Wives, Daughters and Jane

I just wrote this great long post about Elizabeth Gaskell's "Wives and Daughters" and about Jane Austen's books (as Movies) being broadcasted on PBS each Sunday at 8:00 p.m. and then I wasn't paying attention and somehow the blog is gone. Fan-flippin'-tastic.
Alright, so PBS has already showed Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. They will continue through the rest of the shows until all have been done. The versions are all Masterpeice Theatre except Pride and Prejudice. They are borrowing the BBC version with the lovely Collin Firth. How fun, don't you think? I have Tara B to thank for ALL of this because she told me about PBS showing Austen and she lent me her copy of Wives and Daughters to watch. I loved it!! My sister Jessica told me about it and North and Sould, Gaskell's other Novel, and I didn't really listen to her. I should have and am going to make amends by visiting the library soon. The show was great, though, and I really liked the main character Molly, in part, to be honest, because her name was Molly (my fabulous little sister's name) and she didn't let people get away with things without telling them what she thought. I liked having a heroine who really voiced her opinion but wasn't obnoxious or rude. Fun fun fun.
So check them out. Here are two links for you.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/austen/
For PBS Jane Austen
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wives/
For PBS Wives and Daughters

Rebekah update

I suppose it's time for me to update all on how things are going for Rebekah. Two items for the good news category: 1) the GI specialist decided there was nothing wrong in that field and Rebekah has been eating great for a few months now. 2) We have access to Bishop/Dr. Haymond and the Texas Children's Hospital here. Two items for the not so good news category: 1) Rebekah has to get an MRI next week, complete with general anesthesia to knock her out, to check her pituitary gland for any abnormalities. (The pituitary gland deals with growth.) 2) The results from the different tests done in December revealed that a) for bone age she is on the lowest end of the range (but still in the range, sort of) and b) her blood work revealed that her IGF1 levels are very low. IGF1 stands for Insulin-like Growth Factor 1. IGF1 mediates many of the growth-promoting effects of growth hormone and plays an important role in childhood growth. We have to wait a full six months to have her levels re-tested to determine in they are still low. Dr. Haymond will also determine whether or not Rebekah has grown enough at that time. If she has, than things are good. If she has not grown and her IGF1 is still low then she will be diagnosed with a Growth Hormone deficiency. At that time further testing would be done to determine exactly what needs to happen. Chances are she would end up getting a shot each day, similar to how a diabetic gets an insulin shot every day. This would last until she's almost an adult, or 'til she reaches adult height, I'm sketchy on those details right now.
So here's to hoping she can have a miracle and all will be well in five more months. I hope and pray each day that she will be fine, but if something is to be wrong I want it to be something that can be treated, even if it's by getting a shot every day.

Only two things are certain in life

and this post is going to be about the worse of the two. Taxes.
Nelson and I have our own flooring company (well, Nelson really does all the work, my name is just on the DBA.) We've had it for four years now and so far so good. There are alot of frustrations and stressors that go along with owning your own business, not the least of which is not having an exact income, etc. Taxes don't usually bother us throughout the year because we only pay them once, at tax time. When December comes, along with all the glee and Christmas cheer, taxes are always looming in the back of my consciousness. I am constanly aware of them. You see I have to spend a few WEEKS getting everything from the entire year organized and in order before anything tax-wise can even get started. Now don't go thinking that we are wholely unorganized, because this is not the case. Truth be told, though, we could definitely use a better accounting system. So right now I am in the middle of getting all of our bills, receipts, costs, etc. organized so that we can get hundreds of things from the year itemized. Yeah, sounds like a lot of fun. My goal is to find out EVERYTHING that can be used as a deduction. I would actually really like to do the taxes myself, but the idea of having to fill out schedule C and other forms I am unfamiliar with discourages me. Each year we have someone do our taxes and they do not charge us. This is a blessing because it would be very expensive if they did. All this aside, each year I am absolutely convinced that things were missed, mainly deductions. I really just need to have confidence in myself and go at it.

books

I seriously hesitated to post the cover of this book, because in truth it looks like a trashy romance novel. In fact it is not. There is absolutely nothing trashy in any of these books. This is the third book in the Mercedes Thompson Series. Book one - Moon Called. Book 2 - Blood Bound. Book 3 - Iron Kissed. The author is Patricia Briggs. This series is about Werewolfs, walkers, vampires, etc. If you like this genre of books then I suggest you read these. They are very fun and Mercy is a great heroine. She is tough and takes care of herself. There is a great love triangle also.

I recently read the book "Becoming Jane Austen." It is not abook about the movie starring Anne Hathaway, it is the Biography of Jane Austen which inspired the movie. I am not that big into biographies but I really enjoyed this book. It was very intersting to learn were Jane Austen received her inspiration and who several of her characters were based off of. Many of the situations and people in her life influenced her work a lot. One thing I found particularily interesting is that Pride and Prejudice was influenced by her relationship with the one man she ever loved. She based Elizabeth's personality on his, and Mr. Darcy's personality was said to be similar to Jane Austen herself, as in the way people who did not know her perceived her to be as opposed to those who were close to her and knew her true character to be kind, etc. I love all the Austen's books so I think it's neat to now know where a lot of it came from.

Okay, I'll have to add more later, Rebekah just woke up from her nap!

Oh what a night

Lately I've realized that in the evenings, say around 7:30 or 8:00 after Rebekah is asleep, I feel that the day is finally over and that I can now relax, take a load off, and change into my pajamas. I mean come on now, it's only flippin' 7:30 in the evening and I am trying to put on PJs? It's not as if I am tired or planning to go to bed anytime soon. I know it's more comfortable but it came to my attention and I realized that, as it was a Friday night, I have no life anymore. My life surrounds my child. Not only my life but my social life as well. Please do not get the wrong idea. I am absolutely thrilled that I am able to stay at home with Rebekah each day. It's all I've ever wanted and planned for. I just simply realized that life ends at 7:30 or 8:00 p.m. This may just be a symptom from not having gone on a date with Nelson in a very long time.
This is not something I recommend. We try to get around it by doing normal adult things, with Rebekah in tow. This is proving, in some instances, to work out fine. And then in others, as in going to see the movie "National Treasure 2" with my family over Christmas break, and ending up having a stranger ask me to leave with Rebekah, having her repeatedly cry, scream ,etc. trying to bribe her into silence with $4.00 a box movie theatre candy, and then ending up spending half the time in the family bathroom or in the hall.
This led me to attempt to see the movie a second time (because I actually wanted to see the entire thing), this time with Nelson, and Rebekah of course. I figured that I would be able to see the parts I missed and if she was having a hard time, I would be able to break out during the parts I had already seen. Once again we were told to be quiet. Rebekah did not do well, $4.00 boxes of candy and licorice aside. We left the theatre so many times. When I say we I mean Rebekah and me. Nelson was not there to see it the first time, so it was only natural that I would be the one to take her out, as I had seen at least half of it already. Once we were out Rebekah would walk around, throw snacks on the floor (which I promptly cleaned up), and then decide she wanted to see daddy again. This is why there were so many trips in and out. Near the end of the movie I was trying to stay in the theatre, to the side by the entrance. The scene playing showed water rushing in a room so naturally Rebekah starts shouting "AGUA, AGUA!" over and over. Another trip to the hallway.
This was the least relaxing movie I have ever been to, except perhaps a horror film I went to in college with my sister and her boyfriend. He had to sit between us because neither of us liked scary movies. I was so freaked that I was literally almost sitting on him. Poor guy. Memory lane aside, I will not be attempting the family movie go again for quite some time.