Mr.

Back in the summer of 2004 when Curtis had his senior photos taken, I could not afford to purchase them except for the typical formal photo for the yearbook. Over the past few years, the photography studio was bought out and changed ownership. I was worried that his photos would be gone forever. When I had Jessica’s photos done, I took her to the company that bought out the other studio and asked if she had the photos in her archives or if the were ‘property’ of the original photographer. To make a long story short, she said that she should have them and she would let me know… well low and behold, she came through for me today. I forgot how good they were. While I order photos of Jess, I will be ordering some of his now so that I will have them. The photos I have captured are proofs and are of low resolution.

We are getting closer and closer to Recruit school graduation which will be November 9th.  I am so excited.  He is doing well.  The class has lost up to 6 people either for disabilities from the training or just cause they can’t take it and quit.  Yesterday was the state tests and he missed 1 thing during the practicles and failed it.  The fortunate thing is that he gets to redo the practicle that he failed, you only 1 do over.   

When you do the State test and practicles, you have a partner so it is important to make sure that your partner does well throughout class so that when it comes time for the state test, you both will succeed.  EMT class is pretty much the same way.  We have to choose partners and work with the partner through to the State test in January.  Problem with my class is that when we had to choose partners two weeks ago, we had an odd number of students.  So three of us wanted to partner together.  Problem is that when it comes to the state test, only two can be partners.  That would have left one of us partner less.  Then this past Thursday, the head instructor was talking to us about partners and asked if we had chosen a partner.  Someone said there was an odd number of students, then when the teacher counted we had 20 in the class.  I was forced to partner up with this guy named John who sleeps during every class and comes into class greasy and dirty.  I don’t really know why he is even there.  Why me.  I’m going to talk to the instructor about it cause it isn’t fair.  You are supposed to be comfortable with your partner, you certification depends on it.   If I have to be his partner then I will make the best of it, but I’m not happy about it.  So the last EMT test I took, I received an 88%.  I’m not too crazy about this grade, but then it isn’t too bad either.  I prefer to stay in the 90% range. 

Last week, I had to have a colonoscopy.  Let’s just say that the preparation was the most difficult part of the whole procedure.  Two days prior to the procedure, at 2pm I had to drink magnesium citrate.  It comes in a 10oz bottle.  So at 2pm, as instructed by my doctor, I drank this stuff. Supposedly it comes in a variety of flavors, but I got the lemon flavored one.  It tasted like salty lemon seltzer water.  If you like salt, then it wasn’t too bad.  By 5pm, the flood gates opened and didn’t close until around 8 pm.  In addition to that, I was only allowed to eat clear liquids, such as jello (no red or purple colors), fat free chicken broth, caffeine free sodas, white grape or cranberry juice.  That lasted from Wednesday to Thursday at 2pm.  After 2pm on Thursday no more food till after the procedure on Friday 11:30 am.  Thursday at 4pm, I had to start drinking this stuff called Trylite.  It comes  with flavor packets, orange, citrus berry, cherry, lemon, lemon-lime.  I chose the citrus berry.  Didn’t matter, cause you didn’t taste it.  This product comes in a 4 liter jug with white powder on the bottom.  You have to fill the jug up with water in the morning before you drink it, shake it very well and then refrigerate it for 8 hours.  So, by 4pm it was ready, but I wasn’t.  The instructions say to drink an 8oz cup every 10 -15 minutes until the product is finished, which should be between 7pm and 9pm.  I chose to have a cup at 15 minute intervals.  4pm was my first drink.  It was kind of slimy feeling in my mouth, again this was salty and just kind of odd tasting (heh).  It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t bad either.  It was difficult though.   By 5pm, the flood gates were open again and between drinking this stuff and sitting on the can, I hardly had time to watch tv.  Keep in mind, if you feel like farting, it isn’t a fart.  Also, when the urge comes, and it comes quickly, you must run as best as you can to make it in time.  I had to pause the tv every 5 minutes.  I was pretty well cleared out by 7:30 and I stopped drinking the stuff with only a liter left in the bottle. 

I got to the hospital at 9:00 am on the Friday of my colonoscopy and they took me to the Gastroenterology department where they got me ready for the procedure.  I put on a gown and climbed into the bed. They gave my cozy warm blankets, an IV, bp monitor and the pulse oximeter for my fingertip.  They called for Gary to come be with me until 11 am then they whisked me away to the colonoscopy room.  They told me to lay on my left side with me knees up toward my chest.  Then the anesthesiologist told me about the method of sleep she would be providing and how I should feel when I woke afterwards.  She told me that I would feel some heat in my arm when she began the delivery of the medicine. I didn’t feel heat there but I did feel it in my neck, then my ears started to ring really really bad and then my brain felt hot. That was my last thought until I woke after the procedure.  While waking, I feel the sudden urge to have a BM and I don’t know if I did or not.  I was told it was ok.  Then I was back in my room with another nurse asking me if my blood pressure was always so low, 75/56.  I said yeah at times and I felt really very good.  I did not feel groggy or sleepy or nauseated or anything.  I felt like 100% normal, with the exception that I was starving!!  My husband walks in and said, "the good doctor told me you can not eat cheese, eggs, bacon, red meat, fatty foods, greasy foods, dairy with the exception of FF skim milk in your bran flakes."  I can have fiber, veggies, fiber, fruits and more fiber. gah!  Then Gary handed me a piece of paper with color pictures of my colon.  The pictures show where the polyps were before and then after they were removed.  They were benign.  By the time I am ready to leave the hospital, it is around 1:30 pm and my bp is back to about 100/74.  My husband asks if I want to eat and of course I do.  So I told him I was feeling rebellious and that I will follow doc’s orders tomorrow, but in the mean time, my colon is empty and I want food.  Take me to IHOP!  I had an omelet with ham, onions, green peppers, bacon and cheddar cheese with a side of corn pancakes and coffee, which I missed dearly.  MMMM I was in heaven.  Went home and plopped myself on the couch feeling full and satisfied.  Woke up Saturday morning and my insides were not very happy about the poking received the day before and I was having some sharp pains were the polyps were removed.  By Monday things were feeling better, though not great. Then had a follow up appoitnment with the doc on Thursday.  He told me the same thing he told my husband.  He said my colon is spastic and that I had better take care of it.  After further reading, I have decided that I really do need to pay attention to the doc. He isn’t just full of shit.  I could end up with some ugly issues if I don’t do what he says.  So, I will make a conscious effort to eat as suggested.

Other than that… life has been quite, busy but quiet.  Jessica got her braces off on October 4th, she looks beautiful.  Had her senior pictures done yesterday and the proofs will be available today and I am so excited. My baby girl is so grown up.  :(    My husband and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary over the weekend of the 28th, which was also his birthday.  We went to Williamsburg for the weekend and hit Jamestown while we were there.  He had a great time learning about the history and how we became Americans and why it took him so long to come across the pond from England (1998).  ;)   

Wow, where did the time go?  Since starting my EMT courses, time has been flying by.  I had to take CPR, Haz Mat and Infectious Control over the month of August and then EMT class started on September 4.  I was worried that I failed the Hazmat class, but I found out that I passed it and got my certification from the State!  :)  I also received my CPR certification.  The infectious control was basically an informational type course.  EMT is tough.  I didn’t realize how tough it would be.  Lots of reading, lots of review.  We had "practicles" on this past Saturday.  We learned how to take a pulse from different areas on the body and do blood pressure checks.  We had to listen to peoples lungs and practice loading and unloading an ambulance.  We had to practice putting people on backboards and stairchairs and carry them around.  It was a long day, from 8am till 5pm.  We were really working.  It was a lot of fun and I am glad I am taking the course.  I had my first test on Monday and received a 90%.  It should have been better, but I am pretty happy with that grade.  We were able to correct the test and bring it home for use in studying for the State exam in January.  Since completing the CPR, Hazmat and IC, that puts me inline to be categorized as a "red hat" at the fire station.  I will be able to ride the fire trucks and have fire gear, but not do anything but take pictures. lol Thats ok.  It will be a good experience.  The Chief is planning on having an ambulance at the station for me to use to practice different things and ride along on calls.  This will work out great since I have to complete 10 hours of ride along for the course, and I won’t have to go to a different station.

My son is doing pretty well in Recruit school.  He has gotten himself in a little trouble there with the Chief.  Nothing major, but lets just say, you do not want to piss off the Chief there.  Picture the most horrific bootcamp episode that you have ever seen, where the Seargant is screaming at a recruit and you will get the idea.  Oh well, it builds character.

Jess started back to school on Sept 4. She has a short school day since she is in a work/study program.  She leaves school at 10:30, reports to work by 11am and then comes home around 5pm.  Perfect.  This gives her time to do some homework, then if she wants to visit with her boyfriend, the will have time for that too.  This thursday, September 20, she will be going to one of her last orthodontia appoitments.  They will be doing impressions so that they can make her retainer.  Then in October, she will be getting her braces OFF!!  THANK GOD.  I still need to get her Senior pictures done, so as soon as they come off we can do those.  She will have a beautiful smile.

Back in early August, I was having pain in my back that radiated around to the front abdomen and then down into my upper thigh.  It was like a burning pain.  The pain was bad enough that I did not want to work out, but not bad enough to cause me to see the doc.  I also thought that maybe it was my herniated disk and that maybe the pain was radiating differently.  While I was in EMT class last week, we were talking about the organs.  The instructer was explaining that if you come across a patient that is complaining of back pain that it could be a couple of different problems.  Of which, kidney stones were described.  I know that kidney stones can cause severe pain, but I am thinking that I might have had a small one.  After about a week, the pain was gone and has been gone since then.  That is when I decided that maybe I need to have a checkup, it’s been years, so I had a physical exam the other day. Unfortunately, the doc wants me to get a colonoscopy and a mamagram.  I have had the mammagram before, but that was back in 1995 for a lumpectomy.  I always get so nervous about doctor appointments.  They took blood and urine, she doesn’t think she will see anything regarding the kidney and that if I have this feeling again, I must go to the doctor’s immediately so that it can be diagnosed.  Meanwhile, I have started drinking a lot of cranberry juice and water.

Well, I guess that is about it for now.  I haven’t been reading blogs much, but I will try to do better. 

Well, my son started his 3rd week of recruit school. The first day, they made him "squad leader". They do a lot of PT every afternoon for 3 hours. His knees and ankles are killing him and his right foot swells, but there is nothing he can do about it. Just keep taking the motrin, ice it down in the evenings, and stay off it till the next day. Fortunately, nothing is bruised so that is a plus. He is counting the days till graduation, which should be somewhere around early to mid November. He is working hard doing well in his classes there also.

I had the HazMat class and the infectious control classes the other weekend. Had to take a test for the HazMat. Not sure if I passed it or not. It was a bubble sheet, which gets sent to the VA Fire Programs for grading. It was really hard and I am afraid that I did not do well on it. There were a lot of other people that were there taking the class for the 2nd and 3rd time. My son told me that the class is usually a 2 day class. This time it was crammed into an 8 hour session. I just hope I didn’t fail it. The infectious control class was very easy. Only a two hour presentation with some discussion. No tests. Had the CPR class on Friday night. I scored 100 on the written test and aced the practicals. So I am legally allowed to give CPR to dummys. I wouldn’t trust me on real people though. lol

I’ve been slacking on my diet for the past couple of weeks, and I have only been to the gym like once in the last two weeks, but thats ok. Sometimes you need a break. Refocus and start again. No biggie… I’m going to get back to it this week.

We had new garage doors put on the other week. FINALLY! The old ones were wood’ish and they were falling apart. They have needed replacing for a few years. We even got garage door openers! How’s that for technology? HA I’ve never had this luxury. Doesn’t take much to please or excite me. Next on the list will be to get our master bathroom finished, get windows replaced and start on the kitchen. That won’t be till after Christmas though.

My daugther starts her last year of school this fall. She will be on a Co-op schedule. Two classes in the AM, then she goes home at 10:20 am everyday. We were hoping that she would get her braces off in time for her senior pictures, but it doesn’t look like we will be so lucky. They come off on Octobe 4th. I am hoping we will be able to get them done in time for the school year book. Her teeth are going to look gorgeous! I can’t wait.

My husband joined a car club for GTO’s.  He organized a "Dyno Day" so that maximum horsepower could be measured on peoples cars.  We held this at a performance shop (Pro-Motion Tuning) who was running a special, $35.00 for 3 dyno runs.  Pretty damn good deal.  There were about 13 cars including my Camaro.   Of course, this was held on one of the hottest days of the summer.  The garage bay was incredibly hot and to add on top of that, the temperatures from the engines, and the dyno machine, stepping out into the sun was a comfort. lol The guys at the race shop were very knowledgable and very accomodating.  They did an excellent job.  One of the funny stories of the day was when my car was in the dyno machine.  The first two runs were showing 220 hp.  We knew something was wrong, because our car ran the 1/4 mile in 12.9 seconds.  So, one guy says, "Maybe there is a leaf or something in the air filter", so my husband goes and takes the air filter off and what does he find?  A home depot plastic bag.  It was sucked into the filter.  Oh man, it was hilarious.  All the guys were giving my husband so much crap, as was I; it was precious.  Anyhow, after we put the air filter back on (sans bag) it ran an impressive 314 hp.  These numbers were better than the last time we dyno’d it, which was around 298 hp.  It was a good day, had a lot of fun getting to know everyone.  Nothing like hanging out in a garage from 9:30 am till 5:30 pm with temps running over 100 F and exhaust fumes.