Brain Cancer

I think I'll dedicate this and the possibly the next post or 2, to my experience with brain cancer.  No I never had it, but my sister was diagnosed when she was 5.  

We were going on our first family vacation.  We rented a motor home and the plan was to head to the Grand Canyon following Route 66 and then hit the west coast up to Oregon then head back east to Michigan.  Well it didn't happen that way.  We made it to the Grand Canyon and it was there that we discovered what would change our lives forever.

I was 8 and Jamie was 5 we were playing in the back of the motor home on my parents bed.  We started this game where she would climb on my back and I'd buck her off.  It was great fun until she slammed her head on the bedside cabinet.  She cried, mom came and I apologized.  Turns out I most likely saved her life by doing that.  Over the next couple days she started staggering, nothing super serious but her footing was just a little off.  It gradually got worse and it was decided that she should get checked out.  Thinking maybe she had a little swelling or something, due to the hit.  It was a Sunday afternoon my parents left my older brothers at the RV park and me and my dad dropped my mom and sister off at the ER (the only thing open in the small town on a Sunday) and we returned to the park to swim and wait to pick them up.  What happened next was what I heard from my mom when I was older.  My mom went to the receptionist and described that Jamie was staggering, to which the lady said "are you sure she's not doing this for attention?"  My mom replied "She's the youngest of 5 kids, she gets plenty of attention."  The doctor did the usual questions etc and decided to run a CT.  It was the results that shocked not only us but the doctor as well.  He came in to the room and said, "there's no easy way to say this but your daughter has a brain tumor go home."  It was the first pediatric brain tumor ever discovered in that hospital.  Needless to say the receptionist came back and apologised profusely. 

My dad and I picked up mom and Jamie from the ER and headed back to pack up.  We were told a little of what was going on but at 8 I had no clue what a brain tumor meant exactly.  We drove straight through stopping only for gas and food.  My mom would drive during the day and my dad and 2 oldest brothers would take turns at night.  It was different all of a sudden my parents didn't want Jamie walking from the back to front of the motor-home by herself while we were driving.  My biggest memory of that trip was seeing my dad cry.  It was something I have never seen before and it scared me.  While my dad cried though something happened that looking back I can't believe.  Jamie walked up to him and said "Don't worry daddy I'm not going to die"

Do you agree?

"Expectation is the root of all heartache."----William Shakespeare

Do you agree?  Why or why not?

Air Conditioned WHAT???

We have A/C in our houses, stores hospitals, places of work and even our cars so why not just carry the A/C with us?  A Japanese man has made that possible and is profiting from Japans power shortage.  He has invented A/C clothes.  From what I understand they are essentially clothes with fans in them and apparently quite affective.  In fact Hiroshi Ichigaya (the guy behind this) is in talks with foreign countries about bringing there including the US.  

Now however un-stylish this may be the idea of staying cool while gardening does appeal to me.  They are also suppose to be energy efficient a great new craze hitting the nation. The question is why couldn't I have thought of this?  I mean the idea is simple in fact when my son was younger he basically had 1 of these in the form of a superman costume that blew up.  I had it right in front of me and missed it.  Oh well maybe the next great idea will fall into my lap(doubtful, but love the thought).  

Click here to read more on A/C clothes

Are we letting our youth grow up too fast?

My son who was in 4th grade last year was telling me about how girls in his class are wearing makeup.  I swear my jaw hit the floor.  I was in complete shock, I know when I was in school the idea of wearing makeup was for Halloween or dress up at HOME.  So I was thinking well a little lip gloss(which we didn't start until at least 6th grade) I guess isn't so bad.  Nope, he goes on to tell me they are wearing mascara, eye liner etc.  Now keep in mind this is a few not all the girls but still.  I remember looking forward to when I would be be able to wear makeup and I wasn't really able to until 8th grade, yes I snuck the occasional eye shadow or lipstick before that but it wasn't a daily thing.  I guess I don't see the point of why ANY 4th grader really needs or should be allowed to wear it on a daily basis.  Yes I will get the well it's my child my decision and I agree it is but my question other than she likes it is why? Don't we complain how much Hollywood and the media says we should look a certain way?  Well isn't allowing your young daughter to wear makeup doing the same thing?  Isn't it telling her that you are prettier with this, or you need to value your looks (not talking hygiene I am a firm believer in hygiene) I know growing up we were taught it's what's on the inside not the outside that counts?

Why are we letting our kids grow up so fast and why aren't we keeping their innocence as long as we can?  I understand it's a fine line between being over protective and protecting your kids and I understand there's a real word out there, but there's a difference between letting them see the real word and letting them live in it.  It also struck me as crazy when my son (same one) tells me he has a girlfriend..."that's nice, wait what?"  That's right my 4th grader had a girlfriend and apparently it wasn't his first.  He went through all this drama with another girl because if he didn't do what she wanted she'd "break up with him".  Now after I got through laughing hysterically at the idea of my tween son (who opposes almost anything anyone tells him to do) waiting hand and foot on a girl I got to thinking wow.  I was pretty sure in 4th grade boys still had cooties.  It was time that we talked.  I asked him why he felt he should have a girlfriend at such a young age.  As it turns out he said that some of the other kids were.  That led to the conversation of why he thought he needed too and was it really that important.  I mean he 10 we don't live in a neighborhood so it's not like he can ride his bike to her house or go on any "dates" and he rarely uses the phone so it's not like they spend a lot of time talking.  So yes I understand it's an innocent thing but again what worries me is the drama involved with it.  Tommy was mad at Brad for dating so and so Sally wasn't talking to Sue etc(names are not real).  I asked him if he even liked all the issues and he admitted he didn't and instead of replaying our entire conversation and make this post even longer our conversation ended with HIM deciding that he can wait to date and he has the rest of his life to worry about that.

So again I ask why are our kids so worried about doing what adults or teens do and why are we letting them?  I understand these are only a couple examples of it but what is the point?  I am not saying your child is bad for doing it or your choices are bad but I'd like to think that there will be some excitement and imagination for when they get older.  Signing off just 1 mom's opinion

About Me

Ok, I think a great place to start is to tell you a little about myself.  I am married and in my late 20's, I have 3 absolutely wonderful boys almost 11, 9 and 6 months.  I am a county girl and enjoy it.  I work with my parents on the farm and we are into sustainable agriculture.  Our animals are raised out on pasture and we don't use growth hormones or un needed antibiotics.  We believe animals have rights, and they have the right not to be pumped full of crap for our benefit.  We also believe it's healthier all the way around and we know it tastes better.  That being said let say there's an infection or something in lets say a milk cow, then yes we will treat it but we won't save their milk until the antibody works it's way out, because we don't need to ingest that stuff either.

My First Blog

I never thought I'd blog before in fact I find it kind of crazy that I am, so hang with me because I'm not 100% sure where this will go.  I find it weird that I am here doing this and hope to be successful at it, but I won't waste anymore of you people's time at the moment because I am planning on hopefully making this interesting.