Melted Heart

I have THE best friend. Honestly. THE BEST! BF and I live four hours away from one another and have to muddle through our everyday lives without direct contact (a hug, a shared glass of wine, an in-person giggle) with one another. I know many of you live far away from your BFs as well and you know how hard it is to get through some days without them right by your side.
BF and I manage to stay in close touch with emails each day and with scheduled chats on G*oogle Ch*at. We have made our long distance friendship a work of art over the past 20 years and we are lucky to share something so great.

A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.

The last few weeks have been hard. Mega hard. So hard, that I have spent many nights in tears and in heavy conversations with family and friends. BF knows this and sent something to me today that has made my heart melt all over the place. I came home from a relatively good day at school, to a waiting package in the mail. I ripped that sucker open and could not believe my eyes. About a month ago, BF's mom bought her a sewing machine for her birthday and BF has been busily learning how to make clothes for her daughter and how to make other fun stuff. Last week, BF asked me to send her my waist and hip measurements (30 and 38 respectively in case any of you want to make me something, too) and I started to wonder what she could possibly be making for me. A skirt? Maybe. Capris? Possibly.
My BF knows me much better than I know myself and knows that I treasure sleep more than anything else in the free world. What did she make for me?

THESE!!

Here is what they look like from the back. FUN, no???

And here is how they were packaged. She included the sweetest and most loving note to me.

She is immensely talented and makes such beautiful clothes. I am trying to convince her to start a business selling her wares and I think I may have made some headway when I spoke with her tonight. Check out her blog to see her other cute items.
Each time I wear these beautiful PJs, Tan, I will feel that hug. Shthanks.

Nice Matters

I was looking through some of my favorite blogs today when I was suddenly struck by how much my life has been changed for the better over the past two years. As much as I gripe about the wait for our daughter and as much as I lament that our lives are slipping by, there has been an amazingly incredible bond made with so many friends through blogging. To think that all these people on my sidebar did not exist in my mind before January of 2006! Incredible.
A few people have given me a "Nice Matters" award and I felt tickled each and every time someone nodded my way with an expression of friendship. It is most certainly appreciated. So, a huge thank you to Rhonda, Catherine, Dawn and David for each sending this sweet thought my way.
Now, the general rule is that if one receives the nod, one must reciprocate in giving the award to others who epitomize "Nice" in the blogging community. I will try to avoid re-gifting the award to those who have already received it, but if you get another nod, so be it.

1. High On Craft. This girl is not only the nicest person I know, but she is the shizzle when it comes to crafty goodness. Her wares are amazing and I am always in awe of her creative talent. I just love her!

2. Moggy from My Life Is A Cartoon. I "met" Moggy last year when I first began to blog and have loved getting to know her through her cartoons. I have a feeling that this Texan would do anything for anyone. Her paintings are beautiful...another talented woman!

3. Janet from Tuininga Treasures. This mom of four is not only the sweetest woman around, but she HOME SCHOOLS her brood and manages to maintain such a positive attitude with everything she does.

4. Trace from The Trials and Tribulations of Trace in Adoption La-La-Land and Beyond. I *met* Trace this summer while perusing adoption blogs and she has been such a sweet friend over the past month or so. I love reading about her life and can't wait to see her become a mom.

5. Cavatica from Random Ramblings. This sweet girl is hoping, praying and crossing everything she has with the hope that her referral is in this next batch. With a LID of December 5th, we are all very excited for her.

I truly could go on and on, but I will stop at these five. Go one and check out these fine women and tell 'em K1 sent ya!

Private Blog

We rarely post on the private blog anymore and feel like it should be saved for a time when big things begin to happen for us. This is our home-base now and we rather enjoy the semi-anonymity that the Kayaks' site brings.

In other news, the seven pounds I lost while going through my stomach issues last week will surely be creeping back on after this weekend. K2 has made sure to feed me each time I mention I am hungry and it has basically been a food-fest all weekend long. I hope my tummy continues to tolerate my hunger pangs. So far, so good.

Results

I had the abdominal ultrasound and x-ray, but both came back perfectly normal. No one quite knows what to make of my mysterious illness, but I have a follow-up appointment with my family doctor next week to schedule some more tests. I have been feeling somewhat better over the past couple of days and have been well enough to eat bland things since Thursday evening (without losing it...sorry). Last night, however, was a different story.

Sandra inspired me to go beyond my usual "cereal, toast and rice" repertoire of recipes and bake up something fun for dinner last night. Since my tummy has been on the fritz, I have not felt much like eating and so when the hunger hit last night, K2 and I knew that we had to take full advantage of it. When K2 asked what I wanted to have as my first real meal of the week, I remembered this post
and knew instantly that I had to have it.
Off to the grocery store we went with my little list in hand and with all the hope a potentially catastrophic cook could muster. We bought our wares and headed home to make sense of terms such as "grate", and "baking tray", and the ever so enigmatic "until browned" phrase. I won't lie to you, folks, there were some tense moments, but K2 and I persevered and our reward was sweet. I was able to put away two pieces of this magnificent dish and we have leftovers to last us a few days. It was delicious!

Zucchini Crust

Our toppings included black olives, tomatoes and red onions (with cheese, of course).

Never A Dull Moment

So, I spent the better part of the weekend hunched over in some sort of weird science-fiction-like stupor with pains radiating from my tummy. It began on Saturday afternoon while K2 and I were walking in our local mall. I felt the first pangs of pain, but decided that as soon as I was home I would be fine. And I was...until K2 left for a party that we were both scheduled to attend. I assured him that I was fine and that he should go without me. Reluctantly, he decided to go, but said that he would be back in an hour and a half. No sooner did he leave, did my tummy decide to attack me with all the ferocity of a trapped monkey with a serrated knife. Yes, it was THAT bad. I tried laying on my side, on my back, on the floor, with feet up, on my belly, on my belly with feet outstretched to the side, cocooned tightly in a blanket, spread eagle on the carpet, but nothing worked. I knew I needed some help, but did not want to call K2 at the party. I did not want to be *that* wife who called her husband and demanded he come home in front of his friends. So, I called my parents who gave me swift instructions on what to do for myself. I made it to the medicine cabinet where I quickly downed one of K2's old Prevacids and hoped that he would be home soon. When the Prevacid didn't work, I started to sweat. Finally, K2 arrived and gave me a heating pad and a belly rub. I fell asleep soon after.
On Sunday, I did not have the pains I had the evening before, but I still felt kind of yucky. I was too afraid to eat or drink, so I just hunkered down with a blanket and rested.
Monday, I felt fine. No pain, no malaise, so off to work I went. I had a crappy day at work and came home stressed beyond stressed. I decided to try to eat dinner that night. I had a veggie patty and some peanut butter on a rice cake. At 9:00 those terrible pains came back and this time, they weren't taking any prisoners. The waves of pain mixed with nausea lasted until 2:00 a.m. when K2 decided it was time to head to emergency. As soon as we arrived and they saw my blood pressure, they hooked me up to an IV with saline and gave me a "Pink Lady" with a topical anaesthetic for the pain in my belly. It didn't work. They gave me a dose of an anti-spasmodic through the IV, but that didn't work. Finally, the clouds parted and I saw the light. It was warm, it called to me and sang my name. "Come to me, K1...I will take good care of you", it sang.

D*emerol.
Nurse Wonderful decided that she wasn't going to watch me writhe around on the bed any longer and gave me a dose of something that I have never experienced before.

D*emerol.

Diagnosis: None. I have to have an abdominal X-Ray and abdominal ultrasound on Saturday to see whether it is an ulcer or gallstones. Yay.

I am off work for the week and trying to get my tummy back in order. What I would give just to have a little bit of normal back in my life.
I have been neglecting my friends in blog-land, but I hope to get back to browsing blogs soon.

I will leave you with a picture of my IV site wound. Nurse Wonderful had to slap my hand silly in order to get my veins to pop up. Now, I have quite a bruise. I have to say that the nurses and doctors took such wonderful care of K2 and I in emergency. We could not have asked for better care. Really.

TGIF

...and all over the land, K1's sigh could be heard. TGIF never felt so good as it does tonight.


We have been hemming and hawing about our beautiful tree in the front yard that was showing signs of cracking. Tonight, K2 and I were sitting in the great room listening to the sound of the wind howl and the rain against our windows when we heard a rather large "CRACK". This is what we saw when we looked out our front window. We now have no choice but to chop it down tomorrow. We are still debating what kind of tree to get as its replacement.

These past two weeks have been trying, to say the least (except for the last weekend spent with wonderful friends). I am unhappy in my new position and have been working 17 hour days just trying to keep my head above all the planning and marking in high school. Not to mention the total culture shock of teaching high school students versus the grade eights I have been with for the past 11 years. This morning, I awoke with pains in my tummy and feeling very nauseous (a typical panic reaction that I have lived with nearly all my life) and felt as though I didn't have enough in me to put in another day. I wrangled myself out of bed and managed to get into the shower for a quick minute and then had to lay down on the bed to put my make-up on because I was too lightheaded to stand. Finally, I managed to get dressed and head downstairs to find my keys and leave. I saw, on the stairs, this box:
I wondered if K2 had taken pitty on me and had bought me a gift. When I opened the box, I saw that it was not from K2 at all. Two of my former grade eight students had taken it upon themselves to put this gift on our doorstep last night so that I would find it this morning. Inside was a Toblerone Bar, a pen with my name on it, a candle and candle holder and a beautiful letter written by the girls. It gave me just enough strength to face the day.

The thing is, just yesterday I had read a reflection to my grade 12s about the impact of small acts of kindness. We read a story to this effect and I told them that it doesn't take much to impart a little bit of sunshine into someone's day. Last night, Coral and Jill dropped off this gift. I am still unhappy in my job, but at least I know that my efforts last year did not go to waste.


Click the plus sign to read Coral and Jill's letter.

+/-

Dear K1,
Howdy! Hope all is well. This is Jill and Coral. We adapted well to High School thanks to your excellent teaching!! (*insert me laughing here*)
High school isn't as bad as we thought. It's really fun. We have made new friends. This is Coral and my courses are: Religion, French, Art, Lunch, Math. I've been doing really well and I have been keeping out of trouble. :)
This is Jill and my courses are French, geography, art :( lunch and math. Yah, that's right, I'm in art (oh, no! you know me and my good ol' art skills!). As you probably figured out, me and Coral have the same art, lunch and math period together! And, it may come as a shocker, but math is easy and I seem to be getting most of my questions right! (integers +x-+ fractions + integers).
Me and Jill are good friends now and we are going to visit you and Nycole and Ms. S. sometime. lol. Hopefully on the PA day. By the way! Melissa told me to tell you she says hello. :) Hope you're having fun and your class is good to you! (like we were)
Tell K2 we said hey!
P.S. It's hard not to argue with my teachers and bug them like I did in your class! I will try my hardest not to cry for you as long as you don't cry about missing me! Hopefully everything is smooth sailing with K3 (we will babysit!!). :)
See you soon!
Coral and Jill

A Grateful Heart

Thank you ever so much for all of your heartfelt wishes for my family. My mom is home and doing well with an adjustment in her medications.

It is not so much our friends' help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us.

She had open heart surgery when she was 48 years of age and the medications that she takes to keep her mech*anical val*ve operating well can have a detrimental effect on her blood. She has feeling back on the left side of her body, so this is good.
I was talking to her tonight and told her about all of your wishes and she was very touched. She said that she was going to read them all later tonight and I am sure she will be blown away by the kindness and empathy of my fellow adoption buddies.
Thank you all for leaving a hug in the comments and for keeping us in your thoughts. A special thank you to everyone who sent caring emails and to RMJ for her post on her blog on my mom's behalf.
An even bigger thank you to those of you who threatened wanted to call, but didn't. You will never know the depth of my appreciation.

In other news, this new job is sucking the lifeblood right out of me. When did older kids become so rude? Today I was told (directly to my face and by one of my grade 12 students) that "sh*t" happens" when I warned him about his behavior. Sometimes I wonder if this career of mine is worth the exhaustion and humiliation. Although much of the weekend will be spent marking and planning for next week, I am still grateful that tomorrow is Friday.