In the News

Damn! You Middle Eastern men just cannot be trusted to have any self control, can you? RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - King Abdullah has told Saudi editors to stop publishing pictures of women as they could make young men go astray, newspapers reported Tuesday.

Stay the hell away from water in Florida unless you have a death wish. Three fatal alligator attacks in one week...

Guess who's been sleeping in Mubarak's bed? CAIRO, Egypt - The son of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is widely seen as his father's heir-apparent, met secretly last week with top White House officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, Al-Jazeera reported Monday.

The whole tooth

This afternoon I went to the dentist for the first time in thirteen years. Yes, 13. Yeah, I know but I haven't had dental insurance, that's why. I finally caved in and went because I have a wisdom tooth that HAS to be pulled and I couldn't take it anymore. I expected to hear that I had ten cavities or bad decay. Much to my surprise other than than damn wisdom tooth my teeth are fine. However one side of my jaw is longer than the other and the roof of my mouth is too high, crowding my nasal passages. The dentist recommends orthodontics for this, saying it will reduce my chances of future jaw trouble, make it easier to breathe through my nose as well as improving my jawline. It could also change the sound of my voice, although probably not dramatically. I'm going to be a 31 year old woman with a retainer. How sexy is that!?! Ladies, try not to be jealous. Fellas, remember I am spoken for.

O beautiful for spacious skies...

Ahhh...America. Several centuries ago people began to come and colonize in the hopes of having freedom that they did not know in their homelands. Such lovely idealistic dreams. Where do I go to find freedom that I don't know in my homeland?

America is the land of the free, UNLESS:
1. You want to have private phone calls
2. You want to smoke a cigarette in public
3. You want the right to disagree with your government without being labeled an enemy combatant
4. You want the government to keep out of your sex life
5. You want to be able to choose to die with dignity if you are terminally ill
6. You want to practice an non-Judeo-Christian religion without being hassled
7. You or your family is from the middle east or if you are Muslim...hell, even if you just LOOK like you are either

Just some thoughts

1. Humans should not be allowed to procreate until age 18. Then, before having children, they should be required to take at least 8 hours of parenting classes. I know it won't elimate all cases of child abuse and neglect but it might save a few kids.

2. If the US government and our president are doing what is best for our nation, then why do so many other countries want to kick our ass? Yes, I know it is always like that but it seems more so lately.

3. Why didn't anyone tell me that having kids would kill my sex life?

4. On a day when more of our fellow Americans have died in wars overseas, why is the big news of the day that some pop-tart "singer" is pregnant?

5. Do the fundamentalist, bible-thumpers even listen to the Vatican or is it selective deafness?

6. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes the first official contact between Iran and the US since 1979. Wow.

My son

It seems my boy is finally turning the corner on whatever was making him so violently ill. It has been a hell of a few days. It started last Friday. Early on it appeared to be the normal flu but by the end of the day he was in really bad shape. He could not walk or even stand up. He was not able to get to the bathroom without being carried he was so weak. It was pretty frightening.

So Friday evening we took him to the clinic and they ran test after test after test and gave him IV fluids. He seemed to perk up a bit after that and started talking a bit again. Saturday he seemed more like himself, just tired. But then Sunday happened. He slept from 8pm Saturday night until 11:30am Sunday morning when I woke him. Again he could not get out of bed. At times he was too tired to speak. All day he drifted in and out of sleep. He would not eat. We only managed to get him to drink by telling him that if he didn't he would have to have another IV.

Yesterday he woke up on his own and asked for a drink right away. He was awake much more, although still tired. He ate bread and crackers and seemed to be improving again. I thought he would return to school today. After consideration his dad and I decided to keep him home one more day, just so he could rest. It's a good thing we did. He started vomiting again during lunch. We think it is probably because he woke up and ate yogurt before we could stop him and that his stomach just wasn't ready for it. This evening he seems fine. He ate toast and crackers, drank plenty of pedialyte solution.

I don't think there is anything worse for a mother than when one of her children are sick. I don't sleep well and in the back of my mind I am always worried about the worst case scenario. It was recently my birthday and Jd and I had been planning to go out and celebrate this weekend. Of course we stayed home with our son. Everyone kept saying, "What a shame. Not much of a birthday for you, not such a good way to celebrate." It's funny....that's not how I thought about it. I thought, "Thank goodness. This could have been so much worse. I could have spent my birthday in the hospital watching over my son."

The doctors never did come up with a diagnosis for him. Every test he had came back negative. They said it was a virus. That's what they always say when they don't know what it really was.

Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers. It meant so much to me. Thank you.

I want to give my sincerest thanks to those who sent good thoughts and prayers our way these past few days. Although we still have no answer for what happened to him it does appear that he is finally beginning to improve. Today he was able to eat a little and walk a bit, which was a huge improvement over yesterday. I'm sorry I can't give more details tonight but will as soon as I have a moment. I love you all. Thank you.

My son has become very very ill in the past twelve hours. Please send him all your good thoughts and prayers.

Update:
We've just returned from the clinic but we still don't know what is wrong with him. He became ill so quickly...He got an IV, two shots of antibotics, a belly x-ray, and a strep culture. The doctor did allow us to bring him home for the night but we will have to take him back in the morning. He is sleeping peacefully at the moment. I appreciate all your thoughts and prayers. He's only five years old.