The Birthday Boy

Devlyn was so proud to tell me that Mrs. Montgomery (his teacher) asked for his size today to order his school spelling bee t-shirt. He'll be representing his 1st grade class in the first annual Sycamore Creek school spelling bee! The invite/informational sheet we received today spells out the rules. He'll be competing against 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th graders!!! I'm a nervous wreck already. I still remember the word I lost on in my elementary school spelling bee!! It was "phase", I went too quickly and blurted out "f" as the first letter :(. We're so proud of him already for representing his class - my heart swells thinking about watching him compete in the school spelling bee! His birthday presents are all laid out at his spot on the breakfast table for tomorrow morning :). I let them choose what they'd like to eat for the day on their birthdays (within reason). Devlyn has requested donuts for breakfast, a lunchables to pack for lunch and an early dinner at sushi blues for his birthday supper. Sounds like fun to me! I'm going to meet his class at the cafeteria tomorrow with cupcakes during lunch :). 7 years old - what a great age - his whole world is just starting to open up!

Halloween 2012

Best Halloween yet for the Raleigh Upchurch's! It was pretty cold here so it felt really Halloweeny.  The boys had long underwear on under their costumes : )   Of course, Weebsie was complaining of being hot half way through - human heater that he is.  Started the evening out with a stop at our neighbors Carmen and Daniel's house.  They have a great tradition of handing out candy for the kids and adult beverages for the parents!  Usually it's beers but this year they stepped it up and had shots in test tubes - something called "Birthday Cake" vodka...hello!  As we headed down the street to the Hilburn section of the neighborhood 5 houses on Sprague Rd. had pooled their resources.  They were having a street party and met all the little kids at the curb with massive bags of candy for each one.  Talk about spoiled - the kids didn't even have to walk up to the houses.  Then it was on to "Corky's Lounge".  It only took us 10 years but we finally sniffed out and got in good with the fun people in the neighborhood.  One family's garage is always the party lounge - refills, appetizers, a roaring fire, a million kids and plenty of candy.  Got a few pictures of the neighborhood ladies while were were there.  None of the pics came out too well but I was thinking of all the Mom's names and listen to this, Kari, Kristy, Corky(not sure what her real name is!), Christina and Kristin.  Kkkkkkkkkccrazy.  Noone else with a "K" name is allowed to move in!  Devlyn was Sonic the Hedgehog and Blake was Luke Skywalker.  Blake opted to bring his gun rather than his lightsaber and he took great pride in explaining to me that Luke Skywalker has both.  He had that look in his eye that said, "If you don't believe me, I'll pull out the Star Wars book and show you right here and now."  That kid is a Star Wars encyclopedia right now - he and Devlyn know the minute details of characters I've never even heard of before.

HBD Weebsie

The weather held off :). Great birthday for Blake! Hope Sandy takes it easy on you Northerners!

Don't Get Screwed

1. Just another reason to do your best to pay attention to every single thing your doctor recommends in all situations.  I hope they are required to notify patients of the use of this when it's at all possible.  Things like this make me realize that I need to get serious about having a medical alert bracelet made for myself and wear it all the time.  This looks like something that could come into play in an emergency surgery situation - car accident, etc.  Nothing like a medical alert bracelet to make you feel young and vibrant ; )  Oh and nothing like screwing poison laden (in my case) hardware directly into your joints! 

My First Real Photo Shoot

This is good for a laugh, I promise you.  A co-worker and I had a professional shoot done Tuesday afternoon.  Our company recently finished renovations on expanded office space on the first floor and we're snazzing it up with a group photo of the executive team here.  A woman is leaving so they're taking her out of the pic and adding Tricia and me in.  I was surprised at how uncomfortable I was standing there by myself but we ended up getting enough good shots to choose from.  I'll post the final product when they finish editing.  Here's a link to proofs from the shoot and a copy of a page that was on my desk this morning that made me laugh pretty hard.  Some co-workers picked a particularly funny shot of me and penciled in their thoughts on what I should be saying - ha ha!

http://www.raybarbourphotography.com/cl.php?id=148&val=e03ede556bdac2b1

Shoulda Coulda Woulda

Every time I tackle a home improvement project, I get this nagging feeling that I missed my true calling. And today, hanging out with the HVAC guy while he fixed our gas heat unit, I finally fully connected with those feelings.  I am so totally supposed to be a tradeswoman (is that a word?).  I'm not even sure  which kind, although probably not a plumber - that has the potential to get too gross.  I just know I would be SO HAPPY working like that.  If I could go back and be 19 or 20 again, I would pick a trade, apprentice with someone and have the time of my life fixing, building...whatever.  I hung out with Mr. Tuck (HVAC guy) for 45 minutes, watching exactly what he did.  I was with him when he pinpointed the problem - he was excited, I was excited - IT WAS AWESOME.  We talked about HVAC units, we had lemonade, talked swimming (his granddaughter swam in the junior olympics in charlotte this summer).  I could have talked to him all day listening to everything he knew.  I almost missed the bus I was so into our HVAC unit.  And don't even get me started on Mr. Tuck - coolest person ever.  That's a whole 'nother story in itself.  Seriously though, I need to figure out how to retire so I can start my second career as a fixer/builder.  I have got to make this happen.

Weird - I just typed in "Mrs. Fixit" to grab an image to post with this blog and this website came up:

http://www.devinncampbellphotography.com/mrsfixit/

Granted, it's not devlyncampbellphotography.com BUT let's just say it's a fun coincidence at the very least : )

Redemption Is Coming

http://www.forbes.com/sites/melaniehaiken/2012/09/30/antibiotic-alert-the-drug-the-doctor-ordered-could-cause-deadly-side-effects/


Lots of press lately.  This article is SO much better than almost all the others.  It tells the truth, it lists the true consequences by name and it addresses the fact that all of this is far more common than anyone wants to believe.  I'm in tears having read this article.  Thanks to lots of hard work, the tide has finally turned and is flowing in all survivors' favor right now.  I hope with everything that I am that this will lead to true change, legally and within the medical community.

I HAVE experienced toxic psychosis
MY tendons ache every single day of my life
MY muscles don't work right anymore
I struggle constantly with the debilitating effects of massive neuropathy.
MY vision is scarred.

This COULD happen to you, this DOES happen to unsuspecting, innocent people including CHILDREN every single day.  If you feel comfortable sharing this link on your Facebook page, please do.  Real change is coming but it needs help to get here.  Feel free to make a personal connection tagging me or referring to me in your share.  As with any word of mouth, personal connections boost acceptance.  Thanks.