So this is news?

Seen on the KCEN website:

Preventing Swine Flu

While there are no confirmed cases of swine flu in Central Texas, doctors say Central Texans aren’t taking any chances.

“You watch on television, you see all those people walking around Mexico City with mask and you hear about all those people dying, we want to be careful, even though it’s very unlikely to actually hit us, we’re being cautious,” says Dr. Tim Martindale of the Providence Family Medicine Clinic.

But what exactly is the swine flu?

“It has some genetic markers that are swine flu and it has some genetic markers that are also bird flu and human flu. I think the term swine flu just came on and it stuck,” explains Kelly Craine of the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District.

Craine says swine flu carries the same symptoms as traditional seasonal flu but it also has more nausea and diarrhea associated with it.

“What it’s mostly contagious through is respiratory droplets. Stuff coming out of your nose or out of your mouth, coughing sneezing, anything that comes out of your nose or mouth that has possible cotangent if it were the flu,” says Dr. Martindale.

Officials say the virus is very responsive to the anti-viral medicines Tamiflu and Relenze, and can be prevented.

“Wash your hands on a regular basis, don’t touch your face, if you cough or sneeze cough into the crook of your arm or your elbow to prevent it from spreading on your hands, if you are sick, stay at home, if your children are sick, have them stay at home,” Craine says.

If you begin to experience any flu like symptoms, officials say you should go to your doctor. They can do a nasal swab to test for the virus and have results back in about 15 minutes.

Reported By: Ashley Goudeau

This really disgusted me. I mean, they pay these people good money to "report" the news. This girl is a real idiot, if you ask me....not so much because she made mistakes, but because she DIDN'T BOTHER TO HAVE ANYONE PROOFREAD HER ARTICLE!!! If you don't know what you're talking about, don't pretend. You'll just make yourself look stupid.

Here's my response that I e-mailed to the station:

To whom it may concern,

Wow. I am speechless after reading an article by one of your so-called reporters about concerns over swine flu. I would expect a grammatically correct article with reliable information from your reporters, however there were three obviously glaring mistakes in this piece--and these were just the obvious....I didn't bother myself with punctuation, etc.

First of all, a doctor was quoted as saying "...anything that comes out of your nose or mouth that has possible cotangent if it were the flu." I don't know about you, but I'm not sure if you can have a cotangent come out of your mouth unless you're discussing properties of right triangles. I suspect that your reporter meant to quote the Dr. as discussing possible "contagion", but who knows.

She also misspelled the drug Relenza as Relenze. Seems that could easily be googled before it was published.

Finally, she states that if you have flu-like symptoms, you should get checked out by your doctor and they will do a nasal swab and tell you in 15 minutes if you have the virus. Which virus? Swine flu? Because, according to the numerous reports I've read/heard, they have to send samples off to the lab in order to confirm swine flu, which can take up to a few days. So maybe your reporter should clarify and proofread her articles before she represents your station. I would think accuracy of reporting would be most important.

Let me know if you need someone to proofread her work. I'd be happy to do it. She clearly needs another set of eyes looking over it.

Sincerely,
A concerned viewer

*let me just say, I don't care AT ALL if regular folks make these mistakes. That's normal. But if you're representing yourself as a professional, then friggin' have someone check your work!!!!!

Change in the Rain

So it seems my fate has been decided, and the weekend of June 5th, I will finally get to move into my new house! I am excited and stoic at the same time. I am in love with my house. It really has seemed like an unlikely dream, that it would never really be finished--intangible and perfect, waiting for me. But now it is almost done, and it is thrilling and terrifying to be moving. I love Waco. I never thought those words would escape my lips, but for the first time in a very long time in my life, I've found a niche for myself. I love my friends and the life I've made for myself and my kids here, and I'm afraid that moving means starting all over again, particularly because everything changes next school year. I won't be a Stay-At-Home-Mom anymore, which is pretty much my total identity to speak of. It is scary to think I have to reinvent myself as a Working Mom, make new friends in my new situation, keep in touch with all my dear friends that I won't get to see as often and figure out how to best mother my kids without being with them all day, every day. Right now the rain is pouring down, and it matches my mood: melancholy, heavy, rejuvenating. A new beginning. I am ready to start out on this new branch of my life. It is one of those forks in the road of life for sure, and my new path is really still shrouded in mist, but I am confident there are birds chirping on the other side.

I got tagged!

My friend Erica tagged me. I haven't played tag since elementary school, but I loved it almost as much as dodgeball, so here I go.

8 Things I Am Looking Forward To:
1. Sleeping
2. Kissing my kids and my husband
3. Watching Kalena play T-ball
5. Watching Isaac do Karate
6. Watching my waistline get smaller
7. Our summer trip to Hawaii
8. My next Chipotle Barbacoa burrito

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Slept late for the first time in, oh, I can't remember how long
   
2. Ordered pizza and blew the diet
   
3. Watched too much TV while I looked at the floor and avoided vacuuming it
   
4. Had a tickle fight with the kids
   
5. Stressed out over getting six ready for family pictures
   
6. Took said family pictures
   
7. Worried about getting a job
   
8. Looked at my family pictures and realized that I am a blessed woman to have such a beautiful family
   

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. Sing and dance
   
2. Get the perfect job
   
3. Play the piano
   
4. Travel the world
   
5. Have more patience
   
6. Run a marathon and like it
   
7. Be a famous writer
   
8. Eat whatever I want and still look amazing
   

8 Shows I am Currently Watching:

1. The Mentalist
   
2. American Idol
   
3. Law and Order SVU
   
4. Dog the Bounty Hunter
   
5. Harper's Island
   
6. Antiques Roadshow
7. Make Me a Supermodel
8. Little Einsteins

*Thank The Good Lord for DVR*

So I tag:
Sandra
Katy
Marie

Adam's a Big Boy Now.

I was just looking at older posts, and realized that it was only two months ago that I made a short little list of things that Adam was saying. Wow, it's incredible to watch him learn day by day. If I were to make a list of things he can say now, it would be well over 1000 words. In fact, he'll pretty much say anything he hears. He repeats words all the time. And he is making sentences now. They are becoming more elaborate and descriptive. The kids are in there playing play-doh right now, and he just said, "Me make pizza now, Izee. All done." My mind is truly boggled. It makes you stop and realize what an amazing thing the human brain really is.

We had girl's night last night, and we ended up doing karaoke at Whiskey River. Oh man, I am such a terrible singer. But I just love to sing. I wish God had given me a talent, other than reproducing. I mean, I have awesome kids, but I can't sing or dance or play an instrument or paint. I'm okay at sewing, but really, I wouldn't call that a talent. I'm pretty good at yelling, though. At any rate, girl's night was a blast, and my sweet husband let me sleep in until 9 this morning. Aaaah, sweet sleep. It's so sad. The older you get, the more you value sleep than just about anything else.

We are taking some pictures this afternoon of our whole family. My friend Julie has graciously obliged to take pics for us. I got the cutest outfits for the kids, and I can't wait to see how the pics turn out!

Stuff

Bodyshaping...IT IS SO FLIPPIN' HARD!!! I'm down to 223.6 as of this morning. Yay! A couple more pounds down, so that makes me feel good. I've been so sore this week, it's hard to walk. But that just means I am getting skinny, right?

I have had the hardest time keeping track of everything we have going on. This is only going to get more challenging, I realize, as the kids get bigger. I decided last night that I have GOT to get organized. I bought a magnetic fridge calendar and wrote down everything we have going on for the next month. Man, my calendar is full. I also got an organizer that I can keep in my car or in my diaper bag so that I always have a place to right down things as I find them out. I am notorious for writing things on a scrap of paper that immediately disappears. I also highlighted everything on my calendar in different colors: blue for Isaac, pink for Kalena, yellow for me, and green for babies/family things. Now I always know who needs to be where and when. Sigh. This organization thing is hard.

In other, more depressing, news, my friend Julie is moving. And mind you, she's not moving across town. She's moving to Kansas City, Kansas. Boo. I hope we get to keep her through most of the summer. I hate saying goodbye to friends. Last summer was bad enough when I lost Marie, now I'm losing Julie, too. I have to stop before I start crying.

Also, my dogs are going to be the death of me. I swear. They got out of the yard...again. Big surprise. But this time, the dog catcher picked them up and they ended up at the pound. So I had to pay $100 bucks to spring them from doggy jail. They are in deep doody when they get home.

Stationary

Still at 226. I'm not surprised, though. I think I've gained quite a bit of muscle back. I am feeling better, and my time on the treadmill is slowly creeping up there. I hit the bodyshaping class this morning, and now I can't walk. I am seriously hobbling like an old man. But hopefully it will sculpt my arse into a beautiful sight if I can keep going.

I have my orientation for my teacher cert. classes tonight. I'm a little nervous, since I haven't had too many hits on the job front. I hope I am making the right decision for my family. I just have to have a positive attitude, and I know things will go the way they're supposed to.

Kids are great, Kalena started T-ball again, and had her first game last night. She is the bomb. I am going to put her in coach pitch for the summer session, I think she's ready. She is much better than most of the kids on her team this go-round, and she has such a great attitude. You can tell she really loves to play. That makes me happy.

Can you tell I'm sleepy? I'm definitely rambling right about now....

The First Weigh-In...

Status: 226. Loss of 7 lbs. I don't think I actually lost that much, but I just weighed without clothes on this time. Last time I was wearing shoes and jeans, so maybe I only lost about 3 pounds. But I'm no fool. I'm reporting the lowest possible number. Wouldn't you?

So far the workouts are amazing. I love starting my day on such a positive note, but I am pretty tired. It'll just take a while to adjust.

In other news, Kalena lost her two front teeth. She has been a great source of comic relief lately. Whenever I'm feeling frazzled or frustrated, I just get her to say "dinosaur" or "thermometers" and then I crack up laughing. Am I cruel to laugh at my lisping daughter? Maybe. But she thinks it's funny too. I can't believe my little girl is growing up so fast.