Happy New Year

All of a sudden it’s Rosh Hashanah. I’ve had so many other things going on lately that I didn’t have time to plan for the new year. It’s crazy how time flies.  It was hard today because we didn’t have plans for tonight but I just stayed home and cooked some things for tomorrow.  Tomorrow Max is going to a third grade service while I go to the adult service in the morning. Then we are all going to the family service and then having dinner here.

There is this really interesting thing that happens on Rosh Hashanah called Tashlich, which is throwing your sins into the river. Rosh Hashanah is about the new year and admitting your sins and Yom Kippur is about atoning for them.

My sins for the last year have been not loving my family unconditionally at all times, yelling at the boys (Matt included), getting frustrated for little things, judging others, gossiping, complaining about things (one of my favorite things to do), cursing, not spending enough time with the boys…. there might be more but right now those are the things I am coming up with. Tashlich is this nice ceremony where you go to a body of water and throw something ceremoniously into the water (such as a bread crumb) for each sin you are atoning for. We don’t have a big body of water to walk to from here and last year the stream we went to down the street was so crowded and so loud I couldn’t hear the service and I got very frustrated!  People were letting their kids ride their bikes, run around, and scream and so we just walked back to the house. I am not sure if we will go this year so we will have to figure out another way to “throw” away our sins.

L’Shanah Tovah and Happy New Year. Here’s to a sweet new year.

The Walk

The walk was great. We had perfect weather and it all went off without too many issues. I think the raffle was a success and we raised over $3000.  There were over 200 people who came and we had plenty of food. And my team had 35 people on it!!  Which is my biggest team yet.  And our three peas t-shirts were awesome.  Thank you to all of my friends and family who walked with us and who donated to our team! We so appreciate it. We are up to over $12,000, which I am pleased with. In this economy who knows what could have happened.

And now gearing up for the Tri State Walk on October 18th!

So much in common

I have these two friends who I am so grateful for. One reads this blog and one doesn’t. But what is really interesting to me is how much we have in common and the only reason we met is because we have children with ARPKD. Life is a very funny thing and it is interesting how things are just meant to be. And I truly feel I was meant to be friends with these 2 people. I feel so lucky to have them in my life and really cherish the friendship we have. Unfortunately one lives way too far away but when we talk it’s like we see each other every day (which I wish was true).  I really feel like we have the same values in life, especially now with the election coming up and hearing what others have to say about it.

What spurred me to post this tonight was that I went to my book club dinner tonight and it ended up only being me and two of my friends.  I am actually not too friendly with the rest of the people in the book club for various reasons. One main one is I am so different from them!  But anyway.. tonight we talked a little bit about politics and I asked them who they were voting for. I know… really none of my business, but I like to know these things. And they both said they were both undecided and that they and their husbands together hadn’t decided who to vote for. Now this bothers me on so many levels. One is that I’m going to vote for who I want to regardless of who Matt votes for, although I don’t think I would have married him if we had differing political views. Matt and I really don’t talk politics too much although we have never debated against one another on the subject either.  And two how am I so friendly with these people who have such different political views than I do.  Granted our religions are very different and we were raised in such different ways. But, I just assumed that we agreed on these things.  It just seems strange to me. Of course I will still be friends with them, but it is weird to me. One of them I am very close with and she is so supportive of me and the boys. I guess I need to not ask people who they are voting for, which is what I told Max. I told him it was rude to ask others who they are voting for and that it didn’t matter who our friends vote for because different people believe in different things. I really like to preach don’t I. Maybe I need to practice what I preach.

It’s raining

And I’m staying in today! How nice is it to not have to go out and enjoy the sound of the rain outside. I took Max and Nate to the bus over an hour ago and am just hanging out with Gabe. We don’t get to do this often enough. Unfortunately one reason we are stuck home is because he seems to have a little stomach bug and his tushy is all red too!  I am going to concentrate on the word “little” and hope it doesn’t get worse. I have a very hard time with simple childhood illnesses these days and am always worried they will turn into something bigger or are caused by the bigger picture. And stomach bugs freak me out because of the whole dehydration issue and the fact that Gabe is already on a diuretic and needs extra fluids.  I have already admitted numerous times that I am neurotic so I don’t need to reiterate that here.  

It’s interesting though that Nate doesn’t seem to catch as many childhood things as Max and Gabe too. I am not sure if it just mere coincidence or the fact that he is “healthy” but he is hardly ever sick. Knock on wood!  He has maybe been one 2 or 3 antibiotics his whole life. And when he does catch a cold that is usually all it is just a cold and never goes beyond that. Last year I received 2 letters from Max’s school talking about too many absences and how it is important to be at school as much as possible and blah blah blah!  He missed so many days last year. He had bronchitis that we thought we pneumonia one time, an ear infection either once or twice, and strep throat twice.  Interesting, huh? I should start charting it more.  Maybe someone could do research on kids with ARPKD catching more common childhood viruses vs the typical child catching the same viruses. I’ll do that in my spare time.

Too much

I am a tv junky. I admit it. And I am so excited that the shows are starting up again. But, I was not thrilled with Grey’s Anatomy tonight. It was just too much drama for me. I like the emotional drama but the medical stuff was just ridiculous tonight. I like when it is somewhat unbelievable and then turns out okay. But tonight was just down right stupid!!

And to change the subject I’m thinking of dropping my cases with the Lighthouse and I’m torn about it.  It is a really hard decision for me. I need less stress and fatigue in my life and I need to have more time for me. But I feel guilty about it all the same.  I have been complaining about the Lighthouse for a while now and I hate the paperwork involved. And I will still work at the nursery school, still do evaluations, and still have one case with my other agency. So, it’s not like I won’t be working at all. Just cutting back. I need to stop feeling guilty and just take care of me and the boys! All four of them.

Not into posting

This week has been a struggle for me to post anything at all. I was on a really good streak there and then I hit this road block. There was so much anticipation and excitement leading up to the walk and also all of my excitement with doctors appointments and really fun things like brain MRI’s. Now it’s back to reality. And back to thinking about how I just don’t feel good and it’s annoying me! I am just so dizzy when I wake up in the mornings. And this diuretic is not making my life any easier if you know what I mean. And I hate complaining, but that’s all I do these days! And today I totally forgot to write a report that was due! Agh!!! I’m kind of stuck in this rut of why couldn’t I just have a virus in my middle ear rather than a “disease” there? I know, I know it could be worse, but I’m depressed about it. But, one good thing is I got on the scale today and was about 4 pounds lighter. Could that really be water weight?? Who really cares what it is. Do you think the diuretic could get rid of another 15 lbs!!!

Funny Boy

My Nate is such a funny boy. He has always marched to a different beat than anyone and really just does his own thing. Of course he drives me crazy on occasion but he really is a sweet boy. Yesterday we were at the diner and he was sitting to the left of Max. Max was complaining that Nate was bothering him so Nate stopped and looked straight ahead. Then he gets this devilish look on his face and says “In my mind I’m looking at you, Max”. It was hilarious. And so mischievous. And so damn cute! We all just started laughing, including Max.

Ahh… the things my boys will say. The simple things in life and how they make me smile.

Better than a brain tumor

I guess anything at this point would be better than a brain tumor but Friday I was diagnosed with Meniere’s Disease. Which by no means is a horrible thing but it does suck. It’s a life long thing that is not necessarily degenerative but can progress and can be slightly debilitating depending upon how bad the vertigo and dizziness get. And I could lose the hearing in one ear and the tinnitus could get worse (right now it’s just a little popping sound). And I really think I have too many “diseases” to worry about right now.

And the best is that the doctor said to me that I need to limit my salt intake (sound familiar??) and “no caffeine, no chocolate, and no alcohol for the rest of your life”. Ha, ha. That is just too funny. The caffeine won’t be impossible, I will miss my glass of wine every few weeks, but I might actually go into withdrawals without chocolate. Who did he really think he was talking to because obviously he didn’t know how much I love chocolate. And I have to go on a diuretic. Me and Gabe!!!  Maybe I’ll lose some weight. Then something good might come out of this.  Of course I might spend all day in the bathroom after taking the diuretic but then I’ll be out of the kitchen away from the chocolate!

And then there’s the whole thing that stress and fatigue may exacerbate the problem. Hmm…. stress… fatigue…me? No way.  Matt keeps telling me to downsize and simplify my life. How can I do that? At least the vertigo is gone and hopefully the dizziness will get better soon.

One of the many reasons why I love Matt

Is because he has these little known facts floating around in his head. Like now. I just told him this is the last raffle I am doing for a walk (because I have too much stress in my life). So Matt looked at his watch and said “At 9:35 on September 19th, 2008, National Talk Like a Pirate Day you said….” And would you believe there really is a talk like a pirate day.

Go to: http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

Here is a quote from their website:

Avast, me hearties!

Welcome to the one and only, official, accept-no-substitutes Talk Like A Pirate Day Web site.

In the seven years since Dave Barry mentioned us in his nationally syndicated newspaper column, what once was a goofy idea celebrated by a handful of friends has turned into an international phenomenon that shows no sign of letting up. Maybe you read about us on line.. Maybe you caught one of our radio or TV interviews. Or maybe you just stumbled on to our site while googling around for sites your mother probably wouldn’t approve of. Or perhaps you’re one of the millions of people from South Africa to the South Pole, from New York to the Pacific Northwest, who’ve made it your own personal excuse to party like pirates every September 19th(and sometimes for days after)!

However you got here, stick around an’ learn all about September 19 – International Talk Like A Pirate Day!

If this didn’t make you laugh then there might be something wrong with you. But for me I needed this kind of laugh today!

Crazy and Obsessed

I think that is what I would call my personality at times. But what can I say. I was on the PKD Foundation’s website before going over all of the ARPKD teams. I think it’s awesome that there are 61 teams registered as ARPKD teams and so far they are up to $124,167. How amazing is that? That is definitely one research grant and most likely two with just that alone. 

An update on my team: I am up to 9302 online and mailed in 1600 worth of checks last week and have another 500 here now. So I will be happy to be over 11,000 when all is said and done and maybe close to 12,000. And I have close to 30 people who are planning on walking with us on Saturday. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself!

And then my crazy mind got to thinking again. We are going to walk this year in Manhattan as well. They are having their walk on Oct 18th and have hired a company to run the walk. The Foundation felt the city wasn’t reaching their potential so they are trying it this way this year.  We decided we would support the city walk this year as this might be the last Hudson Valley walk and we would probably walk in the city next year. But my crazy mind is telling me to try to hit up people who did not respond to this year’s Hudson Valley walk for the city. Hmm…is that just too rude to ask again? But, really who cares if it’s rude. I’m just trying to advocate for my children and raise as much money as I possibly can for ARPKD research. I’ll keep you posted on that one.