E-gads, What a Mop! And other stuff 'n' nonsense...

This is your hair on drugs....ha! No, seriously, this is just my hair on any normal day. Wild, weird, frizzy, and full-of-it. I liken it to an old witch wig I used to have when I played as a little girl. Admittedly the witch wig had quite a bit more grey at one point ( I could give that wig a run for it's money now). The wig also looked considerably less like it had been crammed in an electrical socket. Right now the hair defies my baseball cap and that is almost unbearable...dunno what we're gonna do about that unless I can get a bigger cap...

The hair is becoming famous around the house for it's tendency to grow out v. down. I have to endure this "little" stage before it gets really long and more manageable. Why anyone around here should be surprised by my shaggy lion hair (that's what SqB calls it) I really don't know...they ALL have the traditional Scat hair.

Afros in the 70's,

explosive bangs in the 80's, and, well, difficulties in the nineties. Believe me, I go through a lot of hair spray around here! I guess it should minimally concern me that my 4yo frequently says "Mommy, I really like your lion hair!" Great.

Grown long enough it eventually becomes somewhat tame and can even look nice v. scary. The

last time it looked nicer as opposed to scary, this pic was taken. And that's the length I'm shooting for....minus the bangs and with the natural curliness. I guess you could say I'm a third of the way to my

goal length. Yay!

So far, the chittlins have escaped the crazy hair, though they (ok, we) keep it cut close and theirs does have a mind of its own. Both boys have no less than two cowlicks and hair as thick as brush bristles. Should they ever go through a long-haired phase, their poor "do's" are going to levitate until they garner enough mass to weigh them down.

Speakin' of the chittlins, they are doin' fine...in rare form this week as they get ready for Thanksgiving.

Squib and I have been building killer train tracks!! Now that he has acquired more railroad track than any self respecting island (Thomas the Tank Engine is on the Island of Sodor) could possibly support

we have developed a new game which is, of course, to attempt to build a railway that consumes all the pieces. Here's my latest try at left. Not bad...two suspension bridges, one rotating bridge for boats to pass under, a vehicle crossing, "night night" sheds for the engines, and plenty of towers. For those of you not familiar with "towers," they are what the engines knock over. It's Squib's little addition to the world of Thomas the Tank Engine.

After a little scrap with the coffee table and three staples later, Beanstalk's noggin is now pronounced healed and he's rarin' to go. Surely you remember that thing I said about my kids bouncing...well...

Tomorrow is the big day for grandma's double mastectomy and we are all a little bit tense about that to say the least. She seems completely relaxed, but then she's, well, herself. The strongest woman I know. If she's scared, I know she's confided it totally in God and my Grandfather and completely made peace with whatever happens tomorrow. Plus, she still sleeps like a rock. The rest of us will all be taking a couple Benedryl, I guess.

My grandfather won't be able to go wait at the hospital because of his low immunity from chemo, so he'll wait here at the house with our pastor until word of the surgery reaches the house.

I will spend the day with the infected one. Oh, yes, Squib has the piggy flu and is at his Dad's house under quarantine. I'm going down to watch him ad get some cuddle time tomorrow while his Dad is at work. I miss the little snot-filled stinker.

Later Gators

Scat

The Best Things In Life

Yup, they're free!

OK, well, mostly free...

For starters, that little sliver of a crescent moon we had last night was gorgeous. Squib has become very interested in the moon lately and I seem to have caught his wonder and awe that there's a ball of rock orbiting our lovely planet. I'm starting to really enjoy looking at the moon again and even though it was just a sliver last night, you could still see varying colors in the reflected light.

I love the way Beanstalk sings along with all the music he hears! When the song ends, he throws his hands in the air and cries "Yay, yay, yay!" His grin breaks wide across his face and his extra-long stick-like arms wave around like crazy. He has no reservations. If he's happy about the music he'll respond whether he's in church, at playgroup, or at home watching a DVD. Total abandon.

Nothing beats that feeling I get when Squib totes his blanket over to where I'm sitting and says, "Momma, I want to sit in you lap." And he crawls up in my lap and nestles in and pulls his blanket up over the both of us and smooths it out and we sit and talk, read, or watch a DVD and talk about the movie. He can't just sit through a movie. He has to discuss whatever Thomas the Tank Engine or Handy Manny or Bob the Builder is doing and WHY??

Beanstalk loves to be a part of the game when any sport is being played. His varying disabilities keep him from actually playing, but he absolutely loves sitting on the sidelines cheering (for both teams) even though he'd rather be laying flat on his back on the fifty yard line watching the ball being passed over him...you've never enjoyed watching a live game until you've watched one with Beanstalk.

Every night, Squib has a little ritual we have to go through at bedtime. I have to give kisses to all his little animals, etc. I sing to him, we say a little prayer, and then the most sacred part of all: three kisses. Not for him, but for me. He HAS to kiss me on the cheek, then my forehead, and then on my other cheek. If, for whatever reason, we don't do the kisses a very teary-eyed boy will come find me after a few minutes. I didn't teach him to do it. It was totally his idea. And I hope he keeps it up for years and years. Baby kisses keep me going (and yes, he will always be my baby!).

Exploring. Squib has the exploring bug that, I guess, comes with being a Scat. We all love to explore. Little towns, big towns, trails, hotels, churches, hospitals, caves you name it. The world, come to think of it. If there are three ways to get somewhere, we know about it. Wandering off in no particular direction is oddly alluring and in many ways comforting. It makes the world seem approachable and familiar. Now that I have children I can't believe how very far my parents used to let me wander the hills and valleys where we lived!! But I'm glad they did it. I felt free. I feel free. And tackling the world is just that much less disconcerting.

Last, and probably least, are the creature comforts....things that seem to make my days enjoyable and put a smile on my face...

...cherry Dr. Pepper (over ice w/straw).

...my fave pair of blue jeans.

...Sunday lunch at the Hop with my brother, Attrition.

...listening to loud music via my iPhone/headphones while I work.

...rockin' out with Attrition drums and me singing my head off on Sunday a.m.'s Heck I even like it when we "try somethin'" and the wheels come off...

...cool fall weather that makes outdoor activities pleasant.

...watching movies.

...reading books (which I like to do WAY more than watch movies).

...and last, but not least, writing.

Enjoy!

Scat

And Away We Go...

I seems these days we are always in the throes of some medical disaster: Hernias, Tetrasomy18p, Failure to Thrive, Fragile Bones, Profound Deafness (from birth), abnormally shaped Kidneys, bilateral Club Foot, Crohns Disease, Fibromyalgia, Migraines, Seisure, Diastolic Heart Disease, deafness (both Clanpaw's cancer, Baba's cancer, my mother's mixed "whatever", my Crohns disease, oldest son's Tetrasomy 18p, and now: Neurofibromatosis I in my younger son.

You may be asking what radioisotope I swallowed as a youngster, but as my chromosomes are normal in count(46 xx), (Beanstalk's are 47 xy, though) it's more likely I have damaged egg cells which originate from my mother (very long genetic discussion), but nevertheless, there's obviously something wrong and we are right back in the thick of it. Now, we'll be looking at everyone's Chromosome 17 for a few genes that seem to be giving my youngest a bit of trouble.

Yet another (possibly) de novo genetic disorder has struck the Scat family. Unbelievable.

So far, though, all Texas Childrens' Hospital is getting is an earful and an eyeful of Squib! And boy, is he full of it! We've been to the dermatology clinic (all over the clinic)...he met the criteria for NF I and we now have a bevy of tests ahead of us. And, boy, did he have a bevy of tests for them! NF2 and Schwannomitosis would not be good things, either, but we've got to test for everything.

Squib made it very clear from the start: "We came to play!!!" And there you have the resilient attitude of my little guy. This little inset of SqB shows him smiling and playing in his crib two days after open heart surgery (at three month). So, if you're gonna talk about your bouncer-backers Squib needs to be at the top of your list! We started off in our little exam room sitting by each other. Sqb in his gown me in my street clothes. Then the inspection began. The light switch...on...off...on...off...on...off...on...off...ad nauseum. He messed with the blood pressure cuff, but turned a little pale when I offered to take his blood pressure (bad memories I guess).

Then the shredding began...yes...paper everywhere...which led to an exploration of the trash can. That whole trash-can thing went over REAL well with SqB's dad (my ex). He's a little, ummm, particular when it comes to trash.

He did NOT like the gown. I explained that it was to protect his privacy and he gave me one long "to heck with that!" look and tore it off. So by the time the dermatologist came around (with her flashing duck) to count spots and look at freckles he was streaking about and having a gay old time.

Me? I was not so carefree, because I was drowned in phone numbers and extensions of doctors that I needed to make secondary appointments with etc, etc, etc. I felt buried and overwhelmed at first but now it's just like doing a job with my son at stake. Minor detail...ha ha ha. Only NOT so ha ha.

Then the day became beautiful. We decided to forego all the traffic for a little play time. We ate spaghetti and meatballs and pizza in the Clinical Care Center with Andy (my ex) and played on the sky bridge between the CCC and Texas Children's Hospital West Building. Hide and go seek in a large temporarily abandoned medical building can be fun!!! We toured the fish tanks and played all over the equipment on the varying waiting areas of the CCC. And, in general explored the place as much as we could.

And BOY, do we ever like exploring! That loosened me up a lot and there are a lot of artistic things (cows on parade--who da thunk it), trains, playgrounds fountains, and beautiful gardens to see. If you happen to be there for any amount of time, such things bring hope and believe me (having lived there off and on for a few years) there are people there who need lots and lots of hope.

 Squib and I both like fountains, so I'm thinking of a riding/hiking route to take us past a lot of the gardens and fountains in the Texas Medical Center area for our next prolonged trip with a ride on the Metro rail so that SqB could get his jollies for having ridden on a "real" train.

The wee one was so wiped out that he never made it to Minute Maid park from 288 and MacGregor before he was seriously crashed out in his car seat and snoring to boot!

Thus begins our weekly pilgrimage to the Texas Medical Center. Ugh....but at least there are cool things to look at!

Gaining Some Perspective

Scat

Things That Go Bump In The Night

Something is going bump in the night around here! Actually, it's going bump and snorting a little. So far, not a night has passed in my traipsing back and forth from the office to the house that I haven't heard the large, snuffling noise behind the garage proper.

And like so many other noises--knocks and bangs of cars, etc.--I thought this would be just another thing I could never prove. I thought it would be a snuffling snort noise that would stop each time I brought someone out to hear it.

This time, though, it isn't.

Twice now, Attrition and Buddy have told me about the sounds coming from behind the garage and in what was our corn field. Sounds like those of a large animal.

I'm hoping it's the mate of Cosmo the pig (LOOOONG story) but we've been generating other scenarios. I have yet to go out and look for tracks or any other evidence of animal activity...I'll save that information for tomorrow.

Never a dull moment,

Scat