Commuting

Can I just say YUCK! Double Yuck!!
I'm typing this on my blackberry as I sit in this awful Houston commute into downtown this morning! 52 minutes is the expectation this am which is just the freeway part. Add 20-30 for getting to the freeway and then getting off and parking and I should be in my office sometime around lunch time today!!!!

Yes - I know I should not be using my blackberry while I'm driving but seriously - we're sitting perfectly still. Then we inch up a few feet and halt again. If I end u in a wreck, those of you who are just dying to say "I Told You So" have my permission to say it all day long!! I know.. I know ... Not a great model for the kids. DON'T DO THIS KIDS!! They are smarter about it then me apparently, but then, they are happily in school while I'm siting in the commute from H. E. double hockey sticks!!

I think best when driving in each morning - what else are you going to do?? I listen to my favorite radio station - KSBJ 89.3 - and think about stuff. Problem - I forget what I thought about once I hit the office. Can't call too many people this early in the am. All that is left I'd thinking!

Oh goodie - a second wreck on the freeway - now 56 min.

BillBoard Reading -

+ Texas Lottery game is at 191 Million. Drawing is tonight - can't win if you don't play! Go get a ticket or two or three. Please share with your enabler if you win!! What would you do with $191 Millions? (Hint - better hide it quick before the government decides to take 98% of it).

+Tattoo Expo - Houston May 21-23 Reliant Center. www.Bodyartexpo.com. Seriously?? I probably wouldn't be able to stop laughing from thinking about what these tattoos will look on "aged" skin?? Hey honey, that butterfly on your chest isn't going to be in the same place in a few years or even resemble its original form!! People forget these things!! Hmmm. Maybe I should skip my sister's wedding to go see this carnival show! Ha! JK!

KSBJ is talking about proper marital arguing!! Hmmmm ..... Maybe I should listen. :-) t

Later!
MA

April 14, 2010

Oh man... it's that time again!! Tax time. I hate it. Hate having to give soooo much of the money I work so hard to earn to the government!! I never am one to get any back so I'm usually writing a large check on April 15th. Double darn it!!

I need to update my blog design as Easter has come and gone. Perhaps I'll have a moment to work on that this weekend.

A few notes from the recent happenings around here:

***Living and Dying by Baseball.... that's going to be my memories of these years with Stephen. Playing on two teams is really one too many!! Note to self... don't do that again next year!! Quite literally this week there is a baseball game every single night and in some cases, a practice on Team B after a baseball game for Team A! NUTSO!! Yep.. that's us. Needless to say, keeping up with the homework or cooked meals or anything normal is somewhat scattered at the moment. I'm trying to remember to just enjoy this though because it really won't last that long in the whole scheme of life. I've come to really like sunflower seeds at baseball games though! Seems to be my staple.

***Sick Doggy.... we have a sick puppy. Sugar, our 6 year old Golden, isn't feeling too well. Not really sure what it is at the moment. Thinking good thoughts that it is something treatable but the vet hasn't figured it out quite yet.

*** Stephen's growth - we're still on the trail of making sure we're getting Stephen any necessary treatments to help his growth. He's currently 4' 8 and 79 pounds and just about to turn 13!

Last week we went for a second opinion at UT Medical here in Houston with a pediatric endocrinologist. I have to say, I think it's really interesting (and a little scary) that two doctors can look at the same information and have two totally different ideas of problems and treatments. UT took the same information that Tx Children's had and pretty much said they feel the data indicated he should probably have been on growth hormone treatment a year ago. Texas Children's said he wasn't a candidate. Geez..... very frustrating indeed.

UT took more blood last week and ran some more tests. Everything was normal (thyroid, liver, etc.) except for his IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor) hormone level which is a mirror hormone for growth hormone (HGH). If it's low, odds are strong the HGH levels are going to be low causing deficient growth. Well, Stephen's was 106 a year ago and is 120 now. It should be somewhere north of 267 all the way up to 359 I'm told. Clearly... he's deficient. What should have happened 18 months ago when the test was first run at Tx Childrens and what will now happen in early May is a Growth Hormone Stimulation Test will be performed on Stephen. This is a 4 hour IV based test where they inject some drugs to try to stimulate and measure his production of HGH over a period of time. If that test shows he's deficient, which we fully expect it probably will, the doctor will recommend he start a growth hormone therapy. This is a daily injectable therapy and will help him grow!! YAY!!! So.. our prayers are that the next test goes well and clearly shows that he either definitely needs the treatment or that he definitely does not need the treatment. We need it to be pretty cut and dry in order to hopefully have it covered by insurance if he does need it. We do not want a borderline situation. It's a really expensive therapy costing between $40,000 - 70,000 a year, so odds of us being able to do it without insurance is pretty slim.

That's it for today! sleep time...