This Is Fun...

Since I made fun of myself in an earlier post (okay, EVERY earlier post), I thought it would be fun to pick on my family with the "needs" game. So without further ado...

Adam (a.k.a. SuperHubby) needs...

1. To shower (how rude!)
2. Books for class
3. Serious help before he snaps
4. A sidekick (um, hello, that's me)
5. Someone to move into his apartment and become his new roommate (oops - I THOUGHT the sidekick was me...)
6. Very firm rules, expectations, limits and consequences (rule # 1 - don't be getting a new roommate)
7. Help with his dinner (doubtful, he's a chef)
8. To eat his carrots (actually, true, he hates carrots)
9. An Eve (me again)
10. Extensive counseling for his anger, frustration and depression (I think this made my list too. I sense a pattern...)

Sean (a.k.a. Spanky) needs...

1. A bigger cannon (scary)
2. To shave (scarier)
3. A bigger wind machine to blow his hair about (like mother, like son)
4. Five cakes
5. Some quiet time
6. To quit feeling sorry for himself
7. That there is no crying in baseball
8. His beauty sleep
9. Privacy
10. To thank his dudes

Michael (a.k.a. FrogBoy) needs...

1. Some juice
2. A girlfriend (NEVER!)
3. More money for retirement
4. His brother (awwww)
5. A haircut (indeed)

It was funny, I could only find 5 for the FrogMan. Everything else had to do with Michael Jackson and wasn't something I would repeat.

Meanwhile, today is finally over and I can't say I'm not glad. It's been a little stressful at times (I broke down in tears this afternoon while driving because "Cats in the Cradle" came on the radio...pathetic. Of course, a couple of hours later, I took the boys to see Shrek the Third, same song played in the movie, and I laughed so hard I almost had to change my shorts. So...I'm going to bed.

Patient Update

I have about 10 minutes before I have to pick FrogBoy up from school...so I thought I'd take a minute to pass along the SuperHubby update.

The surgery went very well. It was rough at first, because of course they had difficulty getting an IV going. They ended up getting a very late start, so much so that SH sent a nurse out to make sure I wasn't in panic mode in the waiting area. Sadly, I just wanted breakfast.

The ENT said he couldn't have asked for the surgery to go any better and he believes he has repaired all the leaks in the inner ear. He was very fortunate to be able to go through the ear canal rather than having to slice the ear, fold it back and go in that way. Okay, I'll wait for everyone to recover from that last little tidbit.

Surgery was right at 2 hours, as planned. Saw SH after, he was complaining of nausea and pain, which are both normal after surgery of any sort for him. He wasn't acting like he normally does when he's complaining of nausea and pain though, so I think he may have still be under the influence. He wasn't making much sense. He did manage to squeeze out "What did he say" and "What are my vitals" about a gazillion times - so he's normal.

The biggest concern for SH now is that he may have to stay in the hospital an extra day, and that is stressing him in a big way. I have tried to calm him down but so far it hasn't worked. Of course, I left him sleeping so he may not remember it at this point.

Spanky did amazingly well with the whole surgery thing. He even went to the gift shop - with no money - and came back with a gift for me and change! He never ceases to amaze me!

Off to get FrogBoy from school. Thanks for all the prayers. Scott's daughter Coleman did well too - check out his blog for details on her recovery!

Stuff I Need (Apparently)

My sis-in-law had a fun post about googling yourself and coming up with a list of things you "need." The exercise sounded a little familiar, but I thought it might be fun to try again. I was quickly reminded why it sounded familiar - I participated in November 2005 when Geoff offered the same suggestion. What was really funny was that only 2 entries have found their way to Google since that time. So, without further ado, my list of "Lori needs" - dating back to November 2005 but updated to present day

1. Lori needs to vent.
2. Lori needs sunglasses for all those candles. (ok, that was just cruel)
3. Lori needs our help and support now more than ever.
4. Lori needs a change.
5. Lori needs to cut her mom some slack. (no comment from the peanut gallery)
6. Lori needs to let herself off the hook. If her house is fairly clean and organized, great. It doesn't need to be perfect. (Amen, sister!)
7. Lori needs help moving.
8. Lori needs ideas and volunteers. (she will, of course, ignore both)
9. Lori needs to be aware of her own anger and how it is affecting her. (for the last *^#* time, I'm not angry!)
10. Lori needs 1 more year to finish med school. (see, all those trips to MUSC are actually paying off!)
11. Lori needs to do a lot more shopping. (but seriously, don't we all?!)

This is a slightly stressful week. SH has surgery, I have to fight the good fight with Spanky and school, FrogBoy's birthday is in 1 week and I have to figure out how to make everything normal and great for everyone. My friends are going through surgery with their daughter. I cried at work last week. So this was a nice little break from reality.

Pray for Coleman

FYI - to everyone praying for Coleman's heart surgery - it has been moved to Wednesday instead of Thursday.

Power of Prayer

So I recently posted about friends of mine whose daughter is having heart surgery next week. Not really knowing much about computers or cell phones or anything more than turning on a light switch, I managed to include a link to a blog they started to keep everyone updated on her recovery. I logged on this morning and was so excited...they had 18 people comment that they were praying, and 3 came from my post! (I know this because 2 were related to me, and 1 was a blog I read from my sis-in-law's blog). Whew! It was so cool to see how we're all so connected.

Anyway - I realized that I could use this to my benefit. The Fitzgeralds are in need of a wee bit of prayer ourselves these days. SuperHubby is having surgery next week, and we of course would cherish prayers for an easy procedure, quick recovery, and no meltdowns from children or Mommy. We also have a request for Spanky and his school situation.

Here's the back story for anyone who doesn't know it: The first 6 years of Spanky's school career, he attended school in Mt. Pleasant because the school board had pity on us and agreed to let him cross zones due to hardship in our family (SH's medical condition being the best selling point there). It was a struggle each year to get the boys in the Mt P schools, but the school board finally decided that once you were approved, you could stay in your school until you completed the final grade that school had to offer. That would mean appealing to the school board 3 times in your child's life, tops.

This past year, Spanky started middle school. I tried to get him there with the letter writing campaign. Nothing. Then I learned that the school we were districted for in North Charleston was a No Child Left Behind School, which meant that the school was so bad, he didn't have to attend there if I didn't want him to. I had my choice of 3 schools (none were the school we wanted, but we decided to settle on the best of the Mt P schools). Long story - but we got into the school we originally wanted - even though it wasn't even on the list! Yeah God!

So Spanky has been happily attending the school of our choice this past year. But we moved to Mt P ... and we're not zoned for that school. So now I have to appeal to the school board again. And pray that they have pity on our situation. Or at least are incredibly impressed by my letter writing abilities. I have emailed the principal at the school we want to stay at, and she has agreed to sign off on letting him stay there; but technically, she has no power to grant that request, and it has to go before the school board. And they aren't the most sensitive.

So, I figured since at least 3 people read my blog and are praying for friends of mine, I can post this and ask that those same 3 people pray for the next 2 years of Spanky's school career.

Thanks, and I promise to blog about something fun soon.

What a Croc

Am I the only one who pays attention to the news? Someone else must have heard of this story.

Seems there was this 3rd grade class field trip in China, and they took the kids to the zoo. One of the little boys, 8 years old (same as FrogBoy, to keep it in perspective), thought taunting a crocodile would be a good idea. He was encouraged by his many friends. The taunting consisted of climbing into the enclosed croc area and throwing things at the animals. (Did he stop to even think about why it was fenced? I doubt it.) I believe the boy's name was Sum Dum Kid.

Long story short, a couple of his buddies go running to the teacher and a park guide because Sum Dum Kid was missing. Guess where he was last seen? Oh, yeah, he went missing from the croc display. And the crocs seemed incredibly happy. They lure them out of the water with a pork chop and the first one that falls for the trick gets sliced open. And lo and behold, they find Sum Dum Kid. Yuck.

Moral of the story? If you're going to throw things at crocodiles, do it from behind the fence. That's why it's there.

Special Request

I have a couple of really great friends, Scott and Meghan, who are about to go through what I would imagine to be the most difficult time in a parent's life: major surgery for their child. FrogBoy had semi-major surgery when he was 10 months old and I was a basket case...but their daughter is going to have heart surgery the day after she turns 6 months old.

I've passed along a lot of prayer requests for Coleman and her parents since she was born...and I thought that this would be a great way to get the word out to the 4 or 5 people who might be reading my blog. Please visit the family's blog at http://tacjcm.blogspot.com for a description of the surgery and specific prayer requests. They will also be posting updates on Coleman's surgery - which I think is super cool.

Her surgery is scheduled for May 31.
And if anyone thinks about it, SH is having ear surgery May 30 - so please add him to your list as well.

Blog U

In the past few weeks, my family has gotten a high-speed internet connection, we've killed our landline and all gone to cell phones, and I've finally managed to tame my issues with Blogger. I'm not 100% certain of anything I just said, but my smart friends have told me it's all good.

Unfortunately, I'm not at all computer savvy. I'd like to update my blog a bit - give it a fresh new look - but I don't have a clue how to do it. My most recent accomplishment has been to include pictures. Wow.

So...I know there are people out there who can tell me...without all the extra verbiage that instructions tend to have...how to...

1. link to someone else's blog in the text of my post (Shawn has given me the tutorial on this many times, and I'm sure he'll grit his teeth when he reads this, but I can't for the life of me remember)
2. list other blogs that I read on the side of my blog. Everyone does this. Except me. And I read several blogs - most of which are pretty entertaining.
3. Include a picture in my profile. I'm sure everyone would love that, but I can't figure it out.

Blogger recently sent me an email telling me I could update the look of my blog to make it new and fresh. I can't handle the old template, much less a new one. Are they trying to stress me out?

I usually don't post expecting anyone to reply, but this time I'm really hoping someone will. I just pray that it's someone smart.

This was taken last May when my grandmother was visiting from Texas. It takes an event to get a picture of the 4 of us together. Anyway, I love this picture, particularly the look on Spanky's face.

Out on a Limb

Recently the Fitzgerald household has decided to join the rest of the world in upgrading our gizmos and thingamajigs. We have ditched our landline and gone high speed internet, baby!

If this didn't sound so pathetic, it would be really cool. Of course, everyone else in this country (and some in 3rd world countries) did this many moons ago, which just shows how resistant to change I am.

So now I can actually access my work email from home without doing a load of laundry while waiting for it to come up (full load - wash and dry). It's actually so fast, I emailed my boss earlier today, checked 1 teeny tiny email, and he emailed me back. Technology.

Since we were losing the landline, I decided we needed to upgrade to good cell phones. What does that mean? Glad you asked. It means that I am now sporting a super sexy pink RAZR, SuperHubby has a black RAZR, and Spanky & FrogBoy inherited my old phone (which was in pretty good shape, thank you very much) as their "house phone." It also means that while we are all incredibly impressed with ourselves, we spend quite a bit of time calling people back after we inadvertantly hang up on them, because we haven't the slightest idea how to work these new phones. But we're cool.

It's been a couple of weeks with the new phones, and SH got the internet working today. I give it until this weekend, and if all's still going well, I'll cancel the landline. Old habits die hard.