Run Jolene Run

This morning Mark left for his "canyon ride" with a couple of his friends. It's a motorcycle ride to the different canyons...Grand canyon, Brice canyon, Zions, and a few other that I can't remember the names of off the top of my head. The one I can remember I don't know how to spell. I spent a good part of yesterday helping to get him ready to leave. I even cut and dyed his hair so that he will look and feel a bit younger. Anything to help his ego. :o) He has been looking so forward to this. He called tonight and said they cooked fajitas when they got to their camp site and they're having a great time.hmmmmm...just a thought...WARNING...If there is anyone out there that's a creepy blog stalker, I am not home alone. I have 3 protective dogs and equally protective full grown boys who have no problem shooting or stabbing you should you get past the dogs....seriously!

Do you think they wouldn't hurt you if they do this to each other?!

Tonight Mark's brother Rodney and his wife Cam took me out to dinner up at Rustlers Roost. It's up on a mountain over looking the city lights. It was such a beautiful view. I wish I had my purse camera, but I let Mark take it for his ride. After dinner I went over to the hospital to see the baby. I didn't think the valet was working that late so I parked pretty far away. I walked in and when the elevator doors opened Brek and Brittany were standing right there to get on. I made them go back to the NICU with me to see baby Mark. He's holding down his food today. Lets hope he keeps that up. He was sleeping so we didn't stay too long. When we got back outside, the valet was there and they had parked B&B car. They gave the valet guy their claim ticket and were teasing me about getting to their car first. I said no way because I'm going trip him and run like crazy to my truck. The valet dude started laughing and took off running so fast you'd a thought he was in a sprint race for the USA Olympics team. Well crap!... I started running...and mind you it wasn't a pretty sight. Not only do I NOT EVER run, but I had just eaten dinner. He got their car back to them so fast and told them if they hurried they could beat me because I was still running. I seriously ran the WHOLE way there... Stop laughing...I can't believe it myself. Brek and Brittany we're cracking up as they sped past me as I was backing out of my spot. I couldn't breathe! I followed them through the parking lot honking my horn at them and yelling for them to give me water. Brek jumps out and hands me water. I think that's the only thing that saved me. When we got to a red light they were laughing at me and saying that they have never seen me run that far. Well that's because I haven't run that far since junior high and I don't think I'll be doing that again. I looked like a complete dork, but at least I entertained the valet dude. Two tylenol and I should sleep good tonight. I'm warn out.

Sweet baby and a bit of enabling

Brittany with baby Mark
Looks like he's flippin' the bird, huh?! LOL!
Pretty pink M&M's for breast cancer awareness
Brek with baby Mark
Cool spice rack

Gosh, have things been busy around here. I haven't had time for anything. Yesterday while Coleen and I were at Sam's Club we found this very cool spice rack for her to use for her embellishments. It was $24.98. They don't carry mine any more, but this one is very stylish, sturdy and it twirls around very well....just incase any of you are looking for one. I know a couple of you have found one already, but thought I would enable those that hadn't yet. :o)

I was out running errands today and I was on the side of town the hospital is on so I went to see the baby and I held him for an hour. He was wide awake for the first 45 minutes. He kept giving me these adorable little grins that absolutely melted my heart. I actually got teary eyed while holding him and I didn't even have my camera, so I sent it down with Brek and Brittany later to take pictures. Brek thought it was funny that it looked like he was flipping the bird, so he had to get the shot....not exactly the sweet pictures I wanted to get, but oh well. They did get some cute ones too. He is still having a hard time keeping down his feedings and his incision site was looking infected. They opened it back up and sent samples to the lab and took X-rays of his tummy. They say it seems to look fine, so now we are just waiting for him to hold down his feedings all the time. Brek and Brittany took the stroller there today and he got to have his first little walk in the hall of the NICU. Brek had to push the thing that all his wires are hooked up to while Brittany pushed the stroller. When I was waiting outside the hospital for the valet to bring me my truck, an 86 year old woman who was standing out there with her family came up to me and said "you have a nice face" I said "thanks...that's because I'm a nice girl" :o) We had a nice long conversation about her having throat cancer and her daughter having diabetes. She was very sweet and I enjoyed my talk with her.

Thanks for all the kind comments on my newly clean closet. I love that the lurkers are coming out and talking to me. It makes me feel good. I have decided to put the curtains back up, but leave them open. I like to see my stuff and have the splash of color as some of you pointed out. I would like to do some cute tie backs.

I know there are other things I had to say, but my brain just shut off from lack of sleep. Morning comes early in the George house.

It's done!!!

I finally finished the closet...that doesn't mean I still don't have a few things to go through that came out of it, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. This was a MUCH bigger job than I anticipated. I just wanted to post pictures real quick before I run up to Sam's Club to meet my sister Coleen. On Saturday I went to Home Depot and bought peg board and hooks. Cole helped me paint it and Mark helped me install it. Now I have my own little "store" in my closet. I love the way it turned out. It was like Christmas going through my stuff finding long lost items. It was kind of fun in an exhausting kind of way. Now I want opinions...should I put the red curtains back up or leave them down???

Chocolate, closets and baby Mark

My friends are the best! Dawn and Paula brought me some chocolate covered oreo's on this darling fall leaf plate. I have never had chocolate covered oreo's before, but they are GOOD! I'm going to have to get that mold. A little chocolate can fix any bad day. Thanks girls...you made my day extra special!
Dude!...Another dirty little secret is out! I was sitting here in my clean scraproom just soaking up how happy I was with my accomplishments, when my dog Pappi came in and laid down on the floor by the closet curtains that kind of puddle on the floor. Sure enough the whole thing came down on top of him. Scared him to death and he ran out of here quick. I just sat there staring at that mess that the lovely red curtains have been been hiding for so many months. Suddenly I didn't feel so good about my room anymore. I promise I didn't tuck anything in there when Icleaned my room. It was all there before. So I started working on the closet Saturday and here we are Monday and it is nowhere near finished. Seriously...it's going to take some time to bail this mess out. There are so many papers that have to be sorted and frankly just a bunch of crap. I've got big plans for this. Okay...not BIG plans...but something that will make me happy. I'll show pictures when I'm done.
Sunday after church, Mark and I went up to the hospital to see Brittany and baby Mark. This last week she has spent all day everyday with him, so I've only seen her at night. I only got this one picture because he wasn't in the mood for my flash. Still no word on when he gets to come home. He's 7 pounds 11 ounces. He's a tank compared to the 2 and 4 pound babies he's surrounded by. I'll let you know when there is any new news.

Off to work on the dreaded closet. It's kind of depressing right now because it's at the stage where it's gotta get worse before it gets better and the whole room is suffering because of it...sigh...

Happy Monday Everyone!

Embellishment rack and recipe

Jen asked me about my metal embellishment rack. It's a spice rack I got at Sam's Club a while back. It twirls around really easy even with how heavy it is. It holds 24 little jars. I've had good intentions to get labels made for them and finally got to do it today. I love it even more and now it's even easier to find what I need. All I did was type and print a list of contents, punch them out with a 1 1/4 inch punch then used a 1 1/2 inch punch to mat them in black, then stuck them over the spice names on the lids....so darn cute! Thank you all for your sweet comments. I'm so glad you all like my scraproom. I'm a little bit OCD when it comes to organizing my supplies. I want it to be easy to find things AND look pretty too. It's a fun room when it's clean. If any of you come to town, you're welcome to come scrapbook with me. It would be so fun!
To answer more questions...Chris...I have no idea how many stamps I have. A LOT! We don't talk about that infront of Mark. It doesn't make him happy. :o) Jen...my house isn't huge...not too little either. It's a 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 2600 square foot tri-level. Even with a big family it's set up in a way that you don't feel like your too squishy. Carrie...I love the quote on my wall too. They are vinyl letters that I had custom ordered to fit that wall...and yes I have Rachael Ray on everyday...and Paula Deen of course...gotta have me some butter! Gina...yes, I have my energy back. I still hurt, but feel much better. Thanks for asking. Amanda...here is the recipe for cowpie cookies. I did make them last night and the little pigglies that live here ate them up already. I keep trying to upload a picture of them, but blogger wont let me now. The are flat cookies that kind of have rings from spreading out that resembles a cowpie...hence the name.
Cowpie chocolate Chip Cookies
4 sticks of butter
3 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
butter for cookie sheets
Cream butter until smooth; add sugars and mix until smooth. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Sift in dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. I save the butter wrappers and use them to grease my pans. Drop 2-3 tablespoons per cookie. I use a cookie scoop so that they are all the same size. Space dough at least 2 inches apart to allow for spreading. I can only get 8 cookies on my sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Let sit on cookie sheet for a minute before removing to cooling rack. The cookies are very flat and crisp...yet chewy too.

Tada!!!

Have I redeemed myself??? I sure hope so! I still can't believe I posted that picture. I must be crazy! It took many long hours, but I did it! It feels so good for it to be clean again in here. I saw that there were only 2 comments on my previous post. I figured you were all ashamed of me so you weren't commenting, but then I realized that blogger was down for maintenance so you couldn't comment. Out of those two options I'm choosing the second. :o) I took a bunch of pictures in here and put them on a slideshow. Just scroll down past the list of blogs I read to see them. If there is anything you want to see a bigger picture of or if you have a question about something, just let me know. I am feeling pretty good about my accomplishment today. I've had sugar cookie candle burning in here and it's making me real hungry. After I make chicken and dumplings for dinner I think maybe we should bake some cookies...I'm thinking chocolate chip cowpie cookies...sounds gross, but oh so good...honest!

Shameful!

Be afraid...be very afraid! This is a true and accurate account of my scraproom...picture taken yesterday. It takes a brave woman to show this for all to see. I can't believe how out of control it is in here. It gives me anxiety to have it be such a disaster. As you know this room is SUPPOSE to be my peace from the world room. It instead has been turned into the family dumping ground. It is my goal today to take back my scraproom, so I will be cleaning and organizing it once again. Pictures will be posted later today, so that I can redeem myself from this shame.

Beep beep beep beep beep!! This broadcast is being interrupted by a phone call from the school nurse. Apparently Cole is throwing up and needs mom to come rescue him. So not only have I humiliated myself by showing you my filthy scraproom, but I get to go to school with no make up and wet hair as I just got out of the shower....clearly not my finest hour. :o)

Tuesday stuff

I hope you're all not sick of seeing baby pictures, because I can't get enough of this little guy. I find myself staring at him every time we go to the hospital. I don't know if it's just because he's my grandson, but I think he is absolutely cute beyond belief! I love him so much! When he comes home I want to do a real photo shoot of him instead of just hospital snapshots. Mark and I took the motorcycle up to see him last night because it was so nice outside....perfect riding weather. When we check into the NICU we always have to show ID before they let us in. After we got back into his wing the nurse actually asked for ID too. That has never happened. I think maybe she was a caught a little off guard by two people that she hasn't seen before carrying motorcycle helmets walking straight into his little area. In my opinion, I don't really think we are scary looking people...do you? He has different nurses all the time so we kind of teased her about us never seeing her before either, since we are us here nearly everyday. She really was nice and had his best interest at heart, so I can't fault her for being extra careful with his visitors. He got all the way up to 50cc on his feedings, then started spitting up again, so he's back down to 20cc...it's frustrating! I sure hope he gets the hang of this soon.
Coleen came by this morning and picked me up to go with her and the kids to the science center. I took some pictures, but they are still in the camera and I'm too tired to upload them. Some of the area's were pretty fun and some were just so lame and boring. (IMO) We still had a good time together! While I was there I missed a call from Chad. He was very upset and left a message about being discharged because of the mind games and something about them not honoring the contract he signed. I was freaked out and worried sick. Several hours later we were able to actually talk to him and he had a long sit down talk with his drill sergeant, so now he is doing fine and is sticking it out. Whew!!! Gosh, this parenthood is a stressful thing.

Why???

Why must boys do this crap? This coming Thursday is one of the spirit days at Cody school. Camouflage day if you couldn't have guesses from the pictures. Why on earth he didn't just think to put on some camo clothes instead of using markers directly on his skin?! He has been working on it for a few days without us knowing about it. I was wondering why he had been wearing long sleeve shirts...to hide it of course. I'm not exactly sure just how far he planned to take it but I can see from the green line on his neck, that he wasn't planning on stopping at the one arm. It's going to take a lotta scrubbing to get that boy clean!
We finally got a call from Chad Sunday morning. I was so relieved to hear from him. He was pretty emotional, but doing okay. He said they didn't get to sleep for the first 3 days and that he hasn't actually started basic training yet. I think he goes there today. They have just been doing drills, getting dental and physical stuff done. They have mostly been putting him through really mean mental games. Hammering in to him that his family hates him and his girlfriend is having sex with every Tom, Dick, and Harry. I understand the need to make the boys ready to conform to military life, but to attack his family is wrong and he is really upset by it. He said they even show these "movies" that show how families are so much happier once the boy has left home and the girlfriend doing it with his best friend. That is so vulgar to me. I've been angry ever since I got off the phone with him. He was looking forward to going to church in the afternoon, so that he could have a little bit of peace and a bit of familiarity. I know he will be strong and when they start the physical training part, he is totally going to smoke them and be at the top of the class, because that's what he does best. We just pray that he stays safe and hangs in there until graduation.

Baby Mark is 2 weeks old

Look who's 2 weeks old now! I can't believe it. He's still hanging out in the NICU. He's up to 7 pounds 6 ounces. They had been feeding him small amounts of breast milk, raising it by 5 cc every other feeding in addition to what he's getting in the IV, but the other day he had a set back and threw up so they stopped the feedings for 24 hours. He was so mad about that. He just wants to eat. Then they started him back up with a measley 5 cc of breast milk again, slowly working up. Last night he was up to 25 cc. You can tell he just wants more. His bowels are still not fully on line, so we have no idea when he will be able to come home. Hopefully soon! I gave him lots of kisses to tide him over till today when we go back. Brittany sure has been a good mamma to him. I got lucky with her as my daughter in law.
Chad called me when he got to Atlanta....after spending 12 hours on a plane and still not reaching his destination. The group of boys ended up spending the night in a hotel, then going back up to the airport to wait for a bus that was suppose to take him to the base. They had been waiting all day for the bus when I talked to him. He was suppose to be able to call home for a quick I made it here safely kind of thing, but we still havent heard anything. Am I allowed to be worried yet??? As for sending goody packages, I think I'll take Nicole's advice and not send anything until I know he won't get reemed for it. He sure doesn't need added stress at boot camp.
I wanted to thank all of my blog readers. I appreciate that you are interested in my life enough to keep coming back everyday and I really appreciate the comments that show support, give advise, or just make me feel good and lets me know your here so I don't feel like I'm talking to myself. I love reading them. This blogging world is an amazing thing. Thank you! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Mount Laundry is feeling neglected here in the George house, so I better attend to it today before it takes over. Not exactly fun and exciting, but needs to be done none the less. Any tips for making laundy fun? or at least interesting? :o)

Shopping fun!

Today was a long day and I'm worn out! I ran up to the Bazzill warehouse sale bright and early this morning. They had boxes to put paper in. You could fill a box of 8 1/2 X 11 for $10 (100 sheets of cardstock) or a box of 12 X 12 for $15....that's cheap! I got all the cardstock for my Christmas cards, envelopes, brads, and bazzinks. I so love a good sale! Still need to get the pattern paper for my cards, but I have to wait until Chatterbox releases it October 12th. While I was there I got my picture taken with the one and only Doug Jones (aka Mr. Bazzill) He's so nice!

Then I picked up my friend Paula and we drove out to Phoenix to go to the CK scrapbook convention to shop the vender fair. We got there and parked in my usual parking garage only to come out and to find that the part of the civic center that normally holds the convention had ben leveled to the ground. That was quite a shock. We had quite a LONG walk to get to where it was...then all the walking in the fair. My whole body hurts! I did run into a good old friend Cathy while we were there. She looked great and it was so good to see her. As for the shopping, I got the new basic grey collections...Lily Kate and Gypsy...So loving those! Then hit the Deluxe Designs booth for some chipboard and ran into Katherine Brooks. Had to get a picture with her. She always looks so cute! During our strolling through the isles I got some pink fiskars scissors (so the boys would quit taking mine), Some of the new paint daubers, a couple of QK shapes, totally tacky glue, and a couple of little things. This is the first year I didn't buy a shirt. I really wanted a bazzill Bling shirt but they only had size 3XL at their sale this morning. Anyways...I'm glad to be home and glad Paula went with me. She was good company plus we got to drive in the carpool lane. :o)
I'd love nothing more than to take a nap, but I need to take Brittany to the hospital so we can spend some time with the baby.

Goodbye sweet boy!

Saying goodbye to Chad was so hard to do yesterday. Mark, Sandy and I met his group at the airport. As we walked through the airport my heart swelled up as we were getting his boarding pass, checking his bag, then walking to the security check point. When we arrived there we each gave him a hug. I held him so tight as I cried and told him I loved him. Then as he walked out of site Sandy and I were both sobbing messes. Mark, of course being the man, held it together. I've spent this whole day in emotional sadness curled up in my chair wallowing in self pity. I promise tomorrow will be better. It's just so hard for a mom to let go of her babies...no matter how old they are.

Chad and baby Mark

Today has been a busy day. My second to the oldest son, Chad is leaving in the morning (tuesday) for 16 weeks of boot camp for the Army National Guard in Fort Benning, Georgia. I took him and his girlfriend Sandy around running his last minute errands...paying a speeding ticket, banking, lunch, and buying all the toiletries he needs to take. Last night we had a big family dinner at our house. Chad asked me to make Hawaiian haystacks and his favorite pudding cake. That was easy enough and it was nice for everyone to get to see him before he left. Well not everyone...I didn't get to invite both side of the family so I only had to feed about 25 people. Tonight we went out to dinner then hung out here looking though scrapbooks so we could show Chad's friends what he looked like growing up. I just don't know how I'm going to handle putting my boy on a plane tomorrow. (today..it's late now!) I will miss him so much and will be filled with worry while he gone for 16 weeks. I know I will cry, but I'm trying to be strong. Why must our kids grow up so darn fast?
I also ran up to the hospital tonight to see Brittany and baby Mark. He is doing SOOOO good! He is up to 7 pounds 2 ounces, they removed the tube that was keeping his tummy empty, they started feeding him about a teaspoon of breast milk every 3 hours, AND he has been pooping and tooting since last night!!!! This is HUGE! He is progressing so fast. I don't think it will be too many more day before he comes home. For now they are still giving him nutrients and fat (his Big Mac and fries) through his IV. As soon as his body can handle breast milk full time and his bowels are regular he gets to come home. YAY!!!

Sweet Baby Mark

Yesterday I took Brittany to the hospital to see the baby. I'm so glad I finally got to hold him. He is such a sweetheart! The bad part is that I'm not suppose to drive if it causes me pain....and boy did it ever cause me lots of pain. I am not planning on driving again for quite some time. It took so much out of me and I slept the rest of the day. Some of you asked what kind of surgery I had. Well.....I had breast augmentation and lipo by my arm pits to get rid of some weird breast tissue. This is something I've been thinking about for many years, but was too afraid to actually do it. After nursing 5 babies my breasts shrunk down to a bra size "nearly A"! Yes there really is a nearly A bra size. Heck! 6th grade girls were bigger than me. I really am not a flashy cleavage showing kind of girl. I was tired of being embarrassed and I just wanted to look like a woman and to have clothes fit right. Let me just say that this surgery has been very hard and painful to recover from. I can't even take deep breaths, so I'm still not doing very well. I'm not really surprised because I recover slowly from everything. Just taking a shower right now wears me out, so I'm taking things really slow. Okay now that extreemly personal bit of info is out there....back to the baby. He's doing so good and has been off the ventilator for a couple of days. They've had to keep his hands wrapped up because he keeps trying to yank the tube out of his mouth that keeps his stomach empty. The NICU nurses take such good care of him and are so good to Brek and Brittany. Tonight Brek is at work, so Brittany's dad came to pick her up so they could spend some time with baby Mark. I just really love that sweet boy and can hardly wait till he gets to come home.

Look who's here!!!

Mark Allen George

6 pounds 2 ounces

18 1/2 inches long

September 2nd 2006

11:39 a.m.

I know I haven't posted in a week, but I've had good reasons. I'm officially Grammy George! On Friday I went in for elective surgery. While I was in surgery Brek called Mark and said they were headed to the hospital to have the baby. Can you believe that?! UGGGG! She had a doctors appointment at the same time and the doctor felt it was in the baby's best interest to come out now. As you can imagine I was heart broken when I woke up and found out that I would miss the whole thing. She was in labor for 18 1/2 hours and delivered him at 11:39 on Saturday morning. Two of my sisters and my niece went down there. Coleen got me some pictures and Brek called me and put his phone on speaker. I could hear them counting down her pushes and I heard his first cry. I'm glad I got to at least hear that. Brek said that as soon as his body came out, they immediately slipped the lower half of his body into a bag to protect his intestines. They cleaned him up and let Brittany give him a kiss before they sent him up to surgery. They were able to get everything back in and he is doing well. He has a feeding line and another one that empties his stomach and he's on a ventilator to make breathing easier because he's not use to having the intestines on the inside...it's a tight fit. Brittany is pumping so that she can nurse him when he is finally able to eat. She is looking and feeling really good. Mark took me up to the hospital to see him yesterday. I'm still in tons of pain and feeling loopy from the medications, so it took a lot out of me to do that, but it was worth it to see that sweet little baby in person. I'm hoping to go back to the hospital in the morning so I can get some more pictures...providing that I don't still feel like I've been hit by a truck.