Now THIS is an amazing story

Confessions Of A CF Husband: New Baby Pic!

A cute quiz

You Are 74% Feminine, 26% Masculine

You are in touch with your feminine side. Sensitive, intuitive, and caring are all words that describe you. And you're just masculine enough to relate to both men and women.

Are You Masculine or Feminine?

Missing the Geography Gene?

My daughter has a problem with US geography. It is no secret. She posted all about it.

However, she didn't mention that her dad has a B.S. from UCLA in Geography/Ecosystems Analysis. And I have an M.S. in Geography/Urban Planning from UCR.

We decided some remediation is in order.

Bought a puzzle at Target to satisfy the tactile learning style.



Now I've found some online sites with interactive puzzles of the USA.






Feel free to quiz her when you see her. Let's help the poor girl out.

I'm praying for her. She's been traveling .... as far away as Chile and Cambodia. She wants to go again.

Let's help her get her own country set into her mind.

A Night Out with my Favorite Daughter*

Every mom has one daughter they love above the rest. Admit it. My favorite of my bunch of daughters is Rachel. That's why I decided to have a girls night out with her instead of any of the others.

She showed me the ropes to a wonderful evening. We were running behind schedule, so our original dinner at Panera was cut back to carry out from Johnny Burgers - that way we could smuggle our food into the movie theatre and not miss the start of the show. Such a smart girl, my Rachel is.


We each had a grilled cheese sandwich, and we split an order of zucchini. Yummy!









Then Rachel traded in the tickets she had acquired at CalBaptist for a low price for some real tickets - and then they scanned her frequent movie going pass. Score! She was given a coupon for a free soft drink. Clever daughter. Now you see why she is the favorite of the daughters that I have. Saves money on movie tickets. Treats her mom to a movie.

The movie: Juno.

All in all, a most enjoyable evening.









*For those who don't know me personally, I love each of my offspring fiercely. I have only one daughter. It's a joke.

New Addition to the Family: Beagle Dachshund Mix

Today we went to the Riverside Humane Society and adopted Hannah, a 4 year old female beagle/ dachshund mix. A doxie mix.

The description on the site said that she is calm and likes to cuddle on a lap.

Yes, she is, and she does.

We think it will be nice to have some doggy loveness around the house again.

Congratulations to the Winner!

This was fun for me.

The winning entry went far beyond the expectations for a run-of-the-mill capture the picture contest- connecting a journal entry about his victorious bowling game against his boss from A-Bomb's blog with the random photos that I took. Although that was not a requirement, it was a nice touch. And the important thing- it made me smile :)

MamaSue- you get the iTunes card. Woo hooo!

Honorable mentions: (each receiving $5.00 cards to *$s are:
MommaLiss and
Jonathan Murtaugh

Unshelved Comics- take 2

I neglected to mention that this is a favorite comic delivered daily to my mailbox-and did the cardinal sin of not providing a reference- yikes! Check out their unique sense of humor over at unshelved. Here is another example of why I love them! (click on the comic to enlarge it)

They sell clever t-shirts- Imagine wearing a "Frequently Asked Questions" one. Most of the middle school kids would not understand it :)

Unshelved Comics

I think we'll implement this policy when I return to Gage.
CLICK ON THE COMIC TO ENLARGE IT

Caption the picture contest.... Winner will be announced Saturday morning.

If you plan to try your hand at the capture the picture contest, do it before 9 p.m. Friday 12/21 --
I've changed the settings so that you needn't have a blogger account.
Have some fun. Make me smile!
Win a $10 iTunes card.

The Meniere’s Game: Endolymphatic Shunt Surgery v. Gentamicin Treatment v Waiting it Out.

Just a short update to let everyone know that there are several things up in the air right now concerning the treatment of my Meniere’s Disease- the best possible case would be for it to burn itself out.

Meanwhile, there’s no place like home for the holidays!

Here is a picture of at Thanksgiving that my parents hosted this year – it was a change in tradition from our home, and it was lovely.

Please pray for continued patience for my family members – I know that I am driving them crazy.

The uncertainty of what will be going on each day, as well as some other adaptations that we are making, are annoying.

Caption the picture contest.... iTunes card for prize

Go ahead, poke some fun at some guys I really respect. Really. I do. The best caption gets a $10 iTunes giftcard.
Post your caption in the comment section.

Addendum:
Rules: Have some fun. No profanity. Maximum of two entries per person. I decide who wins. No whining. Contest ends before the expiration date, which I will announce when I feel like it. ABCDEFG insured. All rights reserved. Protected by national and international copyright laws, as applicable. Winner responsible for taxes. Family members or employees of the wobbly librarian are welcome to enter, but must not whine if not selected as the winner. Same goes for friends of family members. All other rules will be made up as we go. Potential disputes are left to settlement at the sole discretion of her highness the wobbly librarian.

Hiding from college wimmin?

I don't see Jacob or Charles in any of the pictures.....

Sam the ghetto hanukkah king

Sam stopped by to drop off a "little" video editing project for Jacob.
We gave him a lesson on how to spin a dreidel.
We love Sam.
And his lovely wife!
They have great kids, too.

Friends are fun!

We used to have people over frequently to have food and play games. It was fun. I would make good food from scratch. Jamaican Jerked Beef with Homemade Confetti Salsa. Roasts and potatoes cooked just right. Salmon and rice. Quiche. Spaghetti with my special cheese topped bread golden brown from the broiler. (I can still manage the bread, but not the coordination of the whole meal on time....) And the desserts. Yummy.....
Over the years this has slowed down..... until now there is nothing much going on.
I think we need some impromptu-stop-on-in-like-folks-used-to-do in the way olden days before phone calls. And then when you stop by, don't be horrified at the level of clutter that you see. Or anything else about our home. I probably won't cook anything (and I might be in my jammies and (may even be asleep) but I would still love to see you!)
We'll just love each other up. We might even have some fun.

Christmas lights and living simply?

I was driving home a couple of hours ago and started thinking about the energy crisis back in the day. You know the one, back in the late 60's early 70's when that wave of people were very considerate of mother nature and the same types of revolutionary things were happening in the church (hey- that might be where I've heard of the conspiracy before..... only now we have this marvelous internet that hurries and magnifies communication and publication.... but I digress....)

Back then, when another group of folks started the environmental revolution/simple living thing, it was very much frowned upon to light up Christmas lights. So why are all these people who want to be considerate of the earth using extra light bulbs this month? Not being true to those posts from the blog day a month or two ago when everybody sat there blogging about how they were going to reduce energy use, hmmm? Just something to think about.
Do folks really want to change the way they live, or do it only when it is convenient? This "going green" thing is oh-so-trendy. But if you need to give up sweet traditions (yes, you are carrying forth non-earthfriendly traditions into another generation) would you be willing to change? Just a little something to think about.

Was I drunk? Am I having surgery?

Sorry, I was just trying to be funny in my earlier post. Was coming out of an episode of vertigo (part of Meniere's) ..... this causes the world to spin so that I cannot walk straight (if at all)- picture yourself alone at home and needing to use the restroom with the floor dropping from underneath you and the walls moving around...... you crawl.... :)

Often I don't think straight or use good judgment. Hence, my post.

Anyway, I don't drink. It's a funny state to be in.... but not too pleasant. That was Tuesday that it started. Now it is Thursday afternoon and I am feeling just a little dizzy but much better. I'll nap off and on for the next day or two, and feel great then. Then another will hit.

Yes, I will have surgery. Just waiting for insurance and scheduling.

Thanks for caring.

Second opinion... and surgery

This is a good thing. Jeff and I talked to another Dr. who specializes in Meniere's to get a second opinion.

We knew that my doctor has a certain course that he recommends. It just was not working. And the next step in his treatment would be destruction of the inner ear. But I still have some hearing left in my left ear, so I was not looking forward to that. So we saw another Dr. His recommendation is a surgery.

Step 1) Simple mastoidectomy: Surgical removal of bone from the mastoid area behind the ear to allow visualization of the inner ear.
Step 2) Either:

• Endolymphatic sac-to-mastoid shunt: After a simple mastoidectomy , one end of a tube or strip is inserted into the endolymphatic sac and the other end in the mastoid cavity, where excess endolymph can drain.

or

• Endolymphatic sac-to-subarachnoid-space shunt: This is similar to the sac-to-mastoid shunt, except that one end of the tube is placed into the endolymphatic sac and the other into the area containing cerebrospinal fluid surrounding the brain.

This is a simple surgery. I will be in and out in one day. It will not further destroy the hearing in my ear. Recovery time is about a week. It works for about 70% of the patients.

We are waiting for insurance authorization. When that comes through, the surgery will be scheduled. Currently, surgeries are being scheduled for January.

Please keep us in your prayers. We are all learning humility and patience from this. Most of all, pray for my family- they are getting mighty tired of me. I am too.

Also, insurance pays 80%. This has been an interesting year with medical things and expenses. Many things in the family have required medications, then the meds don't work, so we try new meds..... and each time there is a tidy little copay. It is amazing how the money always comes though. Nice how it works out in God's time, isn't it?

Headline: Drunken Librarian Staggers Home Between Sober College Daughter and Friends

Ha. I am sure that is what the neighbors thought yesterday evening.
I had a wonderful evening with Abby- had a manicure and pedicure together, then dinner at PF Chang's.

Talked about life, liberty, and the pursuit of seeking God's will.

Had a lovely time, and drank not a bit of alcohol.

Dropped beautiful Abby off at Lancer Arms apartments, and was driving through Cal Baptist (which you all know is not all that large). Realized that things were not quite right in my head. Pulled into a spot in front of the cottages, called for Rachel and her friends to drive my car home and follow in another car to take themselves back to CBU.

When we got to my house, Rachel and Jillian propped me between them. It was all laughter as I was just like a drunken sailor weaving my way up the walkway and barely staying upright. Had a real fun spin cycle all night... and a slow recovery this afternoon. I'm typing like crazy, thinnking it might me coming on again.

Seriously, though, this is getting a little inconvenient. And that episode came on a little abruptly. Thanks goodness for friends to help. And for laughter to make things more cheerful.

Another "into the spirit of the season" post

It is over on Blog-casting from the 951's place. Makes me smile.
(I hope that I am not on her "immediate family" list.)

And I had some majorly swell news from another family member yesterday. Major decision for change in life; this took a lot of courage to make. I am *oh* so happy!
My heart is rejoicing over the "intangible" gifts that are arriving. So much more significant than anything money could ever buy.
Anyway, read RayChill's post. And rethink if/how you're planning to spend your money....

Many people really need things. Give things to those people, if you want to give things away this season. If you have the money to be giving, go out and buy some gift cards for food, Target, or phone calls and give them to the homeless that you meet on the street. Carry food items, gloves, hats, and blankets to give to the homeless. It is cold out there....

There are others all around having tough times- ask me, I could tell you a few that would love to get a few things so that they would have enough to make ends meet... (or just take the money to your church and ask that it be given to someone in need.)
Find someone on a fixed budget. Mail them a gift card to a grocery store. (You could do this anonymously..)
Drop a basket of goodies on someone's porch if you know they are down. Leave some laundry detergent in the laundromat (the folks there usually are excited to find extra left behind). While you are at it, go to the laundromat on Magnolia, leave laundry detergent with some gift certificates to the Dairy Queen. The moms with kids there look so tired- the kids would love a treat while the clothes are spinning.
Get into the spirit. Give. And don't just do it this month.

Into the spirit of the season

Post over on EPIC BEAT called A Doll Named Emma caught my eye. Love this family and the way they live. Love the things they've taught others, including my children.

Anyway, I've called him a genius since he agreed to talk to a class at Gage middle school (his wife is one, too.) Love them both. Go read about the doll and think about the season ,,,, Might make you sigh.

New Conspirators. This would be fascinating to attend

From the site: "We are racing into an increasingly uncertain global future, in which the middle class, our poorest neighbors , and our planet will face daunting new challenges. In this festival of imagination, we will invite you to create innovative ways to engage these challenges that reflect something of God’s new order…with the new conspirators." The blog talks about compassion and creativity. I love it!
Not sure that I understand (or would agree with) the wording "God's new order" terminology, but the rest of this resonates with me. And why does it have to be a conspiracy? (Great gimmick). But the fundamentals (social issues and environmental sensibility) make sense. Conference is the last part of February in Seattle--I love Seattle.