A little bit of this... a little bit of that.

So much has happened since my last post I don’t really know where to begin.
We obviously made it home from Alabama ok. We hated to leave Jeff but we had to get back for my stinking doctor’s appointment. We got home on a Tuesday and turned around and drove to New Orleans on Friday to spend the weekend with Jeff and his family for Father’s Day. My Mother-in-Law also had a surprise retirement party planned for my Father-in-Law that weekend so lots of family were there. We piddled around all day Saturday and plotted how the “girls” wanted to ride together (to get to the restaurant early) and the boys would ride together (and Jeff would stall them). It was a success!! Perry was so surprise he could hardly speak. We had a really nice dinner and his old friends, co-workers and sons shared some great stories. We wrapped up the night by going back to the house and hanging with the family. Sunday was Fathers Day but I had to have Tamia home by 6 pm so we had to get out of the house before noon. The kids gave Jeff the cards they made him and we took off. He soon headed back to Alabama with his best friend Brian.
Jayden’s b-day was just a few days after Fathers Day. With our crazy June schedule, we didn’t do anything big this year. He had a friend over and they played all day and we ate at his favorite places. I had surgery 2 days after his b-day so having a party the weekend after was out. My sweet little boy is now in double digits and I can’t remember when he grew as tall as my shoulders. He is such a great kid! This picture was taken at the hotel pool in Alabama. If you look close, it looks like he is sitting on the water. Perfect time for me to snap that shot!

Surgery was successful…or so I thought at the time (more about that later). I’ve spent 4 ½ years dealing with this band and I was SO glad to get it removed. I’m now able to eat without having to excuse myself from the table to vomit or resort to drinking liquids because food “gets stuck”. There were times I couldn’t eat normal food for days, sometimes weeks at a time. I’m so glad that journey is over. If anyone you know mentions getting the lap band, have them call me! I will be honest about when it was successful for me and when it was NOT! Just being able to eat before noon each day is a huge relief.
Jeff came home on July 1st – for good!! We were so excited for him to be home! July 1st is also the day we got Tamia for the month so it was a very exciting day for all of us. He was home and she got here just in time for us to pack up and head to Bastrop with our awesome friends where we spent the weekend remembering our dear friend John. June 30th marked the 6th month anniversary of him stepping into heaven. We laughed, we cried, we shared memories and we told stories but one of the best parts of the weekend was planting a tree in his memory. This was a weekend that I will never forget!
The 4th of July was just another day in our house this year. There was (and still is) a burn ban because we haven’t had rain in what seems like 6 months. My Sister-in-Law, Joy, called and asked if they could bring shrimp and grits over… YUMMO!!! The city of Katy did put on their fireworks show but we stayed and watched them from our front yard. The traffic was crazy!! All the stands were not selling fireworks and no one was popping them. It was the quietest 4th of July ever!!! It was kind of nice to sleep this year; typically people are up all night long popping them for a week before and after the 4th.
Kiarra came down with bronchitis so she was down for a few days. She is better now, Thank God. I don’t know what I would have done without her last week (more about that in a second)!
Jayden went to church camp last week, his first time at camp!! He was at the Cat Springs Retreat and had SO much fun. Actually, he had so much fun that he didn’t have a voice when he got home. He was there for 5 days and is already planning to go next year. The girls cared for Taryn all day while Jeff worked and while I was with Mom.
Mom came down with a crazy terrible migraine that ended up lasting 7 days. On day 2 of having it, she lost her vision and now everything is blurry and she see’s double. After an insane week of eye doctor visits, urgent care visit, ER visits, primary care doctor visit, back to ER (per doctors orders) and then being admitted to the hospital for 5 days, the Neurologist determined she had a stroke in the nerve in her eye. The migraine and loss of vision had nothing to do with each other. I spent the night with her in the hospital Monday and Tuesday but wasn’t feeling well Wednesday morning so I went home to rest. I thought I was just tired and needed some sleep because we all know that NO-ONE sleeps in the hospital. I tucked myself into my bed and within an hour was running a 103 temp. It got as high as 104.6 but didn’t go below 102 for the rest of the day. I called my surgeon because I knew something was wrong with one of my incisions and sure enough there was. I went to his office Thursday and he told me to head to the ER and he would meet me there to open me back up. Ridiculous! I thought that when I got the band removed I would NEVER have to see his face again. God had other plans for me. I quickly checked on Mom and made arrangements for the kids. Jeff left work early and took me to the ER (of course it’s not at the same hospital that Mom is in). It was a disaster from the minute we walked in the ER doors at 4:30 pm. After waiting in the waiting room for 3 hours we finally got called back. This hospital (that my doctor just happens to own) only has 1 room in their ER. To make a long….. frustrating….. story short, my doctor showed up after about another 2 hours (9:30 pm), opened me up (in that ER room) and removed over a cup of puss (sorry, gross – I know). He left the wound open, packed it and had me admitted to the hospital… This was after the brilliant ER doctor said to only give me an antibiotic and that they were not going to call Spiegel! I really had to insist they call him and had to convince them that he told me just a few hours before to go there. Spiegel had the nurse ask Jeff to leave during the procedure, probably because Jeff would have choked him for hurting me like he did. Talk about not having an area numb when they call “scalpel”… Which reminds me of another miss-hap. Spiegel is such an idiot that he cut his hand on the scalpel after he finished with me. Can you tell that I’m not a fan of this doctor…? They were pumping antibiotics in me and I started to have an allergic reaction to one of them and the nurse freaked out. After a large dose of Benadryl the symptoms stopped and they restarted the pump. I got to my room about 1:30 am and they pumped 8 different antibiotics into me until 2:30 pm when I was released. I guess staph infection is resistant to antibiotics so they give a variety of them to try and kill the infection… Thank God for Home Health Care and good insurance. Spiegel said I had a choice, I could stay in there for 2 weeks or I could go home and have a nurse come 3 times a day to change the packing… hmmm, that wasn’t a hard decision. My nurse is awesome! She convinced me not to cancel our Disney trip and told me as long as I don’t swim and/or ride roller coasters I’ll be fine! Wooo Hooo!
Mom was released from the hospital just a few hours after me so we were both home snuggled in our beds for the weekend!
Today was Tamia’s 13th birthday! She is such an amazing young lady. We celebrated last night since her Mom was coming to pick her up tonight to take her to dinner. We went to Olive Garden and then came home and she opened her presents. She is so thankful for everything. I am so blessed to have this beautiful (inside and out) daughter. She has a great heart and I hate it that she has to go home in 13 days.

Friday is the big day!!! We leave for Florida bright and early! My brothers and their families will be meeting us there and I can’t wait. Besides the 38 things on my to-do list, I'm ready to hit the road.