Transitions and Glasses

My friend toemi posted a question about transitions lenses for glasses... My commnet to her was getting to be more like a book so I figured I'd just post about it.

Jeffrey recently got Transitions lenses for his glasses. They are great because I don't have to remind him to switch glasses to sunglasses or vice versa when out and about. He says they change pretty quickly now from light to dark, only about a minute to lighten up some and then only a few more to lighten completly when going inside. They darken just about instantaneously when he walks outside too which is great. He says he never has to squint so that must be good.
He only has one complaint about them. They do not stay dark in the car. The sales lady says the lenses need UV rays to change but the car windows are treated so UV rays won't be problematic.
Also, when Jeffrey got his last pair of glasses he made a frame change. This was a huge deal for him because he's always had oval shaped wire rimmed frames. This time the sales lady and I convinced him to go with a more rectangular fame that is a thin black plastic rim. They look great on him but it did take him a while to get used to the look/feel.

Hope the info helps toemi...

Tough Question

Last night, Jeffrey had a meeting so Ian and I went to IHOP for dinner.
While at dinner I explained to Ian that I needed to go to Target for
some baby shower presents and game things. He wanted to know who had the
baby. So I explained that this shower was being held before the baby is
here and I explained that it's for our neighbor's son's girlfriend
(nsg).
Well he had a bunch of questions about the baby, at first they were like
when will it be here? In a few more weeks I told him. Will I get to see
it? So I told him I'm sure the proud grandma will bring her over or let
us come over to meet her. Where will the baby live? Well she'll live
with nsg and her parents but will visit ns on the weekends.
Then they got a bit tougher... Well how are they having a baby if ns and
nsg aren't married? Well sometimes people do things they shouldn't
before they are married (just my opinion). Well wasn't the neighbor mad?
At first she was mad with her son but then she realized the baby was
coming all the same and wanted to be able to see the baby and her son.
Well why are we having a party for something they shouldn't have done?
Um, stumped for a minute on this one... Couldn't believe all this was
coming from my 6yo. Well Ian, we want to make sure the baby will have
things she needs, diapers/formula/bottles/wipes because ns/nsg won't
have a lot of money to be getting things for her.
Then he asked if he could pick some things out. Oh my gosh... He would
have gone nuts would I have let him. It was very sweet. He picked her
out a pretty pink soft geek (magic fleece blanket, geek is just an
Ian-ism), then he picked her out a pink little cat, a pack of pink
onesies and finally a bright colored teething ring toy. Along the way
though he wanted to know if she would need shoes, so I told him no she
wouldn't need those for a while. He also picked out some sippy cups but
I told him she wouldn't need those for about a year, how about we pack
up the ones you don't use and just save them for her. He wanted to know
if she would need a bath tub and I told him our neighbor had already
gotten one. The last thing he asked about is if she would need a stool
to climb on to reach stuff. All I could do is smile and say no buddy she
won't need that for at least a couple years so we'll just save yours
since you don't need it anymore.
It was a very sweet trip to Target but also hard with all the questions.
And I don't know what was harder, knowing how good a big brother he'd be
and can't, or answering the questions.

Anyone Want Two Cats?

No really you wouldn't want these two... they pee on stuff in the house and generally drive my husband crazy.

Don't know what we are going to do. We've already had to throw away a mattress (along with the comfy foam topper and the comforter), a throw rug, and now a futon mattress).

I love the cats but I can't have the house smelling of nasty cat pee. Yuck!!!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

PS this has not always been a problem... only the last few months... and they still do go to the litter box it's just like they forget to always go there. Frustrating.

Quote

OK, so after my realization the other day and then my daddy's email... I watched Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban. In it the headmaster Albus Dumbledore has this to say to the entire school "But you know happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to turn on the light."

Three reminders in one day that I need to look towards the good.

Two Choices

Today I realized that part of my problems right now may be that my
depression is grabbing hold again. It scares me because I'm not sure why -
other times it has been a specific event... miscarriage, post-partum
depression after my son was born or after my tubal pregnancy.
I mentioned this to a friend today and she said maybe if I tried to focus on
the positive things that are in my life (that they are there and maybe I
just need to focus on them). Then I get home and the following was in my
inbox from my Daddy. Funny how things like this happen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
READ THIS - LET IT REALLY SINK IN - THEN CHOOSE.

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and
always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was
doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how
to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked
him, "I don't get it!

You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

He replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices
today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can choose to be in a
bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood."

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can
choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their
complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the
positive side of life.

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

"Yes, it is," he said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the
junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations.
You choose how people affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your
choice how you live your life."

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to
start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I
made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident,
falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from
the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins
Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his
mind as the accident took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my
soon-to-be born daughter," he replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I
remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could
choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.

He continued, "..the paramedics were great.

They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into
the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I
got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed
to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said John.
"She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and
nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and
yelled, 'Gravity'."

Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as
if I am alive, not dead."

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his
amazing attitude... I learned from him that every day we have the choice to
live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34.

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

You have two choices now:

01. Ignore this.

02. Forward it to the people you care about.

You know the choice I made.

Gardening and Yard Work

Yesterday both Jeffrey and I worked outside in the yard all day.
Jeffrey mowed the grass twice since it had grown so much and was still a
little wet in spots. The first time he went one direction to cut it and
then the second time he went the other direction and used the bagger so
we didn't have all that cut grass laying on the pretty lawn. All his
hard work on the lawn paid off cause it looks great - very green, very
soft and about 95% weed free. (Unfortunately can't do much about that
other 5% cause our neighbors don't care for their lawn.)
I helped out by doing the weed-whacking and edging. I love his Black &
Decker grass hog... It's cordless so no chasing/un-knotting/pulling on a
long cord and it does both of those jobs (edging and whacking).
Unfortunately once I got all the edging done I had to charge the battery
before I could do around the house/gardens/trees/shed. So while it was
charging I weeded our veggie garden area to get it ready for planting in
a couple weeks. That was not a fun job, it was full of carpet weed that
didn't want to let go. Once I was done, Jeffrey borrowed our neighbors
tiller attachment for the weed whacker to give the soil a good turn -
looks pretty good this year I don't think we'll have to add anything to
it. While he did that I finished up the weed-whacking.
Then it was clean up time. Thankfully.
All that time, Ian was playing in the neighborhood. He and the neighbors
boy played on either Ian's swing set or next door and each time they
switched they were sure to tell us where they were headed. When they
needed drinks or a snack they just went inside to get it. It was great
and I think he's enjoying his independence. This is really the first
year we are giving him that freedom and it's saving us a bit of money
because we used to hire the girl down the street to be a mother's helper
for the afternoon.
(PS... Yes I know I still need to take pictures to share... This is my
reminder again.)
TTFN
Pamela Lynn

Cracker Barrel Trip

On Saturday we drove two hours (on a normal trip) away to Fredericksburg. It is the halfway point between here and my in-laws house. They didn't get to see Ian on Easter and wanted to see him and give him his basket. When we meet like this we stop for lunch a Cracker Barrel. Thankfully it wasn't busy because Ian had been complaining he was hungry since we'd left the house.
It was pouring rain so the trip was not fun, plus all the people who took their Spring Break in the south were heading home on 95. Thankfully Jeffrey was driving because I don't do well in Thunderstorms.
Ian had his normal, pancakes and a scrambled egg and he ate the whole thing. After we ate lunch, we shopped a bit because they were having 50 percent off to clear the store out for summer stuff. Then Ian and his Grandma sat in the back of Grandpa's van to open his basket. After we said our good-byes we headed for home... even though it was pouring so hard you couldn't see the car in front of you we made it home in about 2 3/4 hours... Understandably Jeffrey was exhausted so he took a nap.

TGIF!

Been a long week. a couple things happened at home this week that I have not posted about, didn't really want to until I knew things would be OK.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First I finally figured out what my "mother's curse" is... Ian's clutziness. There is no doubt that he got it from me. By the time I was his age I'd broken 5 bones, I was just that clutzy. Anyhow, Ian fell twice last week at school on the playground and got huge goose eggs each time. We thought he was OK at first but after the second one he got a lot quieter/less active than normal and he was really complaining about the resulting headache. So I took him to the doctor yesterday, I probably should have brought him sooner but we thought it would be OK. The doctor sent him for a CT Scan this morning. Yesterday was killing me, no answers, Ian's got a headache, he's afraid of this thing called a CT scan...
Well this morning we went to the hospital to get the CT scan done. The tech that we had was wonderful, already wrote her a thank you note and need to send it out. She was very calming but also upbeat which was very reassuring. She talked with Ian and got him used to the room. When we talked about his hair because it was sticking up I mentioned that it's his new Luke Skywalker hair-do, so she called him that the rest of the time, which he loved. Jeffrey stayed with Ian to hold his hand and I went with her in the little booth room. He thought it was cool, like going through a portal on Hot Wheels World Race/Acceleracers, had a thumbs up the whole time she took the pictures. When it was done Ian asked if he could have some pictures of his brain to show his friends and she gladly let him pick a couple out... he picked one of his scull, thought it was cool that you can see all his grown up teeth... then he picked one of his brain that actually looks like a smiley face. It's cool.
Once that was done she let us go home. For now I'm taking that as good news because the doctor yesterday had said it was a good sign if they let you go without seeing the radiologist.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Second, is Jeffrey's school for his Master's degree. He's been going on-line and doing this year-long program. He was supposed to be done on Saturday.... unfortunately his school advisor informed him that because he has two C grades, he cannot graduate... doesn't matter that he tried to contest one of them because the professor was not helpful and because he only failed the midterm and got 100%'s on all his other course work... he didn't contest it soon enough, must have been done the semester immediately following that course which was two semesters ago... doesn't matter that he still has a 3.64 even with those two grades and that the rule in the handbook says you will get the degree as long as you have above a 3.0... doesn't matter that the professor doesn't work there anymore because of all the complaints the school received about him...
On Monday when Jeffrey got the news, he was frustrated/disappointed and angry... me, well I was disappointed too (we've looked forward to him being done it's been a long year) but I couldn't show it at home... thankfully I've had some friends that have let me vent about it else I would have gone insane... On Tuesday, he swore he wouldn't retake the course even if it meant he wouldn't get his masters after all the other hard work.
Finally on Wednesday he had calmed enough to realize he needs to take the course so he registered. This will be his final semester, he gets a week off before it begins and he will graduate on my bday (June 24th). I'm that he has to take it over again... but I'm glad he's calmed enough to take the course. Here is a new countdown... just for Jeffrey cause I'm so proud of all the hard work he's done!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sorry so long...
TTFN
Pamela Lynn

Shout Out ~ Blogging Chicks

Hey all,
I'm a blogging chick now. it isn't really hard to join in the fun... you just have to be a woman and have a blog that meets the following no porn, no hate sites, no excessive profanity, no spam)... click here to join... My Life Under the Sun.
TTFN
Pamela Lynn

Lost Tooth

Ian has been hanging onto this loose tooth for weeks now. Finally the other day when Jeffrey was brushing his teeth Ian told him to stop because his tooth hurt. So Jeffrey stopped and told him he must pull it out because that's why it hurt. So Ian got it out in one try but this time it was very bloody, very unlike his first two that he lost.

Ian was not happy with that at all. The taste was making him gag, poor guy. (Here he is in the bathroom showing off his new empty space.)

Finally distracted him from worrying about it by taking him to rent a game at Blockbuster. That made his day.

Egg Hunting

After we were all awake/showered/had breakfast on Sunday morning, which was amazingly late in the morning because we all slept till about 10:15 or so, I went outside to hide Ian's Easter eggs.
Fortunately, the day before Jeffrey and I had planted so flowers in a couple of the gardens (I should really take some pics of our gardens and post just about them, this is my reminder) so that gave me a few extra places to hide things. I put seven of them in the front yard and the other seven in the back. Once I was done hiding the eggs, I went in to get Ian and my camera.
Ian wasn't doing too well at first with finding the eggs. Walked around the front yard without checking the gardens. Walked by the dogwood and the shed without noticing the eggs. He found the couple that I had put on the swingset and kind of just stood there.
So trying to be nice, I just went near each of the rest of the eggs and held my camera up to take the pictures. He got the hint although a couple of times Jeffrey had to tell him to look harder (as a matter of fact Jeffrey wouldn't have even found a couple of them had I not pointed them out).
Here are some pictures from Ian's egg hunt (click to make them larger if you would like):

Easter Eggs

Saturday night Ian and I colored the Easter Eggs and Jeffrey ran to get my camera to take some pictures. That makes it a major event. Lol. He dislikes using the camera, especially the one he got me for Christmas because he doesn't know how to use it. I did have to help him a bit by opening the flash (the one thing I don't like about the is that it doesn't happen automatically other than that it's awesome). Anyhow, here are some pics of Ian and me (clicking on them should make them larger if you like.


With my son's gag reflex, I was very glad to find out I had gotten the kind of egg coloring that did not require the use of vinegar. That is something I will admit I hadn't though to check out when I picked up the colors at Walgreens earlier in the day.


Ian did an awesome job helping to color the eggs. He didn't splash when he stirred the color or poured the extra water in after the tab dissolved. He didn't even splash or get it on his fingers when putting the eggs in. His favorites were the green and blue. He was not too thrilled with the pink but I thought those turned out the best.

This last picture reminds me to mention that Ian has a new silly dance. Don't know where he came up with it but he does it when he's happy/just to be silly. Isn't he adorable?

Communications Skills

Last Friday for work I went to a four hour class on communication skills. We are getting ready to go through some major changes regarding the personnel system (evaluations, pay increases, etc) so they are having us do all these courses on accepting change and how to communicate. The hope is that we will understand better what is going on.
Friday's Communications Skills course was interesting. Definetly brought me out of my shell to say the very least during a couple of the participation parts.
First one was that we had to go around the room and find people for 6 appointment times. Once we had our 6 names the fun began... we had to go find each of those people at the appointed time (which was listed on the board) and discuss the question for on the board for two minuetes. I did OK, it was a little hard since I'm so shy and I only knew one person in the room. She was amazed that I wasn't even asking her to be one of the six people.
Once that exercise was done we did a DISC Personality Profile test. It's a 96 question test where for each box you list whether it is most like you or least like you. Then you graph it out in comparison to the norm or average (not sure which term would be more appropriate). I am a "C" (actually highest on the graph)and my next highest was "S". I'm way below average for "I" and "D". Once everyone had their graphs we went through strengths/weaknesses for each. "C's" are Cautious/Competent/Compliant/Careful. I had to agree with those and also with my weaknesses... need to be more positive and enthusiastic.
Once we'd gone through all that he requested that we talk to someone the oposite of us. So as a "CS" I went in search of a "DI" and I knew exactly who to go to because of her answers/comments during the class. The younger girl accross the room. The teacher was even impressed that I'd gone way out of my comfort zone to do that. (I'd been sitting in the back corner and he'd known exactly where I'd fall on the test.)
All in all it was a good course. I'm having fun now categorizing some of my co-workers. It will help me to communicate better with them. I'd also love for Jeffrey to take the test and would not be surprised to find out I'm married to an "ID" type person. ;)

Mom's Surgery

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that my mom was hurt while skiing. She tore her ACL (had to look it up... anterior cruciate ligament).
Well today she had her surgery. Dad said it went well, the doctor was able to repair the tear. The surgeon said this was a common ski injury.
My dad worries that she'll go back and get hurt again. I'm sure she'll go back and I'll just have to pray she doesn't get hurt.

Update iMood...

I no sooner posted about my bleh mood than Ian came in and gave me a huge hug, along with Eskimo and Butterfly kisses. My son knows me sooo well. He said they were just because... Gotta love him!
TTFN
Pamela Lynn

Bleh

Happy Monday... I should be happier... it's my Monday off and Ian choose to stay home with me rather than go to daycare (yes it was a choice we let him make). But instead I'm just bleh...
So I was blog surfing via blog mad... and one of the bloggers had a link to her mood on . I thought it was pretty neat and I added it to my side bar but thought I would also post about it.
It keeps a history of your selected moods, I'm thinking that might be neat to look back at.
TTFN
Pamela Lynn

Ian's Favorite Shows

Ian has three favorite shows... Teen Titans, Justice League Unlimited and Static Shock. They were family friendly. Jeffrey and I even enjoyed watching them with him. On Saturday nights when new episodes were on we would curl up on the couch together to watch.
One by one they have been removed from the line up at Cartoon Network. We've emailed CN before about each of the shows being removed but today I found an address to write to them about Teen Titans. I've added a link/button to it on the sidebar.
Still keeping my fingers crossed that some new episodes will be made and it will be returned to the programming at CN.

Layout: Soccer

This is a three page spread, the first page is cut so that you can see the team picture on the third page. The border is from a sister swap on Scrapshare.

Layout: Busch Gardens

This is the other technique I demonstrated. The instructions are from a Mystery Page on Scrapshare. When everyone saw it done they couldn't believe I was making it look so simple but then as they tried it they realized that it wasn't as hard as they thought.

Layout: Snack Bath Bed

This is Ian's nightly routine, it has been since he was two weeks old. I'm so glad that I finally got to put it in his book. I love the pictures of him in this layout, he's such a little ham.

Layout: Ft Monroe

If I had to pick one layout that was my absolute favorite from the ones I did this weekend, this one would be it! I love the way it turned out, the picture frames are great, I think I did a good job on cutting Ian out of the one picture and mounting it on the blue paper, I love his little footprints in the sand, and I love the memories of that day since we were the only ones on the beach that early.

Layout: Bright Colors

This layout is based on an idea in Lasting Moment magazine. At first the ladies around me couldn't understand why I picked such bright colors but then they realized the colors match the towel Ian was using. I really like the way this one turned out.

Layout: Checkers

This layout would probably be a great candidate for doing a kaliedoscope look but I think I like it just the way it is and it kind of has the same effect.

Layout: Fourth of July

Throughout the weekend there were contests for favotite layouts (difficult, most pictures, most colorful, etc.). I won a ribbon for most difficult for this layout - the fireworks around the egde are pictures (taken in multi-burst mode on my old camera), I punched them out and layed them out like a film strip. It took me about an hour and a half to finish this layout, that's a pretty long time for me.

Here's my ribbon:

Layout: Water Park

This one is based on a Sketch at one of the sites I visit. Unfortunately the sketch picture is no longer available so I can't post a link.

Layout: Catching Waves

I was told by several people that I should submit the top right photo on the left page to a contest because in it you can see Ian's perfect relection in the water and his shadow next to him. I have to admit the sight of this when I first looked at the picture kind of freaked me out because I wasn't expecting it.

Retreat

Last weekends retreat was awesome. I got a lot done and had time to relax too. Everyone was very appreciative of the techniques I taught and I was tickled that they tried them, I wish I'd taken more pictures of everyone holding up their results. I really come out of my shell with this group of women.
I got 35 layouts done this weekend, which is pretty good. I'll share a few of them in the next posts.

How Selfish Are You?

Just wantd to post quick... thought this quiz was cute...

I'm working on my post from the retreat weekend but it may have to wait until I can take some pictures of the layouts I did while I was there.

You Are 24% Selfish

In general, you are a very giving person who treats others very well. But at times, you insist on getting your way - when it matters most to you.

How Selfish Are You?

Retreat Class

This weekend at the retreat, my Creative Memories Consultant asked me to help out by demonstrating a couple techniques. I've been working on getting my handouts ready for one of them, she printed out instructions on the other.
This Photo Frame technique was taught to me by an *on-line* friend that I got to meet in real life a month or so ago because we only live about an hour away from each other.
Here are picture of some of the samples I came up with for the class.

Update - Journaling

Back in January I had posted that I was pretty far behind in getting my journaling done in Ian's scrapbook.
On Tuesday night, I finished it up. Then last night I put page protectors on the pages and put the pages in albums (it finished one album and completely filled a second). My original goal had been to finish it up by mid Feb - I missed that one by a long shot. But I'm still proud of this accomplishment, especially since I'm going to a scrap beach retreat this weekend. My new goal is to get caught up on the 10 months that I'm behind on getting layouts done, all that journaling brought me up to June of last year. Hopefully I'll make a good dent in that this weekend! ;)
Here are a few of my favorite layouts from what I got caught up on...

Lost Dr Seuss Poem

Wasn't sure what to write today so when a friend sent me this I thought I would share.

Thunderstorms

My third biggest fear (first two are losing Ian or Jeffrey) is
thunderstorms. Yesterday afternoon we had some large storms roll
through. Fortunately they stopped long enough to go get Ian and get
home. Then about 8 o'clock they started up again. They were awful. You
couldn't even count the second between a strike of lightening and the
roaring thunder, meaning that the lightening strikes were right there. I
try very hard not to let Ian know I'm afraid because I've always thought
that fear is a learned thing. Well last night, Ian wasn't liking them at
all. We recently moved his bed to the front of the house and that's
where the most wind/rain was hitting. So he came into my room to ask if
I would let him lay in there with me. I had not been planning on going
to sleep so I was a little aggravated but put that aggravation aside
because it would not help the situation. Jeffrey came up to see why Ian
was out of bed and I told Jeffrey that Ian was not liking this storm.
Then I asked Jeffrey to please watch Ian while I brushed my teeth and
took my medicine. While I was in the bathroom, Jeffrey in all his
brilliance told Ian that I'm afraid of the storms. Ugh! I was so mad!
Then Jeffrey reminded Ian that it was just the angels bowling, so Ian
started counting their strikes. So I wasn't sure to be mad or glad that
Jeffrey had given something to distract Ian. Never got a chance to tell
Jeffrey how upset I was at him for telling Ian of my fear, not sure he
would even care, which is (I think )what bugs me more.
So today I'm working on very little sleep and still slightly irritated.
Yay!

TTFN
Pamela Lynn