Mimi's poem

I belong to a special group of women
My friends and I have an amazing bond.
We never wanted to be in this group,
Yet we are in, for life.
Maybe we have met, maybe we haven’t,
Yet our love for each other is boundless.
We know the pain the other one feels,
And we share our victories small or huge.
Words like chemo, IV, Zofran , bald heads
Are always parts of our conversations,
As well as roidrage, tears, and meltdowns…
We always know where the closest puke bucket is,
We can hold it in one hand and if necessary,
Swallow the sandwich the other hand was holding.
We can drive to the hospital,
Park in the dark parking garage
Make our way thru the halls of the hospital
And to the appropriate floor,
Settle in a room, turn the TV on,
Give instructions to the head nurse,
Silence loud beeping IV pumps,
Direct a wagon AND an IV pole
To the playroom without hitting anything
Make our way back to the correct room
And all this, mind you,
With our eyes closed at any given time.
We know how to draw blood from lines
Sticking out of little kids chests.
We can hold them down with one hand,
While a nasogastric tube is inserted in their little nose,
And be on the phone with their dads at the same time.
We can live for days on hospital food,
And on maybe only one meal a day .
We know the names of up to 20 different drugs,
Their purpose, dosage and time to be taken.
We are always on call, 24 hours a day,
Seven days a week.
We are used to not always looking our best,
Hard to do with only a few hours of sleep .
Make up , hair styling, skirts are words of the past .
We have become addicted to texting,
hospital, clinic, home, wherever…
We talk sometimes at all hours of the night,
We know we can count on someone to be up.
Then for one of us, the world stops.
She has to walk away, broken.
This job is over .
The job is over, but the fight is on.
Remember , I said we were in this forever.
We are friends, sisters, temporary nurses,
We are each others rock, each others punching bag,
We listen , we vent , we cry , we laugh together.
We share our lives and our deaths
We share our pain and our victories.
We are strong, but not by choice,
Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose,
But never are we defeated .
We are not nurses
We are not doctors,
We are cancer moms…
Mimi ( 10-18-08 )

Please visit her carepage & check out the kids she shares about. Fall in love with them, let their stories break your heart, learn what the GOLD ribbon stands for & tell your friends about it. Learn how childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children. Learn how under-funded childhood cancer research is & join in the fight to increase awareness. But above all pray for these kids & their families. They need as much love, support & prayer as they can get!

The 'We Deserve It Dividend'

I got this via email today & thought it too good to pass up.
Enjoy!!

~~

I'm against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG. Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a 'We Deserve It Dividend'.

To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+.

Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..

So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00.

My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a 'We Deserve It Dividend' .

Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let's assume a tax rate of 30%.

Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.

But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A husband and wife has $595,000.00.

What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?

*Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved.
*Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads
*Put away money for college - it'll be there
*Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
*Buy a new car - create jobs
*Invest in the market - capital drives growth
*Pay for your parent's medical insurance - health care improves
*Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean - or else

Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18 + including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehmann Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed
Forces.

If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( 'vote buy' ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.

If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!

As for AIG - liquidate it. Sell off its parts.

Let American General go back to being American General. Sell off the real estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.

Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't. Sure it's a crazy idea that can 'never work.' But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party! How do you spell Economic Boom?

I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion 'We Deserve It Dividend' more than do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC .

And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.

Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest.

Kindest personal regards,
Birk
T. J. Birkenmeier, A Creative Guy & Citizen of the
Republic

PS: Feel free to pass this along to your pals as it's either good for a laugh or a tear or a very sobering thought on how to best use $85 Billion!!

Mixed feelings

I've been thinking a lot about our plans for tomorrow & emotionally I'm being pulled in 2 directions.
One one hand I'm excited to visit with friends I haven't' seen in a long time. I miss them so much & cherish any chance to go back home & see them.
But on the other our reason for going is not a happy one.
We will be driving back to Cle Elum for the funeral of our friend David Zapel. (I can use his name now, the family was identified in the local paper so it's ok.) It's going to be hard to say goodbye to him, it's still hard to imagine he's really gone.
It's also going to make for a very long day. It takes about 3 hours to get there & we will be returning home after dinner. I suspect the kids are not going to be fond of this arrangement.
But it's worth it to honor Dave's life & to be there for Becky, Tim, Kyle, Jason & Cory.
Thanks for your prayers, I know they are felt. Becky has been telling everyone of the peace God's given her all this week. Pray that peace continues in the coming days & that the boys feel it also. I know they have many, many hard days ahead.
God bless you all & have a great weekend!

Wha???

What happened to blogrolling? I was trying to read some blogs but my blogrolls are gone & their site won't pull up - boohoo.
Figures, I have time to read blogs for the first time in over a month but I can't get to any of them. Girrrrr!

~~

So what's new in the Michels household?
Notsomuch really.
Chris is back to work after more than a week off. We are anxiously awaiting next week when we'll have a normal paycheck again...as are our creditors & utilities (a'hem) =)
The kids are still loving school. Sam is doing very well, much better than last year. I won't ever regret keeping him in kindergarten, so far he's really blossomed.
The twins adore everything about their class & teacher. She can do no wrong in their eyes (unlike dumb'ole mom ya know) & have fitted right in. Even Eli, my rambunctious terror has been following the rules. Well until yesterday, that is. Seems he tackled a kid & bonked his head on the floor. He got a time out for that but truly I'm surprised it didn't happen earlier...like on the first day! But they made up & all is well. Good thing he's so dang cute!
I'm trying to adjust to the new season. Seems like 2 weeks ago we were in the 90's & now it hardly gets over 65. We keep the house pretty cold to try & save money so I'm in long johns, sweats, t shirt, mock neck, sweatshirt & 2 pairs of socks. I do ok in the morning when the heater is on frequently but in the afternoons I do nothing but shiver. I try to remember my summertime mantra; I'd rather be too cold than too hot, it's easier to warm up than cool down. But it's hard to remember that when your thermostat is set at 63! Really though I do love fall. All the leaves, the crisp air on sunny days & wintertime just around the corner. Much welcomed after the sweltering heat of summer.

~~

It feels good to be writing again. I've missed it (and you!) as an outlet - cheap therapy is always welcomed around here.
I hope to be visiting you all soon, if blogrolling & time will allow it =)

Prayers please

I know I haven't posted in forever & I'm sorry I'm coming on now only to request something. But your prayers are needed for the Z family. D was killed in a heavy equipment accident yesterday. He leaves behind his wife B & their 4 boys, T, K, J & C. B is a good friend of mine from the town we used to live in. This is a strong family that loves the Lord but they will need lots of prayer support in the coming days. We know that D is in heaven but B & her boys will miss him terribly, especially J & C who are juniors in HS this year.
Thanks so much, I'll be back soon. Just preoccupied lately & busy with life.
God bless you all,
Alane