Life is Like Hot Chocolate

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups - porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.

When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: "Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups. The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. And enjoy your hot chocolate.

Tennessee Turkey

We spent 4 days in Tennessee with Tony's mom and Bruce. It was a wonderful visit. We celebrated Thanksgiving together. Tony's mom is a wonderful cook and fixed so much food it was unreal. This year I even helped make the sweet potatoes! Friday was a long and wonderful morning. Tony and I hit Wal-mart at 4:30 am for their Black Friday Sale and finished up some Chrsitmas Shopping. Since it was Catherine's 8th birthday we picked up donuts to start the day out right! (more about her birthday in a later post). I have to say while I would not want to live in Tennessee, visiting is such a wonderful experience. Tony's mom and Bruce are such nice people. Although like most visits when we leave there are tears as well as colds starting (each year we seem to come home with a cold after visiting).

In the Deep Blue Sea!

Today we did out visit of the Atlanta Aquarium. We arrived right when they opened. As a matter of fact, the river otters were still sleeping when we arrived! We were able to see Nana the Manta Ray, the main reason we wanted to visit. This year Catherine's science is Zoology 2: Swimming Creature of the Fifth Day. So we have been reading and studying animals of the ocean. So when we read that the Atalanta Aquarium now has a Manta Ray, the only place in the US to see one, we had to visit. The Aquarium was great! The kids really enjoyed watching, learning, and even touching sea creatures. We were able to touch a sting ray, horseshoe crab, and a see anemia. Over all I recommend this aquarium!

Following our aquarium visit we grabbed lunch and continued our drive north.....next stop Oneida, Tennessee!

On the Road again...heading North.

Well today we headed north to Atlanta. After a nice visit with Tony's Grandma we headed north to Atlanta. The drive was long but fun. We watched movies, read books and talked. We stayed in a hotel in Atalanta for the night. Next goal to see the fishies!

Fresh Fruit....God's goodness!

Today before we left Florida we stopped to visit Tony's Grandma. What a wonderful lady Alice is! We had a wonderful visit with her and it was great for the kids to see their Great Grandma. One fun thing was fruit picking. Alice has an orange tree and a grapefruit tree in her back yard. Our kids have picked fruit before but never citrus fruit. So thanks to Alice the kids were able to pick fruit. We picked so much fruit and there was still TONS left. I have to say this is some of the best fruit I have had in ages!

Family Get Together!

Today was a day for family to get together. Tonys' dad and Pat invited Tony's brother and Dianna over for a dinner and family time. It was so great to see his brother and Dianna again. We had a wonderful Italian dinner by the excellent cook Pat!

I even got to drive Pat's sports car that day to run and get some last minute items from the store. It was scary to drive it, as I am not a person who drives other's cars. Tony's dad and I went to the store to get some deserts and salad items. When we went into the garage he handed me the keys and said "you drive." I was shocked and very nurvouse. His response was "I drive it all the time and it is insured." So I drove it and it was great. Not sure I am ready for a sports car over my mini van but it was nice. On the way back home he put the top down.

The best part of the night was getting family pics. So in the guys we have 3 generation of Pierce men. Only one missing was Justin as he was at his mom's.

A day of fun

Today we started off with the Cracker Christmas Festival in Umatilla, Florida. The reason for attending the parade was to support Paul, Tony's Brother. Paul is a Road Runner with the Shriners. He did a great job in his mini Corviar. Although he did ended up breaking down and having to be towed by another Road Runner. That was funny, I know for him it was not funny. To see a Road Runner towing another Road Runner down the road with all the other cars after the parade was over.
Following that parade we went to a Soup and Salad fundraiser for a charity in Deltona. Tony's father, Bill did his Elvis show for part of the entertainment. A great time was had by all.

Abra's Wedding

The reason our vacation started when it did was because of Abra. Abra is a friend from College. She is the one person I stay in total contact with from college. She stood up with me at my wedding. Today was the day she said I do. Her wedding was aboard the Carnival Splendor. To say the boat is big is an understatement, it is HUGE! The wedding was very simple and very beautiful. The cruise ship also hosted the reception in this little "night club" within the ship.

I also got to meet up with Erik, who also went to the same college as Abra and I. I have not seen him since school. It was great to see him again.

Being on the cruise ship makes me dream of the day I can go on a cruise. Although that day may never come I can still dream. It is funny when you have children and set different priorities, such as not working and homeschooling, the things you are willing to not have, such as going on a cruise.

Abra is such a great friend and a beautiful bride. I pray the God bless her and Scott and their lives are "happy ever after."

On the road again!

Well it is that time again....time for a road trip. It has been 2 years since we took a vacation. This year we again are headed to Florida and Tenn.

We left at 9 pm on Wednesday, November 19th. We drove straight through to Deltona, Florida. The total time was 23 hours. Although only 20 was on the road, the rest was potty stops and eating. We had dinner at a rest area in Florida. Before we left I baked a loaf of bread that we took with us to make sandwiches. Over all I would say the trip went nice and smooth. The kids did get restless after awhile. Mainly Christopher, who started telling us he had to go potty just to have a reason for getting out of his seat.

So here we are in Florida....let the fun begin.

Hands

A basketball in my hands is worth about $19.
A basketball in Michael Jordan's hands is worth about $33 million.
It depends whose hands it's in.


A baseball in my hands is worth about $6.
A baseball in Roger Clemens' hands is worth $475 million.
It depends on whose hands it's in.


A tennis racket is useless in my hands.
A tennis racket in Andre Agassi's hands is worth millions.
It depends whose hands it's in.


A rod in my hands will keep away an angry dog.
A rod in Moses' hands will part the mighty sea.
It depends whose hands it's in.


A slingshot in my hands is a kid's toy.
A slingshot in David's hand is a mighty weapon.
It depends whose hands it's in.


Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches.
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in Jesus' hands will feed thousands.
It depends whose hands it's in.


Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse.
Nails in Jesus Christ's hands will
Produce salvation for the entire world.
It depends whose hands it's in.


As you see now , it depends whose hands it's in.
So put your concerns, your worries, your fears, your hopes, your dreams, your families and your relationships in God's hands because...
It depends whose hands it's in.

Sticker Shock Moment

Have you ever had one of those sticker shock moments. Today was one of them for me. Like most families money is tight in our house at times, normally because we did bad at living on our budget and made stupid choices.

Well today I talked to Tom, the brace man, and even with our insurance (they pay 80% we pay 20%) we will owe around $200 for my knee brace. It was all I could do to keep from crying on the phone with the guy. I did some research and sure enough this brace is the expensive.

Like I said today was a sticker shock moment for me.

I have to say I hate sticker shock moments.

Children's Sabbath

Today was Children's Sabbath at church. The sermon had to with children and how we as audlts need to step up to the plate for our kids. Our Pastor talked abotu how many young people have no audlts in their lives. How sad is that!

Rev. Kat shared with us these statistics from the Children's Defence Fund web site:

• 2 mothers die from complications of pregnancy or childbirth.
• 4 children are killed by abuse or neglect.
• 5 children or teens commit suicide.
• 8 children or teens are killed by firearms.
• 32 children or teens die from accidents.
• 78 babies die before their first birthdays.
• 155 children are arrested for violent crimes.
• 296 children are arrested for drug crimes.
• 928 babies are born at low birthweight.
• 1,154 babies are born to teen mothers.
• 1,511 public school students are corporally punished.*
• 2,145 babies are born without health insurance.
• 2,467 high school students drop out.*
• 2,421 children are confirmed as abused or neglected.
• 2,483 babies are born into poverty.
• 3,477 children are arrested.
• 18,221 public school students are suspended.*

* Based on calculations per school day (180 days of seven hours each)

This infomation does cause one to think that is for sure.

Thank yous

Have you ever found it odd when people thank you for doing something. I know I do. I find it odd when people thank me for doing something I did. I guess this is because most of the time, I do things with no thought of a thank you.

This came to mind today at co-op. I am the 4 year old Core teacher. We have 6 little 4 year olds in our room (5 girls and 1 boy) and for 2 hours we play and do some basic learning. These young ones LOVE to cut with scissors, but their cutting skills are lacking. So what did I do, I found come cutting pages that work on how to cut. Today we did a road, we had to cut the road that the car traveled on. This worked on going in straight lines and well as 90 degree corners.

Well when one mother came and picked her daughter up she said Thank you. She did not realize we would be working on these "preschool" skills at co-op and how thankful she was. Like all families at co-op she Homeschools. Well like a lot of home schooling families untill you are around 6-7 years old durning "school time" you play. Here we are working on skills her daughter will need when she gets older and although Mom is busy teaching she has not been able to get those skills taught yet.

Did I choose to do this for a Thank you. NO WAY. I did this becuase these kids love cutting and they needed to have fun while learning how to cut.

Sometimes thank yous are hard to accept when you are not planning on them.

Phone call missed

Well I guess the Dr. who measured me for my knee brace called, but I was at co-op so they left a message. Will have to call them on Monday at this point. I wish they would have just left details not just "call me." Arggg

What a crappy afternoon.....knee update

I swear I am going to go postal on Dr's today. Today was another follow up on my knee. Get there no biggy. This UMKC Dr. come in and talks to me. Asked me if I have been icing my knee, I told her no, because no one will tell me what I suppose to do. Then she asked me if I have started therapy, again no because no one has talked about it. So then my Dr. comes in. He looks at my knee, he pushes on it, he moves my leg around. Then he asked if I was fitted for a brace for it, no just given crutches. So he tells me he wants me to get fitted for a brace to take pressure and weight off my femur while it heals more. Then he asked if I thought I wanted therapy. I told him I want to be able to walk good and get better. So he tells me he will set me up with some Therapy. The Dr. says I can go back to the gym but no legs till I have my brace.

Then the brace guy comes in, and measures me for a brace. I get to pick out the color for the metal, I pick PINK! Then he tells me how he has to check with insurance because sometimes they need proof that I need it, etc. It will take 10 days to come in. He will call me on Friday with info like my share of the cost if any etc.

Then he leaves, leaving the door open. So I am sitting there and then the brace guy walks by the room and says to the Dr in the hallway "Are you done with her". The Dr said yes and so I go out in the hallway and say, "What about follow up if any" he tells me, I want to see you in 2 months. Ok fine. Then I say "What about therapy." "Oh yah, here is a script for it". "Where do I take this?" "You can take it anywhere, even down stairs in the hospital."

Ok fine, so I take my orders and go down stairs. I find the PT/OT place and they start paperwork only to then say...."We don't take Aatna accounts that start BBL." I say "What it is Open Access it is good anywhere." "Nope you will have to find another place to go."

So I leave. Get in the van and call Tony and my mom. After hanging up from talking to my mom, what do I do, I drop my cell phone in a cup of water in the van. It freaks out and starts vibrating nonstop. So I pull that battery and throw it on the floor of the van.

I get home and look up on the Aatna web site and yes the hospital PT/OT is on our insurance. So I call Aatna and she says "You have Open Access, it is good everywhere, and I show that PT/OT is on it." So she puts me on hold and calls the PT/OT dept of the hospital and talks to them. She gets back on with me and said I should get a call from them tomorrow with info. because they are going to talk to the Aatna rep that they work with.

So long story short....I have to have a knee brace
Have to have 4 weeks of Therapy 3 times a week...but we don't know were or when yet.
I have a phone that is still dripping water, Tony went to work to get my a blackberry to use for right now.

I am going to go postal on the medical world right now.

Training

Well tonight was training with Sylvan for the new Eclipse program. The program itself is very nice. I think it will be nice when used.

However it makes me thinking. We often do training for work, which is what this is....but how often do we continue to do training for life? How often do we continue to improve upon ourselves or do we walk around thinking we are done. I am sorry I am not done, I am a work in progress. I need constant training and retraining.

Thank you to those in the world who help train and retrain me. Thank you God for making it so I can be trained, and for being the best trainer around.

One step at a time

Oh my gosh I can't tell you how happy I am to say, I AM WALKING! I was officially allowed to start walking on the 3rd and I tried. I could walk about 5 steps and the pain was terrible. On the 4th I had a Grand Cross Reception to attend and I was semi walking. I was able to walk up for introductions without my crutches although I limped something terrible. By the 5th I walked all but at church without my crutches (I used them so I could get up and down the stairs). On the 6th I did not use them at all and have not looked back.

SO I AM WALKING!

One step at a time.

Kinda like life, we take it one step at a time, through the good and the bad just one step at a time.

Normal....more then just a setting on the dryer

Hello world....tis me again....coming to you from my computer. What a great world this is we live in, yes I know there are lots of problems in the world but if you think about it what a magical world it is when I am able to write to the entire world from my kitchen.

I remember a long time ago seeing a book "Normal is a Setting on the Dryer"...I believe I even read parts of the book at one time. Well to me Normal is more then just a setting on the dryer it is what we try to have in life. Are we normal, not often but we try to be.

Well for me I learned something yesterday (Monday) about me that makes me feel normal. Yesterday I met a new Doctor who will now be my primary care doctor, she is a wonderful person and I am very happy to have her now. Well in our visit we went over the results from the 9 vials of blood draw from me at the hospital. All of the results came back wonderful which means this crazy blood clot road I have been on is just post surgery issues and nothing genetic. So you know what.....I AM NORMAL!

Yes Normal is more then just the setting on the dryer.....normal is what most of use want to be in life and when it comes to health and blood I for one am normal.

Here is hoping something is normal for you in your life today.

Emotional Sunday

Hello Blog world, it is I, Nettie you strange yet fun blogger here coming to you from my living room couch, the place I tend to call home till I am crutches free. I am taking a different tone today with my blogging as today has been one of many tears and emotions. So let's role back the clock and see what took place today.

We all got up this morning, although I will admit both hubby and I struggled with waking up, we did not want to get up, scary part was we went to bed early per say. So we got the kids up and in the shower. While they where showing hubby got ready for church. Then I hopped (well sat as I can't stand very long) in the shower. Then it was doing make-up, hair the norm. While I was blow drying my hair I hear my husband talking on the phone. I turn off the hair dryer to then hear him say "Oh she is right here, you want to talk to her, and he hands me the phone. Not knowing who I am about to talk to I am very apprehensive of who would be calling on Sunday morning. Come to find out it is my Step-Mother who lives in Texas. She starts of the conversation telling me how my Dad is trying to one-up me on medical, after all if I can have knee problems that bring out hospitalization he can do even better. So my brain is thinking, ok he fell, he broke something, something like that, but I was way off. She tells me they are at the hospital in the ER as he has either had or is having a heart attack. I was able to speak with him for a few minutes (until his phone is not able to hear me) and he explains to me what has taken place. Last night and early this morning he started having chest pains and his arm was going numb, so he hopped on-line did some research and noticed it fits the symptoms of a heart attack so they head to the hospital, he is very worried as both his parents died from heart attacks. It was funny because I never heard my dad cuss and he was cussing like a little sailor, which is ironic considering he is retired from the Navy. So I get off the phone and call my mom to let her know what is going on. I then talked to hubby. You see my Dad and I don't have a great relationship at all, we talk but not very much. Growing up he was away and to be honest many times in my life I have honestly hated him. However no matter how angry I have felt I hate to think of loosing my Daddy, he is my Daddy after all.

So we head to church. My Mom has had the job of locating baby pictures of me for a Rainbow activity. Well today she brought pictures that she found from when I was around a year or so old. So my mom and I start looking at the pictures. Before we know it we are both balling. We found pictures of me with my Grandma Anna and Grandpa George...pictures of me sitting in the same high chair my kids have sat in...pictures of me in the same crib all three of my children had rested their little heads in.

After we got home I did get an update on my Dad. They have gone in and checked one side of his heart and there is a vessel that is 100% blocked, however it is so small they can not do surgery so they are going to treat that with meds. Because of how long it took to do the test on the one side, they where unable to check his other side. They will check the status and blockage on the other side of his heart in the next two days.

So as you can see world......emotions have been running high today. Here is hoping your day has not been an emotional roller coaster.

Post op Check

Back from my post op check with the ortho. I was able to learn more about what they did to my knee. They did scrape the back of the knee as well as drill in the femur, they also did go ahead and do the ligament release (we thought they did not ). I was also able to see the Ultra sound report and there are 4 blood clots around the back of my knee. Two where big and two where small. He said my range of motion is pretty good and to keep doing stretching exercises at home for it. He also said that on the 3rd of October I can try going crutch free!! And I can drive again!!! So that is where we stand. I go back to the coagulation clinic tomorrow for my IRN test to see how we are doing there.

Coumadin Clinic

Well today was day one with the Coumadin Clinic. They where so nice. They answered everything they could for me and just very informational. The NP thinks I might have a genetic issues, they drew blood for testing when I was in the hospital just waiting to hear results, as issues of blood clots are not normal until a person is 50 or older. So this is what I learned.


My INR was 3.1 (goal is 2.0-3.0) so for now injections are done!!! She did tell me if my INR drops below 2.0 then I will be back on them till they get it up. She said my Coumadin amount will very every time I go in based on my INR.


I have to limit my Vitamin K intake, so only 1 serving of green veggies a day, one salad, green beans, peas etc. They gave me a sheet that shows the level of Vitamin K in foods, fruits/veggies/protein/carbs/spices.


I learned that weight training should on cause any issues but when I start back at the gym I have to build up on cardo and will have to be monitored big time while starting cardo because it can change my INR.


The large bruise which is still increasing in size is most likely do to hitting a blood vessel with my shot. She said it is no big deal, just ice/heat it if it hurts and know it could take up to 3 months to go away.


I go back Friday for my next INR check and we keep going from there. I told the NP I will do whatever I have to do to stay off of lovenox injections. She kept telling me to keep them because they aren't expired and I may need them again. I told her I will not go on them again, no way no how, I will keep my INR just find so I don't have to!


They even told me I might want to get a medical bracelet saying I am on bloodthinners in case something happens to me, sorry but unless this ended up for life I refuse to wear some medical bracelet.

Happy Labor Day!!

Happy Labor Day USA!

Today is the day we take a break from working and thank those who work so hard to make our lives easier and what we enjoy.

Today for us it is a happy day as for the first time in over a week all 5 of us are together. The girls are home to stay, they came home yesterday after church. We are going to cook out some yummy food and enjoy the day together.

The knee is doing better, my calf is not hurting at all to speak of!!!! So one week after major pain it is almost no pain! My knee is stiff and sore which is to be expected.

Tomorrow I go to the Coumadin Clinic for my first appointment and to see what they have in store for me. Can you feel the joy?? Actually I am not that worried. Come up with lots of questions for them, you know now would be a good time to get a notebook and start writing them down. I know I have to take the bottles of any meds I take with me so they can approve them. I guess when you are on Coumadin you have to be careful of what you put into your body. In the reading I have done I have found the only thing I should have to watch is my Vitamin K intake, that I think is doable. We shall see what comes of tomorrow.

Again Happy Labor Day!!

Blood Letting again

That is my mom's new term. I told her I had to go today for another blood draw to see if my blood is thinning enough with the meds so this stupid blood clot. So my mom kept saying, "have fun at your blood letting". So Tony, Christopher and I went to the hospital and had my blood drawn, which went pretty good. There was a lady there who as having her baby checked for jaundice. She looked so tired, I remember those days, she said she had a c-section and it was just too much. I smiled and said "I understand, he was our 3rd c-section." Her eyes got so big, and said 3.....no way 1 c-section is enough for me.

So I went in and they drew my blood no big deal, I am becoming a pro at this, I just said Butterfly, left arm, no tape. The nurse laughed, I told her well 3 days in the hospital and blood being drawn 4 times a day I am a pro now. And to think I have 6 months of this at the minimum. :( Oh well life goes on.

We left the hospital and went to Wal-Mart, my least favorite store, but I needed beading supplies for the class I am teaching at co-op and I know wal-mart had chairs I can be in so I am not on my crutches the entire time. So here I was one of those people in the electric carts, one of those people I always look at and wonder why they are not up walking. I felt so stupid. The only save grace is Tony had my crutches with him in the cart in front of me so at least it showed why I was not walking. We found what we wanted and came home.

The Doctor called later on in the day to say my test came back better, but my blood is still not thin enough so I am to up my coumadin to 7.5 mg a day. I will go back on Tuesday to see if that has helped. Oh that reminded me, I guess I am prone to DVT from now on, so I need to do some reading to see what all that means. One of my best friends emailed me and told me her mom has had two blood clots one of which went to her lungs, that is scary. I don't want something that bad to happen. What makes it worse is I did everything I was told to keep this from happening and yet it happened. Really makes you value life that is for sure, although I did not come close to death, the idea that this blood clot could have meant death is scary to me.

I ended up napping like 3 hours today, which tells me my leg is doing better and it is letting me sleep. My calf still hurts but the hurting is less, so that is a good sign I assume.

The knee continues.....

Well let's see this will be a LONG post as there is much to tell.

Friday 22nd - knee surgery (already told about this) all is going well other then the fact I am on crutches for 6 weeks.

Saturday 23rd - Home taking it easy all is going ok. Notice my calf is kinda sore but chalk it up to surgery and keep on going. I found if I put a pillow under my knee it helped with the pain. Tony knows how icky I feel so he wrapped my leg up in a trash bag so I could get a shower and oh that was heaven!!

Sunday 24th - We go to church. This is the first time I have been in the church elevator. Sat at church did ok, left church came home and took it easy. My parents took the girls for Catherine's skating and then up to Omaha to take them to the zoo. My calf is hurting more and so that night we took my leg wrapping off (it was allowed to come off the next day) and went to bed.

Monday 25th - Tony went back to work and Christopher and I are at home. I finally get a full shower and oh yes how good it feels. We make a great team. We played leggos and had lunch. As the day goes on my calf hurts more and more. I just keep taking my pain meds and using ice on my knee.

Tuesday 26th - I talk to our neighbor and she is concerned about my calf hurting. At this point I am getting worried so I call the Dr. The nurse tells me it could be pain from surgery but I should get a Doppler check of my calf to make sure we are not dealing with a blood clot. So I get an appointment for 3:30 pm so Tony can come home and take me. We get to the imaging center and the lady scans both my right and left leg. She then tells me yes their is a blood clot in my left leg and hands me the phone to talk to the nurse of the Dr. who did my surgery. The nurse tells me to go straight to the hospital as I am being admitted and put on blood thinners.

So we get to the hospital and get checked in. I am taking up to the 9th floor of the pavilion and in my room. They get an IV line in and prepped with Heparin, however the IV could not be started till they had baseline blood work. Dr. Adiga came in and talked to me, this is a new Dr. I had never met and was assigned to my by my surgeon. She asked TONS of questions and said part of her blood work would be to see if I have any genetic markers for a clotting issue. So 9 villes of blood were taken and then the IV was started. They put a funky band on my arms that was bright yellow and said "Fall Risk" as well as a sign on my door. I was told I could not get out of my bed unless someone was in the room with me at all times. So we just laid there and got filled up with Heparin. Every 6 hours they drew blood to see how the level was in my system. The reason was the were aiming for a level between 63-100. So at one point they gave me a heparin bolise to try to speed up the process. Finally by Thursday we where maintaining a level of 79! While all this is going on I was given Coumadin to also thin my blood.

Finally on Thursday I was told I could go home but I have to give myself Lovenox injections every 12 hours for the next 7 days. I will also be on Coumadin for a minimum of 6 months! I will be participating in the Coumadin Clinic at the hospital to monitor my levels and such.

So today is now Friday, we have been home for just over 24 hours and we are doing ok. The first shot was terrible as I cried so hard and finally gave up and Tony had to give it to me. Since then I have done one other shot on my own. This is defiantly a new road for me.

Knee Surgery

Well today was the big day. My mom came to the house to stay with our kids. Tony and I head to the Surgery Center. We arrived at 10 am which was our check in time. Filled out a few papers and waited. Around 10:30 am they took me back to prep me for surgery and then let Tony come back. Then the waiting began.....and waiting.....and waiting. What was suppose to be a 11 am surgery time became a noon. I was taken back to the OR and moved over to the surgery table. I remember the anesthesiologist saying "you are going to get start to feel sleepy" and that was the last I remember. I woke up in recovery to the Dr's assistant telling me I can't walk on my right leg. And I was freezing like crazy. Finally I was up all the way and Tony came in. They went over my restrictions which where a ton, no shower for 3 days, no tub bath for 2 weeks, no weight on my right leg for 6 weeks. Tony then went on to explain to me what they found. They cleaned up the back of my knee cap which was not as bad as they thought. Then they saw the bottom of my femur. It was cracked and ground away. So they drilled holes, we think they said 5-6, in the bottom of my femur to make my bone "bleed". This is causing the bone marrow to bleed and thus hopefully rebuild the bone. So now I am stuck on the couch taking it easy, something I never do.

4 years ago today…

4 years ago today I was waiting to see my baby. After being in the hospitalized and then monitored for a month because of low fluid levels the day had finally came. We cleared the 36 ½ week mark and Dr. Spell was ready to bring our baby into the world. Through all the ultra sounds and monitoring we still did not know if we were going to be bringing home a girl or a boy.

4 years ago today, two youth from our church came up to stay with Catherine. My parents were on their way back from Iowa, as my Grant Aunt Minnie just celebrated her 90th birthday. Tony’s parents were leaving Tennessee bound for Missouri. Oh and we hit Wal-Mart to get diapers as we did not have any yet.

4 years ago today, I sat in the waiting room of the maternity floor waiting to have a baby. The hospital was busy and they where running behind. We were admitted and sent to a little room to begin our prep, took the poor nurse 5 ties to get the poor IV in. We finally got into the OR and they gave me my spinal and I started to cry, I was so happy and yet so scared for this little one that had caused the past month to be a roller coaster. I remember the anesthesiologist asking me how I was, I said fine and then started to throw up. Turns out they bottomed out my blood pressure.

4 years ago today at 1:37 pm Anna Elizabeth Pierce made her debut. She weighed 6 pounds 12.9 oz and was 18.9 in long.

4 years ago today our family grew with the joy of a new baby.

Knees are over rated

Let's see what has been going on with my knee. It is a pain is what it is. Back in February I slipped in my kitchen on one of the kids plastic stencil. My knee started hurting BAD and then began to swell. Two weeks later I called an Ortho to find out what was going on with my knee as the swelling was worse and it still hurt. That orth did an MRI and said nothing was wrong, just had fluid on the knee. Then he put in a short of cortisone (this was the end of March at this point). Well it has never gotten better. In June I was at Grand Assembly and in heals for 4 days straight and that finally put my knee over the edge. So I set out to find a new Ortho.

On Thursday, July 24th (over 5 months since it started hurting) I saw a new ortho. He took some X-rays and manipulate both my knees and said he see the problem. Said the back of your knee has cartilage and mine is peeling like an orange does. Thus it is causing the pain (when it catches on the bones) and also the swelling of water collecting to try to help cushion the knee. So he would be doing surgery on my knee to clean the back of my knee cap and also he may "release" the side of my knee so it sits more in center.

Well today we received a phone call and surgery is set for Friday, August 22nd at 10 am. We will have to be there at 9 am. I am so happy to have a game plan in place and hope to find relief soon.

Grand Representative Drills 2008

This year I had the honor of planning the Grand Representative Drills for the Cavalcade of Flags. I was very happy the way they turned out. Would I change some things, of course, but over all I am very pleased. It was nice to have something more upbeat this year.

Marionettes on the Stage.

Today I took the kids and Bri to see The Legend of Sleepy Hollow at our local Library. This was a presentation by Elsenpeter Marionettes. One guy, Richard Elsenpeter, did the entire show himself. After the show he demonstrated to the children how Marionettes are made and operated.

Yet another reason to check out your local library.

Summer Reading Kick-off

Today was the kick off for the summer reading program at our local library. I personally think this is a wonderful program. Children keep reading logs of the books they read, for every 20 books they read the child gets to pick out a free book to keep. Upon completion of 100 books you get to pick out a 5th free book, a library tote bag, a butterfly beanie baby, or book light. Personally I hope the kids pick at least one library tote as they come in SOOO handy. (ok off my little mommy soap box).

This years theme is "Catch the Reading Bug." When we arrived at the library they had an ant farm and a butterfly house going. They also have a box with praying mantis eggs growing. As with years past there where games and activities. The kids played the games and made a book mark. The girls had their face painted, Mr. Christopher opted out of facing painting.

Be sure to check your local library to see what need activities they have for the summer. It is worth looking into. After all, your tax dollars pay for the library.

Compliments

I am one of those persons who find accepting of compliments very hard to do. Most of the time it is because I don't feel I deserve the compliments being made to me. Some of the times it is because I can find fault in what I have done, even though others may not see the faults. I know I come by this naturally. I have seen my mother do the same thing.

When is it ok to just accept compliments and when should we reject them? Is there a reason to ever reject a compliment?

For me I have tried my best to say "Thank you" to a person when they give me a compliment, even if I do not believe it is true or deserved. This way I have acknowledged the fact that this person cares and have hopefully given value to the person.

Compliments something that we should all share and receive.

Just a thought.

Celebration at the Station

Sometimes it takes moments likes these to make you realize how wonderful it is and how blessed we really are to live in the United States. Sometimes it is moments like this that cause you to say "Thank you God."

Tonight was the annual "Celebration at the Station." For the past 3 years we have attended as a family. This wonderful event is held in Downtown KC, on the lawn of the Liberty Memorial (The National WWI memorial). The KC Symphony plays patriotic music and the evening ends with fireworks above the memorial.

This year was special because the last living WWI Veteran was in attendance. A KC native who is 107 years old.

Graduation

The end of another school year has come. We formally closed the 2007-2008 school year today. Today Catherine officially graduated from 2nd grade. As with all graduations we begin the evening with the Pledge of Allegiance. We then present the current class, in this case Catherine R. Pierce. We talked about her finally research paper that she wrote in English this year. Her topic she choose was "The Flounder". Catherine read her research paper and did a great job. She was then presented with her certificate for completion of the 2nd grade. This years family cook out was "Kabobs" as requested by the graduate. So we ate dinner, it was yummy. Bri, our neighbor joined us.

Then it was off to celebrate the rest of the evening with Fireworks and music (see next post for details).

CoCo Key

Today was a fun day! You know there are "perks" to home school and this is one of them. Kansas City is opening a new indoor water resort park called CoCo Key. Today was the ribbon cutting ceremony for the water park. About a month ago an email was sent out by the public relations department of CoCo Key asking homeschooling families if they would like to come and experience the water park. This was a chance for the staff to do a final run through as well as media to come and shoot some videos. Well we said "SIGN US UP!" So today my mom joined us and we took the kids.

I have to say the water park is very nice. Not as big as I thought it would be. I know for day passes it is $20 a person so we defiantly got out monies work as the cost for today was FREE! The kids had a good time. We were able to us the park for almost 3 hours, which is more then long enough for Christopher and Anna.

Bread

Today we set out to make bread by hand. In our house we make a loaf of whole wheat bread about every day to every other day. Well today I go to get the bread machine loaded and wouldn't you know it, the pan is leaking the water. So no bread machine for us today. I then said, well we need bread.

So we made bread by hand. You know what, it taste even better then what we get out of the machine.

8 years ago

8 years ago I was in my parents car with butterflies in my stomach.

8 years ago we made a last minute stop to pick up a wedding knife and cake server.

8 years ago we pulled up to the church to see Tony looking up at a tree, turns out he was watching some birds.

8 years ago I met with my college friend in the nursery to get dress.

8 years ago I walked down the aisle of the sanctuary.

8 years ago I looked into Tony's eyes and said I do.

8 years ago I became Mrs. Tony Pierce.

8 years ago I began my life as a wife.

It seems like I have been with Tony my entire life and yet it seems like has not been 8 years. We have been through many ups and downs in life but we have been on the roller coaster ride together. We have 3 beautiful children and a wonderful family. Tonight we will celebrate with our children before we go to open house.

I can only image what the next 8 years is going to hold for us.

The End of Co-Op

Well today was both a happy day and a sad day, for today was the end of co-op for the semester. For the past 10 weeks we have been loading up the van a 11:30 am and heading to Kearney for Co-op. For the past 10 weeks we have been meeting with 90+ other families for a fun learning time. For the past 10 weeks we have build friendships. For the past 10 weeks we have had a great time. We finally have everything down to a routine on Friday's. At the same time it will be nice to not have to do anything on Friday, to not HAVE to be anywhere on Friday. This semester has been our first one with the group and has been a great experience. I have aided in 3 classes and have found that to be an enjoyable time.

This fall I have put in to teach some classes and we shall see what becomes of that. I know for sure I will be teaching the 4 year old core time (2 hours) and I can't wait!

I know you did not make the mess

Today we attended church in Plattsburge, Missouri. Today was Rainbow Sunday so we attend the church home of our Worthy Advisor. The Sermon really made you think. The minster was talking about how even if you did not make the mess you still need to help clean it up. How as a family we need to help each other clean up the messes as we find them. This was one of those light bulb moments for me. It causes to me to think, how many messes do I see around me that I just walk past saying to myself "I did not make the mess" or "it's not my mess." I think too, we are talking about more then physical trash. This makes me think that sometimes those "Messes" are people. How often are we around people who could use some support, some love, a hug, even just a smile to help them? Just a thought.

Dancing the Night Away

Well last night was the DeMolay Knights Youth Ball. This is an annual event for the Masonic Youth in Missouri. Once again this year I took Catherine. She danced the night away.

Knee Update

Well I saw the ortho today. He said the MRI shows no tears in my knee. The only issue I have is fluid on my knee, so he put a shot of cortisone into my knee. The cortisone itself did not hurt but the needle sure did. So that is all we know till I go back on April 18th.

Family is the Key

Home schooling is more the books, reading, and writing. Home schooling is a way of life. It is the only life where you can spend hour together and never get sick of each other. It is the only life in which kids and adults can learn and grow together. It is the only life that can cause you to really see the value in people of all ages. Most of all home school is about FAMILY. Family is number one and the only thing you think about. I find that by home schooling you really get past the "me me me" way of thinking. You thoughts are about your family and what you can do to help them learn and grow in life.

Creepy Book

About a week or so ago I started this new book, "The True Story of the Bilderberg Group." This book gives me the creeps. I have only been able to read about 2 pages at a time then I have to set it down because you are almost shaking. This book causes you to question the universe we live in. Some of the stuff in this book is to creepy to even want to believe. It shows a side government and society the most people do not even have a clue exists.

Knee Update

Well after being prodded by my wonderful friend on YMX and my hubby I made a call last week to see an Orthopedist about my right knee. For over 2 weeks it has been swollen and had these lumps sticking out from it. Well today was the appointment. The Dr is very nice. He took X-rays of the joint and as expected it shows no bone injuries. He said the lumps are fluid build up due to injury. He is thinking I have a meniscus tear in my knee. He scheduled an MRI for Wed. 3/19. Then I go back on Wed. 4/2 for a follow up. So we shall see what the MRI shows. All I know is my knee hurts. It hurts to walk, it hurts to sit, it just hurts 24/7.

Rolla = Ice Cream

Yes Rolla does equal ice cream in my book and the book of several others. Today we made the LONG trip to Rolla. Well what trip to Rolla would not be complete without a stop at Central Dairy in Jefferson City. This little ice cream shop has become a ritual with us to make this stop. This trip included my mom, Crystal, Elizabeth, Joanie, and myself. This time it was about 10 am when we hit our taste of heaven.

The Rolla visit itself was nice. Short and sweet. Since we ended up on the road so early we went to Columbia for dinner and walked the mall for a while.

Road trips are always so much fun!

State Officer's Practice

I survived! That is the first thought that went through my head as we left the lodge room and went to go eat lunch. I have been working like crazy on my part and other then changing a few words (unless you had a ritual you did not know) I nailed it. I was asked questions through the entire process and I feel like I nailed each and every one of them.

One said thing I noticed, was the lack of people. Between illness and other issues we where missing what seems like a ton of people. I think in reality it was 6 people. I hope all those that where unable to be there are doing ok. They are in my prayers.

Oh another neat thing about the day. Following lunch it was time for the reception and my formal looked GOOD! It was big before now it is really big due to my weight loss and toning! I LOVE IT!

The Joys of Co-Op's

This spring my family joined a Home Schooling Co-op. I have to say I feel this has been a great changes for both my children and myself. There are 90+ families in this co-op. One family had 12 children and is expecting #13. So total there are over 200 kids.

Each child has his or her own classes they can pick, 4 classes. Catherine is taking Ballroom Dancing, Art, Music, and Games. Anna is in a 3 year old class. Christopher is in a 2 year old class.

I think this is also very beneficial for myself as well. I have met many wonderful ladies (mostly moms come although you do see some dads). We have talked about everything from schooling to fun.

If you ever have a chance to find a co-op check it out, it might be a perfect fit for your family.

Back in the swing of life

Well the holidays are 99% over for us. We are getting back into the swing of life and our routines. I find mixed feelings with this. I enjoy the holiday season so much, I love the excitement, the smells, the smiles, I love it all......and at the same time I am some what relieved that is it over and we can get back to a sense of normalcy.

For us the Christmas decorations won't come down till January 6th. As we take them down we are going to sing and play Christmas Music, especially "We Three Kings" and "The 12 Days of Christmas". It will be nice to have my house back in "normal" mode and yet I will miss the look of Christmas. Although this year it has not been as much decorations as in years past, just never got time to get it all out (I have tons).

I love the laid back days and not having to worry about "did we get this assignment finish?" mode and yet life seems more peaceful when we are in our routine and doing school.

So today we will stand once again at the Flag of our Country, say the Pledge of Allegiance, bow our heads in prayer and look forward to this new day and what it may bring to our lives.

Bible Study Restarted!

I have always been one of those persons who set out with big goals on new years only to fall short of achieving them. So once again I have set out a goal, only this year I hope to get further with my goal. Last year a group of ladies and I decided to try to do daily Bible reading, with the goal of reading the entire Bible in one year. We lasted a few months. Well some of us our going for round two and trying again.

So todays reading is Genesis 1-3. This is the passage of creation and Adam and Eve being kicked out of the Garden of Eden. I think with all the times I have started my reading goal I could probably recite the entire passage from memory.

This year we noticed something. One lady in the group came up with a point. She wonders why the first 2 chapters are put in the order they are. You have all of creation then the author went back and gave details about day 6 and creating Adam and Eve. So then I pointed out how easy it is to give what we think is the whole story, only to find we need to give more details. So what details in our lives are we over looking?

Happy New Year!!

Well it is now 2008. I pray that everyone is protected and blessed this year.

We had some friends over for the evening. We played Halo 3 (or I tried to) and watched Blazing Saddles. It was a good time.

Catherine wanted to watch the ball drop, so we switched on the TV at 11:30 pm and she got to see it. She was very happy.