Oh, yeah! Paying for the food DOES count! And, if she wants it the way she wants it, then of COURSE she should do it! She sounds like she is an accomplished hostess!


Well...all I had was a backache and a thirst. I was dying to sneak a Coke, but they kept bringing me these little pills to desolve under my tongue and kept telling me to keep my mouth dry. Then, when I told my H I had to go potty really bad, went, did nothing, but found that I couldn't move once I got back to my bed, he noticed some ..er..spots on the floor and totally lost it. He went to the door and started screaming for a nurse. They came, took one look, loaded my butt up onto a gurney and started racing me down the hall....telling me to quit pushing and to pant like a dog. Once in the delivery room, they slapped this stinky mask over my face, and the next thing I knew, I had this bouncing baby boy! Piece of cake!


Sorry, he got remarried last October, plus he's got 3 kids, ages 9-14. And, since they are building their house, and have changed the dining room into a "guest" bedroom, I have a hunch there are plans for more than just guests for that room. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />


That's why I'm fuming over not being able to reverse digits until the year 2010...when I will become 06 years old. Hope I don't have to start first grade all over again! LOL!

only I were going alone! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" /> Between herding my dad, who doesn't like to be hurried, and my husband, who tends not to like anything very much, I'm thinking I'll spend the whole trip feeling a bit like a piece of particularly-delectable ham stuck between 2 slices of somewhat-belligerent bread! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />

Gotta go help HP help me. I'll be back later.

t&l

All I can say is if that labor was your idea of a piece of cake, I hope you never try to make a living as a confectioner! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />


And she's got 3 kids 11, 9, and 8. Nervous breakdown in a bag! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />


Frankly, I'm not sure they'd HAVE us again. Forewarned is forearmed! Unless you were an angelic child....... Of course, I was angelic, too, just of the sinister persuasion! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

t&l

Well, before everybody comes trucking on over for leftovers, let me say one thing to you. V-E-G-E-T-A-R-I-A-N. The choices cuts of soy, fillet of gluten, and roast of textured vegetable protein.--laid out for your dining pleasure, Num-num! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> The other thing you should know is that birthdays are for favorite foods, not necessarily things that "go" together. Neaksis just makes up her special treats, and it's up the the individual eater to make a meal out of them. Tonight we had shish-kabobs (or as some kid once immortally named them, "shickabobs") with gluten, ahem, steaks she made her herself, stuffed manicotti, pizza (ranch dressing instead of tomato sauce, onions, pineapple, and cheese), salad, garlic bread, vegetables, chocolate cake, and ice cream. Not necessarily balanced, but certainly filling. By the time I was done eating, the manicotti wasn't the only thing that was stuffed! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

We had 2 guests from China to eat with us. They managed to survive both the food and the onslaught of children. We have a number of nurses at our hospital that were brought from foreign countries to work, primarily India and China. In L&D there are 4--3 Chinese and one Indian. There have been a number of doctors and nurses who have been unpleasant to them--from patronizing to downright rude. They make derogatory comments about their professional skills, snide remarks about their language abilities...which are significantly better than ours would be if we were trying to talk Chinese, that's for doggone sure. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> It has annoyed me a lot to see how they have been treated in a number of instances, so I have been even more interested than I would've been otherwise in being their friend. I admire the courage that led them to travel around the world to try and practice their profession in another country, another language, another culture--without family, or friends, or anybody close to really support them. They are hard-working, always willing to help, dedicated to their patients' well-being, and sometimes amusing in their attempts to communicate! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> What's not to like? So they had a good time. At least I think they did. It was hard to see what they were thinking once they disappeared under the mob of children. (They each have one, left behind in China. One's daughter is 9, the other's 17.) 6 juveniles between 4 and 11 was a whopping lot of kids to absorb all at once!

I gave her a flute to replace hers that disappeared, and a Peruvian pan flute just because pan flutes have always intrigued me and they were on sale on eBay. I left Neak and Neaksis arm-wrestling over both flutes. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" /> Well, at least the gifts were popular!

Too much wild partying for such an old lady. I'm off to bed as soon as I get my clothes in the dryer. The Pool of Introspection will have to wait until a more fortuitous time for further exploration.

t&l

Happy birthday NeakSis!

I can't believe I left that out yesterday.

-AD

T&L,

OK, I understand that you left a lot out, and I'll leave it alone already.

Best wishes to your entire clan.

-AD

Well, the actual birth process was quite easy for me. For some reason, I would skip from stage 1 of labor to actual delivery, so there were no hours and hours of screaming and hollering for me. Once I hit 5 cm, it would only be about 10 minutes before I got to 10 cm. When our DD was born, the nurse told the doc that he had plenty of time to go get a bite of lunch. DD was born by the time his elevator went down to the next floor. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />

After she was born, though, my pregnancies became high risk, and I lost all my babies. My last two deliveries were not a piece of cake because of that. The last one was especially difficult, but I think that is because of the PIT drip (and PIT is an accurate description of that!) instead of natural labor and because I had toxicplasmosis (is that what it's called? Infection in the amniotic sac, anyway.)



Given the way my son's kids behaved until after he got custody, a nervous breakdown would be a given! I'll have all 4 grandkids spending the night tonight while my H is out of town, so look for me to be wearing a strait-jacket tomorrow! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" /> Well, maybe it won't be too bad, as DD is also going to spend the night. I'm not too sure how much help she'll be, as she has to get up at 5 a.m. for work, so she'll likely conk out early.



Well, I always thought I was an angelic child, but my FIRST first grade teacher apparently didn't think so, as she tried to get me kicked out of school after only 2 weeks! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

And, back to you...I'm curious about something. Does your "Clam" ever seem to be more conversationally open with other women than he is with you? My H is, and that just bugs the holy you-know-what out of me.

Hi,
It's good to see you girls enjoying each others company.
I have wondered how you (Lady C) were doing. I keep wishing your H will get it - and I admire your patience.

T&L,
are you still keeping track of visits?
I claim some of them, when I came by and read, but didn't have time to post.

I can see AJ is a man of few words - either that, or he doesn't like to type. I hope he communicates well with Neak.

Tell me why Neaksis is single - Is it lack of opportunity, or is she being careful, or is it something else?
I can't imagine she is shy, but then, one never knows.
She's still young, she could be shy.

About Hawaii -
Are you hoping............. or dreading it?
Neutral?

On HP -
What's good about the man? What can you tell us about his strong points other than he had nice hair when you married him?

Neak, so glad you are feeling better these days.

Neaksis, happy belated birthday.

SS

I almost said AJ is a hunt-and-pecker, but perhaps it would be better to say he is of the hunt-and-peck school of typing. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> It is very painstaking work for him, although the computer typing program has gotten him near 15 wpm on several occasions. Generally, anything that can't be said in 1-2 Hemingway-size sentences is dictated through his personal typist. He much prefers other means of communication. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Thank you for your kind wishes, and I am still feeling better. Not cured, but not wishing for death.

Last night was my first night alone, except I didn't end up being alone, exactly. We got home from the feast at almost 10pm yesterday. My exact words to the children were, "Ok, it's late. Go to the bathroom and get straight in bed."

They were very quiet while I talked to AJ, and when I hung up they were asleep in a little pile on the couch. Awwwwww. I covered them with blankets and went to bed.

Middle of the night, DD6, aka Peepee Princess (really - I did not just make that up) woke me up to inform me that she had had a post-celebration overflow. She had been sleeping on the end of the couch by poor DS8, who was not happy to be awakened when I dragged him out of the puddle of urine to make him take a shower. With trepidation, I did not kick them out of my bed when they crept in.

5:41am DS4 woke me. You can guess why. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" /> So by the end of the night I had three freshly washed children in my bed, and one sorry couch waiting for me to get up. Now all my couch cushions are out in the sprinkler, my couch cover is in the washing machine, and my children are making glued tangles of colored popsicle sticks. What a great day.

>What a great day.

Trade me? I'll even settle for being pg for a day.

Hmmmmm. Good point. I'll be right back - I'm going to go thank them for peeing all over the couch. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I'll keep my day thank you.
No, that does not sound fun. Since I have never been pg, I don't know how much worse it is to do everything else and have those feelings too.

May your weekend be a good one.


Kimmy, looking for your thread.

SS

Aw, Neak! That's so tough about the kids having a peeing party while you were asleep! Not my idea of fun to have to get up in the middle of the night and clean up! You have my deepest sympathy. I would empathize with you, but I was very lucky that my two never, as I can recall, wet their beds. They were both dry at night before they were 2. HOWEVER, they still wore diapers to bed until they were almost 3...mostly because I was of the opinion, for a long time, that if I took their night-time diapers off, that would be the very night they would wet the bed. I can remember the night when DD finally told me, "No! I not wear didies no more. I a big girl. I use the potty!" Of course, when they fell asleep on the couch or the floor, I would steer them by the bathroom on the way to bed.

We did have one incident where our S, at age 4, was sleepwalking. I was sitting at the table, sewing, late one night. Here comes S, wandering into the kitchen. "Hi, honey! What are you doing up?" S said, "Hi, Mama." "Are you hungry?" No answer, although he was standing there on the other side of the bar, looking right at me. However, his gaze was so blank that I got up to see about him and discovered that he was peeing all over the kitchen cabinet! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" /> Anyway, nothing to do but let him finish, and then steer him back to bed. I had to clean the cabinet and floor, but at least he managed to keep himself dry!

Do y'all have a wet vac? I was thinking that one way you could help the couch cushions dry faster after you finish with the sprinkling would be to place each wet cushion inside a plastic garbage bag, insert the hose inside the bag with the sucking end against the cushion, tightly gather and hold the bag around the hose. Turn on the shop-vac, and let it suck all the water and air out of the cushion. If the cushion gets compacted really flat, you've done it right. Let the cushion finish drying in the sun.

And, don't be too upset with the kids. After all, you are having your 4th baby....and you may be in a slightly incontinent state later on...which is the pits, but almost a given when one is pregnant. If you don't want to wear Depends when that time comes, Maxipads work pretty well. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

If you don't want to wear either, be sure not to laugh, sneeze, or cough....especially if you're wearing pants. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Hi, SS!
Thank you for thinking of me. I'm doing OK. I'm still too broke to move out, but I do have a place to go. Sometimes, I think maybe God is making sure we stay broke so I'll stay with H. I really don't have much patience anymore. In fact, last night, I "went off" on H for getting an attitude and mouthing off at me. Yeah, I lovebusted, and didn't care one bit...still don't! Big difference now is that I no longer cry when we do cross words with each other.
By the end of the night, H was rubbing my neck and shoulder as he passed by...and proceeded to get a little amorous. OK, a lot amorous. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Then, today, I got a big, beautiful bouquet of real flowers for my birthday! I just about fell over! My H has sent flowers a few times for Valentine's Day and he has sent me artificial arrangements, but I can't remember his ever sending me real flowers for my birthday!

Anyway, I've been thinking about when we were first married, and would have fights, and then make mad, passionate love. I just wonder if my H might miss some of the fighting? On another thread, some folks were talking about the WS craving the "drama", and I'm wondering if my H needs some drama.

Oh, well, enough threadjacking...and back to t&l's regularly scheduled thread.

Hey, t&l! Wake up! Get over here and answer SS's question about what HP had going for him besides good hair! Inquiring minds want to know!

Aw, I wasn't upset, at least no more than rolling my eyes and muttering a bit. Humphle mumpher grumble.

Great, he just did it again, on MY bed this time. I was going to put a diaper on him tonight, just in case, but hadn't gone in and done it yet. The only good thing was he was lying on his sleeping bag at the time, which is where most of the, um, damage occurred. Sigh. Maybe I should buy stock in Tide.

<img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> yes <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> Don't tell anybody!



More than his dear FIL, that's for sure!



Hm-m-m-m. Self-induced lack of opportunity, maybe? At least that's how it started. She started taking care of her oldest adoptee when she was 17 and he was 1 year old, and gradually accumulated the other 2 as they were born, and their mother grew increasingly irresponsible. During the years that most girls are out dating and doing the social butterfly, she was dragging around a troop of toddlers--especially on the weekend. I believe I said it here a long time ago, but I'll repeat it anyway. Somebody else's ever-present little kids are NOT an aphrodisiac to your average young male, in looking for a girl, a date, a steady, or a wife.

Then, when the kids were 7, 5, and 4, and Neaksis was 22+, the full story of their abuse began to unfold, and she and I fought to become their legal guardians. I provided the financial backing for their upkeep, she did the physical care. I was, at least for a time, the buffer between her and her father's wrathful disapproval of what we were doing, and the stern authoritative figure of last resort, when it was needed. Once their parents parental rights were permanently severed about 2 yrs. ago, she was given first chance at adopting them. Everybody who came to interview her was initially against the adoption, since she's single, and only 16 yrs. older than the oldest. Every one of the disapprovers eventually, after watching her and the children together, recommended that the adoption be allowed to go forward. Before it was too late, she and I talked (for the umpteenth time) about what adopting them would mean to her, and that having these children, with all their consequences of abuse, might mean that she couldn't marry and have children of her own. To her, it was very simple. She loved them. Even while they "belonged" to their mother, they still spent nearly 2/3 of their time with her. She was unable to turn her back on them and walk away, so she chose to become their adoptive mother, in full awareness of the possible costs to other plans for her future she might have had.

Now, in addition to the lack of opportunity (if you think toddlers are a put-off, try a bunch of kids approaching puberty!), there is now a great deal of caution that would have to be brought to an introduction of any man into this household. The girl has serious, panicky issues with strange men in the house. Even her own biodad spending one night on a visit subsequently caused weeks of outbursts and anxiety. So, it'd have to be an incredibly special man to accept these children as part of the package, as well as to be worth all the upheaval that would occur should he marry Neaksis and move in with them.

She once interested Charred and Broiled, but then he met the Charbroiler, who is exotic, alluring, sexy, provocative...and was twice-divorced at the time. However, she's the one I said before had a bombshell cover, but contained a horror tale. Unfortunately, he didn't discover this before it was too late. There was another nice man around here that was interested in her. (Didn't I tell this already?) He is divorced from his adulterous wife, and has custody of their two boys...one with autism, and the other with a seizure disorder. (These are the two boys that made AJ's total # of kids the other day come to 8.) I really like him, but I discouraged the relationship (not that she wasn't the one who made the decision, just in case you're thinking I forced her to bend to my will!) because of the impossible difficulties of combining those 2 families into a cohesive unit. So many behavioral problems, so little time. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" /> There wouldn't have been any time for the 2 of them to actually have a relationship with each other, for all that it would've taken to deal with everybody's behavioral issues. It was hard for me to see that any amount of romance could be enough to compensate for that much incredibly hard work! So, that's why Neaksis is single. She told me, "When DS#3 is 18, I'll only be 37. That wouldn't be too old, would it?"

Actually, these kids, their biological parents, and Neaksis are another whole episode of the Saga, and I often feel very guilty about what has happened to her life because I got involved with prison ministries (to compensate for my prison story from earlier in the Saga), and ended up helping out several parolees (including the kids' ex-Satanist, habitual felon father) by giving them a home with our family. But that's a different chapter......


Yes.

I'll talk about HP later. It's almost 9PM. I'm 20 minutes from home. My brain is dead after a day spent at the computer. And Neaksis wants me to accompany her on the piano so she can play her new flute. Besides, I'm getting tired of listening to her whine about how long I'm taking. "What are you writing, anyway, the great American novel? Just call me Ishmael." <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> She's better with the volume off! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

t&l

Or maybe you could see if t&l could get you some of those thin blue pads they put on hospital beds underneath the patients?

Naturally, she should find out how much she'd have to pay for them; but, she should get a better rate than what hospitals charge insurance companies for them!

You and your creature comforts!!!! I suppose this means that your posting your sister's picture is out of the question?! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> Neaksis apologizes for not listening to you when you said to limit them to one slice of watermelon each at supper. She suggests you diaper the Princess PeePee, too. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" /> At least we know the Dervish contains more than just a dust devil.

t&l

I had at least 10 diapers left, but one of the princesses may have packed them in some kind of cleaning frenzy, wanting to use the little box for their own sinister purposes.

This is ridiculous! She'd better be sorry, too, because I WAS NOT KIDDING about only one slice of watermelon.

I don't know what the Dervish's problem is, but maybe he had been drinking out of the hose again. Peepee Princess was originally continent through the night well before the age of 2. Just after her second birthday we went on our trip to PEI and didn't even take any 'just in case' diapers. But then around 2 1/2 she started to wet the bed again shortly after Neaksis' kids began to molest her and DS8. (I may have blabbed part of the story out of turn, but there it is.) She has been almost entirely dry the last year or so, but at the party last night there was so much free-flowing sparkly apple juice that she overfilled her tiny tanks. There may even have been watermelon, too, but since I didn't eat any I don't remember for sure.

Oh, and until the diapers turned up missing, yes I was planning to shield them both. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Neaksis has already learned a song on the pan flute! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> It was incredibly cool. Except for the part about making me transpose MY part into HER key, instead of us all just playing from the music, like we were supposed to! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

And yes, Neak, we were using the more generic, ambiguous term "abuse." Right up until now. Let's go back to it, OK? Is that really when the bedwetting started? I didn't know that.

t&l

P.S. I'm signing off and heading for home and bed (hopefully without a lecture for spending the evening on this side of the lake instead of my own "lovely" home!). See you tomorrow.