Updates

 Ruby and I had to drop off some mail at a mailbox. She wanted to know what I was mailing. I told her I had to mail the physical script for the dogs' heartworm preventative and I said, how stupid, what is this 1985? Then I turned to her and said, you know? And she just said, no. It was very funny but maybe you had to be there. 

She got in the car on Thursday and I asked her how her day had been and she told me it had been a very unfair day. I said oh how so. She told me her group had to wait for the other group but then the other group got to stay an extra 15 minutes. Then all the other kids bought candy and she was the only one who didn't get any. Well. . . her and Ainsley. And she couldn't remember the third thing but there had been one. 

Maggie's scores for STAAR came in. She took Algebra, Biology, and English 1. These are end-of-course exams, meaning you can't get credit for the course unless you also pass the test. For Algebra, she passed and placed in the 63rd percentile. For Biology, she passed and placed in the 73rd percentile. For English 1, she got masters level and placed in the 92nd percentile!!!!

Millie started acting weird on Thursday. She seemed very scared and didn't touch her breakfast. She kept hiding in my bathroom. I was in there and noticed something strange on her chest/throat area. She had this massive wound. Sort of. There was no trauma or blood but the skin was bright pink and oozing. 

I thought I must be going crazy. How could I have missed that and yet, how could it have gotten that big??? I also noticed she was breathing quickly and kept hiding. Then she wouldn't eat her dinner. The following morning she wouldn't eat her breakfast. I decided something must be really wrong and I took her to the emergency vet. They called it a hot spot. They said it can be caused by all kinds of different things but basically she had allergies or a bug bite or maybe her ears were bothering her and she started scratching it, which would have increased the inflammation of the spot causing it to itch more and on and on. So, it can show up extremely rapidly. 

Millie had her annual vet appointment last Friday and everything was fine! Although her ears were dirty. I was surprised because I do clean the bassets ears regularly or they'll get infected (due to their giant elephant ears). I could tell they thought I was full of it. I cleaned them again when we got home that day. Then right before I took her to emergency vet, I checked her ears and they were filthy again. I cleaned them again. I told the vet about that. 

They decided to clean out her ears and test the stuff they took out. They cleaned that wound, put antibiotics and steroids on it, and gave her an allergy shot. The lady told me Millie's ears were dirtier than any other dog she'd ever seen. Which I had literally cleaned them one week before and that morning! There was infection and yeast in the gunk so they packed her ears with antibiotics as well. 

I took her home and got her a big bowl of wet food and she ate it!!! She's taking antibiotics and I'm using hydrogen peroxide to keep the wound clean. Now, pretty much, we just wait and see if it heals. They had wanted to do x-rays (to see if she had eaten something that was causing her not to eat) and blood work to try to figure out the problem. I said let's do all that other stuff (which still cost $600!!!) and I'd do the other stuff if that didn't work. 

Ruby's friend Sadie's mom sent me the picture above. I'm pretty sure this was from the park after Casa Manana. 

There's so much mud!!!

Ruby's orbeez

Ella and her awards!

Little Maggie

Honey Bear!!!

Mud!!!

That's Casa Manana.

Ruby's Field Day

Maggie basically accused me of identity fraud

Me walking with my 30 pound vest

Ruby graduated 2nd grade!!! From her teacher, she got the Cursive Master award. She said Ruby had worked extra hard to learn to write in cursive. I can attest to that. She would get in bed with her dry erase board and ask me to write certain letters or words so she could practice. 

Maggie got this package in recognition of being invited to take Advanced Web Design next year.

This is game day on the last day of school

This kid keeps losing teeth

This is her schedule for her first week of camp

This mural was on the wall at the vet I took Millie to

Look at Honey Bear's little bootie!!!

Old pictures, current information

I found these pictures in my draft folder. So, basically, the pictures are from last summer/early fall but the writing is from now. 

My sleep has gotten bad again. Last week, I had three episodes. Once I woke up at my window, but I was seeing a barn door that I was trying to get locked. Another time I saw someone in my room and woke myself up crying because I was scared. The third night I was going to fight somebody. I had left my broom by the garage door and I grabbed it as a weapon as I ran to my living room. 

I did even more research into sleep stuff. I was reading about sleepwalking and I thought maybe I was just doing that and didn't have REM Behavior Disorder. With RBD, you're acting out your dreams all night, sometimes leading you out of your bed. But I don't think I do that. I only get up. Plus, RBD is quite rare and even more rare in women. However, it turns out RBD is a brain glitch. Whenever you are in REM, your brain is supposed to basically paralyze you, and, with RBD, that isn't happening for some reason. While I do always get up, I also move a lot in my sleep. It looks to me like fidgeting and adjusting but I still shouldn't be moving that much.

Further, with sleepwalking, if a sleepwalker is woken up, they are confused and disoriented and don't know what's happening. They usually don't even remember getting up, let alone why they got up. With RBD, you usually wake up, and, as soon as you wake up, you know exactly what you're doing and the dream that went along with your actions. That's me. I'm never confused, just annoyed. 

I'm going to see a sleep specialist and do a sleep study but everything I've read says there are only two solutions: environmental changes and/or Klonopin. I am absolutely not taking a benzo. Which means, probably, my best option is to make my room safe and maybe put a lock on my door to hopefully wake me up (I didn't actually open my window, I wasn't even seeing my window). RBD also tends to get worse as you age. It's often ignored for years until it can't be ignored anymore. 

I found these pictures in my draft. That's Ashley and Smiley. 

That's Fat Girl, before the diet worked.

Wow, she really was ginormous. She went from almost 70 pounds to 45 pounds last week at the vet. 

Me and Tina and Kris took our kids to the movies often through last summer. 

Stupid Lily Hulk-smashed through my fence.

That's stupid Lily.

Ruby's fancy new hair style

Hmmmm. . . I think I was trying to french braid. 

What a handsome guy.

I only had one pair of earrings. Ruby stole them and made them fancier. She cut off the dangly part of the fan that you pull to turn it off and on. She broke the post from the rest and used nail polish to glue everything together and make it all red. So, now I have no earrings.

Oh! That's Maggie going to her first day of high school!!!

Dumb kids

Ruby's in camp every other week this summer. This is her first week and she really likes it. They keep them running and busy and playing all day so she's pretty tired when she comes home. On Tuesday, she came home without her towel, her sunscreen, and her water bottle. On Wednesday, she was able to find the towel and the water bottle but not the sunscreen. 

I've been giving Maggie more chores and more responsibility and, as long as I threaten (and follow through with) taking away her screens if she doesn't do it, she's gotten really good at it. The other day, she was doing dishes and started complaining that Ruby wasn't picking up after herself and making her job harder. I guess my look of utter shock came across, because Maggie laughed and said oh yeah, I guess I do that to you. And the heavens opened and light shined!!! I have noticed that she is better about cleaning up after herself as she goes about her day. 

Maggie got a couple of C's on her 5th 6 weeks report card. I went to her and asked her what was up and did she need a tutor or something. She told she didn't have time to do all the work. I said, oh I can help you with that and I locked up all her screens for two hours every afternoon. And, what do you know, the next report card, the lowest grade was an 89, I believe.

I'm teasing about Maggie but she really is doing great. I put an expectation on her and she usually gets mad at me and blows it off once. Then I follow through and that's it. She doesn't complain or have to be reminded over and over. She just gets it done. She's becoming an adult. She drives and I can depend on her and she's just. . . so great. She's such a great kid!

The other day Ruby accidentally slammed my finger in a door and, holy crap, it hurt. I can't believe how much it hurt. I screamed like someone was trying to kill me. Poor Ruby just kept saying I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. When I could, I told her I knew it was an accident. I'm sure my screaming and crying scared the hell out of her. 

That's Maggie's first birthday party.

She looks like Ralphie in his bunny costume in A Christmas Story.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess this is a birthday party for a teenage Laurie.

Beasley

Emily

Laurie at Danny's house with his dog, Patches

Danny making Laurie eggs. Memory is a funny thing; this picture brings back this memory so clearly. I remember he asked her if she wanted 1 or 2 eggs and Laurie said 4 and we all laughed. 

Sorry Laurie

Beasley looks like she's about to bite his face off and she was not a dog to mess with

This. . . who can say. We were dumb kids.