She's Packing HEAT!

I'm the proud owner of a gun and tazer!  We were going to take the concealed weapons course here, but based on the advice of my BFF's husband, he said we would be best to take it there.  (There is a chance we might have to recertify, etc.)

We made lots of grown up purchases yesterday.  It is really clicking that we are moving!

HH and I made a decision after talking with the plastic surgeon.  I am only going to have the Lower Body Lift done this summer.  There are so many variables that would have to line up in order for me to have the second surgery of two procedures.  My surgeon's biggest concern is that my hemoglobin will not be at a safe enough level to merit having the second surgery.  I am going to give it a full year, then next June have the other two procedures done.  He said that he will test my hemoglobin and Potassium (I'm struggling with keeping that up) on the morning of surgery.  If they are not where he wants them, he will cancel the surgery.

List (Tackling) Mania Begins

I am off today and tomorrow.  I have my surgery pre-op today, and a follow-up with my PCP tomorrow.  That leaves a lot of free time to get some things DONE.  We've had this ever growing list of things to do, but between end of the year paperwork, and HH packing up boxes, we simply have not tackled many things.

Today we are going to divide and conquer, then reunite for somethings that must be done together. 

1. Pay off a loan in my parent's hometown.
2. Buy/Give my parents a webcam for future Skype sessions.
3. Sign some paperwork at the bank.
4. HH buying two tires, and getting our wheels rotated and balanced.
5. Getting fingerprinted (for work, and for HH to be a volunteer).
6. Joining Sam's Club.
7. Buying curtains and lots of other things.
8. Calling the movers and getting our estimate/official move date.
9. HH is buying me a gun that I am comfortable with using (my best friend's husband owns a gun store).

One of my best friends is staying tonight and tomorrow night at my house!  :)  My other best friend is going to be in town with her family, and I will get to see her Friday night.  I'm looking forward to that.

Big Announcement!!!

Sorry for the blurry picture:

I'm scheduled for plastic surgery!  I go this Thursday to have my pre-op appointment.  I am so happy to see this go from a dream to a reality. 

I know you all may be freaking out with how close I am doing it to the move, but there really isn't ever going to be a "good" time to do it.  I need to bite the bullet and get it done.  I am making a big to-do list (per HH's request) of things he is to do while I am recovering.  He says my only job is to get better, and he will handle everything else.  I will be coming back in July for a follow-up to my surgeries.  My surgeon said he can actually answer most of my questions with a picture and an email.  He says most of my concerns are going to be common things that are effects of the surgery that he can quickly assure me will pass based on looking at the picture.

On June 8th I will have a complete body lift.  I will have an anchor cut and a line that goes around my entire body.  On June 15th, I will have a thigh lift and Brachioplasty.  I am so pleased with the surgeon I have picked.  I have absolute confidence in his abilities.  He has said several times I won't have perfection, but I think he is mistaking me for perhaps some of his typical clients.  I just want mass off my body.  If he can take away two-thirds of the lose skin that I have, I'll be happy. 

Friday FUN!

I was THRILLED to load up the Highlander, and be out of school by FIVE!  Our first destination was Hammerheads, a gastropub.  We got there early before the crowds, and enjoyed the wonderful atmosphere.

Fried Mac and Cheese:

I forgot to take a picture of my main course, which was crab cake with garlic fries.  It was presented so nicely on a cutting board.

My handsome date:

Some people hate on ingredients that are not typically supposed to go together...but this Bacon Brownie was AMAZING!!!  HH thought it tasted great too.  Unfortunately, I was only about to eat about five bites.  This was one dessert I really wished I could have finished.

Posing outside the restaurant:

I will be posting pictures from "When Good Proms Go Bad" later on today.  I only took three, and I am hoping that some of my friends add pictures from Facebook, so I can show you more.

Fixtures for Sale!

Sorry there is nothing really to talk about right now but the move, but that is where we are at in our life.  Monday night HH and I stayed until 9:15 at work packing.  We packed up 27 boxes.  We are not done yet. 

Yesterday was election day, so I had off.  It was nice to have a day where packing was not going to be involved!  I went to have some labs redrawn because it had been six weeks.  I then went to the dermatologist to have a cyst taken off the corner of my lip.  I go back next Tuessday to have the stitches removed.  Finally, I voted in our state primary election, and took a nice nap!  LOVE!

HH loaded the car with 20 more boxes last night.  If there is any extra space, we are going to put a few random items in the car.  We plan on doing the same thing on Thursday. 

I plan on telling the kids on Friday, even though they have already been asking questions as they see the room disappearing before there eyes.  I've told them the school is getting a new roof, and we have to pack up things.  That is true, but still.

Funny Picture

A New (to Me) Artist

I just heard about Raphael Saadiq yesterday on NPR, and I really like his music!

A Few Packing Pictures

HH worked scoring tests yesterday, and came straight over after work.  He packed twenty two boxes up.  I didn't pack, I worked on all my end of the year paperwork.  Our goal is to get more boxes, pack up on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings next week.  We left school at 9:05 last night.  It was a long day.

This is ALL school stuff.  We are about at forty percent on packing up school things.

I'm off to the Farmer's Market.  First one of the season.  HH is going to show the condo to three interested people today.  I hope we get a bite from one of them.  :)

Packing Update and A Funny Story

We have THIRTY-NINE boxes packed.  Twenty-one are from school, but we are only just touching the surface there.  Since we have our last GED class tonight, and I have a three hour training tomorrow night, we are going to pack up for about an hour and a half after school on Friday.  HH packed boxes while I was in my faculty meeting, and was happy as a lark when I walked in.  I started singing to him, "If you haven't complained by now, you ain't never ever gonna complain...."

Another thing I was thinking about as I packed yesterday....I've been sorting out what belongs to my school, and what is my personal property.  I work at a school where I am actually provided a lot of resources, yet as I was looking at them....it is hardly anything.  They really are expecting so much for providing so little.  I know resources are not everything, but they DO matter. 

I am the world's worst for not letting kids watch a movie the entire way through.  I almost always break it up into twenty minute chunks here and there.  So yesterday we were watching another part of the Ruby Bridges story.  Ruby gets her report card, and she has all A's.  E says, "She is just like K, J, and (another) E."  To which L replies, "I get A's too."  Without missing a beat, D says, "Not in behavior."  I knew I should have corrected her, but I didn't.  I turned my head and chuckled to myself.

Vitamin Organization

I take a lot of vitamins.  It's not really bad at all, I've become used to it.  What I've struggled with is finding a container system that I liked to help with the process.  I've bought several different types of container systems.  Then I struck paydirt watching this You Tube Video:



I was in love when Amazon delivered my very own to the door:

I love my Med Center 31 Day Organizer!!!  It did take me almost an hour to sort out my medications, but now I am ready to go for a MONTH!  That is awesome.  The only downfall is that I thought I ordered the "jumbo" boxes, and I only ordered the large.  I am able to make it work now, but I may have to upgrade.  If you are thinking of buying this for an elderly relative, I would not advise doing so.  The containers were a bit hard to open and close.  I can imagine that this would pose a much bigger problem if the elderly adult is trying to give themselves the medication.

I Whip My Hair Back....

The hurricane simulator was at the outlet mall we went too, and I decided to give it a go.

My favorite picture she took:

As you have seen in the previous post, we are having to buy a lot of things for our upcoming move.  Maybe HH's socks should be on the list.  I had him pose for this picture.  He said, "I just think that they owe me one more wear."  He has been saying this for about two months.  Thankfully most of his socks don't look like this!

Making Progress

of turning our house into a pastor's home.

I'm order the remainder of my china set.  I love my pattern.  I got seven complete pieces for my wedding, but want to finish out the set.  My set is completely dishwasher/microwavable/freezer safe too.  The swirls are in chocolate.

I also need two additional comforter sets.  I am going with this comforter set and this one.  (Sorry, I couldn't post pictures from Target's website.)  HH says the first one looks "busy" (he loves PLAIN on anything), and I told him he wouldn't see it much, as it would be in the guest room.  For the second quilt, I went for the quilted option. 

We are also getting a big deep freezer.  This is to help out with grocery costs.  The closest Wal-Mart is 90 minutes away.  Sams Club is three hours.  There is a local grocery store, but costs are significantly more expensive.  I want to buy as little as I can from there each week. 

HH is going with me to look at curtains today too.

This week's packing plan (so far):

Sunday night:  HH and I are going to pack up several boxes (at least nine) of things that we no longer will need until after the move.  I'm thinking winter coats, most linens, some winter clothes, and shoes.

Monday morning:  HH has to take my mom to the airport early.  He is going to drive me over to school and we will be there when the building is open.  I hope he can get 8-10 boxes packed.  We are starting with things that I have in my bathroom, and a few other small things in the room.  I'm not quite ready to tell my darlings that I won't be back next year (even though they are going to sixth grade).  This should be about the amount of boxes he can get into our car (we could have more if we cleaned it out a bit better).

Tuesday morning:  HH is taking my sister and the guy she is dating to the airport super early.  He is going to repeat yesterday morning.  I'm also going to have him arrive at dismissal to pack up more boxes while I am in staff meeting.  This will make for a double load on Tuesday.

Where are all these lovely school boxes going?  Our living room of course.  My school is being closed for a new roof at the end of the last teacher work day.  I have no access to our building.  I would just have the movers go pick things up in the other location, but that is not feasible.

Thursday night:  I would like to set a goal of packing at least eight more boxes from our house.

We want to keep the weekends cleared up from doing a lot of moving stuff so we can visit with our friends and family.

David Platt

I've heard about David Platt's book Radical.  I have not read it yet.  It was recommended by one of the search committe members that we listen to this sermon:

Plastic Surgery Consult: Take Two

I had a plastic surgery consult in October 2009.  HH and I thought that funds were going to be available shortly to pay for this completely, but that ended up not being the case. 

Today, we went back to consult on my thighs, arms, and abdomen.  I'm going to have two surgery dates.  The first will be for my abdomen, then I can have the second one for my thighs and arms any time after one week from the first surgery.  I am most likely two weeks (or less) from scheduling actual DATES for my plastics!  (You have to put 20% down to schedule your surgery.)  I would have loved to have everything done in one swoop, but it is simply too much.  He is concerned with blood loss if we were to try that route too.

How is this going to work with the move?  That's a great question.  We are still figuring that out. 

Option One:  I make a master list for HH to do (at his insistence), so I can lay around and recover. 

Option Two:  I get things settled in South Dakota (where I want stuff in the house and my classroom), then fly back for the surgeries.  I would spend a few weeks with my parents.

It really looks like this is a GO!  I feel so comfortable with the doctor, and he has an excellent reputation.

P.S.  I got my official contract for being a teacher in South Dakota!

In This House We Celebrate with CAKE

I got HH a cake with the outline of South Dakota on it.  The cake was from Cake Flour on Market in Louisville.  This cake had the best icing in the world.  I wonder if I can buy that by the bucket! 

Smiling to celebrate the next huge milestone in our lives.

I'm OFFICIALLY

A PASTOR'S WIFE!!!!!

HH got the call yesterday afternoon about the church vote in South Dakota.  They voted unanimously for us.  (Which is RARE in Southern Baptist churches!)  We aren't shouting it from the rooftops just yet, because I have some questions about my health insurance coverage, and want to make sure I follow proper procedures at work first.  I'm not going to be more specific about our location on the blog.  If you would like to know more, email me.  I don't mind sharing, but I do avoid certain words when I blog as to not be identified via Google.  I will also have prayer cards that I would love to mail anyone who is interested in the next few months.  Right now, we are looking at June 25th as a move date.  That is not set in stone though.

Opening Night at the Downs

I've not been to the races at Churchill Downs since middle school.  I decided that I wanted to go this year.  HH went to Derby several years ago, and was not excited because he spent all day standing staring at a screen.  I told him this would be different. 

I love my new maxi dress!  They are so comfortable, I wish I had one for every single day of spring and summer.  HH and I are standing on the red carpet for Opening Night.

Parmesan Garlic Fries...oh so yummy, but trying to get my protein in, I only ate a few.  I was disappointed to see that the Downs doesn't have any of the great local vendors we have like Kitzo Cookies or Graeter's Ice Cream.

Another photo op...

HH thought the chandeliers looked silly, so I made him pose by them.

Racing Bulletin

Betting our style....Trust me, I was horrible at picking.  I don't think I would have been a happy lady had we really ended up betting.

Where we are sitting today would easily cost $1800 on Derby day (next Saturday), and that is if you somehow got them at face value.  HH and I couldn't afford the parking cost on Derby, let alone the seats!  The view from our seats:

We had a great time.  I love hanging out with HH.