| Tuesday, January 1st, 2008 |
| 12:24 pm |
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to All!
I hope this year finds all of you in good health and with those you love.
Arrived home yesterday after dropping Jasper and Michaela off in Virginia. Michaela is a normal teenager. If she's not on the phone with a girlfriend she's on the computer chatting. Next thing we'll see is her using a Bluetooth so she can chat on-line and on the phone all at one time!
Jasper looks great! He's feeling good and his white count is staying normal! His hair is a beautiful soft dirty blond. He used to have very fine white blond. Now that it is growing back it has a natural wave that looks good on him. He had his first kindergarten program. Granmommy, poppa and daddy were all able to be there. He's also loving being big brother to Josiah. Josiah who just turned a year absolutely adores his big brother.
Mom is doing good. She's been doing good about not overdoing. She had a procedure on her eye for glaucoma and will have the other eye done later this month. She's looking for a job she can work around my hours. We're not too keen about leaving dad at home for more than an hour or two on his own.
Dad's memories are fading. He's getting confused between night and day. He'll wake up at 8pm and swear it is 8am and time to go somewhere. He doesn't remember what is told to him for the most part. But he's still going. we were blessed with another year with him even though he can try our patience some we're still not ready to place him in a home.
Ariel, Adam and Aiden are still in Alaska. Yes, they went to Alaska in the winter! Adam's parents live up there. Ariel was supposed to go hunting with Adam. We'll see how that went when they get back. Aiden is climbing and walking like crazy! He's a sweetheart but it takes a little time for him to warm up to people.
I'm enjoying the last few days of my break. I take the Subject Area test (grades K-6) this Saturday. Not overly confident since I have never taken any education classes. But it is the first step in getting my teacher certification. Not that that means I will actually teach. (Though since I didn't major in education I'll have to actually get a job before they will give me the certificate.) I plan on having everything ready to go just in case. There are a lot of SACC Directors who are moving into teaching and keeping their positions as directors. I just don't see me really being excited about teaching with having to deal with the FCAT. But we shall see.
Here's hoping this year will be better than last! (So far so good! Dad was in the hospital January 1st of last year. Mom of course never bothered to let me know while I was traveling and waited until I got home to let me know he had spent the night of the 1st in the hospital. |
| Monday, November 26th, 2007 |
| 9:19 pm |
Books I think I have read more books in the last year than I had in the prior 5 years. It started when our principal at school opened up the Reading Counts contest to staff. Now, who wouldn't want the chance to dunk their boss in extremely cold water? So I started reading. I read Goosebumps, Encyclopedia Brown and some other kid books. Now I know what you are saying... "Those are kid books! true. But, after reading each one you have to take a quiz. It's only ten questions but you have no clue what the questions will be and you can't have the book near you to refer back. It's hard to remember some of that stuff... I mean ten questions is not a lot and it is usually about some minute details that you read. I ended up getting 127 points. Not too bad when some of the books only counted for 2 - 5 points. The highest reading student scored almost 300 points. It really is a great way to get the kids reading. I looked on the lists for books to read that I thought would be interesting. As a result I read the whole Narnia series. I had never read them before. Awesome books! I also was able to count Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as our library has the tests for all the HP books. That is when I was introduced to books on tape. My mom is not a good reader. She has trouble comprehending things and loses the flow of the story frequently. As a result she found books on CD or tape and is finally getting the chance to enjoy some good books she never would have read otherwise. So when I hit the road during my winter break last year I found some books I enjoyed. I listened to 3 of The Destroyer series by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir. These were more like audio movies versus books. They included sound effects, voice actors, and lots of gore! "I am created Shiva, the Destroyer, Death, Shatterer of Worlds. The night tiger made whole by the Master of Sinanju!" (Okay- so I've read more than a few of the books. )
I also found Anne McCaffrey's 'A Gift of Dragons'. A series of short stories from her world of Pern. I listened and was hooked! (Sorry it took me what - 14 years to finally listen to you about them, Chantal!) Since then I have read every Pern book and am looking forward to a new one I understand is coming out. It had been a long time since I had really gotten into the stories, the meanings and discovering new worlds and here in one year I got back to Hogwarts(Deathly Hallows as well!), visited Aslan (apparently he and Prince Caspian are coming to our world in May of 08), and wondered what it would be like to impress a dragon (even though I don't do well with heights!). I discovered the Princes of Amber both on tape and in print, have driven my assistant nuts with Deathly Hallows and Half Blood Prince on CD, and am enjoying the stories of Cool Coco and Yum Yum and their person Quilleran.
Last night I finished my most recent book. I went in to read around 11:30pm and I believe I fell asleep somewhere around 4 this morning. Only after finishing the book! (Did not make me a happy camper about going back to work after a holiday!)
Wen, if you are reading this, 'A Brother's Price' was awesome! I have not had the chance to read your books yet but am definitely changing that as soon as possible. Please, please, please do another book about Jerin, Ren and the Whistlers! I even called Chantal (one of my few friends that really reads) at 8:30 this morning to talk with her about it. I also shared with the secretary and AP at school. (Both wondered why even after my usual 4 cups of coffee(down from 6-8) I was lethargic.)
Well gotta go. (I've written more tonight than I have all year!)
Should go get at least some of my nano writing done.
And am seriously considering quitting work so I can read more! (Much more relaxing.) Though I think the library might frown on checking books out to someone who would be living in a cardboard box. No job- no mortgage paid = no house.
Oh well! Winter break is coming soon!
Tricia
Current Mood:  rejuvenated
Current Music: If You're Reading This - Tim McGraw |
| Sunday, October 21st, 2007 |
| 12:37 pm |
Meme - SG1 - that would have been my choice
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Which sci-fi crew would you best fit in with? (pics)
created with QuizFarm.com |
| You scored as SG-1 (Stargate) You are versatile and diverse in your thinking. You have an open mind to that which seems highly unlikely and accept it with a bit of humor. Now if only aliens would stop trying to take over your body.
SG-1 (Stargate) |
| 94% | FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files) |
| 88% | Babylon 5 (Babylon 5) |
| 81% | Moya (Farscape) |
| 81% | Heart of Gold (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) |
| 75% | Millennium Falcon (Star Wars) |
| 75% | Enterprise D (Star Trek) |
| 75% | Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica) |
| 75% | Bebop (Cowboy Bebop) |
| 69% | Serenity (Firefly) |
| 69% | Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix) |
| 63% | Deep Space Nine (Star Trek) |
| 63% | Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda) |
| 63% |
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 Current Mood: amused |
| Sunday, April 22nd, 2007 |
| 3:22 pm |
Accent Guess I don't have one.
1F87B2; margin: 1em; background-</form> Midland. The Midland (please don't confuse with "Midwest") itself is the neutral zone between the North and South. But just because you have a Midland accent doesn't mean you're from there. Since it is considered a neutral, default, "non-regional" accent you could easily be from someplace without its own accent, like Florida, or a big city in the South like Dallas, Houston, or Atlanta. Take this quiz now - it's easy! |
| Wednesday, March 28th, 2007 |
| 8:00 pm |
Kids For those of you that know me or have been reading some in my journal, or who have read Jasper_boy community, you know that my 5 year old nephew was diagnosed with leukemia in August. I am very glad to say he is doing well. He's visiting me for two weeks and I rush home to get his hugs each day. Today even more so. I work at an elementary school. Today was one of those days parents, teachers, staff and students dread. On Thursday one of our third grade boys was sent home ill with the recommendation that his mother take him to the emergency room. Mom did and after many tests the child was diagnosed with leukemia. I don't know the specifics such as the type or the prognosis. I was sharing with my principal Monday morning about Jasper visiting when she told me in very soft tones that this child had been diagnosed. Immediately I began praying for this boy who is only 3 years older than my Jasper. At an emergency staff meeting today we were informed that the boy had passed away early this morning in his sleep. Even the nurses there were stunned by this. Needless to say this hit me very hard. I am tearing up again now as I type. I didn't know this child well. I remember him coming to my office a couple times on errands for his teacher with one or another of my students that come to my program in the afternoon. I was having a hard time even picturing him until I was shown a class picture. I then vaguely remembered him. One of my staff (who works in the cafeteria and sees him everyday) mentioned his 'elfin' features. It was then that I remembered him coming to my office. I remember thinking then about his features and how elvish they were. His ears were even somewhat pointed. His face was beautiful. I am sorry I didn't get the chance to know him better. He seemed like a very friendly boy. Out of the three children that have died while attending my school in the ten years since we opened he is the one I knew least. But it by no means hurts any less. His mom is a single parent and he leaves a younger sibling who is also enrolled at school. This boy's death hits too close to home right now. And reminds me every second how blessed we are for every day Jasper's leukemia stays away. He is in remission now and I pray every day he stays there. Current Mood:  sad |
| Tuesday, March 20th, 2007 |
| 10:16 pm |
mom's drawing  What does your drawing say about YOU?You tend to pursue many different activities simultaneously. When misfortune does happen, it doesn't actually dishearten you all that much. You are a thoughtful and cautious person. You like to think about your method, seeking to pursue your goal in the most effective way. You like following the rules and being objective. You are precise and meticulous, and like to evaluate decisions before making them. You have a sunny, cheerful disposition. |
| 9:19 pm |
drawing  What does your drawing say about YOU?You tend to pursue many different activities simultaneously. When misfortune does happen, it doesn't actually dishearten you all that much. You are a thoughtful and cautious person. You like to think about your method, seeking to pursue your goal in the most effective way. You like following the rules and being objective. You are precise and meticulous, and like to evaluate decisions before making them. You are ambitious and optimistic, determined to prove and advertise yourself. |
| Tuesday, March 6th, 2007 |
| 12:13 pm |
Dad A little over three weeks ago we were told that dad would have to have surgery. They would be removing the lower left lobe of his lung. There is a growth in there and the best time to get it out is while it is restricted to the one lobe. Dad has taken this with a very positive attitude. Mom and I have been pretty nervous. We were at the hospital at 6 this morning to get him checked in. They had to put two lines into him, one in the carotid for blood and one into his wrist arterial to monitor his heart beat. They wheeled him out by 8 this morning. We waited and wandered. Oneda ( my neighbor's sister-in-law) was there to get her port for chemo and my neighbor was there with her, so we went to sit with them for a while. The doctor met with us at 11am to tell us the procedure was done. The new pacemaker battery is in!(YES!) And the surgery went well. They got the full tumor. It appears to be carcinoma. We will find out the definite word on that in a couple days when the final results are in. He'll be in recovery for a couple hours and then into the ICU. The doctor said he could be out in 4-5 days. It will depend on how strong he gets over the next few days. I am majorly relieved. Even if it was a carcinoma since they feel they got it all he may not need chemo. But if he does, he'll go through that all right too. After all, his baby boy just went through it and did just fine so poppa has to too! Current Mood: relieved |
| Monday, February 19th, 2007 |
| 2:43 pm |
Heroes , you're now logged in! Below you'll find your test result. After, continue on to your homescreen to discover what we're about.
Micah Sanders
You scored 66 Idealism, 29 Nonconformity, 50 Nerdiness |
Can we play Scrabble tonight?Congratulations, you're Micah Sanders! You're good-natured, intelligent, perceptive, and naturally inclined toward technology. You're also quite innocent and loving. You've got a fondness for computers and Scrabble. Your best quality: You're extremely perceptive Your worst quality: You can be a little demanding at times |
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My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
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You scored higher than 99% on Idealism |
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You scored higher than 99% on Nonconformity |
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You scored higher than 99% on Nerdiness |
| |
| Monday, December 25th, 2006 |
| 2:35 pm |
Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas to all! We are about to have dinner. This is the first year without Charles and Jasper. Charles has been at Christmas since 1986. He's in California and when I talked to him earlier, he sounded kind of forlorn. Though I doubt he'd admit it. This is Aiden's first Christmas and the first in a long time without his uncle Charles. Jasper is still in Virginia. This is the first year not seeing him for either Thanksgiving or Christmas or both. I'm heading up there either later tonight or tomorrow morning. I am looking forward to seeing the boy. I miss him so much! I got used to seeing him every two months or less and spending a week or two with him when he visited. I now haven't seen him since Aug. 8th. I need my Jasper fix! Will have lots of pictures when I get back though. And may even make a detour to Atlantic City while I'm up that way. Well, have a great holiday! Take care! And God bless! Current Mood: lonely |
| Thursday, December 21st, 2006 |
| 10:31 pm |
Titles And Baghdaelf is Marcus is Darian is Pieter is |
| Thursday, November 9th, 2006 |
| 9:51 pm |
Alphabet Meme
Since I got tagged, I'll play.
Ten wonderful things that start with F:
Fun Friday
Fringe benefits
Fireplaces
Fall
Flowers
Financial Freedom
Fairy Tales
Fantasy Fiction
Furniture
and of course Friends!
Five bad things that start with F:
Fog
Fat
Fickle Finger of Fate
Finicky Felines
Farts
Don't have anyone to tag. :( |
| Thursday, November 2nd, 2006 |
| 9:27 pm |
accent Interesting result. Guess I have no accent.
| What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio. | | Philadelphia | | | The Inland North | | | The South | | | The Northeast | | | The West | | | Boston | | | North Central | | What American accent do you have?
Take More Quizzes |
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| Saturday, September 16th, 2006 |
| 1:30 pm |
Great Aunt I officially became a great aunt today. My niece delivered young master Aiden Cole Packard at 8:52 this morning. He was 8lbs. 4 oz. and 21 1/2 inches. As I understand it his hair has a red color to it. We'll see if that stays or goes more brown. Her due date was Oct. 2, but we were pretty sure she'd deliver sooner. I'm going to put pictures up of him in Jasper's Journal on Monday. We'll be going to Tampa tomorrow to see him. It's really strange to think of my kid brother as now being a grandfather. His uncles are thrilled but aren't sure when they will actually get to meet the little one. Charles is in Chicago in the Navy and isn't sure when he'll get leave. Jasper is in Virginia and due to the leukemia he can't come down for any visits right now. Though hopefully we'll get up there with Aiden at Christmas time.
Aiden and his soon to be born uncle make nephews 3 and 4. So now there is a tie between nieces and nephews. Alyssa (Jasper's mom) is pregnant and we don't know if that one is a boy or girl. Polly, who became a grandmother today, is due to deliver a little boy between now and mid-October.
Both Polly and Alyssa are my brother's exes.
(I think my family is going to give the genealogist that studies our branch of the family tree a stress related heart attack!)
Current Mood: happy |
| Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 |
| 11:35 am |
Ernesto
I truly hate forced days off. Ernesto may be coming to visit so the school district has closed schools for today and possibly tomorrow.
This means possibly using vacation days to make up for the missed days. And with Jasper sick I am guarding my days off with a vengeance. I hope they don't choose the day before Thanksgiving as one of the days as I'm hoping to get to Virginia to see the boy then. Otherwise I won't make it until December.
Oh well. Hopefully it will be a nice 2 days off with power. It is way too hot to have no air conditioning! And no access to my computer! |
| Thursday, August 17th, 2006 |
| 8:53 pm |
Jasper
Jasper's updates have been moved to his own LJ account.
The account is jasper_boy
There is also a gallery with some pictures of him both BH and IH (before hospital - in hospital).
His white count is 8.8 which is good but they still want it lower. |
| Monday, August 14th, 2006 |
| 9:41 pm |
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| Sunday, August 13th, 2006 |
| 8:27 pm |
Jasper If you have been reading about my nephew Jasper here I am moving the updates on him to http://jasper_boy/livejournal.comI hope to get some pictures into the scrapbook. If you have been reading up on him, please continue the prayers. His family thanks you. Tricia |
| 5:11 pm |
vampires  | You scored as Dracula. You are the smooth sexy cool Dracula. Patient and lustful. If you were any cooler youd be ice. Great style with a way of seducing those around you. And three brides who wouldn't want to be him.
Dracula | | 75% | Blade | | 67% | Deacon Frost | | 67% | Akasha | | 58% | Spike | | 58% | Armand | | 50% | Lestat | | 50% | Marius | | 42% | Louis | | 42% | Angel | | 25% | </td>
Whose your Vampire personality? (images)
created with QuizFarm.com |
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| Sunday, August 6th, 2006 |
| 3:30 pm |
Jasper Jasper is awesome. Even hooked to multiple IVs he is upbeat, laughing and most of all loving. Haven't seen him today but my brother said they have him set up in a wagon so he can go exploring around the floor. Last night he had his own nurse, Miss Kelly. He got a sponge bath and said he wanted his animals bathed too. So she got a second bath tub, put water in it and we built a raft from tongue depressors to hold his little animals on. He is such a sweetheart! The doctor came in today. My brother likes him already. He's older . But also he sees it from a parent's perspective as well. His daughter was diagnosed with leukemia a year ago.
Jasper has ALL (Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia ). His is involving the T cell. Only approx. 20% of ALL are T cell involved. His entire body is involved, though, thank God, his spine is clear. They did a spinal tap and gave a chemo treatment right into the spine at the same time.
The analogy my brother gave me was that a tumor might weigh approx. 2 oz. the involvement comparison on Jasper's body is equal to a 2lb. tumor.
His treatment will take at least 3 years of chemo treatments, as the body needs time to recover between each one as well as getting the body to release the toxins(increases in potassium and electrolytes) safely and so that the body is not overwhelmed. They are expecting to start the chemo today or tomorrow.
His mother is pregnant as is his big sister. Plans to save the cords from both pregnancies are being worked on as they may help in the future.
The doctor reminded my brother that each child is just that an individual and each child's body will respond in the way it will.
Please remember my boy and other children and their families who are in this situation. Positive thoughts and prayers are always welcome.
More updates as I get them.
Current Mood: numb |
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baghdaelf's journal
