Yet another lazy update...

Its that time of the year again. I really do love it though. Its my favorite season.

Where to begin. Hmmmm. School is back in full swing. I started a blog about that but somehow its been abandoned. It was even boring for me to type it out. So we can just roll with this update. Im getting really good at these updates. Sad part is, I tend to forget the priceless moments.

Lets start with school. Im back to work now and I am liking it this year. So far, so good, so knock on a lot of wood for me that my boss isnt going to push me down the well again. I dont have a dog named Lassie that will run and get help. My dog will prolly just jump in after me and think its play time.

Im in one classroom this year. I have about 6 kids that Im working with. Nothing major. Its pretty decent. There are just a couple of kids in the class that are the ones that set off the others so some days it is like a domino effect. Today was one of those days.

Cami has been doing fairly well on the higher dose of the meds. Her class still sucks as far as a couple of the kids that set her off. They have a new teacher this year and he really hasnt gotten a grip on them quite yet. I hope he does soon though. If not, he will have his hands full for the rest of the year. He does have a good Para in the room though but its not all the time. But she will straighten them out as best as she can.

Last weekend was a really great weekend. Cami and I went to the camp to spend more time with my mom and Mousie before they leave for Florida. I really hate when they have to go. I dont get to see them until April so I have to get it all crammed in within the next couple of weekends.

Its been getting colder out though. Mostly at night. The days have been perfect weather for this time of the year. I hate the heat and humidity so the coolness is wonderful. A light jacket in the mornings and its still warm enough during the afternoons that its not needed by then.

So Saturday morning I planned to leave really early to get to camp but I really didnt feel like getting out of bed til at least 830. Yeah that pushed my time back because I hadnt even packed yet. Cami and I took some time for showers and packing before we finally hit the road.

I should also let you know that the weekend before she got a bite on her arm. It was humid out down there and there were alot of punkys and mosquitos. I received a few bites as well. We were sitting on the deck playing cards and they were buzzing everywhere. She swatted a couple of them on her arm and I put something on them to stop the itch. She wont leave them alone if I dont. I looked at them and didnt think anything of it.

Monday rolled along and I checked in on her at about 1130. I saw her in the nurses office with a bandaid and an ice pack on her arm. I looked at the spot and it was swollen and red. There were two spots like the day before but one was so red and swollen that it caused some alarm bells to go off. She already had a doctors appointment for Tuesday afternoon so I decided to wait until then to have the doctor check on it.

Monday night the area was getting worse. The area is now a flat red spot that is absolutely huge. More alarms went off and I put some more stuff on it and a bandage to keep her hands off it. I gave her an icepack and some tylenol. I cant give her Benedryl because she takes Clonidine and they dont mix very well.

Tuesday morning comes and Im scared for the bite area. Its even bigger and more inflamed. After school we went to the doctors and he looked at it and he repeated my fears. We both agreed on the same thing. Tick bite. No bullseye and it itched so that threw me off a little. But we werent taking any chances and she got a 3 week supply of antibiotics just in case. The area looks pretty good now. Just a red bruise area about the size of a quarter. Also consistant with a tick bite while it heals. She is still taking the antibiotics though.

So lets get back to this past weekend. We got all packed and headed to the camp. A bright sunny morning. A little chilly but nothing major. I didnt bother with a jacket. We packed all warm clothes and extra blankets though. We do have heat in the camper but I know its going to be cold at night.

We had a great afternoon and at 3pm we had the washers tournament. I wanted to play but Cami and I spent time at the park instead. She was a little on the hyper side and was bored with the games. So I kept her occupied while my mom and Mousie played washers. For those of you that dont know what this is, its a game where you have two platforms with three holes in it. You space them apart and toss in large metal washers into the holes for points. Much like a beanbag toss game but alot harder.

http://www.originalwashers.com/sell-washer-boards.shtml

Anywho, we went back to the camper after this was over and we pretty much chilled out for a while. About 9pm, I gave Cami her meds to rest and put the tv on for her. I opened the sofa bed out and she was all snuggled in the blankets. I made her some popcorn. While she was resting, me, mom and Mousie went outside to sit by the fire. Thats the best part. The fire. We have a large fire pit. And we usually have some pretty large fires in it.

It was so cold out that I had on a warmer jacket. I sat in the chair and put my foot up on the small bench in front of the fire. Mousie was on one side and mom on the other. We just sat thee talking about some old days and some fun we had. I love listening to Mousies stories. In the mean time, I was cold and gettin up to stick my ass torwards the fire. We made the joke about inventing rotissourie chairs.

At one point I told him to put some more wood on the fire because I was cold. He put about 6 more pieces on and some charcoal fluid. I nearly fell back in the chair. When I sat back down, my shoes were smoking. But my ass was still like a block of ice.

We lit some really huge sparklers. The kind you cant hold in your hands. These did three different things. They did fountains of color and sparkles and then they change to something that resembles a welder. Because they arent exactly up to date, when they get to this point, they tend to make a loud pop and burst. We found this out quite by accident when one shot back toward us. Cami got a kick out of that part. So that makes it a couple more times that I nearly fell out of my chair. Im glad shes so easily entretained.

While sitting there in the dark and quiet, we saw a flash go off in the camper. My camera was on the stand by the door and I thought she used it. I asked her and I checked it but it wasnt used. Through some investigating, it turned out that she used my moms camera to take a picture of the fire. Too bad that the last shot on her camera was only the deck from inside the camper. We had a little laugh.

Things got all settled down for a while and then I heard a chilling scream. Cami came running out to us and was yelling something about her tooth. Im thinking she was eating the popcorn and a kernal got caught. But turned out that she lost a tooth and she was excited that the tooth fairy will have to visit her at the camp. Oh joy. Lets see how much she gets out of this one. She put it in an envelope and left it on the table. She didnt want to leave the tooth under her pillow because it might fall down into the sofa bed and that would upset her alot. She ended up with $4 from it. Geez... I only got a quarter for mine.

All in all it was a great weekend though. A bit cold at night but thats expected this time of the year. We shall see what happens next because Halloween at camp is coming up.

As an update (because Im late posting this) I got a nasty cold. Im sure it was because of sitting out there in the cold. So here have been sitting here with my cold meds and sneezing my ass off. Yeah it all comes down to my ass.

So think of me while you can breathe freely and not have to feel like you are in a warehouse trying to hear what people are saying. My head wants to explode and Im all cuddle up with a roll of toilet paper because I ran out of tissues. At least you cant see me with my tissue nose bullets.

The Boys Of Summer Have Gone.....

The Boys Of Summer Have Gone....

Yeah I was actually listening to this song a little while ago. Its sad. I was really hoping for at least three more weeks. But I was running low on cash and its good to be back to work. I really missed the kids and my job. Scary to say it but I really do like my job and those that I work with. The one thing that I do miss is being able to sleep past 6am.

It all came crashing down when I received a letter telling me of the up coming meetings and the times and places. That officially marks the end for me. Then right after that comes the letter that tells me where my daughter will be and who her teacher is. Normally I would have known this information back in June but they had to hire a new teacher and that one just so happened to be hers. Technically, I found out when I got the first letter. It introduced the two new teachers hired and what grade they would be teaching.

The first day of all this was on Wednesday the 3rd. This is the day of the big welcome back meeting and the safety meeting. We have this every year but this year was a little different. Instead of having the entire district staff all together, it was just the lower grades in the morning and the higher grades in the afternoon. Its nearly impossible to have everyone in one place. No place to park either.

So Wednesday rolls along and Im really dragging my ass up out of bed. Usually they have us meet at about 7:30am at the highschool. This year it was scheduled for 9:00am. Worked a little better but I was still tired and didnt sleep much the night before. So I pulled down the street of the school and there were cars everywhere. I was thinking that there is no way I will find a place to park. I eventually found a spot in the back parking lot and walked for a while. Along the way, I ran into others that I havent seen all summer and that was nice.

I met up with my friends that I work with and we all pretty much sat together. The meeting was ok but I was still looking for my bright eyes and bushy tail. Just couldnt get that all together yet. After the meeting, we all went back to our home school and got ready for lunch. A few of us gathered outside and chatted and gossiped as usual. Then we all sat and ate lunch before the next big meeting. At about 3:30pm we were able to just go about our way and see if any of the teachers needed help with anything til 4pm. I took this time to go meet Cami's teacher.

Hes a really great guy and seems that he will be able to handle his upcoming class. I checked out some of the names on the desks so I filled him in a little on some of the kids. He moved Cami's desk to a better spot away from the one that caused her so much trouble last year. So far, so good. But he really is a nice guy.

After all that, I went home. Tired and sore. I need to get back into the swing of this. The next day was the first day with all the kids so I knew I needed to get some sleep. Of course we know that wouldnt happen.

First Day...

Today is the first day of school. We have to be there a little earlier now that they have changed the school day by a half hour. They extended it for a few more minutes of learning time. Being that it is 15 more minutes in the morning for the paras, we get an extra 15 minutes for lunch. That extra 15 minutes of pay would have been nicer.

All the kids gathered out front and we were ready to roll. We opened the back gym doors and let them all go to the playground. We wander around to check out who is who and how their summers were. It was great to see all the smiling faces. After the morning assembly, the paras had a meeting to see where we would be placed. I was set with a first grade and a fourth grade. Not too bad. I like the changing of classes because it breaks up my day. It can be killer on the feet though because you are constantly moving.

The day went through without any major problems and we got set for Friday. I like the short first week because it allows everyone to get used to things again. These two days are pretty much set for getting all the bugs out of routines and to go over all the rules with the kids. But in reality, we are all looking forward to the weekend.

First Full Week...

The weekend was pretty scary for me. It was a miserable weekend with lots of rain from Hanna. Its not every day that we get a tropical storm in New York. My friend LW was telling me that it was dropping Trini rain on me. He he he.... I have discovered that the mew meds are not working well during the day. They are ok for her to do work, but shes having issues with not staying in her seat and also shes been aggressive. So we need to have the dose upped to 50mg. ets see how that works. If its too much, it can always be brought back down.

There have also been some problems with sleeping at night again. I think its being caused by her being over tired. This makes her really cranky but yet wired up at the same time. This in turn makes her really dramatic and hissy fits. Getting her to take a shower before bed is just asking for it. But at the same time, giving her one in the morning is even worse. She did have a very serious episode one night.

At about 730, she was having a fit about going to bed. She was over tired but at the same time, she couldnt sleep. I had finally gotten her into the bed when the power went out. A couple of candles were lit so that she wouldnt have issues about not having a night light. Plus she was a little over dramatic about not having power. Things like this are a trigger for her to act out in devastation. Its actually quite amusing.

About 15 minutes later the power came back on. So one of the candles was being blown out while she took it upon herself to put the other one in the diningroom out. The next thing I knew, there was a blood curdling scream and a flash of light flying by me into the kitchen.

The next thing I know, shes running into the bathroom because she burned her thumb and then the trash can goes up in flames. Mind you that this is right next to my gas stove. So I have a screaming kid in one room, a flaming trash bin in another, a dog barking and a cat running crazy. What the hell do I do first? I was frantic but I knew that the trash bin had to come first because if it didnt, the house was going to explode.

After taking care of the bin, I ran to the bathroom ro take care of her. She had her hand under the cold water. Smart kid. Dumb thing that got her here. After settling her down with some ice and burn cream, I sat down to talk to her about what happened. By the way, the burn was only a tiny red patch but it could have been much worse.

We talked about what happened and this is what she told me. She said that the power came back on and she put the candle out because "she was bored". I asked her why she put it out the way she did. She said that she was told that to put out a fire, she needed to cover it with something. I told her that blowing out the candle would have been a better choice. You see, she decided that a paper towel would have done the trick. So she put a paper towel in the candle dish. It caught on fire and she ran with it to the kitchen and stuffed it in the trash bin thinking that by doing it that way, pushing it down into the trash would have put the paper towel out.

She did have the right concept in mind, but the wrong material and the wrong actions to do the job. I think she learned a hard lesson this time. Scared the shit out of me though. I think it did for her as well.

Also my schedule has changed at school. I am no longer in the two classes. I have a few kids in one class to work with. Makes the day go quicker and also Im not on my feet as much. I like the kids that I am working with and the teacher is great. Im really hoping that this year will be a much better year. So far so good. Knock on wood.

Also the new meds start soon so we shall see what happens with that. I promised her that if she can get herself together with a great week, she can go back to Build A Bear for the new Hannah Montana Bear. Maybe I will grab a new bear while Im at it. Yes I absolutely love Build A Bear. Its a great reward for her as well.

This past week has truely been a Calgon Take Me Away week. Im hoping next week is much better.

Oh look, A rainbow...

Oh Look, A Rainbow...

I loved that part in Bill Cosbys routine. It was about going to the dentist. Something I really hate to do. Its not the dentist himself. I like him. I just dont like needles or things in my face. Its really odd but I have a fear of suffication. I wont go into details about it but you can blame an exboyfriend for that one too. The same one that caused the fear of the dark. I guess the only way to get rid of this fear is to move as far away as possible. But anywho.... enough of that.

I was having alot of problems with a crown. I wont go into details of that but its loose and I keep losing it. Plus I know that I have a couple of fillings that need to be done and some cosmetic work that has faded over the years. But I just dont like going to the dentist. Plus the fact that I dont have dental insurance and I really dont have the cash to do this.

My father was getting pissed off with me not going and the fact that I kept swallowing that expensive crown. Last year I went to a local chain dentist here and it cost a small fortune to get a filling done. But this place is basically a training place for future dentists and they are pretty much using patients as lab rats to learn on. Painful stupidity is what it is. But this is where they learn. And this is where they screwed up a tooth on me too.

So now I get told to make appointments and get everything straightened out before school starts. I know that this isnt all going to be happening at once but thats what he is hoping for. So I made the appointments and also xrays were done the next day so that we could get started on this.

On the 26th was the first appointment. Today is when he is supposed to recement the crown and do the cosmetic work on the three front teeth that I needed done. Then I have a cleaning on Sept 2nd when he will go through my mouth to see what needs to be filled and all that jazz.

I can deal with this. Now mind you that I have been seeing this particular dentist for many years. He has done alot of work in my mouth including two root canals and two crowns. This man also knows my fears and he knows I hate the needles. Its not the needles that I hate but the pain in the ass trying to get them in the right spot. Seems that all the work I get done requires the needles to be placed in the very front or in between the jawbones in the back. That shit hurts like hell. But this guy isnt the type to stick the needle in and wiggle it around. He will make it easier on the pain factor by putting it in and pulling it out and putting it in another spot. No painful wiggling.

He also knows that I get very uncomfortable with having things covering my face. But some procedures require it though. So I have to tough it out sometimes. But he does have a TV in the room so that I can be distracted otherwise. Good call. All the staff there know me and they know what Im like. If it hurts, I may bite. He he he... Nah... Im not a biter. But I will tell you if it hurts. Well I will grunt it anyways.

So I get there for the appointment. I had to be there at 8am. Yeah a little early for me to drive all that way. 45 minutes to be exact. Im tired as hell but I did have a coffee before I left. I then thought about it and Im hoping that it doesnt affect the work. When I drink coffee, I need to pee alot. I dont know why though.

So I get in there and I wait in the waiting room. Soon Im called in and I get up in the banana chair. Those chairs are pretty comfortable. I hand over the crown and flip on the TV to wait for the process to begin. Damnit. I have to go to the bathroom. But I can wait a little. Maybe when he is done putting in the crown and then I will go. That sounds reasonable. I started watching some celebrity show on E! and it was pretty interesting.

He comes in and looks things over and says that he needs to take care of some extra work on the tooth where the crown was. Not many people realize that under the crowns, damage can occur. Being that mine has been out of my mouth for a couple of years, damage has occured. Ive been keeping it in there with denture cream though. So the gumline is still intact and shaped to the crown. No damage there. Its the tooth itself. Damnit.

My appointment was for a two hour block. There was supposed to be more work to be done but looks like thats not going to happen. But the good news is that the tooth is a root canal and therefore, the nerves are dead. No needle required. YAY!! One of the other worse feelings about that is you cant feel your face for a few hours. Nothing like trying to drink with no face. Makes for a big mess.

So he starts to work on that tooth. I can feel the vibrations from the drill and I dont like this feeling. Especially on a full bladder. But it will be over soon. Wrong. He drills and drills and drills. Then he tells me that he has to insert a couple of pins to support some reconstructive work. What? Damnit. I have to pee. But I cant get up because I cant move with all the cotton and glues and cements and clamps and so on and so on. This is not pleasant. Not to mention the fact that he has to have his hand fully in my face pulling my cheek all the way back to reach the far back tooth.

I was fine while watching tv for a little while but having to lay flat on my back in that chair with hands and suction things in my face was starting to wear on me and breathing was getting difficult. Not to mention the fact that he and his assistant were talking to me. Just small talk. I never understood why they do that. Its not like they can understand my answers. I cant nod and I cant swallow. My tongue is swollen and Im grunting. How pretty that must look.

So finally he put the stuff on and tells me to sit there for a while so that it can set. I cant just sit here. I have to pee. But of course, I wait it out. I was going to say that I was going to bite my tounge about it but thats impossible. I cant feel my tongue because its swollen and shoved to the back of my mouth. I may have swallowed it but I wont know til that sucky thing is out of my mouth. Its stuck to my lower lip and its making strange noises. Will someone at least wet my tongue?

So he comes back and checks the tooth over to see that the coating set. Everything is well on its way now. I was allowed to sit up a little and all that. He knew I was getting uncomfortable before. So then he tells his assistant to make the goop so that he can set the crown back in place. Goodie. I get to go to the bathroom soon. Its only been an hour.

So he gets that all ready and puts the crown in. I have to sit there for a little while more so it can set. I still cant talk and they are asking me stuff and trying to hold conversations with me. Im sure they do this for kicks all day. They must get a thrill from all the uncomfortable grunts. Its like a whole new language.

So that gets done and he tells me that he has time to do one front tooth. Only one. Damnit. I wanted to get all three done so I didnt have to keep doing this. But this time Im allowed a break. An hour and a half in the chair. Im ready to burst. So I take off to the bathroom. Im also allowed a drink. What a shock it was to my tongue. I swear that it had run off and left me. I still couldnt talk though. It was doing all sorts of contorting things in my mouth at this time.

So I return to the chair about five pounds lighter. You would have thought I was a camel or something. Sorry but I really had to go. Im sitting there and I see the needle. Huh? Oh shit. Here we go. So he asks me if I would need it. I asked what he was going to work on and if it would be necessary. He said that it wouldnt be needed if I didnt want it. Well duh. I dont want it then. Im tough. Hell Ive been sitting in this chair with a full bladder while that drill was vibrating my whole body. I can handle it.

So he set out to work on that one front tooth. After he set the filling, he put a piece of tape in between the teeth to set the split. Then put the little blue light to it to set it. I had to wait a few minutes for it to be all done and in the mean time, he starts talking to me about what to do with the others when I come back. I cant talk with the tape between my front teeth. What the hell. Why are they doing this to me? He starts to laugh when I questioned him about it. He tells me that its to relax the patient. Relax my ass. Its downright embarrassing.

Then to make it worse, he takes the tape out and tells me to rinse and spit. Oh I hate this part. Its where all that spit tends to stick to your lip and wont let go. It forms a trail to the bowl and then when it does split, it snaps back and nails you in the chin and down your front. Thats where I started laughing when I thought of the Bill Cosby thing about the rainbow with the line of spit. At that time was when I was hit on the chin with my own.

I was glad to get up and out of there. I did have to go to the bathroom again before I left because it was a long drive home. I wasnt about to have to pull over and go in a bush or anything. Or worse, McDonalds. But before I left the office, I made a couple of more appointments. Also I still have the cleaning on the 2nd. This should be fun because Cami will be with me at that one. But she can sit there and watch Tv for a while. Nothing major at a cleaning and she hasbeen through it a few times herself.

But at least I was able to drink something without missing my lip.

A Heart Of Gold...

A heart of gold....

This blog should have been done a couple of weeks ago. This happened on August 18th.

As we all know, my daughter has a huge heart. But she also has alot of hair. She loves Hannah Montana so you do the math. Her hair is beautiful. Long and rich. Very thick. Like mine but not all dyed and in layers. Oh well. Such was my youth.

But shower time was getting to be hell. Shampoo, conditioner, knots, more knots, fighting and then finally its done. It was getting a little tiresome every night. But everyone wanted her hair. The lady across the street at camp had long hair too but she cut it off and donated it. Cami said she would like to do the same but kept saying no. She would cut it but she didnt like the idea of someone else having it.

I showed her the website for Locks Of Love and let her read everything and see pictures of those that donated their hair and those that received it. Before and after shots of the kids that didnt have hair. She liked the idea that she was helping someone. She thought that they took the hair and glued it to their own to make themselves prettier. I told her that wasnt the case. Now she knows the reasons why.

Then one night, my dearest friends told her that he would do it too and that if he did it, would she do it with him. She agreed. He went out and did it a few days later. Some lucky little girl will now have all his long black curls. Im jealous. But Cami said that she would do it but only one person would be allowed to cut it. Maria. She works at the salon and shes the one that does my hair. Shes the one that gave Cami her first hair cut. Well Cami have herself her first haircut and Maria had to fix it.

But Maria isnt always around because she travels alot. So a few days after LW did his hair, I got a call from my father to come over because my sister and my neice were at his house. We went right over and Cami asked my neice to do it. She said sure and got her bag. She showed her where she would cut and Cami said ok. She put the bands in to section off her hair and then Cami looked in the mirror again to make sure she was ok with what length would be left over. She agreed it was ok. We gave her about five chances to do this. She agreed every time.

After about 45 minutes, it was all done and the hair was put in an envelope. Cami looked in the mirror and she swished her hair from side to side and jumped up and down and said that she liked how it bounced. She was happy. There was still alot of hair left over. She looks beautiful and her hair looks even more thick and soft. She said she will grow it all back out and do it again. She likes the idea of the process and what happens to her hair. It made her feel like she can make an impact on someone elses life.

Kudos to you Cami. And thank you sooooo much Tiff. You both did something so wonderful. I love you both deeply.

Before shot....

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y261/gammak/camihaircut002.jpg

After shot....

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y261/gammak/camihaircut016.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y261/gammak/camihaircut017a.jpg