Wasting(?) Time

Last night - don't know what got me started doing this - I went HERE and typed in my old address. The house where I lived from birth through 4th grade (I think). It was really neat. A big map popped up with the addresses marked. Next I went up to the upper right side and clinked on the satellite option. and then zoooooooooooomed in tight. Incredible. Then if this wasn't great enough - I switched to the street view option, and was able to see the houses "from the street".( By -the-way, I had youngest son over my shoulder and he was engrossed in the whole thing as much as I was.) Now a little history for ya...


...I grew up on 17 and 1/2 acres with a creek running through it. Now, "my yard" has been developed. This makes me sad, but I was thrilled to be able to show youngest son, the place that was MY HOME. The place where I felt the safest, where I played with no worries, the place where I had cats and dogs and bunnies and a prairie dog named Petunia.

Moving on - At this point I decided that I wanted to find my grandparents house. I needed to call my dad to help on this one. After a lot of frustration (but worth every minute), we found the general area. This one will take more time and research, cause of so much new development.

On to the neighbor hood where I lived when I went to Jr. and Sr. H.S. (for those of you who are whippersnappers - Jr. H.S. is what you call Middle School). We were able to see the house that I lived in - the neighbors houses, and the houses that weren't there when I was. We found the schools - they have grown so much, and I can't believe that they looked anywhere near as nice when I was a student.

Youngest son was going nuts - he kept saying "Wow - this is so aweeeeeeeeeeeeesome. This is the coolest thing ever! Let's see if we can find the house we live in now?" (Said son was also jumping up and down and spinning around. I'm thinking "gee he really is excited" - but then I realized that he needed to pee.) After the pit stop...

...we did find our house - sort of. When you Google our address it can't be found. Our subdivision is too new, and hasn't been added yet - BUT - we were able to "drive" down another street to the entrance of our little gated community. Then panning to the left - there was our street. We could just see the roof of our house. Maybe in a few years we will be added, and then we can zoom onto our roof, and then head to the street view. It will be fun. We will be able to see how much the plants in the front yard have grown, and how the grass has filled in. Maybe our sad little Crepe Myrtle will have filled out some.

Time spent - about 2 hours.
Conversation with dad - wonderful.
Impressing youngest son - priceless!


Have a wonderful Saturday.

Yes - Another Giveaway!

This is a skin care package. You have until Wednesday the 19th to enter. Click Here to get to LeeLou, and scroll down to the New Featured Sponsers & a Giveaway post for details.

Giveaway Alert

Simple Mom has another giveaway - you have till Sunday night to enter.



http://simplemom.net/photobooks/#comment-11779



This is for a free photobook of your choice (see details at above site), from Inkubook.

Be sure to read her entire post, cause there is something you can use TODAY!



Thanks Simple Mom!

Funny Friday

Yesterday's musing was "so low" that I decided to post something totally silly. An "old friend" emailed this to me yesterday:



Three Ladies in a Sauna


Three ladies, two younger, and one a senior citizen, were sitting naked in a sauna. Suddenly there was a beeping sound. One of the younger ladies pressed her forearm and...


...the beeping stopped. The other two looked at her questioningly. "That was my pager", she said. " I have a microchip in my arm."


A few minutes later, a phone rang. The second young lady lifted her palm to her ear...


...and when she was finished with her conversation she explained, "that was my mobile phone. I have a microchip in my hand."


The older of the three ladies felt very low-tech. Not one who liked to be out done, she decided that she had to do something just as impressive. She excused herself, stepped out of the sauna, and went to the bathroom. When she returned, she had a piece of toilet paper hanging from her rear end. The others raised their eyebrows and stared at her. The older lady looked down and said...


...."Well, will you look at that...I'm getting a fax."


Admit it - you laughed!

I MOURN

Today's post, I'm afraid, "is a downer". I kept yesterday's writing "light and bright" - BUT - I just can't do it today. I feel as if I'm in mourning, and, as my friend Becky stated on her blog yesterday....

..."This has got to get better, as I am at the end of my very thin rope, and I weigh a lot."

I mourn for a time when my children were little and I could kiss their boo-boos and make everything all better. A time when I could hold them tight and make them feel safe. A time when I could chase away the monsters that crept in under the cover of night.

But now, they are grown, and some of them have monsters that are so horrific - so dark - so deep into the night....

...I cannot chase them away.

How do you help a child that is so lost, so troubled and filled with doubt and inner pain and turmoil?

Mental illness is a wicked monster of a disease. It's a cancer of the mind and of the heart, that eats away at it's victims identity, and robs them of any sense of "normalcy", of happiness, of feeling safe. It haunts and taunts. At times it rears it's ugly head in broad daylight, you can see it and fight it. You think you've won the battle - BUT - the monster has just crawled away to lick it's wounds. It skulks on the edges of consciousness, tricking you into thinking that it's been slayed.

Mental Illness causes physical pain, confusion, overwhelming sadness fear and panic. In some cases - it becomes so unbearable - it's victims choose death over the suffering.

Mental illness carries with it a stigma, like no other. Even though it's a disease, like diabetes or Parkinson's, many people still hold the beliefs that dealing with it is just a matter of "will power". Oh if this were only true. There are physical causes for chronic and severe mental illness. IT IS NOT JUST IN THEIR HEADS!!! Psychialtrists are MEDICAL DOCTORS. They treat medical problems. With new tecnology, doctors are actually able to see the differences in the brains of it's sufferers

Mental Illness can be treated!!!

There are so many medications available today. But in many cases, long term psycological treatment is needed in conjunction with medication. Unless you are one of the super rich, even if you have good health insurance, the level of care needed is beyond your reach. Most facilities that are "covered" are no more than revolving doors. One, two - or three day stays at the maximum. Long term, "in patient" care can easily start at $1,000 a day and is often much, much more expensive. If you have, let's say... cancer - weeks and months of hospital care are covered. Since "mental illness" is a disease caused by physical conditions and/or severe emotional trauma (the definition of trauma is: 1. a body wound or shock produced by sudden physical injury, as from violence or accident. 2. an experience that produces psychological injury or pain), so why oh why - is treatment not covered?

I can hardly bear the pain that some of my children have gone through, and now, during a crisis period for one of them, I would give anything to be able to kiss the boo-boo and make it all better. But all I can do, is love this child, and pray for this child. Love and Pray - Day and Night / Night and Day - Love and Pray.

Have I lost all hope? No - No - No!


If you, my child, are reading this - know that I love you, and that all is not lost. Things can get better!
To my readers...Have you had to deal with severe mental illness with someone you love. A child, a spouse, a parent, a friend? Talk to me. Share with me. After all....Blogging is a type of therapy - no appointment or insurance needed.

George and Beauty?

Yesterday was George's birthday - he is now 9 years old! He didn't like wearing the hat, but I'm the momma so the hat went on, and the picture was taken as quickly as possible.

This little dog means a lot to me. He has been:

A constant companion.
A foot warmer.
A source of entertainment.
A good listener.
My "baby". (Who doesn't require diaper changes, or middle of the night feedings!)

He might drive the rest of the family nuts, but I love him! He's not the sharpest crayon in the box, but who cares. Who can resist that silly little tongue hanging out of his mouth? (Okay, DH can resist. The man just tolerates THE DOG because he loves me, and he knows that George is important to me!) He looks at me with those deep brown eyes (the dog, not the husband - DH has hazel eyes) and I melt. NOTE - DH can make me melt, but this isn't the place or time to talk about "that"!

Pugs often cock their heads to one side when they are being spoken too. It makes you feel as if they are really listening to what you have to say. They are loyal little dogs, who don't have a clue that they are "little". Pugs are often described as A Lot of Dog in a Small Space. They snore (so I can always "blame it on him"), and snort, and shed - but who cares? (Okay, I've established that DH is not enamored with George - or any dogs - but other that this one small fault - the man in pretty wonderful.) Pugs are playful creatures, and as far as George is concerned - everyone he meets is an instant friend.


Now I'm not a doggy breed snob. I have a "Carolina Dog" (well actually, she belongs to George), too. Her name is Gracie. She is the Sweetest dog on the face of the earth. We rescued her through the SPCA, and I love her dearly, but this is George's day. Come April 1st Gracie will be 11. I'll see if I can get a hat on her, and post her picture for you.

Now - on to the beauty part of this post...I read in yesterdays paper, that if you live in Rio de Janeiro and earn less than $250 a month, The Brazilian Society of Esthetic Medicine will give you free Botox injections (and other beauty treatments - like chemical peels, varicose vein treatments, laser hair removal, and acne treatments - oh, I almost forgot -you can also get nutritional counseling;). These injections will be given by "student doctors", but hey - who cares - IT'S ALL FREE. This offer only lasts for 10 days, and started on Monday. I wonder...do you think I could get there in time?

Giveaways

Who likes Free Stuff? - I mean REALLY GOOD FREE STUFF?

Well who wouldn't want to win an Epson Artisan 800 printer?

This is a great printer, and I would LOVE to win it myself, but, because I am just such a great person (and because it gives me another entry) I'm sharing the news with you!!!

I want this printer soooooooooooooooo bad. Why? - because its new, has great easy to use features AND - the memory card for my new camera (oh thank you dear sweet husband for buying it for me and thank you PW http://thepioneerwoman.com/ for featuring ivoryhut on your site.), doesn't fint in my old printer Boo Hoo:(

I think that this is the last day to enter the Epson Artisan 800 printer giveaway from

http://www.simplemom.net/

You will have to scroll down to older posts.

And Check it out:

Here is another Epson Artisan 800 printer giveaway!
http://blissfullydomestic.com/blissful-delights/the-big-epson-artisan-800-giveaway-we-love-epson-and-we-love-you/

I think that you have until Sunday to enter on this one.

Good Luck! - AND Thanks Simple Mom and Blissfully Domestic!