They are the first people you go to when you need someone to talk to. You will phone them up just to talk about nothing, or the most important things in your life. When you’re sad they will try their hardest to cheer you up. They give the best hugs in the world! They are the shoulder to cry on, because you know that they truly care about you. In most cases they would take a bullet for you, coz it would be too painful to watch you get hurt. "


The person who I thought was my best friend never seems to hear a word I say. The person who I thought was my best friend only wants to tell me about her life, but when I need to talk about my life she changes the subject to her pet. Her Pet! Can you believe? It seems to be her way of getting me to drop that subject, and i have to say she's been doing that for a few decades now. 


I know she thinks of me as one of her BFF's, and I know she loves me. I love her too...but i'm not sure if she's my best friend anymore or even one of my BFF'S either. 


I feel sad sometimes when I get off the phone with her...even though, I wasn't sad before the call started...I've spoken with her about it once before and she told me "you know me, you need to get my attention first". Uuuuh, I thought I already had it. Weren't we already speaking? And I can tell you, it's usually very difficult to get her attention.


So what exactly does that mean? Does it mean that she's moved on, but she doesn't really realize it yet? I'm not sure if I've moved on yet or not. I know don't want to have moved on. I know that the two of us lead very different lives, but should that matter?


Any thoughts?

Can't sleep...

I just can't sleep tonight. And for a change, it's not because of my meds.

So...what are you supposed to do when you can't sleep?

Lay in bed for a while...come just try. Done...and hour later...
Watch TV for a while? Done...1-1/2 hours...
Let's try bed again. Done...another 1-1/2 hours...
Now to the computer...

It's now 3 am EST, and for some stupid reason...I'M STILL AWAKE!

I guess the next thing I'll try to do is work on a sewing project that I wanted done by Thursday afternoon...

P.S. Do you see that painting above my sewing machine? That's how I feel right now. I guess I never realized how appropriate that painting was for this room!

Things to Do When We’re Bored

Well...here's our list that we made (brainstormed) together this morning...of course we can always add to it. I would love to see anyone else's suggestions.

Things to Do When We’re Bored

NO SCREEN DAYS: Tues & Fri (Until 4pm)

• Swimming
• Water guns, water balloons
• Sprinkler
• Trampoline (with or with out balls)
• Soccer (with any kind of ball)
• Toss a ball around (baseball, football, big red ball, etc…)
• Frisbee, Aerobie
• Biking (bring water?), scootering, rollerblading
• Going for a walk (bring water)
• Go to Walton Woods, Great Baehr Swamp
• Go (walk or bike ride) to the library
• Go walk around the stores
• Fly remote control airplanes
• Board games
• Dominoes / Jenga /  Cards (games, castles, tricks)
• Puzzles (jigsaw and mind)
• Build
• Nerf games (wars, target shooting)
• Draw, paint, create (art)
• Math skills (math practice sheets)
• Study Spanish vocab
• Practice instruments
• Household chores (another list pending)
• Clean and organize room (maybe with help)
• READ! (BUT No More Than 1 Hr at a Time!!!!!)

The Last Day of School

Well...we made it and we still have 4 members to our family. I though for sure we would have been minus at least one son, if not both. Now let's see if we can make it through the summer.

As I say..."One step at a time".

Starting Monday morning the boys are taking tennis lessons with the town. Gotta love the taxes...$15 for 18 lessons! (At least my taxes are good for something.)

Besides that, we have no plans (for the weekdays).

I really need to make plans.

I'm Dealing

I wasn't really too sure of how well I'd be dealing with having R.A....but I'm dealing just fine.

Now all I need to do is find the right meds, and I'll be good. I had an allergic reaction to the first new medicine the rheumatologist gave me. Having a little bit more acid problems with the second, but with the help of another medicine(when taken as regularly as I was already supposed to be), it's okay. Now just a little change with my Remicade...and everything should be back to "normal". As normal as I can be anyway.