Dang it!

I was having dinner in the cafateria tonight, when I learned a valuable lesson. Don't eat a cupcake while surfing the net on your computer. Dropped the damn thing icing down on the key pad. Try getting icing and yummy cream filling out of your keyboard, not very easy.

I'll do what I damn well please.

While we have been at the hospital, I've had the opportunity to watch people driving around in the parking lot. I watched a lady drive over the sidewalk and bang off the curb. I'm not sure why she decided to go the way she did, but I was entertained. I took this picture of the parking lot. If you look right in the middle, you'll see where a lady parked in her non-spot. Her SUV is just to the right of the light pole, which you can tell isn't a spot.

The funny thing was, there were plenty of spaces to the left of there, which you can't see in the picture. Another example of a person who didn't get what she wanted, a spot close to the hospital, so she made her own spot. The sad thing was it was one of the nicest days of the month, so she had no excuse to not park in an actual space.

Observations, from a bored person

I have a couple new observations from the hospital, seeing as how we have been here for another week and still have several more days to go.

There is an area where there are 4 elevators that I use to go to the cafeteria. Two are labeled for "Patient Use Only" and two or labeled "Staff and Guest." That is all fine and dandy, in fact, it makes sense. They should have elevators for patients only, so they can have some privacy on their way to surgery or x-rays, seeing as how they are half naked. The issue I have is, when they use the staff and guest elevators to haul patients, leaving me waiting for 10 minutes just to get a ride back to my room after dinner. Here was the situation the other night. I went to the elevators and pushed the button. The first elevator showed up a few minutes later and there was a bed with a patient, not in the patient designated elevator. I figured, not a huge deal, but there are two elevators that aren't being used, and now I wait for the next elevator. When it shows up, the doors open and there in a hospital employee inside with a big cart with three open bins on it. The bins had plastic liners, but no lids. I started to get on, figured I could squeeze beside the cart, when the guy says "This is medical waste." Nice. I have no idea what was in the bins, I'm guessing it wasn't hazardous since the bins had no lids, but you know what, I'm not going to risk it. I've been a visitor at this hospital going on four weeks, I don't want to become a patient because I got "medical waste" on me. I got out, pushed the button, again, and waited for the two elevators I'm allowed to use, go all the way up, then work their way back down. All the while, the other two elevators sit silent with their mocking "Patient Use Only" sign. When my elevator finally showed up, I hit the 6th floor button and waited as the elevator stopped on every floor on the way up, but nobody got on or was even standing there when the doors open. Weeeeeeeee!

I've noticed that this hospital employs a lot of "special" people. There isn't anything wrong with that, it's just an observation. While riding in the correct elevator the other day, an employee got on, with a cart that he didn't say was medical waste, and proceeded to ask me, in a VERY loud voice, "DO YOU LIKE 70's MUSIC?" Wow, this dude really likes his 70's music because he almost sounds angry and I'm certainly not going to tell him I don't like it, fearing an argument. His question to a stranger, tipped me off that he might be one of the special people working here. I told him I did like 70's music, so he proceeded to yell group names at me, I'm guessing so I would grab a name and talk about my love for them. Before I could even get a word out, he asked me when I graduated. I thought that was an interesting segway, so I told him 1986, which prompted a "from where" question. I told him Valley High School, and he seemed dumbfounded. The elevator doors opened on my floor and I stepped out with him yelling some encouraging words about Hayden Fry, who was a football coach at the University of Iowa back at that time. I could tell he would be great at Trivial Pursuit and I enjoyed my short time with him. I wished him well as the doors were closing and he was talking about bowl games that coach Fry was involved in. He was relentless.

Our nurse from last night, Shelly, who is by far the best nurse we have had in this whole crapfest, got me a cot to sleep on. I'm pretty sure this cot was originally ordered for a dwarf hospital, seeing as how my legs hang off the end by two feet. The pillows have a plastic coating on them so they don't hold germs, but even with a pillow case on it, my face was sweating like crazy. Not a nice way to wake up, I wasn't sure if I threw up on myself, dreamed of eating a steak and drooled all over or if I was having massive face sweats. I narrowed it down to face sweats, sexy. Our daytime nurse from yesterday and today is named Kelly, so we have the rhyming nurses. She is really good as well, so hopefully we get her through the week.

Here is another tip, if you ever spend time here. I've told you that they have free Coke, which is the best thing about this hospital, not including some fantastic nurses. The trick is, they have those little white foam cups that hold two tablespoons of liquid. I brought an insulated cup from home that holds a much more agreeable amount of liquid and I keep it full. Fewer trips to the machine, more trips to the bathroom, it's a trade off.

How stupid are we?

I got home around 11:30pm last night, just in time to see a commercial that wasn't all that good, but the disclaimer was scary. The commercial was for a nut company, I think it was Diamond nuts and it started with a guy falling through the air with a stewardess falling next to him holding onto the drink cart. I don't remember what they said, but then it flashed back to a few minutes earlier and the guy is getting up from his seat in the airplane to go to the bathroom. Instead of opening the bathroom door, he opens the door to the outside and falls out. The suction from the air pressure lost in the cabin, pulled the stewardess out, along with the drink cart. The narrator talks about the person being hungry and how he made a poor decision, but if he had eaten the nuts, he wouldn't have. All of that is fine and dandy, the funny part was the disclaimer at the bottom of the screen. It said that you shouldn't ever open airplane doors while the plane is in the air. Really? I need that disclaimer? I guess they do have all kinds of warnings on all kinds of products that you wouldn't think you would need to be told. They do have warnings on hemorrhoid cream tubes that says not to put it in your eyes or mouth, which says to me that someone did it. I'm sure the person who put the cream in the wrong hole, claimed that the tube didn't say NOT to put it in there, so the figured it was ok. I'm sure the hemorrhoid cream company paid a huge sum of money to this person to get their eye or mouth back to normal. It just reminds me of the McDonalds hot coffee issue, that I'm sure you all remember. I don't remember all of the details, and perhaps the coffee was hotter than it needed to be, but I just feel we need to take more responsibility for our actions. If you don't want your crotch burnt, don't put hot things there, that is why they invented cup holders.

Third times the charm

So another night of no sleep. Sat up in a chair for the last time, I don't give a shit, I'm taking a bed next time. Somebody is sleeping in a chair, but it won't be me, it will be the poor sap whose bed I steal. I moved over to a couch for a good 20 minute snooze, but the couch was only long enough for my torso, so my neck was wrenched on one end and my legs hung over the other, so they fell asleep. Shared rooms? Really? In 2009? This sucks. I had to listen to our room mate snore, which actually made me feel like I was in El Paso/Juarez, and some old guy a few doors down hit his nurses button every five minutes to complain about something. First, he wanted his blood sugar checked, then he said he had leg cramps, then he wanted to get up (which they told him he couldn't) then he wanted his ass rubbed, or something, I couldn't quite hear that one. I couldn't sleep, but I couldn't watch TV either because the TV was on the other side of the room and I didn't figure our neighbor would appreciate me watching a movie at 2am. I'm hopping this is the last time we are here, although, I think we now have enough frequent flyer miles for our 4th stay free. I'd like to save it up for my mental breakdown, but not sure I can hold out. I may need to use up those points for free meals at the cafeteria. Still waiting on course of action for Marcy.

Are you freaking kidding me?

So we are back in the hospital, and I've learned a few things so I was a little more prepared this time.

1. Have cash, it makes eating at odd hours and in odd place much easier. Have small bills so you can get a soda at 2am when everything is closed.

2. Have all computers, phones and iPod's charged and charge cords ready to go at a moments notice.

3. Have the car gassed up, don't want to stop on the way to the ER for a fill up.

4. Have friends that are doctors who will call the hospital and have them waiting for you, room assigned, so you don't have to go through the ER hassle, very nice feature if you can get it.

Marcy was in a lot of pain, so we brought her back down and she was admitted at 11pm last night. As I write this at 1am, we are waiting for them to get her for x-rays, but she just got a shot of morphine, so she is finally resting. I, on the other hand, am fully engaged in finding more things to steal. Last time we left I took a plastic syring thing that the boys now use as a squirt gun, several rolls of tape that they left in the room and a bunch of the mouth sponge swab thingys. I'm thinking about trying to get one of the IV pumps out, but I'm not sure what I would do with it, so maybe I can find something more practical. We are in a shared room and as I tried to get Marcy some music on her iPod, the thing was turned up as loud as it would go, so I'm sure our neighbor will be glad when I am gone. I'll be glad as well. I'm putting in a request for my own parking space, I think I deserve that.

A live ass beating

Friday night, I got to do something that I really enjoy, hang out with friends and watch guys beat the hell out of each other. It wasn't my friends that were beating the hell out of each other, no, these were guys who actually signed up to hit and be hit, it was an MMA match. Its a local circuit which I've watched before, so I was familiar with a few of the fighters. It's not the same quality of fighter that you find in the UFC, but some are pretty good and its entertaining, regardless. I think the most interesting part is the people watching. The crowd that shows up at an MMA fight is mixed, to say the least. I think the most interesting part is, there are just as many women as men. Some are there with their boyfriends/husbands, but there were also groups of just women. I'm guessing by their outfits that they weren't there to just watch the show. There were several things that were in abundance.

1. Muscles
2. Visible tattoos
3. testosterone
4. Cleavage

There was a girl there wearing a VERY short skirt and a bikini top, that shouldn't have been. Her belly was laying over her skirt. Now, I'm not saying she can't wear a bikini because she is a bit over weight, but I'm saying you might want to re-think the decision if you are going to an indoor event in April. What's wrong with a t-shirt and jeans, always a favorite of mine. I saw another girl wearing a tube top with a sleeveless jacket that was fur trimmed, nice. There was one fighter that I have seen probably 4 times. He goes by the nickname "Minivan," mainly due to his size. When I saw him this time, I could hardly believe it. He had gone from 235 pounds to 188 pounds. He was still a little soft in the middle, but that is a lot of weight to lose. He won again, which gives him 43 wins for his career, with just 17 losses, and that is a lot of time getting punched in the face.

Yummy

While Marcy was spending time in the hospital, they gave her a few menus to choose food from. Let me pick out a meal for you and you tell me how good this sounds.

Start off with an appetizer of Vegetable broth, mmmmmmmm, that would hit the spot. Next, lets have some Turkey with gravy. Here is the actual description:

"Tender slow roasted turkey breast ground to a fine consistency and served with poultry gravy."

You had me up until the "ground to a fine consistency," that is where this dinner train derailed. I'm guessing your utensils would consist of a straw, perhaps a spoon. Imagine eating Thanksgiving dinner with just a spoon. To go with this, how about some Pureed Country Bread. That's just wrong. Seeing as how bread doesn't puree without adding something, I gag just thinking about it. I'll leave the dessert up to you, there isn't anything goofy in those choices. If this sounds like a good meal to you, may your appendix burst soon, bon appetite(SP?).

Kids say the darndest things

Two funny things heard from my kids last night. Mason was getting ready for a shower and was dancing around in the bathroom singing, "I'm a man, I'm a man." I went in and asked him why he was "a man" and he said, "I have hair growing under my arms, so I'm a man." I asked him to let me see and he showed me some bumps made from dry skin, that he thought was hair coming out. I told him, growing hair under your arms doesn't make you a man, it's the way you act, the way you treat people and the things you do, trust me, hair has nothing to do with it. I told him, if you really want to be a man, get a job. Conversation was over, don't think he wants a job just yet.

I'll try not to get to graphic, but Makiah was using the bathroom in my room, and I could see him in the mirror making faces at himself as he sat there. Then, he said, "I'm shooting out walnuts." Where he comes up with stuff like that, I have no idea, but I thought Marcy was going to blow her stitches she was laughing so hard. If nothing else, kids are entertaining.

My better half

With all of the time Marcy has spent in the hospital, I've played Mr. Mom way more than I ever want to again. If you want to gain an appreciation for what your wife (or husband) does, have them leave for a few weeks. I don't think one week does it, because Marcy has been gone for several days, or even a week a few kids back, and I can usually adjust to that. No, let them be gone for several weeks, in my case going on four, and try to get everything done. I'm proud of myself for getting them fed, off to school, dressed, bathed and homework done, but I'm exhausted. I'm lucky that my work has been awesome, allowing me to do what I needed to do for my family and work from home this week so I could take care of Max when he isn't in school. My co-workers have also backed me up and been incredibly supportive, and for that I'm grateful. Now I know what Marcy goes through when I'm gone on my mission trips. I'm sure she isn't looking forward to my trip to Africa, seeing as how that is almost 2 weeks. As you can see by the count down, we are getting close to my trip and I'm feeling the same excitement/nervousness I do with all of my missions. I'm looking forward to her being home, for companionship at the beginning since she won't be able to do much, but I'll be happy to just have her home.

An update. Today she was able to eat food for the first time in nearly a week. Today's menu was yogurt for breakfast and a lovely chicken noodle puree for lunch. I looked at the menu she was allowed to eat and asked if they would let her get the chocolate shake for all of her meals, plus snacks? If so, I'm in, although I'm guessing they would bill my insurance company $200 each. They took some of her staples out and then opened up her diet even more for supper. Mac and cheese and mashed potatoes and gravy was on the menu for this evening, which sounded pretty good to me. If things progress as they are, it looks like Friday may be the day she gets to come home. Keep your fingers crossed and I'll let you know when it happens.

follow up on gay marriage

I was reading the DSM Register today and saw this:

WHAT IT MEANS FOR CHURCHES: The justices reiterate in Friday's ruling "the freedom of a religious organization to define marriages it solemnizes as unions between a man and a woman." But "state government can have no religious views, either directly or indirectly through it's legislation," the opinion says. "As a result, civil marriage must be judged under our constitutional standards of equal protection and not under religious doctrines or the religious views of individuals."

The reason I found this interesting, was because so many people use the Bible as the reason they are against gay marriage, but the decesion made by the courts, right or wrong, was based on "constitutional standards of equal protection,"not the Bible. I had a conversation with a great nurse last night who is 100% against gay marriage, but not civil unions with equal rights for hetero and gay couples, fine, you can call it anything you want and if both sides get what they want (Christians keep marriage as between a man and a woman and gay couples get the same rights) perhaps we shouldn't squabble over the title of it. I'm not sure if gay rights people only want the word marriage in all of this or only want the rights, a word seems like a silly thing to argue over, but it wouldn't be the first time in history that has happened. She brought up the animal thing, so I had to bite my tounge since she was taking care of my wife. I enjoyed talking with her and getting her opinion on the subject, it was a distraction from all of the medical stuff.

I think I need new glasses

I thought I had it all figured out, child care all lined up for this weekend and I was going home to get Makiah and take him to his first soccer game of the year. I rushed home and told him to get ready for his 1pm game. I pulled out the schedule to figure out the field and low and behold, the game is on Sunday, not Saturday. Apparently, when they put Sun. on the schedule, that means Sunday not Saturday, weird. Now that I had Makiah all pumped up for soccer, I decided to go outside and play with him, since I was planning on being away from the hospital anyway. That was fun and he probably needed the attention. The temps are dropping and the heavy breathing and colder air gave my lungs a bit of a burn, but it was probably good for them. I went inside and learned that Mason had hurled all over the floor, DAMMIT!!! I cleaned up the puke, showered, went to the grocery store, did a load of laundry, ate my lunch in the car so I could have some peace and quiet, then drove back down to the hospital. I'm going to need a vacation after all of this, oh wait, I have zero days off left at work, guess that ain't going to happen:)

I got to have lunch with a friend the other day who came down to the hospital to sit with me. I met her on my first mission trip and we went to Mexico the first year as well. Since then, she was on a medical ship and in Liberia doing mission work. It was great to talk to her and flash back to our trip to Appalachia and Mexico. She is on her way to Africa in a few weeks and will be there for 7 weeks in the same place I will go in July. I asked her to keep in touch so she can tell me what the place is like. She has a great heart and I'm proud to know her. I think her ultimate goal is to open a clinic in Africa, go Michelle! My friend Bobbi is back in the USA fundraising for her next mission in Botswana. I have a link to her South Africa blog on the right of this blog, so check it out. If you are ever looking for a specific person to support, not necessarily a organization, Bobbi is a good one and if Michelle gets set up, I'll link to her as well. Everyone has been so generous in giving to me, that you might be tapped out. Cool, just remember, if you fall into some money, get a good tax return or just want to increase your giving, look at these two ladies.

Update on Africa. As you may remember, my goal was to raise $4000 for my trip to South Africa. I'm happy to say, with all the help I received, I have reached my goal. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I even have a little buffer in case the airfare goes up, which it has recently. Anything left over, I will use for Juarez next year, or El Paso, which ever we do. I have been reading that things are better in Juarez, so pray that continues.

Marcy has been up walking yesterday and today. She just got back from a 3 lap walk around the floor, what a studette.

A few more

So a few more things about the hospital.

1. They have free Wi-Fi, so I'm not as bored as I would be without it.

2. I have this to look at several times a day, cool!

3. The food is surprisingly good. I had nachos tonight that were pretty good, although I'm sure I jacked my price up by adding all of the jalapenos, because they charge by the pound, but good none the less.

4. We have received some beautiful flowers, both this trip and the first trip. The nurses comment on them every time they come in the room.

5. I am beginning to learn my way around this hospital. If you have never been here, let me give you a little tip that will help you if you ever have to come here. Pay attention to the floor you get OFF of the elevator on. Don't think that because your room is on floor 5, that if you walk awhile and get on an elevator in a different section, that you are on the same floor. I learned this when I went from floor 5 in the Younker building, over to the elevator in a different building, without using any stairs. Turns out, I was now on floor 1. Well excuse me for not figuring that out. I went down to the cafeteria, got there fine, but when I tried to get back to our room, and got off the elevator on floor 5, I knew I was in trouble. Ever gone out a door (like at a big mall), looked around and realized that you have no idea where you are? Welcome to my evening. I got off the elevator on floor 5 and realized my dinner was going to have to wait a bit longer. I finally found the signs on the wall and made it back to my room and my food was still luke warm.

This might piss you off or make you cheer.

The Iowa Supreme court just ruled, in summary, that gay people can marry in Iowa. I'm a Christian, so I know I'm supposed to be 100% against this ruling, but I'm sorry, I'm not. As a Christian, the main thing I get from Jesus teaching is, forgiveness, grace and love. I'm not a judge, nor do I want to be, I'll leave that up to God. For me, marriage is the commitment of two people, yes its typically a man and a woman, but times they are a changing. Marriage is also about finances, rights and privileges, things that aren't available to gay couples are assumed and expected by hetero couples. For those that want to say that the Bible says it is wrong, I'll give you that, but there are a lot of other things that the Bible says is wrong, that we do anyway and there are no rallies against it. There are commandments that I myself break on a daily basis, so I feel that I have little room to judge someone who is doing something that God and society see as wrong. I don't want you to think I'm out killing people, that isn't the Commandment I break, I'm more into coveting things and I have a hard time keeping the Sabbath holy. If you say that those aren't big deals, we all do it, you're right, but these are things that God specifically told me not to do, yet I do them. Do I think my sins are on the same level as a gay persons "sin?" Damn right I do. A sin is a sin, there is no scale or list of 1 to a million listing all sins in order of wrongness and being gay is number one. Nope, they are looked at as sin and I will have to answer to God for all of my sins, regardless of how you or society has rated them. I don't even want to hear the argument of, "well, if you let a man marry a man, then what is stopping a man from marring a dog?" OK, that is just plain retarded, no discussion necessary, we aren't talking about crossing species, so lets not even start on that. I'm sure those against this will get an injunction to stop the marriages so it has time to work through the courts, again, but to me, that isn't the answer. I heard the answer on TV today, and that is, let the people of Iowa decide. Put it to a vote. If both sides are so convinced that they are right, or have the majority, then take it to a vote. They want to change the Iowa Constitution to put an end to this, one way or another, and I have no idea if that is the right answer. I just know that we need to put this issue to bed. Go with the vote and then let it go. Regardless of what we "allow" legally, people need to have the same rights. Not allowing gay people to marry will not make homosexuality go away, so don't think that making a stand on this particular item will end the subject, no, in fact, prepare for more. I know, I know, there are a lot of examples that you want to use to prove your point, which is different than mine. Great, get a blog and send me the link.

The ride continues

So when you think you've had a bad week, always remember Marcy's last couple of weeks and you will not feel so bad. For those of you I haven't spoken to, all of her pain, going back to March 13th, was a ruptured appendix. You may be saying to yourself, "I thought you could die from that?" You would be right, and exactly how close she was to that I don't know, but I don't think I have ever seen someone in so much pain. The mass they saw on the ultrasound, turned out to be a big infection that then damaged her colon, which part was removed yesterday along with a fallopian tube and an ovary. We are still not sure why the doctor back on the 14th decided that her pain wasn't her appendix, but man was he wrong and caused a lot of extra pain. The OBGYN that we hooked up with was great and the surgeon who cleaned up all of the mess has been highly recommended to us by former patients and friends who are doctors or medical people. Marcy is now resting much more comfortably, she says she is in a lot less pain than when she came in, but still has a long road of recovery. She will be in the hospital for another week because of the whole bowel thing, but at least she is on the road to recovery. Keep praying for her! I'm sure I will write again about the total outpouring of support, prayer and love that we have received, but right now my allergies are kicking up, so I better wait until I have a little more time under my belt and they won't be so touchy.(I hope everyone knows what I'm talking about when I say "my allergies," otherwise you just think I'm an idiot)(no comment on that is necessary)

Now, I'd like to offer a few suggestions and compliments to the medical community for the next hospital they build or service they offer.
Suggestions:
1. Try to put more than 1/2 inch of insulation in between rooms or don't allow the TV's to go to a 4000 decibel level. The guy in the room next to us had his TV so loud that I could hear his better than ours. If we were watching the same thing as him it wouldn't have been a big deal, but we weren't. I asked the nurse if the guy was deaf, but she didn't answer so maybe it's one of those medical questions you can't share. Of course I was being a smart ass, but it was a valid question as well.
2. Either carpet the rooms, which is probably a horrible idea due to cleaning issues, or put some sort of pad on the bottom of the legs of chairs so when the people in the room above you decide to push a chair around their room for an hour, you don't have to listen to the scream of wood on tile. I don't know what the hell they were doing, but damn that is annoying.
3. Turn down the water pressure in the toilets. Unless you shit an actual brick, the pressure is way harder than necessary. You certainly don't want to be sitting on the toilet when you flush it, it will pull out your colon or worse. You don't want to stand right next to it either or you will now be covered in toilet water, that can't be sanitary.
4. This is more of a complaint, but man it sucks when they wake you up every hour. How do they expect the patient to rest if you keep waking them up to ask them questions and then they tell you to get some rest. Well, damn, we were resting. And whisper so I can sleep. I'm on a pullout, so my sleep is not sound, so oil the wheels of your little blood pressure cart, don't use my bed to pull yourself up from whatever you were doing on the floor and whisper, its 3am for God's sake.

Compliments:
1. Valet parking at the surgery center for you 6am arrival in the cold, brilliant, and a great customer service.
2. You know those vibrating things they give you when you are waiting for a table at a restaurant? Now they give you one at the surgery center and buzz you whenever they need you to return to the desk for info or Dr. consultations, awesome. Then, you can go to any of the waiting rooms or even the cafeteria and they can still reach you.
3. In these waiting rooms, they have a lady that walks back to the recovery rooms and checks on your loved one and then comes out and updates you. Marcy was in recovery for 6 hours, so this lady was the only connection I had to Marcy. Loved her, her name was Pat and she reminded me of my grandma Bell.
4. The recovery nurses sent Marcy a plant and thanked her for her patience while they tried to get her a room. The hospital is full, so they had to wait for a room to open up. When Pat came to tell me what our room number was, I asked her if it was a double or a single. She said it was a single, so I asked her what I owed her. The room is twice the size of the last one and it has a pull out twin bed, which is totally uncomfortable but beats the hell out of a fricking folding chair or recliner that un-reclines on its own. It was very upsetting to go to sleep reclined and wake up completely upright, over and over again. It made me feel like I was back in my drinking days and would wake up and not be sure where I was, don't really want to go back to that.
5. Free Coke! I'll drink enough to offset the bill they will send us. This is a battle they don't want to be involved in, I will win.

Seeing as how we will be here for a week, I'm sure I will have more suggestions/complaints/compliments, you know how I am.

Do you believe in miracles?

There hasn't been a lot of good news in the Shrum household lately. The worst part, of course, has been Marcy's health. We will go into the hospital in the morning to have a mass removed and have it tested for cancer. We are hopeful that, 1. it isn't cancer and 2. that it will end her incredible pain. We also had a mis-carriage a few months back. While I was in El Paso, she also lost the diamond from her wedding ring. Like I said, it's been a little rough in our house. All that being said, we are still blessed in many ways. One of those ways is our 3 boys. Even when I want to strangle them, they are stil the love of our lives. Makiah is our big button pusher. Since Marcy has been down, I've been on full time kid duty, including helping with homework. Makiah fights his homework like it's his job. In fact, I spent a big part of this afternoon arguing with him to get it done. Tonight, he was messing around in our room as I was trying to get the three to bed, when he came up to Marcy and said "Here mommy, I found something shinny for you." Can you believe it, that little shit found Marcy's loose diamond in our carpet, that I had vacuumed a few times since she lost it.(tells you how good our vacuum is) We are hopeful that this is a sign of our future, full of hope, found riches and pain free. Say a prayer for Marcy and stay tuned for an update.