I didn't realize its been March since I've posted anything.  Again, a lot has happened in the past few months.  My brother got out of rehab on April 27th.  He had in home therapy but is still not doing well.  His overall health isn't good at all.  He seems to be blind in his right eye and has to go and see a neural opthomalogist at at the end of July.  Anyway in between then and now  Cheryl got her learners permit.  She passed the written test with a high grade of 97 I believe.  She was driving since mid April around and about and then in May I started her on the interstate.  She was doing well.  I took her to take her driving test in the beginning of June but they told her she had her appointment wrong and so she didn't get to take it then.  We went to another one in our county and got her set up for the test the next week but she failed it when she didn't pass parallel parking.  The guy didn't even take her out driving so I don't know why she failed if that's the only part of the test she got to take but anyway we got her set up to try again on June 26th but we had an accident on June 22nd on the interstate.  She was driving and over compensated and hit the wall in the middle.  The very hard, hard concrete wall.  I ended up with a nasty scratch on my neck (left a scar) and 4 bruises on the left side of my body from the seat belt.  She had a few bruises but ended up in a back brace because she fractured the T12 and maybe the one above it in her back.  She goes back to the doctor on August 3rd to get checked out but I have a feeling she'll still be in the back brace.  She will be trying for her license again but we will hopefully be having a smaller vehicle for her to use.  She'll have to start all over again though and get her written test again but that shouldn't be a problem for her hopefully.  My brother Patrick's truck is totaled to the tune of $20,000.  She definitely went big.  I had my first ambulance ride ever out of it.  Sure wish I would have just been a passenger though.  The only good thing about the whole incident?  We got my sister Kelly back.  She came to the hospital and we did a lot of talking.  Its still a little strained but its a start.  I told Cheryl God say hah!  Ya'll are a family and you're getting back together now.  So between getting back with Chris's Dad and now having my sister back for almost a month life is indeed a whole lot better in spite of how it went to get there.

Here's the injury that left a scar on my neck.  I hope to never have an airbag go off on me again.  That's one experience I never expected.

In the Last Month......

a lot has happened. A WHOLE lot. I had a place on my head that started out as a pimple under the skin but turned into cellulitis. Very painful and looked awful. Usually people get it in their legs but no, not me. It had to be where it'd be noticed. About a week before that I got a lump under my arm that I thought was a bug bite. It got to be as big as an egg but I was able to use hot compresses and get it to a head and get it drained. I wasn't worried about that. I went to the ER for the bump on my head and found out that the thing under my arm was MRSA. So I left the ER with two prescriptions for antibiotics. They had tried to drain both places but of course couldn't do anything with either. I wasn't worried about my under arm since I knew it was healed but they seemed more worried about that than the head thing. Oh well. I went to my doctor a few days later and she tried to get the core out of the one on my head but couldn't cause it hurt to badly. A day or so later I was able to do that plus I started using Ichthammol Ointment which is a nasty black looking tar smelling ointment that works amazingly well. Between the antibiotic and this ointment the bump was gone in about 2 days. I also got a new antibiotic for a place on my foot that is rashy looking. It helped some but not totally but that's okay. Now we're up to March 15th. I get a phone call from my Brother in law that his Dad had a heart attack. Now if you've followed my blog you know we've been on the outs with Father in law and his wife for almost 9 years. Brother in law thought he had called Chris but I told him to go ahead and call Chris and then have him call me. Chris was driving 3rd shift that week so he didn't get woken up to that news. The kids were on Spring break so we went and saw his Dad in the hospital on Friday morning the 16th. He looked wonderful in spite of the heart attack. They put a stent in his heart and with his diet change he should be okay. We had a nice visit but haven't gotten to see them again yet because his wife has bronchitis and is still sick with it. I went to my Mom's that Friday night to see my nephew John who came to visit with his wife and kids. They live in the Houston area so we don't get to see them too often. My brother Patrick looked awful. I asked him what was wrong and he said he just didn't feel very good. Said he was overtired. John was supposed to take him and Cheryl with them on Saturday to Six Flags. They didn't make it. Patrick had a stroke early the next morning in his left brain. He's blind in both his eyes on the right side of each eye. Kind of like vertical blinds that are only half open is how it was explained to us. It's very rare for a patient to lose their eyesight like that. He's also paralyzed on his right side on his arm and leg and has a long haul in front of him. They gave a target release date for him of April 13th but I don't think he'll be ready anytime soon. He was able to sit up on the side of the bed yesterday with Cheryl and my help but he's incontinent and doesn't get the signals in time to get someone to help him to the bathroom. We've been told he'll need 24/7 care but that's not possible at home. My sister and brother that live there with my Mom and him both have to work. I'm only 3 blocks away but I'm unable to help him because of my own health and Mom had a stroke about 5 years ago so she's not capable either. Hopefully my sister Cheryl can find a place for him that he qualifies for. He was 100% disabled and on medicare before his stroke so hopefully there's a skilled nursing program somewhere that can help him with more rehab. We'll see or as Mom has been saying......time will tell. Oh that Saturday (17th) I took Chris to Urgent Care. He had an ear infection. Got antibiotics for him and he was miserable all weekend. He was written out til Tuesday but I ended up taking him back to the doctor then because he just wasn't getting better. He ended up on the verge of bronchitis so he got a Z pack for that. And me? Oh yeah I was sick too but of course being Mom there wasn't time to get me taken care of. I was pretty sure I had strep but I was able to function as long as I took ibuprofen for the pain. I had to take my sister to work and back for the last two weeks and the driving is killing me because of my carpal tunnel but what can she do? She has no other way unless our other brother isn't at work and so far his schedule hasn't worked out with hers yet. It'll get better somehow or other. Oh I finally went to the doctor on Tuesday (27th) and I did have strep. I'm allergic to penicillin so I thought I'd be on another antibiotic for 10 days but (yeah me!) they have a Z pack equivalent for people who are allergic to penicillin. So I've been on 4 antibiotics in a month. I hope I don't see another one for a long time! I did get to see Dad a few times within the last month. He's doing great and we had a really nice visit the Sunday before everything went downhill starting with Chris's Dad having a heart attack. I'm so glad this month is at the end. Please let April be nice. I'll even take all the April Showers we can get as long as we get it with no sickness from anybody.

Blacksheep

I'm tired of being the blacksheep of the family. Little sister had nephew's birthday on Saturday. No invite. Brother told me that they were all going to see Dad. I wasn't feeling good so I didn't ask to go with them. Good thing cause he lied to me. They went to my sister's house for nephew's birthday party. Never said a word to me. It hurts so much that we weren't included. It's not fair. I've tried so much to get it all settled with sister but she won't meet me half way even. You can't settle something just from one side. I'm going to take the kids to her house tomorrow evening to drop off a birthday card for nephew with $10 in it. What's really bad is I'm sick and on two different antibiotics and my physical and emotional state is not good to start with. I won't be going to the door because of it. Don't need any little babies catching this from me. I just want to have my sister back. How does that make me out to be the monster that I must be in her mind for her to not want me to be her sister back? What's really bad is that my Mom and them won't even try to help get us all healed. I mean they lied to me about Saturday. I would rather have not known and found out the way I did on Facebook alone. My sisters Mother in Law posted pictures of my Mom holding the new baby. I have only gotten to see him in pictures. My heart is broken. I've got to realize that she doesn't want me and that I don't matter to the rest of the family either in the long run. At least that's the way it feels right now.

Happy New Year's Eve

I hope everyone had a wonderful and merry Christmas. The kids enjoyed theirs and have been enjoying the break from school too. They each got one big present and then 3 small presents so they really enjoyed it. We had Christmas morning on Christmas eve morning so we could have breakfast with my Mom and siblings. I made an egg casserole bake that was really good and a different take on fruit salad too. I got the recipes from Northpole.com. I'll post the recipes at the end of this blog. We also had monkey bread but it was frozen not homemade. We exchanged gifts with them. Jessie got one of the Glee soundtracks and a Bruno Mars CD. Nicky got a $25 gift card from Game Stop and so did Chris. They gave me a $25 Amazon card. I finally got to spend it last night. I got a book in the Remy Chandler series by Thomas E. Sniegoski that both Chris and I like, a movie called Gabriel that stars Andy Whitfield of Spartacus fame (he passed away much too young) and a cookbook I've been wanting forever called What Can I Bring? written by the Cake Mix Doctor cookbook lady. I just had to put about $5 with it to cover it all so that wasn't too bad. We headed to Mother in Law's house after breakfast and got to Marshall around 3 p.m. We had a really good visit with her and for the first time ever got to have Christmas dinner with her and Brother in Law and his family on Christmas day. It wasn't a long visit with him because he had to go back to Oklahoma where he's working temporarily while waiting for a job to come open at Eastman Kodak in Marshall. I hope that job comes through soon. I can't stand the idea that they might move to Oklahoma and we won't get to see them anymore. But anyway, that's not my business. We went to his house on Monday and hooked up on wifi there. Jessie got a tablet and Mother in Law got a Kindle (from us) so she was downloading free books through Amazon. Chris and Nicky went to Game Stop to spend their Christmas gift cards and cash while we played online. After that we went to McDonalds and treated everybody. They have the free wifi there so Mom kept downloading books there too. LOL. She loves her Kindle. My Mom got a Kindle from my sister and them and she loves it too. I just don't know if I'm ready to give up my real books yet. We left on Tuesday and got home around 1 p.m. It was a nice trip and good to see family but it seemed really fast. We're celebrating New Year's with my Mom and them tomorrow. We're grilling steaks and my sister Cheryl is making the sides (mashed potatoes, cabbage and black eyed peas). It should be a really good and tasty dinner. I hope everyone has a wonderful and Happy New Year!

Christmas Morning Casserole

From the kitchen of The Huthers

Ingredients
2 pounds hot bulk sausage (mild can be used) (I used Jimmy Dean Reduced Fat and didn't need to drain it)
8 slices bread, crusts removed (Left the crusts on)
3/4 pound grated sharp cheddar cheese
8 large eggs, beaten (I used the equivalent amount of egg beaters)
3 cups milk
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard (Just used the jarred)

Directions
1.In a large skillet, brown sausage, crumble and drain.
2.Butter a 9x13 inch casserole dish.
3.Place bread (torn into bite-sized pieces) in bottom of dish.
4.Place sausage on top of bread. Sprinkle cheese over top.
5.In a large bowl, mix beaten eggs, milk, salt and dry mustard. Blend well.
6.Pour over other ingredients. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
7.The next morning, bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes uncovered.
8.Slice into squares.
Copyright 2011 Northpole.com, LLC

1-2-3 Fruit Salad

Makes 1 huge bowl •

From the kitchen of Veronica Spears

Ingredients
1 can Comstock peach pie filling
1 can pineapples, chunks, drained
1 large can sliced peaches, drained
2 cans tropical fruit salad (Del Monte), drained
1 large tub frozen sliced strawberries, thawed
1 small can mandarin oranges (optional), drained
1/2 cup - 1 sliced bananas (optional)

Directions
1.Mix all ingredients together. Chill

Broken

Today should be a joyous day. My sister Kelly is having her baby boy Andrew today. Because of a family dispute she's disowned me and the rest of us. I wish she'd just disown me and still be in the good graces of my Mom and them. My heart is broken. I'm giving up on her ever being back in the family with us. I never thought I'd feel like I wasn't good enough for family but that's how I'm feeling. She's an orphan now with only her husband and children and her husband's family. Grudges aren't worth broken hearts that's for sure.

Monday

I took my Mom and sister Cheryl to see my Dad yesterday. All he could do was sleep while we were there. Looks like it'll be another long winter for him. He mostly slept through last winter too. We stayed almost an hour. They probably gave him a pain pill. I know he has more pain in the winter than in the warm months. It was a short visit but we went at least. Hopefully he'll be "there" the next visit I get to make with Mom and them.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's been a really good holiday for us. Chris's Mom made it in on Wednesday and the kids have been all over her like white on rice. We only get to see her 3 times a year so its always a joyful occasion for us to see her. We had a huge dinner with my Mom and them. Turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato souffle, corn casserole, green beans and rolls. Desserts were fruit salad, Pineapple Goo Cake and a butter pecan cake with cream cheese frosting. We had a good visit with my Dad too and took him dinner also. He had a little of everything but seemed to enjoy his turkey leg best. Cheryl brough both of them for him so they're supposed to give it to him today along with the other leftovers we brought him. He was in a good mood and we had a really good visit with him. Today we're being lazy but we're going to see Nature in Lights tonight. It's a drive through light display on lake Belton that's sponsored by Ft. Hood and other businesses. That's about it for our holiday so far.

Last Saturday

Nov. 18th was fun. I took my Mom and sister Cheryl Christmas shopping that morning. We went and saw my Dad for lunch. Took him Church's chicken and he ate it up. It was a nice visit and he was in a good mood too. After that we went and shopped some more. Then my brother Patrick called and asked if my husband would co-sign for him a truck. I told him no so then my sister Cheryl ended up co-signing for him in spite of not having a driver's license. She was so upset because he only had a year to go on his Durango and now its all back to square one. He got a Chevy Silverado quad cab so at least he can still have room for them all in it. The reason he needs a co-signer is because he's on disability and has no other income. I doubt he'll ever help pay the bills or for food but I don't live there so I'm keeping my mouth shut on this one. The last time I opened my mouth and gave my opinion I lost my little sister Kelly. I haven't seen her since mid-March or spoken to her since April 1st. Its on her though because I've been trying to get a response from her each month but all I ever get to do is leave a voice mail on her cell phone. I took Amanda to her doctor appointment yesterday. She's contracting but still not dialated. Unless she has the baby this next week they'll be doing a c-section on her on Nov. 30th. While I was waiting for her in the waiting room my sister Kelly came in. I just happened to glance up from the magazine I was reading and saw her. She saw me and gave me a look that looked right through me and sat down. I waited a couple of seconds and then went over to her and told her I just wanted to say hi, I love you and bye. Then I went and sat back down. I put the magazine up where she couldn't see that I was close to tears. A few minutes later I glanced in her direction but saw that she moved where she couldn't see me. I finished the magazine and was looking up at the TV when her husband came through the door into the reception area. Kelly must have texted him about seeing me because he didn't come through the waiting room but went in through the reception door to wait for her. I've tried to make amends. I've railed at her. I've apologized. I've cried but after the look she gave me yesterday (Monday) I'm done. I know that I've tried the best I can and now its up to her. The bad thing is she's pregnant and due at the end of December with a little boy. She told my Mom about the baby in an email. :( I found her registered on Target so I was able to send her a baby gift for him but haven't, of course, heard that she got it or not. Last I knew it was on her front porch. They're naming him Andrew Cole. I can just hope and pray that she'll come around and let us know him and get to know Phillip all over again someday. Til then our family feels broken when we should be having a wonderful, happy time expecting two new babies into the family.

Yeah!...Updated...

I'm so excited. Chris doesn't go out to work until Tuesday, the 8th so I get to go and see my Dad with the family on Sunday. Usually I have too much to do and am worn out on Sunday from all the running around I have to do on the weekend to go and see him. I just hope nothing happens to change my plans. Well, lets say I have no plans for Sunday and it should turn out okay.

We had a wonderful visit with my Daddy. He ate his small hamburger and fries from Wendy's and also ate his lunch plate that day too. He's gained a little weight back. He knew who Jessie was and that she was his granddaughter and that really made her day. I can't wait to get to go back. It won't be this weekend but the weekend before Thanksgiving and then Thanksgiving day we'll be bringing him dinner that evening. I hope he will have a good day then too.


Last night I didn't really sleep. My mind wouldn't shut down. My sister Kelly still isn't speaking to anybody especially me. I call her once a month on her cell phone. I don't know if she listens to the message or not but I refuse to give up on her as my sister. I don't think I did anything bad enough for her to disown me much less the whole family. I finally broke down crying and realized I'm grieving for her. She's not dead and that's what hurts so badly. She was born when I was 19 years old. It's like I've lost my own child almost. She was spoiled by all of us older kids but she was never a brat. I thought that chat we had back in April went both ways. She was griping about our other sister Cheryl so I was trying to tell her how special she's always been to the family but I overstepped and brought in some personal stuff about how my kids were never allowed to spend the night at my Mom and Dad's when they were 2 like her little boy is. I shouldn't have gone there but if she can't handle the truth what can I do. I've apologized several times and I've also gone off the handle too. Mostly I've tried to be nice. I went off the handle on her on my 50th birthday in June. Well, it was a few days after. She never called or emailed or even snail mailed a card to me. It was an important birthday to me and for her to totally ignore it really hurt. I called her in October to invite them to Jessie's 13th birthday but her anniversary is on the 6th and Jessie's birthday is the 8th so since she's been married she's always celebrated her anniversary by going away for the weekend. That has hurt Jessie's feelings to no end but this year she didn't even ask about Aunt Kelly. :( Nicky's birthday is coming up on Nov. 11th. I'm really excited for him to celebrate it on 11/11/11. He'll be 15 and I've been waiting for that date since the day he was born. I'm going to call and invite them but I know they won't come. At least I'm trying to make up and be good and get her back in the family. Oh yeah, she's also pregnant and due with a little boy on Dec. 30th. She sent my Mom an email when she found out she was pregnant. We heard it was a boy through the work grapevine. My sister Cheryl and niece Amanda both work where Kelly does. They have friends in common and I have a couple of them as friends on Facebook. It's really sad to see pictures posted by them of her on there. Also, I have her Mother in law as a friend. She's a nice lady. Not saying anything to her Mother in law when I've seen her around town is really hard. Her Mother in law posts picture of Phillip, my nephew by Kelly and it breaks my heart that we're not seeing him anymore. I can only imagine how badly it hurts my Mom to see his pictures. What makes me feel really bad is that my sister's husband was estranged from his Father and she made sure to get them together. I guess we don't count. I feel like all the years never counted sometimes. Anyway, that's where my heart and head are now. I'm grieving. Maybe someday I'll have my baby sister back.

Happy Hump Day

Today has been weird. I'm feeling disjointed and out of sorts. Not mad out of sorts. Just like something is going to happen out of sorts. I hate this feeling. Doesn't help I had a family dream last night. My oldest first cousin was in it and she came for a visit and brought her grandkids. We had a really good time. She mentioned somebody was pregnant so that means there might be a wedding for that family in the future. I think if I remember our family dream interpretations correctly. It's been a while since I've had one of our family prophetic dreams. So its either the dream throwing me off or the fact that I got my flu shot on Monday that's left me feeling this way. I never get sick from the shot but do feel worn out usually and this time I've got that worn out feeling too. LOL, who knows though. It could just be my diabetes and carpal tunnel working against me. I just hate this feeling of impending doom. Maybe I'll sleep better tonight and wake up feeling a whole lot better tomorrow. Just wanted to post since I haven't in a while. I'm glad I don't have really anything to talk about. Love when its just boring and routine stuff going on. No need for drama when I've got TV and movies that can handle all that. :D

Happy October

Another month started and days being counted down......by my daughter Jessie. She turns 13 on October 8th and can't wait. She wants a kitten for her birthday and while I was not considering another pet it turns out that it is a good idea. Our cat Skylar is also 13. We rescued her 11 or so years ago from Fuzzy Friends which is a local rescue center in the area. She's a wonderful part of our family. We did have another cat a few years ago but had to take her to the pound because she went crazy on us and started attacking Chris and then she started attacking me. It was all out of the blue and because the kids were still very little it scared me. Both of our dogs are fine with cats too. I'll be looking on Friday to see what fits with us. Jessie's not being choosy either. My choice is female. She's okay with that. Then I'm to try to find her a striped kitten, any color and if that can't be found her next choice is like a Siamese coloring and then it doesn't matter if either of those choices can't be found. So Friday can't come soon enough for her. LOL.

Happy Hump Day!

Nothing much going on. Chris's partner finally (since the 4th of July he was off) came back to work. Now maybe I won't have to finagle the bills so much anymore. It does make a difference having a partner team drive and there won't be any lets see if we have anything for you as to where he'll be going. Also there won't be in one day and back out the next day either. We shouldn't be using so much gas anymore. In January Chris will get a dedicated single line run which means he'll be by himself and know exactly what he'll be doing every week. He's going to try to be home on Friday and Saturdays so he can go to the band stuff and have a weekend (sort of) with the family. That's the news on his job.

I took my Mom to the eye doctor today. Her eyes are about 20/40 or 20/50 and everything is all good on there not being any diabetes in her eyes. They're also really good on pressure and the nerves and muscles so no cataract surgery until she's uncomfortable and wanting it. She was scared they'd want her to have it now.

Band is going well for Nicky. He's been excited about marching at the football games. Their first home game is this Friday but I won't be able to go. Chris has no idea when he'll be home and my luck would be he'd come home when I first got there. I'd rather not plan to go just in case and if he gets home in time then yeah we get to go. School is going well for Nicky. His grades are good except for Algebra but he's brought it up and I'm pretty sure he'll have it somewhere in the 80's by the time he does the test for the first six weeks of school.

Jessie is doing well in school so far. She decided not to do Volleyball after all. She's already failing math but that's her disability coming into play. As long as she passes the class is all that matters and right now she's just 4 points below. I think she can do it as long as she doesn't get frustrated. Her other classes are all 80's and 90's. Poor girl is just not math efficient. Ask her to read, write a story, spell or enjoy Science and you wouldn't know she had a disability. She's well rounded and that's all that matters to me. Math was never my strong point either and I'm not going to have her so frustrated that it ruins her school years.

That's about all thats been going on for us. Summer was ruined because of how hard Chris had to work and him being home only 1 day a week if that. I'm just hoping Carl doesn't have anything else happen between now and Christmas.

Labor Day Weekend

Nothing much is going on. Thekids have had a good couple of weeks of school so far. Nick is really enjoying band too. They've had two football games away from home so I've yet to see him march. Its too hot for me to go to an away game. The heat really kills me and makes me hurt really bad. Stupid nerve damage. I do plan on going to the home games and we're supposed to finally be getting cooler weather starting Sunday or Monday. Still no rain. Tropical storm Lee is scared of Texas and stopped off in Louisiana to go to New Orleans and party instead. He will be causing us cooler temps so that's a plus. They said we should have temps in the 80's next week. Can you believe it? Do you know how much different it feels between 100's and 80's? LOL. I want to say a big thank you to Kathy (Bags, Books and Bon Jovi) for sending Alyce to me to do some graphic work. Hopefully I can figure something good out for her. I also get a really good blog to add to my blog list to read. Speaking of which I really need to catch up with everybody. Bad thing is I can't leave comments again. :( Just know that if you're on my list I read your blog. :D Off to play with some fun stuff. Hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!!!

School Days, School Days....

Not much going on here. School started yesterday and the kids actually enjoyed going back. This morning not so much but they'll get there. LOL. Jessie started 7th grade and was worried she wouldn't be in classes with her friends but she said she was in mostly the same classes with them and she had a really good day. I hope it stays this way for her. She stresses over math every year because of her disability but otherwise she has good solid grades. Nicky started his Freshman year of high school. He said it was no different in high school than in the other years of school. My laid back teenager. LOL. He had Art 1 as an elective but the band director asked him to give it up to join Jazz band so that's what he's going to do today. I think he'll enjoy Jazz band a whole lot more than art. Poor boy can barely draw a stick figure but that's okay. Not everybody can expect to be an art on paper artist. Maybe that's why he's good with music? :) I had a good first day of no kids at home too. It was weird and so quiet and nobody to argue with about having to wake up late in the afternoon. That's what I'm sure my kids are missing. Their late nights and later sleep in times. They'll catch up eventually.

Busy Tuesday

My sister made it through her gall bladder surgery just fine. The polyps still need to be checked out but so far so good. She's miserable but she's alive and didn't have any problems with anesthia this time. Thanks everybody for prayers and good thoughts for her.

Thanks and an Update

Thanks everyone for the comments you leave on my blog. Unfortunately I can't comment back to your blogs or even post a comment back to you on my own blog. So I'm plugging along reading everything on your blogs but I wish I could leave comments. Oh well, maybe eventually I'll be able to again someday.

An update on my sister. She saw the surgeon yesterday and is set up to have her gall bladder removed on the 15th which is next Tuesday. The surgeon said he's not worried about the polyps since they'll be removing the whole gall bladder anyway. That was a relief to hear for sure. Now she has an appointment with her ob/gyn on Friday the 12th. Hopefully that's just follow up and there's still nothing going on with her for that stuff. Her biopsy came back clear that he did a week or so ago so that was a relief too.

Unreal!

My sister Cheryl has been having female troubles for a few months. It started back around the beginning of the year. Then right before Easter she had a strep infection in her blood and had to have surgery on an abscess caused by it and was in the hospital for a couple of days. In the last few weeks she's had several ultra sounds internal and external and a biopsy from her cervix too. Her last 2 ultra sounds were done on Friday the 29th. Her 42nd birthday no less. She found out that she has polyps on her gall bladder. She'll have to have surgery to remove it but she hasn't found out if its cancer or not. From what we both have read gall bladder polyps are rare. They're not neccessarily cancer but with all the problems she's been having and the way her body has been acting since early in the year she thinks it probably is. Also, she's a lot more clumsy, can't sleep on her tummy anymore and is nauseous too. We'll find out on August 8th. She's scheduled to see both her ob/gyn doctor and a surgeon. I don't want to lose her. She's the person that holds our family together usually. It'll be weird if she's so sick because she's the caretaker usually. I was 8 when Cheryl was born. I was so happy to have a sister! I couldn't believe it. I still remember that we had pancakes with blueberry syrup for breakfast the morning she was born. The only bad thing was that my Mom went into labor at 2 a.m. and we had to be woke up to go across the street to the neighbor's house to stay while waiting for her to get here. My Mom barely made it to the hospital. Cheryl was born at 2:30 a.m. and the hospital didn't charge my Mom for the labor room. I'm rambling so I'll close this for now. I'm at the point of worry for the worst and hope for the best and we'll have something to laugh about later on when she gets the all clear.

Freshman?

I can't believe my son Nick (no more Nicky) has started his high school life now. Band started practice for the summer yesterday. He's a freshman this year and will graduate in 2015. They had a half day of practice marching in spite of the high heats. Next week they start full 8 hour days. He said he had a lot of fun. I hope it continues to be fun. They got fitted for their uniforms and he looked just so grown. I don't know if I'm ready for this yet but ready or not here it comes!

Arghh!

Blogger isn't letting me leave comments on blogs I follow or in reply to people who comment on my blog. I hope everyone is well.

Today's the day for my sisters biopsy. My Mom is going with us. I knew she would. I don't think my sister will be up to it but if she is we might stop by and see Dad afterwards. No other plans today except to make No Bake Cookies. Recipes follow.

Original recipe....

Chocolate Peanut-Butter No Bake Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
1 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups quick cooking oats
Waxed paper

Directions:
In a heavy saucepan bring to a boile, the sugar, cocoa, butter and milk. Let boil for 1 minute then add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal. On a sheet of waxed paper, drop mixture by the teaspoonfuls, until cooled and hardened.

Tip:
Melt the peanut butter into the butter, sugar, and milk mixture before adding the vanilla and oatmeal. Seems to help the cookies harden like they are supposed to.


No Bake Vanilla Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients:
3 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup nuts (I used Pecans)
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 stick butter
2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Cook sugar, milk and butter. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes till good soft ball stage. Add the vanilla. Pour over all other ingredients and stir until well mixed. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper to cool.

Good Morning!

I hope everyone is doing well this Sunday morning. Not much going on here. Making plans for my sister Cheryl's birthday on Friday. If anyone needs celebrating its her. She has a cervical biopsy to be done on Tuesday. She's so worried about it but tries to act like its nothing much going on. I just hope they figure out what is going on with her soon. I'm taking her and I'm pretty sure my Mom will want to go. Mom went when I had a lump removed from my breast so I can't see her not going on Tuesday but we'll see. Everybody's pretty much the same. Well, my brother Terry found out he's diabetic but he can easily take care of that with diet for right now. I'm hoping when he finds a doctor that they'll not go straight to medication for him. I was able to keep mine under control with diet for about 3 years before I finally had to go to pills for medication for it. We'll see. My kids summer is just about over. Jessie has volleyball camp starting tomorrow through Thursday. Nicky starts band camp on Thursday and Friday from 8 to Noon and then the next week is 9 to 5. The heat is going to really get to him I' sure. I need to have Cheryl cut his hair before all that starts. That's about all for my ramblings today.