Sunday, February 21, 2010

The end of vacation week!

Tomorrow is Sunday, and then back to work and school we go! We had a nice week. We didn't end up going to the waterpark. Her friend couldn't go, and (duh!) there were no available tickets for the day we were supposed to go, anyways! Didn't occur to me that this is an INSIDE park, so obviously there would be limited capacity. Thus the duh! :)


BUT...she did have her friend over, and I had so much fun laughing at/with them all night! :) They decided to play dress up, and kept coming out in the most amazing outfits/combinations thereof! They loaded themselves with makeup, and looked like Geisha girls!

This is Shao. Please note that the pastel flowers on her head are actually my spring wreath for my front door! I also took them to the movie "The Tooth Fairy" which was very cute. And before we did THAT, they went outside and built a snowman, er, woman, which they named Frostina. Very cute! They had a blast, and I just LOVED hearing them giggle and chatter.

On Friday we went to a local school for beauticians, and got pretty! :) I got a perm, and my eyebrows waxed, and Shao got a haircut and a manicure! All for WAY under $100, including generous tips! The only drawback was...these kids are students, and they are SLOW. We were there FOUR hours! Lucky we weren't in a hurry. I KNEW they were slow, so was prepared to be there awhile. It took Shao by surprise, even though I told her. But it was fun.

So...church tomorrow, which I am looking forward to as usual. I love my church. And I think tomorrow is pot-luck lunch day...it is supposed to be the third Sunday of the month, although I did not see any notice of that in last week's bulletin. We'll see!

Blessings...Nancy

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Happy Day!

Tomorrow is my birthday...and yesterday I got my VERY large (Thank You, God!) tax refund. SOOOO, that being said, my girl and I spent the day together. We went shopping...and for what seems like ONCE in my life, it was mostly for ME! FUN! I think the last time I bought something for myself, other than underwear! :) was 3 years ago!!!

So...we went to WalMart, we went to Kohls, we went to Payless Shoes, we had lunch at a Chinese Buffet (Happy Chinese New Year, everyone!), and went home happy. I got 5 or 6 blouses, 2 pairs of pants, a really cute sweatshirt, a ring, a necklace, and a new pair of shoes! WAHOO!!!!

So now I am done spending money, except for about $100 more this week, to take Shao to an indoor waterpark. We will both enjoy it, and after all, it IS February vacation! Many of her friends have jetted off to places like the Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic, Florida (although that wouldn't be my choice this year...it snowed there this week!!!) So I decided we deserved a little treat. We are going with one of her friends and HER mom, so it will be fun.

My mom is in Florida right now, and left a birthday card for me with Shao. I got impatient, and opened it tonight. And it made me cry. Listen...my mom does NOT show emotions. I can't ever remember her telling me she loved me...although I know she does. But instead of the usual "Love, Mom" on this card, it said "You are the best Valentine I ever received, Love, Mom." Let me tell you people, that was precious!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow we go to church, then at 5 or so, to my sister's for a birthday dinner. She is so sweet to do that for me! Usually it's just cake at Mom's, but since she's away, I've graduated to dinner! :)

Cold here today, but sunny. Very windy, which cuts right through you. Thankful for my nice warm apartment (gotta love a rent that includes the heat!) and for my sweet daughter, who had a really fun day hangin' with her mama, according to her! :) She acted as my fashion advisor, and I can't go far wrong...that girl has STYLE oozing out of her!

Blessings...Nancy

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Snow Day!

By 8PM last night, we already were informed that there would be no school today...thus, no work for me, either! So we slept in, had lunch instead of breakfast (yep, it was that late!) and have been doing some way overdue straightening up, in between just goofing off! :) Right now it is not snowing, but they are saying more is on the way. The wind has REALLY kicked in, and it is dark now, so it is beginning to ice up. I imagine we will have a delay tomorrow morning, for school, but I do think we WILL have it. The storm hasn't been quite as bad as predicted, so here's hoping it won't be too bad tonight, before it ends!

I am starting, finally, to feel better. This has been a long process, which kind of took me off guard. Somehow I thought I would come home from the hospital, and things would just move forward smoothly. Silly me! Instead, it has been 3 steps forward and 2 back. Last weekend saw me feeling miserable, and back on pretty much only liquids. But for the past 3 days I have been feeling fairly well, so I am praying that the worst is behind me!

I have two more days of work, and then we have a week off. Not what I can afford, but nothing I can do about it! Thankfully, I should be getting my income tax refund back any day, and so I am not worried. I am, in fact, extremely grateful. It is a pretty big amount, and if I am careful, will keep us going for months! I am in the red every month, so I can use it to make up the deficit each month. YIPPEE JESUS!!!!!

I AM going to take a little and do a few things...for myself, and for Shao. I am going to do a little clothes shopping for me...I think it has been 2 or 3 years since I bought myself anything, other than underwear! :) AND next week Shao & I are going, with a friend and her mom, to an indoor waterpark in Waterbury, where we used to live. I can't wait...I LOVE the water!!! It should be a blast. It is open from 10 AM to 10 PM, so we will be there for quite awhile! Not the whole time, but it will be fun! It is a little pricey, but actually a lot less than I thought it would be.
And I knew it would be something Shao would love. Not to mention me! :)

So that's pretty much the happenings around here. I am thankful for my improving health, for a warm house, for a precious daughter. Life is good.

Blessings...Nancy

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

New Experiences

So, it's been a LOOOONG time since I posted. But I've been BUSY! Very busy...um, well...busy sleeping, for the most part! So here's the details...fun times!

During the second week of Jan., I began to not feel well. Couldn't put my finger on it, but I just didn't feel well. Over the Martin Luther King 3 day weekend, I did nothing but sleep and moan. I had pain in my stomach, and even a sip of water caused major stabbing pains. By Sunday night, I had a fever, chills, sweats...miserable.

So I had my brother drive me to my Dr.'s on Monday. That alone tells you how bad off I was...to ask someone to drive me, to not be Ms. Independence. I tell you, I was one miserable puppy!!
They took me in, and within minutes, said they needed me to go to the ER Clinic 10 minutes away, so they could do a cat scan, and also get me rehydrated with IV fluids. So off we went, and I had my brother just drop me off, knowing I would be there for awhile.

I got hooked up to an IV, got a cat scan, and the verdict: massive infection of my colon, and I was going to go on my first ambulance ride to the hospital! WOOHOO! It might have been interesting, except for the fact that every bump in the road killed my stomach!

First time in a hospital! Such fun. I was immediately hooked up to an IV pump, that ran continuously for 3 days...between the saline, the pain meds, and the IV antibiotics, it was a busy little machine! I named him Patrick. He became my close buddy! On Thursday I was finally unhooked, and they actually let me begin to eat. Hospital food IS all it's cracked up to be....really, really awful. Not nice.

SO...I came home Thursday night, having kept lunch down, which apparently was a benchmark. However, that was one of the LAST meals I would keep down for awhile. I had THOUGHT I would be back to work on the following Monday...yeah, RIGHT! On Monday I went back to my regular Dr., for a followup. He just rolled his eyes and wrote me a release to work for yesterday. And as it is, it still took it out of me to work yesterday. And I am not doing my noon time run this week, to give myself time to rest in between the morning and pm runs. But I AM eating again, albeit I am being VERY careful WHAT I eat. I will have to be careful for the rest of my life, as things with nuts and seeds can be very painful. And trust me, I do NOT want to do this EVER again. It was NOT fun. Not. one. little. bit.

ShaoXi was a dynamite nurse and help during all this. I missed her dreadfully while in the hospital. The first night she slept downstairs at my mom's. But after that, my brother slept upstairs, so she could be in her own house. That helped alot. So...we are doing fine. We survived it all, and God has provided for us, financially, so that I was able to pay Feb. rent with no problem. Our church handed me $100 in grocery cards, so we are good until I get paid again..which won't be until NEXT Friday! And then we have a week of winter vacation, so no pay again. sigh.

Blessings...Nancy