Strep

Saturday. I woke up with a painful sore throat. Out of the blue. No one else had been sick. I immediately started gargling and drinking fluids, assuming it was just the onset of a sore throat. Weird thing was, I had no other symptoms.

By Tuesday morning, white splotchy patches covered my throat and when I swallowed, I felt like I was swallowing glass shards. I had avoided going in to the doctor up to that point, but when even my DH had concern on his face, I knew it was time to go in.

See, we tend to lean more towards natural health. We avoid going to the doctor unless we’ve exhausted natural health options first. We also use meds very sparingly.

However, by the time the nurse swabbed my throat, I was almost begging her for meds! Thank goodness for a positive strep test. Off to the pharmacy I went. By the time I took my first dose, swallowing was so painful that I was in tears. After two doses, the pain lessened and I had what felt more like a typical sore throat.

A look into DH’s throat revealed white spots. Cubbie’s was swollen, but no white spots. Sprout was fine. This morning, DH headed off to the doctor with Cubbie. Cubbie was positive and although DH was negative for the rapid test, the doctor still recommended meds. Then, this afternoon, it was Sprout’s turn. He was negative and surprisingly, the doctor said he did not recommend meds for him.

So now, 3 out 4 of us is on Penicillin. I hope Cubbie does okay. This is the only meds he’s ever had other than pink eye meds once.

I still have a sore throat, but I stopped being contagious this afternoon and I’m hoping to go back to work tomorrow.

This was a good lesson for us. Although we will continue to use natural health alternatives first, sometimes medication may be the best option.

First Day of Kindergarten

It was my turn.

No more watching from the front door as my sister and brother headed off to school, leaving me alone with my mom and her hang over. My big sis walked me through the projects and over the hill to Johnson Elementary. I stood by myself as other little kids piled into the classroom, kisses and hugs exchanged, teary-eyed parents waved good-bye.

“Hi sweetheart, what’s your name?” a gentle voice asked. I answered as I watched her shiny red nail polish flip through the pages on a clipboard in front of her. Her long blond hair hung softly just above the papers. She was my Kindergarten teacher whose name I wish I knew.

Once class started, we colored and played and I did a puzzle with Big Bird on it. When it was naptime, the teacher dealt the giant deck of carpet pieces out onto the floor.

At kindergarten screening, it was discovered that I needed glasses. Before I laid down to take my nap, I put my glasses up on top of a desk where I thought they would be safe. When I woke up, my glasses were gone. Instant panic. “My mom’s gonna kill me!” was all I could think. Some of the other kids were already up. My eyes rushed around the room and stopped on a girl with dark skin and curly black hair. She had my glasses in her hand and was showing them to the other kids.

“Those are my glasses,” I told her.

“So?” she replied as she put them behind her back.

“Give em back!” I demanded.

“Nope,” she said with a smile.

I tried to reach behind her but she shoved me back. My mom’s angry face was pushing down on me as this obstacle stood in my way. I knew I needed to get my glasses.

Bam. I punched her right in the eye. As she stood there crying, I grabbed the glasses out of her hand. The teacher rushed over and told me to go sit down as she attended to the little thief.

The teacher kneeled down in front of me. I stared at the little flowers on her dress covering her knees, too afraid to look up. She said she didn’t blame me for getting mad at the girl for taking my glasses, but I should have came and told her first. Hitting was not allowed. She brought us together and made us apologize to each other.

When I got home, my mom was waiting for me at the dining room table.

“Get the hell over here!”

I held my breath as I slowly walked across the matted carpet. Once I got within range, she lunged forward and clamped on to my arms.

“What the hell did you do?” she screamed, shaking me back and forth.

“I got a call from your teacher. She said that you got into a fight with another girl. What the hell were you thinking?” The more she yelled, the madder and madder she got. Redness washed over her face and eyes as the cloud of her beer breath made me want to choke.

“Who do you think you are? You can’t even stay out of trouble for one day!” My face suddenly jerked to the side and erupted in fire as her hand slammed into my cheek. Uncontrollable tears instantly came to my eyes, but I quickly blinked them away.

“Now go up to your room and don’t come out.”

I laid on my side, my sore cheek facing up. My cold hand felt soothing against it. I stared at my sister’s poster of Barry Gibb and tried to figure it all out. My teacher saying, “Hitting is not allowed,” bounced around in my little head like a super ball.

* * * * *

Author’s note: This is a true story. This is my first time linking up The Red Dress Club. When I saw the prompt was to write about your memories of Kindergarten, I was gonna skip it. But then I thought…this is my story, this is what has made me who I am today and I’m not ashamed.

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Can You Say Cabin Fever???

These were taken on Wednesday…you know, the day we got hit with yet again another snow storm! Ugh! Well, it started out as an ice shower, then turned into a snow event or whatever they wanna call it! Sense a hint of frustration…um, yeah. And it didn’t help that as I was backing out of our driveway to go to work, my front wheel drive vehicle got the rear wheels stuck in a giant snow plow induced snow ridge. So I burned a vacation day and stayed home with my two crazy boys and my DH.

And no, I’m not gonna post a pic of the snow! I’m so over it. ;-)

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My Day

Domestic in progress, neighbors heard a female screaming.

Jenna and Miller, two of my officers, were sent.

I went flying up the interstate, lights and siren

Weaving in and out and around cars, at 70 MPH (or at least that’s what I will admit to)

Up the off ramp, my rapid left turn sent gravel spraying

I heard Jenna, first to arrive on scene, radio for more back-up

She could hear screaming coming from inside

I gunned it on a straight-away as the siren pulsated in my ears

Fish tailed around two more left turns and up ahead, I saw Miller’s squad car pulling up to the curb

I slammed my squad in park. Miller motioned me to the back door while he went to the front door.

I ran to the rear and used the corner of the house as cover, back door in sight.

“Hey Sarge, the door’s locked, can we kick it?” Miller yelled around back to me. Another officer arrived and took up my position while I ran to the front.

Public housing, steel doors and steel frames. Kicking it in wasn’t gonna happen. Just then, a maintenance man appeared and said he had a key.

Guns drawn, door opened, “Get your hands up!” One male immediately was taken into custody. A crying female insisted she was okay. A quick search of the house for other occupants and we were code 4.

That was my day.

* * * * *

Author’s note:  I’ve been in my new assignment now for four months. I’m really enjoying the experience of being a patrol sergeant. It’s been trial by fire as I learn on the job without another sergeant to train me in. I’m just relying on common sense, experience, and a little bit of luck to keep me out of trouble. Disclaimer: I drove with due care at all times and at no point did I put anyone in danger. I am a certified defensive driver and have been for 15 years.

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(Image Credit)

Terrible Twos

No one ever told me

Motherhood would be this hard

Fussy, crabby, fit throwing little person

That I love, love, love

Pushes me, stretches me

Makes me want to run out the door screaming,

“I can’t take this no more!”

Deep breath

In and out

Count to ten or five or two

Try not to yell or cry or swear

and just remember

He is only two and a half

Everyone says it goes fast

Some days…

Not fast enough

* * * * *

Author’s note: Don’t hate me. I’m just being real. Terrible twos are really hitting Cubbie hard right now, so if I turn to writing about it to vent, please forgive me. BTW, he just colored on the wall with a crayon while I posted this….seriously…ahem.

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7 Facts About Me

Last week, I received virtual flowers from my bloggy friend Pennie at Mom Thoughts. Pennie has “devoted her life to God, her family and the ministry of SAMmy's.” Thanks Pennie for thinking of me!

So now, I’m supposed to list 7 facts about myself? Well, here we go:

1. I’m a brown belt in karate.

2. I love white chocolate mochas (so bad for me, I know.)

3. I have seven brothers and sisters, all step and half. I’m the youngest.

4. My DH and I have a dream that someday, we will move our little family to Colorado and live near the mountains…

This is the Black Canyon on the western slope of Colorado. DH and I took a trip there in 2004 and can’t wait to go back….one day.

5. I’m only 5 feet tall. My DH is 5’4. Nope, no future basketball players in this family!

6. Now that I’m back in uniform at work, the rule is we must have our hair up off the collar. Well, I was growing tired of constantly having to put my hair up in a ponytail, so last week, I chopped it all off.

No really, look:

7. This was the first time I’ve EVER colored (foiled?) my hair. Let’s face it, at 37, those grays are really starting to show.

So that’s seven facts about me. Now, I’m supposed to list five more blogs, but I’m gonna break the rules and say that EVERY one of you deserves it, so I can’t just name five. So consider it YOUR award too! :-)

Stumbling on the Beat

Today, I got my squad car stuck in mud.

I was trying to turn around at the end of a dead end.

I put it in reverse, rocked it back and forth, and finally, with mud spraying up over the hood, I got it out.

My entire front end looked like something out of Dukes of Hazzard.

Then, as I started northbound on a busy street, I saw a man, arms flaying, walking, stumbling into oncoming traffic.

“What the heck is he doing?” I said out loud.

I turned on my lights, whipped a U-turn and blocked traffic with my squad just as he fell down onto his butt.

“You been drinking?” I asked the obvious question. He shook his head yes.

I helped him up, walked him back to my trunk, and leaned him against my squad as I searched and cuffed him.

Urine covered, he reeked of alcohol, and mumbled something about catching the bus.

What I thought was going to be a trip to Detox turned into a trip to jail.

He had several misdemeanor warrants, all driving and DUI offenses.

By the time he was booked, I only had enough time to get back to the office and go EOT (end of tour.)

I had to leave my mud covered squad car parked in the police line with other mostly clean squads

sticking out like a sore thumb, leaving my officers to wonder, “What did the Sarge get into this time?”

and a backseat that reeked of alcohol and urine.

What will tomorrow hold?

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Wordless Wednesday: A Boy and His Baby

I just had to capture this. Cubbie was pretending to put his baby to sleep. Since I lay with him and his brother for a minute when I put them to bed, he of course thought he should do the same.

Sorry, I’ve never been good at being wordless! ;-)

Bakugans!

Cubbie’s latest hobby is collecting Bakugans. They are these neat little toys that fold out into creatures, kind of like animal transformers. I don’t really know the story behind them, with the battles and such, and neither does Cubbie. He just thinks they’re cool!

When you put one of these little balls on a magnetic card, they fold out to look like this:

Happy Monday everyone!

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Big Time

This is how we plow the roads in these parts!

So, funny story…I happen to be home the other day when I saw the front end loader coming down the road to plow. The boys were taking their naps, so I ran out in my sweats and flip flops (first thing I could find), stood in my driveway and snapped some pics. My thought was the boys would love to have some close up shots of something so cool. Then, the driver pulled over towards me, turned the machine off, opened his door and said, “Hi” (I’m sure he was thinking, “What is this crazy lady doing???”). I told him I was taking pictures for two little boys that love anything construction related. He laughed and said that typically the people who are out taking pictures of him as he plows are the ones suing the city!

I assure him I had no such intentions and thanked him for the great job he does. We did get our front lawn chewed up one year by them, but the city came out in the spring and repaired it right away.

Ok, now I promise, this is the last snow related post for this year…I hope! :-)

Cancun

I was twenty-four.

Kim was twenty-one.

Off to Cancun we went.

She was my naïve little cousin, small town girl.

“It will be fun. You need to lighten up anyways, with you being a big town cop and all.”

She guilted me in to going.

Once off the plane in Cancun and after an hour getting through customs, we looked for our shuttle bus.

We saw tourists being put in groups, waiting to board.

But not Kim and I.

“You stay here,” one worker told us as he pointed to the curb, away from everyone else.

The tourists dwindled and soon, there were more shuttle bus workers than tourists.

A premonition or maybe my law enforcement training or divine intervention…

Something didn’t feel right.

Two young American girls standing all by ourselves, surrounded by Mexican men.

I told Kim that I didn’t like it. She gave me a hard time, said I was being “paranoid.”

Then, I realized that the last group of tourists, minus us, was being herded on to a shuttle bus. I knew, just knew, I had to do something.

I walked up to the man with the clipboard who was checking names off as the tourists boarded.

“We are getting on this bus.” I told him.

“No, you wait.”

“No! We are going on THIS bus NOW.” I yanked Kim’s arm and forced her in-line with me, right behind the last tourists.

“No, bus come later!” The man shouted at me as two other workers approached us.

“No, we are getting on this bus!” I wasn’t yelling, but I made it clear we weren’t going anywhere.

Finally, the driver yelled something in Spanish at the men now surrounding us. He then waived us in. The men slowly backed off.

For the rest of the trip, Kim didn’t leave my side and I made sure we were safely back inside our guarded hotel gates before dark.

I don’t know what those men had in store for us, but to this day, I’m glad I took action even though Kim thought I was being “mean.”

* * * * *

Author’s note: Please, please don’t take this piece of memoir wrong. I love Mexico and the majority of the people there are wonderful, lovely souls. I am only writing about this because it’s an experience I had and maybe it will help people just to be more aware when they travel.

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Disappointment, a Monkey, Digital Scrapbooking, and a Fish

1. My DH did not get into the RN master’s degree program at the State University. He is, however, still waiting to hear back from them regarding their bachelor’s degree program and from the local college regarding the associate’s degree program. Yes, he’s disappointed. But considering he’s 12 years out of school, he’s not surprised. Plus, it would have been pretty intense, an RN degree in 18 months!

2. Cubbie started gymnastics this past Saturday. He is such a monkey! He even said, “ooh, ooh, eee, eee” while he was hanging from the bars. Crazy boy. He is pretty agile and tore up the place. Good thing they have a mix of climbing, jumping, beams, and a slide. I was a tired mama when I was done!

3. I’ve been doing more digital scrapbooking with my PSE8. I don’t really know what I’m doing yet, but I printed my first 12 X 12 page at Costco for $2.99. Wanna see???

(I edited out his real name.)

I know, pretty basic. I just don’t have a ton of time to learn all the little tricks and extras. Maybe some day…

4. Sprout is finishing up his swim classes. I’m so proud of him! At first, he wouldn’t even jump in the pool to the swim teacher. Now, a month later, he’s even putting his head under water and jumping off the starting blocks!

Do you see what my son is doing here? He is instigating the others to slap their feet on the floor and splash when they are supposed to be waiting patiently for the teacher. Yes, that is my son! :-)