And the pain continues

As I have said in past posts... I'm the queen of klutz. As you know I have been recovering from my jaw surgery for the last couple of months, plus over the 4th of July I sprained my ankle. So I have been nursing that too. Then last Wednesday night I was walking up the stairs to my place, when I wrenched my back. I was literally just walking, not goofing around or anything. Anyway... I first just thought that I had tweaked it a little bit, so as soon as I got upstairs I took some Tylenol and put the heating pad on it. It seemed to help, so by the time I went to bed, I didn't think I needed to sleep with the heating pad..... BIG MISTAKE. When I woke up on Thursday morning I could barely get out of bed.... it took me 10 minutes to make it to the bath room to pee. Then I carefully climbed into the shower and tried to let the hot water loosen things up, it help a little... or should I say just while I was in the shower. Once I got out... there was shooting pain down my back and into my legs. I lied down again to wait for the doctor's office to open. As I lied there, I just kept thinking that all I would get from a doctor is pain medicine, which would be good, but I would still have to problem. So I called the mother and she said go to "Yimin"... who is an acupuncturist..... he has helped me before and I figured it couldn't hurt. So at 8:45 am I started heading for the car to drive out to the place. It took us ( skinny was home helping me) about 20 minutes to get down the stairs again and into the car. We made it just in time for the appointment. Now normally once they get started with the needles and everything, whatever body party they are working on starts to feel better. But this time I was still in a ton of pain... and since they put needles in your hands ( some how it helps your back), my hands started to hurt. So once I was made into a human pin cushion, they had me walk.... walk???? more like hobble back and forth around the room.... which pretty much made me feel like I was 80 years old. Finally my back started to loosen a little and they had me lay down on the table... to relax. Which actually did make me feel a ton better....but I knew laying down would..... so after about 1/2 an hour I was free to go... but not before they put a stinky patch on my back and left some needles in my head... then told me to come back the next day for another treatment. My back still hurt but at least I could walk a little better. I ended up going home...which they told me to do and resting. Since I took Thursday off work, I had to go in on Friday... and it was a LONG day... every time I had to get up it was an ordeal. I felt horrible by the end of the day.... but knew I would be going to the acupunturist again that night so I willed myself to make it. After that treatment I felt a little better again but as soon as I started to head home... the pain came right back. So Friday night I slept with the heating pad again, I was determed to get rid of the pain. On Saturday afternoon I took a different approach, I had a massage... which made me feel a 100x better.....not back to totally normal but pretty close. I was good most of the day and into the night. On Sunday I was pretty good too. I even made it to my 15 year high school reunion. But come MONDAY.... my back was starting to tighten up again... I think it had a lot to do with my chair... and sitting at my desk.... it was alright for awhile but slowly as the day progressed I was in real pain. Finally when I left it was like walking as an old lady again. So once again I spent the evening on the couch with a heating pad. Last night I slept with it and am feeling pretty good today... now I have brought the heating pad to work and a pillow.. I think I have finally found the answer or ...should I say relief to the pain..... or at least I'm able to sit here, type and then get up without to much trouble. I guess we will see how long it lasts.
I just keep thinking to myself... am I every going to be pain free... I hope so.... since I'm going wedding dress shopping this weekend.

And the fun continues.....

On Saturday was the big baby shower for Izzie, C.J., Rands and Big L. The mother's friends through the party and there was a mountain of presents for each baby. It was held at a great Italian place in town.... and they were even able to get a private room. It was the end of the partying...so to speak for the babies. Not that we won't keep celebrating everything they do, but it was the end of a month of every weekend having to go somewhere and celebrate something. Granted it was all fun but it will be nice to have a full weekend were nothing is going on. Now I say that but in the back of my mind I know I will be starting on planning my wedding. Skinny and I have been taking about it for a long time but now that we are actually engage we can start setting down real plans.
Our dream wedding would be something small and elegant... but since we both have big families and lots of friends who will want to come, it is hard to figure out where to stop. We joked about running away somewhere, but knew that we would probably have a wedding in town. Now that we are engaged we really are thinking that we might just jump on a plane to Vegas. Granted it wouldn't be till next year but still it would be so much easier and then we wouldn't offend anyone. I'm sure who ever wants to come will and those people who don't won't
We still have a dinner with Howie and The mother to talk about it tomorrow. But Skinny and I really think that is the way we are going to go.... I think the Mother believes I want this big elaborate wedding, when that it the furthest idea in my mind. So I will have to update you how it goes tomorrow

A little bling!!!!!

So it finally happened... Skinny proposed last night.... I was in total shock!!!! He made up this story about how he missed the bus on Monday, since he had to stay late a work and The Beau had to bring him home....... but really they were running around looking for our song on CD. Then last night while I was at "Spamalot" with my parents Skinny and his father were running around getting candles, lights and a red runner.
So this is how he proposed:

He asked me to call him when I was leaving downtown, since he said he didn't want to go to bed till he knew I was coming home.... which I really didn't think was strange,since I have a hard time sleeping when he is out. So I called him....he sounded like he was already in bed and sleeping... so I made the call short. But really he was sitting on the couch with everything set up, just waiting to light the candles and get dressed. When I got home there was a note on the door that said " Don't turn on any lights, just follow the path".... which I just thought he did something to the carpet and didn't want me to see it. But as I opened the door, I saw the runner lined with lights and candles...... and our song started to play from the bedroom.... and I made my way down the hall, I could see a big heart made out of candles... and next to it was Skinny in a suit and tie. He told me how much he loved me and we both started to cry. He got down on one knee and pulled out the ring and said " will you marry me?"' To which I of course said yes. I was totally shocked. I really had no clue he was going to propose this way and especially didn't think he would do all the stuff he did. Skinny definitely put a lot of thought and planning into it.
Come to find out he called Howie earlier in the week and asked him if he wanted to be there with The Mother. Howie said that it would be better if Skinny and I were alone. I guess Howie was swore to secrecy like The Beau...... but he did tell The Mother last night,since she was going to go to bed and he thought I might call them last night. I was going to.... but it was really late by the time I was ready to call people... so I just did it this morning. The mother was excited and is ready to tell her friends and start planning. I even woke Rands up to tell her this morning.... she was trying to be excited but with little Izzie up all night it was hard. I'm sure she will be jumping for joy when I see her this afternoon. Skinny and I are looking at not getting married till next year.... though...we want to make sure that everything is done with his parole and we have time to really figure out what we want to do. We know we want a small wedding but something nice.
Now I guess I get to spend the rest of the day telling people and showing off the ring. I just keep looking down at my hand thinking... " is this really happening??" And I know it is.....

New Job????.....

So I have been back to my job for about 3 weeks now and before I left I decided that I would apply for a new position, since this new job would be less time on inbound calls for me and also a little more of a challenge. So anyway, I went out on leave and figured they would fill the job while I was gone..... little did I know the gods were looking after me. When I came back from leave I had an email to see if I was still interested in the position and if I would be interested in interviewing. Well Of course I was interested...... within a few days of responding to an email, I had an interview with HR and the manager of the department... over the phone. Then Last week I had an interview with the supervisor of the department. Now she said it would at least a week before they would be having 2nd rounds interviews ( my interview was on Thursday), but then Friday afternoon I get an email inviting me to a 2nd round interview today. That meant that the 1st one went really well and I'm hoping the one today went just as well. Now I just have to wait and see what they are going to decide. I know there is one other person from my team who is applying for the job ( actually there are 2 positions open for the new job) but I think I'm way more qualified for the job..... the other person even came over and asked me if I could show him a few things, so he could get a leg up. To which I told him that I was busy and didn't know if I could make time to train him...... really in the back of my mind I was thinking that I don't want to give him an advantage......I mean who you want to give your competition a leg up on you???
Other then the new job, nothing to else is really exciting in my life. I was hoping that Skinny would have given me my ring by now, but he is still trying to wait for the "perfect" moment to propose. On the one hand I want him to do something special.... but on the other hand I just want him to propose... who cares if it is something big and wonderful.....Than again I really don't have a lot of say in this so ...I just have to wait. I have started to look into stuff though.... we want to get married on Friday 08/08/08, which I'm thinking might be a busy day for weddings, since it is a unique day and a Friday to boot..... but we will see. I already have narrowed it down to a handful of places and know I want a small wedding. We are even looking at maybe going away to limit the guest list even more.... since my parents feel they would have to invite a ton of their friends if we got married in town. But is still all up in the air since I don't have the ring on my finger and we still haven't nailed down more solid plans. I'm kind of getting antsy about it now.... since I have been waiting since April when we picked out the ring to get it. I know that Skinny wanted to wait till after he got out of the Fort.... but he has been out a whole month now.... so he need to giddy up.
One last subject change..... this up coming weekend is finally the baby shower for Rands/Izzie and Big L./ C.J...... We have had the baby naming and the baby dedication ( last weekend)..... there have been a ton of dinners and afternoons of open baby gifts.... but now it is the official baby shower for them. It's kind of weird that both babies will have been here for over a month and we are just getting to the shower. I'm actually excited about it...since I got them some really cute gifts.

In my family the women are real KLUTZs......it started with my mom in her youth.... she was constantly falling down, spraining her ankles. She actually had to have some major surgery when she was younger to fuse her ligaments in her ankles, since they were so bad. As she got older she has now developed foot problems, so in May she had foot surgery ( as i have written about before) on one foot and will have the other one done in Dec. Anyway she passed this wonderful trait of falling to my sister and myself. Rands has sprained her ankle many times, broken her foot many times and cracked a few ribs in her 29 years ....even.. her last fall ( while she was pregnant) resulting in another broken foot and broken tail bone.

This bring us to me, I can't tell you how many times I have sprained my ankle. The first time was when I was 7 and I was hit by a car.... granted I was young and a quick healer... but it was the start of things to come. I had many little twist and sprains leading up to my big "break". When I was a senior in high school..... I was running to the mall on my lunch break, when I slipped and fell, breaking my left leg in 2 places. Not only did a break my leg by the bone was sticking out and I had to have 10 stitches, let me tell you... I don't wish a broken leg on anyone. So it took about 3-4 months worth of different casts to heal... but then I was back to normal.... well kind of. Since then ( and it has been 15 years now), I have sprained the same leg/ankle/foot at least a dozen times. I have crutches, ace bandages and splits.... well I should say I did have all that stuff until I decided to clean my place out last fall, I thought my klutzy days were over, so I throw out the splits and the old ace bandages, thinking that I wouldn't need them anymore, but kept the crutches just in case something would come up.....good thing. So let's jump to last week... the morning of the 4th of July....Skinny and I had plans to join Big L. and her family at their family ranch for a day of fun and food. Skinny decided to get up early and play a round of golf with his dad but would be home early enough for us to head to the ranch by noon. I planned on sleeping in late but ended up getting up earlier and figured I would get some errands done since I knew there would be a parade and I didn't want to have to deal with the traffic. So out the door I go, down 2 of the 3 flights of stairs.,....from our 3rd floor apartment..... I easily head down, then I get to the top of the last flight down and I just start to fall...... and fall I do.....all the way down the flight... the only thing I was worried about protecting was my face. After going thru all I did with my jaw surgery I didn't want anything on my head hurt. But since I was only worried about my face, the rest of my body took the "hits" for the fall. Once I was at the bottom of the stairs I immediately stood up, my leg hurt a little but I figured I just twisted it and if I walked on it a little it would be fine. I headed for the car and my errands... since I know I don't have any ace bandages at home anymore and I don't think I had hurt myself that much. I head for Walmart first and as I'm driving my foot and ankle start to throb, the trip is literally 3 blocks from my place. By the time I get into the parking lot, my whole leg is starting to hurt, i tried to get out of the car and I can't even put any weight on it..... so I called Rands......who goes with me to the hospital.....by this time the ankle and foot are really starting to swell. We get into the ER and they take my vitals and everything. The doctor looks at my foot and ankle, says I will need an x-ray.... to make sure it is not broken. So 1/2 and hour later I'm on the table getting x-rayed. They come back showing that I have sprained my ankle really bad and that I have arthritis in my ankle.... the doctor asks if I have done this before... meaning spraining my ankle... I say yes and then he tells me because of the swelling, arthritis and everything... he can''t tell for sure that it is not broken, but if it is... it is a very small break. I'm to go home, keep it wrapped, elevated and ice it. If it doesn't get better in a few days I need to head to a real doctor. Now I have heard this all before and now the drill. They ask me if I want crutches... but I am able to decline them, since I know I have them at home but I get all sorts of other" presents" to go home with. I head home..... with a new ace bandage and split... it keep the ankle straight and so I can put a little weight on it..... but not much which is fine since I spent most of the day with my leg up. Skinny and I weren't able to go to the ranch and we didn't even get to watch the fireworks... since by the time 9 pm rolled around I was so tired from the day and the paid killers, I didn't want to move off the couch. It was an eventful 4th, just not the kind of event I wanted to have.
So like I said in the beginning I have been pledged with this my whole life and I don't see it getting better.... I just hope my kids don't get the klutz-iness gene passed on to them. At least they have some hope... since Skinny it pretty graceful and lucky.

The 4th is coming!

I have been back to work for a week now and I'm starting to get the really hang of it. But it's a good thing that we have a day off this week for the 4th, cause I'm not sure I'm ready for a full week of work again. The past weekend was a crazy one, with the baby naming and my dad being in town. Once again he decided to be here for 8 days, which for Skinny and myself it hasn't been too bad. But for Rands and Big L......it has been kind of a nightmare, since they have been spending all day with my dad and my aunt from AZ. I understand that they want to spend as much time as they can with the babies, but maybe they should plan more frequent trips rather then such a long time here in Iowa. Especially since Izzie and C.J. are just weeks old. Then again who am I to talk, they really didn't come to town to see us and I'm sure Rands would speak up if she had enough on a given day.
Anyway the baby naming went well, there was a ton of people at my parent's house, but we knew that was going to happen. My grandmother and my mother's sister came in to town too, so that made it extra special. The Mother even planned pretty good with the food, she didn't have that much left over, But still enough so I don't have to get anything for tomorrow, when we go to the Farm for the day. Skinny and I are actually excited to be able to go even, Since it has been almost a year since we have been able to travel together. But then again that is cause of the fort and everything. It should be a fun day.
I love the 4th... well I should say I love that it is in the summer ( my favorite season) and also that there are fireworks. It is one of my favorite things to see.... I think that is cause it reminds me of my mother's dad. He passed away 25 years ago, but still I can remember the first time he took me to work them........ I'm sure he is looking down from heaven and enjoying them too.