Sometimes nice guys(gals) don't finish last

Tim and I are coaching our daughter's softball team this year. We assisted for 4 years prior
which was not easy as the head coach was my neighbor, not a good coach, and defensive
as hell if I(a lowly woman) ever made so much as a suggestion. It got to the point that we really couldn't stand being around him, he was so obnoxious. His daughter then started to treat Olivia very badly as Olivia was a better pitcher than her and that turned out to be a
real pain too. So this year he stepped down, I took over and put his daughter and him on
the other team. GOOD riddance. Unfortunately the coach of the other team and I got together
to draft the 2 teams and it's a long story but he knew a lot more of the girls than I did(they come
from different elementary schools and ours has a lot less players than theirs) and he stacked his
team with all the strong players he knew and lied to me about the skills of the players I wound
up with. All the while, we were saying we could do this fairly, it's all about the girls etc. I was pretty disappointed with this guy. What a schmoozer. I was ticked at myself for falling for his big "nice-guy act" too. When will I ever learn? Well a woman who runs the softball association and coached many of these girls in the past caught this
and went to town with him on the phone several times. She knew exactly what he and his assistant coach were up to and she took 2 weak players off my team, gave them to him and took
2 girls off his team and gave them to me. Well, he still was no idiot, as he knew there were issues
with these 2 girls too. 1 decided not to play after all as her schedule was too full and the other used to play baseball with the boys, she's so good but struggles to hit cause she is too choosy
about pitches and swings for Kentucky everytime. ANYhoo, we had a scrimage with them a few weeks ago. Tim had to stay home with Olivia as she had her strep recurrence and I went and
coached by myself against this team which is coached by a total of 6 men incuding my jerk
neighbor. It was the boyz against "lil 'ol me! Bring it! I felt compelled to wear my Harley Davidson shirt to the game just to bring out the TAWANDA in me so I did. Well we beat their butts. At one point one of his
girls asked if they were winning and he said "this is a scrimage, we're not keeping score."
He was full of bull dinky. He was darn sure keeping score. We thrashed 'em. I tell ya, I could
have bought every one of my girls Jonas Brothers tickets, I was so pumped. NOT that I let
this show. ;o) So yesterday was our first game. It was time to play ball for real. Olivia got up
to pitch with no warm up and I also used another pitcher whose parents now bring her
to the same lessons I get for Olivia. I have worked really hard with my girls and have a lot of fun with them too. Well I could buy my kid a new car I tell ya. That brat that
was being so mean to her last year(the neighbor's kid) got up to bat. Olivia struck her right
out!!!!! THAT'S MY GIRL!!!!!!! Then we proceded to beat them again and this time, it counts.
YEE-FREEKIN'-HAW!!!!! Honestly, I love coaching these girls. It's all about building their self-esteem and having fun. Nothing makes me happier than to see one of my poorest players get
a hit and stand on 1st base grinning ear to ear. I was even helping the pitcher from their team. But I cannot say that there was no pleasure in what happened yesterday. They coach
their girls so intently. They HATE to lose. Hey we all like to win but I just expect my girls to
try their best and I am no nut case or sore loser. This was just a situation where 2 men tried to
do something really unfair(and against the rules), got caught, and then got their come-uppance.
Man it feels good!!! GIRL POWER!

Back from Chincoteague

Well, we finally got away on a vacation. The last 2 were scrapped due to illness and this one nearly was but we sqeaked it out. Olivia began having rashes every night even on the second
antibiotic so the docs made me bring her in the morning we were leaving for Virginia. We will have to consult with an allergist soon. The
hospital was an hour away from where we were staying and I was pretty nervous about that.
All three of us have drug allergies now and I am all too aware of how dangerous they can be.
However, you can not leave strep untreated. So, on top of the antibiotic,
I wound up having to treat her with benadryl or zyrtec while we were down there and take
her off them to give her dramamine for the car trips. OY!!!!! I felt bad for her. The benadryl makes her really tired and a bit grouchy which is rare for her. Despite this, we had a wonderful
time. Unbeknownst to me, they round up the wild ponies for a vet check this time of year and
we got to see this round up from a great perspective. At one point, they ran right by on
a sandy path just 8 feet from us. AMAZING. Olivia got to see ponies everyday, a brand new foal take
its first steps and visit a place from right out of the book she just read"Misty of Chincoteague."
I got to relive a piece of my childhood and we all had a great time. The people are so friendly
down there. There's just nothing like the south for friendly, warm folks. Makes me not want
to come home sometimes. Chincoteague has retained its small town charm. The locals all know each other and the prices of things
had me stunned, they were so cheap. I am so used to going places where the prices are insane. So many people around where we live have so much money and they're willing to pay these ridiculous prices
for t-shirts and stuff. I can't remember being at a tourist location and being able to shop and
eat as reasonably as this. We did not want to leave this little haven yesterday. With the exception of the lack of nearby healthcare, we could get real cozy in a place like that. Now,
it's back to the old grind. I am so grateful for the terrific memories made in these last 5 days though. Magical stuff.

Can't judge a book....

OK Ya GOTTA check this out!! I apologize for my computer illiteracy. I know my blog is probably a shoe-in for the most boring blog in myeloma history. I don't know how to get
links on here or pictures but I just saw this on another myeloma blog and it gave me goosebumps to listen to this woman sing. If this does not prove just how much people judge
by appearances, I don't know what does. The audience and judges took one look at her and wrote her off. They laughed at her before she even began.
She opened her mouth and SHAZAM!!! A cinderella story for sure.
Do a search on Susan Boyle-singer-britains got talent 2009. You will see a youtube
come up on her performance on this show. I'm willing to bet this woman will become famous for this.

Keeping me on my toes

Well, it was right back to the pediatricians' office again today. Seems Olivia has developed
an allergy to another antibiotic. YIKES! She had a reaction to a penicillin drug at 4 and has
used another drug safely ever since. I knew there was a small chance of cross-sensitivity with
this other drug and would only give it to her after school on school days just in case. Despite
using it about 4 or 5 times now in the last 6 years, last night she broke out in a Trifecta of
rashes. She had a sunburn type rash all over her trunk and a prickly rash in the middle of
her chest. This was accompanied by a fever and my first thought was scarlet fever, which
can happen with strep. This morning though, I could see hives were also present in the mix.
Poor thing was itching like a monkey. I made a doc appointment and gave her Benadryl.
My first reaction was "for crying out loud, isn't anything gonna be easy in this family?"
I really get ticked at times at the constant medical things going on. Before Tim's dx, I had
years of my own issues so it really feels sometimes like we never get a break but I have to stop
when my mind goes there. I take a breath and put things into perspective immediately.
It's not great to have drug allergies but look at all those kids, my niece is one, that have nut
allergies as well as other foods. Those parents live with constant fear. No one is gonna give
my daughter penicillin or omnicef at a birthday party and put her life in jeopardy. Sometimes
when I am reading some blogs that I follow, I link to other blogs and this week I stumbled
onto blogs about kids with neuroblastoma. Some have died. I cannot sit here and go to pieces
over some freekin' hives. The misery these people are living every second of every day had
me crying at the computer yesterday. So our wonderful doc made a plan to use something
safe that will put my mind at ease while we are on our vacation and we will hope it clears this
strep effectively. No biggie in the big picture of things. We make adjustments and we keep moving on. And we remember all kids with cancer, and their families, in our prayers at night.

Making memories

Well, if I can get everybody well, we are going to head south to Chincoteague Island,
Virginia on Wednesday. Tim still has the remnants of a 2 week old cold he can't shake
and I had to pick Olivia up from school today. Seems the strep she was just treated for
is back just 3 days after finishing the antibiotic. I was at the mall doing some (spoiler
alert) Easter Bunny shopping when I got the call to pick her up. We have missed our
last 2 planned vacations due to the flu and colds and now I am trying like heck not to
let the wheels fall off this one. When I was a kid, I loved horses. Misty of Chincoteague was my favorite
book and I think I still have it floating around here somewhere. We went to Chincoteague
twice and saw the ponies swim across the channel. I remember it as such a nice, small towny
type of place and have wanted to bring Tim and Olivia there for years. I rented the movie of the
book and we watched it after Olivia and I read two of the Misty books from the library. I am
so excited to share this with Olivia, the books and the trip. I am an avid reader and I also love
how having kids is like getting to be one yourself all over again. I want to make some memories
with Olivia like I have from travelling the country with my family. It won't be long at all until
she would rather be with her "peeps" than go travelling with her parents so there's no time
like the present. We have not given in to the temptation of getting her a puppy so we are free
to come and go as we please. Tim's business is no where's near as slow as most of the wood flooring guys around here, but it is off a little so that may help us this summer. Normally,
summer is the busiest time of year for him which stinks as that's when Liv is off school and Tim
is a beach bum kinda guy so he hates being so booked all summer. This year, we are just planning our vacations and the work will have to fit in around them instead of the other way
around. I'm excited. I'm trying to stay on top of all my paperwork this year so I can go away
with no worries of what's waiting at home for me. Well, back to playing nurse here. I actually
had one of Tim's nurses try to convince me to become one. I've been mistaken for one about 30 times in the last 2 years. I could not do that for a living. I have all the respect in the world for those that do, or I should say -do it well. I am just too much of an empathizer. It would tear me
apart every day. The "nursing" I do is out of necessity, not choice. I do it cuz I gotta. Well onto
Easter. Spring has sprung in Jersey. That means crocuses, daffodils and freekin' rain. We actually had snow flurries yesterday. Someone's idea of a joke, no doubt.