New Job

My most recent gift from God...a new job!!! Things have been so incredibly hectic lately - gall bladder pain then surgery, the holidays, vacation, Paco passing away (another needed blog) that this job thing snuck in between everything and came lightning fast. The night before my gall bladder surgery I received a call from my dear friend Jacklyn who I worked with at DR Horton. A friend of a friend was looking for her replacement as an Administrative Assistant to Dr. Joel Gregory at Joel Gregory Ministries. This was a 25 hour a week position, working from home and doing the exact duties from my last few positions including the one I got laid off from last summer that was also working from home. It was a perfect match so I sent the lady, Sue, my resume to give to Joel. I didn't hear from Joel for a couple of weeks so of course I thought they blew me off like the last few interviews I've had but as it turns out, Joel teaches at Baylor University for 4 days of the week and then travels and preaches the other 3 days of most weeks so needless to say he is a very busy man. Right before we left for vacation to Mexico, I had 2 phone interviews and an in person interview with Joel and he hired me! WOOHOO! This week I trained with Sue (who is a delightful lady) on Wednesday and Thursday and today is my first day on my own. As with any new job, I'm overwhelmed, excited, scared, etc. but I know things will settle down and work themselves out as we go. You can see more about Joel Gregory Ministries at www.gregoryministries.org.

December Trip to Ruidoso

As you know, we took a vacation to Ruidoso, NM from December 11 - 16, 2008. Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Paul have a vacation rental house up there and invited Grampa, Dorris, Dad, Barbara (she wasn't able to come), David, Wyatt and me. Dad went up a couple of days early and the rest of us drove up on Thursday in a little caravan. It had snowed a day or two before we arrived so there was still some snow on the ground when we arrived and it was beautiful! We had such a fun time being all together. David and Paul cooked several dinners for us that were fantastic - steak, spaghetti, etc. and we had an overall great time.
Here is Wyatt's first snowball. He loved throwing them over the rail.

This is the view of Sierra Blanca from the living room and dining room windows.

In Lincoln National Forest while we were Geocaching, I had to take Wyatt's picture on this big log.


The deer were eating the pine needles off the trees David and Paul cut down.

Wyatt on the side/back porch with the deer behind him. The deer were everywhere and I must have taken a million pictures of them.

My little Cowboy! Wyatt in his very first pair of cowboy boots with his first cowboy hat. SO HANDSOME!

My favorite cowboys!

I had more pictures but I can't find them on my computer. I'm hoping that they didn't get deleted! These are the only pictures I could find from our trip.

Doctor Appointment

I got the real scoop yesterday. My puncture wounds are still hurting because I've had a little reaction to the tape they used to keep them closed. No biggie - just a little neosporin to heal. Also, my gall bladder was in BAD shape. A large stone had blocked the entrance/exit so that's what caused my constant and sometimes terrible pain the last week it resided in my body. That was the reason for the ER visit too but they did not see it on the ultrasound. Due to the blockage, there was swelling and spasms - is this too much information? There was also extra scar tissue as a result of this, when he removed my gall bladder, there was a little extra to deal with. All is well now and I will feel better (a little less tired) everyday.

I'll try to post some pics later of Ruidoso and Christmas. Wyatt is being a funny little character these days. He's transformed into a 2 year old - where did my baby go??? - and he's using more words everyday. Last night was his first introduction to the "corner". I think we'll do the corner rather than a "timeout" chair. It's the best place for discipline in this house. Anyway, he finally started saying "Momma" two weeks ago and often shortens it to "MOM!" since it's his most used word. (I waited a long time and I love it!) On Sunday, he started saying, "DaddyMommaDaddyMomma". We were laughing so hard. Now, he's getting tired of our fun. I tried to get it on video but he keeps getting camera shy. I'll have to try again.

What a Crazy Holiday Season

Well, I survived. I had surgery one week ago and all went well. My gall bladder was swollen and there was extra scar tissue they did not expect so that caused a little extra discomfort. I have 3 puncture wounds and a stitched up belly button with a very nasty bruise but that's about it. The soreness of my insides is getting better each day and I'm only using the pain pills at night to sleep.

Good thing we decided to skip our trip to Houston because we had a lovely visit to the emergency room at Irving Baylor on Christmas Morning around 1am. We ad Christmas Eve with our friends next door and I had pretty bad heartburn after. I went home and put Wyatt to bed while David stayed over and played games with them. The more time went by, the worse I was feeling until I finally got "sick". David came home right then to witness that I was getting worse. So, he called the surgeon. The surgeon said to take a pain pill if I had one and see if that helped. If not, he advised us to go to the ER. We waited about 30 minutes and I got sick again with no pain relief so off we went. Thankfully, Rob's brother Greg and his girlfriend Rebecca came over and spent the night so Wyatt could sleep peacefully. We spent about 4 hours in the ER and after the labs, ultrasound and finally pain relief after two tries, we were sent home to wait for the surgery on Tuesday.

After a few hours sleep, David woke up and got Wyatt ready for the day and waited another 2 hours for me to wake up. Then we opened presents, got ready and headed to Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Paul's for Christmas Day with them, Grampa, Dorris, Steve and Tanya. What a long but fun day. As it turns out, it was the ham that did me in so I skipped the Christmas Day ham and ate salad and veggies.

I am now looking forward to a 2009 with better health. In 2008, I broke my ankle and had gall bladder surgery. That is plenty enough drama for me.