Back to School for Real Now

The kids are officially back in school. I was foolish enough to believe that, I would finally have some time to get through a book I've been reading. Well, that was not to be. First of all, the elementary school had early out everyday this week. And I had places I had to be everyday! So I had Friday only to read, but I took a nap instead. Oh well, maybe next week.

Back to School Already?

Wow, I know July was just a bummer, and I feel like the summer has just started, but Eric starts UCAS next Monday! And then all the of the kids the week after that! WOW! I have to get shopping. Dang, how did it sneak up on me so fast? Most years I'm almost counting down until they go back. Not this year!

Just adding salt to the wound!

There are just times when you scratch your head and go, "what is going on here?". Exactly one week after we have the funeral for my sister, my dad gets the news that his cancer is back and it has spread to his lungs. Just like Andrea! Wow! The only analogy that makes any sense to me, is a hurricane. You get pummeled, then you are in the "eye of the storm", where it seems calm. But before you can clean up or anything, it hits again. CRAZY!

Didn't I say how much July sucks!

July was not the best month :-(

On Saturday July 9th, my sister Lori called me and told me that my sister Andrea was NOT doing well, and I should drive down to see her. The next day I did. When I got there, she could hardly breath! It was so painful to watch. On Monday morning we called for an ambulance to come get her because we knew she needed to be on hospice, and she was running out of oxygen fast. She stayed at the hospital until we got all of the equipment in the house. So an ambulance brought her back home that evening. On Tuesday the hospice nurse added some medications to help her! We were so happy about that. She also mentioned that we should try to get anyone to see her now, so that she doesn't hold out to see them, because she was really suffering. So we made some phone calls, and the house became a bit of a rotating door. The medicines helped her get through all of that, but that evening, we saw how much it took a toll on her. But I know she was so happy to see grandchildren, parents, siblings and a very old friend of hers. Wednesday, the hospice doctor came and said she could take much better medicine, so she could be comfortable. The doctor was absolutely fantastic! So we doubled her morphine which made her so much more comfortable. My favorite story happened late Wednesday afternoon. Blake had made a smart remark, like always, and Andrea grabbed a straw that was next to her, ripped on the top of the wrapper, pulled the oxygen mask off her face and tried to blow the wrapper at Blake! Of course, she couldn't, so she threw the whole straw at Blake instead! I'll tell you, watching the two of them, was such an inspiration of what real LOVE is!

In the early hours of Thursday, July 14th, Andrea pulled off the oxygen. Desi and Blake tried to get it back on her, but she forcefully pushed it aside. She said she wanted to go home. And so Desi, Blake and her 3 silly sisters (Kerry, Myself, and Lori), stood by her side and watched her return to her real home. It was sooooo bitter sweet! There was such relief to see her at peace and not struggling to take every breath. But so painful to know she would no longer be with us in person. I don't think I've ever cried so much in my life.

Should I blog again?

I've been debating for a few weeks if I should start blogging again.... Here are a few things that have been going on.

This summer has been great so far! Allen is in summer school for fun (sports, Role Playing Games, Guitar, and ALGEBRA, for the fun of it). He goes Monday through Thursday and the bus picks him up and drops him back off everyday. Ryan is on the swim team every morning. And Eric is getting ready to leave for Philmont next week. So he bikes a lot to get stronger. Since the kids are so busy, they haven't been fighting as bad. So that is a total bonus!

I am doing okay I guess. Thanks to a lot of stuff- health and stress wise, I have unfortunately put back on quite a bit of weight. Which makes me want to eat more, how does that work anyways? So that is depressing, but at least my back has been manageable since I had the epidural block in November. Anyone have any tips on how to get back into exercise and watching calories when you are mega stressed? I really wish I was like Steve, when he's stressed he doesn't eat! Oh well.

My body sucks!

Needless to say, I am extremely frustrated with my back! I wish I could just rip out my spine and get a replacement! (wouldn't that be nice!) I have been walking 6 days a week, doing my PT(physical therapy) stretches 6-7 days a week and my PT exercises 3 days a week. Now here is the frustrating part, in the 6 weeks that I have been totally dedicated to this, my physical therapist has only been able to add 2 lame exercises to be plan. And due to my high pain level my doctor has now told me NOT to walk 6 days a week! He wants me to walk no more that 3 days a week, and do non impact for the other 3 days. That wouldn't be too bad if my back would allow me to bike, but NOOOOOOOOO! And going to the pool to swim 3 days a week is just not going to happen. So looks like I have to do my elliptical machine, which kicks my trash, 3 days a week.

I do have to tell this funny story though. Last Saturday I decided to go swimming at BYU with Steve and the boys. But, I just couldn't help myself! Eric wanted to see if he is faster than me. And I really really couldn't let him win, even if it did hurt my back. So we raced and I totally won! Oh Yea, I've still got it baby!!! Of course, I could barely even walk the following Sunday and my back was a real problem for 2-3 days, but I really couldn't stop myself! :-D

Now here is the more disturbing part of the whole back problem, I have gained weight. The weight gain was really annoying, but I still fit into my clothes. Then my doc put me on a nerve medication to help me get some sleep. Prior to this new medication, I had gone 7 months without a decent night's sleep! Now that I am sleeping and working out, I was SHOCKED when I got on the scale and saw that it went up another 8 pounds! I knew I hadn't been pigging out on my favorite food (CHOCOLATE) or anything, so I did some research and found that the medication that I'm on is notorious for making people gain weight really fast. Not Good! So I talked my doc into lowering the dose from 25mg to 10mg. I hope it will still work, and I'll be able to lose this weight. Cross your fingers everyone.

WHY??????????

Why, OH WHY!!!!! Do my kids take such bad school pictures... This is why I never spend the big bucks on school pictures. Now, granted, they aren't terrible, but those are not their normal smiles at all, not even close. Allen looks like he got into my pain meds, and Ryan..... well, maybe he just needs to wait until more of his permanent teeth come in.

Cousins

I was just thinking as the kids left for school today, how lucky they are! They have cousins that live so close to them, and grandparents just a short scooter or bike ride away. And every Sunday we get to spend more time with even more cousins!

Watching Allen and Ryan go pick up Tayson and Luke for school today made me realize how big they are all getting! Allen will go to Jr. High next year and I was thinking about how sad that is. Well, I'm sure it won't be sad for him! :-D They are going to have some great memories about going to school together when they get older. I know they won't appreciate those memories for a decade or two, but I'm glad that they have them now anyways!

Emotional Weekend

The craziness started with Friday night. We had Eric's court of honor! It was so exciting to see him earn his Eagle Award! So many people helped out and made it a total success! We loved seeing some of our Spanish Fork friends again! And having so much family around was wonderful. Although, that eagle came close eating little Sophie! I doubt I will ever forget watching the bird tracking her. YIKES!

Saturday was very special. Ryan was baptised along with his cousin Tayson! It was really cool that we could do it on the same day! Kathy made all of the arrangements, which was amazing! That way I could just enjoy everything. Although, having my oldest get his Eagle, then having my baby get baptised on the same weekend was a little much for my emotions. I was a cry baby on Saturday. LOL

Finally, Saturday night we went to Chucky Cheese with the kids and all the cousins to celebrate Ryan's 8th Birthday! It was so nice to just sit back and let all of the kids just play. It was very relaxing. I loved it!

Since Being Home....

Life has been BUSY BUSY BUSY! My doctor and I are trying to nail down what needs to be done with my back, so that I can have a life again. So in other words, more testing. I'm getting my least favorite one done on Thursday (an EMG). For anyone who has not heard of them, they shoot electrical impulses through your nerves to see how well they works. I do NOT like the feel of that at all. This might all lead to surgery, but I won't know all of the details of all the testing until next Monday.

Today, I'm starting BYU's Education week!!!! I LOVE it! Eric calls it EFOP (especially for old people). I can only go a few hours each day because of schedules and my back's ability to hang in there. But I'm excited. They only real bummer is that my sister Andrea can't come with me. Stupid cancer! Hopefully next year she can come.

Oh, Allen has started tackle football this week. There are about 20 kids on his team and there are only 4 kids that weigh less than him. And to top it off, there are many kids that outweigh him by a lot! I mean, they are double Allen's weight. When I think of that, I get nervous for him! And all I can think is, "you better run fast Allen!"