Hi family!

Hi Family
Its has been a while since I sent all of you any news about this circus on Ventura. Where to start? The summer has past with several projects reaching completion. Wes is ready to put felt and shingles on the shed he has worked on for most of the Summer. He is hoping to get shelves built soon so that he can work on his office, This winter when it is to cold to work outside.
Our Prickly pear cactus has enough blooms on it that I will have enough juice to make lots of jelly and syrup out of it tomorrow. Between trying to find the house, get a few mending projects done, and help Wes learn how to work on the computer I think my weekend will be pretty full.
Wes was made Commander of the American Legion post here and we are trying to get many things planned  for the upcoming holidays. Halloween is still under debate. What the guys are willing to do and what I want them to do are quite different. Then comes Thanksgiving and Christmas. We are working on doing some Karaoke suppers and Angel tree for the kids in the community. Any other ideas might be interesting. Part of the problem is that the guys want to do things, but they do not want to do the planning and organizing. I have begun to think the guys are all on a pity party and just want to grumble and grip. I don't know how much longer all of this will continue.
For me, I am just trying to keep my head about water and finish up the college courses I have started. I will be finished with the current term the 2nd week in November. I should be finished with all of the courses around the end of February if all things go well. This term I started doing 75 minutes of dictation per week. This has been a challenge to get done along with everything else. Thank goodness the instructor is only grading on the ability to get things done. She supplies a cheat sheet that has many of the hard to understand phrases and if you use it, it really does help. So far I have a 95 in the class, but this is the first week I got the whole 75 minutes typed and edited prior to the dead line. Next week maybe I will get it done on Monday night instead of on Tuesday night at midnight eastern standard time.
I am going to try and post this on Face book so that you guys there can read more of my thoughts. Face book just does not have enough space. Jo Beth

May 25 Kindergarten graduation day

Kindergarten graduation has arrived at last!!! It has been 2 long years for my youngest son, JW, to achieve this goal. He begged for 2 years to be able to ride the school bus that went by the house each day. Finally he was old enough in years but not in maturation. He spent the first year of kindergarten in a classroom of 10 kids that were almost a full year older than he was. This did not help with his maturing.
Over the summer things began to fall into place for him and the first placement test of the year he 'benchmarked'. I guess means he could test at the level expected for entering kindergarten. It seems that this whole year with the same teacher as last year has been a growing experience. All of the adults have been impressed with his progress over the last two years. He even 'benchmarked' the last week of school! Yeah!
Well I ramble. Graduation day arrived. Appropriate clothes were found and the school bus caught. Then all the last minute chores done. The Jigglers covered and put in the car. Mom her usual 10 minutes late. We get to the auditorium in time to hear the kids sing their ABC's and say their nursery rhymes. Only 5 boys and 1 girl in his class this year. Then the principle is asked to make a speech. She talks to the kids about the story 'Snow White and the seven Dwarfs'. She takes the position that she is Snow White and the Kids are the seven dwarfs. Then she renames each child for the quality they have exemplified all year. She gets to JW-- Her response is "I name you Doc! Because every time I talk to you, I feel better." Wow!!! That thing he does that drives me absolutely insane-- talking to everyone, always giving them a hug, even when I think he needs to hurry and do something else. His infectious grin and happy outlook. All this makes the adults in his world feel better. WOW!!! Guess I will have to rethink this. !?

circus preformers

The new puppies are getting very active and driving momma to drink! You can hear them fussing with one another and when it is feeding time get out of the way. We have some extra goat milk that has gone sour and a little dog food and these guys cannot get enough. Their poor tummies are full and stretched to the limit. Then like all babies a nap in the sun is called for. JW is begging dad to let him keep one with little success. I guess we will have to say good-bye to these guys this weekend. Oh well new performers arrive weekly.
Next new baby chicks.

Mom's Day!?!?

Have you ever listened to yourself and heard your Mother coming out of your mouth? And the more you listen the more of her you hear. Then you look in the mirror and who is staring back at you is your Mother!Usually when this happens I say 'Ok, Ok, I'll call".  Now when you call my mother she answers the phone "May God Bless you! How can I help you?" At first, I had many reactions to this greeting, but now I have come to appreciate it and have been known to call just to hear it!

Well I digress some from this post! For the first 25 years of my life I heard: You must be JM daughter, you look just like him." So I got used to hearing it and thought I would hear it all of my life. To my amazement I started hearing mixed statement about my parents. It probably helped that we were living in the town where my folks had grown up even though it had become quite large. The first time I heard the statement about Mother I was caught totally off guard. I think my mouth dropped open and I just stared and asked don't  you mean my father? No Mom!

Then comes the shocker when I remarry! That husband told me that one of the clinching factors in asking me to share his life was the fact that my mother was such a good looking woman for her age. Not only that she still looked and acted young. DAH!

So this month of May I think I will reflect on how Mom and I communicate and sometimes, frequently, come to think of it, react alike. 

Thanks Mom for being you!!!

Mom's Day!?!?

What Mother's day means to many women is probably as different as the women asked about it. I woke up this morning realizing it was today and that a phone call was needed to my Mom and I needed to remind my spouse to make the effort to contact his mother. Then the idea was which of my children will contact me? It is probable that my oldest son will do his 'duty' call sometime in the morning between church services. It will be short but he will say 'Happy Mother's Day. I love you.' and 'I have to go to the next meeting'. His new wife nor his step son will not say anything unless cohersed. Why? I am not quite sure. Maybe because this is a new family and I live a long way away. When we do get together we do not seem to have any problem talking, but neither of us make a special effort. Maybe that is what needs to happen! Mother's Day is about making that special effort to tell Mom "Hey thanks for being my Mom!" I am beginning to wonder if our expectations as mothers are to high?!
On my way in to the house this evening my youngest son calls me and says he has a surprise for me. He is hiding something behind his back. Well he is only 7 years old and when he gets close he pulls out the reddest, biggest strawberry I had seen in a long time. He says that he wanted to get me a rose but this is the rose. I grin and huge him and tell him that I could enjoy the strawberry longer than I would a cut rose, but thank you for the thought. Then we proceeded to enjoy the sweetness of the strawberry. He took a bite and had juice all over his chin. I sneaked a quick kiss so that I could like all of the juice before he got a hint of what I was doing. He liked the idea so we spent a few more bites exchanging hugs and having fun eating the strawberries.
Why is this day such a problem for me? I am not sure! Maybe because I thought I was through having children and miscarried this week! quite a shock!!!! Maybe because I started being 2nd Mom at the age of 5 to my younger siblings and cousins. Maybe because I have been Mom to many and understand the giving without expectations. Maybe because I have worked so many times in the hospital that I have forgotten, the day has many implications for many women. I am not sure quite what to think or expect. I guess like most days I will go to work and be glad I have a job, a husband who loves me, a young son that is growing (I am not sure how) and that I am alive!!!

The Circus Preformers

I have not told you about the latest incident with the cat and her plaything. We have been having warm days mixed with cold nights and snow storms. Our front porch has been turned into a passive solar heater for the master bath and bedroom. It is not yet air tight and has a few 'small' cracks. Well somehow a new baby king snake decided that the front porch would be a good place to stay warm. Well I guess Jerry Girl, the cat, found him and played with him. Any way he was left next to the bed. Well I do not like snakes of any kind. NO WAY NO HOW!!! But I stepped back on him with my bare heel. I am not sure if I killed him by squishing him and the cold or if he was already dead, But it didn't take long for me to be on the bed screaming for my husband. He and JW thought it was funny that I was standing in the middle of the bed(which is 4 foot off the ground) fussing about a dead snake. He was only about 18 inches long and about as big as a long pencil. I don't care! I didn't want him in the house. Thanks Jerry Girl, I do not like your friends.

Research on Gluten Intolerance

Boy have I had an education this week!!! I started research on 'The English Paper' and found out how much I did not know. First, there are several types of gluten intolerance and quite a vocabulary. After getting up to speed on vocabulary I learned that most people do a self diagnosis. It is impossible to find a Doctor who is willing to talk to you or pay attention to the lab results that are done as a matter of course. BUT all of this is for naught if you have eaten a gluten free diet for any length of time. As I have been gluten free for about 10 years now I am not going to get a lab test to prove that I have a gluten intolerance. The other problem is that my 7 year old son has been gluten free most of his life. The school nurse wants me to prove why he needs  to take his lunch and remain gluten free. Also that the cafeteria must have documentation in order to follow his dietary restrictions. I can understand not wanting to follow every whim of every parent or child, but when the ramification are as big as those with gluten intolerance it seems kind of problematic to insist that each child eat so much grain.
I was amazed at how much this intolerance affects in the body. In some ways it affects all of the body systems. As I read the 3 page list, I could identify at least 1 problem if not the whole list in each body system that I had problems with when I was eating gluten. I was trying to decide which problem was the worst. The painful menses, the constant problem with flatulence no matter what you eat, or the psych problems of emotional swings that you do not seem to have control over. One thing I learned this week, is that the problems do not go away, but they can change as a child grows. I have been able to think back to my own youth and that  of my oldest son and see how the autoimmune responses have changed over the years. I am still trying to digest and put into good form all of the information from reading several book that all agree on key point.

failure to stay on a gluten-free diet!!!?!!

Thursday is the Monday of my workweek. After a cold snowy day the sun was out and I was looking forward to a busy day at work. First I had trouble finding the right work shirt and was running late. Nothing unusual for me. I found a shirt that I was going to make do, even though it needed some lint removed from the back badly! The Head man walks in and begins to fuss about the shirt. I assured him that I had a plan to deal with the problem and continued to do my first chores of the day. He and his son left and the next thing I knew, his ex-wife was in my face about said shirt. Now she and I have a mutual dislike relationship. I try to stay out of her way and avoid her caustic tone of voice when possible. I finally asked her if she wanted be to stop what I was doing or was she going to get out of my face so I could concentrate. (First clue, I did not get). Before much longer I had my initial chores done and a new shirt on, supplied by the boss, but I was in tears. Emotions from one end of the spectrum to the next.(second clue) What was going on with me? What had I eaten that I shouldn't have?

Sunday night, Wes had brought me supper and as a surprise he had brought Chinese Food, but he forgot to look and see how much of it was breaded! All of it! oh no. Well not a problem I will just peel the bread off and eat the meat and vegetables. Which is what I did. Not a good solution!!! I even ate some of the chow mien noodles praying that they were rice noodles. Hey I was hungry and had 4 more hours of work.

Well it all came to a head today. I ache in my back and between my shoulder blades. My heels are on fire and walking is a misery. Stairs are agony.  That is when I finally put all of the above together in what was going on with me. I have been fighting constipation and flatulence all week. Cconcentration has become a bigger problem than usual.Sleeping has become anything but restful. Why? because I did not stay on my diet and got confident that a little wheat wouldn't hurt me. WRONG!
Now for the other wake up call. JW brought home a weekly report saying that he had had the worst week at school he had ever had. Missed the school bus everyday, unable to follow directions, problems with other students, unable to sit still, constipation each night on arrival home, inability to hear and understand what is being said to him. Worst of all, Demanding attention NOW! After I began to put all of my problems together and say his weekly report. I realized we both had a big problem that had to be dealt with.
Solution. DRINK WATER  until you float and then some. We have to flush the system. The books say that it takes a week to get it out of the system, they were very right but one has to quite adding more to the system. So now we drink water and pay attention to everything for the next few days. I hope none of you ever experience this discomfort. When I do it reminds me rather forcefully that I really need to remain gluten-free!

Celiac disease exploration

Today has been a day of excitement for me. The outside weather has been terrible with a spring blizzard making outside work impossible. So It was a good day to spend on the Internet doing research for English Class. What was neat about today was I found several books and articles that validated what I have experienced with this disease for the last 10 years. For instance I found out that a blood test is the first order of business for a diagnosis. The bad news is that I have been on a gluten free diet for that long so I positive diagnosis is probably impossible at this time. The interesting thing is the things I have always said were part of Celiacs was confirmed; like my pain and muscle cramps in my legs, my exacerbated PMS. Even the birth of my son was because I went on a gluten free diet. The problem is that he also has Celiacs. The articles I was reading also gave some interesting ideas that I had not gotten to with dealing and growing up with Celiacs. My husband is tired of hearing me scream "yes"

Puppies

The circus has new members this week. The only female dog, Sally Nina, that I have not gotten spaded yet decided to present us with Puppies! She just has not shown them to us yet. I think she had them in the same place as last time but will have to get my 7 year old to go under the building on his tummy and pull them out so we can see how many and what. That will be a job for the weekend when JW can stay filthy all weekend from crawling belly down in the dirt to bring them out and take them back.  The problelm will be once I let him do that he will want to do the crawling everyday about 3 or 4 times a day. That is a Boy for you!!!!

We also have a couple of new litters of rabbits and a set of 14 baby chicks. Moma hen is quite protective and has no trouble flogging you with beck, claws and wings. I was doing something with a set of baby rabbits and did not realize I was to close to her babies when suddenly my ear was being pecked and I had a face full of wings and feathers. It took a minute to realize why she was so upset. After she calmed down and moved the chicks I was able to finish transfering baby rabbits to a feeder cage.
All in the day in the life of our ongoing circus.

The Contract!?

The other night I went to get into bed after spending several hours on the computer. My husband, Wes, had been in bed for about an hour and had the bed all nice and warm.
He groaned and said something about freezalating him was not in the 'contract'.
 I gigled and said, "Oh yes it was!
His response, "Oh, I suppose in the small print"
"Yeah" and I proceeded to skoot over next to him to get warm.
Just some of those things that happen when you heat with wood. Jo Beth

The circus on Ventura Drive

The family joke is that there is always a circus going on at our House. Who would not think so with 2 cats, 6 dogs, 7 goats, numerous rabbits and chickens, Oh and lest we forget one farrot and a turkey. Yes, we live on almost 2 acres and there is always something happening. The animals keep us entertained. We have the welcoming committee of Flower and his mother Nina Sal, Two dogs that refuse to be restrained. Then everyone else must add their voice to the welcome home. All are eager for a petting and supper. Each also has their own way of saying hello. Matter a big black mongrel hates the cats and always raises a fuss when Chico the male calico decides to come in for the night and his supper. Chico will sit at the back door and meow until you let him in. His voice gets more strident the longer he has to wait. He also will give lessons in persistence as he will meow until he gets what he wants.

All of my animals serve several functions! The dogs are our doorbell and the security system. Even though most are chained to an area strategically placed around the yard, no one is going to drive into the driveway without a ruckus happening. Not many people are brave enough to get out of their cars when we are home. Not only do the dogs raise a ruckus, they start jumping and moving about. I'm not sure they would or would not bite someone but I do pay attention to how they respond to whoever is coming into the yard.

The cats are mousers and vermin killers. If you think living in the north high desert is good, then so do the mice and other reptiles, especially lizards and bull snakes. Jerry Girl who resides in the house 99% of the time, loves to present us with her headless catches. Her current favorite place is the middle of the bed. My husband has decided that is better than stepping on them with his bare feet in the middle of the night. If you want to know where the mice are just watch as she sits on the washing machine looking over the back, or under the kitchen sink. As you watch she will come out with a mouse and you will think it dead until she drops it and begins to play. So even if all she and Chico do is keep the mice under control and mostly out of the house they earn their keep.

The poultry and rabbits supply us with meat and eggs. As we eat a 1/2 dozen eggs a morning it is great to always have them on hand. The cost depends on how one looks at it. The chickens are great time keepers. If you are not on your way to the chicken yard to feed them by 5 o'clock they will filter out of the yard and toward the house to let you know it is supper time. They also like to let you know that they day is good by crowing and clucking at you. Lord do not get in the way of a hen and her chicks, That can be disastrous if not a little scary.

The rabbits also are time keepers. All are kept in a barn built for them. The manure is shoveled out to the 'want to be garden area', especially in the fall and right before monsoon season to help the ground. Add a few coffee grounds and water and here comes the worms. Great for growing things.

The goats are for meat and milk. These guys all have a higharchy that must be recognized and dealt with. Do not speak to them unless you speak in order of who is in charge. Another words one must speak and acknowledge Negra and Gris before talking or scratching Letche or Bounita or Little Mom. Negra who is Queen of the herd will butt her way to you and knock whoever sailing until she has her attention. Even the two young billies have one over the other. The Billy's are getting close to going into the freezer soon.

Now, you have been introduced to most of the circus players. I will tell you more of thier activities in the weeks to come.