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Month: September 2009

Something For Me

Most of the things I make end up being gifts for other people.  I make things for my kids, for other people’s kids, and for other family members, but I rarely ever make anything for myself.  I have one tote bag and a couple of knitted hats, but that’s all I’ve ever kept for myself…until now.  I finally make something just for me! I now have nice warm purple scarf for winter and I can’t wait for it to get cold enough to use it.  It is just a simple garter stitch scarf that was quick to whip up but I love it!

Purple Scarf

Purple Scarf

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Back On Schedule

Tomorrow morning I have to drag myself out of bed at 6:30 a.m. again. I have to do the morning rush again. I have to drag the kids out of bed, get them dressed, fed, and out the door. I have to drop Zach off at preschool, Evie at day care, and get myself to work for the first time since my surgery a week and a half ago. I have to rejoin the real world and I’m not looking forward to it one bit.

My body is healing and I’m definitely feeling much better, though I’m not too sure how it’s going to feel to sit up at a desk all day tomorrow. My energy is back to a pretty normal level finally, though that is with getting to sleep in nearly every day. My incisions are still a bit sore, but that I can handle.

I have pushed myself just a little harder than I probably should have, but there were a couple things I didn’t want to miss out on, like watching the Red Sox beat the Royals at the newly renovated Kauffman stadium. I wasn’t about to let one little surgery keep me from catching the Sox this year!

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We celebrated Hubby’s 33rd birthday on Thursday with a delicious dinner my mother-in-law made. The kids helped Daddy blow out the candles on his cake and for once I didn’t have a camera in my hands. Oops.

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Then on Saturday we took Granny and Papa to Deanna Rose Farmstead. The kids always love going there and it was a beautiful day. Plus, I wanted to play with my new camera lenses a bit. Zach was brave enough for the pony ride this time without getting scared.

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All in all it was a really nice week. If it wouldn’t have been for that whole surgery thing, the last week would have been a really nice vacation!

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I can’t thank my in-laws enough for all the help they’ve given us in the last couple of weeks. They’ve read books, changed diapers, given baths, fixed meals, kept up with the laundry, and even helped take the dogs out. I know my recovery would have been a lot harder without them here and I’m a little sad to see them head back home in the morning.

But, back to the grind it is. It all starts in about 8 1/2 hours.

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Coming Out of the Fog

So the surgery on Thursday went well. They had me good and doped up so that I didn’t really even feel much of anything until the next day. The cyst was removed with no surprises, exactly as we had hoped. I slept for most of the day, only getting up for a small dinner and to see the kids for a bit in the evening.

Friday I felt great. I was surprised that I wasn’t hurting too much and decided that I felt good enough to go with Hubby to take Evie to her 18 month check-up at the doctor’s office. After that we stopped at Wal-Mart for a few things, picked Zach up from preschool, and decided to go ahead and eat dinner out. I was doing just fine until just about the end of dinner when Zach had to go to the restroom. As I waited for him I started getting a little dizzy feeling. Fortunately, Granny came in to check on us and I was able to go sit back down right away. I had definitely overdone it.

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were pretty much a fog. I slept off and on. I’d get up for a while, only to find I needed to go back to bed. Between feeling dizzy and having a queasy stomach, I really couldn’t sit up for very long at a time. By Monday evening I was feeling a bit better, but with a lingering headache (probably due from a combination of too much sleeping and forgetting to take my Zyrtec).

Today, I’m finally feeling a little better. I got up, showered, and even fixed my hair this morning. I was feeling pretty weak afterwards, but was glad that I made the effort to do my hair. I had some breakfast, hoping that it would give me a little energy back, then went to Wal-Mart with my in-laws to pick up some groceries and a few other things. Again, I was pretty worn out after Wal-Mart but I needed to go.

This afternoon I’ve been trying to do a few little things but resting in between. I managed to put away a basket of Zach’s clothes and now I’m resting again. Everything I do seems to take a whole lot of effort, but I am trying to take it slow.

My pain is pretty well controlled and only bothers me when I do a lot of walking around. I stopped taking the Percocet on Monday and have only taken Naproxen since then. My incisions are healing, though they are now starting to itch like crazy and I have some really pretty purple and yellow bruises. This is the first surgery I’ve ever had where they have used glue to close everything back up instead of stitches. That is a little weird, but at least I’ll have less scarring on the stomach that no one will likely ever see again.

The kids seem to be handling everything really well, though that is probably because they have the attention of Granny and Papa to distract them. Evie keeps wanting to come up in my lap and every time she does she has to look at my “owies”. She has also been searching for owies on everyone else’s stomachs as well and doesn’t understand why they don’t have any.

I am so thankful to have my in-laws here to help out. They have been taking care of everything including getting to kids to and from school and day care so that I can rest. I don’t know how I would have done it without them.

The fog is definitely lifting today and I’m so glad to feel a little more like myself. Hopefully in another day or two I’ll be able to go into work for a little bit. But do you want to know what I’m really looking forward to? Being able to put on a pair of jeans again!

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Get 4 Free Children's Songs from Kenny Loggins

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A couple of weeks ago I was sent a copy of the new Kenny Loggins cd, All Join In, from the One2One network.  I’m not a huge Kenny Loggins fan myself, but since my kids both love listening to music, I thought I’d give it a chance.  I was pleasantly surprised when I turned it on.  There are some great songs on All Join In, including old favorites like “You’ve Got A Friend In Me”, and some new material from Kenny as well.  The kids really enjoyed the album and I have to say it was pretty good from an adult perspective as well.

Want to hear it yourself?  Walt Disney Records and Kenny Loggins are offering up four free MP3s from the album in exchange for answering a short survey.  To get your four free downloads, follow these simple instructions:

1) Go to http://wdig.vo.llnwd.net/d1/walt_disney_records/Kenny_Loggins/Microsite%202/
and listen to the 4 songs on the music player. (I couldn’t get the player to open in Firefox, so you may need to try a different browser if it doesn’t show up. It seems to work fine in IE)
2) Answer the survey questions listed on the site.
3) Make sure to leave a valid e-mail address and you will be sent a link to download your 4 free MP3s.

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Sugar and Spice

While I’m in surgery today, I thought I would just share a photo.  I have these grand dreams of one day being able to say I’m a photographer, but I have a lot to learn and a long road of practicing ahead of me before I ever get to that level (not to mention the fact that I can’t afford the equipment).  Some days I wonder if it is worth all the time and effort or if I’ll ever even get there.  Then I take a shot like this – one that just happens without even trying – and I think that maybe someday that dream will come true.

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My niece Caitlin walked right into this shot and I clicked at just the right moment.  Sure she has food on her lips.  And I’m sure some Photoshop gurus could probably touch it up a bit, but I think it is perfect as it is, straight out of the camera.  This photo is the very essence of who Caitlin is – sugar, spice, and a little mess to round it out.  I’ll always remember where we were and what we were doing in that moment.  That is what makes photography so much fun.

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Say Good-Bye To My Little Friend

Thursday morning I’m going under the knife.  I mentioned a few posts ago that I had been talking to my doctor about some abdominal pain I was having.  Well, last Friday I finally got in to have an ultrasound done to see if they could find anything.  I got a lovely surprise right away when the technician told me that she needed to do a vaginal ultrasound.  Uh…I wasn’t exactly prepared for that.  I just thought she was going to rub some gel across my stomach and look around on top like all of the other ultrasounds I’ve ever had.

She had me go to the restroom and empty my bladder before hand.  Then I positioned myself on the table and she got started.  She took the first glance at the screen and asked me if I had emptied my bladder all the way.  Yes, I had.  She had a funny look on her face and said it looked very full, which had me a little worried.

Then all of a sudden she said, “Oh, that might be a cyst!”

And yes, it was most definitely an ovarian cyst.  According to the measurements on the ultrasound, it was about 9 centimeters.  Um, yeah, that might just explain the pains that I’ve been having.  9 cm is nothing compared to the cysts I had removed when I was 19, but my doctor and I both decided right away that the best course of action was to get that thing out of me as soon as possible.

It wasn’t exactly the news I was hoping to hear on a Friday afternoon, but I am glad that there was a definite answer as to what was causing the problem.

So, I’m scheduled for surgery at 8:30 Thursday morning to have my little friend removed.  (I’ve been trying to come up with a name for it, but so far I’m drawing a blank.)  The surgery will be outpatient as long as they don’t discover any other abnormal things hiding out in there and I’ll be back home with my family that night.

My in-laws were planning a trip up here anyway, so they came up a little bit earlier so they could be here to help out with the kids and things around the house while I’m not able to.  They’re just awesome like that.

The good news is I get an unexpected vacation from work and will hopefully be pain-free after a couple of weeks.  The bad news is I’ll be hopped up on pain pills and will probably sleep through most of that time off.  Wait…why is that bad?  I’m going to need some time to come up with an answer for that one.

Even though I expect this to be a very simple surgery with no complications (*fingers crossed*) I’d be very appreciative of any prayers, happy thoughts, or positive vibes sent my way Thursday morning.

So, anyone want to name my cyst???

If you want to know how I’m doing, your best bet is to follow me on Twitter as I’m more likely to update there than here.

If you have toddlers at home you really need to go enter my latest giveaway on my Reviews page. You can enter to win one of 5 pairs of Stride Rite’s new SRT shoes and I assure you they are awesome!

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