Poor mother-in-law fell at work and broke her leg yesterday. Her good leg, the one with the healthy knee. Today she has surgery to put pins in her femur. Ouch!

DH and I took #1 son to see her in the hospital while my dad stayed with Monkey Boy. My sister recorded the debate because she had to work last night, maybe I'll pop over and see what I missed.

I have to say I was impressed on both sides.

Palin did all right when she wasn't being all folksy and gee I'm a poor schlub just like you drinking my beer from a can and paying middle class taxes.

Biden might have been just a bit aggressive in some people's mind but I liked it. He picked up the ball where Obama dropped it. I liked that he pushed hard.

The question about their achillies heel was like that bad job interview question "Tell me your strengths and your weeknesses."

Was it me or did Palin say she was NOT against same sex marriage? I loved how she asked Biden when they first shook hands if she could call him Joe and then didn't.

I think Biden had a good makeup artist. His eyes weren't so squinty, but what was up with his scalp? Did you notice how pink it was? Like a bad reaction to Rogain or something.

So what do you think? What were the highlights and lowlights for you?

I can't wait to watch Saturday Night Live this weekend....

Leapinglilly: Kestrelpaw how many mates have you HAD? *narrows eyes suspiciously* | Kestrelpaw: About, well... 15. But that's not the point! | Leapinglilly: Like you were serious with any of them. | Kestrelpaw: Well, I wasn't. But now I'm older and less foolish. And I love you a lot, the best of all of my mates! | Willa: :( That's what he said to me, too. | Leapinglilly: Im beginning not to trust you, Kestrelpaw! | Kestrelpaw: :( But... *turns around* Kywa, Willa, LEAVE. | Kywa: But--- | Kestrelpaw: *eyes narrow and nose gets all rippled* NOW. *snarls rumbles the ground and a few leaves fall* | Leapinglilly: And you did that why? | Kestrelpaw: I need to talk to you. Willa is just jealous cuz she loves me. She's just trying to tell you the bad so I'll love her again! *grabs your elbows* I'm a new cat, not a kittypet anymore, not a 15-mater, not a kit. I'm a forest cat and I'm apprentice now. I love you more than any cat before, and that's final. | Leapinglilly: Okay I believe you. | Kestrelpaw: *eyes fill with tears* Thank you. | Willa: *in bush, you hear snarling* *crackles out* KYWEN I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU STUPID FURBALL YOU'RE SUCH A MOUSEBRAIN ISN'T HE MOUSEDUNG YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF FOXDUNG YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING!!! *tackles Kestrelpaw and he rolls around biting her* | Leapinglilly: STOP IT U 2 *fails to stop them* | Kywa: YOU FURBALLS GET OFF EACH OTHER!!! *bites thewm and they stop* WILLA LEAVE NOW AND NEVER COME BACK! *turns* Goodbye! *scampers off* | Leapinglilly: Are you alright??? | Kestrelpaw: *rubs bloody ear, tangled fur, welling stomach, and broken leg* I dunno. | Leapinglilly:

Although side by side in the same room our three robs live in separate cages. Within a month of us acquiring them as brood sisters, they started squabbling when awake, although peaceably sleeping in a huddle. This seems bizarre behaviour but is apparently quite common judging by the frequency of corroborating comments on various hamster forums. The same sources suggests strongly that the secret to peace amongst cage-mates is a large open plan cage to prevent territorial instincts kicking in. Unfortunately we had at the time two linked Savic Metro cages (probably the worst of all possible options except Ovid!). The squabbling was getting so bad that I'd begun using a plant mister to separate them (very effective incidentally, but not recommended regularly and they really appreciate a bowl of Chinchilla Dust to roll in afterwards).

One evening we came in from work to find one of Robs (this was at a time when we were really struggling with distinguishing them so I really don't know who it was) with a very nasty bite in her rump. We separated the cages and got her out using the exercise ball and put her in a glass mixing bowl so we could see better. It looked terrible - a large patch of bloodied fur. After consulting the Hamster Library (tm)  (more of which some other time) we used a cotton bud dipped in tepid water to clean the wound best we could.

However, after The Great Escape (just a few weeks later) there was an incident that mixed up the hams again, so we once again lost track of who was who. Even at that point it had become impossible to tell which one had been bitten.

Shortly after The Great Escape and the final mixing, I went in to check on the girls early one morning to find Gimmel with a severe limp on her back right leg. A quick check on the Hamster Library (tm) suggested that any bone problems were vet fodder, so I phoned up our local vet and booked an appointment for that evening.

I rushed home after work and prepared a travel cage (a small clear-blue plastic tank by [CHECK] with a lid with some of her cage litter and a toilet roll and a little food). Much to my distress she spent the journey scrabbling at the walls on her hind legs, putting stress on the injury.

The vet was was really nice, despite the fact that I admitted she wasn't used to handling (even now the nearest we get is them climbing on our hands to retrieve treats, and even then, only in the cage) but she had never bitten. He put on some gloves and then deftly grabbed her but the scruff of the neck.

On examination, he quickly came to the conclusion that she had badly broken her ankle - the tib & fib misaligned from the foot with no rigidity at all - just connective tissue and skin. He told me that there was very little that could be done. She'd chew off any kind of cast and she was too small to safely administer any pain killers - they were more likely to kill her than help. His basic advice was to remove her wheel from her cage for a month and carefully monitor the foot. If it went black or she started to self-cannibalise, she would have to be brought back to be put down - the prospect of which I found, a little to my surprise, choked me up. How attached I'd become to these little furry creatures! Finally he warned me that even if she did heal, she'd likely have a club foot and a limp for the rest of her life.

Thanking him sincerely I went home and did as he suggested, breathing a sigh of relief every day I saw a healthy pink foot, and worrying that she still persisted in climbing the barred doors of the cage.

Even so, by the end of the wheeless month I was unable to tell which was the injured foot. Despite no treatment as such, except giving her a small piece of Wensleydale cheese each day (a block maybe 2mm on a side) to increase her calcium intake, the injury healed completely. Now, Gimmel is as zoomy on her wheel as the other two - perhaps a tad more because she's little. And that may be the only effect of the injury we've seen. During that month the others got ahead in terms of growth and gaining body mass, and she's never quite caught up. The break injury, however, has completely healed.

"O.K. Boyo, don't be a baby, its only broken. A dab with the magic sponge and you'll be fit to hobble around for another 60 minutes"

He says he hates black people.. they should die.... interesting..

Come to find out his girlfriend/wife left him for a black male.... and this his how he wanted to channel that hate...

Let's run over a black person with a car!!!!!!

Imagine that!!!!

[dailymotion id=k4W22Ol7uXRsgIHkQh]

It's amazing to me how forgiving black people are....

This is a quote from the young woman that was run over by this guy....

"I don't have hate in my heart for him. You know, I just wish he didn't hate me."

Wow... to have that much love in your heart after a dude just ran you over because of your skin color...

Wow.... We need more people like her and less like the RANDOM RACIST!

Hobbled (Thursday Morning)

After the woman she’s with  

finishes her cross, reprimanding phone-call

and sits scowling dourly….

After the large, plaster-spattered man

sitting next to her gets off the bus,

tripping over her crutches on the way out…..

The little girl with the broken leg breaks the silence

And says, “That was so funny, the other night.”

The reflecting frown becomes its own reflection

and the woman laughs loudly and says, “Yeah!!  It was!!”

 “Tell me again what happened?” pleads the child.

 Her mother’s mouth droops,

and so do her eyes,

and so do her shoulders….

“I can’t remember,”

she murmurs.

The little girl with the broken leg in the purple cast

Turns her inquiring eyes

Toward the same nowhere

that her mom is not trying hard enough

not to see,

And the rest of the ride is silence.

Recently, she turned 86 and a few days later she fell and broke her femer just above her knee.  When she fell, She was not able to move.  The break was complete and further to this she put a fork through her elbow when she fell and also bruised herself very badly from her feet to her bum.  Since she could not move, she lay there injured for 24 hours by the time my Uncle Bob rescued her.  She was brought by ambulance into the hospital, where they poked her with needles and provided her with vitamins and medicine but in the process they bruised her some more.  She fell on the 21st of August, was rescued on the 22nd was operated on on the 23rd and now it is the 31st.  This is her ninth day of recovery. 

Grandma says that her bruises are purple and that she hates purple.  I say they are the colour of violets in flower beds of the neighbourhoods in the area.  She does not think that this us funny at all.  Apparently grandma dies not apreciate silliness in her offspring!

i wonder if he needs me to give him a sponge bath? (fyi, he was much cuter in person and less of a mouth breather than this picture makes him appear)

oh how i wish you really see what she was wearing - the bling on her phone is nothing compared to the bling on her shirt - those are horses by the way painted on, and each horses' eye is a rhinestone - and their saddles featured rhinestones too.  she never once got off the phone while the cashier was ringing her up.  and had the most white trash southern accent ever.

i think the guy in the orange shirt was cruising me big time in the targhetto on university ave.  he was hot from the front too.  if only i had done something about it.

and so it begins.  please buddha give me strength to not go postal while mcsame and his croneys (now featuruing a woman! as a blatent ploy to get the hillary-junkies on his side) invade my fair city.

happy labor day weekend ya'll.

*apologies to dr. suess for stealing 'and to think that i saw it on mulberry street".  remind me to tell you all about the time i re-wrote the suess classic as an absurdest play for a script writing class in college.

To show how the universe works in mysterious ways... at that precise moment when I was feeling sorry for myself:

I heard some gasping and moaning on the other side of the room. As I looked up, I saw a 300-pound woman getting out of her wheelchair. She was attempting to get onto the parallel bars. It was the first time she got out of her wheelchair since being in the hospital, so I was told. She was so out of shape that she was gasping for breath and moaning up a storm. (Heavy breathing and moaning without all the fun, mind you). It took a person on each side of her to get her out of her wheelchair. They were struggling. It was not a pretty sight to witness.

Then, to the left of me, a man starts to walk towards me. He is about 70 and continues to walk by me. He had one broken arm, on which his hand was holding a crutch that had a platform and peg on it. He also had a broken leg, on the opposite side of his body. I will never forget seeing that. His chances of recuperating were much slower than mine. I was only 21 and could heal quickly since I was in good health (other than my accident fiasco). He could not.

And, the fat lady,....well.....I quit eating so much...

Today I took Reagan to her first day of school.  As I was waking up Cade, she bounded into his room and said (with her eyes barely awake), "It's my first day of school, Momma!!"  (I prayed last night that she wouldn't cry.  I did though...I couldn't go to sleep until I did.)  She practically dragged me into the school building.  After we dropped off Cade at the gym, we found her new room and then her chair (they sit at big round tables).  We watched as all the other kids came in and found their seats.  I saw lots of them getting their pictures taken (we took ours at home), and a few mom's with tears.  After awhile, Mrs. Ackerman came over and asked if Reagan was doing okay or if she was having a hard time.  I assured her she was going to be fine.  I didn't tell her that I was the one having the hard time leaving her.  Reagan finally said, "Are you going home now, Mom?" Okay, okay.  I get the hint. I cried on the way home, and while taking out the trash and while finishing up the dishes.  I think I got it all out.  I'm glad I don't have to do this again for another 4 years.  1st days of Kindergarten are hard on mommas.  I'm really proud of her.  It's interesting that she's the one that I fight with the most, but I'm really enjoying this mother-daughter friendship that just began.

Just as an update:  Clark finally started walking last Friday.  He's got a very noticeable limp, but at least he's walking!  I guess potty training will be next our next goal!

Oh, and Clark got his cast off today, too. Doc says that it looked really good, that he didn't need a boot after all, and that he'll probably be running in a couple of days. Really? I'm just hoping he's back to walking by the weekend. He still scooted around tonight as if the cast was still there. He moved his knee without too much pain, but he fussed every time I touched his foot/ankle area. Doc said that the pain is not from the injury, but from being so stiff in a cast for 4 weeks. The second pic is a close up of his foot...that weird spot is from a penny. LOL When they took the cast off, he had a penny stuck on his foot. He also learned a new trick through all of this broken leg saga...how to pick his nose. Two year olds are a hoot!

I started thinking about this whole blog idea at the end of June as a way for my family and friends to connect with us, at least those that don't have facebook or myspace! However, July roared in like a lion. Clark broke his leg on July 3rd, got a cast on July 8, and it has been one wild ride. In all of that, Mike was gone for another whole week with the youth and my sweet friend had her 4th baby and an emergency surgery in one week, and my parents left their ministry of 21 years to move back closer to family, and I was snack director again for VBS at Crossroads (which actually took up 2 weeks!). And, now it's August! Where did our summer go?

I'm actually looking forward to the school year starting.

:sigh:

Just when I thought I would actually get excited about the Olympics for the first time ever something happens to make me realize I won't.  Don't get me wrong.  I watch the Olympics every 4 years, and I enjoy them, but there was never something "special" about them.

This year I would have been watching a local star lead the US soccer team to hopefully the gold medal.

Well that won't happen now as Abby Wambach broke her leg in two places in the very last game before the Olympics.  Talk about bad luck.

I was positive that with Abby the US team could grab the gold medal, and while I still think the US can take home the gold medal lossing Abby is a huge blow to the team.

The simple fact of the matter is Abby is a all around great player.  If it be on offense, or defense.

Sometimes I think players go after Abby Wambach.  But at the end of the day I think it is less "going after her" and much more trying to handle her, which is a huge credit to the level of play she is at.

Miami Summer Fun, originally uploaded by miamism.

]]> http://savingthroughsports.wordpress.com/?p=76 Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:09:23 +0000 mhueter http://becauseiplayedsports.com/2008/07/17/wambach-broke-leg-missing-olympics/ I read on the Pretty Tough blog [one of my new favorites in the blogosphere] that the US women's soccer team played Brazil the other night for a friendly game. Only it didn't turn out to be a regular night. Amy Wambach rushed to try to reach a ball defended by Brazilian player Maria Rosa late in the game, collided with her and suffered a midshaft oblique fracture on both her tibia and fibula [aka, she broke her leg and can't play in the Olympics].

As you can read in one of my earlier posts, Wambach is the strength of the USA team's offense. This is a severe blow to a team who is picked to bring home the gold.

This really sucks for Wambach, too, who was at the high point of her career.

My mom is talking about coming out again towards the end of next week.  I asked if she would help me paint over at my ILs.  She didn't sound too thrilled about it, but it is getting really hard for me to get stuff like that done.  I can't do much without getting winded. 

On a positive note, my blog stats have been way up the past week.  It's probably from friends and family checking in more often, but I always think it's fun to see how many people actually read this.  Some even think it's interesting!  I had a comment from a woman who's 2 year old also broke his leg on the 3rd.  It is nice to know that someone else is going through the same thing.  I know others who have been through it, but it's nice to know someone who is going through the same things at the same time.  So Shara, if you have found anything that helps keep your little boy occupied, pass it on!

We've survived our first week.  Only 5 more to go!  I'm getting better at finding things for him to do.  I'm using a boppy pillow under his armpits so he can play on the floor without having to hold himself up.  He seems to really like that.  The only problem is that he can push himself backwards but can't go forwards.  He can roll to his back, but hasn't rolled to his tummy yet.  He gets frustrated when he ends up somewhere he didn't intend or something ends up out of reach, but he is much happier that he can play instead of just being propped up somewhere where he can't reach anything.  I did call the orthopedist today.  Cole's little toe seems a little squished and he cries when you touch it.  They basically said to try separating it from the other toes with cotton to see if that helps.  He didn't like me messing with it, but it is a little better now.  He screamed the whole time and cried for a while after I was finished.  He fell asleep about 5 minutes later, so I'm thinking some of that was from being a little over tired.  As far as his stink goes, I'm not sure what we can do about that.  I bought some different tape to cover the diaper area, but I think he's just going to reek of pee for the next 5 weeks.  There is no way to dry it out really.  I may try a blow dryer, but I'm going to need Pat's help for that.  I'm sure it will be another horrific experience seeing as how he doesn't like the blow dryer when I use it.  Other than that, things are ok. 

I had a check up today.  I will be 34 weeks on Saturday.  Everything is still looking A-OK so no worries!  It's hard to believe I'm this far already.  Hopefully the last 6 weeks will go quickly.  I have a feeling they will sneak up on me before I'm ready!

1. I can unload the dishwasher without "help".
2. I don't have to feed calves every night.
3. We're saving money on gas since I'm not driving anywhere.
4. We're finally getting our money's worth on the cable bill.
5. I don't have to walk up stairs any more.
6. I can do laundry and clean the house without worrying that he's getting into something when he's quiet.
7. I finally have time to read.  Now I just need a decent book.
8. Lots of people are planning to visit.
9. I'm not so focussed on how uncomfortable the last couple of months of pregnancy are.
10. There's less laundry to do.  Since we've been home he's only worn 2 shirts and neither were worn for much more than an hour.

*Ok, first off, I'm kidding.  Don't really break or let your child break his leg on purpose.  DCFS won't appreciate it and you may lose your child.  I'm just trying to find a little humor and positive thinking in our situation.

On another humorous note, here is the much awaited for photo of Cole in the Hannah Montana bean bag chair.

I've been breaking a few of my rules that we may have issues with when this is all over.  First, he has his blankie and his thumb, which I normally only let him have when he's taking a nap or going to bed.  Second he's been spending most days watching TV almost non-stop.  We did head over to the farm this morning and watched the tractors and skid loader.  We may have to make that a routine instead of TV.

I did try to locate a car seat for Cole today.  They do have one at the hospital in Sioux Falls.  The lady was going to try to find out who to talk to or how to get it here for me, but I didn't hear back about that today.  She was very helpful though, so hopefully I'll hear back tomorrow.  I just find it so hard to believe that no one has dealt with this before.  She said some of the therapists told her that some parents will just lay the kids flat and buckle them into the back seat.  Number 1, I dont' think that's legal and number 2, I'm pretty sure I'd rather have Cole half strapped in to his car seat than laying in the back seat.  All I really need is a way to extend the crotch strap about 2 inches so I can get the buckle above his cast.  THe angle isn't perfect, but with a towel behind his back, it works.  Hopefully we can get this special car seat and not worry about it.  We don't really plan on going anywhere with him other than from here to the farm, but still.  Well, I am off to bed.

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.  There have been moments when I just want to break down and cry.  It's been very stressful.  I have to learn my limits as to what I can and can't do with him.  We aren't used to not being on the go all the time.  I think a couple of days ago I wrote how badly I wanted a day where we didn't have to go anywhere.  I'd take that back in a heartbeat if I knew it would come true this way.

We took him to a 4th of July fish fry at Pat's Grandma's last night.  He did pretty well.  He got tired of the stroller after a while and needed to go "nigh nigh".  A few people took him outside and carried him around and he seemed to enjoy that.  He isn't eating much besides crackers yet.  He drinks a lot of juice, but once again, I expect him to start eating more when the pain subsides a little bit.

My parents came out yesterday afternoon.  It's been nice to have someone help with diapers and to keep me from going insane with boredom.  It's hard to be stuck inside with a child who can't and doesn't want to do anything.  There are only so many cartoons I can stand and I'm not a big TV watcher anyway. 

Thanks for the ideas.  Cole isn't big into coloring, but lately has taken to eating crayons.  Play doh is a good one though.  Does anyone have a good play doh recipe?  I won't be going anywhere until the end of next week to be able to get some.  I can't really take him out anywhere either.  Number 1) we can't strap him into his car seat completely.  Number 2) I'd have to lay him flat in the shopping cart, which I don't think he'd appreciate.  Number 3) He's heavy.  I put him on the scale yesterday and I think the cast adds 10 lbs if I suptracted correctly.  That's better than the 20 they told us, but the weight is all in his bottom which makes it very awkward.  I've had a lot of people offer to help, which I won't turn down, but right now he doesn't do much but lay.  I think it'll be tougher later on when he's frustrated and tired of it and I'm very awkward and can't handle him much.  It looks like 6 weeks falls on my birthday, so getting that cast off will be a nice present for me!