The Party's On

FINALLY, things are moving in the jaw pain ordeal. I got on the phone with the oral surgeon and got an appt for this Thursday. Booyah! Mind you, I will still keep the appt with the ENT (just in case), I just got sick and tired of repeated referrals and getting the run around, so I took matters into my own hands. Maybe, just maybe, we can get something done. I am getting sick of soft foods.
Also, I used my hour this morning (which was one of the few pain free hours since I had just taken an anti inflammatory) and cleaned up my scrap room. Man- it was a mess. I still find it amazing how one hobby can amass so many freaking supplies. I need to take pictures. Having been in bed for so long, I really have a lot of pent up creativity. I also have three projects unfinished which is higly unlike me. I generally have one project finished up and am anxiously awaiting the second project in the mail. So, my top priority is to start creating. I do have a slight problem, I have noticed that while working on any type of crafty project, I grit my teeth together. I heard once that Michelangelo almost groud his teeth down to the gum while painting the Sistine Chapel, so perhaps it is a sign of a creative genius. (Just kidding- that bit is not even close to being true) And while this may be fine for some, it is not for a girl whi is currently taking heavy narcotics for pain that stems from grinding her jaw. Oh well. I may just wear that goofy nightguard while I scrap. That will serve a dual purpose- not grinding my teeth and not snacking on treats in the treat bucket. A-ha. Is there a mouthguard for everyday life?

Coming around again...

I awoke this morning to the realization that I could not stay in bed another day and that I would have to emerge into the world again. Seeing as how I did not leave my bed or my pajamas this weekend, this was to be quite a feat. I did not want to get up. Nor did I have the gas in my car to get anywhere. But, I did have a new battery.
Oh yes....my car battery decided to die yesterday. Mike, the ever dilligent, perfect husband that he is, was filling up both cars since he had found a station that had gas. He had filled up his car and came back to get mine. Nope, it had decided it wasn't going anywhere whether it had gas or not. That battery was dead. But, thanks to AAA, we had a new battery in a few hours. I LOVE THAT COMPANY. Unfortunately, by the time all was said and done, Mike and Parker had to leave for Caroline's soccer game. So, I passed out again from the pain. I missed the entire visit with my in laws. That makes me really sad. I literally spent every minute this weekend in bed. Yuck-o.
I did manage to read lots of blogs and lots of funny stuff. Angie sent me one of the funniest blogs I have read in a long while: http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com. You guys know how much I love cupcakes and anything else with frosting. This blog discusses the cakes gone bad. It is hilarious. For instance, this jewel:

What a cake for a four year old. Appropriate? Me thinks not.
So, have a happy Monday. Make it a good day. I will just focus on trying to make it. Peace out.

Pain, Pain, go away....

I spent the day in bed.....missed Parker's soccer game, missed brunch with my wonderful in laws, missed time with the ones I love, and missed going to see the movie "Nights in Rodanthe" with my mother-in-law, Katy. This is killing me on so many levels. I miss my family, I miss creating, I miss not having to live on a schedule of every six hours between meds. Yuck- I a hoping and praying that my primary care dr can expedite my appt with the ENT dr. That is the only hope of getting in before Oct 6. Seeing as how I am supposed to leave on Thursday, Oct 9, I am on a tight schedule. This pain is not going to prevent me from going to see one of my best girlfriends from getting married.
The only positive for the day is that I have watched the new Sex and the City movie three times (in and out of conciousness). It was way better than I was thinking it would be.
On a much lighter note, my baby boy scored 7 goals at his game. He is a rockstar. I love him to the moon and back. They love me so much that they went to the store this afternoon and bought me mac & cheese, cookie dough, jello pudding, bananas, and lots of juice. I love them so much. I am lucky to have a great support system through all of this. I am a lucky girl despite being in lots of pain. I must never forget that.

Blah, blah blogger

Well, the good news is that there is nothing wrong with my ears. The bad news is that there is nothing wrong with my ears. No one knows what is going on. This guy said he thinks that it is TMJ and put me on oxycontin and a high dosage anti-inflammatory. I told Dody, my stepmom, last night that I feel like I am on an episode of Intervention on A&E. Oxycontin? That stuff is strong. Or it is supposed to be. I took one as soon as I got home from the dr. Two hours later I was still awake and still in pain and noticed that the label on the bottle said "Take 1-2 pills for pain" A-Ha! I took another. And then drifted off into never never land. But only for a few hours. I was up at 2 eating a small thing of easy mac before taking another pill. I slept like a baby.
So, I had a few chest pains this morning and called the dr. The nurse said "Don't take anymore until you hear from us again". Well, duh. They just called me back to tell me to follow up with my primary care dr. The pain has stopped so I will wait. This is all such a complete pain in the ass. I hate to use bad words but after being in pain for a month I just can't help it.
There is hope though. The main thing getting me through the day is the hope that I may just get some corn pudding and mac and cheese at SmokeJack up in Alpharetta. Yum-o!
On another note Parker got his first progress report yesterday. I may as well have been reading a foreign language. There were all kinds of abbreviations and codes. What happened to a, b, c, d, f? Or the other stupis system they used in middle school e, i, u? Something like that. When did it get all complicated. It is KINDERGARTEN for pete's sake. I sent the gibberish over to Dody for help in translating it all. She's good like that. She can make sense of it all and tell me a) everything is fine or b) we need to get some help. Love it.
Parker is otherwise doing well. He was telling Mike and I a story about a girl named Kayla that sits at his table at school. He said "Kayla keeps rupting me when I am trying to work. I tell her to stop but she is always rupting all of us." I finally figured out that he was trying to say interrupting. It was so cute.
Lastly, I want to share with you something that i found to be really cool. Last night, I had just left the dr and was crying from all of the frustration of being in pain, not getting pain relief, and being referred to yet another dr. Just utter frustration. So, I am driving along crying and my phone rings. It's Angie, my bestest friend. I answer while trying my best to sound chipper, but she knows me well enough to know that something was wrong. Well, the tears started flowing again and I just couldn't hold myself back. She said "Wow, that was exactly what I was calling you about-- to see how you were feeling." It was crazy weird, but very comforting. I believe that God moved her to call me and He knew that the timing was perfect. Her voice and just the comfort of knowing what wonderful, caring friends I have, made me feel so much better. I even got a picture of her and Patrick later on and it made me smile. Thanks Ang for all that you are and all that you do. You are the best big sister in the world. (And no matter how many years have passed since we were in college and walked those AGD halls, I will always call you my big sister). God bless you.

I got gas and other fun stuff

Run for the hills......There are crazy people in the streets looking for gas. I heard there's a chili cookoff this weekend, maybe they should all head that way, heh heh. Bad joke.
Seriously though, when radio stations are having people call in and tell them when they see a station that has gas, we have a serious problem. I really almost saw two grown women beat each other up at the Quiktrip the other day. What kind of craziness is going on? Don't worry, I'm not about to get on a tangent about the gas shortages and the state of our economy. I do not have enough knowledge to launch into a full fledged rant. All I am saying is that I would like to simply pull into a gas station, put gas in my car and pull out when I finish up. I do not wish to fear for my life when doing so and I do not wish to sit and wait for 30 minutes to an hour to do so either. Is that too much to ask?

In happy news, I have a lot of fun scrappy stuff to do this weekend. I have two polka dot whimsy kits to work on:
And I also have to finish up a project from my Cupcakes and Coffee class. The mirror album is so stinkin cute. It was a ton of fun smashing up a mirror the other night and then making the mosaic out of the pieces. It was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.



In other exciting news..... My inlaws are coming to town this weekend. I think I am one of the luckiest girls on the planet because I love my inlaws to death. They are two of the sweetest people I have ever met. I get excited every time I know they are coming down. We haven't seen them since May, so we are overdue for a visit. They are coming to Parker's soccer game on Saturday and then we are all going to Caroline's game on Sunday. We are one soccer playing family. Yippee!! Secretly I am hoping that, at some point during the weekend, we go to our "usual" restaurant SmokeJack.

I have a dr's appt this afternoon. I am thinking that there may be an inner ear problem. If it isn't that then I am getting scared. No one can figure this out. Augh! I just want to be normal again. Being in pain for a month makes Amy a not-so-fun girl. Plus, my tummy is probably not too happy about all the pain meds I have been taking.

Well, have a happy day and remember to smile when you answer the phone. People can tell if you do. :)

Today's Lesson: Optimism

So, I'm trying really hard to be positive today since I am in excrciating pain and cannot focus on anything but that. I figure if I try really hard to be optimistic then maybe the pain will just miraculously vanish. So.....

Negative: My mouth hurts more than any of the bones I have broken in my life.
Positive: The pain is making me not want to eat ao maybe I can drop a few pounds if the pain persists.

Negative: I have taken two lortabs in 4 hours and they have not done a darn thing for the above stated pain.
Positive: Since I know the things don't help with the pain there is no chance in hell of me ever getting addicted to them since I know that they do not truly serve their purpose.

Negative: I have been told that I need to eat only soft foods tonight.
Positive: I can eat a whole box of Kraft Mac n Cheese without feeling guilty (Yes, the yellow powder kind since that is truly the best. stuff. ever.)

Negative: I will have to miss Parker's soccer practice.
Positive: I will have a quiet house in which to go home, crawl under the covers, and sleep (with the help of some flexeril and advil PM).

Negative: This pain has cost me more than I make in a month (when all is said and done)
Positive: yeah, well.....can't think of anything positive on this one. That is enough optimism for one day. Don't want to get TOO happy.

Please pray for me and my mouth. It seriouly feels like my jaw is attempting to give birth to a small watermelon.

With this ring, I thee wed

On March 22, 2005, I went on a date with a guy off of the internet. Internet???? Um yeah- people thought I was crazy. I remember having the biggest butterflies in my stomach that whole day and I had never gotten butterflies before a date. Maybe that was God's way of telling me something big was gonna happen.
So, I met this guy at a hip little restaurant. We had a great dinner and I proceeded to rant and rave about the Lacy Peterson case (I am still not quite sure how that came up in a dinner conversation) and what a jerk Scott Peterson was. We went to the movies afterwards and saw the oscar winning flick "The Pacifier". Hey, it was the only movie showing and we weren't ready for the date to end. I was bold enough to invite him on date number 2 that same night. He agreed and even offered to drive way up to Gwinnett County to pick me up. Again, people thought I was crazy to let this internet date come to my house and -gasp- know where I lived. But I did. After the date he dropped me off and offered to help me stuff easter eggs since it was Easter the next day (I knew then what a great guy this dude was). I got bold and gave him the first kiss as he left.
Our relationship budded quickly from there and the next nine months went by at warp speed. Sure there were some ups and downs, but most of the time I felt like I was floating on a cloud. I had never been so happy before. On December 24, he proposed.
We spent the next 9 months planning a wonderful wedding that I will never forget for as long as I live. On September 23, 2006, I promised to love that man for as long as we both shall live. Two years later, I love him even more than I did on that day. I think that the ups and downs have made us stronger. I love him more each day and cannot imagine how much more I will love him in the future. He is my partner, my best friend, my guardian, and the keeper of my heart. Mikey Poo, Thank you for loving me so unselfishly and so perfectly. You are my best friend and I have no idea where Parker and I would be had you never come into our lives.
I later found out that Mike thought that Scott Peterson was innocent (don't even get me started on that one) but he let me rant and rave on that first date because he knew I was the girl he was going to marry. I guess he thought that he would have plenty of time to change my mind (he still hasn't). One time he admitted to me that he fell for me at first sight. He thought that, since I had big boobs and was pretty, that if I had at least half a brain when I spoke, he knew he would marry me. Awwww, how sweet. Well, I love him just the same and I think he is the sexiest and smartest man I have ever met.
I made a little something for him this morning. The two year gift is cotton, so I made this little thing. I am going to get a frame and mount it somewhere in the house. It is a bit wrinkled (I didn't get to iron it) but it was made with love. See the little AJ heart MJ and the trunk. I hand stitched that. There are many imperfections, just like each of us have, but I think it is cute.

Well, anyways Mikey, I know you will read this since I bug you about it all the time. I love you with all my heart and all that other mushy stuff. Thank you for being my bug catcher, my starbucks frappucino getter, my calm in the midst of the storm, the peacemaker when Parker and I butt heads, quite simply.......my everything. Happy Anniversary baby.