It's been a while....

It's been a while since I've been on here. Let me tell you, the last few months have been a whirlwind. I've gone back to homeschooling, got my medications worked out, started line drying my clothing to save money, learned a lot about how to live with fibromyalgia, and found out that I need to have surgery again. Not to mention that my baby brother, is GRADUATING HIGH SCHOOL next week! I can't even believe it. I used to change his diapers, and now he's graduating, and talking to me about entering "adult life"! It makes me feel really old. He's 10 years younger than I am, so it seems so strange to me for him to even be talking about "adult life". He's still a kid to me in my mind, even though he'll be 18 in August. Wow, it's so monumental to me to see him so grown up. I mean, he's as tall as my husband and well built, and grown to be a handsome young man. I'm looking forward to this milestone for him, and being part of it. I get to actually go to his commencement ceremony on the 6th, and you know what, I couldn't be prouder if he was my own son. That boy, excuse me, man, has overcome so much to acheive this and I am so proud. He had an award ceremony last week at Autzen Stadium called the "Turn Around Award", and I got to be part of that too, and he made me fees so special. I almost cried when he went up on that stage and thanked myself and my husband for everything we have done to get him here. How sweet huh?

So like I said, Ifinally got my meds worked out, and found a muscle relaxer that actually works. It's called Soma, and even though it usually knocks most people on their a$$, it works for me without doing that. I think I've come to the conclusion that the Nail Patella Syndrome I have, perhaps, may be why the other muscle relaxers didn't work. My anatomy is different that most peoples, and I think that that muscular skeletal problem that I have due to that particular disease may interfere with the properties of the other muscle relaxers. Just my presumption anyway, I could be wrong, but I think that's what it is.

I've been feeling so much better since I had the hysterectomy. It still seems weird to me that I dn't have a menstrual. I sometimes catching myself looking at sales on Tampax or other products thinking, wow, that's a good deal, before realizing I have no use for those things again. The strange, and sometime disabling pains in my abdomen, have ceased completely. I feel like a whole new person! I love it, and PRAISE GOD!!!

I started homeschooling again, using Abeka for Adrian, and My Father's World for Cheyanne and Sadie. Since Cheyanne and Adrian were in public school, and really did learn a lot, when I pulled them out of school at the beginning of May, we just went ahead and moved them up to the next grade. It's amazing how ready they were to do that. They're pretty focused in their studies right now, even though it's the end of the "school year", and I only do schooling 2 days a week right now. Ifigure, that if they work really hard, and get all of thier things done, they can move up to the next grade either next fall, or winter, which amazes me. I'm a little ticked off at Abeka though. I order the full child kit, and it din't come with one single answer key/sheet for any subject, and it also didn't come with a teacher's manual to help me figure out what Adrian needs to do for the day. I'm winging it, and he's eager, so I guess we'll just see how it turns out. I suppose it doesn't really matter, as long as he's learning all of the things he needs. I'm also using Rosetta Stone for Latin American Spanish. It's amazing, and I'm using it too, learning right along (sometimes ahead of) Adrian. Cheyanne is just not quite ready for it. I'm also schooling Sadie, trying to kind of adapt MFW First Grade to help her with things too. Cheyanne is learning to read sooooo much faster than I had expected, and it's GREAT!

So we're pretty much dead broke. Mark's hours have been cut, and we're barely making ends meet if at all, so I'm doing as much as I can to save money. I've started baking all of our own bread (haven't bought bread at the store in nearly 4 months), line drying our clothes since the weather's nice, making sure the dishwasher is as crammed full of clothing as it possibly can be, and bathing all 3 of the girls together. They like it most of the time, but I understand Cheyanne (my eldest daughter) wanting to shower alone sometimes. I'm trying to use less water as well as less heat/energy from the waterheater. It's working in some respects, but unfortunately, my heat pump keeping my house cool (for my health) is using up what I've saved, but at least it's not going to be too high, since I am not using the water heater, dishwasher so much, and dryer, it isn't adding to that.

The fibromyalgia really takes it out of me. I've learned that I have IBS, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) along with fibromyalgia and Nail Patella Syndrome. It's been a chore learning to live with all of these conditions, and I still have much to learn. I'm not getting to all of the things I need to in a day after homeschooling, so my house is in a bit of disarray. I wish I had someone to help me clean and organize this mess. Did I mention I'm a terrible organizer? LOL. The good news is, every day I'm learning more about me and trying to help my husband learn more too. He's a stubborn ol' goat, but I'm sure I'll get it through his head eventually. I just can't be superwoman anymore, and that's a bit of a hard pill for him to swallow. He doesnt' understand the sheer exhaustion that goes with this, but when I'm awake at 3 am baking bread and making him breakfast he sure appreciates it!

So I have to have surgery again..... yay..... (insert sarcasm here). I am so not looking forward to having another surgery. This time it's a hernia called a "ventral hernia". It started as an umbillical hernia after I had my first child, and eve though I had talked to doctors before about it, they didn't seem concerned. So, 3 more pregnancies later, it's about 5 inches long and goes from below my belly button to about 3 inches above my belly button. They're pretty confident that they can do this in a day surgery, putting a patch on it so my intestines aren't exposed. If it isn't going to work, they'll have to do an open surgery, and that will put me in the hospital for a few days again. Whoopie ( NOT!!!)

So yeah, that's what's been going on around here for the last few months since I posted, but I'm trying to make a commitment to come back here more, and POST! I'm sure you're all just DYING to hear what crazy messed up adventure I'm on at any given moment. More sarcasm, can you tell? LOL. But I do need to keep you all updated, so I'll really try to come back more often. Hope all is well with you!