My almost six-week-old daughter has a virus called RSV and a double ear infection!

That’s what happens when your baby is born perfect even though you did lots of things “wrong” pre-pregnancy.

On the school side of things, I have been getting behind just a little and am definitely not going to make dean’s list this semester, but I’m okay with that.  School has dropped way down on my list of priorities.  Ava, paying bills, keeping up my relationship with Bryan, school, relaxation time; those are pretty much the top 5 and in that order too. 

Don’t get me wrong I’m not going to be failing anything, or even getting any Ds but as of right this second, one week before spring break, I’m assuming that I will get 2 ‘A’s and 2 ‘B’s or 2 ‘A’s a ‘B’ and a ‘C’.

Over spring break, it’s not really a break though.  I need to write a report on the Virginia General Assembly, specifically the bill that proposes making it a law to release any/all mental records to your institution of higher education before enrollment.  I need to write a report comparing the reporting and writing styles of newspapers for two different eras in time.  I also need to go out and shadow a reporter for an entire day and write about that.  I need to finish my Diet Analysis project and I need to start putting my portfolio together.

I’m sure that’s not all I have to do that week, that’s just all I can remember right this moment.

Well wish Ava luck on her road to recovery, her granny is saving my butt and watching her for me while I do work and sleep.  And thanks to her granddaddy as well for diagnosing her and calling in her Rx.

I first saw this on the Today Show yesterday(1/27/09) but when I looked it up on the American Chemical Society(ACS) website, I found that they have known about it for a few years now.

Apparently there is a virus, that’s very common, that can lead to obesity.  According to the ACS, “infection with human adenovirus-36 (Ad-36), long recognized as a cause of respiratory and eye infections in humans, transforms adult stem cells obtained from fat tissue into fat cells.”

These findings were presented at the 234th national meeting of the ACS in Boston.

Approximately 30 percent of obese people have AD-36 and 11 percent of lean people have the virus.

The National Institute of Health has funded a study that identified a certain gene in the virus, called E4Orfl, that appears to be involved in the fat accumulation of animals infected with AD-36.

It is unknown how long the virus stays in the body or how long the virus can have an effect after it’s gone.

I know I haven’t written in a while but now for a class we have to have a wordpress blog and since I already have an account here, this will work out well. 

I had baby AVA LYNN HAWKES on Monday, January 19th, 2009 at 10:51 a.m.  She was 6lbs, 2oz and 20.5 in long.  We tried to go through labor but she grabbed and squeezed her own umbilical cord and cut off her heart beat and my blood pressure.  My blood pressure was only 85/45, and after about 20 mins of rolling around in the bed and trying to get her heartbeat back they rushed me off to the OR. 

I was so scared because noone would tell me what was going on … but it all worked out well.  I looked at the clock right before we left the labor/delivery room, it was 10:45 and by 10:51 they had me in the OR and her ripped from my tummy. 

She’s absolutely beautiful and perfect.  Here’s a picture–

rain rain rain.

That’s all it has really done in the past week or so and I love it.  Yesterday, Radford received what I assume to be officially a shit-ton of rain.  I don’t really know how much it was but Kristine and I went out and drove around at 4 a. m. and there were puddles I haven’t seen in a year or two and the windshield wipers weren’t really helping much.

I’m hoping the old saying when it rains it pours doesn’t only apply to negative instances; things have been going really well and I want that to skyrocket.

Bryan and I are trying to get better jobs which requires a little preparation.  In a few months, we’ll be good to go and then hopefully life will get a little easier.

Isn’t that a dreamy view?  That will never happen.  I guess we’ll see.

<i>Spring brings change for Whim, Papa Johns,

So Whim is the magazine I have been working for and it is getting all changed up … “for the better”.  They always say that.  I’m sure this really is but I just can’t wait to see.

Whim is moving to wordpress.  Leaving cantaloupe.  That’s okay, weird name anyway.  We are also going to start having staggard content to get up to date on the internet age.  He said it will be more of a blog type style.

I’m hoping they will let me blog on events around campus or the city.  I am going to try to have more events covered and written in here so I can show him that I have been doing good at it.

Donald’s birthday is coming up so I wrote him a letter but I haven’t mailed it yet.   I’m too lazy for all that.  I also wrote to CJ but have yet to mail that as well.

My poor buddy Matt got demoted from GM of Papa John’s and is now getting paid less and working with people he doesn’t even like.  I hope he leaves there because he doesn’t deserve that.

I mean he wasn’t great at his job but they definitely should have given him the tools to be great before telling him sorry you’re demoted.

Bryan might be  quitting Highlander!!!  WOOHOO.  We are trying to get our lives together so we can create another one.  Isn’t that ridiculous.

Kristine wants my child to be the reincarnation of my grandfather.  That would be pretty cool.  I wonder if I would ever know.

Either way things are constantly changing except ..1-the consistency of change 2- the fact that i have to work 3- the continual fuck ups up Radford University administrative offices on my paperwork!

Cars piss me off.  They can make a Mack or a Peterbilt to run for a million miles but not a Chevy or a Ford?

Driving , driving, driving and then no guages, no lights and no engine noise.  No power steering.  There I was stuck on the corner of Main St and Madison St.

Bryan did not answer.  I called the cops.  They come and then Bryan shows up.  We hook up the jumper cables.  Nothing happens.  A man stops and has a set of jumpers with the box.  Nothing happens.

That nice man and Bryan push me into an actual parking spot.

A few hours later Bryan and I go to take the battery out of my car in hopes of taking it to Advanced to get a new one.  We didn’t have the right damn tool.  It was the wrong size.  So we go to advanced get the tool, go back to the car take the battery out and then go back to advance for a new one.

So we replaced the battery.  Bryan starts my car, drives .5 miles and the lights start going dimm.  DAMMN

So now I have to take my car to get looked at and spend shit tons of money at an actual place on a damn vehicle I don’t even need.

No class tomorrow-  Martin Luther King Day

RIP granddaddy

Screw you Brady …  you ruined her day.

Guest Book for

Mr. Don David Markham

Page 1 of 1

January 18, 2008 I am so sorry to hear this news about Don. We will miss him greatly.   Gail Slack Walker (Mount Jackson, VA)   January 18, 2008 I really rather loved the old dude. I loved his terrific sense of humor, and his many kindnesses. I shall miss him.   Cynthia Barry (DeLand, FL) Contact me   January 18, 2008 I had the BEST DAD in the worldMaria Lynn   Maria Markham (Edinburg, VA) Contact me   January 18, 2008 We were so sorry to hear of your loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with you at this time of sorrow.Vanessa’s Parents   Frank and Marva Irwin (Woodstock, VA)

I wrote a few things in here but they weren’t reviewed and submitted by the time I posted this blog tonight. But that’s okay because you guys can click here and check it out yourself.

My granddaddy passed away a few days ago as you all know. Well it was rough on everyone and we all put on our game faces and made it through. The only problem is … I wasn’t allowed any time to grieve. I stayed with my grandmother(they were married for 53 years) because she has yet to live alone. So I stayed with her for two days.

During that time she went from complete shock and disbelief to a depression to bouncing back(kind of), meanwhile I have to be the one consoling her and keeping my game face on. I did the same with Donald when we told him what had happened.

He came home from school and my mother said ” do you know why she’s(me) here?”

And then about 3-4 seconds later the waterfall started and yet again I was there to help. Now the problem is I have cried over granddaddy and I know that all he wants is for us to get over it and take care of grandmother.

Well I left her alone with Donald tonight and not that I don’t trust his capabilities but what if something happens to her? I’m going to feel like shit. Well I already do just for leaving her. I really want to go back. I told my mom I would but she won’t let me screw up college for grandmother. I wouldn’t care though.

I’ve got my whole life to do what I want to do. and until then I can handle making someone else’s life a little easier even if it is just the mental thing of “there’s someone in the other room” That’s all she needs anyone is to know that someone is there.

“Ya know the weirdest thing about your grandfather not being here is the silence.”

“If Helen hadn’t told me what to do I would probably still be sitting here staring at the phone”

I can’t imagine what she had to go through and to think Donald went through it when he was only 6-years-old.

Why does this family attract all the crazies and gotta die young type? I don’t mean just us but look at all of our friends. aka “mouse”

It makes me think I’m the only freaking normal one but now I’m afraid I just must be the die young type. I’m still young, don’t want to die though and definitely not crazy. Not adopted. I don’t know how I managed to be in the crazy family. I’m glad I am though.

Well my writing has gotten completely off topic so the point of today is:I love you granddad and please help grandmother be happy and safe and when it’s her time let it be peaceful because if not it’ll just kill me.

First I just need to reiterate that psychics are real.  Communicating with the afterlife is completely possible. Yesterday my cousin Erika woke up and thought to herself before getting out of bed “today is the day”.  Yep yesterday was the day .  My grandfather passed away and he came down and held her in bed and said “today is the day to quit smoking”.  Erika did not know at the time that my grandfather had passed.  And anyone who knew my granddaddy would tell you that that’s something he would say.  It’s just all very strange.

Yesterday my granddad passed away and something very beloved to him and his predeceased daughter was moved from one room and table to a completely other room and table.  Yes I know that someone else could have picked it up and carried it over there but they didn’t.  My aunt Chris and my grandfather met each other to go to Heave and moving the statue of meercats was just their way of letting us know that they were together.

On a side note my grandfather also picked a great day for me to go.  I know that this is selfish but since I am home today and tomorrow and I was here yesterday that’s a lot of class to be missing.  Well it snowed so much today that classed were canceled.  Isn’t that a nice coincidence?

While I was checking the radford portal today to check my e-mail and see if classes were canceled I came across this silly article about radford from WDBJ-7 Roanoke news.  I feel really bad for that poor deer, especially the one.

I just got the phone call.  yep THE ONE.  he’s gone.  I miss him already.  My granddad and I always had a special bond.  He’s supposed to come back and haunt me like they do on sylvia brown.

I love you grandaddy!!

I hope grandmother will be okay and Donald!!

Bye.  I’m going home.