Scrapbooking Weekend

I've just returned from a lovely, refreshing weekend at Gull Lake. It was technically a scrapbooking conference, but I managed to squeeze in a whole bunch of other stuff, like a massage, watching 2 chick flicks, a trip to the mall, Panera for breakfast one morning, a couple of naps, a lot of reading, etc. As a result, I didn't get a whole lot of pages finished, but that wasn't really the point.

I wish I had taken a picture of the cropping room. There were 58 women there for the weekend. There must have been tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment and supplies in that room. One woman stood up this morning, and ecstatically proclaimed that she had finished 1997. Another woman shared that she had finished 70 pages. One of the women I shared a workspace with got through 60. That's dedication! I, on the other hand, was in it mainly for the relaxation. It was a successful weekend, as far as I'm concerned!

Halloween Costumes

The kids all recovered enough from the flu to have fun trick-or-treating. Here they are in costume. Big K went trick-or-treating in Connecticut with her cousin.

Flu Week

That's what I've decided to call this week. Actually, its turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I've had to clear my entire calendar, so I've been hanging around the house in my jammies and getting a lot of stuff from my never ending list taken care of. The house should be in somewhat better order by the time the kids recover.

In other news:

Big K is on her way to Connecticut in a couple of days. She has sufficiently recovered from the flu to be able to go. I'm hoping that she will be a big help to her aunt and not a huge tweenie pain in the backside.

It turns out that I made enough money from the consignment sale to pay for a weekend scrapbooking conference. I'm in the process of getting reservations for that. It will be nice to get away and relax for a couple of days!

I've decided to take a break from being "sick" for a couple of months. The neurologist wants to treat me for MS. I'm a little skeptical about the diagnosis, and I'd like to talk to a couple of other doctors before I become a walking IV port. We'll change over our insurance in January to make that possible. So until then, I'm on vacation.

We're kicking around a brief trip to Frankenmuth sometime in the next month. Since we didn't take a family vacation this year because of everything going on, it would be a chance for a low key, low energy expenditure outing. The kids want to go to Splash Village, of course. I'd rather get a good look at the outlet mall, myself. I'm sure a compromise can be worked out. :-)

Little K at the Orchard

These pictures are from the past weekend. This was her preferred method for picking apples. Don't miss the one she has crammed in her mouth!


Check out the jack-o-lantern grin!

Picture of the Day

Here she is...




Big K with braces. She spent two hours in the chair this morning getting all the gear put on. There's a lot more than you can see in the picture. I have a good one of her sitting in the chair, but I've been forbidden to post it. It will make good blackmail material later in her life!

The Week in Review

So it turns out that a spinal tap is not as bad as you might think. Sure, it hurt a little, but the anticipation was the worst part. The best part was that I had to lay on the couch yesterday afternoon and this morning to avoid the post-spinal tap headache. So I couldn't cook dinner, do the dishes or pick up anything I dropped. It was rough. Plus that, I was supposed to drink a lot of caffeine (which I've decided to extend until today) so the husband provided beverage service to the couch. Overall, it was a pretty good deal.

Unfortunately, the test didn't show what the neurologist thought it would, so we're still on a hunt for a diagnosis. A few more tests will be run on the spinal fluid, and I'll go back in a couple of weeks for a follow up. In the meantime, I still can't see.

In other news, the husband survived this round of layoffs, and I'm relieved that we don't have that hanging over our heads anymore. Christmas shopping should be more fun this year!

J-Man will start another medication tomorrow. The therapist thinks that we'll get some good results out of this one. I hope so. She also said that one of the side effects is weight gain. Which certainly couldn't hurt...except that I just bought the kid some slim jeans, which I still had to cinch up!

Glad the week is over!

Waiting...Nothing more than Waiting....

That seems to be the theme of my life these days.

I went to the neurologist yesterday. Now I have to wait for the spinal tap and then wait for the follow up appointment.
"Come back in two months", said the receptionist.
"Two months! You've got to be joking!" Said I. (Really, I said this out loud.)
"Well, when do you want to come back?" she said, a little bit snottily.
"Well, how about as soon as he has the results from the spinal tap." Said I.
"You'll have to call us, then. NEXT!"
Umph.

So then I had to wait part of the day to make the appointment for the spinal tap, because the husband had a meeting informing him not to take any days off next week. They want to make sure that everyone is present for the layoff party, apparently. Kind of like a family reunion, but with a greater chance that someone will go postal. It turns out, however, that they're willing to make an exception if your wife needs a spinal tap.

But of course, we're also waiting to make several decisions regarding J-Man's treatment until after next week. Because most of those expenses would be out-of-pocket, and if the husband doesn't have a job... Food..Psychiatric Care...House Payment...Psychiatric Care... You get the picture.

And I'm waiting to see if my vision will come back after the spinal tap, because right now I can't see to drive after dark. That changes what the kids and I can participate in at church during the evening hours. As the days get shorter, I'm going to have to be home earlier and earlier. Yuck.

That, along with all those dumb little things that pop up every day, and I've just about had it. Patience may be virtuous, but I've had about my fill.