The Thurber Gang

I'm smelling saw dust instead of Sewage!!!! **This** is what HAPPY smells like!!!!!

Ella has been seeing an Alternative Doctor lately, and is on some supplements that she has to take three times a day. For the first couple of weeks, she took them all without complaint, but she's getting quite tired of doing it. I tried 'rewards' of a shiny dime or quarter every time she takes them without complaint, and that bought me a few more days of easy swallowing, but she's become disenchanted with the whole idea now. Sometimes I encourage her by telling her that not many kids her age can swallow pills (She's been doing it since her Grammy brought her some supplements last year to help with this same problem and made them cool by teaching her "Down the Hatch"!) And I tell her how amazed some people would be. . . I'm hoping that friends far and near wouldn't mind giving her a little encouragement to keep her going for another little while. We were seeing some big improvements, but are at a bit of a standstill right now, and I really don...

This morning was going *so* well. I'd slept in, so I didn't feel terribly exhausted - as I've been feeling lately. . . I'd paced myself pretty well getting all four girls fed and dressed, I was showered and almost completely ready to leave *30 minutes* earlier than normal to go to church so that I could make some copies of the new song that we're singing in choir. I obviously had some divine help getting us ready in such good time, because it sure came in handy!! As I was upstairs in my bedroom doing my hair, I called for Vivien to come to me. I heard her at the bottom of the stairs, letting me know that she was on her way. A few seconds later, there was a bang. It wasn't the crazy noise that gets you running - I sat still for a second, listening to if I needed to come or if things were fine - until *the* scream came after the initial shock of silence. You know the one. . . I was downstairs in a flash and saw Vivien on her back at the foot of the stairs. ...

Madison has been having a BLAST at her last few swim meets. Something has "turned on" that we didn't know was off, and she's been incredible! Last weekend, she swam at a pretty big meet at the beautiful pool in Oakland University. She swam 8 events in two days, 7 personal best times and 4 new State cuts. Yesterday she swam her last non-championship meet of the year and got 3 more personal bests as well as another State cut. She's on top of the world! You can check out all of her cuts on her Team's website here . The State Championship is in just 3 weeks. Madis wim has such a fun time at the meets, she's got great friends that she trains with, which is proving to make a HUGE difference for her. You can see her doing 'yoga' on the pool deck between events, they love to do sports commentaries as they watch others swim, and they scream and cheer for their team mates when they are not swimming. Here's a picture of the 'yoga and meditati...

Just a little update on the seemingly never ending saga of my teeth. . . I've still been having pretty intense pain on the lower left, with just not much luck at relief. I've had my bite adjusted several times, the dentist put on my permanent crowns hoping that it was the temps giving me trouble - nothing helped. Out of desperation, I finally called my endodontist on Thursday, hoping that maybe there was more to the root canals that he did on those teeth or SOMETHING. I was able to be seen that afternoon, and he spotted what he is confident is the problem. I have nerves growing into the bone of my jaw - towards my cheek - instead of down into my jaw - towards the floor. . . he explained that it's an anatomical anomaly - but that all of the work that has been done there has probably irritated these nerves, and now they are 'live wires'. I'm taking a decreasing dose of a steroid/anti-inflammatory in hopes that it will calm down the nerves. If it is not succe...

I've been wanting to write a post for quite a while about the 'melting away' of Detroit. . . When we moved here a little over five years ago, the main street that we live just off of - 9 Mile - was full of successful businesses. Over the last 18 months, it has quickly changed and I'm afraid it will soon be a ghost town. I counted closed businesses 9 mile the other day just from the freeway to my street, so, less than a mile stretch, and there are nearly 20! I counted 1 that closed down and have moved to another location as well, but they're still gone from here! There are also 2 that have had new businesses move in, and hopefully they'll last, but the way it's going, who knows? There are too many houses in foreclosure to even start to count - and *if* they're selling, they are going for peanuts. There are signs everywhere for houses from $5,000-30,000. No longer are we just hearing of the job cuts on the news, they're now our friends. Anyway, ...

I've been tagged a few times on Facebook, and have been thinking about writing this (see #4!) for a while now. . . the little girls are playing nicely and the big girls are at swimming, so I quickly (or not quite so quickly, actually) tried to systematically think of 25 random things. . . hmmm. . . anyway, thought I'd post them here as well. . . Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you. (To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.) 1. If there is no background music or conversation to partake in, I constantly sing under my breath . . .It makes for a very dry mouth. . . 2. I *HATE* ...

Here she is. . . All studious and beautiful! She tried on so many frames and it was tough narrowing down to these ones. . . She had a great technician who helped her learn what looked good on her face, size, etc. . . Madison's words: My new glasses are comfortable, but they feel weird on my nose. I look smart, and it covers the issue with my eyelashes (they are very short.) They are very cute. I can see better. I'm glad that I have them.