When people get sick, they have to go to the doctor to get an antibiotic prescription. But that rule doesn’t hold true for animals raised for meat. Alarmingly, up to 70% of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. are used on industrial farms in healthy food animals.

Consumption of these antibiotic filled meats has been linked to the rise of antibiotic resistance, creating a well-documented public health disaster.

We need the FDA to take a harder line on antibiotics if we really want to protect our food and our health. This month, the FDA has an open public comment period regarding the issue.

Will you stand with us for healthy food and submit a public comment to the FDA urging stronger regulation?

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/antibiotics_fda/?r_by=-3218197-7v67Qnx&rc=paste1

Technorati Tags: food, life, local, national, news, politics, society

My baby Alex has grown so much. In the last two months he has gone from rocking on his knees to crawling super fast after our cat, Tigger. In his crib, Doodie will stand up against the rails, doing what I call chin ups. I think he is just getting his leg strength together in preparation of walking.

In the last week, Alexander has become more and more interested in walking along side certain objects such as coaches, my legs or whatever else he can grab a hold of. Alexander also loves those little whole grain puffs. And for some reason, William keeps asking to try the orange ones. I keep telling William to stop trying to eat his little brother’s food.

William and Keisha are the greatest older siblings to our little Doodie. What more could a mother ask for? I love my children and everyday I feel so blessed to have them in my life. God is so good to have blessed me with a wonderful family.

I love you Alexander. Happy 11 months Doodie.

Technorati Tags: Alexander, birthday, family, Keisha, life, love, nexus, personal, William

I logged in the other day on WP Admin and saw that there were some updates. I attempted to do the auto update and received the error:

Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 33554432 bytes exhausted

I found the fix here: http://codex.wordpress.org/Editing_wp-config.php#Increasing_memory_allocated_to_PHP (just in case you come across that problem).

I wondered to myself just now why I still bother with my site.  I haven’t done many updates in the last 2 years, but I just can’t seem to give it up completely.  My domain is about nine years old or so and I just won’t let it go.

I keep hoping that I will get back into the swing of things and start blogging regularly.  I even installed the WordPress app on my iPhone so I could blog on the go *rolls eyes* Yup I got an iPhone in January. But you would know that if I had blogged about it months ago.

I am the same old me but things are changing around me.  My little one is not a newborn anymore… *sniffles* Alexander is now 10 months old and crawling all over the place.  He spoke his first complete sentence this weekend when he said, “I boo boo.”  And he kept saying it until I changed his stinky diaper.  So cute.  Thankfully, the cordless phone was within reach and I was able to call my husband and have him hear Alex saying his first sentence.

My domain will expire next month, so I think I will renew it again *shrugs*

Technorati Tags: Alexander, blog, life, personal, WordPress

A Newborn’s Conversation With God:

A baby asked God, “They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?”

God said, “Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you.”

The child further inquired, “But tell me, here in heaven I don’t have to do anything but sing and smile and to be happy”

God said, “Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel’s love and be very happy.”

Again the child asked, “And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don’t know the language?”

God said, “Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak.”

“And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?”

God said, “Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray.”

“Who will protect me?”

God said, “Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life.”

“But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore.”

God said, “Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you.”

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, “God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel’s name.”

God said, You will simply call her, “Mom.”

Technorati Tags: baby, children, family, God, life, love

William and Keisha were very excited to see that Santa ate the brownies that I made him last night.  He also drank a glass of milk and left the evidence on the children’s red table.  Alexander gave us lots of smiles as he watched his big brother and sister open their presents.

This holiday season has been very difficult for me.  I have been a complete Mrs. Scrooge and I really did not want to have any involvement with decorations and gifts.  I am not fully myself yet, but thanks to my husband and children, I am not feeling like Mrs. Scrooge anymore. The tree is up and the kids are happy.  More importantly, I thank God for waking me up another day to be with my family, our good health, providing a roof over my head… and even though I have mixed feelings about returning to work on Monday, I thank God for the job that I have because many in the world do not have that.

Happy Holidays to all. I wish you a Merry Christmas.  Be safe and thankful for what you have and not what you do not have.

Technorati Tags: Alexander, celebrate, children, Christmas, family, holiday, home, Keisha, life, love, personal, Santa Claus, twins, William

Along with their kindergarten class, William and Keisha narrated and acted out the birth of Jesus. JT even participated by supplying the hay for the scene which came from our front yard. Our pine tree sheds hay (which I hate because it covers everything).

I videotaped the beginning then I promptly handed the video camera to JT so he could stand closer and get a better shot. I would not be able to stand so long without being in pain so I held baby Alex. And speaking of the video camera… I spent several hours this afternoon looking for my digital video camera. I literally tore apart my bedroom, throwing clothes and other objects every which way. Then I find out that my camera was in the trunk of my car all this time. I am quite thankful that the lens did not crack (or worse) because of the cold weather.

William was a bit shy on stage (he later admitted so also) but despite this, him and Keisha did a great job and I am quite proud of my wonderful twins. For still shots, I only had my Sony Cybershot with me. Unfortunately, those still shots did not turn out well because our seats were a bit far back. On the other hand, I did get a couple of nice shots of my family after the program, including of JT, Keisha and Alexander. I am anxious to print this picture out and perhaps even hang it in the living room.

So overall, I enjoyed the evening and I am thankful that I was able to go.

Question that I am wondering about… Do most schools do Christmas or Holiday themed Programs? I really do not remember performing in one while I was in kindergarten.

Technorati Tags: camera, Christmas, education, family, fun, holiday, Keisha, program, school, video camera, William

Respect and Protect.

Technorati Tags: AIDS, education, health, HIV, life, medical, national, news, world, World AIDS Day

Give copy to each guest that enters your home.

1. Don’t get in line asking questions about the food. “Who made the potato salad? Is it egg in there? Are the greens fresh? Is the meat in the greens turkey or pork? Who made the macaroni and cheese? What kind of pie is that? Who made it?  Ask one more question and I will punch you in your mouth, knocking out all your fronts so you won’t be able to eat anything.

2. If you can’t walk or are missing any limbs, sit your azz down until someone makes your plate for you. Dinner time is not the time for you to be independent. Nibble on them damn pecans and walnuts to hold you over until someone makes you a plate.

3. If you have kids under the age of twelve, I will escort the little moochers to the basement and bring their food down to them. They are not gonna tear my damn house up this year. Tell them that they are not allowed upstairs until it’s time for Uncle Butchie to start telling family stories about their mommas and papas. If they come upstairs for any reason except for that they are bleeding to death, I will break a foot off in their azzez!

4. There is going to be one prayer for Thanksgiving dinner! JUST ONE! We do not care that you are thankful that your 13 year old daughter gave birth to a healthy baby or your nephew just got out of jail. Save that talk for somebody who gives a damn. The time limit for the prayer is one minute. If you are still talking after that one minute is up, you will feel something hard come across your lips and they will be swollen for approximately 20 minutes.

5. Finish everything on your plate before you go up for seconds! If you don’t, you will be cursed out and asked to stay your greedy azz home next year!

6. BRING YOUR OWN TUPPERWARE!! Don’t let me catch you fixing yourself a plate in my good Tupperware knowing damn well that I will never see it again! Furthermore, if you didn’t bring anything over, don’t let me catch you making a plate period or there will be a “misunderstanding”.

7. What you came with is what you should leave with!! Do not leave my house with anything that doesn’t belong to you. EVERYBODY WILL BE SUBJECTED TO A BODY SEARCH COMING IN AND LEAVING MY PROPERTY!!!

8. Do not leave your kids so you can go hopping from house to house. This is NOT a DAYCARE CENTER ! There will be a kid-parent roll call every ten minutes. Any parent that is not present at the time of roll call, your child will be put outside until you come and get him or her. After 24 hours, I will call DSS on your ignorant azz!!

9. BOOK YOUR HOTEL ROOM BEFORE YOU COME INTO TOWN!! There will be no sleeping over at my house! You are to come and eat dinner and take your azz home or to your hotel room. EVERYBODY GETS THE HELL OUT AT 11:00 pm. You will get a 15 minute warning bell ring.

10. Last but not least! ONE PLATE PER PERSON!!! This is not a soup kitchen. I am not trying to feed your family until Christmas dinner! You will be supervised when you fix your plate. Anything over the appropriate amount will be charged to you before you leave. There will be a cash register at the door.

Found this from Brick at: http://www.thehaitianqueen.com/

Technorati Tags: family, food, fun, holiday, joke, life, Thanksgiving

Finally, my husband told me to get my ass in the bed.  He didn’t say it in a mean way but he it was stern.  I chuckled a bit on the inside then jumped in the bed.  It took me a long while to go to sleep because I kept praying that everything would go well with the surgery.  I don’t think that I had been this scared about anything in a very long time.

The next morning, I was a completely different person.  I was not worried anymore about the surgery.  I knew that everything would be okay because I left it in the hands of God.  JT took the twins to school early that morning.  I didn’t want them at the hospital with us because they would do nothing but worry about me and cry when they would see me after surgery.  I thought to myself that I had put them through enough as of late.  Also, hospitals are recommending for children to not visit hospitals due to the flu season unless they absolutely have to.

We left the house to go to the hospital late… and yes this was my fault.  I should have woken up a little bit earlier.  Then when we got on 270 North, the traffic was horrible, due to the rain.  I tried to stay calm and not worry about being late to the hospital.  I could tell that JT was panicking (on the inside).  The hospital wanted us there at 7:30 and we arrived at 8:00.  Not that bad right?

Despite being late, registration and preparation for surgery still went well.  After registration, my mom arrived at the hospital and joined me in the waiting room.  I was very happy to see her and appreciated the support.  My BFF arrived shortly after my surgery began.  And of course my husband was there too.  My aunt stayed at my house this week to take care of baby Alexander.  What would I do without my family and friends?

The drug they gave me right before surgery was amazing.  I remember the nurse injecting it into the IV, I said I love you to JT, gave him a kiss, the nurse pulled back the curtain to roll me out and BAM… that is all I remember until I woke up in the recovery room.

The recovery room was like an assembly line in hell.  I struggled to see things clearly and I eventually found a clock to see that it was 12:00.  I later found out that surgery lasted about 1.5 hours so  I was in recovery for about 1.5 hours before I woke up.  The nurse was a complete bitch to me in recovery.  I was experiencing pains that I have never experienced before.  Muscle spasms fiercely shot down my abdomen and I cried out for help.  The nurse says, “Your having muscle spasms because you just had surgery.  You’re going to have to be quiet because other people are in here recovering too.”

A couple of minutes passed, then the nurse checked on other patients then came back to me.  She injected pain medicine into my IV.  A minute or so later… more spasms.  I scream.  Nurse says, “I just gave you pain medicine 2 minutes ago. I can’t keep giving it to you closely together.”  I later asked the nurse when I could see my husband and mom.  She responds, “Do you see any other family members back here?  Families cannot come back here in recovery.  You’ll see them later.”

This went on and on for a long time.  Eventually, I received enough pain medication to start dosing off a little bit.  I woke up at about 1:30 and a couple of nurses were taking me to my room.  I was so thankful to be leaving the assembly line of hell.

I had some very bad experiences with not only this nurse but also later when I arrived in my room.  I reported the experiences to a head nurse and shortly after that, everyone started responding to my calls quicker and speaking to me in a positive tone.

I’m truly disappointing with the care from the nurses.  When I gave birth to Alexander at the same hospital, the nurses took great care of me.  This time around, everything went wrong.  Some nurses are really in the wrong field and suck at being compassionate.  Despite this, I am thankful for the charge nurse for listening to my concerns and my two doctors for taking great care of me.

Initially, the plan was to go home the day after surgery.  With my pain level being a 10 (on the scale of 1-10) all day Monday, I knew that this would not happen.  I ended up going home late Wednesday evening.

My incision is very long… it starts below my sternum and goes all the way down to my cesarean scar.  I did not measure this yet but I would guesstimate about 10 inches.  I have a bunch of staples and stitches going down the incision.  This afternoon, I went to the doctor and my surgeon removed my JP tubes and a few of the stitches and staples.  I will go back to the doctor next Wednesday to have the rest of the staples and stitches removed.

I’m taking vicodin and ibuprofen for the pain and this is helping a great deal. At this moment, my abdomen is a little tender though.  The numbness is there but this is normal.  The area below my chest still hurts where the JP tubes were removed.

The road to recovery has been challenging but thankfully I have a great deal of support. Without the support, I don’t think I could do this.  The vicodin is kicking in now… so I better put up the laptop.

Technorati Tags: abdomen, diastasis recti, doctor, family, friends, God, hernia, hospital, incision, love, medicine, nurses, prayer, recovery, Staples, stitches, surgeon, surgery, umbilicial hernia, vicodin

When I was younger, the only other soap I watched (with my aunt) was Young & the Restless. I watched the ABC soaps with my mom and after I finished homework. She recorded them daily with her VCR. I remember having to teach her how to set the timer *giggles*

During high school, as the devil took over Marlena, my best friend got me hooked on Days of Our Lives. I resisted at first because in St. Louis, Days of Our Lives comes on at the same time as General Hospital. So during that summer, I slowly converted over to a Days fan and (kind of) never looked back. I still watch Days of Our Lives now, but I keep up with General Hospital through commercials and talking with my mom. Amazing how much you can keep up with a show from a 45 second commercial. Sonny is still in the mob, Jason is covering up a murder… yeah.

Whenever I’m off from work, the crack calls me in. I watch the soaps non-stop. On the other hand, reality sets in when I am working. I had to stop taping the shows on the DVR because there was no way in hell I could work 8 hours, come home to do mother and wife duties, watch shows with my husband and still watch 3 hours (minus commercials) of soaps. Inconceivable! But I know some women do this… and I guess something gives in like less sleep and Facebook time *gasp*

I just have to vent about one particular soap opera character for a moment. Amanda on All My Children. She has absolutely lost her mind. And Jake really should just go ahead now to divorce her. Their relationship is going nowhere but downhill now. Only on a soap opera (and maybe Jerry Springer) would you see a woman sign a contract with a man to have his baby yet she is married to another man. And I was just too done with yesterday’s episode. You could see from the beginning that David is plotting and scheming for greater things than just having a baby by artificial insemination. He purposely forgets to fill the tank with gas, gets stuck in the middle of nowhere with Amanda on the way to the clinic then lures her to thinking they should sleep together in the car (or woods!) to get this over with. Amanda is actually considering this.

When I get all into the soaps like this, I know I’m crazy but I just can’t resist. It just be calling me man!

Technorati Tags: ABC, All My Children, CBS, crack, Days of Our Lives, entertainment, General Hospital, NBC, New Jack City, One Life to Live, Pookie, Ryan's Hope, soap opera, television, Young & the Restless