Lying on a beach.

At one point this year I thought I may be lying on a beach somewhere in the Mexican Caribbean this week.

It didn't happen.

Today, I feel very sulky about it.

I feel very sulky about lots of stuff: house not selling, Deak's monster attitude (5 days and counting), my general feeling of tiredness which leads to no exercise, no Chromosome 18 conference, no Lagoon Passes...all of it.

I've tried to cheer myself up. I've been cooking fancy dinners and getting lots of good hitting tips while watching the College Girls Fastpitch Softball games...

But...they are not close to comparable to where I thought I could be this moment.

I need a break.

I really do.

I also need an attitude check.

Excerpts from this Past Week.

Blair: "I think I need some butt cream (aka diaper rash ointment)."

Ab:  "I only poo twice a week, and not ever at my friend's houses."

ER Doctor #2:  "Do you drink any alcohol?"
Me:  "Highly considering it."

Ab:  "I don't need dinner, I just had two Popsicles and a slushee."
Me:  "You need to eat dinner; I made Ramen Noodles."

I guess it's suffice to say that the rope I'm hanging on is dangling by a thread.

Thank goodness the Housewives of New Jersey, Dog the Bounty Hunter and Billy the Exterminator are keeping me going.

Can it please be summer now?

The party that only had one eye.

One eye, tall and friendly.

Otherwise known as Muno.

Deak had a great birthday party.

We ventured out to our local fun center for bowling with family and Deak's best Chromosome 18 buddy.

The girls (Ab and I...Alisha and Emarie)

I love how Em always is giving Deak a "What in the world are you doing?" look.

Thank goodness for my sister, or I would not have any pictures of anyone but Deak.

We decided Deak would like riding in the race cars, which he did...until a lame giant teenage boy, in true teenage form, decided to ram full speed into the back of Deak and Blair's car.

Now...if he would've apologized...no brawl would've ensued.

But, he LAUGHED!

Really.

Blair was "just a little bit" fired up.

(And maybe me, and maybe my mom too).

In hindsight, we probably should've let it go.

But, when you're holding a screaming, hurt child and someone else thinks it's funny...emotional stability is not a priority.

Deak eventually recovered and I think Blair scared the life out of the six foot tall, ignorant teenager.

Deak and Blair went on the boats to literally and figuratively "cool off."

Deak loved the boats and loved the little boy who chased them around the entire time and sprayed water.

After all the excitement, we headed back to our house for pizza, presents and cupcakes.

Overall...the party was about four hours long.

Not nearly long enough to celebrate the life of the boy who brings more joy into my world than I previously knew possible.

I can't imagine my life without him or his sister; Ring 18 and all.

The Soccer Queen.

When Ab loves and wants something, she is willing to work super hard.

Soccer is no exception.

Ab also loves to win. Everything.

This season of soccer was not full of winning every game, but Ab had a great coach who taught the team how to play within their positions and together as a team. She really learned a ton. Ab was also able to be on the same team as some of her good friends from school, so that made everything even better!

#6 in the ever fashionable pink cleats

Blair "helping" Ab at Goalkeeper.  I'm not sure he could get any closer.

A well-deserved break.

Ab with her team and good friends Rachel and Abby D.

Ab earning her medal at the team medal ceremony (Abby was thrilled because the medal was "Made in China")

We can't wait for next year!

Mother's Day.

I've read several posts, and heard several mothers complaining of their hatred of Mother's Day.

I don't get it.  I love it.

Maybe I'm not humble and service-oriented enough; I quite enjoy a day of being spoiled and appreciated.

That, or those mothers did not wake up to this:

A nice blue can of coke.

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with extra whipping cream.

A picturesque beach view.

That cute Ab of mine sure knows how to please her mother.

(These were left on my decorated door).

I also got to share a delicious breakfast with roses and the "fancy" plates.

It was lovely, and I am not ashamed to admit that I loved every single second of it.

Turkey Hunt

To those of you who are visiting this blog for words of encouragement and wisdom from my beautiful and intelligent wife you are about to be sorely dissapointed.  This entry is a brief review of the animals once living that I recently made dead !  Last month I was invited to go to Texas for the Spring Turkey Hunt with the fellas. We ate like kings, used bad language and killed innocent animals. It was awesome !  I hope to make this precious man time an annual habit, sorry Jenny !

Good Things.

I have way cooler things to post about (Mother's Day, Deak's party, Ab's soccer), but that requires having time at home to download pictures and type. Quite frankly, by the time I have time to do that at home, it is around 9:30 and I don't really want to anymore. That is the time I like to sit/lie, eat junk food and watch my never-ending catch-up of favorite TV shows on my tivo.

So...better posts are coming.

But, not right now.

Right now I am sharing good news.

1.  I've eaten three cupcakes in twelve hours.  Good ones too (from the Sweet Tooth Bakery). If one has to drive to Riverton (2 hour total drive) to see a doctor, one must be rewarded.

2.  Deak has had a liver ultrasound and met with a fabulous (seriously loved him) Pediatric GI specialist.  The liver ultrasound was clear for tumors (my biggest fear)...Yay!! The liver enzymes are still elevated, but not comparable to the extreme amount of elevation seen the past two weeks.  This leads the doctor to believe Deak got some strange viral illness that severely affected his liver functioning. Do we know what it is? No. Probably never will. Do we know if it will happen again? No...probably never will be able to guess. Mr. Deak leaves lots of variables open for us, and that's okay. I'm just so relieved things seems to be looking better.  They will draw more blood again (yes, he gets blood drawn A LOT) in a month to check his enzymes.  If they are still elevated, they will do a liver biopsy. 

My bet is on Deak...I feel he will be fine.

3.  Sometimes I do such a good job of recognizing every milestone Deak hits, and I neglect to mention that my Abby hits some pretty cool ones too. Abby usually accepts this and understands how hard Deak works to get to where he's going...but, for this second I want to recognize her.  Ab has blossomed this year in so many ways; they are truly countless. Academics have become a priority to her, and she works really hard to make sure that she learning well.  You'd be surprised to find what one learns in second grade now; Ab can solve for variables, do fractions, and read/comprehend just about any book on the market.  We got some testing back yesterday which indicated Abby is reading (fluently) at a sixth grade level.  Pretty.Stinking.Cool.  She is a proud girl, and I am an overwhelmingly proud mother.

4. WOW!!!! I have been blindsided by the onslaught of generosity from my friends and family who have participated in the fundraiser I mentioned about a month ago for Deak.  I have felt your prayers, and believe they have helped carry Deak and my family through a difficult few weeks.  Each time I've opened the mailbox and found a card, I've not been able to fight back the tears. Your kind words have touched my heart in ways that you will never know. Each donation has been significant. I will be sending personal notes to you all, but I wanted to publicly share my deepest, deepest thanks. I love every single one of you.

So happy to be on the bright side of things this morning, I hope you all are too.

Off to finish my breakfast of a half-eaten blueberry cupcake, and diet coke.

(Now...that's a good breakfast.)