Jennifer Apodaca's Blog, page 107

Friday Five

TGIF!!! Every week is the same thing–I wake up on Monday, blink, and suddenly it’s Friday! Now it’s time to share five random things about our week. Here are mine:

It’s just over two weeks until Middle Son’s wedding! I’m really excited! So…you’re all gonna laugh. I returned dress number 3 and I’m going to wear a dress I already have. I think I’ve worn it once to a publisher cocktail party in a state I don’t even remember. I think it’ll be ok. I just can’t find something I want that fits and is in my budget.
Speaking of budget. Since I’m not buying a dress, I booked a hair appointment to have my hair done in an updo. Then I told Wizard how much it costs.I think he took it well I may change my mind and cancel it, but I can’t hold my arms up long enough to put my own hair up.
Tuesday, I went to lunch and shopping with Biker Witch (my sister). For lunch, we ordered two small plate appetizers to share, then split a piece of key lime cheesecake. So good! Then I found a pair of really cute shoes with a three-inch wedge heel. I very wisely put them back, after all I’m having neck surgery! So what did I do then? I came home and ordered them online. Forty minutes later, I knew that was stupid, so I called to cancel the order (with J.C. Penney) and was told it’s too late, they had already shipped. REALLY???? Color me doubtful. Anyway, I’ll likely be taking those back. Maybe
We went to see Baby Slayer yesterday for a while. Special K tried to go in her office and work while we were there (she’s working on her master’s degree). But every time she hears us exclaim over something Baby Slayer does, she comes running out saying, “What did he do? What did I miss?” She’s such a great mom! She’s doing excellent in school too. And in case anyone wonders, my son, CPA Boy is the best dad ever. He adores both his wife and son, as he should.
This last one some of you many want to skip. One or two people have asked me about this surgery on my neck, and I’ll give you some details here now that I’ve made my decision and am just waiting for a surgical date, most likely late October or November. The procedure is a two-level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF). So they have to go in through the front of my neck, and will make the incision from one side of my neck to the center, Once in there, they will nudge my esophagus and some nerves aside (I gagged the first time I heard this) to make room. Once they get to my spine, they will removed two disks at C4/5 and C5/6, replace those with donor bone, and clean up all the fragments that have migrated out from the degeneration of the two discs. Then they’ll make sure everything lines up as best they can, and put in a plate and screws to hold it together (that’s the fusion), and they’ll close up. It’s going to be a long recovery. I’ll have to wear a collar for two, possibly three months, and it can take a year or more for the bones to fuse (grow) together. This surgery is pretty successful, although I’ll lose some movement in my neck. I can’t turn my neck all the way now, so I’ll probably adjust to that fine. Yes, there are risks, but at this point, I’m willing to try. But now you all know why I tried so hard to avoid this. However, I’m ready to get it done and be able to live and write again. If you want to know more, you can go to YouTube and find animation videos.

Okay that’s my 5 now it’s your turn to share yours! Hope everyone has a great weekend. I plan to try, again, to write because I never give up!

Wednesday Worthy

Yesterday was so busy with life stuff, I barely caught my breath, but I managed to find this guy for Wednesday Worthy:

So what do you think, is he worthy?

Weekend Roundup

Awesome weekend! My niece’s wedding was at sunset against the rolling hills of Temecula Wine Country (in Southern CA).  My niece was beautiful, and both the bride and groom shined with love and graciousness. All three of our sons, their wives/fiances and Baby Slayer went, and I’m so proud that all of them really strive to make these important family occasions. It truly was a fun night, and of course, Baby Slayer was adorable as he was passed around the family and extended family. There was also a little flower girl from the groom’s side of the family who was so cute too. She did a great job of walking down the aisle and dropping rose petals from her basket. I’m guessing she was about three or four, and later that night, she was dancing up a storm on the dance floor. She was totally precious!

And of course Baby Slayer spent the night with us (along with his mom and dad). Baby Slayer was so keyed up he didn’t go to sleep until around midnight, but then he slept straight through until about 7:30 or so. He’s such a good baby! Here’s a pic of him with me right after waking in the morning when he’s mellow and just hangs out for a little while.

This is Baby Slayer with his dad (cut out of the frame cuz it’s all about Baby Slayer which makes CPA Boy pout and say things like, “Remember me, Mom, your first born son?” LOL!!) And look at all that hair on that boy! He’s still a bit young, and way too wiggly, for a haircut.

He smiles and laughs all the time, but I didn’t get any pictures of that, of course. I was too busy playing with him! By the time they went home Sunday afternoon, Wizard and I were toast. I don’t think I can lift my bad arm (from my neck issues), but it’s all worth it! Wizard, CPA Boy and Special K, watched me for the slightest wince of pain–honestly they’re all exhausting because nothing’s going to stop me from playing with Baby Slayer! But I do speak up if something causes hot pain, or I know I can’t lift him at a certain angle, so they need to trust me to tell them On the other hand, family care and be a little protective is a pretty good problem to have in life.

So that was my weekend, how was yours?

I hope everyone in the Florence’s path is okay! That hurr...

I hope everyone in the Florence’s path is okay! That hurricane/storm is looking very serious. If you are able to stop by, it’s Friday and that means it’s time to list five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

I got my nails done for the first time in months yesterday. Only a family wedding would inspire me to do this as it’s uncomfortable for me to sit in that position. But on the upside, Baby Slayer and his parents are coming over to go with us to the wedding, and they’ll stay the night here again!
The spin cycle on my washing machine is acting up. I can use it, I just have to fight with it about 40% of the time to get it to spin. We decided that rather than having it fixed, we’d invest in a new set. This should be easy, right? Bwhahaha! The biggest problem is that we have a smallish laundry room so when we find a set with the features we like, it’s too big. I’ve already paired my desired features down to the bare bones, things like a top loading washer with a laundry softener dispenser (Why would they sell them without one????), and a gas dryer with a door that opens down rather than swings to the side due to space limitations. That’s about it. We found one set online that hit the boxes, I tried ordering it–and it’s on backorder. Why does something so simple turn into a major pain-in-the-butt that eats up hours and hours of our time? I may rethink having my washing machine fixed and hope it hangs in there for a while.
The other day, I came out of the doctor’s office to find a twenty something man trying to open my car door and looking perplexed. He noticed me and said, “Oh, is this your car?” I nodded, and he grinned sheepishly, “I thought it was mine. Sorry.” Then he walked one row over, waved at me and got in a Toyota Camry that looked exactly like mine.  I cracked up in relief–for once it wasn’t me publicly embarrassing myself, and my second thought, of course, was that’s a great Meet Cute scenario for a romantic comedy if I amped it up a little bit
So after seeing two surgeons, and the follow-up consultation with the second one, I’ve decided to have the two level ACD&F surgery. It’s a pretty dramatic surgery, and it was not an easy decision. But I’ve done everything else, so it’s the only chance I have at improved quality of life. If I don’t do anything, the chances for things to get worse are pretty high. Now that I’ve decided, I’d like to get it done this year and move on. Also, I’m going to go into this with a positive attitude and confidence that it will be successful and I’ll have a full recovery.
I think I’m going stop even trying to write, at least through this weekend. Then I’m going to re-evaluate where I am in the book, and in my head, to see if I can find a way to draft the rest of the book before I have surgery. Trust me, I’m the one who’s gotten in my own way on this. Yes the pain and physical limitations are some of it, but I’ve also written an easy six or seven hundred pages (sadly, I’m not exaggerating but I’m trying to be honest), then I keep deleting scenes because nothing is good enough. This is a classic case of getting in my own way!

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear five things about your week! I hope everyone has a safe, good weekend!

Wednesday Worthy

It’s hump day and you know what that means! Here’s our candidate:

So what do you think, is he worthy?

Weekend Roundup

My weekend was unexciting, and I’ll take it. Wizard and I have found a one story house we love. And we liked the area too! Now if only we could find the money to buy the house :-). It’s out of our reach at the moment. Which makes me angry at myself because I can’t work much right now, but that’s just stupid. Yes I get that, really I do. I understand intellectually I can’t control this disk/nerve crap.

My emotions are just a little slower to catch on.

On the other hand, we are danged lucky to have our home with how close that fire came, so we have a lot to be thankful for. We are still getting ash in the pool and tracked into the house every single day as a stark reminder. Plus every morning Maggie and I see the devastation on our walks. So gratefulness trumps our new house envy.

Otherwise, my weekend was trying to work a little, and doing boring stuff.

How was yours?

Friday Five

TGIF!! So…let’s hop right to sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

I’m on dress #3 for the wedding. It arrived Wednesday and I think I’ll keep it. For CPA Boy’s wedding, I literally stumbled on the dress. This one has been more challenging because that’s how life works But I love the color of this dress and it’s comfortable, so I’ll just go with it. Maybe…
Maggie has a small scratch on her inside thigh and I have no idea how she got it. I routinely check it twice a day to make sure it doesn’t morph into an infection. It’s really a small scratch, but it’s in an odd place that could trap dirt and germs, so I’m being vigilant.
A half hour ago I was writing an email to a friend, and for the life of me, I couldn’t think of the word vigilant. But while typing this blog, the word just popped up. But there’s a reason I’m a little off…see #4.
Do you all remember the family member in the hospital a couple of weeks ago. He went back in this week, then yesterday, he had a procedure to determine what was going on. I was at the hospital and we were expecting one answer that would require a second, moderate procedure. But PLOT TWIST! Now he’s likely facing pretty major surgery. But, assuming all goes well (and it will!), once he recovers, it should make him feel much better and we’ll all be able to breathe a huge sigh of relief. So the good news is that after a couple of weeks of being in and out of hospitals without a definitive answer, we now have a clear diagnosis and a plan of action.
Book? What book? The day I’m able to finish this book will be a huge celebration! And that will happen. This next week I’ll do my follow up with the surgeon, make the decision and probably begin the process of getting approval for surgery.

Ok, so that’s my week. Now it’s turn for you to share five thing about YOUR week. Come on, I love reading about your week!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend filled with laughter!

 

Wednesday Worthy

I’m back! I hope everyone had a great weekend and their week got off to a good start!

We had so much fun having Baby Slayer and his parents stay the night. Baby Slayer is a very good 5 1/2 baby. We all went out to breakfast, then introduced Baby Slayer to the Jacuzzi. He loved it! Overall I think we passed phase 1 of our grandparenting test. They will all be spending the night again in two weeks for a family wedding, which may be phase 2 of grandparent testing

Now for our Wednesday Worthy Candidate.

So what do you think, is he worthy?

Friday Five

Happy Friday! Okay let’s jump right into 5 random things about my Friday, and then you can tell me your 5 things.

Last weekend at the shower, my youngest son’s fiance’s mom came (the shower was for middle son’s fiance. Having two sons engaged is very confusing!) She’s a lot of fun and easy to be around. But she was telling me that she had been under the impression that I was “sweet and cute” until she had a pool party at her house. That’s when she saw me jump into the pool, and as she said, “Take the boys down.” By boys, she meant my three sons, and I cracked up. Yeah…I’m not exactly known for being timid. Also the pool has been the only place I can dominate the boys in the last decade
Maggie really needs a bath and I didn’t get her in this week. Now it’s a holiday weekend, so we’ll have to wait until next week.
I’m making broccoli beef for dinner (actually when you read this, it will be last night’s dinner since I wrote this Thursday afternoon).
I had my second opinion on my neck. It was a bit of an ordeal as they sent me to the wrong office. Eventually we were rerouted to the correct office, but it turned into a long day. However, this was the most thorough exam I’ve had. He covered my history, my current symptoms in excruciating detail, did a physical exam, and meticulously went over the MRIs. And the result–he’s making the same recommendation for a two level ACDF (disc removal and fusion) as the first surgeon. He answered every question Wizard and I had. I’ve scheduled some more x-rays, and a follow-up appointment, at which time I’ll make a decision on whether to do the surgery. I’m finally getting over the shock and facing reality. The good news is that we’re getting very consistent advice and recommendations. There’s no perfect answer, all I can do is measure the risks of doing nothing vs doing surgery, and decide what I think has the best chance of allowing me to live the life I want to.
It looks like Baby Slayer and his parents will come out Sunday afternoon or evening and spend the night! I think this might be a little grandparenting test. Do you think Wizard and I will pass?

That’s my Friday 5, not it’s your turn!

**Programming Note: I don’t think I’m going to post on Monday, so I’ll see you all again on Wednesday!

Wednesday Worthy

This might not be the sexiest candidate, but I admire his strength! And he’s making me jealous since I have very little upper body strength these days with my neck problems

So what do you think, is he worthy?