Bad news/ Fabulous news and great new friends!!!!

I am a kick me and then lift me up girl so bad news first. I seem to be in a lovely flare due to our record heat. Yay me!! It sucks tush. Trying to get the 3 kids that go to school back on decent sleeping schedules for school monday adds stress and my previous post about family drama added stress. So I hurt. Boo.

Now to the FABULOUS NEWS!!! We have been BLACKLISTED. I know. Pretty cool right? Okay so if you are not on the list or your do not read the blogs on the list you probably think that I am in a Fibromyalgia induce brain fog and have completely lost my marbles. You would be wrong, teehehehe. See that pretty image over there -----> that says The Gun Blog Black List? Click it. My awesome friend North made this list. Basically a play on the fact that the anti-gun fun haters stalk us gun happy hillbilly dummies and talk about black listing our evil ways. So now there is a black list. A finer bunch of bloggers you will not meet....err....read, hehe. So go check out the list that we have been included on despite our newbie ways. Click around. You will find some great people there!!

Now for the new friends. I added some more links to our ever growing blogroll as well. I added a few and am sure I have forgotten who all I added but I do know I added Matt's blog Troublesome Times finally. We have another of his blogs up but this one is where he is at these days!!. We also have TinCan writing from Nine Pound Sledge Hammer. His wife has FMS like me and he writes a good blog. Very neat guy! Also got Tam's frequent partner in crime up on The Adventures of Roberta X. Red Woman is a fabulous read out of Oregon and her pics make me miss the PNW. Finally Tales From The Clothesline is awesome. A prepping mom that Stephen introduced me too. Fabulous writer!!

I am a horrible blogger!!!

Hey all! I am a horrible blogger. There has been so much going on in recent weeks that I have slacked. I am sorry!! So much that I am not sure where to start, lol. We had drama, we had laughter, we had sadness, we had silly days. What a roller coaster!

I was recently diagnosed with Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) and told to change my diet fairly radically. I have a minimum of sugar (as in a sprnkle if a regular recipe calls for it) so have been sweets free for over a month. Low dairy, low red meat, high raw foods. It has been rough but I have lost 15 lbs at last check and while I still have most of my symptoms it is not nearly as often!!

I have been working to repair one damaged relationship with someone I love a lot and allowing myself to let go of one that can't be saved. That has been amazingly hard. I am such a quiet person and I do not do well with confrontation. Stress make my FMS issues worse. So I had to really take a minute and see that if something is so toxic as to cause me physical pain it needs to not be in my life. It has broken my heart but it also has needed to happen.

My Big Hunter Man (hehehe I love you babe!) went on a 10 day bear hunt to the deeper parts of Canada with his Dad and some of the men from work. He even got a bear but it wasn't much of a bleeder and the wilds so thick that they guides weren't able to track it. He plans to go back next year with his Dad and brothers!

I had some wonderful time with a SIL and her family!!! They have always brought such joy to my life. (See epic weekend post!)

Anyway...... I was catching up on my blog reading when I saw a wonderful piece on our Brother Blog about single income families. We are a single income family. (Since I tend to give my web designing away, haven't sold a book and only make a little with my shop. Oops.) We are very blessed that we are able to do this. We are lucky that Hubby makes enough for us to not need to watch every penny but we weren't always here. When we moved to the PNW we had the crib, our kitchen table, clothes, dishes and a prayer. Hubby and I slept on the floor for a while as we slowly bought furniture. Even then it was important to both of us that I be home with our children. I think the best gift you can give your child is the relationship with yourself. My girls know that Mama is always here for them. I get to see the first steps of the first book read all alone. I can make sure they eat good things and are always safe. That is so important to a child. I had a lot of nanny's as i grew up and it was rough when one left and another came. I fell in love with them. I needed them. BUT when the job was done i had no place in their lives so i always had a feeling of abandonment. My Dad and my grandparents were the only constants through those years and while they were amazing I still was tough. I love knowing my children don't have to worry about any of that!!

Uplifting news.

So I have been doing my usual news wandering. In all the crime, and economic, and depressing news a story I read really stood out to me. A man who had a heart transplant is competing in Ironman this year. How awesome is that? This guy has had years and years of illness and hardship. He beats one thing ad another jumped him like a street thug yet now he is so healthy that he is running one of the biggest races on the planet. I say 3 cheers for him and for others like him who continue to fight against all odds and come out winners. Even if all he does is finish before the deadline to me he is a huge winner!!!

Melissa Huckaby and other CNN news!

So the evil cow plead not guilty. Seriously? I guess the evidence against her seems so small as to be easily overcome? I wish I had her lawyer!! At least a trial ups the death penalty possibilities. I am so sick of hearing about hurt kids and the killers not getting punished enough.

This is sooooo cool and something I can totally get behind. Those dumb containers ought to be used for something and this is a fabulous solution! Plus any uplifting news is always a fabulous event!

Now we see a republican risk taker? Good for him!! I love seeing political big guys show some humanity. Kinda awesome so see a former leader of the free world rolling his sleeves up and having some fun!