I could be a doctor

Yesterday I had to go to the doctor for a yeast infection called Candida. It's a horrible overgrowth of yeast and fungus in the body.

Lovely. Just lovely.

It's my own fault, I haven't been taking care of myself the way I should and eating way too many sweets. Soooo, I go to the Walgreen's Minute Clinic. (My dr. couldn't get me in) I told the dr. my symptoms and that I had taken a test to see if I had Candida. The test said if you have a score of 145 pts. or more, you have Candida...my score was 266!!! Sheesh.

The dr. was looking at me like I was NUTS! I told her I needed something (Diflucan) to kill the yeast in my body. I was itching so bad on my arms, legs and neck. I asked her what I could take for the itching too. The dr. actually GOOGLED my symptoms and was trying to match pictures from GOOGLE to my rashes. She even pulled out a book of skin rashes and was like..."hmmm, the rash looks different on you than it does on this page." Well, of COURSE it does. That person was tan and I'm white as a ghost. And, the picture was probably taken 20 years ago. AGGGHHH! I sat there for 25 MINUTES while she sat puzzled looking through her text books and googling. Aren't dr's. suppose to know these things???

I finally convinced her to write me a prescription. But I left there thinking, if that's all it takes...I COULD BE A DOCTOR! I came home last night and found a million sites that have CANDIDA listed. Symptoms, treatment, etc.

I'm going the herbal route. I'm on a strict diet. No sugar. No white ANYTHING. It's not fun. I've eaten lots of crunchy veggies. I'm not one of those people that can just eat a bowlful of veggies and be satisfied. Our local herbal store sold me some all-natural "Candida Clear" (it has wormwood and licorice root among many other crazy things in it).

Good news, I've lost a little weight, but my skin is still CRAWLING! I hope all these magic herbs help me!!!

BTW - Dolly/Donna, ask your mom what Doug Kaufman would do!?!

Our family pic's...

Paul and I are in a dental ad for our dentist (Dr. Bickford and Dr. Shirley). Each time we get our picture taken for the ad, we get a gift certificate for FREE family photos!!! I'm having a hard time deciding between these...OR...I don't really like this one of me... a little too "Melissa from the Bachelor" with my mouth wide open! Ha!Here's our ad picture. I know, I know, those of you that are local and see this all the time are probably tired of seeing it. I think I like the last one the best.

Richardson Road Trip '09

Whew! What a week! We travelled up to Virginia for 8 days. The longest the boys have ever been away from home. We saw SO many of our friends and family and it was great to catch up. Hang in there, I'm gonna take you on our road trip through pictures...

We stopped in Charlotte on the way and had a cookout with Donna and Hannah. (Sweet blogger friends). It was a great break in our trip and it was so refreshing to see these girls. Donna, thanks so much for hosting us and Roy - for those mean burgers...YUM! We hit the ground running in Lynchburg. I finally got to meet my sweet friend Dolly's baby, Michael. He is a punkin! That boy melted me!!! We had a girls night and watched the Bachelorette premiere.
Paul and I got to have dinner with both sides of our family. We met his cousin Andrea's new baby boy Parker...cutie pa-tootie! The night we had dinner with my family, we were playing baseball together and my dad BROKE HIS FOOT! It was such a bummer. I felt so bad for him.

We left Lynchburg and headed to D.C. to see Grampa Dave and Gramma Sue. We took the boys all OVER D.C. We even got to see the President's helicopter land on the White House lawn. That was cool no matter who you voted for! Took the boys to the National Zoo - amazing! We also took them to the Natural History Museum, and then took them to see "Night at the Museum II".

The highlight for me, was seeing these babies...I've been to the American History Museum 3 times and every time, the Ruby Slippers were ON TOUR!?! This time, I got to see them! Okay, this picture CRACKS ME UP - we were trying to get a family photo in front of the Capitol. Where is the Capitol you may ask??? Behind our heads!!! Choose your fellow tourist picture takers wisely. :)

Boys playing with Parker...their new 2nd cousin. This is the newest addition to the Richardson family. Tiger. My friend Lisa's cat had kittens. The boys have been BEGGING for a pet. We get to bring her home in 2 weeks. She is adorable!

My fern is DEAD again. And, now I know why!!!

Every year I get ferns to hang on my front porch. And every year, the one on the right side of the porch dies. It gets the same amount of shade, water, etc. The other day I took it down to fertilize it and give it some TLC and I got a surprise!!!

On another note, Wesley got a haircut today. I almost cried. I know, I know, many of you have probably thought he's needed a haircut for a while. But I LOVED his moppy, floppy hair. I thought I had made it very clear, I just wanted him to have a trim, keep the length. I was standing next to the hairdresser while she was cutting it and I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!!! So, unfortunately, I can't blame it on her. Here's his before:And after:Do you see what I see? Those are layers!!! He looks so much older to me now. Maybe that's why I'm having such a hard time with it. He's still a cutie pie though! Even with a bad haircut and sticking his tongue out. :)

I'm tip-toeing through my house - Warning, this may give you the Heebie Jeebies!

And this is why:
AGHHHH! I got up in the middle of the night to go to my bathroom. I thought I saw something and I almost reached my toe out to it to see what it was. Something stopped me, and THANK GOODNESS! Isn't this the creepiest looking thing EVER? It's not the first scorpion we've had. This makes 13 for the year. I've lived in Georgia 12 years now and have never seen them this bad. Occasionally I would see 1 or 2 OUTSIDE! I have neighbors on my own street that have never seen them before. WHAT? Why are they coming into MY house? This one was in our living room. Will found it and begged us not to kill it, but to take it outside. So we did. We let the creature go on our patio and when Will went back inside, I smushed it. Is that horrible? This makes 2 in our house in 1 week. They look so evil. The stinger on the back. They're little pinchers. Ye-owch! Anybody know how to get rid of these things? Poor Paul. Every night I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and I can't do it now without turning on the bright light. He wakes up every time. You oughta see Paul kill a bug. He'll take a teeny tiny piece of tissue paper, (or use his bare hands) and just smush the bug. I have to have a HUGE barrier between me and the creature. If I feel it crunch or hear anything ooze, I gag. I mean, I shimmy and shake and totally freak out. Thank heavens I married a man who kills bugs for me. But, when it comes to snakes, I'm on my own...he hates those.

Dress up, dress down, dress up again

The DUB awards at our church...an event to honor our AMAZING volunteers at WRC.
Lately, there have been quite a few "fancy" events I have had the pleasure to attend. Weddings, parties, showers. And then, just when I get feeling a little too purtied up with my big earrings and sundresses, I go YARD SALE-ING!!! I have to say, as much as I LOVE to dress up, I'm much more comfortable in my duds, going through other people's junk! This past weekend was the annual Brookstone neighborhood yard sale. I actually save up my money for this baby. This year I went with my friends Jennifer, Kelli and Tandy. We get there early. I mean like 7:30 a.m. early. We go, go, go...break for a hot dog, and go some more! Here's just a few of our finds...Here I have some VHS tapes, a Spiderman costume for Wesley, 2 Hollister shirts for Paul and some Dick and Jane books for Will to read. Aren't Tandy's vintage suitcases cute?I got home from yard sale-ing just in time to QUICK CHANGE and go to a "Kentucky Derby Party!" This was so fun. Hats EVERYWHERE! And, ooohhh, the food. Kentucky Derby pie!!! Sweet tea! Little cucumber sandwiches!

I don't think I've ever posted a picture of our home. So, I thought I'd post this picture for you to see!

I joke, I joke. Not ours. I think Paul was embarrassed that I asked him to take a picture of me and the boys in these people's driveway. That's why you can't see Wesley's face. It was a quick snap. None of this..."hey, take another one, Wesley wasn't looking" business. ha!

I'm gonna miss you Tandy!

What can I say about this girl? Well, a lot actually. This might be long and sappy, so be warned! I also put together a little video of some of my favorite memories!

My friend Tandy and her husband Tim are moving to Orlando Florida to start Genesis Church. They have been on staff with us at West Ridge for 9 years.

Right away when I met Tandy, I knew I could be myself around her. Mostly because she was HERSELF. Over the years, we have made so many memories. Like most friendships, we've had ups and downs. We've seen each other at our very best and worst. And still love each other for it! We've never had the kind of friendship where we talk every day, and sometimes we've gone months without seeing each other. But, we always pick up, right where we left off. That's a good friend.

Tandy is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to helping others in need. When Katrina happened, she was on the phone with me right away, asking if I would help her get supplies together to take to an apartment complex nearby. She has helped so many people in need. I remember her telling me one time that she was on a date with Tim, they were going to use a gift card to that restaurant, and saw another couple there who needed it more and gave it to them. She has raised money for teachers. She recently raised money through her blog to get mosquito nets hung over the beds of kids in Burkina Faso, Africa.

Personally, she helped our family when Wesley was a baby. He needed a very expensive formula. We didn't know how we were going to afford it. One night, I was rocking Wesley to sleep and we heard a knock on the front door. We opened it to find a TOWER of the exact formula he needed. 6 months worth to be exact. I heard someone running around the side of the house, but couldn't find out who it was. Yep, it was Tandy. She raised money and had cans of formula donated to us through our staff and friends.

My son Will used to be TERRIFIED, I mean TERRIFIED of dogs. It was a paralyzing fear for him. Tandy has a HUGE lab. Will would go to their house to play with Cobe and would freeze on their front porch. Over time and through her patience with my boy, he overcame this fear. I can't begin to tell you what it means to me, as a mom, that someone would invest and love and care for my son that way.

Tandy has been good for me because she is very spontaneous. Not a nervous type. We are pretty much opposites. Except for girly stuff and food! She balances me out. I remember when Will couldn't swim, she put some SpongeBob floaties on him and threw him in the pool. I was NERVOUS NELLY! But, guess, what, he was swimming around like a fish by the end of the day.

She potty trained Wesley by herself. I came to her house to pick him up one day and...voila...he's going in the potty!

Cobe and Cayden. These precious children. I am going to miss them just as much as my boys will. There's a spunk, a magnetic personality about Cayden that so many kids (and adults) are drawn to. Cobe is just plain cool. And very smart. I love that when Cayden comes over to my house, she lets me doll her up. She'll put on one of my aprons and help me bake cookies. And we'll paint toes together. But the BEST memory with Cayden is when we made up a dance routine to "The Happy Working Song" from Enchanted. I still have to teach her the "Hoedown Throwdown" by Miley Cyrus.

Tandy is a wonderful wife, mom, homemaker, cook, photographer, Christmas decorator, Super Mario Champion, SINGER, and friend.

Tandy, thank you for your friendship to me. And for loving my kids. You are so special to me and have a place forever in my heart. I'm so glad you're moving somewhere that I can visit! Disney World here we come!!! (ps - I will give you a larger copy of this video so you can read all the words:)

I love you friend.