Reggie's

Last night we went into Chicago with my friend, Mallory. She took us to a club called Reggie's. Very cool place, Record store inside, roof top bar & grill, one area where they have jazz singers and such in, and then the Music Room. The music room area was where we went. We saw 4 bands, Friday Amp, Bison BC, Saviours, and Weedeater.

We got in early and made our way to the front rail in front of the stage. Good times. Shook hands with several of the band members and because we were with Mallory ended up speaking with several of the band members.

                                                 In the elevator

Lead singer from the Saviours in all his sexy glory

 

                                                Guitarist, from Saviours, I can't think of his name, but Mallory seems to have a good relationship with him!

                                                              Mallory with some guy from Rome that she befriended.


Was a fun night, very entertaining!

Slacker!

Wow, it's been a couple weeks since I logged on! I'm such a slacker sometimes.
So...latest and greatest:

August 27, 2011 - We (the kids, the grandson & daughter's friend Jeff) took the train to Chicago. Cassy had to take her board exams, and while that was occurring the rest of us went to the Art Institute. After her test was finished (SHE PASSED and is now a Licensed Cosmetologist!) we went walking through Chicago, we went through Grant Park, near thehttp://www.sheddaquarium.org/ we crossed the street and followed the path over to Navy Pier where we hung out for several hours before trekking back across the city to the train station. It was  a very warm and exhausting day! By the time we got home I was ready for bed! But, it was a blast. I will load pics later, just don't know where my cord is to hook up my phone to my computer.  

August 31, 2011: Brendon had a procedure done on his heart at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn...it was a very long day, but it went well and he was in recovery by about 1 p.m.

September 6, 2011: School started! Thank Goodness, those kids were starting to go stir crazy!

That's the latest and greatest from this end of the things.

Trying to get everything in order for the craft sale.

Crafts

I tOok inventory this evening of the crafts I have completed & the supplies I have for more. I have 13 children's chemo caps & 9 adult chemo caps. 19 dish rags from yarn. 9 baby blankets, mostly pink & or variegated colors, however 1 is yellow so could be for a boy I suppose. I have a throw blanket that has a very deep pretty purple with verigated yarn thrown in. As well as 3 purses that are almost complete. I need to buy the material to sew in to them so that they can ve lined.

Other than working on chemo caps I also am working on a throw that is made from Lion brand homespun yarn. I picked up 32 Skiens for $20.00 at a garage sale.

Bonnie, my mother in law & I are considering getting a booth at the Sycamore Pumpkin Festival. Hopefully I can sell some stuff to get more money to get more yarn for the chemo caps, I can make about 4 a day because I can never sit & actually spend more than about 30 minutes at a time working on them.

Okay, need to take off. It's late & I'm tired. Rain in the forecast for tomorrow so certainly not riding to work.

As promised a pic I took the other evening while out for a walk. This is the old train depot in DeKalb. I thought the way the storm was moving in looked very cool against the building.

When things go south...

What a week, what a month, what a year...things are always difficult when raising a family. It seems that each time a person turns around something is wrong, someone needs a doctor, someone needs new shoes, the car needs work, and there is never quite enough of that person or that person's money to go around.

So, while I'll probably do some complaining I will be aware the entire time that I'm not the only one. This is just a safe place to vent it all.

I have recently had to put about $500 - $600 into my vehicle, which I was not unaware needed to be done, however, it fell upon me a bit more quickly than I had anticipated.
I also missed a bunch of work due to surgery, as well as to Brendon's tests and follow ups from the fiasco with his Asthma attack in May.

Yesterday I purchased school sneakers for the 3 boys. All three boys are old enough to not be satisfied with payless shoes. I understand this as I was the oldest kid in the family and always had to hear how so & so needed this or that, and then when I was out of school my siblings started getting the nice stuff that we never could afford. This leaves me with a tad bit of resentment. So, I don't want to do that to my kids. Thus I went with the slightly more expensive although not nearly as expensive as it could have been, thankfully they can still be talked into the Nike's that are on sale or clearance. As Gaven said "Mom, payless sucks, If I am wearing payless shoes and get beaten up it will be because my shoes suck! I'd rather get beaten up because I'm wearing cool shoes and someone wants to steal them from me." That's some 13 year old logic right there!

Okay, so needless to say, I'm always stressing about money, or lack thereof or how much has been spent...as my friend said "Savings account...who the hell can have a savings account with all these kids? We live paycheck to paycheck." I concur!

This morning, I am manager at work (tomorrow also...hurray). I got ready and walked to my truck. The seat was pretty far back because this guy I'm married to was driving it yesterday. Well, I have SHORT little legs...so I hit the button to move the seat forward...and NOTHING HAPPENED! I try again...Nothing. I hit the button to move it back and it went back. I then tried to move it forward again...NOTHING...

Well, that is just fan effin tastic! I started to cry for a moment...you know, I hate spending money on stuff and it seems like nothing can ever just go right for a short period of time, especially if I'm already stressing about money. So, I go in the house, get a pillow and put it behind my back so that I can reach the damn gas & break pedals. It reminds me of the old grandma's driving their cars around when I was younger. I am taller than they were...I just have short legs. SO! It's been a steller day and it's only 10 a.m.

I didn't win the lottery either, which was disappointing, as I bought a $1.00 ticket for that 240 million jackpot. Oh well...such is my life!

Well, folks, Have a great day. I'm off to do some work. I didn't go running this morning although I should have. I figure I'll take a good long run tomorrow morning before heading to work.

Results, Questions, etc.

Okay, I apologize for the delay in answering this question here! The results of my biopsy were that it was benign. Good news! The bad news is it then leaves the question-what is causing these problems? The answer still eludes me.

Other than that; things are going well. I've been playing a lot with the camera's. Have some great shots but I can't seem to load them to my page from my phone-ugh! Will add later.

Brendon follows up with his pulmonologist tomorrow & the electrophysiologist on Friday.

Hopefully, we can get someplace with the school district.

I'm training for the 5K...ran my mile this morning in 9:45...not bad considering that I am so slow of a runner! I've shaved a minute fifteen seconds off my mile time. Haha! Said I was slow!

That's it for now...have a great day!

I had my biopsy on July 25. To say that the discomfort from it has been pretty intense would be an understatemenT. However, at this point I am doing much better and not in a drug induced half awake state of being. The surgeon felt that it went well & following the surgery told Bob that she didn't think the node that was removed looked suspicious. The biopsy will still be completed, and I will have results on Tuesday August 2nd.

Mammogram results were negative, nothing bad going on there.

My nerves are still a bit stretched as the wait continues.

I now have a very large wound on my neck that needs to heal. The area is very sensitive. Swallowing is sometimes difficult, as is talking loudly & laughing loudly (which us what I do).

Can't wait to get back to training for the 5K I'm going to run at the SweetCorn Festival in Hoopeston, Illinois this year with my best friends big brother Steve Johnson. Hopefully, I can start training again this week.

Much love, thanks for the prayers & I will update as soon as I have information on the biopsy results.