Well, today is the 6 month anniversary of Grandpa's passing. I can't say it's really gotten any easier, though. I still think of him everyday. The boys still talk about him, too. (That secretly makes me very happy, as I was afraid they would start to forget him.) After the funeral, we took the remembrance candle, pressed flowers from the arrangements, prayer cards, pictures, and some other trinkets and put them all on a shelf in the middle of one of our china cabinets. It's kind of become like a shrine, but it looks really nice. I sometimes catch Parker or Jackson standing in front of the cabinet, staring at Grandpa's pictures. I don't say anything and try not to interrupt them. It's really sweet, though.
I was able to leave work for a couple of hours this morning so I could go to church, since they were dedicating the mass to Grandpa's memory. It was very nice. My favorite part of this day was going to breakfast with my Gran, Aunt Gayle, and Aunt Kathy. We had a lot of fun and, as always, the conversation was never dull. Gran never ceases to amaze me. She's such a strong woman. If you've never met her, I'm telling you now...you're missing out on one amazing, funny lady. I think the world of her. I don't think I could live without Eric. I'm not exactly sure how Gran does it without Grandpa, but then again, most days it feels like he never really left. I'm sure she still feels surrounded by his love everyday, which probably makes it easier.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
I'm Baaaaack!!!
It's been so long since I've blogged, but I honestly just haven't felt like doing it. Grandpa's passing affected all of us, and with me, it just took away all of my motivation. So much has happened in the last 5 months. The boys have grown like weeds. Grayson is running all over the place, but still not having much to say. Jackson is just as wild as ever. He just started Pre-K, so he's excited about that. Parker just started the 5th Grade. How depressing is that??? In less than a year, he'll be a middle school student. Crazy.
A lot of changes have taken place in our house. After finally being fed up with the state of my health, I cleaned house. I threw out all of the food from the freezer, refrigerator, pantry, cabinets, etc. I went grocery shopping to replace everything with healthier foods. I now find that I spend most of my time in the produce section. All of our breads and pastas have been replaced with 100% whole grains. It's worked wonderfully so far. In 3 weeks, I've lost 9 pounds. Right now, Eric and I are working on saving up for a couple of bikes. We plan on going for a family bike ride every night after dinner. In the meantime, I've found a couple of hip hop dance cardio programs on FitTV. It's a pretty funny sight, seeing Parker dancing with me in the middle of the living room. It's been lots of fun so far. Hopefully we'll keep it up and this will be the new beginning of the rest of our lives.
I was finally able to get some answers on the extreme fatigue and exhaustion I've been dealing with over the last few years. After realizing anti-depressants weren't making me feel any better, I began my journey to the Neurologist, Gastroenterologist, Pulmonologist/Sleep Disorder Specialist, and finally the Otolaryngologist (Ear, Nose, Throat doc). My sleep apnea has only gotten worse, so the Ear, Nose, Throat specialist decided to do Laryngoscopy. The results? He said he could understand why my CPAP machine isn't helping me any, because it would be like trying to force air through a pinhole. I have to have extensive surgery in early January to repair the problems. I have to have my deviated septum corrected, a growth in my nasal passage that has to be removed and biopsied, my tonsils removed, my adenoids removed, and the inferior nasal concha/turbinate has to be filed down. It's probably going to put me out of commission for a couple of weeks, but hopefully I'll have a clear head when it's all said and done.
Eric finally had a sleep study done through my Pulmonary doc. They said he has minor obstructive sleep apnea, but they've decided to do a follow-up sleep study, since his oxygen levels were only at 84% while he was asleep. (I have moderate obstructive sleep apnea, but my oxygen levels are usually around 94%.) It's starting to sound like we're both going to be wearing CPAPs at night. Won't that be a sight!
Other than that, it's pretty much the same old, same old! I really am going to attempt to pick back up on my blogging. Once I get all of my pictures uploaded and organized, I'll blog about our trip out West we just got back from. As Jack would say..."Good times! Goooood times!"
A lot of changes have taken place in our house. After finally being fed up with the state of my health, I cleaned house. I threw out all of the food from the freezer, refrigerator, pantry, cabinets, etc. I went grocery shopping to replace everything with healthier foods. I now find that I spend most of my time in the produce section. All of our breads and pastas have been replaced with 100% whole grains. It's worked wonderfully so far. In 3 weeks, I've lost 9 pounds. Right now, Eric and I are working on saving up for a couple of bikes. We plan on going for a family bike ride every night after dinner. In the meantime, I've found a couple of hip hop dance cardio programs on FitTV. It's a pretty funny sight, seeing Parker dancing with me in the middle of the living room. It's been lots of fun so far. Hopefully we'll keep it up and this will be the new beginning of the rest of our lives.
I was finally able to get some answers on the extreme fatigue and exhaustion I've been dealing with over the last few years. After realizing anti-depressants weren't making me feel any better, I began my journey to the Neurologist, Gastroenterologist, Pulmonologist/Sleep Disorder Specialist, and finally the Otolaryngologist (Ear, Nose, Throat doc). My sleep apnea has only gotten worse, so the Ear, Nose, Throat specialist decided to do Laryngoscopy. The results? He said he could understand why my CPAP machine isn't helping me any, because it would be like trying to force air through a pinhole. I have to have extensive surgery in early January to repair the problems. I have to have my deviated septum corrected, a growth in my nasal passage that has to be removed and biopsied, my tonsils removed, my adenoids removed, and the inferior nasal concha/turbinate has to be filed down. It's probably going to put me out of commission for a couple of weeks, but hopefully I'll have a clear head when it's all said and done.
Eric finally had a sleep study done through my Pulmonary doc. They said he has minor obstructive sleep apnea, but they've decided to do a follow-up sleep study, since his oxygen levels were only at 84% while he was asleep. (I have moderate obstructive sleep apnea, but my oxygen levels are usually around 94%.) It's starting to sound like we're both going to be wearing CPAPs at night. Won't that be a sight!
Other than that, it's pretty much the same old, same old! I really am going to attempt to pick back up on my blogging. Once I get all of my pictures uploaded and organized, I'll blog about our trip out West we just got back from. As Jack would say..."Good times! Goooood times!"
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