WOW!  Just a short blog to give major kudos to John McCain for his brilliant foresight in choosing Sarah Palin for his VP.  I had heard a small amount about her, but am in serious awe of her now.  She is a real woman who is making a difference in her children's world.  I could not be more proud of his choice, and everything that she stands for!  I now have a new idol in her, and my husband has a new crush!  For the first time since this whole election/campaign process started, I am hopeful that God's providence may prevail and the final chapter may not be at hand.

COUNTRY FIRST!!!  http://www.johnmccain.com/

Got the results of my discogram yesterday.  I have disc protrusions and bone spurs in my lower back that causes compression of the nerves.  Several options were presented, my favorite being "Rest and avoid bending, stooping, lifting, pushing, pulling, prolonged standing, or sitting."  So I guess if you see me suspended in mid air, you will know I have adhered to that treatment option.  Haha.  Moms/Nurses can't NOT do that stuff, who is going to pick up the toys in the floor?  Other options are medication, therapy, spinal cortisone injections, wear a brace (yeah right, not sexy), pain management (be doped up), or surgery. 

So my decision?  Continue taking my celebrex, rub peppermint oil on it when it hurts so bad I can't sleep (it works!), don't go at tasks like I am killing a snake, drink whiskey when I hurt and need an excuse to feel better, and have surgery when all of the above stop working.

And, I am not posting this to get sympathy.  I am posting this for all of the women who have been in pain and felt like shit for years like I did, and be told that "It's all in your head" Or "You need to exercise" or "you need to lose weight" or any other jacked up excuse to not find out what is really going on.  If you know your body, you know if something is wrong with it.  I am not disputing the fact that I am crazy as hell without meds, but pain is pain.  God made it as a warning signal that something isn't right so it can be fixed.  Thank You Christy Wortham for being a nurse practitioner and a friend who cares enough to listen and not stop trying to figure out what is up.

Peace

Ok so I thought I would write about the dreaded discogram.   Haven't got anything else to do.  I have degenerative disc disease in the entire spine.   It causes me to be in constant pain, limits severely my movement and range of motion, and basically has caused me to have the spine of a 70 year old.   Don't know why I have it, but one thing that did not help it was being a nurse aid/nurse since I was 19, and before that hauling hay and cutting tobacco.  I have not been good to my back and I have been paying the price for it since I was around 20.  This spring I was finally referred to a neurosurgeon after an MRI showed the disc disease. 

I was referred to Dr. Rex Arendall who by all accounts is the best in this area.  He ordered a myelogram, which showed I needed a discogram.  The ofice told me it was much more painful than the myelogram.  Mom was just starting her breast cancer treatments and I put it off for the summer to see how she would do.  Two weeks ago, I went down the slide at venture river and hit the water sitting sideways, which jammed my discs together causing me horrible pain.  So I called Nashville and scheculed the dreaded discogram.

The test itself wasn't bad.  They gave me Versed, but they could have just left it in the vial because it didn't do a thing for me.  It is supposed to be an amnesiac so you wouldn't remember the procedure.  Ha, the procedure wasn't that bad.  They placed me on my stomach and cleaned my back.  Then they injected Lidocaine into my back, which burned.  Then they use long, fine needles and go in from the side of my spine, put the needle into my disc and injected it with dye to produce pain.  The pain indicated which disc was damaged.  I had to tell them which disc hurt inside my spine as opposed to nerve pain caused by the needle itself.

I was ok until the lidocaine wore off around LBL and I could not get comfortable at all.  I have pretty much slept and took pain medicine since being home.  My back feels like the lower spine is in a vice.  I am trying to walk and stretch it out some, sometimes I do good, others I feel like my lower back and legs are going to completely go out on me.  So we hauled out the trusty walker from when LeRoy got burned.

Now I must leave and lay back down.  Hope any of this makes sense, because I keep dosing off while typing.

PS Just edited this, my god  I sounded like a slobery drunk.  No wonder I was falling asleep.  Anyway I am up and moving around alot better now, so not as drunk on pain meds.  Just up at 3:30, but that is nothing new.

13 years ago, at 10:51 pm, my sweet baby Allie Mae Carter was born.  It took 22 hours, sweating, pushing, then cutting, but she came out.  I don't think she wanted to leave my body. 

I wish every child could be as loved and adored as she.  She was planned for, cared for in the womb, and has been the light of our lives ever since she was born.  I knew who she was when I was 17 days pregnant with her, I knew it was Allie Mae.  I prayed that God keep her happy, healthy, and keep her with me.  I prayed that same prayer every night until she was probably 5 years old.

She is the most awesome, creative, beautifully created mind that I have ever met.  She has always been an old soul, so when she tells you something, it comes from centuries ago.  Her mindset has always been so mature and she is spot on most of the time with her advice.

She also aggravates the shit out of me sometimes, as all children do.  Now has come the time I worried about when she was little.  How do I keep her from making the same mistakes as I did when I was a teenager?  I think by being aware and present in her life will help.  I just hope she knows she can talk to me about anything, I am pretty sure she knows that.

Allie Mae Carter is my best friend, and I am so proud of the woman she is becoming.  I love you Sissy - Happy Birthday - Mommy.

CAN I JUST SAY THAT IT IS TWO WEEKS UNTIL THE AMERICAN IDOL CONCERT IN ST. LOUIS????

CAN I ALSO JUST SAY THAT THE MEDICS BETTER BE ON STANDBY, CAUSE JUHO IS GONNA PASS SLICK OUT.

DAVID COOK IS POTENTIALLY THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MAN I HAVE EVER WITNESSED, AND WHEN WE SEE HIM LIVE, OH SNAP-WE WILL SWOON.

OF COURSE I AM EXCITED ABOUT SEEING AND HEARING EVERYONE.  I SAW ON YOUTUBE THAT CARLY IS SINGING AND EVANESCENCE SONG.  STFU!

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN TO AN AI TOUR CONCERT, YOU ARE SERIOUSLY MISSING ONE OF THE MOST FAMILY FRIENDLY, TALENTED, AWESOME, SPINE TINGLING, HAIR RAISING EVENTS YOU COULD EVER ATTEND.

THEY PASS OUT FREE FROZEN POP TARTS, I MEAN, YOU CAN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THAT.

CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This past week has been pretty awesome in terms of my immediate family.  My mom and I took the kids to Frankfort, toured the capital, just relaxed and had fun.  While I was at my meeting, Mom and the kids toured the old capital and the historical society.  They had a great time.  Then Leroy, myself, and the kids went to visit his granny in Arkansas.  She will be 86 in August.  She took him in at the age of six months and raised him.  We haven't seen her since December.  This is the longest he has ever gone without seeing her, although we talk to her every week.  It was really sweet seeing how glad she was to see us all.  We love her so much.  I guess the point is you never know when people will leave this life, so make sure they know you love them.

Speaking of love, LeRoy and I will be married 15 years July 10th.  Nobody can believe that we have made it this far.  We met and married within five months.  He really is my best friend.  Even though I want to choke him at times, and have probably tried to before!  We were able to reconnect this week in Arkansas.  It is so funny we always do when we are around Granny.  I think we always feel her love, and it envelopes us so that we share that with each other.

I feel very blessed and truly hope everyone honors our nations Day of Independance, and how much others sacrifice so that we can enjoy this life in America, even if the price is going up, it is nothing compared to the price Jesus paid.  Our soldiers are fighting in His name, and paying the same price.  This nation was founded on religious freedom and equality - In God We Trust.  I know there are thousands of different opinions.  But for one day, we should just honor the purpose and the price paid.  And thank GOD we aren't the ones living in a cave in the desert watching our children turn in to terrorists before our eyes.

Peace out, ya'll. 

So I just gotta write about Grey's tonight.  Shonda Rhimes is a genius.  Genius.  Genius.  Christina told Hahn to "Get back and let me work".  Which easily could have been followed with a snap and "Bitch" if I was writing it.  Bailey saw the big picture.  MerDer are awesome, of course. McSteamy "I wish I was all someone thought about".

But the best line of the night was "I'm not finished loving you yet."     Now you know that girl has to end up pregnant so her man can live forever.

Glad to have you back in top form Miss Shonda, glad to have you back.

Last night's idol finale reminded me of something I had forgotten.  Michael Johns is f***in' awesome.  I could hear his voice above anyones when singing with Bryan Adams.  I swear I don't know how he got voted off so early

I also remebered why I hate Kristy Lee Crap

Why I love Brookie (my husband wanted to rub lotion on her bare feet, but I just love her).

Carly continues to be the fairest of them all, with a killer voice.

Amanda Overmyer needs to go the f**k home, she looked like it was such a nuisance for her to be there.

Jason is still cool with beautiful blue eyes.

Syesha has balls of steel to sing beside that beautiful sexy Seal and bump asses with him, I mean, I would have to have a valium drip.

Ryan Seaweed made me piss my pants riding that little jazzy flying carpet and about driving off the stage.

What else....OH YEAH!  David Hernandez (aka Weenie Wiggler at my house) might as well have had a g-string with a dolla bill hooked in the strap!  Hope he don't make a stripper face on the jumbotron at the concert!!!!!!!!!!

Did you see Blake sitting next to that hooker Haley Scarnato?  Give me a break.

can't think of any other thoughts but when i do i will let ya know.

God has smiled on the young Mr. Cook.  I am overjoyed, overwhelmed, in awe, ecstatic, jubilant, and all of the above that David Cook won American Idol.  Watching the videos of the finale over again (at short range on my laptop), the joy on David's family's faces (and his) makes me rethink my previous blog entry.  How wonderful that this happened now so that his entire family could celebrate in his victory.  It is awesome and I am left humbled yet again by David's grace under the pressure.  His smile during the performance with ZZ top should convince even the most jaded skeptic that this man is a musician, and truly loves performing.  His natural ability to adapt to every single genre presented this season has blown me away.  Every year I don't think it can get any better, and every year it does.  But I sure as hell don't know if they will ever top this dude.  I am going to be blasting his stuff out when my grandbabies are teenagers.  And David, if you read this, fight like hell to put "Don't Say a Word" on your album.  Give me an address and I will email Clive Davis.  I am sooooo excited about the concert in July.  And Momma Cook, you sure did a fine job on raising your sons.  Especially the one now known as the American Idol.

Peace