For My Florida Friends

These pictures of the snowfall we had last night are for my Florida friends and family who think they have it bad when the temperature dips below 72.

This is our front yard.


We got over4 inches during the early morning hours and are expecting an ice shower this afternoon, followed by a few more inches tomorrow. (The old, decrepit chicken coop is in the background waiting patiently for chickens to inhabit it once more.)

So, last week, after I got back from Kieran's GI appointment, I realized that I left my house keys in the house and was ergo locked out of said house. I sat in the car with Kieran and waited an hour and 15 minutes for Seth to come get me out of my predicament (an hour and 15 minutes is his daily commute time). I then proceeded to leave my car key in the Jetta's ignition, only realizing what I'd done last night when Seth wanted to move the cars in the barn before the snow started. Apparently, when one leaves one's key in one's ignition, one's car battery runs down. Who knew? So, here the Jetta sits, coldly covered in snow, waiting for its battery to recharge so that it can move to the barn with its VW sister the Golf and the truck. Poor little Jetta.

The snowplow actually decided to visit the Holler today. I think we're the last stop on his list of places to plow.

25 Random Things About Me

There's a list going around Facebook in which you list 25 random things about yourself and then post it for your friends to see. Here's my list for those of you not on Facebook:

1. I was born four weeks late. I'm still perpetually late for things.
2. I've visited the White House.
3. I don't like mornings.
4. I used to brush my teeth with my sister's tooth brush just to annoy her (she was paranoid about people touching her stuff). I also tried to give her pinkeye by rubbing my face in her towel. I was a great big sister.
5. I'd like to raise chickens and alpacas someday. I'd also like to own a Christmas tree farm.
6. I've snorkeled in the Great Barrier Reef.
7. I've never broken any bones in my body.
8. I majored in biology and psychology in college, but ended up writing and editing for my profession.
9. I've been to the top of the Eiffel Tower and have seen the Firth of Forth.
10. I don't like movies that are based on reality or movies with bad guys that are unstoppable (e.g., Terminator, Dark Knight).
11. I hope I don't die by drowning or suffocation.
12. My name is a reversal of a four-generation family name, Anastasia, and means "resurrection."
13. I love the sound of rain on our roof.
14. I don't really like to cook and am glad I married a man who does.
15. I once stayed in a nunnery in Germany.
16. World War II is my least favorite period of history.
17. I don't drink coffee, but I love the smell of it.
18. I dislike my nose.
19. I once taught a rat to play ball.
20. I must shower every day--even when I'm camping.
21. I'm not athletic, and I especially hate running. I tried out for the volleyball team in school but didn't make it. So, I kept stats for the school's girls basketball and softball teams.
22. I love any type of fruit in any incarnation.
23. I don't like emptying the dishwasher or putting away laundry (although I don't mind folding it).
24. I've donated over two gallons of my blood (not all at one time).
25. I like to think that sarcasm is a spiritual gift.

You know you live in a holler when . . .

. . . your inebriated neighbor knocks on your door at 2 am and asks you to help him tow his truck out of the creekbed, where it landed after he had driven it up and down the lane several times.

Little Faker

Is it possible for a three-month-old to fake cry?

Note to the American Public

Barack Obama is not the savior of our nation. Jesus is. Just sayin'.

Tolerance

The liberals were up in arms about Obama's pick of Rick Warren to give the invocation at the inauguration. "Unfair!" they cried. "Rick Warren doesn't tolerate the homosexual lifestyle, so we don't want him to pray! Obama shouldn't tolerate those who don't tolerate our lifestyle!" Anne Hathaway has said she'll wear a ribbon to the inauguration protesting Warren since her brother is gay.

I respect the liberals' right to show their contempt for Warren (although I'm in agreement with Warren on his position on homosexual behavior). That's one of the beauties of America--the freedom to express an opinion on anything and not be shot or killed. However, the thing about tolerance is that it cuts both ways. Are not those decrying Warren's intolerance being intolerant themselves of Warren's views? Aye, there's the rub.

Chicken Questions Answered

I'd like to take this opportunity to answer some of the questions I've received (mainly from Judi) about my quest for chickens.

Q. Did you get chickens for Christmas?

A. No, I did not receive chickens for Christmas, depite my cajoling. Instead, my dear husband gave me a gift certificate to a local spa for a massage, facial, and pedicure, which I happily received. Maybe I'll get chickens for my birthday.

Q. When I come to visit you again, I'll have to dodge not only your neighbors free-range chickens, but your as well? I think I knicked one of your neighbors free rangers when I left on Sunday (just kidding).

A. Yes, we will have a chicken obstacle course for you to run as you drive down the lane. Winners get a dozen free-range eggs.

Q. Where do these chicks lay their eggs? Anywhere? How do you find them? Is it like an Easter egg hunt everyday?

A. My chickens will lay their eggs in this lovely housing unit so that I don't need to worry about stepping on raw eggs as I meander about our lawn.

Q. As you can tell, I know nothing about free range chickens, except that they aren't cooped up, like my neighbor's chickens were when I was growing up. You do know that they are noisy, don't you?

A. They make chicken muzzles, don't they?

Q. You do know that you will have to cut their heads off in order to eat them, right? And you will have to pluck out all those feathers? And to do that you have to boil them in water, and that stinks really bad? You do know that, right?

A. I don't plan on eating my chickens--just collecting their eggs. Although, Seth's sister Katy has experience in killing chickens should I decide to do more than collect their eggs. . . .

Q. And you're not thinking of naming the chickens are you?

A. Perhaps. Any suggestions?

Q. Have you decided if you're going to let them be 100% free range? Or are you going to use a drag-around coop?

A. I'll use the drag-around coop and let them free range at times. We have too many predators (dogs, coyotes, foxes, the neighbor) to allow them to free range 24/7.

Should you have any more questions about chickens, I'd be happy to answer them by referencing these handy books given to me as a Christmas present by my lovely parents-in-law.

Open Mouths

These are the kinds of open mouths that we like . . .

. . . because they generally lead to this.

These are the kinds of open mouths that we can generally do without.

They can either make us laugh or cry along.

Supra Aortic Stenosis

Uncle Ethan with Kieran (taken on Scarlet's cell phone)

We went for the echocardiogram on Kieran's heart yesterday at Children's Hospital. They gave him the sleepy medicine and the technician began the ultrasound. They warned us that we wouldn't be receiving results at the hospital--their policy is to send the results to the referring physician who would then give them to us.

The ultrasound was quite fascinating to watch--lots of pretty colors--although we didn't really know what we were looking at. After 45 minutes, the technician left, and we were asked to wait to make sure they got all the necessary pictures. Thirty minutes later, she returned and took some more of his chest. Thirty minutes after that, a doctor came in with her to get even more pictures. Needless to say, Seth asked, "Is something wrong?" (I had remembered their don't-ask-don't-tell policy and kept my questions to myself) to which the doctor gave a non-commital answer.

He conferred with the technician quietly, pointing to the pretty colors on the screen.

When they were finished, the doctor told us that he'd give us a brief update on what they found so that we wouldn't have to wait until the next day for the results since he was sure he had stirred our concern (very thoughtful of him). As it turns out, Kieran's aorta is constricted above the aortic valves, but only mildly so. There's no cause for concern if it stays this way (which the doctor anticipates it will). We'll need to return for follow-up visits, but the heart murmur mystery is now cleared up.

However, aortic stenosis doesn't explain the slow weight gain, so we'll still be going on January 22 for the GI consultation at Children's. Although, he's now over 9 pounds, so he may be on his way to becoming an ultimate fighter in no time.

You know you live in a holler when . . .

. . . you're chatting with your neighbor and all of a sudden he offers you a puff on his inhaler because he "knows how it is." (I'm not making this stuff up.)

That's what hands are for

The other night, as he was watching the Colts lose their play-off game, Kieran discovered that hands are for touching and feeling things like Daddy's face and beard.

Two Months

Caught in the act!

If you've seen Kieran in person, or even if you've seen him in pictures, you've said the following: "He's so tiny!" And I've explained his tinyness away by explaining that he was tiny when he was born. For whatever reason, it hadn't really sunk in that maybe he wasn't gaining weight like he should--I was going by the old standby, if he's having the appropriate amount of wet diapers, then he's getting enough to eat. And he's been eliminating with the best of them. He's also very alert during his waketimes. And no mother likes to admit that she isn't able to provide for her child.

But now it's time to face up to the truth: he's just not gaining weight. He's two months old, and he barely weighs 8 pounds. Although he's grown several inches, he just isn't packing on the pounds. At the two-month doctor visit on Friday, the pediatrician was concerned enough to order a GI consultation at Children's Hospital. So we scheduled one for January 22.

He also thought he may have detected a heart murmur, so he ordered an echocardiogram at Children's Hospital, scheduled for January 12. Kieran will need to be sedated for the echo--something I'm not looking forward to.

We've started supplementing his feedings with formula, just to be sure he's getting enough to eat. And we've also started giving him a bottle, since heart conditions can make it difficult for the baby to have enough energy to eat well (operating on the assumption that there is something wrong with his heart). Hopefully these changes will help him grow as we wait for the tests and then the results.

No mother likes to think there's anything wrong with her child, so, yes, I'm concerned about our little guy. But I also know that God is sovereign and that He liberally gives grace and mercy when we need it. I'll keep you posted on what we find out in the coming weeks.

In other news: Kieran had his 2-month vaccinations. He screamed while the needle was in his thigh, but stopped as soon as the nurse took it out. And he hasn't seemed to be bothered since then.

He's finally figured out that nights are for sleeping and immediately goes back to sleep after he's eaten, although he's still not sleeping more than 2.5 hours at a time and is eating every 3 hours.

In other, other news: Something died in our bedroom wall or under the floor, so we've had to vacate and seal off the bedroom for the past few days as we wait for the stench to dissipate. Yet another sign that we live in a country holler.

My momma always said . . .

Stupid is as stupid does. Did the government seriously think that handing over billions of tax-payer dollars to failing industries that mishandled money and made poor financial decisions that got them into their current mess was a good idea?

Why is it that everyone but the politicians saw the writing on the wall: giving money to big corporations is a bad, bad idea. Because they do stupid things like this: take out expensive newspaper advertisements thanking the taxpayers for giving them their money. Stupid is a stupid does.

Sadly, there's no end in sight to the industries that are going bankrupt: banks, automobiles . . . what's next? Soon, even the homeless will be kicked out of their cardboard boxes.

Here's my solution (besides A. Not giving taxpayer money to the corporations in the first place, and B. if giving away money is a must, then giving it back to the taxpayers so they can pay off the mortgages and debts they're defaulting on): Declare a year of Jubilee. It's biblical. And it worked for the Israelites (when they obeyed, that is). All debts everywhere are forgiven no questions asked, and we start all over. I think it could work. Now I just need to get an audience with the president-elect. . . .