December 2005 Friendship Flower

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Barb, I wish you well in your church situation. I know that you have been hit in a few areas. I know it is difficult not to take some of it personally.

DeBora, my big DS wants to see all the pics you take at Roswell! If only you were going to "Area 51" as well, his day would be complete! I wish you safe travels & I hope you feel better soon!

If I am ever in Arizona, I will send pictures of area 51. Roswell does have a wide assortment of Area 51 tee-shirts and other such stuff. The parking lots at fast food restaurants and the like have signs saying, "UFO Parking Only." LOL I'll try to get pictures of them as well. The main bank there has "UFO" lights at night all year round. There is a UFO museum, as well a few really cool souvineer stores. However, the site where the actual "UFO" crashed is miles and miles outside of town on the opposite side than Carlsbad. We went there once, and it is a dirt road with a sign telling tourists that this is the way to where the UFO crashed. The locals say that the sign is misleading as the real crash site is no where near there. LOL I personally think it was a cover up by the air base personnel as maybe a top secret flying machine may have crashed. They don't even have the accurate crash date and neve will as noone knows when it actually crashed. One person found it and turned it in to the sheriff at that time. The sheriff sat on it for a few days, unconcerned, until he called the air base there at the time and asked them if they were missing any equipment or planes. The next thing that happened was the military was there and forced the owner of the land off his property and they took everything out in covered tarps. People in Roswell are still torn as to what "it" was. LOL

One thing is for sure, the city of Roswell has sure capitalized on that ever since. Their Walmart has an alien instead of a smiley face. Their street lights are in the shape of aliens. So, if you are ever in the Carlsbad/Roswell area, you have to go see the museum in Roswell as well as the Caverns and bat flight as well as the drive-in theater. If you are ever here let me know and I'll give you the link to the drive-in so you'll know what it playing. There is also the Living Desert, which holds all kinds of critters. We always took our kids when they were growing up when we were on our way to the mountains.

I will try to take pictures of everything that I think your son will be interested in and will share them as soon as I get the film developed.

I don't know if I'll talk to you all before the site comes back up or not. I leave for Roswell as 7am. If I know my doctor, like I think I do, my 10am appointment, will end up being a 2-3pm appointment. LOL Poor DH will get off at about 6am. I will do the driving. I am going to beg NOT to have the sedation so I won't have to wait around for the recovery period. They will accomodate me if it is left up to the doctor. I have a houeful of company coming tomorrow, so I'll be back on when I can.

I hope everyone enjoys the holiday season!

[bluebird]

Good morning all! It is cold and a little cloudy here today. Kids are making sugar cookies. They have worked so hard this year so I am giving them this week off school. I think they will be too bored to take next week off. LOL

I have a delema. My FIL called the other night to tell dh that Christmas with them will be in Jan.
1) it is always in Jan
2) we don't attend as they refuse to work with us ... safe food and a safe place for dd. that is NO peanut or nut residue.
3) the reason for Christmas in Jan is the two nephews who are in the service will be stateside

My thoughts are.... dangleing a carrot? Trying to make us feel guilty? None of the inlaws will step foot into our home. Still no safe food at the dinner. FIL has told us before that we can't expect him to tell everyone NO peanuts or nuts or seeds at a family dinner!! You HAVE to have pb on celery. Plus we never take dd to a church, nut residue everywhere in any chruch. FYI........nut residue is oily and hard to clean to get rid of it all.

I would love to see our nephews but..... not at the expense of my dd. I have no plans of backing down about the peanut allergies. Plus even with as well as dd is doing with her JRA, she could not stand up for that long. She would need to lie down a little. I am thinking of saying something to the SILs..... that we will be home that day if anyone would like to visit us. BUT it takes 12 hours to get peanut/nuts off your breath.... so if they eat peanuts/nuts they can't visit us anyway. I could talk to FIL downtown, in front of others ( yeah kindsa mean) and go on and on and on about how much we would LOVE to attend but poor Jazz...... with all the peanuts and nuts the church has and the residue plus the pecan pie .... it woudl be much too dangerous... what if something would happen to Jazz.....?

Really what I want to say is...... If you want us at family dinners then it HAS to be peanut/nut free and NO residue. Now grow the ______ up and deal with and quit bugginhg me and whining about it. This is the way it is so change or shut the _______ up.

Like any of the REALLY care if we are there OR see the boys? No one will give us an address so we can stay in contact with them when they are overseas. Like the boys themselves attempt to stay in contact???

Why am I even concerned about this? The family doesn't care...........FIL likes to try to blackmail us......

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Connie, I am a bit lost, how old is your DD and what is the problem with nuts on people's breath?

Are nuts being served separate that the rest of the meal or is there a chance the nuts and their oils are getting mixed in with the rest of the meal?

Is there a chance that you can stay at a motel and eat out, but visit before or after a meal?

[jrztomato]

Good morning all

DeBora..my DD (Holly) had the nerve block done on her back a few times..She had suffered a fall and had several discs that caused her severe pain..It can last from a week to a year...one she had only lasted a few months the others she had relief from for over a year..each time she was only in recovery about l/2 hr..I would pick her up and we would go out for lunch..so she didn't suffer any effects of the procedure..She is the DD that used the little black box(forget what it is called) for pain relief and meds also.
Barbszy glad you decided to sing and play at the service...and am still keeping your school situation in pray.
So far my cat hasn't bothered my tree..Harley (my last one) always played with the balls on the lower branches and broke a few..but Jerry couldn't care less about it..My big concern is my nativity set..it is big and has several pieces..I made it in the Hummel technique back in '82 and each pc. has the date and my initials on it..I have no way of replacing a piece if he breaks one..I awoke the other day and he was standing in the middle of it..He had to jump from the dining room table over to the stereo(where it is) and usually when he jumps he slides..I have no idea how he managed this jump without disturbing a thing.
I guess the Lord was watching out for it...
Short on time this a.m. so know all that I have read the posts and hope you all have a great day..oh and Mom2-4, the girls are adorable...thanks for sharing..

[bluebird]

Connie, I am a bit lost, how old is your DD and what is the problem with nuts on people's breath?

Dd reacts to airborne allergens (think smell), ingestion (eating) and touch (absorbing oils thru the skin). She can not be were there are peanuts/nuts/seeds. Alsmost all the food she eats, I make from scratch. She has anaphylactic reactions. That is her body shuts itself down to protect it from the allergens. She breaks out in hives, vomits, loses control of her bowels and her throat swells shut. By being so careful we have kept her out of the hospital for almost two years. Peanut residue can remain on surfaces for up to six months. When I have had it in my home, I have used strong degreaser to get it off the table. Dishsoap is almost worthless. Werid isn't it? Dd had a reaction once by touching the cart at WalMart. Had another one when someone opened a candy bar in front of her. Once two girls breathed sunflower breath on her...... and held her in a room so she couldn't get help. She almost died that time. Dd uses a Epipen plus other Rx during a reaction then meds for three to five days after. We have to wake her up every two hours for three to five days after a reaction to make sure she doesn't have a delayed reaction.
My inlaws just don't get it. Nor do they care to get it. As for the nephews............ they don't try to stay in contact so..... why am I concerned about this? Cuz my FIL laid a guilt trip on us and we fell for it. This family is so 'close' my youngest son, age 11 doesn't even know some of his aunts, uncles and cousins by sight. Oh, most of us live within 15 minutes of each other.

[sandieluvsbears]

Hi everyone, I only read back a little, so if I miss anyone, its not intentional, NANCY, Adorable pix of Candice, I loved it!! I love those kind of pictures! Well Im one of the ones that has 2 tatoos, I got for my 30th birthday, which was fine back then (Im 49 now)I have an ankle bracelet one and a small teddy bear one on my shoulder(go figure lol) I wont even wear sleevess tees any more, because #1 it has faded some, and #2, I think my top arms are a little flabby,I regret getting it now,like I said back than I loved it!
I forget who mentioned the Build a Bear, as far as price goes, I took both my gd's there on each ones Bday, and theymade a bear,and got 1 outfit,I just found out you can get the same outfits, at ACMoore(craft store for less money,than BaB, DeBora, I wish you luck on your procedure, just remembered when I saw the post about Roswell, that I have a sweatshirt somewhere that says "Roswell,NM, a great place to Crash" I think someone sent it to dh a while back,and it was too small. DH has his Suburban, in the shop and it will be there for 10-12 days, and he really HAS to have something fairly big, so I called and rented him another truck similar, to his and when they picked me up to go get it, I found out one of the workers had accidently rented it to someone else, and they didnt have another, so they let me pick out whatever I wanted for the same price, so I picked out a Lincoln Navigator, and Im totally in love with it, lol, its sooo nice,( I have no idea how much payments on it would be to buy one, but I know more than Id want to pay.
Well gotta make my list of things to do to get ready for xmas, I havent even wrapped gifts yet, and have to make cookies for the cookie swap tomorrow, I get together with about 6 neighbors and we all make 1 or 2 kinds of cookies, than swap, that way none of us has to make a ton, than I make up a couple of cookie baskets, Im making Pizzelles, and peanut butter cookies. Have a great day everyone!

[fish3711]

Connie I am sorry your daughter has such a life threatening allergy. I would think that your inlaws would choose to come to your home to visit so that you didn't have to go through all that, putting her at risk, for a holiday visit. I am guessing that she goes to a public school? I don't know if I would dare do that, I am so over protective, and especially if some girls breathed nut breath on her and kept her in a room, isn't that attempted murder? Anyway, the world can be cruel. I think staying home is the right thing to do, and it's too bad that your inlaws won't make an effort to accomadate your daughter's illness. That is sad.
Fish3711

[DeBora4BobbyL]

DeBora..my DD (Holly) had the nerve block done on her back a few times..She had suffered a fall and had several discs that caused her severe pain..It can last from a week to a year...one she had only lasted a few months the others she had relief from for over a year..each time she was only in recovery about l/2 hr..I would pick her up and we would go out for lunch..so she didn't suffer any effects of the procedure..

I think this is the most wonderful thing ever! When I get these headaches, I get them anywhere from 3-5 times per week. So, one little nerve block is nothing compared to the payoff. However, I usually have it at the doctor's office, but he is booked there until late Janurary. I have school on the days he does nerve blocks in his office, so I have to do outpatient at the hospital. It isn't any worse as far as pain, it is just longer, which I hate having to "hurry up and wait." LOL We usually go out to eat afterwards, but with company coming, we may grab fast food and head back. It is an 1 1/2 hour drive one-way.

Connie, what you say makes sense now. I wouldn't even worry about the guilt trip. When I first dealt with the guilt trips from my family it was so difficult. Now it is no problem. Now that my kids are grown, they see my mother for what she is. She could only blame me for so long and tell everyone that the reason she didn't see the kids was me. After being seen with the kids she was caught in a lie by telling everyone that she didn't see them. Now, the kids are grown and have tried every way they can to get her to love them to no avail. She is now seen for what she is. But, the guilt trips were difficult at first. Hang in there and stick to what you know is right. It will be hard, but you can do it. Only you know what is right for your DD.

[bluebird]

I am guessing that she goes to a public school? I don't know if I would dare do that, I am so over protective, and especially if some girls breathed nut breath on her and kept her in a room, isn't that attempted murder? Anyway, the world can be cruel. I think staying home is the right thing to do, and it's too bad that your inlaws won't make an effort to accomadate your daughter's illness. That is sad.

Nope, we homeschool. Wouldn't have it any other way.
As for the girls and breathing on her..... it was in church and the church refused to do anything since the parents gave lots more money than we did. I will go to my grave regreting NOT pressing charges. With the cops out here, I doubt anything would have been done. I do know one set of parents had a ton of phone calls from people in the community. Not in thier favor either.

As for the guilt trip...... I am so over it. If FIL says anything to me I may give him a guilt trip. .".... IF you loved us...." with tears..... downtown in front of LOTS of people in this community. The bible says we reap what we sow and they are getting it back in spades. Not with any help from us. The family might get together once a year for a family dinner. My MIL and FIL are alone a lot on holidays. I used to have them over but became tired of thier mouths. Told my husband that there are TWO daughters in the same town, they can make sure their parents are not alone on holidays. Not my job. It really hurt my inlaws not to be invited over anymore but my kids don't want to be around them at all. They ran us out of the family and now the family is fallilng apart..... yep, they are reaping what they sow. Also...... they have lived here thier entire life. There are people now who refuse to speak to them, have coffee with them, be in the cafe with them at a different table. Small towns value family life and the community has seen what has been done to us. I have heard thru the gossip mill that some people have really told FIL off too.....

IF those young men want to see us, they know where we live. We aren't family anyway..... just related.

[daughter-of-Breezy]

fish3711~ thanks for posting the link to the tattoo site, I couldn't get on yesterday then got busy and never tried again.

I just baked a ton of cupcakes for our department party tomorrow. We had the office party already but now they are breaking it down into departments! Social Workers and Therapists love to party! Christmas is almost here yet it doesn't feel like Christmas. Everything that has happened in this past year has been a blur. I was just thinking, it has almost been a year since Breezy past away . Where did the time go

I was just reading up on the posts and there was one about the chocolate cookie and the "not chocolate" mess...reminds me of a story my mom would always tell. When I was about a year old, my brother climbed up on my crib (he was 3) and layed his chocolate candy bar on the edge. My mom came in and said I needed changing and he left the room. My mom took my diaper off and went to get something (forgot what) and my brother climbed back up on the crib. Somehow in the process, I had gotten my hands on that candy bar and it was all over my mouth and my hands. My brother ran screaming from the room and all over the house. I guess he forgot he left his candy bar there and asumed I got into something else. To this day, he eats very little chocolate !