I Can't Wait Until Friday!

On Friday, Rob and I will celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary! I just can't believe it's already been that long. The first year was tough (and I mean tough) with everything we went through with my parents but each year gets better and better!

When I look back on all the different phases our marriage has been through, I'm thankful to God for leading us. We've lived in 4 different cities and we've actually moved 8 times. We've both had numerous jobs. We've seen the Bahamas together and Florida many times on various vacations. We've been in church, out of church and back into church again. We've been through many kidneystones, surgeries and illnesses. We've seen many friends come and go through ministry opportunities. The list could go and on.

Two of the best things we've done together are becoming involved in church again and ABF (adult bible fellowship) ministry and having our daughter. Both took years to take place, but were so worth it. We've grown so much through both experiences. I firmly believe that all the events that took place up until now are keeping us grounded through this rough patch of my working 3rd shift and the stress it places on a family and marriage. We still continue to work together to keep our marriage alive and healthy.

We will celebrate by using a $100 giftcard from Ruth Chris Steakhouse that we've had since 2001. (Some close friends gave it to us probably hoping that we'd use it before now!) I took the night off from work, Carissa is going to the grandparents and we are going to have a relaxing evening together. I can't wait to celebrate this awesome milestone with my hubby!

Wonderful Insurance!

Well, it's been a week since the dizzyness and headaches have returned. I've been trying to get the medicine that works to cure me of this since Monday and found out on Thursday that my wonderful UPS insurance denied it. Don't we just all love dealing with insurance sometimes? I've been told that they want me to exhaust all efforts on other medications first before they will approve this one. WHAT? So, now I get to spend an "X" number of dollars on other medicines first to get me to the end one that actually has worked! I'm not really happy considering I have 4 pages of type-written notes on insurance problems I've been dealing with since January already. This was just the last straw. I'm so angry, especially when I lean forward or backwards and feel like I'm going to fall down or wreck my car.

I don't say this to degrade anyone that works for an insurance company or UPS. UPS has been an amazing company to work for and I love everyone I work with. I also worked for an insurance company for 5 years and I know how that is. I just feel frustrated because insurance is the ONLY reason I went back to work and accepted a 3rd shift position. I can only pray to our Good Lord that this issue will be resolved (as I still pray the others will eventually be solved too). I just needed to vent..................................... forgive me Lord! :-)

Much Needed Ramblings From A Tired Mind

Anyone else ever feel "blah"? I don't know what you are thinking but I sure feel like this alot lately. I told Rob after dinner tonight that I didn't even think I had enough energy to clean the kitchen. For those of you that know me, that's something I take seriously and do daily. He wanted me to leave it for him but he's tired too. So, I pushed myself and cleaned it up.

It's a quiet evening around here now. I like evenings like this. Rob is playing some much needed Playstation that he hasn't played in months. Carissa is coloring and watching some cartoons. I'm trying to get a grocery list together but am finding everything else but that to do. I mainly find myself sitting here at Rob's desk staring at Cold Case Files on the tube and not really even soaking that in.

I think alot on the way to work and on the way home about how God works around me and even in my own life. Rob reminds me constantly that this is only a season. I have to tell myself that each night when I prepare to go to work while they are snuggled in their warm beds sleeping. I made a comittment to Rob to work for health insurance and at this time this job is the best for us so that I can be available for Carissa's school activities and her sick days, etc. It's worked out real well this year. I've been able to attend several of her school activites and even work in the uniform closet there. I'm so thankful for this much involvement in her Kindergarten year. God has truly worked all those details out. Despite not seeing much of each other during the day, we make up for it in the evenings and the weekends. Our main priority is church attendance. Not a week goes by where we aren't there in fellowship with other believers and developing friendships. I truly believe that Sundays give me the strength to get through each week. I don't know what I would ever do without that. Another priority for us is eating dinner together each night. That is a must - even if it's at Fiesta Time! We talk and really love on one another during that time. We need this to keep communication open and keep our relationships alive. When I go to work each night (or morning - haha), I know my marriage is healthy and my relationship with my daughter is firm. We may not get to do as much together as we used to and that's okay for now. God is giving us these little "envelopes of time" where we can truly spend some time together doing what is important.

I know I've rambled tonight and I will slightly apologize for that. When you're tired and have a mind filled with "stuff to do", it can happen. Sometimes I just have to sit down, breathe and take it all in.

Long Day?

Today literally felt longer than any day of my entire life! It started out after work yesterday, going to the gym and then Carissa's field day at school. I managed to get about 5 hours of sleep before dinner tonight and then going back into work. From the moment I left to commute, work and drive back home, it was 9 hours. I'm home now and feel so nauseaus from lack of sleep. Seriously. I'm cramming something small into my belly before heading to bed. I think the "no sugar" thing from this Biggest Loser contest contributed to the weariness. How bright are we? This entire night the staff wondered. Nightie nightie friends and family! :-)

The Biggest Loser

So, my department at work has decided to do the Biggest Loser. We are competing against the 2da (2 day air) department. We are nda (next day air). The kicker is we have 17 people where they have 15. We are also already 500+ pounds over them. That's not so great unless we use that to our advantage. Now, this should be a testiment of what working 3rd shift will do to a body - extra "fluffiness" caused by messed up metabolism, etc. Most of us work the same number of hours as them and do the same types of jobs. We are taking this contest seriously! More to follow!

I Was Wrong!

The homeschool family chose a boy instead! BOO HOO! Poor Princess! It will still work out though, I'm sure! I just hope Kim is surviving with the other 3 remaining kittens! She's been a real trooper! (THANKS KIMMMMMM!)

Princess Has A Home

YEAH! I found Princess a good home! I posted a message everywhere I could think of and found a family on my old Homeschool loop. They are Christian missionaries from Mexico that moved to Louisville 7 months ago. Their cat ran away and has never been back. Their daughter was devastated! God works things out, huh!!! Yeah for Princess!

Anyone Want A Kitten?

We are desperate to find a good home quickly!!!!!!!! ANYONE?

I Can Hear the Laughter Now

Yes, we temporarily have a kitten. For those of you that weren't at the ABF social last night, you might not realize that I found 4 abandoned kittens under Tammy and Allen's house. I thought they were cute. I helped feed one with a syringe. I was intriqued. Little did I know, I would take one home.

The cute little guy (or girl) is sweet. I've grown "a little" attached. Carissa, on the other hand, can't figure it out how she feels about it yet. She did name it Princess she said for the time we have him (her words). I told her not to get attached because we are looking for a home for it (unless Rob caves).

We put it in a box with a nice towel and some shredded paper overnight. It only wimpered a few times. We once again fed it a bit and loved on it before church this morning. Carissa finally held it. She said as long as the claws didn't touch she would be okay. So we wrapped it in a soft blanket. When Rob and I got home from church, the poor thing was wimpering. I knew it must be hungry so I tried to feed it. We also went to our neighbors who are immense animal lovers to see what we could do. They called a few places and left a few messages. (They know somebody that helps abandoned animals find homes.) So, since the cat wouldn't take the milk, we went to Feeders Supply and bought some KMR and a tiny bottle. My how much this is like a newborn! I have to feed Princess every 4 hours. Oh the best part!!! We have to "help" it pee and poop. I didn't have any clue that momma cats lick the genitals of the kittens to get them to learn how to empty their bowels and bladder. So, about 10 minutes after feeding, we have to help them by using a warm paper towel. We found out the poor animal probably hadn't peed in DAYS because once she starting peeing, she took a lonnnnnnngggggggggggg time! I couldn't believe all the pee in that little itty bitty bladder.

All in all, it's been a pretty neat experience. Rob has pretty much laughed, snickered and rolled his eyes all weekend about this. We are really not animal-people so this is all very funny if you know us at all! He had to open his budget up for $16 that wasn't allocated!

So, we are currently keeping this kitten alive and praying our neighbor finds it a home. I knew my family wasn't complete but a kitten wasn't in my picture at all! :-)

Before Bedtime

I thought I would post before going to bed (while the rest of you folk will soon be waking up)! Work went well and we had a nice dinner tonight at Fiesta Time (FAVORITE!) before I went to the VBS meeting. I think the VBS is going to be great! I can't wait to help with the snacks for the kiddos!

Carissa is off school today so she and I will go to the grocery store to prepare for our Derby social tomorrow at the Baum's. We are really excited about that too! It should be some good times. I'm just praying for no rain so we can enjoy being outside and allow the kids to be loud outside rather than under our feet inside.

Continue to pray for our family. Rob doesn't have his 2nd sleep test until May 8th with the CPAP machine and he's still pretty tired all the time and I don't need to mention again (okay, I am) how tired I am all the time. We need some changes. I'm considering applying for a fulltime day job at UPS. I don't want to work 40 hours a week again but with driving and my job now I'm gone 35 hours a week and sleep all day. What can be worse? At least I can be somewhat "normal" again. Oh well! We are just praying for God's plan to be revealed on what to do.

Dentist is OVER!

Okay, I must be silly here and I apologize for those in my ABF that already read my update to my prayer request.

It's finally over for another 6 months. What? Can't I wait until 7 years? Just kidding. Now that I have dental insurance, I have to take advantage of it.

It actually went well. I thought I was going to have shots to numb sensitive areas of my gums but when they forgot, I didn't remind them and decided to brave it out instead of saying something. Maybe that was an answered prayer because it didn't hurt too too terribly. Well, okay, it wasn't pleasant. But, again, it's over for now. I had a tad bit of gingivitus (after 7 years, that's all?) so they had to use the old sander as I like to call it and then put a thick coverage of varnish on that feels like I'm sucking on cotton swabs. I can't really do anything with my teeth for 4-6 hours. Lucky for me I'm going to be until 4 or so. I will say that on a few occasions, I thought the "sanding" on the sensitive gums were going to either: 1) send me off the back of the chair into the hygienst lap or 2) cause me to pull the arm rests off. But, lucky for them (and me) I did neither. I just felt my head push into the head piece and my hands grab the arm rests. Like I said though, it's over for now.

The next thing is taking Carissa in a few weeks and persuade Rob it's his turn! HEE HEE