Troubles McSteans

Tomorrow, July 27, is a very special day. It is the birthday of two classy ladies, my mother, and my good friend Nicole. I'm happy to say, my mom and I have a great relationship. I've detailed a little of my medical history here, but that didn't just affect me. My mother went through a lot of that with me, especially in the beginning. She took me to all of my nephrologist appointments which were an hour and a half away in Oklahoma City and was there when I was first diagnosed. I've been fine with all of this for years, but it was a scary day for a previously healthy 17 year old as words like "transplant" and "dialysis" were suddenly thrown around. We were so depressed that we took a detour to the mall on our way home for shopping and about a pound of chocolate each from the Godiva store. Mom took charge of my health, from altering our diets to doing her own research on kidney disease. She even took me to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN for a s...

Anyone that has been to my house when I'm not expecting company knows I'm not the tidiest of people. Honestly it's good for us to have folks over frequently as it forces us to do cleanups. I don't like being this way. I wish I was one of those people (the majority of the population) who are able to put things back after they use them. Simple enough, right? But sometimes I remember to do this and other times I space out. Then the spacing out overpowers the remembering and soon I've got a cluttered living room. Having animals doesn't help. About a year ago we gave up completely trying to keep the dogs off the couch, so there's dog and cat hair everywhere. The hair is only part of the problem. Our backyard has grass except for over by the fence where Lucy has dug a trench running back and forth to bark at the neighbor dogs. When it rains this turns into a mud pit. Then Miss Lucy and sometimes Mel will show up at the door wearing a nice set of mud bo...