Friday Fiesta Foto Finish

Well it has been DAYS since I posted so I figured I would go ahead and do an FX4 for a post to catch you all up on where I've been. I decided to take the kiddos and head up to Washington D.C. for a few days. Yes, myself and 3 children all alone in a busy metropolitan area...I'm nuts. We had fun though. So I figured what a better picture than a picture of the infamous White House?! Mind you we were FAAAARRRR away from it. I just cropped and zoomed in to get it this close! Enjoy my pic and head on over to Candid Carrie for some more pics this Friday!! (Surely most of them will be about Halloween!)

Recovering...

...from my BATW comment hangover! My goal for the rest of the week is to personally respond to the 50+ comments because, well, that is just what I want to do! Thanks to all who stopped by and know that I will definately be responding and maybe even travel to your neck really soon. Oh and thanks again Debbie for "making" me be a part of BATW yesterday. It was fun to get so many comments!

TTFN,

Virgin-i-a...Welcome BATW!

Welcome all you Bloggers from BATW! This is Mama Roho from the great state of Virgin-i-a or VA or Virginia or whatever you want to call it. I am not originally from here as I was dumped here by the US Navy back in 2002 because, well, they had to put me somewhere and the USS McFaul needed another "Sailor" and I was "it". (I am originally from Ohio. GO BUCKEYES!!!) So I packed up my girls and my stuff and traveled cross-country from San Diego, California with my then-boyfriend and this is where we landed. And we have been here since. Oh what joy this great state has brought us. A marriage, another child, a dog, a home, another dog, lots of fish and equity, even in this awful "recession" we are having.

While Virginia is not a place I would PERSONALLY spend the rest of my dying days, it does have it's perks. You can go to the beach and the mountains in the same day...oh wait, that was in California. My bad. Wait, you CAN go to the mountains here in Virginia as well, you just have to travel about 7.5hrs to Virginia's highest "mountain" peak, Mount Rogers, which stands at an elevation of about 5,729ft. That just means that it is 5,729ft above sea level. Mount Rogers is actually considered a "summit" which, by definition is "In topography, a summit is a point on a surface which is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically speaking, a summit is a local maximum in elevation." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summit (topography) Now that's no Mount Everest, but that is pretty high! (Which stands at a peak of 8,848ft at the highest!!)

There is a TON to do where I live in Virginia, especially going to the beach, like festivals! Oh my the festivals they have are DA BOMB! I enjoy the Greek festival in Norfolk that they have twice a year now! They also have a wine festival, rock-n-roll festival, beer festival, Harborfest, Neptune Festival, Kite Festival, Bayou Boogaloo, Sailfest, Latino Music Fest, Big Band Fest, Jazz Fest, More Ship Festivals, More alcohol festivals and a TON more music festivals and they go on all year long!!! Both beaches, Norfolk and Virginia Beach, host a variety of things. Norfolk Festevents is a great place to look for things if you are ever in the Norfolk area. Beach Street USA is the place to look for things to do in Virginia Beach.

There are museums everywhere, Naval Bases galore, stores on the beach, souvenirs, places to eat, people to meet, things to do...this place is the BEST place to vacation. Gee, now that I did all the research to pump up my towns, I think I might like it just that much more. :)

I hope you enjoyed your stay here and I hope you find Virginia a cozy little place to visit. If you are ever in the area and I am still here, email me and I will give you a little tour.

TTFN,

What's YOUR Blogging Personality?

I saw this on a few blogs lately and decided I would steal and take the short quiz. It's kinda right so I will post my results. Enjoy and I will "see" you all later!

Your Blogging Type is Unique and Avant-Garde

You're a bit ... unusual. And so is your blog. You're impulsive, and you'll often post the first thing that pops in your head. Completely uncensored, you blog tends to shock... even though that's not your intent. You tend to change your blog often, experimenting with new designs and content.

What's Your Blogging Personality?

Friday Fiesta Foto Finish

Gettin' back in the grrrrooooove a little with a Candid Carrie FX4. Here we have my "Free Baby". She has always been the free-spirited of my kids. Never caring about what clothes she wears, if her hair is perfect (look at the pic!), or if she is with the "in crowd". She is her own self all the time. She always smiles at everyone and when she is by herself, you get this...a child deep in thought. Makes you wonder just what this little girl is thinking. She has extreme views for a child of only 7 1/2. She likes to watch the news and is very inquisitive. She wants to vote NOW even though she is too young! She is definately a hippy stuck in 2008.
So here's to you kid. Mommy loves you!

MacKenzie Free @ Mount Trashmore

First Annual SITS Blogathon!!

WOOT! WOOT! Welcome to my blog if you are headed over from SITS or from a SITSta!! Feel free to browse my posts and pictures but be forwarned that I can have a bit of sarcasm in my bones! ;) Anywho, I must frist thank the SITStas Tiffany and Heather for making this site what it is. It has brought me some of the most WONDERFUL support people in the bloggy world. I never thought comments from perfect strangers could lift my spirits on a bad day or make me laugh so hard I almost pee my pants!! With that said and to keep with the rules, I am going to clue you all in on some of the lovely people I have "met" through SITS! Shall I begin with the person who introduced me to SITS? Why not!

Meet Jenna! She is my RL-never-met-you-before friend from my mommies website. (www.tidewatermommies.com) I originally "met" her on another mom site and then she joined ours. One day while reading one of her HILARIOUS posts I saw the pretty pink and brown icon for SITS and clicked on it. The rest is history. Check out Jenna! Leave her some love!!

Next is Lula from Lulaville! This woman corrupted me! A fellow Virgin-i-an, she has made me laugh, cry and laugh so hard I cried many times in my short bloggy life. She introduced me to the methliture (my word)or crackliture (her word) called The Twilight Series. She got me hooked on the Edward/Bella love story that has pretty much taken up my bathroom time! I "lurk" read her blog daily and do not know what I would do with out some Lula-crack.

Let us all head on over now to Candid Carrie! Another one of my favorite reads, Carrie is a momma of SIX children...SIX!...and she does it with such ease. She has an uncanny love for cats that I will NEVER understand and she hosts one of the BEST photo days on Blogger. At least I think it is the best! On top of all that, she is FUNNY! I love myself some funny blogs! SO, head on over to Candid Carrie and check her out!

Hmmm, who should I put next...let's see...ahhhh! How about Debbie from This is the life! Let me just say that this woman has amazing abilities! Not only does she post on her own regular blog, but she also hosts another blog called Blog Around The World. BATW is a super busy commenting blog. I don't know how she does it!! But she takes in people from literally all around the world and features them over there. On her regular blog, she makes me laugh with her quips about politics, people and her very own life. So, why not head on over to This is The Life and while you are at it, check out her other site too called Blog Around The World!

Now how about flying on over to Tale of a Kansas Girl and saying hi to Ronnica! I just love reading her blog. Some days her posts just calm my spirit. She is NOT afraid to speak her mind and her blog is comical and fun at times but she can also be serious. My current faves from her are her School Days posts. They take me back to when I was just a kid myself and some days, yeah, I need that. Soooo, click, click, click on over to Tale of a Kansas Girl and leave some love!!

Finally, just because I absolutely ADORE and am secretly jealous of her awsome blog layout, meet Kaycee from Life as a Mom at 21 22! I have only just started to read her blog this past week, but I am ADDICTED to her layout. It is pink and brown, my newly acquired favorite color scheme, and it just SCREAMS cuteness! Not to mention she has the most adorable 2yr old little girl AND is about to have another one here VERY soon! (If she hasn't by the time this posts!) So, you know the drill, go leave her love!

Well, that is all! Whew! I hope you got your commenting in and that you remembered to leave ME some love as well! Enjoy this SITS day and OH! Go on over there and check them out too! What a wonderful way to network and meet new people! The Secret really IS in the sauce!! ;)

TTFN,

Friends...

Have you ever wondered if you were good enough to be someone's friend? Have you ever wondered why you put so much time into your friends just to get nothing in return? Have you ever taken a step back to look at your "list" of friends and wonder if your life would even sputter if certain people weren't in it? I have. Many times. I am doing it now. There are people friends in my life that I think I could just never talk to ever again and they either wouldn't care or wouldn't notice! How sad is THAT? I put forth the effort and get NOTHING, why should I? I am SICK of always "being there" yet when I am in need of someone to be there for me, everyone disappears! I must bitch WAY too much! Imagine that. Me, bitching too much!

I have a friend that I have known for almost 4 years now. I USED to tell this friend EVERYTHING about my life and she did the same. We talked and texted daily and if someone wanted to know where one of us was, they asked one of us because we always knew. I was there for her through some pretty rough times including her decision to have an abortion and a really horrible breakup with her boyfriend that landed ME on the phone for days on end, hours at a time, listening to her cry, bitch, get mad and then get drunk. She moved before all that and since then has visited a few times. During her visits she usually gets wasted and talks shit, hits on my husband (he loves it, no harm, no foul), becomes beligerant to the both of us and the next day acts like nothing happened. She NEVER remembers being a jerk just that SHE visited. That's fine, I get over it and we continue on with our relationship as always.

So, I haven't talked to her in a few months. She is usually the first one I call when I have a problem or if I need to cry but this time, when I found out about my heart problems, I didn't call her. I called Mrs Paruser because she has pretty much taken the place of the friend that moved away. Instead, I messaged her and asked if she could call me when she had a free hour and she said she would, today, Friday, in the afternoon after she got out of class. Well here it is, 10:15pm and the beloved friend has not called. Has not texted to even say "sorry, I lost track of time". Has not even messaged me to apologize and I GUARENTEE she won't. She probably forgot and will remember in a few days and will finally message me and say she will call when she gets a free minute. Well what the hell about all the free minutes I didn't really have when she had boyfriend troubles? And when she got done with her procedure? How about whenever we talk the conversation always ends up going to her. It is like she always has it worse than me and really, I would give anything to have her life at her age.

So I guess I am just tired of being put on the back burner all the damn time and that is why I have written off so many people friends in my lifetime. If I'm not put on the back burner, I am being back stabbed. Either way, I guess it is time for me to "watch my back" and start making another "hit" list.

TTFN,

Survey Saturday...Summer's End

Kinda late with this one, but today was sorta busy. So, here's my survey for this Saturday! Enjoy!!!

Any summer crushes?
Just my hubby

Gone on vacation?
Does Annapolis for the weekend count?

Spend the night in a hotel with a friend?
Why yes! Kara and Brian and Balla and I

Did you go to any camps?
Nope

Did you have to take summer school?
Not in school

Did you get heartbroken?
Nope

Any fights with friends?
Not that I remember

Was your birthday over the summer?
Nope

Did you go to any parties over the summer?
Oh hell yeah!

What illegal things did you do?
None

Did you go over your minutes?
Probably. I usually do.

Did you go shopping?
A hell of a lot

Sing?
I love to sing

Did you go to a barbecue?
I think we had more BBQ's then went to them

Any friends really tick you off over the summer?
Oh yeah

What time did you usually go to bed?
Pretty friggin' late

What was the latest you ever stayed up over the summer?
All night long

What time did you usually wake up?
About 8a

Most memorable things about this summer?
Spending a ton of time with Balla

Who did you meet this summer?
Quite a few new people on TM

Did you have a job over the summer?
Nope

Lose something this summer?
Probably my mind

Did you go to any ice cream places?
Oh geez...Maybe

Did you get sick?
Yes

Go to a lake?
Uh...just to fish

How about a mountain?
Nope

What was the most expensive restaurant that you went to ?
The Grate Steak...Yummo!

Have you gotten your schedule for school yet?
Not in school...

Are you pleased with it?
N/A

Did you go see any new movies in the theater?
Oh yeah!

What was the most serious conversation you had about?
I would say either my daughter's eye or Balla's deployment

Anything personality wise and/or physically change this summer?
Nah. I'm still a sarcastic bitch!

Was this summer better than last summer?
Most definately!!!

Who are you dating?
I'm married to Balla

How is your heart lately?
HA! It's literally broken

Is your dad over the age of 40?
Yes

Do you have siblings over the age of 21?
Yes

Do you still talk to the person you fell hardest for?
I am married to him!

What are you looking forward to in the next days?
Waking up

Are you happy with your life?
Hell yeah I am

Have you ever changed your clothes while in a vehicle?
Um, yeah...it was interesting

Will you kiss the last person you kissed again?
Yep

Would you wanna trade lives with a famous person?
Hell no! Bank accounts, yes

Are you ready to get out of this town?
Norfolk, hell yeah!

When was the last time you went shopping?
Today

Are you wearing any jewelry?
My wedding ring, a sweet necklace made by Kiki and Lele with Balla's name on it and an amber anklet

What did you eat today?
Food

What are you doing tomorrow?
Taking 5 kids to the zoo

Is there anyone that you wish was out of your life?
Not at the moment

Last time you ate cereal?
Couple weeks ago

Do you have any tattoos or piercings?
3 tatts, 7 piercings

Did you hug or kiss anyone today?
My kids and my dogs ;)

Will you kiss anyone today?
Duh

Will you talk to the person you like on the phone tonight?
It is highly unlikely. He is in the middle of the ocean

What were you doing at 1am last night?
Sleeping for a change

Where was your default picture taken?
The one on here was taken at Fort Story

What woke you up this morning?
The bitter coldness of my room

How late did you stay up last night and why?
Until about midnight thirty just because I can

Do you like someone?
I LOVE my husband

Have you ever kissed someone whose name started with an S?
My sister! LOL!

How's your life lately?
Crazy, as always

Was yesterday a good day?
It was productive for a change

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THIS SURVEY!

Friday Fiesta Foto Finish AND A SITS Contest

I missed one or two of these so I am back. Hopefully I won't miss Candid Carrie's FX4 again because I love sharing my photos! This week's photo is actually from Thursday night. It is two photos together because the first is Jayson looking under the table and I wasn't sure WHAT he was doing but I had to take pictures because last time he did that he found something disgusting and I DIDN'T have my camera out so here's him under the table Shortly after he pops his head up and smiles the biggest smile. The smile that can mean only ONE thingThe boy found money. Whenever we need to get him to smile, don't tell him to say "cheese" or "truck" or "ice cream" tell him to say "MONEY" and he will crack that smile.

Thanks to Candid Carrie for hosting FX4 as always. Get on over and play yourself. Oh and head on over to SITS and enter to win Photoshop Elements 7. It would be a GREAT tool to have for FX4 FO SHO! Not to mention SITS is an awesome blog for comment generation if you LOVE bloggy comments! Soooo, hit them both up!

Awareness Wednesday...Pectus Excavatum and MY Heart

My Reasons To Live

I was born with a chest wall deformity called pectus excavatum or "sunken chest" syndrome. When I was a child, my mother was told that it would have little, if any, affect on me later in life. As I got older I was diagnosed with severe reverse "S" curve scoliosis. I also had problems with my breathing as my lungs started to get bigger in my small, sunken chest. Of course my bones would grow, but with the sternum sunk in, there was not much space for the lungs and heart and other organs.

Pectus excavatum occurs in an estimated 1 in 300-400 births, with male predominance (male-to-female ratio of 3:1). Imagine that! I'm a girl, just my luck. Some patients with pectus excavatum experience chest and back pain that is usually musculoskeletal in origin.

Pulmonary function

Doctors have observed that many patients with pectus excavatum tend to become symptomatic during their teenage years or early in adult life. Patients younger than 10 years who have pectus excavatum do not typically experience symptoms associated with shortness of breath. I began feeling my shortness of breath and difficulties when in high school during heavy exercise gym classes. I even spent 7 years in the military with decreased pulmonary function.

Cardiac function (All of this info is technical and here for a reason. You will see soon why. Please read it, it is informative for my disease.)

Displacement of the sternum in pectus excavatum can produce a deformity of the heart, with anterior indentation of the right ventricle. Early pathologic studies demonstrated this finding, and a series of early case reports included cardiac evaluations for patients with severe symptoms. Angiographic studies have demonstrated the sternal imprint on the anterior wall of the right ventricle.
Several studies have demonstrated limitation of cardiac stroke volume in patients with pectus excavatum, particularly in the sitting, or upright, position. When patients with pectus remain in the supine position (lying flat), no significant impairment to cardiac function is apparent. Further evidence has suggested that operative repair of pectus results in normalization of the cardiac function.

Physical

The hallmark of pectus excavatum is the caved-in appearance of the anterior chest. As mentioned above, the severity of the defect and the asymmetry of the chest widely vary. Patients may present with a very mild form of pectus excavatum or their sternum may be almost touching the spine. Typically, the lower third of the sternum is more involved, and the upper third may appear fairly normal. A compensatory anterior flaring of the lower ribs at each costal margin is also common. Many patients have associated scoliosis, but this is not directly related to the presence of pectus excavatum. My pectus is severe towards the middle and bottom. It crushes my heart and lungs but I do not think it touches my spine. At least not yet.

Auscultation of the chest: Heart sounds are typically displaced to the left side because of displacement and rotation of the heart. A click sound of mitral valve prolapse may be present. Lung sounds are clear, but the lung sounds may appear diminished at both bases because of decreased pulmonary volumes.
Pectus posture: The term pectus posture refers to the position assumed by most patients with significant pectus excavatum. They appear to create an anterior curvature of the thoracic spine with the shoulders slumped forward. Whether this is a subconscious maneuver to hide the chest wall deformity or a postural defect directly related to pectus excavatum is unclear. Such positioning of the spine appears to accentuate the pectus excavatum and can generate spine problems related to poor posture and inadequate spinal support. Correcting this posture is quite difficult, even after successful repair of the pectus excavatum.

Causes

The cause of pectus excavatum is unknown. It probably originates from a genetic defect that results in abnormal musculoskeletal growth. The cartilaginous portion of the rib is very likely the main source of this abnormal growth pattern. Abnormalities of rib morphogenesis and growth are the most likely causes of pectus excavatum and pectus carinatum. In pectus excavatum, the sternum is thought to be pushed in by abnormal growth at the articulation with the ribs and cartilage. Again, the exact mechanism that results in this abnormal growth pattern is not known. Increased work of breathing, as is observed in young patients during exercise or play activity, may contribute to the progression of the pectus deformity, particularly during early the teenage years. However, no scientific evidence supports such a theory. (Courtesy of eMedicine)

With all that medical mumbo jumbo said I come to my MIA status and why. (I am going to ASSUME a couple of weeks before my husband left this happened because it was the only time I really felt like crap.) I had been feeling overly tired lately and "off" so I decided to head on over to the doc and see what was up. I explained that I had thought I had a pulled muscle in my arm/shoulder and that the pain was in my chest too and it was making it hard to breathe sometimes. She didn't like my explaination nor did she like the way I looked. The nurse took my oxygen level because I was out of breath and it was 100%, my blood pressure was normal but they still wanted to do an EKG just to be "safe". I didn't care, I was just tired. Anything to lay down, it was easier to breathe and my chest didn't HURT when I was on my back. So they hook me up, do the test and the nurse looks at it, asks how old I am and then says she'll be right back. The doc comes in and says "No wonder you look like shit. Looks like you had a mild heart attack. Something going on in your life?" I explained to her about the hubby leaving and that I was a bit stressed out and all and I was like wait, what? And she said, oh it's probably nothing, let's do another EKG to make sure they put the probes in the right place. So the other nurse comes in, puts the probes in a different place, does the test and then just leaves me laying there still hooked up. By that point I am FREAKING out because she just LEFT. She comes back and says, ok, one more time. She does it one more time and then says "Yep, still the same, see?" And shows me the three tests that look totally normal to me. Like a graph with lines. Nothing. I know NOTHING about EKGs. They both come back into the room and say I have to go to the hospital RIGHT NOW and have more tests done to make sure I am not currently having a heart attack. I looked at them like they were on crack! I mean wouldn't I KNOW if I was having one?? Obviously NOT since I had already had at least one before that day.

So they order me a CT scan and chest xray to rule out anything abnormal in my lungs and off to the hospital I go. I was so scared. I got to my truck, called Mrs Paruser and said "I'm in trouble" and just started BALLING. Of course she was at my house shortly after I got there with her smiling face and her smiling baby. She came with me to the hospital and then went back to my house to be with my kids so I could go back to my doc for the results. Once I got the initial results of "not life threatening" I was so much better. I was given a few things to try to rule out the normal things like heart burn, acid reflux, asthma, etc but they didn't work. When I finally went back on Friday I was told I had some inflammation around my lungs and heart and was given some steroids to help with the inflammation and vicodin for the pain.

I have to have some pulmonary and cardiac function testing done now. I can, even at my age, have the surgery to correct the pectus IF that is what is causing my heart to "attack". All of the initial testing came back clear. No blocked arteries, nothing abnormal except for the fact there just isn't any room in there for me to GET sick if my body decides to. My heart is off to the side instead of in the middle of my chest. There is physical stress on it as well as all the mental and emotional stress I have in my normal, everyday life. Now I have to be careful because something triggered this and next time I just might feel it really good! Next time I might not be lucky enough to walk around just tired.

If you got this far, thank you for reading. If YOU have a story or know someone who does, please feel free to forward their story and a picture of them to me for another Awareness Wednesday to goudegirl03@aim.com