I Looked Out The Window...

... and what did I see?

No, not popcorn popping on the apricot tree.

Not a horse, not a cow, not even an elephant.

Not even two silly little girls running around the yard.

No, nothing like that.

Something small.
Something soft.
Something cold.
Something white.
Something falling from the sky.

SNOW.

Not a lot. Just a few flakes. But yes, indeed, it is snowing in Salt Lake City on September 29, 2007.

What happened to fall?

My Name Is...

YOUR ROCK STAR NAME (first pet & current car): Misty Intrepid

YOUR GANGSTA NAME (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite cookie): Rocky Road Oreo

YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name): KHar

YOUR DETECTIVE NAME (favorite color, favorite animal): Yellow Giraffe

YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, city where you were born): Chyrell Carmichael

YOUR STAR WARS NAME (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first): Harka

SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put “The”): The Purple Lemonade

NASCAR NAME (the first names of your grandfathers): Joseph Roger

STRIPPER NAME ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy: Sunflower Snickers

WITNESS PROTECTION NAME (mother’s & father’s middle names): Louise Joseph

Good News

The good news is that I survived the weekend without coughing my lungs out entirely.

The good news is that I have asthma.

The good news is that I don't have to deal with asthma on a daily basis.

The bad news is, because I don't have to deal with asthma on a daily basis, my treatment plan will be unique, rather than simply taking a pill every day to stave off the symptoms.

I don't really care about the bad news though because the good news is that I have an OFFICIAL DIAGNOSIS!

The vampire got me while I was at the doctor's office... once to get some blood and once to administer a TB test. The vampire also required me to take a breathing test which required me to exhale into a tube for 6 seconds. SIX SECONDS! Do you any freakin' idea how long 6 seconds is? A long time. Especially when you can't breathe. I'm sure that if I were healthy, it wouldn't be such a challenge, but I'm not so it just about killed me. The breath test indicated that my lungs are not doing very well right now. I can't remember exactly what they were testing, but I was only at 62%. That's not good.

I now have a prescription for the following medications:
Antibiotics
Albuterol Inhaler
Steroid Inahler (I can't remember it's name)
Prednisone
Robitussin with Codeine

I even have permission to experiment with the dosage for my Robitussin. The goal is to find the amount of Robitussin that I can take to stop the coughing, but not make me pass out.

I'm really excited because I really like this doctor, I'm thrilled that I have a diagnosis, and I really believe he is going to help me get control of my never-ending bronchitis in a way that doesn't necessarily require me to go to the doctor every time I start coughing.

Just to clarify, I am not all about avoiding the doctor. I like the doctor and I want the doctor that I see to be on top of my treatment. However, when I go through the same thing several times of years, sometimes it would be nice just to know how to (and be able to) start treatment at the first signs of illness instead of waiting until I am two weeks into dying.

It's a good day!

Spare Lung?

Earlier this week, I started coughing. Just a small cough. No big deal, right?

By Tuesday, I was much worse.

Wednesday, which was The Dragon's birthday, I was not doing well at all.

Bronchitis strikes again.

This time when I called the doctor, they said "Why are you calling us? You should go see a pulmonary specialist."

Yeah? Really? Then why didn't you tell me that a year ago? Or two years ago? Or five years ago?

So I have an appointment with a pulmonary specialist on Monday. I have to go get chest x-rays done. I'm fairly certain they won't show anything because they never have any other time... but maybe I'll be wrong.

I would love to find a solution to what seems to be a never-ending round of bronchitis.

Officially A Handful

Happy Birthday to The Dragon!

My "baby" is now five years old, and officially a handful!

I started this post earlier today, and now it's 8:30 at night and I never published it.

Better late then never, I suppose.

Happy Birthday Dragon!

What's The Point Of A Blog...

If You Don't Blog?

I have no idea. Hence, I decided that I should probably write something. Anything!

First, several of you commented about my "volunteer" hours at the school. I offer the following as some sort of explanation. When The Princess was accepted into this program, I was given my choice of two schools. One school required uniforms. I am not a fan of the uniform policy. The other school did not require uniforms, but I was told that they were "very pushy on co-oping." In fact, I was told that it was NOT required, but that the parents and teachers at this school would treat it like it WAS required. So I knew what I was getting in to. In addition, before The Princess was given this opportunity, I had her enrolled at a school that absolutely positively no-doubt-about-it required 3 hours of co-oping a week. Period. End of discussion. So I figured that it wouldn't be that bad. This year has been more difficult than others in working out my co-oping schedule, that's why I was so stressed. It just felt like I was never going to find a time that worked for me, and for the class. Honestly, I could've said, I can only be there on Mondays from 8:30 until 11:30, take it or leave it, and they would've had to take it because they can really only require so much. But I really wanted to be there at a time that worked for me AND for them -- and this year it was a real struggle to find it. But we've worked it out now. As tiring as co-oping can be, it really does make a difference in the classroom.

On sickness - we all seem to be doing better. For the most part, we were up and moving around the next day. The Dragon and I have had a lingering cough (I think she inherited my lungs), but no one is sick enough to stay home from school or work.

The King is working late tonight. He is hoping to install some new equipment that will hopefully let him sleep at night rather than staying up until 1 o'clock in the morning babysitting computers.

The Princess seems to be enjoying school. She says she LIKES math. Weird.

The Dragon cannot wait for her birthday on Wednesday. She is so excited to be FIVE.

Me? I think I'm loving this new Creative Memories job. I've got my first "Get Together" show scheduled for Tuesday the 18th. I'm slowly getting myself organized and trained, and becoming more familiar with the very new products that are being offered. It really is a lot of fun and I am enjoying it so far. I'm sure I will be really happy once I actually start getting paid! Seriously, getting paid for scrapbooking and playing on computers? This has got to be some kind of a dream. It's just AWESOME.

Sickness Quadrupled

The girls woke up with a cough yesterday. No fever, no other symptoms, no big deal. We are all sick today. A small cough for me and the girls, and complete achy-ness for me. My head hurts, my arms hurt, my legs hurt, my fingers hurt, my feet hurt, my BUTT hurts.

The King has expressed some similar feelings, but since I'm not him, I can't really say. The girls complain off and on about their heads hurting or their throat hurting, but not much else.

Regardless, it's just not much fun around here today.