It's like this...

When you're President you have many perks. You get your own chauffeurs, chefs, maids, butlers, gardeners and secretaries. While all those things sound amazingly inviting there is really only ONE perk that I want right now. On call doctors and specialists. The best of the best. Right at your beck and call. No waiting rooms. No waiting for referrals. No medical billing red tape. Not like me. Noooooo. I've been in medical H eeee double toothpicks today. Neurology dept at Children's Hospital called to say they'd be calling back. Um, ok. Calling to say you're going to call. You know, later and stuff. Fine. Then the call back to say that because we haven't been to their particular clinic in a few years they are going to treat Ashley as a new patient. Um, hello? We spent enough time there, LIVED in that hospital literally, to finance that new wing you've got there. New patient? Um, no. We were just there two weeks ago. Ok, no, not to Neurology. To ...

Yesterday started out normal enough but it sure didn't end that way. Because we're on hubby's schedule--and he works til midnight each night--we don't go to bed before 1 a.m. most nights. Even the kids. This schedule works for us in the summer better than during the school year of course. Due to the fact that we go to bed so late, we're rarely up before 9 in the morning. I got up bit before 9 and headed to the bathroom. The second I was out of my bed, Ashley climbed in next to her daddy for a daddy-daughter snuggle. "Hey! No fair taking my place! Get out of there!" She just grinned at me and slid under the covers next to her Daddy. The next thing I knew, Lance was yelling my name and our bedroom door was flung open. He thought I'd gone downstairs and I couldn't understand why he was yelling. If you know my husband, you know he doesn't yell. He had good reason to yell. Ashley was on the bed in the throes of a horrible grand mal seizure....

Today we got some boxes and are beginning The Big Packup in preparation for moving back to Seattle. This means we have to go through things we own. Things we've collected. Things we don't really need. Like movies. Lots and lots of movies. See? We don't need these movies. Most of them are Disney that the kids watched growing up. Really, who needs this many movies? And this doesn't show you all the DVDs that are in the box there. So most are going to the Mother of All Garage Sales, the rest will go to charity if they're not sold. Those leather couches? I'm giving them to my brother. If you've seen them, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking I hate my brother. Why else would I give him that ratty couch, chair and love seat? I don't hate him. He wants'em, he can have'em. I told him how they are and he doesn't care. Sooooo, now I need to stop wasting time here and get back to sorting movies. Wish me luck.

Let me get this straight. Hilary Clinton wanted something so badly that she went into debt in order to try and get it. I get that. It was her dream, her vision, her bliss. Haven’t most of us done the same thing? Don’t we all have dreams that require a financial contribution to fulfill? Some of us go into debt to get a college degree, get a car, or put gas into our cars. People have gone into debt to get one of those very cool large flat screen televisions. I’ve gone into debt to get a house. It was something my husband and I felt we needed in order to raise our children and as an investment in our future. Heck, I've had to charge groceries before in order to feed my family, thus increasing my debt. Ms. Clinton wanted the presidency because she felt it was something she wanted. She felt it was important. So important that she borrowed money from herself in order to fund her failed bid. I also used some of my own money to purchase my home. Now Hilary is coming to you via video...

Since we have been married, we've moved....let's see, ah yes. Three times. This will be our fourth move. I'm looking forward to it with as much enthusiasm as I would a root canal or a presidential election. Both of which should be experienced in the haze of narcotics in order to dull the senses to the pain of it all. I've been going through some cupboards in my kitchen in order to pick and choose what can come with me, what I need to put into storage and what items I'll use for our garage sale. Yes, we're having a garage sale. I have far too much stuff. Stuff has taken over my life, my closets, my cupboards, my garage and every nook and cranny in between. Once upon a time I packed up everything I owned in a little Toyota and it fit. All of it. How on earth did I collect so much...stuff? I blame it on the children. At any rate, so far I've given away the family room couch, love seat and chair to my brother. It's a cream colored leather and I've...

I can hear the screeches and screaming and laughter from here. I'm not hiding---no, I'm not. Honest. I would never hide from eight little girls all hyped up on sugar and pizza and pop. I'd never sneak up to my bedroom and lock the door behind me. Ok, I really would. They're loud . I mean really loud. And I'm tired. I had four hours of sleep last night and while that used to fly when I was in my teens and twenties, it doesn't so much now that I'm old(er). I'm a serious sleep deficit situation here. It's bordering on the critical. You see, last night when my husband came home from work around 1 a.m. I'd just fallen asleep. He woke me up because he, get this, couldn't find my purse . Yes, you read correctly. At 1:45 a.m. my husband was tearing the house apart searching for my purse. "It's downstairs hanging on the shoe-thingy" He went off to look and came back saying it wasn't there. Well, it had to be because t...

I'd love to say I'm happy about this---and one some level I am very happy and pleased with the way my little Allison is growing up. She's so sweet and kind and is always thinking of others. She helps around the house without even asking, she loves to bake and she'll even rub my feet when I don't feel too well. But soon...all that will change. She's going to be going to Middle School. Heaven help us all.

Today we loaded up the car, the wrecked one, onto a trailer and hauled it down to Vancouver, WA. It's going to be repaired by my, well, by someone in the family. After we left there we drove to Cannon Beach, Oregon. I LOVE Cannon Beach. I want to live there. I know that won't happen but a girl can dream, right? The weather was gorgeous, albeit a bit windy. Ashley and Ally waded through a small river and up a sand bar to get to the ocean and then they went swimming in it. Well, sort of swimming. Hubby and I stood by, up to our knees in the frigid water. Eventually everything became numb and didn't hurt so bad. Meanwhile....they frolicked. See? They were frozen by the time it was over. We brought along a little barbecue and made some burgers on the beach. It was wonderful.. And now a few words about my baby daddy... He's the best daddy in the world. His children are so loved by him and he serves them. He has the biggest heart, the kindest way with them and a g...

Pamela's Column for Pacific Publishing June 18, 2008 Although I do not condone mothers eating their young in the wild, now that I have teenagers, I fully understand the impetus. Grandchildren, so they say, are God’s gift to you for not killing your teenagers. If that’s true, then I’m leaning towards forfeiting my chance for descendants in a big way. I am not by nature a violent person. No, really. I’m not. I’m a pacifist of the first order. I always have been. People have called me a peacemaker, I would have put daisies in the rifle barrels of guns in the sixties had I been there. I even refuse to kill bugs. Ok, I make my husband do it for me, but that’s beside the point. I personally do not do it. Just like Bush isn’t actually doing any of the killings in Iraq. I hold myself blameless for the deaths of spiders and such that have squirmed, crawled or flown into my home. However, I am being pushed to the limits lately. I have teenagers, two to be exact. One lives here at h...

Hubby and I drove to Seattle today. We were forced to amputate one of his arms and one of my legs in order to purchase a tank of fuel for The Beast in order to get there. Our carbon footprint is mighty. Mighty I say. In our defense, with four children we cannot drive a Mini Cooper. Yes, I know, we should have thought of that before having children. Thanks so much for pointing that out to me after the fact. We got the kids registered at their schools, then we turned around and made a mad dash for home in order to get hubby to work on time. But before we left the city limits we stopped at Kidd Valley where we shared a bacon burger that was as near to heaven as you can possibly get. There was a party in our respective mouths. I mean it. It didn't hurt that we were very hungry, but still. Heaven. In your mouth. So we split a burger and shared some mouth-watering mushrooms. Now you know the real reason we're moving back to Seattle. It has nothing to do with a job pro...

Hubby had a long talk with his boss last night and it was strongly suggested that he take this promotion. If he doesn't he won't get another chance at it---and it's something he really wants to do. Plus, it will be easier on his spine, which is a biggie as he's had so much trouble with his back lately. Add that to the fact that Ally is thrilled beyond measure that she'll be able to go to Middle School with her cousin Nicole. They've been burning up the phone wires discussing classes and fashion and people, not necessarily in that order. Apparently everyone wants to move except me. But I will. I will put on the Mother of all Garage Sales, sell off nearly everything we own, put my beautiful new home up for rent and move back home into the house I grew up in. Actually, we'll be splitting our time between there and my sister's travel trailer in order to get the kids into the school district they want to be in. Yes, we'll finally have reached that ...

Good news, hubby got a transfer and a job promotion. Bad news, it's in Everret. We could rent our house out and then move in with my father like he's been asking us to do for years, but that's not an option any longer as he's taken his offer back. So I don't know what we're going to do. There isn't any way he can commute from where we are now to there. It's not like I don't have enough stress in my life right now. Nope, not enough. Time to bang my head against the wall now.

When my Ashley Rose was born nine years ago, she was nearly two months premature and had suffered a stroke. She was diagnosed with Hemiplegic infantile cerebral palsy, among other things. This means she was having seizures and couldn't use the right side of her body. We were put on a waiting list for some services (funds) that would have allowed us to get Respite (care for her so we could take a break), funding for therapies and other services and funding for medical bills. Today I got a letter in the mail saying that Ashley's name had come to the top of the waiting list and they wanted to evaluate her. Mmm-hmmm. They evaluate her each year as it is to keep her on the DSHS Family services list which helps us pay for the braces for her leg. It's like they suddenly expect her CP to have cured itself. Not that I don't believe in miracles--I do. But you know..... The reason I'm excited about this particular letter is because last week when we were at Children...