dementedturtle.com

I have finally gotten around to uploading my new theme. Thanks to Melissa and her Nekkid Wordpress Theme I have managed to make a theme fitting my needs. Some pages have been overhauled as well. I also learned the proper usage of the dl, dt, and dd tags. Date formatting courtesy of brainstormsandraves.com. The color scheme is based off of Harmony Professional Palette. Image background is from a background I made on colourlovers.com called Professional Mess. The only thing left to work on I think is the comments. DONE! If you do see anything out of place or you think isn’t supposed to be there just leave a comment.

Despite being told repeatedly that doctors usually know best especially when it comes to a specialized practice I found out this past week that this is not always true. Let me give you a short recap on the past so what I am about to bitch about will make sense.

Davey is my oldest son. When he was born he had brain damage that effected an unknown part of his brain. Unknown because it did not show up on normal generic tests. As time went on his pedatrician strongly thought he would have some form of Autism. Getting to school age she realized if he was going to have any form of Autism it would have shown itself by now therefore we need not worry but still watch just in case. Preschool came and went as did kindergarten. All the while my sanity was leaving too. I could not take Davey out in public as his actions usually almost got us kicked out of places. I did not get kicked out with him as I knew the point in which I had to leave to be able to come back to said place. I took him to his doctor about once a month with updates on his actions and in the first year of first grade (he was retained and had to do 2 years) we decided it could be possible he did indeed had ADHD. However since it did not occur at school we would not medicate him. However if he did start having problems at school we would look into it. A few years later he started having problems in school and was on the verge of being put in special ed or moved to a different school. His doctor prescribed him something and it worked at first but he had the rare side effect of psychosis. I took him off on my own and called the county mental health as his pediatrician refused to prescribe him anything for his ADHD as she was not qualified. While not on his medicine he developed some other disorder (I had no idea wht it was but I do now) and was threatening to kill people and actually tried to kill his brothers. He was immeadiatly seen and given a differnt type of ADHD medicine. He has been on it for 2 years now. Once the ADHD was under control he started working on his other disorder. We found out after months of observing he had OCD and Bipolar Disorder. With a new medicine to help that come under control he no longer tried to kill anyone, commit suicide, or bang his head on walls. Sure he was hyper at the end of the day but his ADHD meds worked wile in school and that is all that mattered.

Coming up to 2 years of him being on this combination of medicine his psych doctor decided to try him without his ADHD medicine. Ok no problem he was off school for the summer. She was worried about his weight as supposedly he lost almost 10 pounds. We go on with life until he runs out of his ADHD medicine. We find out that his weight is fine, that no he did not loose almost 10 pounds (the psych doctors scale is off), and he is not underweight according to his Gasterontologist Specialist. That the more likely reason he was not gaining weight but staying in the 60 pound range was because of his acid reflux and his bowel issues. He was gaining weight until his bowel issue arose. His ADHD medicine finally runs out. I give a few days to get used to not being on it (it is like meth in a sense). But the days went on and he got to the point he could not even pay attention enough to be able to pee in the toilet. I even stood with him to make sure and all. Yesterday I finally got fed up with it and informed his psych doctor about all that I found out about his weight. I also told her the work we had done for the past 2 years was going down the drain and it would all be her fault if something happened with Davey. I also called his previous counselor and informed him all the work he helped Davey with to get to where he is at is going down the drain because of his Psych doctor and that he should have a talk with her. Not an half hour later I get a call to come pick up his prescription for his ADHD meds. He has been back on it for 2 days and he’s back. He is taking a bath again, able to pee correctly (getting it in the toilet), able to think before he acts, and no more banging his head on the wall.

I do not know if this combination of medicine is the right one but it is what works and makes him able to live life like a normal child. I do not have a cookie cutter normal child but at least he can go to the bathroom again and all the work we did to get him to be ‘normal’ hasn’t totally gone down the drain. It will be a few months to get him back to where he was but it’s better then what could have happened. I sit here crying as I write this because the little boy I saw trapped inside is no longer trapped and he is free.

I know some of you know that my youngest son Jeremy needed surgery. Some may not know what for but it was for his mouth. He had 5 teeth removed. 1 was infected and 4 where his baby teeth that would not fall out and allow the permanent ones to grow in so they where trying to pop out the side of his gums. He also got 5 caps/crowns and 1 or 2 fillings. His face is still a bit bruised and he had a sore in his nose that got infected. He is doing fine (I hope he is at his Dads this weekend). He has already started to improve! He has not had a fever since the day after the surgery! He had a fever pretty much every day to the point 100 degree f was normal for him, But it is back down to 97 or 98 now. I am totally thrilled about this. He is more active too! He has already lost a bit more weight and it isn’t because he can’t eat. It took about a year for him to gain the weight the doc wants off so I say it will take that long on average. It’s just great he is feeling better. The day after his surgery we had to go to Escondido for Davey to see his specialist. He needs an endoscopy & possibly surgery for his acid reflux. His specialist is boggled why he hasn’t had the surgery yet. He has had acid reflux all his life and it caused him many other problems. Part of it is my fault as we had to worry about his ears, his school, & mental health. But that is all gone or being taken care of so we can work on his stomach issues. We went to the Oceanside Pier afterwards as the kids where really good. It seemed to be at least 50 degrees F WITH the wind chill factor at the beach. But across the street at the parking lots it was so much hotter! At the pier some ugly looking bird (pelican?) got really close to us so I had to snap a picture of it. I am guessing it is a female bird as it is ‘ugly’. To me it is beautiful. In all my life (been going there for at least 27 years now) I have never seen one like this. I used to go to the beach & pier daily as a kid. After the beach and pier we went to the Oceanside harbor to show the kids the boats. I thought we’d be going to the Harbor Mall but we did not because of Glenn and Robert complaining. While looking at the boats Seagulls started investigating our presence and we decided to feed the one that got closest to us. I know some of you may thing that is wrong. However I tell my kids stories of feeding the ducks and that one pink flamingo at the Buena Vista Lagoon in Carlsbad. It is now fenced of (but still there). I wanted them to experience something I got to as a kid. Out here where we live now there is nothing like what I had as a kid to do. I guess that is what happens when you grow up by the beach but your kids don’t. I am seriously home sick, but I am trying to learn to deal with it. I think about Oceanside and Carlsbad (in San Diego) and I cry. I do not know why. It hurts physically to be away from there. But I put it aside and go on.

In other happenings today is Fathers Day in the United States. I do not know where else it is fathers Day. So be a good child (unlike me) and let your father know what he means to you. I would do it but really my father means nothing to me but another issue I have to deal with when the HIV turns to AIDS & I have to take care of him. He doesn’t deserve the care I give as it is. Why yes, I hate fathers day. [rant begin]There is no reason to keep trying with him. All he ever cared about and still cares about is his men and drugs. Oh and trying to issue me guilt and get sympathy from me. He makes the gay community look bad, esp if he is the only gay person you know. Luckily he is not the only one I know. I do wonder will he come to California and get his marriage to Kurt legalized? He has until November to do so starting tomorrow. I hope he gives me a warning if he decided to come out here.[/rant end]

I am going to start working on my theme soon. I will be using Melissa’s Nekkid theme because frankly I am lost with Word Press themes. And I will add tea cups to my tea cup page when I get around to it.

Today I decided that I need something different. We all go through these changes but I doubt any as much as I (or maybe you do?). Anyhow I decided I want a simple but elegant theme. I know that is obtainable if I try. I do have XAMPP installed so I can work on the theme without messing up anything here. The sketch to your left is the one I came up with a bit ago for the new theme. I kept reading ’sketch it out first’, so I did. I think it will fit my needs as I do not need a side bar (I just clutter them up) and it still includes my flickr stream (I hope). I want to use the little pixel potion Louise made over at the Q*Bee for a little avatar. It is called ‘Mothers Endless Energy” & I need some. I do not know if I should have it all 1 fluid column or 1 column fixed. Fluid will mean it stretches across the entire screen while fixed will mean it will stretch to about 750 px (because there are those wil 800×600 monitors still) and include a back ground. I was thinking of the Harmony Professional pallette as I have seen some of the patterns made with it & they are stunning. I think I will use this pattern I made with that pallette. I have a few questions though to my faithful viewers (which by the way where are you?) & anyone else who comes here because they are bored…

1. Should I do it fluid, fixed, or offer both in a theme switcher?
2. Are there any other colors you think would look good? (please tell me what pallette from colourlovers.com)
3. If I did offer both in a theme switcher where is one compatible for wp2.5 or is there a way to do it w/ out the theme switcher?
4. Does anyone know of a CSS tutorial on how to make those fancy date boxes?
5. Is there anything I should offer other then what is on the sketch?

Yeah questions I probably could have thought the answers to myself. But you know I might actually take your advice if you give me some.

I finally got a picture of Cali the other day. Here she is. Marmalade is teaching her how to play with the new toy. Best $6 I spent for the cats.

I have nothing else to write about that wouldn’t cause me to get all mad. I am really stressed & tired. Oh I typed up 4 new crochet patterns for 4 inch squares. You can find them here. Mentioning crocheting. I know of some wonderful chicks who are helping me make sixty 12 inch squares. If you want to help too just leave a comment. They are for my kids as we are going to have a lot of doctor appts, procedures, & a few surgeries this summer.

Corina, Marmalade & The 7 Fins! Here is a picture of our new fish. I call them the 7 fins because there are 3 gold fish, 3 rosey minnows, & 1 algae eater. Well I think they are rosey minnows. They are minnows of some kind and where with the feeder fish. We also got 2 new cats today. Marmalade is roange and white, very social, and thinks she already owns the house. They animal shelter says that she is about 10 or 11 months old. She seems to love the sounds of bells. Corina is the other cat we got. She is a gray tabby who is about 1 year and 6 months old. She is a timid little thing who just barely started exploring the house. They have been home for 6 hours now. She walks with a limp though. I felt her hips and when she moves her back leg it feels as though the joint dislocates. I do not have money to repair her so I hope that she will be ok. We will see come Friday when we see the vet. My moms boyfriend is already complaining because we have the cats. I promised the boys there would be at least 2 cats come Adopt A Cat month at our local shelter. I hardly promise anything so I had to follow through. Talking about my moms boyfriend. He got fired from his trucking job last week. Mom & Glenn drove to Utah to pick him up. The boys got kicked out of their room so that Mom & her boyfriend could have a room. I just got a call from the boys father stating that ’someone’ may call CPS & complain. CPS has been known to take kids away for pretty much anything. I must inform my mom that the boys have to have their room back despite anyone liking the idea. If she gives me shit and refuses well that just goes to show where her hand lays. I am not saying she shouldn’t have a life & all that… but this guy (they have been together 2 years) pretty much controls her. I am not okay with it and I am about to loudly explain this to my mom. Dusty turned 9 today. He is sad I cannot afford to do anything (thank to my ex-landlord - a very long story). He says he will wait until next week when I can do something. I just feel so bad.

As some of you have noticed my site has been gone. Some dillweed used fake emails from my site to send spam. As most of you know most email programs have a ‘reply to’ address you can add so they will reply to a different email address then the email you are sending from. That is the only way I could think of that this could have happened. I am now using Google Aps for my email. It looks like a nifty thing. I do hope that it works. zp.org still has the apache is installed page up. I hope after the MX records are changed I can go about my business as usual.

Today while packing more stuff at the old place (fyi the internet is on at the new place where I am right now) a bird comes crashing into the window. See our windows are placed so that to a bird it is a straight way through - little do they know there are windows. This bird found out the hard way and my husband picked it up. We thought it was a pigeon. So I take it to the animal shelter. If it’s wings where not broken then by the time the stun wore off it would be a cats lunch. I just could not have that happen. The person who takes care of the birds and foul at the animal shelter was there and took a look at the bird. I told him it was a pigeon and he politely informed me that no it was not a pigeon but a dove. I thought he was crazy as doves are only white. It is in fact a Ring-necked Dove. Anyhow the person tried to get it to fly and it would not because the birds wings had been clipped and ar not fully grown back yet. It is amazing the bird lasted out like it did with clipped wings. Anyhow. The animal shelter could not take the bird as they had no way to take care of it. I take it back into the car and we head on out to Davids house. He has a lot of birds and is becoming a breeder. The whole 15 minute drive out there the dove perched itself up on the steering wheel. David now has the bird as they where looking to buy a Dove today anyhow. The boys are thrilled as they can see the bird they helped save every weekend. Too bad I did not have my camera with me (it is still packed) or I would have had a priceless picture of a dove perched on a steering wheel. The bird was looking out the window too as to say it was directing the way we went.

Yes you read the post title right. We are still trying to move in. Yes we have the place. And yes we will move in - eventually. Someone (not naming names) got the bright idea to paint the concrete floor with outside waterbased paint meant for housing trim. Now isn’t that the brightest thing you have ever heard of? It’s a good idea in retrospect because hey there will be 3 boys & 2 men (wait they are boys in the feeble little minds) living there. It is durable paint that holds up to the weather so why not the boys? Those who put the paint on forgot to leave doors and windows open so the floor is ’sticky’. Currently though the doors and windows are open so that the floor dries completely. I swear it was a ploy to get carpet in the place. I don’t want carpet. But carpet is soooo much better then what the house looks like now. The best thing about this all is that who painted the floor got the paint on the trim, fireplace bricks, sliding glass door frame, and the blinds for the sliding glass door. Now can we all say ‘OMG YOU DID SUCH A GOOD JOB!’? Yes good because I can’t. Roberts friend is putting our carpet in for free when we can afford to buy some. It is a huge room and hallway we need to carpet. I hope to do it come July or August. I can’t in June because Jeremy needs surgery on his mouth and Davey needs to go see his G.I. specialist. I have informed everyone that buying carpet because of someones idea will stop me from buying me a laptop for my birthday. That I cannot play Pirates Online without lagging whenever I want really ticks me off. No I am not addicted to the game - really I swear. Robert hid his laptop that doesn’t make Pirates lag. Why does he get a new spiffy pc that he doesn’t even know what to do with? Why?

Before I had some serious issues in my life this past week I went & bought a new domain name. And if you are reading this you found it. No I have not changed my links anywhere & not it is not completely done. I will finish as times goes on. I am having some serious issues (besides moving) that I have to deal with. So until then be good! Really.