Board Games = Family Fun!

I bought a new board game today, and our family played it together this evening.

The name of the game is Pictureka. Basically it was one of those hide and seek games. Much like the I See it computer games. It was a board with lots of jumbled up pictures and we had to be the quickest to find it. Or find a certain number in 30 seconds. It was a fun game that all 4 of us and our neighbor played. I am proud to say that I was the winner! Yes, I beat my children and I was happy about it. Just barely though. I had 18 points, Forrest had 17 points, Nathan had 15 points, Harvey had 14 points, and our poor neighbor went home with 11 lonely points. The kids were fantastic at this game. It is amazing how sharp they are. We really thought that they were going to win, and Harvey kept telling me, "This is what you get for picking out a game they can play." It's interesting. I have learned something very important about my family. We are all very competitive. EXTREMELY competitive. I knew Harvey and I were competitive with each other, but our kids were super aggressive at this game. It was like watching mini Cecile and Harvey's playing across the table. I loved it. I am so glad I got the game, it is definitely something we will play again.

Dogs are amazing. I'm trying to type a new post, but I am currently under attack. The dogs are nudging and licking and nipping at me trying to get my attention. It's so wonderful how they are able to love so unconditionally. This has been a pretty crappy week for me, and I've had such a trouble with negative energy. I can feel the dogs making me happy. At first they made me smile, but Apollo made me laugh out loud when he started to nuzzle my ear with is cold nose. It gave me the cold chills. He is such a gently giant and is a perfect addition to our family. Plus, he is so happy.

I'm sure many of you remember when I first posted this picture. He was so filthy. He was covered with ticks and fleas, and had massive mattes of fur hanging loose. Plus, he was super skinny.
This is what he looks like now. I took him to the groomer and we took care of the matting hair, and the fleas and ticks. And he is looking much better now. He seems very happy here.
Although Javie dog is jealous, I think she is happy to have Apollo around. She is my shadow dog. I have had Javie since she was 5 weeks old. I have always been her "protector" from the kids. She greets me at the door every evening when I come home from work. She will follow me and snort at me until I sit down and pet her. She gets very verbal if I don't acknowledge her. She is such a princess.
The lighting in the L.R. cast an eerie effect to this picture of Apollo and the boys. The boys love him and it seems Apollo loves them back, although I don't see how. He is always trying to nuzzle and lick them.

Yep, dogs are amazing. Because they always make us feel loved.

My Sister and Me

Me and my beautiful sister, Theresa

Tomorrow is Theresa's birthday. She will be 51 years young. As all of you know, she has battled cancer for 10 years now. And isn't it amazing how she is still able to smile. Her journey started out as stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. But it quickly metastasized to her bone. From there it has migrated to her brain and liver, and it has shut down her production of red blood cells in her bone marrow. But yet, she is still able to smile. She is still able to have faith, and she is still able to show kindness to those whom she believes to be less fortunate that her. Less fortunate that her. I asked her today what makes a person less fortunate that you. This is her reply. " Almost everyone is less fortunate than me. Not everyone has you for a sister. And not everyone has the family support the way I do. But most importantly, not everyone has the faith that God will take care of them, the way I do. "

She's right, not everyone, or anyone for that matter, has the faith in God that she does. I think it is this faith that amazes me the most. I struggle each and every day to obtain it, but it shines within her. It shines in her eyes, in her smile, and in her laughter. Today her church sponsored a surprise birthday party for her. And I could tell that her heart was deeply touched. She cried, and laughed and we cried and laughed with her. She was very happy to have all of us there celebrating her life. Afterwards, I went back to her house and we just sat there and chatted and visited. She was tired from this little excursion out, so she laid on the couch and I sat on the floor and rested my head on the couch beside her. I have enjoyed my day with her. It was a good day. And although my heart is overflowing with emotion, I feel happy and at peace. I know that my time with my sister is short, just as it is with my dad, but they have both made their peace with God and they are ready for him to take them home whenever God sees fit to call on them.

He may be alright, but it is me that I am worried about.

My parents

"Untitled"

I'm hear, but not really.

I hurt but I feel numb.

The waiting is what kills me.

The dying darkens my soul.

************************************

Hands withered with age reach for me.

Tired blue eyes smile at me through tears of pain.

I've lived a good, full life he tells me.

And now I am ready to go home.

I pull up a chair and I sit there beside him in semidarkness.

We chat about things, we laugh, and we cry.

He assures me that I will be OK when he is gone.

And he asks me to be strong for Mom.

I attempt to hold back my tears of grief.

I don't want him to worry about me.

I tell him everything he needs to hear.

We say our I love yous and our goodbyes.

Just before I leave, he assures me again that he will be alright.

I smile and tell him I know.

As I walk down the harshly lit hallway, I think to my self.

He may be alright, but it is me that I am worried about.

One Flaw

These are photos of a rainbow that appeared over our place Thursday evening. It was a rainbow in full arc. I've not seen one of those in a long time. The photos were not as spectacular as the rainbow appeared to the naked eye, but I thought you all might enjoy them anyway.
Now on to my post.

This was sent to me in an email from a friend of mine that told me that even though I have been dealing with a lot of adversity in my life right now, I have done so with great poise. She went on to tell me how strong I was and that my ability to laugh away stress was a wonderful virtue. I thank my friend, for her kind words because sometimes I feel as if the weight of the world will crush me. I got to thinking and realize that many of my blogging friends feel this way as well. I'm sorry guys, but this one is all about us women. I hope you will forgive me this one time.

Thanks for you sweet understanding. I think God did pretty good when he designed men too.

By the time the Lord made woman, He was into his sixth day of working overtime. An angel appeared and said, 'Why are you spending so much time on this one?' And the Lord answered, 'Have you seen my spec sheet on her? She has to be completely washable, but not plastic, have over 200 movable parts, all replaceable and able to run on diet coke and leftovers, have a lap that can hold four children at one time, have a kiss that can cure anything from a scraped knee to a broken heart -and she will do everything with only two hands.' The angel was astounded at the requirements. 'Only two hands!? No way! And that's just on the standard model? That's too much work for one day. Wait until tomorrow to finish.' 'But I won't,' the Lord protested. 'I am so close to finishing this creation that is so close to my own heart. She already heals herself when she is sick AND can work 18 hour days.' The angel moved closer and touched the woman. 'But you have made her so soft, Lord.' 'She is soft,' the Lord agreed, 'but I have also made her tough. You have no idea what she can endure or accomplish.' 'Will she be able to think?', asked the angel. The Lord replied, 'Not only will she be able to think, she will be able to reason and negotiate.' The angel then noticed something, and reaching out, touched the woman's cheek. 'Oops, it looks like you have a leak in this model. I told you that you were trying to put too much into this one.' 'That's not a leak,' the Lord corrected, 'that's a tear!' 'What's the tear for?' the angel asked. The Lord said, 'The tear is her way of expressing her joy, her sorrow, her pain, her disappointment, her love, her loneliness, her grief and her pride.' The angel was impressed. 'You are a genius, Lord. You thought of everything! Woman is truly amazing.' And she is! Women have strengths that amaze men. They bear hardships and they carry burdens, but they hold happiness, love and joy. They smile when they want to scream. They sing when they want to cry. They cry when they are happy and laugh when they are nervous. They fight for what they believe in. They stand up to injustice. They don't take 'no' for an answer when they believe there is a better solution. They go without so their family can have. They go to the doctor with a frightened friend. They love unconditionally. They cry when their children excel and cheer when their friends get awards. They are happy when they hear about a birth or a wedding. Their hearts break when a friend dies. They grieve at the loss of a family member, yet they are strong when they think there is no strength left. They know that a hug and a kiss can heal a broken heart. Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors. They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you to show how much they care about you. The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning. They bring joy, hope and love. They have compassion and ideals. They give moral support to their family and friends. Women have vital things to say and everything to give. HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN, IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

I made it.

Well, I made it through my seven days of purgatory. And no one is dead. (At least not by my hands anyway.) You all know how I handled the students on Monday, and Tuesday they weren't a whole heck of a lot better. The first few minutes they were there they kept bringing me their culture plates and asking me if they were positive.

This is how the conversation went:

Me: "What do you mean? Are they positive for what?"

Students: "Are they positive for bacteria?"

Me: "Does it look like any bacteria is on the plate?"

Students: "I think so.?"

Me: (in the most irritated of all voices) "You mean to tell me that you cannot look at that plate and tell the difference between bacteria and no growth at all? A freaking kindergarten student could look at that plate and tell the difference between no growth and bacteria."

Students: "Well maybe there is some growth on it."

Me: "Well if you cannot tell for sure, then maybe you should gram stain it. As a matter of fact, you just need to gram stain all of your plates."

And off they went with their lab coat tails between their legs to gram stain ALL of their plates.

After that they were afraid to even ask me a question. I saw them sheepishly looking in my direction a time or two and so after I had cooled off a bit, I asked them if they had any questions.

"Yes" So I answered the questions they had and sent them on their way.

Wednesday. Only one student showed up, and he was a lot easier to deal with. He must have gone home and studied the night before, because he seemed to be able to function without much supervision.

Thursday (today): Today started out strangely enough. I pulled into my parking space at work and before I could roll my window up and turn off my truck, I had some crazy lady at my window. She told me a very unbelievable story about just getting released from the hospital and not having a ride home until tomorrow and so they had sent her to the Salvation Army, but they don't accept people until 4:30pm . And she was hungry and starting to feel weak and didn't have any money. I noticed a hospital armband on her wrist and was trying very hard to see if she was from the phyciatric ward of our hospital or if she was a patient of the State Mental Hospital from across the street. I was only able to make out her last name. I went ahead and gave her four dollars(I figured it would at least get her some breakfast or a cheap bottle of wine and it got her away from my truck). Then I got out and started to the building and stopped a couple of campus police officers and gave them the story. They took my description of the lady and my name and told me they would keep an eye out for her. And then they stood there and scanned the parking lot, presumably looking for her. (I'm not quite sure.) Anyway, I went on into work. The day was pretty normal. The Students came in and were able to finish their unknowns and they actually got all the right answers!!! So I told them I would see them next week. On my way home I got stuck in traffic. There was a terrible head on collision with a car fire on one of the access roads and it had traffic at a stand still. What normally takes me 35 minutes, too an hour and 20 minutes. But I am home, I am safe, and I am here trying to get caught up. Soon, I will be asleep and I am not getting up before 9 am in the morning.

Thanks for reading this to the end, those of you that have. I have a tendency to ramble when I'm tired, so SORRY!!

Discombobulation of Random Somethings.

WARNING: RANT TO FOLLOW!!!!

Let me apologize prematurely for the following incoherent babble.

I'm pissed.

It's as plain and simple as that.

Combined with the fact that I'm tired

and right in the middle of a grueling 7 day work week,

I would have to admit that I'm a bit cranky.

Which may explain why I would like to rip my BIL's

head off his shoulders and spit down his throat.

He has returned from vacation and has informed us that

he doesn't want his dog back.

And he just automatically expects us to either keep him,

or find him a new place to live.

My ire almost leaves me speechless.

I mean sure, we were sort of considering keeping the dog anyway,

but to have him come back home and just expect us to keep the dog....

Well, it just pisses me off.

Oh I guess I should remind you all how massive Apollo is.

Here is a picture of him and Javie dog side by side.

See the size difference?

Now on to the second rant:

Where I work, we are considered a "teaching hospital".

Well, it is my month to instruct the Pathology Residents.

Please keep in mind that these people have already completed med school

and are now doing residency, therefore, they should be reasonably intelligent.

We have two path residents this month, and both are of Middle Eastern decent.

One is Egyptian, and the other is Saudi Arabian.

So, I have to give a bit a leniency for the language barrier.

Yes, they do speak English, and they do understand it, but

I don't always understand the English they speak.

Anyway, I was trying to explain to them how we set things up.

They have 5 unknown samples that they will have to identify the

microorganisms spiked into them.

They only have a week to do this, so today we were setting up their unknowns.

I explained how to set up a particular sample twice.

They were shifting plates around and obviously

only listening to every third word I said.

With a very confused look on their faces, they asked again how to set the culture up.

I lost my patience.

I raised my voice just slightly, and with severe agitation I said,

"For the THIRD TIME, you set the culture up THIS WAY.

It would really make it much easier if you would listen to me,

because you are wasting both your time and mine if you aren't going to pay attention."

They looked at me as if I were a three headed monster about to swoop

down out of the clouds and devour them.

When they left for the day,

they told me that they would be back tomorrow

with their listening ears on.

Instead of laughing at their rude attempt of a joke,

I simply gave them my most serious look and said,

"I need you to come in here EVERY DAY

with your listening ears on."

They solemnly walked out of the lab with

thier lab coat tails tucked between their legs.

I'm sure they were muttering certain obscenities

in a different language under their breath.

But they should feel lucky, because,

at least there isn't a full moon tonight.

So, I won't be turning into the werewolf and eating their souls after all!

+ +

My New Do

I got a new hair cut. What do you all think?

Just Kidding!!!!!!1

This is what it looks like from the front.
This is how the stylist "styled" it in the back. She made it stick straight out.

My husband wasn't too wild about it, but after I went swimming and "fixed" it, he thought it looked much better. But he says I still look better with long hair.

This is what it looks like on top.

Anyway, I just thought I would share my new do. I got lots of compliments on it at work,

And one guy told me I got it cut too short. So what do you all think?