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I have put off writing in my blog in part because I've been super busy, but also, I keep thinking I should address my feelings about the school shooting in CT, if at least for my own sake.  But honestly, my thoughts are so confused and torn, chances are anything I write will be jumping from here to there.  Obviously, it was a devastating tragedy.  The night it happened, I sat in L's room after he fell asleep and cried for all those parents who weren't tucking their little kids in bed that night. 

I have no doubt that losing a child to such pointless violence is so difficult, but my heart goes out to the parents of the children that survived as well.  I just can't imagine facing my child and trying to explain this.  How do you even begin?  Seeing their friends gunned down and on the floor, dead, and bloody...even an adult can't fully comprehend it, let alone elementary school children.  On the whole, children are, thankfully, fairly resilient, but this will be huge mountain to climb for the kids and their parents.  Sadly, I admit that anymore I have become mostly numb to school shootings (or mall, movie theater, etc).  Our teens have been exposed to it for years now and I don't want to say they expect it, because no one thinks it will happen to them, but it's not as shocking as it used to be.  The shooting at Sandy Hook, however, was an attack on little kids.  Little kids that we, as parents, have sheltered from just this thing.  I mean, these poor kids (and all young children around the world) probably never even knew what a school shooting was.  We are being forced to explain these tragedies to children younger and younger.  In a way, our nation's youth just suffered more of a loss of their youth, as if our kids aren't growing too fast as it is.  This is an example of how this school shooting effects all of the nation, not just the grieving parents and community of Newtown, CT.  On a positive note, (because at times like this, you have to find something positive to hang on to) people are coming together showing compassion and bravery.  When faced with this kind of thing, you are reminded how fragile life is.  You should live each day like your last and embrace your loved ones at every chance. 

My Cancerversary

Today is my twelve year cancer free anniversary.  Every year at this time, I take a few moments to reflect on what I've been thru and how far I've come.  I doubt, no matter how old I am, that this day will always be an important day for me.  There isn't a day that goes by that at some moment, even if it is a fleeting moment, that I think how lucky I am to be here. 

As these twelve years have passed, I've seen medical advances I'd never have dreamed of, but I've always noticed a growing trend of people getting cancer younger and younger.  Cancer has become such a prevalent part of our lives these days.  I don't know a single person who hasn't been touched by it in some way or another. 

Two things that have touched me happened in our community this year.  The first thing was a girl, she was 27 I believe and she had fought breast cancer for three years, lost her battle.  The other is a friend of mine who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had her whole pancreas (among other things) removed and spent a whole month in the hospital.  She is just a few years older than me.  When I think of what these two brave women have been through, it makes my heart cry.  It reminds me of all the fear and anxiety I went thru twelve years ago.  I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.  I didn't even know the girl the who died from breast cancer personally, but I weeped for her.  How did this monster that is cancer come into our lives?  What did we do to deserve this?  I had enough of a battle with my own cancer and yet I still look at these two women, and everyone else I know who has battled cancer, and can't help but feel how lucky I was.  By some miracle, I only had to have my colon resection and from that day forth, I've been cured.  My friend, the one with pancreatic cancer, had her first scan a few weeks ago and they found a spot on her liver.  Today, she is undergoing a biopsy to see if its anything to be concerned about.  She is lucky that she has a HUGE network of friends and family that love her and support her.  I truly believe she will be OK.  She's definitely one tough cookie.

As I celebrate my victory over cancer today, I am wishing and hoping everyone out there fighting their own battle the best of luck!  I am always happy to help support anyone that needs it.  Even strangers.  We are all united in the fight against cancer. 

Anyone Else REALLY Ready for the Election to be OVER?

In the last few elections, I've become more and more solid with my political opinions.  I would never say that I know everything about politics, because I absolutely do not.  I feel like I am swimming in a sea of bullsh*t on a daily basis watching commercials, being on facebook, EVERYTHING.  How do you even remotely begin to know what you believe/ who you want to vote for??  Anyway, I digress.....

I would really be interested to know how many people are actually, truly undecided by this point in the game.  Come on now, we all have been arguing our friends and families for months about who we are voting for and why.  Please explain to me why we still have to be flooded with commercials on every single media outlet????  Someday, I'd love to see a candidate, I don't care what party they are from, decide that they are doing minimum commercials and campaigning and that the millions they would spend on all this crap would be donated to a charity...or the national debt...or something.  I would RUN to the polls to vote for someone like this.  This campaigning stuff has really just gotten so out of control anymore.  Another idea for a campaign, is to not bash the opponent, but focus on the good stuff you're going to do.  I know these ideas are a total foreign to all things politics, but I probably hear some variation of this literally daily if not more often.  To me, seeing someone be the bigger man (or woman) and taking the higher road would be amazing.  I love the idea.  I don't even think there would be a competition.

I think I've been more than clear about who I am voting for this election.  I won't claim that I agree with everything Obama is about, but ultimately, my beliefs run a lot more liberal than conservative.  Actually, I voted a while ago.  Done...and done!  Maybe they should make a special button to turn off all the commericals, etc after you already voted!  PS- save the trees....quit sending me mail too! 

I look forward to tomorrow with a sense of relief, excitement, and a little fear.  Change is always a little scary. 

The Power of Sound

I seem to be on a kick lately.  I am appreciating sights and sounds more than I ever used to.  Today I was thinking about the sound of someones voice verses how they look.  One of those random things that bother me fairly regularly is the band Muse.  I love Muse.  Every single time I listen to Muse, I think to myself what a sexy voice the singer, Matt Bellamy, has, but he does absolutely nothing for me looks-wise.  It's actually really frustrating to me.  Anyway, this reminds me of my phone crush at work.  For years, I had a phone work relationship with this guy from my company.  I really liked him, he was very nice and fair.  If you needed help, he was always the best person to talk to.  He had a great voice (he still does, but I don't get the opportunity to talk to him anymore) and I started to try and figure up what he looked like in my mind.  I gotta say, I was sorely disappointed.  He was still the super nice guy I'd been talking to, he was just a tad bit geeky too, bless his heart!  Am I the only one that this has happened to?  I just think it's a fun game to try and imagine what people look like based on their voice.  The weirdest part is that I am rarely right. 

Here is another strange Maggie-ism.  I can like people based on their voice.  For example (most of my examples are men, because I can't think of any women off the top of my head that I like their speaking voice), Josh Gates from Destination Truth.  I freaking LOVE his voice.  I can sit through the show because his voice is so appealing to me.  I mean, he's not unattractive physically, but his voice is so interesting to me.  Another man's voice I adore is Scott Speedman.  Thankfully, he is just as hot as his voice is.  ;)  I just think it is so neat how different things attract us to people.

As quickly as a voice can attract you, it can detract you.  I would imagine we all have them, people you hate talking to strictly based on their voice.  It really is all so bizarre! 

Been a Long Time.....

I know I have been awful at updating my blog lately, but I figure there are only a few people that read it anyway, so no one is missing much! 

So far, October has been MAD busy!  The beginning of the month, a long lost cousin came to meet and visit everyone.  It was amazing to finally put a face to the name of the person I had been texting for over three years.  It was a little like Internet dating....you weren't sure if you were really excited or really nervous.  All was good though because we hit it off just as well, if not better, than we did via text.  During her visit, L came down with some strange flu.  We had a little family gathering and L was quiet all night.  He became more and more lethargic and eventually, he threw up on me.  We thought it might have been related to him hitting his head twice pretty hard, so we ended up in the ER.  Thankfully, there was no head injury, most likely just the flu as well as an earache.  While we were sitting in the hospital room, L gradually started looking better and becoming his normal self.  He was a little quiet for the next two days, then back with a vengeance.  On Thursday of that same week, my mom, L, and I headed to Columbus.  L and I were meeting up with one of my best friends from college and mom was meeting up with my brother and his family.  Amazingly enough, my friend (well, her sister) and my brother live really close to each other, so it worked out perfectly.  We went to Easton to walk around and have dinner.  We had a really great time enjoying the nice evening and finding the Lego Store for L! 

During the week, we heard from yet ANOTHER cousin that he was going to be coming to Wooster to visit the coming weekend.  This cousin is from Germany and is working in IN for four months and figured it would be cool to come visit his American cousins since we weren't too far away (FIVE hours....we heard about those FIVE hours quite often!  Hahaha)  We had a blast with him!  Took him to eat some good American pizza, my friend and I took him to a barn party and bar hopping so he could same as much American beer as he could, and we took him to pick out pumpkins.  Halloween is a very American holiday and he was completely in shock at the amount of pumpkins!  It was really fun. 

L had another bad earache that happened on Friday and we had to take him to the doctors again on Saturday.  Clearly, he is doing an earache every weekend kind of deal (he actually had one a week before we took him to the ER as well).  Poor guy!

This week, we haven't had any visits from people out of town...which is kind of a nice break.  This weekend, though, we have an important birthday party to attend!!!  My niece is turning a year old!  I swear, it is amazing how fast time flies!  I'm very excited to see that little peanut!  She is the cutest little doll baby ever! 

Here's hoping November might bring a calm and normal weekend...though admittedly, I love all the happening and visits.  It's so fun and keeps me on my toes!!!

Finding Beauty in Every Day Life

I can't pinpoint the exact time, but lately I've been noticing the beauty in the small things.  While we were on vacation, I just felt so lucky to be alive and healthy, on vacation with my whole family, and enjoying the amazing weather.  I had this overwhelming feeling of gratefulness.  It was really cool.  I don't want to say that before I never appreciated each day, it's more like I am taking notice in a different way. 

My mom, L, and I were on our way home from Akron yesterday and it was an amazing fall day.  Honestly, Ohio in the fall is unbelievable.  The clouds were perfect, the sky blue, the fields were a vibrant green and yellow, the trees were bright orange, yellow, and red, there were purple flowers everywhere...everything was just right!  I was pointing this out to my mom and she said something to me that was a pretty great compliment in my opinion....she said "it's like you are starting to see things like an artist".  And I am.  I notice how things would make a great picture or a wonderful painting.  It is like my creativity is expanding, which is super cool!   

Swimming like a Navy Seal

My best friend and I have decided we need to get our butts in the pool and workout.  I can't begin to even explain how exciting and great this feels for me.  Granted, I can't do everything I'd like to do, but I am definitely getting a workout.  So far, we have agreed to go swimming on Wed. and Fri. mornings before work (6am-ish).  Eventually, I'd like to go on Mondays too.  Today was our fourth time (?)....we are really getting into it.  I actually notice each time we go, that my endurance is getting better!  Love it!  We start out by doing my physical therapy for my shoulder.  We figured it wouldn't hurt either of us to do my physical therapy because it helps stabilize our shoulders, back, neck area.  It also really helps manage my shoulder pain, amazingly enough.  After the shoulder exercises (we use the weights when we do this), we kick and swim laps.  This morning, we even did some running in the baby pool (whoa...that was hard stuff!)  I love swimming in the morning because it gets me out of the house, away from my child, and a gets me a chance to hang with my bestie more often.  What more could you ask for?  We didn't think anything, until some Navy men (I believe it's guys that are trying to get into the Navy) were coming as we were going.  Dang.  There was one guy that was really hot.  I thought for sure I'd have to pick my girl's jaw up off the ground!  Hahahaha!  If that isn't motivation to get moving, I don't know what is!  Hahaha!  ;)

Not that I didn't notice that this guy was really easy on the eyes, but I was more intrigued with his swimming style.  The lifeguard on duty was telling us that they have a certain stroke just for the Navy.  Already, I was interested.  Apparently, it is some sort of side stroke called "combat side stroke".  The lifeguard said it was really hard and they had to do 16 laps in 8 minutes.  Naturally, I had to do some poking into this "combat side stroke" business.  I dig it.  I like the side stroke, I've used it many times...mostly with regards to life guarding (I took the lifeguard training course THREE times...long story!)  Basically, all you do is swim a side stroke with rhythmic breathing.  Like a cross between side stroke, breast stroke and freestyle.  Now we all know I have a bum right shoulder.  I've been doing some pretty funny strokes myself just to get a workout in.  Mostly, I've been doing a lot of left arm only freestyle and backstroke.  I tried freestyle one-armed first, but it makes me a bit dizzy since typically I don't breath on my left side.  I've found much better success with one-armed backstroke (big shock since that was my favorite and best stroke in swim team).  Anyway, I digress, this "combat side stroke" actually looks like something I might be able to do with my bum shoulder.  If I breathed on my left side, my right arm would only need to do a breast stroke pull, which doesn't bother me too badly.  Alright...bottom line...challenge accepted, I got this!  Bring it Navy Boys! 

http://www.sealswcc.com/navy-seals-swim-training.aspx
Here's the website that describes and shows video of the combat side stroke. 

I like having a challenge to work towards....I'm definitely jazzed.

BUSY WEEK!! Gotye, Preschool, Anniversary....

This week has been so crazy!  Sunday night, I almost had a panic attack, I was just so stressed out, but thankfully, everything has gone smoothly.  Monday night, I had tickets to see Gotye in concert.  I went with my friend, Jen, her BF and two other friends.  I was really nervous because I was driving and it was in Columbus.  I am not really familiar with Columbus and have a tendency to get nervous driving in cities I am not familiar with.  Thankfully, the venue was super easy to find and the concert was really small, so parking and getting out when the concert was over wasn't too terrible.  Two different bands opened for Gotye....Zammuto and Chairlift.  I had heard of Chairlift before, but not Zammuto.  I liked both bands.  Up until last year, I hadn't gone to a concert in a long time and I'd never had general admission seats (this whole concert was general admission), but now that I know what it's like to be on the floor, I don't think I'll ever buy seats.  I am that person who pushes and works her way to the front of the stage.  I am not overly pushy about it...it's more a game of strategy for me.  Seriously, it's nuts, but finding my way to the front is part of the fun for me.  It's kind of funny.  I warned my group that I would be up front no matter what.  They were all wishy washy about it and not completely feeling it.  I figured "no biggie...I drove, so they can't leave without me!"  Hahahaha!  They all ended up keeping up with me, so that's cool!  Gotye was really great in concert.  He is so freaking adorable.  I love the flopping hair, big nose, quirky look and add to that a great Australian accent and he really is cute.  However, the man is WAY TOO skinny!  Part of the reason he is so skinny is because he doesn't EVER stop moving during his show.  There were maybe 4 drum sets and he played every one practically every song.  It was really fun too, because my brother's two sister in laws were at the concert as well, but they came a little later than us and ran into a group of rude people behind us, so they weren't able to join us.  Really, being rude at a concert is NOT cool!  They tried to just come say "hi", and one of the ladies said "you can text her after the concert, GET BACK!"  Good grief.  Anyway, overall, the concert was great! 

Tuesday was L's first day of preschool!  As it turned out, A took an escort, so I had to take the day off work and took L to school.  I have to admit, I was sweating bullets nervous.  I wasn't really nervous about L going to school...I was more concerned with my part.  When we took a tour of the classroom and went to the orientation, I basically closed my ears when it came to the whole pick up and drop off info because I knew that it would never be me doing it.  Sure enough, as luck would have it, I was the one who got stuck doing it on the very first day!  Normally, when L goes to school, I will be at work and A will be home.  I have been harboring resentful feelings for weeks now knowing that A will have 2 1/2 hours/ twice a week of alone time.  Let me tell you....after actually experiencing that blissful 2 1/2 hours for myself, my jealousy just tripled.  I spent 1 1/2 hours laying on my fat butt watching TV with no one bothering me.  God, was it ever heavenly!  Anyway, I was excited to see how L's first day went (I was also hoping I didn't get pulled aside by the teacher to discuss L's swearing!  Dear God! Thankfully, that didn't happen!)  All the parents were patiently waiting for their kids to be released and every single kid ran into their parents arms all excited....except one....mine.  Hahahaha....he walked out like he didn't have a care in the world...who cares if someone picks me up, etc.  All the other kids were telling their parents all about their day....I asked L what he did and his response was "nuffin..."  In the car, he told me he "learned".  This was the most I got out of him until later at dinner....randomly he said "be quiet and go sit on your mat!!!"  He explained that his teach told him that.  I seriously almost peed myself laughing.  Now THAT sounds more like my kid!!! 

Tomorrow is our 10th wedding anniversary.  We are going out to dinner tonight to celebrate.  I can just barely believe we have been married that long.  Are we even old enough to have been married for ten years?  OK, don't answer that! ;)  It's funny how ten years sound so long and so short all at the same time.  It's amazing how things have changed since that day ten years ago.  Every now and again, I think it's fun to think back and try to remember the feelings I had the night before or during our wedding.  It was such an amazingly wonderful wedding.  We've had a pretty decent marriage so far too!  ;)  Here's hoping for 10, 20, 50+ more years of a happy marriage!!

This is the card I got for Aaron for our anniversary....It couldn't be more perfect because he is so afraid of spiders! 

Dancing in the Car

I dare you to tell me you don't start shaking your head every single time your hear Haddaway's "What is Love" in your car...ala A Night at the Roxbury!!!  Sometimes, you just HAVE to dance in your car.  It's like you don't have a choice.  I love car dancing personally.  I can promise you that if you ever pass me, you will most likely catch me mid-move.  The worst (well, I think it's kind of the best) part is that you know someone is seeing you and peeing themselves laughing at what an idiot you look like.  Crap, as I sit here typing this post, Party Anthem is on the radio and I am ready to get up and dance.  Yes, I desk dance too.  I am just THAT person! 

I love it when people randomly dance and sing.  It's awesome.  To me, it means you are willing to laugh at yourself and you're feeling great!  There is nothing better than seeing some guy (yes, I am going with male here) totally belting out a song in their car.  If they throw some moves with that, just awesome!  We just have a tendency to take ourselves so seriously.  Who cares?!?  Why can't you enjoy yourself?

When I was in high school, I drove a granny smith apple green VW Beetle.  I seriously LOVED this car.  You always have a soft spot for your first car, even if it's a beater.  But this VW was SOOOO me!  I leaned how to drive stick in it (when I got my license, my parents told me I could only drive my car even though I didn't know how to drive stick....they knew what they were doing....I literally drove to and from school, I couldn't handle anywhere else for a long time!)  It broke down left and right, but was still the best car ever.  When I first got it, I didn't have a radio in it.  For the longest time, I took my tape player and used it in the car.  It was kind of ghetto and super hilarious, but my BFF and I partied like rock stars cruising around town (whatever...hahahha....we thought we were cool!)  Eventually, I got a radio put in, but the tape player was still the best.  We even made mix tapes just to play in the Bug.  That vehicle was the ultimate car dancing car!

Next time you hear a great song, open the windows, belt it out off the top of your lungs and get your car boogie on!!!  Life is short....have fun!

Update:  Yeah, just heard "What is Love" on radio in my office...totally head bobbed without even realizing it.  I am just THAT cool!  ;)

Change in Schedule

The other day, I took L to a sleep specialist.  We have been struggling with sleep issues from basically day one with him.  I didn't really think that he has a sleep problem in the medical sense.  He doesn't snore, stop breathing, have restless legs, etc..., he just doesn't sleep.  Anyway, the Dr was really nice and sat and talked to me for over an hour (my poor mom had to entertain L the whole time in the waiting room).  He gave me a few options of things to do and the one that we agreed might work best with our lifestyle is instead of working on putting L to bed early, put him to bed late.  Like 10:30-11pm late.  He said it will take awhile for this to work, but once he's comfortable falling asleep immediately when he's tired, gradually move his bedtime up 15 minutes.  We are to wake L up at his normal wake-up time (around 7am-ish) and cut his naps down to an hour or so.  This all sounds great in theory, but in practice it is freaking ridiculous!  Let me explain....

A and I have always worked alternating schedules...basically our whole marriage.  He works 2pm-10pm.  He doesn't come home till around 10:30pm-11pm normally.  I work 9-1pm on all the weekdays that A works and his two days off I work all day.  A works the weekends as well, essentially, I have L 5 afternoons alone.  Since A comes home late and stays up late, he usually sleeps in till I leave at 8:40am.  So here's how this is all playing out.....I get L early because A is sleeping, I get L late because A is working late, and I get 5 days of shorter naps.  Seriously?  I don't want to sound whiny about this, but really....I am feeling like I am getting the shaft end of this deal.  It's exhausting to have everything sitting on my shoulders.  Because of our weird schedules, I've been carrying a lot of the weight on my shoulder as it is.  I have done the new schedule for three days now and I have to say, mom is totally on the brink of exhaustion.  L, not so much.  Hahahaha.  Seriously, the child stayed up till almost midnight fighting me last night.  AND he was up at 1:30am screaming.  Hmmm...I know the Dr said this is something that is going to take some time to get it working, but I am hoping it happens sooner rather than later! 

We are also implementing a new system to try and reduce some of the weird little quirky behaviors that he does at night.  We haven't started it yet because our weekend was ridiculously busy, but this week we are on it.  It's also going to help us promote good behaviors rather than bad.  An example of the quirky things he does are having 7 plus blankets every night.  If we can reduce a blanket, he will get a marble put into a jar.  When he collects a set number of marbles (starting off with a low amount and moving higher), he gets a treat, or fun activity.  We can use marbles for picking up toys, eating dinner, really any good behavior we want to promote. 

Finally, the Dr recommended that he see a psychiatrist to make sure there are no underlying problems (such as OCD or ADHD) that could be causing the issues.  I just called to set up and appt today....we shall see where this all takes us!  Here's hoping for some peaceful sleep soon!!!

Jewelry

Anybody that knows me, knows that I am jewelry addict.  This unhealthy obsession started back when I was a junior or so in high school.  My mom opened an amazing art gallery right on the square of my town.  I worked for my mom on the weekends, breaks, and summers for about 7 years.  While working at the gallery, I developed a love for all things jewelry.  I used to love displaying all the jewelry, cleaning it, and the best part...ordering it from the various artists.  I am not exaggerating...I had a "jewelry budget", which was basically a majority of my paycheck!  When I got married and moved away, my mom gave me the best gift ever....the beginnings of making my own jewelry.  I think it wasn't a week later that I started searching the Internet for places to buy more beads and supplies.  Looking back, my first pieces were hilariously primitive.  My style and technique has come a LONG way in the last ten years.  I have dabbled in a bunch of different things....but the basics of my jewelry have pretty much stayed the same. 

Previously, I posted that I was tearing a bunch of necklaces apart to re-make them....I have finally decided it's time to get moving and make some new things.  Honestly, I just love doing this kind of stuff.  It's so fun to see what new and exciting combinations you can come up with and even better, finding out what styles sell.  Possibly the BEST part of making new jewelry, is seeing people around town wearing it!  What an amazing feeling!  Anyway, figured I'd add a few pictures of some of my new pieces!! 

I have decided to see if I can broaden my horizons by finding new ways to sell my jewelry.  I am considering having jewelry parties (I did one a long time ago and it turned out pretty good) and possibly finding a new store or two that would be interested in selling it.  I have even designed jewelry for a wedding a few years ago.  The jewelry turned out amazing and everyone LOVED it.  I know that the bridesmaids still wear their jewelry all the time.  If anyone out there knows of any cool stores that I might contact or if you would like to host a jewelry party....let me know!  I am hoping to get some decent pictures of some of my jewelry and start a facebook page. 

Giving

For about a year or so, I have been dabbling in coupons.  By no means am I an expert or an "extreme couponer", nor do I really want to be.  I don't dumpster dive for coupon inserts or bother the whole neighborhood for their, I just use what I get from the papers I receive (one at work and one at home) and occasionally I get a nice surprise when friends send coupons my way.  I am a fair weather couponer.  If I have time, I use them.  I will admit, when I don't have a coupon handy and I know I have it at home but still need the item, I cringe some at the few cents I'd save.  I do my best.  I enjoy it sometimes.  I think I've actually helped save my family money on groceries, but I don't keep track of the exact amounts.  For me, I mostly shop at Wal-Mart.  I know, I know....I am not a huge Wal-Mart fan.  It's terribly annoying to go there, they rarely have the specific item you went for, and I'd much rather spend my money locally....that being said, when times are tough, you gotta do what you gotta do.  One cool thing about Wal-Mart is that though they don't double coupons like some stores do, they do price match any other store's ad prices.  So throughout the week, when each stores' ads come out, I go through and circle what I need or might like to buy, check to see if I have correlating coupons and write it all out so I am prepared to shop (and don't take four hours shopping with a crabby three year old).  If I was just a tad bit more organized, I should write down the original price at Wal-Mart for the items I am price matching, but somehow that step always gets forgotten between looking for the correct item and a screaming child.  If I did that, it would certainly give me a better idea of how much I save.  I just know, on a really good shopping trip, I've left with a cart FULL of groceries for $36!

Anyway, I completely digress....  This week one of the local stores is having an amazing deal on Kraft products.  Most shredded cheeses, sliced cheese, chunk cheeses, and salad dressings are $0.99 each if you buy them in sets of 5.  There is also a Catalina from Kraft (coupon that prints at the register) that will print $10.00 savings on your next purchase.  So basically, you spend around $10 and can get 20 items.  I actually bought 56 items (Miracle Whip and Kraft Mayo is on sale for $1.99 and I got four of those, so I ended up short 4 items in my six transactions) for $20.62!!! 

Here is a list of what I bought:
25 x salad dressings
17 x bags of shredded cheese
10 x packs of American cheese slices
4 x Mayo/ Miracle Whip

OK, I know you're probably asking what the freak am I going to do with all this food?!?!  I am going to donate most of it to Salvation Army.  I actually went into this deal with the idea of getting a bunch of items to donate.  I rarely have the financial means to donate a lot of anything and that stinks.  I love the feeling of doing something good.  This deal has given me a great opportunity to do just that!  I am really excited.  I am going to take L down to the Salvation Army this afternoon so he can see that giving to people in need is a wonderful feeling. 

Girl Power

I am one of the least political people.  I mostly choose to be blissfully ignorant.  I hate talking politics, but anymore, with every little thing that happens between the two presidential candidates being shoved in your face 24/7, at some point even the opinion-less start forming opinions.  Here's where I am at right now....

As a woman, I am beginning to feel like women's rights are going back in time.  WTF?!?!  Seriously....WHY?  I just don't get it.  I was really thinking long and hard about this topic this morning while getting ready for work....here are a few things I don't understand/ enrage me....  So, if insurance companies shouldn't cover birth control and the Republicans take office and poo poo Obama's health care plan, who will actually be able afford birth control?  Do these men actually believe we should be having sex ONLY to procreate?  As my cousin says...."Yeah, while out pursuing their usual embodiment of 'family values'".  Couldn't have said it better!  So if women have to pay full price for birth control (or better yet, let's just outlaw birth control....why not right?), abortions are banned and planned parenthood is closed (because of lack of funding)....how will we control population?  I asked myself this morning, "why is this all coming to head seemingly all of a sudden?"  I realize that these ideas have been around forever, but why are they pushing this agenda now, when women are finally becoming more powerful?  Sadly, I think I may have just answered my own question.  It's just all so disturbing.  In my gut, I want to say that people as a collective whole will fight this tooth and nail before any of these situations would come into play, but I keep having this nagging little feeling that there are plenty of people out there who agree or choose to be naive about it.  That is just plain scary.  Probably, more disturbing than anything, is the women who choose to stand behind these politicians.  Honestly, it's just all so bizarre and inconceivable to me.  I'm at a complete loss. 

I will openly admit that I am not completely satisfied with Obama's presidency so far.  Like I previously said, I mostly shy away from thinking about this stuff, but I am smart enough to know that our country isn't in much better of a situation than we were four years ago.  I am sure there are about a million people to blame for this, but being the president, you take on the majority of the blame whether it's your fault or you are still busy cleaning up someone else's mess.  I realize that the economy and state of the US is not something that is easily fixed and there probably isn't a right answer.  I will also say that there isn't going to be a president that will make everyone happy.  There are tough decisions to be made and there will always be people who disagree.   Last election, I voted for Obama and I will vote for him again, mostly because his competition scares the bejeezus out of me!  Seems that being a voting American, you are always forced with the decision to vote for the lesser of two evils. 
 

Birthday Review and True Blood Finale (SPOLIER ALERT)

My 33 birthday has come and gone.  I think 33 means I'm officially in my mid-thirties?  Oh that doesn't sound great.  We will say that 34 begins mid-thirties.  My mom took A, L, and I out for dinner on Wednesday at PF Changs....yum!  We went on Wed. because that was the day A had off.  A and his parents got me an amazing new Nikon Coolpix AW100. 

It's a waterproof and shockproof camera.  I have a Fuji waterproof camera, but man is it a piece of crap.  Aaron got it for me two birthdays ago.  Originally, I had a apple green one (LOVE the color) and I took a ton of pics with it and it was always with me when we went swimming.  It didn't take great pictures out of the water, so I stuck to my hand big Panasonic camera.  Not even a year after getting it, it got watered logged real bad so we sent it in.  It was still under warranty.  Probably 6-8 months later, I FINALLY got a new camera.  It is navy.  Anyway, took it to Hilton Head with me this year and all of a sudden a few of the pixels blacked out.  Now there's a big blog of black in the middle of the screen (thankfully it didn't effect the quality of the pictures).  This new Nikon is really sweet!  It is actually 4 mega pixels greater than my big camera!  The best part is that it takes really nice pictures out of the water, now I can just carry one camera rather than two!  I love it!  Can't wait to go swimming to try it out underwater! 

Whoa....I completely digressed.  Anyhow...my birthday was really nice.  A really amazing friend of mine brought me some beautiful dahlias from her garden to me at work and gave me a gift card for my absolute favorite store!  I was so excited.  The girls at work got me a butterscotch cream pie...yum!  I actually decided I wanted to cook my own dinner (I have a bunch of veggies that I am trying to use up!)  My mom and one of our family friends came over for dinner and then we went to shopping to use my gift certificate!  On Saturday, my dad and his girlfriend came over for dinner and looked at pics from Hilton Head and played with Linc.  Overall, it was a great birthday!

So you are probably wondering why I lumped my birthday and True Blood into one post.  As you all probably know, True Blood is one of my favorite shows and I never get tired of swooning over Alexander Skarsgard (who by the way celebrated his birthday a day after mine!!)  I like to think that the awesome True Blood finale was my (and Alexander's) birthday gift!  This season was a little shaky in my opinion.  I know it's a common complaint with the show, but it never bothered me too much till this season....there are just way too many little plots to follow.  This year I have to say I completely didn't understand the need for the whole Terry plot with the Ifrit  .  Also, I'm glad to see that Lafayette is back to his normal fabulous self, I don't really know that I get the whole seeing Jesus with his lips sewn together tangent.  I would have REALLY liked to see Christopher Meloni's character stay alive a lot longer (and had some steamy scenes....come on!)  Some of the story lines were really slow.  But ultimately, I think they pulled it together fairly well at the end.  I love the idea as Eric as a hero (duh....I love anything Eric).  Him telling Noah that she had to be nice to Pam and Tara because they are family was awesome!  I love the idea of Luna shifting into Reverend Newlin, great twist!  The orgasmic fairy birth was too funny and Bill turning into Billith was the ultimate crazy!  LOVE!  But sometimes, it's the little things that I appreciate the most about True Blood, such as the picture of Russell and Steve Newlin holding Emma in puppy form in Steve's bedroom.  Awesome!  This episode was the perfect mix of funny, scary and gross (best gross moment was Sam, as a fly, flew into Roslyn's mouth and shifting back to human causing her to burst into a bloody mess of goo!)  Gotta give it to those writers, I will be on the edge of my seat waiting for summer and the next season of True Blood! 

Back to Reality

While I'd love to still be on vacation, admittedly I am glad to be home.  If I could just take the mattress on my bed with me on vacation, I may never miss home!  I have to say, I've never really felt the desire to move someplace warm and sunny like I did this vacation.  I always think of the more practical things like, if I were to move to say Hilton Head, I'd still have to work and wouldn't have time to get to the beach like we do while on vacation.  Or the cost of living is so high, I probably would live in a little shack and wouldn't have a swimming pool, etc...  Hahaha.  Ever the practical thinker.  But really, the more I think about it, the better it sounds.  I am sure I could find SOME time for the beach...you know, every chance I get.  And we sneak into a few resorts pools when we are on vacation, why couldn't we do it if we lived there?  ;) 

Every day I was there, I'd look up at the beautiful blue sky and the beach and thank God I was there.  I just felt so thankful to just be sitting on the beach relaxing with my family and having a good time.  Our vacation really was great.  I will admit that I was a little nervous about literally EVERYONE being there and how it would all work out, but I was pleasantly surprised.  The vacation was virtually drama free (OK, there was a little drama here and there, but really, who would we be without ANY drama???)  L was *mostly* good....we did have two days where he refused naps and was REALLY crabby, but I figure 2 out of 7 days wasn't too bad.  He had a blast swimming in the ocean and pool and loved that his grandparents (minus my dad) and aunts and uncles were all there, as well as some family friends who doted on him.  He always had someone to play with or bother!  Because there were so many people around, it actually allowed A and I to have a bit of a break (as well as my mom).  A and I's vow renewal ceremony went very smoothly and was quite beautiful.  It was so great having everyone there to celebrate with us.  It was very relaxed and laid back and everyone seemed to really enjoy it.  We had a big pizza party outside afterwards (we ordered a ton of Mellow Mushroom pizzas http://www.mellowmushroom.com/  They were all delicious!!!) and then went up to our condo for cupcakes and ice cream.  We even decided on a whim to take the party to the pool at 10pm!  I love night swimming and we all had a blast.  L was in HOG HEAVEN (the original idea was to get L wore out, but really it worked in reverse)!!!  The weather all week was so nice (we had a teeny bit of rain, but it was in the evening) we couldn't part with a day to go to Savannah.  I was a little bummed, but really, I just couldn't justify giving up a beach day!  Shockingly, we barely did any shopping.  The three of us hit the outlet malls one evening, but strictly to the stores we were waiting all year to go to.  I had the biggest disappointment of the vacation shopping at the GAP outlet...hahahah....they used to have a HUGE women's section including the GAP Body underwear.  Apparently, the GAP kids outlet store closed and they moved it into the adult store.  Boo.  I suppose if that is the biggest disappointment of my vacation, we can call it a success! 

   

Getting Old....Feeling Young

I know everyone tells you that getting old is so awful.  Up until recently, I never really gave much thought to it.  I don't know if it's my upcoming birthday or what has me thinking about getting older, but suddenly I'm struck with a bad case of missing my more youthful days.  Usually, when this mood strikes me, I long for my college days.  I never really think back and miss my high school days, but suddenly I am thinking how cool it would be to be 17 again.  OK, maybe cool is the wrong word.  I doubt even knowing what I know now would make me cool at 17, but it would be fun.  I miss my swimming days.  I was watching this fun video the US Olympic swim team did yesterday and all the girls were on the bus singing and it made me miss that.  I miss being in shape and swimming nonstop.  It was just all so new and exciting to me.  And it was relaxing.  Whenever I was stressed (like I had any real stress at that age!  hahaha), jumping in the pool and swimming it out made me feel so much better.  Maybe another reason this is all coming up for me is that finally I am getting some relief with my shoulder.  Someday, I'd really like to get back in the pool.  I miss it desperately.  The idea is so exciting, but scary at the same time. 

Sometimes, I just can't completely believe that I am almost 33 years old, a mom, and a wife!  There was so much more I wanted to do with my life before I became an ADULT.  Ugh...that dirty word.  I feel like I was forced to grow up so fast when I had cancer.  The beginning years of my twenty's were difficult.  Suddenly, I was pushed into a very grown up role.  I don't feel like I rushed into getting married or having a child (jeez, I wanted to start my family years before I actually did!), but I definitely grew up faster after having faced my mortality.

Maybe what I need to do is find my carefree, youthful self again.  By no means is 33 old!  As things are falling into place with my shoulder, I am feeling like I need to make some changes...I am on the brink of something big, possibilities I had begun to think were never going to be possible.  I just need to have the courage to step out of my comfort zone and take some chances.  I have lived through so many negative experiences....maybe it's time for some positive changes!!!  

Olympic Sized Crush

I don't know too many women out there that don't appreciate the men's olympic swim teams....at least a little bit.  Maybe I have an extra love for them because I used to be a swimmer.  I can appreciate more than their looks because I know how hard you train to swim so fast and look that way!  But lets be honest here, those guys are hot.  Swimmers have the best bodies.  They are usually pretty tall too.  Swimming works all the muscles in your body, so it is no surprise they are really fit everywhere, but their awesome shoulders and backs are the best. 

Today I am going to blog about my new Olympic crush (by the way, I had to find a new one because my old Olympic crush retired from swimming...Aaron Peirsol), James Magnussen. He's Australian.  That alone says a lot about his hotness!  Love the accent!  The only major downfall to my crush is that he's ridiculously young, 21 years young.  Makes me feel a little cougar-ish.  I had a friend tell me that age is insignifcant when crushing on celebrities, so I guess I'm cool.  Hahahahaha.

He swims freestyle.  His nickname is "The Missile".  Currently, he holds the world record in the 100m freestyle without one of those swim suits that they decided were illegal.  It appears pre-Olympics, he was pretty sure of himself and basically promised the Australian public a gold medal.  He ended up getting a silver medal in the 100m free....Nathan Adrian, an American, beat him by the smallest margin you can beat someone by, .01 of a second.  He didn't really swim much better in any of his other events.  He got a bronze in one of the relay teams.  Apparently, he was overwhelmed by the whole Olympic atmosphere.  Was he a little (or a lot) cocky before getting to London?  Absolutely.  Did he act a little immature when being interviewed about the relay getting bronze?  Yeah, probably.  But let's face it, this guy is only 21 years old.  If he sets his mind to it and learns from his mistakes, I'm guessing he's going to be pretty formidable in the next Olympics.  Until then, us old ladies swooning over him are left to look him up on facebook.  Hahaha.  Yeah, that doesn't make me sound desperately pathetic at all, right?  Ahhh....who cares!?!?

Lazy Me

I've definitely been lazy on the blog front this week.  I figured I didn't really feel like whining nonstop on my blog.  To make a long story extremely short (basically saving you lots of complaining), I have been having these awful lower back/ hip pains for the last week now and still have no idea why.  Daily calls to my Dr. and a trip to the ER last night have weeded out a few things it is NOT, but I am still walking like a 90 yr old lady and make lots of weird faces trying not to swear/ cry every time I get up.  Ugh....swear to God, if it's not one thing, it's a freaking 'nother.  Boo. 

We are getting closer to VACATION!  I am getting ridiculously excited!!!  I am so hilariously anal...we have ten days before we leave and I already have stuff gathered to pack.  Hahaha!  Who packs weeks before vacation?  Oh yeah, me.  I've had my lists made since last Friday.  God, I freaking LOVE lists.  I am tempted to rummage through my terribly cluttered and not at all organized paperwork to find my lists from last year.  I feel like I am forgetting stuff.  I think it's just so weird that we have so much LESS to pack with L out of a crib, high chair, stroller, diapers, bottles, etc.  For the past three years, we've been packed up to our noses with all the baby junk, I feel like I am forgetting things without it!  I am such a planner, having that "crap, what did I forget" feeling is making me a little crazy! 

I guess I am finishing this post a few days after I started it!  Oops.  Now we have seven days till vacation.  It's getting to be crunch time!  Today I took a minute to re-write my lists because they have been in my purse for a week already and look old and used.  See?  I was not lying about oddly anal about everything.  One of my favorite things to do as we get a little closer, is divide my "to do" list into days.  It makes the list seem less overwhelming that way.  And I have exactly what I need to do already scheduled for each day....I'm not left floundering or forgetting to do something.  It's really crazy, but it makes me feel a lot better! 

I had my post-op appointment with my surgeon yesterday.  He was very impressed with how well I am healing.  He said that if this was the first surgery I had ever had on my shoulder, he would have been impressed, but seeing that it's the fourth one, he said I was doing amazing!  Not like I didn't already know that :)!  I told him that I was so excited and amazed with the results, I could kiss him.  He said "what the heck" and gave me a giant hug!  That was pretty sweet!  I really have to give some credit to my aquatic therapy sessions in helping with my speedy recovery.  I love getting into the pool and working it out.  When I see those dumb colored rubber bands for normal physical therapy, I want to run screaming.  But in the pool, I feel so relaxed and I dig the whole no impact part of it.  Just this week, we moved my weights up two more of those little foam circles.  I gotta say, WOAH!  Two foam circles makes a world of difference in difficulty!  But at the same time, it feels GREAT knowing I can do it!

In a nutshell, that's what's happening with me.....I made some really cute sandals and tonight my mom and I are tie dying, so maybe soon I will post some pictures of my latest crafts!!! 

Creativity

I have found that in order to keep me sane and mostly happy, I have to have some sort of creative outlet.  When I was younger, I always looked up to my mom because everything she did arts and craft-wise was amazing.  I thought that sadly, the artistic gene had totally skipped over me and I was really jealous!  When I was in high school, my mom opened an art gallery.  Thankfully, I had the opportunity to work there for around seven years on and off.  I loved being around all the artists and their amazing work.  While working there, I developed a love for jewelry.  I have always found gemstones awesome.  I even had a rock collection as a kid.  When I got married, A and I moved 2 1/2 hours away from our families.  We didn't know a soul there and it was a really hard transition for me.  The first Christmas that we were married, my mom gave me a whole bunch of semi-precious gemstone beads and sterling silver findings.  She got me just enough to start making some jewelry.  I don't even think it was a week later, I was on the internet searching for me supplies.  That was almost ten years ago.  These days, my jewelry making has slowed down a lot.  I don't really have a great place to set up all my things where I am comfortable to work and safe from L!  Even as my production has slowed down, some how my sales have picked up (I have been selling my jewelry at my mom's art gallery since I started)!  It's pretty freaking awesome!  I love making jewelry and the idea that people are out there rocking jewelry I made....just outrageously cool!

Recently, I took a bunch of my jewelry out of the gallery and took them apart.  This is a great way for me to update some of my designs and I don't have to buy more materials!  I believe it was around Christmas time that I made a bunch of new items for the gallery.  Well, my mom has been hounding me because my jewelry case is getting sparse.  Now it's time to beef it up again!  When I actually have the opportunity to make things, I am so happy and content.  I can't help but think about how cool it would be if I could expand my little "business" to other shops and galleries.  I debate this every time I get back into making my jewelry.  There is a lot to be responsible for if I expand.  I swear, someday I will!!!

I am forever thankful that my mom drew my creative gene out of me with my first jewelry kit.  It seems, since I starting making jewelry, I have become a lot craftier with other things as well....whether it's just something as simple as painting rocks for my garden or more complex like making a beaded flower bouquet with my mom for our vow ceremony.  I hope that L will grow up with an appreciation for art and love being creative as well!  

PS- Check out the website for my mom's gallery (Gallery in the Vault).  It really is an amazing shop!
http://www.galleryinthevault.com/

PPS- Expect to see all of my projects on my blog!  I love writing about them!

Vacation...you seem so far away.....

I  have found that I am becoming obsessively excited for vacation.  I find myself texting and emailing everyone that usually goes on vacation the same time we do checking to see if they are even remotely excited as I am!  I am like a little child.  My family has gone to Hilton Head, SC for 33 years (this year is our 33rd).  I believe I have missed two, possibly three years....but no more than that (the first year when I was a baby, the year my brother was born, and the year we travelled through Europe). 

Last year was the first year we deviated from our normal time share slot.  My brother was getting married in Hilton Head in the beginning of June.  So, we did some maneuvering and went that week rather than our normal week in August.  My whole childhood, we went the first two weeks in August.  As we got a little older and everyones' lives got a little more hectic, we cut back to just one week (the second week).  When my parents divorced, my mom got two timeshares for the second week (we actually have two condos the same week) and my dad got the first week.  When we first got married, we would rent the second condo from my parents (or mom).  Since the divorce, we started actually staying with my mom.  She pays the maintenance fees for the condo at the beginning of the year and we pay for the gas to and from and buy most of the groceries.  I would say the first year of this arrangement was a little bumpy, but since, it has worked out for all of us quite well.  Anymore, we are so used to all being together, it is just normal.  This year we are going to be going at our normal time....in August. 

In the years past, my dad's brother and sister's family have come down the same week as well.  This was always amazingly fun.  To me, the more, the merrier.  Everyone has their own condos and never have we felt obliged to entertain the others.  We always had the best time with the whole group of us on the beach all morning!  When I think of Hilton Head, I have the fondest memories.  I am hoping to give L the same fond memories of our family vacations!

To me, this vacation is still super exciting and fun.  There are always new things to do and explore, at the same time, if you want to just chill and relax, you can because you know exactly what to expect.  Throughout the years, we have made a lot of friends that have also vacationed there for many, many years.  It is amazing how many friends that I used to bum around with on the beach or at the pool with, take their growing families there now.  To me, that is amazing!  I imagine this sounds somewhat boring to some people, but to me, it's like a home away from home.  The definition of vacation to me is a beach, a chair, and family and friends.  Heaven!

This year is going to be a little different.  The last few years, my dad's family haven't come due to schedule differences.  We've missed them a lot and beg every year for them to change their minds!  This year, however, we are expanding our family in a different manner.  My brother is now married and has an 8 month old daughter.  They are staying in my mom's other condo.  My husband's parents, sister, brother in law and their 16 month old son are coming.  My brother's mother and father in law, as well as two sisters in laws are also coming.  We are going to have a full house (thankfully everyone has their own condos!)  It's all very exciting!  For quite a few years, there hasn't been any small children (just L for the last three years)....this year we now have THREE little kids!  It is so amazing that we are starting a new cycle of families and traditions!  I just love it! 

After all this vacation talk, I am even MORE excited to go.  Dangit!   

 The view from our condo!

 Beachin' it!

Awww....can't wait to get back to my spot!

Swooning....

(a much better, updated photo...I love cell phones...they can be so fun!)

Indeed, that is the two most swoon worthy men ever (well in my opinion).....

Christopher Meloni is wearing a weird hat, but seeing Alexander Skarsgard and him in the same picture definitely makes up for it!  This, by far, would have been the best Comic-Con ever to have attended! 

True Blood is one of my favorite shows hands down.  But also at Comic-Con was Shameless (probably my second favorite show), Lost Girl, Being Human, and Psych (along with the cast of a ton of other great shows)!!  Maybe someday I will go.  I'll be sure to dress up like some crazy comic character too.  Hahaha.  Ok maybe not! 

Any other True Blood lovers out there?  What do you think of the new season?  So far, I'm digging it.  Not sure I am following all the plots as enthusiastically as others, but mostly I'm into it.  I don't want to go into too much detail for those of you who have not watched it all yet. 

So now that I am on the TV topic....what is your favorite TV shows?  I'm always open to new suggestions.  Lately, I've fallen behind on a lot of my normal favorites such as Burn Notice, Royal Pains, White Collar, Covert Affair, Necessary Roughness (yes, I watch a LOT of USA programs....they usually are very entertaining!)  However, the two shows that I never miss week by week are True Blood and Lost Girl.  If you like Sci-fi shows, you really ought to check out Lost Girl.  And the greatest part of the show is that it was originally released in Canada a few seasons before it was released in the US, so the SyFy channel has been playing all the seasons consecutively.  It's been months of all new episodes.  SO COOL!

I have to admit, I do love some trash TV too....namely the dang Kardashians (I cringe just saying I watch this crap), Real World and Teen Mom.  I really should be embarrassed, right?  I swear it's like watching a car wreck.  I just can't stop watching and shaking my head.....really?  Every time I think it can't get any dumber, it does! 

Alright....give me some ideas of new great shows or make fun of me for admitting I watch the Kardashians!

Colonoscopy.....

I will be the very first person to admit that having a colonoscopy SUCKS!  That being said, this test saved my life. I've explained previously that I am a colon cancer survivor.  Recently, I started having some bleeding very similar to when I was diagnosed.  I went to my internist and had an exam, but she felt better having me see a colorectal specialist....no surprise there.  I haven't actually seen a colorectal doctor in quite some time.  Probably close to 6 or more years.  The Dr who does my normal colonoscopies is a general surgeon.  I tried to get an appt with my old Dr, whom I adored, but he couldn't see me until late August.  So I saw one of his partners.  She seemed nice enough and promptly ordered me a colonoscopy (I began to wonder even before I went, why I didn't just schedule one and be done with it).  She said she found a "fissure" that she thought was the culprit, but wanted to make sure that was all it was.  Honestly, I have my doubts.  That's not to say that I think there is anything to be super worried about, but I feel better knowing 100% that everything is all good. 

Today is the day.  It was really nice that this Dr could schedule me within the week for a colonoscopy.  They offer a different prep than what I normally do.  When you have approx 7 colonoscopies under your belt (no pun intended!) at age 32, you know what works for you.  Sadly, I didn't listen to myself and thought I'd try it.  Without going into to too many nasty details, it was an epic fail that resulted in my puking most of it up and being up all night.  Even at this point, I'm not completely sure I won't be getting a welcome enema when I get there.  Good stuff!  I've never had a colonoscopy this late in the day...it's scheduled for 2pm.  I am STARVING!  All I can think of is the good drugs I'm going to get during the procedure and the all the food I am going to scarf down afterwards! 

Aside from whining about my prep and how much I hate this stuff....I am writing this because I think colonoscopies are important.  Fun, they are not, but potentially life saving, they own that title!  I hate the situation I have put all of my family in, my parents, brother and child.  I feel bad that they have/ will suffer through colonoscopies at a more regular than a person with no family history.  I do think that every time someone has to have a colonoscopy it's a great time to talk to your loved ones and encourage them to be pro-active about their health.  That's exactly what I am doing now.  If you're that age (50), have a family history of colon cancer (any age), or have any problems.....GO DO IT!  Speaking as a somewhat expert on the procedure, the prep is bad....by far the worst part.  But it is only one night of misery.  The actual procedure isn't terrible at all.  They get you naked in a wonderful hospital gown, put an IV in (another bump for me because I hate needles), then you wait, talk to the Dr and nurses a bit answering questions.  Then they take you in the procedure room, make you lay on your left side and administer some fantastic sleepy drugs.  After that, most people don't even know or remember what happens.  I have a tolerance like a horse, so there have been some that I've been times when I was awake and that wasn't awful either, actually it was kind of interesting. 

UPDATE:
The colonoscopy went well.  Everything was clear!  Thank God!  Now can I please go my normal two years without a colonoscopy?!?  :)

I Suck at Blogging!

Seems I can't get my head around anything anymore these days.  Could it possibly the thousands of things that are swimming in my head already?  Hmm...
Anyway, I swear I want to be good at this....

About a week ago, I got this great idea that A and I should renew our wedding vows while in vacation in Hilton Head.  Took a little convincing to get A to go along with this.  I'm not sure why.  Who wouldn't want to marry me again?  :)  There are few reasons I thought this was a great idea.  First and foremost is that, I want to renew my commitment to my husband and family.  Lately, A and I have been nit picking at each other.  It's really easy in day to day living to forget to appreciate your spouse and remember the attributes that you married them for in the first place.  A little romance never hurts!!  The second reason is, it's our ten year anniversary this year.  In the old days, ten years was no big deal, but with divorce rates sky rocketing, ten years is a big deal.  I barely know anyone my age that has made it this long.  There are only a few couples.  I think this is something to celebrate!  We tend to think of our anniversary as just another day (with A's work schedule, we rarely get to celebrate).  We deserve something to feel good about and our anniversary and vow renewal is perfect!  This is a great year to do something like this, not only because it's our ten year anniversary, but because literally almost our whole family is going to be in Hilton Head with us.  Perfect timing!!  Finally, we originally wanted to get married on the beach, but opted for a normal wedding so all of our family and friends could come celebrate with us.  This is a perfect chance to have a beach "wedding"!  A didn't want to spend too much $$ on this shindig and I'm OK with that.  My only concern was finding a decent priced dress.  I went online and looked a few dresses that I kind of liked and they were all around $80-100 (when did clothes get SO expensive??)  My mom and I went to the mall and poked around.  I tried on maybe six dresses and found one I really liked.  It's a simple white sun dress.  It was on clearance for $67.  I figured that was better than what I was expecting.  I went up to pay for it and it rang up $21!!!!  I almost started crying.  What a perfect start!

I was thinking it would nice to carry a small bouquet, but didn't really want real flowers.  My mom found a great tutorial for beaded flowers using seed beads.  This project couldn't be more perfect for a jewelry making fiend like me!  Currently we have 15 or so flowers and a few leaves made!!  They really are beautiful!  And similar bouquets online sell for $300+!  I am on a roll here.  I asked my sis-in-law, a budding photographer, to take photos for us and my other sister-in-law's father to "officiate".  All we need to do is get a white button down shirt for A.  L already has his white shirt and khaki shirt, so he's all ready!  I am really excited about this and truly hope A is as well! 

PS- I'll post pics soon of the bouquet.  It truly is beautiful!

Olympic Swimming Trials

I haven't watched too much of the swimming trials because I've been so exhausted every night.  But I am seriously bummed about it.  You can bet I will be watching the Olympic swimming though.  Is anyone else super bummed that Aaron Peirsol retired?  Dangit...he was my favorite swimmer!  And seriously, hands down the hottest swimmer in my opinion!  I heart Aaron Peirsol! 

I have to admit that the women's swimming doesn't interest me as much as the men's....but really??  Can you blame me?  Dang these guys are not bad looking.  There is NOTHING like a swimmer's body!  Men are so much faster and stronger.  It's just so awesome to watch.  Maybe because I swam when I was in high school (and attempted to swim in college with this dang shoulder), I have a special place for swimming in my heart, but to me, swimming is the greatest sport ever.  It keeps me on the edge of my seat...it's just so exciting!  Love it!  I am so excited for the olympics.  Four years ago, they were on when we were on vacation.  I litereally sat up every night and watched them.  Seeing Michael Phelps take home a gold in every single event he swam in was history in the making.  Eight gold medals!  It was worth watching every swim.  I am excited to see him swim this year as well, but I have a feeling quite a few other swimmers have been preparing for four years to have a chance to best him....including a few of his own team mates.  Ryan Lochte is looking like he is going to be a major competitor of Phelps.  Gotta admit, I might just be cheering Ryan Lochte on.  Shake things up!



Forgot to Post Some of the COOL Crafts I've Been Doing....

I have done a few really cute crafts lately.  All of them are super simple and not too hard on my dumb bum shoulder. 

The first one is making suncatchers.  I got this idea from pinterest (where most come from....I am ADDICTED).  Seriously, this is perfect for smaller kids and is SOO easy.  All you need is translucent pony beads and a round cake pan (and an over of course).  So basically, you arrange the pony beads into any design (or non-design) that you like....make sure they are covering all of the space on the cake pan and they are flat (holes up), cook them in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  As soon as you get it out of the oven, use scissors or something sharp to put a whole in the top and you have a beautiful suncatcher!  They are so cute!

Here's a few pictures....I will add more later and continue this later as well.......

I got in the mood to go old school- friendship bracelets.  I have always loved these little goodies.  So fun and relaxing to make!

I painted this birdhouse to replace my little wrens house.  The bottom of their current house is almost falling out!  Hopefully, the wren family will appreciate their new, updated digs! 

This is a rainbow sun catcher.  Gotta say this is one of the more fun crafts!  Endless possibilities!

Getting Back to Blogging....Losing My Mind.....

It's been a little over a month since I've blogged.  I'm gonna slowly be back up and running. 
Let's start with my surgery:
I had surgery on my right shoulder on May 23....fourth surgery.  The Dr. said it was a hot mess in there.  He released my bicep tendon (which he said was "all shred up"....yuck), found some knots from previous stitches that had moved themselves into my shoulder socket (these lovely knots were becoming inflammed every move I made causing me lots of my pain) and cleaned out some arthritis in the back (cause from a little bit of subluxing).  Apparently, the Dr showed my mom and A pictures of before and after and it was pretty drastic (I think I am going to ask if I can see them at my follow up...I am definitely interested!)  It's been a little over a month so far...I'm still smarting pretty good from the surgery.  I keep hoping that soon I will start feeling better.  This has been such a battle of mine and it seems unfair to be in more pain....that being said, I knew all along it was going to take more pain to get less pain, but it's been hard on me.  I just got back to work this week.  I am working half days all week just to ease into the groove.  I've also been doing physical therapy.  Great, hilarious story.....

Last week, at my last bi-weekly physical therapy appt, I made two more weeks of bi-weekly sessions.  Finally, we are starting some water therapy, which I've been really excited about all along.  Apparently, I was TOO excited!  Monday, I scheduled for my mom to come watch L while I went to my first water therapy appt at 2pm.  I get there, all ready in my bathing suit...a little nervous as well.  I go to the pool and one of the therapists said I might as well get in while I am waiting (I didn't really want to, but I did anyway).  As I sat in the pool, looking like a total fool watching the clock pass 2pm, I started wondering if I had my appt time wrong.  I asked and had about 5 people looking into it....here my appt isn't till Thursday!  Seriously, I could not get out of there fast enough.  I was totally mortified!  Hahahahahah!  It was hilariously awful!  Good grief!  My memory is awful anymore!  And being off work for a whole month has been really confused with days and dates.  Ugh....I seriously debating finding a new therapist after that!  The thing I do to myself! 

This forgetful stuff has been a trend lately and seems to be getting worse.  I don't know if it's my pain meds or just me being scattered or a combo.  I suspect it's the pain meds, though really I am not on anything different than I was before.  Just a tiny bit more (one or two more a day).  It's really frustrating though.  This morning I forgot to makeup on and when I went to get gas, I pulled up to the pumps on the wrong side....good grief!  I've driven that car for three years now! 

Here's another funny Maggie story...maybe I shouldn't even tell this.....

As we all know, or I've mentioned before....I think, L is a notoriously BAD sleeper.  I swear the child barely EVER sleeps a full night.  Anyway, last night he woke up twice.  Once was when A and I were still awake, but the second time was around 4 or 5....well, it was in the middle of the night whatever time it was.  Linc was up (AGAIN) crying that he was wet.  I felt all over the front of him and had no idea where he was wet, but he insisted....ugh, on his side.  I stripped him, threw on a SWIM diaper (it was all I had handy) and a big tshirt, grabbed a clean blanket and threw it over the wet spot on his bed and tucked him in.  All in a serious sleepy/ drugged haze.  I totally did the "bad mom" thing....putting a dry blanket over the wet spot!  Hahahah!  Hey, he was dry when he woke up later....that's all that counts, right?  I think I might have sprayed some Scentsy room spray in his room a few minutes later to rid his room of ghosts.  It's awful that I just don't remember.  What I do in my drugged/ three forth asleep state is always amazing to me! 

So instead of me writing all about my time off work and healing from my surgery, I left with you with a few hilariously awful stories of me losing my mind.  Hopefully, someone out there can sympathize with me!  :)

Yikes! So Much To Do, So Little Time!

I got a phone call Wednesday from my surgeon's office and they had a cancellation for this coming Wed. and wanted to know if I wanted to move my surgery up.  Yikes!  Well, for lots of reasons, it just made sense to do it.  Had to do some negotiating at work, but otherwise, surgery here I come.  I have to admit, I kind of feel like a chicken with my head cut off.  There really is a lot I was planning on getting done before my surgery.  I have 50 marigold plants that need planted, my mom and I took on this job of stringing watches for one her artists, laundry, grocery shopping....the list goes on.  Today, I have to go to Cleveland for my pre-op too.  I am really nervous!  Well, anyway, if I am lagging on my blog for a while you'll know what's happening!  Wish me luck!

The Pressures of Being a New Parent

I would think it's safe to say that I am no longer a "new parent", though there are plenty of things we are still doing for the first time.  I think I am mostly thankful to be out of the baby stage of things.  There are times that I definitely long to have a child that is not mobile, but aside from that, I prefer toddlerhood to infancy...mostly.  It doesn't seem like there is a day that goes by without some sort of study or new type of parenting that is thrust upon all of us unsuspecting, clueless parents.  It's easy to get swallowed in the "dos and don'ts" of parenting.  As I've navigated the past three years, I like to think that I've kept a mostly clear head about what you should and shouldn't do and have been a fairly relaxed parent.  But I do remember before L was born and right after feeling so overwhelmed.  "Breastfeed for a year, don't sleep on stomach, no bumpers, no food till four months, don't use a binky, cloth diapers are safer for the environment, BPA is bad for you, blah, blah, blah, etc.....", the list goes on....endlessly.  To me, a parenting style is as individual as each of our children are.  You take a little of this and a little of that and a LOT of common sense and there you have....you're a parent! 

I'm sure pretty much everyone is aware of the new Time cover of a 26 yr old mom nursing her 3 or 4 year old son (while he is standing on a chair to reach her breast). 

I have a completely mixed reaction to this photo.  First of all, the title makes me cringe straight off....."Are you Mom Enough?"......really?  Do we, as mothers who face peer pressure NON-STOP from society, need to be asked that question?  Ugh.  Makes my skin crawl.  Secondly, clearly that child is too old to be nursing, at least too old in my opinion (and I am sure I am not alone....probably even in the majority on the issue).  For me personally, I don't agree with the whole "attachment" parenting style.  Little L has always been a bit of an independent soul.  He was never a super snuggly child and actually didn't really ever go through a clingy phase.  He hates sleeping with us (the feeling is actually mutual).  For medical reason, I stopped nursing at 10 1/2 months, though L got half breast milk/ half whole milk till he was a year old.  To say I was obsessed with nursing is an understatement.  It consumed me the whole year.  I sucked at producing milk and felt like I was an inferior women because of it.  I felt like my body was denying my child something he needed.  I struggled nonstop and looking back I can see that this was my one big thing that I did wrong.  If I would have been more calm and relaxed about it, I probably would have seen that maybe nursing wasn't the best solution for L and I.  At the same time, I am proud that I pushed through and kept him on breast milk for the most part till he was a year old.  Obviously, I am still pretty torn about my own experience.  Ideally, I would like mothers to feel supported if they choose to breastfeed, but not pressure if it doesn't work or they don't like it.   

Sometimes, I think listening to our moms is the best thing (by the way, if my mom is reading this she is probably glowing with pride at this point!)  Let's face it, our moms slept us all on our stomachs from day one and gave us cereal in our milk at 2 months and we are all still here to talk about it.  It can't be THAT bad, right?  I am sure that in their day in age, our moms had tons of info thrown at them too.  But I think it may be safe to say it's a lot worse these days with technology allowing us to be swarmed with all these silly theories. I just can't imagine whether you used cloth diapers or disposible diapers, breast or formula fed, let your kid sleep with a bumper, or fed them food earlier than four month will make that much of a difference in your child's life further down the line.  My personal mommy's motto is "If you are always doing your best, then you are doing great!  Keep it up!"  Your babies infancy goes so fast, don't stress about the small things!