Do You Realize?

Happy Halloween!

I'm The Queen Bee, in case you couldn't guess. My colony seems to be suffering from Colony Collapse Disorder lately! LOL!

A Tuesday Ten--Complaint Department Edition

I'm kind of cranky this week. And to prove it, I present you ten things that are on my damn nerves this week (some big, some trivial... I'm balanced that way!):

1. The thing that is bugging me the worst right now is America's glib treatment of mental illness in general. If someone has one little mood fluctuation, people make offhand and ignorant remarks about them being "bipolar." Britney Spears has become a pariah; she is obviously suffering, possibly (I daresay probably) in a depression at the very least, yet all we want is to talk about how "crazy" she is. This story has me all sorts of mad. First, why was this woman, clearly crying out for help (and quite articulately, at that), left alone in a holding cell? If police had been following departmental procedure, she would still be alive today. And second, why aren't more people talking about it, questioning it?

2. Celadon Trucking, who apparently don't realize that common sense marketing strategy would have led them in a different direction. Celadon is GREEN, you numbnuts!

3. The media's treatment of Al Gore, from cherry-picking quotes until they barely resemble the original (he did NOT say he INVENTED the Internet, jackasses) and dissecting everything from his sighing habits to his clothing during the Presidential campaign, now acting like he's always been their darling. No hard feelings, right, Al?

4. Stupid drivers. This will show up on every single pet peeve list of mine until the day I surrender my license because I'm too old or blind to safely operate a vehicle.

5. Hypocrisy. "God's Warrior" Marguerite Perrin from Trading Spouses renounced her family's final $50,000 in 2005, saying (okay, screeching) it was "tainted" and "dark-sided." When she found out that $20,000 had been earmarked for her gastric bypass surgery, though, she reconsidered and took the money. She even went back on Trading Spouses for a second torturous episode. She also said she didn't want money or fame, she just wanted Her God and Her Family. But somehow, she's found a way to capitalize on America's impression of her with a comedy music CD and interviews on numerous TV shows.

6. Drizzly days. Theoretically, rainy days should be like free showers for your car, in my opinion. Drizzly days make dirty roads into muddy roads, and your car always ends up dirtier than it was before the rain. Not cool.

7. Dumbasses who insist on pronouncing the number one hundred as “a hunnerd” or, even better, “a hunnert.” I have heard at least two different radio advertisements this week in which the spokesman slaughtered this. WTF?

8. Childhood Bipolar Disorder. No one should have to live with this disease, and no one should have to live with a child who has this disease. It is devastating, frustrating, confusing, time consuming, and it absolutely eclipses every other person, problem, and plan inside a family.

9. Doggy agression. Our oldest dog, Poogan, is beautiful. But if she were human, she would be the old bitchy aunt that no one wants to visit because all the kids are afraid of her. And she’s got so many neuroses and fears. She's afraid of a whole host of household items & actions: vacuum cleaner, ceiling fans, broom & mop, vacuum cleaner, shadows, candles, shiny reflections, vacuum cleaner, the doorbell, strangers... the list goes on forever... did I mention we've had to replace 5 vacuum cleaner hoses from where she bites holes in them? In her old age, she's also starting to growl and snap at any other living thing that crosses her path, barking shrilly at anything that startles or upsets her. Gah, it gets old.

10. Dropped signals. Whether it's my cell phone or my wireless internet connection, my electronics have been dropping me like a baby giraffe lately.

See? I told you I was cranky!

Bittersweet

One of the most difficult things I've ever had to experience in life is being overjoyed and excited for one child and being devastated and worried senseless for another. This past week and a half or so, that's exactly what I've had to do.

Youngest, as I mentioned briefly, had to be admitted to the adolescent psychiatric facility at Presbyterian Hospital, an hour away. He remained an Inpatient from Thursday until Tuesday. Visitation and "parent education" began at 7:30 a.m. weekdays, a little later on weekends. We had various family group therapies, psychosocial history, etc. to attend as well. Moving to Outpatient status brought more challenges. Day Treatment begins at 7:15 a.m. which means we leave at 6:00 a.m., and if you have never tried to wake up a child with Bipolar Disorder, you wouldn't know that they often have sleep disturbances and sleep inertia, which means, basically, he is nigh impossible to get going in the morning, much more so than you or I. His day ends at 5:15 p.m., when he comes home with goals and paperwork to discuss. We've made a Home Contract to address safety issues and situational behaviors he needs to work on. He's having to learn verbal and facial cues from scratch, pretty much, and communication and coping skills. It's a lot for the little guy; he is one of the youngest (one other had just turned thirteen, still older) there, and the only one with Bipolar Disorder.

On the other hand, Eldest is having an amazing Senior year with the Colorguard. Yesterday was their UIL Area Marching Competition. Twenty bands competed for four entries into the UIL State Marching Competition in San Antonio at the Alamo Dome. Our band marched away with First Place!!! They were incredible on the field! And, best of all, Eldest has a small solo during the show! So next week, we're off to San Antonio for three days. My sister is flying in that weekend, and she'll stay longer now.

My mom & dad have "relocated" to Jacksonville, Florida, to be nearer the Mayo Clinic while awaiting her new liver. They have to stay within 4 hours of Jacksonville. Her new condition has put her close to the top of the list, and they anticipate between 2 - 6 months to receive her transplant. So we wait. It feels strange, waiting for someone to die in order for my mother to live.

All in all, it's been an exhausting, emotionally wrenching week, but one that has made me stronger and smarter as well.

Photo Hunt... Playing Catch-up

This has been an incredibly busy week or two around here, and my blogging has taken a hit. I totally missed last week's Photo Hunt, and I'm late for this week's. For those of you still visiting, here are my photos from the past two weeks.

Last week's theme was: Practical. I took this photo at Hagerman Wildlife Refuge, not too far from our house. Vultures (these are Black Vultures) are very practical birds, eating anything available to them for survival. They are even immune to botulism, one of the deadliest of toxins. (I also happen to find the Black and Turkey Vultures' defense mechanism of projectile vomiting to be both fascinating and amusing.)

This week's theme was: Pink. I took this photo at the Dallas-Ft.Worth Zoo. It is one of my favorite photos. (More birds... hmmmm... one would think I liked birds or something.)

Update

Hi, all... some of you have emailed to check on me. I'm just checking in long enough to let you know I will try to be back on Tuesday with a Tuesday Ten list.

Thursday night began a new and tumultuous journey for us, and it's been all-consuming, to say the least. Youngest had to be admitted to an adolescent psych unit. We didn't get home until 4:30 a.m. Friday. More paperwork & interviews Friday, family group therapies and visitations yesterday and today. We are all exhausted.

Hang in there until Tuesday; I'm determined to keep going for the friends that I've made through this blog! :-)

Photo Hunt Saturday--Smelly

Another week of chaos. And an all-day band competition today. One day, I will get to slow down and breathe, I'm sure of it.

Anyway, this week's theme is: SMELLY. I took this photo in San Francisco in October 2003. Fisherman's Wharf, K Dock. I wish I could even begin to count the number of sea lions that are piled up on one another here. It was quite impressive, as was the smell. But, dang, they're cute, aren't they?!?!?

At the opposite end of the "smelly" spectrum (thanks for the idea, Mark!), I took this photo this summer at the Portland Rose Garden. Lovely, it is...

A Tuesday Ten

Since I've not been here in a few days (weeks? months?), I thought I'd offer a quick Tuesday Ten of what I've been up to this week. This past week, I have...

1. ...helped Eldest with her first ten entries in her Senior Scrapbook (this is a yearlong English assignment, pretty cool).

2. ...helped Middle and Hubby make a Sodium atom out of a sheet cake and cupcakes.

3. ...survived at least two Bipolar "Episodes" with youngest and researched our health insurance policy to see what they will pay when we have to finally take the step into Inpatient Psychiatric care.

4. ...been "Colorguard Mom" and "Show Makeup Artist" for one football game and one competition. Their show makeup kicks some serious ass. It looks like this:

5. ...made a pre-made mini-scrapbook for Youngest's school fundraising auction (One down, three to go, yay! Not!).

6. ...ridden my bike with Hubby to Chick-fil-a for lunch and home one day.

7. ...pulled some muscle or pinched some nerve in my neck so I can barely move today. I guess it's time for a massage.

8. ...driven 1200 miles.

9. ...discovered one of our remaining two finches, a zebra, had died. Poor Fat Boy; he's all alone now. He's a shaft tail finch. He's always been our favorite. He looks like this:

10. ...missed this week's episodes of Survivor, CSI:NY, and Numb3rs, because I was too exhausted to do anything but crash into bed at the end of the day (and because I was too stupid to set them up to record).

Coming up for air...

How horrible that I haven't been able to squeeze in a post at all in the past few days. Wanna know why? Goodie... what follows is a lesson in how organ transplantation (specifically liver transplantation) works.

My mom has had an autoimmune disorder since 1991 called Primary Biliary Cirrhosis. The short explanation is that her body is attacking its own liver. A couple of weeks ago, my sister went down to Jacksonville, Florida, with her to the Mayo clinic for evaluation for the transplant list. My mom has been on the cusp of eligibility for years now.

After having been poked, prodded, photographed, irradiated, and all other manner of invasion (they ARE thorough), she also had to go to a transplant psychiatrist, financial counselor, support meetings, and meet her actual transplant surgeon, should she go on the list. Once all the doctors involved in her care over those 9 or 10 days signed off on her being ready for the list, then they actually had to present her case to a transplant committee, who has the final say so.

Anyhoo, being that while she was there, they found she had hepatopulmonary syndrome, typical in end-stage liver failure, she was placed on the list, pretty close to the top, just under the "imminently dying" patients. She will have to relocate to Jacksonville within the next two weeks. And wait.

So, between all the long-distance familial drama and the in-my-face-daily familial drama, some days it's all I can do to get through the day without forgetting to put on pants. I really am hoping that I get to settle down soon, because I miss the blog. When I get back, it may take a few subject twists & turns, but that's okay, since there are quite a few of my fellow bloggers who do such a good job covering the green issues, I think it frees me up to do other stuff.

No links today... if you're interested in any of what I've said, Google it all... I have a football game to attend. SO not what I had in mind for a Friday night... SIGH!