More Stuff about Me

So I took a little hiatus from blogging, but I'm back with some more tidbits about the goddess that is me. (Seriously, I wouldn't have to take time off from blogging if someone would donate a laptop to the cause)

Since I can't remember where I left off...here's some more...starting over at #1...

1. I was in a co-ed service fraternity in college.
2. I handle emergencies extremely well. Until they're over. When I have time to reflect on things, I tend to get a little iffy.
3. My favorite fruits (other than the ones I'm related to) are kiwi and pineapple.
4. I only wear jeans. If I'm in khakis, I'm dressed up.
5. Both my boys were born via c-section. This was not something that made me happy.
6. Saturday was my birthday.
7. I love my birthday.
8. I used to wear a charm bracelet that had so many charms on it, it sounded like a dog was walking around with me all the time. I had to stop wearing it.
9. If I had been a boy, I would have been named William Andrew Salley.
10. When I was little, I wanted to marry Scott Baio. Actually, I wanted to marry Cha-Chi, but that's not the point.
11. I also wanted to grow up to be a cashier at a grocery store. High aspirations.
12. Electronics confuse and amaze me.
13. I'm still not sure how my cell phone works.
14. I don't like change (there's a shocker).
15. I don't like the beach.
16. I don't have a name for my new van yet (although we've had some interesting suggestions).
17. I had a dream last week about a giant cockroach.
18. I LOVE to organize.
19. I love to READ about organizing.
20. I REALLY LOVE lists. I always have a master to-do list running, plus several smaller lists (things I'm waiting on, books I want to read, things like that). I make little boxes next to the items on my lists so I can tell if something is marked off. It brings me great joy to cross things off my list. And then I have to rewrite the list, because you can't have a sloppy to-do list. It's an obsession, really.
21. If someone gets married, has a baby or dies on TV or in a movie, I cry like a little girl. The burning, start-at-your-toes crying.
22. Not so much in real life with the crying though.
23. I don't like crowds.
24. I don't like coffee, soda or chocolate.
25. However, I love chocolate milk.
26. My primary love language is words of encouragement. My secondary love language is acts of service.
27. The first thing I do when I get home, regardless of the weather, is take off my shoes.
28. My favorite season is autumn. All 4 days of it.
29. I can't handle being late for anything. It makes me ill.
30. I rode out Hurricane Hugo with SuperHubby in a house in Goose Creek. We saw a porta-potty tossed end over end down the street.
31. I do not eat chicken in public.
32. I do not like to eat at buffets. If I am paying to dine out, I believe I should be served.
33. Contrary to popular belief, I am probably the most un-cool person on the planet.

That's all for now. I think I may have done 33 the first time too. Which of course means I'll have to do 33 the last time out the gate just to be consistent.

More Good Stuff

We got a van, we got a loan for some of the MUSC balance, and today, FrogBoy was accepted into the fall semester of a local equine therapy program. I have been wanting to get him started in this, since all the autism specialists say that horse therapy is really good for autistic kids, but it's not as easy as it sounds. However, I talked with the owner today and they have accepted him into the program; I am just waiting for the schedule to come out. Medicaid doesn't cover the costs, so we'll be trimming the budget to make it work...but we'll figure it out. Add this to the fact that Spanky is at the middle school we wanted, and August is turning out to be quite a fine month after all...!

God just keeps showing up and showing off!

God is Good, ALL the Time

So last week I was whining a bit. Life was hard.

On Wednesday, one of my best friends asked me to attend staff prayer because he was speaking and he needed a friendly face for support. Yes, he picked me. Keep reading and you'll realize it was totally a God thing.

His topic was "God is faithful and He wants to bless you." He spoke a lot about his little girl; but at the end, he included some car blessings he and his wife have had over the years. I listened to him and thought "How awesome for them!" End of story.

Or so I thought. I couldn't sleep that night. Being ever-so-sharp, around midnight I figured maybe God needed my attention for something. So I started praying. I like to sleep, so I was hoping we could get to the point quickly. Well, I really felt like God was telling me that I hadn't completely turned over my car situation to Him, even though I thought I had, so I decided right then and there to stop fretting and just thank God daily that I was one day closer to my new car. I didn't know how many days I'd have to pray that way, but it was okay. And I slept like a baby.

Cut to the chase: Thursday morning, someone close to me blessed me with - not just a car - but the desire of my heart, a van. I had told my aunt earlier in the week that I wasn't even thinking along those lines, because I KNEW I'd never get what I really wanted...another van. I had made up my mind to be thrilled with a station wagon or small sedan. But God wants to give us the desires of our heart, and he did with me last week!

If you happen to know who gave me the van, please don't post it on the blog, or approach them about it. They aren't about that. I considered not even posting this so as to not draw attention to their gift, but I had to let everyone know what the Lord had done for us.

It's really funny - we wanted to give away the suppository, but she was so nasty, no one would take her. She didn't move 3 feet. We had to sell her for scrap. We felt a little guilty about selling her. But we made enough from her to put insurance and pay taxes on the new-to-us van. It still amazes me how God has all this lined up if we'll just get out of His way. He wants to bless us. We just have to move over and let Him.

Stuff about Me

My sis-in-law recently blogged 50 random facts about herself. My most recent posts have been whiney, so this inspired me to post something fun...at least something I hope will be fun. So without further ado...and in no particular order...

1. My favorite color is brown (right now).
2. I love 80s music. I can sing anything and everything 80s, tell you the artist and probably act out the music video.
3. I have nuturally fabulous hair (no kidding).
4. I have cut my naturally fabulous hair very short 3 times in my entire life. My mother did it once when I was young, major trauma ensued, and I didn't do it again until high school. At that point, SH (who was only a crush at the time) told me I looked like a boy. More trauma. Then I cut it again after FrogBoy was born. It was completely uneven and I looked horrible. No more haircuts for Lori!
5. I love boxing, martial arts and football.
6. I will watch any action film, any time, anywhere.
7. While I am not a fan of the girlie films, I enjoy spending my weekends curled up on my bed with a glass of sweet tea, a magazine or book on organizing, and a cheesy Lifetime TV movie.
8. My first car was a 1989 fire-engine red Plymouth Sundance. It was actually purchased in 1989, from a dealership. My car payment was $127.36 a month.
9. I was a licensed insurance agent for 10 years before I started working at Seacoast. That sounds impossible, but I got my license when I was 18.
10. I also got my drivers license when I was 18. Just didn't care about it until then.
11. I loved being pregnant.
12. I originally wanted to have 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls, preferrably 1 set of twins. How cute to think I had any say in the matter.
13. I lived next door to my grandparents and my aunt when I was growing up.
14. I love to cross stitch. I have done Rainbow Row 3 times.
15. I was on the track team when I was in middle school. For 1 day. Then I was disqualified because my grades weren't up to snuff.
16. I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (and you thought I was just cranky).
17. I type a bazillion words a minute.
18. I am working on creating the PERFECT daytimer.
19. My favorite poet is Emily Dickinson.
20. I used to write poetry ( a long time ago).
21. I climbed to the top of a local water tower in high school. I climbed right back down when the property owner threatened to call the police. Who knew THAT was illegal??
22. I can say all 50 states in alphabetical order in under 30 seconds.
23. I have a BB lodged in my butt (near my spine).
24. The same year I got shot with the BB, I got 2nd degree burns on my hand from tossing hot grease into a frying pan. And people wonder why I don't cook.
25. I love to play games. No one else in my house does.
26. I love thunderstorms (if I'm at home).
27. I don't like driving at night or in the rain...or worse, at night IN the rain.
28. I am horrible on road trips that last more than 30 minutes.
29. I love dogs. I would have a dozen if SH would let me.
30. One of my favorite groups is The Statler Brothers. If you don't know who they are, Google them...they are the most awesome country group ever.
31. I will watch any episode of "I Love the 80s," "Law & Order" (any version) or "NYPD Blue" if it comes on. Ditto that for the "Rocky" and "Die Hard" movies.
32. My favorite movie of all time is "The Sound of Music."
33. There are days I still wish I could have had more children.

Okay, so I didn't come up with 50 on my first effort. I will post more later, when Froggie isn't needing help finding a Lego RIGHT NOW. Hope this gave some insight into the fascinating person that is ME :-)

But the Good News Is...

Since I've been whining lately about the suppository and MUSC, I thought I would share some good news.

It occurred to me last night that MUSC has now managed to screw up every single account we have with them. This doesn't include FrogBoy's weekend visit to the ER, which I am relatively certain they will foul up as well, but all of SuperHubby's brain surgery accounts have been handled poorly and caused me great unhappiness.

That means I don't have to worry about anything else "popping up" for now.

At least they mess up the accounting and not the surgery. I guess I can live with that.

Let's Make a Deal

My friend Robin told me this afternoon about a car she saw for sale. It was a black Volvo station wagon, which I have decided is what I would really like to have, for only $5000. That sounds like a good price to me. That also sounds like about $4990 more than we have right now.

I've heard of people doing clever, creative things to raise money for college or to pay off their mortgages early. Some people take out a classified ad and just ask for $1 donation outright. Some people sell recipes. Well, I think it's rather nervy to just ask for $1 donation and not offer anything in return, and I don't cook, therefore I have no recipes to sell. But I've been thinking. Here are a few things I would be willing to allow people to pay me to do:

1. I could be a personal shopper for purses - or daytimers - or both
2. I could cut my hair (okay, I wouldn't really do this, but I wanted to sound sincere)
3. I could sell my extensive collection of phone numbers to restaurants that deliver tasty goodness right to your front door
4. I could be your friend
5. I could sell hugs (although I probably wouldn't make anywhere close to $5000)
6. I could stand next to people in lightning storms, because I have the worst luck of anyone I know, and this would protect whomever was standing next to me
7. I could win "Don't Forget the Lyrics" (which would be possible only if I got on the show)
8. I could write a book

While I perfect my list, I will continue carpooling with SuperHubby. If anyone has any stellar ideas, let me know.

If It Weren't for Bad Luck, I'd Have No Luck at All

Does anyone remember that segment of Hee Haw, where they sang that little ditty? My aunt reminded me of it this afternoon when I told her how my weekend was going.

Earlier this morning, I posted on how life was pretty stinky...the suppository has died and MUSC has chosen this particular moment in our financial distress to screw up our accounts and now they need $1600 RIGHT NOW or they will turn us over to collections. I didn't think it could get any worse.

Wrong.

This morning, while SuperHubby was at work - with the only car we have - FrogBoy informs me that he is peeing blood. Yes, you read that right. Now Froggie had a little hoohoo surgery when he was 10 months old (it was a hypospadius repair - the hole in the uretha was on the side instead of the top of his hoohoo) and the pediatric urologist who did his surgery told us we needed to be vigilant about things in the event he had urological issues in the future. He pees blood about every couple of years, and I guess it was just time, so this morning, we started that again.

So I have him pee for me. And I inspect him. And I call the on-call nurse at his pediatrician's office. Then I have to call SH, because we are advised to have him seen at the ER. At MUSC. Oh joy.

This is why I can't ever tell these MUSC people off - I need them too much. Between SuperHubby and FrogBoy, we should have our own parking pass. But I digress.

So we spent the better part of our day (4+ hours) at the Pediatric ER at MUSC. FrogBoy was amazing - he wasn't the least bit nervous, he smiled the whole time, he was really great. His biggest concern was that the bathroom wasn't cleaned to his specifications. My biggest concern was that they were going to insert a catheter tube you-know-where to check for blockage, but thankfully it didn't come to that. They had a TV in his room so he spent 4 hours watching Cartoon Network - so he was happy.

They ran tests on his urine and it looks like it's a fluke - praise God. We have to keep an eye on things, but this is a way better outcome than it could have been. So once again, bad day, good results.

Then I remembered that our upstairs toilet has stopped working - so we're down to 1 potty. Which would be really bad if we still lived in our house, which only had 1 potty, but we have 2 here, so it's more inconvenient than anything.

Hence the comment from my aunt: If you didn't have bad luck, you wouldn't have any luck at all.

Trouble in River City

Things haven't gone so well since my last post. The stupid suppository didn't get the memo with my plan of action, which was that we would drive her until she died completely, hopefully around tax time, which would allow us to purchase a new-to-us vehicle. Instead, the dumb old girl died right after my last post. Nice.

So now I am carpooling with SuperHubby - and let me just tell you, he's not the most talkative, happy person in the morning. And I'm a morning person. Not a good combination.

So we've been doing the sharing thing, which is a bit of a logistical nightmare but on most days can be figured out, at least until school starts. In 2 weeks.

Meanwhile, I have to be thankful that we moved to Mt. Pleasant before all this happened. On most days, I make a triangle between work, school and home, and TECHNICALLY it could be walked if necessary. We've talked about getting SH a bike. It could be worse.

And then, just the other day, MUSC calls to let me know that, hello, they've screwed up the accounting records for SH's last surgery (wow - who didn't see that coming) and could I please send them $1600 RIGHT NOW or they'll be happy to turn us over to collections? Oddly enough, they aren't interested in the records I've kept where I've paid them - what difference would that make, after all? If memory serves, this will be the 4th time they've done this to us - with 3 accounts going to collections and 1 going to a tax lien - all because they can't get their act together. But that's another blog for another time.

The only good thing this week was that my mother got baptized by my brother, with SH offering up quite the lengthy prayer, and that is a very cool thing.

Frankly, I'm ready for 2008.