the perfect shot!

I have a huge fascination and infatuation with dolphins. If I could start my life over again I would go to college for Marine Biology and work at Sea World or Discovery Cove training dolphins.

Lucky for me, dolphins are everywhere at St. George Island. Today was like dolphin orgy day, they were everywhere and they were playful! Jumping, splashing, slapping their tails, it was awesome. We went out in the kayak and they were less than 15 feet from us! I tried to get some photos with a waterproof camera I bought at the drugstore, we'll see how they turn out.

At about 5pm this evening we were sitting out on the deck and another pod came frolicking by the house. In the span of less than 30 minutes I took over 200 shots (filled my camera card with RAW photos) but I got the perfect shot!

 

Photo shot with my Nikon D70s in RAW, Nikkor 70-300mm lens, Aperature priority, 1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 200

St. George Island Day 1

Swimming, swimming, and more swimming sums up the first full day here...

a trip to the ER...

Wow, yesterday was quite a day! I thought this was going to be a calm, quiet week with the boys at their grandparents and just the little ones at home. I was wrong!

Yesterday morning as we were leaving for work, D. commented that his left eye was bothering him. I asked what was wrong and he described it like when you look into a bright light and you have a blind spot in your eyes after. By the time we got to work he said it had spread to both eyes. He didn't seem too concerned, even commented maybe there was something on his glasses, etc. So, I did not give it a second thought.

Once we got to work, I went about my usual stuff...put out fire #1, listened to so & so complain about this or that, put out fire #2, and so on. I came back up to my office. I saw D. in his office and he had his head down so I went to see what was up. He looked up at me and was grey and ashen looking and sweating. He said he felt terrible.

  (isn't he handsome? so glad he is ok now!)

When I asked for specifics he said his left arm was numb, the blind spots were still there, he was nauseous, and he had cold sweats. I immediately got my purse and we left to go to the doctor.

On the drive I called our doctor to let her know what was going on. They told me not to even come to the office but to take him directly to the ER. So that is where we went.

At the ER he had a CT Scan, Chest X-ray, EKG, and lots of blood work. We waited and waited, as is the norm in the ER, right. Finally, the doctor came in and said that everything looked normal, there were no problems. No masses were detected in the CT scan which really was a relief to me. He gets LOTS of headaches and that has been a fear I have had. The EKG showed no irregularities in his heart. The blood work checked his heart enzymes for changes or damage to his heart and that was fine. They also checked his D-Dimer to see if he could have had or might have a blood clot and that was normal. They could find nothing wrong at all. The best the doctor could surmise was that he might have had a big fluctuation in his blood sugar because that can cause similar symptoms. He recommended D. follow up with his regular doctor in a few days and have a glucose tolerance test.

WOW! What a day. I am very relieved that there do not appear to be any problems with his heart or head! His family have a strong history of heart disease, in fact he loves to tell me that none of the men in over 4 generations have lived past 55...morbid dude! So, again, I am glad that all appears to be in good working order but now I am concerned about his sugar levels. Apparently there is also a strong history of diabetes in his family as well. He hates going to the doctor so it is going to be a challenge to get him to follow through on all of this. Luckily I told his Mom and Sister about what happened and they are already bugging him to go see the doctor and get everything checked out - gotta love family!

The weekend.

We had a busy weekend as usual but I don't feel like much was accomplished and I really hate that!

Friday night we took the kids out for pizza, that is kind of a standard for us on Fridays. The kids love Cici's Pizza so we took them there. It isn't my favorite pizza but it's inexpensive, everyone gets what they like, and the kids get FULL!

Saturday D. had to work all day, so it was just me and the 4 punks. T. had a therapy session so while he was there the kids and I went to the grocery store to buy food for my niece. Then we had Japanese for lunch which T., J., and I love but C. and A. are not so fond of. This time I ordered their food with no sauces and they loved it! That is great, now maybe we can convince D. to go more often! HA, doubt it. After lunch the kids and I drove down to Virginia Highlands to visit my niece and take her some groceries. I hadn't been to her new place yet and let me tell you I am out of my head JEALOUS! I love the Highlands and areas around there and her location is prime! I am such a city girl! I don't like the 'burbs much but with 4 kids, 2 dogs, 2 cats and now a bullfrog we don't have much choice.

Yes, bullfrog! T. spent the night with my niece and today they decided to go hunting for frogs and snakes...lovely. They caught a beautiful girl (so they tell me, I have no clue) bullfrog and named her Jasmine. She is now living downstairs in the playroom. I am anxiously awaiting hearing her croak in the middle of the night, but so far she has been quiet. I will let you know how many times she wakes me up tonight though :)

Today was spent grocery shopping (for us), laundry, cleaning the house and other similarly joyous activities. I wanted to do something crafty but just never got around to it. Hopefully this weekend I will get some time, I have a lot of ideas swirling around and I don't want to forget them.

Tourettes Sydrome.

Until about 2 years ago I didn't know much about this disorder other than what is portrayed in the media. Reports of people who scream out obscenities for no reason or people who bark like a dog.

Now I live with this disorder daily - both of my biological children have it.

The good news is that this disorder is NOT what is portrayed in the media for most people.

Ten months ago we met with our developmental pediatrician to hear his diagnosis of our 10 year old son T. He has Tourettes Syndrome. T has had tics since he was 4 years old. I can remember laying in bed with him watching TV and he would make a small noise, like a throat clearing, over and over. I discussed it with our pediatrician and he said this was common and would most likely go away. Unfortunately it didn't.

Two weeks ago we met with our developmental pediatrician to hear his
diagnosis of our 8 year old son J. He also has Tourettes Syndrome. At
this point it is mild, his tics are just beginning but there is no way
to know how it will progress.

Tourettes generally begins around 6 to 8 years of age. It progresses differently in everyone but generally peaks around the age of 15 and then generally begins to slow as people move into adulthood. Verbal tics can range from slight grunting noises or throat clearing to screaming or barking. Swearing is a very rare form of Tourettes. Motor tics can range from blinking or head shaking to kicking or thrashing. To be diagnosed with Tourettes a person must have both motor and verbal tics that last for a period of at least 6 months without going away. Over time tics wax and wane in intensity and form and are aggravated by stress and tiredness.

As I have watched T. go through this I have seen him change from a happy, spirited, joyous child to an anxious, irritable, frustrated, and self-conscious young man. It has broken my heart to see him in such pain yet it has made me unbelievably proud to see him accept it and keep moving forward.

I wonder how it is going to effect and change J. I don't want him to have to go through the hurt and struggle that his brother went through while we get his meds right. I hate hearing him cry at bedtime because children were mean to him today. When I look at him and see him tic I want to hold him and make it stop, but I can't.

What I can do though is love them and support them, forever and ever.

Mini butterfly project

Mini butterfly project
Originally uploaded by juliejohnson07

I am really working to make my office space into a happier place.

I work for a sheet metal manufacturing company so everything I see is grey. Grey, grey, grey all day long! It makes me a little sad & dreary feeling. So, I am trying to spruce up my office with color and happy, fun designs so that it is a place I enjoy being since I don't "love" my job.

Last weekend I made this adorable little butterfly collage.

This was inspired by Ali Edwards famous butterfly collage

I used my slice basic shapes 2 card for the butterflies and Dill Blossom papers from SEI.

Love how it really freshens up my office!

apprehension.

Feeling a bit of apprehension today.

Yesterday I took my 8 year old son to see a Developmental Pediatrician for an evaluation. Today we go back for his analysis, diagnosis and recommendations.

Some history - My oldest son (10) was diagnosed last September with Tourettes Syndrome, ADHD - primarily attentive, and Anxiety Disorder by this same doctor. He was in bad shape before the diagnosis and medications. Now he is doing really well, tics are under control, attention is better making school work better, and his anxiety is manageable.

Recently my 8 year old started frequently exhibiting symptoms very similar to my 10 year olds, motor tics (mostly head thrashing) and verbal tics (throat clearing, grunting, laughing sounds). He has done similar tics in the past, occasionally, but at the time I really thought it was just because he saw his big brother doing it and was mimicing. However, now that big brothers tics are under control I am more concerned about the behavior.

Now in reality I know this is not a life threating issue. I know that in the scope of all diseases, issues and problems in the world, this is minor. But, they are my babies and I hate to see them in any kind of distress or discomfort. I hate to know that their developmental years will be somewhat controlled by this disorder. I worry about the teasing and ridiculing that they have, and will probably continue to experience due to things that are completely uncontrollable.

It truly breaks my heart.

So, today we go find out if another of our children is affected with this disorder and if so, what we can do to minimize the impact on his life.

If you are the spiritual or praying type, I would appreciate any positive energy you could send our way :)

Some additional information on Tourettes Syndrome:
Very recent article from US News & World Report on Tourettes here. Statistics say 1 in 3000 children have TS.
20/20 recently did a great show on kids and TS.
Tourettes Syndrome Association website.