The Wax Museum

The 2nd Graders at Cline elementary hosted a Wax Museum last Thursday night. It was a great event, with so many historical characters there telling their own stories! My favorite, of course, was Abraham Lincoln (who suspiciously resembled my own Cooper Addison..both handsome guys I tell ya!) I am so mad because I thought I got a video of Elvis also. His performance was priceless! But alas, there seems to only be a still shot of him. This guy looks exactly like Cooper's best friend, Christian. Except that Christian is a blondie and dresses much more conservatively. Betsy Ross was also a favorite of mine...she very closely resembles little miss EmmaLee Davis, Cooper's betrothed (at least in my world she is! wink wink)

That Abe Lincoln guy, he is pretty amazing! What's funny is that Jordyn wanted to be him when she did a wax museum in 5th grade. Cross-dressing wasn't allowed so she "settled" for being Mary Todd Lincoln, Abe's wife. Then Cooper, not knowing any of that was emphatic from the beginning that he was choosing Abe Lincoln. Hmmmm...I always quote him, (scroll down to the bottom of my blog to see one of his sayings) and am very fond of the man. Wonder what our "connection" is to him. I do know that we gotta give "props" to Uncle Jimmy for the, well, props! He did a fabulous job on that hat! The rest was pretty simple and easy to come by with just a swipe of a card and a signature from me! My momma taught me to be resourceful, you know... And like Abe said, "All I am or ever hope to be I owe to my mother!" And what an angel mine is! I say to Abe, "hear, hear!"

Bring on the Rain!

But, to tell the truth, I am hoping for sunny skies and clear sailin' this week! As you may know, I have been ill. Instead of the illness running its usual course and me getting better, I have just stayed sick. Bummer. Then, I had a CT scan that required further investigation. And then the further investigation required even further investigation. So, today, I am going for my first mammogram! Joy! I am not 40 yet, so it is a little early to be getting one, but I'll humor the dr. Then, later this week I will be having a liver biopsy to check out that stuff they saw on the CT scan. It is all a little scary, I must admit. However, nothing is ever SERIOUSLY wrong with me...I just get odd little syndromes that few other people get. Usually it is just a little black rain cloud in my otherwise sunshine-y life! It is interesting that when faced with difficulty, I tend to get weak in the knees, and end up on them a lot more than usual! Could this be the reason for my obstacles? To remind me Who is in control? To remind me that I need better communication with my Father in Heaven? Nah...it's just this dang physical body! I can hardly wait for the day (but I will wait...years and years and years) til I no longer have to be constrained by limitations of this particular defective body! But ya know, life is terminal...like the rain, it is inevitable, and neccessary for growth and further development and beauty! The rain never lasts forever (although I bet Noah and his family started to wonder!)...and though there are usually some indictors that it is going to shower, you never know for sure if you're going to get rain or not. So, in short life's forecast is this: terminal, with a chance of LIVING!!!!

Blood letting and other romanticism (February 4th)

Jordyn and I recently watched Pride and Predjudice...the original 5 hour version. I love that movie, and really any movie based on that time period. I love the 1800s. Everyone and everything was so genteel. So proper. It was Jordyn's first time watching it. I got the dvds for Christmas, and I insisted one day when I wasn't feeling well that she sit and watch with me.

And there has been plenty of not feeling well lately... I have been dealing with a urinary tract infection. You probably know that I LOATHE going to the doctor. Hate it. So, as soon as I realized I had an infection, I started taking natural remedies. The burning stopped, and I thought it was over. Then, at the Charleston Tea Room, I started feeling worse. I decided it was time for the doctor. I went today and indeed, the infection is in my kidneys and so I am going to be on antibiotics, which I also HATE! He said I should feel better in 48 hours after starting the meds. THAT I am looking forward to.

Speaking of looking forward...Elli started wearing her reverse face mask..she loves wearing it, except when she sleeps, but is being a real trooper. Her desire for medical devices is coming in real handy right now!

Maybe Todd could use some of the desire, because I think he may need a pacemaker real soon :0) I don't know if his heart can handle having a dating age daughter! Jordyn is listed on facebook as "in a relationship with Zachary Joseph Nelson." And, what can I say? I love em both. They are so cute together and so proper. They'd have done well in the 19th century.

Oh, to have lived then. Propriety was the norm. Women were women. Men were men. Doctors were...barbers! Did you know that? When you were sick, you went to the barber for blood-letting. That is why they have those poles with the red and white stripes. To inform the public that they were skilled in blood-letting. The white represents bandages and the red...blood! Well, on second thought, maybe I just like to learn about the 19th century...peeing in a cup is bad enough. I wonder how much blood they'd drain for a kidney infection... I am starting to feel real glad about those anitibiotics! In fact, I'll wrap this up now so I can waddle to my car and drive over to the "Apothecary" and pick up my "remedy" at the window. For now, I will keep my blood where it should be: inside my body. I'll keep watching movies, and pretending that everything about life was romantic then.

Lost teeth and Found appliances

Little boy finally lost his first tooth! He is so excited! He is the last one in his class to lose one...and he thinks he can feel another wiggly one now, too!



In related news, Elli Noel found out that her top jaw is growing at a slower rate than her bottom jaw...and so, for starters, she got this great new appliance yesterday! It's name is expander. We have to turn it with a special key every night for 14 days. Then, hopefully it will have opened up her teeth a little. On February 4th, she will be the proud owner of a reverse face mask. She will wear it to bed every night for a year. At the end of the whole process, her face shape will be different, her smile will be more beautiful than ever, her teeth perfect, and I think she is going to waste away to nothing because eating is pretty difficult right now! Now, if they could promise it would shrink my nose, I'd definitely get one for myself!

New year, new computer, new post

So, for Christmas, I got a new laptop, and a vinyl machine. I also got a 16 year old, a 9 year old and 15 years married! We had a party about every other weekend...and if you've been to a Baker party, you know they are no small affair. In short, I am pooped! We had lots of Johnson family visitors (the best gift of all!), and lots of friends. I will post pictures of the parties, the birthday girls, the husband (and son, for good measure), sometime in the new year. I make no promises of the exact date. Tomorrow is Sunday, and I am going to have a day of rest. The next day is Monday, the kids go back to school (bummer) and I will have a day of rest. Then Tuesday- day of rest. And Wednesday, Thursday, Friday...well, you get the idea! Then, once I feel rested, I will think about downloading and sharing pictures. And btw, I have a large stack of Christmas cards on the desk waiting to be sent. I am sorry you haven't received one yet. I just couldn't find the time. I do love ya'll and hope your holidays were merry and bright. And, I hope you got a lot of rest. If not, take the week off just like me...you deserve it!

New direction

Ok, so I have been wanting a change...and now I've got one! We rearranged the house. Like, moved the family room to the study, piano to the old family room, and the bookcases and club chair to the old formal living. Here are some pictures for you to see! Well, I am not the best photographer...I will try to get better ones later. This one is of a table that Todd built in literally 3 and 1/2 hours. Who knew? He's been holdin out on me...

If you are worried about Todd's face, it actually looks better than it has in a while. He is using a cancer cream on his face for pre-cancerous lesions. Poor guy. Looks really painful.

And, if you are worried about Elli and her crutches...don't be. Well, you can worry about Elli, but the crutches are only for show! She hurt her ankle after visiting our friend who had surgery on her ankle. She was in a cast and wheelchair and had crutches...on the walk home, Elli's ankle started hurting very bad. By the time we got home, she had to pull out the standby crutches. We are expecting a speedy recovery...in about 2 weeks...the same time it will take Christen to heal. It's all apart of living in Oz, folks!