Boy, have we been busy...

Let see, where do I start? I think I told you all about mom's surgery on Friday. Well consumed most of our/my week-end. This surgery was a lot harder on her then her last one. She sailed through put the last one and this one we have really struggled. We think we finally came to the conclusion that part of it was the drugs they were giving her. There were times when she could hardly walk she was so drunk. On Sunday we decided to switch to Tylenol and see if that would control her pain. So far it has worked wonders, in fact when I went home at lunch to make her sandwich she said that she had not taken anything today - YEA!! Tonight we will have to remove her "joy juice" as she calls it. It is a continuous pump infusion that goes into the incision. The juice is about gone, and needless to say she is a bit confused about losing it. She wants it gone because it is the size of a 20 ounce bottle hanging by her arm - but then again the pain medicine will go with it. So she is not sure what to think.

For Easter Sunday Tom's parents came over for a visit. This is the first time that they have been over since Carl's accident. In fact this is the only time he has left the house since early December except for surgeries and doctor appointments. He was glad to see something besides their family room I am sure. We had a nice visit and a wonderful viewing of the 1700 or so pictures that Tom's brother, Bob took while he was in Israel. He just got back on the 19th - and we all enjoyed listening to what he saw. Alayna had a late visit from the Easter Bunny - he came while she was taking her bath before Granny & Grandpapa came. Kristi wanted them to enjoy her egg hunting expedition. I guess someone has to be last on the bunny trail, huh?

As you might remember I was in a boot camp - I put "was" because the doctor put a quick stop to it right now. I am going to sit out this session and do the next one that starts on May 5th if he approves then. I am having heart issues and he is really concerned about the strenuous workout on my heart. I sure don't want to have a heart attack exercising - I would rather be doing something I enjoy :). I have a stress test tomorrow and they say that this will last 3-5 hours. I think the thought of sitting in a hospital testing area for that much time is enough to put stress on your heart.

Mom made it...

Well, this has been a long day. Mom was scheduled for arrive for surgery at 7:30 this morning, and of course we were early. She was finally called back and then I got to go back with her until they actually took her back. The surgery was on her left shoulder and they put a block in the shoulder to help with pain relief. The block either worked too well - or was a little off (we are not sure which one). About 10 minutes after getting the block she complained about chest tightening and trouble breathing. I asked the nurse to step over and she quickly put her on O2 to help her work through this. After about 30 minutes they finally decided that the worst was over and they could proceed with her surgery.

They said the surgery would last about 30 minutes - and after 1 1/2 hours I was really starting to get concerned. The doctor finally came out and said that she did have a medium tear in her "tater cuff" and also found a cyst. He removed the cyst and repair her cuff. He said the cyst was why it took so long.

Once she was in the recovery room they said that she should be awake in about an hour. Well, after 3 hours they decided to dress her in her sleep and get her ready to go home. It was a little funny watching them dress her while she was half-awake. The nurse said that she would be awake by the time we made it to the car - and she was.

Now, she is resting in her apartment. It took Kristi and I both to dress her for bed since she couldn't move her arm. But, now she appears to be more comfortable. I will probably sleep in her bed since she has to sleep in her recliner. This way if she needs anything, I will be able to get to her.

More later!!

What was I thinking???

I am not quite sure where my mind was at when I signed up for boot camp. Maybe I was thinking this was a nice, quiet atmosphere where you sit and TALK about losing weight. Let me be the first to tell you that it is far from that. The first thing she had me do (after weights and measurements) was 10 minutes on an elliptical trainer. I think the dentist would have been more fun and you all know how terrified I am of dentist. Well, I made it through with the help of CSI which was on the TV right in front of me. When I stepped off the machine I thought I had traded in my legs for jello - I could hardly walk. I am sure I was a good laugh for the others in the gym.

And you ask, "was this all of the torture that you had to endure" and I have to say "well no." The drill Sgt wasn't done yet. We had to go from the torture machine to the torture chamber - the workout room. We were told that we were going to do sit ups and push ups. I got really excited thinking that we were going to sit around and eat a push up. You know, one of those cool ice cream treats that the kids loved. No, that wasn't the push up she was talking about, dang it. Well, this might have been worse then the elliptical machine. I can't do either...and quickly found that out the hard way. I did 2 push ups and 10 sit ups and understand that before the 6 weeks is up I should be a pro at this (right!!!). I am going to make sure that I am never late to class, miss a class, or forget my food journal. Any of these infraction results in 50 push ups and she said you will stay until you are done. Well, at my rate that might be until the next class or the end of the 6-week session!! Another thing I found out was that class meets 3 days a week - not 2 as I thought. So, 6 more times to torture me before the end.

Tonight, while I am watching Biggest Loser (with much more admiration then before) I will be practicing my sit ups and push ups...Sounds like fun huh???

With all of this I should be in that size 0 thong bikini by May!!

We did it...

A few weeks ago, I jumped off the deep end of the stupid pool...I signed up for a 5K run/walk. After I signed up Kristi decided that she wanted to walk, so she signed up as well. The walk was this last Saturday which of course was raining and cold. We arrived just in time for the start of the race. We had two goals in mind...to finish the race in under one hour and not to be last ones to finish. I am pleased to say that we completed both of our goals for our first run/walk. I finished 511 and Kristi 512 out of 520 people. So, we were not last!!!! We went home and after about an hour Tom and I were off to town to hit several stores while Kristi took a nap. I think my body appreciated me better then Kristi's did. She was hurting really badly - especially her knees. I was a little sore, but not as bad as I thought I would be. With the good luck I had with this walk - I signed up for my next one on April 12th. The money raised is for cancer research. You can walk in memory/support of someone and so far I have 4 people. My dad, my brother, my mother-in-law, and our dear friend in Denver. I figure that they can't walk this and I can - so I need to walk this in support of them.

Tonight I start boot camp. This is a 6-week intense work out at a local gym. I don't know what I was thinking when I signed up for this, but am really excited about it. They said that you will lose inches more than pounds. We will see. If you hear of an earthquake in Columbia tonight, you will know they are making me run - when elephants run earthquakes happen!!

This week is mom's 77th birthday. What do you get for someone with this much experience? A deck box. That is what she wanted. She also wanted a "side winder" and Kristi is getting her that. It has something to do with her sewing machine. We will probably go to dinner sometime, but I am not sure when since she is having surgery on her shoulder on Friday.

Mom and I are planning our spring trip to Arkansas. We think it will be in June. I have to take Alayna since Freddie and Mary want to see her again. They have not seen her since she was about 8 weeks old. We will have to leave on Thursday to get to Little Rock that evening for some rest. The funeral will be on Friday (if everything works out according to plan). I hope to go to the zoo in Little Rock while we are there. We love zoos and since I will have Alayna I think she will enjoy it as well. It is an 8 hours trip one way, and that is a long way for her to have to be in her car seat - even with a DVD system in the van.

Please keep Daryl (our friend in Denver) in your prayers this week. He found out that he has colon cancer the day after we left Denver in February and has to have surgery on march 19th. Tom and I are both concerned about both him and Terri. This is a tough time in his life, especially now that he has found such love for Colorado. I know that he will be back on his feet really soon and can see him snowshoeing in the future.

I guess I better get back to work. This is a payroll week and I have several things to do so these people can get paid. They get cranky when they don't get paid on time. I don't understand why!!

Is anyone reading this???

Today was to be a quiet day. We were suppose to lounge around, but like most days in our house this was not to be. The day started out good except my allergies are acting up right now - my eyes look like I have been on the losing end of a fight. So, some of the day today was just sitting in the living room listening to the tv while I held an icepack on my face. Usually if I freeze my eyeballs out of my head my allergies stop - not this time. It has not helped, so tomorrow I will be calling the eye doctor to see about some stronger eye drops. Also, Kristi decided that she wanted a new tv because her tv is going out in her bedroom. So, she and Tom were off to Best Buy to get a new tv. Kristi wants it hung on the wall, so she got all of the stuff to hang it - but it was the wrong bracket. So, tomorrow at lunch I have a feeling that we will be going back to Best Buy to get the right one. Right now, Tom is putting together the two bookcases that she wanted for all of her books. I don't really understand why she needs to keep and display every book that she has read - but she wants to. I guess it is her money, so if she wants the book cases - then dad will put them together!! Alayna has had a good day today. She is still in her jammies!! It is so fun to listen to her play with her miniature dolls. The conversations that the dolls have is so interesting. I can't believe how big she is getting. What did we do before she was born??? Brian came over today - I was so happy to see him. Since he has moved out, we don't hear from him often and see him even less. I can't convince him that he really needs to move back home to be near his mommy. He doesn't agree with me. I guess this is what happens when you are almost 22....what my baby is almost 22...booo hooo...I need therapy!!!! Mom went to an open house for Home Instead. She used to work for them and retired a few years ago. They called and asked if she would attend this 10 year anniversary open house today and she loved seeing all of the friends that she made there. We are waiting on Tom's brother Bob to show up. He is going to spend the night here because he is leaving early tomorrow morning for a 10 day trip to Israel with a few people from his church. We really thought that he would be here by now, but still isn't here. Probably like his bother - procrastinator. Waiting until we need to leave to begin packing!!! I guess that is all for now. Have a great day!!!