I have come to realize

A few things since yesterday.

1. We live in a really trashy area of town. Seriously. Not so much on our street, but the street behind us and beyond. The monkeys and I went bike riding yesterday, and we were about 7 blocks from home. This house we passed was un-freakin-believable! I counted 10 trash bags FULL of trash on the porch (and yes, they had been there last week on our ride too!) and the trash was coming out of the bags, broken bicycles left all over the yard, lots of misc things about and a vhs tape. The tape was broken and someone decided to decorate the yard with the actual tape. I was just disgusted.
Last year, I bought some things off of a lady on the Cafe board. She lived a few streets over (near the trashy home). When I got there, she told me she was shocked I showed up to get the items. She told me most of the time when she told people where she lived, they would either tell her to forget the sale, or just not show up. All because we live in "that" area of town.
I have never thought our side of town was that bad. Sure, we aren't the best homeowners either. Our yard needs mowed more often than not, we have a half hazard swing set out back, plus a boat, now a dog, our porch has on it:
-rawhide of Scooby's
-pair of Madison's socks
-girls' scooters
-broken flag pole with flag still on it
-bucket of sidewalk chalk
-2 basketballs
-broken broom
-shovel
-shephard's hook
-almost empty bag of potting soil
-2 empty pots for planting
-gas can
-Christmas flag
-miracle grow sprayer
-bench
But to see this all, one has to literally come onto the porch. It's not like my white trash is out for the world to see, like the trashy house I talked about. Our neighbor on the one side is a city policeman. His yard and home are phenomanal. For real. I mean they aren't super spectacular, but they are very very very very well kept. He is outside keeping it up whenever he is off duty. No joke. When the storms came through last Friday night, and a bunch of limbs off our dead tree in the back (which will be taken down here soon) blew into his yard, he had them picked up by 7:50am. I know this because that is what time I got up and his yard was once again immaculate, compared to what it looked like after the storm! He is just a very picky clean type person. And they have W H I T E carpet. I freak when I go over, so afraid some little speck of dirt will be on me and land on the holy white floor.

2. That playing and just BEING with my kids is so much fun. I have been a Mom for almost 8yrs. It's sad that I only recently came to such a conclusion. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids dearly. And I love playing and being with them. But I didn't know how much fun it could be. Maybe it's because Olivia is with my parents, and Madison is at GS camp during the day. And I finally have time to just relax and go aaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwhhhhh. Mommies need these times, and for me they are far and few between. But ya know, last week when they were all home, we had some good times. We took bike rides every day. Played outside every day. It was great! It's just been a fun summer so far. My goals are to go to the Splash park at least once a week, plus the library 3x week, and to the zoo once a week (gas permitting)

3. That I might start getting migraines more often. I had an ocular migraine last night for the first time. Scared the bejeebies out of me! I was watching Real World (yes I still watch that show--what can I say, I {heart} reality tv!) and kept noticing a blur towards the left side of my vision. I would try and focus on it, but it would move further away. Kinda like the floaters I see do. Then the spot kept getting larger. It was purple and yellow, and was like a shimmering zig zag. I was really getting freaked. Denny came home and I tried to tell him what was going on. He looked at me like I had three heads. Men, they never understand. It kept getting worse, to the point I wasn't able to focus on anything, unless I tilted my head just so and looked out of the corners of my eyes. I tried scouring the net for ideas on what it was. My first thoughts were stroke. Stupid I know, but every possible thing was running through my mind. I called the ER and talked to a nurse, who suggested I come out. He said eyesight shouldn't be treated causually. I agreed and decided to go. I went to the bathroom, and began wiping my eyes and wow, I could see again! It was gone! I am not sure if I was more or less freaked at that point. I told Denny and he told me to call the ER back. I did, and the nurse asked me if I found anything on the internet about ocular migraines. That was exactly what I found and described my symptoms perfectly.
http://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/ocular-migraine.htm
The pictures on this site are what I experienced. I have had a wee bit o'history with severe headaches.
Back in 2001, I had just finished Jenny's Fashion Show. Those who know me IRL, know what this is. It was a hot July day, and I started having a headache. Thinking it was from the heat, and wearing the warm outfit, Mom and I got Madison and headed home. I began driving and the pain intensified. We got to Jenny's Salon and I could barely make it out of the drivers seat. Mom drove me home. I immediately took some tylenol and climbed into bed. That night is a blur, but I remember Sunday. The light coming in the windows was unbearable. Hearing Madison play with toys sent my head aching so hard I thought my brain would come out my ears (she was barely 1 then) Linda came over to watch Maddy so I could rest while Denny worked. As soon as he got home, he took me to the ER. I couldn't even walk in I was so sick. They put me in a semi-quiet room with the lights down. Gave me some pain meds orally. When those didn't kick in, they gave me at least 2 shots. Those didn't work either. So the decision was to admit me. They ran so many tests. The dr thought I had West Nile. Then he thought I had just a bad migraine. Then he tested me for bacterial or viral menegitis. To this day, I had no diagnoses. The best they came up with was some sort of menegitis. I continued to have headaches, but not as severe. I would see my family dr, who then transferred me to a neurologist. He too could not find a reason for the headaches. He did an MRI, which showed towards the left back portion of my brain, was some sort of trickling thing. LOL that sounds crazy. He was unsure what it was, but assured me it had nothing to do with the aches. If that would of been now, I would of made him give me an exact explanation for it.

4. People are just unaware. I was driving home from dropping Maddy off at GS camp, and these ladies were walking. On the street. I give them credit for walking the right way--towards traffic. I have no idea why they weren't on the sidewalk. But as I drove towards them, they continued walking, making no effort to move over. I had to drive clear into the opposite lane to avoid hitting them. When I am walking, or riding my bike, I first try to use the sidewalk. If that can't be done, I walk/ride very close to the shoulder, and make every effort to get out of a cars way. These ladies seemed to think they owned the road. And it hasn't been just them. Stupid kids riding their bikes just go from place to place, not watching traffic. (yesterday a young boy got hit by a car, because he just assumed the car would stop!) I make sure my kids know, that when crossing a street, they make sure NOTHING is coming. Even if it's at a stop sign. If the driver signals them to cross, then it's ok. But if they don't, always WAIT!