Waiting...

This past Monday I saw my doctor and had my foot and ankle rechecked.  Not a lot of progress...  :(  Boo!!!  While he did tell me that I could choose to wear my boot or my tennis shoes, whichever is more comfortable on my foot and ankle, I was disappointed.  I kinda knew that he'd tell me it wasn't healed since I have been having pain even in the boot.  He said I needed an MRI in order to see what was going on.  Maybe some small tears???  Sheesh!

Thursday finally got here and I went to the MRI place.  I was expecting the MRI to be quick and easy.  That's how it always looks on TV.  I soon found out that wasn't going to be the case... 

I learned that the MRI is done using a very strong magnet and it flips the protons in the area of the body it is scanning.  So strong that it literally pulled the technician's earring out of her ear when she got too close to it.  I often wear 2 small bobby pins in my hair and it lifted them up!  Crazy!  But cool...  

I got on the table -  that seemed about 2 inches wide - on my back first.  Talk about uncomfortable! I only had to go into the MRI machine up to my waist.  I marked that I was NOT claustrophobic, but honestly, I think I may be slightly to moderately claustrophobic.  I was very relieved that I didn't have to go all the way in the machine.  This last about 25-30 minutes.  The machine was loud, I was super uncomfortable, and I had to stay as still as possible.  Not easy.  Very soon after we got started I wished I had asked her to turn on the radio.  When I finally got finished with that I had to flip over and do it all over again.  This time I was more comfortable and had the radio on.  It seemed to go by much much faster.  

While I was in there Allison was hanging out in the waiting room.  I later saw a post she made on Facebook that cracked me up.  It read...

"how funm is it to sit in the docters office for a long time and play on ur phone and ipod and listen to a 40 year old lady talk about all the things that are wrong with her and talk about her family while ur mom is getting a mri"

I cracked up later when I saw this on facebook.  I can just see her sitting in the waiting room listening to this conversation.   

A little less than an hour and a half after my appointment time I was finally done!  I was really surprised that it lasted that long!  I hoped to hear my results the next day, but Friday came and went and I am still waiting.    Crossing my fingers that I will hear something tomorrow.  I am anxious to know what the plan will be for getting my ankle and foot to the point that it doesn't hurt after I have been on it for less than 30 minutes.  Cross your fingers I hear tomorrow!

Souvenir Cups, $4 Hot Dogs, and a Hot Bus Ride...

Last week Ally attended the week long "band camp" for her Junior High band.  It wasn't mandatory, but any kiddo that came to practice earned a trip to see the Rangers play on Friday. I had the "opportunity" to chaperone about sixty 7th and 8th graders on this trip.   Talk about an eye opening experience!  haha

We left for Arlington at about 3:30ish.  Besides myself, 60 kiddos, and the band director, there were about 4-5 other parents on the bus.  I found myself a seat at the back of the bus across from another kiddo's mom and dad.  (They were pretty nice people.)  VERY SOON after we were on the bus, I began contemplating driving my own car because it was SO HOT!  I figured that the bus hadn't been on long and that once we got going it would cool off.  Well, that was not the case.  It. never. cooled. off....  By the time we made the 2 1/2 hour trip to the Ballpark I was drenched with sweat.  It felt awful!  Not to mention that I am not 100% sure the bus even had shocks.  It felt like I was riding the Texas Giant roller coaster.  (For those of you that don't know - The Texas Giant is a wooden roller coaster that is an extremely rough ride.  It WILL make you sore after you have taken a spin on it!)  I was so happy when we finally got off the bus. The ride was quite miserable.  

Once in the Ballpark, we trekked up the ramp to the top of the Ballpark.  It was way difficult to get up there wearing my ortho boot, but I did it. Allison held my hand the entire way up.  Not once was she worried about one of her peers seeing her and making fun.  :) Once at the top I saw that there was an elevator that I could have easily ridden to the top if I had only seen it when we got there.  :(  (I did make sure to ride it down though.)

Allison and I found our seats and she was super excited.  I was excited to be there with her.  Her friend Anna sat with us.  Those two girls talked quite a bit and I got so tickled at them.  They had a good time.  :)

During the national anthem about 200 season ticket holders unrolled a huge flag across the field.  It was really touching and beautiful.  This picture really doesn't do it justice, but it makes a really great memory.  

It has been so hot here for what seems like forever.  This is the temp at the stadium around 7:00.  We were in the shade and high enough up in the stands that we got a nice breeze.  Thank God for wind!

While I know that the Rangers played and beat the Toronto Blue Jays 12-2, I can't tell you a lot about the game.  I watched Allison and her friend a majority of the game.  When the crowd cheered, they cheered.  When the crowd booed, they booed.  (When I asked Ally why she was booing all she could say was, "I don't know.  They did something bad?"  Then she giggled.  So did I...)  I met some nice parents there also.    The game ended and we were lucky enough to see the fireworks after the game.  They were spectacular!  I took some pics, but they aren't nearly as pretty as the "real thing".

We finally got back on the hot bus and headed home.  It was another LONG ride.  I could see that the front of the bus, which was full of 7th graders, was pretty quiet.  The back of the bus, where I was sitting drove me CRAZY!!!  The seats in front of me and the other parents were filled with 8th graders that talked incessantly...about everything...even some things that I am sure were pretty inappropriate.  (But had I said something, I think they would have played it off as "innocent" chit chat.  I didn't want to get that started...)

By 12:30 I was itching to get home and apparently Whitney was itching for me to get home too.  I wish I knew how to put of copy of the voicemail she left me on here.  It went something like this:  "Mommy, please hurry and come home.  I'm starting to get worried.  Love you.  Bye..."  (Mike had already told her we would not be home until almost 2:00 am.)  That voicemail is priceless!  I don't think I will ever erase it!

At 1:30 we finally pulled into the Junior High parking lot.  I was so exhausted and hot and glad to be there. I quickly got off the bus, rounded up Ally, and jumped into the Expedition.  We were so tired of being hot we had the A/C on full blast all the way home.

This trip really made me realize just how much my firstborn has grown up.  I have a lot of mixed feelings about that.  On one hand, I am really proud of how independent she has become, but then again, I am sad because I just don't know how much longer she'll want to keep holding my hand.

My Swimmer...

This is Allison at one of her swim meets.  She was resting before her next event.  I have to say that I am VERY PROUD of her!  Her swimming has come quite a long way from her first meet.  Then, she swam a 100 free and it took her over two minutes.  Now, she swims so much faster and her form and strokes are WAY more graceful than when she started.  Her 50 free is just 33 seconds now.   I love going to her swim meets.  :)

This is the start of one of her events.  I think she was swimming the 50 free in this one.  This summer she swam at the CHAMPS meet in Lufkin.  If she place in the top 16 of her age/event she would be eligible for the All Stars meet.  Well, I can say the competition in her age division is FIERCE!!!  She missed the top 16 in the 50 free by just a couple tenths of a second!  The same happened for her 50 backstroke, and she was 17th in her 100 IM.  She was disappointed, but I was still proud.  There were approximately 45 kids competing in these events so placing where she did was pretty good.  Finally, she swam her best event, 50 fly.  Her swim was pretty good, but it took FOREVER to get the results posted!  Right before we left they posted the results and she was 14th overall.  That meant she qualified for the All Star meet!  She was so excited!  So were we!  :)

The All Star meet is the best of the best in the ETSSL (East Texas Summer Swim League).  There are kids from several towns that compete in this league.  This would be her first time at the All Star meet.  The kids were fast and she did a great job keeping up with them.  She wasn't in the top places, but she gave her all and both her dad and I are very proud of what she accomplished.  :)

The summer swim league season is over now and, her practices are a bit less demanding.  Well, unless you are playing sharks and minnows and happen to be a minnow trying to stay away from the shark.  ;)  I am so thankful that she has found something that she loves to do so much.  I look forward to seeing her have many more successes in the future!!!

Hanging with my Whitters...

Today I got to hang out with Whitney.  She and I decided we needed to float in the pool for a bit.  After getting the music going, she and I solved all the problems of the world while we floated - well, except for what sport she wants to play at the moment.  She's jumped around from soccer (her favorite sport) to swimming, and now to gymnastics.  We're still trying to solve this "problem".   It was kinda nice.  :)

After a bit, we got out so we could read while we sunbathed.  I don't think Whitney actually ever read.  She stayed busy setting up an umbrella to sit under and then decided she was hungry.  She made us lunch - peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with twisted Cheeto puffs.  It was the perfect lunch.  :)

Whitney and I don't get enough days like this.    It was nice getting to just be us - no arguing, nothing that had to be done, and no place we had to be.  I loved spending time with her.  I hope we get to do it again real soon!  Love this kid so much!

A New Look...A Birthday...and Fireworks...

I started to post tonight, but when I got to my blog I was like "Ugh"... I just wasn't feeling it.  It wasn't inspiring me.  I needed something summer-y-ish.  I wanted something bright and refreshing.  Found this blog background at The Cutest Blog on the Block.  I really like that site.  There are tons of free backgrounds, banners, and stuff.  I always find something I like on there.  Check them out if you want to "bling" up your blog.  :)

In the past week or so I have been BUSY!  The girls left for church camp on June 27th.  They were gone from that Monday until Thursday the 30th.  While they were gone I decided that it would be fun to redo Allison's room to surprise her.  I worked my tail off!

The first thing I needed to do was remove what remained of the brown paper bags that had been wallpapered to one of her walls.  We had picked at it over the past several months and removed some of the bigger pieces.  BUT, some of it was so stubborn that I thought we'd NEVER get it off.  Luckily, I have a friend that offered to let me borrow her wallpaper steamer. It took nearly an entire day, but that thing worked!  I was so stoked!

After getting that mess off the walls, I started painting.  I cut in around the ceiling, baseboards, doors, and window.  When Mike got home, he helped me get everything else filled in.  Her lime green room seemed to glow, but it looks so much better than before.  The color is bright, but it is just perfect for Ally.  Once the walls were done, the carpet got cleaned and I was ready to get everything back in the room.

The week before camp, I spent time painting her furniture.  I bought it at a garage sale last year and finally got it all painted.  I don't think Mike thought I would actually ever get it done, but I did.  I was determined to get it done.  When we started getting it in her room I really liked how the white contrasted with the lime green walls.  It was pretty exciting!

I spent Thursday getting little things finished and her stuff back in her room.  There are still a few things left to do.  I want to put a shelf along the top of two of her walls and I still need to make her curtains and get them hung up.  The last thing to do is get the last 3 knobs for her vanity.  I bought all they had at Hobby Lobby and I'm waiting on them to get them back in so I can pick them up.

                                                

Allison's face when she saw her room was priceless!  She was so excited!  I was so glad that I did this for her!  Next is Whit's room...if we can ever get rid of some of her stuff so we can see the floor!  lol

Today is my sister's birthday.  When she was little, she truly believed everybody celebrated her birthday because there were always fireworks every year.  I am sure she was disappointed when she learned the truth, but I honestly think she still like to "believe" the fireworks are just for her.  We'll let her believe that if it makes her feel better.  Even at the ripe old age of 34.  :)  Happy birthday to my little sister, Mandy!  I love you and miss you bunches!!!!!

                                                  

Speaking of fireworks... We planned on taking the girls to see the fireworks display tonight.  Well, our plans got derailed due to weather.  It rained for a bit, but what convinced us to stay home was the thunder AND lightning that was flashing in our windows.  We just didn't want to be out in that kind of weather.  So, we watched it on TV.  NBC had a pretty good show.  Allison seemed to enjoy it.  I think Whit was more interested in doing whatever Whit does most of the time - hang out in her room.  I don't think she had as much interest in watching fireworks as Allison.  Neither did Mike. He went to bed about 15-20 minutes into it.  Needless to say, other than a little thunder and lightning, we had a pretty uneventful night.  

Hope the rest of the week is peaceful too.  Goodnight!  Talk to you soon!