Ten years later.

I remember where I was on September 11, 2001. I was 15 and a sophomore in high school, enjoying another day of my first year of high school. My first hour was German, and all was still right with the world at that point. As class came to an end though, rumors began rumbling that something terrible had happened in NYC. In 2001, we didn't have readily-available smartphones like we do now - so the fact that hardly anyone knew of what was going on isn't surprising.

It wasn't until I got to 2nd hour - pre-AP English - that the enormity of the rumblings came to light. Most of the lights were off in the classroom, and my teacher was sitting at her desk, crying. I remember looking up at the TV, watching the coverage on ABC, not quite understanding what was happening. I mean, how do you prepare for something like this happening to one of the greatest country on the planet?

The entire day after my teacher turned off the TV was a blur, to be quite honest. I called my mom to see what was going on with my dad, who was active duty Army at the time. All she knew was that the post he was on was locked down and preparing for an attack, and she wasn't sure when he'd be home. I spent most of the day freaking out.

Sports practices were canceled, so I went home after school and sat in front of the TV, watching coverage. At that point in the day, the dots had been connected - and I found out that the Pentagon had been hit, and a plane meant for the White House had been crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. My dad came home late that night, and I remember meeting him outside and crying, relieved he was OK and not going anywhere.

In the months and years after, this country has changed so much that it's almost unrecognizable. Even after ten years, I still live in fear that we'll be attacked again. Our troops are still overseas, fighting a war that resulted from 9/11. While Osama bin Laden is dead, al Qaeda is still very much alive. Our country's in a recession, the price of gas has gone from not cool to ridiculous, the housing market tanked and is still recovering...it's been a rough ten years.

But, the people of this country refuse to back down and let this defeat us. I owe my life to the men and women who are or have been overseas, fighting to keep this country safe - especially those who lost their lives for the cause. We as a nation are still together, still standing, still living. After such an unspeakable tragedy, it's hard to move on - but we are. I'll never forget that day, never forget those we lost, and always remember.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Adios gallbladder.

I meant to write this post a week or so ago, but it never happened. So, I'm writing it now. :)

On August 15, I evicted my gallbladder. It was time for it to go; it was causing me issues with digesting food, which meant stomach issues, food restrictions etc. I didn't want to live like that the rest of my life - and risk my gallbladder actually going bad and making things a lot worse - so I listened to my body, saw the doc and got it handled.

All this started during Memorial Day weekend. I've always had a pretty iron stomach - I can eat just about anything. If I eat too much, it can make me sick, but whatever. Doesn't happen often. Over Memorial Day weekend, my mom BBQed, and I overindulged a little. This time though, I got pretty sick - like, I missed 1.5 days of work because I was so sick. Fever, stomach issues, nausea...I'd never experienced that before after having a big meal. But, I got over it and shook it off.

The same thing happened two weeks later. And during the 4th of July weekend. And two weeks after that. Every time I ate something particularly fatty, I would get really sick. I knew that wasn't normal, so I dragged my reluctant behind to the doctor. He immediately suspected my gallbladder and had me get an ultrasound to check for stones. That came back clear, so I had a HIDA scan done - a dye was injected into my system to see how fast it would move from my liver to my gallbladder. The dye was going to act like bile and show if I had an issue with the bile moving the way it should, which could explain why I wasn't digesting food properly and getting sick.

The HIDA scan was OK...sitting still for 1.5 hours was hard...but the part where the dye was forced from my liver to my gallbladder sucked. It felt like someone had set my stomach on fire...I'm not sure how I stayed still for the 15 minutes it took for the dye to do its thing. The scan results came back showing I was having issues moving bile from the liver to the gallbladder, so I scheduled surgery to kick it out.

The morning of my surgery was an early one. I was supposed to have surgery at 10am, but it got bumped up to 7am, so I was at the hospital by 6am [basically, I didn't sleep the night before]. I got all checked in, talked to my OR nurse/surgeon/ER nurse/anesthesiologist, then waited an hour until they wheeled me back. The surgery itself only took an hour, but coming out of anesthesia was rough for me. I was very sleepy, very nauseous, and I was in post-op for three hours while I struggled to shake it off. I pretty much slept the next 1.5 days away.

The surgery involved using tools in four incision points to remove my gallbladder. This is what it looked like the day after surgery:

The fourth incision was right above my belly button. Those four incision points hurt up until last week. And I mean, HURT. It was hard to sneeze, hard to laugh, hard to breathe...I tend to not take pain meds because I don't like the way they make me feel, but I took Lortab for two days to help curb the pain. It wound up making me feel very nauseous though, so I stopped taking it and sucked it up through my trip to Vegas. Oh, I should mention I had surgery on August 15 and flew to Vegas August 18...I will NEVER do that again. But anyway.

Now that I'm 2.5 weeks post-op, I feel SO much better. The incisions don't hurt, the sites are healing well, I shouldn't have a ton of scarring, and I can eat whatever I want now. I do watch how much fat I eat - if I eat too much of it [like bacon], it makes me nauseous - but it's nice to not have to worry whether what I eat will set it off and keep me in bed all day. I thought recovery would take much longer, and to be quite honest, if I wasn't in the mindset of "I have to feel better now, I'm flying to Vegas this week," recovery might've taken longer. But, it only took about a week tops for me to feel just about back to normal, which isn't bad.

The good thing about all this though:

J came home to visit! He was granted leave to come help me out for a week while I fully recovered, and it was so awesome to have him here. It's the longest we've spent together since he joined the Air Force last year, and it's the first time he's seen JJ since he moved in November. I miss him already but am grateful he was here for a few days.

Happy College Football Season!

I find myself thinking this more and more the older I get: where the crap has the year gone?! Are we seriously in September already?! Not that I'm complaining...between the ridiculous heat and my general distaste for summer [and my general LOVE of fall], I'm ready for it to be September. Maybe it will bring temps in the - gasp - 90s. Ya know, temps that we were supposed to see all summer instead of this 113 degrees ish.

Anyway, so it's September. Which means one thing y'all:

IT'S COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON BABY!!!!!!!!!

Yes. I'm THAT excited about it that it warranted all caps. Ever since the national championship game way back in January, my life has felt a little empty without college ball. I miss Saturdays camped out in front of the TV [or at Boone Pickens Stadium, if there's a home game], watching games, seeing Lee Corso put the mascot head on during College Gameday, wearing orange around my crimson-dominant hometown...it just hasn't been the same. But, starting today and all the way through January 2012, college football will be back in my life. I'm so, so, so excited. First home game is on Saturday, and I'm totally ready for it. I've got my outfit picked out, our tickets ready to go...just waiting for game time. :)

But I digress. How was August, you might ask? August was rough - which is why I really didn't blog that much. Between evicting my gallbladder, a car repair every week [literally], having way too much fun in Vegas and school starting, the last 16 days of the month were crazy. Add in a sick kid and hurt back - both happened yesterday - and the month got even crazier. I'm almost positive I pulled a muscle in my back...it hurts like a mug, lemme tell ya. I'll be using heat patches and walking like I need a walker for days, I'm sure.

And don't even get me started on my car. Suspension system was replaced in July...in August, I needed a new A/C compressor [that's finally being replaced this weekend], new transmission pan/gasket [replaced last week], oil change [done last week, 1K miles overdue], I still need to get a safety switch removed since I can't get my car to move out of park since said switch is stuck, and I'm praying there isn't anything else that needs to be done since I hit a speed bump too hard yesterday [I'm still mad about that]. Dropped a good $400 on repairs last month alone, which is ridiculous. My car's nine years old, I've had it for five, and I'm thinking a trade is in the future. Sigh.

But anyway. I'm banking on September being a much better month. Especially since college football is back. So here's to you, college football - I missed you. A lot. Thank you for coming back.

And uh - GO POKES!!!

Dear summer: bite me.

Ever since I was little, I wasn't a fan of summer. Sure, summer means vacations, three months of no school work, the warmest months of the year...but for me, it also usually meant boredom. And I hate being bored - it makes me restless and cranky.

That's why, when I got to college, I either worked or went to summer school...because I didn't want to sit at home bored for three months and lose brain power. I haven't had a full summer off since the summer after my senior year of high school, so transitioning from the school year to the summer is pretty much non-existent for me...it's all just working days. Which, of course, I don't mind - it's all part of being a grown up.

But this summer...holy moly this summer. I am not a fan, at all - and I blame the blasted heat. I'm not sure if this will go down as the hottest summer on record, but it's damn sure gonna come close. Example:

This was the temp when I got back to Lawton on June 17. And the forecasted highs of 99, 92 and 93? All those days, it went above 100. Lawton hasn't seen a temp below 75 since like, June 23. It's just about the same story in Stillwater - last week, we hit 113 for a high [before you factored in the heat index]. WTF mate. I mean, we are in Oklahoma...we expect for it to get hot during June, July and August. But this year has absolutely taken the cake, and not in a good way. We had this crazy storm blow through last night that knocked out power for 7+ hours, and Stillwater got some rain over the weekend, but that's the first real taste of rain we've had in weeks.

With it being this hot, outdoor activity is very, very limited. JJ's daycare quit letting them go outside back in June, when the temperatures really started to stay above 100 consistently. The last time he and I played outside after work was the day before I took the above pictures, June 16 - I think the temps had dropped back into the '90s after I got off work, so I let him play at the park for 20 minutes before it got too hot.

Isn't he adorable? Anyway, I know there are all these weather reasons why it's so hot and dry, but the bottom line is, it's TOO hot and dry this summer. Which means we'll probably have an unusually warm and dry winter, which will provide little relief for this blasted drought we're in. This year, more than ever, I'm ready for fall. Even if fall means the leaves will all be gone by the beginning of October and we have to wait until Halloween for the temperatures to drop below 90 degrees, that's fine. I'll take that right now compared to this 110+ degree crap we've been putting up with for weeks on end. I just want to be able to go for a run outside. Or take JJ out at 1pm on a Saturday without fear of sweating off 10 pounds while we wait for the car to cool down [or burn away on my leather seats].

So, dear summer, I will be more than happy to say Bye, Bye, Bye to this summer and hellooooo to fall. And these bad boys that will be taking the field starting September 3.

So long, gall bladder.

I've had a pretty clean bill of health my entire life. I've only been to the ER three times [once because I was in a car accident and had this huge bump on my head; the other two times were due to overnight issues when a doctor wasn't readily available], had asthma that I grew out of, and I've had one surgery [left knee, unless you count getting all four wisdom teeth pulled...then i've had two]. Even my pregnancy was pretty uneventful, except for the high blood pressure at the end that kept me pregnant for only 39w5d instead of 40+ weeks. I've been very fortunate, and I still am.

But lately, I've been having issues with my lovely, lovely tummy. It started during Memorial Day weekend, when I got sick after eating our yearly family BBQ. When that same sickness occurred three times in five weeks - and none of the people that were eating the same foods were getting sick - I knew something was up. It took some coaxing from my parents [i hate going to the doctor], but I finally saw my family physician. Besides my pregnancy check-ups, this was the first time I'd gone to the doctor since sophomore year of college - and that was five years ago. Don't give me that look - I already established I hate going to the doctor. :)

Anyway, he said it sounded like my gall bladder was going bad, so a series of tests were done. The ultrasound came up negative, but the HIDA scan - which sucked big monkey toes towards the end - came back abnormal. So, I get to see a general surgeon tomorrow to schedule a time to get it removed. At this point, I'm just ready for it to be taken out. The upside to this whole thing is that it's forced me to eat healthier because I'm afraid that foods with too much fat will make me sick - so I've cut down on the fatty foods and even on sugar and soda. I've had at least 28 oz. of water every day the past few days [without adding any artificial flavoring, which is a surprise for me], and I've been watching my portions as well. But, the area where my gall bladder is hurts, and I've started getting tummy aches after every meal. I'm hoping removing the thing will help alleviate all my issues and get me back to feeling normal again.

On another upside, this will hopefully all be resolved before the big Vegas trip in two weeks. Hopefully, I can eat, drink and be merry while I'm out there without having to worry about getting sick afterwards. From what I understand, this surgery can be done with minimal cutting and sewing, which is nice, and I won't have any dietary restriction once the procedure is done. I still plan on watching what I eat though - I've started to feel much better after cutting out the crap and going with the good.

Adios gall bladder. It's been a good 25 years, but I think it's time to we part.

When did I become THAT person?

You know, the one who loves coupons? Now, disclaimer: I am NOT an extreme couponer, by any means. I don't have some $5,000 stockpile that needs to be insured stashed in the extra spaces of my apartment. If I see a deal, I go for it, but ONLY if I need it. Example:

Yesterday, I went to Walgreens. I love that store - I get a ton of my deals from there. Yesterday, they had toilet paper on sale...and, I'm about out, so I went for it:

Kleenex Cottonelle 12-pack = $5; buy 2, get $3.50 back in RR [Register Rewards]
Use $1/1 from August Walgreens coupon book [some say their store rang it twice; mine only did once]
Use 2 $.75/1 12-pack coupon

So, to break it down...
2 12-packs x $5 = $10
minus $1/1 from Wags book
minus 2 $.75/1 coupon
Pay $7.50 OOP; get $3.50 in RR = like paying $4 OOP for 24 rolls of toilet paper [less than $.17/roll]

Come on now - $4 for 24 rolls of toilet paper? Where will you find a deal like that? I'm lucky if I can find an 8-pack of toilet paper for less than $6 at most places. So, I'm happy, my wallet's happy, and I'll be swimming in toilet paper for probably the rest of the year.

And don't even get me started on my favorite shampoo and conditioner, Pantene:

Normally $4.99 each, on sale 2/$7
Used $3/2 coupon that expired yesterday
Get $2 RR
Pay $4 OOP, get $2 in RR = like paying $2 out of pocket for two bottles of Pantene [$1 each!]

I tend to do this deal every 3-4 months, so I think I'm stocked up on Pantene for the rest of the year, too. Same for razors, toothbrushes, paper towels, dish soap, deodorant, Cascade Complete gel packs, yogurt...

OK. So maybe I have a liiiiiiiiiiittle bit of a stockpile going. But trust me, I will use all of this stuff or donate it. I don't go crazy and buy 50 things of floss so I can use the overage on things I need that aren't cheap after coupons [like milk - have you seen the price of a gallon of milk?! more than $4 at walmart! - eggs, and meat], but using coupons and taking advantages of deals like this has saved me money on my grocery bill. I'm a much more careful shopper now...which means I can spend an hour or two in Walmart or the Commissary, but I come out saving at least 30% using coupons every single time. And that's just with coupons - doesn't include the savings I get from the sales that I get on the items I buy. At Wags, I can usually walk out saving 60-70 percent after sales, coupons and RR.

I, unfortunately, do not live in a town where doubling coupons is beneficial. Two grocery stores will double, but it's still cheaper for me to shop at Walmart or Wags and take advantages of deals and overage there. I typically buy a lot of my stuff there, but my meat and milk come from the Commissary since they're way cheaper [especially during sales].

Gah. I'm such a nerd.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, I wasn't like this. I'd walk into Walmart, buy what I wanted and just move on. But now that I'm realizing the value of coupons [and follow a lot of FB and Twitter pages that naturally break this stuff down for me], it's stupid NOT to take advantage. I'm pretty sure the husband thinks I'm insane, but every time I tell him how much I save, he's impressed. I wish I could do his shopping for him...he and I aren't on the same page with coupons, and he just gets whatever, no matter the cost...

But I digress. Couponing is easy if you use the resources that are out there and take advantage of sales. I'm sure once I move to a bigger town that has more stores than just Wags and Walmart [i dream of the day i'm near a cvs, rite aid, target and kroger], my couponing will become a little more intense; but for now, I think I'm doing pretty good. Make fun of me all you want, but I'll say it again: $4 for 24 rolls of toilet paper. You can't beat that.

Blanket full of memories.

I've been collecting t-shirts for years now. Most of my shirts pre-high school are donated or long gone, but most shirts I've acquired since 2001 are still in my possession. I wasn't sure what I'd do with them, but I'd been mulling the idea of a t-shirt blanket for years now. I just never got around to finding a company that could do it [and don't even mention the idea of me doing it myself - i'll laugh so hard, milk will shoot out my nose].

One day in May 2010 though, I was on Groupon and found Campus Quilt, a company that does just what I was looking for. I bought two Groupons and, true to my procrastinator form, didn't use them for almost a year. The day they were set to expire, I finally ordered my kit and got down to business.

With Campus Quilt, it's simple: they send you a kit; you decide what kind of quilt you want and if you want any extras with it; you pick out your shirts and put stickers on them to indicate which shirts/sides you want on your quilt; package it all up; drop it off at UPS; and impatiently wait for the finished product. It took a month for me to get the shirts all picked and washed, and about 3 weeks for the shirts to be turned into a quilt and sent back to me. But let me tell you, I'm in love.

They did such an amazing job - I mean, look at it! I ordered a stadium quilt and used 15 shirts for 16 squares. This blanket covers a good like, seven or eight years of my life. The first square? Senior Week shirt. The one underneath it? Shirt from my junior year volleyball team, when we made it out of area to regionals. A majority of the shirts are from my college years [the Stout Spring preview shirt was so special to me, i had both the front AND back featured on the quilt], and I even included a shirt from my sister's campus and my love of my OKC Thunder.

This quilt is more than just shirts though. This quilt represents a big part of my life, especially my college years. Each shirt holds a special meaning to me, and each shirt carries its own set of memories that are near and dear to my heart. Years from now, I look forward to sharing this with my kids and sharing the stories of these shirts. I plan on getting at least one more t-shirt quilt made, and I'll probably have one made for each of my kiddos [how ever many kiddos come after JJ] as graduation presents. JJ may already have claim on this one though.

So thanks, Campus Quilt, for doing such an amazing job preserving memories that are the most precious things I have made out of cotton [and combinations of other materials with cotton]. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but this definitely beat my expectations. It definitely brought a smile to my face.