Happy New Year!

As you all know, it feels like the Furedy Family has faced a mountain of challenges during 2009... and we are ALL looking forward to the year 2010.


We spent New Year's Eve together as a family... and here is what everyone had to say about their resolutions:

Julia has resolved to keep her room cleaner, to put her boundless energy to use, and to be nice to other people. (She KNOWS what she needs to do... it's just that the emotions of being NINE, yes NINE, tend to get in the way).


Colin has resolved to put away the toy he is done playing with before he digs out the next toy he wants to play with. (I love this boy, and I know his resolution comes directly from words that come out of my mouth at least once daily... but... yeah... there is no hope for this one!)
Joe has resolved to get into shape so he can go back to canyoneering... and to not end up in the hospital even once in 2010. As he says, it's the simple things in life! (And my heart so desires this for him... just for his life to go back to 'normal'. I think it will be very hard for me to NOT support a LOT of canyoneering trips this year).

My resolutions are not as simple... and I know I will have to work on them EACH and EVERY day (and please, my blog and FB friends... feel free to remind me of them when I slip)....


To appreciate my husband and my children for the people that they are and the people that they are becoming (even if that doesn't match with my perfect ideal... and I'll note that this starts with this Blog post where I am actually posting the photo of my son with no shirt on, despite the fact that I hate to admit that he sleeps in just jammie pants EVERY NIGHT- if we are lucky)

To enjoy more and fret less, to play more and plan less, to relax more and stress less... to more or less live life to it's fullest each and every day.

Here's to a wonderful 2010 for all of you... may you have health and happiness in the new year!
Love to you all-
The Furedy Family!


PS On another note, this was the first year that BOTH of my kids made it till midnight... we really are entering another chapter of parenthood!! :)

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

Yeah! Good news!

Joe went in at 5 a.m. this morning so that the doctors could take a 'peek' at the vein that previously held his clot to determine what, if anything, they needed to do in order to return him to full health.

He went into surgery around 7:40 a.m. and the doctor came to talk to me around 8:30 a.m. Dr. Seigrist said that the vein looked good- that there was still some small narrowing at the spot where the vein was compressed, but that overall it looked 100% better than it did when they removed the rib.

So... I asked the all important question at this point... when can he canyoneer again? Doctor says as soon as he physically feels up to it. No more drugs, no more procedures... and his doctor very nicely told me that he hopes to never see Joe or I again. :)

This is excellent, excellent news and we are both so relieved... the last three months have been a real rollercoaster ride, and hopefully our car has pulled back into the loading dock so that we can get off and WALK into 2010.

Thanks for all your positive thoughts and prayers. We are SO blessed. Happy New Year!!

C

Twas the Night Before Surgery (Again....)

Well, here we are again... on the eve of another surgery. Joe goes in at 5 a.m. to Good Sam. for yet another procedure. They will use interventional radiology to determine if any repair is needed in the vein that held the clot.

If all goes well... this will be the end of our journey as it relates to Joe's rib. :)

Our greatest hope is that they will see a plump and healthy vein with minimal scar tissue... fingers are crossed! If this is the case, he will be off the coumadin and heading back towards his 'normal' life.

Just wanted to say thank you again to all of you who have supported us through this entire journey. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers (again!) tomorrow. If all goes well it should be a short procedure and Joe should be home by tomorrow afternoon.

On other health fronts... I am healing well and making good progress on returning to my usual self. I get tired very easily, but I can walk short distances, and can sit up for a few hours at a time... life is slowly returning to normal. Julia seems to be fully recovered from her illness... so in general the Furedy household is on the MEND!

Good night all. Talk to you soon!
C

Merry Christmas Everyone!

"Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.

Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!"
-the Grinch

From our house to yours-

May you have a wonderful

& memorable Christmas.

May the joy and wonder of childhood

touch and warm your hearts.

Our love to you all!

The Furedy Fam

Virtual Christmas Tour 2009

**Warning- very long and picture filled post**

I regularly read the blog, "The Shown Family", written by Shelly Shown. She created a 'virtual' Christmas tour of her favorite Christmas decorations this year, and encouraged those of us who read her blog to do the same. Here's my attempt at giving you a tour of the Furedy home at Christmas time. I did NOT take photos of all of our Christmas decorations. None of you have the time or patience for that experience! I would also like you to note that we are not a fancy 'decor' type family... so our decorations don't all match and aren't fancy. They are things that we have collected over the years- things that are special and have special meaning to us.

Here is the main tree in the living room. (yes, I will admit, this is on one of the 3 Christmas trees in our house...) We've had an artificial tree for the last ten years or so... turns out that I am allergic to Christmas trees... so the artificial is our only choice. We got this tree last year- it is a 9 and a half footer... and Joe is NOT happy every time that it has to come in or out of the attic. But I LOVE this tree. It is one of my FAVORITE things. The ornaments are ecelctic.. things that we have collected or made over the years.

Below is the "Kids Tree". This tree came into being about four years ago. The kids ornament collection was growing quickly, and they wanted something that was all their own. This tree is ugly. It came from Big Lots and it is really sparse. But, the kids love it. They love to decorate it. They love that it is in their play area. We keep the advent stories under this tree- we read up in the loft every night by this tree.

I didn't take a lot of photos of the outside lights. We didn't do a lot outside this year (we've had a few challenges in getting our outside chores done... can't imagine why!) but I did want to share these lights that the kids put up in the back yard. This is the first year we've done any lights in the backyard- these are on the kids playstructure.. Our house faces an open lot behind us, and can be seen from Baseline Road.

I really like candles during the holidays. This is one of my favorite ones. I bought it several years ago at the Decor Store. I fell in love with it that day... and I still love it. I actually leave this one out on a shelf year round, but it lives on the dining room table during the Christmas season. This will be the centerpiece for our very special Christmas Eve dinner.
Below are my lebkuchen tins. Lebkuchen are German cookies served at the holidays. These are a throwback to my childhood. I was born in Germany and my parents brought back a lot of German traditions when we moved back to the States. I have ALWAYS loved these tins. My parents bought me the two little tins- and the big tin was a gift from someone at work who was going to get rid of it and asked me if I would like to have it. She had no idea what it meant to me!

This is one of my newest decorations. This is another German decoration. My parents have something similar to this that they got while they were in Germany. You light the candles at the bottom and the rising hot air makes the center portion turn. The kids were amazed by this when we showed them how it worked. I found this decoration at Tuesday Morning. It was WAY more expensive than anything tht I would normally buy... but again, it just brought back a flood of childhood memories... and I just HAD to have it!

Below is a sign that hangs in our house year round... along with the beautiful poinsetta that Colin bought for me. He told Joe that he really wanted to buy me a poinsetta... and Joe took him to get it. I just love how beautiful and lush it looks- and the fact that my two favorite men bought it for me makes it even more special.

Next are the Christmas card displays. I send/ receive a lot of cards- truthfully it is one of my favorite parts of Christmas, and so I need more than one spot to display them. My mom made the snowman- isn't he cute? Normally I take a lot of time arranging the cards- but this year honestly- I've pretty much just plopped them in the holders.
This wreath is another new addition to the decorations this year. I made this Thanksgiving night. I got all the supplies 50% off at Hobby Lobby and put it all together. These are the first LED lights that we've purchased, and I have to admit that I really like them. I wish the bow at the top was better lit.. I am very proud of that bow! This hangs in the entry way of our home.
Here's the Christmas village. I have pretty much given over the arrangement of this part of the decorations to Julia and Colin. Thus, it is pretty cluttered! They love it though... and it looks different pretty much every day...

This shows what we do to the stair railings... this goes all the way up the stairs and also around the loft (you could see some of this in the Kid's Tree photo). I have done the lighted garland and the bows since we lived in our first house... this is typically one of the first decorations that I put out each year.

Are you sick of listening to all of this yet? Just want to share one last thing. This is probably one of my favorite decorations- the gum drop tree. One of my favorite childhood Christmas memories was doing the gum drop tree. And now, the kids and I do it each year together... and I know that it is becoming one of their favorite memories too... I know some people may think that I am NUTS for all of these decorations. I know Joe thinks I am crazy every year when he starts getting the boxes out of the attic. I really do enjoy looking at all of these things during the month of December. I think you can probably tell that from the length of this post- picking just a few favorite decorations proved impossible for me! I love being reminded of my childhood. And I know that I am creating those same types of positive memories for my own children. I am creating right now the things that will bring smiles to their hearts when I am gone and all they have are memories.

Alright, this post has gone on LONG ENOUGH. Have a wonderful night all....

C

Home... Colin's birthday and Pneumonia

So... looks like blog writing wasn't high on the priority list for Joe... I think I can totally understand!

Surgery went very well! I was in by 3 p.m. and out by 4:30. It was so fast Joe missed the doctor coming out because he had gone to get a soda! Dr. felt that everything went very well and thinks that I will have an excellent outcome. I spent quite awhile in recovery (and they wouldn't let Joe back to see me, which was somewhat upsetting I think) due to my asthma and just some struggles coming out of the anesthesia. I don't remember much about that evening. I was in quite a bit of pain and on a lot of meds... so I was really in and out for most of the night. Grandma Paulette was wonderful and spent the afternoon and evening with our kiddos so Joe could stay with me until I was a little more settled. Joe went home around midnight....

I know some of you really appreciated my post about wearing Joe's ring... he posted this photo on Twitter during my surgery... he's got my wedding ring and my hair rubber band. As he said, thank goodness he didn't need to wear them nearly as long as I wore his....
Around 1:30 a.m. I was laying in the bed thinking about 7 years ago, at that exact time and location I was meeting my beautiful son for the very first time... how odd to be in the same place on the same day 7 years later!

Around 4:30 a.m. on the 16th, they got me up for a walk and I started feeling a little better. By 2 p.m. I was home... so glad to make it home in time to celebrate Mr. Colin's birthday with him. He had an AWESOME birthday- the XBox 360 was a FANTASTIC surprise AND has been a life saver during the past few days when he was the ONLY one in the house who felt like playing. Here he is with his 'big surprise'... not that he was excited or anything!

The 17th was a bit of a challenge- slept through my pain pill during the night of the 16th and so I was really struggling- but a day of rest, pain pills and lots of comfort from Joe made things much better.

Julia started feeling poorly on the night of the 17th- the 18th had her and I resting on Nana's couches... and a trip to the doctor confirmed that she had a sinus infection and borderline pneumonia. Joe made yet ANOTHER run to the drug store... check out our current medication counter!! We could be running a pharmacy over here!!

That brings us to today... I feel good enough to sit up for about an hour at a time and can sit reclined for much longer than that. Riding in the car is still a challenge- so I'm not going far from home these days! I've managed a couple of showers and I've started cutting down to just ibuprofen for pain meds, so all in all, I think things are going well.

We are glad that school is over and we can just spend more time 'hanging out' during the next week or so... getting ready to celebrate Christmas!

Thanks to everyone for your support, love, prayer and positive thoughts over the last few days... you have no IDEA what it has meant to us. We are so lucky and blessed to have such wonderful family and friends around us supporting us. We appreciate you more than you could ever know!

:) C

Twas the Night Before Surgery

Twas the night before surgery and all through the house, not a creature was stirring.... not even the RATS!

Just wanted to keep everyone updated on the 'plan' for my surgery tomorrow.... I have to be at the hospital at 1 p.m. Surgery is scheduled for 3 p.m.- but odds are it will probably take place later..... Doctor says the surgery is 1.5 to 2 hours long if everything goes as planned.

I will hopefully be home on Wednesday in the late afternoon... my fingers are crossed that I get to come home in enough time to celebrate Mr. Colin's 7th birthday with him!!

Joe will be 'guest writing' this blog for a few days until I am back on my feet and ready to resume my writing duties. Check back here tomorrow evening for an update! :)

Have a wonderful week everyone!
C

Julia's Birthday

I promised awhile ago that I would post some pictures of Miss Julia's fabulous 9th birthday... so here we go (just a couple of weeks later!).

Julia, as per usual, had SEVERAL birthday celebrations. We started on November 21st with a big friend party at Gold Medal Swim School. At our house, you only get a friend party every other year. (What can I say? I have two kids with birthdays between Thanksgiving and Christmas.. not the easiest part of the year in terms of time OR finances to have TWO birthday parties). Anyway, it was Julia's year this year... and she thought it would be A LOT of fun to be able to swim in late November. She invited a lot of friends... a nice mix of boys and girls (another reason why swimming made a lot of sense)... and the party was tons of fun! Here's the whole crowd after swimming and before they got a chance to enjoy their pizza and cake! :)The birthday celebration continued at home on November 23rd- her actual birthday! I cooked her requested birthday dinner... twisty noodles, raw veggies, garlic rolls and clementines. Except for the lack of protein- a pretty balanced dinner! She got to open the present from her Poohbah and Grandma Sherry which had come in the mail, as well as her present from her brother. (No wrapped present from Mommy and Daddy- our present was the 'redo' of her room to a big girl room.. that's another post!) She had ice cream for dessert... no cake since we'd just had cake at the swim party. Here she is on her birthday with the special plate!!The celebration just kept rolling.... Thanksgiving Day she got to celebrate with Nana, Papa and Uncle Andrew. We added cake to the traditional Thanksgiving Day pie... Nana bought her these AWESOME candles- and she had a turkey on her cake. This kid really DOES love the fact that she was born on Thanksgiving Day.
The final birthday celebration (I know, seriously, are we done yet?) took place the day after Thanksgiving. We headed to Papago Park with Grandma Paulette, Grandpa Steve, GG, Uncle Mike & Aunt Vanessa (and baby Cora was along for the ride too), Aunt Bic & Uncle Eric, Uncle Jason & Aunt Paige, and Asher & Gundry for a cookout, a hike and a generally good hang out day. It was lots of fun. Julia really enjoyed the stream and caught tons of snails and clams and other smelly stuff. We also walked up to Hole in the Rock- which Julia absolutely loves.We started the celebration of Colin's birthday on this day too... but seriously... that's another post!
Have a good one everybody...
C

Heritage Doll Projects

So... my kids' homework this week was to create a 'heritage' doll that showed the heritage of their family. Julia has had to create a doll before, but now that Colin is in First grade, he had to do one too. Third grade brought the addition of a 'report' for Miss Julia.

We always look to Joe's side of the family for this one, because his great-grandfather (Frank) immigrated from Hungary and his great-grandmother (Julia) immigrated from Poland. We usually go with the Hungarian side of things as this is where the name Furedy (Füredi) comes from. Most of the Hungarian traditions within his family have fallen to the wayside- mostly because of his great-grandfather Frank who wanted all of his children to speak English without an accent and to become Americanized.

We had lots of family help with this project (how perfect is that?)! Nana provided all of the fabric and trimming materials that we would need, and Great Uncle Clifton provided all of the family research and details for Julia to use in her report. To both of you... thanks so much! Julia enjoyed this project more than almost anything else that she has done for school so far this year. She really enjoyed reading about her ancestors- especially her Great-Great Grandmother for whom she is named.

Here's the final product... pretty good I think!Night everyone..
C

Santa and the Tooth Fairy?

So I am VERY behind on posting... I want to put up some pictures of all of Julia's birthday celebrations and Thanksgiving... I will get to it soon, I promise!

But in the meantime.... today is the first of December!

December 1st is always a special day in the Furedy household because it is the day that we start our Advent countdown. These traditions started the year that Julia turned one... and we've enjoyed them every year since! We count down each night with a chocolate Advent calendar AND a Christmas story book. Nana and Papa have provided the chocolate Advent calendars each year. Normally, I would not be a fan of giving my children chocolate right before bed each night, but during the Christmas season we tend to overlook stuff like that.

As for the Christmas story books... over the years I have collected a TON of holiday books (from my teaching years and from my addiction to picture books!). Each Christmas I pick out 24 of my favorites (and now the kids' favorites) and wrap them. Starting on December 1st, each night the kids pick a package to unwrap and read. This is a great way to have a LOT of excitement around reading- and now that the kids are older, it is a fun way to revisit stories that we have read over and over again. (I cannot claim credit for this idea... my dear friend Natalia Rojas did this with her children when they were young.)

So... December 1st... tons of fun and excitement! Colin is REALLY into all of this right now and he was SO excited to start the Advent calendars this year. Sometimes I question why I make myself so nuts trying to keep up with all of the holiday traditions- go to all of the effort- and then I see my little man's face and it is all perfectly clear.

Anyway, thought I would end this post with a little story about Mr. Colin. He told me this the other day.

"Mom, did you know that the Tooth Fairy and Santa work together?"
"No Colin, I didn't know that. What do you mean, they work together?"
"Well, you see, when you lose a tooth, the Tooth Fairy comes into your room to get the tooth right? And while the Tooth Fairy is there, she looks all around and sees what toys you already have. Then she goes to the North Pole and tells Santa what you already have and what you like. So then Santa knows what to bring you!"

Gotta love this kid!!!
Happy December 1st everyone!
:) C

Julia Corrinne

Today, my oldest child, my beautiful daughter turned 9 years old... seems like there is no possible way that she is nine already... seems like just yesterday...

Julia's story really begins during Christmas of 1999. Joe and I had decided to take a trip that year and we headed off to Magic Mountain and Disneyland the week before Christmas. It was a great trip- we had so much fun- and really just enjoyed each other's company. We spent a lot of time talking about what the future was going to hold for us. We came home on December 23rd- just in time for all the Christmas festivities. On Christmas Eve, Joe gave me my present. He told me that he thought he was ready to 'start trying' for the baby that I so desperately wanted.

Needless to say I was over the MOON with excitement... I couldn't wait to go to my mom's house the next morning and tell her that we were ready to start trying!!!

It took a few months, but the green beer must have done it, because based on all calcuations, Julia was conceived on St. Patrick's Day! The due date was December 7th... I just couldn't wait. I was on the internet NIGHT and DAY talking to other pregnant moms, checking websites, and reading all that I could. Morning sickness was a huge challenge... I'll never forget the day I threw up all over myself in the car on the way home from work (it was like 115 degrees outside- not good!). The pregnancy was going along fairly well until I started having contractions- at 32 weeks. Since it was still a little early and Baby JC (we had decided not to find out the gender) wasn't quite cooked, I went on bedrest to try to keep him/her in for just a little while longer. Nana and Grandma Paulette stepped in to help out and keep life going. Everybody from work sent food and good wishes! About this time, we also discovered that the cord was wrapped around Julia's neck. This meant extra testing, extra monitoring, and extra concern. But we hung in there, knowing that the prize would soon arrive! I had two wonderful showers- one with folks from work and one with family. We got all of the the things that we would need (plus some!).

The doctor took me off of all of the drugs I had been taking to stop my labor on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving- telling me that the baby would be safe to arrive now- but not to expect anything to happen right away....

I woke up early on Thanksgiving morning and was having contractions. I moved downstairs to the couch and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and *thought* about waking Joe up- but eventually the contractions went away. Later that day we stopped by my mom and dad's house just to say hi and I told my mom about the contractions earlier in the day. She just smiled at me (she knew that I was probably going to have a baby that day, but didn't say anything...) We went to Joe's mom's house to spend the day. I was hanging out on the couch, reading a magazine and just generally being lazy when I decided I had to go to the bathroom. I stood up and .... my water broke. I went off to find Joe to tell him. He was sitting around with his step-dad Steve and his brothers talking math. (I know, only in our family). I stood at the doorway to the room for a few minutes, hoping to catch Joe's attention, but to no avail. Finally, Steve looked up and asked me if I needed something. I told them all that my water had broken and we were having a baby!

Having done Bradley classes, I knew that I didn't need to head to the hospital right away, so I decided that we should wait to go until after Joe had eaten his Thanksgiving dinner (figuring it was going to be a long night). I was having contractions- staying fairly relaxed- while the rest of the family just buzzed around. Paulette kept checking the turkey- and kept saying that she didn't understand why it wasn't done yet... till she figured out that in all the excitement she had turned the oven off! Needless to say it was a few hours before everybody sat down to eat. :)

I sat at the dinner table with everyone, but by this point I was having CONTRACTIONS. I remember just sitting there, looking at Joe, wondering if he really just couldn't chew FASTER. Eventually he finished his dinner and we were off to the hospital. My mom and dad met us there- after my dad had enjoyed his pie!

Labor with Julia was pretty quick and fairly hard. I was determined to skip the drugs and do it the natural way. Pre-eclampsia meant magnesium sulfate (which isn't pleasant) and that I had to stay in bed rather than walk around during the labor. My doctor was out of town and we ended up with a doctor who obviously didn't want to be working on Thanksgiving night. Let's just say that if I never see that man again, life will be wonderful. We had great nurses though, and Joe was a wonderful coach.

Around 10:30 p.m. things really started to change. Joe went out to get a nurse, but they were in the middle of shift change, and the nurse told him that someone would be in after awhile. Joe came back in the room with me... and a few minutes later I let out a scream that brought the whole nursing staff running. Joe had been right- I was in transition and ready to push.

It didn't take long to deliver Miss Julia- all 5 lbs. 13 oz. of her... and it was a her... so nice to finally know the answer to that question... I was so excited and proud to have delivered her without any drugs or intervention. I remember saying to Joe, "I did it!"

Julia had a rough go of it for the first few weeks... I just don't think she was really done cooking. She had jaundice and had some major breastfeeding issues. But... by the time she was about 6 weeks old she was growing and thriving and we haven't looked back since.

Since then I've had the joy of watching her grow and change each and every day. Julia can be a challenge for me sometimes... and truthfully that is usually because we are just a little too much alike! But I cannot IMAGINE my life without the blessing that she brings to it. So, on this 9th celebration of her arrival into the world... Happy Birthday Miss Julia Corrinne Furedy... you are loved more than you will EVER know.

Night all-
C

Furedy Family Update

Thought it was time to take a moment and update you on the medical/ general status in the Furedy household...

Joe’s last (hopefully!) procedure is scheduled for December 29^th. During this procedure they will go in to look at the vein and determine if any further steps are necessary- i.e. balloon, stint, vein repair. The doctor seems very optimistic that we will have a quick and positive outcome from this procedure. This will be done on an outpatient basis. Joe continues to go to physical therapy which is helping to reduce stiffness and increase his range of motion. His Coumadin level is finally back in the therapeutic range (still monitored with blood work weekly) and we are hoping that it will remain there! Once he has his next procedure we can start talking about taking him off of the Coumadin… which he is looking forward to!

On another front… I am going to have surgery on either December 14^th or December 15^th (we are waiting for the final scheduling from the hospital). I have been diagnosed with a condition called adenomyosis- which explains why the surgery earlier this year was not successful. The only cure for this condition is a hysterectomy. Joe and I debated for a long time about whether or not to do the surgery in this time frame, but we have decided that the best thing for our family is to just go for it, and leave all of our health issues in 2009. I will be in the hospital overnight, and will be off work for 3 to 4 weeks.

Our other medical update is that we have now all been vaccinated against the HINI as well as the seasonal flu, so we are hoping to be spared THAT little event! :)

On other fronts... Julia is OVER THE MOON excited about her birthday party which is taking place this Saturday at Gold Medal Swim School... she simply cannot wait. Colin is jealous (we do every other year for the birthday party, so he had a big party last year)... but knows that he will get his turn again next year... and is planning his family birthday celebration with a great deal of zeal!

Overall, both of the kids are really excited about their birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas and all that comes with it. :) Ah.. to watch little ones around this time of year... nothing better! I am trying my hardest to stay ahead of schedule and get as much done ahead of time as I can so that we can make sure in the midst of all that is going on that we hang on to our holiday traditions... I think I am doing pretty well with this, but then I always think that...

Okay, this momma needs some sleep. Have a good night all...

C

Giving to Others...

One of my colleagues at work is currently holding a "Hygiene Drive". He is collecting toiletries that will be given to families in need along with their Thanksgiving food box. You cannot buy toiletry items like shampoo and soap with food stamps, and so for many families these items are a huge need.

I told Julia and Colin about the drive and asked them if they would be willing to help me shop for some items- so that we as a family could give to others. Normally, we would have just walked the aisles, talking about what the families might need, and putting things in the cart. But, I decided to really make it into a learning experience by giving each one of them a budget and allowing them to make their own selections.

Each child was given ten dollars to spend and was encouraged to get AS MUCH as they could to donate in the drive. We headed off to WalMart with the list of suggested items, a piece of paper and a pencil.

I was AMAZED at the thought that my children put into this project. They looked at prices, were thoughtful in their selections, sat on the floor and added up what they had spent so they knew just how much they had left. They worked together to try to purchase at least one of every item on the list, and in the end pooled their last few dollars to purchase the last item that neither one of them could afford on their own. At the end when we were checking out Julia commented that she felt good that she was helping another family be comfortable. I thought that was an interesting take on the situation... think about how uncomfortable it would be to not have the toiletry items that I am sure most of us take for granted.

For me, doing it this way took about 15 minutes longer than just zipping through the store and picking up some items to donate, but it provided my children with a true learning experience.

At the start of a season that can often become more about getting than giving- I think this activity set the right tone for our holidays. Now, I just need to keep thinking about other ways to keep that tone present in our minds and our thoughts as we move forward into the holiday season.

Night all-
C

Treasure Hunt Update

I know you have all been waiting with baited breath to hear if the Treasure Hunt Committee answered Joe's concerns about the scoring and fixed our status.

Today Joe received this e-mail:

"Car 37 is correct. I checked their emergencies, and they only opened 3 (not counting the starting emergency). Somehow we missed this twice - the hardcopy results from Sat that I have and retabulation on Sun both have them opening 4 emergencies. We really need to improve the tabulation process. With the new results they moved from 16th to 10th place."

I hope everyone can breathe a sigh of relief now that this error has been corrected and the team n'Emisis' status has been corrected to 10th place.

So, the treasure hunt has been put to bed once again... until next year!
Night all-
C

Yellow Belt!

Several weeks ago, Colin tested for his yellow belt in karate. Colin has been working for over six months to prepare for this test... and he was very nervous! He hadn't been training a whole lot prior to the test because Joe was in the hospital and things were pretty crazy. On top of that, Colin struggled with gaining the skills that he needed to pass this test. Karate, unlike most things, does not come easily to Colin- he really has to work at it!

Anyway, he found out last week that he had passed the test! Yeah! At that time they announced that they would present the belts this Tuesday. Colin didn't go to school today (thanks Nana for taking care of our little man) because he has been a little under the weather, but he didn't want to miss his moment to shine, so we took him to karate.

Our karate studio is an awesome place- really like another family. On the day when the kids get their new belts, all the adults come and applaud for them. It is a neat experience. Colin was congratulated by all the moms and other kids on the way out... you could tell how proud he was of himself. As soon as he came out of the dojo, he wanted to put his new belt on!

Here he is wearing his new yellow belt!

I am proud of my little man for sticking with something that is hard for him. It makes the reward all the more sweeter!

Night all-
C

Happy Halloween!

Too tired to post all the details tonight, but I thought you would all enjoy Joe's pumpkin carving! Hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween!

(yes, that is a ribcage with one rib missing-
he may have lost his rib, but he still has his sense of humor!)

Night all-
C

59th Annual Arizona Treasure Hunt

We competed in "The Magic of the Hunt" on Saturday. Some of you may be wondering just what the Treasure Hunt is, and the best way I can describe it is this... you and a team of five other people drive and run around the desert at night solving puzzles. Each puzzle (called clues) you solve sends you to another location where you must again run around, find and solve the clue. At the end of the night, you are judged based off of how many clues you solved, how many 'hints' you needed to solve the clues (they are called emergency envelopes) and how much time it took you. There are usually 26 clues total and you have approximately 5 hours to solve as many as you can. Yeah, it's nerdy... but it is a LOT of fun! Go here if you are really interested and you can read more about this year's hunt. Here are the archives where you can see the puzzles from the hunt going back to the year 2000.

Joe and I, according to our best 'remembering', started competing in the TH in 1997. The team at that time was usually made up of his Aunt Suze, his dad, and a couple of our friends. The team has changed a lot over the years- I think we've roped most of our friends into being part of our team at one point or another. For the last few years, the core of our team has been fairly consistent- Joe and I, Joe's brother Jason and his wife Paige, and Joe's brother Mike and his wife Vanessa. I seem to be the member who is most often missing- I was on bed rest before each one of the kids were born, I missed one year when I was working as a principal and was just too tired, and I missed last year due to Julia performing with her choir. We have a small crew of 'back-up' folks who have willingly stepped in and filled any holes in our team in the years that we've had them.

(Two members of our team... Joe's brother Mike and his wife Vanessa... and Julia and Colin's new cousin Cora was along for the ride... she'll be here with all of us in March!)

Joe's family has been participating in the Treasure Hunt since the very beginning... in 1952 Joe's Grandmother and Grandfather came in 3rd place. In 1979 his Aunt and Uncle came in 1st place (very bad... you'll see why in a moment...) and our team has come in 2nd place three times... 2002, 2006 and 2008. Which means our team has WON the TH three times. You may be wondering how we 'won' when we came in second. You see, second place is the 'winning' position in the TH because the FIRST place team has to serve on the committee to put on the TH for the next THREE years. Second place is wonderful. Second place is where you ALWAYS want to be.

(Here is Joe, ready for the hunt, sporting his 2008 blue shirt- they give you these when you come in 2nd place)

Joe looks forward to the TH all year long. This is his 'thing'. He really enjoys the whole nature of the hunt- the research ahead of time, the physical nature of searching for clues in the desert, the navigation through the streets of Scottsdale, and the actual brainpower of solving clues. We have done this long enough that we really pretty much have it down to a 'science' of just what needs to be done pre-hunt, what we need the night of the hunt... and our record keeper Paige provides us with great reminders to keep us on track from year to year. We were worried that Joe wouldn't be able to participate this year, but... he was there! He wasn't able to do the same amount of running and finding of clues that he has done in the past, but he was still able to participate, which was all that really mattered.

We didn't do very well this year... came in 16th place... however, Joe believes there is an error in the scoring and has contacted the TH committee to let them know of his concerns. If our stats/standing get updated, I will let you know! :)

So... if after you've read this post you are interested in forming a TH team of your own, let us know! We'd be more than happy to meet with you and give you some hints and help you prepare. TH information usually comes out in August/ September and you have to register as soon as possible because they only take 78 teams total. Fair warning... check out the picture below. This is Joe's brother Jason and his friend Josh. Josh put together a rookie team this year and this is how he felt at the end of the hunt.... :)


Night all...
C

The UPS and downs of Coumadin

Joe has been taking coumadin since he before he left the hospital. Coumadin is basically rat poison. It 'thins' your blood, making it harder for the blood to clot if it encounters a damaged area in a vein or artery. (this is my medical degree from Google talking here...) Anyway, the goal for coumadin is to arrive at what they call the 'theraputic' level, which is between 2.0 and 3.0. The absorption of coumadin in the blood can be impacted by your diet. Dark green leafy vegetables prohibit your body from absorbing the drug. The doctor recommended that Joe not STOP eating green leafy vegetables, but instead to eat about the same level every day. Joe is required to go for weekly blood tests until he can show that he is consistently staying at a theraputic level. Joe, obviously, would like to not have to go every week and get his blood drawn, so he would like to get at that therapeutic level ASAP- then his blood checks can be every other week or even once a month.

Right after we left the hospital, Joe's coumadin was at 2.1. We thought this was great news (Joe especially, because this meant he got to discontinue the shots...) A week later, his coumadin had dropped to 1.9. The doctor upped his dosage to 6 milligrams on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and 5 milligrams on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This week his coumadin dropped again to 1.6 milligrams. So now Joe is taking 6 milligrams every day.

Here's the thing... Joe hasn't changed ANYTHING about his eating habits. If anything, he is eating less green leafy vegetables than he was when he first came home. So... we can't really figure out why the level is dropping... for now, he is stuck with weekly blood checks (he he, that's a pun!).

We have found out that the doctor is planning the vein 'repair' procedure for sometime in January. Joe's medical insurance is changing DRASTICALLY in January, so he has asked the doctor if there is any possible way for him to do the surgery in December. We'll see. Once that procedure is done Joe will only need to take the coumadin for three more months and then this entire experience will be OVER....

Have a wonderful weekend all!
C

FuredyBeard (TM)

Okay, so this post got started with some friends that Joe and I regularly talk to on Twitter. They pointed out while Joe was in the hospital that he had grown FuredyBeard (TM). You have to understand just how FAST and how THICK Joe's beard grows in... give the man 3 or 4 days and you have a NICE beard. This would be good if Joe liked the feeling of a beard (he doesn't) or if I liked beards (which I don't).

Joe has grown his beard in several times during our marriage- one of the most memorable times for me was right after Julia was born- he took 4 weeks of work to stay home with Julia and I... and grew a beard that whole time. I have pictures of Joe holding Julia and he looks like Abe Lincoln. I did notice that this time the beard had a LITTLE more gray in it... that's what kids will do to ya!

Anyway, when going through the pictures, I thought I would post the with beard/ without beard photos. Which do you prefer?

With FuredyBeard (TM)?
(bonus, you can check out his cool scar in this photo...)

Without FuredyBeard (TM)?

Enquiring minds want to know!

Night all...
C

Fall Break

So... the majority of the Fall Break plans that we had originally (cruise, day long trip to the Zoo, hiking, bike riding) had to be scrapped due to recent events, but the HUGE upside was that Joe got to spend the entire Fall Break with us when he normally would have been at work.

I set out to make the week fun for everyone... I knew we needed fun things that didn't require TOO much energy, take TOO long, or required TOO much travel in the car. So... here's what we ended up with....

We went and saw Toy Story I and II in 3D. This was lots of fun... and as long as Daddy had his pillow, he was fine! We never thought we'd make it through both movies, but we did! Here we are sporting our true fashion accessories....

We went and had dinner at Benihana. The kids had never been there before... they thought it was lots of fun! Colin even ate some chicken. :)
The kids really enjoy doing 'science' with Joe. Here they are trying out oobleck in a speaker (especially painted for the occasion) to see if they can make it 'dance'. It didn't work, but they sure had a good time trying (and they made a really nice mess as well!)

One of the days, we gave Daddy a break and went to As You Wish to paint pottery with Nana. Here's Nana and her kids...

Thanks to Grandma Paulette, Joe and I even got to go out on a date... here we are NOT sharing our popcorn. We saw Couples Retreat- it was cute and very light (just what the doctor ordered). Then we went to Red Lobster and had ENDLESS SHRIMP... can you say YUMMY?Great Auntie Suze helped out one day and took Julia and Colin for a day long excursion to the World Wildlife Zoo. Looks like they all three had a FABULOUS time. This gave me a chance to get some things done around the house, and gave Joe a chance to get some much needed rest.


More science later in the week... here's the Diet Coke and Mentos 'experiment'. Julia also learned how to burn leaves with a magnifying glass (sorry I didn't capture that on film). So, when you hear about a fire in our neighborhood....


We ended the week on Sunday night by eating at one of our favorite restaurants, Mi Amigos. It is a family tradition to stand on the rocks outside the restaurant... so I couldn't miss this shot!
And of course we did a lot of things that aren't shown here... I cleaned and organized the kitchen and the den, and prepped Julia's room for the remodel that is about to happen. Joe slept and rested a lot. The kids played outside in the backyard and walked down to the park several times.

And most importantly, we laughed and played together as a family. Which made it an AWESOME Fall Break... even if it didn't go quite as planned.

Night all...
C

Joe's Progress

Just wanted to do a quick post about Joe's progress in the last week:

*He is done with in-home physical therapy. The range of motion in his arm is GREATLY improved. He is still struggling a little bit with his neck- and his neck is what seems to get tired easily- but overall he has made AMAZING progress. Even his doctor was shocked at his last appointment with how much movement has returned to the arm. ;)

*He continues with his coumadin. We are currently playing the 'adust the meds' until they are just right game. His level dropped below 'theraputic' this week, so now he's taking 6 milligrams on Sun., Tues., Thurs., and Sat.- 5 milligrams on the other days. His medical alert bracelet arrived, so he is sporting some fine bling that shares this information with the world. We have noticed that he has a series of new 'little' bruises that he just doesn't know where they came from... this is a side effect of the blood thinner and will likely continue until he stops taking the meds. He will need weekly blood work until he gets his levels adjusted, and then will be tested once a month. Our understanding of this process is that he should just about get the levels figured out about the time that he doesn't need to take the medicine anymore.

*The surgeon is scheduling his next procedure for either late December or early January. (We are pushing for late December as Joe's medical insurance is changing DRASTICALLY starting January 1st, and so we'd like to get it done before that happens). For this procedure, they will insert a catheter into his arm and use that to run the dye through his veins again, while taking live x-rays. This will allow them to decide if the vein needs repair and what type of repair it needs. If it needs repair they will do it during this procedure.

*He has been cleared to drive and to go back to work- in moderation. He has done some work from home during the past week- read e-mail and tried to get caught up again. The doctor has cautioned him that he is still recovering and he should be careful not to get TOO tired or try to do too much. Joe has found if he does too much his body kinda 'shuts down' and he gets really tired.... so I think his body is trying hard to take care of him.

*He shaved off the FuredyBeard(TM). I am SO glad... :)

*Emotionally, I think we are all starting to recover and be able to think about other things. The kids have lost that scared look in their eyes, and Joe is feeling better and better each day. We are all trying to spend some time every day counting our blessings... and trust me.... we have a LOT of blessings with regard to this situation.

Okay, will post more later today about Fall Break and some of the fun things that we've done despite our no travel, no strenuous exercise limitations. :)

Sleep... Or Lack There Of...

Sooo.... I'm not sleeping really well. It's not that I'm having a hard time falling asleep... I can do that with my same 'as soon as the head hits the pillow' ability that I've had most of my life.

No, it's more like staying asleep that is the issue. I know that part of it has to do with a series of nightmares that I'm having (Trust me, if it's something bad, and something that could really happen to my family, it's been in my dreams lately. We've been robbed, we've been in a car accident, someone kidnapped my kids, etc., etc) And what's odd is that after I wake up I am able to go back to sleep (not typical for me), so it seems like it shouldn't be affecting me too much. But it is. I'm tired. I'd like to have a REALLY good night's sleep. One without bad dreams or waking up at least 15 times during the night. I've even tried some of the methods from the past- get really tired before going to bed, take a bath before bed, Tylenol PM before bed- but none of the old tricks have worked.

Any suggestions out there in cyber-space? I would sure appreciate them.
Here's to another night... let's cross our fingers that tonight is better! :)
C

Nesting Follow Up

So, I found this on a friend's blog the other day... and I really liked what it said. My friend happens to be a member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, and this actually comes from their scripture. It is how I am feeling right now:

"Organize yourselves; Prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God."
(Doctrine and Covenants 88:119)

With all of the chaos of lately, I am taking this opportunity to regroup, to establish my house, to pause and strengthen my faith. Although I do not share the same faith as the person who posted this, it still really spoke to me...

Okay, off to organize a little more. Then off to Target... we are in need of some new storage bins! :)
C

Nesting

Not sure if it is all of the recent events, or just my normal fall routine, but I am seriously nesting. I just cleaned out my kitchen cabinets (all but the pantry... and I'll be tackling that big boy tomorrow morning!) I think I might be trying to have control over something in my life... and I've decided that my cupboards and closets will be that thing!

Joe and I worked on the den for a little while today (this is the WORST room in our house, and a lot of it is Joe's stuff, so I don't usually work in there alone) but he got tired pretty quickly, so my guess is that we'll work on that room a little bit at a time all week.

The kids have been put on notice that EVERYTHING is coming out of their rooms and being gone through before they go back to school in a week.

Good news is that I am creating a sense of order in my house, which will be good in the upcoming holiday season. Bad news is that I'm driving my family crazy! :)

Joe update: Doing GREAT! I am amazed at how much better he is feeling... how much more stamina he has, how much better the range of motion in his arm is getting. Very exciting news that he is making such great progess. He was up almost all day today- we went to the movies, did a bit of cleaning and he played with the kids.... but now he is tired... so we are off to watch another movie and get some sleep!

Night all.
C

Bummer

Tomorrow I was supposed to be doing this....

Instead, I will be at work trying to balance a grant budget and Joe will be at home.

Bummer.

Even worse is that we still had to pay 50% of the total cost even though we don't get to go.

Bigger bummer.
Night all....
C

How I REALLY Know Joe is Feeling Better....

Life is slowly but surely returning to normal.

Home health care nurse came on Tuesday... and after checking on Joe... decided that she didn't need to come back! (don't get me wrong... she was very nice... but it is even nicer for my husband NOT to need regular nursing care!)

Doctor called on Tuesday... Coumadin level is 2.1... so no more SHOTS! Yeah!! Levels will need to be tested weekly to ensure that the dosage remains between 2.0 and 3.0- the theraputic level for Joe.

Physical therapist came on Tuesday and on Wednesday... she is helping Joe feel much better. Joe is having lots of issues with stiffness in his neck and shoulders- mostly caused by the odd way he needs to hold his body to ensure that he doesn't move the areas that are painful. PT is helping to release the stiffness and start to move the arm and shoulder. Joe will have physical therapy three times a week here at the house until he has more movement and less pain.

Joe really is doing better- staying awake longer- moving around the house more. The doctor and physical therapist have encouraged him to walk more (they want to make sure that he doesn't develop pneomonia as a result of just not moving much). On Tuesday, he saved up all of his energy so that we could go to the costume store with the kiddos to check out some Halloween costumes. He quickly found a spot to sit down (in the middle of the aisle) but it was nice for the kids to have him be part of their costume selection. It was great for us to get out as a family and do something fun as well!

Here's everybody's favorite patient... I think he IS starting to look better (note he can finally wear a regular shirt now that all the tubes/drains/IVs are out).

Here's a Halloween preview of Cleopatra and Jango Fett...

And finally, I know that Joe is feeling better BECAUSE... he's decided that I should dress up as a nurse for Halloween and here's the costume he picked out! :)

Night all...

C