Tomorrow is our school's BIG Tricky Tray.....wish me luck that I actually come home with nice things, and not just items that only had my ticket in the can, LOL. It should be fun. I am going without the people I usually bring to fill a table (family, inlaws, and their friends). It should be more enjoyable as I don't feel like I have to ensure the guests good times or winnings.

I also have to help out in Steffi's class for the Easter Egg Hunt. Gotta remember the video tape in the am.

I think I am gonna go watch the Amazing Race, grab a glass of wine and take a nice soak.....enjoy!

We got our family portraits done......



I've been very harsh on myself elsewhere, so I'll just post this for your viewing pleasure here, without comments, LOL

So.....when is THE day to start Spring Cleaning.....and what does it entail that is any different from regular cleaning?? The only thing I can think of is washing the mini blinds outside, cuz when I wash them in the tub, it's a big huge mess. I think I did that once many years ago in our old house.

I guess cleaning the windows, since I can take them out fully and not worry about the cold coming in. What gets me is NO MATTER WHEN I clean the windows, it rains for days on end afterwards and they get all spotty on the outside again. I'm thinking that I am going to repaint all the molding in the upstairs hallway and bedrooms this year. It's been 5.5 years since we moved in and it's just time. I would like to touch up the kids rooms, but I am afraid that we are never gonna get it just right. You see, the developers never primed the walls when they slapped up these houses in 1968 and the paint peels very easily from the wall for no reason. My neighbors and I all have the same problem. One of them fixed that by resheetrocking THEIR WHOLE HOUSE. I am SO not up for that option. Too dusty and messy. I'd rather wait until we move and let someone else do that.

Hmmm.....other than that.....what else??

EIGHT FROM THE EIGHTIES

1) You might as well face it, you're addicted to...
the computer!!!!!

2) All I really need to do is find myself a brand new...
mattress.....ours in now 10.5 years old. We actually want a whole new bedroom.

3) Who's the wind beneath your wings?
After seeing this past year.......my parents

4) Who gives love a bad name?
Stephen.....my West Point Cadet who knew how to fuck with my mind...and my heart.

5) Are you too shy?
Nope, sometimes a little too loud, however :-)

6) Do you work hard for the money?
Nope.....LOL...I have become quite *lazy* in the past 5 years.

7) There's something strange in your neighborhood. Who you gonna call?
First, I'd start with Denise, then Michelle...then Angela...Daun, if I haven't found out what the deal is......I have lots of options here.

8) Why do I find it hard to write the next line?
I don't want to hurt your feeling, HA.....

I am going out with John on Saturday night drinking and dancing and listening to my friends band play. I don't think we've done that in forever. He's gone out and I've gone out, but my mom is gonna come up here and sleep over and we are gonna go enjoy some good tunes and $1 drafts. I can't believe it is almost April.

Speaking of Dairy Queen, I'm jonesin' for some ice cold treat, but I don't feel like going out to get it. John is at the Nets game with Johnny and Steffi, so maybe on the way home, he'll hit DQ for me. Nothing like a big caloric mess at 11pm!!

OMG...what a cool meme.....I totally can get into this one. I found it when I was surfing through my referrals ...

Welcome LaDonna!!!

EIGHT FROM THE EIGHTIES


1) Can you drive 55?
When I am in a 30 speed zone, LOL

2) Do you blister in the sun?
No, but about a week after I do.

3) Are you pretty in pink?
No, I am definitely an earth tones gal.

4) Who's your obsession?
I 'd have to say Bono......definitely......

5) Were you born in a small town?
Nope, born in middle class suburbia

6) Do you love rock-n-roll?
Yes

7) Dear God, I hope you get this letter and, I pray...
that my dad is hanging out with you and that I can be the best mother, daughter and wife that I can be.

8) You just got paid. It's Friday night. What are you going to do?
Hitting Dairy Queen and getting a huge chocolatey mess!! I like LaDonna's answer though of having my party time in the Eighties!!

Amy is teaching me how to use Flash. Isn't this a cute little project. I am so proud of myself, LOL.

......so........my children have been waking up too early for my liking, like 6:00am, when there is no need to be up before 7:30am. I've been battling some heavy duty sinus headaches/drainage, and went to bed at 9:00 last night, and was still tired when the kids woke up, so I told them to get dressed if they want and go watch TV or something. Johnny came walking in again, at some point, and says "Can I have this??" It looked like a waffle and I told him "sure". He has used the toaster oven before, unsupervised, no biggie. After all, he is 8. A short while later, Thomas knocks on the door and says "Johnny had fire in the kitchen" We both go downstairs (John just got out of the shower) and see a 99% burnt napkin on top of a now melted plastic cup in the sink. He was actually toasting a bagel and he pushed in back too far and didn't want to burn his hand, so he tried to get the bagel with the napkin. Needless to say, the napkin hit the top toasting bar and caught fire. Nothing was ruined or burnt and the boys remained calm. There was no screaming, but I can bet you that if I checked Johnny's pants, he probably shit a brick. He then put the napkin in the sink, which melted a plastic cup. We were VERY lucky, and neither of us got angry at him, at all. Of course then, John decided to rip me a new one, cuz THIS is why I need to get my ass out of bed, when my children get up. I stopped listening to him at some point and decided that I am REALLY fed up with his almighty attitude, all the time.......whatever......

How come no matter what game I try to play at Yahoo, or Pogo that requires interaction with others turns into.......are you single, how old are you, what do you look like, talk sexy to me...how freakin' annoying ......get a friggin' life.....

Tommy's adjusting really well to his glasses, and he DOES look adorable......been quite busy here. I'll be back later to update other stuff......gotta shower now!!

ACCOMMODATIVE ESOTROPIA: CROSSED EYES "FIXED" WITH GLASSES
Your child has been found to have eyes that cross and your pediatrician/ophthalmologist feels that glasses will help this crossing.

What causes this condition?
If a child is farsighted, the eyes are not in focus. There is a lens inside the eye which changes the eyes' focus. We normally use this lens to focus of things close up, however, when a child is farsighted, this lens must be used constantly. Whenever this lens is used, when we focus our eyes to improve vision in farsightedness, the eyes cross.
Focusing is linked to crossing much like pedling a bicycle turns the wheels. After a full evaluation by the ophthalmologist, glasses can be prescribed which should help if not completely treat the crossing.


Do glasses or contact really fix this?
When the glasses are in place, the eyes should not cross. Whenever the glasses are taken off, the child's eyes may cross. This may be because your child is accustomed to seeing things clearly with the glasses on and has to strain to see clearly and focus hard with them off. This means that if your child looks over the glasses or takes the glasses off, the eyes will continue to cross. It is important for you to realize that the glasses help your child to see clearly and without the glasses, your child has to strain to see things. The glasses relieve the need to focus which causes the crossing of the eyes. It is not caused by reading in dim lights or sitting close to the television. Your child may outgrow the farsightedness and crossing of _________ ______________. Many children will need glasses or lenses for life.

Will contact lenses work?
Yes, contact lenses will usually work as well as glasses. Contact lenses are more expensive and demand more attention than glasses. When children become adolescents, they are often willing to undertake the responsibility for handling the contact lenses.

Why not just fix this with an operation?
The crossing is a symptom of the farsightedness. If we fixed the crossing without fixing the farsightedness then your child's eyes would turn out when the lenses are worn. Often, children who are farsighted can go without lenses for a few years but they eventually need the lenses to read as they get older. IF we straightened a three year old child's eyes without fixing the farsightedness, the eyes would turn out when the child is older and needed the lenses for school work.

Are there any special tricks to get my child used to wearing the glasses?
The best start is with support and encouragement. Your child may honestly tell you that he/she does not see any better or that vision is initially worse with the glasses on. This is because your child has not been used to relaxing the focusing muscles in their eyes. If your child continues to say that the vision is blurry with the glasses on, then your pediatrician/ophthalmologist can prescribe some drops which can help your child get used to the glasses. The glasses should be worn during all waking hours. This means that they should be removed at night, but they do not necessarily have to be removed during naps. When they are removed at bath or bed time, you may notice the eyes cross.
These are all questions that families ask when a child is thought to have accommodative esotropia. Hopefully this pamphlet will help you to better understand this condition as well as answer these questions. Keith S. Morgan, M.D.

Ah ha......Dear Members and Visitors,

On Saturday March 2, we detected an unauthorized breach into the Bravenet server system. As a result, we have temporaily disabled outside access until we are confident that the integrity of the server system has not been compromised.

Progress Update for Wednesday, March 6

We have almost completed the investigation and analysis of the entire Bravenet server system. We are now putting additional security measures in place, and restoring any lost or corrupt data from our weekly backups.

We expect the rest of this process to run relatively quickly and, assuming all goes smoothly, we feel confident that the network will be back in operation at the end of this week.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Bravenet members for the thousands of emails we have received letting us know of your support and good wishes for the rebuild. We know this has been difficult for you, but we appreciate your kind patience and understanding, especially through this difficult time.

We have always known that the Bravenet community was something special, but this has really shown us how amazing the Bravenet Members really are. You have made a very difficult task much easier to bear.

Thank you for your understanding,
we are working as fast as we can.

Dave, Brad and the gang,
Bravenet.com



Now I'll have to remind myself to put the code back when it's all fixed.

Now.....off to find out what the deal is with Bravenet. I really liked their stat reports.

Whoa......thanks to Alli......I found out why my pages are so slow loading. I have a Bravenet counter, which all of a sudden stopped showing up. She removed the counter code for her pages and solved her problem.....I'm off to remove that same code.

Snagged from Shawn again......I was hesitant to take this quiz, as I don't particularly care for Doc Marten's, but these are cool!!




I'm the snake print Doc Marten...
I'm a wild child and I live on the edge baby!

Which Doc Marten are you?
(by *coffeebean*)

Not sure if I ever posted this or not, but 5 people from my town were killed on 9/11. They have done a lot of things for them in my town, and it keeps on going. That is wonderful. I read an interview with one of the widows today whose son is 7 months. It was SO heartwrenching. Tears were STREAMING down my face. The man that was killed was abandoned by his father before he was one. His mom remarried, and the new man adopted him, but when he met his wife, they KNEW they wanted children. He wanted to be the best father, and give his son something he didn't have all his life.....a dad. So, needless to say, his son is now living a one parent life.

Their neighbor, was another one of the five killed. Just heart-wrenching.....still......

We are off to a pediatric opthamologist tomorrow for Tommy. His doctor said he barely had 20/40 vision, and 20/30 is the acceptable level for 4 year olds. I am hoping that there isn't really a problem, and if there is we caught it in time. My mom, however, thinks he'll look adorable with specs, LOL.

Girl Scout cookies have come in and have gone out......now to wait until Lent is over so that I might partake in our personal stash. I went to council today and picked up 8 different badges for the girls, so it looks like I'll be busy sewing at some point this weekend.

We also headed to my husband's uncle's house to check out a suit for Johnny for his 1st Communion. Matthew is 3 months older than John, but made his Communion last year. WOOHOO...it fits!! So, I might just give her $10 or $15 for saving me the hassle of buying one.

So.....I guess I should make a bunch of entries, so when I child is in the room, you can come visit my blog again......hehe

LMAO, courtesy of Shawn




What Sex Toy Are You?

yeah....and I'd still like to know why it takes a bit for my blog to load...this sucks......remind me to NEVER use someone else's stuff again, LOL

Yes.....my archives are screwy.....I have some kind of javascript error.....but that is all just gonna stay like that right now.....tough noogies, LOL

sure......now I get a warning when I am tring to use another skin that my customizations will be lost.......

Dammit all.......

ya know......I just might scrap this thing altogether now.......

BlogSkins.Com.....very cool for quick template changes.......except.....I didn't save my code for comments, etc.....STOOPID me......Ugh

OMG.......my list of reads is gone too.......what a dumb fucking move........shit........

Scientists Zero in on Pancreatic Cancer Gene
Fri Mar 1, 1:44 PM ET
By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - US researchers have identified the chromosome region in which the gene behind inherited pancreatic cancer lurks--a finding they say is a big step in combating one of the most deadly cancers.


The investigators have narrowed the gene search to a region on chromosome 4, an area that contains about 100 genes that could be the culprit they are looking for. They estimate that it will take another year to find the gene itself.

"The haystack is a lot smaller now," study co-author Dr. David C. Whitcomb, of the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, told Reuters Health.

Whitcomb and his colleagues in Pittsburgh and at the University of Washington in Seattle zeroed in on the gene's neighborhood by studying a family affected by autosomal dominant pancreatic cancer. This form of the disease--which accounts for about 10% of pancreatic cancers--arises from a genetic mutation passed from generation to generation.

Finding the gene should allow family members to be screened for gene mutations and then followed closely to detect the cancer early. It should also give researchers insight into the "biology" of pancreatic cancer and spur treatment advances, according to Whitcomb.

Right now, most people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer will die within a year of detection, largely because the disease is rarely caught before it has spread. The organ is located deep within the abdomen, and early pancreatic cancer often produces no clear symptoms.

The family in this study--known as family X to researchers--is unusual in that so many members have developed pancreatic cancer, often by the time they were in their 40s. This gave the investigators a relatively large pool of DNA samples to analyze, and they were able to detect a specific genetic marker on chromosome 4 that was carried by affected family members but not unaffected ones.

The researchers report their findings in the early electronic edition of the April issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.

"This family," said Whitcomb, "allowed us to pinpoint where a very strong cancer gene is hiding."

And although family members have an inherited form of pancreatic cancer, Whitcomb and his colleagues believe their findings will advance the understanding--and perhaps screening and treatment--of pancreatic cancer in general.

For example, if the gene researchers eventually identify is commonly mutated in all forms of pancreatic cancer, testing for the flaw could aid in early detection.

"We're trying to find ways of detecting (the cancer) before it has spread," Whitcomb said.

SOURCE: American Journal of Human Genetics 2002;70.