My kids are driving me to the brink

Isn't that the saying of all mothers? Their kids are driving them to the brink of insanity?! Mine have been especially annoying and just pushing the limits and my buttons lately.

I finally made a doctor's appointment. After my husband and brother both threatened to call for me. When your older brother threatens to drive up from Mississippi and hogtie you and force you to go, you kinda give in.
The problem is I don't feel like I need to go. I don't have a cough, the sniffles, or a fever. I just have been feeling like blah lately. My back and shoulders ache. I feel like I ran a marathon and got hit by a Mack truck while doing it. I ache all over, plus the migraine headaches I used to get only once in a while have been hitting me 3 to 4 times a week now. I sleep 8 hours a night but wake up feeling like I haven't slept a bit. I think my husband has been getting tired of hearing me say I'm exhausted at 6PM every night. Plus I feel like I am wound as tight as a rubber band.

This is why I don't want to go to the doctor. I feel like I will just be wasting their time. That I will be just complaining about things that don't make much sense. How can I be exhausted when I don't work outside the home, my kids are in school all day? I just don't want to be seen as one of those complainer patients. The ones who come in with this laundry list of aliments that don't make sense or the ones who just want that drug fix. That is just not me.

I have a hard time with doctors because of my genetic condition. NF type 1 (neurofibromatosis). It is a very hard condition to explain and very few doctors know anything about it. It affects the nervous system and causes nerve tissues to grow tumors on the skin. Most of the time I have to explain to the nurse or doctor what it is. Even I don't know that much about it.

I just hate feeling like crap all the time. It is so against my nature. So wish me good luck at the doctor and hopefully they will be able to tell me what in the heck is going on with me.

th' situashun is skeppical - redneck calls a psychic

I had to make a late night milk run last night. My kids have this habit of putting about a teaspoon of milk back in the fridge. I have no idea why they just don't finish it off. Their excuses run from saving it for me so I can have coffee in the morning i.e.so momma is not a rabid witch in the AM or they didn't know it was that low. Since my husband refuses to go out after he has taken his boots off, it was up to me to make that run to the QT.

It was then I caught the late show on the husband's favorite country station. Apparently they had a psychic on. Whodathunk it. A psychic on a redneck station. For some odd reason I have this fascination with psychics. No, I've never been to one. Something about that line in the Bible saying it is a no-no. I'd rather be safe than sorry. I even dated a guy who claimed to be a psychic. He really liked his patchouli oil. Funny, he never saw me dumping his tarot card reading butt.

But, I digress. They had the usual callers. Will this guy ever ask me out? Maybe and the caller needed to focus her energies on people who actually *shock* returned her love. Will I get a promotion at work? Outlook not good, try again later. I think she was making good use of her magic 8-Ball. Then came the country fried redneck caller.
He started out saying that he had been married to his wife for 4 years. They had been sweethearts for a long time. *so far so good* But wait for it, just wait....
She was pregnant. *Cue me saying, uh-oh-this call is about to go downhill* And he didn't think the baby was his.
You could hear a pin drop in the studio. The DJ began stuttering and it must have been contagious because so did the psychic.
She started off by saying that a baby was a wonderful gift and it would need love and support no matter what. Our redneck friend, contested, saying he loved his wife, even if she might have been a trifling hussy-(my words not his). Psychic countered by saying that he would need to love the baby because.....dum de dum dum- it was his baby.
Then our redneck said my title phrase-th' situashun is skeppical . Yes he said it like that. Psychic gave her last word and said it didn't matter if it was his or not. He needed to love the baby. The call was quickly disconnected after that. I think things were getting just a little too deep for the DJ and psychic to handle. Plus I think her 8 ball broke.

What is it about rednecks and psychics. It's like they can't help themselves. From Miss Cleo to Dion Warwick's Psychic Friends Network. Rednecks are calling to ask all sorts of questions. Eager to talk way past the first free 3 minutes. By the way, did you know Miss Cleo was not really Jamaican. She was born in California and she made a killing from everyone, and I'm sure a fair share of rednecks. Eager to find out who was their baby's daddy and would Elmer keep his job at the lumber mill.

Okay, I know I'm poking fun at rednecks. Don't take offense people. I'm a redneck. Born and raised in the deep dirty South, Mississippi. The state that holds the proud title of finishing dead last in any national stats. Besides being a redneck ain't that bad.
We always have ice cold sweet tea in the fridge, plenty of butterbeans, fresh tomatoes, and cornbread and Momma's cathead biscuits ready for company. Just make sure you wipe your feet before you come in off the porch.

Movie Reviews

We watched a couple of movies this past weekend. The Boy In the Striped Pajamas and Miracle at Santa Anna.

I thought both were great films. The Boy In the Striped Pajamas was one Mary had been wanting to see. It is also based on a book by the same name. Two little boys become friends during WW2. One is a Jew living in a concentration camp and the other is the camp commander's son. It was a very touching and moving film. Make sure you have tissues ready though. Or if you are like me, a whole box of tissues.

Miracle at Santa Anna is another WW2 movie. More of an action/drama film. I'm not a real big action film fan, but historic action I can deal with. This is one is about the Buffalo Soldiers and a mysterious statue head, and these 4 soldiers journey. I'm not going to give away too much of the film because it would ruin it. But trust me, it was really good.

Is anybody else glad tomorrow is Friday. The weekend is almost here!

The 4 legged kids

This is Pretty Girl the cat and Oscar the dog. Oscar is a Pekingese and Chihuahua mix. He was the only boy and the only one who looked like a Chihuahua. Oscar is also a garbage disposal. He will eat anything that hits the floor. Pretty Girl was a stray. You might remember me blogging about it back in August. Her and Oscar are the same age. We usually find them like this. Cuddled up together, giving each other kisses. Everytime I see them like this, the song "Secret Lovers" starts playing in my mind.

This would be Gizmo. Gizmo is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi. And yes, he is always smiling like that. We got Gizmo about 4 years ago. He is a calm dog, except when company comes over and he turns into a nut. He runs, barks at you, brings you every toy he has. Once you toss his ball a couple of times, he calms down. He also likes to play with balloons. He likes to bounce them in the air.

Here is a little video that Mary, the youngest, took of Gizmo playing with the balloon. Please ignore my messy house. It was the Saturday that snowed and spit ice all day and I didn't feel like doing anything housework related.

Toddlers and Tiaras

Has anyone watched this show on TLC? It is about the pageant world for little girls and boys. I happened to catch a partial episode last night. There was nothing on after NCSI and the Mentalist, so I started channel surfing and saw this little gem.

First off, I don't have a problem with pageants per say, but this show was just creepy. Or maybe it was just this episode. There is just something not quite right about shoving a pair of fake teeth in a kids mouth so they have a perfect smile. Or spray tanning your five year old so she doesn't look pasty white for the swimsuit competition.

They had this one little girl. She was 10 years old and her mom and coach (yes, they have pageant coaches) put her in a white strapless dress and high heels. It looked like a wedding dress seriously. She had about 6 inches of make-up on and her hair was teased to the heavens. Then it got even creepier... her dad or was it her uncle.. It was some male figure in her life said this , "She just looks gorgeous up there. I know she looks way older than she should, but she looks gorgeous." Shiver.... She is 10! 10 years old and looked like she was 18!

I kept screaming at the TV "She's only 10! She's just a baby!" My dear husband looked up for just a moment from his laptop and swore there was no way she was only 10. Then he caught the interview with said child saying how pretty she felt with everyone looking at her and saw her age listed. He joined me in saying "She's only 10!"
The above little girl went on to win in every category and first place for her age group. Her exit interview she said, "I feel beautiful when I win first place." Sad, sad.

A mom of a little girl who lost said, "She's just going to have to try harder next time." Like this was a math test or a basketball game they lost.

It does make me sad to see girls place so much emphasis on their outside appearance. And we wonder why women and girls still struggle with body image.

Yes, I could save myself all sorts of angst if I would just stop watching shows like this, but there is just something about reality TV that sucks you in. You want to look away, flip the channel, but you can't. You remain glued to it. Appalled that there really are people like that.

In the end, one little girl had the best outlook and the most wisdom on it all. She said she wanted to win, but she wanted the others to win more. She didn't want anyone to feel bad about themselves.

That little girl made the entire episode for me.