Playing Catch up

I am going to try to play catch up over the next few days, starting with today and working backwards (and of corse writing about that day too if something interesting happens).

So, today Holly and I had to go to Walmart to do my grocery shopping that I had put off for forever. While going down one isle, we past a woman who had about 20 bottles of bar-b-q sauce in her basket. I thought that was a little odd. But what really caught my attention was the comment I heard her make as we passed her. "Not even 20 years old, and she has a child that old!" It was an uncalled for comment since she knows nothing about me, but it still flattered me! She thought I was at least 9 years younger than I am!! I have been thinking a lot about my age lately and getting down about it. Mostly when it comes to food. I am struggling to accept the fact I can't eat like I did in high school and college. So to hear this especially so early in my shopping, really helped to give me that boost I needed to do some healthier shopping.

This weekend I was productive and finally reorganized our closet. Now all that is left is the piles of paperwork I have let go and not filed, the computer room and the shed out back. Not too bad.

Next post will lead off with work, and then weekend before last, and the one before that.
I left my camera at Lori's when I was there, and haven't had the chance to get it. I feel like I'm missing a limb! But here is a pic I took with my phone.

As you can see, I had a first today!! Except for a few strands, I put my hair in a low pony tail!!!

Smile!

Happy Valentine's Day all!!! I promise to write soon. Last week I had the lazys and this week I've been working. So I will make it a priority to type about my fun night with Kristi and my weekend with Hayden and Haylee.
Until then:

Awesome Graphics at pYzam.com

Can't wait...

till I have time on Monday, if not sooner, to sit down and post about the fun time I had with Kristi at her church on Friday night. SOOOO much fun!!!

AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I MISS THE GOOD 'OLE DAYS WHEN WE ALL SURVIVED WITHOUT CELL PHONES.! I REALLY THINK LIFE WAS A LOT SIMPLER AND CALMER THEN! MY CARRIER HAS SCREWED UP SO MANY TIMES WITHIN THE LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS AND TODAY'S WAS THE LAST STRAW!! THIS TIME IT REALLY EFFECTED MY HUSBAND AND HIS WORK. SO I'VE HAD IT! AND WHAT I HATE THE MOST IS I NOW HAVE TO SHOP AROUND FOR A NEW CARRIER AGAIN. I HAVEN'T HAD TO DO THIS FOR 4 YEARS!!

Ouch

I've had a sore throat since Saturday that I just can't seem to shake. It started as one of the normal signs of a cold. But all other signs have quickly died away except for the throat. Nothing else seems to be wrong and it only hurts in the morning, a little off and on during the day, and a little while before bed. It's getting quite annoying. I really don't want to go into the doc for it right now because we don't get our insurance until Feb. 6, which isn't that far away. I don't feel bad anymore in any other way. I am more tired lately, but that's usual for me around this time of month. Guess I'll just keep an eye on it. I think it's probably mostly due to allergy drainage, but I hate sore throats more than almost anything else.

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.

Before and After

I've been wanting to do this post for a while, but keep forgetting. Happenings of yesterday made me remember.

Yesterday - I was up at Walmart picking up a few groceries. As I was heading to the check out I got a sharp pain in my head. Best way for me to describe the location is it was where your head starts to curve from the back to the top. That is not near the location my tumor was removed. The tumor was in the area of my head where it curves from the back to the bottom right before your neck. What got me worried is it gave me an instant headache that was different from any headaches I normally get (I don't get headaches very often, not even when I had the tumor). It also made me get dizzy when I was checking the parking lot as I was backing out. I haven't had a dizzy spell like that in a long time now. Once I got home my neck felt stiff and sore and I started to get tired and weak. All this was bothersome so I called my neurosurgeon's office and left a message for the PA to call me back. She did, and she felt it probably wasn't really anything to worry about right now, and to just keep an eye on it. After thinking and talking with my mom about it, we think we figured out what it was. The weakness clued us in. Yesterday I had a sugary bowl of cereal for breakfast, something I haven't had in a while. And from past experiences, we know sometimes I don't handle that well. And I did remember that I had gotten hungry for lunch much earlier than normal. So I probably had a sugar rush that may have given me a mild but sudden migraine.

What was most upsetting is when the PA called, I discovered she was a new PA, and a good portion of the staff that was working for my doctor this summer is no longer there. This was still a very nice and caring person, but I liked having it where when I called, they knew who I was right away and were very personal with me.

Something else that had been bothering me is the back of my head where the surgery was performed. Right now I have a lot of pain and sensitivity in the back of my head due to all the fusing of the nerves back together. I was told this could last a long time (brushing my hair is quite painful). One of the things I was told to do to help reteach the nerves what feelings are OK is to rub and pat it back there. I've been doing this and have noticed that the bone feels odd back there. I finally remember to ask Larry to check it for me. He said it's OK. It's just where to bone was put back in and it's just different now due to the way he had to replace it.

Anyway I've been wanting to post these comparison pictures for quite a while of before and after the surgery. I just with I had some high school pictures loaded on here so you could see the before before pictures. The ones before the tumor effected me.

• This picture was taken on vacation a little over 4 months before the surgery. You notice my head is greatly tilted. This is due to the tumor. This would happen in almost every picture I took since spring of 2001. To me it felt like I was looking straight at the camera. If someone would turn my head towards the camera properly (like when we would take family pictures), if felt like the whole world was spinning.

• This picture was taken after Larry's work Christmas party a little over 4 months after the surgery. This is the first picture I took after the surgery where I noticed I'm looking straight at the camera without someone telling me how to hold my head.

These pictures bring me great joy because it really shows the difference my surgery has made and how important it really was to have and how God is so wonderful and has taken care of a problem that was really bothersome and embarrassing to me and one I thought I would live with my whole life.

Another rejoice. A couple weeks ago I had a first in a number of years. I walked up and down some stairs without holding on to a rail or some one's hand. I really have a new appreciation for children learning to walk. ;)

Wanted to share this more for myself than anyone else, but I hope you find it interesting and it that I am able to show more of God's glory and greatness through my experience. Have a wonderful day!!

P.S.

This is how I found Flash this morning. Too funny!!