2012...

I'm very happy that the year was not like the movie! Sorry Nicholas Cage, but the movie sucked. My year did not.

This year I changed shifts, finished school, sent my first son off to college, and learned a lot about myself and what I want out of life. I've had an interview for a job (which reminded me to plan answers ahead for those difficult on-the-spot questions) and I have many more applications out there. I also did a lot of home improvement projects, the major one being replacing the railings on my front deck and painting the front and back deck and railings. That took quite some time! Next summer I think I will paint the shed, but the roof on the shed needs to be fixed first.

I was a vendor at my first-ever craft show, at which I made just enough to cover my booth fees, and at my second show (which had no fees, thank goodness!) I made absolutely nothing. Zero. Zilch. Ahh, such is the way of life!

I stuck to me resolution of last year to knit only from my stash (mostly... made an exception for the fish hats, as I'd donated all the appropriate washable yarn to the long-term care facility where I work). I spun and knitted up some yarn, I made my mom's Christmas gift but forgot to take pictures before gifting (oops!). She got a lovely pair of bright red fingerless gloves with the flip-top mitten attached (Glittens, I think they have been dubbed).

I had my first surgery, which I hope is my last for a long while! I have found that I have no patience for recovery time, and even post-surgery I hate taking pills and avoid pain pills. I never even filled my prescription for Vicodin, I shredded it.

It's been quite a year of firsts! I am looking forward to 2013, may it bring everyone blessings and enjoyment.

Happy (almost) New Year!

One more...

One more class, one last day, one last project, no more tests (YAY!)

Tomorrow morning I have my last class. I have a major project due in the class, which is a group project. I hope it's complete, I know all the research has been done and documented, everything's been entered into the software, and the person responsible for assembling everything has everything I know of. I think we will have a couple of things left to add tomorrow, but for the most part we are all set.

After class I'm headed to the hospital to keep a friend company, it's about time we see each other and catch up again! She's in for IV antibiotics before further testing, I'm hoping everything turns out well for her. I may have to sneak her in some fancy coffee...

After that, it's just waiting to hear if I got the job or not... I did remember to tell my supervisors that I had the interview at least! One of my patients told me she's crossing her fingers that I don't get it, because she wants me to stay there :) A couple of the nurses are with her, I think, and they're trying to convince me to stay as resource even if I get the other job. I don't think I can though, since if I work as resource someone will be paying OT and they don't like to do that.

I'm very much looking forward to this new chapter in my life!

Job Interview!!!

I have 5 days of classes left, then I need to do an internship in order to graduate. After talking to the internship coordinator a few weeks ago, I was very happy to learn that I can use a new (permanent) job for my internship requirement. YAY!!! I have been applying for various office and support positions, and had a phone interview in October for one position. I've not heard more on that, and my online application still states "being reviewed."

Many say "pursuing other candidates" and "position filled," but Friday afternoon I received a phone call to schedule an interview for a Unit Secretary position at the Center for Acute Rehab. That's Spectrum Health's brand-new rehab facility at Blodgett Hospital. I am hoping that working in a rehab facility now will help me during the interview process, with some familiarity of the working environment and expectations for the position.

I will be at Blodgett on Tuesday afternoon for the interview, keep your fingers crossed for me!

Crunch time!

It's crunch time around here, I have 9 days of classes left, tests in 4 of my 5 classes, a group project in one class, an oral presentation in one, and a second test in one class. I also have all the work completed and turned in for one class (Supervision), so assuming I get all my points for the 3 sets of questions not yet graded, I have a 4.0 in that class... I do without the discussion questions too, so I guess I really don't have to worry about those!

The class with a test and an oral presentation (PowerPoint) I have a 3.0 without those, so I will make sure I do both but they're not going to make or break my semester. Accounting I am still struggling with naming the accounts for the ledgers. In reality if I was responsible for this for a job, I would be able to reference past entries to verify my records, so if I can't think of them off the top of my head on a test where we aren't even allowed to use our own calculators, I guess I'm okay with that. I will pass the class as long as I don't screw up the last test too badly, and I have an optional exam I'm planning to take to replace my lowest test grade (I hope I do better than the ugly one, anyway!)

Project Management is an interesting class, the software has a lot of really cool features for planning, scheduling, and costing out a project. That's the one I have a test and a group project in, hopefully this project goes better than our last one. I'm the group leader, so I guess it's on me if it sucks!

Keyboarding is going... that's all I can say for that one. I will have a 3.0, as long as I don't screw anything up from here out. I might be able to make a 3.5, but only if everything I turn in is perfect. Most of my errors have been formatting, I haven't had any spelling or grammatical errors. I'm thankful for that much! I don't type correctly, and cannot seem to make myself do so. If I practice A LOT maybe I could, and that would probably help my speed for the timing tests. I think my timings would be better if I could use the backspace during the timings too so I don't have as many errors, but that's not allowed.

I'm thinking about seeing if I can get a couple days off in the middle of next week, so I can focus on school. We shall see if that's possible at this late date... I should have thought of it a couple weeks ago.

Oh yes, and this Friday is Art Hop here in Wayland, and I am a participating artist! Come visit me at Beuhler Realty Friday from 5-9 p.m., I have quite a few new knits to show!

My new favorite magazine?

I just discovered a new (to me) knitting magazine, it may be my favorite magazine ever :) Debbie Bliss Magazine rocks!! This issue has the cutest kid's hat & mitten sets, there's an owl, a fox, a panda, and a penguin set. I've already made the owl and fox hats this week, and I'm working on the shawl from the cover, it has a panel of snowflakes down the center back.

It does, of course, use all Debbie Bliss yarns. Wish I could bring myself to spend that kind of money to make the projects, but I just can't. I have my eye on several more of the projects in the magazine, but for now I'm sticking to anything I can knit with yarn that's in my stash already. There are some gorgeous cabled sweaters in this issue, and a hooded & cabled baby sweater that's adorable! I have dark blue yarn in my stash that will work for a toddler's gansey, debating that because the yarn is not machine washable...

Working thirds means I have a bit of time to knit too, and now several people from work think that I should teach them how to knit. One nurse brought me a project that she thought she'd goofed (she hadn't), and another person wants me to finish a project for her that someone else started... Not so sure about that one, it's hard to match another person's gauge, and I don't want to get into a mess I have to rip out and fix.

Back to knitting, so many projects on the needles, and so many more on my wish list!!

This one is on the needles, and about 75% done.

A week behind, or a day ahead?

I've been trying to post every Saturday, but I missed the last one... This is, therefor, either a week behind or a day ahead (and I slacked last week, either way!)

Anyway, I've been knitting like crazy for the last few weeks, getting ready to have a booth at a local craft show... Well, local to where I work, it's right next door! John Knox Presbyterian Church is having a craft show November 10, from 9am to 3pm, and I will be there! Want to come and shop? It's located at 4150 Kalamazoo Ave SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49508. The booth fees went towards their preschool program, and I'm all for anything that helps the kiddos!

I have Dead Fish Hats, regular hats, a few scarves, shawls, a few cowls, a few baby sweaters, and I don't remember what else all set to go. They have my table, I have my table cloth and signs, all my knits are tagged and priced, and I have my Square card reader so I can accept credit cards... My ultimate goal is to sell EVERYTHING, of course! I went to the grocery store today and bought myself the makings for a salad for my lunch, I have a big bag full of bags, I have nice bags & tissue for the expensive items, and I have cash for change... Thinking I'm all set and I can spend the evening whipping up any last-minute items I may want to.

Here's the tags I managed to print before my printer quit feeding paper through... At least I have plenty with the fronts printed, and the backs for all the fishy hats printed too (they had a lot of info, glad I didn't have to hand-write all those!! Can you tell that I love script fonts?

Work, work, and more work....

This week I picked up extra shifts at work, which has coincided nicely with a pay raise too. Overtime rates on a higher pay rate? Yes, please!

The schedulers I that called to see if I would work crack me up, they always ask if I can pick up a shift, my first question is always "where?" That's the single most important question, knowing what I am agreeing to deal with for 8 hours! Last weekend when I agreed to work Sunday night, the scheduler says to me "Okay, I'm writing you down... In pen." LOL! Yup, I said I would do it, I'll be there!

Yesterday when I called them back (I was sleeping and missed their call), the day had changed but not the where... "Yes, I'll work that" I say. Her response? "You will? Okay, I'll write you down!"

In all fairness, usually when they call I can't take the shift they're offering due to school or prior commitments, and I never pick up when my kids are home. Spending time with my boys is way more important to me than working a few extra hours. I'll cut corners at home and turn down the heat before I miss time with either of my boys, they're growing up and I want to enjoy every minute of it before they're grown and gone. So, this week I'm working 7 days, next week will be no extra hours.

Priorities, it's all about priorities. For me, family is first. Always has been, always will be. But there's nothing wrong with working some overtime when it fits in!

Halloween is Approaching!

Two more weeks until Halloween! This holiday is a big deal for some people, but my boys have never really gotten into the whole thing. They went trick-or-treating when they were little, but have almost always stopped after just a short time in order to go hand out candy instead. We don't like scary movies or haunted houses, and corn mazes are not really our thing at all...

We do love to see all the kids in costume, handing out candy is fun, and we do decorate a little. I can usually convince Nate to carve a pumpkin, last year's got an apple carved into it and the title "iPumpkin" below, he loves Apple! This year I wasn't sure I was going to be able to even convince him to get a pumpkin, until one of our neighbors put out this terrific display:

We now have pumpkins, and are in the process of painting them. The base coat is on, and I will paint the second coat this week while Nate's at his dad's house.

While we love their display, ours will have a few less pumpkin pigs... We also need to figure out the structure for the pig to sit in/on yet. So many things to plan!! I'll post pictures when we're done. We think it would be fun to get all the neighbors involved, and have a street full of Angry Birds "levels."

Happy Saturday!

Today is the 5th annual World Wide Photo Walk, created & coordinated by Scott Kelby, of Kelby Media Group. Last year RJ, Nate & I participated in Grand Haven the day after Family Christmas. This year Nate (who doesn't really care for photography anyway) is going to be headed to Kalamazoo Valley Museum's annual Chemistry Day (a very cool, hands-on event for kids and adults) with his dad. I am headed to MSU to pick up RJ later so we can participate in the Lansing walk. There are 1300 cities worldwide and 30,000 photographers this year!

Can't wait! I'm excited to spend the afternoon with RJ and to participate in this fun event.

Oh, and what my son needs brought over? Two rolls of quarters and a USB hub... Laundry & tech, good combination!

My Daily Commute

I know, how exciting can a commute be, right? Trust me, it's not. I spend a lot of time in my car (or so it feels) when I'm going to school, and I notice a lot of things that just don't make any sense to me. Right now, with the beautiful weather we've had for the fall, there are a lot of motorcyclists on the road, getting in as much ride time as they can before the bad weather comes and the bikes get put away for the winter.

With no more helmet law in Michigan, I find it interesting that many bikers will wear their leathers and gloves to protect their bodies, but then their headgear is a bandana. Conversely, the people wearing shorts, sandals, and t-shirts tend to have a helmet on. I hope neither group crashes, one will have a body but no brain, the other will have no body but they'll keep their brain... The people that ride in full protective gear are becoming more and more rare, so thank you to all my family members that are still in that group! The rider that inspired this was doing at least 80MPH on the expressway, cutting into traffic, and wearing heavy boots, jeans, leather jacket, leather gloves, and a bandana. He pulled into the Staff-Only parking at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. He is not one of my teachers. FYI, I call these riders "Organ Donors."

The other group that tends to annoy me happens to be the police. While going to school last week, I was going the speed limit on the expressway (shocking, but true), and an Allegan County Sheriff passed me like I was standing still. Really? They had a someone in the back seat, I'm assuming it was a prisoner transport. Not long after that, on my way to work, I notice some idiot in my rear-view mirror weaving in and out of traffic, driving like an idiot on a city street. When they passed me, it's only to discover it's Wyoming City Police... I slowed down so he wouldn't have to cut me off (he did anyway) to get around the car that was in front of him in the other lane. He eventually pulled over a car that was 3 ahead of me. Sometimes I worry that the police are going to cause an accident trying to pull someone over!

SUV's tend to tailgate small cars much more aggressively that they do other SUV's and trucks (observed mostly while driving my dad's truck for a bit)... This seems counter-productive. I can stop MUCH faster in my little car than they can in their SUV, you'd think they'd back off a little. Also, no matter how hard they try to push me down the road, I'm keeping my speed the same. Be pissed if you want, but as long as I'm passing the car next to me, I will stay in the lane I'm in, at the speed I'm at, until I can get over safely in the other lane. Get over it. I'm not the idiot that can't pick a speed and has a 10MPH range. Suck it up, back off a little, and I'll let you by when I can.

Isn't commuting fun? Oh yes, my new car as an auxiliary input jack, so I get to listen to my own music while commuting now (without the FM tuner adapter thingy). My favorite commute song? Rhianna's "Shut Up and Drive," of course!

Planning ahead this week...

I love being back at school, but at the same time I am very glad this is my last semester. I am so much more organized while in school, and I tend to stay on top of things much better simply because I don't have time to procrastinate. Thus the reason I am actually writing this post on Thursday (and scheduling it to post on Saturday).

I am currently ahead on homework for every class that I have specific assignments for. I like to do this so that if I have a bad day or week, I don't end up behind. I hold on to some, so I can make corrections if needed, and others get turned in early. Not every teacher likes that, and those are usually the assignments I hold on to.

Now, to catch up on the one thing I am behind on, posting a picture of my new car! Just for fun, I'm posting one of the redundant sticker that was on the gas pump the other day....

My beautiful Aveo

In my world, "prepay" and "in advance" mean the same thing... you can prepay or pay in advance, not sure how to prepay in advance... would that be a gas gift card?

Cars...

Ugh, cars can be such a pain, and yet they are so very necessary! My old Neon has given up. It had it's issues and I was hoping to make it last a while longer, but that was not meant to be... It was 13 years old (the original purchase paperwork was still in it) and had over 202 thousand miles on it. I think it earned retirement, even if I wasn't ready to let it go!

The poor dear had 2 (out of 4) cylinders misfiring, creating some scary times pulling out into traffic when it just didn't want to go. On the way to my family reunion the exhaust pipe broke in the middle, getting very noisy all of a sudden and scaring me into thinking it was about to blow up on me. Then it started running hot on occasion, so I added fluids and things were fine for a bit. It was still running, and doing quite well most of the time.

Then on Tuesday it got very, very hot. Then I went to work and it got very, very hot again... Then on my way home from work, it maxed out the temperature gauge, then started smoking, then quit running. My thoughts? I was begging the car to cool off, had the heater going and the windows down, and praying that I would at least make it home... I made it to within a mile and a half, coasting the last bit on the shoulder of the expressway after the engine screamed "ENOUGH!" So, there I sat on the side of the expressway in my smoking car, calling the BP station to have their wrecker come get my car and then calling my mom to please come and get me so I could get home and we could take Nate to school. A quick trip to mom & dad's to pick up dad's truck, a stop for breakfast with them, and then I was on my way to my second day of classes.

The official word from the garage at the BP station was that the Neon needs a different engine and a new radiator. The radiator blew a hole in some part of it, and the head was kaput. My choices? Around $2000 to fix this car, or get a new one. *Sigh* Car shopping sucks when you're *planning* to shop, it's even worse when you *have* to shop. Thanks to my mom & dad, I now have a beautiful new Chevy Aveo that's still under manufacturer warranty, gets good gas mileage, and won't fall apart on me. Pictures will come later, I haven't taken any yet! Well, one... This car is silver, and didn't have the cigarette lighter thingy in it but I had the one from my little silver Saturn (that I adored!) so now this car has a piece of the Saturn in it :)

Center console, with the Saturn's lighter plug thingy :)

Wait, which day is it?

Switching to third shift again has left me with a dilemma I completely forgot from previous experience, trying to figure out what day it is!

While I go to work on Monday night, that leaves me working the majority of that shift on Tuesday, and completely throws me off throughout the week for the same reasons. Saturday morning is the end of my work week, which leaves Sunday feeling like Saturday to me. This creates some problems as I go to run errands and forget places are closed (or open shorter hours) because it is Sunday. You'd think I would have this figured out by now, but it still gets me once in a while.

Today I was painting the roof supports on my deck (which aren't supporting a roof at all at this moment) and completely forgot that it's Monday and I need to work tonight, until I looked at my phone which kindly tells me what day it is. My watch does the same, alternating between the day and date. I've discovered these two items are vitally important to me in order to keep myself on track (to make it to appointments and, next week, the right classes). Now I'm off to do laundry so I will have a uniform to wear tonight!

 On the other side, I've also discovered that I can waste an ENTIRE day playing on said phone when I have several Words With Friends games going. I love that game, but yesterday I sat for hours with 4 games going just playing back and forth instead of doing all the things I'd planned to do. Love my friends, love the game, but I think it's going to have to be relegated to only a short period of time maybe twice a day, especially with school starting too. *Sigh*

After painting today

Settled!

Tuesday morning we (my Mom & Dad, Nate and I) took RJ to college and got him moved into his dorm room. I am so very excited for him as he begins this new part of his life, he's growing into an amazing young man. I'm also kind of sad that he's not my baby boy anymore, nor the little boy that wanted to marry me when he grew up :) I'm quite sure he doesn't remember that at all, and I won't be the one to remind him... (when I was little I told the Catholic Priest here that I was going to marry him when I grow up, so he doesn't fall far from the tree with that)

Mom and I offered to make his bed, I figured that was he could have a spot that was done and he could relax, if he didn't feel like unpacking the rest right away. He did, of course, take us up on the offer!

He's all settled in now, only forgot a couple of things, and has started orientation for working on campus. Classes start for him next week, on his birthday!

On the home front, Nate enjoyed his first night & day without RJ, and he isn't looking forward to classes starting except for the fact that he gets an iPad from the school to use. He lost his iPod Touch a few weeks ago, and has decided to save up his money and wait for the new one to come out. He's also considering saving for an iPad. I think using one this year for school will help him decide if he wants pocket-sized or bigger.

For me, I am ready for classes to start. This will be my last semester and it's loaded up pretty well. My financial aid has been straightened out, and just covers my tuition (No loans though, yay!). My books are almost all here, I got them on the cheap from Campus Book Renter and Amazon this year, although Amazon did screw up one of my books and apparently can't manage to ship the right one (argh!) Amazon sellers that have "shipped by Amazon" service are apparently not responsible for screw-up, and apparently neither is Amazon. They did send me a label to return it at no cost (gee, thanks), but they can't ship out the right book. Dumb, frustrating, and lesson learned.

I now am renting said book along with 3 others from Campus Book Renter (and it was $12 cheaper for that one). I'm all for renting, It costs less than what I lose buying the book and selling it back, and I don't have a huge initial payout. I could also shop online in the middle of the night instead of standing in line at the bookstore with 100 pounds of books :) And I don't have to stand in a long line at the end of the semester, *hoping* they will buy the books back.

I tried an eBook for a textbook once, but it was such a pain I will never do it again! What convenience you gain by not having a heavy book to lug and having it available at your fingertips is lost in the inconvenience of trying to answer end-of-chapter questions and flip back and forth through the chapter to find information. I love eBooks for books to read through, but for referencing previous pages or flipping back and forth through a chapter they are incredibly inconvenient.

College Financial Aid Drama

The joys of financial aid... nope, not for RJ, he's all set and everything is fine...

KVCC decided to send me a letter last February to let me know I have completed too many credit hours according to their new financial aid rules, and I would have to jump through some hoops to keep my financial aid for the CURRENT semester! Well, those hoops included not taking a class that isn't on my major. A class for which I was already registered, taking, and it was too late to withdraw from (or sign up for another class that was on my major). So, this summer they send me a letter saying that I have to meet with an academic counselor again and get a note stating that the class I took was "strongly recommended" for my career path. Um, okay, I think I can convince someone that Advertising and Promotion (the class I took) could be valuable for an administrative assistant. It's all about knowing your audience and the best way to communicate with them after all, and tailoring a message to gain the desired action by the consumer/customer.

Well, I went to the counseling appointment on Thursday, and it took about 2 seconds to get the recommendation! After reading what I was sent, he asked me what my major was, then what class was it that I took? When I told him, he immediately said "oh yeah, I can see that would be valuable!" and proceeded to write it up as "professional development."

Now I'm just waiting for the financial aid office to review that and approve it, so I can be sure I will have my financial aid for fall. If they don't approve it, I owe all of my financial aid for last semester, and all of my tuition for fall. Everybody keep your fingers crossed for me!

Shift Change

I have recently switched to third shift, in order to complete school with the fall semester. I had a few classes remaining that are only offered during the day, and so switching to third shift was the only way for me to be able to work full time, go to school, and still spend time with Nate.

This last week was my first week on thirds, and while I miss my patients and coworkers from first shift, I do love being on third. The boys have enjoyed it too, they are going to bed when I leave for work, I sleep when I would have been at work and gone anyway, and then I wake up and have the energy to spend time with them and cook dinner. It's been very nice so far, I'm a night owl anyway so staying up all night isn't a problem at all and I'm not coming home physically and mentally exhausted from my workday. Plus now I am actually getting e full "night's" sleep, yay!!

This Week in My Life

Post titles. Sometimes what to title a post is obvious, other times it's torture and I come up with something lame (like this post). Does the title really matter? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, I think. I could be wrong though, it's been known to happen.

Anyway, work has been going well, with no problems post surgery. I have slowly discovered a few foods I cannot eat without consequences, and a few that I can eat on their own but not in combination. Bologna & cheese sandwiches are out completely, and I can't drink coffee with a meal anymore but it's fine on it's own. I can live with that! My post surgery follow up was this past week, and everything is fine there. I don't think I've ever been to a faster appointment! An expected 10 minute wait for the doctor turned into less than 30 seconds and after a quick chat, a look at the incisions, and time for questions it was over. Checkout was extremely quick, just stating my name and I could continue on my way out without even really having to stop! There are benefits to electronic medical records!

I've been knitting a lot again lately, and have a beaded shawl nearly done. I am out of beads and awaiting those to arrive so I can finish the last 8 1/2 rows. I finished a baby cardigan just in time, as the baby arrived a couple days ago (my cousin's baby, no more for me!). Today I knitted both sleeves for a cardigan for me, I'm working on the body now and hope to be up to the yoke soon. The sleeves are knit in the round, and the body in one piece with everything joined for the yolk, which has a diamond lace pattern followed by cables to the neckline. It's in navy cotton yarn that I've had forever, so it's an awesome stash buster. I think I may even be able to stash bust the buttons I need for it. 

The shawl, nearly done.

Back to Work

Last Thursday I went back to work. Now, I wasn't inactive during my recovery time, but being off work because you have to be is much different than being on vacation! I wasn't home for a full day on any of my recovery days, so that means everything went fine and I was feeling pretty good. I got to take lots of photos, do some knitting, watch some movies, and even read a little. Even with all that, it was nice being back to work! I missed my coworkers (even though I was there Friday & Monday mornings) and my patients. Work went fine, with only a few twinges of pain here and there to let me know I was doing a little too much. I need reminders occasionally...

Before heading back to work, RJ and I went to MSU for his Freshman Orientation. He doesn't usually show a lot of excitement or nervousness, so I'm not sure how he felt on the way there. Tuesday morning we got there, he headed one way for his orientation, and I headed another for the parent orientation. I must say, they pack a LOT of information in during the day, and they manage to keep it interesting and still answer tons of questions. The parent end of it was wonderful! Tuesday evening I headed to Howell (to stay with my cousin) on my own, part of RJ's orientation was staying the night there. Wednesday morning I was back on campus, headed for the parents' residence hall tour. There are a lot of services and amenities available to the students, most included in their tuition. At about noon I met up with RJ again, and you couldn't wipe the smile off his face! In his words, orientation was "AWESOME!" and he's very excited for school in the fall. I'm very relieved, I wasn't sure he was looking forward to it before. He has a class schedule (with some 8am classes), his ID and he knows which hall he will be in. In August he will get his roommate assignment and then they can contact each other. Exciting!!

My Surgery

Yesterday (Thursday) I had surgery to have my gallbladder removed, as it was full of stones and making me rather miserable at times. The surgery started just a few minutes later than expected (10 minutes, maybe... just after Noon instead of 11:55 a.m.) and I'm told was actually done quite quickly (less time than expected). Laproscopic Cholesystectomy is the "official" name for the surgery performed, if you want to know :)

What I remember is going into the operating room, and the mask being put on my face as I was being told they'd start with just oxygen. The next thing I remember is waking up in recovery and asking for ice chips. The next thing I remember is rolling into the room in which my parents were awaiting my arrival from recovery.... From there it's just random moments of awakening, chatting a little, ice chips occasionally, and not much else until about 5, when I actually woke up and started moving. I know I ate a package of graham crackers sometime before that and drank some water with them since I had NO saliva production, but I have no idea when that was (around 4, maybe).

Getting up and moving wasn't too bad, no dizziness and not much pain or anesthesia fog at all. I was bright enough to take a pain med before attempting the car ride home, roads are bumpy and I didn't see any point in toughing it out when I didn't have to! Thanks to Mom & Aunt Mary's reminders, I wore scrub pants instead of the jeans I'd originally had on. Much better for the little incision on my belly button!

The ride home was fine, a little uncomfortable over all the bumpy roads that are Michigan roads. Mom & Dad asked if I needed anything and that was a definite yes, I was hungry! McDonald's for a burger and diet coke fixed that and got rid of the leftover chemical taste in my mouth from the anesthesia :) We then stopped at mom & dad's for a bit (mom had graham crackers and I didn't have any at home, she gave me hers), then they brought me home.

Last night I camped out in the recliner with my ice water, and ice pack, my phone (Words with Friends with mom) and my knitting (I have a baby sweater to finish, in case my cousin has a boy). When I went to bed I was comfortable enough to sleep on my stomach, which is good because I can't remember the last time I slept in a different position!

Today I eventually got up around 8, though I woke several times before that. I felt great, so I went to Harding's and picked up donuts and orange juice for my coworkers and headed in to town. I visited at work for a while, checked in with a couple patients, and then headed out for a couple errands before heading back towards home. Once back in Wayland, I decided to go to Daily Brews (my favorite coffee shop, White Milky Way is my fave!) for coffee and knitting time. While I was there mom called to see if I was hungry, so they joined me there for lunch. Since then I have been home watching movies and relaxing, recovering from a busy morning! I'm feeling good, but I probably did a little too much this morning in the way of sitting instead of being stretched out...

Stalled Improvement

I haven't been working on the deck much since the last post, except to start scraping the roof support timbers. Apparently when they decided to paint those (the previous owners), they only painting the sides and bottom, not the top. Because of this, the pain is peeling in sheets from the sides, as water was able to get between the paint and wood. This makes it easier to scrape as it's peeling in sheets, but it's still not an easy job. I'm 1/3rd of the way done, working on a ladder and having to go up and down every time I've scraped all I can reach has made it tedious work.

I've been getting my flower beds settled in with perennials, trying to kill off and invasive plant that was put in on purpose by the previous owner, one which I do not like and it grows amazingly fast! I dug up the root ball from the original planting, a secondary root ball thanks to spreading, and have been cutting and poisoning sprigs everywhere else. My pretty blue balloon flower has been moved to the back of the bed, and seems to be alive despite this. It grows about 3 feet tall, so the middle of the bed was not the right spot. There I put in a Foam Flower. The beautiful hybrid columbine was moved back, and is now between a bleeding heart and another hybrid columbine (and also still looking healthy despite the move). I also planted a peach melba coral bell in the shady corner of that bed, to add some color. This whole bed still needs some work, I think, but it's getting there!

Last weekend we had a garage sale (along with the rest of the neighborhood I live in) which went as most garage sales seem to. We (my parents and I) sold a little, packed up a lot, and made a little money. I did find an outdoor extension cord reel with cord on it and a garden hose reel at neighbors' sales, both items I needed for my house. We were also entertained watching my neighbor haul more and more stuff out of the house and shed for their sale. They pretty much had an estate sale, and the house is for sale too. If you're interested, it's a cozy 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with an entry hall, mudroom/laundry room, dining room, breakfast nook and a moderately sized kitchen. Cute house, with a nice covered deck on the front big enough for a table and chairs :) Comment or e-mail and I will see about getting more info!

Since then my surgery has been scheduled (gallbladder must come out), so I have been busy trying to get the house mostly cleaned and sorted, and getting some of the bigger/heavier projects done. This also means I have two weeks to finish scraping those timbers, and hopefully get them repainted in the railing color (Behr Porch & Floor, Shaded Hammock PPF-11, if you're interested)

Renewing the Deck

The last few weeks have been spent scraping, painting, waiting for rainstorms to stop, planting, and more painting & scraping!

The back deck is really starting to look nice, the railings have all been painted with 2 coats of paint (covering pale grey with off-white), and I used up the last of the gallon of green paint on one end of the deck and the two sets of stairs. It's really going to look wonderful when it's done!

Unfortunately, Home Depot doesn't carry Behr Porch & Patio paint in a 5-gallon bucket, so I need to figure out how much more I will need to finish the deck. I think I will be buying a gallon at a time and seeing how far each goes. I'd really like to paint my shed to match the deck too, but we shall see about that!

Here's a few pictures of the progress!

Under Destruction

The back deck lattice was all planned to come down, get painted/replaced as needed, then go back up. Since the Trumpet Vine keeled over, it wasn't needed anymore. I still planned to replace it, until I was inside the house and looked out the slider... The deck looked so much bigger (and my neighbor has pretty flowers too), so I decided not to put the lattice back up.

The pile of sticks in the one photo used to be the lattice from the roof. It disintegrated when I tried to pry it off. I must say though, it was very fun and satisfying to just shred it! I had all the fun then called my dad to bring his truck and a wheelbarrow to get rid of the after-effects :)

Home Improvements

Over the last few weekends I have been working on my front porch, getting the railings torn off and replaced, painting the deck floor, and getting all the railings and posts painted. The front is done now (well, except for a 2nd coat of paint on a section of the floor), so last week I moved on to the back deck.

1/2 way through.

Finished

I was trying to save a large trumpet vine that was threaded through lattice up and over the deck. I managed to get it all unwound without breaking it until the last space. I was holding the trunk about 6-8' off the ground, pushed out on it to get the last branch through the lattice, and all of a sudden I wasn't holding the trunk anymore, the vine base broke below the ground and my handhold was lost. So much for saving the vine! Upon closer inspection of the base, the trunk was rotted in the center. It was 11" in circumference, quite a vine!

Base of the vine, where it broke below ground-level.

Von Willebrand's Treatment

Today we spent our afternoon at the hematology clinic, getting more blood work done and trying out a medication. It was a long but very informative visit, with a lot of information given about how the medication works and when to (and not to) use it.

We started with a blood draw, for a baseline test of the Von Willebrand protein levels in RJ's bloodstream. This was followed by an administered dose of the medication, then visits with the nurse, doctor, tech, and social worker to while away the hour before the follow-up blood draw to check post-dosing levels for effectiveness of the medication.

We learned that he will not have to take any medication on a regular basis. What they have given him is Stimate (name brand), which is a nasal spray medication to increase his Von Willebrand protein levels in his blood to help with clotting in case of an injury or before a minor procedure. The proteins are made on the inner walls of the blood vessels, and the medication forces the blood vessels to release the proteins quickly to increase the levels in the bloodstream temporarily. The good news is that the likelihood of RJ needing to use the medication is slim in his day-to-day life. Mostly we just need to have it for an injury or if he has to get his wisdom teeth pulled. The other good news is that he doesn't need to be seen by them for 2 years, so we are doctor-free for the moment.

If he's ever in a severe accident or has major surgery he can't use this medication for those situations. There's an extremely limited fluid restriction for the 12 hours following administration, making it inappropriate for those situations. 

The changes to his life are really minor, all things considered. He will be getting a medical alert necklace (he had a choice between a necklace or a bracelet) that he will need to wear all the time. If he sustains an injury he needs to call the doctor before taking the medication (just to be sure he needs to), and they don't recommend contact sports, and he cannot take ibuprofen, aspirin, or anything containing those.  Aside from that, nothing else has changed. We all get new phone numbers in our phones, he gets a necklace and something to toss in the fridge, and we all get to be thankful that everything has turned out so well, when it could have ended so very differently.

A Morning with the Neurosurgeon

Follow up visits... We are now four and a half months post-surgery, and RJ had a follow-up CT scan and neurosurgeon visit this morning. I was hoping for it to be the last for quite a while, if not just the last.

The CT that was done 3 months ago was very good, with just a small spot remaining of fluid-filled space (about the size of the pinky finger to the first joint). Considering the large clot (fist-sized) that had been on his brain, this was simply amazing! His scan today revealed no remaining fluid or spaces, his brain has completely healed, woo-hoo!

On top of the healed brain, the skull has also begun fusing back together. This was unexpected due to his age. Since most of his growing is done, the skull wasn't expected to repair itself at all. Just goes to show, he's an amazing kid (I always knew that!)

Next up for him is an appointment with the Hematologist at the end of the month. They are going to try him on a medication to help with his clotting disorder, so this one will be a long appointment. There's blood tests to run, medication to be given, vital signs to check, waiting to do, then more blood tests and more waiting. I will have to remind him to bring a book or something to do for that one. After that, he may have blood tests that need to be done regularly, but hopefully no more office visits with them either. I am hoping our family doctor can take over again after that.

We've been extremely lucky with everything that has happened the last several months, and I thank God every time I go to work and don't have to see my child in the position of those I take care of there.

Family Photos

Yesterday the boys and I had family photos done by a wonderful photographer from Kalamazoo. It was cold, had snowed quite a bit since Thursday night, was snowing more during our session, and we were outdoors at a small park near Arcadia Commons downtown Kalamazoo. We had a blast!

We started on a footbridge, went to a kids' play area (brightly colored climbing structures and slides covered in bright, fluffy white snow), and a few other places nearby. The area has a lot of metal fencing that's painted dark green, with decorative designs that held fluffy snow. The old brick buildings made great backdrops, and the snow coming down was big fluffy flakes too. Perfect! Exactly what I'd hoped for! I can hardly wait to see them, but that has to wait until mid-March, due to scheduling on my end...

Matea Michelangeli was our photographer, she's someone that I follow on Twitter and Facebook, and I am truly impressed with her work.

Unfortunately, a nearby bakery (Sarkozy Bakery) had caught fire the night before, and the firemen were still there trying to put it out. This was a locally-owned bakery in an old brick building. I parked in front of it many times during my night classes downtown, and the interior was classic old-brick-building style. Beautiful! I am sad to see it gone, even if I never had their baked goods (they were closed when I was there). After our photo session, Matea went over there and took some photos, my favorites are the firemen, especially the one where his face is full-on. Amazing work in a sad situation.

First finished project for 2012!

My first finished stash-buster knit project started & finished this year! This is a lace cowl made from Handspun silk/cashmere that has been in my stash a few years. I still have enough to make a second cowl or a pair of mitts, and more of the fiber to spin too. It's incredibly soft & slippery, love the feel of it! I had thought it was camel/silk but when I looked at my spinning fibers found I was wrong, that's a more yellow-tan than this (and I haven't spun any of that yet).

On the needles now is a hat for RJ (not a stash buster) and a vine lace scarf (stash buster of Merino/silk)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I finished out the last year with a photo shoot followed by an evening out at a movie and dinner with my family (mom, dad, and my boys). Can't get much better than that! One last job and an evening of fun sounds perfect to me, except for the head cold I've been battling, that is. My New Year's resolution is to knit from my stash... and hopefully make my way through quite a bit of it! We'll see how that goes, the boys are a bit skeptical. 

We have begun the new year quietly, with a day to sleep in and relax at home. Waffles for brunch and Smash Lab/Mythbusters episodes all day.... And photo editing for me to get the year-end shoot up into a gallery for ordering.

Right before Christmas RJ received his acceptance letter from Michigan State University, yay!! Nate promptly announced he would not be a Spartan, he was going to be a Wolverine! Perhaps now that he has a goal he will remember to turn in his homework ;)

The new college semester starts on the 9th, and I was able to trade one of my classes for one on a Tuesday, so RJ and I will be at school on the same days again and he will not have to drive himself on the icy roads this winter. I am much happier with that (and so is he) so I'm very glad it worked out in the end.