Tagged: 7 Dream Jobs

Jamie over at Mrs. Sour Britches did a shout out tagging of her readers. Why not? Here's what she had to say.

1. Geologist. When I started thinking about my college career, I really wanted to become a geologist. I love rocks. I love the way that they are formed. I love fossils that are sometimes found with them. Rocks are way cool.
2. Nursery Tech. I love to grow things. I love putting color together and seeing how it all slowly comes together in the garden.
3. Buyer. I've done this for the art galleries that I've worked for. I went to Philadelphia and Baltimore with the Gallery Director of the previous gallery. I was able to buy gorgeous, handcrafted art. I was in heaven. I went on a seasonal buying trip for Christmas items with my current gallery to the Columbus Gift Mart. They would like me to go again, but I really need to hang at home and be mommy. Someday I'll be back on the buying circuit.
4. Storm Chaser Researcher. We're talking the real storm chasing with a purpose. I have a love for the Discovery Channel show Storm Chasers. I would absolutely love to be out doing research with Dr. Wurhman, his crew and to do what I can do to help the cause for increased warning. Hey, I took Climatology in college. I know a little! :)
5. Nature Photographer. I sit for hours outside while K- plays. I completely drain my camera batteries all in the quest to get the perfect picture. I'm not good by any stretch, but I'm working on it.
6. Glass artist. Well, I am a glass artist, but in the leaded glass sense. I would love to go back to glass blowing. I did it for a few years in college (for credit) and fell in love. I loved the heat. I loved being able to take something that I couldn't actually touch, manipulate it with a variety of tools and turn it into something beautiful. I loved going into the cold shop and polishing the pieces. It was a long process, but something that was gorgeous if you got it just right.
7. Writer. I would love to write a book someday. I just need to pull the words out of my swiss cheese brain and re-learn the proper way to use punctuation. I would love to write a book about Bailey. I started one. It's far from finished.

As a bonus, do you know what my mom's dream job is? She wants to be a toll booth worker. She said that she thinks it would be fascinating to meet people from all over!

Take the tag and run with it, if you please!

Day 8: Love is not jealous. Love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire. -- Song of Solomon 8:6 NIV

Determine to become your spouse's biggest fan and to reject any thoughts of jealousy. To help you set your heart on your spouse and focus on their achievements, take yesterday's list of negative attributes and discreetly burn it. Then share with your spouse how glad you are about a success he or she recently enjoyed.

Excuse me. You're on my nerve.

I got a call Thursday morning from K-'s school. "Is K- okay?" "Um, no. She's crying and saying that her tooth hurts." Ugh. So, I grabbed the cell and called the dentist while I was on my way to pick her up. You see, K- doesn't complain about pain. If she does, you know that it is something big. I talked to Lindsay at the office, explained what was going on as we were just there Wednesday for the same exact tooth. She told me that she would talk to Dr. Rick and find out what he had to say. He told me what I basically already figured.

Baby root canal.

Poor K-. We've tried, but she is going in at 10 AM for a pulpotomy. What the heck is a pulpotomy? Well, it's referred to as a baby root canal, but technically isn't an actual root canal. It is the removal of some of the pulp of the tooth, you sterilize the empty cavity, then fill it in. Often, but not always, a stainless steel crown is placed on top. A pulpectomy, however, is the removal of all of the pulp of the tooth. Rinse. Repeat.

Aren't you glad that I read up on this stuff? What can I say? I'm a mommy that likes to be informed. I frightened the doctor January 2008 when I could tell him the exact reasons that he was running precautionary blood work for K-'s limping. (Rest assured, all she did was truly injure her leg which took about 6 weeks to heal.) He asked me if I was a nurse. After I said no. He asked how I knew. I told him that I was a mommy that read a lot. He told me to stop reading.

For the record, we take K- to the dentist regularly and have done so since the ripe age of 3. Unfortunately, her in utero drug exposure has done a number on her teeth. We keep up on it with flossing, brushing multiple times daily and fluoride swish. We've had two teeth filled now multiple times (due to a nasty strong overbite) and one nerve has just now decided to say no thank you.

Writing this on Thursday afternoon, we're having a bit of a home day. K- has dollies strewn all over the living room floor. She has a Piglet ice pack placed on her face. She has been liquored up with Tylenol on regular intervals and will continue to be so until we go for whatever pulp removing procedure that her tooth requires. She's been crying that her tooth hurts. She's been hanging out in my lap. (She's not typically a lap kid, she's more of a side snuggler.) She asked that I wait to go to the grocery until after "Daddy gets home, please." She didn't even want to go to the store. Wednesday we settled for a milk shake. This will require a toy. I purchased a Disney Favorite Moments Snow White Set (the little Polly Pocket variety.) I have it in my console. I may need a toy, too.

And yes, I've already cried. It's not like I'm sending her to the chop. (Ref: Edwina in Chicken Run.) There are certainly worse things. However, my child is in pain and I'm not a fan of that. It breaks a mommy's heart. Belt out a prayer if you would like. We would appreciate it.

(I'm adding that it is Thursday night and she has been awake already once crying from pain. Oh, this night should be good and long. :S )

So, off we go with insurance card in hand. Hopefully, we can happily skip on our way out. I'll update later. Hopefully a good update!

Edited to add: The afternoon update.

Last night was not so good. Each time K- fell asleep, she woke up crying. Tylenol did nothing. It was a very, very long night.

We got to the dentist and she suddenly decided that she didn't want to be there. I had to talk her into going into the office, then I had to pin her down for the actual shot. Believe me, we tried everything prior to the pinning. Once the numbing was beginning to take place, we were good to go.

Dr. Rick, a dental saint, kept K- going. He jokes with her, let her watch TV and cruised along. I'm pleased to say, the pulpotomy (baby root canal) is complete.

So what happened? Well, I did ask if it was my fault for holding off on taking her (I had an appointment 2 weeks out from my initial call. I set one on my day off, rather than just another day and taking off work. *smack to the forehead*) He said that it wasn't that. He said that the nerve would have let loose regardless. In fact, my next day call surprised him. He said that he felt horrible. He thought of us last night at 10:30 PM. He said that on Wednesday, everything seemed fine, the filling was close to the nerve but not on the nerve. He said that when he did get into his task today, the nerve was necrosed. And I gave K- Tylenol which was like Smarties for the pain. It did nothing.

So, her face is still numb. She lost some of the Motrin and ice cream out of the corner of her mouth. She is on Motrin for a few days and antibiotics for 5. We had a long discussion about her in utero drug exposure, how it has affected her teeth and steps that we can take to avoid this-- to the best of our ability. We're increasing our swish routine to twice a day, making certain that our toothpaste is fluoridated (which I swear that it is), flossing religiously and doing a fluoride treatment each visit we are in. Visits will be 6 months, no skipping (I haven't been, but all the more reason to keep on track.) We're trying to avoid nastiness to the adult teeth.

Thank you for all of your prayers. She is smiling, laughing and doing great. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with her for some "Little Fairy on the House", playing with Polly's, dollies and Hot Wheels.

Have a great day!

Day 7: Love believes the best. [Love] believes all things, hopes all things. -- 1 Corinthians 13:7

For today's dare, get two sheets of paper. On the first one, spend a few minutes writing out positive things about your spouse. Then do the same with negative things on the second sheet. Place both sheets in a secret place for another day. There is a different purpose and plan for each. At some point during the remainder of the day, pick a positive attribute from the first list and thank your spouse for having this characteristic.

Unplug It Challenge

We ARE That Family and Pampering Beki have issued an Unplug It Challenge. One day a week-- a full 24 hours -- the challenge is to unplug. I think that is reasonable. I know that I pop on the computer on and off days that I'm off. I'm going to unplug fully on Sundays. That is the day that Hubs is home (almost always) and we spend family time together. I'm also going to do as Kristen has done and allot myself scheduled time during other days. Not that time? Don't need to be on. So here goes.

Sunday -- Unplug
M-W -- 8:30 AM - 9 AM, after K- is dropped off to school
M - F -- 9:00 - 10:00 PM or so, after K- is in bed and Hubs is working out, watching a movie and whatnot.
Saturday -- 8:30 AM - 9 AM, 9:00 - 10:00 PM or so

Sounds like a wonderful challenge. I will update progress on my monthly resolution post.

Tree-fully Wonderful!

We had a family day on Sunday. We went to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, then decided that we would go for some ice cream. The mom and pop places that I knew of weren't open. Well, one had closed completely. We ended up at Dairy Queen. A few stores down was a Big Lots with trees outside. I've wanted to plant another tree in our backyard, but they've been so expensive. We had a beautiful tulip tree we planted our very first spring here. My mother and father-in-law had purchased it for us as an Easter gift that year. It took about 4 years to kick into high gear with growing. She was finally growing like no tomorrow and a very late, very hard frost hit. All of her leaves instantly wilted and the next week Bethany the Tulip Tree died.

So, for the bargain price of $14.00, we brought home a 7 foot Silver Maple. It was a hair too long for the length of the car, so we opened the moon roof and popped it right on through.
It's hard to see, but there is a blue bag under it (to keep it from scratching the paint!) and the twigs to the top of the tree are sticking out.
Klassy tree movers, we are! :) And yes, I did wrap reuseable shopping bags around the limbs to keep them from catching and breaking off. Hubs and K- were digging the hole. No, I haven't cleared the beds yet. It's just been too cold for me yet. I wait to uncover my plants when I can be sure that it is good and warm. I know that they are fine, but I still like to keep them tucked in.
Hubs giving the final touches to filling the hole in. Look! It's a tree! It's planted! Hooray!
We've got her all fed, watered, mulched (Hubs had some mulch in reserve from last year), staked and now she is happily enjoying the sunshine.

Grow little tree! Grow!

Day 6: Love is not irritable. He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city. -- Proverbs 16:32

Today's Dare: Choose today to react to tough circumstances in your marriage in loving ways instead of with irritation. Begin by making a list of areas where you need to add margin to your schedule. Then list any wrong motivations that you need to release from your life.

Works for Me Wednesday: Starting seeds

This past Friday, I started my seeds. It takes a bit of preparation, but here is the list of things that I did:

1. I cleaned out my garden window. I typically do it every few months during the spring, summer and fall. In the winter, it gets a bit more neglected. I loved on it. It's all good now.
2. I pulled my little greenhouse out of storage and hydrated my peat pots. I like to hydrate my peat pots with the open notch to the bottom. (See that little round circle in the picture below?) They seem to hydrate faster for me that way.
3. While my pots were hydrating, I went through my seeds to figure out which ones needed started now and which to start outside later on.
4. I make labels on some wooden tongue depressers. It's a bummer not to know what is growing in your little pots!
5. After the pots are hydrated and excess water drained from the bottom of the little greenhouse, I flip the peat pots over to expose the little round middle. That is the opening in the mesh for you to be able to sow your seeds.
6. Now is the time that I plant my seeds. I just plunk in a few seeds per pot. I feel like Octo*Mo*m though. I put two seeds maximum per pot with the thought that only the maximum of 24 tomato plants could possibly grow. Hmmm. Do I know for sure or will there be a few sets of surprise twins? In the past, I've put 3 or so in each pot. I ended up splitting the seedlings into individual pots and ended up with 60 tomatoes! Everyone I knew got tomatoes! I'm trying to avoid that this time.
7. I go ahead and follow the directions on how to cover the seeds. Remember, some seeds need light to germinate. After everyone is tucked in, I close the lid down and place the greenhouse in the window. A few things that I do:
- I spray water on the lid only. I found that I overwatered the plants and they dampened off (died.) By spraying water on the lid, it is less stress on the little guys.
- I prop the lid open at night, for at least a few hours. I find that if I don't do this, the pots get all fuzzy. Seeds rot. It's not good.
- For the first week or so, I put my heating pad on low underneath the greenhouse. I don't want to fry the soil sterile, but I do want to make sure that it is nice and toasty so that the seeds do what they need to do.

I'll let you know my progress! Ooo! I should tell you what I'm growing in there, eh? You can cross reference the list at http://www.rareseeds.com/.
- Arkansas Travelers- a round pink tomato
- Royal Chicos- a paste tomato
- Pink Surprise- a lovely calendula that will be a border plant for the butterfly garden
- Parsley Braynor
- Genovese Basil- a companion plant for the tomatoes
- Lemon Bee Balm
- Lavender- they were free seeds that I won from Aveeno! :)
K- and I checked our little pots out last night and look what we found! We have Pink Surprise (Calendula) peeking through the soil!
We have some Basil popping up, too! Whew-whoo! :)

My husband and I are doing The 40 day Love Dare. We invite you to follow along!

Day 5: Love is not rude. He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be reckoned a curse to him. -- Proverbs 27:14

Today's Dare: Ask your spouse to tell you three things that cause him or her to be uncomfortable or irritated with you. You must do this without attacking them or justifying your behavior. This is from their perspective only.

Tales from the Trenches: Blog Safety

After I e-mailed my mother-in-law my blog address the other day, she brought up the concern of blogs not being private. She brings up valid concerns, the concerns to which I believe that I have safeguarded against from the very beginning. I don't want to dismiss her concerns though, because the internet can be a scary place if you don't keep yourself safe.

1. Only my first name is disclosed. There is no mention of my last name. Both Hubs and K- are referred to as such and only will be. There are multiple reasons for this.
2. I've never disclosed the town we live in. I've only mentioned that we live in NE Ohio, which covers a fairly big area.
3. I've posted one full-on face photo of K- and Hubs, she was very young, it was family far away and a different situation. I figure if Hubs truly wants his face on the internet, that's his own thing. K-, however, runs into a different category. There are nasty people out there that lift photos of children from the internet and do even nastier things with them. In the recent months, wasn't there a lady in Florida that claimed that she had a missing child, had photos and everything only to find out later that those photos were an internet lift of someone else's kid? I worry about that. This is why my cute child's face will be kept anonymous.
4. I've never disclosed our places of employment. Y'all know that I work at a gallery and Hubs works at a park. 'Nuff info there.
5. You'll never find me referring to the full name of K-'s friends or posting their face photo on the blog either. Again, their parents can do that with their own kid if they want. It's not my place to do so.
6. If we are out of town, I don't post about it until we are back.

I try to do what I can to stay safe on the internet. Though my mother-in-law certainly brings up valid points, I'd like to hope that I have addressed it all along as though it shouldn't be an issue. I realize that I could tag the entire blog as private, but I don't believe that is necessary. I've been able to keep the comments open with a password. I haven't had to enable comment moderation, but know those who have. I've also known blogs that I once read that decided to go private because of not knowing who was popping in and out. Certainly, I understand that, too. I pretty much know who comes in and out, thanks to the blog patrol. I know where people are referred from, what things they read and if they went into comments. Works for Me Wednesday is the exception, but I've had genuinely kind folks stop in. I've been blessed, but who really cares what a mom from Ohio has to say, anyhow? :)

Speaking of, it brought me to thinking -- why do I have a blog? Originally, I started the blog to tack an internet store to it. I have art to sell, little girl things that I've made and I thought it would be another avenue to show and sell. I plan to do this, but I wanted to get the blog thing in full swing and know what I was doing there first. Also, I was a lurker for a few years, reading blogs, learning things and thought that perhaps we could touch someone with our story of adoption. Maybe there is someone out there that needs our help or an ear to listen to what they are going through with that. We've also experienced loss through stillbirth. Is there a mommy out there that needs another mommy's shoulder that has been there? It's a journal. I'm not a scrapbooker. Really, I'd rather poke my eye out with a pencil. (Sorry folks.) But, I'm able to chronicle things for K-, the good, bad and otherwise. I'm able to vent. I'm able to be myself and I write it for myself and my family. Folks have hobbies. My husband loves to shop for used CD's. K- loves Polly Pockets. I could do worse, eh?

That brings me to the question of the week-- how do you feel about internet safety and blogs? Have you had any issues? I'm curious.

Day 4: Love is thoughtful. How precious also are your thoughts to me . . . How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. -- Psalm 139:17-18

Today's Dare: Contact your spouse sometime during the business of the day. Have no agenda other than asking how he or she is doing and if there is anything you could do for them.

Spring Fever Monday: Revisiting Vacation

When a sign like this greets you as you are hiking with an energetic 4 year old . . .
. . . you hike with them in something like this.

But you lose that part of your brain that says, "Hey! Didn't I read a sign about no swimming or wading?" when it is 95 degrees out and you and your kid are hot? Oops. Sorry!

(In September, we vacationed in the Hocking Hills area of Ohio.)

Day 3- Love is not selfish. Be devoted one to another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor. -- Romans 12:10

Today's Dare: Whatever you put your time, energy, and money into will become more important to you. It's hard to care for something you are not investing in. Along with restraining from negative comments, buy your spouse something that says, "I was thinking of you today."

The Love Dare Weekend

Yesterday's post talked about how we went to see the movie Fireproof. The Love Dare, the complimenting book to the movie (and the one that the movie was based upon), begins as:

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,

but do not have love,

I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy,

and know all mysteries and all knowledge;

and if I have all faith,

so as to move mountains,

but do not have love,

I am nothing.

And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor,

and if I surrender my body to be burned,

but do not have love,

it profits me nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

It got me to thinking a bit, but I promise to be back to the regularly scheduled blog tomorrow.

Day 2: Love is kind. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. -- Ephesians 4:32

In addition to saying nothing negative to your spouse again today, do at least one unexpected gesture as an act of kindness.