And then there was this...

I'd have to say that one of my favorite and only main hobbies is Paintball. I mean what other sport is there that allows you to run around shooting people (legally). And after you are done, you wipe it off, and start again. It's easy. No real athletic ability is needed (but it sure is helpful). Think about it. You don't have to be fast. You don't have to be strong. All you really have to be is able to walk and carry a gun. Piece of cake, Right? I always thought so. Until...This past outing. Let's see, I started playing a year ago. I made it through the whole season with only one major bruise on the inside of my leg. Okay, so what if it lasted almost a month. It was still only a bruise. Not bad for the amount of games we played. Then I got sent to San Diego, and didn't get to play again.

It seemed like this year took forever to get started, and the weather to get good enough for us to play. But finally, we decided to play on February 17. The weather looked like it would be okay. It was a bit cool, but the biggest thing was the rain in the forecast. Luckily, we got missed. It had t=rained previously, but Friday was pretty clear.

I was late showing up to the field. I missed 2 games, but we still had plenty of time for several games. The first game I was in was a win. I did, however get put out in the second game. It was a helmet shot, so there was no pain. Third game was a win. Then came the fourth and final game for me. Things are going good. We usually travel in pairs, and this was no exception. I just so happen to be following Gary, and we realize that we are not in a good position to attack. It's time to move in and get closer. One of the worst places to be is at the top of a hill, so since I had to go over one, I thought I should try to do it quickly. I am at the top of the hill, and try to find the clearest path to the bottom, where Gary was. Since it had been raining the previous days, I knew if I took too big of a step, I would slide down to the bottom, and who knows what that would cause. I was being cautious. Small steps all the way down. No problem, right? YEAH WHATEVER!!!!! Apparently, as I was taking my baby steps, I baby stepped myself right under a root or a vine or something. My left foot got hung. It stopped right there. Needless to say, the rest of me did not...

At the start of my fall, my left foot was facing forward (toes pointing forward). However, When I landed (stopped falling), my foot was laying on it's inner side, and my toes were now pointing to my left. To top it all off, it was underneath me. I, as well as Gary heard a pop, crunch, or break of some sort. My first instinct was to look for any manglege or deformity. Everything looked normal. My toes moved inside my shoe. My foot moved also. I thought, That's good, I sprained my ankle. Picture it. Here I am laying on the ground in pain, fallen, and I can't get up. Gary asks me if I am okay. I can only grunt out a "nope". Things are looking rough, but we're not finished yet. You see. There are still about 4 other people out there with Semi-Automatic Paintball guns. And they just so happen to be looking for who? You guessed it...Me and Gary. So I can't even take my helmet off, yet for fear that I will get pelted with a barrade of paintballs (I hope that's a words). Gary tries to get their attention. He sees one of them, and calls his name. He just looks at him not knowing what to do. It must be a trick. Then Gary sees 2 other barrels. There were 3 shooters on us already. He calls again to try to stop the game. Finally, the other guy answers, and they stop the game to come help.

Still, I am on the ground. I guess I forgot to mention that the terrain we were on was all but flat. I still have to try to get out of there. What to do? What to do? One of the bigger guys decides to take one of my arms over his shoulder, while a significantly smaller guy takes my other arm over his shoulder. We were going to try to hop out. I, being as lucky as I am, just so happen to be what seemed like a mile away from the road. A mile? Well, pain makes people exaggerate. So we're off. Up the hill. Down the hill. Up the hill... Keep your foot off the ground Putz!!! Down the hill.

I finally had to sit down and take a rest. By now, my right leg was starting to hurt from having to carry my limp body out of there. I had help, but it was still a lot of weight and work. One of the guys helping my suggested I go home and soak my foot in Epsom Salt the rest of the day and over night. That would take care of the swelling. Once I sat down, My hero of the day, Jake came out to help. He stood me up, hoisted me over his shoulder and carried me the rest of the way out. Way to go Jake. He sat me down in the bed of a truck. I removed my shoe and sock. One of the geniuses of the group decided that Ice would be needed. Good job Neutron Bomber. He also thought it would be a great idea to secure it to my leg USING DUCT TAPE!!!!
I have to say that was not done in my best interest. The hero shortly corrected that. They played one more game, while I sat in the truck bed.

As I lay as motionless as possible, I decide to call the doctor to get in. I inform the nice lady that I was playing Paintball, fell, and damaged my ankle. Her reply was something like I hope you don't want to see him today." I tell her, "Uhh...Well I kinda hurt my ankle today..." Note the fact that this is Friday. So she is expecting me to wait until Monday, when he will be in the office again. Yeah, that's possible. She tells me they can try to work me in at around 4:00. That gives me almost 4 hours to lay there. I thought I had better find something to keep me busy.

After the next game, hero came back and carried me to the car, my car. In the process, I did manage to kick my left foot, not pleasant... After I got in the car, I drove to Sonic to get a drink. Then office to the Credit Union to withdraw some money to pay my one year overdue chiropractor visit ($250.00). I drove by there to drop off the payment. It is now 1:20. Apparently, they take lunch from 1:00 - 2:00. I guess I'll just sit. Upon their return, I call them, and ask the lady to run outside to collect the money. I was in no shape to walk inside. Now, it is time to go home for about an hour.

At the doctor's office, they bring me back for some x-rays. Luckily, Camille had broken her ankle before, so I had a pair of crutches at the house, and was using them to get around. Anyway, the nurse comes out, and just looks at me smiling. She throws my film up on the light thingy, and says, "Do you see that?" Then she points out where the sprain was. It was right beside where the Broken Fibia was. It appears what I thought was a sprain was a broken leg bone. My first thought... "Soak it in Epsom Salt". It's off to the ER I go. Dr. Ramprasad comes in and sees me and my x-rays. He decides he wants a few more. He decides Surgery is the best fix. Just a plate and 4 screws, he said. He scheduled it for 1:00 the next day. That means no food after Midnight, and be at the hospital by 9:00am to get prep'd. The nurse then says it is okay, if we are a little late. (She must know us.) No problem.

Saturday:
I get the hospital about 9:30. Nothing in my stomach. Still in my PJ's for comfort. At 12:20, they decide to give me my IV. Did I mention there was nothing in my stomach? After torturing my with needles trying to get my IV started, the nurse decided to try to get someone else to do it. Success... It is now 1:00 and there is no anesthesiologist. This goes on and on for quite some time. To make a longer story long, I'll just tell you I didn't get in to surgery until after 5:00pm. And, did I mention I had NOTHING IN MY STOMACH!!! So I can relate to those who have to sit in a waiting room an hour for a 3 minute test. I feel your pain.

I ended up having to stay the night in the hospital. However, they did provide me with a happy button. It was a button I had to push every 15 minutes to get a dose of demerol. The only problem was that I could never tell, if it had given it to me or not.. Anyway, I made it through that okay. I now have a metal plate in my leg secured by 5 screws. I know. I know. Dr. Ram said 4, but put 5. I hope that last one was free. As a bonus, he included 15 staples. Yep... Plated, Screwed, and Stapled. If you are ever curious as to what that looks like, see below.

This is the house. 

All of the kids. 

What are you looking at? 

I said stop looking at me!!! 

Me and AlexSandra. 

Caught red-handed. 

Merry Christmas Lucas!!! 

Alina feels so big. 

Casey sound asleep. 

Alina didn't notice a thing. 

Christmas Morning, and Olivia is still asleep. 

The boy. 

I'm not sure what caused me to take this one, but I like it. 

This shows a little of what the kids received, and the mess it caused. 

The girls. 

Aside from the TV being on, this would look great on a Card. 

This is one of my favorites from Christmas. I used my new camera. 

Can you believe how close we are to the end of the year already. I have to tell you, I am not ready. I find it hard to believe that Thanksgiving is only 2 days away. Christmas is only 33 days away, and the new year only 40 days away. Where has it gone? We talk about our New Year's Resolutions all the time, and I can confidently say that my New Year's Resolutions for 2005 were completely and entirely omitted, forgotten, and even avoided. I barely remember what they were. I am sure it was something about getting in better shape, but that's only because I have had that one for almost the past 2 decades. It will remain on the list. We'll see what we can do better this go around.

My preparedness for the holidays is a bit behind also. I guess Thanksgiving is fairly easy to deal with. It isn't too hard for me to get ready to eat. The items I have to take to the dinners are fairly simple (green beans, mac-n-cheese, and so forth). And on top of that, Camille does some of that too. I guess the hardest part is first traveling to different places to celebrate. Even that's not much of a chore. Camille usually drives. (Wow, it looks like I'm pretty lazy doesn't it?...Don't answer that.) Now having an appetite after stuffing yourself like I do, That's a challenge. Ahh...the joys of Leftovers...

We won't even get into Christmas. I have barely even begun to buy Presents. I hate what we have done to our children. It never fails. Every year things get tighter and tighter, and everyone says, "Well, we can't do much this year." We tell the kids that, and they seem understanding. Then, Christmas comes around and they get this plethora of gifts. IS THAT WHAT NOT DOING MUCH IS!?!?!?! I don't think so. Now the kids are so accustomed to getting loads and loads of gifts, that I think they miss out on the family aspect of Christmas. What happened to just spending time together with family? That's what I remember the most. Don't get me wrong, I had my share of presents as a child, but the things I remember the most are the times we spent together. I can say, as most parents these days can, my kids have a lot more than I had growing, and I thought I had a lot. Part of me wants them to experience a Christmas when we couldn't do much. I feel it might help them to appreciate it when we can. Talk to you soon.

Well, today has been a screwy day. My kids, Casey and Alina were in a Veteran's Day Play that I had to miss. They will have it again tonight, but Alina won't be in it. There are too many kids for the younger ones to be there again. There wouldn't be room for all of the spectators. Camille went, and video taped most of it for me. Most of her family was there. That is a plus.

Speaking of her family, she also found out that her parents dog got attacked pretty bad. They found him laying in the yard this morning. He was alive, but when her dad tried to move him, Pepper (the dog) started biting him on the arm. From what I heard, his arm is pretty swollen. I'd say they should get that checked out.

The strangest thing that occurred was when she told me about one of my High School teachers. Mr. Steve Steelman was my American History teacher. He was a great teacher. Since then he has moved up to become the Principal of Fayetteville Intermediate School. I heard he was in charge of the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. Apparently, he was working a little late yesterday (Monday). It was still daylight, and there were still people at the school. It seems that 2 masked men came in and beat him up pretty bad. I have heard that they used a bat, but the news report just stated that they used an object. If that wasn't bad enough, he ended up having to have surgery on his TONGUE! From what I was told the men tried to cut his tongue off. What kind of person would do such a thing?!?!?!? The news reports I read sounded a little contradictory when it come to where he was found. One of them said he was found in his office, while the other says he was found by the Librarian in the foyer of "his school". Maybe they meant to say "his office".

He is expected to recover, but it is just the thought that troubles me. He was able to describe the men to the police. I don't know the details, as the reports didn't say much. The comments that were reported were that he was a good man, and didn't seem to have a problem with anyone. They kept mentioning him not having a problem with any parents. I guess that is the first thing to be considered. I hope everything turns out well.

On to Happier Subjects. Lucas is doing wonderful. He now weighs 9 pounds 10 ounces. I will try to post a picture of him soon. I went to see him a few days ago. He seems to be doing great. The mother and father are not on the best of terms though. I hate to see that. At their age, they barely know what they want, much less know what it takes to please one another. And that's not even considering the baby. Once you add the baby, it just multiplies things by at least 100. I hope they work things out. Some times people don't see their responsibility until it is too late. All we can do is give advice when it is asked for. Not that we know them all ourselves. Only time will tell. Wish them luck. Have a great day.

My goodness. It feels like it has been about 20 days since I have written. I guess it is because it has been 20 days. It seems that the longer I wait to write, the more I have to write about. It's funny how that works. Since my last post, I have taken a vacation. I took off for an entire week. I'm not used to being gone that long. We decided to go to the Memphis Zoo. After all, we did have 4 free tickets. The were about to expire, so we thought it would be nice to go. We took my sister-in-law with us. Since there was now 6 people going we needed to get a bigger car. She helped us out a lot. We ended up renting a Ford Freestar. It was really nice. It had a DVD player for the kids, which was great. We arrived in Memphis on Wednesday. The plan was to stay 2 nights, and then come home. Casey is a big Elvis fan, so we thought taking him to Graceland would be cool. I used to like Elvis also. I guess I still do. We stayed at the Hampton Inn on Union Ave. It seemed like a nice place. We had to drive through some not so friendly looking places to get there, but it seemed nice. I'd like for you to know that I repeated the word "Seemed". Little did we know, but the freaks come out at night there. I'll get into more detail in a minute.

We weren't sure what we were going to do for supper that night. It was getting late, and still no plans. I make it a habit to look through the papers in the hotel rooms, no matter where I go. I noticed that they have menus for the restaurants that delivered at the front desk. That seemed like a good idea (there's that word again). We found that one of the menu's was to Tucker's. Well, that's what we ordered. You might be asking, "Why not just get up and go find something to eat?". And that is a good question. There is a really good reason. It's not we didn't know where we were, and it was dark. The real reason is that we have gotten hooked. You see, it was close to 8:00pm. That is a crucial time for us. We are hooked to this TV show, Lost that comes on at 8:00. That is why we couldn't leave. Is that crazy or what?!?!?

Well, like I said Tucker's seemed like a good place to eat. We ordered, and the delivery girl arrived. She had blue hair, a nose ring, a ring right about her chin (a spike), rings in her eye brows, and of course a tongue ring. However, she was pretty polite. I thought to myself, "Well, this isn't so bad." Then, I found out I owed her $55.00 for the meal. The food was good. Well, mine was. I ordered a foot-long Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich. The others ordered a Pizza, Cheeseburger, and against my will, Casey ordered Hot Wings. Casey is a bit weird, when it comes to chicken. I guess weird is not the right word to use. He is like his mom, and me (to a certain extent). He likes chicken, but he doesn't really care for it on the bone. I know this, but apparently his mother doesn't. I told him not to order wings, but she asked, why not. I withdrew my objection. However, when we got the food, it wasn't what he was expecting. They were hot wings alright, but it was the whole wing. He was used to the small buffalo wings you can get at Pizza Hut. I was expecting that too. After all, I did order him 10 or them. As soon as he saw them he acted like he wasn't going to eat them. Uhh WRONG ANSWER... He ate some of it, but no where near all of it. Maybe next time he'll listen, they'll listen (I doubt it). So that was our night.

The next day we had planned to get up (whenever) and get ready to go to the Zoo. We got up, grabbed some free breakfast at the hotel (the best kind...free), and started out to the Zoo. I went to the van, and noticed that some of our papers were taken out of a bag and were in the passenger seat. No big deal. My sister-in-law had just been out there. I did notice a flashlight case in the floorboard, but no flashlight. Camille's wallet was there, so just for grins I looked in it. Just as I suspected, all of the money, credit cards, driver's license, pictures, etc. were right were she left them. Off to the zoo we go. I needed to make 1 stop. I had to clear my pictures off of the digital camera, so that we could take pictures of the animals and kids. Wal-greens does this pretty cheap. Uh-Oh...The camera, which was in the floorboard was gone!!! We go back to the hotel, and look around. Nothing... It appears someone got in the van overnight (must have been the freaks). I was still a bit confused. I mean they went through a bag, grabbed a flashlight out of it, left the had plastic case, totally overlooked a woman's wallet, and took a digital camera. Now you tell me. Is that the work of a freak or what? At first, I thought I left the doors unlocked (must have thought I was home), but later we noticed that the whole door lock was missing. Once again, the freaks take the weirdest thing. We even found a McDonald's Happy Meal box on the ground. Camille said it was in the van, and had Alina, our daughter's hamburger in it. Needless to say, the burger was gone. Let's see, money... or the burger and a good camera...? We still had a good time. After all, it's not like we were in the van at the time. I think that if the camera had not been there, they would have found the wallet.

Another episode we had occurred prior to our trip. We had to visit the Hospital FOUR times in six days. It all started on Tuesday. Camille started spotting a bit. I left work to go check on her. We called the doctor, and they told her to go in on Wednesday. She was due for an ultrasound on the following Monday, but they went ahead and did it on Wednesday. Joe, the ultrasound guy, said he couldn't see a baby. She should have been around 13 weeks, but the sack measures 7 weeks. We went straight in to see her OB/GYN. He was out, but one of his nurses took care of us. She let us know what had happened. Apparently, this is what you call a "Blighted Ovum". She told us that 1 out of 8 pregnancies are blighted ovums. I did a bit of research on it, and found that there is a 13% chance of having one. That's pretty close to 1 out of 8. Maybe she knew what she was talking about.

Camille wanted a D and C, but they told her that she should be able to pass everything on her own. It would be like a bad menstrual cycle...HA!!!!!!! YEAH RIGHT!!!!!! If they ever told her that again, I don't want to be anywhere around. All they wanted to do was get some blood work. Of course we had to go to the Hospital for that. So, here is visit number one.

Thursday went okay. She had some of pain, but nothing more. She had to go back to do MORE blood work on Friday, trip number 2. They wanted to compare the Pregnancy hormones from the first blood work to make sure they were decreasing. If they were decreasing that means that she was miscarrying on her own. Her results came back positive for the miscarriage, so now we were waiting for the "bad cycle". It happened on Friday night. I won't go into detail out of respect for Camille and the readers (whomever you may be). I ended up leaving work. She was in so much pain. She was crying all night. She was real weak throughout the night.

Saturday went a little better. She remained weak, but the pain wasn't as intense. Of course she had no real appetite. She is borderline anemic anyway, so that didn't help. Sunday came around, and we thought she was better. We went to church, and even went out to eat afterwards. She ate about half of her meal, the pain hit her. She was going back and forth to the bathroom, and then started crying. Needless to say, we left early, and I took her to the hospital, trip number 3. There wasn't much they could do. They gave her an IV, took more blood, and gave us Pain Medication. They also scheduled a D and C for Monday, trip number 4. The D and C went well. She came out a bit emotional and way under the influence, but other than that she was fine.

There have been some moments when she gets depressed, but for the most part those have passed. She has excepted the loss. I think it is safe to say, that neither of us want to go through that again. This makes 3 miscarriages. The emotional side of it is too much to bear. We need to take time to appreciate the 3 wonderful children we have. However, is we are blessed with another opportunity, we would gladly take it. But right now, neither of us is ready for that.

I can't believe it has been so long since I wrote. Granted, I posted pictures, but that really doesn't count. So much has happened lately. I have been pretty covered up at work for the past couple of weeks. My boss was out of town, and a lot of his responsibilities fell on me. I guess you can say I carried his weight for a while. And if you knew him, you'd be impressed. He's no little fella. Needless to say, I have more respect for the things he does, when we don't think he is working. It is now officially official. Paperwork Sucks. I always thought so, but it gets worse as you go along.

One day, I spoke with one of my coworkers, and I asked the question, "Do you ever want to just cry?" His response was,"Quite often." I have to admit, I was a bit shocked. You don't hear a guy say things like that very often these days. I really don't know why I should have been so shocked. I mean. I have become a pretty emotional guy in the last decade or so. I see nothing wrong with crying. I think it cleanses the body. But then again, I'm not your normal male, either. Several of the things in life that I enjoy would be considered what a woman would like. For instance, I love to shop, even if I don't intend to buy anything. My wife, on the other hand doesn't care for it too much. I love quiet walks through the park. For the most part, I'd prefer that over watching a football game on TV. My wife would not. If her favorite College Football team (UT) is playing, she will rush to do whatever needs to be done in order to get home by kickoff time. Sometimes, it's funny to watch her. So back to the main topic, "Grown Men Crying". Maybe, the whole "it's not manly to cry" things has been blown out of proportion, but I always thought that was the general views, though I myself disagreed. Am I wrong? Is that not what the majority of people think these days? Any thoughts?

Let's see what else has happened? Well, my wife found out that she is pregnant...again. This makes the Sixth Pregnancy! I know what you're thinking. SIX KIDS!?!?! Relax. She had 2 miscarriages, so as of right now we only have 3, and one on the way. I know what you are thinking... FOUR KIDS!?!?! Yep. That's what I always wanted. Though I didn't plan it this time (or the last time for that matter). I can almost guarantee that this is the last one. I know. I know. We said that last time. We have decided that it would be best to put me on birth control (so to speak). I'm not happy about it, either. Like I said, it is for the best. We'll just have to see what happens.

I will try to get more pictures posted soon, but I plan to write a few more entries first. Talk to you (or Myself) soon.

This isn't the best picture, but I just love Olivia's expression 

ME - Alina! Are you running in the house again? ALINA - No sir, I just walk fast. OLIVIA - I'm innocent. 

He's growing. They had to keep him on a heart monitor. That's what the wires are. 

He's sooo cute. 

This is the little family. Notice Mommy spilling the bottle. Ooops! 

I thought this was a great picture. His Aunt Camille was running her finger down his forehead, and he smiled.