The following picture is for my Live Journal friend, darklabrynth. We have been talking about costumes and my favorite was always my Wonder Woman costume from when I was little. My parents found the picture and scanned it and emailed it to me, so I just have to post it here. Enjoy! The hobo is my brother. BTW, credit for this costume goes to my mother, who made it for me. Thanks, Mom!

Not with drugs. As a matter of fact, my neurologist has asked me to not take anything- Tylenol, Excedrin, aspirin- for at least 2 months. He finally got the idea that pain killers don't do much for my migraines. I've told him this many times. The ones mentioned do, sometimes, dull the pain, but never get rid of it. The prescription drugs, whatever they are, usually have bad side effects or don't do anything at all.

I was hoping this would lead to more tests, but no. He has asked me to stop taking anything because he thinks I am having rebound headaches. I haven't done much research on them and I thought I was spacing out any drugs I took well enough to prevent them, but maybe not. Right now I am trying to distract myself from the pain and dosing myself with caffeine. Yeah, maybe not a good idea. I drink hot tea and, sometimes, it helps with the head pain. Don't worry, no matter what, I never drink more than 3 cups a day. Maybe I should switch to decaf and get rid of caffeine, too. What do you think?

Obviously, no workout today (or yesterday). I have done some yoga poses to help alieve the pain. Once the toddler sleeps tonight, I will turn on my relaxation yoga video and see if that helps. Since running increases the blood pressure, which increases the pain, that will have to wait.

I have found more pictures on David's computer that I didn't know we had. Obviously, he gets to the media card in the camera before I do. These are from various local trips we've taken. Enjoy!



These first two are from the Pima Air and Space Museum



This next one was taken at a small playground at the Ft. Huachuca recreation area. We like to go hiking up there.


David caught us napping on a day when Xander was home sick.

We just got back from CA where we visited my stepdaughter and the new baby. Very cute. I'll get some pics on here just as soon as I get them off of my husband's computer. Yes, he downloaded them from the camera onto his computer and then deleted them off of the card. Thanks a lot.

Also, we stopped at Six Flags Magic Mountain on the way home. What a treat! Xander got pictures taken with Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig and Petunia, Batman, Robin and Aqua Man (he was hot)! Unfortunately, Wonder Woman was off that day. :-(

I will definitely NEVER live in L.A. The traffic was absolutely horrid! And we were just passing through. There was a cool accident scene though just south of the city. Some vehicle carrying lumber (possibly 2x4s) lost his load and the wood crashed through the windshield of another car. Very bad! I couldn't tell if anyone was impaled (morbid much?). What vehicle caused the accident was nowhere to be seen. Hmmmmm.

UPDATE PICTURES

No, seriously. We go so often sometimes I wonder if they might just set us up a permanent room. Xander was misbehaving and jumping on the sofa. Well, he missed and hit our metal and stone coffee table instead. Yup. Right on his head. Lovely HUGE bump and cut. LOTS of blood! And I just had the off-white carpets cleaned...

Anyway, I thought he might need stitches, so we took him in. It had already stopped bleeding by the time we got there and Xander was acting normal. We waited a long time, as usual. No stitches, but they did put on some steri-strips and those have to stay on for 5 days. Sigh. Once the swelling went down, the cut really didn't look bad at all, but it was better to be safe than, well, not safe.

Just got home a little bit ago and had some dinner. Xander is in bed now. I will be soon.

Xander was not given an official diagnosis of epilepsy; however, as the doctor stated in very simplistic terms, his brain waves bleep funny every now and then. The funny bleep is centered (i.e. very generalized). He will be on medication for a while just to make sure the bleeping doesn't get worse. If he does not develop true epilepsy, then he should grow out of this condition. Since a person's brain continues to develop for quite some time after birth (like years) things can still go wrong. Developmentally, Xander is doing very well, so that's a good thing.

Just for fun, I am going to ask the VA for an EEG when I go for my brain checkup at the end of this month. Xander has complained of headaches before his seizures (at least since he could talk), so I want to know if my brain goes "bleep", too. I just want a better understanding of my migraines. I've had an MRI, and a PET, but after seeing Xander's EEG test, I don't think I have had one of those. I've had several EKGs, but not an EEG. I'm sure the doc will check my records to be sure.

On another note, I only have 2 weeks left of my class! YAY! I still have to tweak my paper and write the abstract and conclusion, but that shouldn't take long. My teacher has already given me feedback and was very happy with it thus far. :-) My step daughter had another baby on May 29th. This time it was a girl. Her name is Adelle Lora-Donna, 7.5 lbs. Jackie has big babies! As soon as I get a picture, I'll post it. We'll be visiting her from the 13-16th, so I'm sure we'll have plenty.

UPDATE: Here's a picture of Adelle!

Taking Xander Man back to Tucson tomorrow for a consult with the pediatric neurologist. Her assistant called yesterday to say the little man needs drugs. Huh? I haven't even seen the EEG results yet. I want to talk to this doctor!

I got a lot done on my final paper for class, so I feel good about that and, for some reason, I'm not real tired right now. Well, I had better try to sleep. Long day tomorrow.

David and I are going to see Star Trek today while Xander is at school. Yay! I have a date with my husband and no kids! Woo! And might I add a big Hoo!

We are taking Xander up to Tucson tomorrow afternoon. He has an EEG scheduled on Thursday at Tucson Medical Center and has to be deprived of sleep and food before hand. Ugh. I thought it would be easier to keep him awake and distracted if we weren't at home, not to mention easier to get to the morning appointment.

UPDATE: Xander did very well at his appointment. While the technician was sticking wires all over his head, Xander said, "I'm getting stickers!". He loves stickers, so he thought it was exciting. The doctor did not sedate him because he had a sip of apple juice about 1 hour before the appointment. Apparently, he wasn't supposed to have anything 2 hours before. Of course, no one told us that. It didn't matter though, he stayed real still and fell asleep just like he was supposed to. What a good little boy!

Hmmm....I was able to upload new user pics, which I couldn't before even though I was below my limit, so let's see...






Interesting. They uploaded fast, too. I guess Live Journal was wrong about my picture space. THEY were the ones with the problem. "Don't worry, it's not me, it's you,", they said. Right.

Anyway, these pictures were taken at that book fair I went to at UA where Von Navarro was signing books. Xander wanted to wear my hat.

The only thing LiveJournal can come up with as to why I am having problems with pictures is that I have used up all of my allotted picture file space. I have been unable to find where it tells me how much space I am allowed vs. what I have. SO, the only way I can post more cutie-patootie pictures is to delete the old ones. I really don't want to pay for an account just to increase my space. Ugh.

I don't know what the problem is, but I still can't upload new pics onto LiveJournal. The internet is working real fast right now, but that is not making any difference. Sigh. The whole point of this journal is to post pics of Xander Man. If it's not going to work, I may go back to using Blogspot.

Is anyone else having problems?

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!

When David told Xander to wish me a happy birthday, he got upset and said, "I want Xander's birthday!" Awwww.

I am on Twitter now. Not sure why. You can check me out there by looking up my screen name- jkruofa. Have fun.

BTW, Hotel Indigo is not so great. They blast hip-hop, rap and some rock very loudly in the lobby. The WiFi in the room didn't work and the staff basically told me, "Well, it's supposed to just come up. I don't know why it's not working." When I asked for a web address, they couldn't give me one. Whatever. AND they are not in the middle of downtown at all!!!

I am about to get a massage though, so that should take away any negative feelings about this hotel. :-)

Woo! and might I add a big hoo!
The Hubby and Little Man are attending a wedding in the great state of Louisiana this weekend. Xander might be wearing a tux. I've demanded pictures, of course. My husband's oldest is getting married for the second time. Her first one was a total jerk. This new one is a much better model. I wish them well. She will become an instant mom. He has two tween girls. Oh, the joy!

I've asked the moocher to spend time elsewhere, so I can actually be alone. I have no intention to babysit a 23-year-old, unsociable person. Besides, I'm still angry about the Easter candy incident. Instead of sitting around, though, I'm going with a friend to Scottsdale! I had enough hotel points for a free room at Hotel Indigo. It seems nice, but, apparently, nothing too fantastic. The reviews are mixed, but it is right in the middle of downtown. Should be fun.

I'll try to post pics if I can. Livejournal still isn't cooperating for me. No idea why. Enjoy your Friday!

Well, it is Good Friday, although I'm not so sure what's good about it. Xander's school is closed today and the hubby was supposed to stay home. He informed me last night that he had to go in for "at least a little while" some time today. This would leave the stepson in charge. Yes, he's living with us again if I didn't mention it earlier. Anyway, the stepson has no clue how to take care of a little one. Unless you leave detailed instructions, I have no doubt Xander will be fed junk food, if anything at all, the TV will be on some very adult show and he'll have poopy sitting in his pants for hours, so I'm not going to work. I worked all day yesterday with a migraine anyway and the night was not very pleasant, so I'm staying put. What are they going to do, fire me? I already turned in my notice.

UPDATE: Upon speaking with the hubby this evening, he said he meant he was going to take his two sons to work with him today. Hmmmm. That was not what was said last night. Not even implied. Anyway, next week is Melanie's wedding and David and Xander are going. I will be unsupervised, but babysitting the stepson. Sigh. I think I'll spend at least one night in Scottsdale. :-) I gotta have some fun on my birthday weekend.



PS And now for something completely different: A special thanks goes out to darklabrynth for her solution on shutting down Windows Defender. It worked!

No pictures will upload and I am unable to figure out why. I hope it works again soon. I have lots to post! I have to show off my cute Little Man!

Speaking of cute, he had special spring pictures taken at his school the other day. Ms. Jaime, the school director, said Xander looked so handsome! We had dressed him in a new Hawaiian shirt and navy pants. Hee Hee. His hair, of course, wouldn't really cooperate, so it was all over the place, but it just makes him cuter!

I have resigned from my job. I got tired of playing their game. I kept having student's grade sheets sent back to me telling me to fix it "their way". Of course, the administration never said what "their way" was. We used to have answer keys to go on, but those were taken away and we were told that if we knew how to do our job, we wouldn't need them. Even though there might be multiple correct answers for something, if it's not the one "they" picked, we're screwed and have to do everything over. Also, one of the other instructors put out some info at a study hall session and then was told it was wrong. She said it was in the lesson plan, and it was- in the old one. One that was in use when she taught the class, but was changed, arbitrarily, a day or two later. Of course, this change was not put out to us, but we have to put it out to the students or they will get marked down. This happens all the time. Lesson plans are arbitrarily changed each class. Information files on the computers are constantly moved and old stuff is mixed in with new stuff, so no one knows what is current and what isn't. Ugh! Just one of the many reasons I am not staying. I refuse to play their stupid little games. I just want to teach.

At least this means I might be able to finish my MS a little earlier and/or get unfinished projects done around the house.

Last weekend was the March of Dimes March for Babies event. Xander and I turned it into the Run for Babies. I haven't run a 5k in a loooooooooong time, so it was a bit of a challenge. There was a middle school kid who ran ahead of us. He was fast! Xander kept yelling, "My friend! My friend! Wait for me!" Ha Ha! Xander also kept telling me to run faster and catch up to the boy. I tried my best and, unfortunately, my best caused me to pull some muscles. It felt like my foot cramped up, but since the cramp didn't release, I knew I had done something. My leg hurts, but the pain gets less with each day as long as I am not standing for several hours.

The leg pain is nothing to what I experienced all night. I had one of my really, really REALLY BAD migraines last night. I could not sleep and took a 30-40 minute hot shower to try to alleviate the pain. I had one prescription pill left and it eventually kicked in around 0300. Ugh. Obviously, I am not at work today. It's hard to do much when you feel like a semi ran over you- twice.

The UA Festival of Books folks finally sent me the pictures with Pooh bear. Xander wasn't real cooperative, so you only see the back of him in one picture. The pictures aren't uploading, so I'll have to try again later.

Xander and I will be participating in the annual March of Dimes March for Babies! The event will take place on March 28th. My goal is to raise $1,000, so I need your help!

You can support me at http://www.marchforbabies.org/jkruofa

David and his quartet, Watering Hole #3, have also been hired to perform during the 5k walk. How cool is that?

Thank you! This post should stay on top since I changed the date, but we'll see.

UPDATE 3/24: ONLY A FEW DAYS LEFT AND I HAVE ONLY RAISED $125!!! HELP! PLEASE DONATE! IT'S FOR A GOOD CAUSE! HELP SAVE BABIES!!

My job is very stressful. This is mostly due to the constant changes in what my job entails and what I am supposed to teach. There is something every day that comes out as a change. There are way too many hands in the pot trying to make sure everything is mixed together properly and all we get are ingredients floating around running into each other, but not mixing. It is very frustrating. SO, I am, once again, looking into other things. I would really like to find something where I can stay for a while (until David retires or we move to another state). I am getting my MS to look forward to the future, but my town isn't very big. The openings at the local community college and small satellite campus of the UA are few and far between, especially those that do not require a PhD. I can wait, I guess. I must try to be patient if I am to ever break into the world of civilian academia.

Blah. My head hurts.