Coupons, No Sex, and I'm So Annoyed at People!

I've had a really hard time logging in to say anything lately.

It's my usual. A bout of depression. Even though I recognize it when it's here, I still have a hard time muddling through. I had already said yes to my boss Nicola for a women's conference at her church. It was nice, I guess. I just wasn't in a mood to receive anything, I guess. I am normally a crier at these things. But I did my best not to get emotional and it worked. Although it was really nice to have a reason to do my hair and makeup, which I rarely do. Nicola told me I looked pretty. It made me feel pretty good.

One thing I do get annoyed about, is when these speakers tell women to forgive their parents for past faults and incidents, and to get along. I have not spoken to my biological father in nearly five years. His last departing words to me, was him wishing me dead. Funny enough, while I do forgive, I have no desire to make up and kiss. Sometimes, I think people just don't have to be friendly. I think sometimes it's ok to not make up and kiss, and to go separate ways. What do you think?

I haven't seen Mr. R in three weeks. Quite a long time for us to be apart. I think of the verse in the New Testament:

1 Corinthians 7:5
Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

I have to say, I give it up to military spouses. To not see each other for months, even more than a year? I'd be an even bigger wreck than I am now.

So, I'm rambling. Uh huh.

Oh! You guys would be so proud. I went food shopping at Publix today. Remember my coupon commitment? Well, today, I used $91 in coupons. Can you believe that? 91 DOLLARS!!! I mean, I still had a $188 bill, but still, that is 1/3 off in coupons! I could so get used to that. And I'm not even doing the internet coupons, this is just the coupons from the Daytona Beach paper, and waiting to use the coupons when stuff goes BOGO. Then I pounced and boy did I do a good job! I'm so proud of me!

8 Days?!?! Wow...

Sorry guys. I'm not purposely ignoring anyone, and I've been sort of reading my blogs. But posting? I've had nothing to say. It's either a joy or a burden, but when you do the same thing over and over, day in and day out, there's not much to post about.

Work? Check.
Sleep? Check. Still want more of that.
Eat? Check. Of course. Helloooo...
Study? Check, sort of. Been hard to care while I've been sick.
Church? Check, but only when I was on the antibiotics long enough to not infect the masses.

Now, do all that, every seven days. See? Why post that? Tre' boring.

I guess I do have a few things to update:

1) finally found a combination of medications that seem to keep my blood pressure in check. Bad part: It makes me pee. A lot.

2) finally got my FH computer. It only took me working at home for 8 years before I got one. It was a stat order, what can I say.

3) Mr. R finally made it to the 48th state in the continental. Yes, Maine was the holdout. He won't be driving to Alaska or, clearly, Hawaii any time soon.

4) I bought my first pair of jeans in about 3 years. They are Svoboda brand name, and I looooove them. Unfortunately, I got them a size too big. Thank God for these child bearing hips, or they'd fall right down. I also need to hem them. Do clothing companies think all fat chicks are also 6 feet tall? I'm short, ya'll. Not petite I guess but I still need to pull out a stepstool to get stuff on the top shelf. Like most women, I'd guess.

5) I scheduled my first PDO for the year on March 29-31. The kids are on Spring Break. Not sure what we'll do yet. I'm hoping for at least one beach day. I think they want to see a movie and maybe go bowling. I like all of those things, so stay tuned for funny pictures of me bowling. In my hot jeans of course.

6) I bought two more pairs of flip flops. Because I can.

I think that's it. Love and miss you guys. Sorry I'm not consistent in my blogging. Mwah.

Happy Valentines Day!

A friend sent an early 'Valentine' to see if it will make it around the world by Feb. 14th. For God so loV ed the world, That He gA ve his onL y BegottE n SoN T hat whosoever Believeth I n Him Should N ot perish, But have E verlasting life.' John 3:16 Send it around the World

Want to See Something Weird?

This is our cat, O'Malley. He is fascinated by toilets, and bathrooms in general.


He does not want you to...uhh..desecrate his water bowl. No sirree Bob.


So much that, he hisses at the kids when they go in to the bathroom. (this is their bathroom.)


I decided to take pictures of O'Malley before I removed him, so that way Tiger could use the bathroom. He will hiss and start clawing the kids if they try to move him off the bowl. Not me, though.


And now he is ignoring me. We love you, O'Malley. You toilet loving freak.

Yeah...I Had Him When I was 23...NEXT!!!

Autism risks detailed in children of older mothers

By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner, Ap Medical Writer – Mon Feb 8, 10:23 am ET

A woman's chance of having a child with autism increase substantially as she ages, but the risk may be less for older dads than previously suggested, a new study analyzing more than 5 million births found.

"Although fathers' age can contribute risk, the risk is overwhelmed by maternal age," said University of California at Davis researcher Janie Shelton, the study's lead author.

Mothers older than 40 were about 50 percent more likely to have a child with autism than those in their 20s; the risk for fathers older than 40 was 36 percent higher than for men in their 20s.

Even at that, the study suggests the risk of a woman over 40 having an autistic child was still less than 4 in 1,000, one expert noted.

The new research suggests the father's age appears to make the most difference with young mothers. Among children whose mothers were younger than 25, autism was twice as common when fathers were older than 40 than when dads were in their 20s.

The findings contrast with recent research that suggested the father's age played a bigger role than the mother's. Researchers and other autism experts said the new study is more convincing, partly because it's larger. Older mothers are known to face increased risks for having children with genetic disorders, and genes are thought to play a role in autism.

The study was released Monday in the February issue of the journal Autism Research.

Maureen Durkin, a University of Wisconsin researcher who also has studied the influence of parents' age on autism, said it's important to note that the increased risks are small and that most babies born to older mothers do not develop autism.

Durkin said the overall low risk for autism "may be the most important take-home message," especially for prospective parents

The study was based on records of all 5.6 million births in California between Jan. 1, 1990 and Dec. 31, 1999, and on cases of autism diagnosed before age 6. That number totaled more than 13,000; the study involved 12,159 autistic children for whom information on both parents' ages was also available.

The researchers took into account factors that might affect autism diagnosis, including parents' education and race.

Catherine Lord, director of the University of Michigan's Autism and Communication Disorders Center, said the study is stronger than previous research focusing on paternal age, and "gives us a fuller picture of what is going on."

Autism is a developmental disorder that involves mild to severe problems with behavior, communication and socializing.

Recent data suggest about 1 in 100 U.S. children are autistic, a rate that appears to have increased substantially in recent decades. Many experts believe that rise reflects better awareness and a broadening of the definition of autism rather than a true increase in affected children.

Births to older mothers also have risen in recent years, but that likely only accounts for a small part of the increase in cases, said study co-author and UC-Davis researcher Irva Hertz-Picciotto.

Dr. Edwin Cook, an autism researcher with University of Illinois at Chicago, offered a novel theory for why autism is more common among children with older parents: Autism is known to run in families and it may be that adults with mild or undiagnosed autism have children at later ages, Cook said.

The study doesn't include information on autism in adults.

The Art of War

Brothers. Brothers at war.


Glass chess set from Nana this past Christmas.


Bucket on the left, Tiger on the right. Yes, he dyed his hair black. No, I don't like it.


Bucket won. Rematch!

Am I Too Hard on Her?

Missy came home from school yesterday, and the first thing she did was throw a temper tantrum and try to pick a fight with me. Yeah, this is after I was crowing about how proud I was of her, how mature she is, blah blah blah...thanks for backing me up, kiddo. Sigh...

Anyway, the argument was over her guidance counselor, if you can believe it. I insisted that she make an appointment with her guidance counselor so we could discuss the virtual school, the requirements, and what classes she should take while at the high school. I told her if she made an appointment, I would use my lunch hour to go with her so we could make choices together. Sounds ideal, yes?

WRONG. She texted me from school (a bad habit at this point) to tell me that I needed to call the guidance counselor and make an appointment for her. Could I do it? Sure. But I WON'T. This is her future, her plan...I feel like she needs to step up and make her own appointment. She whined back, "But the juniors and seniors get priority right now!" Which I'm sure is very true. However, just because she's a freshman doesn't mean that she's not allowed to see the counselor. I told her to go to the counselor either before school, or on her lunch break, just to make the appointment. She told me that was "too hard." Too hard?!?! I'm afraid that's when I snapped. I get very, very annoyed at my children when they tell me something is hard, and they haven't even attempted it. I explained to her that if she wanted to graduate early, she was going to have to put in some work. I already work myself, and that I'm too busy to make appointments for her.

So now she's not speaking to me. Sure is quiet around here...

High School

As many of you know, my oldest, Missy is a freshman in high school. To say she hates it...is putting it mildly. While I enjoyed high school (boys!) and after school activities (boys!) and football games (boys in tights!) she hates it with a passion that is right up there with doing your taxes and jock itch. She has made a few friends, but she is not into drama, and therefore loses said friends quickly. She doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, and is not a fashionista. This is a girl who dreams of getting a condo on the beach, and being a bakery manager at Publix. While other girls peruse the racks of clothes at Target, I find her in the kitchen section. She knows what she wants, and frankly, I admire that in a 14 year old. The girl is not Harvard or UF bound, and I'm ok with that. Not everyone has to go to a 4 year college to be a success.

She texted me today from a class she hated, to tell me she was sick of high school. Asked me if there was anyway she could graduate early. Well, in Florida, there IS a way. They have virtual online school. While she is still going to high school, if she takes one extra class per semester, and two over the summer, she will have 8 extra credits and be able to graduate at the end of her junior year, when she is 16. She is a self motivated kid...I'm pretty sure she can handle it. What say you, readers? Should I spring for the laptop for my freshman girl, so she can graduate a year early and be a 16 year old college student, getting her degree in culinary arts?

What's the Worst Typo You've Ever Made?

Oh people. I did a doozy yesterday.

As ya'll know, I work for a hospital, at home. My job suits my family, and I'm good at it. But I still make mistakes! I type approximately 80-90 wpm...and sometimes, my fingers are going faster than my brain.

For example, yesterday I wrote: Pt is being admitted for arotic valve replacement.

Ummm, that should be AORTIC. Not AROTIC.

So, um, how is your arotic valve doing these days? LOLOLOLOL