Pain In The Butt

It has been a rough week. It started on Monday morning when I started a clear liquid diet in preparation for the following day, when I was to go in for Colonoscopy. Monday afternoon was dedicated to the dreaded colon cleanse. It's pretty much the most miserable thing ever. After 8 hours of running back and forth to the bathroom I was finally able to get some rest. On Tuesday morning I woke up and wasn't able to eat or drink anything at all. My procedure was scheduled for 2PM. Let me just tell you, every other commercial on TV is selling food. Fast food, grocery food, restaurant food. Tuesday was torture.

We got to the hospital and then came the dreaded IV. On top of having very small veins that tend to roll as soon as the needle hits, I was dehydrated. The last time I had an IV was Talan's c-section. They stuck me multiple times on both arms and then, finally, brought in the anesthesiologist who finally got it right:

I was sweating like a pig when the woman came in to hook up my IV knowing what would happen. I warned her that my veins don't like to cooperate and she laughed it off saying that she was a pro. She stuck me twice, spending about 10 minutes each time digging in my arm for the vein....and couldn't get it to cooperate. She called the resident expert who was successful on the first try. Meanwhile, my arm was turning black & blue.

They finally got the IV in and went a little crazy when they sedated me. Normally you're only in recovery for 30 minutes after the procedure. At that point you should be able to wake up and walk out. Not me! Kevin & the nurse both tried waking me up but had no luck. I was back there for 2 hours! When I was finally coherent enough to leave, we drove home and I went straight to bed because I couldn't shake it off. I didn't wake up until 7am the next morning. I do remember the doctor telling the nurse to give me a shot of Benadryl in addition to whatever else she had so maybe it was that....or maybe it was a combination of the drugs they used. 17 hours of sleep later I was feeling fine.

I was so ready to eat after my 2 day fast. Wednesday was great and I felt back to normal. It was very short-lived because on Thursday, after lunch, I started to feel nauseous. I was getting watery mouth and knew something wasn't right. By 3 o'clock I was violently ill. After 5 hours of suffering, I finally threw in the towel and went to the ER. I was hoping and praying that I wouldn't have to go through the whole IV crap again but no such luck. Thank God it went better this time. One needle, one try!

They hydrated me and gave me some meds for the pain. I suspected food poisoning but the doctor said that it's most likely a gastrointestinal virus. I'm now back on a clear liquid diet and will have to eat with caution for the next few days. So I haven't been able to eat 4 out of 5 days this week. Not good when you're as food obsessed as me.

One last note: The doctor called today with good news. The biopsy he did came back benign. I am so glad to know it and very glad that I won't have to go back for that procedure for several years.

What An Honor

Today was the last awards ceremony that we had to attend. This time Reese got her award for Honorable Mention at the state level. She was one of 6,000 entries so it is a pretty huge accomplishment for her to have made it this far. She was the only one from her school. We had to wait what felt like forever for the to finally call her up. All the while Talan was screaming "I have boogers in my nose" and "Give me a cookie now" and racing down the aisle of chairs to the mirror on the wall to make crazy faces followed by hysterical laughter. They finally did call her up and she got her ribbon, certificate and "prize". Prize meaning a buy-one-get one ticket coupon for Legoland. Congrats Reese, your parents now have to fork up who-knows-how-much in cash so that you can get your prize....the one you really couldn't care less about but that you'll still insist on getting. Okay, back to being proud of her. I really, really am. The sky is the limit with this kid.









Talan was excited to meet Lego Man when he finally broke out of the ceremony.









Back at home I got started on Reese's birthday gift bags. Her party is next week and came out of nowhere. This week will be really busy for me so I just felt the urge to get it out of the way now as opposed to rushing through it next weekend. Reese has a birthday party on Friday (we had to turn down a Daisy's trip that conflicted). She got 2 birthday invites for Saturday night but can only make it to one. And then Sunday is her big day. I spent hours burning CDs for the kids. We dubbed it "Reese's Rock -n- Roller Remix".









The fillers were just silly straws, bouncy balls, and glo bracelets.














Never really understood the whole gift bag deal and why anyone ever started it. Is it not enough that the kids' parents pay per head to get them in wherever the party is(and we're at the age where parents just drop-off....they don't stick around....so it's almost like free babysitting, too!), and we feed and entertain them for 2-3 hours. Nope, not enough. We are also expected to give them gifts for coming. Makes very little sense. I think we should come together as parents and nix the gift bag deal. Less crap to sneak into the garbage can when they come home from parties with said gift bags, too. Not to say that I don't like putting them together....I just don't get it. Hopefully the kids like them.

Boots + Monkeys = Bliss

He loves monkeys and he loves shoes, boots specifically, so when my parents sent these in the mail he was beyond excited. He puts them on from the moment he walks down the stairs in the morning (over his footie PJs) and takes them off only to change clothes. He is in love!

At least I've been able to keep him out of Reese's shoes this week. He's all about his "big yellow Curious George boots".

Ben & Alicia

Some friends of mine, who I had the pleasure of growing up with in Niceville, FL, were recently engaged to be married. Their story belongs in a book. It's that beautiful and perfect. They met as young kids and felt sparks even back then. As kids in love do, they spend a lot of time holding hands and at school dances. As time passed and life changed, they traveled down different roads, only reuniting on rare occasions over holidays or big events. Finally, at 32, Ben reached out to Alicia and set up a hometown meet-up. They knew instantly that what they felt was something special and that they were on their way to falling madly, deeply in love.

This past December, after a year of bliss, Ben got down on one knee. Now they are planning the rest of their lives together. They've entered a contest through Crate & Barrel for a dream wedding. I would love more than anything to see these two win it. Please do me a favor and take a minute to vote. They make you resister and verify your email address but it truly only takes 3 minutes tops. And while you're there, read their story in their own words. So lovely. Thanks in advance for your vote! And all of our best to Alicia & Ben! We love you!!!

Click HERE to vote!

GO BEN & ALICIA!

Happy Birthday Gras!

We got off of the plane on Friday, rushed home to see Reese off to school, and after a red-eye flight (no sleep) we had to kick it into full gear to get ready for our annual Mardi Gras party. This year we were expecting 40 people so we had our work cut out for us.

I decided that we'd keep it in the basement this year so the decorations on the main floor were minimal. I wanted to have a few up because that was the first room they'd see but it was nothing like last year.

This year I saved most of the decorations for the basement. It turned out really nice (if I do say so myself!). We rented 3 high back tables to create more seating options.

We do a lot of cooking for the party.  With help from my parents (thank you!) and Kevin we prepped most of it on Friday and then I worked all day on Saturday....up until the very last second....to get it all ready.

At 7:30 our guests began arriving.  We had a really great turn out and I think everyone had a good time.

This year Mardi Gras was later than usual.  We lucked out and were able to celebrate Kevin's 38th birthday in tandum.  If you know Kevin, you know he is not very fond of being the center of attention.  Too bad!  We sang to him anyway.

We had a great night.  It's one of my favorite parties to throw.  But I'm really glad I don't have to do it again for another year!  I'm pooped!!!

Ellen De"Generous"

Our last day in California was completely dedicated to Ellen and being a part of her studio audience. Things have definitely changed since my last visit to her show, 5 years ago. The last time I went they gave us instructions to show up at 9am to pick up our tickets. After doing some research on the internet we soon found that they give out more tickets than what the studio can hold in order to guarantee that it was filled for the show taping. As to avoid ending up in the "riff raff room" watching the show tape on big screen televisions as opposed to inside the studio, we arrived at 4am to get a good spot in line. We were so glad we did! We were numbers 8-11 in line. At 9am they handed us our numbers and we were free to leave until they were ready for us again at 1pm. At that point they would call is in by number.

This time when I got my letter stating that we were to arrive at the studio at 1pm for check in, I knew better (or so I thought). The show did change their policies. People travelling from out of town have guaranteed tickets. The overflow are considered stand-by and may or may not end up inside the studio for taping. Even so, I wasn't about to get there right at 1pm to fight the masses for a good spot in line. We arrived at 10am thinking that we'd probably be amongst a big crowd. Not so much. We were the only ones there. There was a studio rep there to greet us and she told us we were free to leave until the check-in time.

I was not sure how everything worked so we ended up sticking around anyway to wait it out. We really didn't have to because they weren't lying when they said that they wouldn't start until 1 but I'm glad we stayed because we were sitting right by the start of the line so when they did start lining people up we were up front. We were 10th and 11th in line. I was really relieved when we finally got our numbers. Yes, we were guaranteed tickets regardless of where we were in line, but being 10 and 11 means that we were the 10th and 11th to be seated.....leaving a much greater chance for a spot near the front and in the aisle.

After a very long day of waiting, we finally got to go inside and take our seats at 3pm. Sure enough, we were seated in the 3rd row, aisle seats. The staff pumps up the crowd with dance-offs and loud music until the show starts. It really happens without warning. One minute you're dancing and the next the Ellen theme song comes on and you hear "Ladies and gentleman, Ellen DeGeneres".....and out she walks!

Our guests were Jerry O'Connell and a 4-year-old expert on presidents. We had such a blast and Ellen ended up giving away HD digital video cameras that day so that was an added bonus. It all went by really fast and before we knew it we were leaving and headed back to the hotel. We had to grab our bags and make our way to the airport to catch our 11pm flight.

Before we even made it to the airport I got an email from a friend to say that she had seen a picture of Kevin & I on Ellen's Facebook Fan page.

(I am in the bottom left!)

We flew in at 5am on Friday morning and from there it was a mad dash to prepare for our annual Mardi Gras party happening the next day. We did take a break long enough to watch the episode of Ellen. We saw ourselves several times! Here are some (terrible quality) screen shots:














Here she is dancing right next to us:

That's us in the middle on the right:

We're totally famous!

Yesterday I was watching and was shocked to see my big fat mug on TV again! They must have used footage from our taping for Monday's episode:

Hollywood!

This past week has been beyond crazy. A week ago today we flew out at the crack of dawn to Los Angeles. We got off of the plane and were so happy to see sunshine and blue skies. Unfortunately it didn't get as warm as we would have liked but it definitely beat the snow and clouds we left behind. We picked up our rental car, checked into the hotel, and headed into Hollywood for lunch at The Ivy, a well-known restaurant frequented by celebrities. We sat outside and soaked up the sun and enjoyed a very slow paced lunch.














Afterwards we went for a stroll down Rodeo Drive. I've been there before so I knew what to expect but it was fun to see Kevin's reaction to how the other half lives. The cars, the clothes, and the overall appearance of the Hollywood type is definitely not something we are used to seeing. Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore! We made our way over to Hollywood Blvd to check out the Walk of Fame and the Kodak Theater.














The people watching in that part of town is definitely on a different scale. Lots of street performers and people trying to make a buck. The next part of our day was my favorite; the drive through the Hollywood Hills. Wow. The homes were so gigantic and beautiful. I could have spent hours driving around. While I could have done the same exact thing we did on day one on our second day in CA, we decided that we would explore somewhere new. We got an early start and visited Venice Beach. The early bird doesn't always catch the worm. We were a little too early. Nothing was open!











It was very chilly because the sun hadn't come out so we stopped at a little open air cafe that was armed with heat lamps and waited out the morning.











Okay, so the crazy people on Hollywood Blvd had nothing on the characters up and down the boardwalk. I will admit it, I was a little nervous at times. We spent a couple of hours taking it all in and then loaded up and drove up the coast to Malibu. Again with the insanely gorgeous homes. We stopped off for lunch on the water and then made our way back to LA. That afternoon we walked around a very popular outdoor shopping center called "The Grove". We were really hoping to spot our first celebrity but had no luck. Fortunately the following morning we had an appointment with a couple of very famous people! We ordered room service, watched some Idol, and got ready for our big day...