The Absence of Solitude

Five on Friday

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 Arriving March 2012

Darn you, Netflix!

You know how I said I go to bed early, like 9:30 pm early? I need my sleep, plus I also get up early in the morning to run so it works out well. That is, it was working out well until we renewed our Netflix subscription! The past week I have not been in bed until around midnight and I have not wanted to get up to run. My schedule is so out of whack right now. Imagine that!

It's not just Netflix, though. It's the show that we Just.Can't.Stop.Watching...24.

 

WHY DIDN'T ANYONE EVER TELL ME ABOUT THIS SERIES!?! Wait, maybe someone did and I did exactly what I always do; don't watch it because I don't want to be like everyone else. Stupid decision! It is such a fantastic show! It sucks me in on every episode.

Each night we sit down and say we are just going to watch one episode and then it's over and we say, "Just one more. Let's see what happens." Well, then we say that again and again, then before I know it, it's midnight and I am dragging my rear out of bed in the morning. The lack of sleep has also brought back my migraines. So I need to break the cycle of watching so many episodes in one night but I know it likely won't happen anytime soon. I just need to know what happens next! Dang you, Netflix (and 24)!!!

Birthdays

While in Texas we celebrated three birthdays with cousins.

 

Aidan's 5th

 

Marie's 19th

 
 

 Aubrey's 4th

 

And today we are celebrating the birthday of my sweetheart, Allen. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

 
photo by Sarah McKenzie

 

 

Low-key

We are recovering from our weekend. So just a few random notes today.

1. To give you glimpse of what we did: I think I might have perfected the art of taking a shirt off in such a way as to prevent the vomit on said shirt from getting in the hair and face. Lauren and Simon could not have choreographed it better; I am not kidding when I say they threw-up simultaneously in their own beds. Just sayin'...it was awesome.

2. I was called to be the Laurel adviser in the Young Women's organization for our ward. This should be by far, the most interesting and challenging group of girls I have ever worked with. Tonight is New Beginnings and the former YW president said to me on Sunday, "Not to scare you or anything, but let me just say, last year New Beginnings ended with a gang fight." AWESOME, again.

3. I {heart} the library! I have been there more in the past couple of months than I have in a long time. I don't know why I always felt I needed to buy books but I have loved reading so much more lately by taking advantage of the library.

4. Allen also received a new calling...Elders Quorum president. So we will be seeing him a little less on Sundays. He is excited but also a little nervous because our ward does face quite a few challenges, like any ward I guess.

5. We have all started the countdown to Texas! We are looking forward to the visit so much, not only to see everyone but to get a little relief from the bitter cold. The kids are especially excited to attend the birthday parties for two of their cousins. They are also telling me where they want to eat when they get there...Bush's Chicken, Rudy's BBQ, and Shipley's Donuts. :)

And just to include a picture in the post:

This was so sweet but a little blurry. Simon hugging Jillian after one of his basketball shots rebounded and hit Jillian.

Good day! 

The Colts

I racked my brain trying to figure out a perfect gift to give Allen for Christmas and was coming up with absolutely nothing. He didn't really need anything and wasn't giving me any suggestions. Then one day he was telling me that the Indianapolis Colts were playing their last regular season game against the Buffalo Bills. I had it...I would get him tickets to see the Colts go undefeated. [They lost (gave up) their first game after I bought the tickets.] Allen has loved the Colts and been a huge fan for since well, forever. It was going to be the best gift!

I bought other gifts for him to open leading up to the tickets like a Colts fleece blanket, hand warmers (didn't really understand that one at first), and a new Colts hat. He was so excited when he finally saw the tickets...utter disbelief and then just absolutely over the moon happy!

 

We decided to have Ethan go with him (because I didn't want to freeze) and they both watched the weather all week and getting prepared for it. You see, the stadium is an open one. No dome folks, and it's in Buffalo! They would have to face the elements whatever they might be.

And brave them, they did! It was about 15 degrees with a wind chill of -1 and fairly heavy snow. If you happened to catch the game on tv, you know what I am talking about. They both had several layers on, hand and foot warmers, and blankets to try to keep warm. Ethan couldn't stand it the entire game so they left early. Allen was disappointed that they pulled the starters from the game early and of course that they lost but was pleased to have been at the game to see his Colts play again.

It was one of his best Christmas presents ever. At least I think so! Now we will have to just wait and see how they do in the playoffs. Hopefully they opposing team doesn't take Manning out immediately because we all saw over the last couple of weeks that without Manning, the Colts can't get it together.

ski slope views

Bear with me and all my autumn posts, I have just a couple more.

A few weeks ago, Allen took Ethan and Lauren to a ski resort nearby to ride the ski lifts to the top of the mountain (not a big mountain by anyone's standard who has lived by the Rockies, but nonetheless, a mountain) and enjoy the fall colors from a different vantage point. I was a little unsure what Ethan and Lauren would think of a ski lift and was a bit worried that one of them would fall. They loved it, even though it was "a little scary."

 

 

The leaves were not quite to peak yet but I don't think the kids minded at all. They had fun just going on the ski lift. Hopefully we can take them back to actually try skiing this winter. 

Is it wrong

for me to be so jealous?  Because...I really am this week. Allen has been sending me pictures every night of places he is visiting while in NYC this week for work.  Wouldn't you be jealous if you were getting pictures like this from the Empire State Building

 

and these from Times Square

   

and this from Radio City Music Hall

 

and these from Ground Zero.

   

See what I mean...jealous! I am most jealous of him going to see WICKED tomorrow night on Broadway. We were supposed to go to NYC for our 10th Anniversary next year but now we might have to think of some place new since he has already been there (and hopefully I will have too by then.) Anyway, just jealous because he is doing fun stuff after work and I am exhausted at the end of my day and fall asleep reading. So boring, I know!

Winds of change

are about to start blowing big time around here. After being in the works for nearly the entire summer, the final plans have been made -- We are moving! Allen accepted a new position with his company and we are headed to New York. We are excited about this new change and all that it will bring with it (even the cold, blizzard filled winters.) I am still in a bit of shock even though I know this is something we wanted and something we know we should do.

I don't want to post too many details here, so feel free to ask questions in the comments or email me and I will address what I can here on the blog otherwise I will email you a response.

Here it goes...

This is the story about Allen and his abdominal pains...In my previous post, I said that Allen had been to the ER last Tuesday and the doctor told him he had a virus in the lymph nodes of his abdomen. On Thursday, he was still not feeling too well. Because of my nagging, he finally made a 24 hour follow-up appointment with our regular doctor. Our doctor said that he really didn't think the virus was a correct diagnosis. He sent him to gastrointestinal specialist that afternoon. When Allen saw this doctor he was admitted to the hospital for tests. The GI thought it was either severe ulcers or gallbladder stones.

Friday morning they did an ultrasound to rule out the stones before they did an upper GI scope to check for ulcers. The ultrasound found no gall stones. So Friday afternoon he had the scope done. (I have some pretty cool, but graphic photos of Allen's esophagus, stomach and small intestine. Modern medicine is amazing!) But there was no sign of ulcers either. The doctor was a little stumped. He let Allen recover from the scope Friday afternoon and then on Saturday morning he did a HIDA scan. This test was our answer! We were getting really discouraged and didn't want to be sent home without any answers. It revealed that Allen's gallbladder was only releasing about 20% of what it was taking in, basically it was not functioning and it was the cause of ALL the pain. Surgery for its removal was scheduled for Monday.

Monday morning he had the surgery. The nurses told me he would be gone for about an hour and a half total. After just over two hours, the nurse came into the room and said, "Come down to the nurse's station. The doctor needs to talk to you." Of course all kinds of bad scenarios ran through my head. When I got to the nurse's station, I could not see a doctor. The nurse handed me the phone and I thought surely he wouldn't give me bad news over the phone. I was right. He just wanted to give me instructions and tell me how everything went. He said that not only was the gallbladder not releasing its contents, but one of the ducts that leads back into the intestine was very thin and was making it hard for the the fluid to pass through, also contributing to the pain. Allen stayed in the hospital overnight and finally came home last night. He is doing well, just sore. He has four puncture wounds in his abdomen and so going from laying down to sitting/standing up is the hardest thing for him to do right now. He has been calling them his "gun shot wounds." The doctor said he can go back to work and regular activities as soon as he feels like it. Hopefully that will be by this weekend. (I am sure that is more than anyone wanted to know, but this is a journal afterall.)

I am so thankful for Allen's family who took care of the kids Tuesday night and then Thursday through Saturday while I was running back and forth to the hospital. And then my sister, Leigh, came on Sunday and left this morning. My kids were so excited to play with their cousins for three days. We are extremely grateful for all the help!

Whew!

OK. Here is a blog post with a bunch of little ramblings of things that have happened over the last few days...We were going to spend Easter weekend with my family but ended up staying home because Ethan had crummy cough and runny nose and Allen had what we thought was a stomach bug. It seems like every time I try to get together with my family someone gets sick!

We just hung around here over the weekend. Ethan was feeling better by Saturday (I really think it was probably just allergies) and so I took the kids to see "Horton Hears a Who." It was a cute movie, nothing spectacular though. Then we colored eggs and made sugar cookie cut-outs in the afternoon. Ethan's eggs had dinosaur rub-ons on them and they all looked like they were hatching baby dinos. Cute! Lauren just liked writing her name on them (which right now only consists of the letter L.) Allen seemed to be feeling better on Sunday and so we all went to church and Allen's mom did a surprise egg hunt for the kids when we got home. They were excited about that and each got a few eggs with coins and even a dollar in one. We had a yummy dinner I prepared of pork loin, cheesy potatoes, green beans, deviled eggs, and rolls. Allen's sister made a delicious chocolate mint cake and brought us over a piece. I will have to get the recipe and post it because it was sooo good!

                     

                                                  Lauren and Ethan on the HUNT!

Simon in a pair of sunglasses the kids got in their baskets. Lauren not wanting me to take a picture of her face after I just caught her eating a cupcake before dinner. My favorite picture of Ethan from the weekend. 

Monday Allen wasn't feeling well again, but flew to New Orleans for work anyway. He called Tuesday morning and said he was on the next flight home because he was in serious pain and couldn't stay there the entire week. As soon as he got home, Allen went to the doctor and he sent him over to the ER for tests. His doctor thought it was his gallbladder or possibly his appendix. I was scrapbooking with some friends when he called and told me he was heading to the ER. I went home, picked up Ethan from school, and got the kids taken care for the night with the help of Allen's family and headed to the hospital. After eight hours in the ER, several blood tests, x-rays and finally a CT scan, it was determined that Allen has a viral infection of the lymph nodes in his abdomen. He is out of commission for the next few days. Hopefully this will pass quickly because he doesn't feel good at all!

Whew! What a crazy few days. Enjoy the rest of the week!