Sunday Social

SUNDAY SOCIAL

1. Favorite New Years eve you’ve had before?
For a couple of years we went to my co-workers house for a lovely dinner & a night of drinks & games. We weren't invited this year since I no longer work with them. Sad since we used to consider them family. We always had the best time playing cornhole & drunk jenga!
2. Are you doing anything for NYE this year and if so what?
We've been invited out to one of CJ's friends houses for a party but will probably not go since I am still recovering from Friday's surgery. I don't know how long I could make it out of the house.
3. Name a book we should all read come January?
I am reading Still LoLo. It's a book about Lauren Scruggs who was in a plane accident last year. So far it's a really good book.
4. What are your new years resolutions?
Rehab my knee the right way (no rushing it!!), loose weight (I would like to loose about 45 pounds this year), get all A's spring semester (only taking two classes shouldn't be too hard), gain more patience for my boys (all 3 of them).

Yesterday I actually put some weight on my knee! I didn't fall over in pain like I thought I would have. I definitely needed more pain meds yesterday than I did on Friday since the nerve block had worn off. I am in quite a bit of pain this morning but can't take any pain meds until I eat some breakfast. Hopefully that will be soon. We are still at my parents house but I am ready to go home and get the boys back in their own environment. I really would like to go home tonight but CJ has to bowl and I am not ready to be home by myself with the boys. I don't know what I am going to do come Tuesday when I'm home with them while CJ is at work. I am hoping to be able to drive (well I'm going to have to drive home from my parents house at least tomorrow) come Wednesday so Hayden can go back to school on time. But we will see. Once the meds kick in they knock me out pretty quickly. Although I will have finished up one prescription by Wednesday I think.

Spring semester starts a week from tomorrow & I just ordered my textbooks yesterday. I normally have them ordered weeks in advance. Oh well, they should be here by Wednesday/Thursday and then I'm hoping to get a head start on reading for both of my classes (Personal Finance & Intro to Political Science).

I am starting to go stir-crazy in the house! I would love to go with CJ to the bowling alley tonight but I know that is not a smart idea. My surgeon took pictures of my knee while doing the surgery. My tendon was all torn up. It was so ragged looking, he ended up cutting out quite a bit of it. The upside is everything else looked good (meniscus, ACL, & MCL). I have to call tomorrow and make an appt for next week. CJ has his next blood patch next week as well. That will be a long day for me with a lot of walking. We will have to make sure we get to the hospital way early so we are not late getting to his appointment. I only *have* to use crutches for ten days...I'm sure I will use them longer. I cannot wait to take this huge bandage off of my leg today, it is driving me crazy! I am anxious to see what my knee looks like as well.

Time to go start bothering my mom for breakfast :-)

At my Mom's

Surgery went well this morning. He went in with the scope first to see if he could find anything...and he did (not surprising) and then cut my knee open & then cut the tendon. I'm on some pretty heavy pain killers and have to stay off of it for 24 hours & then crutches for 10 days. I also have to ice it for an hour and then an hour off (although we are going on 2 hours off now...shhhhhh)!!

The posts that I had wanted to get done this week (that didn't happen) were my Cara Box linkup & Secret Santa linkup...maybe I can get them done when I'm home next week :-)

Fail

I had every intention of getting some posts done so they would be ready for this weekend and that didn't happen!! I am running around today trying to finish things up around the house and pack all of us to go to my parents tonight thru Monday afternoon. And CJ is home today not feeling well which makes my day a little more complicated. I was supposed to give my dad a ride tonight and with CJ home we don't have the room in the car. But we'll see if he even feels up to going tonight.

I need some more blogs to read (especially this weekend while I'm in bed the majority of it...SO please leave some suggestions :-)

On the Ball

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!! The boys got entirely too much stuff but love each and every thing they got!! My living room looked like it threw up once we finished opening presents and brought everything in from the car from my mom's house.

I normally just leave the house a mess until I can't stand it anymore (I know how lazy is that)! But since I am having surgery in two days and tonight is our last night here until Monday night (possibly) I need to get it cleaned up and organized today! All clothes have had tags taken off and been separated. New jeans have been washed, dried, & folded, Hayden's stuff is in the dryer now. All of Deqlan's toys, books, & movies have been put away in his room (well he brought them up whether or not they are where they belong is a different story). I have all of Hayden's stuff in one corner of the living room. I am getting ready to head back downstairs and break down all of the boxes and put those away and take the trash out to the garage. I think I'm going to have to make a trip to the dump tomorrow since we missed garbage collection this morning.

Tonight I am going to dinner with my dear friend Carrie. We had Spanish together for a few weeks before she dropped the class. Turns out she is from near where all of my mom's family is. We became very close. I was supposed to take a class with her Spring semester but I had to drop my on-campus classes because of my knee. I haven't seen her in a couple of weeks & won't see her again for a while so I cannot wait to spend some time with her!!!!

Tomorrow morning I have to finish doing laundry, pack up our stuff, run some errands, & go to lunch with my friend. I then need to drop all of my stuff off at my parents and pick my dad up. He's going to watch the boys at the bowling center while I go to my pre-op appointment. My doctor is NEVER on time so it's always better if I don't have to bring the boys with me...ESPECIALLY BOTH OF THEM!!

I hope everyone has a great day!!

5 for Five

Things have been crazy around here for the last couple of weeks with ER visits, doctors appointments, family in town, and finals. Now we are preparing for my knee surgery Friday morning which means getting the house ready!!!

My goals for this week!

1. Enjoy family time today and tomorrow!! I am so looking forward to spending time with my parents and brother and sister-in-law. I see my parents twice a week and spend all day on Saturdays with them but its not the same as being with them on holidays. I hope this year is easier on my mom and I than last year. It was our first one since my aunt had passed last year and then the health issues with CJ made it very emotional last year.

2. Get all laundry done before Friday! Come Friday morning CJ will be in charge of laundry completely for a week (maybe a little longer) and then will be carrying it up and down the stairs for me (downfall to the laundry room being DOWNSTAIRS). I normally would be worried about him ruining some of my clothes but I will be in sweats and yoga pants for a while nothing to hard about washing those!

3. Finish cleaning the house! We got a lot done yesterday. 3 loads of laundry, the master bath cleaned, the boys bathroom cleaned, the bonus room picked up, and the kitchen counters scrubbed. I still need to mop the kitchen floor, clean the half bath, and vacuum the house. I plan on doing the kitchen floor this morning before we head out and then doing the half bath and the vacuuming either Wednesday or Thursday.

4. Get out of the house as much as possible! Since I will be home-bound for a week or so I plan on getting out of the house as much as possible!! Today & tomorrow we'll be at my moms, Wednesday night I am going to dinner with a girlfriend from school, Thursday afternoon I am going to lunch with a friend and her kids, & then Thursday night we have league. Granted I will be at my parents ALL next weekend so CJ has help with the boys and me (mainly for my peace of mind and so I can rest).

5. Get at least one post ready for after surgery! I'd like to have a couple ready to go for Friday, Saturday, & Sunday but we shall see if I leave myself enough time to work on them. If nothing else I can do them Thursday night when I'm NOT sleeping. I don't handle surgery stress well-like it's already worrying me and I haven't slept well since Thursday night!!

I hope I can get everything done. A few things HAVE to be done :-)

I need to go mop the kitchen before the boys wake up and then get ready to go visit my Granna. I miss her so much!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!!!

It hit me

Bowling has been my life since I was a little girl. I have grown up in the bowling center...worked in it for 10 years of my life and my closest friends are people I met through bowling. I reconnected with a family I grew up bowling with this weekend and it has been wonderful being in touch with them again!!

But now I am a week away from surgery (hopefully this time next week I will be out of surgery and on my way home) and it hit me this morning...Thursday night may be the last time I bowl. I know I won't be bowling for three months and that is difficult enough...but then to think about not being able to bowl again ever hurts my heart. My brother went through much greater knee injuries than I have and he rehabbed well. I have to be realistic and know it is a possibility.

Speaking of my surgery...I have so much stuff to get done around the house!!! I really want the house to be spotless before my surgery but I don't think/know how that will happen. We started making plans with my parents last night. My mom took the day off of work so she can take me and my dad will stay home with the boys. We will spend the night with my parents Thursday night (we have to be at the surgery center at 8am) and then definitely spend Friday night there as well. If I am up to going home Saturday after dinner than we can head home but it may be easier to stay with my parents thru the weekend since CJ has to bowl Sunday night and I don't know that I will be up to going. I started stocking up on some grocery/personal items at the store this week. CJ will have to do grocery shopping for a few weeks so I'd like to make it as easy as possible for him. I wanted to make some meals ahead of time but I don't think there will be time for that. Wednesday night I'm going out with my friend Carrie from school and Thursday I have lunch with my friend Jennifer and then my pre-op appointment!

Time to get back to wrapping presents :-) If I'm not back around before Tuesday....MERRY CHRISTMAS...Remember the reason for the season!

Finally

I finally got my surgery scheduled. That only took a week and a half to do. All it took was me letting the front desk girl know that if I didn't hear back from his nurse by the end of the day I would be speaking with the office manager first thing tomorrow morning. It does not take that long to schedule a surgery (I used to work in a heart surgeon's office). Literally 15 minutes after hanging up with the receptionist the nurse called me to inform me of my times. Of course my pre-op appointment isn't until 4:30 the afternoon before surgery but at least it is scheduled now.

I need to get started on wrapping presents tonight. The last thing I want to be doing Monday night is wrapping presents!! I have a couple more things to pick up (mainly movies and stocking stuffers). I finally got the trees decorated good thing they will be up longer this year. I let CJ take the tree down last year and he did a horrible job wrapping up the ornaments. I need to make a run to the container store and get an ornament organizer so there are less Christmas boxes in the attic since we have an extra tree now.

I guess I also need to start my to-do list of things to get done around the house before my surgery. I wanted to make a few meals but I don't know when I will actually have time to do that. The house needs to be deep-cleaned before I worry about making meals. CJ can cook he just takes forever! Literally meals that should take 30 minutes take him at least an hour to cook-I have no clue why!!!!

Tomorrow Hayden has his last day of preschool before break. They'll sing some songs for about 30 minutes and then be out until Jan 2nd. Of course his break will end up being longer since I won't be able to drive right away. Then tomorrow afternoon Deqlan has his Winter "party" at school from 1-2:15, and then I'll just bring him home with me. He has a half day Friday but I may let him stay home, they aren't going to do anything and a day to sleep in sounds wonderful to me!!!

MIA

School is over!!!!!!!!!! It's been over but I've been so incredibly busy trying to get things done around the house and get ready for Christmas. Friday both Hayden & I had to go to the doctor. I was still having a ton of sinus pressure (even though I had finished my antibiotics a week prior) but the sinus infection had cleared I just had a lot of swelling still (which wasn't surprising seeings how she couldn't see the infection when I was diagnosed because I was so swollen! So another prescription for me-this time a nasal spray to decrease the swelling. CJ had to go to the doctor Thursday for a sinus infection. I thought Hayden had one but when we went to the doctor Friday he said it's just a bad cold (the same one we've been passing around since Halloween). Thankfully Hayden is starting to feel better. Of course my plan for Friday had been to get the rest of my Christmas shopping done. With Hayd with me that obviously didn't happen. I did get quite a bit done with him and even got some things for him :-)

Plan for today is drop the boys off at school & head straight to the mall that I don't normally go to. I need to go to Lush to get some things for my mom-we tried to go Friday & spent 45 minutes looking for a parking spot & finally I gave up!! I figure if I get there right when it opens it shouldn't be too bad. I also need to pick up a few things from Target & the grocery store, & swing by the post office to mail off a couple of swap packages (so sorry they are late ladies!!!) Finals last week kicked my butt & basically NOTHING got done around the house!! I got the big tree downstairs decorated yesterday and Hayden's little tree done as well. So today I need to get the upstairs tree done & move all of the storage containers into the bonus room so they are out of my hallway!!

I am hoping to get my knee surgery scheduled today. We are still hoping it can be done next Friday the 28th which means I need to get my house cleaned this week & make some freezer meals plus wrap presents. CJ is going to have a lot on his plate for a couple of weeks. Plus his next blood patch is January 9th-hopefully this one goes as well as the first one with NO SURPRISES!!

I cannot believe Christmas is in 8 days and that it is almost the New Year. I feel like 2012 flew by so quickly. I hope that 2013 is a much better year for us with less sickness and no health surprises. We know we are going to deal with CJ's health issues for the rest of his life so now hopefully we can manage it without him having to take months off of work!!!

I ran into a family last night that I grew up with. I hadn't seen the mom in probably 8-10 years and the boys I hadn't seen in at least 6. It was so good to catch up with them after so long! They have recently gotten back into bowling so they are going to help out my team while I'm out recovering from my surgery.

I hope everyone has a great day!!!

Waiting

I hate playing the waiting game! I had to call the doctor's office back today because I still hadn't heard anything from them. She finally called me back to say she hadn't called because she wasn't sure when they could fit my surgery in...yet my message said I had QUESTIONS...

Unfortunately she wasn't there on Friday for my appointment so she didn't have much information about the actual procedure. But it looks like the goal is to do my surgery December 28th...yep two weeks from Friday!!! If this is actually going to happen that fast...I have a ton of stuff to get done around the house between now & then...& I need to figure out who can go with us to CJ's blood patch January 9th...on the off chance I am still on pain meds & can't drive...Oh and the boys go back to school Jan. 2nd...I definitely won't be able to drive then but hopefully my mom will be able to take a few days off to help out.

So I was supposed to have my Spanish interview this morning...I decided I wasn't going to go and just take the B that it would drop me too...This afternoon my professor called to check on me and reschedule it. She knew how hard I had worked this semester and she knows I'm frustrated with her participation grading (she took off 5 points per day missed from each chapter & I missed two this chapter which meant I had an 82 instead of a 92). Her taking off in participation for absences is the only reason I HAVE to do the interview for my A. I had an A all semester so I will go Friday morning and do it but I am not happy.

I got a D in Psychology but unfortunately that means no more financial aid...I got a B in health & a C in Biology (which was a HUGE shocker!!) All in all a decent semester. I am disappointed with my psychology grade but it is my own fault.

Tomorrow I need to get the trees decorated & some laundry done, some vacuuming done, & clean the kitchen, & go thru all of the presents I have so far to see what else I need to get...& start planning some freezer meals for when I have surgery!

Have a great night!

Official

It was one crazy weekend!!!

Friday afternoon I had my appointment with my orthopedic surgeon to check how my knee was doing following the PRP injection. The answer is...no change what so ever. He is really disappointed that my body didn't respond the way we had hoped. He did the equivalent of two treatments at one time and I have seen no improvement. The next step is surgery. I honestly thought it would be arthroscopic and I'd be back up and moving after 6 weeks...HAHAH!! Not happening. It will be at least a 3 month recovery period. While I'm not completely sure what all he is doing I know he mentioned having to cut the tendon. I called this morning and left a message for the nurse because I have a few questions and I want to go ahead and get this scheduled and done ASAP. Originally I was going to wait until after Nationals in May to do it but we go on vacation 3 weeks after we get back. I figure now is the best time to do it. Even though there is a chance I won't be back to bowling in time.

With now planning this major surgery and knowing what a long recovery it is going to be that means I had to make the tough decision to not go to school full-time next semester. I will be dropping my two on campus classes as soon as I get surgery scheduled. There is no way I'll be able to handle rehabbing my knee and 12 hours of classes. My two on campus classes were scheduled really close together and in the buildings next to each other but only 10 minutes in between. I know there is no way I can handle that especially since I will be on crutches for a while.

Friday night we went and said good-bye to Randy and paid our respects to Marti, Daniel, & Zane. I am glad that I went. I was fine until I got to Marti in the receiving line. My heart is broken for her. Over 30 years of marriage but what an inspiration they were/are for me and CJ. I love her to death and she was asking about CJ's health while we were talking. That's just the type of lady she is!!

My Aunt was in town so I got to see her for a few minutes Friday night when we dropped my grandfather off after the wake. And then I spent the majority of Saturday with her. My uncle was supposed to arrive about 12:30 Saturday afternoon but because of weather issues in Baltimore he got re-routed to Orlando and didn't end up arriving until 7:30. I didn't get to see them yesterday their flight was at 3 so by the time we were up and ready to go they were on the way to the airport already. It was a quick visit but much needed!!!

I finished my antibiotic for my sinus infection last week and I'm feeling crappy again. I don't know if it didn't go away completely or if it's back but I am hoping a good night's sleep will help!!

I had two exams. I need to e-mail one teacher and see if I need to come in for my interview on Wednesday...I am hoping the answer is no but I have a feeling the answer is yes if I want to keep an A in her class.

I have no where that I HAVE to be tomorrow besides take the boys to school and I am oh so thankful for that. My plan is to go to MOPS in the morning which I haven't been able to do at all this semester. I was planning on joining again for next semester but that will depend on when surgery is scheduled for.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!!!

Repeat

I am so tired of repeating myself...already this morning the boys have been told to stop playing about 20 times. Once they are ready for school play all you want...but please get ready FIRST!!!

I had a Spanish test yesterday morning that I felt so horrible about afterwards. Somehow I managed to pull out another A. I can't wait to look over it today in class and see what I thought I got wrong that I apparently got right LOL!!! I also had my first final last night in Biology. It was our lab practical. Our midterm had 50 questions and last night's only had 40. I did the best I could, I really don't feel like it is something you can study for, I mean I guess I could read my lab book but it's not really about how you did something it's about what the response/reaction is. In any event we also had a take home exam due Monday and I did so poorly on it. I am so frustrated that the best I got in that class was a C on any test. I will say though my professor is very lecture orientated on her exams and what killed me was the last lesson I missed when CJ was in the ER all day. She was looking for specific things from her lecture. One more night of Biology and that's the written exam that she'll be posting a review for online today. Can't wait to be done in that class!!

I have class this morning, then a few errands to run before I pick up Hayden from school, then I need to come home and bust my butt to finish my health review questions, then pick Deqlan up, run a few errands at the mall, and then off to the bowling center to bowl. My health review questions are due tomorrow night at 8 but I have a 1:20 doctor's appointment and then the family visitation for Randy is tomorrow night. And my Aunt arrives this afternoon but I won't see her until tomorrow it seems. That was my long way of saying that I need to have these health questions done and ready to be submitted tomorrow morning before I go to class! I'm about half done now but one of the questions left is a long one!

Have a great day!

Heavy heart

My dear friend Randy who I posted about 2 weeks ago lost his battle with cancer last night. I am blessed to have known Randy as long as I did (about 11 years). He was an amazing man and will definitely be missed. I am thankful he was able to see both of his boys graduate college and go on to work with the sport they love, Football.

4 more days of classes & only two more nights of Biology!!! I am so ready for this semester to be over-it has definitely drained me. I am thankful for no more night classes!!!

I spent the morning working on some stuff for my Psychology class instead of posting a blog. I will try to get back this afternoon once I am home from class!

5 for Five!

Last Week's 5 for Five!

1. Get the house decorated for Christmas!! This includes two Christmas trees and misc. stuff around the house. I want to find some pretty garland to put on the mantle.
2. Finish my online Health assignments! One chapter quiz left, review questions that are due Dec. 7th, and hopefully she will have the study guide for the exam up early this week.
3. Catch-up lunch/dinner with my friend April! We've known each other for about 6 years now. But haven't seen each other in at least 3. We're planning for lunch tomorrow but at least at some point this week!
4. Order Christmas cards!! Since CJ and I have been married (8 years on Thursday) I have sent out Christmas cards...ONE TIME!!! I have a card I've designed on Shutterfly...now to decide if I love it :-)
5. STAY CALM THIS WEEK!! Friday is CJ's 6-month check-up with the oncologist where we will find out if the radiation treatments helped and we can go ahead with another blood patch. If it didn't work then we have to figure out the next game plan to try to keep him as healthy as possible and up and moving around for the next 20 years. This will be the hardest thing for me to do this week!
Well I accomplished one thing last week LOL!!! I got one tree up but mom hasn't had a chance to bring the other tree over. I got my last weekly quiz done for my health class but haven't finished the review questions. And we all know that me staying calm about CJ's appointment didn't happen. And then life was so crazy to get together with my friend April. Hopefully this week (although I have tons of work to get done).

This Weeks 5 for Five!!

1. Get the house decorated for Christmas!! I have family arriving Thursday afternoon and I would really like the downstairs tree up and decorated before they get here-even though they may not come over to the house.
2. Finish all assignments for all 4 classes!!! This is so not optional this week!! I have two exams that start this week, one exam Wednesday night, and three exams next week. Yes I have 6 exams for 4 classes.
3. Start addressing Christmas cards!! They arrived crazy fast! Like ordered them Monday morning and they were here Wednesday afternoon.
4. Post about swaps that should be arriving today. November Cara Box & an ornament swap. Another ornament swap should arrive this week.
5. Get swap packages out on time this week. One needs to be out no later than Wednesday the other Friday. My goal is to get them both out tomorrow!!

In any event. I honestly don't know how much I'll be around this week. It's cram week with crazy amounts of work due (I take full responsibility for a few of these assignments because I should have been working on them all semester). Friday afternoon is my follow-up with the orthopedic surgeon-I'm hoping to schedule surgery because my knee is still killing me and I'm really hoping he doesn't make me wait 6 months to see if the injection might start working.

Have a great Monday!!!

Saturday done

Well the first day of our incredibly long weekend is done. Deq only had to bowl three games today but I feel like we were in the bowling center FOREVER!! I dread tomorrow since he has to bowl 6 games.

Yesterday's doctors appointment went much better than we expected. We need to get an appointment with the neuroradiologist to get CJ scheduled for another blood patch (hopefully I can get that scheduled next week for January) and then we will follow up with the oncologist again in May. Thank you for all of your thoughts & prayers! They are greatly appreciated!!

I am slowly making progress off of my assignment list of all the work that needs to get done before the end of the week. I have a large assignment due in my online health class Friday at 8 but I need it done before then since I have a doctors appointment Friday afternoon and family in town as well.

I probably won't be around much until finals are over. My online exams post on the 5th (I think) both have to be done by the 10th with all other work submitted. Even though exam week doesn't officially start until the 10th. I can't wait to get them out of the way! 6 exams this semester for my four classes (2 in Spanish, 2 in Biology, and then one each in my online classes). I just need to make it through and pull up my pyschology grade to a c so I have financial aid next semester. Almost done with my first semester as a full-time student :-)

Have a great Sunday!