Moving SUCKS

So my brother has officially moved to Fairbanks, AK. I guess I should be thankful that he is still in the same state, however Fairbanks is 8 hours (in good weather) by car - so I don't see a trip in the near future since I HATE DRIVING IN THE WINTER long distances.

I am happy for him as he is moving for a fantastic job opportunity.
Ryan and I are very close and actually I feel like we have gotten closer over the past year. He was over at my house at least 3 times a week. My kids really love Uncle Ryan. It feels like I have lost my best friend.

Thank goodness for Skype!

Eye Drama - Update!

I went to the eye specialist today for a check up on my "special" eye as the girls so affectionately call my eye..

This is what the doctor said "everything is quiet - I want to see you again in 3 months"
Me - well what caused this syndrome his response "I don't know"
I then asked if I could wear my contact lenses again - he said yes and walked out of the room...

First YAHOO that I get to wear my contacts, but did I seriously have to spend $200 for this fool to tell me that he doesn't know what the hell has been going on with my eye for the past 5 months?

Anyway I am a happy girl!!!

Eye Drama

At the end of May I experienced something that has never happened to me before. My left eye felt like there was constant rocks in it; after a week of not being able to wear my contacts and feeling like a cyclops I decided it was time to go to the eye doctor. At that time he said that my eye was having an allergic reaction to the eye drops that I had been using since my eye felt so dry. So he gave me 2 different eye drops 1 was for the allergy and the other one was a steroid eye drop for the irritation on my retina. I was supposed to use these eye drops for 2 weeks, also during this time I was not allowed to wear my contacts..GRRR. I followed the instructions and felt like my eye was much better after the two weeks.

The middle of June my eye started having the same symptoms along with seeing a bubble in the corner of my eye which was constantly there.

I went back to the eye doctor who gave me yet another eye drop but this time I was allowed to wear my contacts..PHEW!

The beginning of July I went in for my yearly eye check up and told my doctor that I felt like I couldn't see very well out of my left eye, it was blurry, he said that it was probably from my contacts since he could tell there were very dirty. OK I bought it, I was very bad at taking them out at night and would keep them in way over the recommended 2 weeks per pair..so when he said my prescription hadn't changed and that I needed to take my lenses out every night I said Ok, and went on my merry way.

WELL the beginning of August I could no longer see out of my left eye at all it was as if I was looking through fog or a cloud constantly.

Back to the eye doctor I went; I left my office on a Friday at 11 for an 11:30 am appointment which I thought was going to be a normal appointment BOY was I wrong.

When I told my eye doctor my symptoms he had me read the chart (now remember I had been in to see him for my annual exam just 3 weeks ) when I told him that I couldn't read the chart he was concerned my vision had dropped 6 lines in 3 weeks..WTF?!?!

So he then looked at my eye and decided he needed to dilate my eye (3 times) - long story short he told me that the tissue behind my eye was ripped, and that I needed to be seen right away by the Retinal Specialist - this was at 1:30 - I obviously was not going back to work.

So I head to the Retinal specialist (which I was not impressed) who proceeded to dilate my eye another 4 times - after waiting for 3 hours to be seen I was told by the most arrogant ass of a doctor that I had what they call WHITE SPOT SYNDROME in my left eye and that it is caused by a number of things, he ordered labs and a chest x-ray and put me on heavy duty steroid eye drops every 2 hours while I was awake. I also had to go back for a follow up in one week. So I went to have my labs drawn and chest x-ray done, the results came back with nothing wrong (DUH) so at my follow up I was seen by a much nicer doctor who then told me that he wasn't sure what was going on with my eye but that it usually occurred in middle aged woman (HELLO I AM NOT MIDDLE AGED) when I told him this he looks at my chart and then says "close enough" WTF?! So he cut my steroid eye drop use down to 4 times a day...and come back in a week....GRRRR

2 weeks ago I went for the follow up and saw the 3rd much older doctor in the practice who said that the irritation on my retina had improved but the white spots on the back of my eye were still there and that they still needed to figure out the cause. The good news is that the vision in my left eye is improving..he cut the steroids back to 2 times a day and come back in 3 weeks!



Tuesday was my birthday the one that I turned middle aged (NOT REALLY) I got out of the shower dried off and felt like I was standing in a pool of blood my vein was bleeding AGAIN exactly like what happened here http://hopeysramblings.blogspot.com/2009/07/near-death-experience-at-least-emts.html the only difference was no cute EMT's this time...BOO!
Since this was the second time this happened and it was caused from the towel going over the vein I decided it was time to have it looked at; so this past Friday I went into the doctor and she took a look, the first thing she said was "I have never seen a vein spontaneously bleed like that" so she wanted to cut it out and send to the pathology to see what was going on.....on my medication list I put down the steroid eye drops she asked why I was taking them I gave her the short version of the story and told her that they didn't know what was causing it but they thought it was an inflammation somewhere in my body..she immediately said that there could be a inflammation in my vein and that since veins and eyes are two huge sources of blood flow that they could be linked.
She cut my vein and stitched it up and I go back on Thursday to have the stitches out find out what the pathology report says.
SO while I do think that it is very ODD that a varicose vein on my right ankle could cause my left eye to have an issue it is just proof that our bodies are mysterious and that you never know what is going on in there.

First Day of Kindergarten!

I am such a blog slacker. I have had A LOT on my plate the past few months, that is a whole post in it's own coming later....
Today was a milestone for Quentin; his first day of Kindergarten.
First let me say I was nervous for today, for so many reasons beyond the fact that today he became an official member of the Class of 2023.....WOW!!
Our Journey to this epic first day began last spring when we met with the school principal to go over what Quentin's needs would be, so he would be just like ALL the other kids! I was impressed during our meetings and was excited to see the stools and modifications that we and the school suggested to help make our guy successful and feel welcome!
Last week we met Ms. Dudley who will be shaping our little scholars mind in the next few months! This was also our opportunity to see the stools and steps they had made for Quentin. I was beyond excited and pleased with the quality and love that went into making these items. They completely exceeded my expectations!
They made a foot rest that attaches to his chair for the classroom, computer lab and lunch room, stools for the sinks and toilets, and a step so that he can reach the Smart Board during his turn for board work. They are also lowering a swing on the playground for him!
So the big day was today!This morning I was anxious and had a stomach ache; Quentin on the other hand was cheerful and ready for school! We walked to school and he was at least 5 steps ahead of us, telling us to hurry up the whole time...we got to school and because some parents lingered too long last year parents were not allowed to take the Kinders to their classrooms - which was where I thought I would lose it...I held it together as he lined up with his class and after the bell rang waved to me and said see ya later.
At 3:30 we picked him up and he was so excited and talking a non-stop about his day!
I have to laugh because at breakfast we were talking about homework, when we got home he asked if it was time to do his homework. I said you don't have any tonight, he started crying...I will remind him of this when the complaints about doing homework begin!
Other than that he had a great day and I can't wait to see what the rest of the year holds!!
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T Ball

This summer Quentin decided he wanted to play T-ball! I thought this would be perfect for him to run off some energy in the evenings.
He is having so much fun and I am really enjoying watching him!
I forget however the size difference in my 5 1/2 year old compared to his peers, until he is around them. In true Quentin fashion he has gained the respect from all his peers, and one child on his team even "stuck" up for Quentin when another team's player was picking on him....pretty cool for 5 year olds!!!
Enjoy the pictures and I hope that everyone is having a good summer so far!
Sent from my BlackBerry®

APRIL FOOLS...

Yesterday was April Fools..I remember as a little girl my grandmother would do little jokes and make the day fun! I thought this year I would also try to pull a prank on my family!

I sent out invitations for the First Annual Wacky Dinner...I invited my brother and his girlfriend and my mom. The invites went out a week in a half before the dinner and boy did I get a bunch of questions from the family what are we having for dinner....my response was "it is a surprise" I added an evil sounding laugh.

When everyone arrived I had Menu cards on the table in the spots.

The first course was a garden salad with wild greens, mandarin oranges and crispy sweet peas (nothing wacky about this)

The second course was Cupcakes...as soon as I put the cake plate with the cupcakes on the table Adrianna was pointing and saying cup cakes...she was very excited...Quentin was the first one to have a cupcake he choose one with green frosting...he tasted the frosting and said it was "play doh" I said no it wasn't...then Adri had a one with pink frosting....Jasmine and my mom were next....my mom's first reaction was "Hope Diane, why on earth would you serve play doh" I was cracking up by this time, no one realized that the cupcake was meatloaf with mashed potato frosting.....when I told them it was not play doh and to try the cupcake an up roar of laughter came from the dining room when they realized I had tricked them!!! I yelled APRIL FOOLS!!!

Honestly I can't believe I pulled it off...like they couldn't smell the meatloaf when they walked in the house..LMAO!

For Dessert I served Fish Sticks with BBQ sauce and Peas - obviously after the cupcake course they were onto my prank nonetheless I still proceeded and served my Fish Sticks. The sticks were made using sugar wafers, peanut butter and cornflakes..the peas were made using taffy (they were hard a rock by the time it was time to eat them) the BBQ sauce was seedless strawberry jam warmed in the microwave!

I have already decided that I am going to take the day off next year so that I can prepare another wacky dinner and have some fun games to go along with the dinner.

Did anyone else do a wacky dinner or pull pranks?

It's been awhile..I KNOW I KNOW...

OK so I am not doing well on my resolution for 2010 of blogging more....

I do have some exciting news to share with everyone. Tomorrow I will be closing the chapter in my life titled NEA-Alaska Health Plan - it is my last day of employment for the plan. I actually started looking for a new job in December after a situation occured that I did not agree with the way it was handled. I also decided that I wanted to be in a place that had a chance for advancement. I found the perfect position sent in my resume and they called me the very next day - when they contacted me they told me the position was temporary with the possibility of becoming permanent. I had to decline because I need to have full time permanent employment as I have two young children.
They seemed disappointed as was I, however they did ask if they could keep my resume and call me if they had something else come up. I said that would be fine, and in the back of my mind was thinking that I would not hear from them.
I was getting discouraged during this time because looking for a job sucks - even though I had a job I submitted my resume to several companies and no hits. I was beginning to think that I would be at NEA for the rest of my life.
Then it happened, it was the end of February when my phone rang, when I answered it was the company that I had applied with in December (I WAS TURNING INSIDE OUT) they now had added a full time position which was the same title that I applied for, was I still interested? YES!!!
So began the process of being a candidate for this position!!
I met them during a lunch meeting to go over the position and job duties....then came the background check...this was about a 2 week process...those of you who know me know that I am NOT PATIENT or good at WAITING....it was driving me nuts.
In the meantime I had a training that NEA was sending me to in San Jose California, I had a great time but in the back of my mind was thinking about the other job, and if they were going to call.
I didn't need to wait much longer when I returned home the call that I had been waiting came...I was offered the job!!!! Monday I will start in my new position as a Benefits Specialist at Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC), a native corporation.

There are more changes to come for my family in 2010 - as they happen I will share with my blogging family.

Choose & Cruise Sweepstakes

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What do you think?

I love easy, quick, healthy, family and budget friendly recipes to make for my family. I usually menu out the whole month and then do one HUGE trip to Sam's Club for the meat and stuff that can go in the pantry then get the fresh stuff twice a month as needed for meals.

I also enjoy trying new things as I find that we get in a rut with making the samethings...anyone else have this issue?

SO I have shared quite a few recipes on Facebook and through emails with various friends, I was thinking about putting them together as a cookbook. So let me know what you think if you would be interested in sharing recipes and then having a book with them all together?

When I was pregnant with Adrianna I was on a babycenter group of other women who were all due at the sametime and we exchanged recipes - I have a lot of keepers from that exchange...

OK let me know...sounds like a fun project to take on!!

Talk to you all soon!

OH email me your recipes if you want..I will start compiling and see what we come up with!!!

hopechavez76@gmail.com

MOTHER OF YEAR - RIGHT HERE!

Ok so it is only the 15th day of 2010 but I am pretty sure that I have clinched the title in the running for Mother of the Year: (NOT)

RING (the phone ringing)
caller id says STARBRIGHT (Quentin's School)

Hope: "NEA Health Plan"
Missy: "Hope?"
Hope: "Yes"
Missy: "It's Missy from Starbright, I have to tell you because you don't know and this is the second day in a row."
My thoughts were holy crap what has Quentin done? she continues:
"The bread that you have made his sandwiches on the past two days is MOLDY"

Hope: red face and speechless "OMG - I am so embarrassed, I had no idea."
Missy: "not a big deal but I wanted to call you so you could throw that bread away.. and don't worry I am making him a new sandwich"

I just don't even know how I am going to show my face when I pick him up today......YIKES!

A Little Piece of Holland....

Welcome to Holland - By Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go.

Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that

Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.



Thought this was beautiful and really describes how I felt when we learned that Quentin was going to be a LP. Before I actually met my "Holland" however the moment my eyes met with his I knew GOD had made the right "flight change" and I would enjoy "Holland" for the rest of my life and not look back at what "Italy" could have offered.

Christmas 2009

I can't beleive that it has taken me this long to post the Christmas pictures - here they are!

We had a great Christmas this year. Christmas Eve we spent at my mom's house she made an excellent dinner of turkey, ham and all the fixings. After dinner we played the game Apples to Apples which was super fun! We opened our traditional gifts from my mom, every year since I can remember she has given us an ornament that we open on Christmas Eve, then it was time for cookies and we watched a little bit of "A Christmas Story" my brother's favorite movie.

When we got home it was time to leave the cookies and milk for Santa, Quentin fell asleep in the car on the way home so I just put out the milk and cookie for Santa - Sorry Rudolph no carrot this year.

I had the joy of putting together a Kitchen for Adri from Santa since he doesn't wrap his gifts when he comes to our house - it was a must to put the kitchen together. I realized after looking at the pictures that I didn't get any of the damn kitchen....LORD.

I (I mean Santa) filled the stockings and to bed I went around 1 AM, I knew it would be a short sleep I was sure that Quentin would be up EARLY....

Quentin woke up at 7:30 not too bad, and thank goodness not much later as my mom and Ryan and Jasmine were coming over at 8 am for presents and breakfast.

Quentin went through his stocking as I made some much needed coffee....he got some art supplies and a few pairs of Batman socks in his stocking. The Batman socks were a must as he only told Jingles our Elf on the Shelf (like he was testing the poor little elf) thank goodness I overheard him make this request - PHEW!

Quentin had asked for only one thing from Santa and that was a DS - I (I mean Santa) had placed the DS and a couple games on a side table away from the stockings, it took him a few minutes to locate the gift but he was so surprised when he did....I love his face!

I thought it was interesting that Quentin didn't seem to notice the cookies and milk that we had left for Santa, although when Adri woke up at 8 she went through her stocking which contained a FOO FA (from YO Gabba Gabba) doll and some bath toys and a toothbrush, she went right over to the plate where the left over cookie was and had a little before breakfast snack....it should also be mentioned that she didn't even notice her new kitchen....SHEESH!

The kids recevied many nice gifts from friends and family - I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends who remember my kids!

After the presents were opened breakfast was ready so we ate and then it was time to "find the pickle" (DIRTY MINDS remember this is a family blog) so we play as a whole family, usually I am the one who hides the pickle and then everyone looks for it, the first one to find the pickle gets an extra gift - usually a gift card with a $20 value! Ryan, my brother suggested that he handle the pickle this year he was in charge of getting the gift card and hiding the ornament, so that I could particpate this year....GUESS what I WON!!!! You can see how happy I was, even more the gift card was for Target!
(not sure why this picture is so little - I need to replace maybe - maybe not then you can't fully see my bed head!)

The most surprising gift was for the whole family and from my mom - she got us a Wii! This was such a surprise as I had made a deal with my mom that she should not get us a Christmas gift, that we didn't need anything and Christmas is about the kids....well she did not listen....we have needless to say already had so much fun with the Wii!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and were surrounded by loved ones!

I think that I am hooked -

Thanks to my friend Kate I am hooked on this lady!! I went to Barnes and Noble and looked through the whole Cookbook section, and of course they were sold out....BOO!
I ordered a copy of her cookbook and am waiting each day with bated breathe for my phone to ring to alert me that my cookbook has arrived.

I am totally enjoying the website and although I haven't used one of the recipes yet I can already tell that I have gained a couple pounds....LOL!!

I will keep you all posted - thank goodness!

English Muffin pizza IMG00543.jpg

This has got to be the easiest way to make pizza...
Quentin loves pizza and would eat it everyday if I let him. He also likes to "help" which can get messy...
We had a movie night a few weeks ago and I made English Muffin Pizzas.....perfect size for little ones and affordable to make.
Take an English muffin cut in half put a spoon of sauce then cheese and your favorite topping, put in the oven for about 10 minutes at 450 degrees....
Was thinking that this would be a quick and easy idea for those times when Quentin has a friend over for dinner...the kids would have fun and there would be little cleanup for the mama!
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2009 - Year in Review

With 2009 gone and a new year upon us I thought I would recap what happened with the Chavez Family in 2009.

January: I went back to work after being on maternity for leave for 16 week; Quentin was the Star of the Week at School...

February: Joe and I celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary; Quentin started to pick out his own clothes (I still struggle with this as it is interesting sometimes)

March: Adrianna turned 6 months

April: Adri sat up for the first time by herself; Quentin participated in Spirit week at School

May: Anchorage had record breaking heat for the start of what would be a FANTASTIC summer! Adri started her army crawl - she was on the move!

June: A quick trip to Seattle to see friends and "The Wiggles"

July: Nothing spectacular -

August: I turned 33

September: Adrianna turned 1!! Quentin moved to the FISH room at school; I took a quick trip to catch up with old friends to Las Vegas!

October: Halloween Quentin was a guitar (my favorite costume ever) and Adrianna was a lady bug.

November: I added some artwork to my "collection" in the form of a tattoo on my left foot!

December: Quentin turned 5 (seriously where has the time gone)

I don't know what 2010 holds for our family but I am sure that it will be full of adventures and more new beginnings for some!

I also have a couple of resolutions for 2010:

1) Get into better shape
2) Blog more
3) Do better at "self care" you know take time for myself
4) Take more / better pictures!

Happy New Year!