postscript

many of you know my cousin, budge, and the stories that are often shared about him. since Easter is sunday, I had to include this before i forget about it....here are a few of the latest budgisms:

• today gig was going to take budge home after school. they were at the office locking up and budge continued to ask questions about everything.....one of them being Easter. gig told him all about Easter, why we have it, etc.
  a few minutes later he says, "hey gig? why does this God guy think he's the boss of everybody anyway?"
• he checks the oil price every morning on the stock market crawl on the news channels. last week he walked into the kitchen and said, "dad, oil fell to $48 a barrel," shaking his head and looking forlorn.
  when he told mamaw this later he asked her, "you do know i'm in the oil business, right?"
• "mom, i like sports. i like basketball and baseball but i just don't think i want to play any of those." pause....
  
  "i believe i'll take up fencing."
  papaw said he was going to bring him a tobacco stick so he could practice his fencing in the house...ha!

budge, (who has a beautiful name that no one calls him, even at school he's "budge"), just turned 6 years old a few months ago. what will he say next?

spring break can finally begin

i know today is wednesday, and we are halfway through our spring break, but for me it didn't officially start until this afternoon. i finally went to the dentist and had my root canal. the wonderful thing is, it didn't hurt one bit. wouldn't you know, i'd worry myself sick and then i didn't even feel anything.
for the last week or so i have not been feeling well. i thought it was just a queasy stomach because i had pukers at the end of last week. take that and combine it with a very intense fear of the dentist and some sort of bug and my last 5 days have been anything but enjoyable. luckily saturday i felt fine and was able to do some shopping with mom, mam, gig and hayley. sunday the bottom dropped out. we got up and had plans for the whole day yet my revolting stomach had other plans. we did make it to boonesboro to the playground so drew could go and play outside for a while. we stayed maybe 45 minutes then we had to go....i told tim last night if i wasn't sure it wasn't morning sickness, i'd be very scared. luckily i never really got sick except for sunday when we made it home. it's been more or less just a horrible nauseous feeling high in my stomach. funny, today after visiting the dentist it's not there anymore.
for the last few days drew and i have just chilled around the house. he's played and been so good. i think he knew i didn't feel good. today i got him up at the last minute to go to carla's while i went for the root canal. he seemed fine and i gave him a little milk and some breakfast to take to carla's. by the time we got there, i looked in the mirror and noticed his nice clean clothes were covered in....well, yuck. he'd spit up everywhere. (and by saying spit up, i really mean puke. how long can you call it spit up when they're babies anyway???) so, i had to take him in, strip him, clean him off...carla got one of abby's shirts for him to wear and he again seemed fine. i was worried about leaving him, hoping he wasn't really sick thinking maybe i should call and cancel my dentist appointment....i didn't.
by the time i got to the dentist i was a few minutes late because of the puking incident and mam and pap were in the waiting room twiddling their thumbs. i told her not to come, she comes anyway. what am i going to do with her?
at this point, i've worked myself up to a mini panic attack in the car thinking "shit, i'm gonna pass out if i don't stop it". i went back to my labor meditation tricks, counting and breathing. what a dork, i know. once i got into the waiting room, i pretty much lost it...crying, the whole bit. i really am terrified. i felt like an idiot. why couldn't they just give me some valium and make me act like a normal person before these visits? this is exactly why i haven't been to the dentist in almost 8 years.
once i went back, lovely dr. hill told me not all dentists are created equal and he would not hurt me. i guess that's the same thing we all want others to remember about us -- don't judge or make decisions based on past experiences that were only bad. i can remember many, many trips to dr. hill when he would pull two and three teeth and he never once hurt me. today, he did not hurt me. i felt nothing, hallelujah. i even made another appointment for a cleaning in a few weeks. that is truly progress for anyone who knows me. hopefully i won't cry next time. i cornered monique, the hygenist, before i left and told her if i came back she had to promise not to hurt me. with wide eyes, she promised. we'll see.

"mommy, don't touch!"

not much

`spring is here. spring break makes me happy.

`only a few short weeks and we'll be out for summer.
`went to matrix tonight to watch destiny and trinity. wow.

`shopping tomorrow with the girls.

`glad it's friday.

`dreading the wednesday dentist appointment.

`registered for a fall class.

`couldn't get registered for a summer class. ahhh!

`already thinking about what to eat @ lunch tomorrow. :)

`love when my baby is so, so sweet.

`glad tim is home early.

`ready for pie.

`ready for bed.

kitty

tonight my neighbor came to ask where "miss" kitty had been for so long. i had to regretfully inform her that miss kitty is no longer with us. our neighbor sandy is an animal lover like me....when she came over tonight, ruby actually laid down at her feet and sat there. have you any idea how amazing it is for ruby to be still?

anyway, this post is for kitty.

last thursday made three weeks and two days since kitty had been missing. she's done this before but has always come back home. i suppose i was still holding out hope that she would come back. now, kitty was not nice. actually, as my mom frequently called her, she was a b*tch. but i liked her and i don't even like cats very much. she kept to herself, didn't complain, didn't ask to be rubbed on all the time and oddly enough, she loved drew. she wouldn't let anyone else touch her....tim was the only one and he would get maybe two good strokes down her back and she would turn around and attack him -- literally drawing blood. however, she must have sensed she would meet her demise had she scratched drew so she cautiously sat through his "petting" that inadvertently turned into heavier petting, then smacking and tail pulling.

when marie and i were running last thursday, we were on mile 6 when i noticed something laying in the grass by the road. i looked and yelled to her, "hey, i think that's my cat!" my friend shannon really got a kick out of this part of the story because i didn't stop running. when they asked me if i stopped i felt a little guilty but, it would have messed up my running time. luckily i was able to get another look on my next two trips by and was 99% positive it was her.
the only thing i could think of was that she had been out one night when it turned cold so she got up in my car to stay warm. the next morning she must have ridden in the undercarriage of the car and jumped out when i got to school. this is a long trip and i'm surprised she made it that far but that scenario has happened to me before.
i made tim go back by school yesterday on our way to beattyville to check and see if it really was her. we determined it most likely was and on our way home we used bright yellow dollar store bags and a coffee pot box mamaw supplied us with and got her into the box to take home. a few people drove by and i was hoping they wouldn't be parents/students of mine so i wouldn't have to explain what tim and i were doing when i got to school this morning. two adults standing in the pouring rain with a coffee pot box, dollar store bags as makeshift gloves, the back hatch of the highlander up and a screaming baby....what a picture.

we did get kitty home, wrapped her in her uk blanket and buried her down by the willow tree. i have a real soft spot for animals as most of you know, and i could not leave her on the side of the road like a bloated possum.

so, here's to kitty. i hoped she enjoyed her short 3 years in our home. i hope she enjoyed the hundreds of moles she laid on the doorstep; the baby birds she stole out of the wren's nest last year; the times she snuck in and laid on my bed, or the couch, or the recliner. i hope she enjoyed not getting banished when i found her asleep in drew's car seat once last year and i hope she enjoyed the warm place to lay, the food she was always fed and a dog that really adored her. she will be missed. rip, kitty cat, rip.

garbage bags, a lot of green and shaven heads

the garbage bags came into play this morning for our shamrock shuffle run. as i got all decked out in my green waco loopers shirt, i realized it was going to be a cold, wet run through the streets of lexington. i was excited however, because these runs with friends are always fun no matter what the weather. i realized this morning as well that we are becoming holiday runners....we did the thanksgiving morning run in 25 degree weather, the reindeer ramble in 20 degree weather (and in a bunny suit) and now a st. patrick's day run in a temperature around freezing with pelting rain. and to think, we pay to do these runs. ahhhh.

anyway, back to the garbage bag -- luckily jeanne thought to bring a box of garbage bags to use as ponchos. so, i tore three holes - one for my head and two for my arms - pinned my number on and we set off. marie and i got caught behind all the walkers but still managed to finish in 16:37. oh, and my dang shoe came untied as we hit the first mile! it was fun though and we all caravaned over to panera afterward for a postrun snack. mmmmm do they have good coffee! i'm hoping jennifer and marie will post pictures and i can rogue them since i didn't have my camera with me...hint, hint. when i got home i checked the race times and squealed loudly when i saw that jeanne won 3rd in her age group - congratulations, jeanne! :)

tim, drew and i came home, got drew down for a nap and i got a shower to both warm up and clean up. i went back to lexington this afternoon to volunteer for the st. baldrick's fundraiser at o'neill's pub. they raise money for children's cancer research by getting people to volunteer to shave their heads. most of you know one of the ladies that keeps drew a few days a week has a son that was born with a brain tumor. they had no idea before he was born and when he was three days old he went in for surgery to remove the tumor. connlay will turn one on the 18th of this month which is such a blessing and miracle. drew loves him and he adores nicole, connlay's mom. connlay's dad, matt, and grandfather, "bob-bob", raised money and shaved their heads today. many of you donated money to them for this cause and they ended up raising over $3,000 at last count!

the shavees were asked today to get up and share their stories before they went bald and when bobby took connlay on stage and shared his story i couldn't help it when the tears came. i was so happy they were able to celebrate such a wonderful occasion and that i could be a small part of it. my job as a volunteer became a bit hectic trying to keep all the shavees organized and money envelopes where they were supposed to go. this was such a great experience i can only hope i can be part of it again. on a sidenote, all the men were shaved looked surprisingly good after their turn on the shaving stool....one man's wife even offered to pay $1000 on the spot if he would not shave his head. he said he raised money with the intention of shaving it for his donors so the stylist promptly took a wide strip right off the top. :)

seeing and hearing some of those stories today made me even more thankful that my baby is so blessed and healthy.

i did get a few pictures of matt and bobby but they were with my phone so they aren't of great quality. if nicole or liz got better ones, i'll be sure to post them. in the meantime, enjoy.

bobby and matt ready to go.

yes i'm from eastern kentucky, but that does not mean i am toothless....yet.

in the last week i have finally had to give in to an 8 year hiatus from the dentist. after my last visit to my dentist/orthodontist when i was in college, she nearly killed me and i swore i would never go back again. tuesday as i was sitting in the hospital waiting room having bloodwork done, i came to the conclusion that i was going to have to actually go. i had made the appointment the day before with my old childhood dentist but i don't think it sunk in until the next morning. the odd thing is, i could not wait to go. i thought anything was better than the horrible pain i was constantly experiencing.

as i sat and listened to my audiobook, sTori Telling, during my bloodwork, (I know, the book was a guilty pleasure but it was very interesting), the throbbing continued to get worse and worse. i went to the hospital pharmacy and bought yet another bottle of tylenol. i'd already taken a bottle of advil since last thursday when the pain began to get unbearable but i couldn't help it, i was a little out of my head i think. it's a wonder i didn't just turn the bottle up and down a bunch. i really considered ripping the red wax off my bottle of jim beam (that i proudly made at the distillery) and taking a few advil with that but thought better of it. anyway, i went to the dentist, they took and x-ray and wonderful dr. hill said, "oh yeah, that's a dead nerve in that tooth with a lot of infection at the root." oh.

my next question was "what are you going to do to me?" he laughed in his slightly maniacal way (that i love) and then became very serious saying, "you do want to keep the tooth, right?"

in my head i was screaming I DON'T CARE! pull the flippin' thing right now if you want, just make it stop hurting!

i go back for a root canal during spring break. what's really bad is that i scheduled a root canal around my running schedule. i've got 5 miles to do that morning before i go.....

after driving from home to waco and back to richmond that morning, i had gone to irvine to dr. hill's then from irvine all the way to the pharmacy in richmond, back out to get drew in waco, then back to the pharmacy. i think i ran out a tank of gas that day but it was worth it because at the end of the day i picked up some wonderful pills and headed on home. thank goodness tim's mom called and wanted to take drew home for a little bit because i was completely done. i went to bed at 6:00 tuesday evening and did not get back up until friday morning at 10:00. tim had to bring drew down to say good morning and good night. i cried because i couldn't get up and take care of him....what a horrible feeling.

i was swelled worse than when i had my surgery on my mouth because all the infection was drawn out into my face. i knew it was bad but i didn't think it was that bad until jeanne and jennifer let out their ohhhh's today when i showed them the pictures. yes, i documented. nice, huh? i don't even remember taking the picture the first day. wonder what else i don't remember from last week?

i'm much better now and thank you to all my buds that called, texted (because you know i'm not answering a phone, ha!) and brought me a frosty. :) you guys are such good friends....and true friends. how do i know? because you give me your honest opinion about what my face really looked like, thanks.

and because i have no vanity left, here are the pictures documenting my face explosion.

a little perspective -- this is what my face normally looks like.

day 1

day 2

day 3

day 4

i kept drew with me on friday (day 4) and i think i swelled back up a little because i was up much more than i had been all week.

ooooh, what a mess!

tim and i are going to get new carpet in the next week or two....it is much needed and we've already been to pick out the carpet and set up times for them to come and measure the house. we have wanted to remove the brick in the basement living room since the day we moved in but we've never had the chance because we would have had to replace the carpet immediately. the brick from the fireplace was extended out by the builders of the house about 5 feet and shaped in a semi-circle. it was an absolute waste of space and u-g-l-y. we've always just placed the couch in front of it so you can't see it....drew now has a facination with the brick and we can't keep him off of it when he's downstairs.
today was the day we started tearing all that brick out. oh my, what a mess. bob came over to help tim while i took care of drew upstairs. oddly enough, a one year old is not the greatest helper when it comes to demolition. ;)
the boys didn't think they would be making as big of a mess as the demo turned out to be so they didn't move anything out of the basement before starting. the couch is now covered in brick dust along with the t.v. stand and all the other doo-dads down there. i snapped a few pictures to document just how big a mess this is becoming as they began moving stuff out.

you can see all the dust on the lens of my camera.

in the end, i'm so happy to be getting rid of the awful brick, i don't even care about the mess. after we get the brick torn out we have to repaint. the color is not good and we're going to paint before the new carpet is laid.
i've also included a few pictures of drew....of course. these are when i went in to get him up from an unusually long nap and he didn't wake up right away like he usually does. i actually had time to run and get my camera and get one of him fast asleep. the other is right after he woke up. so sweet. :)