Ashley's Naughty Little Secrets

It's that time of year again peeps, yep old man winter is blowing in and well, it's cold.

Today the lesson of being safe has hit hard. No more than an hour ago a house burned down. It was only 6 houses from mine.

We live in a Mill village, the houses, some of them, are almost 100 yrs old, the others are between 50 and 90 years old...not much of a difference in the whole scheme of things. These houses were made with hard pine and are made to burn within minutes of catching as was what happened just before summer when a young mother lost her life and today.

I wish I could also say I have dodged the bullet but no, I haven't. Two years ago, I was burned by the heater in our home, we use natural gas heaters and well when you have landlords who don't take care of their homes, its an accident waiting to happen. I wont go into details about what happen but this is what I am getting at.

Check everything in your home, electrical lines, plugs. wires, check your heaters, Central air systems, check your trees, make sure they have water. Check the meter running to your house, make sure there is no spark or anything wrong with your braker box.

It only takes one spark, one quick lick of electrisity and wham, you have nothing left. This is the time of year to be festive and happy but it is also the time of year to be safe and secure.

My heart goes out to the family who has just lost everything.

Please keep them in your prayers,

Ash!

Not very many people know about Cheyenne's hearing loss and our hard fought battle to get it fixed the best way possible.

When Cheyenne was born she was very sick. She was born with GERDS and here is one of the best articles I have found that explains everything about GERDS: http://www.medicinenet.com/gastroesophageal_reflux_disease_gerd/article.htm

We fought with four doctors before we found her current doctor here in town and he has been a God send when it comes to her heath and knowing what would be the best course of action when she is sick.

But, we have also fought another battle for a while now. Cheyenne suffers from Cronic ear infections, which we are almost certain are caused by the reflux. From the time she was three months old, she has suffered from ear infections and at 6months old she went in for her first set of tubes to keep her from being sick. Let me tell you, if your doc says go get them or let's do this, go in with this fact in mind or well opinion, tubes are not a cure all, and sometimes lead to other aliments.

At 18 months old Cheyenne started to reject her tubes, mind you they are supposed to stay in for about 2 to 3 years and in that time you are not supposed to have any infections or complications from the tubes. HA! I say. As I said Chey rejected her tubes and when we went in, the infections in her ears was so massive they had to surgically remove the tubes and set a new set of tubes in, because there was so much back up and so much crap--I guess is a good word, in her ears.

That was the last time my child heard anything.

In a previous post I wrote about her surgery and how for the first time in almost 5 and a half years she heard the dryer. But what I didn't tell you was how many doc's we went through and how many times I was told there was nothing wrong with her hearing and of course the obligitory comment of  "well for having a hearing problem, she is so well spoken."

It is so frustrating to hear comments like that, or to be told there is nothing wrong with your child. I am her mother first and foremost and I know when something is wrong. My scooby radar went Rut Rho Raggy, the first time she tried to pronounce FISH and she said sish. Yes I know babies make the words their own and its cute and yes I smiled and laughed but my radar was going from that moment on.

My grandfather was pretty much deaf and even with hearing aides, he read lips because it was easier and he could answer questions and carry on a normal conversation without worries. So my mother and I sat down with Chey and slowly began to teach her how to read lips and how to form words. I can tell you it wasn't easy but I believe it worked. We have never treated her any differently and when she started school I talked to her teachers. She has done wonderfully and every trimester she has made the honor roll which is AWESOME!!!

Which brings me to the whole "well for having a hearing problem she is well spoken," comment. We went to Dragon*Con in September, and one of the guests in the "Hall of Fame" was Lou Ferrigno. The whole day Chey spent most of the time enjoying herself sure but she was also concentrating on what was being said around her and she was frustrated. So I figured a great treat for her would be going into this part of the convention and meet all of the stars. (yes there is a point but I thought this was a cute little story too)

Anyway we walked in and first we went and talked to Gareth-David Lloyd....Ianto-Torchwood and I could see by the way she was answering questions she was getting tired and it was almost too much for her. There was so much going on...so she talked to him, thanked him and we talked with Peter Fachinelli-Dr. Cullen and finally we saw Lou.

Each of the authors who were at Dragon*Con and the actors had handlers, if you wanted an autograph, or to talk or whatever, you had to see them first. So Chey and I were standing there and the girl started talking to Chey asking her questions, well and peeps this is something to notice with your child or grandkids. Sometimes you think a child is being shy and doesn't want to answer, but that might not be the case. Chey looked up at me with the deer in the headlight look and I knew we had come to an end of our trip. I politely informed the girl that Chey was extremely tired and it wasn't that she didn't want to answer her, but that she couldn't hear her.

Lou is a great guy and in so, he got down to Chey's level and he talked slow used some sign and annunciates his words so she could concentrate on what he was saying. It was an amazing moment for us and it was also a sad moment. I wanted to cry and scream someone help my baby.

Two months later we got the help and now like I have said Cheyenne hears everything. Its amazing because its like I'm hearing everything for the first time with her too.

So Im sure you are wondering why the title says Stigma for kids with disabilities, well here is the thing. Why do we have to have catagories? Why can't children just be that...children? Sure Chey has done well in school and so far no had ever picked at her for her hearing loss and yeah we got it fixed, but what about the children who can't just "fix" their problems??

I believe we need to get rid of the titles we give people and look past the outer and look at the inner because I believe when you lable or give them titles or tell them something is wrong, it places limits on their personalities and their lives.

Ash!

So for a couple of weeks now I have heard this song Tik Tok by Ke$ha. (Yes peeps that is how she spells her name. She replaces the S with the money sign, how...cute)

So here is the link to Youtube so you may all enjoy this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1ebJZRn2Lw

I love songs with a great beat and lyrics, I'm not biased, but this song has me scratching my blonde moments and saying huh?  This is the first time I have seen the video but I knew the artist was a blonde, not that it matters any but yeah I knew LOL!!!

So what is my problem with it? Well I like it, yes, but what is the message she is trying to convey and how many little girls will be watching the video and singing her song on the playground during play time? I'm not a prude by any means trust me, but come on, this girl talks about swager and in the next line talks about hooking up with guys if they look like Mick Jagger.....SERIOUSLY???

I'm not saying Mick isn't a good looking man, but I'm 31, I know what he looked like when he was younger and yeah he was BETTER looking than now. Although if you ask my mom, he was hot when she was young too.

So what's my point? This is what I don't get, she is a child by my standards talking about grown up subjects while advertising to children, when will it stop? Why do we have to make our kids grow up before we are ready for them too and why does the media have to push them along?

People who hate this song will also find themselves singing to it too, why because its infectious, and well yeah I sing it too. So am I just following the current and helping the media saturate our children with crap or am I over thinking this subject?

Let me know what you think!

Ash!

Yes I have giddy moments. Yesterday I set up my author page for Face Book and was amazed that within two hours I had 28 friends, sure they were people I knew, but some were people I didn't know. A little giddy for me because I am very shy and very reserved when it comes to putting myself out there, but its something I will have to over come if this is the path I want to take....right?

So here is the biggest giddy moment for me from yesterday. I made my offical first post on FB welcoming every one who decided to drop by and of course I have my favorite authors on my firends list, who wouldn't. So about 2 minutes later I get a "congrats" from Mrs. Hannah Howell. DUDE! I was stoked, sure she sent me prayers when Chey went in for surgery but who doesn't when a child is involved, right. This was just a day maker.

Yes, before you ask I did say thank you. And of course I went all fan girl with the squeeing and gushing about how she is my fav author. I believe if I counted right, I have 25 of her highlander and other books. I can't resist an alpha male with a hot accent, its just blasphamy if you can resist.

I then made her blush by saying she was the UBER HOT author of great highlander authors, which is true. Yes I have read other authors who write stories about these men who fought with everything they had to protect their villages and the women they loved. But Hannah will always be my fav among them.

Anyway,  so here it is day two of my new FB page and I would really like to add you all to my new FB page. Just look for me under Ashley Blade. You can't miss me. Im the one squeeing at Hannah Howell LOL!!!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Ash!

Hmmm, I never knew how to answer this question?

I know this morning I was very scared, very afraid of what people would say. Would they like me would they want to know more? I sat here this morning took a few deep breaths, put a smile on my face and tried to act like nothing was wrong.

Did it work? I would have to say yes, yes it did. I got a few laughs and I soon began to relax and take everything in. I enjoyed myself and said yes! this is where I belong, this is what I was meant to do!

I like being a dork, I embrace the dork and now everyone can see me. Sure I talk ALOT, but I like to have fun and I love to just hang out. I want to have fun and I want you to have fun.

So ask questions and laugh, let your inner-dork out, and let's play!

Ashley!

This morning was Chey's surgery, it went well, which makes me happy.

Although it was supposed to start at 845 we didn't get into the operating room until 11 am. I was sure I wouldn't be home yet, but obviously I am LOL!!!

Chey did wonderful, it took the doc one hour to fix her up and he went ahead and reconstructed both drums. She has two stiches and is a little sore and very hugery. But she can't eat until tomorrow. Today is liquids, like she needs them LOL!!! I think that should have been for me not her. LOL!!!

So tonight I will be making my new myspace, twitter, facebook pages woo hoo. But I can't seem to get going. I guess you could say I am distracted LOL!!! I am watching Chey like a hawk, yes she is up and yes she is moving around but I still worry. I don't like her in pain and I wish I could take her place while she is going through this.

Ok, *takes a deep breath* it is time to get down to work, finish what I started and maybe, just maybe I might write another story!

Till we meet again! LOL!!!!

Ashley!

PS send us Popsicles!!!!

Hey there and welcome to my blog! If you are here reading this, don't worry you didn't make any mistakes LOL!! I am an author for Eirelander Publishing. My book A Dangerous Game will be out in May of 2010.

I am very excited about all of this and I cant wait to meet anyone and everyone who takes a chance with my writing!

I will also be having guest authors here and they will have free reign on whatever they would like to post.

I hope you come back as often as you like, you never know what you might fing here!

Thanks for stopping by!

Ashley Blade