My how they've grown

Since Timmy and Katie are both from Hillsdale the wedding was definitely a local affair. This included A LOT of kids that I taught. As I looked out over the dance floor I realized that I taught probably half of the 25 and under group. So I decided to capture some of my former students.






No one really knows, in 8th grade, where they'll be at 25. Here's where some of them are in life today:

Operating Room Nurse
Chiropractic School
Admissions officer at Adrian College
Financial Advisor
Teachers
Arena Football Player for the Cleveland Gladiators
College Students-undergrad and graduate school
and current high school students-with me as their teacher

It has been a while since I have seen some of these former students, and I do look very different from when I taught them years ago. I look so different many of them didn't recognize me. (I'm taking that as a compliment)

Both Dan and I are proud to say that we have touched the lives of all of these successful young men and women in some way-when you think about it that's pretty powerful.

Another wedding

A few years ago one of the boys' friends got married,and the night before the wedding all the guys spent the night with us. Well yesterday another one of the "group" tied the knot, and yes the boys did stay with us.

They all came barreling in after the rehearsal dinner. The last time it was just the guys, well things have evolved in those three years, and our house was the place to be. Dan and I thoroughly loved having everyone here.

The only sad thing was that Matt had to go back to Rhode Island and was not able to be at/or in the wedding.



Every parent worries about the friends their children pick. My boys picked GREAT friends.

Candidate Officer

Today is the day that Matt goes from being an officer candidate to being a candidate officer. It is also the day he gets to eat like a normal person again.

We talked with him on Saturday. He passed all his tests - there are no more rollable offensives. So it's official he will be graduation January 20.

He is working out details with another SWO to be roommates in San Diego. The nice thing about this is that this other guy is a class ahead of Matt and will be able to get things in order before Matt arrives.

Matt sent this picture as a bit of a tease. I know it's only a head shot and his gig line is off, but I think he looks GREAT!

57 is Nate's lucky number

Track season is here. I know what you're thinking, it's way to cold outside for track. When I say track I mean indoor track. Since the end of last football season this is what Nate has been training for - to be back on top as one of the Big Dogs in the shot put.

Well yesterday the proof was in the pudding, or in Nate's case in the throw. Nate had a personal best indoor throw of 57'3". (That's with a 16lb shot mind you.) That throw was far enough for him to take second place and be preliminarily qualified for indoor nationals in March. Nate also broke the indoor shot put record for the college. He now holds every shot put record in Hillsdale: middle school, high school, all area and now college-both indoor and outdoor. Needless to day Dan and I are extremely proud. Nate has worked very hard for the last two years. I'm happy to see that all his hard work (and eating is paying off).

After the throws were done Nate's coach came up to me and told me he would like to see Nate put on 8 more pounds. YIKES - I know some of you are thinking no problem, I can do that in my sleep, but for an athlete it is not so easy. But in Nate's event mass moves mass, and Nate is a Big Dog now and that's what Big Dogs do. So I guess it's off to the store for Mom.

You've got mail

Next week Matt is able to receive packages. Up until this point any package has to be opened in front of the DI and the class. Of course, there are comments made by the DI. Matt, never wanting to be the center of attention, made it VERY clear to not send packages.

Getting package privileges coincides with making the shift from Officer Candidate to Candidate Officer. I know it seems crazy, but this is a very important milestone in the OCS process.



For Matt this comes a day before he comes home for Christmas. And, like many other OCS families, I thought I would just forget about sending a package (since we're going to see him the very next day). Then I found out about CADIO boxes. These are boxes sent by families to celebrate this shift in status.

They are quite elaborate. At first I was overwhelmed by the entire thing. Then once Dan and I got organized, I actually enjoyed putting it together.

Getting the contents of this box will be the first time since Matt's arrival in Newport he is allowed to have sweets and caffeine.

Contents of Matt's box:
Men's Health magazine
Rolling Stone Magazine
Skittles
Nutella
Graham Crackers (I forgot to put a butter knife for spreading)
A photo album
postcards from friends from Hillsdale
Better Made pretzels
Starbucks instant coffee

Gettin' out the Christmas Crap

So today we have a snow day - and the overwhelming consensus on facebook was to put up the tree instead of go into work and check papers. I took their wise advise.

Last year I decided that we had finally graduated from a kid tree to a more sophisticated - all the ornaments match - tree. So when Dan got the stuff down I was excited to see what I bought. (It has been a year, and I am getting older, so my mind isn't as sharp as it used to be). I did remember that I was going with gold and red tones. All the ornaments are up - I was able to incorporate some old ornaments that fit the new gold/red theme.


As I was sorting through the tubs and tubs of old ornaments there were a few family favorites I had to put up-even though they do not fit the new decor. The first must-hang ornament is Matt's ND Joe Montana ornament. When Matt was younger - this was the only ornament he insisted on hanging. It always hung front and center, and every time he would walk by the tree he would stop and pretend he was Joe Montana. Some of you may remember the days when Matt played/thought about ND football 24/7.


The other two must hang ornaments belong to Nate. The first is a Santa on a spring. Nate would hang this on the bottom of the tree so he could lay on the ground and bounce him. The spring has definitely seem better days - not much bounce left. The other ornament is a LEGO Santa. Yes, Nate still loves to play with LEGOs.


My favorite Christmas item is a letter that Nate wrote to Santa when he was in Kindergarten. This was the year that we attempted to have a Norman Rockwell Christmas and cut down our own tree. We went over the hill and through the woods looking for the perfect tree. Within days of putting up this "perfect" tree the needles started falling off. Nathan was so upset that his tree was dying he wrote to Santa asking him to fix our poor little tree with his magic. To this day whenever I read this letter I start to cry. This letter is something I will cherish forever.

Christmas is not about the stuff-it's those moments that happen between worrying about the stuff.

Thanksgiving in Rhode Island

What started out a bit rocky - or better yet rainy - turned out to be beautiful. For the long weekend Dan, Nate, and I went to Rhode Island to spend the holiday with Matt. We left on Wednesday night and drove straight through. When we left Hillsdale it was raining; when we got to Newport it was raining. If I didn't know better I would have thought the rain clouds were over our vehicle the entire way. The ride there was a white knuckle adventure-to say the least.

Once there the weather turned BEAUTIFUL. We had 3 days of perfect 65 degree, no wind days. Every morning I would go running along what is called The Cliff Walk. This 3+ mile stretch of coast was where the rich and famous has summer homes during the Gilded Age. The mansions are just beautiful.


None of us has ever really visited a vacation town along the Atlantic coast. We went to a small fish market - we could not believe the size of the lobsters that were in the tank. Then to top it all off-prices at 4.99 a pound!! I pay more for lunch meat at the deli. We were tempted to buy one, but the thought of having a live lobster in the cooler creeped me out. So instead we asked the guy working the counter where a good place was to get a lobster dinner. We were not disappointed. Lobster bisque, salad, and a whole lobster for $16.00.

Dan and I decided that when we hit the lottery we're moving there. We absolutely loved it. But for now another visit in January-when Matt graduates will have to do.

OCS - Week 6

Matt has survived for 6 weeks now. For the first 4 weeks the focus was on pushing them to the breaking point. At week 4 Matt had what's called RLP inspection. That stands for Room-Locker-Personal inspection. The Drill Instructors came into their rooms like whirling-dervishes yelling, screaming, measuring, all while tearing up their rooms - In the end all that was left were clothes and personal belongings everywhere. Matt was lucky enough to pass. Those who didn't were -rolled back- into the next class. In other words they flunked and have to repeat.

So far Matt has come through with flying colors. He leads the group every morning in PT (workouts). As far as he is concerned they don't work out enough. He mentioned that he is getting kind of weak when it comes to push ups.

Right now all the SWO's (Surface Warfare Officers) are deciding what port they want to be assigned to. Matt has narrowed his choices to three: San Diego, Norfolk, Hawaii. I just got an email from him that he is fairly confident that he will be in San Diego-he's happy about that.


If this holds true he will be on a MCM class ship. It's purpose: mine sweeper. It is a smaller ship with a crew of about 80. There are no women allowed on this vessel. if this comes to fruition, Matt will spend his training in San Diego and then he will be flown to Bahrain for his first deployment.

If the San Diego placement does not happen, Matt will be on a carrier either out of Virginia or Hawaii.

Dan, Nate and I are leaving Tuesday after work. Our destination Newport Rhode Island. The base is closed for the Thanksgiving holiday so Matt has until the Saturday after Thanksgiving off. Then he has until the 16th of December before coming home for about 10 days. Then just a few short weeks until his graduation on January 20th.

Mommy Dearest

I always hate this time of year. Summer clothes need to be put away and winter clothes need to be brought out. This morning that's what Dan and I did. We went through our closet and gave it a thorough cleaning.

We're not savers, yet we threw away all kinds of clothes. Some had stains, some where (what was I thinking when I bought this) ugly.

As we were purging I decided that I do not want any more wire hangers (get the connection to the title)in the closet. Holy cow - I cannot believe how many I threw out. For anyone looking for Christmas gift ideas - some nice padded hangers will be nice. You know the ones that rich people use.

I even had Dan go out and buy some plastic containers for most of my sandals. I have walked into my closet more times today - just to look at the order. Both Dan and I feel so accomplished.

Fed-Ex left a package

Earlier this week Matt finally got his official orders. We got home from work and there was a fed-ex package in the garage. I guess it really is real. His last day of work was yesterday.

At Pepsi they are celebrating Employee Appreciation week, and the other day Matt was honored with a "major award". One of the route drivers nominated him for something (not quite sure what that was-I don't think he's sure) and Matt won a $25.00 voucher for Pepsi merchandise.

We are going to enjoy these last two weeks as a family before Matt leaves. His departure date is October 8. No details on flight time as of yet.

Sorry for the delay in posting

OK let me start off with an apology. I notice my last posting was at the end of July. Here's the story. Right after I posted that Dan and I went up to Mackinac Island for our anniversary. Had a lovely time.

When we got back home Dan had to start his now position at Hillsdale High School as the counselor. This is in addition to his old position of middle school counselor. As you can imagine the work load is enormous.

I found out that I got reassigned to the high school. I have spent the last three weeks moving and organizing my new room. I will now be the 9th/10th grade English teacher. I have already taught 9th grade English so the material is not the issue. My students in English 9 have always been those on the advanced track. Teaching them is easy. Now I teach English 9 to the general population-a whole new ballgame. Finally today September 5 I finally am ready to start school. Nothing like waiting till the last minute. Dan on the other hand is still at school trying to get every high schooler and middle school scheduled into classes.

We celebrated N8's birthday on Saturday with "Gator" meats. We had gator that was battered and fried, gator sausage, and last but not least, gator legs. I liked the fried gator the best. The legs tasted like frog legs.

Silver Anniversary

When you get married you're all caught up in the wedding part of things-the ceremony, the dress, the reception, the band. You forget that there is the marriage part. In almost every ceremony the person officiating says, "Do you take this person for... better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health." When you're young you only think that there will be the better, the richer and the health. It's not until the passage of time that you realize that there is worse, poorer and sickness.

In the last 25 years we have experienced all these things in our marriage. When I got married at 21 I didn't know what I didn't know. Now that I'm 47 I still don't know what I don't know, but I know a lot more than I did. The worse, the poorer, and the sickness have definitely made the better, the richer and the health that much more sweet.

Reflecting on 8th grade

I am sitting in my classroom on a Saturday afternoon boxing 11 years of my professional life. Next year I will no longer be a middle school teacher but a high school teacher. While I am excited about the curriculum in high school I am sad to be leaving middle schoolers.

At the end of every year I have students write a thank you note to someone at the middle school who has effected their life. Over the years I have gotten my fair share of notes. I have taught over 1000 students here in Hillsdale and in looking at these notes I have had a positive impact on many of them. Here are just a few of the comments I have gotten-some are more serious than others:

I love your hair
You push us to all do our best
You are willing to put kids before yourself and there's really nothing more anyone can ask of you.
You make school fun
I like that you are a kid at heart-you have a firm side and a fun-loving childish side.
You showed me how smart I really am, and that there's a purpose to coming to school.
You're like my mom and that makes me happy in class.
I would love for you to teach 10th grade English. (I am going to be teaching a section of 10th grade English!!!)
I love how you dress
You have beautiful shoes.

I hope that when my students find out that they will have me again they're happy.

SNAFU

With every up there is a down. As Matt is getting all geared up to leave for Rhode Island he gets a call yesterday that his start date is backed up yet again. He is not reporting in August; his new start date is October 23.

Needless to say he is not very happy. This is the third time that his start date has been backed up. If anyone knows someone who can make a call - he sure could use it.

DIYers

Dan and I watch a lot of DIY shows. Last year we added onto our back deck; this year we are adding cabinets and a concrete counter top. We made the counter top yesterday and took it out of the mold today. For a first attempt we are pretty happy with it. We need to clean it, sand it, and seal it before it can be used.

We had been looking online for suppliers. Everything was so expensive. We finally got smart and called the local concrete guy. They had everything we needed - all for only $50.00

24

Every year part of our 4th of July celebration revolves around Matt's birthday. This birthday was even more special since he has only a month before he reports to OCS. We celebrated with the Ozogs, we celebrated with the Rodens and Matt also had his annual Matt Fest. By the end of the weekend he was one tired puppy. (Are you still a puppy at 24?)

Roden part of the weekend

It was so very nice to have all my brothers and their families together. It has been 5 years since we have all been in the same place at the same time. I know it made my parents happy to have all their children around them too. I don't think they would trade any of us.

The big kids

Uncle Phil and Neil

Polish 4th of July-Garage party included

FAMILY!!Do you think there is enough to drink? What a great day - Allen and Sarah did an excellent job hosting 60 family members. For those of you reading this who are not part of the Ozog Family this is not everyone. If I had to guess it is about 2/3 of the family. I think that the word is spreading, and next year will be bigger and better than this year. Morgan and Brian playing Corn Hole-Morgan is now the Corn Hole Queen of Plano TX Dan - the grill master. It was nice seeing cousins I haven't seen in 25 years-one of the perks of reconnecting with facebook. The highlight of the evening had to be when we had to take cover from a summer storm. We immediately moved to the garage-where Chris broke out the accordion. We drank, we sang, we reminisced about garage parties from back in the day, and we danced. Not to brag, but I am the Polka Queen of the group. Matt was so impressed with my Polka skills he mentioned it on the way home. What was most awesome about the day is we all picked up where we left off. When I was a kid we would get together all the time - if there was a holiday the Ozogs were celebrating. I am very blessed to have such a wonderfully close family, and I know if I ever needed anything I could call any of my cousins and they would be there for me. How great is that!!

Look at those guns

It's the beginning of a great weekend. It started yesterday with the invasion of the Chicago Rodens. It continues today with the arrival of the Texas Rodens - along with a dose of Ozog Family fun.

Last night after dinner the 4 boys took dip in the pool. Here they are giving me their best bodybuilder "pose".

My baby's becoming a man

So tomorrow Nate starts his internship at Consumer Energy. I don't think blue jeans and skull t-shirts are appropriate clothing for the work place.

Nathan has never asked for money, so I was very open to helping him get a starter wardrobe that is presentable in the "big people" world. We went to Kohls to get Nate some pants and dress shirts. I remember when I got my first job at NBD when I was 18. Like Nate I did not have an appropriate wardrobe and my mom took me shopping to get started. After 30 years I remember that kind gesture, so it's nice that I am now in a position to do the same for him.

This outing was quite stressful for Nate. He had a hard time wrapping his head around dressing like his dad or Papa. After some time he was able to purchase 4 pants 6 shirts, t-shirts, dark socks, underwear, and a belt. So he has enough variety in his attire to wear a different pair of pants every day of the week! Pretty good for someone who wears Hillsdale College shorts and some sort of Hillsdale College t-shirt every day.

The best part of the shopping trip was when the cashier let me use my 30% off coupon 2 days early. Nate said the reason we got this was as a payback for enduring my second surgery.

Send Nate good thoughts tomorrow!

Thoughts on a Tuesday

Here are some random thoughts as I sit drinking my coffee on Tuesday morning:

I'm happy that Nathan is FINALLY starting his internship this Thursday. He will soon have money in his pocket

I'm glad I no longer have staples in my stomach-got those out on Friday.

Had the flu this weekend - quite painful to throw up with stomach issues.

Feeling for Matt - he has only had two days off in 3 weeks. While he's making a lot of money he hasn't had any time to enjoy his last weeks before leaving for R.I.

We have another bird's nest in a hanging basket-this time 5 baby birds. Nate is the only one tall enough to reach the basket, it's sweet; he has named all the babies and takes great care when watering the flowers every day.

Going to the Dr. tomorrow. This appointment is with the dermatologist-hopefully no skin cancer to deal with. I'm sick of dealing with health issues.

medical update

Well it's Friday; I've been in the hospital 5 days. I am doing extremely well. The reversal surgery was on Monday-it lasted about 2 1/2 hours. Everything went great. I was out of it for about 24 hours; on Tuesday afternoon I got up and began my road to recovery. I have walked the halls continually trying to regain my strength.

I was finally allowed to eat a liquid diet yesterday. Canned soup never tasted so good (it was 5 days since I had anything to eat). This morning they brought me a "soft" diet. As soon as they dropped off the tray my dr came in to check on me. He was so pleased with my progress he has them take the soft food and bring me a tray of real food. Eggs never tasted so good.

My dr. will be back around dinner time. If all goes well with the eating today I should be going home tonight. While I have enjoyed being the test subject on a new hospital bed-I miss my own bed.

Everyone at the hospital has been wonderful. The nurses, nurses aides, shift administrators, food service workers, and janitorial staff have been so nice to me. They were so excited to have me back to get put back together. Again I have been quite humbled by the support I have gotten from complete strangers. I would recommend Hillsdale hospital to anybody!!

Now that this chapter is hopefully behind me - what will I blog about?

I know - it's been a while

Yes I am aware how long it has been since I last posted. Let's see. Since going back to work I feel GREAT. I have enjoyed every minute of being back. These last two months have flown by. Now I am getting ready for the reversal surgery. That is scheduled for June 6. So I have one more week before I go under the knife again.

I have to admit I am a bit nervous. Before I didn't know what I didn't know. Now I know what I know and some of the things I know are not pleasant to deal with.

For the last two weeks I have spent every spare minute checking research papers. I finally got those checked today. I told Dan that I feel like I need to nest-I'm trying to get everything in order before next week. Today we opened the pool and I pulled out some ornamental grass that has gotten away from me, yesterday I trimmed the scrubs, I'm trying to keep up on my laundry and keep the house in order.

Before, because it was such an emergency, we survived day-by-day. This time
I want to be prepared, both while I'm in the hospital and when I get home. The thing I'm most looking forward to, when all this is said and done, is eating fresh vegetables, especially homemade salsa.

It has definately been a journey. Going through this had made me mentally stronger. While I don't wish this for anybody-I do feel better than I have in a long time.

Kiddie Table

Even though Matt is almost 24 years old he still eats at the kiddie table. From what Matt told us about the table talk - I think it was more like Matt coaxing the boys to eat and Paige talking about anything and everything.

Nest

The other day I was outside trying to get my flower boxes in order for spring planting. This is what I saw in one of the hanging baskets on the back patio. I am going to leave it alone and wait for the birth of the babies. I'm kind of excited.

Best of the Best (in Hillsdale)

Nathan had another track meet this weekend. It seems like every time Dan and I do NOT go to the meet N8 has a great day. Yesterday Nate broke the outdoor shot put record for Hillsdale College. The previous record was 53'9". Nate's put was 53'10". This throw provisionally qualifies him for Nationals now in both shot and disc.

As of today, Nate holds the shot put record at Davis Middle School, Hillsdale High School, Hillsdale Area Best and now Hillsdale College. I guess he needs to branch out of the county.

The pic on the left is from 2007 when Nate was a senior. The pic on the right is from last week. He's a much bigger boy now throwing a much heavier shot (16lbs as opposed to 12lbs in hs).

I'm not sure who all reads this blog so I will fill you in on the latest development. Graduation at Hillsdale College is May 14. Since the end of football Nate's plan was to graduate then, and not take his 5th year of eligibility. Since track has started these plans have changed. Nate is now not graduating on May 14.

Instead he is taking his 5th year. He will be pursuing another minor degree, participating in track, and getting things together to go to grad school. The only difference is he will be living at home and commuting. He is very blessed to have this chance, not only to participate in the sport he loves, but to also have time to get his ducks in a row for grad school.

Back to work

Well today was my first day back to work. I feel pretty good. A bit tired but good. The kids are happy that I'm back, although I realize that this is a honeymoon period - after two days they will be back to normal.

While my stomach doesn't hurt, my feet do. I guess 8 weeks without wearing shoes will do that. I also have teacher voice. Teacher voice is the raspy feeling in your throat from overuse. Again I haven't really talked in 8 weeks and today I talked a lot.

All in all a great day.

You could hurt somebody with that

Nate came home last week with this big honkin' ring on his finger. It's his championship ring from football. It's very impressive to look at. Hopefully perspective employers will be impressed. The EPEP stands for Every Player Every Play. On the side it has his number "52". His name is also engraved on the inside. Because of the generosity of a donor this cost nothing to the players on the team.
Now on to track. Yesterday Nate competed at Purdue. Because of the weather Dan and I did not go. Nate called about 2 o'clock all excited. He had just finished throwing the discus and not only had a personal best but he won the meet. His throw was good enough to provisionally qualify him to the National Meet at the end of May. Needless to say Dan and I are checking out hotels in the San Francisco area for Memorial Day weekend.

Memory Lane

I'm sitting here watching Grease on TV. I remember seeing the movie at the theatre t Fairlane. I was in 8th grade and a group of girls went at the end of 8th grade to celebrate summer vacation. After seeing the movie we went back to Cindy Cristman's house for a sleep over.

I loved the movie so much I went out and bought the 8 track with some of my paper route money. While I love all the songs my favorite is Beauty School Dropout. Loved it then; love it now.

Lakeland

A while back Dan decided to take a few days off and go to Lakeland Fla with his brother Mike. All the planning happened before my saga. Even though they both wanted to cancel I was adamant that they go and have a good time.

They were there for three days and watched the Tigers every day. On Wednesday I was able to watch the game on TV. While I didn't see Dan and Mike, I did see lots of women fanning themselves to say cool. And yes that did tick me off as I lay on the couch under the covers.

I'm glad they had a great time but am looking forward to Dan coming home today. With him gone I have had to play with Daisy-at times that can be a full time job.

Sunny Day

It's been a little over a month since my surgery. This last week seems to have been a turning point in my recovery. I wake up feeling good, where before, mornings were always challenging.

I still have a nurse that has to come by every day to change the dressing on a wound. The encouraging thing is that two weeks ago the "hole" was 7 cm (about as long as a pinkie finger). Yesterday the nurse measured it, and it is now down to 2.2 cm. I go to the Dr next, and all the nurses feel confident that by that time the wound should be healed and they won't be coming every day. (While I love that they come every day to take care of my medical needs - I hate that they have to come every day)

I am getting more adept to having the ostomy bag. I will admit I am still a bit nervous. Since I rarely leave the house I have the comfort of my home when I have to take care of things. I'm starting to venture our a little more to get used to having this appliance in a more normal setting.

The plan is to go back to work after spring break-which starts April 4. I hope that by then I will be strong enough to not only handle the student day but the after hours that add to the day.

When I went to the Dr last week we talked about the reattachment surgery. After playing out many situations we are sticking with the original plan. I will go in sometime after Memorial Day to have the surgery. Unlike the last surgery where I spent 9 days in the hospital - the Dr. assures me that this is a 3 day stay. He also promises me that I will be back to 100% a month after the procedure.

Through all of this I am thankful for many things: family, friends, coworkers, nurses, and most of all good insurance. I am very blessed-some people live with this for the rest of their lives. I am doing it for 4 months. In the big picture not that long.

Medical update

I've been home from the hospital for a little over a week. During that week we were without power so having a stress free recovery (or hot shower) was a little difficult.

I was so optimistic when I left the hospital. For the first 3-4 days, every day I saw improvements in my health. The last couple of days I have hit a plateau. I have a scar from an incision that is not healing as quickly as it should, so I have to deal with changing the dressing for that. Luckily I go to the Dr. tomorrow and my nurse comes on Tuesday.

Mornings are definitely the worst. I get up around 7:30. At that time my intestines start to stir causing some cramping. A bit uncomfortable. After that settles down I get the right mindset to shower and dress. This process takes about 2 hours. Needless to say that after two hours I'm ready for a rest. I then spend the next 3-4 hours recovering from the morning.

When I was in the hospital the Dr. said I needed to take at least 4 weeks off. This week is the beginning of my third week. If things don't improve a bit more quickly I will not be returning to work in two weeks.

Putting my needs first is something that is very foreign. I am learning to ask for help. I will say that through all this Dan has been wonderful. Because of the ice storm he was able to be home with me all last week. I am a bit nervous for Monday -
Dan goes back to work and I am on my own.

insides out

I'm sure there are some people out there who are just thinking I'm being lazy with my posts. That is absolutely not true. Here's the story:

Dan and I went cross country skiing at Garland February 4-5. We had a great time, but the entire time we were there I was having some abdominal pain. Got home Sunday night and got ready for the week just like always.

On Monday I went to school not feeling great - but decided to tough it out. I made it two hours. The abdominal pain was excruciating. My plan was to go the the hospital ER and get meds. I was in the ER 7 hours before the admitted me. The last time I was in the hospital I was having Nathan.

I met with a surgeon (who also happens to be one of the team doctors for the college football team.) He told me that my diverticulitis has turned into diverticulosis (or vise versa) and that surgery was quite possible. He admitted me to hopefully contain the illness without surgery.

I had a very good day on Tuesday - I really thought the meds were working. Well Wednesday was not so good. I woke up extremely sick. Apparently I had developed sepsis. Next thing I new I was in surgery. I don't remember much this day. Dan tells me that all the hospital staff was extremely worried.

For the next week I had good days and bad days. Things did improve when I was allowed to eat and drink again.

I have been home for two days. Dan has been wonderful. I cannot even put my own socks on. I am home for at least a month. I will have a visiting nurse come over at least once a week to help me learn the ins and outs of my ostomy bag. (There is a lot to it)

The plan is that when school ends I will go back to the hospital to have my intestines reattached. While I am excited about that the surgical procedure and recovery is similar to what I am experiencing now.

Thank you to all of you who have sent notes,cards,flowers, prayers and thoughts my way. I an extremely touched by the outpouring of support by friends and family.

Rocky

Dan and I thought when the kids outgrew toys we would be able to have a nice finished basement space. Well the kids room has turned into the workout room. Matt's latest purchase is a heavy bag. He hung it up today and began to get his swell on. I will admit I have been wanting one of these. I want to try kickboxing.

545 miles

For the last two years I have been diligent about going to the gym. For about the last 18 months I have recorded every workout in a notebook. Well today I took out the notebook and added up all the miles I traveled - either on the treadmill, the bike, the elliptical or on the road. The grand total = 545 miles. When I figured out how far that was driving, I would be between DeMoines Iowa and Lincoln Nebraska.

What a bunch of Smarty-pants

Named to the 2010 GLIAC All-Academic team from Hillsdale College for football:

Mike Blanchard Sr. Biology Hillsdale, Mich.
Eric Burke R-Fr. Undeclared Indianapolis, Ind./Heritage Christian
Evan Duey Sr. Economics Northville, Mich.
Steven Embry R-Fr. Chemistry Clinton, Mich.
Daniel Gaines R-Fr. Biology Simpsonville, S.C./Hillcrest
Nick Hixson Jr. Chemistry Remus, Mich./Chippewa Hills
Ben Jones R-Fr. Undeclared Muskegon, Mich./Muskegon Catholic Central
Reid Meador Jr. Chemistry Whiteland, Ind.
Anthony Mifsud So. Accounting Dearborn, Mich.
Kam Mueller Sr. Biology Oxford, Mich./Oxford
Brad Otterbein Sr. Business Hillsdale, Mich. Ridge Riebold Jr. Financial Management Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty
Tyler Sandner Jr. Marketing Grand Rapids, Mich./Catholic Central
Joe Vear Jr. Biology Hillsdale, Mich.
Ryon Wiska Jr. Chemistry Northville, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central

Also named All-Academic and receiving the new GLIAC Academic Excellence Award for players with GPAs 3.5 or higher:

David Bakker Jr. Biology Holland, Mich./West Ottawa
Evan Jacobson Jr. Accounting Walled Lake, Mich./Walled Lake Northern
Ed Hojnacki Jr. Physics Commerce, Mich./Walled Lake Northern
Aric Geerlings Jr. Biochemistry Norton Shores, Mich./East Kentwood
Nate English Jr. Math Hillsdale, Mich.
Phil Doerfler Sr. Biology Allen Park, Mich.
Ron Bedway Jr. Accounting Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./North

Congratulations Nate

Nate is the big winner of the family football pool. We predict 26 college bowl games. Nate knew a few days ago that he was in the running. After every game he figured out his win/loss percentage and what his odds were of winning based on that information.

He also knew that him winning was dependent on Alburn winning. After the win he calculated out all kinds of stats and arranged our family sheets in ranked order. I guess that's what math majors do. I'm just happy he has some discretionary income so he won't ask me for any.

knit-one-pearl-two

My mother is always either looking for a deal or looking for the latest and greatest cleaning product. This little rag is THE BEST washcloth I have ever used.

I was in Detroit a few weeks ago and saw my mom knitting. She was learning how to knit homemade washclothes because, "They are the best." I listened to her rave on and on about these things and nodded my head in agreement - all the time thinking this woman is crazy.

Well, after Lord knows how many hours of knitting and reknitting, she is finally able to bang out a washcloth. She sent me home with one at Christmas. And yes I agree it is the best washcloth I have ever used.

I hope that when she reads this she takes the compliment and the hint and makes more.