Deuteronomy 7:6 (NLT)
For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.
photo credit: Artistically Amy
Baby Ticker
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Friday, March 30, 2007
Psalm 13:5
Psalm 13:5 (NIV)
But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
photo credit: Artistically Amy
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Matthew 7:25
Matthew 7:25 (NIV)
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.photo credit: Artistically Amy
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
my 100th post!!!
On a bunch of the blogs I read they have done up quite the elaborate post for the 100th - many which include a list of 100 things about themselves. Well, I really am not a list kind of gal and who really wants to know 100 things about me!
I will though tell you this - I love that I can use this blog to pour out my heart and whatever I am thinking and people may or may not read it, but I still get the enjoyment and the stress release of being able to put "pen to paper" (or in this case, fingers to keyboard!) and get my thoughts down!
Here's to many more posts!!!
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Okay, I'm totally hooked!
I have spent most of my computer time in the last two days on digital scrapbooking websites finding out all the cool things that are out there and downloading quite a few items so that I can do some more pages! I am so excited! and I can even print them off if I totally love them! (with my printer, I would have to send them to be printed like a photo, so would have to reduce the size of them to fit an 8x10 but still, good quality prints!)
There are SO many options out there, I may see if I can do some digital scrapping for work this summer. I scrapbook all our field trips and make a book for the kids to look at over the years. They are still looking at the ones I did in 2002 & 2003! There weren't any done for 2004 & 2005 and I have not finished the one from 2006 yet! Remember, I went and got married, that took a lot of my time up in the fall!!
The great thing is that I have a high speed "LITE" internet connection so while most of the time I don't find it slow, it can take a bit more time to download some of the backgrounds and such and so I can set it up to download a bunch of the bigger files and then do something else and come back when it is done, so I am not just sitting watching the download box!
There are SO many options out there, I may see if I can do some digital scrapping for work this summer. I scrapbook all our field trips and make a book for the kids to look at over the years. They are still looking at the ones I did in 2002 & 2003! There weren't any done for 2004 & 2005 and I have not finished the one from 2006 yet! Remember, I went and got married, that took a lot of my time up in the fall!!
The great thing is that I have a high speed "LITE" internet connection so while most of the time I don't find it slow, it can take a bit more time to download some of the backgrounds and such and so I can set it up to download a bunch of the bigger files and then do something else and come back when it is done, so I am not just sitting watching the download box!
Monday, March 26, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
my 1st digital scrapbook experience
click on photo to see larger image
This was my first digital scrapbooking experience and once I got the hang of it, I really started to enjoy it! It definitely doesn't replace hands on scrapbooking, but it is fun for putting things up on my blog!
This was my first digital scrapbooking experience and once I got the hang of it, I really started to enjoy it! It definitely doesn't replace hands on scrapbooking, but it is fun for putting things up on my blog!
oh my dear husband...
I just was on the phone with Ronel and found out that Ronel spent 2 days & 1 night in the hospital last week (Wednesday & Thursday) because of the severe pain he has been having over the past couple of weeks.
After many different tests, they found out that he has a gallstone which is causing all the abdominal pain that he has been having. The doctor told him that if it doesn't pass by itself, then he will need surgery! I really do not want my husband to have to have surgery in Haiti!!!! especially without me there! While I know that there are very good doctors at the hospital where he will be treated, it is still way below our hospital standards and not something I want Ronel to have to go through. Please be praying for Ronel and his health - that this gallstone would just disintegrate and pass through his system, that all pain would go away and that there would be no further occurrence of any gallstones. Please also pray for his health overall as he is needing to go and get a medical exam done for his immigration paperwork and I don't know exactly what the Canadian government is looking for but I do know that they don't want to allow people with health issues that will "tax" our medical system into Canada! Both Ronel & I appreciate your prayers!
Below are some photos of HAS (Hopital Albert Schweitzer) which is where he stayed.
(photos taken from the HAS website)
This is the Admitting Dept of HAS - this is where you have to wait and get your file and pay to see the doctor. To get your file, you must have an appointment, be REALLY sick, or know someone at the front desk. The files are all kept in a big room (think of your doctor's office then multiply that by possibly a 100!) and frequently they can't find a file, which just causes more chaos! Thankfully a good friend of Ronel's works at the admitting desk, so Ronel should have had a little bit of an easier time getting in.
The front view of HAS - in the background in the screened "windows" of the adult ward which is pictured below from the inside
The curtains are often left up for the breeze so there is really no privacy. The line up outside the windows is the pharmacy line up! This is where Ronel would have most likely spent the night, if he was sick enough to get a bed! Other wise it would have been the nearest section of floor or bench that was available. He did say that he was on IV so I would think that he got a bed (not that they are comfy by any means, and you must provide all your own linens for the bed!)
Makes you think.........
After many different tests, they found out that he has a gallstone which is causing all the abdominal pain that he has been having. The doctor told him that if it doesn't pass by itself, then he will need surgery! I really do not want my husband to have to have surgery in Haiti!!!! especially without me there! While I know that there are very good doctors at the hospital where he will be treated, it is still way below our hospital standards and not something I want Ronel to have to go through. Please be praying for Ronel and his health - that this gallstone would just disintegrate and pass through his system, that all pain would go away and that there would be no further occurrence of any gallstones. Please also pray for his health overall as he is needing to go and get a medical exam done for his immigration paperwork and I don't know exactly what the Canadian government is looking for but I do know that they don't want to allow people with health issues that will "tax" our medical system into Canada! Both Ronel & I appreciate your prayers!
Below are some photos of HAS (Hopital Albert Schweitzer) which is where he stayed.
(photos taken from the HAS website)
This is the Admitting Dept of HAS - this is where you have to wait and get your file and pay to see the doctor. To get your file, you must have an appointment, be REALLY sick, or know someone at the front desk. The files are all kept in a big room (think of your doctor's office then multiply that by possibly a 100!) and frequently they can't find a file, which just causes more chaos! Thankfully a good friend of Ronel's works at the admitting desk, so Ronel should have had a little bit of an easier time getting in.
The front view of HAS - in the background in the screened "windows" of the adult ward which is pictured below from the inside
The curtains are often left up for the breeze so there is really no privacy. The line up outside the windows is the pharmacy line up! This is where Ronel would have most likely spent the night, if he was sick enough to get a bed! Other wise it would have been the nearest section of floor or bench that was available. He did say that he was on IV so I would think that he got a bed (not that they are comfy by any means, and you must provide all your own linens for the bed!)
Makes you think.........
getting a look into my mind......
I was doing some "clean up" on my blogs today and read some of my posts from when I was living in Haiti. I found it very hard to read them without getting teary eyed. I miss Haiti, I miss what I had there, the kids, the friends, the people, the weather, the scenery, Ronel, meeting people when teams came, pretty much EVERYTHING. It made me think about how life changed when I followed God's calling and moved back to BC.
I know that God called me back to Canada for a reason, one that I don't completely understand yet and maybe never will, but being obedient, I followed God's calling and came back to BC, just like I was obedient when I made the decision to move to Haiti back in 2002. Now, I won't try and say that being obedient to God's calling was easy but there is something that while not easy, makes it doable because you know that what God has planned for you is far better than anything you could plan for yourself.
I have no doubt in my mind that some people think I am crazy for moving back to Canada without Ronel, and some probably think I should have stayed in Haiti and filed Ronel's immigration paperwork from there. While that seems so much easier, I know that it wasn't what God had planned for us and I have no doubt that we will be learning something through this process.
There is a day to day struggle that both Ronel and I go through. I am sure that most days it is harder on Ronel because daily he is going places or doing things that we have done together, routines that we had that are no more. I also know that there are some situations which have made life somewhat uncomfortable for him, many things changed when I moved back to BC and much of what we knew as "normal" or routine when we were both in Haiti has changed. I have things a bit easier, or so it seems to us ~ Ronel has never been to BC, and so everything I do, each and every day, have no memories connected. I can't get nostalgic about when Ronel & I went here or ate at this restaurant or miss having him attend my local church with me because he has yet to do these things with me here in BC. Yes, we did these types of activities in Haiti, but they just are not the same. I go to work, go to bible study, hang with friends and don't have the memories of when Ronel was there with me. Yes, I miss him and can't wait till we can do these activities together but when I keep myself busy, I can keep my mind active and off past memories that just make me dwell on the past and not on the present or the future. Many people ask me about Ronel and about any progress on the paperwork, and while I don't often have much to tell, that is often the hardest part! This messes up my plan to keep busy and not let myself dwell on the fact that Ronel and I are many miles apart! I do appreciate the fact that the people around me care about my life and want to know about how things are progressing, but at the same time, you only want to answer the same questions so many times. Not that I want people to stop asking, but to be considerate that some days I won't want to talk much about the progress.
At this point in time, there isn't much progress! ~ Ronel has had problems getting his medical exam done that we need for his application. First the doctor's office was closed because of Haiti's national holiday, then it was closed due to unrest in the capital city, then more holidays for Carnival - closed for more than a week (at a time when Ronel had time off school which made it more frustrating!) and now the doctor's office said maybe the end of this month, but Ronel needs to be able to have a day off work and may need more than one day in Port-au-Prince to complete everything needed for his exam. On a good note, he has sent in to get his police report done and is going to be getting his photos done that he needs for all of this paperwork, if I remember right, I think that Ronel needs like 20 immigration photos done!! (somewhat similar to passport photos, but a slightly different size I think)
I keep telling myself that God is in charge of this whole process and He was there when Ronel got his passport done and in his hands in ONE DAY! This is not something that happens, here or in Haiti, but definitely not in Haiti. I remember when I was living in Haiti, we needed to get a passport done for a staff member so that they could travel with Karen to the Dominican Republic and it took forever to get it done! This was one of the reasons that Ronel started on his so early (even before we were married) - we wanted to make sure that he had lots of time and we weren't delayed in filing our paperwork because of his passport, and God had that situation taken care of! I still smile when I think about the fact that he had it in his hand the same day he took in the paperwork! I remember that phone call - Ronel was so happy and I almost cried from joy! I know that God can do miracles, He has done them in my life and I won't forget that too easily but sometimes, when things get difficult, I find myself forgetting those moments in my life and only looking at the difficult times. This is when I am thankful for the friends in my life! The ones who gently remind me of the things that God has done in my life and the things that He is still doing daily in my life. The ones that just give me a hug when they can tell by my face that I am not having a good day, that faithfully continue to pray for Ronel, myself and that the paperwork will be processed as quickly as possible.
I have no idea when Ronel & I will get to live in the same house together, I have my hopes - I would like for Ronel to be in Canada by January 1st, 2009. Now I don't want to hear that I'm crazy, but this is my way of keeping optimistic. If Ronel arrives even one day before that, then that is one day that we have been given as a gift! If I said that Ronel would be here by November 1st, 2007 and he didn't arrive then, I would most likely be miserable as each day after that passed without Ronel here. I am sure that many of you would have your own way of dealing with this, but this is currently mine and I retain all rights to change my mind at any time about how I deal with this!!!
I know that God called me back to Canada for a reason, one that I don't completely understand yet and maybe never will, but being obedient, I followed God's calling and came back to BC, just like I was obedient when I made the decision to move to Haiti back in 2002. Now, I won't try and say that being obedient to God's calling was easy but there is something that while not easy, makes it doable because you know that what God has planned for you is far better than anything you could plan for yourself.
I have no doubt in my mind that some people think I am crazy for moving back to Canada without Ronel, and some probably think I should have stayed in Haiti and filed Ronel's immigration paperwork from there. While that seems so much easier, I know that it wasn't what God had planned for us and I have no doubt that we will be learning something through this process.
There is a day to day struggle that both Ronel and I go through. I am sure that most days it is harder on Ronel because daily he is going places or doing things that we have done together, routines that we had that are no more. I also know that there are some situations which have made life somewhat uncomfortable for him, many things changed when I moved back to BC and much of what we knew as "normal" or routine when we were both in Haiti has changed. I have things a bit easier, or so it seems to us ~ Ronel has never been to BC, and so everything I do, each and every day, have no memories connected. I can't get nostalgic about when Ronel & I went here or ate at this restaurant or miss having him attend my local church with me because he has yet to do these things with me here in BC. Yes, we did these types of activities in Haiti, but they just are not the same. I go to work, go to bible study, hang with friends and don't have the memories of when Ronel was there with me. Yes, I miss him and can't wait till we can do these activities together but when I keep myself busy, I can keep my mind active and off past memories that just make me dwell on the past and not on the present or the future. Many people ask me about Ronel and about any progress on the paperwork, and while I don't often have much to tell, that is often the hardest part! This messes up my plan to keep busy and not let myself dwell on the fact that Ronel and I are many miles apart! I do appreciate the fact that the people around me care about my life and want to know about how things are progressing, but at the same time, you only want to answer the same questions so many times. Not that I want people to stop asking, but to be considerate that some days I won't want to talk much about the progress.
At this point in time, there isn't much progress! ~ Ronel has had problems getting his medical exam done that we need for his application. First the doctor's office was closed because of Haiti's national holiday, then it was closed due to unrest in the capital city, then more holidays for Carnival - closed for more than a week (at a time when Ronel had time off school which made it more frustrating!) and now the doctor's office said maybe the end of this month, but Ronel needs to be able to have a day off work and may need more than one day in Port-au-Prince to complete everything needed for his exam. On a good note, he has sent in to get his police report done and is going to be getting his photos done that he needs for all of this paperwork, if I remember right, I think that Ronel needs like 20 immigration photos done!! (somewhat similar to passport photos, but a slightly different size I think)
I keep telling myself that God is in charge of this whole process and He was there when Ronel got his passport done and in his hands in ONE DAY! This is not something that happens, here or in Haiti, but definitely not in Haiti. I remember when I was living in Haiti, we needed to get a passport done for a staff member so that they could travel with Karen to the Dominican Republic and it took forever to get it done! This was one of the reasons that Ronel started on his so early (even before we were married) - we wanted to make sure that he had lots of time and we weren't delayed in filing our paperwork because of his passport, and God had that situation taken care of! I still smile when I think about the fact that he had it in his hand the same day he took in the paperwork! I remember that phone call - Ronel was so happy and I almost cried from joy! I know that God can do miracles, He has done them in my life and I won't forget that too easily but sometimes, when things get difficult, I find myself forgetting those moments in my life and only looking at the difficult times. This is when I am thankful for the friends in my life! The ones who gently remind me of the things that God has done in my life and the things that He is still doing daily in my life. The ones that just give me a hug when they can tell by my face that I am not having a good day, that faithfully continue to pray for Ronel, myself and that the paperwork will be processed as quickly as possible.
I have no idea when Ronel & I will get to live in the same house together, I have my hopes - I would like for Ronel to be in Canada by January 1st, 2009. Now I don't want to hear that I'm crazy, but this is my way of keeping optimistic. If Ronel arrives even one day before that, then that is one day that we have been given as a gift! If I said that Ronel would be here by November 1st, 2007 and he didn't arrive then, I would most likely be miserable as each day after that passed without Ronel here. I am sure that many of you would have your own way of dealing with this, but this is currently mine and I retain all rights to change my mind at any time about how I deal with this!!!
Happy Birthday!!
Wishing you a wonderful day and a great year!
Love ya!!
***updated*** I called my sister today to wish her a Happy Birthday and we started talking about life in general, (it's been a while since we last talked) and she told me that her & her husband started building their new home ten days ago and hope to be finished and in by June, so I'm going to plan a visit sometime this summer to see them and their new home. They bought property on the river just outside of Campbell River (I think the area is called Storey Creek) not too far from where they live right now. It is a big piece of property and their home will sit back on the property close by the river (as close as they are allowed) and have lots of privacy. The land has lots of trees on it and it will be their dream home! I am very happy and excited for them! Oh and while we have had TONS on rain in the last two weeks, they have had only 2 afternoons of rain, otherwise it has only rained in the evenings and has been dry for them to work all day on the house construction!! How awesome is that!
Psalm 57:10
Psalm 57:10 (NIV)
For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;your faithfulness reaches to the skies
Word Filled Wednesdays photo by Artistically Amy
I do know it isn't Wednesday! I just love these scripture photos!
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Psalm 16:8-11
Psalm 16:8-11 (NLT)
I know the Lord is always with me.I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice.
My body rests in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead
or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.
You will show me the way of life,
granting me the joy of your presence
and the pleasures of living with you forever.
photo credit belongs to Artistically Amy
Zephaniah 3:17
Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)
The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing."
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Home safe & sound!!!
Well, I did it ~ I survived my gastroscopy! Though I can't say that the procedure was at all fun, my nurse was very nice and funny, which was a nice combo today!
When I arrived at the hospital, I went to Admitting, got my lovely new piece of hospital jewelry (my hospital bracelet) and then headed down to the daybed unit. I then was checked in there and got called down to a cubicle/partition area and Eileen, my nurse, put me into a gown ~ right over my clothes, I didn't even take off my shoes! and then checked my blood pressure, pulse and something else that I didn't understand from the monitor. She then wrapped my arm in a lovely warm blanket to help her find a vein, cause I wasn't allowed any fluids in the previous 5 hours and then asked a million and one questions about my medical history. She then stuck in my IV line where I would be getting my sedatives, the funny thing about it was that it was just this short little line, I didn't have the IV pole or any IV fluid bags.
I was then called down to the procedure room and so was moved to a stretcher/bed and wheeled into the room where my GI specialist, Dr Yoshida met me and also a GI doctor from Thailand who was assisting him today with my procedure. They then rechecked my vital signs, got me to sign a consent form for going under sedation and then applied the sedative to the back of my throat. This was NOT fun at all. I had to hold my breath while they sprayed this liquid at the back of my throat and then had to swallow to get the medication down my throat and it tasted DISGUSTING!! They did that twice, then injected sedatives into my IV line. Then the doctor gave me a mouth guard to protect the scope instrument and to help keep my mouth and throat open.
(while this is not me, this is pretty much exactly what it looked like except there were 4 doctor/nurses in the room and the nurse was holding my head steady)
(this photo was taken from a Google image search)
This whole time I was lying on my left side. Then he went to insert the scope and that is when the "FUN" started. Though they kept telling me to stay calm and breathe, my gag reflex was working overtime and the whole time they were doing the procedure (the whole 3 minutes!) I was gagging and coughing and feeling so bad that I was being difficult for the doctors but not really able to stop. Yes, it was uncomfortable but I didn't think I would have that much of a problem. The nurse that was in the room was great and at one point, she told the doctor to hurry up! She also got the lovely job of cleaning up whatever I managed to cough up - I felt bad about that! When that was done, Dr Yoshida told me that I would have the results of the biopsy in 10-14 days and then they wheeled me back to recovery.
When I was brought back, they wheeled me again into a cubicle area and got me settled into bed, tucked me up in a blanket and again put on the monitors for my vital signs which were constantly being checked by a machine at my bedside. Eileen checked in to see if I had any side effects from the procedure or the sedation and then I just had to rest and wait for it to mostly wear off. I slept for about 30 minutes and otherwise just was lying there dozing in and out. At about 3:45pm, 45 minutes after being taken in for my procedure, they said I would be ready to go at about 4:15pm and then at 4:15pm Eileen came in, took out my IV, sat me up & made me drink some water and gave me my discharge papers with what I need to look out for. And then I was good to go! Mom & I walked out to the car and headed home, but not before paying $10.50 in parking for the less than 3 hours we were there!
I did notice when I was in the bathroom that I have broken some minor blood vessels around my eyes and down my left cheek, I am thinking this is probably from the gagging and coughing when they were doing the scope. I hope that it clears up fast or tomorrow I will be wearing makeup to work to cover it up!!
I am off to lie down and get some rest and hopefully wear off some of this sedation! I am also enjoying my chocolate milkshake, the first thing I have had all day since having Jell-O for breakfast at 7am this morning!!
When I arrived at the hospital, I went to Admitting, got my lovely new piece of hospital jewelry (my hospital bracelet) and then headed down to the daybed unit. I then was checked in there and got called down to a cubicle/partition area and Eileen, my nurse, put me into a gown ~ right over my clothes, I didn't even take off my shoes! and then checked my blood pressure, pulse and something else that I didn't understand from the monitor. She then wrapped my arm in a lovely warm blanket to help her find a vein, cause I wasn't allowed any fluids in the previous 5 hours and then asked a million and one questions about my medical history. She then stuck in my IV line where I would be getting my sedatives, the funny thing about it was that it was just this short little line, I didn't have the IV pole or any IV fluid bags.
I was then called down to the procedure room and so was moved to a stretcher/bed and wheeled into the room where my GI specialist, Dr Yoshida met me and also a GI doctor from Thailand who was assisting him today with my procedure. They then rechecked my vital signs, got me to sign a consent form for going under sedation and then applied the sedative to the back of my throat. This was NOT fun at all. I had to hold my breath while they sprayed this liquid at the back of my throat and then had to swallow to get the medication down my throat and it tasted DISGUSTING!! They did that twice, then injected sedatives into my IV line. Then the doctor gave me a mouth guard to protect the scope instrument and to help keep my mouth and throat open.
(while this is not me, this is pretty much exactly what it looked like except there were 4 doctor/nurses in the room and the nurse was holding my head steady)(this photo was taken from a Google image search)
This whole time I was lying on my left side. Then he went to insert the scope and that is when the "FUN" started. Though they kept telling me to stay calm and breathe, my gag reflex was working overtime and the whole time they were doing the procedure (the whole 3 minutes!) I was gagging and coughing and feeling so bad that I was being difficult for the doctors but not really able to stop. Yes, it was uncomfortable but I didn't think I would have that much of a problem. The nurse that was in the room was great and at one point, she told the doctor to hurry up! She also got the lovely job of cleaning up whatever I managed to cough up - I felt bad about that! When that was done, Dr Yoshida told me that I would have the results of the biopsy in 10-14 days and then they wheeled me back to recovery.
When I was brought back, they wheeled me again into a cubicle area and got me settled into bed, tucked me up in a blanket and again put on the monitors for my vital signs which were constantly being checked by a machine at my bedside. Eileen checked in to see if I had any side effects from the procedure or the sedation and then I just had to rest and wait for it to mostly wear off. I slept for about 30 minutes and otherwise just was lying there dozing in and out. At about 3:45pm, 45 minutes after being taken in for my procedure, they said I would be ready to go at about 4:15pm and then at 4:15pm Eileen came in, took out my IV, sat me up & made me drink some water and gave me my discharge papers with what I need to look out for. And then I was good to go! Mom & I walked out to the car and headed home, but not before paying $10.50 in parking for the less than 3 hours we were there!
I did notice when I was in the bathroom that I have broken some minor blood vessels around my eyes and down my left cheek, I am thinking this is probably from the gagging and coughing when they were doing the scope. I hope that it clears up fast or tomorrow I will be wearing makeup to work to cover it up!!
I am off to lie down and get some rest and hopefully wear off some of this sedation! I am also enjoying my chocolate milkshake, the first thing I have had all day since having Jell-O for breakfast at 7am this morning!!
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
countdown is on....
It is now less than 22 hours before I will be on my way to Vancouver General Hospital and their GE clinic. I need to be at the Admitting Department by 2pm and will then be admitted into the "day care" unit (How appropriate, the daycare worker will be in day care for my procedure!!
I have been having a lot of abdominal pain lately, especially just after I eat and really bad when I go to relieve myself, so I am really looking forward (as much as I can be) to finding out what had been going on inside my body!
I will try to post a quick something when I get home but I don't know what condition I will be in, so no promises!!
~One thing I am not looking forward to is my diet for tomorrow! I can only eat a clear breakfast, which isn't a lot of options so I will be having lime and raspberry Jell-O for breakfast at 6:30am and then I can drink clear fluids until 10:30am and then NOTHING! ~ no water, no NOTHING until after my procedure is done and the freezing on my throat has worn off! Then I have been told that my throat will be very sore and so dinner tomorrow may consist of vanilla or chocolate ice cream. I also bought some pudding packages today in case the ice cream is too cold! I'm sure I will enjoy my food on Friday very much!!
I have been having a lot of abdominal pain lately, especially just after I eat and really bad when I go to relieve myself, so I am really looking forward (as much as I can be) to finding out what had been going on inside my body!
I will try to post a quick something when I get home but I don't know what condition I will be in, so no promises!!
~One thing I am not looking forward to is my diet for tomorrow! I can only eat a clear breakfast, which isn't a lot of options so I will be having lime and raspberry Jell-O for breakfast at 6:30am and then I can drink clear fluids until 10:30am and then NOTHING! ~ no water, no NOTHING until after my procedure is done and the freezing on my throat has worn off! Then I have been told that my throat will be very sore and so dinner tomorrow may consist of vanilla or chocolate ice cream. I also bought some pudding packages today in case the ice cream is too cold! I'm sure I will enjoy my food on Friday very much!!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
update on new "job"
Okay, so I have now "spent the night" twice and I'm doing fine. I feel awake and alert at work and other than yesterday, when I had a bad headache and stomach cramping because of the intestinal issues and was tired from dealing with that, I have had no problems with moving houses in the middle of the night. It has actually worked out well. When I get home at just before 6am, I jump in the shower, then do my hair and get ready for work and grab my lunch and head for work. It is perfect timing and really makes you not get back in bed, even if you think you really want to!
Today, I didn't get up right away when my alarm went off and so didn't get home till about 6:15ish and so didn't have time to do everything but still made it to work on time!
I'm going to finish out the week (which really is only Wed & Thursday mornings because of my gastroscopy on Thursday afternoon which doesn't allow me to drive for 24hrs) and then see how I feel before committing to anything long term but I feel positive about being able to do it. Plus, Cam had told me that they have a 90 day plan, so it would really only be into the middle of June. I should be able to do that!
Today, I didn't get up right away when my alarm went off and so didn't get home till about 6:15ish and so didn't have time to do everything but still made it to work on time!
I'm going to finish out the week (which really is only Wed & Thursday mornings because of my gastroscopy on Thursday afternoon which doesn't allow me to drive for 24hrs) and then see how I feel before committing to anything long term but I feel positive about being able to do it. Plus, Cam had told me that they have a 90 day plan, so it would really only be into the middle of June. I should be able to do that!
Saturday, March 17, 2007
2nd job
So, today I agreed to a trial run for a second job I was considering. I will be "sleeping" at a couple's home while they deliver papers from 1:30am - 5:30am Monday to Friday mornings. This is a couple who used to attend our church and have two young children so can't both be out of the house, even though both kids are sleeping. I will start tomorrow night and see how it works out for both of us. To start with, I will be going over about midnight and am hoping that this will allow me to get a bit more sleep time in a row. It should be fairly easy if my body can adjust to the split up sleep schedule but it will help both myself and this couple so that would be nice. It will be nice to have some extra cash and my main focus is to put most if not all of this money into savings to help with the filing of our immigration paperwork and then also plane tickets once Ronel's paperwork is approved. A big benefit is that if I can pay for everything to do with the paperwork at one time, it should reduce our waiting time by 2-4 months!! That is a lot of time, especially since we had given up on being able to do that with me just working my current job! So it would be a total blessing if I can save enough to do that all at once! Also, another push for me is that I would LOVE to be able to fly back to Haiti when Ronel's paperwork is approved, visit with family and friends there for a short while and then be able to help him pack up, say good bye and fly HOME together! This will be Ronel's first time on a plane, first time out of Haiti and other firsts, these are things that I would love to be able to experience with him!!
The nice thing about this is there is some flexibility in it - like this Thursday I have my gastroscopy and can't drive for 24 hours so Friday morning I won't be going to their home and they are okay with that. I'll just need to give them notice about when I can't be there. It coordinates with the days I am up early anyway for work so I really think that it will work but we will have to wait and see!!
Am off to heat up my lovely heat pack for my shoulders and am off to bed!
Goodnight!
The nice thing about this is there is some flexibility in it - like this Thursday I have my gastroscopy and can't drive for 24 hours so Friday morning I won't be going to their home and they are okay with that. I'll just need to give them notice about when I can't be there. It coordinates with the days I am up early anyway for work so I really think that it will work but we will have to wait and see!!
Am off to heat up my lovely heat pack for my shoulders and am off to bed!
Goodnight!
Thursday, March 15, 2007
One week from today.....
That's right - it is only one week from today that I go to Vancouver General Hospital for my gastroscopy.
I have much more peace about the whole thing now than I did when I went in for my consult in January, for this I am very thankful because otherwise I would have been a complete wreck!! Thanks to everyone who has been praying for me about this procedure, and please continue to pray that everything goes well next Thursday, and also that I would have no lasting effects from the sedation and can work on Friday!
I have much more peace about the whole thing now than I did when I went in for my consult in January, for this I am very thankful because otherwise I would have been a complete wreck!! Thanks to everyone who has been praying for me about this procedure, and please continue to pray that everything goes well next Thursday, and also that I would have no lasting effects from the sedation and can work on Friday!
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
proof I am a walking accident!
Today at work, the Gr 2's & 3's group (that I work with) along with the "seniors" Grade 4 & up group, their leader, Eli and I were all outside for most of the beautiful afternoon playing two ball, a modern day version of dodgeball. Anyway, it was about 4:45pm and it was down to myself and 3 other boys on the court. I went to twist away and dodge the ball when I proceeded to catch my arm on a bolt sticking out of the chain link fence (where two sections attach)
I immediately stopped - mainly because of the pain and also cause in the process I was tagged with the ball and was out. I asked Eli to come help me remove my sweater/jacket I had on so I could see what I had done to my arm. Well, as you can see in the below photos (courtesy of my mom's camera) the bolt did remove a small piece of skin, amazingly not very much blood at all, but LOTS of bruising and swelling, almost instantly the whole top of my arm (just below my elbow on my left side) was blue and it was starting to swell. So inside I went to get an ice pack to put on it and that was the end of my fun time playing two ball, for today atleast! Once I got it numbed, the pain was significantly less, but still quite sore.
Many parents asked what happened when the picked up their kids - hard to hide the large ice pack on my arm, and many were genuinely concerned that I had possibly done internal damage. If it is still really sore tomorrow, I'll give my doctor's office a call, otherwise I'll live through it. When I touch the outer side of my arm, it is quite "hard" inside so I am sure that I did a really good job with this one! But as we all know, if I am going to hurt myself, I am going to do it good!! - just remember the bus incident! from last fall!
I don't know how well you can see but that red chunk is where the bolt made first contact with my arm. The blue tinge in the photo is the bruising. Unfortunately the swelling isn't really visible in the photos.
This one better shows how large the bruised area is - again the blue tinge is all bruising!
And just for your info - the swelled area is even larger than the bruised area!
This photo shows you both the bruising and the first contact mark!
I immediately stopped - mainly because of the pain and also cause in the process I was tagged with the ball and was out. I asked Eli to come help me remove my sweater/jacket I had on so I could see what I had done to my arm. Well, as you can see in the below photos (courtesy of my mom's camera) the bolt did remove a small piece of skin, amazingly not very much blood at all, but LOTS of bruising and swelling, almost instantly the whole top of my arm (just below my elbow on my left side) was blue and it was starting to swell. So inside I went to get an ice pack to put on it and that was the end of my fun time playing two ball, for today atleast! Once I got it numbed, the pain was significantly less, but still quite sore.
Many parents asked what happened when the picked up their kids - hard to hide the large ice pack on my arm, and many were genuinely concerned that I had possibly done internal damage. If it is still really sore tomorrow, I'll give my doctor's office a call, otherwise I'll live through it. When I touch the outer side of my arm, it is quite "hard" inside so I am sure that I did a really good job with this one! But as we all know, if I am going to hurt myself, I am going to do it good!! - just remember the bus incident! from last fall!
I don't know how well you can see but that red chunk is where the bolt made first contact with my arm. The blue tinge in the photo is the bruising. Unfortunately the swelling isn't really visible in the photos.
This one better shows how large the bruised area is - again the blue tinge is all bruising!
And just for your info - the swelled area is even larger than the bruised area!
This photo shows you both the bruising and the first contact mark!
Monday, March 12, 2007
medical update.... & why there are no photos
Well, my wart & surrounding area is doing much better, The blister area is completely gone now, leaving behind just a large red patch of new skin. I have started the treatment my doctor prescribed - not really enjoying it so much, soaking and then scrubbing my wart with a pumice stone is not really my idea of fun!
I would post photos but for right now, there will be no photos as my camera is out of commission! Last weekend while at the children's ministry conference I attended, I dropped my camera while it was open and it landed on the lens. I need to call a camera repair shop that was recommended to me from the store that I bought my camera from last May. My camera still functions, but the lens can't function and also the lens can't retract and close. It was a hard weekend, first my camera, then I hit my elbow quite badly and it was very painful for quite some time and then the next day, I lost my rings for almost a whole week!
I am sure hoping that this week is a whole lot better than the last!!!
Also, it is countdown time to my gastroscopy next Thursday - 10 days until I finally know something more about what is going on inside my body!!
I would post photos but for right now, there will be no photos as my camera is out of commission! Last weekend while at the children's ministry conference I attended, I dropped my camera while it was open and it landed on the lens. I need to call a camera repair shop that was recommended to me from the store that I bought my camera from last May. My camera still functions, but the lens can't function and also the lens can't retract and close. It was a hard weekend, first my camera, then I hit my elbow quite badly and it was very painful for quite some time and then the next day, I lost my rings for almost a whole week!
I am sure hoping that this week is a whole lot better than the last!!!
Also, it is countdown time to my gastroscopy next Thursday - 10 days until I finally know something more about what is going on inside my body!!
our cooking weekend
*** I have finally gotten these photos to publish! I have been trying to get photos on here since our cooking weekend in the middle of February - now almost a month later, they finally worked for me, still not sure what the problem was but as long as it works, I don't really care!***
Below are some photos of our weekend of cooking. There were 8 of us cooking for a month. We shopped Thursday and cooked all day Friday, and then did whatever was left we did on Saturday in the morning and then cleaned up and divided up the food!
It was a lot of fun and I look forward to doing it again next month.
above: MexiChicken - bagged and ready to be frozen.
It is DELICIOUS!!
at the end of Saturday, we each went home with 63
bags of individual servings of 11 different recipes
This was early Friday when we were doing Shepherd's Pie.
The five you see open weren't packed up cause we ran out of potatoes
and had to make some more!
This is what the room looked like at the beginning of Friday
after a couple of hours of cooking. We did decide that we need
more tables next time so we can spread a little more out!
Below are some photos of our weekend of cooking. There were 8 of us cooking for a month. We shopped Thursday and cooked all day Friday, and then did whatever was left we did on Saturday in the morning and then cleaned up and divided up the food!
It was a lot of fun and I look forward to doing it again next month.
above: MexiChicken - bagged and ready to be frozen.
It is DELICIOUS!!
at the end of Saturday, we each went home with 63
bags of individual servings of 11 different recipes
This was early Friday when we were doing Shepherd's Pie.
The five you see open weren't packed up cause we ran out of potatoes
and had to make some more!
This is what the room looked like at the beginning of Friday
after a couple of hours of cooking. We did decide that we need
more tables next time so we can spread a little more out!
Saturday, March 10, 2007
well, I guess I can tell you now!
I have been hesitant to post anything this week because I didn't really want to have to tell what I had done on Sunday! But, I will tell you now because I can start off with the good news - I found them!!
Sunday evening I drove down to Seattle to pick up my mom & grandma from the airport as they returned from their vacation in Puerto Rico, this was my second trip to Seattle in 3 days! I had been down in Seattle/Tacoma area Friday and Saturday for a Children's Ministry Conference and had returned late Saturday night, gotten up early for church and was driving down again to the airport - biggest problems - lack of sleep, the fact that their plane wasn't arriving till 11:35pm (which was delayed for an hour), then a roughly 2-3 hour drive home and I worked at 7am the next morning! So, I let my mom drive home while I snoozed in the back seat, but to do this, I removed my wedding rings and stuck them inside my bra - DON'T ask!!! I can't sleep with my rings on as the diamond setting is kind of high and I would have marks all over my face! We arrived home at 3:04 am and I headed straight to bed, got undressed and fell into bed! I awoke just after 6am to get ready for work and went to put on my rings but couldn't find them on my bedside table where I put them every night, so I started tearing my room apart when I remember what I had done the night before! I started to panic but had to leave for work - without my rings! I managed to not breakdown at work during my morning shift but when I came home for my 2 hour break and searched my mom's car and more of my room and still couldn't find them, I wasn't doing so well! Then I got to work and someone asked me how I was and I burst into tears saying I had lost my wedding rings! I have looked all over my room and hadn't been able to find them, then today, I was really upset that I hadn't been able to find them and started looking through things again and I felt the need to look through this big black garbage bag I have in my room of paper stuff that I need to throw out! I almost threw it out on Wednesday!!!! - Praise the Lord I didn't do that! So tonight, before I went to shower & get ready for this dinner I am attending tonight, I felt that I should go through this bag of garbage and there at the bottom of the bag was my wedding rings!! I was so happy I could have cried and called Ronel, my mom, my friend Terri & then I called Dean who is the husband of a friend at work (he is also a friend) and he had volunteered to take the seats out of my mom's car so we could search for my rings and I was happy to let him know that we wouldn't need to do that!!
I couldn't even call Ronel for 3 days cause I didn't want to have to tell him that I had lost my rings!! I did call him though on and he was very understanding about it and was very glad to hear that I had found them!
Sunday evening I drove down to Seattle to pick up my mom & grandma from the airport as they returned from their vacation in Puerto Rico, this was my second trip to Seattle in 3 days! I had been down in Seattle/Tacoma area Friday and Saturday for a Children's Ministry Conference and had returned late Saturday night, gotten up early for church and was driving down again to the airport - biggest problems - lack of sleep, the fact that their plane wasn't arriving till 11:35pm (which was delayed for an hour), then a roughly 2-3 hour drive home and I worked at 7am the next morning! So, I let my mom drive home while I snoozed in the back seat, but to do this, I removed my wedding rings and stuck them inside my bra - DON'T ask!!! I can't sleep with my rings on as the diamond setting is kind of high and I would have marks all over my face! We arrived home at 3:04 am and I headed straight to bed, got undressed and fell into bed! I awoke just after 6am to get ready for work and went to put on my rings but couldn't find them on my bedside table where I put them every night, so I started tearing my room apart when I remember what I had done the night before! I started to panic but had to leave for work - without my rings! I managed to not breakdown at work during my morning shift but when I came home for my 2 hour break and searched my mom's car and more of my room and still couldn't find them, I wasn't doing so well! Then I got to work and someone asked me how I was and I burst into tears saying I had lost my wedding rings! I have looked all over my room and hadn't been able to find them, then today, I was really upset that I hadn't been able to find them and started looking through things again and I felt the need to look through this big black garbage bag I have in my room of paper stuff that I need to throw out! I almost threw it out on Wednesday!!!! - Praise the Lord I didn't do that! So tonight, before I went to shower & get ready for this dinner I am attending tonight, I felt that I should go through this bag of garbage and there at the bottom of the bag was my wedding rings!! I was so happy I could have cried and called Ronel, my mom, my friend Terri & then I called Dean who is the husband of a friend at work (he is also a friend) and he had volunteered to take the seats out of my mom's car so we could search for my rings and I was happy to let him know that we wouldn't need to do that!!
I couldn't even call Ronel for 3 days cause I didn't want to have to tell him that I had lost my rings!! I did call him though on and he was very understanding about it and was very glad to hear that I had found them!
OH HAPPY DAY!!!
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