Feeling sorry for myself

It's a feeling sorry for myself kind of day.

Yesterday, my husband had to take me to work because our road was COMPLETELY drifted closed. If I would have tried to drive onto our road, I wouldn't had made it 3 feet before my car would have become buried in the snow. Fortunately, he didn't get called to take a generator to Kentucky during the night, so he was home to plow out the road to take me to work.

Okay...on to my whiny day today.

My car is the devil. I mentioned the other day that I despise my car. If you follow me on facebook, you will also remember that I said my car is the devil. Seriously people, my car is the devil.

Every Saturday morning, I get up at 6 a.m. so I can drive to Kokomo for an 8 a.m. class. This morning I get up and walk to the kitchen, get my keys out and hit the remote start. Nothing. I hit the remote start again. Nothing. I hit it one more time. Nothing. Ok, now I am irriated. So, I go to bedroom, grab my pants, socks, shoes and coat. Quickly get dressed, grab my keys and go outside to start my car.

I put the key in the ignition, wait a few seconds and then turn the key....CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK is all I get. Are you serious??????? I have a full tank of gas - the radio, lights and everything else work. What the heck!!

I go back inside, wake my husband up and tell him the devil car won't start. So he tells me to take his truck.

I drive his truck to Kokomo and on the way home HIS truck starts missing out on me!!! I think the devil has been indwelt in his truck now!

I give up.

My devil car has the charger on it, his devil truck is in the driveway and I'm feeling sorry for myself.

Thanks for listening (and please remember - it's all in jest :)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

If you have ever driven a rear-wheel drive car in any amount of snow...you know how much it sucks. This is the first year that I have had a car since 1994. I despise having a car in the snow. I truly cannot stand the rear-wheel drive. At one point today I could go now faster than 4 mph only to have the rear-end of my car fish-tailing. People were passing me like I was an idiot....MY CAR WOULDN'T GO ANY FASTER!!!!

Have I told anyone how much I do not like my car and I do not like snow, lately???

I need 85 and sunny!

You're reading WHAT book???

Sometimes the things the my children say amaze me. This one tonight was worth sharing.

I picked the boys up from their dad's house tonight. We always talk about their day at school and what may be going on in their lives.

My oldest shared with me that he has until Monday to finish his book, so that he can take his AR (Accellerated Reader) quiz.

My youngest (age 10) pipes up from the backseat..."Guess what book I'm reading?? 'Whore-land'!!!" Excuse me!!! I very calmly ask him again "What book did you say you are reading?" He again says "Whore-land" "Let me see your book, please."

He hands me the book and a give out of HUGE sigh of relief....He is reading "Horror-land" a Goosebumps book.

I was beginning to wonder what they are teaching 4th graders now!!

YAY!!!

Today is a good day! For one, it's Friday :)

I received a letter today from the Vice President of Academic Affairs of the University. It was a letter informing me that I made "Dean's List"!!! My g.p.a. last semester was a 3.923 - my overall g.p.a. for all semesters is 3.874!!!

Given everything that happened during last semester...a personal family issue in October, my father-in-law's death in November and me with my health issues in December....this is quite something!

I believe the Lord helped me through the difficult months and was sure that I stayed on path with my school work. He deserves all the praise!

Blog

Okay, my blog looks awful. This is one of the templates from blogspot and I don't like it. I have been looking and looking for a new layout but can't find any that I like.

Anybody have any ideas?

Another day

I have officially been back in school a week and I can tell you that I am really not ready for it. The classes that I am taking at AU are a bit more challenging this semester...think Psychology people!! Then to top it off I have my Anatomy and Physiology class on Saturdays. To start that class out - I didn't have the correct book or lab book. I spent the whole class Saturday with a strange look on my face. Apparently, not all Ivy Tech campuses use the same ANP book - which is strange. Since I bought my books here - they weren't the same as in Kokomo...uggghh!!!

Now, I have the correct lab book and worked on my Saturday homework for an hour already tonight. I also worked on my HR homework for an hour. I haven't touched my Rhetoric and Research homework or Pyschology homework tonight.

I spent 2 1/2 hours last night working with Tyler on his homework. It's unbelievable the stuff they are working on in 7th grade. We worked on Algebra for over an hour and then some crazy Language Arts stuff that I couldn't figure out. I did find out today that it wasn't for a grade - but he will be getting extra credit for the work he completed.

I still worry about my husband every day. It's been 2 months since we lost his dad and I know it is really rough on him. All I can do is continue to be there for him and when he needs me I'm here. It's hard to know what he is going through but I know one day it will be my turn and he will be there for me.

We did have some good news today. My step-son, who has always struggled with school and grades, received his report card today. For the first time ever he made A-B honor roll. We are so proud of him! This is such a huge accomplishment!!

Although my life is hectic right now, I remember that I have so much to be thankful for. I have the most wonderful husband a woman can ask for, beautiful, wonderful children, great friends, a warm home and lots and lots of love.

So here's to another day. Hopefully a little less stress and more time with my family....soon :)

What was I thinking???

Okay, tomorrow is Saturday.

Saturday's are meant for sleeping late and staying in your pajama's as long as possible.

Saturday's are meant for catching up on laundry and cleaning the house.

Saturday's are meant for doing some homework.

Saturday's are NOT meant for getting up at 6:00 a.m., to leave the house at 6:30, only to drive for an hour for a class that starts at 8:00 a.m.

What the hell was I thinking?????

Artic Weather

This morning's actual temperature!

Need I say more?

Haircut...finally!

Ya know how it is when you haven't taken care of yourself like you should? I tend to "delay" getting things done that I know need done. Such as getting my hair cut. I always feel better after it has been cut or trimmed. But every time I don't make my appointment for the next one and every time I go a little too long before I get it cut again.

I can't remember when I got my hair cut last. All I know is that it had gotten to the point that I could no longer comb through it after washing it. My hair has grown down to the middle of my back and when it is that long, it gets a little difficult to take care of.

I made a frantic call to my hair stylist and begged for an appointment - immediately :) Fortunately, she had an opening tonight!!!

So, finally after months of not taking care of it, my hair got the attention it deserved! I think she took 3 or 4 inches off the back, but I don't care. It feels so much better.

Now....the next time is the hi-lite and cut! Maybe I won't go for so long! :)

A New Path

The first week back to work went pretty smoothly. It's such a busy time right now that I didn't have a moment to think about how tired I was...which is a good thing.

I am beginning to feel better more each day. I am having lots of trouble with food so I guess it's going to be a slow introduction of the things I use to eat.

Second semester starts on Wednesday. I am taking another full load of classes - all much more difficult than last semester.

I have been struggling with why I am going to school. What kind of degree do I want, what do I want to do "when I grow up"! I have been taking my classes where I work, mostly because they are free. The degree that they offer isn't what I want to do, though. I have told my husband over and over again that I want to do something where I am helping people, taking care of them, if you will. After much thought and consideration, I have finally made a decision. I am going to try to get an RN degree and become a nurse.

I know it is going to be a struggle and lots and lots of time studying. I hope I can get into the program after I get my general education requirements completed.

So, here's to a new path in the road called my life.

Back to work

I go back to work tomorrow.

I have been off work since December 17 and I only worked 2 days that week! I have had 13 days off work and I am so not ready to go back. But I must.

Bills must be paid, work must get done, students must get registered! So, off to work I go tomorrow.

Fun!

Waking Up

The week I spent in the hospital, I was supposed to have my boys. Between the time they spent with their dad for Christmas and me being in the hospital, I didn't get to see them very much.

Tuesday, when I had my last "surgery", the ERCP, imagine my surprise when I woke up and they got me in my room and Glen said to me "Tyler's here." My sister picked him up and brought him up to Indy so he could be there when I woke up!

He had such a look of concern on his 13-year old face. He gave me a hug and a kiss, then he sat by my bed and just held my hand.

I love the fact that my teenager isn't afraid to show me that he loves me in front of other people. I loved waking up and seeing him there. That meant the world to me!

Such a strange December

I have so much to be thankful for but at this point I am thankful that December is over! (This is long - so I am apologizing ahead of time).

On December 3, I started my day off like any other. I went to work and everything was fine. By 10:00 that morning I was in such terrible pain that I couldn't move. I called my husband and he picked me up and took me to the emergency room. After six hours there, morphine, a CT scan, and drinking some really nasty stuff they said my gall bladder had some irregularities but needed further testing. I was put off work for two days and sent home.

The next day a nurse called to schedule an ultrasound on December 5.

So, December 5 I made another trip to the hospital for an ultrasound. The drive was longer than the actual test itself. The results came back that I had gall stones. They made an appointment with a surgeon who said "It's not an matter of what are you options, but when." So, time to have the gall bladder removed.

Surgery was scheduled for December 23 (This worked well for my work schedule and being off for two weeks).

Well, I woke up to the same unbareable pain on December 15. I called and they moved the surgery up to December 18. I did not want to continue to have this pain.

December 18 - Surgery day. Everything goes fine - except it takes me 4 hours recovery and 4 days before I am moving around again. I don't do anything like a normal person.

I see the doctor on the 23rd and everything looks fine. Just a little tenderness from the surgery.

Christmas was wonderful and we had a great time with the family.

December 26 we are sitting around playing the Wii and all the sudden I started having the SAME pains that I had before the surgery!!! This time is was so much more intense. I had to run to the bathroom and vomit. I called the doctor who said we should go to the ER.

After another 6 hours in the ER, X-rays, more drinking nasty liquid stuff, more morphine and even more pain they admitted me to the hospital. The first suspected pancreatitis and then they suspected a leak in the tube that leads from the liver to the common bile duct so they wanted to do additional tests.

I spent Saturday waiting for a test that didn't happen until 6:30 p.m. I had lots of morphine, lots of fluids, no food except for jello and broth. Finally, that test was ran and came back negative.

I spent Sunday wondering if they were going to run a CT scan, puking with a migraine. Lots more morphine and not knowing what was happening next.

Monday, my liver enzymes continued to go up and I went to my next test. It was an MRCP to determine if there was a gall stone stuck in the common bile duct tube. This test came back negative. In the meantime, I had three attacks of pain on Sunday and two on Monday.

Tuesday the doctor decided that there was another test they can do, run a scope down my throat to see if I have an ulcer (which he didn't think I did) and if that was negative they can run what is called an ERCP that runs a tube into the common bile duct tube to see if a gall stone is hidden. Sometimes that happens and the MRCP doesn't always pick it up. The doctor that performs that was on vacation until Next Monday!!! So, he transported me to Indianapolis.

I got a nice little ambulance ride to St. Vincents and another drug induced nap to have the scope run down my throat to look for a stone. When I woke up, I was told they found it!!!!

The culprit

I was released from the hospital on New Years Eve and have been home for 2 days. I am tired and sore and am not sure that they problem is solved. I am just a little leary and a little scared.

It has been a LONG December and I am glad it is over. I am very thankful for all the nurses and doctors that took such good care of me during this difficult time. I am very thankful for my husband who has sat by my side waiting and waiting. I love him so very much!

Here is to a New Year! Let's hope and pray that it starts much better than it ended!!!