Fun Weekend!

Other than heading up to Virginia, we also spent Friday night at the water park at the Kernersville YMCA for Maddie's Bday party. Maddie and Jenna are too stinkin' cute (no pics on my blog because I didn't ask their mommy if it was okay) but Spencer sure had a fun time at the party!

Sunday night, we went to the American Idols tour at the coliseum. The show was great and we had awesome seats (7th row center!) We went with a group of friends and had a blast! Chris is awesome live and I can't wait for him to put out an album! Bucky's family sat to our right and it was cool to watch how proud they were of him. Bucky's twin got *TONS* of attention from silly girls, but his wife was pretty cool about it. Chris's band was there to support him, too.

Congrats Lydia!

We went to Virginia this weekend for a bridal shower for my cousin, Lydia. Mom and I went to the shower while Spencer and Dad stayed with Aunt Jean and Uncle Jim. Toby had to work and didn't get to go with us. Lydia's shower was very nice and she looked beautiful! The wedding is September 30th and I am looking forward to coming back up then and seeing her on her special day!
Sadly, Uncle Jim is struggling with his battle against cancer. He could use some extra thoughts and prayers.

Dinosoles!

I *finally* found Dinosoles for my dinosaur obsessed son! He was SO EXCITED to get his blue suede stegosaurus shoes! The outside has the 3-D molded dino, the instep has the piercing eye and the sole makes dino tracks--are these the coolest or what?!?!

It doesn't matter to Spencer

It didn't matter to Spencer that he didn't have a smooth, concrete playing surface.

It didn't matter to Spencer that he couldn't find his tennis shoes and had to play in his baseball cleats.

It didn't matter that Daddy was 3 feet taller.

It didn't matter that the goal was WAY higher than it should have been for his size.

He was shooting some hoops and having fun!!!

Spencer has developed a keen interest in basketball recently-- and has firmly announced that he is not playing on Auntie's soccer team with IV but wants to play basketball this fall. Is this his first non-influenced social decision????

Liar!

My urologist said that my kidney stone would need about 45-60 minutes of shockwave lithotripsy to bust it up and then it would be blasted into tiny little granules of sand that would come out painlessly with my urine. He said the procedure was mild and felt like a slight tapping on my back. He said I might be a little tender or bruised in my back but I would be okay in a day..... OH MY!!! He knows he shouldn't lie like that!

The lithotripsy lasted an hour and 15 minutes. It was painful. It felt like I was being snapped with a big-ass rubber band in the same spot over and over and over. They administered pain meds and "twilight" sedation but it was still MUCH more than what I was expecting! The stone was resistant and didn't want to break up. The first day, I passed lots of that sand he bragged about. The second day the stones started. I guess that's why they gave me a huge bottle of Percocet--that should have been my first clue. They don't dole out stashes of narcotics for "mild discomfort"-- it hurt like hell. It felt like a bad bladder infection and crippling contractions at once. THEN they tell you to walk it out!!!!

So now it has been a week since the surgery. I am still passing stones. They are getting smaller and not as painful but I still feel rough. I only took Monday and Tuesday off from work last week. I had to work, while on the drugs, and in pain, and I had a project due. Not good for me or my team. I wish I would have known and I would have asked for more time off.

I go back to the doctor August 7. Until then, I stay on meds and keep passing what I can. They will re-do my x-rays then to see if I got all of the stone out. I sure as hell hope so!!!

He's not happy unless he is dirty

Do you know how when you bathe the dog and he runs outside and wallers in the mud because he hates to be clean????? Well... Spencer has that same problem. Everyday, that child gets SO DIRTY that I am tempted to hose him down in bleach. He turns on the water hose and makes mud puddles, catches frogs, builds forts, plays in the mud, helps Boppa in the garden, plays in the dirt piles down behind the house and plays in Boppa's garage to finish off with a nice coating of grease. If he isn't filthy, then he thinks the day is totally boring.

Green Machine

Back in 1977, I was the coolest in my Green Machine-- whipping down Gary Ave. in Chester, VA. It was awesome. In 1976, Toby was looking pretty cool in his BatMan Green Machine in Greensboro, NC. Now, in 2006, Spencer discovered the Green Machine at Toys R Us! The Steering Sticks had the WOW factor and sold Spencer right away! We think our Green Machines were about $35ish-- Spencer's was $99.99 plus tax--yikes! But I think his is much better made than our old plastic contraptions. He and Boppa put it together as soon as they got home and he has been riding it non-stop since then!

OUCH!

Well-- I had the lithrotripsy done. The stone was as stubborn as my momma and didn't want to crush until after an hour of pounding. Today, I am sore and thanking God for Vicodin and Percocet. I am having spasms and pain with every "particle" that passes. Some of the fragments didn't get crushed as small as the others and they are VERY difficult to pass-- check that-- they are excruciating, screaming, painful to pass!!! But, at least the surgery part is over with and hopefully all the big "particles" were expelled today because I only have 3 more days of Percocet!

With everything that has been going on with me, yesterday was the *PERFECT* day for Spencer to get a fun pack from my friend Lois from ScrapJazz. He received a beautiful handmade card and poem, Kool-aid, stickers, and balloons. Hey Lois-- those dinosaur stickers rocked his world!!!! Thanks so much for thinking of my little guy!

We rocked!

Toby and I went to Charlotte last night for the Journey / Def Leppard concert. We met up with my friend, Deann, and the three of us had a blast! The concert was a sell-out and most of the people there were our age-ha! Journey was solid--the new lead singer was energetic and sounded great. Def Leppard can still rock hard and loud-- their set design was loaded with cool graphics and their playlist was a good mix of all the songs we know and love. They played a couple of new songs from their new cover album, Yeah!, and I'm pretty sure I will be buying that CD today! I was a little disappointed that they didn't play my favorite song, Slang. But I guess they have TONS of hits to choose from and can't play them all in one set. Traffic getting out of the concert sucked--but that's normal, right?

Oops--stale blog

Okay-- so I haven't updated my blog in a week or so. Time flies when you're...lazy. So what's new with me? Well for starters all I have done this week is whine!!! My freakin back hurts so bad that I'm actually looking forward to surgery on Monday. Hopefully once they get rid of the kidney stone I will feel better!

Did I ever tell you about the little survey club that I do? I have been in it for about 4 years. It is totally legit-- no spam, no weird stuff. I take surveys, I sample products and I get points. The points are turned in for cash. Right now I am using two different antibacterial wipes for two weeks and then comparing the two. The yellow canister is BY FAR the best. I wish I knew which brand it was-- THEY ROCK!!! Toby is using a new bar soap-- it stinks. I can't wait for his "survey time" to be over so he can go back to his usual soap smell!!! I just looked at my account/points and I have $30.00 in my survey awards. It adds up fast!!!!

A friend of mine challenged me to do an "About Me: A to Z" list on my blog - here goes...

A: Alderin
B: Bing Bing (what I call Spencer)
C: Cassandra.
D: Disney - I am working on my Disney album
E: Earrings-- I love to wear silver hoops.
F: Food Network (I Tivo Paula and Alton)
G: Global Corporate and Investment Banking (my job/division)
H: Hiccups-- I always have those loud, obnoxious ones!
I: Instructional Design and Development (my job title)
J: Jazz! (as in ScrapJazz)
K: Kidney Stone--UGH!!!!
L: Liberty - the restaurant where we had dinner tonight
M: Mobile Meals -- I have been a Mobile Meals volunteer for 7 years
N:Nancyroo - who gave me this A to Z challenge
O:The Office (my fav TV Show)
P:Pins- I collect pins.
Q: QTips (I'm addicted to eargasms)
R: RAK- I have 5 RAKs sitting here to mail out....
S: Spencer-- my little guy!
T: Toby-- my big guy!
U: Umbrella-- I always have an umbrella in my car, office or briefcase.
V: Vacation: my next vacation is not until September!
W: Wicked: The book I am currently reading
X: X-Ray: I had X-rays done today as part of my pre-surgical work-up.
Y: yard-- I despise yard work.
Z: Zoo-- Toby proposed to me at the zoo!

Congrats Steven!

Last night, Toby, Tom, Spencer and I drove out to Sumner Civitan Park to watch Steven, Jr. play in the all-star games! Spencer really enjoyed seeing Destiny and Steven. Steven is quite the ball player!! It was fun to watch the kids play at that age because they have such passion. We enjoyed watching the game and chatting with Gena and Rodney while attempting to censor Tom's comments about the athletic abilities of all the children. I guess Tom just doesn't understand how his editorial comments about the kids (in front of all the parents!) can be taken as rude. I tried to explain it to him but he just doesn't get it. Inlaws---geez! Whatcha gonna do with 'em?