Cub Choir Concert

Here's the last song they sang at Morgan's Cub Choir Concert on Friday, May 16th. It was awesome! She did great. Mom cried a little bit when they sang this song.

The Cough

I HATE The Cough. When I was little, I remember having The Cough in the middle of the night waking everybody up. My mom would get up and give me cough syrup with codeine (nasty!) and my dad would get mad because I would cough and cough. As I got older, my parents would have me get up and drink hot tea with honey in it--much better than the cough syrup with Codeine, but it took a while for The Cough to go away.

Now, as a mom, The Cough haunts me. When Morgan was a baby, she got a really bad cold at Christmas time. I remember the barking sound. It was terrible, and we went through many sleepless nights. She ended up having croup at one point. That was scary. I remember sitting in the bathroom with her just running the shower and getting the steam going. It didn't seem to help until the doctor gave us the croup medicine (predisolone--a form of prednisone). From then on, that was the only thing that would stop The Cough. She had it every winter, and it was hell--I felt so bad for her--her little body would just shake and she would be exhausted. It almost makes me cry to think about how much she suffered. She was such a trooper. When I had Sydney, Morgan had The Cough while we were in the hospital, and I remember thinking the nurses were going to kick her out it was so bad. Finally, the day care provider told us that she thought Morgan had asthma, and gave us the name of a specialist to take her to. Morgan was very sick at the time. So, we went to see Dr. Davis, and sure enough, she diagnosed Morgan with Asthma. In addition, Morgan had Pneumonia--it was so scary. That started the breathing treatments--Morgan hated them--and the prednisolone--which really kicked The Cough in the butt--thank goodness. Then we took Morgan back the next year with the same symptoms and she had a sinus infection--they were going to do a Cat Scan of her head to make sure, and it scared the hell out of me--I remember crying (I'm such a wimp!). Once again, Morgan was a trooper.

Well, The Cough came back--along with the pangs in my stomach (it literally makes me nauseous to listen to her)--we were doing so well--Morgan's been off her nightly medication since early last fall, and she has barely had any colds. I think this time it's allergies--she's been complaining of sinus headaches, and now with the 'post nasal drip' The Cough reared it's ugly head. I HATE IT. We were up with her twice last night. I don't want to start the breathing treatments again, but we might have to. Morgan had a concert today--her Cub Choir group is singing to some teachers that are retiring--and heaven forbid she miss school. So, off she went--barking along--even after getting some over-the-counter medicine. I hope she makes it through. Her concert to the parents is Friday, and she is determined that she is not going to miss it. . . I hope she's better by then. Poor thing.

Mother's Day 2008

Happy Mother's Day!!!

We took this picture at Pictograph State Park not far from our house. I had a wonderful Mother's Day! I think it was the best one yet. Mom came out after Church and Kory went into town and picked up Texas Roadhouse for us. It was so nice--I didn't have to cook, and just had to clean up a little bit--and Kory did most of that! Then Mom and I went for a drive which she really enjoyed. I showed her the new middle school that is being built out here in Lockwood, and then I drove her up into Emerald Hills so she could see where the fire went last summer. She said she really had a great time. Then she went to Roger and Diana's, and we got ready and took some pictures. Now I'm at home checking out all the bad ones and finding all the good ones. I don't think there is one bad one of Morgan--little Miss Photogenic!

Good thing we're home now--it's pouring rain!

Montana Women's Run

Wow--what a great morning we had!! Morgan and I joined my sister and some friends along with 6400 other women in downtown Billings for the annual Women's Run on Saturday, May 10th. Now, I have NEVER been a runner. But, I have been going to the YMCA twice a week (okay, I've missed a few times) and working with a trainer that teaches a class called "Activate America". Well, I've really been pushing myself (last week too hard) and I have noticed a huge difference in my leg strength and my knees. I've even been running on the treadmill off and on. So, Saturday morning, squeezed in among thousands of women, I was so excited--excited to actually run part of the race and be among all these women--it is always inspiring to me. It also brings out my competetive side (who knew sweet little ol' me had a competetive streak?). So, when the race started, my little Morgan said, "c'mon Mom!" and off we ran holding hands. It was the greatest feeling having her at my side. I now know what runners call that feeling of euphoria--I had it. I could have run a lot more, but Morgan and my friend Sarah were pretty tired--so we would walk, and then I would get them going again and we would run some more. I'm excited to see where I placed. I know I didn't place very high--but I DO know it's higher than last year because I was way towards the bottom in my age group last year--which is fine--I was just walking it last year to be with my friends and enjoy myself. This year I wanted to push myself, and I did. We crossed the finish line and started walking towards the car (which was parked WAY far away). As we walked, a lot of people stopped us to talk to Morgan and asked her if she ran with her mom. They were so impressed that she would do that and told her so. I told them all what a great job she did. It was the best Mother's Day present!!! As soon as I get the picture of me and Morgan, I'll post it here.

Happy Mother's Day to all the great women in my life.

Blessed

As I was preparing for my customer service team meeting this morning, I came across this page from a seminar I attended last week. Then I thought to myself that I should have read this yesterday when I was feeling sorry for myself. Here it is:

Blessed

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the millions who will not survive the week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people around the world.

If you attend a church meeting without fear of harrassment, arrest, or death, you are more blessed than almost 3 billion poeple in the world.

If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish some place, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face, and are truly thankful, you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

I need to paste this to my bathroom mirror so I see it first thing in the morning. . .

Appreciation

I don't mean to turn this into a negative post, but it's how I'm feeling today. I literally am feeling unappreciated. Not only at work, but at home. Maybe even moreso at home. The girls have terrible manners--and I hate to nag--but I find myself doing it all the time. They are lazy--they hate to pick up their toys--the shoes or coats don't go in the garage when they take them off--or when they do they are just thrown in there. Sad to say I'm doing the same thing because I'm so sick of it that I just have to not care--but the problem is I do. I nag Kory a lot lately too I think. I don't mean to, but some days I have just had enough, and to see what is going on around my house literally makes me not care. This gets back to the title of this blog ". . . loads of laundry". I know it bugs Kory that I don't hang clothes up after I wash them--but why should I? Why should I even try to keep anything straight at my house, because the second I do, it just goes back to the same old bad habits, and I'm the only one trying to change them (and obviously the nagging doesn't work). Then, there will be one day where I get mad enough and everybody gets whipped into shape, and then that's as long as it lasts, and once again I am discouraged. Why is this? Why does it have to be this way? Did Kory's mom pick up everything for him? I don't know--he is way better at hanging up his laundry than I am mine--but other than that, there are things that are just left wherever they land. And not that I'm perfect about it either, but every time I come up with a system it just gets screwed up.

Another thing today--I asked Kory if he had anything planned for Mother's Day, and he said no. Hmmm--I'm a little hurt. He hadn't even given it a thought. Now granted, I get some pretty nice things from Kory, and he's usually pretty thoughtful, but lately maybe I've been too big of a witch for him to care. I don't know. I was basically asking because I was going to have Mom come out for dinner on Sunday, but if he had something planned I would do it Saturday. Then he asked me what I wanted to do. What? What happened to just taking the initiative and planning something? Maybe he thinks that I won't be happy with his choice, so it's just easier not to do anything. I really don't know.

I don't mean to sound ungrateful. . . because I am pretty blessed in this life. . . but this is how I am feeling today.

My First Post

Who knew I would start blogging? Certainly not me. I guess I have been influenced by my sister and my cousin. So here goes. What's with my title? Well, I guess I have to say I am a pretty fortunate person, set aside all my worries, fears and doubts. And then there's the laundry room. It pretty much portrays how I feel inside most days--all messy and full of things that should be put away (worries) but still just lay there in my way when I try to wash things that need to be cleaned. So, maybe this blog will motivate me to take some control and put those dumb things away--then again maybe not. I figure it can't hurt, right?

So, keep reading. . . maybe things will start to make sense to you and to me. . .