Happy Birthday! Please Place Boob Here ......

Hey Everyone!

A week and a bit ago, I had a birthday. I turned 37. I'm not one of these women who lies about her age. My true eye and/or hair colour sure ... but not my age ;-)

It was an interesting birthday this year .... I had my very first mammogram! Yeah. Happy Birthday to me! lol

I've heard the mammogram horror stories for years. I was not looking forward to this experience. But ... ya gotta do what ya gotta do. And this was something I had to do .

Generally women don't get a mammogram until they hit 40. In Nov I developed a slight pain in my left breast. Hmmm ... that's new. I try not to run to the doc for every little ache and pain, but when it was still there and consistent by the end of Dec, coupled with the fact that breast cancer runs in my family, I called my doc, and the appointment was made for the mammo. Scheduled for a month later, on Jan, 31st. Happy Birthday to me LOL.

Over the course of the next month, I told a few friends about my upcoming appointment. I was nervous. About the mammo itself, and of course the results. How many times had I read about how painful this particular procedure is? How many women had I heard say the word "Mammogram" with utter dread in their voices?

Then, one of the girls told about the 'ball bearings!". Yeah. Let's just up the nervous factor a notch shall we? Now I had visions of not only being placed in a vice grip and squeezed within an inch of certain deformity, but also having giant silver ball bearings duct taped onto me at the same time! I could see it now ... my boob was going to be squeezed to look like a flat fish, with one of those little cherry tomatoes in it's mouth ... but it would be silver! WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

The closer it got to Jan 31st, the more I reminded myself ... You can handle the pain! When it starts to hurt just repeat to yourself "I had two kids with no drugs! I had two kids with no drugs!"

The 'Big Day' arrives and off I to the hospital I go. Of course there's a HUGE lineup going down the street and around the corner completely blocking my way TO the hospital, so I have to park FAR away ... at a meter, and of course not expecting to have to park at a meter I have no change. UGH! Plug in what I have, hope my time doesn't run out before I get back, and run the couple of blocks to the hospital. When I finally get up to the 3rd floor, worried about the fact I'm about 7 min late, I get off the elevator to a PACKED waiting room. I take my number ... they're on 184 ... I'm #009. Guess I didn't have to worry about being late LOL.

Once I'm through registration and into the lovely fashion attire provided by the hospital, I'm quickly called into .... da da da da .... 'The Room" !!!!

OK ... here we go ... you can do this!

After a couple of minutes of idle chit chat with the tech, I tell her why I'm there, she tells me what to expect, and then brings out .... the Ball Bearings! I almost laughed out loud, and I'm sure she must have been wondering what I was grinning foolishly about :-) They were tiny little gold beads. Almost like a little gold stud earring :-) Once she had them on there with a small piece of tape (no duct tape!), I almost couldn't suppress the urge to ask "Do you have a tassel?" lol

Then we walked over to the vice grip.



I have no idea what the technical term is for this machine of torture, nor do I care to know, to me, it's simply the vice grip. I'm not going to go into detail about the whole procedure, suffice it to say ... it's pretty much 'please place boob here', you're squeezed ... and it hurts!!! HOLY CRAP it hurts!!! When it got really bad, I reminded myself 'two kids no drugs! two kids no drugs!" and it was over. Then, it was on to the other side. And yup, HOLY CRAP it hurt over there too!

But then it was over. And all in all I guess it wasn't REALLY as bad as I thought it was going to be. Damn it hurt! But only for a minute. If you're really interested in reading more about the mammography procedure, you can do so here:

http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=mammo&bhcp=1

http://info.cancer.ca/E/CCE/cceexplorer.asp?tocid=10

http://www.stjohnsmercy.org/healthinfo/test/gyn/TP121.asp


On the bright side, I got back to my vehicle and my time was expired, but no ticket :-) YES! There is a parking meter god!

I got my results back a few days later. All clear. YES! It's believed the pain is being caused by a nerve that was severed during one of the lung surgeries. Why am I being bothered by it now? Cause I just had my freakin' 37th, birthday, I'm gettin' old and fallin' apart that's why! LOL

I still have to meet with my doc for a follow up, but as long as the pain doesn't get any worse, and doesn't cause any other issues, I won't do anything further about it. Now that I know it's not being caused by anything related to breast cancer, I can live with it.

The day got much better after that :-) I took the boys out for dinner to a nice 'family restaurant' that we hadn't tried yet, and they had GREAT food and atmosphere! Then when we got home, the ex showed up with a cake and card from himself and the boys. On the cake ... "29 4 Ever!" LOL ... OK! :-)

Hmmmm .... maybe I'll just try sky diving for next year's birthday ... but still wear the beads ;-p

Have a good week all!

K.

Chivalry is dead ... DEAD I tell you!!!

Hey everyone :-)

Ok, this is a straight up RANT! There. You've been warned ;-)

A couple of weeks before Christmas, I splurged $100 and bought myself a pre-present. A used dishwasher :-) My previous dishwasher (which was also bought used for $100 lol) lasted 3.5 yrs, but finally washed it's last dish in Oct..

I tried washing the dishes by hand for a couple of months. I really did!!! I just couldn't seem to keep ahead of the little suckers, and to be completely honest, I'd put off doing them as long as possible because ... I absolutely HATE doing dishes!!! I'd rather clean 100 toilets, sweep a thousand floors, or do a million loads of laundry than have to do those b*%^$^!'d's.

Growing up, it was my 'job' to help mom with the dishes every night. E...v...e...r...y night! She'd wash, I'd dry. I can still to this day, close my eyes and hear her voice calling down the hall ... "Kimberllllyyyyyyyy Diiiiiissssshhhhheeeesssss"

UGH!

I begged my dad for a dishwasher. Often lol. He had the same answer for me every time ... "We HAVE a dishwasher, Kimberly! She's 12-13-14-15-16-... etc. years old and hasn't broken down yet!!!" Same answer ... every time lol.

I promised myself when I 'grew up', I'd have a dishwasher! And I did, up until Oct :-) I tried the 'dishes by hand thing' again ... didn't like it. Call me spoiled if you like, but ... still didn't like it. So I got myself a 'new to me' dishwasher that works like a dream! Merry Christmas to me :-)

The ex came over and took out the old and installed the new ... WooHoo! Mama's got a new dishwasher dance!!!!! :-)

The old one went out the door and on to the deck. I asked the ex if he'd come over in a couple days time, to help me drag it down to the bin at the road for garbage pickup. He said he would, didn't happen.

That wasn't the rant ;-)

I waited four weeks for it to get to the road ... it didn't. Last night, I said 'screw it!' and finally decided to drag it down myself.

On to the rant ;-)

Before tackling the dishwasher, I brought a few other garbage bags I had thrown on the deck down to the road. While doing so, a neighbours son and his friend started playing basketball in our backyard/driveway..

I don't mind that they do this. They're welcome to play in our yard. They are older, 14ish I believe, and they tolerate my two boys occasionally going out to 'play' ball with them also, because they know they're using our hoop too lol. And I know my boys like the 'games' they have, so neighbours are welcome.

Anyway, I get the bags down to the road, and think to myself "Yes! ... Joe and Jack are there, they'll help me drag that dishwasher down". For sure two 'strappin' young 'uns like them wouldn't let someone like myself, who gets the 'careful, it's windy out there ... don't blow away' jokes (grrrrrr!), try and drag a full sized dishwasher down a long gravel driveway all by herself ......

I grabbed onto it, braced myself, bent the knees, tilted it, prayed I wouldn't pop a lung, and pulled. Hey ... it wasn't that bad :-) Course there was also still a bit of ice on the deck to help it slide along :-) Oops ...no more ice, dragging on wood now ... l...i...t...t...l...e bit heavier .....

At this point, when I started adjusting it's position, trying to make it easier to drag, I expected one of the two boys to yell out "Need a hand with that?" Nothing. I couldn't believe it! Call me old fashioned, but if ever one of my boys saw anyone ... woman, man, child struggling with something, especially if it was someone they knew, I would EXPECT them to say "Need a hand? Can I help?

Nope.

I dragged it across the deck, then down the two steps. Did you know dishwashers make alot of noise when they're slammed down steps? lol After this I needed a break and tilted it back up and stopped for a minute. Now that I was less than 20 ft away, surely they could see what I was dragging and offer a hand ...

Nope.

Now I know some are asking "Why didn't you just ASK them to help you!" and you're right, I should have just spoken up and asked for help, but you know what? I'm just stubborn that way :-) I shouldn't HAVE to ask. Now, I was pissed off. It bothered me that two 'good sized' boys would see a neighbour struggling with something heavy and not offer to help. But, like I said, maybe I'm just old fashioned that way.

Determined now to get this sucker to the end of the driveway, I tilted it and started dragging again across the concrete stones ... yeah ... probably scratched those .... oops, alternative was to tear up the grass though lol. When I got to the driveway, I met my match.

Have you ever tried to drag a full sized dishwasher down a gravel driveway? They tend to sink in those big stones and dirt lol. And get MUCH heavier lol.

I made it a few feet past the corner of the house and could drag no more. I walked over to the basement window and knocked for Alec to come out and help me. No way I was going to get this down there by myself, so I may as well get help from SOMEONE!

I was worried it might be too heavy for Alec, which was why I hadn't asked him to help in the first place. But he came running out, stood beside me and we dragged that baby down there together :-) He made sure to note both times that it was ME who needed to take the breaks, not him LOL. I blamed it on the COPD ;-)

And the B-Ball game played on.

I thanked my Little Man, and reminded myself that I may not be able to control how other kids react in a given situation, but I can certainly keep the art of chivalry alive in my own two boys :-)

Oh, and the neighbourhood kids ... ? They're still always welcome to come over. And if there's ever a next time I need help, I'll simply handle it with a 'get your basketball playin' butts over here and give me a hand boys!' instead ;-)

Later all, time to go load the dishwasher ;-) Have a great weekend!

Kim

Christmas Traditions and Our Adventures on the Road in Mama's New Ride

Merry Christmas to all my family, friends, and friendly strangers who wander into my Korner :-)

Ok, so maybe Merry Christmas isn't the most politically correct way to respectfully wish everyone a Happy Holidays, but I was raised on Merry Christmas, have passed Merry Christmas and all it entails (to me) on to my children, and I'll continue to wish everyone from my co-workers, the store clerk, gas attendant, person in the Tim's drive-thru window handing me my coffee, heck even the guy in the highway toll booth ... a Merry Christmas :-) It makes me feel good to say it, and it makes me feel good to see the smile on the receiver's end :-)

I listen to Christmas music, trim a tree, decorate the house, promote the belief in Santa and try to watch The Sound of Music every year, as I did with my Mom and Dad when I was a kid. That was one thing I noticed that really sucked after Dad died, watching that by myself for the first time. Kenny & Dolly's "I'll be home with bells on" gets me every time too. It was 'the' song to trim the tree to.

One year, I came home from university late in the break, and Mom and Dad had put the tree up, but left it bare until the night I got home. Then we put on K & D, and got that sucker trimmed! :-) Now, whenever I hear that song, that's the memory I have, of that particular night, and it makes me both happy and sad at the same time. Not necessarily a good thing when you're driving by yourself, thinking of Christmas's past, and the afternoon radio host plays it and says "that one's for my Ma" Sigh! Thanks Russell!!! ;-)

I always visit my closest members of my Dad's side of the family, and spend every Christmas Eve with my Mom's family. We gather at someones house, snack, attend mass, come home and have a huge feast of Seafood Chowder and Meat Pies and home made 'sweets' galore! We play music (CD & live), games occasionally, then they all open their presents and we open ours Christmas morning. Except for one after church on Christmas Eve, I was always allowed to open one present then, and now I let my boys open one after dinner on Christmas Eve. I've tried to carry on all the traditions that made Christmas so special in my house, and with my family. Others ... well ... I still haven't managed to get a handle on that 'Christmas Baking' yet, that my Mom was and still is so good at :-D

Mass is another one. I went to mass every Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember, up until a few years ago, when the mass the family was attending became too late to do so with the kids. Also Adam doesn't do well in church ... too long a period to sit still and 'behave'. And on Christmas Eve, you generally have to arrive at least 45 min before mass to get a seat all together, then the mass itself I spend more time saying "stop" or 'shhh' or 'don't' do that please' ... I'm honest enough to admit that now it's just 'easier' not to endure the stress it's become simply to attend. But that's only one of my 'church' issues, and a whole other post.

I sang in the choir as a child, and Christmas Eve mass was definitely my most favourite time of year to be in church. Oh Holy Night, Away in a Manger, Silent Night ... everyone likes their own version on these, but personally, I think you can't beat kids voices on Christmas Eve.

Now, I sing carols in the car with the boys like ...

Alvin & The Chipmunks, Christmas Don't Be Late (in the appropriate voices of course lol)

Shrek versions of 12 Days of Christmas Jingle Bells & Shrek the Halls

Hannah Montana's Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

And of course, the house favourite, I farted on Santa's Lap (now Christmas is gonna stink for me) by The Little Stinkers.

Ahhhh Traditions :-) It's nice to be able to mix old and new.

Being an only child, I ALWAYS went home for xmas. After the boys came along, and since the separation, things seem to be different every year now lol, so along with tradition, comes a little spontaneity ;-) And therein lies the magic of Santa ... he ALWAYS managers to find the boys, where ever they are :-D

This year, they were with me. I stuffed all the wrapped presents, unwrapped presents, extra wrapping paper, bags, tape, bows & tags into two big Rubbermaid bins, and put two small hockey bags and a suitcase worth of clothes into the back of the vehicle, boys got comfortable with forts and blankets, tunes ready and we were on our way :-) I had the presents wrapped for the first two stops on our trip, and some for the third, none of the boys, so I figured since Christmas was still four sleeps away ... I'd wrap on the way :-D Two nights of 3am wrap-fests and I was done! :-D

We left Friday night after work for Truro, and spent the night with Cassandra and Hayden. From there, we left on Sat for the Miramichi, yes, back to the land of freak tornados and golf ball hail storms! and spent a couple of days with my cousin and his family. No freak weather disturbances this time, just a nice pleasant visit with family :-)

We landed at Mom's mid-afternoon on Christmas Eve. It's times like these I feel bad for Gilles ... Mom's significant other. He's a nice guy, quiet, calm, ... unlike us ... who can't quietly make an entrance, wipe our feet, give hugs & kisses and merry wishes all around ... no, we've got to blow in like the forces of natures my children have been named after ... cyclones, hurricanes and earthquake mama's comin' in ... TAKE COVER!!! Head for higher ground!

Hi Grammy! Hi Gilles! Boots flying, arm-loads of 'stuff' dropped, Adam diving under the tree to see what's there, Alec talking a mile a minute about the 'coolest' game or movie he's seen, me with arms draped in gift bags, looking somewhat like a weighted down cactus ... with at least 5 more trips to make from the vehicle ... Hi Mom ... we're home! :-)

Everyone grabbed a shower, we had dinner, then the boys were able to open a present. Adam was ecstatic with his new video mp3 player from my mom, and Alec was just as happy with his new Simpsons movie. The movie was an impasse of sorts between he and I. It was a present from me. I have never approved of him watching The Simpsons. I love it myself, but don't believe it's exactly 'kid friendly'. I know I know ... they don't always 'get' the humor ... but at some point, much earlier than many believe, they do get it. And it just doesn't sound 'right' to hear them quoting it, when they don't even understand what they're saying at times. They just know it's supposed to be funny.

Anyway, he's 11 now. It used to be that he would only watch it with his dad, cause he always got "change the channel please" - "But Mom!" from me lol. Now, he's discovered Family Guy, and I have a new nemesis ... Stewie! and that whole Giggidy Giggidy thing ... Grrrrr!!!! Suddenly Bart doesn't seem so bad ... and I've decided to pick my battles on this one ... he's still not an every day Simpsons junkie, but I did get the movie, and the poster, as a truce on this one ;-)

On Christmas Eve, after the present, we went to my aunt and uncle's for the yearly 'gathering'. I can remember as a kid, the anticipation of 'Christmas' would build until about 3pm. Then it was time to jump in the tub/shower and 'get ready'. It was always a 'dress up' event in our family, which made it even better :-) Mom, Dad & I would go to the Children's mass at 7, then back home to open a present and get whatever part of the meal it was that Mom had made for that night :-) Then over to my Grandmother's. Where however many of my Mom's 11 siblings and their families would gather, if they could get the night off, and travel :-) The whole family would party late ... late lol into the night, they would all open their presents, and with that many brothers and sisters, it took awhile!, then we'd head home and we'd do our gift opening the next day. Poor Dad, with a hangover most years, cursing some Barbie toy or other that he didn't realize came with 'some assembly required' LOL.

After the presents were opened, we'd do the same thing, get 'all dressed up' again for food and festivities with Dad's family (5 siblings and families) all over again in the Miramichi :-) Where once again, the celebrations and visiting would go late into the evening. Poor Mom, she was always Designated Driver (before it was actually a term) at these times of year lol, but she never really minded I don't think.

This year, the boys and I still went to the Miramichi, and still gathered with Mom's family on Christmas Eve, but now the gatherings are smaller, end earlier, and really just aren't the 'same'. I guess when the older traditions start to fade, it's time to create some new ones.

Christmas Day with the kids was nice :-) It was definitely 'weird' last year when they were at their Dad's. Last year they had him up at 5:30am. I told them this year ... 'wasn't gonna happen!!!'. There would be NO presents opened ... or eyes for that matter ... before 7am!I was proud of them ... they didn't start with the "Mom ... Mom ... it's Christmas Mom ... Merry Christmas Mom ... Can we go downstairs now Mom?... Huh? Mom? ..... Can we Mom? .... PLEASE???? :-D" until 6:45am ;-)

They flew through their presents, then re-examined them lol, we played with presents and watched movies all day, had Christmas Dinner with family again at Mom's, met Gilles' son and family for the first time when they arrived after dinner, then the boys and I hit the road back home. No ... since so many ask ... highway driving at night doesn't bother me. And no, driving, at night or period, doesn't bother me after hitting the deer.

We arrived at their Dad's just after 9pm, I watched them open some presents there, came home, completely unpacked the vehicle, wandered around the house for a bit then crawled into bed and slept slept slept LOL. Being away for Christmas is exhausting! Late nights visiting, wrapping, putting kids back to bed who can't sleep from excitement! lol

It was nice to visit, but now it's nice to be home! ... although unpacking those Rubbermaid bins now filled again with presents, and 'everything else' isn't so much fun lol.

I even bought a couple of presents for myself this year :-)

We did all of this traveling, in Mama's new ride!!! It took two weeks, but my Insurance determined my other CRV was a write off after hitting the deer, so I decided to get myself a new(er) one.






Merry Christmas to Me!!! :-) Bring on the snow Baby!

The same day I got this, I picked up Keith Urban concert tickets :-) The Country Concert that Cass and I have attended for the past two years is going to be in Halifax this summer, my own backyard!!! WooHoo!!! Keith and three other acts announced so far, with 4 more to come! Did I mention Merry Christmas to me!!! :-)

And Merry Christmas to all of you, my friends, family, and friendly strangers who wander into my Korner :-D

Thank you for stopping by to visit in 2007. I hope you all have a Happy & Safe New Years, and all the best for 2008!

Kim

I saw a Hypnotist yesterday and I hit a Deer today

How's that for the start of a weekend :-)

Yesterday after work I went to see the hypnotist to kick my 17 yr smoking habit. I was really excited about this. I wanted it to work. I've tried the patch, zyban, cold turkey, now it was time to try this.

I had two cigarettes on the way there. I know, I know ... all you non-smokers are going 'ewwww' and the smokers just 'get it' ;-) They understand why I finished off that one last one in the parking lot before going in. Right to the end of it. (I can see my mother shaking her head now and making that tsk tsk tsk sound .... sorry Mom!).

He took me in right away when I got there, we started right away and we were finished within half and hour. Some of it I remember, some I don't. Did it work? Who knows? Right now I'm taking it hour by hour and we're on hour 31.

Do I want one? Damn right I do. I think about it all the time. And I'm sure I wouldn't have been nominated for a 'Mother of the Year' award this morning lol. This morning was hard. I opened my eyes and remembered I was now a non-smoker. I instantly closed them again. I'm a morning smoker. I wake up, I have my coffee and smoke then start my day. This morning just wasn't going to be the same.

Turned out I had more important things to worry about than how I was going to start my day without a cigarette. When I walked into the kitchen, I headed straight for the fridge. I had put an invitation to a birthday party that Adam had received up there, so I'd have the time/date handy. For some reason, I had it in my head that this party started at 2pm. Planned that the boys and I would hit the store for a present before heading to the party.

When I got up, I had the 'check the invitation' feeling and sure enough my heart sank. It was a morning party! Start time 10am. I looked at the clock ... 9:50 .... "OK boys, let's go ... we've got a party to get to!!!!" Pit stop for a card and by the time we got there (10:20), they had just sat down to get started stuffing. It was a 'stuff a bear' party :-) It was a large group, so by the time everyone got organized and instructed, they had just started handing out the materials when we got there. PHEW!!! It was a two hour party, so in the big scheme of things, he hadn't missed much :-)

Later this afternoon, Alec had a basketball game. It finished around 5:30. We left the school parking lot, drove down the street then pulled on to a four lane busy street and drove maybe 10 seconds before we hit a deer. Yes, a deer. A big male deer. On a 'main street'.

I've been a passenger in minor car accidents. I've sat in the traffic jams caused by people in front of me getting into accidents, but I've never hit an animal or another vehicle myself personally. Until tonight.

It simply came out of nowhere. It made it across three lanes of traffic, and had just run past a police officer in an SUV when I saw it ramming into my front end. Before it's head slammed into the side of me, I had no idea what was coming. We were discussing the game. I had just said to Alec "You guys played a great... and the word 'Game' and "OMIGOD" all sort of came out as one word. Then 'THAT WAS A DEER! WE HIT A DEER!'

The deer hit, sort of went up onto the hood then bounced off and rolled in front of us. Thankfully there was nobody directly behind us because I stopped dead in my tracks, squealing the tires behind us. I checked the rear-view, and saw the police lights right away, and slowly pulled over to the side of the road.

Both boys were fine. I was fine. Everyone was wearing their seat belts. Seat belts save lives! Oh my God ... I just hit a deer!!! On the main road! Not out in the boonies somewhere! I could understand if we were closer to home, or it had come at us on the highway, but we were 30 seconds away from a major intersection, grocery store, gas stations etc etc etc. Major civilization!!! Not deer country!!!

When I'm driving home to NB, and there are Beware of Moose! signs peppered along the highway, I'm on the ready. I've traveled that road for 20yrs and I know that something can come at me at any moment, so I'm tense, and ready ... on a busy street in 'the city' ... I was not ready :-(

The police officer came up to us to make sure we were OK, as did Adam's former teacher, who also happens to be Alec's assistant basketball coach (along with her husband). She had pulled out into the outer lane to pass us, and just missed hitting the deer herself. Other than a case of mild shock, everyone was fine. Once I realized what had happened, I felt my eyes fill with tears, knew I couldn't 'lose it' in front of the kids, police or the teacher/coach lol, so took a breath ... got out of the truck and dealt with it.

It's funny what you remember in the hours after an event like this. I remember getting out of the truck, looking at what was left of the bumper and where the light was, and seeing deer hair, blood and 'stuff' in there. I didn't look at the rest of the truck, I turned around and walked over to the officer instead. He told me he had seen the whole incident, and there was nothing I could do. Which was really nice to hear coming from him!!! Said he'd need some info from me so the boys went with Alec's coach to a nearby garage and I followed behind to wait for the officer, while he shot the deer :-( I felt really bad about hitting that poor deer. So did the boys :-( Adam said to me tonight "I'm never gonna forget that Mom!" Sigh.

Ever the optimist, I asked the officer if he thought I could drive my vehicle home. He sort of chuckled and pointed out how the whole left side of the hood was smashed in, and it was leaking alot of fluid. When I got out of it at the scene, my door was not ... right... I could hardly turn the steering wheel to get it off the road and when I got it parked at the garage there was smoke coming out of it ... nah, he thought it better that I have it towed LOL. Probably a better idea :-) He also told me that it was good that I drive an SUV, because if I drove a car that was 'lower' ... the outcome could have been alot worse.

So I called the ex from the police car, while handing my paperwork to the officer, he arranged for the tow truck and we cleaned out what we needed from the truck, left the key for the tow truck and got a ride home with the coach.

Tonight of course, the 'what ifs' set in. What if the deer had come up through the windshield ... what if the air bag had deployed and I ran us off the road or into another car ... what if it had hit into my door or Alec's ... what if there had been a car behind me (the coach if she hadn't pulled around to pass us) when I hit the deer, then the breaks, and then we got hit from behind too .... and again ... back to the what if it had come through the windshield!!!!

I can't do that I know. A person will drive themselves crazy with the 'what ifs' of life.

I'll tell ya one thing ... I sure could have used a smoke after hitting that deer!!!!

31 hours and counting .... 31 hours and counting ....

Now we're without a vehicle. Sucks. I called the 1-800 emergency hotline number for my insurance when I got home ... they couldn't tell me if my policy covered a rental car. Can you even get a rental on a Sunday? I don't know ... most everything else is open, I'm hoping I can find somewhere to get a car ... and that it won't cost me a fortune ... and that my insurance will cover the cost of the damage to my vehicle ...

31 hours and counting .... 31 hours and counting!!!

Have a good night all! Time to put this rattled brain to bed :-)

Till next time :-)
K

House Hunting 101 - Part I

Hey all,

I've gone through the process of selling/buying a house before. It's not fun. Moving is not new to me. This is the first time however, I'll be doing it on my own. The thought of moving two kids, two pets and a houseful of 'stuff', is a bit frightening ... but this is one of those times that I'm simply living by the mantra, 'what doesn't kill me will make me stronger', and with all the boxes I've been packing and dragging around the house lately, I'll be physically stronger as well :-)

The other night, I sat back and thought about the whole moving experience.

Some people move from their parents house in with a sig other and that's their one and only apt/house period. My grandparents (dad's family) lived in the one house. It was passed down to my uncle who lived there with his family, later sold to my dad and will me mine one day. I don't ever expect to live there, but my father made me promise him to 'keep it in the family' if ever I didn't want it. Who knows, I may end up there eventually. It could be the perfect place for retirement ... when the time comes.

Others move all over the world, regularly. One friend I went to school with has moved several times with her husband and son, and is currently in India. Although it can sometimes be a a bit of a culture shock ;-) she has lived so many experiences I could only dream of, and some I'd never even imagine thinking of ... like giant spiders, and huge snakes But overall, a REALLY cool way to live :-)

My life isn't as dramatic lol, but when I really thought about it, I've moved 14 times since I left mom and dad's to go to University.Into a dorm, then into my first apartment with a roommate, then on to another apartment with an additional roommate, then another apt with a guy as a roommate ... that one was interesting lol, we're still friends :-) Then the ex and I moved into an apt together, then 3 more before we built our house. Then 4 more places out here in the community where I live now. This will be my 15Th move. Yeah ... been there ... done that ... packed the boxes :-)

So with the For Sale sign officially on the front lawn, I decided to look at a couple of houses this weekend. I don't plan on putting any conditional offers on anything, I just have my eye on a couple that I would consider if mine sold within the right time frame.

So house hunting I went.

Not that it was a long hunt lol. There are only two in the area. Well actually three I wanted to see, but one of them has foundation issues. The back end of the house is sinking to the tune of $15000. So that one was out. Although I was really disappointed, it was like an old farmhouse, wrap-around veranda, 4 bedrooms, pool. I really wanted to see that one :-( But apparently it's a ''money pit' ... my Realtor told me to stay away from it lol.

So I went to see two houses yesterday. One is an old, (33) chalet style heritage cedar home, the other one is new (3) two story saltbox. One is 'modern' , one is ... not :-) One is completely in 'move in' condition, the other ... I'd want a few changes made first. Nothing too serious, just a few slight modifications to make it more 'kid friendly'.

Man, this is a hard decision. I'm going to check out the home listing website tomorrow, but so far, if nothing else comes on the market in this area when the time comes, it''s between these two. They're so different. I've been looking at both and trying to picture our furniture in it. The rec-room gets smaller in the newer one when I think of the furniture and toys :-) The bedrooms in neither house are big enough for ALOT of toys so what's left after purging will have to be contained to the rec-room lol. The the older home has an in-law suite in the basement with kitchen. I like the bathroom and extra bedroom, but not a fridge and stove in the basement. And upstairs, I don't like where the washer/dryer hookup is, on the other side of the kitchen and would rather have a 'kids coat/boot area' there. So if I changed that kitchen in the basement into a laundry room, which really wouldn't be that hard because it's taking out things like the fridge and stove ... I can put tons of shelves in their spaces instead for toys, keep the counter-top and cupboards for storage, and put the washer and dryer where the sink is now, cause the plumbing is already there. There's really alot more 'room' in the older house. No, it's not as new, and has it's original windows lol, (forgot to ask about the roof) but it's more 'functional' I think for us. Lot size is actually a bit bigger at the newer house, but nicer at the older one. Electric heat in both, but the three heat sources at the older one would give me a few alternate heat sources.

Then of course there are the other pros and cons that come to mind. We have a 'if you live within 2.4km of the school, you pay for your kids to stay at school during lunch' program. The newer house is within 2.4 km. At the newer house, we would no longer members of the summer day-camp program. Still have access to the beach, but not the program. The older house, being cedar and all, has the huge downside of spiders... and that's a big down side for an arachnophobic like me :-) it would require lots of wall vacuuming lol. But it also has the huge up side of being a style of house that I love.

Sigh. Such a hard choice. And I've only just started lol. I've got to get mine sold first!

Here's to good house selling karma this week! Now that I have a clean, ready for showing house, I'm going to give my brain a rest, grab a bag of chips and finish watching Freaky Friday on the Family channel :-)

Have a good week all!

K

Accident Update, Basketball, Moving and Belle

Hey all,

Long overdue for an update. Sorry to leave you hanging on the results of my friend's dad's accident. He's better, to a certain degree. But better every day. He's out of ICU, wearing the halo and they even have him walking down the hallway with a walker and now eating on his own. This is amazing in itself, considering the injury he sustained in the accident. Unfortunately, there's no quick fix for bleeding and swelling on the brain, and a C-2 break. I understood the impact of the brain injury right away, but a 'C-2 break' didn't quite 'register' until I came home and looked it up online. Thank you Google!!! :-) When I saw the following table (as well as other stats on other sites), it put it all in perspective ... he was a VERY lucky man.

Level of injury

C2 - C3

• Usually fatal as a result of inability to breathe
• Totally dependent for all care

C4

• Quadriplegia and breathing difficulty;usually needs a ventilator
• Dependent for all cares
  

C-5

• Quadriplegia with some shoulder and elbow function
• May be able to feed self using assistive devices
• Usually can breathe without a ventilator, but may need other types of respiratory support

He may be sporting the latest 'halo look', but he's breathing on his own, feeding himself and it may be with the aid of a walker, but he's WALKING down that hallway daily. But there's still a long way to go for both the physical and psychological therapy/rehab.

They haven't started rehab with him yet because they don't feel he's progressed far enough with the brain injury. The long term memory is there, but the short term isn't. And they won't start the physical rehabilitation until the brain is functioning a little better. This is also very frustrating for his family, because they would rather see him at least doing something physically than lying in the bed for so many hours a day. He's not a big man to begin with so he needs all the exercise his body can handle and get himself further on that road to recovery.

He's still very confused at times :-( When I was there, he knew who I was, but kept referring to work, ie, had to get going cause he had to move the machines at work. Continuously focused on work. I think he thought he was in a work accident too by some of his comments. Other times, you could see he was trying to joke around with us lol. So the brain is working ... just not quite the way it used to right now ... but that will hopefully be improving every day as well! On Sun, he was able to remember what he had for dinner when asked a couple of hrs later ... he couldn't do that on Friday.

Considering it's been 5 weeks since the accident and he was in a drug induced coma for the first two, he's really only had three weeks recovery from very serious injuries. He's made great progress. Is doing things that are considered 'a miracle' by some. But he's really only taken a baby step towards a 'full recovery' whatever that will mean for him in the end. But he's here, that's the main thing. And everyone is thankful for him being able to have that first baby step at all.

As for the rest of us, it's been another krazy month in the korner :-)

Basketball season has started. Both boys are having a ball and Alec has turned out to be the high scorer on his team :-) Not that they win alot LOL, (which doesn't matter of course) but he's gotten quite a few points for his team in each game :-) Adam isn't playing competitively yet as he's still too young, but it will be interesting to see what happens over the next couple of years with him also. He's playing rec ball and has quite the shot as well :-) I've told them both I'm very proud of them, and think it's great they're able to get so many baskets, but I do also remind them before every practice/game "pass the ball too ... nobody likes a ball hog. You want them (team members) to pass to you so you can take the shot, make sure you pass to them and they can shoot too ... it goes both ways ..." But that's it for the motherly advice ... aside from Have Fun :-)

I've decided to invite a little more chaos into my life and sell the house :-) I've never liked the street we live on and have wanted to move back into a subdivision type neighbourhood since we moved to this house four years ago. It's time. I don't plan on moving out of the school district, just to another house in the same community we're in now. So I've been to the broker, had the Realtor in and the "For Sale" sign goes up this week :-) It's going to be a HUGE project to take on myself ... but it's time. The house I wanted to buy of course just got a conditional offer on it :-( So, now it's a race. Can I sell my house before the other people sell theirs? I haven't made an offer on the other one yet, cause I can't make a 'clean' offer without a conditional sale. So it's a wait and see. The way I see it though, everything happens for a reason, so if the house is gone, there will be another one.

Had a bad scare with Belle this weekend :-( We had gone to Alec's basketball game, got home a couple of hours later and as I went around the back, Alec had gone in the front door, and came running out the back saying 'There's something wrong with Belle!!!' I ran into the house and there she was at the back door shaking uncontrollably. She couldn't walk properly because she was shaking so much. I had no idea what was wrong with her, but could definitely tell she wasn't 'normal'. My first thought was 'the kids Halloween bags!!! She's eaten some of those mini chocolate bars out of their bags!' I know chocolate can kill dogs, so I ran around the house looking for chocolate bar wrappers. Nothing. Ran back upstairs and saw only one thing that might have been what was causing whatever was wrong with her.

She had grabbed an old, forgotten, Tim Hortons coffee cup that I had thrown away out of the downstairs garbage, ate the moldy coffee sludge at the bottom and ended up with mold toxicity. After calling the vet and confirming that's what it was, they said to rush her down there, then we had to take her to the animal hospital where she spent the night :-(

After an IV drip, flushing out her system, and a Valium drip to control the tremors and onset of seizure, she was recovered and home the next day. And Mama's now throwing her old coffee cups into the neighbours garbage!!!! Kidding ;-) Although I'm still not sure how I'm going to cover that outrageous vet bill before Xmas, I couldn't just let my girl die. I've told a few people what happened to her, and have had one person out of all say 'I wouldn't have paid that money to save her, she's only a dog' ... I guess I'm just not made that way. Yes, I know hundreds of dollars for an emergency vet bill is outrageous ... and downright impossible on a single mom's salary ... just before Xmas, but it doesn't matter that she's 'only a dog'. She's part of our family and I couldn't do that to my children, or myself, to just take her to a vet and say 'nope, don't want to pay for it, put her down'. Financially foolish or not ... I just couldn't.

My highlight of this past weekend was seeing George Canyon. He is one of Canada's hottest Country singers right now. He gave a special concert for the troops on Nov 11th, and my project at work was one of the sponsors of the show. I happened to be in the right place at the right time and scooped tickets to the concert :-) It was great! Our company had a table reserved so the seats were excellent, and I managed to take 100 pics that night LOL.

That's it for tonight all. My brain is tired and ready for bed.
Until next time!
K

Home from Montreal and another trip to the Hospital

Hey all,

Originally I sat down Friday night with the intention of filling you all in on what we've been up to lately ... however, after spending a week in Montreal and just getting home that night, I was far too tired to write much of anything, so I put it aside until Sat. Unfortunately, the events of Sat morning changed the subject of this blog completely :-( But let's start from the beginning ......

YAY! I'm finally home! I left Monday evening for a business trip to Montreal, and arrived home tonight (Friday) around 6:30pm. Well, I had gotten off the plane and picked up my luggage and was back to my vehicle shortly after 6:30 ... by the time I dropped off my co-worker, stopped for gas, and stopped by to see the boys at their dad's ... it was closer to 8:30 by the time I got 'home'. Once again, I'm exhausted, and it's wonderful to be home :-) As it worked out, the boys are with their father this weekend, so I plan on doing nothing but sleeping for the next two days :-) Ok, maybe not the FULL two days, but at least 12 straight hrs when I crawl into bed later lol.

I was a little nervous about flying ... with the whole recent lung thing and all. I wasn't sure how it would stand up to that pressure, but ... going to mtl every so often has been part of my job for the last 3yrs, I knew I had flown since the surgery ... just not so soon after a tear.

As we were taking off, I couldn't help remembering the ride at the fair that I used to love as a kid. It was like a spaceship, Gravitron it might have been called? Once it started spinning 'full speed', you would start sliding up the wall on this little padded slab, no matter how hard you tried to stay where you were ... and everyone would be trying to lift their arms or head but the 'gravitational pull' was just too strong for most to move at all lol. I then thought about my lungs, and wondered if that's what the staples felt like when the pressure on take-off got to the point where it made your ears pop ... were they fighting the pop and pull too? lol

So far all if fine :-D No lung issues from the plane ride and all is working as it should again :-)

I did however end up with a cold my first day there :-( I could feel it starting on Monday, but it was a full fledged cold when I woke up on Tues. It's never fun to be sick .... even less fun to be sick while you're away, and stuck in a room all day for meetings. And since it was a 'meeting of the minds' I couldn't just sit there in a cold-induced haze ... I sort of had to pay attention lol.

Overall the trip was good. Uneventful ... aside from having to change rooms the first night because of no Internet service, and having to wait 20 min in the lobby the next night ...for them to find me a new 'room service book' since mine was missing from my new room, and couldn't order room service without it ...but thankfully, no naked people in the hot tub this time LOL. One night, I finally got out and explored Old Montreal with my co-workers. It was BEAUTIFUL!!!! In all the times I've been to Montreal, I've never been to this part of the city and I'm so glad I finally got to see it :-) Just wish I had brought my camera!

On the flight home, the more I thought about the meetings, the more proud I felt about being in attendance. This was one of many meetings that have taken place to determine major factors of the project. How particular systems will work. It's a large and complicated project, and here are 5 people sitting in a room, figuring out how 'things' are going to work ... and 4/5 of those people were women! Go Girls! Go Girls!!!! :-) And it didn't go un-noticed by others either ;-) Any time someone happened to stop by or join us, there were comments made with respect to how this particular attendee lucked out to be stuck in a room with 4 women all week LOL. All joking aside, I looked at it from the perspective that if this was 20yrs ago ... the women would most likely not have even been allowed in the room, other than to deliver the coffee ... and now here we are making the decisions! Now THAT'S progress I say!!!! :-)

Yesterday morning (Saturday) I had planned to sleep in!!! Of course, things never quite go as planned do they?

I woke up instead just after 9:30 with the urge to call my best friend. Normally we talk at least once a week (we live in different cities) if not more, and I hadn't spoken to her since the previous weekend before I went away. We have a strange connection she and I .... we've been friends so long that now that we always just seem to 'know' when we NEED to talk to each other. When something's 'up'. It's a really cool connection ... but can still be a little eerie at times lol.

So yesterday I woke up with the NEED to talk to her. I waited until just before 11 though before calling because like me, I know she likes her sleep on the weekends also and I didn't want to wake her up too early on a Sat morning :-) I need not have worried :-(

When I called her house, her son answered and informed me his Mom was here in Halifax. He was staying with the neighbour. His grandfather had been in a bad car accident and he was in the ICU here in town. DAMN!!!! His mom had arrived the night before. What was originally planned as a day of relaxation quickly changed ....

I jumped in the shower as soon as I hung up with him, called the hospital to find out exactly where they were, then headed over there and spent the next 10hrs there with them :-(

Her Dad was in the accident on Wed night. They may never know exactly what happened. He was going around a turn, almost home of course, and went into a bunch of trees. One of the tires is missing off the car, and there were no skid marks, so he didn't even break. Did he hit something? Did the tire blow out or come off? Why was one tire gone? Why didn't he hit the breaks? These are the questions they may never get the answers to, as he may not even remember any of it when he eventually wakes up.

He's very lucky to be alive! The seat belt and air bag saved him, but the force of the air bag might also have been what caused him to hit his head against the door/window also.The car is totaled. But he has no broken bones (arms/legs etc) whatsoever! However, he has bleeding and swelling on the brain, and he also has a C2 break in his neck and bleeding there as well. It's amazing. Most people with a C2 break are quadriplegic after wards .... he's breathing on his own, and he's moving his arms and legs ... that's not supposed to be possible, but he's doing it!!! I saw it myself when I was in the ICU yesterday. He raised his arm while I was there (involuntarily of course), and his legs were moving under the blanket like he was trying to get himself comfortable. Unfortunately, they have to have him strapped to the bed, so he doesn't move too much, make a wrong move and end up paralyzing himself :-(He's still not very good though. He's not conscious, and has been heavily medicated since Wed night, but he's squeezed Cass's hand a couple of times on request, but he's really nowhere near being out of the woods.

To top things off ... while at the hospital with her dad, it was discovered her mom has a broken foot and she's been walking on it all week!!!!

After being there awhile yesterday, I took Cass out for lunch, just to get away for awhile, then we brought lunch back for her mom and stayed around the hospital for awhile. Then around 6, I brought Cass home with me so she could shower and have a power nap, so she could sit with her dad that night and let her mom sleep. Well she managed to get the shower, but then her mom called from the hospital. The nurse had sent her down to emerg to have a cast put on her foot cause the swelling was getting too bad, and since they weren't sure how long it was going to take, her mom didn't want her dad to be alone.

So back to the hospital we went. I loaded them up with a couple of pillows, and comforters (it's always FREEZING in hospitals!!! I know from experience LOL) and some pj bottoms and extra shirts, socks, granola bars etc and off we went again. I'm sure we looked like we were moving in when they saw us coming back LOL.

After seeing her dad first (I didn't want to go in after the initial visit ... since I had a cold last week, I didn't want to take the chance of passing on any cold germs!), we then went down to emerg. to find her mom. The ER doc had a mission for us LOL. They were going to cast her mom, but didn't have any crutches on hand. That I still don't get ... why are there no crutches in a hospital? Why would a person have to go to a pharmacy for them????? But that's what we had to do! Back in the car, and off to the pharmacy at 10 pm to pick up crutches for her mom. Then I dropped her off back at the hospital for the night.

I haven't heard from her yet today, so I'm assuming there has been no change in her dad since last night. That can be good or bad I guess. Good that he hasn't gotten worse. Bad that the swelling and bleeding hasn't gone down any.

They're not sure yet how they're going to treat the broken neck. Halo, bolts to the neck, traction ... regardless what the procedure ... her dad will be in some type of recovery for a very long time. We still have no idea how long he'll be in the ICU or even the hospital altogether. It's going to be a very long road to recovery ... BUT ..... he's alive ... and that's the main thing.

So now I'm off to the hospital again. The boys will be back tonight so I want to get my visit in this afternoon and see if they 'need' anything. I don't plan on bringing the boys for a visit. They don't need to see him in that condition.

Please keep my friend's dad in your thoughts ... it could still go either way right now, and after just losing her sister in law 6 months ago, this family really doesn't need another tragedy right now :-(

Take care all! Happy Thanksgiving! And yes, it was a serious accident, but there are still many things to be thankful for ... he's alive ... and he can move. Right now, I'm just thankful that he's still here for his family.

K.