A day in the life

of my husband... truck driver extraordinaire!

Getting his log book caught up:

Sending messages through to the office on his QualComm (with Avery supervising):
Stopping by the office to get his paperwork for the next load:
Driving, driving, and more driving:
Parked at one of many Wal-Mart loading docks he visits in a day's time (they all look pretty much the same):

And then, he drives back to the yard, picks up another load and more paperwork, and does it all over again... usually two or three times in one 14-hour day.

He also smokes a lot of cigarettes, drinks a lot of Mountain Dew and Amp, listens to a lot of his Sirius radio, and wishes he were home with me, of course! lol

Isn't he beautiful??

I have soooooo many pics to share... I just finished uploading them from my camera. In less than a week, I've taken 250 new pictures. It's a sickness, I tell you!

Anyway, lots to share, but I only have a few minutes until I have to get Damon from the bus stop... so I'm going to quickly post a few pics of my gorgeous baby, Comet! Enjoy!

I'm healed! (oh, and the date night update, too)

Tomorrow will be 4 weeks since my surgery, so yesterday I had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Gray. She reported that my incision is fully healed, and now I can go back to life as usual (which I had pretty much already done anyway, but still it was nice to have her permission!).

One of the main things I couldn't do for the past 4 weeks was exercise. When Dr. Gray told me this as I was leaving the hospital 3.5 weeks ago, I thought, "oh yeah, gee, like THAT'S gonna be a problem for me." Denise Austin I'm NOT.

So, yesterday she told me I could do whatever I want now... but she warned me not to overdo it. The example she used was, again, about exercise. "Just don't overdo it, Erin... you don't want to go home and do 100 sit-ups tonight or anything." Ohhhhhhhhh, Darn It. And that's EXACTLY what I had planned for the evening, too!

I'm a little disappointed to report that our $10 date night didn't really pan out. Nick and I did enjoy an evening out, but instead of spending $10, we spent $40. And we didn't do anything new and different... we went to our favorite watering hole and drank a few beers, shot lotsa pool, and played some music on the jukebox. We DID have a fabulous time, even if it wasn't what we really had in mind. And Nick did really have a creative, romantic $10 evening planned, but unfortunately the weather was a factor and didn't cooperate.

So, we haven't given up on the $10 date idea. We're going to try it again next week... and either hope that the weather cooperates this time or come up with a back-up plan that isn't dependent on a warm, dry night.

I still owe you pictures from our adventures on the road last weekend, I know. I haven't forgotten, never fear!

YIKES!

It's been almost a full week since I blogged last... I had no idea. I knew it had been a few days, but geeeeez.

Okay, so this post is kind of a preview of things to come, because I have LOTS to blog about but not lots of time at the moment to do it!

First, the kids and I resumed our adventures on the road with Nick this past weekend! It's been a while since we spent any time out in the big truck... so we definitely made up for it! We were out in the truck from noon on Saturday 'til 2am this morning (other than a 7-hour break that the kids and I spent at home Sunday afternoon/evening). We had a nice time, and I even remembered to take my camera along... so I have oodles of pics to share with you---eventually!

Second, Nick and I are trying something new, and I'm pretty darn excited about it (in the dorkiest way possible!). We spent some time yesterday in the truck talking about our finances, budgeting, blah, blah, blah... same old, same old. So we were discussing putting ourselves on a pretty tight budget, but then we mentioned that we still needed to make sure we took the time/money to do things for us, like our date nights that we haven't had nearly enough of lately!

So, Nick had a great idea... he told me to ask Mom if she would babysit tonight, and we're going on our first $10 date! We decided that we'll try to do this every week, and we're going to alternate weeks planning our $10 dates... and surprise each other with what we come up with.

Tonight is Nick's night to plan (since it was his brilliant idea, lol), and I'm really excited about it. We'll get to spend the evening together sans kids, and we won't even break the bank in the process (thank goodness Grandma is a free babysitter, otherwise $10 dating would NOT work!). The more I thought about this idea, the more excited I got about it. I think it'll be fun just trying to come up with different things to do for only $10... and I have a feeling that Nick and I will end up doing a lot MORE together than we ever have---different things that we wouldn't have even considered before. So, YAY!

I'll report back tomorrow... and if I can get my goofy husband to cooperate (ie, let me take his picture without his tongue hanging out), maybe I'll even have pics to share.

My favorite things

Today was the happiest mail day I've had in a while!

A dear friend sent me a box full of my three favorite things: coffee, chocolate, and lotsa books!!!

Thanks, Angie! I promise I won't complain about being bored again for a while!

Lizzie owes me... big time!

I think I've blogged countless times about Lizzie the Evil Escape Artist Min Pin (yes, that's her official name) and her attempts at procuring freedom.

Well, tonight's rescue takes the cake. This one was nothing in comparison. Maybe Nick's last rescue mission, where he jumped down a 6-foot cliff on the Ohio River after Lizzie played Frogger across the highway... maybe that one was more spectacular, but I didn't do the rescuing then (so it doesn't really count, in my book. Nick should write his own blog, don't ya think??).

Anyway, this evening around 7:30pm, I'm in the kitchen preparing a scrumptuous spaghetti dinner for my kids, my momma (who came over after work to watch Dancing with me), and myself... when I heard one of the kids open our screen door, and I just KNEW Lizzie was history. Sure enough... I came running around the corner from the kitchen to see Avery standing with the door wide open, and Lizzie running like a bat outta hell up the hill across the street.

Damon tried to chase her down... as if THAT ever works. She's fast... mad fast! So I yelled for him to come in and eat dinner and said, "She'll either come home or she won't!" I was a little irritated, and it had been a looooong day already.

For the next hour or so, I'd see Lizzie occasionally... in the yard across the street and even in our yard a time or two. But of course, when I called for her, she took off in the opposite direction, like she does. grrrrrrrrr.

So, by about 9:30pm, it's completely dark out and still no sign of Lizzie. In fact, it had been more than an hour since the last time I'd seen her run past. Somehow I got the kids to bed, even though Damon was whining and crying, "What about Lizzie?!?! She sleeps with me every night! wahhhhh!" I promised him I would keep my eye out for the evil rat and hopefully find her by morning... even though I was really losing hope by then.

At this point, I broke down and texted Nick... to tell him that his precious evil animal was missing and that I hadn't seen her in a while. He said, "She's gone." And even though I HATE this dog, my heart broke when he said that. She can't be gone!!!!! I hate her; she's a royal pain in every part of my body, Lord knows... but she's LIZZIE, and she's ours. Dammit.

So, I kept walking out to the front porch, listening for her... or for other dogs barking in the vicinity... something! And I finally heard her... barking her fool head off. Only I couldn't tell where exactly she was. Her annoying, yippy bark can probably be heard for miles, so I couldn't tell if she was down the street, or up the hill, or across the road in another neighborhood.

I stood in the yard, calling her name... and listening. And she kept answering me. I couldn't tell WHERE she was, but I could tell that she wasn't moving... and she was sounding a little distressed, like she was stuck somewhere maybe?

Of course, both of my kids were in the house sound asleep, so I couldn't just leave them to go looking for her. So I stood in the yard "talking" to her for what seemed like forever... my heart breaking a little more with each pitiful bark she let out. If my neighbors didn't already think I'm insane, I'm sure they do now!!

I finally walked down the road, just to get an idea of where she might be. Turns out, she wasn't far. She was on our street, across the road... just a few houses down. And she was stuck in their fenced-in backyard. Lovely. I don't know if she "fell" in their yard (because it's on a hill, so that's highly possible) or if they had rescued her earlier in the evening and had her there for safe-keeping.

So now I'm traipsing through someone's yard in the middle of the night, hoping I don't end up at the other end of some redneck's gun (this is West Virginia, after all!). I could tell that these people were home, and most likely in bed for the night (their house was mostly dark, except for a few strategic "night lights" that had been left on). Although how they were sleeping with her making all of that racket in their backyard is beyond me.

I finally decided to ring their doorbell... but the bell didn't work, of course. And I was feeling really rotten for waking them up, anyway. So I walked around the yard again, hoping to find a gate somewhere in the fence... a gate that would miraculously be unlocked for me.

And I found one. And... HAL-LE-LUJAH... it opened!!

I called for Lizzie, and she came toward me hesitantly, growling a little until she recognized my voice and knew she was safe. She ran at me then, and I snatched her up, quietly shut their gate, thanked my neighbors profusely in my mind for having an unlocked gate, and headed down the road with her in my clutches. Of course, the spastic animal tried to rip me to shreds during our walk home. Do you really think she WANTED to be free again?? Will she EVER learn? Dumb, dumb, dumb.

And like any mother, I was so relieved that she was home safe and sound, that I wasn't even mad at her for the hell she put me through all evening. Of course, tomorrow, when she's annoying me to no end, I'll probably wonder why I was so happy to bring her home tonight!

Right now, Queen Lizzie is snuggled up in my bed, where she belongs, snoozing away... probably chasing bunnies in her dreams. Nick and I have decided she's like a cat, with nine lives. If that's the case, we figure she doesn't have many left at this point. Dumb dog.

This is my life

Avery came running into my room, just moments ago... grinning from ear to ear, jumping up and down with excitement, super-dee-duper (yes, I've watched Barney a time or two) proud of herself.

"Momma! Guess what?!?!?"

"What, Ave???" (thinking she must've found a cure for the common cold or something)

"I just wiped my butt... all my myself!!! with wipies!! and LOOK, Momma... I didn't even get my hands dirty!"

Momma just looks at Avery, speechless... I mean, really, what IS the proper response to that??

Avery clearly wants praise... she says (still grinning and bouncing up and down):

"Isn't it AMAZING, Mommy???"

Yes, Avery... amazing... that's one word for it.

And THIS is what my life has become. I don't know if I should laugh or cry.

Sleepover Central

I really have to wonder WHAT the kids in this neighborhood did with themselves before we moved in.

Every day after school, our yard is full of kids. And this weekend, my house was Sleepover Central. Friday night one of Damon's friends spent the night. Then last night, this kid's older brother spent the night. The brothers don't get along very well, so they generally take turns coming over here... which is kind of amusing, really. They came up with that solution all on their own, and it seems to work rather well for everyone!

I promise I'm NOT that "cool" of a mom that the kids gravitate to my house. I don't wear an apron and make snacks for the neighborhood kids; in fact, I generally discourage feeding any of them... they can go home for that! I don't play games and entertain them; I usually hide in my room on the computer or at my scrap desk, figuring the kids can entertain each other. And I scream at them... a lot; Damon has one friend in particular who is downright mean to Avery, and that really gets under my skin. I've told this child repeatedly that Damon has a little sister, and if he's going to play at our house, he's going to have to respect that and DEAL. But they still gang up on Avery, so Momma Bear has to come out of her cave and yell at the big, mean boys (not that it seems to do much good).

Anyway, having neighborhood friends seems to have done Damon a world of good! He no longer mopes around the house, telling me how bored he is... he doesn't cry when he has to go to school... he's generally a happy kid again, for the most part.

And, for that, I'll put up with my backyard being Grand Central Station after school and my house being Sleepover Central on the weekends. Heck, I might even start providing Kool-Aid and cookies... maybe.

Think Green!

No, this isn't about being environmentally friendly... I've yet to jump on that bandwagon, although I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

But, Spring is in full bloom in the Hills! And I realized the other day that I haven't shared pics of our house and surrounding areas since we first moved in... back in gloomy, snowy February.

What a difference a few months makes, huh??

This is the only splash of color on our entire street... and I'm lucky enough that it sits directly across the street from my house, so I get to see pink every time I walk outside:
And, look! Can you see the birdie?? The kids told me that we had a bird nest in the tree in our front yard, and then they got super excited this evening when they could actually see (just barely) a bird in there. He blends in pretty well, but I promise he's in there!
Here's a closer shot of Mr. Bird:Here are some pics of Avery and her new BFF. Andi lives across the street (in the house with the beautiful azalea)... the girls are only a few months apart in age, and they were definitely cut from the same cloth... a diva cloth! Aren't they cute??

Look out! It's a Meeting of the Minds! Damon and his friend Jason (who lives a street over and is a permanent fixture at my house every day between 3:30pm and whenever I kick him out!) love to give the Diva Duo a hard time. Older brothers (and their friends) are so icky!

Bored and Sore

If you were to ask me how I'm feeling this week, that would pretty much be my response. I'm bored to tears, and I still feel like someone sliced my stomach open... imagine that.

I thought I would really enjoy a few weeks with absolutely no editing work. I thought that would be just fabulous and magical, and I envisioned myself taking full advantage of the "vacation" and doing... fun things. I thought I would enjoy truly being a stay-at-home mom for once... like, Avery and I would bake cookies and make sock puppets and crap like that.

You would really think I'd know myself better than that by now, wouldn't you?

There have been no cookies or sock puppets or anything even close. True, I have no work to occupy my time... and even though I sit around and THINK about all of the cool things I'd like to do (like organizing my bookshelves or shampooing carpets), my stomach screams at me just for thinking such things.

So, I've spent a lot of time reading and watching movies in the past week. And Avery still wonders why she has no mother and is left on her own to play with one-armed Barbies (thanks to Comet and Lizzie) all day.

Toothless

Last weekend, while I was in the hospital, Damon lost his first top tooth. It had been loose for ages, so this was a huge deal for him. I was sad that I missed it... but luckily Daddy (aka, The Tooth Fairy) was here to take care of business!

So, here are some pics that I snapped of Damon the day I got home...


And it's a good thing I got those pics when I did. Because tonight, only a week later, he yanked out his OTHER top tooth!

I'm losing my baby... one little tooth at a time. *sniff, sniff*

Here's the toothless wonder tonight:

On my own

My dad has been such a lifesaver for the past 10 days! He arrived the night before my surgery and has been here every step of the way... helping out tremendously with the kids, dogs, housework, visiting me at the hospital, etc.

I'll admit, I was a little skeptical when he offered to come out and help. I thought he had no clue what he was getting himself into! But, I'm really amazed at what a great housekeeper, dogwatcher, and grandpa he really is! I know the kids loved having him here, and I can't imagine how I would've made it through the past week without his help.

Dad just left, less than an hour ago, to make his way back home. The kids and I waved as he pulled away, and I actually shed a tear or two. I've spent more time with my dad in these past few weeks than I probably have in YEARS, and it's been really nice.

Thanks for everything, Grampy! We all miss you already. XOXO

More Recovery Blahs

I know, I know... this is getting old. You're sick of reading about how much pain I'm in and how depressed I am... trust me, I'm tired of living it!

Today my stomach hurts worse than it has the past 2 days, actually, which makes little sense to me. So I'm back to taking two Percocets every 4 hours (at that rate, they won't last long!). And although the Percocets make me extremely sleepy, I've spent all morning fighting the urge to close my eyes. My body hurts from being horizontal so much... really.

I'm also feeling extremely grubby and I'm in desperate need of a shower. Problem is I can't take a shower here at my house. Our only stand-up shower is in the scary basement, down a very steep flight of stairs... that I can't walk up and down. Upstairs we only have a tub, and I'm also unable to get in and out of a bathtub. Soooo... I have an "appointment" to take a shower over at my mom's apartment tomorrow morning. It's QUITE the ordeal, just to get clean!

I did receive a few pick-me-ups this morning: a Papa John's gift card from my Mom's Group friends (I think we're ordering pizza tonight!), flowers from my Gram, and a huge fruit basket from my stepmom (Avery has already enjoyed the grapes!). I've also received lots of "Get Well" cards in the mail, and my friends Katie and Cherie sent gorgeous flowers to my hospital room last week. It really means a lot to know that so many people are thinking of me and wishing me a speedy recovery!! I know I'm grumpy, but your thoughtfulness is not going unnoticed, I promise!

Recovery

I think I've decided that the emotional recovery from surgery is much worse than the physical one.

I spent most of yesterday in tears... not because I was in physical pain (although there's plenty of that, too), but because I was just sad and frustrated and, well... I just felt like crying!

It's really hard to go from being the multitasking mom, who basically takes care of everyone and everything in the house, to being the patient, who isn't allowed to do much of anything. I'm just supposed to take my meds and lie in bed? What?? That concept is totally foreign to me. And even though it sounds like it should be a heavenly "vacation" of sorts, it's actually really difficult.

I'm no stranger to depression. And anytime I feel really depressed, I sleep... a lot. When I can't handle all that's been heaped on my plate at any given time and just feel overwhelmed with life in general, I sleep. And cry. And sleep some more.

It usually takes medication and lots of talking to my sorry self in the mirror to come out of one of those bouts of depression. Yet, here I find myself taking medication that induces sleep and worthlessness, and everyone yelling at me to "get in bed!" and "get some rest!" and "don't worry about what's going on with the kids/dogs/house/bills/etc!"

Really, one little surgery and the loss of one little ovary have pretty much turned the world as I knew it upside down.

But I'm recovering... physically and emotionally... one step at a time. And I'm already looking forward to the day when I'm back to normal and my kids are demanding things outta me and I'm allowed to once again run myself ragged.

Home! With one less ovary.

Just a quick post to let everyone know that I survived the surgery Friday. The doctor discovered not one, but THREE cysts hiding in my ovaries! So, the left ovary is now a thing of the past; the doctor was able to leave the right ovary after removing a small cyst from inside of it.

I spent two days in the hospital and was sooooo sad when the doctor discharged me this afternoon. Really, I could've stayed there for a week, at least! I had a great private room, wonderful nurses, and pain meds galore!

But, alas, I'm home again. My dad is here, helping with the kids/dogs/house. Poor Nick has to go back out on the road first thing tomorrow morning... he's been home all weekend, keeping things together here at the house and visiting me in the hospital lots, too. And, my mom has been a huge help, of course!

I'm feeling okay... when the pain meds are working, I feel GREAT. When they wear off, I feel like death. So, I have a feeling it's going to be a very up and down kinda week! I plan on spending a lot of time in bed, resting and catching up on my reading. It's going to be really hard NOT to jump up and tend to the kids and things around the house, but I know I have to resist... for a while.

Super huge thanks to everyone who sent well wishes, prayers, etc. this weekend! I'm definitely one blessed girl, to have so many caring friends and family members! Hugs to you all!

Will update again soon... drug-induced blogging is sure to be interesting, right?? ;)

Memory Lane

I returned "home" last weekend for Christie's wedding, for the first time in, ohhhh, about 7 years!

When my mother moved us to St. Mary's County (when I was just a little thing), it was mostly farm country, surrounded on three sides by water... an absolutely gorgeous place. Over the years, of course, it has grown and developed like nobody's business. Some parts of the County are almost unrecognizable, for someone who hasn't been there in 7 years! I kept missing one particular turn... couldn't, for the life of me, recognize this one intersection because the darn Western Steer isn't there anymore!

After I graduated from high school, my family left the County. So the only times I've returned in the past 14 years have been to visit Christie, who is my only friend still remaining there.

So, anyway, my trip to the County last weekend was really pretty emotional and surreal at times. Here I was, in a place that I knew like the back of my hand at one point in my life... the only place I'd ever lived and called "home." Yet, now, so many things looked foreign to me.

Driving down the main road, approaching the County, I couldn't tell you what was coming up next... I had forgotten all the landmarks. But, as soon as I happened upon them, it was like "oh yeah..." and it all came flooding back to me, like I'd just driven those roads yesterday.

Christie's house and our hotel, and the church and reception site, were all at opposite ends of the County. So, I spent a lot of the weekend driving back and forth, and tried to take a different route each time... so that I could squeeze as much of "home" as possible into 2 days.

Here are some things I saw along the way.

The house I grew up in. It looks exactly the same today as it did when we moved out of it, 20 years ago.

The huge tree there, in the middle... my mom planted that tree in our yard when we first moved into the house. When we moved out, it was about the size of the little tree next to it, on the right. Today it's huge-mongous! I couldn't get over that.
The fairgrounds. I have so many memories of the good ole St. Mary's Co. Fair. Every year, the schools close on Friday the week of the fair... and everyone goes.
And, the place where I spent my last 4 years as a St. Mary's Co. resident. The place that I really hated walking into almost every morning of those 4 years... but now, I look back on with fond memories (funny how that works). The school itself has undergone a huge transformation since I graduated in 1994; it looks nothing like MY school.

As my dad and I were driving down the road toward St. Mary's County on Friday, this song came on the radio. And it couldn't have been more appropriate for me that weekend. Who says you can't go home?