October 28, 2005
I'm Alive
Thank you, Nino, for the email checking on me. I owe you a proper response, which I haven't time for right now, but thought I'd throw out a quickie entry.
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I'm finally recovered from my "minor" surgery last week. It took long enough for me to feel okay, but I do have a feeling it was because I was overdoing it in the days immediately following. Our family went through almost a full week of a yucky virus, so that maybe hampered things a bit as well.
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And the last 3 days, I've had the pleasure of keeping some friends/neighbors' two daughters all day. It actually was nice - we had a great time Wednesday at a cooking class at the local Children's Museum where they wanted to stay and play after the class; Thursday, we spent a couple hours at the neighborhood park/playground; and today, we went back to the Children's Museum for their halloween party. Mixed in between were many many meals, lots of fort/tent/castle building, lots of books, some computer games, and 4 giggling girls! It was nice how well they all played together and I will look forward to spending time with them again in the future, even without their parents - who are pretty cool.
So, you can imagine that I am pretty wiped out. But I have loads and loads of laundry to do and we still haven't bought that dumb gas dryer, so I have to go to the coin place AGAIN. Thank the good Lord that A's company has agreed to pay out the bonuses for his place (lots of bonuses were denied due to the corporate's financial situation - and the bonus program "may change at any time for any reason"). So, it looks like we will have a new dryer in a few short weeks. In the meantime, I have to go to the coin place to dry everything. Which makes for an incredibly long day of washing before heading out to dry it all.
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I've volunteered to help with the craft table at the community kids' halloween party tomorrow, so I'll be setting up in the morning and then busy with that in the afternoon. I don't know what I was thinking, except I do know that I want to make some friends here and I figure the best way to do that is to be involved in stuff.
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One cool thing, speaking of friends: I joined a thing at our church that is kinda like a prayer/support group of moms and it has been awesome. And today, at the children's museum - I ran into one of the women in my group. I'm starting to like living here, which is something I was certain I would NEVER say. I bet it has to do with feeling like I have connections with other people locally.
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Anyway, have a fantastic weekend. I will upload pictures of the girls all dressed up in their halloween best. And I promise to finish some long overdue posts and get them up sometime in the next week.
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Be safe and keep your kids safe for their Trick or Treating!
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God Bless you.
October 25, 2005
Drawing a Pig
October 24, 2005
Goodbye, Wilma; Hello, sweaters!
Very strangely, our temperatures have dropped - oh, about 25 degrees in less than 24 hours. Yesterday, we were sweating our pants off and today, we are bundling in jeans and sweaters. Not at all bad, mind you, just sudden.
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We had constant pounding rain all through the night and I didn't sleep well (since we were still under tornado watch, I didn't take my med that helps me sleep - I wanted to actually wake up in the event of an emergency). This morning, I was convinced it must be later than it was and got up incredibly early, meaning it's just about time now for a nap. :) Other than the nonstop rain and gusty winds and the two inches of water on our back patio, I'd say we lucked out with the whole hurricane situation. We didn't expect to really get much as far as hurricane winds go, but we were in the "tropical storm" path and it turns out that's not as bad as you'd think. Sure, there are roads flooded out around here and thousands of people without power, but it's hard to claim you survived a hurricane when you have a few small branches down in your backyard and the petals have flown off your flowers in the front.
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One major blessing is the cold front has shoved that hurricane through the state in about 6 hours and we are now experiencing dry weather (at least in the air) and the sun seems to be trying to poke through the clouds. Give it another hour and I think we'll be in full sunshine. A brisk, rather blustery fall day - only without the incredible leaf colors those of you further north enjoy year after year.
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I pray that the areas in south Florida fared better than expected. I did see on some channel (TWC? Local news? CNN? they all just blur together after hurricane season) that there was one area that had remote flooding near the rooftops of cars, though that was pretty minor compared to what our neighbors on the northern Gulf Coast experienced this year. Still, I hope those in the south of my state are safe and back on their feet quickly, with minimal damage. After battling so many hurricanes last year and then dealing with a damaging cat 1 this August, everyone's ready for a good long break - understandably so.
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I'm headed to the grocery - last night as I was gathering the ingredients for zucchini bread, I found I am utterly out of flour. I have no idea how that happened - you'd think I'd have checked sooner since I did go to lengths to buy every other ingredient necessary earlier in the week.
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Have a pleasant afternoon. I'll be here enjoying the crisp (read: freezing cold) weather and the sweet smells of baking and cooking potato soup with my girls. Maybe I'll take a couple pictures of them bundled in their sweaters and post them later.
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God Bless.
October 23, 2005
Weekend Update
Well, the surgery went routinely. There was some extra stuff in there, but I don't know yet what it was and the doctor basically said she'd talk to me at our follow up on November 1st, so it must not be serious. I know if she'd have talked to me right after the surgery, I probably wouldn't even remember anyway. I found out the next day that I was thoughtful enough to call Cara and let her know I was out and okay. LOL!
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Because A woke up with the virus V had earlier in the week, his mom ended up taking me to the hospital and waiting. I think I must have told her she could stop at the grocery store and I sat in the car, but I don't remember sitting there. I do know that when we got back to her house, the trunk was full of groceries. I spent the rest of the day basically sleeping - I think I woke up three times for a brief time.
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I'm doing okay, but push it too much and have lengthened my recovery time by doing stuff I'm not supposed to. Typical me. But, now that we are getting weather from Wilma, I've pushed it too much by shopping for groceries and such - just carrying stuff when I was advised not to.
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There is a horn on my television telling me that there is a tornado in the area, so I am going to shut down the computer. I can't believe A took the girls to see a movie this evening, but I do welcome the solitude and relative quiet.
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Back to the kitchen so we have the requisite three days worth of prepared food in case we lose power.
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Off subject, A and I were talking earlier when Jeb had a press conference and we think he'd make a great head of FEMA. He has consistently handled the management of relief before, during and after hurricanes with incredible speed and maximum efficiency. Maybe the next president would keep that in mind (W couldn't get away with it - nepotism and all).
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Anyway, if we lose power, I'll check in as soon as I can. Otherwise, I'll be online tomorrow perhaps.
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God Bless you.
October 18, 2005
I'm pretty sure I'll not feel it
When you have a sick kid, you don't get much sleep. At least not in this house.
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I think I can safely tell the doctors tomorrow that I won't be needing anesthesia because I shall just drop into a deep slumber on that table with my ankles in the stirrups.
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What a disgusting thought.
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But seriously, I am so doggone tired today. I can't imagine what poor little V feels like. I am certain she lost ten pounds yesterday. All from under her eyes.
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Take another look Behind the Scenes
October 17, 2005
Bad Day
I think V got food poisoning today from her chocolate milk from Wendy's after church. Because this afternoon, I woke up from dozing on the couch to the sounds of her making a complete mess in the bathroom. Poor kid. She's been throwing up EVERYTHING for nearly 7 hours now and can't even keep down a sip of water.
She has no fever and Little A and have no symptoms at all, so we're inclined to think it was the milk, since V is the only one who had that - and the only thing different that she had from what the rest of us ate today.
It is past 11 and the poor girl can't stay asleep, she keeps waking to wretch and there is just nothing left - no bile, no nothing. Please pray she feels better in the morning.
God Bless you all.
October 12, 2005
An Answer!
I went yesterday for my follow-up with my doctor regarding the growth in my uterus which was viewed a month ago.
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The tests show this thing is likely the cause of the crippling cramps and buckets of bleeding each month. So, they're taking it out. 99% of these types of growths are benign, so I'm not worrying about the 1% chance that mine may not be.
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I am scheduled for minor surgery next Wednesday. The doc will do a scope before cutting and scraping, just to make sure what they think they saw a month ago is all that's there. I'm thinking this is probably routine before this type of thing.
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Is it wrong to look forward to it? I mean, if the doctor's instincts are right, I will be back to normal in a month and will no longer have the pain and buckets I've been having..... and life could go on swimmingly for me. I'm just hoping that it resolves the problem and that we don't later get a poor report from the pathology department that will be testing the tissue. I'm not even thinking of that possibility.
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If you think of it and if you are the praying type, keep me in your prayers next week. For no complications (not likely to have complications, this is just a minor surgery) and that I don't have a bad reaction to the anesthesia (which I have in the past) and I am able to come home Wednesday afternoon.
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More updates coming.
OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD!
Yesterday, on my way home from my doctor appointment and then helping my mom with an important errand, I was stopped at a red light. I had my phone headset on and was about to discuss with A what we should do about dinner (I was over an hour away from home and had had an incredibly long day, really, I just wanted him to step up and say he'd take care of dinner).
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I was the first car stopped at the light, in the center lane, so I had a clear view of the intersection. I screamed (thus the title of this entry). I hung up the phone on A and then as quickly as my shaking fingers allowed, I dialed 911.
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A man lay on the street, unmoving for whole minutes, seemingly 5, but more likely one or two. His bicycle lay a few feet away, his grocery bag next to it, the contents broken and spilling on the asphault. I pulled my car in front of him, amidst much honking and angry drivers who obviously didn't see what happened. I got out of the car, trying to explain to the operator what had happened and explaining which corner of the very busy intersection we were on. The driver of the car had pulled into a parking lot and had come over to help get the man out of the road. The top of his head was bleeding and he couldn't stand, though with a lot of help was able to get out of the road. I helped him out of the road and then got his bicycle onto the sidewalk.
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I couldn't believe how quickly the police and firefighters and then EMT's arrived. Within a minute or two. I moved my car into the parking lot and begged the girls to please just understand that we would be there a bit until I was able to talk to the police. It was all amazingly quick and simple. Too bad there was a man headed to the hospital with who knows what kind of injuries...
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Thank God his body will heal. Thank God it wasn't worse.
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A told me when I got home that he totally flipped out when I hung up on him - he thought maybe someone had wrecked into my car. Luckily, I had the wherewithall to call him when I moved my car into the parking lot so he would know I was okay, but would be a while before I got on the road to come home.
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What a crappy way to start the evening of an already stressful day. The upside? We had dinner out (kids eat free on Tuesdays) and I had a couple beers and then was in bed before 8:30. Aside from waking to empty my bladder, I slept nearly 11 hours straight. But I still feel exhausted.
October 09, 2005
OFFLINE
I have been offline since last Monday. I hope to get my internet connection repaired this week sometime. I think maybe I have a virus or something that has disabled my wireless network because the messages I'm getting say wireless network stuff, but I've replaced all pieces of my network (adapter, router) and still getting the same messages. I've uninstalled the software and reinstalled from the cd and still nothing.
I'm at my mom's house and thought I'd pop on and let you all know that I have not dropped off the face of the earth. I just feel like it. :) I just dropped off the face of the internet. And boy, have I been really disconnected this week. What with Rach being sick and Becca being home most of the week and Kelly dealing with Austin's croup and hospitalization.... I haven't read everyone's blogs, so I have no idea what is going on with anyone else, but know that you've been in my thoughts and always in my prayers.
I hope to be back soon and be able to catch up with everyone. Until then, may you be filled with God's love and peace.
October 03, 2005
Sorry for the Inconvenience
I am still working on my Vegas post and a birthday update. I did want to check in with you though and apologize.
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Now when you comment to my blog, you will have to type in a verification. This is to prevent the SPAM I've been slammed with over the weekend.
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It is disgusting that there are people out there going onto blogs and placing comments out there for advertising purposes. For COMPANIES. Probably illegitimate ones. Anyway, it has taken me more than 30 minutes in the last couple days to go through and delete the literally almost 50! of these comments that were put on my blog in the past three days. I had 23 of them this morning alone. So, that's why I now have the verification set. I know it's a pain, but I hope you can understand and still comment.
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Much love to you all. Please pray, I'm having a rough day with Little A.
