What is it about kids?

I love my babies, but why is it that they NEED you at the worst possible times? Like when I'm settling in to finally watch the second to the last episode of Flavor of Love. Yep, my guilty pleasure. So Pumkin was eliminated tonight, then proceeded to spit in New York's face. Ha. I laughed my head off.

Okay, so Melissa had to tell me about her day. She had a substitute teacher who unfairly spent too much time talking and not enough time allowing them to do their homework. Then she went to Morgan's and roller-bladed. She has some rash so I gave her some Benadryl. And that was just about it!

Today is Hillary's boyfriend's birthday. He turns 19. She's 15. I intend to keep them apart as long as possible - thankfully he lives 3 hours away. We've also lectured about the meaning of statutory rape and prison time. Good times.

I really don't have a lot of other thoughts to share tonight, but I haven't posted in so long. Later taters!

Good Tidings

I was right - today is a good day! We had our office awards presented today. I did get the silver award, PLUS I received the "Whale Done!" Award. The winner of this award is chosen by a vote of other agents and is given to someone who has a positive spirit, always willng to help, etc. I do try to share whenever I can with other agents because I think there's enough business for everyone and who they know is different from who I know. I did try to acknowledge some other very fine people who I felt also deserved the award, but I admit I'm pretty pleased to have been selected. ::Blushing::

The staples come out in two hours. Whoosh. Can't wait.

Loving Tomorrow!

Tomorrow should be a good day. Kids go back to school, so routines are back to normal. Melissa gets to stay late for Learning Lab II, a few hours of enhanced learning for gifted kids. I go back to work and it's award day! I get my first "silver" award, formerly the million dollar club. Then I get my 14 staples out at my follow-up doctor appointment. I am THRILLED about that! I don't understand why I didn't get steri-strips.

I've also offered my family dinner out tomorrow. AND I just saw a commercial for Reese's cookies! ha. I'll be sure to post if there is any other good news! Amy's "little things" that make her happy must be spreading. :-)

LMAO

I just can't help but laugh as I listen to Bill O'Reilly trying to downplay the fact that the vice president of the United States SHOT someone. His argument, "How does that affect everyday Americans? It's no one's business." Seems to me that O'Reilly was preaching a whole different line when Bill Clinton peppered Monica Lewinsky's dress. How did THAT affect everyday Americans? I swear the double standards just crack me up.

If O'Reilly were looking for a better spin on behalf of Cheney, he would be stressing that it was an ACCIDENT. But that's the PR person in me - too many years of creating spin for politicians and their organizations! BUT he could gain Cheney a spike in his popularity poll by playing to the sympathy vote. When you look at voting, the sympathy vote is powerful just as the polls add value. The sympathy voters on elections I have watched have given the victory to either the injured or the widow(er) of accidents in which death or great injury happened. One statewide elected official I personally knew won possibly as a result of a plane crash he survived (in which his wife was killed). But he absolutely deserved to be Treasurer - was one of the most talented, interesting, funny people I've had the pleasure to know.

Speaking of politics, here's something I learned today. I was putting together the newsletter for Roy Waldron School and wrote an article on President's Day. Did you know that George Washington's deepest disappointment was the nation divided into two political parties?? Wow. I think President Washington was very wise to see the how the political split could cause havoc even in today's world.

My husband, the love of my life, sent me flowers to the office yesterday. He ordered them two weeks ago after I explained for 20 years how nice it is to get flowers at work. The year he sends them to work and I'm not there! Sheesh.

Not much else going on here. Except I think my 15-year-old has a boyfriend. He lives in Knoxville and is a junior in high school. I told her she could double date, but no date dates until she's 16. It makes me very nervous. This kid knows several of her friends here, so that's how they met. I guess I need to tell her we'll have to meet him before they even go out on a double date.

Evolution or the Missing Link?

I'm home! I'm 100x better than I was this time last night. I usually don't do well when waking from anesthesia, but the relief from the pain was so great that I felt wonderful! So the surgery was a smashing success. I must get on my knees and thank several people in my life today: Anissa for getting me in to see her doctor, Dr. Montemuro for seeing me so quickly, the Nuclear Medicine Department at Stonecrest, and my surgeon Dr. Larsen and his staff. Also thanks to the staff at Stonecrest - how fortunate we are to live in a community with people as professional and compassionate as these.

Anyway, the surgery was the answer to my prayers. I almost feel like I could make it to the bloggers meeting tomorrow if my husband takes me! I could even bring girl scout cookies! :-) I don't know if the drugs will allow me to do so, though, because I am pretty light-headed.

Meanwhile, back to the Evolution vs. Missing Link title of this post. When I got out of surgery, I learned I was growing a new, as yet unidentified organ. The surgeon said neither he nor the other surgeons have ever ever seen anything like it. It was like a second liver was growing. He took detailed pictures of it and it looked pink and healthy. But he did cut it out because obviously it did not belong. I'm either evolving into a new species (ha), will be the missing link for some future version of humankind (ha), or the agent orange plant I used to live next to when my Dad was in the military caused this (the likely answer). It kind of grosses and freaks me out. But on the other hand, I don't care because I am pain free!

Thanks to everyone who called, emailed, and posted. Your happy thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Here's the skinny

It's my gall bladder. My friend Anissa (the nurse) got me in this morning to see the doctor she works with (he's a gut specialist). He ordered the HidaScan which is where they inject nuclear something in my vein, then monitor how my body reacts to it. After this 1 1/2 hour test, I met with a surgeon, Dr. Lawson. He said when people have 35% or less gall bladder function, they recommend surgery. Mine was 5% - I have a dead gall bladder. No wonder it hurts like hell.

So I'm having surgery tomorrow. It's outpatient and they expect me to be non-functioning from three days to two weeks, depending on how stoic I am in my recovery. Ugh. I'm heading to the office shortly to turn over my files to another agent that I love and trust.

So that's the skinny. Wish me luck, say some prayers, do whatever you do to send good karma my way! I'll be back.

Shrug. Don't know cause.

After five hours in the ER yesterday, I'm no closer to knowing why my side hurts. The ER doc said to get to my own doc this week and have her order a HidaScan to check my gall bladder. Unfortunately, my doc can't get me in until next week. I think I'm going to find another doctor.

I got the sweetest note from the HS girl who shadowed me last week. Here's what she said:

I would like to thank you for all you did for me. Without your help I would not I been able to decide if real-estate was for me. You are a great,outgoing and down to earth person I felt very comfortable with you and the other people I met. You are a very talented and loving person and I'm gald you took the time to help educate me in the world of real-estate. I hope to see you in the near future but when I am a real-estate agent. Thank you so much; you made a differnce in my life and I will always remember you for that.

Let me tell you , I nearly cried when I read it. It's such a fantastic feeling to make that kind of positive impact in someone's life.

Gall Bladder, Pancreatitis or Appendix?

"On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being worst, how would you rate your pain?"

EIGHT! OMG. I'm sitting in my office waiting for my husband to get here to take me to the ER. I think this pain is worse than child birth. I was at the model home (karma karma) and had to call the listing agent because I thought I was going to pass our or throw up. It's astonishingly bad.

The good news is that if it's my gall bladder, they can take it out without slicing me open (laproscopic) and I can go home tonight. IF. I haven't even seen a doctor yet, but all my nurse friends and others who've had this described the same pain that's killing me now and they say "gallbladder." I'll keep you posted.

In good news, though, we had our sales meeting this morning and our broker presented the top 10 awards for January. I made #3!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it! I've made it once before over a year ago, and I was #8 then. So I'm pretty psyched. I'm most pleased that I was able to help some very nice people get into homes they love. :-)

Okay, I've got to go throw up now. Bye.

Groundhog Shadow Day

Yesterday (Feb. 2nd) was a lot of fun. A Smyrna HS senior "shadowed" me in my job because she thinks she may want to become a realtor when she graduates. She asked some really good questions and was fully engaged and interested in what a realtor does. I enjoyed it!

I want to formally announce that like Daily Diablogger and her "This is Smyrna" blog, I have set up a site for LaVergne, TN. Please feel welcome to pop-in and add any LaVergne news and events! :-)

Woeful Wednesday

It's really NOT woeful ... I just like alliteration. Where is Wednesday When We Want White Wheels? See how neat that sounds?

I did survive the Girl Scout Lock-In. It was mostly fun, but Saturday was hard after only 2 hours of sleep. And I couldn't sleep. Everyone went out to dinner and to Wal-Mart (yuck) Saturday evening to give me quiet time. What did I do? Sat there awake. Made some mac & cheese (homemade). Did some laundry. It's Wednesday and I'm finally feeling rested. I don't have to be anywhere until 12:30, so I made Hillary ride the bus and went back to bed at 7:45 a.m. That extra hour of sleep before the phone woke me has sure given me that boost I was looking for.

Mom and Dad sold their cabin and 40 acres in Indiana. They just reached the point where they couldn't take care of it, so one of my cousins bought it. I think I'm going to miss the vacation getaway, but it's the right thing for my parents to do. They've taken their money, invested in an annuity, and will be pulling out the interest once a year to go on a vacation. We're planning to go do the drive out west in the summer of 2007. I've started saving already!

I'll try to post tomorrow with news about how the "Job Shadowing" day goes. I've got a senior from Smyrna who will be following me around. We've got some fun things planned! :-)