Finally!

A lot of finallies to write about today.
Today I finally get to be sick and rest up. And of coarse on the day I am allowed to I'm too fidgety! I started to get a cold over the weekend, but so much has happened I never got the chance to rest much for it.
This weekend I finally got to get together with Lori to do our cookie baking. Larry made sure of it. We spent an entire day together and really had a blast. We chit chatted while we picked out three recipes to make. (2 cookies and one brownie) All ended up being chocolate of coarse, but what can you do? That will be the results when you put to chocolate obsessed woman together.
While at Kroger getting our supplies for baking and lunch, a mishap occurred which now leaves me with having to buy new tennis shoes. Right as we turned onto the baking isle, a woman dropped her glass bottle of some kind of hot sauce (didn't care much for that smell!) Lori was the closest to her and missed all splatters. I was the next closest and my light grey tennis shoes acquired some large red-orange spotting. Another woman was the farthest and her pants and coat were spotted. I felt bad for the woman who did the dropping. She was very apologetic and kept making sure everyone was OK. I told her I was fine. But, alas, the shoes are too light colored and have a rough leather finish that is not forgiving to messes of this color. I will make these my new mowing shoes (my other pair are getting uncomfortable), and I will get a new pair. At least these ones were a couple years old now. Still in good shape, but not a heart breaking loss.
After a nice comforting lunch of grilled cheese and tomato soup and some more talking, we got down to baking. We almost screwed up the cookies royally a couple times, but were able to catch it in time. Lori, who really is very rarely scatter brained, blamed it on the baby. She says she really is finding she gets like this now with the pregnancy. I didn't have a good excuse like hers so I used my brain surgery again and the new hole left behind. he he Sometimes that surgery comes in handy to get me out of a silly situation :) We ended up making only the cookies since we talked the day away. But they came out good. We made chocolate chip crunch cookies (the dough was still pretty warm when we added the chips, so they melted right away making the cookies chocolate crunch cookies), and a mint chocolate cookie that is by far my favorite. It tastes more like a fudge mint cookie.
But you are asking what did I mean by just now getting to be sick. I started to get a cold over the weekend they really had me feeling crummy. But Larry ended up with something worse. He got a severe migraine Sunday night. He use to get them a lot, but hasn't had one like this since I've known him. It causes him to get sick to his stomach, half his body goes numb, and he goes blind. So I took care of him Sunday night and he stayed home Monday due to still having some blindness. He is better now and we are keeping our fingers crossed he can go another 6 or more years without another one. I hate him having them because he's in so much pain and there's really no way to help him. Holly was a wonderful nurse too!!
Well I'll go rest now, just wanted to post while I'm so fidgety.

Weekend Review

Well this weekend didn't go anywhere near the original plan. Lori and I have been planning to find a weekend to get together and do some cookie baking since before Christmas. We finally narrowed it down to meeting on the 19th, and had been set on that day for a couple of weeks now. But life took over and we had to move it again. Holly was suppose to be going to her mom's this last weekend, so Larry and I started planning for him some time to work on his Jeep at his buddy's house while I was off doing my baking. Unfortunately, Holly ended up with a virus that settled in her ear along with a ton of nose drainage. So that required one of us to cancel plans. I had my heart set on getting away for some time for me especially since Larry had a weekend in East TX last weekend. But instead it had to go to Larry. I haven't mentioned what his new job is which will lead into why he got the weekend. Larry is the director of maintenance operations for the Mercantile apartment building, the Element apartment building, and as of this coming Friday, the Post Wilson apartment building (and a few other buildings that are in the holdings before they start their remodelings) all in downtown Dallas. The Mercantile and Element, are still being gutted and remodeled/built so Larry is over the construction and making sure it is right down to every outlet plate. But the Post Wilson is already up and running. His company is closing and taking over the building this Friday. So things are about to get a little hairy for him. The current staff with the Post Wilson are going with their current owners to new jobs, so Larry and the rest of the Mercantile staff will be taking over. This will also put Larry and his assistant on call every other week (they haven't hired any more maintenance staff, so they will be taking it all on until more are hired on or until they can get some temps out to give them a hand, but temps can't be on call). So due to this and the fact that the buddy who's house he was going to work at is his assistant, it was a must to let him go for the weekend.
So I was greatly disappointed, but it's what you do when you're married, right? So Sat. morning I took Holly into the doc, and while we were filling her prescription, it was time for Larry to take off to his buddy's house, he lives 60 miles away. So Holly and I picked up lunch at Target while waiting on her meds (except for easily getting run down and blowing her nose every two seconds, she seemed like she was fine, which was a true blessing). So we returned home and spent the day watching DVDs. I also knitted my own new hat over the weekend (took pictures, but not sure how to download them to the laptop). And now I'm working on one for Larry.
Larry returned Sunday morning. And I can't tell you how happy I was to see him. After a week and two weekends at home except for a couple of errands here and there and with very little adult companionship, I was dying to get out and spend some time with another adult around. Now I never got a verbal thank you for forfeiting my weekend, but I sure did gets lots of affection and spoiling once he got home. We ran a few errands before Holly was run down again, and freely looked at all I wanted. Then we went to IHOP for dinner, went home where Larry and Holly sang on the mics and I finished up my knitting.
Monday we slept in, did a few chores, and tried to decide on a movie to go see. We ended up renting some movies and ran to the grocery store to get the supplies needed for Larry to make stew.
So it started off as a bit of a disappointing and boring weekend, but turned into a super nice one with just some time to really enjoy each other and share some love.

not normal yet

Well things haven't really settled in yet, so I've been putting off writing on my blog. But last night before I went to sleep, I was reading my Jan. Redbook to hurry and finish it so I can read my Feb. one that came in the mail yesterday. And there were some articles in there that inspired me to get back into it again. I haven't gotten back on here mainly because the home computer is not up and running right now. We have only my husband's laptop in commission right now, and I'm not fond of typing on it. I always bump the little mouse pad with my palm and hit the caps lock button most of the time when I'm reaching for the "a".
I went back to subbing last week, but am off this week. And Kristi was right, the middle school students really are the best to work with. I have horrible memories of middle school, so I never expected them to be so well behaved. I have been sticking with mostly half days, which makes sure I'm home in plenty of time before Holly gets home. This helps to keep the stress down especially if I take a high school job (they really are a bit hard to handle since school boards are so scared of them now and let them do ANYTHING they want). And it is something for me to get out of the house and feel productive with, without making it a struggle or feel stressful to keep the house chores kept up like I like.
This last weekend Larry went to East TX in hopes of a possible sale off of Craig's list on some items him and his brother had listed. Holly and I stayed behind. We had a party for my friend Kristi's daughter Megan's 1st birthday. It was a fabulous party. And if Larry and I are ever blessed with a baby, I am putting her in charge of his/her's first birthday party.
On Sunday, I was relaxing watching my DVDs of Gilmore Girls and working with my kniffty knitters. (I keep trying to learn to knit on my own, but I have fumble fingers and stay too busy lately to spend a number of hours getting good enough where I can lay it down without loosing my place). Holly suddenly had the urge to work on one too, and asked to knit on my project. Well I don't like to share my knitting except for finished products. I also didn't want to share my yarn due to Holly's history of no patience with working with the knitters, and instead of calmly working she knits for a few minutes and then ties the yarn in knots. Since she had some allowance coming, I payed her and we ran up to Walmart to buy her some yarn that she could use on one of my knitter looms. She was so excited that she choose a yarn that was priced where she could buy her own knitting hook too. We went home and I started her on the loom for a hat for her. She took over once I got her started, and then sat for a number of hours straight knitting away. She has never had that much patience for anything for that long except a movie/TV. She made a whole hat that evening!! I was so proud of her I've been bragging to everyone. She was able to wear it to school the next day, and just as Larry had thought (he's super proud too) many of her peers want her to now make them one. :) I haven't had the chance to take a picture of it, but that is priority tonight and I will post it tomorrow.
OK more another day.

Little Break

From all I have to get done. Turns out we ARE going to have everyone here for Thanksgiving. So this weekend, all three of us got to work getting the house ready. And thanks to everything Larry and Holly did, I only have some last minute stuff to do such as the mopping and vacuming, and going over the bathroom one more time, and a few other odds and ends.



Right now I'm taking a little break while I wait for mom to get here. She is going to help me figure out all the food I need to get. I know most everyone did there shopping this weekend, so that may leave me hunting for everything I need, but there was no way I could handle that crowd. I love to be around people, but not ones who are shoving past you with grocery carts that often end up in your side or rolling over your toes.



The end of last week I did my observing at the different grade levels of schools at a school district over here, so I can start subtituting the beginning of December. I won't get a pay check to after the holidays, so it won't be money for Christmas. But it will be nice to get a little extra to help build the savings back up after the year we have had, and to have a little extra spending money for various wants and vacations.



On Friday evening, we went to downtown Dallas for the Neiman Marcus tree lighting, and revealing for their Holiday windows. It is only about a block from Larry's new building, and they had set up a both to advertise. So if anyone is looking to move to the Dallas area and is wanting to live in an A class apartment. Look up the Mercantile Building owned by Forest City. We had never gone before. They had all kinds of boths with advertisers passing out hot cocoa, popcorn balls, apple cider, ballons, glowing wands for sale, face painting, and pictures with Santa. Along with various people walking around entertaining. It was a long evening since Larry had to be there early, but it was fun.



ok was going to post pics, but it won't let me. I'll do it later.

Just over this mountain...

is one more mountain. At least that's what it feels like for us. Larry and I were greatly looking forward to this weekend. Holly went to her mom's for the weekend, making this the first one we could enjoy alone since June, before I got the news of my tumor. Holly's mom lives in Austin, so we meet half way in Waco. I had just gotten her dropped off and was on my way back. I stopped in Hillsboro about 30 miles north of Waco to get gas. I was just getting back in from paying when my phone started ringing. It was Larry. I figured it was him calling to see if it all went ok with the girls' mom. Shockingly it wasn't. He called to tell me he just got rear-ended. It hit hard enough to make him hit the car in front of him (which he had left a car link in between the two of them), and hard enough to knock him out. He told me he wasn't able to see. He was speaking calmly, but I could hear the panic behind it. And since my husband is the much, much calmer one of the two of us, I went into panic and took off to get back to him in Dallas.


The hospital they took him to was far, far less than any proper standards. I got to the hospital an hour after they brought him in. I went to the ER reception to request where to go for him. THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHERE HE WAS!!! THEY TRIED TO TELL ME HE WASN'T THERE. I called his cell phone to double check the hospital, he put a nurse on the phone to try and tell me where to go. Finally got to him and asked what they had done. NOTHING!!! HE WAS IN A BED IN THE HALL!! He told them he needed to use the restroom, so they gave him a urinal and told him to use it in the hallway!!! I went to the nurses station to ask when a doctor would see him, and they tried to tell me that he had only been there for 6 minutes!!! Now I'm usually a very calm person especially with doctors, but this time I was full on Mama Bear at her fiercest!!! I won't get into everything, but after waiting over another hour to have a doctor see him and listening to nurses talk about bra sizes instead of taking care of patients and after he told me that before I got there nurses were standing by his bed asking who was suppose to look after him, not knowing and each one saying they wouldn't take him, I requested the paper work to have him sign to be released so I could take him to another hospital. After almost another hour of waiting, we walked out. Or I should say I walked out almost having to carry him. We went to another hospital, who took him straight back and took great care of him. Thankfully all is fine. Nothing broken, and the CT scan came back good. They aren't sure what made him have numbness and blindness. Larry thinks maybe it just gave him and instant migraine. All I know is I'm glad he is ok. And I will be dealing with the director of the first hospital, 'cause so much of how he was treated was unacceptable. I would totally understand the wait if they were taking care of people more hurt than him, but I consider (along with most other doctors and hospitals from past experiences) being knocked unconscious something serious...at least a lot more serious than bra sizes.

To top that mountain off, the guy who hit him had no car insurance. Thankfully we have full coverage on both of our cars, so our insurance will cover it. But we have to wait for the police report, up to 7 business days, to prove he had no insurance before they will start the work and paying for his time missed from work and all medical bills.

After sitting in the house sore all day Saturday, Larry had to get out and do something. So on Sunday after we got back from picking up Holly Larry worked on Holly's go-cart and got it working safely. It still needs some adjustments, but she can finally ride it. We took it across the street to the High School Parking lot and let her tear it up! he he Here are a couple pictures from that.





Well I guess that's all for now, have a great day!! I'm going to try and get a little done. It's a lot harder to get things done when he's here wanting me to keep him company. :)

Mystery

My 10 yr old is home from school today with a fever. What she has is a total mystery though. It started yesterday morning with a sore throat, but every time I check it, it's not red or swollen. She's been complaining of some aches, but the way she describes them, they're just normal growing pains. She complains of her stomach being upset, but I think that is due to the fever since it didn't start till she developed the fever last night and because she still eats pretty much anything she wants and eats her normal amount. So I'm completely puzzled. Since it's a fairly mild fever, and since she doesn't seem that miserable, I'm holding off taking her to the doctor. I will take her in tomorrow if it continues.

What also helps with all of this is finally being in a place where my girls don't share bedrooms. I don't have to move one to the living room too keep her from catching what the other one has. Problem is my younger one has to be the center of attention no matter what, so she often pretends to be sick when her sister is. It can be hard to handle that one. I want to comfort my girls when they are sick, but I don't want it to be so nice that they fake it. They know they have more fun when they are well, but that period of time when mom babies you a little extra is nice too. Any advice?

Now our weekend. Even with the winter weather, my family was blessed to be able to get out and do somethings. For some reason the area where we live ended up not developing much ice on the roads even though it did rain a ton! So we were able to run around to the stores and mall close to home. What was most fun was our cooking experiments. We went into Walmart to get some groceries and decide what to eat for dinner Saturday night. My husband wanted to get creative and make hot wings. So we went to look for a new fryer since our other one had to be thrown out a few months ago. We had no luck in finding one we wanted. But I did discover a food processor for a fabulous deal. I have never gotten to buy one. I'm often too picky with my appliances. So I snatched the last one. My husband decided we should make steaks and home-made salsa with our new find. So our evening was filled with playing with our new toy and experimenting with amounts of ingredients. And I am pleased to say my husband now makes a fabulous salsa.
So to anyone stopping in to read, God Bless!