Someone asked me today for the url to my blog so they could share it with a friend for the epilepsy information.  I shared it with them and then stated that I hadn't updated for quite a while.  I just popped in to see how long it's been and holy batman!  It's been over two years.  Quite a lot has happened in those two years, both for Kelsey and her epilepsy, as well as the rest of the family.  I'll try to update the site going forward.

How Greater Houston Will Be Commuting Tomorrow

TBT - 2008 Version

In lieu of a REAL post, I decided I'd do a Throwback Thursday picture post dedicated to the year 2008 (because I'm all lazy that way).  They are not in chronological order, because uh, lazy?  Here we go!



The mighty Cam, fierce soccer player.

Kelsey, before her first brain surgery.

And Kelsey after.  Look at girlfriend rockin' the plaids!

Hubs and the girls at church at Easter.

Kate all dolled up for Homecoming.

Pure, unadulterated joy through Bratz at Christmas.  Oh, yeah!

Band kid, Kelsey, who is 4'11" and marched with a bass clarinet.



The hubs, Cam and I waiting for high school band practice to be over!

The tree that ate my backyard and garage, courtesy of Hurricane Ike.

Dead Sea Mud Facial Mask - Sponsored Post

I am pretty brand loyal to the majority of my facial products; however, I always love trying new masks and treatments.  I received a full-size sample of the Dead Sea Mud Facial Mask by Pure and Essential Minerals to try and I was excited that the sample was large enough to have my three daughters try, as well.  I apologize, but I only have stock photos of the product since my girl children would not let me take pictures of them with the mask on (someone might SEE!!).

Click on the picture to go to Amazon to order!

The mask is billed to be a natural beauty remedy, containing nothing but 100% natural and organic ingredients.  It also purports to tighten pores, reduce wrinkles and lines and promote healthy, natural skin.  Since I am "of a certain age," I was ready to see how much reduction these old wrinkles would see, so I slathered it on applied it carefully to my face and neck.  

This mask at first had an overpowering smell of, well, mineral.  But since it's pure dead sea mud, that makes sense.  Once it went on, my skin tingled a little bit, but not unpleasantly.  I used plain warm water and a wash cloth to remove it after about 15 minutes and found that my skin was very soft and felt very clean overall.  I have used it a few times and don't see a difference in any lines or wrinkles, thought.  My oldest daughter did not care for it, as she thought it made her skin break out (but she's got sensitive skin to begin with).  My two youngest daughters loved this and found that it really seemed to purify their skin.  As a matter of fact, the next two times I used it, I had to demand it back from one or the other of them.  

The Dead Sea Mud Mask is something that I would definitely purchase for our use.  Click above and get some for yourself! 

The Killing Fields

For some reason unknown we are having an unusually high number of geckos and lizards finding their way into the house this spring.  Add to that unusually high number a couple of cats who believe they are nature's great hunters.  Depending on which cat we're talking about, it can be pretty hilarious. For example, Toothless Teddy, (aka FatBoy/JoeBob/Teddy Bear) has not one tooth in his mouth and tries mightily to gum those poor things to death.  Whenever he actually is able to hold one in his mouth (as opposed to having it slip through the gums and run) he generally stalks around the house with his undead kill hanging out.

Khloe, on the other hand, is a seasoned killer.  On any given day we are picking up at LEAST 3 or more carcasses to dispose of.  The poor little things have been getting into our fireplace behind the glass and this is when Khloe displays patience that no one else (humans included) in the house has. She will sit for literal hours in front of the fireplace just waiting for one to poke enough of their body out that she can nab it.  Evidence:

Every once in a while, she'll try to flirt with them to entice them to come out:

And sometimes, she takes pity on FatBoy and will kill his catch for him and generously allow him to carry it around without having to fight to keep it between the gums.

Since I have all girl-children, there is at least of them who is terrified of any type of lizard - dead or alive and will act like this:


Fun times, friend, fun times.

Wednesday Thoughts in Gifs

I am just going to throw out there that I tend to have an ADD type personality and while I'm fairly well back on track at work after the hell of the last few weeks, my personal life is all over the map. As a result, this post will be all over the map, not very good, and not very coherent.


I'm trying to put music back in my life.  I've missed it. Playing, singing, all of it.



I left a position at a major hospital to teach school.  I am back and decided to go back to college yet once again.  I mean, how many degrees is too many?  I am feeling like this though:



My emotions are all over the map right now - kinda feel like this most days:



There are lots of things I should be doing, things for family, work, school, etc.



But I just want to be wherever this is.


Drinking one or three of these:

Until next time...

"There"

The last couple of weeks since we lost dad have been pretty hard.  Beforehand, even if I didn't talk to him every day, I just had the knowledge that he was "there".  "There" if I needed advice, "there" when I needed to complain about motherhood, "there" just to listen when I needed him to.  Now there's this huge hole in the fabric of my life where dad used to be "there".

I know (and have spoken at times) all the platitudes about how he's in a better place, now he's not suffering, now he's with God, ad infinitum.  And, while all those things might be true, he's still not "there."  And that hurts.  Losing your parents is, unfortunately, one of the pieces of the normal progression of life.  It just is.  And it just sucks.

The manner of my parents deaths has been tough, as well.  My mother died from lung cancer over five years ago.  My dad died from prostate cancer.  Both cancers had spread into their bodies through blood and bone.  The way in which cancer emaciates the body and muddles the mind is horrible. Watching mom didn't seem near as bad, since her mind left long before her body did and she didn't exhibit any outward symptoms of pain.  For dad, the pain was excruciating and he mentally wasn't gone enough except for the last few days to be able to block it. No amount of pain medications seemed to keep him comfortable.  We've all heard the saying that cancer is a bitch.  And she is.  And because of it, I have two parents who aren't "there".

I want to take steps to try to be healthier so that my own girls have a mom as long as possible.  I want to at least attempt to be "there" for them for as long as I can.  I hope I never have to face the bitch, but if I do, at least I'll know that I tried to beat her.

100% Pure Argan Oil by Radha Beauty - Sponsored Post

My family and I received this full-sized sample in the mail of 100% Pure Argan Oil by Radha Beauty.  It's billed as 100% pure and can be used as a moisturizer for dry skin and hair.  Additionally, it comes with this really cool dropper that you can use to control the amount (unlike some open tops where you get half the bottle in one hand). 

I've long used argan oil in my hair to help control the unruly curls, but not for any other uses.  I did try the product in my hair and found that it did help with some of the frizziness that I usually hair.  My husband also helped me use and review this product and here is his take on it.  He states that when used on his hair (extremely curly, coarse hair), it helped to relax the curl and control it some.  He also used it facially, specifically under the eye area where he had a couple of scars and general middle-aged dry skin and fine lines.  When used in this manner, he saw a decrease in the actual scar and a great softening of the area in general.

Overall, this is a great product and we will gladly purchase this again for family use in all manners.  This isn't my first review for Radha products and hopefully will not be the last.  They offer a money-back guarantee on their products if you are not satisfied, but we have yet to have that issue. 

Click here to get yours so that you can begin to see the wonderful results of this product. 

One of the Hardest Posts Ever

Five years ago, I posted about the death of my mother and how she could finally run to God as fast in the immortal as her physical body couldn't allow her in the physical. 

This past Saturday, my daddy passed after a long and very difficult struggle with prostate cancer.  As much as losing mom hurt, losing daddy hurts so much more.  Not only was I a "daddy's girl," but I kind of feel orphaned.  I know that this is a normal and natural part of life, the progressive part of getting older and living a long, good life.  I'm not even going to lie, though, this part sucks the biggest pickle ever.  This past week a couple of my daughters hit milestones that I know dad would have loved to hear about because he took so much pride in his grandbabies.  And my hand nearly picked up the phone to dial a number he will never answer again. 

My family considers me the "strong one."  I am not.  I am strong through Christ and I know that He will carry me through this, but the pain is indescribable.  My girls and my wonderful Godly husband are trying their best to support me through this, but it's a day-to-day thing.  As wonderful as the knowledge is that Dad is no longer is the inexplicable pain he'd been suffering through, the hole that his passing has left in my world hurts like nothing ever before.

Thank you all who have commented and reminisced and shared your experiences with dad.  Please know that the family is so very appreciative of each and every response.  If any of you can join us in celebration of his life this Saturday, we would love that.  We do understand if you cannot, though.  Please know that we are thankful that you've played a part of his and our lives. 

Seriously Slacking + Chewy.com Review

This month has been one of those where we are flying by the seat of our pants and crazy-busy.  I've been slacking on my posts, but I at least wanted to give a shout-out to Chewy.com for the awesome treats that Khloe and FatBoy received this month.  I'm a horrible brand-blogger this month because while I've been diligent about giving daily treatie-treats (the beasts won't let me forget to), I've been bad about taking pictures of them enjoying said treatie-treats.

This month we chose the Halo Liv-a-Littles freeze-dried protein treats for the beasts to try.  We got the salmon flavor and they look like this:

Stock photo

These are very light, non-dense, and smell great (for kitty treats, anyway).  They are grain-free and 100% wild salmon.  Khloe loves them and will talk to me every morning until I give them to her.  FatBoy doesn't care for them at all and will look all offended until I remove them from his sight (drama-queen??).  I've even given Sandy-dog a couple and she scarfs them down.  The one and only con to all the pros is that some of the chunks are pretty large and need to be broken down before Khloe can eat them.  Overall these were only half a hit (only because of the drama queen mentioned above) and I probably would not purchase them only because I like to have treats that all the cats will enjoy.  Thanks, Chewy.com, for the opportunity to try these out!

While Chewy.com supplied the treats, all opinions are solely my own (with heavy weigh-in from the menagerie).