Kelli Traaseth

----- Original Message -----
From: SandraDodd@...

**Hey, I've been to that aquarium! Nobody was sleeping on the floor when I was
there.
It's a very cool place.**


Abbi, dd8, and her girl scout troop went to 'Sleeping with the Sharks'.

Its an overnight, where you get to tour the facility, talk with the workers, have a pizza party and then you sleep in the tunnel.

It was very cool, I'd look up and shark would be floating on over. In the night you have a bit of light still on from above the water so you can see the fish as you are laying there. In the morning when I woke up a huge sea turtle was swimming over me!

The girls were very impressed, as were most moms, a few moms were feeling a bit clastrophobic, thinking,,"hmm, what would happen if that glass fell in,,,".


I had a bit of a hard time sleeping on a hard surface with my achy fibro body, but I made it through. Abbi would not have gone if I wouldn't have gone with. Its 4 hours away from us.


It was a good time. If anyone is every in Bloomington MN, you should check it out. here's their site: http://www.underwaterworld.com/

Kelli~

PS. The whole experience really had a whole new twist too because we had just gone to Finding Nemo, so I kept talking like the turtle in that movie, "Aaahh, Dude!" Could not stop myself! <g>



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Jon and Rue Kream

Kelli, I hadn't put it together that you have fibro. There we'll be at the
conference, making jewelry with our clumsy fingers and trying to find a
comfortable position to sit in! I'll have to tell Dagny she has something
else in common with Abbi - even if it's something kinda sucky :0). ~Rue


>> with my achy fibro body,


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Kelli Traaseth

----- Original Message -----
From: Jon and Rue Kream

**Kelli, I hadn't put it together that you have fibro**

Yeah, sometimes these similaries are quite startling!

I don't hurt that bad though, I've heard some people that are soooo debilitated. My heart goes out for them. If I keep myself healthy, be very mindful about my living, then I'm pretty good. ;-)

Kelli~



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[email protected]

In a message dated 6/9/03 11:37:18 AM, tktraas@... writes:

<< The girls were very impressed, as were most moms, a few moms were
feeling a bit clastrophobic, thinking,,"hmm, what would happen if that glass fell
in,,,". >>

It would leak fish-pee on you first. You could get out. <g>

I don't guess they would make an aquarium like that in southern California.
I thought of Southern California the other day at Lowe's giant hardware
warehouse when I looked up, WAY up, at stacks of five gallon paint cans WAY on top
of the already WAY high shelves, and I said "I bet they wouldn't to that in
Los Angeles."

Five gallons of paint could do you some damage if it feel from your own
height.

Sandra

Betsy

**I don't guess they would make an aquarium like that in southern California.
I thought of Southern California the other day at Lowe's giant hardware
warehouse when I looked up, WAY up, at stacks of five gallon paint cans
WAY on top of the already WAY high shelves, and I said "I bet they
wouldn't to that in Los Angeles."**


They do it in northern California, and we get earthquakes, too.

I walk around places like Home Depot glancing upwards nervously and
fretting about the possibility of tremors. It seems insane to me.

At my old office we weren't allowed to keep anything heavier than a book
on shelves that were 5 or 6 feet off the ground, for fear that it would
clonk us in an earthquake as we sat at our desks. (They didn't put much
stock in the idea that we could dive under our desks for protection.)

Betsy

Jon and Rue Kream

I'm glad for you! I was that way for a long time, then had a few years
where I couldn't move much, but now I'm doing pretty well. Still in pain,
but it's bearable most of the time. ~Rue

>> I don't hurt that bad though, I've heard some people that are soooo
debilitated. My heart goes out for them. If I keep myself healthy, be
very mindful about my living, then I'm pretty good. ;-)

Kelli~


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[email protected]

In a message dated 6/9/03 11:02:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
skreams@... writes:

> Kelli, I hadn't put it together that you have fibro. There we'll be at the
> conference, making jewelry with our clumsy fingers and trying to find a
> comfortable position to sit in! I'll have to tell Dagny she has something
> else in common with Abbi - even if it's something kinda sucky :0). ~Rue
>
>
> >>with my achy fibro body,
>
>

OMG!!! Kelli and Rue, I'm a fibromite too!!! How neat it is that we have such
a sucky disorder in common, yet we all live this same type of lifestyle.
Sorrily, I won't be able to make the conference this year, but gentle hugs to you
both and perhaps someday we will all meet. I am just sitting here in shock,
that I hadn't noticed before. So now I can tell Kass and Kree they have the same
thing besides unschooling in common with Dagny and Abbi, too. You're right,
it does suck for them too, but do you ever wonder if the illness itself has
cleared your vision of what's important and what's not? Just wondering.

XOXOXO
Rhonda


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Jon and Rue Kream

Hi Rhonda - I absolutely think fms has given me a chance to understand
what's important and what's not. It's given me (and my whole family) a new
perspective on the ups and downs of life, and on how we want to live our
lives. On most days (those when I'm not completely sleep deprived :0)) I
actually think of it as a gift of sorts. It's taught me a lot, and given me
patience I'm not sure I would have developed otherwise.

How do you feel that it affects your kids? Mine do sometimes get frustrated
with my limitations, but overall I think it's made them very compassionate
and thoughtful. ~Rue


>> do you ever wonder if the illness itself has
cleared your vision of what's important and what's not?


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

In a message dated 6/11/03 7:31:44 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
skreams@... writes:

> How do you feel that it affects your kids? Mine do sometimes get
> frustrated
> with my limitations, but overall I think it's made them very compassionate
> and thoughtful. ~Rue
>

Wow Rue, that is a loaded question, but I guess I started it, huh? It's
definately difficult on days that I can't walk or worse when I can't see and my
equilibrium is off. But overall I often tell people that I see it as a blessing
in disguise. Not that I wouldn't trade my body in for a better model if given
the chance, but since that isn't gonna happen, we just deal day to day. I
retired 5 years ago, following my back surgery and during such a trying time, it
gave me an opportunity to look at my life in more of a big picture. DH and I
had already worked odd schedules so that the twins would never be in someone
elses care. In 1996 I went thru 3 major operations in a row and a near death
experience. Talk about having to reflect. I went from an extremely
type-A/workaholic life, you know the type---"If I make a ton of money I can
buy their happiness." to OMG, it could all be over in a split second, so I need
to make each moment count. I went back to work, but very part time so that
while the girls were in school, I could make a buck and be home when they were
home. Somethow though that still wasn't working. I was a litteral walking (half
slumped over like an 80 year old) zombie and was of no good to them, at least
the way I knew I was supposed to be. Then came the back surgery and that made
me reflect even more. I was told that more children were not an option and
that without the surgery, my legs would be done working within 6 months. So I
went for the surgery and what do you know, I found homeschooling that wasn't
based on the religious right, which I had been under the perception was the only
way it existed. As I continued to research, I found Unschooling.com and found
out everything I was craving was in fact valid and could be done if one was
willing to change their POV from that which we are taught as the norm.

Wow, I started typing and ended up with a small novel. I never even answered
your question. Sorry. I guess I would say that Kass & Kree are very aware and
sensitive to my plight. There are times like most recently when they have
small break downs. I think this is due to the combination of their raging 11 year
old hormones and seeing me go thru a really trying time. I'd also say they are
very considerate and compassionate. There are things that DH and I have
chosen not to discuss with them until it's absolutely necessary. There is no need
for their little hearts and minds to worry, especially with things that aren't
fixable or currently have no answers for. Did that even make sense? Perhaps
I'm just babbling now. But I will say that when I recently posted about Kass
being hateful last Sunday, when she came back in to apologize, she specified that
sometimes she just gets so angry because it's not fair that I can't do a lot
of stuff that I used to and she wishes it would go away. That was definately a
catch 22 moment. I understand her frustration, since I myself feel
frustrated, but by the same token, I am grateful for all that it has brought to our
lives. Ultimately, I think they will be better human beings for it and that is all
I really want for them. It also gives us reason to discuss things such as the
afterlife and what I think about love, life and the universe. These are not
things they'd get from school and I wonder how much time we would spend
discussing such things if our lives hadn't been turned upside down by it all.

Sorry if I wore out anyones eyes, I didn't know I would share so much myself.

Rhonda


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Tia Leschke

> OMG!!! Kelli and Rue, I'm a fibromite too!!! How neat it is that we have
such
> a sucky disorder in common, yet we all live this same type of lifestyle.
> Sorrily, I won't be able to make the conference this year, but gentle hugs
to you
> both and perhaps someday we will all meet. I am just sitting here in
shock,
> that I hadn't noticed before. So now I can tell Kass and Kree they have
the same
> thing besides unschooling in common with Dagny and Abbi, too. You're
right,
> it does suck for them too, but do you ever wonder if the illness itself
has
> cleared your vision of what's important and what's not? Just wondering.

Yes! From another one. I think there are quite a few on here.
Tia

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety." Ben Franklin
leschke@...