Moving On

Well, I have not had any comments lately, but for those of you who read...I am moving everything to myspace. The url is www.myspace.com/ginbsw. This way I can manage alot of different things. See ya!

Ramblings for the 4th....

Well today is July the 4th! I hope everyone has had a great day, great food and great family time - I had great work time. Yes I had to work. However, my mom did bring me some ribs and potato salad from my grandmother's house.

You know at different times in our lives we think about how fortunate and blessed we are - or at least I do. I work in a nursing home and never really realized how blessed I am to be able to go outside everyday and enjoy the rain, sun and / or humidity! As I was working today, I watched people walk by my office on their way to visit their loved one. I don't know why it suddenly hit me, but it did. The realization that not only do we live in a country where we are free but everyday that we wake up in our own home, in our own bed and with our family is another Independence Day! I am able to get my own food, go to the bathroom on my own, dress myself, bathe myself and all those other daily things without any assistance. How must it feel to know that everything I need or want I have to ask someone for - and the chance of my getting what it is that I want or need depends on whether or not the employee answers my call light.

These are thoughts that I have today as I also think about the men and women who have served over the past 200+ years to ensure that we are able to celebrate Independence Day!

As the World Turns....

greetings to the few and faithful! things have been a little wild down here - ok so what is unusual about that. i went back in the hospital on 6-7-07 to 6-12-07. i have been sick for about a month prior to this with what i knew to be a some sort of urinary problem. but of course do you think i went to the md? no - that would make too much sense. so when it got to the point that it felt like midgets were jumping up and down on my bladder i decided to go to the md. she said there was so much blood and white blood cells in the urine she could not count them. so she put me straight in the hospital for iv levaquin and other goodies. she was scared because they traced the blood clot in march to a uti that i did not even know i had. anyway, i went back wednesday for another urine culture. she looked at it under the microscope before she sent it off for culture, and it still looks terrible. as she put it, "that is nasty." still blood and wbc. she has put me on cipro until the cultures come back. now remember i was on iv levaquin bid for 6 days and then took 5 additional pills orally. she said once the culture comes back she is going to put me on a daily antibiotic. we may be looking at a bladder scan and urethral dilation. i have heard that hurts real bad. other than that for me everything is fine.

jamie is going to have to have a mri done on her left leg and foot. i don't know if you remember, but several years ago her left leg began to swell. we have injured it a couple of times playing volleyball. we have torn the planar facia muscle twice. well now the foot starting swelling and hurting. now it is all the way up to her knee to the point her toes look like a pregnant woman's toes, she can't bend or flex her foot. she wears flared leg jeans and they are tight around that leg. i took her back to the ortho, and he said there are no fractures and he is puzzled. so we are waiting for bcbs to approve the mri. of course she still has her regular drama.

jacob is doing great. he has really matured alot in just a few weeks of being out of school. i still am probably going to hold him back b/c i just do not feel he is ready for 3rd grade. it is a hard decision to make but i don't want him to continue struggling. he is so loving. everytime you turn around he wants a hug. last night we went to a viewing of a little girl that we know who died of leukemia. she was only 8 years old jacob told me that he bet she was in heaven playing with paw paw. he was real sweet. he walked up to the casket and just looked at her. then he said, i am ready to go. he is going to a summer camp at a baptist church 4 miles from my office. they are really good with him, and he seems to enjoy it. they are certified k - 12 private academy. i am thinking about putting him there for a year. i have not made up my mind.

stephen is doing okay. he is having horrible sinus trouble, which makes it difficult for him to wear his cpap machine. hence the reason i am up and online at 5 AM. there really is not alot new with him. he is taking his lipitor medicine and seems to be doing okay. i don't know if you knew he had to have an emergency arteriorgram. he had no significant blockage in any one artery, but he had 33% overall. he has not lost any weight. he is interested in the idea, but not willing to do what it takes. i know it is hard, but i just worry about him. i have lost 46 pounds since october. it was hard for me to lose the weight, but i knew i had to do it because of my diabetes.


mom and dad are okay. of course dad is in montana where it is not 150 degrees. he said they got 8" of snow the other day. mom is going downhill physically. since this last knee surgery, she has not bounced back as quickly. she is still walking with cain. she will not allow me to set up home health to come out and do some pt on the leg. she is being real stubborn. she has no energy whatsoever. just to go to the grocery store and back she says it wipes her out. who knows? dad is doing great - at least that is what he is telling me.

work is work. i enjoy my job and the people i work with, i just don't like the corporate structure. you literally have to submit in writing if you need to fart. oh well, nobody asked me for my opinion. it is very rewarding to see people come in, go through our rehab program and then get to return home. i was part of the planning to transition a man back to the community who had been in the nursing home for 7 years. he is doing well and is much happier. i also was a part of helping a homeless lady that came to us for therapy find a place to live. so even though there is alot of red tape, it certainly has its rewards.

stephen and i went on a little weekend trip last weekend. we are at dinner and my cell phone rings. it says "home". jamie says, "mother" now we all know she means buisness. She says, "mother, would you please tell Jacob to quit playing golf in the house?" he had taken the handle off the swiffer and was using it as a club. God only knows what the ball was. you know they grow up way too fast, but it sure is fun while it lasts. love to all



well now that you have a mini novel on the life and times of the Bass family, i am sure your day is complete.

Life is fragile...

Well it has been a long time since I posted. Life has continued to pass by along with the struggles and triumphs that go with it. I just have come to the realization that life is very fragile. The Bible says it is but a vapor. This is so true.

In the past two months, more people that I know or who are close to have died. Some of them were expected. Others were not. Most recently was the daughter of a friend of mine. The little girl was 8 years old, and she had leukemia. You know, my daughter had cancer. We were very lucky that she is still alive. We all have been told it is not our place to question God's timing, but doesn't it make you wonder, why the children? You see and hear about all these bad people in the world who seem to never get caught or punished, but yet a small sweet child is taken so untimely. Another instance is a little 8 month old baby that I am acquainted with. He is suffering from a rare form of leukemia. His story is amazing. www.ethanpowell.com but why must the little children suffer. I know when our daughter was sick, my husband prayed for God to give it to him. Parents feel totally helpless and guilty.

These are just thoughts that have kept me awake tonight. This blog may go unread by many, but the words are at least on paper.

Random Thoughts

Well, I have not posted anything in a while. It has been interesting in the Bass household - as usual. I was in the hospital - no shock there - then Stephen scared us all to death. He was in overnight with chest pains, and had to have an arteriorgram. We have been out of town and just dealing with the day to day grind of raising a family. Stephen surprised me today with a new set of patio furniture. We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs tonight and ate outside on the new furniture. It was great. The kids are getting ready to get out of school for the summer. They will be leaving at the end of May to go to Montana for 6 weeks. I don't know what Stephen and I will do without children for 6 weeks. Anyway, I have posted some new pictures...hope you enjoy!

The 15 year old love triangle...

i am not really sure what the title of this blog should be. i am so miffed right now with my 15 year old. why is it that they think we as parents are stupid. this tyrade started yesterday as i am waiting at the surgery center with my mom. there was a kid, boy, in there who was about 12. he got up to walk outside and his dad asked where he was going. he said outside. his dad told him no because we were in downtown birmingham. the kid turned and said i'm hot and i'm going outside. first of all i am 31 years old and if my mom or dad told me no i would sit my butt down. why? number one i would not want to pick my teeth up off the floor, number two you just don't do that. anyway. so i come home yesterday and my 15 year old says, can i spend the night with sue - i am changing names of these minors. she proceeds to tell me that there will be about five girls spending the night at sue's house. now it is important to realize that "sue" is my 15 year old's ex boyfriends ex. here is how the timeline goes. sue and joe go together. sue and joe break up. joe starts going with my 15 year old. now my 15 year old and joe break up. joe and sue are back together. now that you have the timeline here is the rest of the story.

so this afternoon, joe calls here and asks me if it is okay if he goes to sue's house while my 15 year old is there because he and sue need to talk to my 15 year old about "some issues". i promptly and curtly remind joe that i pay a trained professional to talk to my 15 year old about her issues. he says no, these are issues related to me and sue. i tell him, if you and any other army need to talk to my 15 year old about anything you can do it in my house. he did not like this.

so stephen and i begin talking to our daughter about how messed up this situation is. she contends that she does not have feelings for joe anymore. i find this hard to believe since they "dated" for almost a year. for some reason, she seems to think that they can all be "one big happy family." am i over reacting? wait it gets better. so stephen tells our duaghter that joe and sue can come over to the house and we will all sit down and discuss this situation. at the end of the conversation, sue decides that she is not coming over because she wants to go to a party. so joe comes over to his ex girlfriend's house while his current girlfriend is at a party.

is this messed up or am i just that old? i am telling you raising children is an adventure. i know there are people in the world who have lost their children and would give anything to be in my shoes and there are people who would love to be able to have children. i am by no means wishing that i did not have these problems, but it just seems so strange to me that things are so different. i told my mom the other day that you take your children to church, you raise them the best you know how, you give them everything they need and could possibly want and it still is not enough, it is not good enough and they still have issues. for those of you who know me well, you know what issues i am speaking of. well i guess i have vented enough for now.

I have a new camera....

After 10 years, I finally splurged and bought myself a GOOD digital camera. I have been playing with it. I could really kick myself for not getting one sooner. The pictures posted are just random ones...my cat...my dog - at least one of them I have four...and yes the lovely critters I call children. There will be an additional post about those critters.

With the software that came with my camera I can make invitations, greeting cards, etc. As many of you know, I am technologically challenged, so all of you probably knew that this could be done. Humor the social worker!

Reality Check

you know it is great to be alive! i don't really know where this thought came from, but it has really been on my mind the past few days. there is baby ethan fighting for his life, a co worker of mine was in a real bad car accident and is in critical condition and then there are the people who live at the nursing home. i worked today and had some quiet time. i was looking over the census and we have people from 18 to 104. 18 years old and in a nursing home. i cannot imagine. i spent about an hour today with one of my residents. he is 28 years old and very wise. he is a hurricane katrina evacuee. it was nice to sit and talk to somebody who has traveled a different road than i. we talked about the Bible, church and such. i just realized that i take alot for granted and need to be more appreciative. i hope everyone has a blessed day!

Nailing Jello to the Wall

my father in law used to say that raising children is like trying to nail jello to a wall. i really did not understand that until jacob started school. for those of you who do not know, jacob is textbook ADD. if you have never worked with an ADD child, count your blessings. two rules to remember about ADD children - they do not adjust well to change and they are always right. now i don't mean i am right and you are wrong. i am talking that right is right and wrong is wrong. if someone is doing something wrong, then the ADD child feels that it is his responsibility to "save the world." now with all of that in mind, we go to jacob's day at school yesterday. i get a phone call at work from the school. it seems that jacob, otherwise known as superhero, that jacob had beaten the snot out of a little boy in the lunch line. jacob said that this little boy was breaking in front of other people in line - boys. then he did it - he broke in front of miranda. at this time, jacob felt that as a superhero he had to save the girl. therefore, he beat the snot out of the little boy. understand that jacob has spent quite a few days in on campus suspension because of his mouth and his "superhero responsibilities." i had to give permission for them to paddle my son. yes, i agreed for them to beat my child with a board. wouldn't dhr be proud? however, on a happy note, since this paddling, my superhero has not felt that his responsibilities were so great and his attitude has been much better.

on to another day -
last saturday my mom took jacob to my sister's house - lib. they all were going to hangout and just spend some time together. they go to mcdonald's for lunch. jacob informs lib that he needs to borrow her cell phone to call his girlfriend - hannah. he dials a number - the wrong one - gets frustrated and hangs up. a pretty little girl is walking across the resturant, and my sister says, "jacob, there is a pretty little girl" to which he replies, "lib, i am already juggling three who are trying to hit on me." so now not only do i have a child who is a superhero, but he is a superhero pimp. again, raising children is like nailing jello to a wall!

Satan goes to church...

now that i have gotten your attention. i have never wanted to cuss in church as bad as i did today. we had lunch after church today with a quartet - alliance - to sing at 1:30. well, it is customary that during intermission, different people from the church or community sing while the special singing group rests. well today, they asked me to sing. now for those of you who don't know, i do sing more than just in the shower. some of you may not have even had a clue. anyway, so our choir director asked me to sing. i had the song "thank you" by ray boltz in my purse. so i get up there to sing. i have sung this song a million times - no problem. well, i begin singing, it is going very well. but then things start to seem strange. i am looking in the audience to my friend shiela who together we decide that something is not going right. so i continue, making the best of it. still thinking that something bad is about to happen. then it does. the whole system shuts off- completely off. do you hear me? do you understand what i am saying? the whole system shuts off. now bear in mind that i am already a little ticked to start with. we will discuss that in a minute. i cannot believe that the system has just shut off. no music, no sound, no nothing. this is just the end to a perfect day. before i knew it, i said, "that will be just about enough." i turn the microphone off and plop it down on top of the piano. i go back to my pew, and the preacher's wife leans up and says, "you know...we have been having problems with the system doing that...it just turns off." do you think you could get a new one before you have people singing in front of 100 people. unbelievable.

okay, now to the reason why i was already ticked. most of you know that i was raised in the church of christ. we all know the jokes and the redicule that comes with it. my opinion is this, unless you were raised in the church of christ and you know the whole story and all the principles, then you do not have the right to make any comment on the situation. now do not get me wrong. i have made the decision to go to a different church than the church of christ. i have good reason. however, folks need to get some business and get in it. i love our preacher, brother harold. but sometimes, he makes me really wander if there is a filter between his brain and his mouth. this morning he preached on false doctrine. okay this is a good topic, because lord knows there is plenty of it out there. he goes into the catholics, mormons, jehovah's witness and then he did it. he went there. the church of christ. he stated that if all you do is go down the aisle, shake the preacher's hand and get baptized, you are going to a devil's hell. now what i think and hope he really meant to say is that if you truly do not repent your sins to God and you think that just being baptized is the answer, then you are going to a devil's hell. well i am seriously outnumbered in the church. i am surrounded by people who are saying amen more times than carter's got liver pills. so i am already in a foul mood, but maybe i did not go to church with the right attitude this morning. so then the incident with the sound system just really did it. so as i said, satan goes to church because he was sitting right next me. have a great week!

the 14 year old law....

ok for those of you who do not have teenagers...get on good terms with God. just fyi...once your child turns 14 the government seems to think that they are old enough to make their own health care decisions. yes that is what i said. you see i have had a personal experience with this. i had good reason to request certain lab tests be done to my daughter. so today when i called to get the results...mind you the tests that i requested that my insurance paid for that i pay the premium for... i was told "well she will have to call and give us permission to talk to you." excuse you! i support this child 100%, put a roof over her head, clothes on her body and food in her mouth. the government says that a 14 year old can make their own health decisions but you have to be 16 to drive a car, 18 to vote for the leader of your country and 21 to drink alcohol. but at 14 you can decide how to handle a std, pregnancy, drug screens and addictions. is it me or is there something wrong with this picture? again, yes i am a social worker and maybe i am supposed to know these things. but i work with old people.

so after i have peeled myself off the roof, had a nervous breakdown, scared several of my friends to death because they had never seen nor heard me so upset, i begin to think of how i am going to approach this with my child. so this is what i came up with. i explained the 14 year old law to her, but gently reminded her that she still lived under my roof, spent my money and ate my food. therefore, if she felt that she did not need to place my or her father's name on that blasted hippa form, then the next time she got sick with a cold, flu, cramps, shits or whatever, she was on her own to get to the doctor. she says what about medicines. i said what about it. you are old enough to make your own healthcare decisions then you are old enough to figure out how to get your medicines. i don't know how to take my temperature or my blood pressure...what is normal...to which i said, you have two choices put my name on the paper or figure it out on your own.

if you have ever wondered what is wrong with this country...it is the people who have nothing better to do than to think up stupid, rediculous absurd and every other expletive that i cannot put in writing laws like the 14 year old law. and if you disagree with me...keep it to yourself because you probably don't have kids and it won't do anything but make me alot more mad.

the joys of parenthood...

My first survey as "director"

oh my goodness. you know if you work in a nursing home, you are used to the phrase, "Attention all staff and residents, we would like to take this time to welcome the Department of Public Health to our building." This means one of two things - it is time for your annual survey or you have screwed up. well needless to say, since i have not updated this blog in a while, we had really screwed up. the state was in our building from Wednesday through Friday. The whole problem is that they were in our building on a "social service issue" yea that makes me feel real good. bear in mind there has been no social worker in this building in about 3 months, and the year and half they did have a social worker, i do not know what she did. anyway, i feel like i have been on an ak47 firing line for the past week. luckily, we have managed to get out of a major tag with the state, but it was alot of work. for those of you who would like the "ginny version" of this story, just call me. the story is too long to put on a blog. i guess the funniest part of the whole week was on wednesday night, we are all about to fall over. it is about 8 pm and we are starving. understand that when the state is in the building, you cannot leave until the state says you can leave. so anyway, we decided to order pizza. it was left to me to do this. so i call papa johns. they answer, thank you for calling papa johns. i say, i would like to place an order. they say pick up or delivery. i say delivery. they say i'm sorry we are not delivering anymore. before i knew it, i said then why the hell did you ask. the funny part of this is i have only been at this job for two months, and the director of nursing, the executive director and the regional clinical operations nurse were in the office. oh well, as my husband says, you never have to worry about what is on my mind. have a great week.