I've been on a very difficult journey since October. We arrived back in La Paz on October 19th, I went back to work on the 20th but that was the last time I could work until this past Tuesday.
What started as a sore back in late September sharply worsened by the 20th and then by early November was unbearable. Initially I thought it was a displaced rib, something I had had in the past. When the local physical therapist was able to relocate the two ribs, the pain only got worse but higher in my shoulder and down my arm.
In the first week of November I was sleeping a few hours each night and counting the minutes before I could take more pain pills. On November 8th, I flew to Miami as a medevac (medical evacuation) patient. Luckily I was able to be seen at the Cleveland Clinic in Weston, FL, just north of Miami. My mom drove down from Orlando to help plus John's parents were there to offer a home and some TLC.
An MRI showed three herniated discs in the cervical area of my neck. One or two of the discs were irritating a nerve root which was causing all of my pain. As a nurse, I've always known that back pain can be really bad, let me tell you, it can be horrific. On a pain scale of 0-10, I was regularly at an 8.
John flew up for the first of three epidural steroid shots, the first one took away about a third of the pain. We flew the kids up for Thanksgiving, which we spent in Georgia with Lisette and much of John's family. Thanks to Vicodin, it was a great holiday. The week after Thanksgiving, I had my second shot which took away another quarter to a third of the pain but it also gave me an epidural headache. Nothing like compounding one's misery.
I flew back to La Paz for Christmas which was wonderful but still pretty uncomfortable. We managed to throw two parties in the space of the three weeks I was home. Quickly found out that I was best to do absolutely nothing of the prep work for the parties if I wanted to have any enjoyment of the actual party as well as the day after. In January 5th, John and I flew back for my third shot. On January 6th, I slept in a bed for the first time in a month (I'd been sleeping in a recliner beside our bed in La Paz or in John's parents' living room). On the 7th of January, we celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary with a trip to the clinic for my third shot. I figured it was a lucky day!
The third shot helped immediately as opposed to the first two. While I'm not yet painfree, I was able to return to work on over-the-counter anti-inflammatories. I can have another epidural shot in July so I'm hoping this pain goes away or atleast doesn't worsen between now and then. If the pain does continue or worsens or the shot in July doesn't take it away completely, surgery is the only other option. And it's a nasty surgery. For now, I'm so grateful that I'm as comfortable as I am.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Our Week Stateside
It's always so nice coming back to the States. John and I arrived Sunday night, the 4th. We spent the night at a hotel by the airport then drove to Georgia on Monday morning. It was hard to turn off of I-10 and head north instead of carrying on until we hit Tallahassee! Lisette (and we) had to wait another 24 hours.
Our house is adorable and I spent the first day nesting myself into a frenzy. I found it hard to keep focused that this is likely going to be a second home and therefore doesn't need to be settled into as quickly. Still, we already had a couch and an entertainment center so we obviously needed a TV! So we hit Best Buy and found one on clearance.
Parents Weekend was great! Seeing Lisette was even better!! She's blossoming. I keep saying that because it's incredible how true it is. I knew she was ready but it still is a little shocking how grown up she's become in just two months. She's making some really good choices and other than needing to give her car a bath, she's got it pretty much together. It's fun and heartbreaking to watch her independence. :-)
We're back in our house, ordered a bedroom set, a dining set and an extra bed/couch for the den. I've got the kitchen off to a decent start, our old pots and pans will go a long way to getting it functional though. Perhaps I'll send them up from La Paz sometime soon.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to talk Lisette into coming back with us! :-(
Our house is adorable and I spent the first day nesting myself into a frenzy. I found it hard to keep focused that this is likely going to be a second home and therefore doesn't need to be settled into as quickly. Still, we already had a couch and an entertainment center so we obviously needed a TV! So we hit Best Buy and found one on clearance.
Parents Weekend was great! Seeing Lisette was even better!! She's blossoming. I keep saying that because it's incredible how true it is. I knew she was ready but it still is a little shocking how grown up she's become in just two months. She's making some really good choices and other than needing to give her car a bath, she's got it pretty much together. It's fun and heartbreaking to watch her independence. :-)
We're back in our house, ordered a bedroom set, a dining set and an extra bed/couch for the den. I've got the kitchen off to a decent start, our old pots and pans will go a long way to getting it functional though. Perhaps I'll send them up from La Paz sometime soon.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to talk Lisette into coming back with us! :-(
Monday, September 14, 2009
Odds and Ends
Last night I bought my ticket to go see my baby girl for Parents Weekend!
Strange sight - saw a pizza delivery guy get a ride from a police officer on his motorcycle.
John's on his way to Dayton, Ohio to run the 13th Air Force Marathon. It happens to land on the 13th anniversary of the accident that took his leg!
John opened a "cause" site on Facebook for his run. Just asking for thoughts and prayers, not money. It's already hit 239 members, many of whom we don't even know!
I'm homesick for both the States and Canada!
Strange sight - saw a pizza delivery guy get a ride from a police officer on his motorcycle.
John's on his way to Dayton, Ohio to run the 13th Air Force Marathon. It happens to land on the 13th anniversary of the accident that took his leg!
John opened a "cause" site on Facebook for his run. Just asking for thoughts and prayers, not money. It's already hit 239 members, many of whom we don't even know!
I'm homesick for both the States and Canada!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Eight Years Later
We had a moment of silence in the Embassy this morning. Hard to believe it's been eight years but then again, so much has changed since then...good and bad.
On a much lighter note - dropped John off at a function this evening (a guy thing) and the house number was 7. We found the street, it was a short one and noticed the first number was 70 which concerned us...the next one was 100...beside it was number 7. Go figure. Weird place we live in.
Have a fabulous weekend!! Love to you all!!
On a much lighter note - dropped John off at a function this evening (a guy thing) and the house number was 7. We found the street, it was a short one and noticed the first number was 70 which concerned us...the next one was 100...beside it was number 7. Go figure. Weird place we live in.
Have a fabulous weekend!! Love to you all!!
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Well, All WAS Quiet...
This has been a quiet Saturday but our friend took Buddy for a walk with her Golden Retriever only to find her SUV vandalized when she returned to our house. John and Joanne are outside dealing with it - I had just opened up my blog to write when Joanne rang our doorbell. Living in a big city... :-(
Thankfully it looks like the buttheads got nothing. Probably they were interrupted. We live on the crossroads of two pretty busy streets. They ended up cutting her battery cable, most likely so they might be able to come back later and finish the job but good ole duct tape repaired the cable enough so that she could start the car and drive it home. I followed her, just in case and found out she lives in the prettiest house I have seen!!! It looks like a doll house or a playhouse that's been blown up to adult size!
So now the four of us (John, Nicole, Jake and I - missing Lisette!) are chilling out, watching TV and enjoying our long weekend. Hope yours is as eventful/uneventful as you'd like it to be!!
Thankfully it looks like the buttheads got nothing. Probably they were interrupted. We live on the crossroads of two pretty busy streets. They ended up cutting her battery cable, most likely so they might be able to come back later and finish the job but good ole duct tape repaired the cable enough so that she could start the car and drive it home. I followed her, just in case and found out she lives in the prettiest house I have seen!!! It looks like a doll house or a playhouse that's been blown up to adult size!
So now the four of us (John, Nicole, Jake and I - missing Lisette!) are chilling out, watching TV and enjoying our long weekend. Hope yours is as eventful/uneventful as you'd like it to be!!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Time Flies
Before much too much time goes by, it behooves me to update my blog!
The return trip from Italy included a quick stop in Hamilton. The main reason being that I had become the great aunt to a perfect little baby boy! Nolan is the most precious and beloved son of my darling Nicholas and his beautiful wife Natasha. Am I gushing? Heck ya!
The remainder of July and into August was back to work and prepping for the kids to return to school. On August 15th, John and I flew back to Miami with Lisette. Spending the next week setting Lisette up at Florida State University was one of the most depressing time of my life. As with any other dark period, one just plugs on through and tries to look at the bright side. I was happy to at least have the chance to build her her "nest" in her dorm room. It was thrilling to see her bond with her new car - a 2003 VW Beetle (adorable!) although she tried to kill us in it a few times. I'm thinking that was about it as far as a silver lining. Thank goodness for Vonage and Facebook. We're keeping in touch daily. :-)
The other thing we did while back in the States in August was settle things on a house in Georgia. On August 31st, via Power of Attorney, we closed on a lovely lakehouse in Lake Park. The property is right beside John's brother so it makes a perfect getaway place or even a permanent address depending on what happens in our future!
The kids left here in La Paz are both home sick with the flu. John of course thinks it's swine flu but that's John. LOL It doesn't really matter because we don't have access to the blood test to identify it anyway. Supposedly Evo Morales is suffering from the flu and his doc put him on Tamiflu (what we have available for our H1N1 flu patients). Interestingly, Tamiflu can cause some psychotic reactions...no, I won't go anywhere with that. Ha!
So now I'm working full-time and still loving it. Technically, I'm supposed to be working four days a week but until we have the new nurse onboard, I'm filling in the days. School started for me again this past Monday. I'm taking 9 credit hours again but they're split 3/6 over the semester...three credit hours the first half makes life much more reasonable!
John will be running the Air Force Marathon in a few weeks. It falls on the anniversary of his accident which makes it impossible to pass up. I'm excited for him but he has recently relieved my mind by promising that this is his last full marathon. He's not getting any younger and his knee gives him problems to begin with. Still, make sure you're cheering him on this September 19th! Oh, that's "Talk Like a Pirate" day too!
The return trip from Italy included a quick stop in Hamilton. The main reason being that I had become the great aunt to a perfect little baby boy! Nolan is the most precious and beloved son of my darling Nicholas and his beautiful wife Natasha. Am I gushing? Heck ya!
The remainder of July and into August was back to work and prepping for the kids to return to school. On August 15th, John and I flew back to Miami with Lisette. Spending the next week setting Lisette up at Florida State University was one of the most depressing time of my life. As with any other dark period, one just plugs on through and tries to look at the bright side. I was happy to at least have the chance to build her her "nest" in her dorm room. It was thrilling to see her bond with her new car - a 2003 VW Beetle (adorable!) although she tried to kill us in it a few times. I'm thinking that was about it as far as a silver lining. Thank goodness for Vonage and Facebook. We're keeping in touch daily. :-)
The other thing we did while back in the States in August was settle things on a house in Georgia. On August 31st, via Power of Attorney, we closed on a lovely lakehouse in Lake Park. The property is right beside John's brother so it makes a perfect getaway place or even a permanent address depending on what happens in our future!
The kids left here in La Paz are both home sick with the flu. John of course thinks it's swine flu but that's John. LOL It doesn't really matter because we don't have access to the blood test to identify it anyway. Supposedly Evo Morales is suffering from the flu and his doc put him on Tamiflu (what we have available for our H1N1 flu patients). Interestingly, Tamiflu can cause some psychotic reactions...no, I won't go anywhere with that. Ha!
So now I'm working full-time and still loving it. Technically, I'm supposed to be working four days a week but until we have the new nurse onboard, I'm filling in the days. School started for me again this past Monday. I'm taking 9 credit hours again but they're split 3/6 over the semester...three credit hours the first half makes life much more reasonable!
John will be running the Air Force Marathon in a few weeks. It falls on the anniversary of his accident which makes it impossible to pass up. I'm excited for him but he has recently relieved my mind by promising that this is his last full marathon. He's not getting any younger and his knee gives him problems to begin with. Still, make sure you're cheering him on this September 19th! Oh, that's "Talk Like a Pirate" day too!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Back Home
Well, the original idea was to keep a running diary of our trip to Italy. The largest obstacle to that goal was lack of Internet access at many of the places we stayed.
Our trip was fabulous. Definitely what we all needed. John grew a beard (sort of) which I loved, surprising because I'm not a big fan of facial hair. He looked so relaxed in it though! I got a really good tan for the first time in probably 20 years! The kids got along great considering they were squished in the back seat of a medium sized station wagon for too many hours at a time. Thankfully, they often had the opportunity to get away from each when it was absolutely necessary.
Our favourite stay was outside of Assisi. It was incredibly beautiful, peaceful and we went and saw so much!
Here's the Italy vacation in a nutshell ~
June 16th - arrive in Rome, drive to Naples
June 17th - visited the Cuma ruins
June 18th - Pompei!
June 19th - chill day, saw "Up" at Naval base
June 20th - moved down to Amalfi coast house
June 21st - chilled at Amalfi house
June 22nd - drove down the Amalfi coast, sightseeing day
June 23rd - chilled and sunbathed
June 24th - harrowing scooter ride to Vietri!
June 25th - kidnapped Lisette and John to Sorrento
June 26th - crazy day on the Meditteranean in a rented motorboat
June 27th - drove all the way up to Umbria house
June 28th - medieval fair in medieval village
June 29th - Assisi
June 30th - Lisette and I hit Deruta for ceramics
July 1st - Sienna and the "Il Palio" time trial
July 2nd - Pisa and Florence (warning - don't try to do both in one day!)
July 3rd - chilling, sunbathing, laundry and repacking
July 4th - return to Naples, fireworks at Carney Park, John loses work cell (Yeah!)
July 5th - chill, chill, chill
July 6th - drive to Taormina, Sicily
July 7th - Greek ruins, Taormina
July 8th - return to Rome, dealt with gas strike and our pseudo 21st anniversary!
July 9th - Rome, beautiful Rome
July 10th - flight from Rome to Buffalo
It was awesome.
Our trip was fabulous. Definitely what we all needed. John grew a beard (sort of) which I loved, surprising because I'm not a big fan of facial hair. He looked so relaxed in it though! I got a really good tan for the first time in probably 20 years! The kids got along great considering they were squished in the back seat of a medium sized station wagon for too many hours at a time. Thankfully, they often had the opportunity to get away from each when it was absolutely necessary.
Our favourite stay was outside of Assisi. It was incredibly beautiful, peaceful and we went and saw so much!
Here's the Italy vacation in a nutshell ~
June 16th - arrive in Rome, drive to Naples
June 17th - visited the Cuma ruins
June 18th - Pompei!
June 19th - chill day, saw "Up" at Naval base
June 20th - moved down to Amalfi coast house
June 21st - chilled at Amalfi house
June 22nd - drove down the Amalfi coast, sightseeing day
June 23rd - chilled and sunbathed
June 24th - harrowing scooter ride to Vietri!
June 25th - kidnapped Lisette and John to Sorrento
June 26th - crazy day on the Meditteranean in a rented motorboat
June 27th - drove all the way up to Umbria house
June 28th - medieval fair in medieval village
June 29th - Assisi
June 30th - Lisette and I hit Deruta for ceramics
July 1st - Sienna and the "Il Palio" time trial
July 2nd - Pisa and Florence (warning - don't try to do both in one day!)
July 3rd - chilling, sunbathing, laundry and repacking
July 4th - return to Naples, fireworks at Carney Park, John loses work cell (Yeah!)
July 5th - chill, chill, chill
July 6th - drive to Taormina, Sicily
July 7th - Greek ruins, Taormina
July 8th - return to Rome, dealt with gas strike and our pseudo 21st anniversary!
July 9th - Rome, beautiful Rome
July 10th - flight from Rome to Buffalo
It was awesome.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The Amalfi Coast
Today was a blast! The girls and I went on a scooter ride down the Amalfi Coast to Vietri. Nicole clung to me like the little monkey she can be and Lisette followed beautifully on her pink scooter like the goddess she can be. It was a long ride, over an hour, but we arrived unscathed...John's heart could rest awhile while we shopped. Besides, the view was worth his angina. :-)
The bad news from Vietri - the shop where I bought all my dishes seven years ago was closed while the owners on vacation! AHHHH! Bad timing! Oh, well, I found some other things I wanted. Just have to come back I suppose!
The ride back was a little more interesting. Lisette got bitten by something but kept the scooter under control. She's got about six bites on her back and she was near tears, poor baby! We arrived in the town of Amalfi just in time. The threatening clouds simply burst for about an hour. We had a snack and then did a tiny bit of shopping (honest, John!) and stayed dry. Nicole bought a towel for our scooter seats and we got back on the road.
We pulled in with about five minutes to spare, the scooters were due back at six. Whew! It was a beautiful and fun day!
One other close call, I had talked to Nicole about leaning into a curve with me...we were approaching a turn and I had my eye on a van that was approaching from the other direction. Unfortunately, I wasn't watching the turn close enough and almost hit the wall. While I was saying, "#%$#&^!!!" in my head, Nicole told me later she was just screaming "LEAN!" in hers. LOL
The bad news from Vietri - the shop where I bought all my dishes seven years ago was closed while the owners on vacation! AHHHH! Bad timing! Oh, well, I found some other things I wanted. Just have to come back I suppose!
The ride back was a little more interesting. Lisette got bitten by something but kept the scooter under control. She's got about six bites on her back and she was near tears, poor baby! We arrived in the town of Amalfi just in time. The threatening clouds simply burst for about an hour. We had a snack and then did a tiny bit of shopping (honest, John!) and stayed dry. Nicole bought a towel for our scooter seats and we got back on the road.
We pulled in with about five minutes to spare, the scooters were due back at six. Whew! It was a beautiful and fun day!
One other close call, I had talked to Nicole about leaning into a curve with me...we were approaching a turn and I had my eye on a van that was approaching from the other direction. Unfortunately, I wasn't watching the turn close enough and almost hit the wall. While I was saying, "#%$#&^!!!" in my head, Nicole told me later she was just screaming "LEAN!" in hers. LOL
Friday, June 19, 2009
Pompei is Simply Incredible
I finally went. After living in Naples for two years, I kept missing the opportunity to go or just put it off too many times. Now I can't wait to go back again. My family is tired of me saying "that was so awesome!" It was though. We spent about three hours there and I could have stayed for three days. I know people had said how big it was but I just never imagined it was THAT big. Wow.
That was yesterday. We moved into a new hotel, just slightly more expensive but tons nicer. Then we had lunch at the new hotel. It was delicious but brutally expensive. Off to Pompei after lunch at Lisette's urging. We're all still fighting the time change so not much energy. I'm so glad we went!
Dinner last night was at an old haunt. It was closed on Wednesday and we were worried it wasn't still running. It was and the same waiter was there too! The food was incredible - just like we remembered. The name of the place was Cerberos - it's on a hill overlooking the bay of Naples...we watched the sunset. Sigh.
Today we were up a little earlier. We had a day planned around the Navy base. John was the only one who hadn't seen "Up" so we went to see that. Then we bought some groceries before heading to Carney Park (the US sports complex) where John, Nicole and Jake went to the pool (Lisette had stayed at the hotel when we dropped off groceries) and I went to the Laundromat. Not too exotic but necessary! :-)
We grabbed some pizza at Carney Park for dinner then when all the clothes were dry, we came back here to the hotel. I submitted my final essay for my English Composition II class. Not sure if I'll make an A on this class - too much going on this last month.
Tomorrow's going to be a busy day. Maybe we'll finally be up in time for breakfast here. We should - it's free and food has gotten expensive here!!! It's still worth it though! Ha!
That was yesterday. We moved into a new hotel, just slightly more expensive but tons nicer. Then we had lunch at the new hotel. It was delicious but brutally expensive. Off to Pompei after lunch at Lisette's urging. We're all still fighting the time change so not much energy. I'm so glad we went!
Dinner last night was at an old haunt. It was closed on Wednesday and we were worried it wasn't still running. It was and the same waiter was there too! The food was incredible - just like we remembered. The name of the place was Cerberos - it's on a hill overlooking the bay of Naples...we watched the sunset. Sigh.
Today we were up a little earlier. We had a day planned around the Navy base. John was the only one who hadn't seen "Up" so we went to see that. Then we bought some groceries before heading to Carney Park (the US sports complex) where John, Nicole and Jake went to the pool (Lisette had stayed at the hotel when we dropped off groceries) and I went to the Laundromat. Not too exotic but necessary! :-)
We grabbed some pizza at Carney Park for dinner then when all the clothes were dry, we came back here to the hotel. I submitted my final essay for my English Composition II class. Not sure if I'll make an A on this class - too much going on this last month.
Tomorrow's going to be a busy day. Maybe we'll finally be up in time for breakfast here. We should - it's free and food has gotten expensive here!!! It's still worth it though! Ha!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Bella Napoli
Wow! It's been forever since I blogged - I had a hard time remembering my login info!
We're in ITALY! Staying in a less than ideal hotel but moving to a beautiful place tomorrow. We arrived on Tuesday morning (yesterday) and fought to stay awake all day. We drove by a few places from times past then visited the Navy base to pick up some "essentials"...funny how we actually spent time on an American base while here in Naples but we miss that kind of stuff too!
Jake was especially miserable yesterday but woke up all smiles this morning. A good night sleep does wonders. Meanwhile I froze last night and woke up with a nasty sore throat. Much better by mid-day.
We went to the Cuma ruins today. It's my favourite place in the Naples area. We took some pictures of the kids posed the same way/same place as in 2002. My camera battery is dead so I'll post pics when I can. The Cuma ruins is a former Greek altar to Apollo. There's also Sybil's cave there...I need to look that lady up, Lisette knew all about her. Smart girl.
We tried to go to three different restaurants that were our faves when we lived here. None of them were still there. Sad, this place is a ghost-town in some areas. I guess the recession has been hitting here pretty hard. We ended up having dinner near our old house, in a restaurant that was there but we only used to pick up pizza there. It was a delicious dinner! I just hope we all don't weigh a thousand pounds before we leave!!
I'll try to keep up the blog while I'm here. Ciao!
We're in ITALY! Staying in a less than ideal hotel but moving to a beautiful place tomorrow. We arrived on Tuesday morning (yesterday) and fought to stay awake all day. We drove by a few places from times past then visited the Navy base to pick up some "essentials"...funny how we actually spent time on an American base while here in Naples but we miss that kind of stuff too!
Jake was especially miserable yesterday but woke up all smiles this morning. A good night sleep does wonders. Meanwhile I froze last night and woke up with a nasty sore throat. Much better by mid-day.
We went to the Cuma ruins today. It's my favourite place in the Naples area. We took some pictures of the kids posed the same way/same place as in 2002. My camera battery is dead so I'll post pics when I can. The Cuma ruins is a former Greek altar to Apollo. There's also Sybil's cave there...I need to look that lady up, Lisette knew all about her. Smart girl.
We tried to go to three different restaurants that were our faves when we lived here. None of them were still there. Sad, this place is a ghost-town in some areas. I guess the recession has been hitting here pretty hard. We ended up having dinner near our old house, in a restaurant that was there but we only used to pick up pizza there. It was a delicious dinner! I just hope we all don't weigh a thousand pounds before we leave!!
I'll try to keep up the blog while I'm here. Ciao!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Funnish Weekend
It's been another busy few weeks and my work hours are about to increase as the wonderful nurse who normally works the full-time position is leaving! AHHHHH! So I'll fill in the gaps a bit until we hire another RN.
Friday I worked in the morning then taught a CPR class in the afternoon at USAID, their building is a little closer to home than the Embassy. It was a long day though and our finale was Lisette's final chorus concert in high school. :-(
Yesterday morning was the Book Club meeting here at our house. It was fun, though I read the book years ago and never got around to skimming over it before the meeting. I wasn't much help during the discussion! The ladies did manage to talk John and I into attending a ball last night. We'd deftly avoided buying tickets but we were invited to sit at the "fun" table so we bought some excess tickets and went.
Diana and Holly took me with them to the beauty salon for a pedicure and hair styling...that was fun! Then I had to get home and figure out what to wear. John helped me decide. The dinner was yummy, we rubbed elbows with lots of Ambassadors and even ran into a few fellow Attaches and their spouses. The dancing was good, funny how the whole world knows the dance for "YMCA"! I bid on a painting at their short but mostly ugly auction but was outbid. Whew! ?-)
We got home around 12:30 and had some drinks with our table buddies before they headed home and we crashed. Altogether a nice evening!
Friday I worked in the morning then taught a CPR class in the afternoon at USAID, their building is a little closer to home than the Embassy. It was a long day though and our finale was Lisette's final chorus concert in high school. :-(
Yesterday morning was the Book Club meeting here at our house. It was fun, though I read the book years ago and never got around to skimming over it before the meeting. I wasn't much help during the discussion! The ladies did manage to talk John and I into attending a ball last night. We'd deftly avoided buying tickets but we were invited to sit at the "fun" table so we bought some excess tickets and went.
Diana and Holly took me with them to the beauty salon for a pedicure and hair styling...that was fun! Then I had to get home and figure out what to wear. John helped me decide. The dinner was yummy, we rubbed elbows with lots of Ambassadors and even ran into a few fellow Attaches and their spouses. The dancing was good, funny how the whole world knows the dance for "YMCA"! I bid on a painting at their short but mostly ugly auction but was outbid. Whew! ?-)
We got home around 12:30 and had some drinks with our table buddies before they headed home and we crashed. Altogether a nice evening!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Ah, The Joys of Motherhood
Lisette was up barfing all night. She went running before dinner, watched part of the third Lord of the Rings movie with us for a bit then complained her stomach hurt and she was going to bed. Shortly thereafter the vomiting began. I curled up beside her for awhile last night, worried about who will look after her when she's sick next year at university. John said she just isn't allowed to get sick there. As she has a fever now, it's doubtful that it was simply something she ate. Bummer, viruses are contagious. Wonder how long it will be until one of us is puking too.
She's still in bed with a big bowl and a glass of ginger ale beside her. Poor baby.
On another front, I am utterly shocked that John hasn't spilled the beans on our trip this summer. He keeps saying these leading questions in front of the kids, I'm ready to pop him one. Then he just looks at me all, "oops" and I just have to shake my head in wonder. Just over a month to go - cannot wait to get out of here!!!
Former President Jimmy Carter came to visit last week. He hung out with Morales and promised to go picking coca leaves with him next time he's here. Seriously. Then, the day after Mr. Carter leaves, Morales is calling for "muerte yanqui" in front of a crowd of cocaleros (coca growers). For non-Spanish speakers, "muerte yanqui" means "death to the yankee". Nice, huh? This is his usual comment so no reason for alarm, just interesting how he speaks out of both sides of his mouth constantly!
Okay, enough venting. It is another gorgeous day here. I opened Lisette's window to let her get some fresh air. The sun is shining and it perfectly warm in the sunshine and nicely cool in the shade. The gardener is here keeping our yard simply stunning. This is the nicest house we've ever lived in. We're all enjoying our home and our friends, the kids are happy (even barfy girl other than at this moment! Ha!) and I'm so getting used to be pampered by our maid and cook. Yup, those are the things that will be hard to give up.
She's still in bed with a big bowl and a glass of ginger ale beside her. Poor baby.
On another front, I am utterly shocked that John hasn't spilled the beans on our trip this summer. He keeps saying these leading questions in front of the kids, I'm ready to pop him one. Then he just looks at me all, "oops" and I just have to shake my head in wonder. Just over a month to go - cannot wait to get out of here!!!
Former President Jimmy Carter came to visit last week. He hung out with Morales and promised to go picking coca leaves with him next time he's here. Seriously. Then, the day after Mr. Carter leaves, Morales is calling for "muerte yanqui" in front of a crowd of cocaleros (coca growers). For non-Spanish speakers, "muerte yanqui" means "death to the yankee". Nice, huh? This is his usual comment so no reason for alarm, just interesting how he speaks out of both sides of his mouth constantly!
Okay, enough venting. It is another gorgeous day here. I opened Lisette's window to let her get some fresh air. The sun is shining and it perfectly warm in the sunshine and nicely cool in the shade. The gardener is here keeping our yard simply stunning. This is the nicest house we've ever lived in. We're all enjoying our home and our friends, the kids are happy (even barfy girl other than at this moment! Ha!) and I'm so getting used to be pampered by our maid and cook. Yup, those are the things that will be hard to give up.
Friday, May 1, 2009
April
April was a highly stressful month around here. The first half was rather mellow, I got to travel to Santa Cruz and teach CPR in Spanish, there was Lisette's Senior Trip and Spring Break where we just relaxed. Preparing for the Hippie Party on the 18th was mostly fun but a little stressful.
From about 2:30AM after the party, the entire month took a turn for the worst. The party was so great, it probably made what happened after that seem that much worse.
It's a long story, but John's driver Felix got jumped by a bunch of teenage boys that night. They never did catch him (fast guy!) but they chased him both on foot and by car. It was very scary. It comes down to these kids being rich, Bolivian brats who have basically been buying themselves out of trouble but now they've taken on a U.S. Embassy employee who has the backing of our government. Two of the boys go to our kids' school. It's been an interesting and mostly disgusting process to watch as it's progressed. John's been dragged into it but his stance has been simply to support Felix in whatever he chooses to do.
Then there's the killings in Santa Cruz of the supposed "terrorists". Watching this Bolivian government's response to what they've done has been amusing at best and horrifying as well. The Embassy has increased its alertness to potential civil unrest but again, the Bolivians are generally such a peaceful people we certainly hope that the situation remains isolated. Unfortunately, with this happening right after what happened to Felix, I had an antiBolivia week or two.
On the brighter side of life, the High School had its Talent Show last week and their Theatre production last night. Lisette shone in both, winning third place for her singing routine in the Talent Show and having us roaring with laughter during her skits last evening. I'll post a picture of her Talent Show performance. The man in the picture will be her principal, Mr. Kirby. It was awesome!
Here's to a peaceful and happy May!
From about 2:30AM after the party, the entire month took a turn for the worst. The party was so great, it probably made what happened after that seem that much worse.
It's a long story, but John's driver Felix got jumped by a bunch of teenage boys that night. They never did catch him (fast guy!) but they chased him both on foot and by car. It was very scary. It comes down to these kids being rich, Bolivian brats who have basically been buying themselves out of trouble but now they've taken on a U.S. Embassy employee who has the backing of our government. Two of the boys go to our kids' school. It's been an interesting and mostly disgusting process to watch as it's progressed. John's been dragged into it but his stance has been simply to support Felix in whatever he chooses to do.
Then there's the killings in Santa Cruz of the supposed "terrorists". Watching this Bolivian government's response to what they've done has been amusing at best and horrifying as well. The Embassy has increased its alertness to potential civil unrest but again, the Bolivians are generally such a peaceful people we certainly hope that the situation remains isolated. Unfortunately, with this happening right after what happened to Felix, I had an antiBolivia week or two.
On the brighter side of life, the High School had its Talent Show last week and their Theatre production last night. Lisette shone in both, winning third place for her singing routine in the Talent Show and having us roaring with laughter during her skits last evening. I'll post a picture of her Talent Show performance. The man in the picture will be her principal, Mr. Kirby. It was awesome!
Here's to a peaceful and happy May!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Being a Hippie is So Groovy!
The party was last Saturday. It was awesome! Thanks to Cuqui who planted the idea with her own Christmas/Groovy party. Everything went off without a hitch and I had a blast. The food was great, the drinks were great, the costumes were fabulous, the band was amazing. And on and on. It seems that everyone had a super time, most comments touched on it being the best party anyone had been to since arriving here. Wahoo. I was so busy having a good time, it was hard to notice anyone not having a blast. Even the teenagers seemed to have enjoyed themselves. One of the personal highlights for me, was having the crowd sing "Happy Birthday" to me in English, then Spanish, and then in Portuguese. Great, great people!
The party started at 8 and went until about 2:30ish. The food outlasted the guests and at the end, I had my feet up sitting cross ways on a plush chair right beside the bar. That's the life!
Don't miss the pictures on my Facebook page!
The party started at 8 and went until about 2:30ish. The food outlasted the guests and at the end, I had my feet up sitting cross ways on a plush chair right beside the bar. That's the life!
Don't miss the pictures on my Facebook page!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Social Week
It's been a busy week and it's only getting busier. I can't believe Easter was just this past Sunday!
Tuesday, John and I hosted the General Membership Tea for ABIA (American British International Association). Luckily, we only provided the location, dishes and wine glasses to the affair, the wine and cheese came from the association. It was quite successful by all accounts, we had around 50 people show.
Yesterday was Chem Exam day. Finished and handed in! Then I edited my final English essay and handed that in too. John was home most of the day, he has a cellulitis infection on his nose! It was yucky but after a few days of antibiotics, he's much better. Let me tell you, you get some strange infections up here!
I worked today but have a dinner to go to this evening. Tomorrow is work around the house day, I need to get caught up on a bunch of errands. More social events to attend this weekend, maybe I can sleep in on Sunday though!!
Tuesday, John and I hosted the General Membership Tea for ABIA (American British International Association). Luckily, we only provided the location, dishes and wine glasses to the affair, the wine and cheese came from the association. It was quite successful by all accounts, we had around 50 people show.
Yesterday was Chem Exam day. Finished and handed in! Then I edited my final English essay and handed that in too. John was home most of the day, he has a cellulitis infection on his nose! It was yucky but after a few days of antibiotics, he's much better. Let me tell you, you get some strange infections up here!
I worked today but have a dinner to go to this evening. Tomorrow is work around the house day, I need to get caught up on a bunch of errands. More social events to attend this weekend, maybe I can sleep in on Sunday though!!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Happy Easter!!
Lisette is home, we had a houseful of people for Easter lunch and I was able to drink Diet Coke for the first time in 40 days! Yeah!
No pictures, I'm not sure where my camera is. Last time I saw it, it was going into Nicole's purse. Hmmmm.
Everyone slept in this morning. Well, the Easter Bunny was up early but then she went back to bed for an hour or so. I did suffer from some "Evo's Revenge" this morning but a few Pepto-Bismol's helped. Nothing was getting between me and my Diet Coke anyway!
I finished my English essay rough draft tonight so now I just have to wait for some critiquing from my fellow students, hand in the final draft by the end of the week and I'm done English I!! I have a Chemistry exam to complete by Thursday but I got a 96 on my prep test so hopefully the exam will go smoothly. After that, I'm done Chem!! If all goes well, I'll have an A in all my classes this term. Yeah me! :-)
No pictures, I'm not sure where my camera is. Last time I saw it, it was going into Nicole's purse. Hmmmm.
Everyone slept in this morning. Well, the Easter Bunny was up early but then she went back to bed for an hour or so. I did suffer from some "Evo's Revenge" this morning but a few Pepto-Bismol's helped. Nothing was getting between me and my Diet Coke anyway!
I finished my English essay rough draft tonight so now I just have to wait for some critiquing from my fellow students, hand in the final draft by the end of the week and I'm done English I!! I have a Chemistry exam to complete by Thursday but I got a 96 on my prep test so hopefully the exam will go smoothly. After that, I'm done Chem!! If all goes well, I'll have an A in all my classes this term. Yeah me! :-)
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Spring Break
I've heard from Lisette twice. Once was for money. Hmmm. A sign of things to come, perhaps? :-) Sounds like she's having a blast in Cordoba.
Jake has been spending way too many hours playing the Wii. John and I just tried out Guitar Hero (my first shot at it) and we suck...like, really bad. It is fun though, except for the part when Jake is trying to help. He's not helping.
Nicole and I went out for lunch today. I drove us down by the Embassy to the one and only Subway. Other than Burger King, it's the only North American restaurant in town, actually, in the country. Not even McDonalds though rumour has it there will be a McD's in Santa Cruz by summer. Subway was yummy, nice fresh bread but somehow it just didn't taste the same. Oh well.
I'm almost done this semester of classes and still contemplating if I'm going to squish in my last English class before our summer trip. Probably should. Chem has been brutal this last month but I managed to get in the last paper 15 minutes before it was due today. I actually completed it yesterday but had to put it into a document to send it to my professors. That took forever! One more exam and I'm done Chem, one more essay and I'm done Eng I. The countdown begins!
Tomorrow I'm hoping to drag my lazy family out for a Good Friday hike in the tradition of my side of the family! Since both the kids were finally up at 1 today (I was too busy with Chem to kick them out of bed earlier) - it could be quite a feat to get them moving tomorrow.
Hope your Good Friday is...well, good!!
Jake has been spending way too many hours playing the Wii. John and I just tried out Guitar Hero (my first shot at it) and we suck...like, really bad. It is fun though, except for the part when Jake is trying to help. He's not helping.
Nicole and I went out for lunch today. I drove us down by the Embassy to the one and only Subway. Other than Burger King, it's the only North American restaurant in town, actually, in the country. Not even McDonalds though rumour has it there will be a McD's in Santa Cruz by summer. Subway was yummy, nice fresh bread but somehow it just didn't taste the same. Oh well.
I'm almost done this semester of classes and still contemplating if I'm going to squish in my last English class before our summer trip. Probably should. Chem has been brutal this last month but I managed to get in the last paper 15 minutes before it was due today. I actually completed it yesterday but had to put it into a document to send it to my professors. That took forever! One more exam and I'm done Chem, one more essay and I'm done Eng I. The countdown begins!
Tomorrow I'm hoping to drag my lazy family out for a Good Friday hike in the tradition of my side of the family! Since both the kids were finally up at 1 today (I was too busy with Chem to kick them out of bed earlier) - it could be quite a feat to get them moving tomorrow.
Hope your Good Friday is...well, good!!
Monday, April 6, 2009
Two Posts in Two Days!
Wow! That hasn't happened in a long time! :-)
I had a busy day though I didn't really expect to! I woke up at around 8:30, considered sleeping for another 30 minutes then decided to get up and shower. While I was in the shower, I remembered I had an Attache Spouses' Tea to go to at 9:30! Yikes! I made it just in time, thankfully it was close by. Lots of fun and I came home with a birthday gift and a raffle win. Cool!
At home, there were two guys from the Embassy doing the inventory of all our furniture, etc. Jake was here with his two friends still. Their maid ended up spraining her ankle so the boys stayed here for the day - it was a good thing, Jake had a blast.
I studied some Chemistry then headed to the Embassy to go and choose the last of our furniture from the warehouse. That took a couple of hours in total then I dragged John home just before 5. I've been studying Chem since getting home. Jake went home with Christine for a sleepover...same boys! Nicole's waiting for a phone call to go out for dinner with a girlfriend. Lisette emailed me - short but sweet, sounds like she's having fun!
Now, time for Chem class! Talk to you soon!!
I had a busy day though I didn't really expect to! I woke up at around 8:30, considered sleeping for another 30 minutes then decided to get up and shower. While I was in the shower, I remembered I had an Attache Spouses' Tea to go to at 9:30! Yikes! I made it just in time, thankfully it was close by. Lots of fun and I came home with a birthday gift and a raffle win. Cool!
At home, there were two guys from the Embassy doing the inventory of all our furniture, etc. Jake was here with his two friends still. Their maid ended up spraining her ankle so the boys stayed here for the day - it was a good thing, Jake had a blast.
I studied some Chemistry then headed to the Embassy to go and choose the last of our furniture from the warehouse. That took a couple of hours in total then I dragged John home just before 5. I've been studying Chem since getting home. Jake went home with Christine for a sleepover...same boys! Nicole's waiting for a phone call to go out for dinner with a girlfriend. Lisette emailed me - short but sweet, sounds like she's having fun!
Now, time for Chem class! Talk to you soon!!
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