Work hard...play hard later

Here I am blogging when I should already be sound asleep gearing up for another week at work. I just feel like I was cheated out of a weekend because I ended up working late every day this week and all day Saturday too. Guess that's what happens when you take 2 weeks off for Christmas. But this is a typical Sunday night where I stay up late to try and hang on to the last few minutes of the weekend. I will NOT work on Sundays, which allows me to enjoy the Sabbath day, and also gives me a much needed break. But then I just want more, and hate for it to end.

Nathan is no better. The last semester of the 2-year MBA program at GA Tech is usually the easiest. By then you've got your job lined up and can just coast through classes until graduation. Well, that is the average student anyway. But as we all know, Nathan is not average. He's crazy! We had to come back earlier than originally planned from Christmas in Utah so he could attend a 3-day "Six Sigma" seminar, which will give him the first level of certification. This is a big deal. Bank of America is huge on Six Sigma, so if Nate already has the first level certification he'll be that much more ahead of the pack. That is always his goal--be ahead of the pack.

So after spending three days last weekend in business seminars all day, and then starting the semester this last Monday, he's been going non-stop for 10 days without much of a break. I think he was thankful for church this morning just to break the pattern. I don't know how he does it. On top-of the Six Sigma project he'll be doing this semester, he's taking FIVE classes. Yes, five. He fretted over whether that was a good idea, but couldn't bring himself to drop any because he's interested in them all and this is his last semester. Guess he's trying to take the most advantage of school that he can. On top of all that, as if that's not enough, he's still working 15 hours/week at the Altanta Technology Development Center, and THEN...he decided that he wants to compete in the Purdue University case competition like he did last year. The difference is that this year he is the one who organized the team and is heading all the efforts.

Winning a case competition like this is huge for your resume, so of course he wants it. Schools all across the nation participate. They are all given the case information on Friday and have until Monday to turn it in. That is the first round. The top 10 or so get invited to Purdue for a 2nd round in a month or so. Grand prize is $5,000. But if you don't get grand prize, you get nothing for all your hours and hours of hard work. He was very frustrated with his group last year (LONG story), so he just couldn't pass this up. So here is what I've seen all weekend.

That is the back of Nathan's head while he's sitting at the computer. Insert frantic typing sounds, and there you've got it. So after spending all weekend alone last weekend and loving being able to get all sorts of projects done around the house, this weekend I've tried to keep quiet as a mouse. It's really hard because our computer is in the corner of the living room, which is right next to the kitchen. It's either that or the bedroom. Not much space for me when I need to keep out of the way and stay quiet. So it worked out that I needed to work yesterday and went to the office to get away. Someday I will get to see Nathan's face, and not just the back of his head. Here's to another 5 months!

OMG!!! What in the heck is that!!!!

Last night as I glanced in the mirror after washing my face, I just about lost it. There it was--staring right back at me. At first I thought it was just a glare or weird reflection from the lighting, or maybe some extra shine. But no, it just kept staring at me. Several emotions ran through me in just a matter of seconds ranging from surprise, denial, disregard, fear, anger, disdain, discouragement, and finally self pity. By the time I arrived at self pity, I had already calculated the dwindling number of days left in my blissful 20s...45 to be exact. It continued to stare at me and I just stared right back as I took it between my fingers and did what we all do when we spot a stray...I plucked that gray hair right out and flushed it down the toilet with an air of defiance and triumph. *sigh*

Oldies but Goodies...Friends, that is

On our last day in Utah I was able to catch up with two of my best friends from high school--Mel and Amber. The final missing piece was Shantell, who called us at the last minute to say her purse had been stolen and she wouldn't be able to make it. What a bummer. I think the four of us haven't been together in one room since we graduated, so it would have been a momentus occasion. As it was, three of us were together and we enjoyed walking around Gardner Village (an assortment of boutiques in antique houses), catching up, and sipping some hot chocolate together. Love you guys!

Christmas Memories

We had such a great time in Utah for Christmas. What did we do for 9 days? Well....



A few memorable moments not caught on camera, and sharing of a few others:

Bryt's Christmas Eve birthday dinner: Instead of staying at home for a birthday dinner this year, Bryt decided he wanted us to all go out to celebrate. We wanted to go to Olive Garden, but weren't excited about the 2-hour wait. So over to Chili's we went. We waited about a half hour, and then Liz asked how much we'd pay her to go tell the other large party to hurry up because we were waiting for them to leave before we could be seated. Mom offered her $10. We were all in shock as she walked over and politely told them that they were holding us up just sitting around and talking. Liz, what else will you do for $10? :) We had just ordered when the power went out. It was fun eating our appetizers in the dark! We'll not soon forget that dinner. Happy 27th birthday, Bryt!

Games, games and more games: As is tradition we played a few games during the Christmas holiday--Phase 10, Killer Uno, Rummikub, Wii, and Carcassone (otherwise known in our family as "Carcasses"). Carcassone was a new board game that Chelsey had, which goes to prove that you can teach an old fart new games. Bryt and I loved it and thought we were pretty good until Nathan played once and beat the pants off all of us on his first try. The guys had several Wii tournaments, which the girls didn't need to be present to know they were going on, you could hear them from upstairs. It sounded like a rival football game was on or something--lots of laughing and yelling. I think I would play games until the end of time, and with Bryt and Chelsey always there to egg me on, Nathan thought he'd never see the end of it. Heba, I mean Anna, often rounded out our game-playing team.

"Once there was a snowmound:" There was LOTS of snow for Christmas--nearly 24 inches had fallen. We didn't get to take our annual sledding trip due to Nathan's incapacitation, so I had a small jaunt in the snow in the backyard with Bryt, Liz, Ellie and Cassady. Ellie had wanted for several days to build a snowman. By the time we made it out into the snow, it was unsuitable for snowman making. So instead of making a snowMAN, I decided to make a snowMOUND. Bryt soon joined in the engineering efforts and before long we had ourselves a very nice mound. My camera was on the fritz, so Liz took some great pictures of us playing on the mound, which ended up being a great little sledding hill/ snow slide. Oh, and Ellie did NOT like the snow. Every time she was set down she immediatly wanted to be picked up, and then kept telling us, "I tired. I go inside! I tired. I go inside!" Too cute.

Another cute Ellie story that needs to be written down (btw she'll be 3 in about 10 weeks)...We were playing games in the living room. Ellie was there opening some mini Reeses peanut butter cups. Liz told her she could only have a few, which she promptly shoved in her mouth. She took one more, and told Liz, "I give to Tyler." Tyler was downstairs. As she left we were commenting on how good she shares things, except toys. About a minute later Ellie comes back in the room with the peanut butter cup in her mouth, and over a mouthful says, "Tyler didn't want one." It was funny that she said it with a mouthful, and even funnier when we found out she didn't ever ask Tyler. It seems Ellie has learned the benefits of telling a little white lie. At 2 years old she's too smart for her own good.

The rest of the time was spent sitting around and talking, teasing nieces and nephews, shopping, going to the MFA (thanks, Tweed!), and visiting with friends. I was able to meet up with two of my high school friends whom I've kept in touch with all these years, visit with both set of my grandparents, and go to church with the whole family. Thanks to all our family and friends for making it a memorable time! We miss you already!

Getting Better All the Time

I only have a few minutes to give an update--gotta get to bed. I'll have to resist the urge to write about all that's happened in the last week, and to check your blogs, and all--just the nitty-gritty because I feel so embarrassed about my last blog. I think I learned a hard lesson: never, never, never blog when you're feeling lonely, depressed, overwhelmed, tired, and stressed all at the same time. It' s a little like drunk calling--you end up saying things you'll regret later. TMI!!!
So here's the update...Nathan is doing MUCH better. Stitches came out Friday. Dr. said everything looks great. Nate has been really good about doing exercises and moving his arm as instructed despite the pain, so he has more movement than the doctor expected at this point, which is awesome. He's not taking pain meds any more. He doesn't have to wear a sling unless we go out and his arm will be hanging down for a long time. It starts to ache otherwise. A few times he has "forgotten" he is still recovering and tried to subconsciously use it, or accidentally bumped it and paid the price for hours afterward. Other than that--he's doing GREAT! He'll start physical therapy in January. Right now the home exercise is all he needs until it heals a little more.
So there you have it! Thanks for all your support, phone calls, emails, etc. There are a lot of people from church who follow this blog too, which I did not know, and they offered to help the next day. We are truly loved and blessed and thank you for it.

Surgery Day...A Pain in the Neck (I Mean, Shoulder)

It's been such a long day for both Nathan and me. [Yes, that's correct English--it's not "Nathan and I" in this instance.] It started at 6 o'clock this morning when we woke up to get ready for the big day--surgery day. Nathan had to have his right shoulder operated on. He had a S.L.A.P. tear in his shoulder caused by the mixed martial arts fighting he's done for years as a hobby. This day has been nearly 4 years coming, and he's been dreading it for the last 6 weeks when he found out he'd have to get it done. If he didn't get the surgery he'd be looking at a complete shoulder replacement within a few years. He had to get his professors to allow him to take his final exams one week early, and couldn't go visit his Dad over this Christmas break like he'd wanted to and planned on.

The surgery went well, but in addition to re-attaching the labrum to the bone (with some kind of anchor) in three places, they also had to shave off a bone spur and clean up the cartiledge that had been torn over the last 4 years. The doctor said the cartiledge [am I spelling that right?] was damaged to the extent that is usually seen in senior patients, not a healthy guy in his 30s. Because there was so much to repair, his recovery will be very painful with physical therapy so he won't lose full range of motion from stiffness. It will be 6 months-1 year before he has full use of that arm back, but the short-term worst part of the recovery will only be about 6 weeks.

He slept most of the day once I got him home, but he always has a hard time getting sick from the general anesthesia. The nurse said every fair-skinned, red-headed person she's ever treated has always had a rough time and gotten sick from it. I thought that was interesting. We did at least have some experience 18 months ago when he had knee surgery, and were able to get his pain medication changed to something more gentle.

After both of us not sleeping very well last night and getting only about 5 hours of broken sleep (I think Nathan got 3), it's been a long day. It hit me tonight about 4:45, and I finally took an hour power nap at 6 tonight. I'm anxious for tonight and tomorrow as the pain block they put in his shoulder starts to wear off and we rely solely on the pain pills.

Going through this and other experiences with Nathan (back, knee, etc.), I've come to realize how important it is to have a network of support around for these times. It's so hard for me with just the two of us; two is not enough. I manage ok, but it would be so much better with a little help. Take, for instance, getting out of the car when we got home. It was pouring rain, and I was trying to find the umberrella (I had no idea we were expecting rain and hadn't prepared for it), get Nathan out of the car and up the steps, get him changed and situated in bed, go back out to the car and get all the stuff (ice pack machine he has to use for 48 hours, medication, etc.), and get back inside quickly to prepare something for him to eat so he could take a pain pill. It was hectic and stressful. Would have been nice to have an extra set of hands so I could tend to him and not have to worry about the peripherials. I just didn't know what to expect, and forgot how hard it is. I haven't bugged anyone at church about help, but I probably should have just for today. That is the only network of support we really have here being so far from family and close friends. So thanks for "listening" to me vent about the day, and maybe next time you know someone going through surgery, you can volunteer to lend a helping hand or a listening ear, or go visit them in the ensuing weeks of recovery. I don't know how I'm going to keep him happy and entertained until Christmas. He'll be boxed up in the house all day next week and the next when I'm at work. Poor guy. This really stinks, but I guess it could be worse...I'll be thankful that it's not.

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