Life Keeps Truckin'

My one devoted fan (Hi Lou!!) reminds me that this venue has been neglected of late.

This year has been a hectic one at our house...

In January I was diagnosed with a grapefruit-sized uterine fibroid (rather uncomfortable to house, if you were wondering).

In February I decided to quit my job at Pier 1 due to my physical limitations (thanks, Grapefruit) and the increasing drama caused by employees that wanted nothing more than to make my job difficult (and thought that would make theirs easier). Also in February The Chou was poisoned somehow (we don't know how) and went into major kidney failure. We thought his time was up and were emotionally wrecked for a couple of weeks, but after 24 hours of fluids at the vet and another week and a half of fluids given at home, he recovered almost fully! He's on a special diet now and has lost about 3lbs since then.

My last day of work was mid-March, and I was originally scheduled for surgery to remove the fibroid on March 29th. On March 16th, my HusBean's contract at work changed, which meant our health insurance changed... which meant no insurance until April 1st. The surgery had to be rescheduled and they wouldn't even look at a calendar until I provided proof of new insurance so they could send it through pre-approval all over again. Also in March my Mom decided she needed help with her last big project at work before retirement, so on a Sunday afternoon she asked me to fly out that Tuesday and help. We booked the ticket and I went to Portland for two weeks.

I got back from Portland on HusBean and I's third anniversary (April 12th) and I had a few weeks to try and get caught up at home, get the surgery re-scheduled, and pack before heading to NYC in mid-May for a week.

The night before my trip we had a visit from the Heartlife Homeschool Co-op while on their road-trip through The South. It was wonderful to have them here (all over the floor and in a tent in the back yard), spend some good time with Kevin and meet lots of new friends.

My week in NYC was amazing and it was wonderful to get to spend some sister-time with HusBean's sister Katie and our nephew Jackson. I don't think I've even finished blogging the trip! I honestly don't even remember everything that happened in the last part of May, other than again trying to get caught up at home (laundry, Hot Sauce sales, etc.). (Also during my trip HusBean told me that our siamese - Maui - had escaped when the kids were leaving on Friday... the silly cat hid out in the bushes and around the neighbors houses for four days before finally allowing HusBean to catch him)

In June we had a lovely visit from Emily & Celeste while on their road-trip through The South. They only stayed a night, but we packed a lot into their time here! Scott made fresh pasta (with their help) and the next day I took the ladies downtown Augusta to see the James Brown statue, have lunch (AND DESSERT!)at Boll Weevil and tromp through a few antique shops before sending them on their way.

My surgery was on June 16th, and I spent two nights in the hospital, going home on Saturday morning. I spent the first week sleeping in the guest room, since the master bed is on the floor and thus much harder to get out of for someone with no abdominal muscles. After that first week I was able to both go off of the Percocet and move back into the master bedroom.

My Mom flew out on July 3rd to spend twelve days with us, she had just retired after 44 years (Wow!) and deserved a vacation. Unfortunately, she spent a lot of the time helping out around the house and a TON of time cooking, but we had a lot of fun planning healthy meals and just hanging out together. And shopping. We did some shopping. :)

While I was in the hospital, our Boxer - Buster - developed a UTI and Scott had to take him to the vet to get checked out and get antibiotics. Ever since then he's been going slowly downhill... He'll be 13 tomorrow (which is CRAZY old for a Boxer) and has arthritis in his back end. In the weeks following the UTI he didn't seem to be getting much better - was drinking GALLONS of water a day and peeing every hour - so we ended up taking him back in to get checked out. After some blood tests he has been diagnosed with Cushing's Disease.

Yesterday morning after he got off the bed, he was walking through the bedroom door and suddenly fell over. I jumped up and ran to him, expecting that he had just dropped dead. He was still breathing, but limp. I called HusBean to come home, we pulled the dog onto a blanket and carried him to the door to head to the vet. When we set him down to open the door he suddenly sat up, then stood up, and walked himself out the door to the car.

After some more tests the vet thinks that Buster's heart is dropping beats periodically and that he likely fainted. Since he is a VERY senior dog, we are not going to put him through xrays and additional medication, we just got a prescription for better pain meds - Arthritis specific - and he acts like he is feeling better.

Our friend Dean arrived from San Angelo, TX last night to spend a few days with us for HusBean's birthday (today!).

When would I have had time to write? It's all I can do to wash the laundry, much less get it folded and put away! I have managed to keep the kitchen clean and keep up with Hot Sauce orders...