So I realize that I havent posted here in awhile, so I am going to take a break from my currently busy life to update those of you who care, lol...

I am working now at Rockwell Collins, which is where Ken works as well. We are in different buildings, but the same complex, so most days we just drive together. On days that Autumn has something starting earlier in the evening, we drive separate & he goes in a little earlier so he can take her. He has a more flexible schedule then I do right now (I am still training on all the processes, policies, and procedures... I just finished my first week there). So far I really like it there! The people are really nice. Ken & I meet for lunch most days, which is also nice.

Wednesday was my first appointment with my actual doctor since learning I was pregnant (the last one was with a prenatal nurse). She did a pelvic exam & then used one of those microphones to find the baby's heartbeat :) I had forgotten how fast a baby's heart beats... it really was amazing to hear! Ken went to the appointment with me so he was able to hear it as well. My appointment two months from now will be the first ultrasound... then if any adjustments need to be made to the due date, they can be made. It also means we might be able to find out the sex of our baby... Ken really wants to know, but I am not yet sure... I have about 2 months to figure that out though. I do go in next month too. We will probably hear the heartbeat again then too :)

Autumn is doing well in school :) her reading is really improving & she is one of a select group of second graders that gets to teach the kindergarten classes the jolly phonics songs! She is also doing well in cheerleading. They have a competition this month, one next month, & one at the beginning of March. They took second place in teir division back in December!

Anyway, I think my break is over... ttyl!

I can accept that :) lol...

I am FREEZING right now... but the heat is set at 71 F... so the house isnt cold, its me... I am also completely exhausted & it isnt quite 7:30pm. I hope Im not coming down with something, especially since Ken leaves tomorrow for Deer Camp...

I have an interview tomorrow morning at 9:30. I wish it was later, but oh well...

Autumn will be at her Brownie sleepover on Saturday night... YAY, lol...

Not much else to say at the moment... too tired, lol...

We got a call tonight... & now Ken is butchering a roadkill deer in the garage... too bad it wasnt last night, lol... we could have used the blood as decorations! lol.

YAY for restocking the freezer!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Go Here for an amusing Halloween card I created Just make sure your sound is turned on... lol...



Autumn will be Hannah Montana tonight. I need to locate the shoes she will be wearing first though... She is excited about trick-or-treating & we bought a ton of candy to hand out... but first, she must brave the dentist, lol... I will try & get Ken into his mullet wig for tonight & get pictures of both of them, lol... it should be good!

Oakley will be a devil... lol

Some days, I just love Rush... lol... Check this out... Sad that the liberals thought that sending a bullshit letter to Rush was more important then what is going on in our country... (the link shows what he is doing with the letter) Am I surprised that Mr Obama & Clinton are on there? Oh hell no... Just another reason I am proud to consider myself a Republican.

First off, since it has been an INSANELY long time since I have used this site, for those that did not know, I am in Iowa now :) Ken got a job offer at Rockwell-Collins & we decided it would be a good idea for him to take it! Anyway...

So, yeah... it has been a busy week up here in the glorious state of Iowa for us, lol... In addition to the normal activities, Ken had a couple classes to go to on Tuesday & Wednesday evenings (Tuesday he was in Iowa City for it) to get his EMT in Iowa (they require 2 more classes then MO) & to renew his National Registry EMT.

I also had an endocrinologist appt yesterday... Let me tell you, the U of I Hospitals & Clinics are NICE! I got there way early because I figured it would take me longer to get down to Iowa City & find the place. The doctor there was ON TIME (holy crap, I know!) and I actually got in EARLY & was totally done (blood drawing and all) about 10 minutes after my appointment was scheduled to start! Anyway, turns out I dont have a hyperthyroid like my OBGYN in Peoria & then my family doctor in Fenton were concerned about. Turns out I have a very common condition where every so often my thyroid releases a surge of thyroid hormones which can stay in the system for several weeks before returning to normal... my blood tests in mid November & early December were high, but in February they were completely normal... so I have nothing to worry about. I am just supposed to get my thyroid levels checked once a year, because with this condition, I could eventually end up HYPOthyroid. *shrugs* easy enough to monitor. YAY!

Tuesday night, Autumn had a great time at Chuck-E-Cheese (as always, lol). Oh & Ken & I sat down & figured it out & especially when we added in our time, we found that it will be cheaper for us to have Autumn do the cheerleading she wants to do (which is in Iowa City) then for her to do tumbling & poms (for the jumps, etc) separate up here... go figure... plus they are run by the Hawkeye's cheerleading coaches. So she will have her last tumbling class at Cartwheels this Monday (she is missing the last one for a Brownie event she wants to do instead) & her last Poms class the Thursday before Halloween. So we are trading Monday & Thursday evenings for Sunday evenings & the Tuesdays that she doesnt have Brownies on a case by case basis. They have extra tumbling practice on either Tuesday or Wednesday which are optional, but its built in the monthly fee, so we may as well take advantage of it when we can! They will teach tumbling, cheers, crowd motivation, plus the jumps & stunts. She will be trying out the class this Sunday to be sure she likes it before we actually sign her up. I think it is great that they do that!

We are headed to Peoria this weekend, but of course have a very full schedule... We will get in town tonight, but are going straight to the hotel... we are meeting my parents & Autumn's first grade boyfriend (no joke unfortunately) to go to Tanners... Im just happy I can get my pumpkins & cider & cider doughnuts... the cider up here just isnt the same! I can then plan out my special pumpkin this year... Last year I did the horse with a sunset background that turned out really well... I havent decided what to attempt to design this year... Ken already had an idea for his pumpkin, which I dont recall at the moment... Autumn hasnt decided what to do with hers yet either... anyway, we will only be at Tanners till about 12:30 because Vincent needs to be back at his house at 1:30 to go out of town. Then apparantly we are cooking out at my parents house with Aunt Barb & G-ma Rose. Some time Saturday we will be swimming at the hotel as well. Sunday morning is the mass for my Grandma Millie at St Phil's at 9am... we have to leave Peoria no later then about 1:30 to be sure we are in Iowa City & have eaten & locate the field house by a little before 5:30 when her class starts.

I will definitely be very happy if she likes the cheerleading like I think she will... it will be nice to reclaim 2 weekday evenings! That also means we can have our family game night EVERY week instead of every other week. We havent used the new Monopoly game (old version, but new to us) that we bought yet... Oh well... soon :) YAY!

Oh & btw... as a cruel joke to any child, the only time the dentist office could get Autumn in this month for her cleaning that fell after the deadline so insurance would cover it was on Halloween, lol... but it is before her dance class & there is no CCD that night (her dance class may be cancelled too, but that depends on how many plan to skip it) So she will have plenty of time to collect candy...

She is going as Hannah Montana this year... so since Ken is walking with her & I am passing out candy at home, I bought him a mullet wig as a joke... Im still trying to talk him into wearing it! LOL... Hannah Montana & Billy Ray Cyrus (well, Robbie Ray in the show)... should be a classic! I will of course be wearing my Hogwarts uniform to pass out the candy we have :) & we have a TON since there are lots of kids in the area!

In an addition to the previous blog... It is hard to be optimistic when your aunt & mom are both as upset as they are. My aunt called to see if grandpa was doing any better since naturally he is depressed about all of this... but my mom isnt back home yet... Barb isnt doing well at all... I tried telling her that it would be ok & to wait & see what the CT scan shows & that he would probably be ok & she said he wont be ok he is dying... & she is wanting chocolate... & headed back to her house where she will be by herself... I tried talking her into coming here so she isnt alone & she says that she doesnt want Autumn to see her cry about this... Autumn doesnt know anything right now & she is upset with herself because she feels like because she is the oldest that she should be the strongest...she is an emotional wreak over it all which I dont blame her for at all... I told her those stereotypes are bullshit but you see why it is hard to stay strong here? Barb is going to end up wrecking her diet over this... my mom will probably end up making herself sick eventually because she will be stressing over grandpa & Barb & me & my dad & Autumn... Im not sure how the rest of the family is reacting beyond upset since they all live outside the immediate Peoria area, but I know none of them are happy & they are all concerned...

*sigh* I got my dessert decorator today... I went & bought all the stuff to make my ghost & pumpkin shaped cupcakes, but now Im not so sure I feel like baking... It would probably help take my mind off of things, but I just dont feel like it... what is wrong with me? I love baking! & I have a headache again today... but I guess crying does that to you right? I wish Autumn was old enough to go to a friends house for a couple hours... I know mom could use some time right now whether with my dad or not... & I just want to get out of here for a bit to somewhere else... anywhere else... I just dont know...

Well, as I had mentioned before, my grandpa (mom's dad) had some sort of growth on his chest... well the doctor called my Aunt Barb this morning to say that it is a large, rapidly growing mass on his liver... he has to drink this nasty stuff now for a CT Scan tomorrow morning at 9am... I am trying to stay the optimistic one, but it is hard... Ive been trying to pretend that all is fine when my mom is around or when Im talking to Barb... Im always the strong one who is there for everyone else... this one is hard though... Im not ready to lose ANY of my grandparents... my grandma (dad's mom) has not been doing well at all for awhile now... I still havent talked to her or my other grandpa since 2 days before the wedding... I am still upset & hurt that they werent there... and that they lied to me about why they werent coming down... I love them dearly, but I will probably be the last grandchild they'd have seen married with the way both of them are doing right now...

Back to my mom's dad though... he has ben losing weight lately too... he is down to 137 lbs fully clothed... he isnt quite skin & bones like my dad's mom is, but it is still not a healthy wieght for him... Now Im not sure who said this first, but apparantly this kind of liver thing means not that great of survival chances... I offered to go with my mom to take the stuff to him if she needed someone with her for it, but she said she would be fine... Im kind of glad she said no though... I dont think I could have looked at him without crying right now... I have been tearing up all day off & on & I am trying not to think about it, but it isnt working very well...

On another note, I went to the doctor today... he said everything looks fine. He told me to take it easy at therapy for a little while, but that this was temporary and not to worry about it. So at least I got a little good news... he also gave me a physicians consent to take the OSF Arthritis class in the warm water pool at the Riverplex, so I can sign up for that (it is free for members) he just said dont slip again, lol... He also extended my handicapped tag for another 2 months... so I am still a cripple I guess... *shrugs* go figure...

Well... today was not the greatest of days...

I took my dad to work this morning, went to get something to eat & then debated between going home & going back to bed (I was pretty tired from taking a benadryl last night) or going to the Riverplex & doing some exercises... Well, the Riverplex won out... So off to the Riverplex I went (which for those who dont know it is a health club with several pools & exercise floors... very nice facility). I had decided to join in with the OSF Arthritis class in the therapy pool (warm water) since it is free to members & I was told I could try it out & see if I liked it or not... well, I never even made it into the pool...

I was on my way to set my towel on a chair & get into the water... I had my water shoes on, was watching where I was going & was walking slowly... even with doing everything correctly, I slipped & fell on my bum... luckily it wasnt on my knee, however on the way down, my right leg (the already injured one) twisted kind of funny... so I had horrible pain in my right ankle, knee & hip... all of which are still a bit sore, but especially the knee...

SO... Riverplex called 911 of course & of course EVERYONE in the pool area is staring at me sitting there crying... (yes... I cried... it hurt damn it... I dont do well with pain...) they ask me the typical questions & then ask if there is anyone they can call... well my first thought is my wonderful husband Ken... but he is in California... Then I think my dad, so we call my dad to tell him what happened... but he is still not allowed to drive, so there is nothing he can do except call Ken for me... So the next thought is mom... but she is at Green Acres Farm (& has no cell phone) with the first & second graders from Holy Family (today was their field trip) and they took a bus there, so no help there either... so I tell them to call my Aunt Barb who was the only other person who's number I knew that could meet me at the hospital... (After I was there, I of course remembered that my friend Aaron works there, lol...)

So I was taken to OSF & given a shot for pain... then carted off to X-ray... Barb ran back to the house to grab my crutches in case I needed them... The doctor looked at the X-rays & said that nothing was broken (insert sigh of relief here). They gave me a prescription for tylenol with codine & told me to follow up with Dr Zussman (the one who did my surgery) & to ice it every few hours... so I went into the bathroom & put on my clothes (because I was in a swimsuit...).

Barb took me to get my meds & then took me home. Her & my mom went & got the truck from the Riverplex while I laid on the couch with ice... I ended up falling asleep for about an hour & a half... I was exhausted from all the stress & crying and stuff... the meds made me even more tired...

As for the setbacks... Barb had to help me get my sock & shoe on... I had to use my crutches... well, I am using one again right now... Im not driving at the moment because I am sore... plus I couldnt even get into the shower by myself again... I tried... It really makes me mad & I of course start crying again when I find something else that I cant do again for now... I just have to remember that it is temporary & not permenant... I just want to be back in my home in St Louis... I want to see my husband like crazy too... It doesnt help that he may be stuck in China Lake for another week past the original time, meaning that our trip to Morris may be postponed a week... I just want to be with him... I really need him here & there is nothing he or I can do about it...

As if that wasnt enough bad news for me... My grandpa (mom's dad this time) called the house... apparantly he has some sort of growth on his chest (like the breastbone area) that started a week ago & is just growing... he goes to the doctor tomorrow about it... I hope he is ok...

I tried talking my mom into going to Baskin Robins after the park tonight for some ice cream (I had a craving for their mint choc chip...) but she said no so we went back home...

So now I am sitting in my room at my parents house, hungry, with ice on my knee, typing this out... I should be on messenger for a bit tonight... I dont know how late I will stay up though since I am still pretty tired I am still going to therapy tomorrow, Im just not sure what she will have me do *shrugs*