Update on Accident

This has been one of the most exhausting days mentally that I have ever had. I'm looking forward to taking a hot bath and crawling into bed after this entry.

First of all my nieces are both fine... injured, but fine. Everyone in my ex brother in law's van was injured in the accident, but treated and released from the hospital. All are at home resting and trying to deal with what happened today. There was another vehicle involved and apparently they weren't injured, but their vehicle is also totalled. Sadly, the man who ran the stop sign did not make it. What we know now is that it's very likely he had a heart attack at the wheel.

The accident happened about 20-25 minutes from my ex brother in law's house, and about 15 minutes from my sister's house. Several lucky events saved their lives this morning. One is that they invited my ex brother in law's nephew at the last minute. That is the only reason they took their van. Otherwise they would have taken their car and someone may have been injured much worse, possibly fatally. Another lucky event is that the impact was not on the side of the vehicle. And yet another is when they were careening across the intersection they just missed a pole which could have split the van in half.

My brother in law's nephew was driving which I found out later. He was proceeding through the intersection when he realized the man coming from the other direction was coming quick and wasn't stopping for the sign. He attempted to stop and avoid hitting him, and my brother in law tried to take control and stop. They caught the back of the car and spun out of control hitting a truck pulling a horse trailer and then careened across the intersection. The man spun and ended up through the intersection stopping by the truck and trailer. The people in the truck were stopped at the sign.

The people in the truck were not injured but their truck is totalled because the frame is busted or bent out of whack and their engine is pushed back. The man's carhad the back end ripped off more or less. My ex brother in law's van has the front end and engine pushed back through the firewall and into the dash and no windshield. So all vehicles are totalled. The truck with the trailer doesn't look bad in the photos, but what do I know.

As for injuries, my ex brother in law has sprained ankles. Nothing broken amazingly. His nephew has burns from the air bag exploding and the seat belt cutting in as well as some cuts and bruises. My 11 year old niece has cuts in her legs from the seat belt, a cut on her neck down to her chest from the seat belt, burns from the seat belt, bumps and bruises, and a sprained arm. My 15 year old niece has a sprained neck, a bump on the head, bumps and bruises, seatbelt burns, and her stomach is fine. Her discomfort was nerves and probably the seat belt might have dug in. Their step sister has a cut on her neck from the seat belt, burns from the seat belt, and is just shook up. Their step mom injured her back and was in the hospital the longest for tests. She is unable to walk. They have determined she can walk, but is just in too much pain. They gave her pain pills and muscle relaxers, and sent her home.

When the man's wife found out that he hit a van with children in it she came to the hospital. She had to see all of the kids for herself and make sure they were okay. She was so sorry that their day was ruined. My sister said this woman is the strongest woman she ever met! She said this woman did not shed one tear for her husband, but was only concerned that he had hurt some children. My sister is worried for her, as am I. I only hope that when the reality of losing her husband sets in, that her grief is not overwhelming and that her pain is not relentless.

Thank you Betty, Missie, and Michelle for your comments and for the prayers. Please pray now for this man's soul that he may rest in peace. And for his family so that they can find peace, grieve healthy, adjust to life without their loved one, and not feel guilt over what happened.

Thoughts and Prayers Needed

I just found out a couple of hours ago that my nieces were both in an accident with their father. I'm waiting for my sister to call and update me from the hospital right now. They were on their way to Cedar Point this morning when apparently a man ran a stop sign going pretty fast and slammed into their mini van which is now totalled.

I don't know much right now except that my younger niece, her stepsister, and her cousin are okay, just shook up. My ex brother in law may have broken one or both ankles trying to stand on the brakes to stop. His wife is in pretty bad condition and was taken to the hospital and my younger niece and the other two children were taken with her in the ambulance. Another ambulance took my older niece who is complaining of stomach pain.

I'm very worried for my older niece. I don't know yet what is wrong with her or what condition she is in. I'm afraid it might be her spleen. She has battled anorexia for almost two years. Because of a weak immunity she contracted mono and battled that for a year because she couldn't recover from it. The prolonged bout with mono damaged her spleen. I'm hoping it hasn't ruptured and that it's just nerves.

If you pray, please say a prayer for her. If you don't pray, please keep her in your thoughts. Also keep the man who hit them in your thoughts and prayers. He may not make it from what I understand. And if you could also please keep my nieces' stepmom in your thoughts and prayers because she is in bad shape.

Thank you!

Beautiful Day

Wow today was such a gorgeous day! So summery with plenty of sunshine, yet not too hot or humid. This tag is one I snagged from Missie. She is amazing with this graphic stuff! Actually there are a few I've seen around here that are really good with these tags. Definitely lots of creative folks here in J-land that's for sure.

You know what else I've discovered about folks here? This is one of the few places I have seen where politics can be discussed, and people's opinions are respected. This last week or so I've seen quite a few people, myself included, posting something to do with politics. It's so nice reading through the comments to see other people's opinions, and not seeing someone be offensive or leaving nasty comments.

We had LOTS of political figures around here today. Today was the funeral of Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones. Obama was here, the Clintons, Biden, and lots of other members of Congress. Dubya was supposed to be here, but I didn't see him anywhere among the other bigwigs. Of course lots of city, county, and state officials were here as well. Our current governor and previous governor, as well as current mayor and previous mayor (You heard of Dumb and Dumber... meet Stupid and Stupider). She will be missed very much. She was a wonderful woman, down to earth, and when meeting her constituents she treated all like a friend. I don't know who will fill her spot, but they will never fill her shoes.

I went with my mom this morning to take my parents' cat back to the vet. Our vet wasn't in unfortunately and the vet we saw wasn't comfortable doing anything. Our vet is a great vet, all of the vets at the clinic we use are. But our vet doesn't always take good notes for the other vets. He knows what's going on with each animal he cares for. But he's so busy he seldom has time to update the notes so the other vets know what the plan is. He is responding to the injections though. He hasn't vomited for two weeks and he gained almost two pounds. He's eating really well again like heused to. So we'll have to see what doc thinks when he comes back which will be Tuesday. But my guess is it's not cancer.

Coming home I liberated him from his carrier on the ride home. He was very vocal about wanting to sit with my mom while she was driving. So we argued back and forth for a few minutes. When he realized it was going to be my way or back in the carrier he quieted down. Well, actually he hissed and growled a few times first because he has to have the last word. But then he did find himself a nice spot half in my arms, half on my shoulder to look out the window. My mom thought that was the greatest thing that he and I were going back and forth. That's a good sign. He's not been his usual argumentative self in a while. And he is usually very argumentative, especially with me and my dad.

The Blue Angels leave day after tomorrow. Maybe I'll go out and try to get a few pics of them flying over. I guess the Thunderbirds aren't going to be here this year. I haven't seen or heard them and when I checked the schedule aren't scheduled to be here. That's fine with me. The Golden Knights are coming the day the Blue Angels leave though. That's also fine with me because at least they are quiet lol. Actually the Blue Angels have been pretty quiet today. I guess maybe they were grounded for most the day with all the bigwigs flying in or something. Don't get me wrong - I don't dislike the air shows. In fact I do enjoy it for the most part. I just don't like my house shaking, and them doing their maneuvers directly above me while trying to see how much G-Force it will take to tear my roof off. LOL

I heard earlier on the news that Gustav has been upgraded to a Cat 4 and will possibly be a Cat 5 by the time it hits. So terrible. I can't imagine having a storm this big coming at you after facing Katrina just 3 years ago. I read on that ticker that scrolls at the bottom of the news that it's possible at least 70 are dead from Gustav making it's way across the Caribbean. Such a tragedy. I hope everyone in it's current path has made it to safety by now. Those who haven't I hope will make it to safety soon.

My oldest son just dropped over so I'm going to end this here. Have a good night everyone!

Tags: Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Gustav, Blue Angels, air show

ABC's of Me

Back again I am. I found this meme over at Sharon's journal - I'm A Survivor

A is for age:  40

B is for beer of choice:  Bud or Michelob Light

C is for career right now:  SAHM and Homeschooler

D is for your dog's name:  Diamond

E is for essential item you use every day: My Crocs

F is for favorite TV show at the moment:  Don't have one (I don't watch TV much)

G is for favorite game:  Life

H is for hometown: Cleveland

I is for instruments you play: Don't play any

J is for favorite juice:  Beetlejuice!!

K is for whose butt you'd like to kick:  Nobody I can think of

L is for last restaurant you ate at:  Ny Dynasty

M is for marriage:  No comment

N is for Number of Piercing's:  6

O is for overnight hospital stay: August 25, 2004

P is for people you were with today: Kids and hubby

Q is for what you do with your quiet time:  Sleep

R is for biggest regret:  Dropping out of high school to get my GED and waiting 10 years to go to college

S is for status:  Married

T is for time you woke up today: 9am

U is for what makes you unique:  Believing it's better to be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not

V is for vegetable you love:  Beets

W is for worst habit: Smoking

X is for x-rays you've had: lots of x-rays and 2 MRI's

Y is for yummy food you ate today:  Subway BMT

Z is for zodiac sign: Aquarius

He picked who??

I’m sorry, but I have to post this entry. I just caught the news and I am sick to my stomach and disgusted over McCain’s choice for a Vice President. His first decision is picking a Vice President, and already he is showing bad judgment. Are you kidding me?? Most people don’t know anything about Sarah Palin. But I do! Oh yes I do. I’ve followed this woman closely for two years because of the aerial gunning of wolves in Alaska, and her unwillingness to put an end to it.

Just a couple months ago she objected to listing Polar Bears as an endangered species. Of course she would! She believes in aerial gunning of wolves and bears! It’s been going on in Alaska for years and she hasn’t done a thing to stop it despite numerous petitions over the years, and the involvement of Defenders of Wildlife to conserve wolf population in Alaska. Not only that, but the people of Alaska have voted twice to put an end to aerial gunning, yet it still continues. Not only does it still continue, but Palin has allocated state funds which pays hunters $150 a wolf. Why? Because they claim that by killing wolves it increases populations of prey for hunters and Palin herself is a hunter. But the truth is that most of these hunters who apply for a license are the same hunters who once killed wolves for sport.

If you aren’t familiar with aerial gunning it’s a cruel and inhumane practice in which wolves are tracked from low flying planes by sport hunters. They chase these wolves, run them until they are exhausted, and then shoot them to death. Congress put an end to this practice 30 years ago. But Alaska found a loophole in the legislature allowing them to resume the practice. Here’s a video on it. It’s about 10 minutes, but worth watching.

Wolves play an important role in the ecosystem. Research demonstrates that wolves help to boost biodiversity and maintain ecological stability. The presence of wolves has an effect on the behavior of other wildlife by causing them to avoid areas such as streambeds, which in turn gives young cottonwood and willow sprouts a chance to grow, which in turn decrease erosion and add cooling shade over the streams, which in turn improves the habitat for birds and fish. When wolves are absent, it throws off the whole ecosystem.

When these wolves are killed the pups left abandoned die of starvation. Recently though Alaska Fish and Game came up with a solution to this problem… kill the pups as well. In June 2008 they slaughtered 14 wolves from three packs. Then they tracked the pups to dens on the ground and killed a total of 14 pups as well. Then they tried to cover it up. The state's press release on June 30 only mentioned that 28 wolves from three packs had been removed. They did not disclose that staff also hunted the pups and killed them as well. This is a violation of Alaska regulations and orphaned wildlife policy which states "first to leave an animal alone if it can survive on its own. If not, the department is supposed to look for a home." Yet they never contacted the zoo or anyone else. They just killed them. 

http://www.ktva.com/ci_10267916

Zoos not contacted before wolf pup kills

Associated Press

Article Last Updated: 08/21/2008 03:37:56 PM AKDT

 

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Two of Alaska's leading animal facilities say state wildlife officials did not try to place orphaned wolf pups with them before killing the pups.

<snip> 

Officials at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage and the Haines Animal Center, the likely candidates to care for such animals, said they were never contacted. 

Here are some other facts about Governor Palin and what she will bring to the White House.

Currently she is under investigation for allegations that she pressured her administration to fire a State Trooper because he was involved in a nasty divorce with her sister. When the Commissioner of Public Safety showed reluctance over the firing, she fired him as well. Her and her administration have issued conflicting statements regarding both issues.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPTMcs8wpHc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pak-rH0dCeA

http://www.ktva.com/commissionercontroversy/ci_10206518

Last year she signed into law a 6.6 billion dollar operating budget, which is the largest in the history of Alaska. Yet she used her veto power to make cuts in the construction budget. After making $237 million in cuts, the second largest cut in Alaskan history, the construction budget wasreduced to $1.6 billion to spend on over 300 projects. Ironically, Alaska spends that same amount on aerial gunning programs and wolf bounties.

The Republicans must be getting pretty desperate if you ask me. I was thinking of supporting this man up until last week. Thankfully I changed my mind due largely in part to his track record, but most of all because I for one am sick of Bush’s administration. I honestly believe a vote for McCain would be like a vote for another four years of Bush. Now, let me just say I voted for Bush in 2000. And I came close to voting for him again in 2004. But having had enough of him, and his style of politics, one McCain favors, I came to my senses and changed my mind.

McCain criticized Obama for his age, yet he picks a VP that is even younger? McCain says Obama isn’t qualified enough, yet he picks a VP that has no experience in foreign or domestic policy, or the role of VP? In fact she just admitted last month on CNBC that she has no idea what the Vice President even does. And if I hadn’t decided already to not vote for McCain, I’d definitely change my mind as of today. I'm absolutely disgusted that McCain would choose Palin as his running mate.

Tags: McCain, Palin, aerial gunning, Alaska, wolves, sport hunting

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Yay, it's Friday! That's something to be happy about. Although I wasn't too happy upon waking up. Or should I say HOW I was woken up. ROFL You guys will love this one. First let me go back to last night and start from there.

Last night I was watching BBC News and they were talking about how Putin is blaming the U.S. for orchestrating the conflict in Georgia for political gain. That was on my mind as I went to sleep last night. That terrifies me! I personally think Russia would wipe us off the map. So imagine my horror this morning when I was rudely awoken at about 9 to fighter jets flying right over my house!! They sounded like they were close enough for the pilot to touch my chimney, and the whole house shook! It scared the hell out of me. I just knew it was Russia!

I jumped out of the bed so quick I got tangled in the comforter, tripped, and hurt my big toe. Furkids went running in circles freaking out. Duma jumped off the bed, then on it, then off, then ran into the closet with a porcupine tail. My daughter ran out of her room freaked out. She asked what was going on, what was that? Trying to remain calm, I said I didn't know. So I went to the window and tried to see what the hell was flying over that low. OMG they definitely are fighter jets! They were blue and yellow and there were four of them. Then I remembered.... the Air Show is Monday. Duh!! It was the Blue Angels!!! They're practicing! The Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds are here every Labor Day and I know this, having lived here almost all my life. Boy did I feel STUPID! LOL.

So we got Duma from the closet, scooped up Diamond, and curled up in my bed listening to them flying over for a while. After our hearts came back into our chests then we went downstairs and had breakfast. During breakfast my daughter says to me "Mom, you know what's funny?" I said "What?" She said "When those guys flew over I almost dribbled." I said "Yeah, me too." Then she says "Well I think Duma almost did a #2. Did you SEE his tail?!" LOL His tail was big though. It puffed up like the size of my rolling pin. Poor kitty.

They're still out there doing their thing. That's the downfall of living so close to downtown and the waterfront. When these things fly over, man, is it loud and the whole house shakes at times. But I'd rather it's them and not Russia lol.

Today I'm going to mop the bathrooms. I cleaned everything up yesterday but got tuckered out before getting the floors mopped. Hubby mopped the kitchen floor. He did a good job too. Wonder what he wants. I need to clean up the stove and clean out the fridge. I need to get my kitchen and bathroom rugs washed too. Maybe I'll clean up the laundry room while I'm at it. We have a problem here with the dryer lint and dryer sheets jumping out of the wastecan in the laundry room. I know they are jumping out because everyone assures me they "threw it away" but yet they're on the floor.

We're almost out of bread so I'll have to bake a couple loaves today. And I need to make a couple gallons of milk, a gallon of juice, and think about dinner. And I haven't got my daughter started yet on schoolwork. So I have a busy day ahead of me. And there goes another couple of jets flying over. If they misjudged it and collided we'd be done for here. Probably take out the whole neighborhood with that jet fuel. I wish we had a video camera! We have two and both are broken. I keep saying we need to see about getting them fixed or buy a new one already. I'd love to get these guys flying over and post it on youtube or something.

Well I'm out of here. I'll be back later to read journals. Have a good day!

Tags: blue angels, thunderbirds, air show, labor day

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Still here

I am bored out of my skull. I'm still trying to get my photobucket accounts organized. I'm also surfing around the net trying to figure out who I'm going to vote for come November. And I've been playing some games to get my ticket count up on Club Live. They have a nice camera I'd like to have as a second camera.

I'm still not happy with the presidential candidates. I have decided though in the last week that I will definitely not vote for McCain. However, I'm not sold on Obama at all either at the moment. So I have decided that if I'm still not sure about Obama come election day, I'll just vote for Maxine!! I think she'd make a great President.



So my heel has been feeling good lately. If I had to give a percentage I'd say it's 40% better. I do still have pain, but nothing like it was earlier this month at all. I've been doing my stretches 2-3 times a day and taking the anti inflammatory meds. And I've been wearing my Crocs constantly. They only come off when I got to bed or take a bath or shower. I see the foot and ankle specialist again tomorrow. I'm not sure what he's going to have planned. But I hope by this time next week I can see at least another 10% improvement or more.

Not much else going on here at the moment. It's been raining here for most of the evening. Tomorrow we're supposed to get more showers, and thunderstorms on Friday. Hopefully it will cool things off for this weekend. I'm hoping it's going to be nice for Labor Day.

There was an article on CNN Money today that said the new national average is down 10% to 3.667 according to a AAA survey. It also said that "Oil prices have declined as commodities investors worry that the high price of fuel is causing drivers and businesses to cut back on the use of gasoline and diesel fuel." GOOD!! If everyone cuts back and conserves maybe it will continue to drop! We don't use much gas at all here. Everyone has a bicycle and that doesn't require any gasoline to run. We haven't driven much since June 6th of last year.

We drive only when it's absolutely necessary, like doctor appointments for instance. If we can take a bus, we do. But even grocery shopping is done on the bicycles. Once a week hubby and the boys hook up a cart to one of the bikes, and pedal the 15 some blocks to the grocery store. On average we spend about $20 a month on gas. Some months we spend a bit more, some months we don't gas up at all. Even our recycling is taken to the recycling station using the bicycles with the cart hooked up to it.

The average carbon footprint for people in the U.S. is 20.4 tonnes. They say to combat climate change the worldwide average needs to reduce to 2 tonnes (it's now at 4 tonnes). Our carbon footprint is at 2.730 tonnes. So we're doing our part. Now, if I could just get people to turn off lights when they leave a room it could be lower.

Well I'm going to wrap this up and curl up with a book. Have a good night, and a great day tomorrow!

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