THE ABC'S of me!

I got this from my cousin-in-law Nikki Berezay. Her blog always makes me smile :)
And I thought this was fun! Feel free to do it yourself!

Age: 30
Bed size: King
Chore you Hate: Cleaning the bathroom
Dogs: None. We tried. It didn't work out.
Essential start of your day: Shower!
Favorite Color: Red
Gold or Silver: Silver
Height: 5'6" and a bit
Instruments I can play: Piano, and I used to play alto sax and the clarinet. Not sure if I still could
Job Title: Mom, piano teacher
Kids: Three - Zane (8) Rhett (5 in a matter of days) Brock (2)
Live: Sylvan Lake, AB. Love it!
Mom's name: Sandy and Brenda (best mom in law ever!)
Nicknames: Kell
Overnight Hospital stays: all 3 kids and pancreatitis
Pet Peeves: texting and driving!
Quote from a Movie: "I love it when a plan comes together"
Right or Left handed: Right - although I'm pretty good with my left
Siblings: 2 sisters and one brother in law on my side, and two sisters and one brother in law on Cliff's side!
Time you wake up: When the kids do! Usually around 7
Vegetables you Dislike: Oh, so many! But the top of the list would be green peas and beans.
Wearing: my pajamas!
Xrays you've done: hand, chest, head...and chest, abdominal and head with the kids so far
Yummy Food you Make: Umm, according to my husband and our good friends...pretty much everything I make! I love to cook and bake...just hate cleaning up. One of my favorites is my craisin bread because it makes divine toast!
Zoo animals: Tigers

I'm Baaaacccckkkkk

My last post I was still in PAIN. I'm happy to report that the pain and swelling are down to minimal, and the best news - I'm BACK! Where did I go, you might ask? If you don't know what I've been struggling with mentally, you can go here. I think I explained it pretty good.

Before my surgery I was feeling pretty good. Not 100% me, but I'd say hovering right around 95%. And now, two weeks after surgery, I woke up today and recognized me! And it felt really good. I'm still going to continue with the vitamins and work outs (which I did my first one in two weeks today - yay me) and happily continue on with life.

On another note, we didn't go home for Easter this year. We had planned to - especially since we missed Christmas. But then I had my surgery and despite my best efforts I just wasn't ready to make that trip by myself with three kids. And then Brock fell off the piano bench and gave himself a slight concussion, and then the next day he woke up with an ear infection, and the next day after that he started puking like crazy from the antibiotic he was started on. So, Thursday, Friday and Saturday were just real fun around here.

Sunday our Sylvan family, the Paynes came over for turkey dinner. Y-U-M. I cooked a 20lb turkey in just over 4 hrs and it was perfection. I have a new secret. If you want it, you can ask and I'll give it to you. Anyways, we did the bird and all the fixins, had a great time laughing and talking till way too late, Brock was still puking randomly which added a "special" element to my day. After the third full outfit change (him and me) I was sooooo done. But we both lived. ***On a side note, why is it that babies/toddlers feel the need to turn their heads in and down into you so they soak your entire front with puke? Really, what is so wrong with puking in the sink when mom is holding you over it?****

Sorry, back to more pleasantness. Today I got smart and gave Brock gravol-dosed juice. Wish I would have thought of it yesterday. No problems today. Just a nice mellow toddler. I was lazy for a good part of the day and it felt good. Tomorrow is back to the lists and accomplishments and all that good stuff!

Happy Easter everyone! Hope it was a great one for all of you!

My Drug- Induced Post

Well...surgery went ahead....barely! I'm not kidding. There was some serious deliberation going on in the hospital whether or not they were coming out. But Dr. made up his mind and the next thing I knew I was on that skinny little operating table with sleepy juice running into my veins and an oxygen mask coming over my face. I fell asleep thinking the words to a hymn hoping it would give me luck. And woke up feeling all kinds of awful. Words do not describe. After choking down some water I thought there was a slim chance I might live...and eventually my wonderful surgeon showed up to tell me all the gory details. The first thing he tells me is that I've shaved a couple years off of his life. Uh-oh. Even in my drug induced fog this isn't sounding good. But this is how the facts stacked up: 1. I have a very small mouth (just because I use it a lot doesn't mean it's big) - I actually already knew this but hadn't even thought of passing that information on. Duh. 2. My tonsils were really big and extremely (his word, not mine) rotten. 3. My right tonsil was attached to the back of my tongue which presented another layer of difficulty to the gong show already happening in my mouth. 4. Once he finally got the tonsils out he had a REALLY hard time getting me to stop bleeding. Which if you didn't already know, is one of the main reasons drs. don't like doing adult tonsillectomies. Apparently we bleed more. BUT I am now tonsil free. And a large part of me is really grateful about that. I have to admit that the pain-filled, still on heavy drugs and not quite capable of full mommy duties, had to cancel our Easter trip home side, might not be as joy/gratitude filled. But I'm working on it. The first 4 days are a blur of pain and Cliff doing such a good job of taking care of me. He would set his alarm and wake me up to take the pain meds, change out ice packs, do everything for me and the kids and kept the house running great! My tongue has been just as bad, if not worse than my throat. I'm not kidding. No one mentioned to me that they would be clamping and yarding on my poor little tongue until it swelled and bruised to the extent that I couldn't fully close my mouth and was afraid I was going to choke on it when I went to sleep. (no lie - I was literally terrified to fall asleep the first night) Most of the swelling has gone down, but my tongue still feels like the dentist shot it full of Novocaine and is in that constant frozen, but not quite painful stage. And now that the swelling on my tongue has gone down I'm getting the full effect of the throat pain - right up into both ears. It's really special. Sorry for whining. I knew it was going to hurt. But it's like childbirth. Until you've experienced it, there's just really no way to describe it or prepare someone for it. I told Cliff I'd rather push out a baby any day than do this again. (No, that's not an announcement, just a comparison) At least then the pain is intense and done in one day. Not this drawn out thing :( There are some small bright shining pieces to this mess though. 1. I have no more tonsils!!!!! And hopefully this will make me feel MUCH better! 2. I have lost a ridiculous amount of weight between the week of strep and post-surgery. I don't advocate this as a weight loss plan but if you have to do it, make sure you've got some you can stand to lose. As of yesterday I had lost 15 pounds. 3. I can eat cheesy pasta late at night and not feel guilty. 4. I'm starting to keep food down - when I can choke it past the hurt. 5. I am starting to feel better, really. I'm actually staying awake for most of the day now and only sleeping at night, and I can walk upright without feeling too dizzy or that the floor is going to meet my face. Hopefully by the end of the week the soreness is gone and I'm feeling much more like me again. I did decide to cancel our Easter trip to southern Alberta....just not healed enough for that yet. Sorry to friends and family :( The kids and I were really looking forward to coming but another time when I'm healthy will be much better! And a HUGE thankyou to my wonderful husband who was such a great Mr. Mom, and all my friends who have brought supper, watched kids, called, emailed, facebooked....It's been such a wonderful outpouring of love and support. Thanks! *Ok, disclaimer. I've gone through this post 3 times now and put returns and better spacing in it and blogger is determined to keep it all bunched up like this. Sorry, I know it makes it harder to read but I have to concede this one to blogger.

Crossed Fingers...

You know how we all joke about Murhpy's law....yeah I've been bitten pretty hard by it this last week. I think I mentioned a while back all the problems I've had with my tonsils and strep throat etc. And that I finally got referred to a wonderful doctor who agreed to take them out (harder than you may think) And then I FINALLY got a surgery date. Which is tomorrow. So where does Murphy's law show up? Thursday. I woke up with STREP!!!!! I took my butt into the doctor, informed him what was wrong and that my tonsils were coming out on Tuesday and would he kindly give me some really strong drugs so this plan could go ahead. Kind doctor concurred, wrote the prescription, assured me all would be good by Tuesday and sent me on my way. Yeah, not completely healthy yet. And I have to be at the hospital at 7:00 am tomorrow. I keep thinking about the blessing that Cliff and our home teacher gave me before I actually had strep (did I mention that Cliff had it first and I made him give me a blessing?) I was promised that my throat would be fine and the surgery would go ahead and be fine. So, I'm choosing to have faith, and pray LOTS! I talked to a wonderful friend who happens to be a surgical nurse and she said the 2 things that derail a surgery the most are a fever and a crappy/congested chest. So I am praying, and crossing my fingers that when I show up tomorrow I have no fever and my chest is as clear as it is now. That all the congestion that I have that is making me sound HORRIBLE will stay in my sinuses, and that everything goes ahead as planned. And then I'll be miserable with my slurpees and pain meds for a week. So, if I post next week, and it doesn't make a lot of sense.....I'm blaming it all on the drugs :)