Hi guys,

I can't believe it has been so long since I blogged.  I have finally fully entered the 21st century and I can't keep up.  Let's bring you up-to-date in five sentences or less.  So far, I am transferring to a new job at Cholla High School as a math and science teacher, I will have three math and two science classes.  We am (hopefully) signing on a new house tomorrow and will then be moving simultaneously with working for two weeks at the district (we need the money).  I am  taking Chris to his official deposition for his law suit tomorrow morning and he is very nervous, so am I.  We have finalized the adoptions on both of the boys, Emilio Gomez Diaz-Huber (August 20, 2007) and Ethan Scott Huber (March 2008) so we now officially have two new sons!  Bob is still the stay-at-home dad and apparently enjoying it immensely, but then who knows with men these days.  Hey, I did it in the promised five sentences, I am good!  Anyway, I have been busy and my health has not been all that great, can't wait to get into an air conditioned house (as opposed to a swamp cooler) so breathing will be easier.  Chris has a lot of problems negotiating his 8' x 7' room and he needs the air conditioning as well so he doesn't feel so uncomfortable in the wheel chair.  It has been more than a little humid here lately.  As soon as we get moved, the Physical Therapist will be able to get a good schedule going so he can get up on his prosthetic and get walking again.  All of us can't wait for that to happen and then he can train with Hope (his handi-dog) so that she can learn weight bearing strategies.  Chris seems to be excited about that, I know I am.  well, it is getting late (I must be getting old, it is only 9:15) and I need to get things ready for the boys in the morning before I go to bed.  I promise I will write more often.  Take care of yourselves!

I am really having a diffcult time balancing everything in my lfe right now.  We are down to one car and thank God I have such a great friend in my sister, Terry!  She has seen me through the loss of my eyesight and drove me to and from work every day.  Now she is doing it again so my husband wll be able to fix our caddy - like he has really been working hard on that.  I am up at this time of night because the weather has me in a bit of pain and that makes it difficult to sleep at times.  I have medication to take but it leaves me a bit foggy in the morning and it is even more difficult to motivate myself to work.  It is difficult enough to do that as it is.  I have a need to replace the math teacher but none of the power to do so, it is very frustrating. These kids are like my own to me and it is difficult to watch them suffer so.  I know that everything happens for a reason and some good comes from everything that happens but that perspective is difficult to keep sometimes.

I am fighting with Chris' insurance companies and disability people again.  I think this is round 30 or so but I won't give up, he deserves as good a shot as I can give him at a normal life and I know I can do this for him.  We have come this far together, we will make it all the way.

I did get to spend some quality time with my grand kidlings and my kidlings for Thanksgiving and hope to spend more with them over the Xmas holidays.  It was great to just sit and cuddle with my grandchildren and watch a movie.  It is amazing how much the simple things mean to you.  Gotta go now, I have been effective in waking Chris up and now must feed him, I must admit, it is really nice to have him around.  When he was living on his own, I didn't see all that much of him.  I know this is the way it works with your children as they grow up but that doesn't mean I have to like it!  I will probably be blogging more and sleeping less but at least I will be productive.

Love to all,

Nana Linda

I know you have been wondering why I have not blogged lately but there is a good reason, I am changing jobs along with everything else that is going on here.  I am getting very excited though because I have a large room and it is a true science room.  I have regular tables and then 8 lab areas with running water and electricity!  How cool is that - just a hint, really cool  and I can't wait for school to start now.  I will start by sharing my room with my best friend (hers isn't ready yet) and then, after three weeks I will have it to myself.  I fell like I have found the lost Incan City!  I changed jobs because this one starts at 7:30am and finishes at 3:55pm and I only teach from 11:01 to 3:55, the rest is prep time so it works out great for me.  Finally I will be home before 6 every night and won't have to get up at the butt crack of dawn !  I will have more time for Chris, Emilio, Ethan, and Bobby of course - I am in heaven.  The only drawback, if you want to call it that, is that I will have to present on the program they are just now adopting, Understanding by Design.  I have been working with this for the last 4 years and it is a difficult concept to understand but once you do, it is a marvelous one for making sure you teach to all the standards. 

I am smiling most of the time now and that is a new thing for me!  I think there may be a light at the end of the tunnel.  My son, Chris, will finally get to face the young man who put him in a wheel chair and my hope is that he finds it in his heart to understand that there by the grace of God goes he.  He could have hit someone the night he got his DUI and fortunately, he didn't.  I do want this young man to see the result of his making a bad choice in a split second.  Hopefully it will bring home to him how easily he could have taken my son's life, he has changed it significantly as it is. I pray that both Chris and Chad will find some closure with this trial, pray for both of them on the 16th of August!  They will definitely need all the strength they can muster. I hope they can support each other in the same way they have throughout the previous 4 months. 

I know it has been awhile since I have blogged but life seems to be happening fast  that I have not time to catch up with it.  I have a son, Chris, in the hospital with his right leg removed, a job change coming to who knows where, and Ali went to another placement because we were having problems with mom being too demanding.  Life is certainly happening fast this month!  I have a plan though, I will start packing up the room I am in and collecting my stuff I have lent all over the school.  Three of us are renting a storage facility near the school and storing all of our stuff.  When we find out where we are going, we will decide what to do about the rental.  I have a feeling I will be taking the lion's share of space so I will probably end up with it the longest.  I am not even sure I will take  full-time job next year, might sub instead.  Lots of time to decide, almost 20 more days.  Well, back to Chris - I am sure he will do fine once the initial shock wears off, he is already handling it better than I would be. He has a good future ahead of him though, prosthetics have come a long way in the last 20 years or so.  He will even be able to pick a prostetic that will allow him to participate in some of the things he loves, like camping and hiking.  I am not sure he should even look at the one that allows him to ride a motorcycle but I am not sure how much luck I will have with that.  Chad is moving into a new apartment this week, interesting process - he is moving to another apartment in the same complex, a brand new one.  I think he is enjoying it to some extent just because everything is new and works!  He never reports anything that goes wrong with his apartments!  James is still struggling with his children issues. I don't know too much about the details but I know that exactly what is supposed to happen, will happen as is the same with Chris.  Nikki's job is going well but hogging a lot of her time - a split schedule will do that. I think she is coming over one night this week to update her resume just in case the company moves elsewhere.  I don't think she cares for the split shift anyway - to stressfull!  I will get my contract at work straightened out and do that teacher thing I do so well elsewhere, hopefully where Wendy will be principal but you never know.  I am excited about our end of year party and starting the summer, I will be working two weeks for the state of Arizona Department of Education aligning math and science curriculum and that is always fun.  We will, hopefully, be taking all the kiddlings so that we can kind of make it a family vacation and visit some of the water parks and theme parks in Phoenix.  It is so close to us and yet we never have explored it fully, I am looking forward to doing the trip.  Then I have surgery on my right hand and then, hopefully, we can all (including Chris) do a trip to Florida and Oklahoma so the whole family can meet our newest addition, Emilio, and see Chris again - Bob and I too!  Well, gotta go.  Love and best wishes to all my myspace friends!

Mom

Well, children will sure test your stamina! Nikki's son is now in a full body cast and hating every minute of it - I guess I would at 3 too. I also have a son fighting for life and limb literally.  We have had some good news though, Chris is awake sometimes now, although not always in the same century as us.  He is on some serious meds but he can talk and he was eating.  Unfortunately, he wasn't doing so well with food so they put him back on the liquified nutrients.  He was not happy about that but a little extra morphine took care of him nicely.  He called me to complain about not being able to eat but lost his train of thought halfway through the conversation. I must admit that when he asked what we were talking about, I told him it was his physical therapy scheduled for tomorrow.  He was very excited about that, something to do that will get him out of the hospital, can't say I blame him any.  I know he has a long road ahead of him but he is still in that happy place where you think of recovery in months, not years.  I am dreading the day he comes to the realization that he will never be the same again,I hope I am up to helping through that stage.

Nikki, not one to ever be left out, decided she needed to have an accident too.  I am just soooo glad that she didn't have any of the children with her and that she was not injured.  The insurance companies, which we all pay out the nose for,  can handle anything else.  I think we are now just glad to have all our children safe and sound as well as our grandkids.  I think I am developing ulcers, is that a good reason to retire early, probably not because if it was everyone would retire at 50.  Okay, I know I am a little over 50 but that said, I think I can hold my own with the yunguns in the teaching arena.  We start SIMS testing (pre-AIMs and Stanford 9) next week, I will let you know.  I haven't taught math for years and I am not sure how effective I have been - we shall see.  I am in exactly the same spot James was in last week with his presentation, it could go either way and whatever way it goes will influence my career - good or bad!  Oh well, I can stand the heat, I have been in the kitchen for a long time.  The kids and the grandkids are all good, Bobby is fine, and I am breathing a little easier this week - all - in - all a good week if you ask me!  

Wow!  This has definitely been an eventful holiday weekend.  My son was sitting absolutely still on the highway when another car hit him on the side and sent his Blazer rolling off the side of the road and into (and out of) a ditch.  Everything he owned went flying and he had to be taken to the hospital where they used those new liquid stitches on him.  Supposedly they don't leave as much of a scar as regular stitches do, I know the cuts look much better now than they would with stitches and that is a comfort.  Also, when we went to see what was left in the car, the highway patrol officers and the tow truck people had collected everything salvageable off the highway and put it into his vehicle prior to it's being towed.  We were able to recover most, if not all, his school books and his cell phone - which still works.  I was absolutely amazed and it helped to restore my faith in humanity which can be mightily shaken when teaching middle school for a living.  Everyone was so great to him, the police officers, the fire department paramedics, the towing people, even the lady who hit him called to make sure he was okay - it is definitely a good sign for the direction of humanity, hope for the world maybe?!?!  Chris is going to be separated from us for 24 hours but it will all be okay, I am sure of this.  Not much I can do to speed that up.  Also my son's elbow looks a lot like raw hamburger meat and that is a little difficult to handle because that will be a horrendous scar.  I am grateful for the resilience that all my children seem to have, they kind of roll with the punches and almost always do the right thing in the end.  I am very proud of all of the;James, Chad, Nikki, and Chris are the best at keeping calm in stressful situations and I think that is why they are so successful.  I couldn't have hoped for more for any of my kids and I love them all and their families.  Emmet, Devin, and (a continuosly hungry) Emilio are pretty much going head first through life and are tough so that will help them.  Lisandra will just charm everyone into submission so she is safe.  It is Ali and Nick that I worry about the most, the innocents in life but I have a feeling that there are special angels assigned to protect them so I won't worry about them, simply put their lives in the hands of those with more control than myself.  Okay, enough mushy stuff, all of you need to get back to work and classes on Monday.  Go forth and earn a great living so you can support me when I am old and gray!  You still have a few years, but don't waste any time, I want to retire early (at about 60, if possible).  Gosh that doesn't leave you guys with much time at all - get busy! 

I hate to do this to you but here it is:

haha. You just opened this so you have to do this. Put the number representing what you are depending on the question. At the end it will look like a phone number so then put it in the subject line. You must do this or you will get bad luck for one entire year. Put your area code as your local area code:]



Here's your new digits:
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1st number, put what you are
1- single
2- taken
3- single and what ever happens, happens
4- single and confused
5- taken and absolutely happy
6- single but like someone
7- taken and confused
8- want someone
9- have a crush
0- whatever.. dont care
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2nd number, put your current Mood
1- Happy
2- Sad
3- Confused
4- Nervous
5- BLEHK
6- Cheerful
7- Sleepy
8- Angry
9- Pissy
0- HYPERR!!
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3rd number is The color of your shirt
1- Black
2- Pink
3- Red
4- Orange
5- Blue
6- Green
7- Yellow
8- White/Gray/brown
9- Purple
0- none
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4th Number is the month you were born in
1- Jan. or Feb.
2- April
3- March
4- May
5- Jun. or Jul
6- Aug.
7- Sep.
8- Oct.
9- Nov.
0- Dec.
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5th Number is your Fave Color
1- Black
2- White
3- Pink
4- Blue
5- Green
6- Purple
7- Orange
8- Yellow
9- Red
0- Other
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Next Number is your fave sport
1- Soccer
2- Basketball
3- Swimming
4- Football
5- wrestling
6- Volleyball
7- Baseball/softball
8- Hockey
9- Dance/Cheerleading
0- Track/Cross Country
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Last number is your Sign
1- Aries
2- Leo
3- Sagittarius
4- Virgo
5-Gemini or Capricorn
6- Taurus
7- Libra
8- Aquarius
9- Cancer
0- Scorpio or Pisces

Post this with your new number in 5 minutes and something good will happen to you - I don't really believe but then I am very superstitious.