It's a TRIP in K'zoo: December 2010

It has been an interesting year. It never ceases to amaze me how challenging life can be. Just when you think you know how to "roll with it" and have a fairly good grasp on things you suddenly get smacked with a new dilemma or experience which you are ill equipped to handle.

My kids have been growing (physically and emotionally) with leaps and bounds. Their statures are still slight, but it humbles me to see how kind, thoughtful & caring they are. The girls seem to be unspoken enemies when their brother is around. If you remove him from the dynamics they get along well! Ryan and Emma are buddies, often going off to play Lego's for hours. Their imaginations are amazing; they often make up dynamic and ingenious scenario's. Sarah prefers to be someones "helper". She likes to help cook and putter around the house, but her big love is creating. She makes stuff all the time- out of everything! She is definitely artsy and crafty. She could be entertained for hours with a bottle of glue, scissors, and paper.

Sarah recently got new blinds for her bedroom. It was 2 years overdue, the one's in her room were a hunk of junk. It should be known (in the life is never simple or inexpensive category) that her windows are an odd size. Old house homeowners know of their homes' quirkiness and expect these things, so I wasn't too surprised when we had to go with "custom cut" blinds. A trip to Lowe's (and twice as much money as I was prepared to spend) we came home with new honeycomb blinds for her room. The nice employee (a nice young man named Ryan who has just graduated from WMU with an art degree- and working at Lowe's- go figure) didn't find it too odd that I was asking what happened to the trimmings and could we have them. He was outwardly tickled at my idea of purposing the ends of the blinds for art projects or the like at home or at the kids school. Upon my request he not only gave us the cuttings from our recent purchase, but the cuttings from many blinds! (NO, you may not go to Lowe's on West Main and get the blind cuttings- they're mine!) Sarah took many of them to her art teacher at school who with a puzzled look told her she would think of something to do with them. Yes, this story has a point, and here it is! I used some of the blind trimmings to trim our Christmas tree....a new and very unique garland!

Miss Ellie celebrate her birthday on Thanksgiving. She is doing well. She got a dress and some nightgowns from "sister". She has been showing continued signs of aging. For her birthday we took her to see Disney's Tangled. It was a good movie, both the kids and adults enjoyed it. The staff at the Kalamazoo 10 theater were VERY helpful with our special needs. They didn't bat an eye when I handed them Ellie's special cup and were quick to help when I asked for a box or something to put on her lap to hold popcorn.

Happy Birthday Ellie!

In September we had to make a tough decision as a family. Our Shepard mix dog named Loki had bitten numerous people in his short life and had lastly bitten my cousins daughter resulting in stitches in her face. We looked into the option of finding him a new home, but was told finding an "aggressive" dog a home was difficult at best. We decided the best choice for everyone was to put him down. The kids and I made the heavy journey to Kalamazoo Animal Control and dropped him off knowing his fate. It was (and still is) a very tough decision and I continue to carry a great deal of sadness. He was a great dog, very energetic and loving but we couldn't have the risk of injury due to his unpredictable nature looming over us. In honor of our "Loki Boy"- we miss you buddy.

Family Dinner for my birthday at the Parlor on West Main. Mom and I try to embarrass the kids by hanging spoons on our nose. Ryan wasn't impressed or embarrassed.

In March I turned 40. I have been heard saying "girls like stones" when asked what gift I wanted. Well, what I got was not what I meant! Three days prior to my birthday I was overseeing an American Red Cross blood drive at church. For a day or so I had been experiencing side pain. It was nothing pronounced, but it was "abnormal" for me. Too much information disclaimer! Here it is, so don't read this if you have a weak disposition! My urine had turned maple syrup color and consistency, which is when I was alarmed enough to call my doctor. (My "doctor" is a nurse practitioner who I love!) Due to my recent surgical history she suggested I make a trip to ER to get checked out. Reluctantly I left the blood drive and headed down to Bronson, expecting they would tell me I had some side effect of surgery (perhaps a healing pain). Much to my chagrin (and slightly confused by the intern doc who must have skipped Communications 101) I was informed my common bile duct was blocked by a stone and my pancreas was infected causing my liver to shut down. Totally not what I expected, and not what I wanted when I said I was hoping for a stone! In my mind I was expecting them to give me some antibiotics, send me home, and schedule me for surgery a few days out. Not what they had in mind. I was admitted, out NPO (nothing by mouth) and told I was too "unstable" for surgery. For the next 2 days I became a human pin cushion. They came in and checked my liver functions every 2 hours round the clock. I hate waking up at night, but hate waking up to be poked with a needle! (I put that needle part in there 'casue some of you with dirty minds might think I was insinuating I like to be awakened to be poked by something other than a needle). ;-) Saturday I went in, Monday I was operated on. They thought I may have to have more done than a simple cholecystectomy (gall bladder removal) but thankfully it was a nice, clean lapryscopic procedure. (The first blessing I have directly named in the blog, but only one of many I have received this year). Thanks to good genes I heal well and had a goal I was dead set on: NOT being in the hospital for my 40th birthday. I was discharged Tuesday and celebrated 40 on Wednesday sore and medicated, but at home!

I had proposed to some friends, Mike, and my family that I wanted to do something memorable and fun in honor of my 40th. Well, I did! Two of my friend and I flew off to Las Vegas in April for a girls' weekend away! We say "Cirque de Soliel - The Beatles Love", unknowingly went to Freemont Street on gay pride night, and enjoyed the comedy of Frank Caliendo. It was a fun and memorable weekend in honor of turning "old".

Casey's Dad, Doug, live in Vegas. He drove us around to see the sights. We tried to go to the Pawn Stars shop to get Mike a t-shirt. Mental note, "open 24 hours" in some towns means closed at night. The security guy sitting at the desk with his feet up isn't too thrilled when you approach the window and ask to buy a shirt. The abrupt response may sound something like "come back at 9am tomorrow" yet the sign in front of you states "open". Go figure. I thought Vegas was one of the towns that never sleeps...?

Casey at the top of the Stratosphere. For those of you who don't know this about me already, I HATE heights. It is a new fear which has gotten worse progressively as I age. I LOVE roller coasters, love thrill rides of all types, but HATE heights. Well, the Stratosphere has three thrill rides at its' very top. Casey and I rode two of them. The first, a roller coaster track which hurls you over the edge of the building only to stop you with a huge snap, draw you back, and do it again! Normally you do this twice.... nope. Not us. Thanks to the wonderful man in the front row who was snapping pictures with his cell phone we were fortunate enough to do this THREE times. Oh, I was overjoyed. Perhaps that wasn't joy, maybe better stated FLIPPING SCARED OUT OF MY MIND!

NEVER, NEVER EVER hang me over the side of that building again! Okay, I digress.

We went to Coca Cola world store across from our hotel (located conveniently next to M & M World- is there a theme?) At the Coke store you can taste "pop from around the world". For $12 you get two trays full of different sodas to try. It is a neat experience but you should know now that people in other countries must think cough syrup is delicious! My expression says it all.

Holly got a call from her youngest daughter while we were tasking. Allie was really missing her Mama, and Holly missing Allie. Note the tray of colored beverages, all non-alcoholic!

Day of surgery in August 2009

My weight loss journey has been a huge learning experience. People no longer look at me like I am a freak. They no longer presume things about me like "I'm fat so I must be lazy", "I'm fat so I must have bad hygiene and stink", "I'm fat so I must be stupid", and "I'm fat so why am I entitled to the same rights as you". Not kidding here, I have totally experienced these attitudes repeatedly in my life. Well, here I am from fat to less fat.