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Showing posts from 2011

Reese's Baptism 12-18-2011

Teen sex or any age premarital sex

These ideas have been turning over in my mind for months if not years now.  This isn't the first and wont be the last time I voice my views on premarital and especially premarital teen sex--but I was just slapped in the face.  This analogy could be expanded and far more thought out--that was my plan for a future post on this topic but it seems that now is the right time. I was skimming over the top stories on CNN and came across a clip about a teen couple losing their virginity on 'Glee'.  I don't watch 'Glee' and don't know the character's names but it was supposedly 2 of the main characters.  The clip that I saw the girl stated that 'she wanted to remember this moment forever'--my argument is that unfortunately she will. I lost my virginity at the age of 17 and regret it deeply.  I try so very hard to explain why I regret it to teenaged girls today.  However, sometimes my spiritual explanations of tearing your heart, and purity and preparing

Stolle's Sweets

I love to cake.  It is a hobby of mine that I greatly enjoy and that I am mastering over time.  Here are a series of articles that I have recently written about things I have learned while baking and caking. How to make a moist cake How to make Tye Died cake batter Customizing a boxed cake How to make a checkerboard cake How to make homemade fondant How to make homemade buttercream How to make royal icing

Being taken great care of...

Today was my first PT appointment post-op.  It went well, gnarly, but well.  As expected, bending my knee was the most difficult part.  My therapist said that I had regained more whole body movement (rolling to each side and even laying on my stomach) than she had expected.  However, my hamstring has begun to atrophy as well as the other major muscles in my thigh.  She used several electrical devices to stimulate my muscles and help me to make them contract.  Needless to say I was VERY sore and swollen when all was said and done.  I had planned to go get Reese from school today.  I have been released to drive and can with great difficulty get in and out of the car wearing my immobilizer but I can only drive if I don't have pain pills in my system.  The first thing I wanted to do when I got home from PT was take a pain pill!!!...and I was utterly exhausted.  My father-in-law agreed to pick Reese up for me today.  I must admit that this was a great relief.  I have been very anxious

ACL/knee reconstruction recovery day 6

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So things are looking up.  The pain is getting more manageable.  It does seem to get worse at night and when it rains, but I have had great help getting around and staying ccomfortable.  I have managed to bathe twice in these 6 days.  HUGE accomplishment.  Jason helped me the first time and my mom helped me today for the second time.  I forgot how nice it is to not have to smell your own BO!! This Polar ice chest is awesome.  I am getting to the point that it really helps with the pain, not just the insane amounts of swelling.  The immobilizer is getting a bit uncomfortable being that I can only lay in one position--on my back.  The back of the immobilizer is chaffing the back of my upper thigh.  I have armed myself with a back-scratcher and larger amounts of lotion to try to solve the issue. I have an appointment on Friday with my surgeon, Dr Ellis, and then one on Monday with my PT.  I am ready to know more about my recovery and what I can and shouldn't do.  These last 6 days in

Recalling the little things--nerve block

Just remembered that the pre-op nurses gave me something they called a nerve block .  From what I heard it sounded allot like a epidural just without a lingering needle.  I must say that it was more uncomfortable to get than an epidural.  The must concentrate on a specific nerve.  When they hit the right spot my left leg started twitching like it was being electrocuted.  Post op I had a great amount of pain at the injection site but no other side effects since then.  If it helped with the post op pain I would have HATED to experience  it without it. Read more about it HERE. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/83237-overview

72 hours knee reconstruction post-op

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Slowly getting better.  There is a constant dull ache but not the unending FIRE that was there before. The pain subsides now as long as I do not move.  As long as I keep it elevated and still, it is ok.  But as soon as I need to go potty, change positions, sit up to eat or drink the pain is excruciating.  And a new symptom began night before last.  The pain must still be VERY real when I am unconscious--I am now waking myself up from a sound sleep with a reoccuring nightmare (with well-matching pain) that my knee is dislocated.  Not fun at all.  My whole body jumps.  I yell and then realize that the pain is from surgery and not a dislocated knee.  Very strange sensation.

Knee Reconstruction 36 hours post-op

Not good at all.  I spent the first 24 hours writhing in agony, screaming at every movement and crying each time I realized I needed to go pee.  Had to increase pain  pills to every 3 hours instead of 4 and had to add 4 advil 3 times a day.  Finally today I at least feel lucid.  I am not going to lie--yesterday I questioned myself if I had made the right decision.  No dislocation that I have ever experienced hurt as badly as I hurt yesterday. This trumps childbirth BY FAR!!!! But the doc did tell Jason that the first two days would be hard.  So I am trying to stay positive and remind myself that it WILL heal with time. We still havent unwrapped dressings.  We will do that tomorrow while girls are at school so that Jason can bathe me and put clean bandages back on my leg.  Curious and scared at the same time to see what it looks like.  It burns.  At the incision sites--burns like fire.  Pray for continued healing and relief.

So here is the low-down: My knee

Went to see Dr. Ellis today at Sports Medicine clinic to discuss my MRI results.  Yeah--it was pretty nasty.  He showed me the scan and basically surgery is my only feasible option. And I have to slow down in the meantime--if you know me you know that I don't find that quite so easy.  He even put me on crutches to help slow me down and make me more careful. I am set-up for Oct.4.  My knee is so angry still from the dislocation (and too much use) that it is too inflamed to operate.  He wants to give it 2 more weeks to calm down. Also bad news: I have to come off my aleve and methotrexate 1 week before surgery so I will probably be a lousy lump on a log--no fun. Here is the gist of the procedure--gnarly indeed.  First incision about 2-3 inches along the front of my shin.  They harvest tendon from my thigh muscle.  Then they make a 2 inch incision at the right side of my kneecap and attach the harvested tendon into the kneecap with screws.  They then weave the tendon under my existi

Twin/Twinkie day 2011

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So Reese is 5.  Not the best at finding a friend and coordinating withthem to dress the same on a particular day.  So this was my solution. CSISD calls twin day "twinkie" day.  I found the twinkie kid and painted it on a white tee last night.  It is just in whatever paints I had on hand--acryllic craft paints and tempera paint.  It probably won't survive the wash but it served its purpose today.  On his hat instead of writing 'TWINKIE THE KID' I wrote 'Reese's Twinkie'.  And then on the back I copied the hostess twinkie LOGO and made her name.  I must say that she looked super cute!  Happy TWINKIE DAY!!!

The day my knee fled Benevolence Way

So our real estate nightmare I blogged about a few week ago took place on a property on Benevolence Way.  We have since made many friends who live on or near this fated road. On Sunday, the day before Labor Day 2011, I attempted to visit said friend's house--this is what happened. So I thought the drive out would be wrought with raw emotion and sadness--the drive itself was extremely easy, bumpy road aside.  I managed to make it to my friend, Nikki's, gate and all changed--it an instant the visit became very dramatic and emotional.  I got out of my car, two girls buckled in back seat mind you--we were headed to Nikki's to craft homecoming mums and rings with another friend whose children had never had mums etc.  We were super excited.  Amber has a pet snake.  Reese was beside herself.  So I got out of my car to open their gate. I have shallow grooved in the ends of my femurs and my patellas do not have a stable place to rest.  Usually I do not have a problem unless I fal

Shocking: Even kindergarten isn't safe from threatening our children's innocence

If you know me, you know that I was and am 100% open to the idea of homeschool.  I think it is great.  I am in awe of the women who undertake this amazing task.  I am not ready.  It may be in my future one day but right now I do not feel called to it. I love my eldest daughter.  She is awesome.  She is creative.  She is unique.  She is STRONG-WILLED and I am exhausted.  We moved to place her in what we considered a better district than Waco ISD and she began her first week this last Monday (August 22, 2011). Things went very well.  She got stars every day on her discipline chart except for the very first day--the teacher said she was having trouble following directions.  Stereotypical Reese.  She didn't cry when we left her the first day.  She liked it.  She had fun.  And then we heard about it... Sitting at the dinner table Friday evening, enjoying our meal as a family Reese dropped a bombshell.  She informed her dad and I that at nap time that day a little boy in her class ask

Weight Watchers Weekly accomplishment

YAY!  We finally did it--we have been having a very hard time following through with the plan for an entire week.  It always seems that something comes up or we have an unbearable craving--but this week we did it. I lost 3.2 lbs and Jason lost 1.6.  We are so excite to be back on track. I attribute my loss to a very busy week of back to school and preschool teaching.  I moved ALOT this week.  And thanks to my cortizone shot in m y neck a few weeks back, I was able to go pain free!  We are ready to tackle another week of Weight Watchers and we are encouraged and hopeful for even better losses!

God's Plan--even covers car accidents

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I had been complaining all day!  I had to pick Reese up from school today at 3:15. The line at the elementary gets insanely crazy long if you wait til pick-up time.  So I usually get there at about 2:50 each day.  I had been complaining all day, because I had Jason's big ole '92 maroon chevy silverado with no AC.  He took the explorer into town for work because out of the two vehicles it gets the better gas mileage.  I sooooo did not want to wait 25 minutes in that loooooong line with no AC and no breeze---but I had to do what I had to do. Little did I realize that God had a plan for me today--and His plan involved that oven of a truck. We moved Reese's booster seat to the front of the truck for drop off and pick-up from school.  The truck is a 2-door and it just seemed too much of a hassle to try to get her into and out of the back each day. Today at pick up I hastily buckled her in and we headed on our way home.  I was excited--I had made them a super-cute after school

Couponing Chaos Trifecta--HEB 8/23/2011

OH. MY. GOODNESS.  Ok, so this trip was made under some unusual conditions that I hope to never-again repeat.   Reese's 2nd day of school was today.  Raeleigh and I had out first day of Parent's Day Out at Journey and we were ALL e-x-h-a-u-s-t-e-d!! So that is strike one in the coupoing chaos trifecta. We made the trip together as a family--not our usual Jason-only trip.  Strike two in the trifecta... And three?  What is three you ask?  We went to HEB to coupon and deal shop on the last day of the ad cycle.  Meaning, all the deals listed in the current ad end are changing at closing tonight.  Never, ever, ever, never, ever do this!  At least not if you plan to budget and coupon shop.  I will tell you why: HEB was completely out of many of their combo locos and meal deals.  When I say out--I mean OUT.  In some instances there were no yellow in-store coupons remaining, if you could locate the items, and in other cases the items were completely sold out.  Empty shelves--no

8-18-2011 First Epidural steroid shot

So it is done.  At 930 this morning I received my first epidural steroid shot.  It wasn't all that painful at the time, but I must say that it is aching now and hurts to press my chin to my chest or to look down. I was called back to the procedure room and asked to lay face down on an xray table with my chin tucked to my chest and my palms under my hips as close to my toes as I could get them.  This position pulled the shoulders down and arched the back of my neck to increase the cartilage space between vertebrae--to get the needle in easier.  I was prepped with cleaners, draped and injected with a topical pain killer.  As the doctor progressed the epidural needle more pain killer was added as needed.  I could feel pressure and occasionally I could feel and hear the needle pass through the different layers of tissue. The doctor chose to us 80mg instead of 40 on me.  He didn't really explain why but I will happily accept more meds if it means relief. Before I knew it he said

Spinal column cortizone shot

So the time has come.  I just had my second MRI in 5 years and the issue in my neck is only worsening.  My C3-C5 vertebrae are twisted, the 'discs' are bulging and pressing on my spinal column and there is a constant dull ache. I am sure that the psoriatic arthritis isn't making things any better. I lovingly call it "my hump". My Hump... My Hump... My lovely lady hump... yeah, it isn't so lovely.  I look like a buffalo when I wear my hair up. I get tingling sensations in my hands and feet and sometimes even 'dead' spots down the side of my leg. This Thursday, August 18th, I will be having my first cortisone injection in my neck. I am a bit nervous--I have heard good and bad things from people about the shot.  I am s very tired f the pain and ready for some relief that I am just about willing to try anything.  So here goes.... I will let everyone know how it goes.

Zazzle.com: A great way to make some mad money

Visit their site, design some products and watch the royalties roll in.  You will earn higher sales with a large variety of products.  Check out mine (and ABSOLUTELY feel free to purchase).  Sellers make a set % royalty per purchase! create & buy custom products at Zazzle

Weight Watchers 2 week hiatus

Embarrassingly enough Jason and I have failed to make progress for these last 2 weeks.  I have attempted to keep up with my points but I have been very 'organic' in my approach.  I managed to maintain, so that is good, but no loss for me.  Jason on the other hand was really defeated and unmotivated these last 2 weeks and has gained. We are back on the weight watchers bandwagon.  We actually eve ran tonight--granted it was a very short run and the last leg the girls (5 and 3 yrs old mind you) managed to run circles around us.  But hey, exercise is exercise. I love to run.  I have done it in the past and it feels great--especially that endorphin runners high, but MAN!!--I have NEVER run with this much weight on me.  It was hard work.  I felt like I was running in quick sand!!! Baby steps towards active lifestyle.  I am tired of being tired. Keep the encouragements coming!  Jason and I are ready to be new!!!!

Family Dollar coupon trip 8/9/2011

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So after my Dollar general excursion I made one more quick stop for the day.  I think Jason may just strangle me.  He appreciates the coupon savings but has to remind me occasionally that no matter how good the deal, we only have X amount of money to spend.  I sometimes get so excited about a deal that I forget the importance of the budget. The deals I found there were as follows: Pringles on sale for $1.50 a can.  I had coupons for $1 off 4 and $1 off 2.  After my coupons and the sale i got 9 cans of pringles for $8.  That is less than a dollar a can.  Now, I definitely do not need 9 cans of Pringles chips so I chose a few to donate to our Church's meal ministry. (The Church at Tree Lake hosts a Wednesday night meal for our deaf children's program and the community) I found an in-store Family Dollar coupon for 50 cents off Always maxi plus I had a Manufacturer coupon.  The item was $3.15 before savings and I aid $2.50 total. Colgate was on for $1 and I had 2 50 cent off c

Dollar General coupon trip 8/9/2011

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I was going stir-crazy at home today.  I knew there were some good deals at Dollar General and Family dollar and I just wanted a change of scenery.  I loaded up my girls and we headed out. My first stop today was Dollar General.  I had seen their ad and knew there were a few things that I would like to get.  Well, as I walked into the store I noticed something that I had not paid attention to before--a HUGE clearance table at the front door.  I pulled my buggy aside and began digging in.  I found some AMAZING deals: 2 sharpies for $1.75 vegetable seeds for 10 cents HUGE bottle of herbal essence shampoo on clearance for $2.15 with $1 off coupon (final price $1.15) Cover Girl shadow on clearance for $2.25 with $1 off coupon (final price $1.25) Cover Girl powder on clearance for $3 ($6 regularly) with $1 off coupon (final price $2) Cover Girl foundation on clearance for $1 with $1 off coupon (final price FREE) and finally Glade plug in on clearance for $3 with $1 off coupon (final price

How we got where we are: The 2010 Real Estate Experience in detail

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This has been a long time coming. Ever since our real estate FIASCO I have said that I would write about it so that everyone could understand the drama and chaos we endured. I can honestly say that just now, 8 months after the dust has settled, I finally feel ready to mentally revisit the wounds. Just a friendly warning---take a seat, settle in…this is a bit of a long read. I am going to recount events to the best of my ability. Some of it is still very much a blur. The human mind has a great self-preservation technique—it blocks out trauma. And this was very much traumatic. I will not use names other than those of which I speak fondly of. I do not wish to slander anyone or hurt anyone’s business reputation. I will, however, say, that if you read this and would like to know who NOT to use or associate with in real estate dealings I will inform you of that privately. Just not here. It all began the weekend before Mothers Day 2010. My good friend Lara Jane Coffey just moved from Waco