Sometimes I just drive myself NUTS with Google

Is anyone having any problems with Yahoo email? Because I am. I haven't been able to log on for two days now. I think I logged on briefly yesterday morning, but the rest of the day, and so far today, have both been hopeless. If anyone on the east coast has felt the ground slightly vibrating in regular intervals, it is only because I've been slamming my forehead against my desk each time I try to log onto Yahoo-never-change-from-white-screen-leave-me-hanging-email. Grrrrr!!!! Any tips?

So, tomorrow, the Sunshine family gets to wake up at the crack of dawn ... actually, before dawn ... so we can leave our house by 7:00 AM, which will still be DARK, drive 2 hours, and enjoy a day out with Thomas the Tank. Fun times, I tell you. After paying $32 for two adult tickets, driving two hours, paying $60 in gas, having one 25 minute train ride, buying lunch out, sticking on temporary tattoos of friends from Sodor, and spending obscene amounts of money on buying memorabilia ... well, let me just tell you ... the look on his face had better be priceless. Just kidding. The things we do for our children!

And while we are talking about Hunter ... he had a mysterious fever of 101 degrees yesterday, and 100 today. We're just coming off of the bout we had with Roseola and the high, HIGH fevers related to that. I'm just worried to death about all these fevers he keeps getting. As you might remember, I mentioned in THIS POST that his white blood cell count was low. The doctor wanted us to have his blood drawn again sometime this week, to make sure his counts were going back up properly because if not, it would be indicative of something other than a viral infection. Of course, stupid me decided to ASK what it might be indicative of ... and she responded, "Leukemia. But I'm SURE it's not that." Thanks. That left an ever so warm and fuzzy feeling in my over-active brain.

So we had planned to do it yesterday, but then he got another fever, and we have decided to postpone his traumatic blood leaching for Monday. But the odd fevers, the constant little colds, and the low cell count all have me just a bit worried. And, being that I'm Dr. Google, and all that, I googled what a normal white blood cell count in children would be, and found that it should be somewhere between 4,000 and 10,800 cells per microliter. Now, I'm not a nurse, a doctor, or anything like that ... well, I'm Dr. Google, but other than that, I'm just a mom ...who just happened to see the lab report and the doctor showed me that his WBC count was 400.

Is it possible that I saw right? FOUR HUNDRED???? When it should be 4,000 at the lowest?

Can you understand why I'm freaking out?

I must have read something wrong. That must be it... I'm calling the doctor's office to double check. And then I'm going to go back on line and continue freaking myself out with Google. Well ... maybe not that ...

I know. I'll continue trying to get into my email. The surest form of distraction must be torture.

Y'all have a wonderful weekend! Choooo -- Choooo!!

The Full Moon Bites!!

So, yesterday, a girlfriend of mine mentioned that her child had received a red card (green: good; yellow: okay; red: BAD) at school on Tuesday, but that the teacher mentioned that all the students seemed to be getting red cards that day, and that it probably had something to do with the full moon.

I sweetly explained to her that the whole "Full Moon Theory" was just a myth, and that I don't believe in that... until last night, when I found myself with egg on my face.

Last night at church, there were 6 children in the nursery. I stayed in the nursery until the senior Pastorman's wife came down to teach, and when I tried to sneak out, Hunter got a bit upset. So, I waited a few more minutes, and then when he wasn't looking, made a break for adultland. After all ... Pastorman's wife is such a sweetie, has had a wealth of experience from her own 4 kids, and I knew he was in excellent hands.

So I went to adultland for Bible study, but as soon as prayer ended, a gentleman (his name is John -- he's a good friend) in front of us got up and left. I'm not sure why, but I thought it was odd. Pastorman asked for someone to read a chapter out of 2 Samuel, and as soon as they started to read, I got a funny feeling. I turned to my husband and told him I was going to go check on Hunter. Well, when I got downstairs to the nursery, this is what I saw...

One crying little boy had already left the nursery and was sitting with his mom and dad in adultland because he wanted daddy. John was sitting in a chair in front of the opening to the nursery trying to contain everyone in the room. One hysterical, red-faced, screaming little boy in the middle of the room -- Hunter -- could not be calmed. He missed his mommy, and nothing would satisfy him. Another little boy was whimpering a bit because he wanted to go home. Another little girl was sadly moaning because she had a rug burn on her knee, and needed ice. An angel of a little baby boy was sitting in an exer-saucer-thingie, smiles from ear to ear but looking around like he was in a room full of aliens. The final little girl was making a break for the doors that went outside, while the little girl with the rug burn chased after her, followed by her brother, and finally by John.

I took Hunter into my arms and tried to calm him down, John offered to take the older kids outside to play basketball (it was pitch dark, too!), and Pastorman's wife stood in the middle of the room with her hand held up, humorously saying, "how did we loose control?" (her lesson cast aside on the kid's table).

I decided to stay in the nursery, and when the kids came in from outside, we had one crying because she left her ice pack outside, the other one crying because he wanted to go home, the third one whining because she was hot and wanted water, and John flushed and sweaty because he had chased after the little boy who had made a mad dash to his home. In the dark.

Pastorman's wife looked tired after a full day of running but still had a calming, sweet smile on her face. She usually does, no matter what; I was exhausted, having worked a 60-hour week at work and it's only Wednesday; the poor children and John were ALL tired, hot, and plain-ol-bothered. It was difficult to get them interested in anything, and the whining ensued. I think the adults were ever so glad that church ended, and the kids were probably all looking forward to plopping down on their cool bed sheets (I know I was). It was crazy, I tell you ... CRAZY! The craziest I've ever seen it in a children's program at church!

Now tell me... isn't that enough to make you actually believe in the pulling forces of a full moon??? Because I'm certainly starting to believe it, because it seems the full moon bit my child HARD, as well as all the other kids!!!

On the way home, Hunter whined and fussed, so I asked him if he wanted me to sing the itsy bitsy song. He nodded yes, of course, and then asked me to sing it again, and again. Pretty soon, my husband and I had loudly and animatedly (is that a word?) gone through just about every Christian kids song we could think of... Itsy Bitsy Spider, Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the little Children, The B-I-B-L-E, God told Noah ... when we reached the bottom of the barrel and pulled out the following song... see if you recognize it... because we had a tough time remembering all the words, and ended up in peels of laughter when we were done singing -- follow along, if you can:

I may never hummhummhumm in the infantry, do something in the Calvary, shoot the artillery. I may never something about an enemy, but I'm in the Lord's army! I'm in the Lord's army! Yes Sir! I'm in the Lord's army! Yes sir! I have washed my robes in the cleansing fountain. I'm in the Lord's army! Jesus paid it all! All to Him I owe! Sin hath left a crimson stain! He washed it white as snow. I'm in the Lord's army! Yes Sir! I'm in the Lord's army! Yes sir! I have washed my robes in the cleansing fountain. I'm in the Lord's army!

It flows nicely, doesn't it?

Did I mention I was very tired?

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I saw this on Goodmorning America this morning, and John's wife, my trendychurchfriend, emailed out the link to a handfull of us this morning. It was hilarious, and told her I'd put it on the ol' blog! Anita Renfroe did this at Women of Faith this year (I didn't get to go this year) -- she put everything she says in one day to her kids to the tune of the William Tell Overture. I promise you'll enjoy it!! It's the "William Tell Overture for Moms" -- I know you'll relate... (if you can't view it on the blog, here's the URL: http://youtube.com/watch?v=w_oc1j5NakY )

WFMW: Avoiding Sticky Jar Lids

It's Wednesday, and it's time for another Works for me Wednesday, brought to you by Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer. Head on over there where you will find hundreds of tips of all kinds!

Here's my simple tip... You know how frustrating it can be to pull out your year-old corn syrup bottle for that special recipe, only to find the lid is practically glued shut, and the only way to get it open is to ask your husband to open it with his vice grips?

Or, how about that jelly jar that has a sticky, icky lid? Or better yet... how about the honey jar that won't open because it's "sticky-stuck?"

Well, I'm not sure where I read this tip, or who I may have heard it from, but I've been doing it for years, because ... well, because it works.

Whenever I open something that is sticky, or contains a sugary substance (such as jams, jellies, honey, syrup, molasses, Karo, etc.), BEFORE ANYTHING COMES OUT OF THE JAR OR BOTTLE, I will pour some oil on a piece of folded paper towel, and will rub it around the top of the jar (where the "threads" are), and around the inside of the lid.

This keeps it lubricated, and keeps it from "sticking-stuck."

Works for me!

You Need It -- BAD!!!

You just don't know how badly you need it ... until you need it.


And trust me ... you do NOT want to need it. WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I TALKING ABOUT????


Why, just a SAH-WEET, WD Passport Hard Drive ... and I NEED IT BAD. So do you. And the nice gals at 5 Minutes for Mom are giving one away!!! Actually ... THREE. Yup!


Now tell me ... isn't that SAH-WEET?


Remember when I whined and complained about my laptop crashing and loosing a year's worth of pictures of Hunter? Well, if I had backed all my precious baby's pictures on one of these external hard drives, I would have been just fine! But I didn't, so now... I'm gonna get one as soon as I have the spare change, but for now, I'm entering the contest to win a free one and praying that the Lord shines his favor on me.


So, go ... enter to win... then put a link to it on your blog. That's all you have to do! Seriously! And if you don't win (because we all know that I'm gonna win one of those babies) ... they have a COUPON offer!! It just couldn't get any sweeter -- well it could get sweeter ... if I won, that is!!!


What are you waiting for?? GO!!!

Hello, My Name is...

Yeah ... I feel like I need to re-introduce myself! So much time has passed since I've really been able to actually post a decent post, and so much time has passed since I've been able to read all my favorite blogs, that I feel like a stranger to y'all! I also feel blank. Nothing is rolling around in my head except work and church related stuff.

We had a busy weekend, because I had to go into work on Saturday, and Sunday, we had a picnic after church, and by 3:00, I dropped -- actually, I think I just flat-out passed out cold -- in bed for a two hour nap, which would have gone on longer had my husband not startled me awake. Harumph.

The clock is just ticking all around me, reminding me that time is precious and short. I have a million things to pull together for our ladies retreat on October 12, and I can't believe we're at the end of September already!

Fortunately, it is finally, and officially, Fall. My favorite season of all. I am giddy with anticipation of the leaves turning, the weather cooling, and hopefully, when we have our ladies retreat in the mountains, we'll be able to enjoy some beautiful foliage!

And even though I really do feel like I need to re-introduce myself... I think I'll focus on someone else...

In the midst of all of God's beauty... I give thanks, for I know that my Jehovah Rophe, the Lord who heals, has been watching over my family, and has touched them with his healing hand.

And for the one, lone red leaf in our maple tree (or whatever kind of tree it is) that marks the start of the leaves changing color, I give thanks, for I know that Jehovah-Elohim, the eternal Creator, has placed the beauty of nature into motion.

And for the pumpkin patch that our church sponsors every year, I give thanks, because we will make our presence in the community again, and all will see Jehovah-Shammah, the Lord is present.

And now that my the days are shorter, praise God, Hunter will not lay awake in his crib wondering why momma put him to bed while the sun is still out, and he will fall asleep knowing that Jehovah-Rohi, the Lord our Shepherd, is with him. I totally give thanks for that one.

And even though the temperatures are soaring in the 90's when they should be in the 60's and 70's, I give thanks because El HaNe'eman, the faithful God, will provide us with crisp fall weather very, very soon.

And each Wednesday, when my church serves dinner for a dollar before Bible study, I give thanks, and not just in a whisper, either -- but rather, in a loud roar, because El Shadai, the God who is sufficient for all our needs, has provided our family with a wonderful, and affordable meal.

And when the news reporter announces that the average heating bill for gas this winter will be $900, and $1800 for oil, I give thanks, because I know my Jehovah-Jireh will provide.

And while none of you may have the foggiest idea as to what in the world I am rambling on and on about, I continue to give thanks, because He Is. In fact, He is that He is. He is the great king, alive for evermore. The Alpha and Omega, God Almighty. He is the one that comforts us, the one that speaks to us, he is holy, and gracious. He is merciful, the good shepherd, the light of the world, the living bread. He sanctifies, he heals, he leads. He is the vine, the way, the truth, and the life. He is the resurrection, and the life. He delivers us, and he is our inheritance. He is with us always. He is the one whispering in our hearts... "Hello, my name is... loving father, savior, forgiver of sins, healer of diseases, Lord of lords, giver of life. Won't you let me in?"

And for that, I give thanks.

How about you?

Remember when I mentioned that (among all my woes) my husband was having foot surgery last week?

Well, he had it on Friday, and it was a success. When the doctor came to see him right before his surgery, she asked if he was ready, and I said, "but it's gone." And she looked at me and said, "Gone?" To which I replied, "Gone."

She looked at it, and sure enough, she confirmed it was gone. The sack was empty, but still there. She commented that she didn't understand how it would have disappeared so quickly, and that even the cortisone shot my husband got wouldn't have caused it to disappear! My husband replied to her that we believe in miracles, and we've been praying.

She still went in and removed the sack the cyst was in, and when she did, she found a pea-sized neuroma with nerves that had embedded itself into his muscle, but it's all been removed, and he has had almost no pain! NONE! Praise God for his wondrous works! He is amazing! He is powerful! He is mighty! He performs miracles! He is God, and really -- who can argue with that?

But the enemy wouldn't allow us to celebrate too hard, because Saturday, Hunter came home from his grandparent's home with a fever of 102. I couldn't break with, and by midnight, it was 105.8! We placed him in a tepid bath, called his doctor, medicated him some more, broke it down to 101, and kept fighting the fever through Monday. It ping-ponged back and forth from 100 to 104.

Yesterday, we took him to the doctor and then we took him to get blood work. It took three adults to hold him down, and a fourth to draw blood. It didn't work the first time, and they had to try again in the other arm. They took 3 vials of "straight blood", and a fourth vial that had some black stuff in it so that they could grow a culture, or something like that.

Needless to say, it was very traumatic. Then, today, my husband took him to get a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia again. The x-ray came back clear, but the blood work came back with a low white-blood-cell count... so he has to repeat the blood work on Thursday.

Today is the first day my baby boy didn't have a full-blown fever throughout the night and into the day, but he's still not feeling great, and his temperature is hovering between 99.8 and 100 degrees.

I'll update you on how he's doing when we hear more, but your prayers would be coveted!!!

Finally, my wonderful, amazing, most talented IT lady was able to save many of our pictures, and said she would try to save the rest, along with my book! Woohoo! God continues to be great and merciful! I am so thankful and blessed!

Have a wonderful day ... and hey! Find something to praise God about! Even the little stuff counts!

Can we talk???

I am currently in a state of overwhelmedness. Why? Well, allow me to share... because I'm certain you're dying to know. Just prepare yourself for a long post.

Thursday night my laptop crashed. Died, really. A painful, crashing death. My IT folks at work have been steadily working to try to un-encrypt and recover my data, but due to bad sectors, I have lost the following:

• 1-1/2 year's worth of pictures of my baby that have never been backed up, printed, or placed in a scrap book of any kind whatsoever. Gone. Memories, milestones, celebrations, vacations, smiles, grins ... gone. In a blink of an eye. I'm most sick over this, as you can very well imagine. It's all gone.
• My book. Four chapters of inspired writing gone. Oh, my burning heart. Months and months of work. Gone.
• My collection of recipes. Recipes I created, recipes I loved, recipes I wanted to publish at one time or another. Gone.
• Numerous other personal files.

Lesson learned? Always, and I do mean ALWAYS back your pictures, your work, your everything up by burning them on a CD, placing them on a thumb/flash drive, whatever... just do it. Per my IT person, they suggest that you have your personal items (such as pictures) that you want to keep long-term on two different kinds of media. Back it up, baby!!!

Friday I was given a new lap top at work. I went home eager to get on line and share my hard lesson learned with you all, only to come to a crashing halt because I couldn't get online. Our computer at home had crashed a while ago, but one of our pastors had given us another CPU, so Dan began to set it up, but we were also having trouble with our wireless router. Our Pastor came over on Monday to do some work on the computer and to check out our wireless router. He got everything in order for us (he's a great guy!), but we still couldn't get my lap top to connect to the router for internet service. Finally, yesterday, my IT people responded to my Help Desk ticket and walked me through turning on my wireless card in my lap top. So now, I can connect at home ... I think. I'll be trying it out this weekend.

Next issue... Saturday morning, my husband woke up with a bump on his foot the size of a 25-cent gumball. He has always had a bump there (we assumed it to be a cyst), but it was about the size of a small marble. Suddenly, he woke up and it was huge. And very painful. By Sunday morning, we were walking into an immediate care center for pain management. By Sunday night, we were in the emergency room for more pain management. They tried to drain the cyst, but nothing would come out -- it was a honking needle, too! By Monday, we were in the office of a specialist. When she did a sonogram, the two nurses and the doctor were surprised at how big it was (2 cm x 1 cm) and were oogiling over it. They scheduled him for surgery to remove it because the doctor said that the fluid in it was probably as thick as peanut butter. His surgery is tomorrow morning. Good times. But, God has been working in his foot, because the size of the cyst has decreased dramatically on the top of his foot. We don't know what's going on inside, but we know that God is hearing our prayers, and is doing his shtick -- the miracle shtick! Praise God!

Finally, a rod in my Expedition broke on Tuesday. We think its the tie (?) rod in the front ... but we're not sure. Fortunately, we have three vehicles, so now I'm zipping around town in my husband's Takoma -- which is stick shift. It's been a really long time since I last drove a stick shift -- possibly 7 years -- so I had to get used to that all over again. My insides felt like a milkshake the first day, but I'm a pro by now. And one of these days, by car will be fixed and good to go, but for now? I cram my 32" inseam legs into his tiny truck and putter along. Fortunately, it did not break while I was driving on the highway at a high speed. Unfortunately, we have some hefty car repair expenditures looming ahead. Again -- good times.

So there you have it. My life this week in a nutshell. And in honor of Peach over at Without Fear, I'm going to fill up my Thursday Thanks Tank:

1. I'm thankful that I have a wonderful person in the IT department that is working hard to recover whatever pictures of Hunter possible, and has told me it looks promising.

2. I am very thankful that my car broke down just minutes away from my home.

3. I'm thankful that his healing hand is over my husband, and that the bump is a cyst that can easily be removed, and he will soon be comfortable once again.

4. I am so thankful that we have been having beautiful, cool weather this week, and this weekend promises to be even cooler -- in the 70's... Fall is right around the corner!

5. I am thankful that my Pastor was our acting Geek on Call and came over to our home to work on our computer. I'm thankful for the computer he gave us. I'm thankful for his talents. I'm thankful that he doesn't really work for Geeks on Call, and we didn't have a $300 bill to pay for him to help us out.

5. I am so thankful for my Salvation, and promise of eternal life in heaven. This week, a saint of the church passed away. She was either close to 90, or in her 90s. Her family is exhausted both emotionally and physically, but while this saint is not longer here on earth with us, and while we here mourn her loss, she is no longer mourning, and no longer in discomfort. No friends, she is rejoicing in heaven with our Lord and Savior, the angels are rejoicing over her entry in heaven, and she is reunited with her love -- her husband -- who passed away several years before her. I am most certain that she is dancing on streets paved with gold to her favorite blue grass music!

6. I am ever-grateful for my family. My husband is such a blessing, so loving, caring, and patient, and our son continues to be a kiss of sunshine in our lives!

7. I am so thankful for my in-laws. My husband's parents have been so helpful with caring for my son ... they came over to our home at 11:30 at night so I could take my husband to the hospital. They spent the night and watched Hunter the following day (Monday) so that I could take my husband to run some errands and to his doctor's appointment. They will be spending the night tonight and watching Hunter tomorrow while I'm at the hospital with my husband. They are a blessing straight from heaven!!!

Any way -- I have about a gazillion emails to tend to, a ton of work to do, a lot of re-creating to do, and a lot of lost blogging posts to re-write. But for now, I really am back.

Just Back!

Just back from vacation, and I'm so sad it's over... but it marks the beginning of fall, which happens to be my favorite time of the year!!!

I foolishly thought I'd be all caught up and good to go by now, but alas ... my email boxes are overflowing, responsibilities at work are keeping me busy, and a mountain of laundry awaits me at home! No rest for the rested -- heh, heh!

So, for those of you that have been worried, or felt neglected, I'm back. And, I probably wont be "up and running" until tomorrow ... but until then, you can admire a picture of the view from the porch (right over the little dune) at the beach house ... ahhhh -- how I long to return!!!