tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677170449186480172024-03-13T08:35:29.291-07:00Simply MeganMeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.comBlogger144125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-90512562687599573322015-11-08T04:28:00.001-08:002015-11-08T04:28:54.442-08:00Assignment for Emerging TechnologiesThis is an old blog that I have not submitted anything on in well over a year. I decided to go ahead and use this for my assignment rather than create a new blog.
A blog is an online web entry where you can keep your journal or write about a topic that interests you. Blogs consist of well-formed sentences, good detail, and nice graphics and pictures. I was a consistent blogger off and on for 8 years. I blogged the majority of my oldest sons first year and then off and on once my younger son was born.
I feel very flustered with the fall semester this year. The semester started and I had a couple of rough assignments which included a group project where no one did the assignment and then the group leader never submitted it and an issue with getting enrolled in the correct online course which started me off with three zero's on assignments. This was very difficult for me to handle after having a 4.0 last semester and a 3.8 the semester before that. I have let it go and realized that my grades may not be as high this semester but I am finally only one semester away from finishing my associate's degree and that is what is important to me at this point!
Another reason why this semester was difficult was how busy my kids have kept me not just on the weekends but during the week as well. We get one night with absolutely nothing to do every other week. Both of my boys are in sports and my oldest son is on a travel team that meets for practices multiple times a week and has tournaments almost every weekend. I will never let my schedule keep them from doing the things that they love to do so it just requires me to be that much more organized.
<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-71721537471062319682014-06-06T06:20:00.000-07:002014-06-06T06:20:10.064-07:00Bad blogger!Life has been insane to say the least! CJ went back to work in the middle of January & then early last month he missed a week of work because we thought he had broken his leg. Thankfully he did not and apparently it was just a really deep tissue/bone bruise. We will be going back to Mayo at some point (hopefully this summer) but we are still waiting to hear when (and have been since February).
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Deqlan is finishing up the school year. Next Thursday is his last day! Hard to believe he is going to be in 4th grade. Baseball season is almost over. The regular season ended last night and then the tournament is Monday and Tuesday nights next week. He didn't make all-stars but we knew he wouldn't. He struggled with his hitting all season (as in only has one hit in 12 games). He has grown leaps & bounds defensively though. We are hoping to get his hitting lessons started again and continue them through the off-season and then come the fall he will be ready to try out for a travel team and hopefully put rec ball to rest.
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Hayden graduated preschool a few weeks ago! He was too cute in his little cap & gown. He just finished his first T-ball season last night (he was not a fan). Not sure if he will play again next year and probably won't know until the day to register comes. He is so indecisive. He will start Kindergarten in August and he CANNOT wait to be at the same school as his brother. This mom is super excited to only have to do two carpools a day (potentially only one if my brother moves into the neighborhood this summer)!
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I am still having some knee issues. I had Supartz injections done in April and while my knee has dislocated as many times as it would normally it is still doing it on a regular basis. I am having a mole removed from my back today. The doctor said it's benign but it's been bothering me so we will go ahead and remove it and biopsy it just to be safe. I am taking one class this summer and then just registered for fall classes (and am praying that my financial aid appeal is approved so I can go full-time in the fall)!
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I've been cleaning the house like crazy the last week trying to get rid of baby stuff. We've made a decent dent and have been able to sell quite a bit. I have a new kitchen table being delivered on Monday and then I will have a dining room again instead of toy storage :-)
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<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-35788064090461814272014-02-06T07:58:00.001-08:002014-02-06T07:58:48.167-08:00My Knee & Tough DecisionsSo I am 13 months post-op from my patella tendon debridement. I knew going into the surgery that the success rate was only 50% but with the amount of pain I was in it was worth the shot. Unfortunately I was in the 50% fail rate. So I have continued to see my orthopedic surgeon on a regular basis (every 6-8 weeks). In any event I had an appointment with him about 3 weeks ago and the weekend before my appointment I started having some major issues. I was trying to walk down the stairs and my knee completely locked up (he said that it dislocated) once I got it to bend again it completely gave out on me and I fell down the stairs. The next day it gave out again and I had another lovely trip down the stairs. That night I had bowling and on my very last shot of the night it gave out and I fell.
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When I saw him the next morning he was absolutely convinced that I tore my meniscus (I have all the symptoms of a torn meniscus so this is ALWAYS his answer). So we did X-rays (just so insurance would cover an MRI) and then got my MRI scheduled for the next week. Tuesday night he finally called me with my MRI results and no I did not tear my meniscus but my knee is getting worse. My tendon is holding up nicely from the surgery but is very slow to heal (you can still see the stitch material in my MRI). During my surgery he saw how damaged my cartilage was but there was nothing he could do to fix it (at the time). My cartilage is my major issue. He can't tell how much more damaged it is but we know that it is definitely worse than what it was 13 months ago. Unfortunately the surgery that could possibly help me is very new and there is not enough research to state how long this surgery could potentially last. The recovery period would be absolutely insane (4-6 months on crutches and then 18+ months overall). So with not knowing how long this surgery will hold (ideal would be 8-10 years) he does not feel comfortable doing it but we will readdress the situation when the time comes. So of course his suggestion is for me to quit bowling, I was absolutely heart broken to hear those words come out of his mouth Tuesday evening. I told him when I saw him yesterday that I am not ready to give it up yet. It is something that I have done for 24 years and I just don't know how I would handle being in the bowling center multiple times a week not being able to bowl (yes I did it last year but I knew I would bowl again). He was ok with hearing that :-) He said good for you for telling me your not ready! So he wants to do an injection of some time of lubricant gel (he said it's basically WD-40) but to get insurance to pay for that he had to give me a cortisone injection first. I don't do needles so this tends to stress me out but he really gave me no time to think about it...He knows how I am! Thankfully the injection wasn't too bad and should last me a week and a half to two weeks and then I'll get the lubricant injection.
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As much as I am not ready to give up bowling I will re-evaluate at the end of May. I have two leagues that end in April and then Nationals in Reno in the middle of May. If I think the injection is holding and working then maybe I will continue to bowl if not then I will seriously consider quitting. Honestly this will be one of the toughest decisions I have had to make. I love bowling, I love my bowling family, and I love my yearly girls weekends BUT as the boys get older and more active (especially now that Hayden will be playing ball this year as well) I need to be able to get up and move around! I am tired of missing out on things because of my knee!
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So that's whats been going on with me :-) CJ is back at work and worked almost 80 hours this past week (because of Superbowl) and the boys are definitely acting out because of it! I am ready for all of us to get adjusted to him being back at work!
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<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-40431151441181630772014-01-27T04:16:00.002-08:002014-01-27T04:16:39.685-08:00Snow & other thingsWe don't get snow here very often...and when we do everyone freaks out and the state/city shuts down for days! A week and a half ago we had pretty snow first thing in the morning, it was so pretty to watch it coming down and then that was it, no sticking because it had been too warm. Last Tuesday evening it snowed about 2 inches at our house which gave us a 2 hour delay Wednesday morning. And now they are calling for more snow starting tomorrow evening into Wednesday! This seriously could not happen at a worse time. CJ is super busy at work this week because of Super Bowl Sunday and can't afford to miss a day because of bad roads or even go in late (since Wednesday he has already worked 50+ hours and he still has today-Wednesday before he's off). I like watching the snow come down but I'd really like to have my husband home and not at his brothers house tomorrow night!
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Deqlan is 8 1/2 and in 3rd grade. He's always been super smart and ahead of the majority of his peers. He finished 2nd grade reading on an end of 5th grade level. He gets so bored in class that there are many times he has a hard time focusing on the easier work. In any event, he has been doing tests for AG placement for next year. He took the first test (CogAt) in October and did wonderfully so he took the 2nd test (IOWA test) in December (after missing 3 days of school). He scored above 99% of the kids exactly his age! We are good friends with one of the teachers at his school and last night she was telling CJ that she was talking to the principal and Deqlan happened to come up and the principal mentioned that Deqlan KILLED the Iowa test :-) Makes me so happy to know that we are doing something right with that boy! As frustrating as he can be sometimes ;-)
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The last two weeks we have really buckled down with Hayden on working on things he needs to know for Kindergarten next year. He's in preschool 5 days a week (and was last year too) but he gets distracted so super easy! We've had a few melt downs when we ask him to do his "homework" (one night it was work sent home from his speech therapist) and when I say melt downs I mean full blown temper tantrums about doing his homework. Next year should definitely be interesting when he has homework every single night :-)
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I'm sick :( I've been battling sinus issues since the first of the year. Two trips to my PCP with a round of antibiotics and a steroid spray plus a ton of over the counter medicine and I was still feeling like crap. I made my first visit to an ENT (both boys have seen one) last Wednesday where he was oh so kind to shove a camera up my nose! Came out of that with more pain than I had to begin with, a steroid pack, and a different antibiotic. The antibiotic has been causing some nasty migraines for the past four days and I really don't know how I'll be able to function until Saturday on them! If I have another bad day today I will have to call tomorrow morning to see if they can recommend something different. I am still waiting on my MRI results (talk about frustrating) so I need to call the office today to make sure they are planning on calling me with them!
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All in all things are going pretty well around here considering it's CJ's first full week back at work and it was an 8-day work week! I'm definitely ready for him to be home for two days so I can rest and try to start feeling better!
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<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-1411226970667433632014-01-20T09:23:00.004-08:002014-01-20T09:23:24.383-08:00WeekendWe are still in weekend mode around here. Deqlan had a half day on Friday and then is out today & tomorrow. Hayden goes back to school tomorrow (which he will not be happy that Deqlan doesn't have to go). CJ is off of work til Thursday because of some D.O.T issues. We didn't get much accomplished this weekend but before CJ goes back to work on Thursday all of my Christmas decorations better find their way up to the attic! It's all taken down & put away but just sitting in my bonus room!
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Tomorrow evening is my MRI for my knee and I am hoping to have the results by the end of the week (my doctor tends to be a little slow on calling people) so if I expect to hear back by Friday and hear back earlier I will be pleasantly surprised! I also have a board meeting tomorrow night for the pool (well it is supposed to be tomorrow but one of the members keeps trying to move the date because she has somewhere to be). And now they are calling for snow tomorrow evening starting around 5. The last thing I want is to be out driving in the snow (it shouldn't cause too many road problems because it is supposed to be 60 today but we don't get snow often down here and people do not know how to drive in it)!
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I got Deqlan registered for spring ball last week and now I need to go by the athletics office and get my check back. His coach for quite a few seasons will be coaching in another town this year so we are making the move with him. We have the promise that Deqlan will be put on his team and should be able to stay with him for as long as he is coaching. So I need to get that taken care of this week and get both of the boys registered in the new town. But before I can register Hayden I need to call and get some information on their t-ball program (nothing online). I need to go through Deqlan's baseball gear and see what still fits (hopefully all of his under armour shirts)! We bought new cleats during the fall so he should be all set with those.
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That's about all we have going on around here. I need to make an appointment with an ENT for me and move CJ's pain clinic appointment but both offices are closed today for the holiday. So it looks like it will be a much needed lazy day at home for us!
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<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-33841490377711568762014-01-15T07:55:00.001-08:002014-01-15T07:55:44.544-08:00Back to NormalCJ went back to work Monday! Which means life is back to the long days of being by myself and the boys driving me crazy until Daddy comes home (CJ worked 14 hours on Monday...welcome back). We lucked out in that he was able to get his route back. With his company if you are out for 6 months you are supposed to lose your route but everyone has to bid on new routes this week so they figured they might as well let him keep his for the next month before he starts his new route. So he went back to work Monday and then was off yesterday and today :-) He will work Thursday-Monday as his work week and then his days off will change and he will have to work 7 days in a row. We are just so thankful that he is able to go back to work and that his company held his job for him.
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Kindergarten registration started Monday. I haven't made it up to the school yet to get Hayden registered but I probably will get that done next week just so it's done and out of the way. He is currently in speech therapy at his preschool and has been since the end of September/beginning of October. He is improving but still has a long ways to go. He tries to talk so fast that you just can't understand him and he doesn't enunciate everything as clearly as a 4 1/2 year old should. He is going to be my tough child when it comes to school. He doesn't catch onto things as easily as Deqlan does and it is so hard to not compare the two. I had bought workbooks for Deqlan when he was in preschool that we never used so I pulled those out today and will be making some games for Hayden to work on recognizing his letters (the child can spell his first and last names but cannot tell you what the letters are) and to work on his writing skills. I have to remind myself that Hayden will be one of the youngest kids (if not the youngest) in his Kindergarten class since his birthday is just 10 days before the cutoff (b-day is Aug. 21 cutoff is Aug. 31).
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Deqlan is doing well. School is incredibly easy for him and we cannot wait for him to start the AG program next school year to give him a little more of a challenge! We had to have a heart-to-heart last week about him not putting 100% effort into his work. He is so bored that he doesn't feel it's important to do his best. Since our chat he is doing much much better. I got him registered for spring ball on Monday and had a little chat with the head of our parks & rec program. He was trying to convince me to get Deqlan to play select ball again this year. As much as we would LOVE for Deqlan to get an extra 4 months of practice and game time in it will be the same coach as last year and the same coach who cheated Deqlan out of a spot on the all-star team (Deq was nominated & had the votes-his son had none-but was left off the team so the coaches son could play). I told the man at parks & rec that he could call Deqlan himself and ask him to play...so he did and Deqlan said, "I will not play for Coach W." His two best friends from select last year are not playing either because of the coach. I also told them that he will not play Spring ball for him so don't put him on that team or you will be refunding us our money. Coach W completely killed Deqlan's love for baseball last year and I won't let him do it again.
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I am doing alright. I think I will be back to my usual self in a short period of time since CJ is back at work. I have been battling some sinus issues for almost two weeks now that I just can't seem to get to go away even with antibiotics and steroid sprays and over the counter medicines. Last week was an incredibly lazy week for me because of how poor I felt. Thankfully I am getting my energy back and my house is very thankful for that! I am having knee issues again (still) and had an appointment on Monday with my surgeon. I had some issues over the weekend with my knee completely giving out on me (once while bowling) so I will be having another MRI soon to make sure that I didn't tear my meniscus (the doctor always thinks that is my problem because I have all the signs of it). He wants me to take some time off from bowling again BUT I am just now getting back to where I was before surgery so I will wait and see what the MRI says. Hopefully if I did tear my meniscus we can wait until the end of May to do the surgery so I don't miss out on my Reno trip for Nationals.
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I think that's about it from around here. I am working on getting caught up on house work and getting the last few things of Christmas packed away. I spent yesterday organizing and cleaning out some kitchen cabinets (formula dispensers, sippy cups, plastic containers, etc) and I ended up with two full bags of trash/recycling. I cannot wait to have this house back in order!
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<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-81068138777673696772014-01-03T07:14:00.000-08:002014-01-03T07:14:57.593-08:00Finding a New NormalHappy 2014!!
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I have been trying to blog for the last month or so and just couldn't find the time or the words to do so. One month ago today CJ & I were in Minnesota at the Mayo Clinic and he was getting ready to undergo surgery that was (still is) totally experimental! The procedure they did (cyroablation) had never been done on the spine before CJ's surgery. While it was a very scary feeling of not knowing how it would go and knowing all of the potential risks we knew we had nothing to lose but everything to gain in doing it. The risk of paralysis were fairly high but we could not and did not let our fear stand in the way of getting him healthy and back to a normal lifestyle.
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I am very happy to say that everything went as well as the surgeon had hoped and we had no complications whatsoever! The first night in the hospital was rough with getting his pain under control but the next two days while we were still in Minnesota were wonderful and very few meds were taken. I did have him take his pain killers before we flew home since we didn't know how the pressure would affect him (the flights up were not pretty). We have seen him get his strength and energy back a little bit more each and every day. He is hardly taking his narcotics anymore. I think he has taken them maybe 3 times total since we've been home and twice was within the first few days of being home. He does still have a very weak spine but that will always be the case (he sneezed and fractured a vertebrae). We are remaining positive that this procedure is going to continue to work and he will continue to be almost completely pain free!
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He has been cleared to go back to work. We are currently waiting on the letter from the doctor stating that (since he is on disability he has to have a note), so once we receive that my husband will be back to work! It has been a very long 6 1/2 months with him home but the boys have enjoyed each and every minute of it as much as they could. With CJ going back to work (and his schedule changing dramatically within a couple of weeks of his return) everything will once again fall on me. While we are driving each other crazy it has been nice to have help with carpool for half of the school year!! He's been able to go to events at the boys schools that he wouldn't normally get to do.
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Christmas was smaller this year for us. The boys still had a wonderful time thanks to a very generous family member. CJ and I skipped doing presents for each other so we could really focus on the boys. Money has definitely been tight thanks to the disability company not doing paperwork in a timely fashion and the Mayo doctor refusing to fill out paperwork but we thankfully had some money in savings (not anymore)! We are looking forward to catching up on bills and things of that nature once he is back at work. We have enjoyed not eating out as much and will continue to do that to save money. Deqlan will not be playing travel ball this spring. He didn't have the chance to work on the skills he needed to or for hitting lessons during the off season. So now we will gear up for rec ball starting in March and go from there. His first love is bowling and that is where we have been able to focus while CJ has been home.
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We are already planning our crazy busy summer! We only do a family vacation every other year so we will be home all summer (except maybe a trip to VA to see my aunt and finally take the boys on that train trip I've been promising for two years). Both boys will do swim team again this year and we will be bowling in the youth/adult league one night a week as well. I love keeping the boys busy during the summer and swim team has been an amazing thing for Deqlan to do! Hayden wasn't too sure of it last year but I'm hoping that him doing it again this summer will help him. We spend as much time as possible at the pool so I'm thankful that they either know how to swim or are learning.
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I'm looking forward to getting back into blogging again now that life is getting back to "normal"
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<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-72273726298771942292013-10-30T05:28:00.000-07:002013-10-30T05:28:11.079-07:00The Phone RangYesterday was the day! After almost a full month of waiting for the phone to ring with information about our trip to The Mayo Clinic we finally got a time frame yesterday evening!!! I was working on dinner when the doctor called and told us we have two choices...November 26th (two days before Thanksgiving) or the Monday following Thanksgiving...Since we will be in Minnesota for at least 3 days we have decided to go the Monday after Thanksgiving. The doctor is supposed to call again today to go over some more details but at least we know that in just ONE MONTHS TIME we will be in Minnesota fixing my husband!! As negative as CJ and I have been after getting that phone call yesterday I am no longer negative but so positive over this working. I will no longer imagine my husband coming home in a wheelchair!!
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This whole time I had been looking at flights into St.Paul...yeah there's an airport in Rochester BUT only 3 airlines fly into it which means NO free baggage :( I always fly Southwest but it looks like we will be flying Delta (way cheaper than American) and will have to pay for luggage so I guess I will be lugging our stupid winter coats on the plane :(
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I've found a hotel that I like for the stay. It is a fairly new Hampton Inn. Knowing that I will probably spend the majority of the time by myself in the hotel I want someplace nice and safe. So now it is crunch time. Time to start making lists and getting the house cleaned and decorated for Christmas and getting some Christmas shopping done (hard to do with no money!). Since we will be gone at the beginning of the month and not really knowing for sure when we will be back I want to have as much done for the holiday's as I can. I am looking forward to 2014 being a HEALTHY year!!!
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Please keep us and the boys in your thoughts and prayers over the next 6 weeks. They will be staying with my parents while we are away but we have never both left them for more than a night let alone a week!
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<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-27857308308752350522013-10-02T05:54:00.002-07:002013-10-02T05:54:51.170-07:00Happy October!Man I love October!!
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My birthday is just a few days away...in theory the weather is cooling off. Last week the weather was absolutely gorgeous! Low to mid 70's all week which meant our ball games were chilly which was AMAZING!!!! This week is back in the 80's which meant last night's 7:45 game was still humid and not cool :( Tonight we play our last game of the fall season. Since January we've only gone a few weeks with no baseball lessons, practices, or games to go to. Now we have no baseball until select tryouts in January! I don't know what we are going to do without our baseball family for so long!
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We are currently waiting for a consult from The Mayo Clinic. CJ's films were sent last week while the doctor was out of the country. He is looking over them with another doctor from Mayo and we should have some answers later today as to whether they can give us advice from afar or if we need to travel to Minnesota. I've also got calls in to Johns Hopkins which would be more ideal travel wise. I have a good friend who works in Baltimore and works for Marriott and one of her hotels is right near the hospital. At this point though I will take what we can get as long as someone can fix him!!
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1467717044918648017" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" /></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-73489190443103551452013-09-27T04:51:00.000-07:002013-09-27T04:51:34.585-07:00Where?Things have been a little crazy around here lately. We are completely back in the swing of school for both boys. Deqlan is learning that 3rd grade means way more work and no more getting away with talking all day in class. The first two weeks were an adjustment for him (and he didn't like it) but he is now used to the new rules and what we are expecting out of him. Fall baseball is winding down. Two more games next week and then we are done :( We have a really great group of kids together this fall and they are 5-2-1 (yes our game Tuesday night ended in a tie because of the time limit)!! Out of the three teams in our town we have the best record and I'm feeling more and more confident each day that Deqlan WILL make select this year!! We will be working with him each and every week between now and select tryouts in January!
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CJ still isn't back at work (shoot me)!! He was supposed to have yet another blood patch September 12th. We got a phone call two days before saying they were canceling it to try a new procedure. That procedure was scheduled for last Friday the 20th. We literally spent all day at Duke and then they weren't able to do the procedure because they would have paralyzed him. So now we are waiting to get back in for a blood patch (was supposed to be this week) but the Doctor is waiting to talk to a Doctor from The Mayo Clinic. I've also been in contact with Johns Hopkins about getting a second opinion. Hopefully we hear back from someone soon and maybe someone knows how to fix him!!
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Hayden has had a rough few days. He is finally getting old enough to realize that Daddy is sick and can't play as much as he would like. I think he is starting to fear Daddy not being around because when we are home, CJ and I cannot be out of his sight. My sweet boy who normally will go play in his room quietly for hours on end will no longer stay in there by himself. He can't stand to be downstairs if we are upstairs or vice versa. I'm keeping him home from school today to hang (plus Deqlan has early release & those days are crazy carpool days). He also needs some speech therapy (it was recommended in the spring). We should find out today how much insurance will cover (number of appointments, etc.) but the company that did the screenings at his preschool will actually send someone to the preschool to do his therapy eliminating the need for me to drive him to Raleigh for appointments, Thank You Jesus!!!
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I have been stressed beyond belief with all that has been going on around here. School is kicking my butt, taking 4 online classes and one was only a 8 week class. My chemistry class is over in two weeks and I am thankful! That class started out horrible but I have my grade up to a 70 and I am happy with that!!! I had a meeting with my adviser on Wednesday to change my major from Associate in Arts (transfer) to Office Administration with a certificate in Legal. Surprisingly I've completed 23 hours. But only 15 transfer to my new major and with adding the certificate I still need 60 hours to graduate! If I continue taking only 12 hours a semester I will graduate in 5 semesters so if I take summer classes I could graduate in Summer 2015. But I don't think I'll be able to take full course loads during the summer so it will probably be December 2015. If I push it and take more hours I could graduate in 4 semesters but until Hayden starts Kindergarten that won't be an option. So there is the potential to graduate a little bit earlier but I want to do well in these classes. I am going to take 5 classes in the spring (all online) but it will only be 13 hours (two classes are only 2 hours each). I took 13 hours fall semester last year (but two were on campus) and am taking 12 now so I should be fine with that.
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CJ and I will be having a talk tonight about our plans for his treatment options and what he desires medically. He is no where close to the end of his life but I feel we need to have this talk now before he gets there. He has some depression issues right now (understandably) and I just need to know where he stands.
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I hope to be around more after the beginning of October :-)
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1467717044918648017" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" /></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-11369862806560111982013-09-05T04:57:00.001-07:002013-09-05T04:57:12.666-07:00Kid Pitch!Last night was Deqlan's first kid-pitch game. He went 0-2. Struck out both times, the first time swinging and the second time looking. It's still an adjustment since they just moved up from coach pitch where they got 6 pitches. Hopefully tonight's game goes better, sad that CJ & I will miss it but at least Grandma can get him there.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>On deck before his first at bat</u></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u><br /></u></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u><br /></u></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u><br /></u></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u><br /></u></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u><br /></u></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u><br /></u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First at bat of the night!</td></tr>
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Poor Hayden didn't make it through the whole game. He fell asleep in my parents laps about halfway thru the second inning. It was a 7:15 start and we didn't leave the ball field until 9 and it was a 30 minute drive. I don't know what we will do with Hayden when we have 7:45 start times!! Thankfully all of those games are much closer to home.
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Hope everyone is having a wonderful week. Deqlan has a teacher workday tomorrow (yep second week of school was only 3 days) but Hayden still has school. It'll be nice to spend some one-on-one time with Deq. I think we are going to head to the bowling center to get some practice in while Hayden is at school.
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1467717044918648017" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" /></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-1881228835392379152013-09-02T19:58:00.000-07:002013-09-02T19:58:56.206-07:00Feeling Good!I've talked many times about being a bowler. It is something I have done for my entire life and for a time this year I seriously wondered if it was something I would be able to do again following my surgery. I'm still in a ton of pain day in and day out, but with a new medication from my surgeon and some motrin every day I am able to function!
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Saturday I bowled in a tournament (only the second one since my surgery). It wasn't a huge tournament and it was all women but it was good practice for a tournament coming up in just 3 1/2 weeks. I started out not so hot. I was having a hard time getting lined up and finally decided in the 7th frame of the first game to switch balls and make a huge adjustment. I finished the game with a 160 (26 pins under average) and was disappointed with such a rough game for a tournament that is only three games. Making things more challenging was that we had to move lanes after every game! Thankfully when we moved for the second game my adjustment was still working and I was finally feeling my knee loosen up. I ended the game with seven strikes in a row and shot 238 (highest for that game). I didn't know what place I was in after the first game but I knew that shooting 238 and beating everyone else by almost 40 pins would give me a good chance at getting in the top 4 (top 4 cashed). About three frames into the 3rd game they posted the standings and I was in FIRST!! But only by a few pins. To think that just a few months ago I couldn't bowl at all and the doctor was telling me that it may be something I have to give up and now I'm leading a tournament again made me smile and nothing anyone said or did was going to wipe that smile off of my face!! I was very fortunate to pull out the win!! I finished my third game with a 222 and ended up winning by 22 pins!!<br />
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I won $500!!! Since I've been an adult bowler this is the largest amount I have won! The icing on the cake is we just spent $400 on my car on Friday so this paid for it!!
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I couldn't be happier with the way the weekend turned out! Now it is time to start practicing to get ready for Queens at the beginning of October!!
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1467717044918648017" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" /></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-47041124914799532532013-08-28T07:04:00.000-07:002013-08-28T07:04:00.496-07:00Back to School!!Monday brought the first day of school for both boys. This is the first year that they have started on the same day and I was so thankful for that!! Deqlan started 3rd grade and Hayden started his last year of preschool!!
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How handsome are these two??
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When I picked Hayden up from school Monday we had to head to the doctor's for his 4-year old well check. He is perfectly healthy. 65th% for weight and 55th% for height. He wasn't too happy with me since he had to get his finger pricked, got the flumist, and we went ahead and knocked out the shots he needs for Kindergarten next year. Thankfully by Tuesday morning he was talking to me again!!
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Last night Deqlan had his first kid-pitch game (well it was a scrimmage. It was a great experience for all of the boys out there. Deq only got up to bat one time and struck out BUT it was a good at bat especially considering it was the first time he was facing a kid pitching to him. He didn't swing at any horrible pitches. But we do have to break the habit of him swinging at what he thinks is the last pitch. In coach pitch they got 6 pitches so you had to swing at the 6th one. Now there are actual balls and strikes, and the last pitch that he struck out on was definitely a ball. But it is a learning process and he will get better!!
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He played 2nd base the first inning and center field the other two that they played. Just those three innings took us an hour and a half to play. Since it was a friendly scrimmage there was still a lot of instruction going on in the field. Deq has a couple of teammates that have either never picked up a baseball (and missed all of the practices until last night) or hasn't played baseball since t-ball. Which means he has a young inexperienced team but they did well overall. Our first actual game isn't until next Wednesday and we don't have anymore practices lined up so that will be interesting!!
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1467717044918648017" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" /></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-44290092355660237142013-08-27T06:58:00.000-07:002013-08-27T06:58:22.433-07:00Find Me!Go check out my Big Brooke at <a href="http://wideospaces.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Wide Open Spaces</a><a href="http://wideospaces.blogspot.com/"></a>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1467717044918648017" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" /></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-61305095859135355832013-08-21T05:49:00.002-07:002013-08-21T05:50:24.632-07:00My Baby is 4!!!!Four years ago this morning at 10:00 on the dot this little cutie entered our lives. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR6OrZZRC1z68wN7P_AnegK6XVsnMIHJGxBs4LxccjIi_gKJ_wE-Ry-UFN6UNw_rQ2a-EcAFe0ngiItC_xosOBPhpzwvP5naGTzEy64TAipY52L7MMXI5fODinkXgsJZkAALvszQx9mI4/s1600/40341_519055300196_7078749_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR6OrZZRC1z68wN7P_AnegK6XVsnMIHJGxBs4LxccjIi_gKJ_wE-Ry-UFN6UNw_rQ2a-EcAFe0ngiItC_xosOBPhpzwvP5naGTzEy64TAipY52L7MMXI5fODinkXgsJZkAALvszQx9mI4/s320/40341_519055300196_7078749_n.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i>**I was trying to add pictures from all of his parties but blogger was making it rather difficult this morning. Maybe later it will actually add pictures to the post**</i>
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You made the first year a challenging one as we dealt with some stomach/reflux issues and then some major allergy issues. All of which you have outgrown! You pulled yourself up for the first time at 5 months old, crawled at 6 months, and walked at 9 months. We got thru Daddy's first medical issue as a family of 4 and you did wonderful staying with your grandparents for a few days while Daddy was in the hospital.
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Our second year was an amazing one. You started preschool a year earlier than your brother because you wear your momma out! I needed some time to myself during the mornings to get some homework and cleaning done without you tearing everything up right behind me. Daddy had more health issues that required radiation treatment 5 days a week for 5 weeks and on the days you had to go with us to sit at the hospital you did great sitting and playing on the kindle. You handled Mom and Dad being away for long periods of times with doctors appointments and love playing with the neighbors when you stayed with them!!
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Hayden at his 3rd Birthday Party!
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You switched preschools this year to the one that Deqlan went to and it couldn't be a better fit for you! We are so lucky to have such a wonderful director in Ms. Christi. You love her so much and she is willing to do anything for our family! She always keeps an eye out on her Hayden and lets Mommy know what's going on during the day. You've had a rougher year in wondering what's going on with your Daddy and baby you are just still too little to understand why Daddy never feels good anymore. Luckily your grandparents are only a few minutes down the road and can drop whatever they are doing to come get you and your brother when Mommy has to take Daddy to the hospital. It's not fair to have to deal with a sick Daddy but it makes us stronger because of it!!
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I am so excited for this year in watching you grow Hayden!! This time next year we will be getting ready to send you off to Kindergarten!! You wish you could go now so you can be at the same school as Deqlan!! You love your big brother so much and want to be just like him!! We are excited to watch you learn and grow this year!!
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We are taking Hayden to Chuck-E-Cheese today, his only request for his birthday! And then we have baseball practice tonight. I'm ready to spend a wonderful day together!!!
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<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-87297335267589682032013-08-19T07:55:00.003-07:002013-08-19T09:07:24.830-07:00Our WeekendFriday night we were able to spend some time with our niece & nephew. My brother & sister-in-law have not had a night out since they brought home my niece & nephew at the end of June (they are in the process of fostering to adopt the kids are 11 & 6). They asked if we would come over and hang out so they could go to dinner. I am never one to turn down time with family so off we went. The kids get along great (although one tween & 3 little boys ages 4-8 makes for a very loud evening) and enjoyed spending a couple of hours together before my niece & nephew had to head to bed. I wish I had pictures of the 4 of them playing together but we can't share any until they are legally my brother & sister-in-law's children.
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Saturday morning my mom & I headed out to run some errands & to get the few things we needed to pick up for Hayden's birthday party Sunday afternoon. I love running errands with my mom just because it's time we get to spend one-on-one and while I may be almost 27 years old I still love having uninterrupted conversations with my mom!!! We spent the afternoon watching some of the Little League World Series, man I love watching those kids who are playing the game because they LOVE it!! We headed out to Kanki for Hayden's family birthday dinner. We go for all of our family birthday's and this was the first year Hayden actually agreed to it :-) The kids were excited to see their cousins again!! Since the kids have been apart of the family since the end of June we had only seen them 3 times going into this weekend.
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Yesterday we celebrated Hayden's birthday with a pool party. I was stressed all week because the weather wasn't looking the greatest. It was overcast and rainy all day Saturday and they were calling for 50% chance of rain yesterday but we ended up with the most beautiful weather! It wasn't too hot or humid & the rain held off until last night!! Hayden had an amazing time at his party and was so excited his best friend from preschool was able to come and that they will be in the same class again this year!! We were excited they came as well, my brother played baseball with her dad and they hadn't seen each other in years so it was nice for them to be able to catch up for a few before my brother & his family had to leave to go to their adoption group. I do have a picture to share from the party that I will add later this afternoon of Hayden blowing out his candle. He tried to eat the candle apparently because he ended up with wax in his mouth??
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We waited until after dinner last night to open his presents and it was so nice to not have a bunch of kids running around trying to help him open them!! We've never not opened presents during a party but we will be doing that from now on!!! Especially since the majority of Hayden's party's will be at the pool since he has a late August birthday. The kids were having so much fun playing that I didn't want to keep them out of the water to watch Hayden open his presents. That child hit the lottery with Spiderman stuff yesterday. His actual birthday is Wednesday and he will be getting his presents from us then. I think we are also going to take him to Chuck E Cheese (I hate that place) but it was his only request this year for his birthday. He wanted to have his party there.
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Today is our only day this week with nothing going on outside of the house so I am hoping to get some cleaning done. The boys go back to school next Monday!!!
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<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-55144608891402519862013-08-16T05:46:00.002-07:002013-08-16T05:46:42.650-07:005 on Friday<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1467717044918648017" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0MtQ0b1uP8A6woJLxCUoOrwjXrwEk1ajEMY8LemIHzi0RkVTFL_IUndG13-NtRIhSpxsmBCmcLPe58hJd17d_fsU_0tBfSSGX1vrStw7qKrhYjpROvmn4Arzel2Q-9BWr7_t1Cvq9x3q8/s1600/5+on+Friday+Logo+-+Final%282%29.jpg" height="200" width="200" />
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I feel like this past week flew by. We spent 7 hours at the hospital Tuesday for CJ to have his blood patch done and we may be heading back early next week to have another one done.
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1. Today is the first day of fall classes and my chemistry class doesn't have anything posted. No syllabus just the orientation quiz (which covers things that would be found in the syllabus). This class is only 9 weeks long & I'm already frustrated!!
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2. Deqlan had his first kid-pitch practice last night. He has a new coach who knows nothing about him so we stressed how important it was for him to try his hardest. And then he gets out there and starts goofing off with the other kids and acted like he didn't know how to play baseball. It was not a fun ride home!!
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3. Tonight we are supposed to go hang out with my niece & nephew so my brother & sister-in-law can head out for a much needed date night. I don't think they realized how much work an 11 year old girl & a 6 year old boy were going to be (my brother & sister-in-law are in the process of adopting). But the boys are excited to get to hang with their cousins for the evening.
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4. Hayden's birthday party is SUNDAY!!!! We are having it at the pool we are members of and of course the weather is iffy for Sunday. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain all day & then there is a 40% chance on Sunday. Let us get through the party with no thunderstorms!!!
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5. Next week is so busy. Baseball practice Tuesday & Wednesday night & Saturday morning (that we will miss). Wednesday is Hayden's birthday. Thursday night is our league meeting & Hayden's open house at the preschool (but I think we are going in the morning). Friday we have to be at the pain clinic at 8:40, it's an hour drive & traffic will be horrific which means leaving no later than 7:15!!. Friday afternoon we have Deqlan's meet the teacher at his school. And then Saturday morning bowling starts for Deqlan. I am so ready for school to start on the 26th for BOTH boys!!!
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<img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" /></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-37420672809340640202013-08-07T09:05:00.000-07:002013-08-07T09:05:37.388-07:00FrustrationsWe've known for 3 1/2 weeks now that CJ needs another blood patch before he can go back to work. We found out yesterday that he is on the cancellation list even though we've known since the middle of July and had plenty of time to get on the August schedule. We are going on 7 weeks of him being at home. I love my husband but we are not a couple that can spend all of their time together. We are driving each other nuts!! Our goal is to have him back at work by Labor Day.
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Deqlan is signed up to play fall ball again this season. We should find out tonight what team he is on. We found out that the coach from select who then ended up coaching all-stars and not picking Deqlan even though he had enough votes is now coaching this fall. We will be pulling him from the league if he ends up on that team. That coach does not like me because I speak my mind about how crappy of a coach he is and takes it out on Deqlan. I guess he just won't play this fall if that happens. All of the other leagues around us have already had registration. My ideal goal is to get him on a 100% travel team and be done with parks & rec ball.
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I start school next Friday! I just ordered my textbooks today so I ended up paying for shipping instead of doing free. I don't want to take the chance that they won't arrive in time. I need to get ahead and stay ahead in my classes this semester if I plan on doing well and working part-time as well. Speaking of working I am still not sure I have a job but the goal is to be working part-time at the preschool Hayden goes to.
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Hayden is going to be 4 in two weeks and he is seriously testing his boundaries. He is super excited about his pool party on the 18th. We are still keeping in fairly small. Hayden does not handle large groups of people well. Especially when all of the attention is focused on him!
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Our summer bowling league ends this week and I could not be more thankful for it. We decided to bowl this summer to get my knee back in shape and get my timing back but we did not enjoy the people in the league at all. Fall league meetings are in two weeks and then we start the week after. We are ready to be back around our bowling family again!!
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<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-3997136803946383982013-08-01T14:06:00.001-07:002013-08-01T14:06:42.437-07:00Campus Book RentalsSummer is coming to a quick close and we are gearing up for back to school shopping and routine bedtimes. I am a college student (and have been for quite a few years) and this past January I was introduced to Campus Book Rentals from a blog.
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There are a few perks from using Campus Book Rentals. First off you will save anywhere from 40-90% off of your school book store's prices. That in itself should make you look at their website (that is what lured me in January)! Secondly, shipping is FREE both ways. That's right you don't have to pay to get it or to send it back!! They will send you a prepaid mailer when you receive your books for when you send them back. Third, you can highlight the books just like a book you would purchase from your school. And lastly, they have flexible rental periods. So if you only need the book for a short period of time or if you think you may need it longer you can choose!
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They have recently started a new program called Rent Back, where you can rent your own textbooks to other students. What a great way to make 2-4 times the amount you would by just selling your book.
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The last great thing about this company is their donations to Operation Smile. With every book rented they send a donation to Operation Smile.
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<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>
**All opinions are my own. Compensation was received for my review**Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-32225737027136195412013-07-29T08:40:00.000-07:002013-07-29T08:40:05.332-07:00Last WeekSo last week consisted of...a trip to the ER, a day at the pool with one of my best friends and her girls, two days of doing absolutely nothing except arguing with the doctors office over prescription refills, and a day spent at the pain clinic followed up with a wonderful date night at The Melting Pot.
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Monday CJ's pain was through the roof for the better part of the day and then he couldn't feel his thighs or his arms which forced us to go to the ER. We were under the assumption that they would run a CT or MRI just to make sure nothing more serious was going on but they didn't. They did some blood work (which is a huge waste of time) and gave him two different pain meds & some anti-nausea meds and sent us on our merry way 4 hours after we arrived.
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Tuesday we spent the afternoon at the pool with my best friend Tracy and her two girls. Tracy and I have been friends for the last 7 years. We both joined The Little Gym when our oldest kids were 18 months old. Deqlan and Gracie have been the best of friends since then. We both belong to the same pool and the kids have been on swim team together for the last 2 years and they both are in love with baseball/softball. Tracy's youngest is a year older than Hayden so they get along well which makes for fun times when we are all together.
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Wednesday and Thursday were spent doing a whole bunch of nothing around the house. A few phone calls were made to find out why we hadn't received a Fed-Ex package with CJ's prescriptions (for narcotics that can't be called in) only to find out that the doctor was supposed to call us on Monday when we requested them to let us know that he was no longer filling CJ's prescriptions and we needed to take it up with the pain clinic who we had an appointment with on Friday. Cue frustration that everything thinks it is ok to keep a patient who is in a ton of pain every single day to wait for meds that really don't cure the pain but they help subdue it.
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Friday morning was CJ's appointment at the Pain Clinic at 11:40. We live an hour away from all of his current doctors...yes it sucks but we go where insurance tells us and it is Duke so it's not all bad...in any event we arrived about 10 minutes early (we arrive early to every single appointment that we have advance notice of)...We were called back right at 11:40 and the nurse takes his vitals and updates his medication list and promptly sends us back to the waiting room telling us there is one patient ahead of us...40 minutes later we are still waiting to be called back when a nurse comes out to check who we are waiting for...Once she found out we already had vitals taken she couldn't believe I was upset we were still waiting...Umm really?? My appointment was at 11:40 it is now almost 12:30 and I have had to find someone to watch my kids for a few hours that is now turning into longer because you can't keep your schedule running on time?? Yes I'm upset!! They take us back to a room where we then proceeded to wait another 30 minutes before the doctor popped his head in to apologize and sent a resident to talk to us...Here is where my frustration gets even higher...CJ has a very rare and complicated disease...It is very frustrating to have to explain it over and over again to multiple people (reason number 1 I hate taking him to the ER)thankfully the resident spent a few minutes reading his chart and was pretty up to speed on everything...They took him off a few meds and added a new med that we unfortunately haven't been able to start because the pharmacy never received it...Hopefully we can get that taken care of today and get him started. This medicine could take away up to 30% of his pain which isn't a lot but it is better than nothing.
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My parents offered to take the boys for the night Friday night so CJ and I headed to The Melting Pot for a much needed date night with no stress of doctor's visits or the boys acting out for his attention. We ended the night with some birthday shopping for Hayden who is going to be 4 in 3 short weeks!!
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<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-62188344657437044112013-07-10T11:51:00.001-07:002013-07-10T11:51:44.219-07:00Let the Stalking Begin!!A few weeks ago I wrote a review about my Plum Paper Designs planner and stated I wouldn't be repurchasing the Erin Condren Life Planner. I lied :-) I ordered a new life planner while on vacation and it shipped yesterday!! I'm hoping to use it differently than in years past by using it for my classes...hopefully it works.
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CJ will be getting another blood patch done in the next week or so as soon as the doctor has an opening. It is hard to watch him in so much pain each and every day, but, it is just as hard to watch him lie around and not do anything because he is in pain. There are so many days when I am so frustrated with him because he won't get up and do things. Or I'll ask him to do something while I go run an errand and he won't do it because he hurt too bad. I understand he is in pain, but there is still a house that needs to be cleaned and two boys who want their dad at their events (he missed last nights swim meet because of pain). It is so hard to not lose my patience with him on a regular basis!
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Last nights swim meet started off disappointing. After last weeks meet where Deqlan had 4 main events and was swimming on both relays, we got to the meet last night to find out he was swimming all heats and no relays! But that changed pretty quickly! One of the 9-10 year old boys was there but had an ear infection so his parents told him he couldn't swim but never told the coach. So Deqlan swam on both relays with the 9-10 year olds. He only had a few minutes warning before the medley relay where he was going to be swimming the backstroke to start it off. Backstroke is definitely not his best stroke...unfortunately he hit the lane rope about 3/4 of the way down the pool which is an automatic DQ. The Freestyle Relay went a lot better! He swam the 2nd leg and caught them up. By the time the 3rd swimmer was in the pool we had a huge lead that we held on to and ended up winning :-) Deqlan was so excited! Overall we still lost the meet but we were down 50 pts going into the final relays and only lost by 29. One more meet next week and then we will have another swim season under our belts. And we will have a few weeks to relax before fall baseball starts!!
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<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-31902631527563470692013-07-08T05:41:00.000-07:002013-07-08T05:41:41.649-07:005 for Five!!!Time to get back on the ball with getting things done around this house. That is easier said than done with CJ not working right now but it is what it is!!
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I'm linking up with Jessica & Jenn for 5 for Five this week!!
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<b>1. Cancel CJ's appointment at the pain clinic and make Hayden's well check appointment. And now get another blood patch scheduled asap.</b> So we saw the pain clinic at Duke a few days before we left for vacation (they were able to squeeze us in) well no one had told us they had already made an appointment for July 12th. They were supposed to cancel it but guess what I got in the mail Friday, a whole packet of forms to fill out for his "new patient appointment" July 12th!! Hayden's birthday is rapidly approaching which means it is time for another well child checkup and I need to get that booked soon since his birthday falls right around the start of school. The doctor that does CJ's blood patches called yesterday (yes on a Sunday & this is why we love her!) to check on him. She is concerned the blood patch didn't hold or moved too much so she will be calling today to get us in for another patch ASAP. Hopefully this one won't end us up admitted in the hospital but if it works I really don't care if we do or not!
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<b>2. Find someone to help CJ mount our TVs.</b> CJ's cousins bought us a TV for our living room when they were here in September (yes almost a year ago) and we still haven't opened it! We bought the wall mount a few months ago and now just need someone to help him put it up. We also bought a new TV for our bedroom for our anniversary this year and need to mount that one as well. I am tired of staring at the TV box & the box that the mounts came in!!
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<b>3. Start a school shopping list.</b> Deqlan's school supply list is already on the school website and while he doesn't start school for another 7 weeks I don't want to buy everything at one time. We've already ordered his new bookbag which should be here early this week.
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<b>4. Figure out if I am going to take 4 online classes or only 2.</b> My tuition is due Monday so I would prefer not to pay more than I am actually going to take. I am registered for 4 classes but think I will drop 2 since I am planning on working this year instead of just taking classes.
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<b>5. Come up with a cleaning schedule.</b> If I am going back to work in September than I need to have a cleaning schedule in place! It will still only be part-time but it will be Monday-Friday from 9-12:30ish. I more than likely have a job working at Hayden's preschool :-)
<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-22797639796859234772013-07-07T12:20:00.000-07:002013-07-07T12:20:19.098-07:00I'm Back!We've been back from vacation for a week now but this past week was a little hectic with an all day appointment at the hospital, swim meet, and lots of time with family and friends.
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Our vacation away was wonderful. It didn't start off all that great. We had to take Deq to urgent care the morning we were leaving with swimmer's ear. His ear had been bothering him all day Friday but he waited until 10:30 Friday night to tell us. We got up to the mountains with no issues and hit the grocery store and produce stand. Sunday we spent the day at the water park and then ended up in the ER with CJ later that evening. His pain has been seriously out of control where NONE of his narcotic meds are touching the pain at all. After Sunday nights ER visit (where I had to tell the doctor what meds to give him) he took it easier & we were able to stay out of the ER for the rest of the week. We typically spent the days at the water park. Wednesday we did the tour of the new units that they are building and relaxed. We attempted to do the Kids Obstacle Course (Deqlan was dying to do it!) but there were storms in the area that prevented it. We ended up doing the bounce dome and playing a round of miniature golf. Thursday morning before we headed to the water park we took the boys back up the mountain to do the obstacle course and summer tubing. I ended up doing the Mega Zip Line with CJ which is HUGE for me! I do not do heights at all!!! Friday was our last day there. We of course spent the last day at the water park & started packing up to come home. We love our week up at Massanutten. It is absolutely beautiful. We had ducks outside our unit every day and even saw some deer in the yard too. We usually go every other year so it'll be 2 years before we are back and that makes me sad!
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Monday morning we were at Duke all day for CJ's blood patch. We did not end up admitted in the hospital this time like in January but we are not seeing the improvements we saw after that one either. I have a feeling we will end up back at Duke sometime this week. His oncologist wrote him out of work for 4 weeks at the end of June (which we still have no explanation as to why specifically). He should hopefully be back at work July 29th.
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I hope to start blogging more regularly again. Swim team ends in a week and a half so life won't be so crazy.
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<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-17255306947714232152013-06-12T08:09:00.000-07:002013-06-12T08:09:49.393-07:00Where I've Been??I haven't posted since before I went to Reno last month! Things have been insane since I have been home. We had the end of baseball season (well we still have one game because of crazy amounts of rain), the start of swim team season, & some seriously horrible days for CJ.
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I'd love to give a full blown update on everything but I don't have the time for that. Just know that CJ has been in a ton of pain that has resulted in more ER visits, emergency CT scans, and emergent doctor appointments that resulted in more meds. We are currently waiting to schedule his next blood patch and then get a referral to the pain clinic.
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This past weekend was the end of select season party for Deqlan's select team. He received a nomination for all-stars which is being coached by the select coach. Unfortunately, some things have happened this season and Deqlan did not get a spot on all-stars. We are very disappointed that the parks & rec director continues to allow this coach to dictate changes that have never happened before and that affected Deqlan's spot on the team. He received at least one vote (out of three, your own coach is not allowed to vote for you) and children that received no votes are on the team. In any event, it will make our summer less stressful and give us plenty of time for hitting lessons and working on his fielding. We will be looking at options for next year.
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I'm off to run errands and get ready for vacation. We leave a week from Saturday :-)
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<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r508/EMags55/Megansig_zps144cec04.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1467717044918648017.post-33684135470624004672013-06-12T07:59:00.000-07:002013-06-12T07:59:40.466-07:00Plum Paper Designs Family PlannerFor the past three years I've been using the cult favorite, Erin Condren Life Planner. As much as I love the planner the layout is really not conducive to my life. First off, I HAVE to have lines to write on! I cannot stand when I don't write straight so that really drove me crazy. I also was never thrilled with the sectioning of morning, afternoon, & evening. All four of us (me, CJ, Deq & Hayd) have a ton of activities going on at any given time so it was time to find a planner that allowed a little more separation.
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I've used planners from Target that have separate sections for each family member, but, again...NO LINES!! After having used a generic planner from Target for most of the year I started my search on Etsy for a new planner for the school year. I stumbled upon Plum Paper Designs and fell in LOVE with the Family Planner (they have a ton of other planner designs and products to choose from).
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRcFBYz-CqwI65kmsiTowwHQxwAbtWdOB7jSbiWFtsp77SyBJQucEHYZgEKzU142XYG6MfitR35z82TgJppZF-ExXIHlMmjyqo3qCAvCqPlWW2EYGFHypTlBSAuBqLDSVFTpyapj2eWoQ/s1600/iPhone+222.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRcFBYz-CqwI65kmsiTowwHQxwAbtWdOB7jSbiWFtsp77SyBJQucEHYZgEKzU142XYG6MfitR35z82TgJppZF-ExXIHlMmjyqo3qCAvCqPlWW2EYGFHypTlBSAuBqLDSVFTpyapj2eWoQ/s200/iPhone+222.JPG" /></a></div>
The gorgeous front cover!
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLe8y507eAy9RAoPKpWf22HAkGmVOOShzkbWvfz_C_vTZKALDZevqRTm_z6-R6MPqfaInvh5Cq8kHKzv9CnD1oUhBTMrh_edNy8Mwh72ni0mVm-BtCLL-oTBUdQuR9Jgs2_-ODvHEhFSw/s1600/iPhone+224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLe8y507eAy9RAoPKpWf22HAkGmVOOShzkbWvfz_C_vTZKALDZevqRTm_z6-R6MPqfaInvh5Cq8kHKzv9CnD1oUhBTMrh_edNy8Mwh72ni0mVm-BtCLL-oTBUdQuR9Jgs2_-ODvHEhFSw/s200/iPhone+224.JPG" /></a></div>
2013 & 2014 Full year calendars for reference!
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMdXBVNWLl_eo9HdecsgY_wjhvkshLIEMl3G4oSunolxbKJYcS_tVob6Yscl5J0_PARNBGDoZ-HoXuJemtu6bbR91SLLDMxmGqS8lqHOE2xXb-Ikbaj38NXmICmMukPbgfBkaByWx1fWg/s1600/iPhone+225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMdXBVNWLl_eo9HdecsgY_wjhvkshLIEMl3G4oSunolxbKJYcS_tVob6Yscl5J0_PARNBGDoZ-HoXuJemtu6bbR91SLLDMxmGqS8lqHOE2xXb-Ikbaj38NXmICmMukPbgfBkaByWx1fWg/s200/iPhone+225.JPG" /></a></div>
Each month has a bright & colorful tab!!
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPFJzuRFVa87HOuEuvH765IoSNmAewpHIH0CLuOFQPIbgtPn6KEXzRe5Hg3TXSPHQNrUVxBjRDQGTZfxJoPoDht9wGyT1gyc52e2Pnbgrdw1gdVjmIt7qWrJieFLafcsl94A02d4JFWKs/s1600/iPhone+227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPFJzuRFVa87HOuEuvH765IoSNmAewpHIH0CLuOFQPIbgtPn6KEXzRe5Hg3TXSPHQNrUVxBjRDQGTZfxJoPoDht9wGyT1gyc52e2Pnbgrdw1gdVjmIt7qWrJieFLafcsl94A02d4JFWKs/s200/iPhone+227.JPG" /></a></div>
With the Family Planner you can have the title for each of the 7 sections printed for you. LOVE this option!!
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My planner arrived in the mail Friday afternoon and I haven't had a chance to find the perfect pens to write in it with. That is my goal for today :-) I cannot wait to start using this and getting this family organized!! I will update next month with my likes/dislikes about it!
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**I paid for this product with my own money and am receiving no compensation for reviewing it**Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08532861604799609779noreply@blogger.com3