a stowaway

I had a suspicion as I left for St. Paul that I might be bringing along a stowaway. A little someone who decided to join me on the trip without paying for a plane ticket!!!

Turns out I was right. The prayer candles above represent the prayers that I offered at the Cathedral of St. Paul for the 4 members of my immediate family. Yes, I said 4. Yes I know... I have 2 little girls and a husband and now one little bun in the oven.

So, I'm currently exhausted and desperately trying to catch up here at work, but I'm still around. Haven't forgotten any blogging obligations, just trying to make it through the next few busy weeks. So, hang in there with me.

Leavin' on a jet plane

Tomorrow I leave for St. Paul, MN to attend the NACFLM conference.  I've never been given the opportunity to travel in this job, mostly because I've been pregnant a significant portion of the time I've worked here.  I'm especially thrilled for this opportunity because of an NFP pre-conference all-day workshop I'll be attending, along with a number of keynote speakers that will be speaking (particularly Christopher West!).  Not only is this my first time to travel for my job, its also my first time to leave the state since I became pregnant with my oldest kiddo.  

Needless to say, I'm a little nervous.

Leaving my kiddos  w/my husband is not the scary part.  Leaving my kiddos is the scary part.  I haven't been away from them for more than 2 nights in their entire lives.  I know it will be great.  I know that absence makes the heart grow fonder.  I know that my plane won't crash...  but I can't help but be nervous about all of that.  

I booked into my trip nearly a full day with nothing to do, several stops are planned (including here and here).  We get to attend mass at the beautiful Cathedral one evening.  I know it will be great.  But... pray for me while I'm gone?  And... pray for my family while you're at it?

My Top 10 List

Let me start with mentioning that although this is a list of things I'd rather be doing than what I am doing right now, I'm certainly not complaining about what I'm doing right now. It just isn't on my Top 10 List... (hat tip to Darcy from Life w/My 3 Boybarians for the idea)

Top 10 List of Things I'd rather be doing right now...

10. Reading magazines on my back porch while sipping a margarita

9. Watching Gilmore Girls & sewing

8. Getting a mani/pedi

7. Being at the zoo w/my hubby & kiddos

6. lying on a beach some where

5. having less than 97% humidity

4. ordering office supplies (I'm sick, I know. there is no help for me.)

3. baking banana nut bread for my sweet friend who just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, her 6th fabulous kiddo at home! (that is, her 6th kiddo living in her home, not gave birth at home)

2. shopping

1. Reading a book on my couch & drinking iced tea!

Awesome giveaway

I love the vintage-y look of flour sack style prints.  I live in a town with an old flour mill.... wonder if I could find some authentic flour sacks....  hmmmmm...  well, until then, check out this giveaway!  So much cute stuff plus 3 winners!  (Thanks to my buddy C-re who clued me in on this one!)

One Thing

Mrs. Fussypants offered a challenge of choosing ONE THING to work on yourself for the week.  I probably should make mine 'remembering to exfoliate and moisterize' but instead I opted for "avoiding complaining"...  I think the opportunity to focus on how God has so graciously gifted me in my life will be a real mood lifter and day brightener, both for me and the rest of my family!

What will your ONE THING be?

p.s.  CK, I'm gettin' those pillows finished!  Don't give up on me!!!!!!

Success

My oldest kiddo made it through her surgery just fine!

Here she is waiting for them to take her back...

they were running early, so she was actually finished with surgery before it was even scheduled to begin. She was pretty cranky and out of it when we first got to go back to recovery to check on her. It was heartbreaking and at the same heartwarming to hear her crying all through the recovery area (she was way in the back) with the very nice Dr. Smith (the anesthesiologist) holding her and rocking her.

and here she is in the car on the way home...

by 10:30 in the morning she was running outside with her dad to see the trash man come and pick up our trash and she helped dad pull the trash can back up to the house. I'd say that's a pretty easy recovery!

Here's the sweet thing being treated to her second helping of ice cream for the day (chocolate with 'moshmewoes', otherwise known as rocky road)

I'd say it was an uneventful day aside from the fact that MY allegies are the devil and have taken over my poor head and body. I was seriously in bed by 7:30 last night, not to mention that I had about a 1 1/2 hour nap midday. I guess all of the lack of sleep from my heartburn was catching up with me.

Thank you God for a successful operation. Thank you for holding my baby in your sweet hands and keeping her safe.

hard to breathe

I had that stinking heartburn again last night. 1 prilosec, 1 zantac and 4 tums took until 2:30 to kick in. Blah. Leaves me a little bleary eyed this morning and my thoughts are a little fuzzy. Then I got a call back from oldest daughter's ENT. He's only available for surgery on Wednesdays (she needs her adenoids removed) and we need to do it either this week or next week. So by 9 am this morning with no coffee in me (I'm cutting out caffeine until I have a few nights heartburn free) I was facing booking a (minor) surgery for my daughter for first thing tomorrow. She can't eat after midnight and that's harder to handle for younger patients, so they book in order of age. She gets the 8:00 appointment which has us at the outpatient surgery center by 6:45. She'll be under full anesthesia for the 30 minute procedure and I know it will be the longest 30 minutes o fmy life. I keep going to my facebook profile and looking at this picture

it's from this weekend, we went up to see my MIL for her birthday. We were out to dinner and the girls just started hugging each other and I had to snap a quick shot. All I had was my phone handy, but really that's all I need. Oldest daughter's beaming face as she embraces her sister is burned into my memory. And I'm terrified. I'm sure the sleep deprivation is playing into this quite a bit, but putting your child's life into the hands of another in such a significant way leaves me feeling helpless. It makes me want to say "NO! Forget the surgery. I'll sleep in her room every night and stay up and make sure she can breathe all night long. Don't worry about me getting any sleep, I've done without it in the past, I'll find a way to manage."

See? There's that pesky sleep issue again. So I'm muddling through the day, trying to clear up any last little work issues so that I'll have tomorrow off, and if anything else comes up, I'll have everything settled and not need me to attend to it for a few days.

So, please keep my sweet girl in your prayers. I'll post an update as soon as I can.

how do you spell relief?

This post is not for the weak stomach-ed.  And, to clear things up.  I'm NOT pregnant.

So, for about the last 6-9 months I've been suffering from severe heartburn.  Not that whole time straight, mind you.  Its very sporadic, not connected to any specific foods, and always at night.  About a month ago, I had my a$$ handed to me one evening when it was severe enough to having me throwing up.  That was not a fun night.  So, I made an appointment with my doctor and he asked me "have you tried prilosec?"  actually, I hadn't.  Even though it is over the counter now, I had kind of felt like 'if antacids don't take care of it, and it's bad enough that I'm throwing up, I think I should go see the doctor.  I'm only 29 for cryin' out loud."  So, he wrote me a prescription for prilosec (its cheaper that way) and sent me on my way.  

Now, being one to always try to save money, I didn't actually take it every day, I just waited for the next night when it set in, and then got up and took it.  And that kinda' worked.  Instead of being up for 3 hours waiting for an antacid to kick in, I was only up for an hour.  Cool.  Or not.  

About a week ago, I woke up with that twinge in my stomach, went and took my medicine, and nothing happened.  In fact, it got worse.  And I threw up.  Again, and again, and again.  I couldn't keep the medicine, or antacids, or water down.  For about 4 hours straight this went on, and I was beyond miserable.  Words just can't describe how I was feeling.  I pretty much wanted to reach into my chest and pull my heart out.  I did finally manage to force myself to curl up in a ball, take the medicine, and pretty much will myself not to throw up anymore.  

The next morning at work my coworkers chastised me on and on for not taking the medicine EVERY DAY, so I've been doing that.  And now, here I am.  It's 2:30 in the morning and I've been awake since 1:00.  I've taken antacids twice now, and I don't know what to do.  Should I go back to my doctor?  Should I start researching super bland grandma diets?  Should I seek the help of someone who does alternative healing?  

Has anyone out there in bloggy land ever had anything like this?  I'm desperate.  I kinda need sleep for all of that functioning throughout the day business that I'm expected to do.  

Sigh.