New Job

Call me crazy but I have accepted another job. I will continue to work two days at the hospital during the week and also work for Dillon from home.

Every third month, I will be working recovery at Tulsa Fertility Center. I will work about 4-5 hour days on the weekends and some during the week. Why? you say...

During one of my post-op visits, I decided that it would be cool to learn something new. During our infertility treatments, I always thought it was a fascinating field of medicine. So, why not learn something new. I have great empathy for the patients going through infertility. It was probably some of the hardest years of our lives. I think I have great compassion to offer to these patients.

Pumpkin Patch

We took our annual trek to the Pumpkin patch. The kids had fun in the maze in the hay house. I held Delaney's hand so she could go through it without being too scared. Joshua loves it. Delaney prefers the pony rides. Imagine that!

OKC Weekend

Delaney has been wanting to see the My Little Pony show live. I found out it was coming to OKC so I went ahead and got tickets in case it wasn't coming to Tulsa.

We went this past weekend. I didn't tell Delaney until we were at the door of the convention center as she tends to be a nagger. She was pretty surprised and excited.
She loves her My Little Ponies!

We went to the zoo beforehand then we went to the riverwalk to eat. We ate at Bourbon Street Cafe. The wait staff were dressed up in costumes. They were quite risque. Delaney asked me why the "nurse" was only wearing a shirt and exclaimed, "Mom, I see her underwear!".

Oh Boy.....

Sammy Hagar

Paul wanted to see Sammy Hagar in concert so we went last week. He was touring with Michael Anthony (former bass player from Van Halen).

Michael Anthony opened and well.... he needs to stick to guitar playing. Sorry Michael.

Sammy was great. Hard to imagine the guy is 60 years old. He is in great shape physically, at least on the outside. I am sure all the drinking is taking a toll though.

I had the most fun watching all the thirty somethings acting like fools. You would think they would be over the binge drinking until you are sick by now. There was a guy in front of us that slammed 4 tequila shots and a couple of beers. He spent the whole concert time with his head in his hands being miserable. Looked like fun!!

Cub Scouts

The den has had fun learning about different things. They learned about knife safety and how to carve.

We also went to the bank to learn about banking. The bank gave each child a roll of nickels, they were pretty excited about that! After the bank, we went to the store to learn about comparison shopping and also bought some canned goods for the food drive.

Company Parties

Paul and I had our annual company parties on the same day.

We had his at the Tulsa Zoo. We had fun with free Carousel and train rides. Our friends, David and Brenda were there with their kids so the kids had fun playing with them. Unfortunately, the food wasn't that great so Paul and the kids (my picky eaters) had to go to the zoo cafe for food.

Later that evening, we had new babysitters (the kids adored) and went to my party at the Civic center. I was suppose to meet a few co-workers but forgot cell phone numbers at work. I figured that it would not be a problem tracking them down. WRONG! There were 3500 people there for a sit down dinner and dancing. I only found a couple but not the ones we promised to sit with. Oh well, Paul and I had fun anyway. We even were able to dance without fighting. We both try to lead usually, I know man is suppose to lead but.....

Fall Break

Paul and I decided to have a weekend get away to Eureka Springs while the kids were on Fall Break. The kids got to spend a fun filled weekend with Grandma and Grandpa.

We stayed on Lake Beaver. It was beautiful!

We spent two days strolling the shops and bought not one thing! It was cool looking at all the very interesting craft shops. I guess we went on the weekend of War Eagle so it was very crowded.

We ran into two couples there from our town at dinner one night and then again at lunch the next day. Although it was crowded, it is a small world there.

We visited a place called Quigley's Castle. She lived during the war. She wanted a new house and when her husband didn't get busy building it, she tore down her existing home and took her 5 children out to the chicken house to live. Her husband built the house but the windows had to wait until after the war was over.

The house is unique in that it has two foundations with a gap for a garden in between. There are plants inside that grow all the way up to the second floor. She also had an obsession with rocks. She took three years to place rocks all over her house. Since Arkansas only has natural brown rocks, she sent off overseas for some colored ones. She also created many rock structures on the grounds. After her husband died, she created "bottle trees" out of his bottle collection.

They originally had an outhouse that I got to experience out of pure desperation. Paul told me to quit griping as it was a little better than the toilets in Ukraine.

My Hibiscus

Tulsa State Fair

We visited the Tulsa State Fair (yes, Tulsa is disillusioned as it is not a STATE!) again this year. I love to watch the people. Very Interesting!

The fair was okay, the kids weren't that interested in rides, they were bored in the buildings Paul and I wanted to visit and wanted to eat every food item for sale!

We had a few treats and headed home for the evening. It is just not the same without Bell's amusement park as part of the fun. We miss Bells!

Girlfriends are the best!

My friend, Melissa and I went on a girl's night out with our girls. Paul took Joshua out that night for a special dad and son night as well.

We started the night off at Fuddruckers and then we took the girls to the mall and had Lauren's ears pierced. Lauren did great and was so proud of her new earrings.

Photo For Friday

Too Cute!!

Quote of the week

The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.

Photo For Friday- a little late

My 3rd grader and Kindergartener

When thank you doesn't seem adequate.....

Two weeks ago, I had the honor of talking to Joshua's birth mother on the phone. My friend, Tanya, was gracious enough to do the translating for us.

Although I tried to thank her for one of the greatest gifts in my life, words seemed so inadequate. How do you express that amount of gratitude especially over the phone?

His BM was so kind and seems to have a very gentle spirit about her. You can tell that she still deeply cares for Joshua and that it was not an easy decision for her to make to place him for adoption. I also know from letters that Delaney's BM is also still hurting.

My question to God is Why? Why must my joy come from a selfless act that deeply hurt another? Why were these women placed in countries and situations that made it difficult to parent a child? Why were they the vessels that resulted in my dream coming true? Many times I cried due to the fact that we were unable to conceive children. God knew His plans for me and my children and they were far greater than anything I could have imagined. Why am I the one that is blessed and they are left to shed tears?

Words can not express the heart felt gratitude I feel toward God and these two ladies. One day, I pray they are rewarded for their decision and that only joy remains.

Weekends off!

I have really been enjoying my weekends off. I am so excited that my new schedule will no longer include weekends.

We have been able to have my brother's kids over the last couple of weekends. I have always wanted the kids to be closer to them. Since I rarely saw them the last 7 years, I feel like I barely know them.

We have been going to their sporting events and cheering them on. We usually end up swapping kids afterwards and letting them play.

We have also had the chance to go out with friends and our community at church.

We went to Gilligan's island putt-putt this past Friday with our church. Every three to four months they have community childcare and the adults go out for a little fun. Paul has a guy from work that is in our community so we had a blast.

Each day is better than the past

I am now almost six weeks post op. I am no longer in pain from the incision. I returned to work at the hospital last week. My biggest complaint is fatigue. The energy level is just not the same. I am told that your energy will return in a couple of months. Until then I am frustrated. I am not use to being held back when it comes to working. I give it my all. It is hard to do when you feel totally drained after 6 hours of work.

A doctor told me on my first day back that I was looking very pale by the time I saw her at 1:00pm. Thankfully I only had 2 hours of work left. I came home and crashed.

This week I am going to work (1) 12 hour shift. I go back for a post op visit on Tuesday. I am hoping for a full release to work. I am wanting to start exercising again to hopefully build up some strength. I will probably start out at Curves. My mom has started working out there. I went once to check it out. At Curves, I can't adjust weights, resistance, etc. to a higher level, so it may be safer for me to start there. At the regular gym, I usually try to overdo it with higher weights. I like to know I have done something by being a little sore afterwards. No pain, no gain, right?

I was a little depressed a week or two post op as I was still having significant amount of lower back pain. I had prayed that the surgery had corrected it. I had dealt with the pain for over 8 months and was so ready to be rid of it.

Praise God, at this point the lower back pain is pretty much gone. I am hoping that it will resolve completely!

Thanks for all your prayers, support, and help during my recovery. I greatly appreciate it!

Trauma Cont.

A doctor that spent three years at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany spoke to us. Landstuhl is the military hospital in Germany that our soldiers go to before coming home to the US for treatment.

We saw slides on the injuries that are occurring overseas. They were astounding. What are men are sacrificing for our country is such a selfless act. They need our support. Whether you agree with the war or not is irrelevant.

The story told about one medic was truly a story of compassion. This medic was on his way to pick up a wounded soldier when his convoy of 5 medics was ambushed. Gunfire ensued and the other four medics were killed. This brave man checked on his fellow medics and after determining that they all had died, he went to check on the Iraqis. All but one of their men were dead as well. The remaining one was critically injured. This medic, the one that had just lost his 4 friends at the hands of these Iraqis, transported the man back to the base and saved his life.

That is what our troops are doing. They are doing the "right" thing during this war. Had it been reversed I would have hoped our medic had been saved but the past shows that most likely he would have been drug through the streets. He would have served as a trophy to our enemies. Be proud of our men and please don't forget to remember them.

Trauma Seminar

After being off for three weeks, I hit the maximum amount of boredom that I could tolerate. I had always thought that I would love to be a stay-at-home mom. Maybe it would have been different if the kids weren't in school. I found out staying at home is not for me. After watching about 10 movies and dozens of talk shows, I was ready to get out of the house.

I obtained permission from my doctor to be released for work with no lifting.

I attended a trauma conference the first week. It not only got me out of my complacency of not expanding my nursing knowledge but it was an awesome conference.

We heard a great speaker the second morning. His name was Stein Rosqvist. He was a flight nurse that was the sole survivor of a Life Flight crash in Utah in 2003. He internal strength and determination to walk again was amazing. He stressed that you must look deep inside yourself to be the best that you can be. He was truly inspiring!

We also had a session with a company called Verbal Judo. The speaker was a riot! He taught us how to have effective communication in conflict situations. The company has several books available. I have ordered the books for Paul and I. Since Paul has been promoted to Chief Engineer, the books may come in handy.

Cub Scouts

Since I have been off work, I have been able to go on some of the Cub Scout outings with Joshua.

We went to the Police station a couple of weeks ago. I think it was an eye opener for the boys. I am not sure what they had in mind when you said "jail" but now they are fully aware that it is not a place that you want to be.

They took particular interest in the "Drunk Tank". They saw that you sleep on hard beds, go to the bathroom in public and if you get sick then you have to throw up in a grated "hole" in the floor. They did not think that it would be too cool.

They also saw a man in a holding cell.

The police station had a display of homemade contraband. Very interesting, but very scary considering how just about anything can be made into a weapon.

They also learned that a child could be arrested once they turned 8 years old. The officer said that his youngest arrest was a 10 year old. Thankfully, he didn't share the offense with them.

I was surprised to see that we have a 911 call center at our local police station. What an overwhelming job. The 911 screen was full of calls at the time we were there.

Many lessons were learned.

Party Time!

The kids went to celebrate our friend, Emory's 5th birthday. She had a skating party. It has been about 4 years since Joshua skated. He doesn't even remember skating before. Delaney has never been skating on a skating rink. They had fun but spent most of the time on the ground :).

Most of all, it was fun spending time with our friends. Happy Birthday Emory!