Monday, May 23, 2011

Funny Face

My work just handed me over a brand new iPad 2. I just have to pay insurance on it and I can use it as if it were mine. If I leave my job, I have to give it back. In the meantime, It's all mine. I have already downloaded all kinds of apps that I have used with my students. They love it. It captures their attention and holds it. I'm a speech language pathologist...did you know that? Some of you did...but maybe not all of you. I say things like "my students" and people think I am a teacher. Nope. Not this lady. I do love me some teachers, though! Any-hoo, that is neither here nor there.

The iPad 2 has the camera that captures video and still photo and face time (video phone). It's pretty freakin' cool. Dale and I have had the most fun with the photobooth application. Here is the evidence:

Mr and Mrs Alien Face
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Meet the Blockheads
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In other news:
Today was the last Monday of the 2010-2011 school year! We have Memorial day off. Woot! My last day of work before summer vacation is June 3rd! Summer break can not happen any sooner. For various reasons, this has been the most difficult year at my job. Next year will be my 5th year of employment at the school. Pretty solid.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

In Sickness and Health

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From our Hawaiian honeymoon....black sands beach on the Big Island

Today marks our 7th wedding anniversary. Seven years! It feels like our wedding was just a year ago. Let me tell you something, bub...Marrying Dale was the best thing I have ever done.

We went with the traditional Catholic wedding vows that day. "I, _______, take you, ________, for my lawful wife/husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part." I figured, why re-write what has already been written so well? The above words say it all. Right now, we are going through a sample of the "in sickness and health" bit. The surgery I had on my neck back in December turned out to be unsuccessful. For a while, I felt like I was getting better. I think I was just healing from the surgery (which is quite traumatic) and not the actual problem that prompted the surgery. The physical therapy HAS increased my mobility, but has not decreased the pain. The numbness and tingling in my left arm is back as is the stabbing, twisting, cramping pain in the muscles of my neck and shoulder. Very tricky. I am back to the drawing board. I am going to try Rolfing, Yoga, and Swimming this summer.

Yesterday morning, Dale took me to get some steroid injections in my neck. I got two, one in between the epidural space of C4-5 and one in the space between C5-6.
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See, they wrote it on me. There is the bandaid that covers both injection sites.
And there is my birthmark that looks like a hickey. Yup...growing up with that was a real treat.

Once the steroid is injected, it sort of forms a localized ball in the area that the doctor was shooting for. This "ball" can make things worse before it makes them better as it can press on the surrounding nerves before it spreads out. Yeah, it totally made me worse. They say the pain from the injection can last about 3 days. Bad timing to have the shot done the day before your anniversary. I was in bed all day yesterday (doctor's orders) and have been taking it very easy today. Hopefully, I will feel fine like red wine tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed.
In the mean time, Dale has been taking excellent care of me. He is very sweet and I sure am happy to have him. He took his vows seriously. A man of his word, that Dale.

Bonus pics:
These were taken a week ago:

Cooper can tell when my neck hurts. He always crawls up and lays his head right on or around the area that hurts. He has done this since he was a little puppy. The pressure actually makes me feel better.
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Charlie does not know how to do this. Instead, he just jumps on me and tries to lick my face off.
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Oh, Charlie. We love you, but you have poor social skills.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Surprise!!!

If you have never been part of the planning and execution of a surprise party, I suggest you do so. It's quite the rush!

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The lovely blonde that I am nearly squishing to death is my life long friend, Miss Bee. She has recently earned her Master's degree and that's cause for a party. Her boyfriend put together a crack team of party planners to help him put together the surprise party. Here is "the team" at our first meeting:
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I was in charge of the invitations, guest list, and distracting Miss Bee on the morning of her party.
Several e-mails, text messages, and one meeting later, it was time for the big Day. I took Bee out for coffee, and then to Waterloo Records, Lush, and Whole foods. We arrived at her house and she noticed all of the cars on the street. She said something like, "What's going on with all the cars?" I remained quiet. We pulled up to her house and she said "Why is their a balloon on my mailbox?" I stayed silent. Then, she saw her boyfriend waiting for her with the biggest smile on his face:
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She walked up the path and saw these people:
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And these people:
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Here she is:
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Here is the Team:
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See the brunette standing in between Miss Bee and her boyfriend? Well, she was in charge of the decorations and let me tell you, she did one heck of a job!

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Napkin rings with Miss Bee's face on them!

Candy with Miss Bee's face on the wrapper!
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There were also lovely centerpieces and beautiful flowers.

Let's get to the cake:
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Do you get the reference? If not, you were not a girl with a television in the 90's.

Friends help other friends with their tassel before a photo op.
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A few more:
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Her brother declared that Miss Bee was no longer "Miss Bee." No sir, she has a new name. One that came with her degree......
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Congratulations, Bee. You did good.
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Friday, May 13, 2011

The Memorial

My first year at my current job, one of my students passed away. He was medically fragile to begin with and his body just finally gave out. It was very hard on everyone. I remembered crying and asking a veteran co-worker if this kind of thing happened all the time.I work with special needs students and many have disorders that cause various health problems. If it were to happen frequently, I don't know if I could handle it. She said it happens, but not very often. It was either my 2nd or 3rd year that a teacher's aide passed away. That was a total shock. She was young, healthy, and a new mother. She passed away in her sleep. I am still not sure what happened. I heard it might have been a heart defect. Our department pulled together and created a memorial for the two that had passed. Photobucket
I knew about the bench, planters, and rocks (engraved with the names of the deceased) but I did not know about the stepping stones. I was walking up to the bench and something shiny caught my eye. I brushed away the leaves and dirt and found this:
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There were many more....each very unique and special, created by our students.

My favorit part of the memorial is up in the tree:
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Here is a closer look:
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They are flowers made from 3 liter soda bottles. Beautiful!

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Railroad Revival: This One's for the Band Geeks

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Dusty
The concert took place at 4th and Waller in East Austin. Do you want to know what is 4th and Waller? Nothing. Well, there is a big, old, dusty, empty lot next to some railroad tracks and that's it. They had to build a stage specifically for the event. Knowing that there was nothing but a big, old, dusty lot at 4th and Waller helped me select my footwear for the evening. Boots were perfect, but I would have been just fine in tennis shoes. You could tell if a gal had driven in from Dallas for the event by the fact that she was probably wearing her cutest strappy sandals. Sure, they looked cute when she put them on but were soon rendered useless once the dirt and rocks made their way into the space between the bottom of her foot and the sole of the shoe.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway....let's look at some pics!
Remember, my Nikon SLR is being repaired so I had to rely on my Nikon point and shoot. Not bad, but nothing to write home about.
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Mumford and Sons were all that you would want them to be and more. They are energetic, talented, on point, endearing, and genuine.

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They did most of their songs off of Sigh No More and played some new material as well.

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This is not the most flattering picture of myself but I wanted to post it anyway so I could show you what it looks like when I am really enjoying a show. I am smiling, singing along, and dancing. It was great to have Dale and Rachel by my side to enjoy the show right along with me.

A few black and whites:
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The crowd:
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A surprise:
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Marcus Mumford brought The Austin High School Marching band to help out with The Cave (my favorite). That was amazing! The kids on stage were so happy!!!

For the grand finale, every member of all three bands came out on stage and performed This Train is Bound For Glory. Somebody had a garden gnome and raised it high,as he sat on another persons shoulders, for all to see:
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I don't know why that made me so happy and filled with joy, but it did. Yes sir, it did.

All in all, nothing could ruin this concert experience. Not the heat, not the dust, not the rocks, not the port-o-potties (though I did not use one), not the expensive beer, and not even the Dallas gals in their strappy sandals.

Pssssst...I'm just messin' with ya, Dallas gals.