like chandler bing, I do my duties

Here I am giddy that I have voted.  I read carefully (mostly) through the voters pamphlet while eating my small scoop of reduced sugar vanilla ice cream and sipping on exactly five ounces of Fetzer cabernet (which, by the way, is a sturdy amount of wine...I usually eye it but have been low balling myself).  Mostly I felt like a child that's been given the keys to a car but hasn't a clue how to drive.  There I said it: I am very apolitical.  I have a really hard time with all of it, from the campaigning to the debates to the commercials to the countless websites proclaiming the gospel-truth versions of their candidates views and plans.  What's a gal to do?

So I went from the bottom up, picking some people who's names I've viewed going sixty miles an hour up 204. Got into a nice flow, feeling very comfortable with my single line, even feeling sassy about my ability to sit down and CHOOSE.

Then I get to the Govenor's race and the Big Dog race.  And I pause.  I scrape every last drop of that tablespoon of Hershey's chocolate syrup out of my ice cream dish.  I drain my wine.

I draw funny mustaches.  I hem and haw.  I squint.  Then I vote, breathing "there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..."  SERIOUSLY, it freaks me out... I almost penned Him in as a write in.  But I didn't.

It's a good thing a machine will likely count my vote.  A caring person might scratch their head and wonder, "was this person drunk?"

No, but she did drink that wine rather quickly :)

***
Here is another goody from the sixth folder of 2003.  I thought it was appropriate for keeping with the autumn festivities.  If you can't figure out who I am please click the pic to read the name tag above my head...nevermind, this won't let you click on it.  I am Janis Joplin here

aforementioned mustaches: notice that Sarah Palin is still quite womanly, only she is sporting some chin hairs that I've heard happen at certain ages :)

Okay, so here is my 6th photo from my 6th folder as per Christy's tag.  This photo was taken in November 2003.  This is one of Marcus and my favorite places to escape when we lived in Spokane, the Dishman Hills.  Its this crazy little natural area is right next to auto row in the Valley...you could hear the intercoms of some of the car dealerships.  I am just glad the 6th photo wasn't one of our countless pictures of Frank.

Sorry the pictures in this blog are such a zoo! Thanks for reading.

Oh and I would LOVE to see what Janie's 6th photo of her 6th folder is...welcome to the bloggy world!

does this sound braggy?

Bradie had her three year check up yesterday and ROCKED IT!  She was a studdette about all the little steps and didn't even cry for her shot...okay she shed some tears afterwards but I was SO proud!  She is a shade under 38 inches tall and weighs 31 pounds- 60th for height and weight...perfectly proportionate! 

Oh yes and then there's Beau.  He CLIMBED onto my aerobics steps!  I hear some strange cooing and go out to see him on his belly on the six inch step.  Yesterday pulled up two or three times on various objects, one of them being our bottom stair!! Um, is this early?  It sure as heck feels like it.  Kid's barely 7.5 months old!  

Marcus is doing better each day.  He has concluded that getting an apple removed from the barrel is far easier that wisdom teeth extraction.  Perhaps it is because cancer seems to allow you the choice and inspiration to be a hero throughout it all.  Darn that Lance and his yellow bracelets.  A little Zofran and you can eat M&M's!  

Sorry...I think I am tired or something.

Peace out.

For Erin and others

Please believe me when I say that I have been trying to blog all week.  But this week has proved to be a doozy!  On Monday afternoon, Marcus had his wisdom teeth removed.  He had them taken out by a dentist who specializes in extractions and was not put under for the procedure. Of course his teeth went out fighting.  Like a soap opera actress who is ten years past her prime but is part of show fabric, this one tooth had settled quite comfortably into Marcus's jaw...they cut into the artery in his jaw!  The dentist and the assistant could not stop the bleeding!  Nor could they find anyone close by to stop the bleeding.  The rest of the office had closed down and there's poor Marcus, all puffy and numb, bleeding like a reject from Little Shop of Horrors while the dentist and the office manager flipped through a PHONE BOOK looking for an oral surgeon.   They left messages with all their contacts but couldn't reach anyone.  At one point we decided to go down to Harborview (apparently they are good for mouth emergencies). 

 Luckily a surgeon in Mill Creek phoned us back and said to come down. Phew.  Well this dude fixed Marcus up and instructed him to then visit the ER and have blood work done to see if he had lost too much blood!  His assistant said she, in 18 years of experience, had never seen blood gush like that when they moved the gauze. 

So back up to Everett to the hospital! (It's 9pm by now!)*  Everything is fine with Marcus' blood but now his novocaine is fading FAST.**  He's getting the shakes now as his pain climbs up the charts to a seven or an eight :(  When he first talked with nurse he asked for drugs and she said "Is that why your here?"  I heard this later and was super fired up...no ma'am, he was going to bleed out through HIS MOUTH!!!  Give him some damn drugs!  Phew, I guess I'm still a little testy about this.

After waiting for "discharge paperwork" which is some sort of purgatory I'm sure, another nurse came with some medicine.  Let's stop and do some math...Marcus gets teeth pulled at 4pm.  At 10:30 pm he receives his first pain medication.... poor guy!

So since then our home has been under rotation of Percoset and frozen peas.  Marcus is definitely not one of those people that play basketball the day after their teeth come out, but we're all trying to take it in stride.

My dream and my New Year's resolution for our family: In 2009, NO MORE  HOSPITAL BRACELETS!

Other news:  Bradie turned three on Wednesday.  Here she is in her birthday dress with her chocolate cake.  It's the worst thing I've ever baked but she still loved it! (not quite sure what happened but it was super dry and crumbly, ugh)  What can I say? I love this girl.  She handed me a Lego phone the other day and said "Mommy, here you go, its Jesus"

The Beau Update:  Our son can push himself into a sitting position! He's delighted and I am relieved. Beau is taking about four or five crawl "steps" now before scooting the rest of the way to his desired location.  At his six month appointment he was almost 27 inches long and weighed 17# 5 ounces, for all you who like numbers.  His percentiles have continued to slide, but that happens when you weigh 10 pounds at birth due to a sugary uterus :)

Speaking of 10 pounds... I have lost that since August 26th!  I am thrilled and starting to enjoy shopping in my closet.  Now I just need to wean myself back ON to my wedding ring. 

* Christy and Troy had our kids, praise the Lord!  THANK YOU...we heart our schwenktastic friends.

** Marcus showed a high tolerance to ALL the measures he was given for the extraction: the sedative beforehand, the novacaine and the nitrous affected him only so so.