Blogging by Dee

We're FINALLY getting over this nasty flu and feeling better. I actually drove today and took both Aubrey and Micah to the store while Pieter was at school. Yay! I still feel ok too. :) I did take an Ultram this morning but doing ok on that. Here are some latest pieces, 2 customs and one to stock.

Pieter is better but Aubrey, Micah and I have influenza. Coughing, fevers, body aches, fatigue, runny noses. And Micah has been throwing up. We're all weak and exhausted. Just praying Pete doesn't get sick because he has been doing a great job of caring for us!

Yippee, hooray, YES! The bone growth inside my titanium rods looks AWESOME, exactly as it should. I get to continue weaning out my brace and strengthening my back muscles by doing so. We will not start PT as that could actually make me backslide a bit he said, but I can swim and walk and do a treadmill or elliptical machine. So we are looking into getting a YMCA membership. I am down to 1 Vicodin a day and as soon as I use those up we are going to try Ultram. I have tried to go med-free a few days and every time I seem to be in quite a bit of pain, but 1 Vicodin is doing it for me so that is good. We'll see how the Ultram goes and go from there. He was surprised how much arthritis I have in my SI joints (think the joint inside each buttock) and I am having more pain in those areas than in my disc area (woo hoo!) I never knew you could see arthritis on Xrays and MRIs but it showed right up he said. Anyway, great news! I have my next appt on May 19 which will be 6 months po...

We finally got a date night and went out on Saturday to Kobe Japanese Steakhouse. It was entertainment and food in one, and I highly recommend it :) http://www.kobesteakhouse.com/ It was a bit different to sit at a table with 8 other people we did not know, but the food and atmosphere were otherwise enjoyable.

Pete took him to the pediatrician for the results of his bladder and kidney ultrasound today. They also did another urinalysis and the urinary tract infection is still all better (which is great!) Unfortunately the ultrasound showed an enlargement near the right kidney and blockage there. The pediatrician is unsure exactly what that means or what to do about it, so we have been referred to a pediatric urologist. They are pretty hard to get into and the first opening was April 2. So obviously he is not in immediate danger or anything. We'll make sure to let you know when we know more.

I really like it!

It was a long day for Micah who fell asleep on the couch at 5... uh oh! And Pete shaved his 2 weeks of a beard into a goatee because I asked him to. But I am sure he'll shave it back clean tomorrow. He doesn't like it.

The kiddos LOVE their football shirts. So thoughtful of you! They like to play it in the house tho... Anything you can do about that? ha ha ha

I am pretty proud of it and have to decide whether to keep it or sell it :)

But thanks to an insane amount of snow we have been getting lately as well as below zero temps, my doctor appt today was postponed until next Wed, Feb 20. Which will interestingly enough, be just a few days after the 1 year anniversary of my hurting my back shoveling snow. Oh the irony! But here is the good news... I told the nurse on the phone point blank, "darn Ang, I was hoping to hear I could stop wearing this brace." She said, "well maybe you can , let me check your chart." She's a NP, so she can make SOME calls for me, which is nice. She said I could start weaning down on the brace, have it off 1-2 hours today and see how I do, same tomorrow, then the next two days 3-4 hours off etc. Then report to the dr next Wed at my appt how that is going/went. So not horrible news even though I don't get to go see my back xray and know for sure. Hey, it's possible I could even have to wear it 3 more months, but at least for today I get it off for 1-2 h...

We had plans to go out this afternoon and evening and just spend time the two of us. But our babysitter called last minute and said she was worried about the snow that was coming (a whole 2 inches!) and canceled. Guess what? It is 6pm and not a flake has fallen. I am so sad! I just wanted to do something special for our anniversary. 10 years is huge! Our friends went to Mexico. I am so bummed.

So the 5 of you, or so, who read my blog know by now that I don't sit and write long, drawn-out posts of my life. You just get short snippets and lots of photos. Hope that's ok! Yesterday was the 10 year anniversary of Peter and I getting married. Wow! NOW I feel old... Photos of then and now:

Previewing things to come :)

Some photos of my newly-converted "beading room" which used to be our guest room, as my family can tell :)

I am sure the biggest part of it is that Micah woke up at 5am, asking for socks... But *yawn* I am sooooo grumpy today! And that alone is depressing me. Add that I have 5 orders to work on, Pieter's hard drive crashed :( and it's only 13 months old, and I didn't take any pain meds this morning = not a good combination! Just one week from tomorrow is my 3 month post op checkup, when they really would love me to be off all meds. But I am hurting still and taking it once a day in the morning. Around about 4-5pm I definitely hurt enough to take it again but push through the pain counting the hours down until bedtime. Ahhhhhhhhhhh! Is it bedtime yet? Ugh, no it is only 3pm. So there is my whine for today! enjoy...

I spent a lot of last evening making jewelry for some custom orders :) I have enjoyed journaling on here what I make, as I make it, so here are a few of the items :)