Four months since my last post. Life has just gotten in the way.
I won’t go on and on with where I’ve been, but a short, quick synopsis:
Doctor Who convention: Much of the east coast, including Charlotte, experienced a freak snowstorm that resulted in closure of the airport. Charlotte alone got 5-7″ of snow, which is practically blizzard conditions in a town that gets snow once every 10-15 years. As such, CootieBoy and I were not able to fly out to attend Gallifrey One, a Doctor Who convention we had been looking forward to for MONTHs. He was devastated to miss out on his first plane ride, his first time in California and his first Doctor Who convention (we had purchased a photo op with a couple of the celebrities who were going to be there).
Mid-February I had surgery to remove a tumor from my abdomen which was classified as pre-cancerous. Recovery took about six weeks and included infection, WAY too many antiobiotics, and an incision that is still not quite closed. I’ve seen way too many doctors and been poked/prodded entirely too much for my liking. The good news they got everything during the surgery and so I’ll just need to follow up by the end of this year with an MRI to make sure nothing comes back.
Work is going well. My boss is doing great things for the hospital and it’s fun to be along for the ride and see the benefits of what she does behind the scenes and how it impacts patients in a positive way. She is definitely a mover and a shaker and I’m glad I work for her. Having said that, I’ve pretty much transitioned from being a secretary to being a data analyst. I spend 80% of my day in Excel, crunching numbers and creating charts to reflect the results. I’ve warned her that if this keeps up I want a job title change and the raise that comes with being an analyst. *lol*
Denis had knee surgery last week after having it pop out at church about a month ago. He has always had bad knees, and this was the last straw. He ended up having a kneecap relocation and is in excruciating pain. The surgery was originally intended to be solely laparoscopic (sp?), but then they ended up making an incision because they had to tighten up the ligaments around the kneecap. He’ll be on crutches and weight-bearing as tolerated for at least six weeks. Poor guy.
The kids are doing well. Glad that the school year is almost over. The neighborhood pool opens up next weekend (we’re ALL excited about that). CootieGirl turned 11 in April and used her birthday money to buy herself a laptop. My prediction came true: we hardly ever see her anymore at night. She gets home, does her homework and then promptly heads up to her room to play Sims until bedtime, with a break for dinner. CootieBoy is excited that he, too, gets to use his birthday money in August, and also has plans to buy a laptop.
In mid-April I chopped off all my hair. It was down nearly to my lower back and I was tired of it. I’d had longish hair for almost ten years. So I went super short. CB hated it, “Mama – it’s ugly. Put it back the way it was!” and Denis wasn’t too thrilled either. But I LOVE it. I’ve missed having short hair and will probably keep it this way for a very, very long time.
Chilly the Dog is awesome. He’s so much a part of the family now it’s as though we’ve had him a lot longer than six months. We’ve decided he’s much older than 5 years old though – we think he’s closer to 8-9 years old. Denis has said he wants to get another dog and requested a Saint Bernard. I said no way. If we get another dog it’ll be a lap dog. So obviously we have a long way to go to get to compromise. I continue to scour Petfinder waiting until I see a dog that we both like the look of. Haven’t found one yet.
I think that’s about it. We have a lot going on this summer – a week at the beach (Denis’s knee willing – he’s due to be walking by the time we leave), a couple weeks of camp for the kids followed by a week at my parents’ in VA, and Denis is heading to NYC for a guy’s weekend at the end of July. I’ll be spending as much time as possible at the pool this summer.
Hopefully I won’t go 4 months between posts – but don’t hold me to that. š
Here’s some photos for you. in case you made it this far:
