Angry at the blog.

I've now spent an hour of my life attempting to put a new template on my blog...and not one of these horridly ugly blogger ones! I've struck out!

Stupid thing even erased all my blogs that I follow...so if you don't see your blog in my list, remind me to add it!

Does ANYONE know how to put fun templates on? I'm so frustrated!

Fighting off the usual

It wouldn't be a fall/winter season if I didn't get sick at least once! More specifically, if I didn't get pneumonia and spend several days miserable and hacking! It came a little early this year seeing as it likes to come around February, but maybe this means I'll be free for the rest of the winter? One can hope. I started feeling the asthma act up last week and my doctor called me in the steroid pack for weenies. I felt better, but starting Saturday, felt the crud coming on again and worse. This time, it came with fever! Delightful!

I ended up going to the doctor on Monday who listened to my lungs and found some nice "dense" areas and started me on antibiotics and the "BIG GUNS" steroids. If you know me and have been reading for any amount of time, you know this is BAD news for my psyche. Steroid rages are pretty bad for me...ranging from insane emotional highs and lows, hot flashes, insomnia, and insane eating needs. Three hours after taking my first dose, I had already yelled at Liberty for sitting too close to me and then cried about it because I felt like a horrible mom. Welcome to my dramatic steroid world. Since then, I've mostly just had the hot flashes and insomnia, because let's be honest, I RARELY get hungry. If I do, it's most likely because I haven't eaten all day...which really isn't a good thing for me to attempt!

I feel SO much better now. I've still got the lovely cough, but that will be around for awhile.

Tomorrow I am headed to my grandma's house in Fort Worth for Thanksgiving goodies! It should be quite interesting to see what I'm able to eat. I'll probably try and steer away from poultry (stupid aversion!), but I don't CARE what it does to Betty...I WILL be having some of my mother's dressing. YUM. I won't be eating dessert, so it will all even out! :) Friday...shopping! Can't WAIT to see the ads in the paper tomorrow and plan out my attack.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving weekend!

Another jet setting experience...

I think my travel days are numbered for the time being! I went to Houston on Thursday afternoon for a conference on pediatric mechanical hearts. This company paid for all of us to attend a day of lectures and a fancy dinner! Guess I wasn't gonna say no to that! They flew me to Houston, picked me up in a LIMO (where I actually had a driver carrying a sign with my name on it!), and took me to the Woodlands Resort and Conference Center. It was really a nice place, very rustic and woodsy....hence being in the WOODlands! :) They did a really nice dinner (crab AND filet mignon! YUM!) and sent us off to bed. I got up early the next morning and spent the day with my favorite surgeon in lectures. Yippee. She and I ended up on the same flight home yesterday. It was a REALLY quick trip!

After I got home, I grabbed the puppies and we went to Michael and Jennifer's house. The pups played with their cousins whilst the three of us went to dinner. After dinner, we stopped by my friend's house to see the puppy she was puppy sitting. Of course, the fact that it was a DOXIE pup didn't hurt at ALL! Such a cute little thing! It made me remember how small Liberty was when I brought her home. Oliver was small too, but never that small!

Today, I haven't done much. I did go grocery shopping, got my mail, and the Sears guy came and fixed my washing machine. I did have the attempt to be productive and changed my sheets...and then Oliver promptly threw up on them. Lovely. I have yet to replace the sheet.

Can you EVEN believe that Thanksgiving is next Thursday? It should be an interesting one...especially since it will be the first one where I haven't seen either of my siblings for the day. It's okay...I get to have them BOTH at Christmas, which will be just DANDY!

After next week, it all goes CRAZY from there...like it does every year! I'm going to be in the Children's Christmas Parade again, but I'm not sure exactly as what! Since I'm shrinking, I did tell the guy I would be an actual character this year, instead of just the person who leads them around! I don't know if I'll actually get to do it, but I will still be a character escort if they need me to! It will be my fourth year to do it. I've already found out that one of my FAVORITE transplant patients was asked to be in it this year, so I know I'll get to see her!

Okay, enough rambling. Keep my pitiful lungs in your prayers...the weather changes are creating havoc on their wee frailness. I've already done steroid run last week, and I think I might be headed towards another one if I can't get my lungs to open. Right now, I'm just doing a bunch of dry hacking. It's so attractive. :)

Happy weekend!

St. Louis adventures!

I am happily home! I spent the weekend in St. Louis at a transplant certification review course...whoopee! :) I hope to be taking this test in the next few months and I think the course was good for me...at least one would hope!

I flew in Friday night in some sort of winter freeze watch. It was delightful! Thankfully, it was only rain, not ice! I got to the hotel, only to find out that my room had been switched to two doubles. Why do I need two beds? I called to see if there was a king bed room available, but only smoking rooms were free. ICK! I resigned myself to the fact that I would just pick a bed. The front desk guy called a few minutes later and said he had a new room for me! I went and got my new key...to my SUITE! Wow! Apparently, the front desk guy felt sorry for me and gave me a bigger room! How delightful! I dragged my stuff all over the hotel, but in the end, it was worth it! I ate dinner and went to bed LATE...which was stupid because I had to be up early the next day!

Saturday, I had the class ALL DAY. Yawn. There were some parts that I was exceptionally bored, but some of the classes were quite good. That night, Jennifer came and picked me up! She was in St. Louis visiting her family and busted me out of the hotel for the night! I ate dinner with them, then she and her brother and I watched movies the rest of the night until I had to go back to the hotel. The only thing that was crazy was I had the WORST stomach issues I ever have had...not quite sure yet what caused it, but I think it might have been some ranch dressing. Angry Betty!

Today, I tried to sleep late, but I couldn't. Sadness :( I got on the plane, got back to Dallas earlier than I thought, picked up Lib, and came home. Now I'm getting ready for bed, sad at the thought of going back on call tomorrow after three weeks of being free. I have another trip this weekend...which is just seeming to be typical after two weekends in a row of travel. I'm going to Houston for a ventricular assist device seminar. Thankfully, I am only gone Thursday night and part of Friday. I do get to stay in some fancy "Woodlands Resort"...so that should be interesting. I'm probably going to be happy to not go anywhere for awhile after that.

I'm so addicted to Food Network. It's just sad. If I was a housewife, this channel would be so bad for me. I'd probably spend the entire day watching it, and when I wasn't watching it, I'd be realizing how UN-food networky I am. It's all good...some people can cook, some can not. I will gladly say that I am in the "not" category. I DID make some fabulous green vegetable curry tonight! It tastes REALLY good and I'm excited to have it for the next five meals! I split it up into wee containers so I have portion control...not that this is an issue! Last week, I made my mother's modified "porcupine meatball" recipe. YUM-O! (Oh dear, another Food Network reference!) I used ground buffalo, cream of mushroom soup, and water chestnuts instad of rice. I have one tiny container left and it is DELIGHTFUL!

Okay. Guess I should head to bed. I'd like to be able to take a day off this week because I had today off, but I don't think that's gonna happen. I hope your week is wonderful!

Wedding weekend!

I was in a wedding this weekend for my beautiful friend Trena! She and I went to Honduras together this past February and she works in the Cardiac ICU. She always ends up taking care of my sweet transplant babies!



The bridesmaids and Trena the night before...at "Prime Cut Steakhouse". This was before the wild country dancing broke out...you can be assured I was sitting and hiding during that!


Crazy candid of me!



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My friend Amanda and I. Amanda and I lived in the same apt complex until she bought a house and I moved here. She, Trena, and I all went to Honduras!


Trena and I!

She got married in Nocona, Texas on a ranch...so far out in the country! Let's just say that a donkey (yes, there actually was one!) started braying in the middle of the vows! SO hilarious!

This week has been busy already, but isn't that normal for me? One of my sweet kids is getting a heart today! SO precious! That will make the rest of the week exciting! I've also got plans to go to St. Louis on Friday for a review course for my transplant certification test. Ironically, my sister in law, Jennifer, who is FROM there, will be there this weekend too! CRAZY! I think she has taken pity on me and is going to come get me from the FABULOUS St. Louis Airport Hilton on Saturday night so I don't have to be bored in the room!

Ah well, it wouldn't be my life if it wasn't busy, right? Hope your week is going well!

A funny LU memory...

I think I was in "Introduction to Philosophy". It was my first experience in a Dr Batts class. For those of you who attended LU, you know all about the CRAZINESS of a Batts class. The man LOVES memorization. His tests are like 10 pages long, single spaced, 12 pt font...all complete regurgitation. Yes, there are essays involved, but 85% of the test requires you to spit out everything he's talked about for the last month or so.

It was a jolly October 31st...Halloween to everyone in the class, except Dr Batts. He walked in wearing his graduation robes (which are more hilarious than any other professors...mostly because his mortar board is all poofy and not flat), proclaimed it "Reformation Day", and then gave us a talk on Martin Luther and the hanging of the 95 Theses on a church. He then passed out copies of "A Mighty Fortress is our God" and made us sing.

I don't remember one single thing about philosophy, but I will always remember that October 31st is also Reformation Day. Thanks Dr Batts!