My Single Mom Life

I just sat down and read through the literature on the medications the neuro gave to Sebastian for his migraines, and then decided to do some internet searching to see real people's side effects, not the list of possible side effects on the literature.

One of the medications is called Inderal, 40 MG, he has to take it 3 times per day for migraine prevention, once in the morning, once in the afternoon, (after school) and once at night time, like after dinner.
These are some of the possible side effects as reported and listed on the literature:
* nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, stomach cramps
* decreased sex drive, impotence, or difficulty having an orgasm (he's 15, these shouldn't be an issue ha!)
* sleep problems (insomnia) or
* tired feeling.
But like I said, I wanted to see real people's side effects, so I just Googled Inderal side effects, and found an anxiety forum full of other side effects not listed, like very vivid dreams, chest pains, a fear of going to sleep because they feel like their heart is going to stop.
One person wrote:
"I just started taking Inderal (propranolol, 40 mg x 2 daily) for migraines and I am having the same issues while sleeping. Chest pains all night, insomnia, and (while laying in bed) I'm afraid to go to sleep. It feels like my heart is stopping, and it wakes me up. If I go to sleep, will I wake up? I don't have nightmares, but some vivid dreams. The chest pains all night, and the sense that my heart is stopping periodically is the worst."

The other drug is Topamax, 25 MG, and he has to take it twice a day for 1 week, then 1 in the morning and 2 at night for 1 week, and then 2 in the morning and 2 at night ongoing for migraine prevention.

Both of the medications have some pretty severe side effects that would require emergency medical attention, like if he's allergic to them, both of them say the same thing for these emergency side effects:

Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.
Call your doctor at once if you have any new or worsening symptoms such as: mood or behavior changes, depression, anxiety, or if you feel agitated, hostile, restless, hyperactive (mentally or physically), or have thoughts about suicide or hurting yourself.

It really scares me that the medications used to treat migraines, to prevent them, could have some really serious side effects, and this is my baby, I don't want him to hurt, be scared, have chest pains, a fear of his heart stopping etc.
I know that's what one person said, but others on that anxiety site had similar effects, so yeah, I'm a bit worried.
I'm going to keep a close eye on him, especially at night, I don't sleep much anyway, so I'll be able to check on him throughout the night and watch for any signs of trouble.
I haven't told him any of the side effects at all, I don't want him to panic or worry, but I did tell him if he starts feeling weird to come to me and tell me, and then I'll ask him specific questions about how he feels weird, and we'll go from there.

Posted by Kat at 11:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The teens and I spent most of the day doing the cat urine cleaning that we needed to do, and I can finally say that we're done.
I am just so glad that we only had to take apart my bed and bedroom furniture, and not something as big as, for example, something like home theater furniture with all of those bolted together seats and stuff.
That would have been such a pain in the butt.

We went in, took off all of my bedding, started the wash, then flipped the mattress and box spring against the wall/closet doors, then the frame, then the headboard, and then went through all of the boxes of stuff I had under my bed, salvaged what we could, (what didn't get peed on) and tossed everything else.
Then we ripped up all of the carpet which really wasn't much, maybe the size of a 6x9, maybe a bit smaller, and then all of the padding, tossed it all, and then I did all of the sweeping and mopping.
In total, it probably took about 5 hours to do because I washed the floor multiple times.
I just had to make sure that any trace of it was completely gone.

Once that was all finished, Sebastian and I headed up to CVS to get his migraine meds and some hamburger buns for tonight's dinner.
I am so totally giddy over the NuWave Oven, it made the hamburgers perfectly, so yummy!
Mark helped me make dinner tonight, we just used the pre-made frozen Bubba Burgers with sweet onions, and some more corn on the cob.
I showed Mark how to lay them out, set the cooking power and time, and he did all of the rest.
They cooked in 8 minutes, 4 minutes per side, so that's how we set the cooking time.
4 minutes, beep, flip, 4 minutes, beep, done.
I was absolutely amazed at how much fat and grease came off of them, the bottom drip pan was full of grease, and Mark said, "We used to eat them like that?!" with this horrified look on his face.
I said yeah, when I fried them in the skillet, they just soaked all of that grease back up.
He looked grossed out.
He loved cooking them though, and they came out perfectly cooked.
We are so loving it, another food item tried and loved, this thing is so totally awesome, dinner has been done perfectly from frozen, almost every night this week, in way less time than it used to take, and the teens are happy to help me, it's just so easy for them to use.

In a few hours, I'll be closing down comment entries for my birthday contest, and finishing numbering them all, tallying up all of the extra entries, and getting ready to draw a winner in the morning.
It was an excellent turn-out for entries, over 450 individual entries.
I think that is by far the biggest number of entrants I've ever had on a contest, and I probably won't be doing it like that ever again.
My next contest, not right away, this one has me wiped out, the rules will be much different.

Ok, off to start numbering more of the entries, I'm like 150+ behind on numbering them, but the drawing isn't until morning, and I won't be drawing it until after the teens and I have my birthday breakfast together.
Later days!

Posted by Kat at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been awake all night again, can't sleep, but hey, what's new about that?
Nothing!
I'm feeling tons better and have so much to do today, but it's far too early to start, I'll wake the teens, and they need all the rest they can get because we've got some heavy duty cleaning to do today.
They are gonna be tired tonight!

So because it's so early and I can't do much of anything that needs to be done, I figured I'd go and see what's on sale this week.
I found this 7-port LED USB hub, which would be totally useful for me.

I have 3 USB ports on my pc, but I have a whole bunch of things that use the ports, so every time i need to use 1 of the different electronics, I have to unplug something else.
I have my Cannon scanner, my printer, my photo printer, my mp3 player, my picture keychain, my camera, , and a couple other things that either use the USB ports to upload, or use them to charge the items.
One USB hub would be perfect.
I could always have all of the USB cords plugged in so at any given moment, I could just plug in what I needed to use, instead of having to unplug 1 or 2 things, find the other USB cords, plug those back in, when done, find the right USB cords to plug the other stuff back in.
Yeah, totally confusing and a total time waster too.
It's not a bad price either, but not right now.
I'll just add it to my list of things I want when i get ahead on bills and other things.

Posted by Kat at 6:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ok, now that I'm starting to feel somewhat human again, I'll give you an update on the goings on around the Cooper household.

As you know, Mark took his graduation test, the test giver said he passed, we have to wait a few weeks for the official state grade, but basically he's done with school.

I also took Sebastian to the neuro who did a bunch of tests, asked a ton of questions, and then gave him 2 different medicines to try.
We will go pick those up tomorrow morning at CVS and start him on them.
He has to take both every single day as they are preventative migraine medicines, so we'll start and see how it goes for him.
I really hope they work, if they don't, we have an appointment in a month to do a check up, report if they work or not, if not, we'll try 2 more the neuro said.

I don't know if we're going to be able to keep Carmine the kitty who adopted us.
I fully believe that he is a feral cat as we have tried and tried to get him to stop peeing all over the house, but he simply will not stop peeing everywhere.
He used the litter box for the first month or so that he was here, but he's now resorted to peeing on the carpet in several spots, and if you have cats and have or ever had a cat that peed in other places other than the litter box, well you know the smell is pure nasty ammonia.
He has taken to peeing on the carpet underneath my bed over and over.
The smell in my room is so nasty and strong, I haven't been able to sleep in it for several days now.
Tomorrow, the teens and I are getting the box cutter and tearing out that carpet.
We have to, we don't have a choice.
The carpet has been ruined by some of the flooding that happened anyway, and most of it got ripped out after the last big huge flood that we had about 2 or 3 years ago.
Now it all has to come out because he has peed all over it and the smell is absolutely disgusting.
We've been trying to train him, every time we caught him peeing someplace other than the box, we picked him up, rubbed his nose in it, and put him in the litter box.
He just will not stop peeing there, and then he has tried to pee other places, too, like the bathtub, and tonight, he peed on the kitchen floor.
I simply cannot have a cat that pees everywhere.
No amount of enzyme urine stain cleaner can get rid of that smell no matter how good they claim their product is.
If we can't get him to stop this, the other cats will start peeing in other places too, and then the smell will be in the entire house and none of them will ever ever stop peeing in those places.
I hate to have to get rid of him, but a feral cat will never learn.
I will take him to the humane society, I'll pay the $50 or so bucks they want to take feral cats, and hopefully they will know what to do with him, give him to a no-kill shelter, or give him to a family that wants an outdoor cat.
I really hate to do that, I love him, the teens love him so much, he's beautiful and so loving, but a feral cat who pees is simply no good.
If anyone knows what to do, knows how to make him stop peeing, please, please tell me what to do, it's breaking our hearts at the very thought of having to get rid of him.

In NuWave Pro Oven news, it rocks my socks something fierce!!!
So far we have cooked frozen chicken breasts in just 16 minutes, 8 minutes per side, a steak, which came out absolutely fabulous in just 7 minutes per side, oh my goodness, it was simply incredible!
I cooked some of those Barber Foods stuffed chicken breasts, the broccoli and cheese ones, and they were totally cooked perfectly in just 7 minutes instead of the 45 in a conventional oven, with no turning at all.
Tonight we cooked some bourbon marinated salmon fillets (they were on sale for just $6.99 for 3 big fillets) in just 4 minutes per side, and they came out perfectly!
I also made to go with the salmon, some corn on the cob halves, and by the time the salmon was done, so were they, perfectly with no turning, from frozen.
Tomorrow night I'll be making some frozen hamburgers, it says they will cook in just 3 minutes per side, and some french fries which the chart says will be done in just 6 minutes with no turning using the baking sheet that it comes with.

The teens absolutely love the NuWave, they think it is simply incredible and easy to use.
Both of them have been helping me cook every night because I haven't been feeling well, and they have done so good at it.
They got the food out, they sprayed the cooking racks with Pam, they put the food on, read the cooking time chart, set the power and time, and flipped the food.
It is far too easy to make good food in no time at all, and clean up is an absolute breeze.
It all comes apart really easy, and washes up in seconds.

I do need to pick up some parchment paper to cook pizzas though.
The pizza flipper it comes with, yeah, that's a must.
You need to place the pizza, cheese and sauce side down on the paper, cook it for just 3 minutes, then use the flipper to turn it ride side up.
It will cook the pizza without flipping, but the crust doesn't get as crusty as we like it, so yeah, next shopping trip, I'll get some paper and it will make the pizzas perfectly.

It is just so easy to use, easy to clean up, and the food tastes incredible.
The teens could not stop saying how good the salmon tasted tonight and the steak last night, they love it, so I know that after the next surgery, they will be eating good and healthy food all cooked by themselves.
Thank you guys so so much for getting it for us, you've made a huge difference for us.
They are not afraid of using it like they are the really old and temperamental oven that we have, they love it, they love cooking with it, it's really awesome.

Posted by Kat at 11:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Mark went and did his 2 nights of testing at the local tech school, we have to wait about 2-3 weeks for his grade, but the test giver looked it over and said that he passed, we just need the official grade from the state to make it so.
So he's basically done with school.
Yay!

I'm down for the count.
I did too much on Wednesday and seem to have caught some sort of cold on top of wearing myself out, so I've just been on the couch the last couple days, same with today.
Just totally worn out.
I'm hoping that all of this rest I'm getting lets me back up by tonight or tomorrow at least.
I'll be back around when I'm feeling better, just wanted to give you all the good news on Mark.
I am so proud of him.

Posted by Kat at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

We're leaving here in like 20 minutes to go get Mark his state ID, and then this afternoon at 1pm, Sebastian and I are going to his neuro to see about his migraines.
Too many things in just 1 day for me..hahaha

I don't know how much I'll be around after all of this stuff gets done, my body gets worn out very quickly from doing too much.
Later days.

Posted by Kat at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Yes, that Tom Jones, and I'll tell you why.

See, when the teens and I first moved here 12 years ago, we stayed with my sister and her now ex-husband for about 6 months, until I could save up enough money to get our own place.
We got here and within 2 weeks I got a really good job that I loved, and things were going well.

My sister and her ex-husband don't smoke, they didn't allow it in their home, but they were ok with me smoking outside on their lanai.
I loved being out there, their backyard was so beautiful, all fenced in, big pretty trees, green grass, beautiful lanterns that doubled as bug protection, and a gorgeous fish pond that my sister built with big and colorful Koi fish in it.
She had built this big pond, had all those pretty fish in it, rocks and lights surrounding it, a little water fall, too, which circulated the water from the pond down the waterfall using a small motor and some tubing.
It was so peaceful out there at night.
That is until the neighbor directly behind her got home at night around 7pm.

At exactly 8pm every single night, without fail, the guy behind her would crank up the stereo speakers, and play the exact same cd every.
single.
night.
Tom Jones Greatest Hits: Platinum Edition.
This is not the exact same cd, I can't find the one that he had in 1997, but the track listing is almost identical, I have it memorized.
Actually, it's burned into my brain.

Every night after I had tucked the boys into bed around 7:30pm, they were just 4 & 6 then, I would go outside with a book and my smokes to relax the day's work off.
I had a hard job, I was the shipping and receiving manager for Pier 1 Imports, I unloaded trucks full of furniture and all of that other stuff they sell, 3 days a week, and do the reports, ordering of new merchandise, helped people load their purchases into their vehicles, move everything around the store for the new weekly sales, it was a physically demanding job, so I sat outside at night to chill out, relax, and read a good book every night before I went to bed.
I probably spent about 3 hours a night out there trying to relax, trying to read, but that idiot who lived behind her was a Tom Jones fanatic, he played the same damn cd every single night, over and over and over.
As soon as it would finish all 17 or so tracks, it just started again at the beginning.

It's Not Unusual, What's New Pussycat, Delilah, I'll Never Fall in Love Again, She's a Lady, Take Me to the River, and many, many more.
Over and over and over.
It was like an audio nightmare that I couldn't wake up from.
I almost felt like he was doing it on purpose.
I was out there from about 7:30-8pm until about 11pm every night, and he played that music from 8pm until 11pm every night.
As soon as I would get up from my comfy sling chair and start heading in, the music would stop.
I even tested it a few times to see if he was doing it to me intentionally.
I would get up, put my bookmark in, grab my can of Diet Pepsi, and start blowing out the torches, and the music would stop.
If I sat back down and opened my book back up, the music would start again.
I really thought he was doing it to me on purpose!
I even told my sister that I thought her neighbor was watching me, to see when I went in, that he stopped the music when I got up, but if I sat back down, it would start again.
She laughed and said no way, he had been playing that same cd for like a year.
But I said "No Jo, I swear, he's doing it to me on purpose, come watch this."
So one night she waited til about 11pm when I would start coming in, and she stood in the patio doors watching and listening, I got up and blew out a few torches, and the music stopped.
I sat back down and opened my book, and the music started again.
I stood up, it stopped.
I came in the house and said "See!?! I told you! He's watching for me to go back in the house!"
She laughed, it was funny, the neighbor was torturing me with Tom Jones music every night for the whole 6 months I lived there.
At one point I was so crazy from it, I started looking for either really cheap or free hotel rooms for the boys and I to stay in until I could find us an apartment.
I was going absolutely insane listening to that music every night.
I was so glad when I finally found an apartment, no more Tom Jones!
Hooray!

Now every time I hear or see Tom Jones, I feel a little twitch coming on, and this morning he was on The View.
I sat here thinking oh please, please do not let him sing What's New Pussycat, I'll scream, I'll go crazy.
No, he didn't sing that one, but he did sing this one.
And it's just as bad in my nightmare of Tom Jones every single night for 6 whole months.

Posted by Kat at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I don't think I've posted what's been going on with Mark and his plans for the future, so I figured I'd give you all an update.

Mark is planning on becoming a police officer, that's what he wants to do with his life, and even though it's a very risky job, it's a very noble job and I stand behind him 100%.
There are a bunch of classes that Mark needs to take at the local technical college over the summer, but he needs to get started on that very soon, so I gave him permission to take the early exit option from school.

The early exit option requires that Mark take a test and pass in order to graduate early, by April instead of May when all of the other kids graduate.
The test is Wednesday and Thursday night from 2:45 to 7pm, and he and a friend who is also taking the early exit option, will be going and riding home together.

In order to take the test and graduate early, Mark has to have a state ID.
He doesn't have his drivers license yet, he wants to wait until summer for that, so I have to go with him on Wednesday morning to the building downtown, and get him a state ID so he can do what he needs to.
He doesn't have to go to high school Wednesday or Thursday because of the testing at night and because he's taking the early exit option.

If he passes the graduation test, he can take the classes at SCTI over the summer, just 2 classes, and then go to MCC in the fall for the law classes he needs, and start his 2 years there, then after graduating from MCC, he can apply to the police academy.
In order to get into the police academy, he needs at least 3 personal references.
He has his BIG George, who was a detective in Washington DC for 25 years, our landlord who is a Sarasota County Sheriff, and his teacher at the high school who has been helping Mark get all of this school stuff scheduled and getting him on the right track.
Mark had started to give up on his education for a few reasons, he lost interest in school, he missed a lot of days because of my 1st surgery I had in his freshmen year, and then again this past September, and he just became really unfocused.
The teacher really helped him get back on track, he started taking a special class at school which allowed him to do all of his classes at his own pace on a computer instead of in a regular classroom, and he started to really do well, he pulled ahead, got all caught up on everything he missed during those times he missed school, and he actually completed all of his high school credits about 3 months ago, he's done with school basically, he has every single credit needed for graduation, but in order to get out early, he has to take the early exit option test which will give him a GED instead of a general diploma, but even though it will be a GED, he actually has all of his required credits plus about 10 more credits for doing more work than he needed to do.
Going into the self-motivated classes was the best thing for him, working at his own pace, not having to deal with a regular classroom and all kinds of students, not having to deal with teachers with no time, and not having to sit through a lot of stupid stuff that teachers do, was the way for him, it worked for him, and now he gets to graduate early and begin taking his law classes at SCTI this May instead of in the fall.
Now, he will be done with the law classes, and can go straight to college in the fall for his 2 year degree in law, and then on to the police academy when that's done.

So, no school for him Wednesday and Thursday, his testing at night, and so in the morning on Wednesday, I need to get him downtown to get his ID, and then in the afternoon, I have to take Sebastian to the neuro for his migraines, so neither one of them are going to school on Wednesday because of the timing of when we have to leave here to get to everywhere we need to go for the both of them to get everything taken care of that they need to.

It will be a busy day for me, but worth it.
We'll finally start getting some answers for Sebastian's migraines, and Mark will be well on his way to his goal of becoming a police officer.

Posted by Kat at 7:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Like I posted yesterday, I received the Nuwave Pro Oven as a gift from some friends, and I used it to cook our dinner tonight.

I had a really good reason to test it out tonight, we had a bit of an accident here at the house.
I had posted to Twitter how good I was feeling so I was going to do some house cleaning.
It's been awhile since I've felt good, so I wanted to do all of the dishes, the laundry, and vac the carpets.
Within minutes of posting that, the bathroom flooded, which subsequently had spread to the back bathroom and hallway.
The landlord is trying to fix up the duplex apartment next door after the old neighbors moved out about 6 months ago.
He's had to do an insane amount of work, they really trashed the place.
He had torn up the carpets and decided to never put any back down again after what they let their pets do to every full room of carpet in there so no other tenants do that again, and today, he decided to power-wash the terrazzo flooring in there.
He hooked up the power washer to the sink or tub faucet in the bathroom, and proceeded to wash the floors, suck it all up in a wet vac, and he dumped it all down the toilet drain and then left.
This old duplex is still on septic, it can't handle that much water going down the toilet that fast, and so, it all backed up into our side of the duplex.
I spent the entire afternoon soaking up water with towels and then doing all of laundry, having to wash all of those towels.
So by the time the teens and I had finished cleaning the house, it was nearing dinner time and I was no longer physically feeling so great.
My back, neck and shoulders were fried, and not to mention, I was so busy cleaning up the watery mess, I had forgotten to thaw out the frozen chicken breasts for dinner.

The NuWave Pro Oven says that it can cook from frozen in less time than thawed or fresh, in a regular oven, so I decided to test drive it tonight.
It's all digital, you just place your food inside, check the chart for cooking times, set the temperature and time, click start, and it cooks your food.

I got it all set up and placed the frozen chicken breasts on the cooking rack making sure the drip pan was beneath, and set the cooking temperature to high power (350degrees) which was 1 button, set the time for 16 minutes which was 3 buttons, and clicked 1 button to start.
A total of 5 button pushes to make dinner.

Within just 3 minutes, they were thawed and starting to cook!

They were starting to turn a nice golden color at about 8 minutes.

And just like the infomercial says, all of the fat and grease drips off of the food and into the drip pan below, making your food healthier because it's not sitting in it's own grease.

At 16 minutes, they were completely cooked all of the way through, but the teens wanted some BBQ sauce on them, so I opened up the NuWave, poured some on, and set it to cook again for just another 3 minutes to bake the yummy sauce onto the chicken breasts.

I made a side of Pasta Roni fettuccine alfredo to go with it, and wow, it was so good!

When the infomercial says that your food cooks in less time, has less fat and grease, and the meat is tender and moist, they are NOT lying.
The chicken breasts were so full of flavor, they were tender and juicy, and was definitely done in far less time than if I had cooked it in a regular oven.
If I had cooked them in the oven, it would have taken about 45 minutes, the whole house would have gotten hot, I would have had to bend over and keep checking to see if they were done, which stresses my neck and back out, turn them over so both sides could get brown, and then I would have had the baking sheet to clean up which is always a mess after making anything with BBQ sauce.
BBQ sauce sticks to the baking sheet something fierce, and I usually end up having to soak it for about an hour or two in order to get it totally clean.

When dinner was over, it was time to clean up and wash the NuWave.
It was SO easy to clean!
The top dome comes off of the digital cooking head simply by turning it counter clockwise, and the dome itself doesn't get dirty because the food didn't splatter at all, it simply had some condensation in it, so I just rinsed it out under the faucet head.

The drip pan was also super easy to clean, just a few wipes around with my dish stick, and all of the fat, grease, and BBQ sauce drippings just came right off.
No sticky mess!

The baking rack was also wicked, wicked easy to clean because I had given it a light spray of no-stick cooking spray, so again, just a few wipes over the rack grids with the dish stick, and it was totally clean.

Overall, the NuWave Pro Oven is awesome!
It is super easy to use, cooks in less time than the regular oven, really easy to clean, and the food comes out moist and full of flavor, just really, really great.
I absolutely love it and can see us using this for everything that we would normally cook in the oven.
It is so easy to use that the teens will not have any problems at all learning how to cook with it, so when I do go in for my surgery and begin recovering at home, they will be able to eat food that is good for them.
No more take out, junk food, no more microwave meals, no more cold lunch meat sandwiches or subs every night for months on end, they will be eating good and tasty food that they cooked themselves.

Posted by Kat at 11:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

I have had a day here and I can't stop crying.
Ok, I sorta can.
I've been crying off and on since this morning over all kinds of things.
I'm like a pressure cooker right now, slowly letting out steam every 20 minutes or so.
A few days ago, I blogged about all of the stress and other things building up in me, my lost trust in people, my lost faith in people, I felt like I was losing my mind.
I still do sorta feel that way.
It's just one thing after another, all of the little and big things keep piling onto all of the things I already am trying to deal with.

Today though, some of my faith in people has been restored.
Through kindness and generosity, true caring from friends, and that set me off crying again.

The teens and I walked to the store late this afternoon, and when we returned home, we found this big huge box at the front door.
My son Mark brought it in, we put all the groceries away, and then I opened it.
It was the NuWave oven I've been wanting to get to help make it easier for my sons to cook and eat good food while I'm having surgery and after.
After both of my last surgeries, they ate nothing but junk food, microwave food, take out, cold lunch meat sandwiches day after day for months, except for a few meals that Mindy brought over, and a few times that my sister stopped by with some stuff that didn't need any cooking too.
The teens fear getting burned by the regular oven, they are getting a little better about it, but they still are afraid to reach in and take out hot items.

There was no card inside the box, only a packing slip with one person's name on it, so I emailed her and asked her why as well as to say thank you.
I asked why because I know that when I blogged about losing my trust and faith in people, I had written even friends I usually could trust and talk to, and I know that it hurt her.
I was in such a bad place last week, I was angry, hurt, felt betrayed, and I lashed out at everyone, and I know that was wrong, but shutting down and shutting off from everyone was the easiest way for me to handle what I was dealing with.
I didn't know any other way to deal with it than just shutting down and blocking everyone out until I could sort it all out.
I did apologize to the close friends who I know I hurt with my words, but I was and still am, feeling very badly about hurting them simply because I couldn't figure out how to deal with any of what was happening.

But the NuWave wasn't just from her, about 12 people all pitched in and bought it for me and the teens, to help us all out when I have the next surgery, so the teens will be able to eat real food, not all of the junk food and microwave crap that they ate after both of my last surgeries.
I would link to them all, but I don't know if they want me to do that, they know who they are, but I want to say thank you and thank you, and thank YOU, and thanks to the woman who thought the whole plan up, contacted others and got it all going.
It was wicked nice of her to be thinking of me, wanting to do something to not only cheer me up, but also help the teens and I after the next surgery so they will be able to eat better and easier.

It is the NuWave Oven Pro, the exact one that I wanted, it came with all of the things that the infomercial and website says it does.
The instructional DVD, the pizza flipper, 25 recipe cards, 2 recipe booklets, the extender ring kit, 2 cooking racks, a round baking pan, and the Twister blender.
I can't wait to try it all out, I'm sure I'll do a product review of it, I love kitchen gadgets as most people know, and this really is going to help make it so much easier for the teens to cook good meals for themselves after my next surgery and during my recovery.
It's not big and scary like the oven, fits perfectly on the counter top, and from reading the instruction manual, seems very easy to use.

Posted by Kat at 11:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

I don't know which cat did it, we do have 4 of the little fuzzballs, but 1 of the cats peed on a blanket that was left laying on the floor of Sebastian's room.
Not a good blanket thank goodness, just a really old 1 that I've had for about oh, 15 years now.

The cat urine soaked through the blanket and onto the linoleum, so I had to clean it all up today.
I had the teens bag up blanket and anything else that was under it on the floor and now covered in cat piss, and toss it all out in the garbage.
Then I had the teens sweep the whole room, and then I mopped that whole room, then my room, the hallway, and then the bathroom and kitchen.
Don't worry, I did change out the mop bucket water and cleaner before doing all of the other rooms after cleaning up the cat pee.

It was like all 4 of the cats knew what I was doing because they all came to watch.
They were all up on Sebastian's bed just watching me, so I looked over at them and yelled, "OK! Which 1 of you did this?!
Which 1 of you peed all over the blanket and the floor?!
Huh!?
Which 1 of you did this?!?!"
They all looked away and at each other, as if to say, "It wasn't me mom, they did it!" *wink point wink*.

I don't know who the kitty culprit was, but there's just 1 thing that I cannot stand about cats.
The pee.
Even if they all used the litter boxes all of the time, and the litter boxes stayed clean all of the time, the smell of cat piss is enough to make me want to commit caticide.

I used some of the Clorox "green" cleaner, it seems to have cleaned the smell off of the floor pretty well, but I need to pick up some more cat urine enzyme cleaner when I get paid next.
I think I'm going to try the new Rug Doctor Urine Eliminator that they have.
I've used Urine Gone before, and it did work well, but I'm always up to try something new and see if it works better.
Rug Doctor says their product can totally get rid of all urine stains and smells in 2 applications or less, with the Urine Gone, I know I had to use it at least 3 times on some spots that were heavily contaminated by multiple cats.
I hope I can find the Rug Doctor stuff in a local store, I don't want to have to order it and pay a crazy $7.95 shipping fee on it.

When Sebastian and I walk to the store later, I'll check and see if they have it.

Posted by Kat at 3:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The teens were sitting at their lunch table today, and another student came along and tossed this on their table and said "Hey atheists", and then kept going.
It's a religious tract for a Baptist church that offers a lot of teen and youth programs.
The student who tossed it on their table obviously knows that they are atheists, that's why they did it.

School is no place for this stuff whether it's done by teachers or students.
This is basically, harassment of students who don't believe, by students who do believe.

This is what it says on the inside:

And this is the church that distributes them to kids to hand out at school:

Posted by Kat at 9:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I remember when being "green" was considered un-cool, people who recycled and cared about the trees were called tree huggers and hippies, but now everyone is going green, now it's cool to do.

People are really starting to become more earth conscious, care about their local environment and the planet, but if you're just starting out, how do you find the best ways to get started?
I found a great site full of going green tips to help you get started on saving the planet, recycling, and saving money as well as the trees.

At Green Hangout, you can find all kinds of tips to help you go green at home, at work, you can get green lifestyle news to help you get started.
They have product reviews of the best green products out there, companies that are helping you go green for less but still get great quality products.
You can even report "Green Violators", companies that are ignoring the green initiative.
And if you're really new to all of this green stuff, they even have a green terms page to help you figure out what all of the words mean.

They also have forums where you can just read along to find new ways of saving money and the planet, you can post to share ideas, find resources, and even vent frustrations about green issues in your community.

I know I have some issues with recycling in my community, they no longer allow us to recycle a whole lot of stuff.
They will only take corrugated cardboard, for example, they refuse to take other forms of cardboard like soda boxes or beer boxes, magazines, phone books, and much much more that we used to be able to recycle.
They have a huge list of items they will no longer let us put in the recycle bins, and if we violate the recycle rules, we get fined.
Heck, we get fined if we accidentally swap the red and blue bins one week.
Red is for cans and glass bottles, no plastics, and blue is for corrugated cardboard only.
Everything that is on the list of do not put in the recycle bins, has to go in the trash.
They are forcing us to put recyclable items in the trash instead of recycling them.
To me, that is totally wrong.
If it's an item that can be recycled, we should be able to put it in the bins, not in a trash bag, and they shouldn't fine us for doing that.
It's kind of crazy that they are keeping us from doing as much recycling as we possibly can.
This city prides itself on having the cleanest and whitest sand beaches in all of the world, yet they are forcing us to put more and more stuff in the landfills than we should be.
If it has a recycle logo on it, if it's a box or plastic with a logo, then they should, instead of forcing us to put it in the trash, force us us to recycle it.
This city is so pretty, we get thousands of tourists every year, we even have new hybrid school and local transportation buses, so what's the deal on recycling Sarasota?

Seeing as my city won't let me be green with my trash and recyclables, I have to find ways to be as green as I can in other ways.
Changing to all CFL bulbs, using my cloth grocery bags, using less chemicals to clean my home, washing in cold water, using less, wasting less, and whatever other ways I can find and do.
That's why this site is so great, it is helping me find other ways of being green.

Posted by Kat at 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Buy.com is always having awesome weekly deals and great sale prices on all kinds of items, jewelry, electronic items and more, and this week they have something that I'm wondering if it would help.

They have a Cables Unlimited Super Laptop Cooler, for only $15.99 and free shipping.
It connects through the USB ports, and helps to keep a laptop cool, but maybe it would work to help keep xbox 360's cool too.
They do make an intercooler for them, but I heard from many people that it didn't work, and not only did it not work, but it actually caused their xbox 360 motherboard to heat up even more, and melt, rendering their 360 completely useless.

I have no idea if it would work or not, but I do need something to help keep it from overheating,
Buy.com also has another cooler that looks like it may work even better because you actually lay the laptop on top of it, and so I assume you could lay an xbox on top of it the same way, and it could continuously blow cool air into the grids the same as the intercooler does without actually attaching to the xbox, not powered by the xbox, which is what causes the intercooler to make it overheat and melt the motherboard.
It's an extra component being powered by it, so it heats up even though it's supposed to cool it down.

I'll have to do some more investigtaing, read reviews on both items, and hit up the xbox forums to find out if anyone else has used a laptop cooler to help keep their xbox from overheating.
Right now, we're just using a small portable box fan, and we leave it on the whole time the xbox is on and for about an hour after we shut it (the xbox) off to help cool it down even faster so the motherboard doesn't have a chance to overheat and melt the motherboard.

Posted by Kat at 1:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I called the neuro yesterday morning, got his voice mail, left a detailed message, and waited for a call back.
The phone rang a little after 8pm, and it was the doctor, I was shocked.
He was calling from his home too, as I heard him do the famous parent yell, "I'm on the phone! On. The. Phone."
He apologized, I said no worries, I have kids too, but wow, thank you for calling me back from home, I don't think I've EVER had a doctor do that.

He asked a bunch of questions about the length of time Sebastian has been getting the migraines, how severe they are, how it's affecting him at home and school, and then we set up an appointment for next Wednesday, the 25th, so yay!
Finally we're going to be getting him checked out and getting him some help for this, it's really starting to affect his schoolwork and his overall well being.

Posted by Kat at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

All day long I've been dealing with a massive migraine, it's probably from not sleeping all night, but I did sleep today.
I went to sleep on the couch around 9am all wrapped up in Sebastian's big and cuddly Sferra comforter, for about 4 hours or so, woke up at 1pm.
I took my pain meds and decided to try and sleep off the migraine, but it was still with me when I woke up.

I'm still working on getting all of the contest entries numbered and published, so if you are looking at the comments and don't see yours yet, it will be posted soon unless you didn't follow the 1st rule.
A lot of people are not doing the very simple 1st rule, and sorry, if you can't follow the entry rules, you won't be entered.
I also have to clean up some of the contest entries, people decided to number them themselves, or say things like +5 for doing a blog post, yet they don't even have a blog, and others are numbering their own +5 for subscribing to my RSS feed, yet they didn't actually subscribe.
I can check it ya know. *wink*
It seems there are people who will do anything to try and win even if that means cheating on the entry rules.
I'm checking each and every entry, verifying everything, so don't say you follow me on Twitter if you really didn't, or follow me long enough to think I verified it, then un-follow me.
Those entries won't count folks!

Ok, off to do more work and verifying entries.
Later days.

Posted by Kat at 7:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been up all night again, just couldn't sleep at all, so I decided to be productive.
I did some light and easy cleaning over night in the kitchen.
I tackled all of the drawers and threw out some broken or just really old and worthless cooking utensils, ratty dish towels and pot holders, split up sets of measuring cups and spoons, and found some stuff that I had long forgotten about too.

I found the set of hooks I bought and meant to use for a home decorating project, my old wallet which had all kinds of pictures of the kids in it, some rubber stamps from when I used to try and be all crafty, and 3 boxes of kid's Valentines cards that we never used.
I don't know why I kept those.
Maybe I thought that eventually we'd use them.
I threw out all the old and useless junk, and then put the cards back in the drawer along with the hooks, the stamps, and old wallet.
I didn't know where else to put any of it.
*shrug*

Today is the day I can finally call the neurologist about Sebastian's migraines.
I tried to call yesterday, but it was a holiday, so no one answered the phone, just got the same message that he would be out until February 16th.
So around 9am, I am going to give his office a call, and try to get Sebastian in as soon as possible.

Both of the teens are still complaining that their necks and shoulders hurt from carrying the groceries home on Sunday.
The bags were heavy, I'm not denying them their pain at all, I know back pain, but they have to go to school.
I gave them each some Tylenol just now, and I'm hoping that they will survive the day at school.
They had a 3-day weekend due to the holiday, so they have to go.
I keep telling them that if I haven't died from my back pain yet, they certainly won't die from carrying some groceries home.
I know that they did hurt pretty badly on Sunday night, but they've been playing GH and other games and not complaining about the pain, they didn't start really whining about it until bed time last night, and now this morning.
They just want to stay home.
Sorry boys, you're going to school!

Posted by Kat at 6:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The government estimates that there are still about 6.5million households in the US who are not ready for the digital tv switch.
They don't have cable or satellite tv, can't afford it, and they don't have a digital tv, can't afford 1 of those either, and now the government has run out of money to supply those households with a digital converter box coupon.
The households who received their coupons but they expired due to retailers running out of the digital converter boxes, will be able to get a replacement coupon, but not until the program receives more funding.

The DTV Delay Act will allow the Coupon Program, upon request, to offer replacement coupons for those which have expired without being redeemed. However, this program change will not take effect until the Coupon Program receives additional funding.
For this reason, the Coupon Program cannot accept requests to replace lost, stolen or expired coupons at this time.

Here's how it works;

It's very simple, if you have an extra coupon that you are willing to mail to someone or have them pick up, provide us with your email address and zip code and we'll hook you up with someone who needs one. If you need a coupon just give us your email address and zip code and we'll try and connect you with someone who has an extra coupon.

Tomorrow, February 17th 2009, was supposed to be the deadline, the full switch over was supposed to happen, but because so many households are not ready, the government has delayed the switch until June 12th 2009, so that everyone (hopefully) will be ready, and you can help.

If you applied for and received your 2 $40 digital converter box coupons but only used 1, don't need the other 1, you can go to Retrevo and enter in your name, email address, and zip code, and they will match you up with someone in your area who needs 1, and put them in contact with you so the 2 of you can make arrangements to either mail them the coupon or meet somewhere to pick it up.
You'd be helping someone get ready for the mandatory switch so that they can still watch tv after June 12th without having to try and come up with the money for a brand new digital tv, or have to spend a lot of money every month for cable or satellite service.
_______________________________

Since hooking up the digital antenna to the outside of my house and to the converter box, we are able to watch the digital tv stations which are in full digital broadcast already.
We have about 8 different PBS stations now, our local channel 8 NBC, comes in crystal clear, and they also have an added channel, 8 Prime, which is all retro tv shows, which is kinda cool.
We have 3 Fox channels, 2 CW channels, 4 ION channels, and 2 channels that broadcast childrens programming 24 hours a day.
We do have 1 ABC station out of Tampa, so I can still watch Desperate Housewives and some of our other fave shows.

We still cannot pick up any of the CBS stations, and WWSB ABC 7 is STILL NOT broadcasting a full digital signal, and their weak signal which they are broadcasting in, doesn't work either.
It still cannot be picked up by the converter boxes, and cable customers are still reporting it as coming in very badly when it does come in, but some cable customers cannot pick it up at all.
WWSB ABC 7 had this to say on February 5th, and nothing new has been said to the viewers since that date;

FYI - ABC 7 in Sarasota is only temporarily broadcasting its digital signal at a lower power. This is expected to last for a couple of weeks until some technical and mechanical issues get resolved. This process was approved by the FCC. However, now that the government has since pushed the digital transition date back several months, the entire situation is up in the air. Stay tuned for further developments on this situation. In the meantime, the top stories of every ABC 7 newscast are available for viewing on the Local News page of mysuncoast.com.

Posted by Kat at 9:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I hate doing dishes, hate it, so they end up sitting in the sink for about 2 days before I do them.
I walk by, get disgusted by them, and walk away.
But I have to do them today.
As soon as this post publishes, I'm off to tackle this:

Here's what will happen.
I'll spend about an hour washing, rinsing, drying and putting away all of these dishes, and then by the time the night is over, at least 1 side of the sink will be full of dishes again from dinner.
I'm making enchiladas tonight, so there will be the pan I cooked those in, the skillet I cooked the meat in, and then the plates and silverware from the family actually eating them, and then whatever else the teens end up using before the night is over.

I wish my kitchen was big enough for a dishwasher.
Maybe I could get 1 of these Countertop Portable Dishwashers , and I could somehow squeeze it on my counter.

Posted by Kat at 3:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

These Chex Mix chocolate chunk snack bars are awesomely tasty.

I bought them because they were on sale and I had a $1 off coupon, so I only paid $1.50 for them,
I would never have bought them otherwise, no matter how much Sebastian begged me to get them.
When he saw them on sale today, and then he dug through my coupon envelope, he said; "Mom, you gotta, you said if they were ever on sale you'd buy them, plus you have a coupon. Pleeeease?"
So I bought the 1 box, and they really are pretty tasty.
I don't like regular Chex snack mixes, they are too dry and have some weird stuff in them, but these have chocolate, and chocolate makes everything taste better.

I didn't do too bad shopping today, I saved $87.50 using coupons and in-store specials, and sale flier coupons.
I would have liked to have done a little bit better, but eh, that wasn't too bad.
My total bill before the coupons was $226.50, and I got it down to just $139.00.
__________________________________

I am slowly working on numbering the entries for the contest, to make it easier when I draw the winning comment number on March 1st.
So far, there are 109 comments, but not all of them are entries, there are a few comments from myself and Katy from Gem Affair, so I'm only numbering the actual entries.
You can still enter to win the diamond necklace, so go leave me a comment and enter to win!

Ok, off to number some more entries, (I only got up to #50 last night) and then read some blogs and stuff.
No school tomorrow so we can all sleep in.
The teens are wicked excited about that especially after having to carry home a ton of groceries today.
The cloth grocery bags were loaded to the top and wicked heavy, but we all made it back home in 1 piece despite the teens saying they felt like their arms were going to fall off.

Posted by Kat at 8:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The teens and I are getting ourselves woken up and ready to head out to Publix to do the grocery shopping.
We're all going this time because I have only enough money to buy food, not take a $10 cab ride back home, so we're taking all of the cloth shopping bags, and the teens are taking their backpacks, and we're going to get everything and carry it all home.

We've been sitting here this morning watching all of the infomercials that are on Sundays, and I am still coveting the NuWave Oven Pro.
I really do want it, and will probably buy 1 before my next surgery because it will help the teens be able to cook for themselves a lot easier.

I can't help thinking about the risks of the surgery, I don't mind the halo brace so much, it will suck, but if it helps keep my head straight, then I don't really care so much.
But the whole trach tube thing, yeah, that's got me a bit freaked out.
I won't be able to breathe, eat, drink, or speak through my nose or mouth, only breathe through the trach tube, I'll be fed through a feeding tube in my stomach.
It does have it's benefits though.
I won't need to diet or take any sort of diet pill, my food will be some liquid goop shoved through a tube directly into my stomach, so I'm like pretty much guaranteed to lose weight.

But I was thinking about the teens, I won't be able to eat, I will probably have a very hard time doing things like cooking because of the halo brace, and the teens, while they do know how to cook, the oven still freaks them out.
So I was watching the infomercial for the NuWave Oven Pro, and how it is less intimidating than the regular oven, they'd be able to eat good and healthy foods, real food, not microwave nuke 'em bad for them crap, and so yeah, I think at some point before the next surgery, I'll buy it.
I'll test it out, teach the teens how to use it, let them cook with it all of the time before I go, and then they'll be used to it, will be able to cook for themselves when I get back, and probably get really good at it because it's so easy to use, like no brainer cooking.

Ok, gotta get myself ready, brush my hair and get dressed, get my list and coupons, and head on out to buy some food that the teens will inhale.
They have tomorrow off, no school because of the holiday, so I need to pick up some easy to eat and lunch meat stuff for sandwiches and stuff like that.

Posted by Kat at 1:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The last few days have been pretty stressful for me, I've been shown, once again, that there are people who are just terrible human beings.
I don't sleep much anyway, been battling insomnia for years, but the last few days, I've barely slept at all, barely ate at all.
Who needs diet pills when you are so stressed out and sickened that you can't even eat.

I have lost trust in people, I don't know who to trust, who not to trust, I am lost.
I am hurt, angry, feeling completely betrayed, and I have this absolutely horrible pit-of-my-stomach sick feeling that someone pretending to be my friend, is a part of what happened.

I know that by blogging, by being online, I have put myself in this position of being a target, but at the same time, I always try to believe that people will be good to each other, treat each other right, fairly.
People often tell me that I shouldn't put so much trust in people because most people are only in it for themselves, would trample you in a heartbeat to get for themselves, that I shouldn't take anyone's word for anything, that people are liars, thieves, just all around rotten people.
But I always want to see the best in people, I always want to look past whatever mistakes people have made, and try to find the good in them.

But now?
No, I can't do that anymore.
I *know* I am being lied to by someone who is claiming to be a friend, there's just too many coincidences in timing, in things said, in their behavior, and it really saddens and angers me that they were a part of this plan to hurt me.
I have lost all trust in people, I am completely lost here.

I am also very upset with myself, to be feeling this angry and having intense feelings of revenge.
I am NOT a mean person, I am not the type to seek out revenge, intentionally hurt people, but I am feeling that way and I hate it.
I hate that I feel like this, I hate that someone spent almost 2 years hating on me because I post a lot, post to my blog, post to forums, and when push came to shove, they claimed it was all a joke, "Ha ha, just having some fun, never meant to hurt you, just kidding Kat, just playing around."
Just kidding for almost 2 years?
I don't think so.
You can't have all that hate for someone for that long, and then turn around and call it a joke when the center of your hatred finds out and handles it through legal means.

I talk a lot, I post a lot, sorry if that bothers people, and if it bothers them now, just wait.
The revision surgery I'll be having may make it so that I can't speak at all for a minimum of 3 months.
I'll have a trach tube in my throat, and a feeding tube in my stomach.
I won't be able to eat, drink, or speak.
I won't be able to even talk to my own sons for months, all communication even within my own home, will be done through text.
I have a lot going on, and maybe that's why after several emails back and forth last night, they took it all down, they removed everything they said, they felt guilty for doing it, but still, calling it all a joke, a 2 year long joke?
No, you don't get to play that card.
And you don't get to call yourself my friend.

Posted by Kat at 2:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My appointment was for 10:15am, I arrived about 20 minutes early, as always.
I got out of the cab, shut the door, he pulled out from under the carport and left.
I saw my doctor pull in, I wanted to say good morning, I hadn't seen hm since the very first days of September.
He got out, walked around to the right side back seat passenger door, leash in hand, and went to get Holly, his very large black and white spotted Great Dane out.
He always puts her on a leash, but Holly must have seen something, and when she got out, she went left, to the end of the car,about 4-5 feet past it, out into the parking lot.
That's when a small truck, like a little Toyota, came screaming through the lot at about 60 mph, and nailed Holly.
The truck totally took off after, too, and with a lot of front end damage.
It hit a very large Great Dane.
Holly is so big, my nieces would think it's a pony.
It was awful.
My doc screamed, I screamed, we both ran to her.
She was very badly hurt but awake.
Her legs looked broken, how could they not be?
A huge dane got hit with the bumper and front end of a small truck.
She looked like she was having trouble breathing, she was bleeding.

She's such a sweet girl, Holly is with him every single day, she wanders in and out of patient rooms all day, has her own room in his offices with a big bed in it, toys, raw hides, all kinds of things, but she loves to come say hello to everyone.

We both ran to her, I couldn't kneel down, I can't, but my doc was on his knees at her side, I ran in for help, and came back out.
I asked him what I could do, tell me what to do I begged him.
Doc lifted her up, handed me the keys to the car, told me to get the back door open, I opened the back door, and he laid her in.
He yelled to his staff and me that he would be back, we all thought he would.

I sat there in the waiting room for over an hour, I would have sat there all day, I had a lot to talk about, slowly, 1 by 1, patients were called to the desk to be told he wouldn't be coming back today, he wouldn't be coming back until Monday.
I asked them what am I supposed to do?
My surgeon released me to his care, he didn't give me my meds on Tuesday because he wanted another test done today, today he was going to give me my meds, but he needed me to have an MRI this morning, which I did go and get, brought the films with me.
I had a lot I had to discuss with him.
My surgeon released me from his care, told me to go to this doc ASAP, tell him everything that happened in surgery and after, all of it.
The collapsed lung, the breathing tube, that my heart stopped twice on the table, the medically induced coma, the neck brace stuff, the jaw and vomit issues, the blood pressure issues, the upcoming surgery and the very serious risks it involves.
I also wanted to asked him about all of the new plans and any weight loss pills he had been working on and we had discussed before I left for surgery.

When his staff told me he wouldn't be back until Monday, I panicked.
A whole weekend without my pain meds?
With my body the way it is?
The constant pain I am in 24/7, the more than likely very ugly drug withdrawals?
When I do not have my meds, I cannot do anything other than lay in bed or on the couch.
My body has spasms, the weather effects me, cold, rain. I get sick, it's not a plesant thing to go through.

The nurse told me to go to the ER.
I said I can't, they won't treat me, I'm a surgical pain patient, I have signed a Florida state drug contract, I cannot go anywhere but here for my meds, where is the PA (physician's assistant) that he used to have? I'll wait for her to get here.
They said they no longer have a PA.
I asked about them calling in the lower dose med for the weekend, I will come back on Monday for the other one.
They said no, they couldn't do that, sorry, go to the ER.
I explained to them, again, the ER will not treat me, they will not cover my pain meds for even just the weekend, I'm a surgical pain patient, they don't even want to touch me due to the length of the fusion.
They apologized, but said there was nothing they could do.

I went outside and called a friend, I was crying, very upset.
I had just witnessed a beautiful and loving dog get hit by a car, I was going to be hurting all weekend due to the lack of my pain meds, probably end up sick from not having them, I was scared and I admit it.
If you've never been through drug withdrawals, you have no idea what it does to your body, it is a nightmare I wish on no one.

So I called her, told her what had happened, she said she was on her way.
She came and picked me up, gave me a couple of her meds, not what I take, but enough to hold off being drug sick for awhile.
I came home and started Twittering my bad morning.
I've spent like the whole day Twittering back and forth about it, mostly support, people understand what I was trying to say, but others were not ok with some things I said like this;'
Wow. NOT illegal in Fla for doc to bring dog to office * if he calls it a "personal emergency" perfectly legal for him to cancel all appts.
I got replies like this;
@mskat I'm sorry, but my pets (furkids) would take place over anyone, anytime. I imagine he's really upset about what has happened. I would.

Yes, he was upset, I was there, I saw the whole thing, I do care about the dog, but the vets wouldn't let him stay with the dog while they operated, they made him sit in the waiting room, and meanwhile, every patient he had today and tomorrow, were all being rescheduled for Monday and Tuesday, double booking everyone, forcing all his Thursday and Friday patients to suffer in pain all weekend because he wouldn't come back, was taking a 4 day weekend over this.

Yes, I get it, he loves his dog, I love my Kali kitty more than almost everything, BUT, if I had to choose to save my sons or my cats lives first, it's a no brainer, my kids.
He's a doctor, he took a Hippocratic oath to serve, save, and protect his patients, and he was leaving 100's of patients to suffer all weekend over a dog he could do nothing for but sit and wait for the vets to fix her, try to help her.
But his patients?
Ah, screw 'em, they can wait, his animal comes before the patients who need and trust him to help them.
We're all surgical patients, we rely on him to help us, we cannot go to the ER, we cannot seek out other docs, we have to see and be seen by him, but he put his animal first.

During all of this Twittering all day, I lost 5 followers who were upset with me because I didn't care about the dog, only myself and my drugs.
I was told I had no compassion.
Don't even give me that crap!
I ran to that dog's side as fast as my doctor did, I tried to help, I did what he told me to to help, I do care about Holly, but I also care about the 100's of human lives that were being left hanging while he sat in a waiting room doing nothing.
We all needed him to help us just like he needed the vets to help Holly.

I was told by the nurse that if he decided to come in on Friday, they would call me.
No one called me by 4:45pm, so I called them, was met by the answering service.
I thought great, until Monday, if I make it that long.
Finally around 5:50pm, his nurse called me and asked if I could be there at 10am, but warned me it would be double booked.
I said I could and I will, I'll be there.

But no, don't any of you dare tell me I have no compassion, I probably have far more than you in just my pinky finger alone.
The big difference between us is that if I saw an accident, saw you and an animal get hit by a car, both of you in horrible shape, I would choose to save YOUR life.
I value human life above all others.
Even those of you who choose to be mean to me, spread lies about me, tell me that I'm a horrible person, I would still choose to save your life.
Yours is what I value above all else.
I'd run into a burning house to save a human life, I'd break the glass on an overturned car to save your life, I would do whatever I had to, to save a human life

Posted by Kat at 6:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Dog, a great dane, was just hit by a car in the parking lot. sitting here waiting.

Posted by Kat at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I want to get away, or maybe send other people away, maybe to the Outer Banks or the far outer limits of space where they freeze up and die a painful death.

I just don't understand people sometimes and it frustrates me.
I don't understand the violence and abuse people do to each other, the neglect, the hatred, the killings, any of it.
I don't get it.

I'm often accused, because I'm an atheist, that I live my life without morals, that simply because I don't believe in a god, that I must believe in doing whatever I want whenever I want, hurt people, steal, kill, cheat on my significant other, all kinds of things, simply because I don't believe in a god.

But I do live my life better than most people do.
I don't lie, cheat, steal, kill, I don't intentionally harm others, I don't just live my life freely doing whatever I want whenever I want, I actually take other people into consideration.
I consider their feelings before saying or doing anything.
I spend countless hours worried about other people, wondering if they are ok, wanting to help them in some way, not just a thought or prayer saying I'm thinking of them, but really wanting to help if it's within my abilities to do so.
And it bothers me so much when other people don't, when all they care about is themselves, when they don't care who they hurt or trample on in an effort to the make themselves feel better.

I've spent hours tonight being hurt, being greatly upset by the actions and statements of others.
I try so hard to be a good person, to help people.
Sure, I talk a lot, I can't help it.
I've been unable to work outside the home since 2001, my kids are at school all day, I have no spouse or significant other to talk to, my blogs, the internet, forums, are ways for me to talk to people, so I am not so alone, not feeling so alone, and there are some out there who see that as a great fault, as something to attack me over, and say other things about me.
But it does bother me, and if that's what they were hoping to accomplish, I hope they are happy, that they will sleep better knowing they hurt someone.
I am upset tonight, hurt, but tomorrow, after I get home from the docs, I am going to do what is needed to put an end to it.
I allow myself some time to go through all of the emotions, and right now I'm a combo or hurt and angry, but mostly angry, and mostly determined to fight this crap.

It's all just so wrong, and it's cowardly, it's petty and childish.

Posted by Kat at 1:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I'm working on getting my tax stuff all sorted out.
I've finally separated the 2009 receipts from the 2008 receipts, and now I just need to get all of my prescription receipts printed out.
Most of the receipts in my 2008 taxes box, are for prescriptions and doctors appointments.
All of that medical stuff can be written off, so I need to get everything printed to make it as easy as possible to get my taxes done.

Walgreen's allows you to print your payment receipts for prescriptions from home over the internet from their site, so I printed those out, but I've also used a few different branches of Walgreen's, and for some reason, they are not included in the ones I printed out last night.
And then there's the other pharmacies I've used, so I need to physically go to each of them and ask them to use their receipt printer to print out all of my 2008 prescription receipts.

Hey, all of that stuff is a tax write off, and considering how many meds I take and how much they cost, you can bet your butts that I'll be printing them all out and writing them off to get a decent tax return.

Posted by Kat at 1:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've refrained from posting about the Octo-mom, but the more news stories I watch and read, the angrier I get.
I don't think I have a right to be angry, but it does anger me what she's done.
This woman, Nadya Suleman, is a 33-year old single mother of 14 kids now.
She has no job, she lives in the basement of her parents very small 2 bedroom home with her previous 6 kids, some of whom have been reported as being disabled in some way, and she's collecting welfare even though she adamantly denies that what she gets is welfare.

She gets $490 per month in food stamps, and she also receives 3 monthly SSI payments because 3 of the first 6 kids she has, are disabled.
She doesn't consider the food stamps welfare though.
"In Nadya's view, the money that she gets from the food stamp program ...and the resources disabilities payments she gets for her three children are not welfare," he said. "They are part of programs designed to help people with need, and she does not see that as welfare."
She may not see that as welfare, but those programs she's talking about and getting for people in need, is called welfare.

She says she plans on attending school so she can become some sort of counselor or therapist so she can take care of her kids all by herself, but who is going to be paying the bills while she attends school?
And that job she wants to get, only pays about $45,000 per year.
She has 14 kids now, they will cost far more than that $45,000 per year by a long shot.
"Money? Money is necessary to raise children. But it's - it's paper. It is paper. To me, it is superfluous in contrast to the importance of my kids."
Maybe what Nadya could do is get some sort of jobs in finance, because she is certainly doing something with money to have done and even attempt to do what she's trying to do.

She's going to use her student loans to help raise her kids while she attends school, her dad is going back to Iraq to work and try to make enough money to pay all of the bills and to help take care of his single daughter with 14 kids.
Her mother is fed up, has been taking care of the 6 kids while Nadya was in the hospital and now doing all of these interviews, and she's (the mother) tired of doing it, is disgusted by what her daughter has done, calling it unconscionable.

This whole thing makes me sick to my stomach.
I'm a single parent of 2 kids, been raising them on my own for the last 15 years now, I've had help here and there from friends and family, (thanks) but damn, it's hard, and that's just with 2 kids.
I've had to use welfare, it's no way to try and raise kids, it's simply not enough money, and those SSI payments her 3 kids are getting, even combined, it's not even close to being enough to take care of 6 kids, never mind all 14 of them.

I just have to wonder what she was thinking, I am not buying that whole "for all my life, I just wanted to be a mother, I love kids" story, I really believe that she had another motive, and that it was money.
You take a look at The Duggars and Jon and Kate + 8, and we all see how well their families are doing with corporate sponsorships basically, and tv shows, and all of the money they are making, the free products, and it leaves me wondering if maybe Nadya thought that she could do that too, make it rich by being 'the only single parent of 14 kids', that tv and companies would all line up to put her in the spotlight as some sort of 'super single mom' doing it all on her own.

She divorced her husband, didn't want any alimony or child support, it is being reported that the sperm donor is someone who proposed to her and she turned him down, said that she wants to do all of this on her own, be a parent to all of these kids on her own, but she's worked her own mother, a woman she blames for her dysfunctional childhood, made her take care of her kids, and will probably want her help to take care of all 14 of them while she attends school too.

But is is my personal opinion, that this was all some sort of plan to make money, to get her own tv show, get a special house built and paid for by some company, get free clothes, food, diapers, cribs, strollers, etc etc etc, for being like I said, some sort of super single mother raising 14 kids on her own.
I wonder and worry about those children, all 14 of them.
Who will really care for them?
How will they be cared for?
Nadya may think that money is just paper, but money is going to be needed to take care of all of those kids, and it is not right that she's using welfare, and will probably continue to do so, to take care of all of them now.
Welfare is for people in hard times, for people in true need, and if you can't afford to take care of yourself and the children you already have, you have no right what so ever to go and have even more, be an even bigger drain on welfare and society, just because you want to have more kids.

This story continues to develop, I'm watching ET right now, and either tonight or tomorrow night, they are going to have some segment on how Nadya is a liar, not who she says she is, that something is seriously wrong with her.
I imagine we all can tell already that something is seriously wrong with her.
She's a few cells short of full functioning.

Posted by Kat at 7:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

I feel wicked bad for the teens, they inherited their father's bad skin genes.
I rarely ever had any acne growing up, and if I did, it was 1 itty bitty pimple, and I would zap it with cleansers and toothpaste, and it would be gone by morning.
But their dad, well, he would break out something fierce.

So I was tucking them in bed last night, I know I know, I still tuck in my 15 and 17 year old sons, but they ask me to, so I do.
Anyway, as I was tucking in Sebastian, he requests that I tuck him in first, do the blanket flip and tuck, he wiped back the hair off of his face and told me to look at his forehead.
It was covered in acne.
I asked him if he's been washing his face like I taught him to, if he's been using the acne treatment I bought for them, and he admitted that he hasn't been doing it, so I said, "Well, if you're not taking care of your face properly, the way you've been taught, this is the end result."
He laughed and said, "If you think mine is bad, go check out Mark's face!" and he let out an even more evil laugh.
I said goodnight, left his room, and shut off his light.

I then went into Mark's room, had to do the blanket flip and tuck with him too, and I had to wipe the hair from his face to see what the evil laughing was all about.
His face, too, was covered in acne, all over his forehead.
I didn't even get a chance to say anything, he just announced that he hasn't been using the cleansers I bought, so he only washes with soap and water in the shower.
I asked him if he liked zits or something, and he said no, but "I have long hair, no one can see them anyway. Ha ha."

He said he uses them sometimes, when he remembers, but most mornings he's just too tired and lazy to do it.
Hey, at least he's honest about being lazy about doing it.
I just feel bad that they inherited bad skin, and I wish I could clear it all up for them, but they need to do it, they need to actually take the time to wash their faces right, use the cleansers, dab on the treatment gel at night to dry them all up, but they don't, and I'm not going to hover over them like a super protective mother hen and nag them to do it.
Eventually they will figure it all out, good clean skin with no zits has it's bennies.

While you're here reading this, check out the post below and enter to win a diamond necklace for my birthday!
That's right, a gift from me to you on my birthday!

Posted by Kat at 1:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

**EDIT**
Too many people are NOT following the rules.
As of right now. 10:20pm EST Monday February 16th, I will not be counting anymore of the entries which do not follow the very simple first rule of this contest.
This is the rule, follow it or your comment entry will NOT be counted.
1. Leave a comment on this post and tell me which piece of jewelry you'd love to have from Gem Affair.com.
Go to GemAffair and pick 1 thing that you'd like to have, come back here and leave a comment telling me what it is.
If this is not done, your comment entry will NOT count.
_____________________

My birthday is coming up on March 1st, and I want to celebrate and share my birthday fun with my readers.
So, I'm having a contest to give 1 lucky reader a present from me and Gem Affair, to help celebrate the big 39.
Yup, I'm going to be 39 this year, I'm seriously thinking this will be the last birthday I acknowledge, at least publicly.
I'm not growing old as gracefully as I had hoped, and just thinking about my body getting worse with old age, makes me cringe.

So anyway, I want to celebrate it up big and I want to share my special day with you by awarding this fine piece of jewelry, yours without out-of-pocket expense.
Katy and Gem affair have so awesomely agreed to be my contest sponsor.
The winner will be selected randomly using random.org, and this is what 1 lucky reader will win.
It's a diamond two-piece oval pendant with an 18-inch chain.

It comes packaged beautifully in a gift box, and will be shipped directly to you from Gem Affair, it will be gift wrapped and include a note.**

I won 1 of the Twitter contests that Gem Affair had, and I absolutely LOVE the diamond journey pendant that I won.
It is sooo beautiful, and it fits me perfectly both in actual fit and style.

So now that you know what the prize of my celebrate my birthday contest is, here's what you need to do to win!
For each 1 of these that you do, you NEED to leave a SEPARATE comment for each.
Each 1 of these equals 1 entry, but the first one is a must do.
The more you do, the more chances of winning you have!

1. Leave a comment on this post and tell me which piece of jewelry you'd love to have from Gem Affair.com.
2. Twitter about this contest. Please leave me your username so I can verify.
3. Stumble this post. Please give me your username so I can verify.
4. Follow me on Twitter. Please give me your username so I can verify.
5. Follow Gem Affair on Twitter. Please give me your username so I can verify.

EDITED**
For 5 additional entries for each, do one or both of the following, and leave a separate comment for each 1 that you do, I will add your +5 entries to your entries.

1. Blog about this on your blog linking back to me and 1 link to Gem Affair.com. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.
2. Subscribe to this blog using my RSS feed.

The winner will be drawn from all of the entries on Sunday March 1st, my birthday.
So come celebrate with me and you could win this beautiful diamond pendant!
The contest is open to both US and Canadian residents only.
______________________________________

So that I don't run into a snafu with my winner, and don't like being called a liar, thief, and criminal, here's the skinny:

Giveaway is open until midnight, February 28th, 2009.
Winner will be chosen at random and announced on March 1st, 2009.
Winner will be contacted by email and/or Twitter and will have 48 hours to respond.
Please use your real first name and a valid email address when entering.
I am not responsible for incorrect contact information.
You must respond from the email you used to enter in order to be eligible to win!
If I contact you through the email you used to enter, and it bounces back as invalid, I will choose a different winner, so please make sure that your information is correct.

Too many people are NOT following the rules.
As of right now. 10:20pm Monday February 16th, I will not be counting anymore of the entries which do not follow the very simple first rule of this contest.
This is the rule, follow it or your comment entry will NOT be counted.
1. Leave a comment on this post and tell me which piece of jewelry you'd love to have from Gem Affair.com.
Go to GemAffair and pick 1 thing that you'd like to have, come back here and leave a comment telling me what it is.
If this is not done, your comment entry will NOT count.

**
Your information, your shipping and email address, will only be used by me and Gem Affair to send you the prize you have won.
You will not be put on any mailing lists, your information will not be sold.
This is in accordance with my privacy policy and Gem Affair also respects your privacy and will not use your shipping or email address for any other reason.

Posted by Kat at 9:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (449)

I used to take my old and used cds and DVDs and trade them in at a local music and video store.
Boogie Woogie which was in the same shopping plaza as Publix, used to take used CDs and DVDs, and either give you cash for them or let you trade them in for other items that you wanted, but due to the failing economy, they had to close down all of their locations.
That was back in May 2008, quite awhile before any of the news of the Wall Street fiasco started to make the news, but local establishments were already beginning to feel the heat of the failing economy.
I haven't been able to find any other place to sell my used CDs and DVDs since, other than online auction sites, but you're lucky if you get a buck a piece on some of those sites.

I have now found an awesome place that will take your old CDs and DVDs and books, and give you cash or let you trade them in on other stuff you may want.
Abundatrade.com is the place to go to unload your used stuff and get cash or gadgets in return.

You can do it 1 of 2 ways.
You can go to their site and either enter in the 12-digit UPC code or the 10-13-digit ISBN number, and they will calculate the trade in or cash value for you.
To test it out, I entered in the ASIN number of the nearest to me DVD, which was The Nightmare Before Christmas 2-disc collectors edition which retails for $20.99 on Amazon, and they calculated it's trade in value at $7.67. (I am NOT trading it in, I love this movie, just testing the system out)

The other way you can do it is to just box up all of the items you want to trade in, they give you the shipping materials to send them in, and when they get them and calculate the value of everything in your box, they let you know how much it's all worth.
If you submit a tracking number when you ship it to them, they will give you a FREE used CD just for helping them track your package.

The value of your items is based on the current online market value for each item you are looking to trade in.
All items must be in good physical shape, and if you have all of the items that go with it, like the jewel case, the booklets and manuals, the more it's worth.
You should read the FAQs to learn more about how they calculate the value and the shipping methods etc.
The current market value has nothing to do with the popularity of the band, movie or book, it is based soley upon current online market values.
Oooh, the FAQs say they even take video games.
Awesome!
I know we have a ton of video games that we've beat and don't play anymore, and I could unload all of the old PS2 games that we haven't played since the teens got the xbox360 2+ years ago.
Saweeet!

If you box up and ship a lot of items, and for some reason they decline some of them, they will send those items back to you, or you can choose to leave them with Abundatrade to recycle.
Nice.
The online market value calculator is only an estimate, they will inspect all of the items you send in for damage or to see if it has all of the booklets and original jewel case, and that may either increase or decrease the current market value.

The items you send in can be used to purchase brand new items, gadgets like iPods or cameras, tvs, computers and gaming equipment.
You can basically trade in all of your old and used CDs, DVDs, books and video games, and get new items in return.
This seems like a great way to get your kids that stuff they have already listed as wanting for Christmas without having to save every penny for the next 10 months, you can just send in all your old stuff and get some new stuff.
It's like finding money you didn't know you had!

I have so many books, video games, CDs, and DVDs, this is going to be my new place to trade stuff in.
Check it out!

Posted by Kat at 8:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My kitty Kali is old, she's 11 now, and so that's like what, 44 in people years?
She's an old lady now, getting gray hairs, sleeps a lot more, has to be on special food because of her age, and just like in humans, pets go through the pretty much all of the same symptoms of old age as humans do.
I have to wonder if female cats and dogs too I suppose, go through things like menopause.
Do they get hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, and other things like human women do?

I've posted before about how she shudders, has spasms at night, and how I looked for answers as to why, but yup, she is definitely getting to be an old lady now.

Today, she was on Mark's lap, he was petting her and she let out a yelp, and that's when he saw it.
One of her front lower teeth, was like sticking out.
I had Mark hold her down so I could open her mouth and take a look, and when I did, the tooth just fell out.
She's losing her teeth just like old people do.
Now that the tooth is out, she's letting people pet her again, but it's no wonder that for the last few days, she has been very upset and not wanting anyone to touch her, she had a loose tooth and it hurt.

Posted by Kat at 3:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I am so angry and frustrated over that stupid game World of Warcraft.
I freaking hate it.
First, it was supposed to be a Christmas present for the teens, but I got swindled into giving it to them months early, in October, because people wanted to play it with them, I heard promises about how they'd help me pay for it, the teens and the person who wanted them to have it early.
I haven't seen a dime even offered to help me.

Second, a special chat program needed to be downloaded in order to chat in game, and Sebastian screwed up the installation on it a few times before telling me, so I had to go in there and fix it.
I removed it, told the teens not to download it again.
But the very same person who made me give it to them early, the very same person who said they'd help pay for it, kept bugging them to install it, so they did it again.
This time they got it right, but the point is that I said no, do not, and they did it anyway.

Third, this game is a major memory hog.
I paid a lot of money to buy more computer memory for it, I paid a lot of money to install a new graphics card, and this damn game is so freaking huge, that I had to move it from drive C to drive D, just so it had enough room to be on their computer and not cause every other program they have to not work.

And the teens keep shutting down vital programs like the firewall because other people tell them to.
They keep downloading stuff they shouldn't, they keep doing a lot of things to that computer that I have told them repeatedly not to do.
I am thisclose to taking the game disc and snapping it in half, throwing it away, and not paying for it anymore.
I'm sick of it, I'm so over this game and the teens doing things they shouldn't to the computer, and so over other people telling them to do things to the computer even though I have said no.

I AM the mother.
I pay all of the bills.
I bought the game.
I bought the computer.
No one else should have any say at all in what the teens do on that pc, but they keep getting talked to, pestered to do this and that to it, and so they do.
I swear, 1 more issue with the game and the computer, I WILL take the game disc and snap it in half right in front of them and toss it the hell out and save my money every month.

I pay for it because it makes them happy, but it does nothing but cause me grief and irritate me every single time I have to go fix the pc because other people are doing stupid things and telling them to do stupid things to it.

Posted by Kat at 6:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

The teens came home from school today right at 2:38pm on the dot again.
How they time it so perfectly everyday, I have absolutely no idea.
But anyway, they come through the door, and Mark says "Mom! Listen to this!"
He nudges Sebastian who says to me, "Mom, check this out!"

He hands me the form you see below.
Yes, that is a U.S. Army recruitment form.

He says that at school today, the U.S. Army was there, they had an xbox 360 all set up, the whole Guitar Hero World Tour kit, the full band, drums, guitar, mic, and it was hooked up to a really nice LCD tv.
They were asking the young male students if they wanted to play, and of course Sebastian wants to play, he loves that game, so he walked over and said he'd like to play, that he's pretty good at it.

One of the recruiters handed him this form, I actually have this at my house, and he tells Sebastian that all he has to do if he wants to play GH AT school one day a week for the rest of the year, that all he has to do is write in his phone number and sign the form, don't read it, just put his phone number down and sign it, they'll fill out the rest later on when they call him at home.

Sebastian, knowing how I feel about the military recruiting at high schools, told the guy he's not allowed to sign anything without his mother being present.
The guy said "You don't need your mother to know what this is about, it's just to play Guitar Hero at school."
Sebastian said "No, I do need my mom to know what this is about because I'm not 18, I'm only 15, and not allowed to sign things like this without her knowing. I'll take it home, she can look at it, and if she says I can, I'll bring it back tomorrow."

The form even says that you have to be 17, and here they are, handing this out to all students, not asking them their ages, and getting kids to sign up to be recruited by allowing them to play GH at school for the rest of the year.
What the hell is this?!

I totally disagree with these kinds of recruitment tactics at school, I hate it that they are allowed to recruit at school, but this is pretty freaking sneaky.
If students sign up to be recruited, they get to play GH 1 day a week for the rest of the school year.
That's just wrong.

Posted by Kat at 2:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I wrote up a review of the Smooth Away hair removal product on my other blog, so if you're interested in how it works, you can go to my other blog, KatScan, and check it out.

Posted by Kat at 7:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Remember how I told you I won an 18-piece food storage container set from Rubbermaid and the Graco Baby Blog?

Well anyway, Lindsay Lebresco emailed and said she was sending them out, that it would here on Friday, today, and man, she's good!
They showed up this morning, FedEx delivered them right on perfect timing like Nixon watches keep perfect time.
I love it when companies keep their word and do things so perfectly and you get the things you ordered or won in this case, exactly when they say you will.

It also wasn't an 18-piece set, it turned out to be a 20-piece set.
18 regular pieces and 2 fruit and veggie crisper containers.

The fruit and veggie crisper containers come with a special vented lid and a special insert to help keep the food from turning brown and going bad.
There's 1 large and 1 medium lid and insert, and they fit into any of the large and medium containers.

All of the lids do snap together so you don't lose them, and the lids also snap to the bottom of the containers, making it super easy to store and stack them so none of them get misplaced.

It's a really great set, I love this kind of stuff, I know, I'm a total kitchen geek, so when it got here, I went in my cupboard where I keep all my storage containers, and tossed out all of the old, stained, lost lidded containers, and the lids with no containers, and put all of these in there.
They are all in the perfect graduated different sizes, but they all stick and stack together, so it's wicked easy to keep them in the cupboard above the stove.

So thanks again Newell Rubbermaid and Lindsay for holding the contest!

Posted by Kat at 5:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've had so much done to me medically, I know more medical terms and names of tests, and what all of those tests do, and had big huge surgeries, and know how all of them went step by step, that I know more than some of the doctors I've seen.
I've actually been in the ER and seen a few doctors who didn't even know that the things I've had done, could be done.

Since all of this stuff started, I've become rather interested in all of this medical stuff, mostly by need, because if a nurse or doctor didn't/doesn't know, I need to be able to explain it to them so they don't try and treat me the wrong way, do tests to me that I can't have done.

I think once you're in the medical profession, that you should constantly stay abreast on all of the latest medical advancements as you can, so that you can provide your patients with the best possible care.
At ST. Xavier's University, nurses can get their MS nursing degree, a masters of science in nursing, online.
In order to qualify, they must already have a bachelors degree from a regionally accredited college or university, for admission, but they can do this from home, on their time.
Nurses are very busy at their jobs, they probably see more patients than the doctors do, so they need to know a lot, but time to get an education and work at the same time is difficult.
That's why being able to do it online can help.
They can get their masters in nursing at their own pace, day or night, and then do one weekend of applied campus experience, and they will have their masters degree, make more money, and be able to help even more patients with their more advanced knowledge.

My surgeon's head nurse, Cindy, is currently getting her masters.
She works with him 5 days a week all day long, and then leaves at 3pm 3 days a week, to attend classes at USF right down the road from his offices.
She is doing this so that she is better prepared to handle all of his patients, be able to do more in the operating room, and take better care of the thousands of surgical patients they see every year.
I think it's pretty awesome that she is continuing her education like that, and if a college wasn't as close as it is, knowing that an online college is there to help her get her masters if she needed it, pretty cool.
I adore my surgeon and his whole team, so yeah, knowing that they are always on top of everything new in medicine and continuing to educate themselves, makes me feel a whole lot better when I have to get on that table again.

Posted by Kat at 11:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My oh so used to be incredibly awesome couch and love seat, now look like some second hand well loved severely used, majorly discount furniture from a thrift store.

The teens are always coming in the house and doing like a slide into home plate on them after school with shoes and all, and the cats, well, there are 4 of them now in order from first to newest, Kali, Nova, Shahiro, and the newest , Carmine, who all think of all of my furniture as their personal jungle gyms and attempted scratching posts, so the couch and love seat are looking pretty shabby these days.

They look good from a slight distance, like from the front door or the other room, but once you get a good look at them, yeah, you can totally tell I have kids and cats.
Kali, Nova, and Shahiro are really good about not scratching them, Kali and Nova especially, they don't have their front claws, haven't had them for like 10 years, but Carmine, oooh man, I don't think his previous owner(s) really cared about teaching him not to scratch the furniture.
So we are trying to break him of this really bad habit.
I have several different scratching posts and toys for him, and whenever any of us see him going for the couches, we clap our hands very loudly twice and say no, and he's starting to get the hint that clawing the couches is a very bad thing to do.

The other thing we do when we catch him going for the furniture is to distract him and give him the mouse, the Scratch Rattle Roll Scratcher - Mouse.
Once he sees that, he totally forgets about the couches and plays with the mouse for a good half hour.
He claws at it's sisal back, chews on it's crinkly ears, bats around the tail with the jingle ball in it, and licks all over the whole thing because it's full of catnip.

We will break him of the furniture scratching habit, it's just going to take a bit of time I think.
It's pretty obvious that his previous owner(s) did not train him well in this area, but other than this, he's a really great cat.
He uses the litter box, he's wicked loving and sweet, and kinda quirky.
He likes having his teeth rubbed when you pet him.
He opens his mouth slightly, and will turn his head all over the place rubbing his teeth on your hand or fingers, and he purrs so loud while doing it, kinda nutty, but eh, it's cute kinda nutty.

Posted by Kat at 12:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Due to a mix-up and a misunderstanding on a purchase I made at an online retailer back in December, Buy.com's customer service department has been in touch with me regarding that purchase and the snafu.
It's a major long story, but Buy.com wanted to make sure that I was happy with my purchase and their company, which I am, I've been shopping with them since 2004.
So anyway, their customer service department sent me a gift certificate today for $30.00 to buy anything I want.
Yay!
So now the question is, what do I want to buy?!

I've been going through all of their weekly deals and sale items, and they have so many awesome items on sale, and at first I didn't think they had anything this week that I wanted, but then my friend Holly pointed out what she was getting from her husband for valentine's day, and now I'm all oooohhh, I want those too!

They are some Altec Lansing MUZX MHP 206 Stereo Earphones, some pretty little sparkly earbuds that I can use with my mp3 player.
Aren't they pretty?

They are normally $59.99, but Buy.com has them for just $17.99, so that's a savings of $41.96!
Yeuss!

They have precision-cut crystalized Swarovski elements in the jeweled flowers on the earbuds, and on the butterfly on the on the choker.
The "Snug fit" design provides passive noise reduction, which makes it so that you don't have to turn the volume up so high to get great sound quality.
They come with 3 different sized ear tips, small, medium, and large, so I'm sure to find 1 of the 3 that will fit my ears perfectly so they don't slip out when I'm moving around and going for walks like my current ear buds sometimes do.
And they got some great reviews too, so it looks like I'm making a good purchase, a good deal on the price, and they are not only beautiful, but have good sound quality as well.

Now I'm going to look around and find one more item to go with them so I can spend as close to the gift certificate amount as possible, and then I'm going to buy them.
When I get them, I'll be sure to let you know how they are and write my own review!

Posted by Kat at 9:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Can be clicked for bigger.

I just checked in on the Sims 3 website, and found out that the rumors last week are true.
The Sims 3 will NOT be released until June 2nd now.
Here's the press release;

EA ANNOUNCES NEW SHIP DATE FOR THE SIMS 3

Highly-Anticipated PC Game from Best-selling PC Franchise Slated to Ship
June 2, 2009

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., February 3, 2009 - Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced that The Sims 3, the highly-anticipated flagship game from the best-selling PC franchise, The Sims will launch across the PC, Mac, iPhone, iPod Touch and mobile devices summer 2009. The Sims 3 PC will ship to store shelves worldwide starting June 2, 2009.

"The Sims 3 is an incredible game that lets you play with life, create art and show off your creations," said Ben Bell, Executive Producer, The Sims 3. "In the game, players are inspired by endless creative possibilities like the new Traits and Lifetime Wish features which allow players to create Sims with real personalities and destinies. Players can then take their Sim into town to interact with other Sims in the game and capture the action on video to show off online."

"The June launch combined with the break-through game the team is building gives us the perfect runway to create awareness for The Sims 3," said Russell Arons, Vice President of Marketing for EA. "The Sims 3 will be the original IP summer blockbuster of 2009 as we build off the success of the best-selling PC franchise of all time to create awareness with both loyal Sims fans and new players."

I'm sure they have a really good reason for the delay, they want it to be the best possible game it can be, it is just really disappointing news to read.

Posted by Kat at 1:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I ran out of the vitamins for the teens about a week ago, and mine have extra iron so I can't share them with the teens, and I didn't have the money, nor did I go anywhere to pick up more for them, so guess what?

Tonight around 10pm, Sebastian came to me and said he wasn't feeling well, I asked him to explain, give me symptoms, because not feeling well doesn't tell me a whole lot.
He said his stomach hurt, he had a headache, his body felt all stiff and sore.
I felt his forehead, it was extremely hot.
So I gave him 2 Tums and 2 Tylenol, and made him lay down.
About 20 minutes later, I hear Mark running to the bathroom and yelling "Puke!"
He finally finishes in there and I ask him to tell me symptoms.
Same thing, stomach hurts, puke, headache, body feel stiff and sore, his forehead is burning hot too.
I give him 2 Tums and 2 Tylenol, and make him lay down too.
I didn't take their temps because it seems I misplaced the thermometer from the last time.
It's definitely not in the first aid kit where it should be.

I'm going to have to see how they feel in the morning, but as of bedtime, both of them were white as clean bleached sheets, clutching their stomachs, and both had fevers.
I cannot send them to school like that, if whatever it is turns out to be the flu or something else that's contagious, then I have a duty to not make other kids sick.

But when I go out tomorrow to get my script filled, I'm going to pick up some more vitamins and some more discount supplements like an extra vitamin C, and another bottle of an antioxidant, and start the daily regiment again.
I've found that the store brand of most vitamins and supplements are just as good and in some cases better, than the really expensive brand named supplements.

It just figures, I run out of their stuff, forgot to get more, and they get fevers.
If it's not me feeling like total crap, it's one or both of them.
We are the house of sick and decrepit.

Posted by Kat at 12:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've been not feeling too well the last few days, it was the weather affecting my joints and the titanium, and my body freaking out because of the rainy and cold weather, and it all was making me feel like I had the flu in a bad way.
I wasn't sleeping very well because of this, so when I did sleep, I had wicked bizarre dreams.

I had a dream that my landlord was selling this duplex, but he wanted to keep us as tenants because we've been living here for 11 years at this unit of the plex now, he likes us, trusts us, we're really good tenants.
So he had another property, it was a 2-story unit, and he had porch like apartments, all open floor plans, windows on all sides, super small efficiency kitchens, stand up showers, no bathtubs.
It was really weird, it was like they were porch apartments, all of the windows that went all the way around the big rooms, all had bamboo blinds on them, the light coming in was absolutely blinding to me.
I just couldn't see us living in one of these weird porch apartments.
I asked him if he had anything else, we do love him as a landlord, and he kept saying no, this was it, just give it a try, live here for a week and if we really hated it, he'd see what he could do.

Well after a week of completely open floor plans, no actual bedrooms or walls to separate us from each other, the cats all clawing and chewing on those blinds, I had had enough and had to get out of there.
He finally said that he just bought another duplex, the sale of this one we live in now went through, so he showed us the new duplex he bought, we loved it, and he rented it to us at the same price we pay now.
But it was soo much better than this one!
A one-story duplex, all brand new stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, huge bedrooms, a huge bathroom, the master bedroom had it's own big bathroom and an enormous walk in closet, it was so much better and more beautiful than any house I've ever rented, and I was shocked that he was going to rent it at the same price we pay right now.
I must have asked him 3-5 times if he was sure on the price, and he kept saying yes, we're good tenants, he didn't want to lose us.

And then I woke up in a wicked sweat again, knees and ankles, as well as all of the joints in my hands just swollen and stiff, and I came out to the living room, looked out the front door window to see more rain, sighed and opened the door.
It was another windy, cold, and rainy day here in Sarasota, so I took one of the new pain pills, and laid down on the couch to try and sleep for another 15 minutes at a time again.

Posted by Kat at 8:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With Valentine's day quickly approaching, there's sure to be a lot of guys out there looking at rings, necklaces, bracelets and earrings, but do they know what to look for beyond that?

At Bella True, there's a whole section just for guys, to help them make a good decision when they go to buy jewelry.
There's a section that tells them what to give and when.
A section on the "Big 4", a section on engagement rings, rings for the "big day", a section to help them say I'm sorry when saying it isn't really enough, and special days, anniversaries, and shopping for gemstones.

A gift of jewelry does send a message, so guys need to make sure they're sending the right message.
You don't want to buy a ring that closely resembles an engagement ring if you're not thinking of getting married to her, or at least not married to her yet.

Guys also really need to know the woman they're with.
Is she the type that would love to rock a HUGE rock?
A recent conversation among some girls I know, produced the following statements about big engagement rings;
"I could wear a big ring for sure", and "I am all about a big ring, not gonna lie."
Some other girls said they would be totally happy with a small ring, or whatever their man chose for them as long as he picked it out himself.
A man who picks out the engagement ring himself, and truly knows his girl, will win her heart simply for the fact that he really knows her, her style, her likes, her finger size, her favorite colors and shapes, her favorite material like gold, sterling silver, platinum, white gold, and some girls are really liking the new titanium rings that some jewelry designers are producing.

Yes, guys, engagement ring center diamonds, can come in several different shapes.
There's round, princess, emerald, asscher, marquise, oval, radiant, pear, heart, and cushion.
So yeah, know her style, check out her rings that she wears all of the time, when you see a diamond or jewelry commercial come on the tv, find a way to ask her what shape she would love to have if she could have any diamond in any size, shape, and color she wants.
She more than likely has been thinking about it for a long time, so her answer will be easy to tell you.
Make a mental note if you think she's the one for you, and then when you get that feeling to 'pop the question', start digging out those mental notes to help you pick the perfect ring for her.

Jewelry can be for just about any occasion, but it usually does send the message that you are serious about this relationship, so be careful what you buy unless you're really looking to commit to her and your future.

I myself am the kind of woman who loves jewelry, but not into huge rings at all unless it's cheap costume jewelry.
I could never wear a huge diamond engagement ring on my hand for the rest of my life, I actually do things with my hands.
I'm not the 'dainty-get my nails done-wash dishes in the dishwasher-hire a maid for everything' type of woman, I actually enjoy working with my hands, so a big rock would simply get in my way, and it would be on my dresser or in a jewelry box most of the time.
A total waste if a man spent a lot of money on it.
I also prefer sterling silver jewelry far above gold.
Every time I see a gold necklace or gold ring, all I can think of is some big flashy gold digger type, a Guido, big fake boobs, a hairy chested, speedo wearing, fat Guido, so yeah, no gold jewelry for me, ever.

If I really had a choice in my ideal engagement ring, it wouldn't be a diamond at all.
I love the color of my birthstone, and would want that as my center stone.
This is beautiful, this would be perfect, very close to my ideal ring, unless of course I see a different aquamarine ring that I like better sometime, but this is really damn near perfection for me.
Totally my style, something I'd happily and proudly wear every single day, and even though it's not sterling silver, white gold is close enough.

It's far cheaper than a diamond engagement ring too, none of that two months salary thing needed to make me happy, if I was given this ring and asked, I'd be all "Dude, you totally get me! Of course!"

Overall, I think Bella True's Tips for Guys section is done really well.
The navigation is easy, the subjects are well thought out and thorough, and everything is explained in very simple terms so it makes shopping for jewelry by guys a whole lot easier.
The pricing they have is comparable to other online retailers of fine jewelry as well.
So if there's any guys out there looking for jewelry for this coming Valentine's day or that special day soon, check out Bella True, read the tips for guys section, and make a well informed choice for your purchase.

Posted by Kat at 12:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

My sister Jo and her husband Dean, came over late yesterday afternoon and hooked up the digital antenna on the outside of the house for me.
There's still NO signal for WWSB ABC7, even though they said that today, February 1st, they would begin broadcasting it.

I've been ready for this switch to digital since January 1st of last year.
As soon as I learned about the switch, I kept track of it, I made sure that on January 1st 2008, that I went to the converter box coupon website and signed up to get mine.
2 days after getting the coupon, I headed to Wal*Mart and picked up the last one they had on the shelves.
I paid $60 for a brand new digital antenna, a Philips MANT950 Indoor/Outdoor Amplified UHF/VHF/HDTV Antenna, and we hooked it to the wall inside the house, hoping it would work.
Some channels would come in, but not all.

Now that it's hooked up outside, almost every channel is coming in pretty clear.
I still get some pretty spotty pixelation on some channels, but the full switch isn't until February 17th, so maybe they will work better then.
But no, WWSB ABC 7, still is NOT coming in.
When I click on 40.1, 40.2, or even 52.1, I can at least now see the stations call letters, but then it reverts right back to the message, "NO SIGNAL".
This means that they are not broadcasting a strong enough signal, but maybe they will be by the 17th, but it still pisses me off they they know they are broadcasting a weak signal, yet completely turned off the analog.

Other stations like channel NBC 8, are broadcasting in both analog and digital because they know most people still are not ready, they left their analog signal on, and will be leaving it on until they have to by law, shut it off on February 17th.
Channels 8, 13, 36, 38, 44, and 46, are still broadcasting their analog signals until they have to shut them off, they all know not everybody is ready.
Yes, we've all had a year, but there are people who cannot afford the boxes, live on limited incomes, whatever the case may be, so it doesn't really matter that people have had all that time, some people cannot afford the switch regardless of having plenty of time in your book, Alex.

Yes people may not be ready, but they have had over a year to get ready. Plenty of time in my book.

Even though we've had plenty of time, even though we've gotten the converter boxes and spent even more money on indoor/outdoor antennas, it's still a totally crappy thing to shut down the analog signal many, many days before the real switch is supposed to take place.

In my book, WWSB ABC 7, had over a year to get ready, over a year to finish the construction on the transmitter antennas, and they didn't complete it, yet still chose to shut down their analog signal, and broadcast in a really weak signal that even cable companies can't receive.

So Alex, why don't you take a chill pill, I've been well prepared for the switch for over a year, ABC 7 had the same amount of time and screwed it up.

Posted by Kat at 4:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)