OMG, We're Moving!!!

As of this evening, the carpet will be in the upper dormer/master bedroom of the new house, the lease will be signed, the deposit dropped off, and the moving can commence! Which is really good, since technically we have to be out of our apartment today, LOL. But given the New Years weekend, I'm feeling fairly safe in taking the next few days to move. Of course, it doesn't help any that we spent the night at the ER with Little Pom. He's developed a urinary/bladder infection which is pretty painful. Plus, for some reason, his catheter isn't draining at *all* but all of a sudden he's urinating the conventional way and often! The often part is most likely due to his UTI, but the conventional way part is just plain ole surprising. The ER team flushed his catheter twice, and ultrasounded his bladder to make sure he wasn't retaining fluid. So, all of this adds up to a big "hmmmm....." Not sure what it means yet. Everything checked out, and yet he continues to penis-pee and his catheter stays nearly dry. Is it silly to hope that this could be a sign of miraculous recovery? :-) Eh, after the year we've had, I'm not going to be that hopeful this soon. But still, it gives one pause.

So anyway, after our trip to the ER, the move schedule is a bit messed up- we have NOTHING packed at ALL, since we were not sure exactly when we'd be able to move. So now, the big day is upon us; we have 3 solid days (we lose Friday because of the ER last night...had to change our days off) to move a household. I think we're basically going to approach it as if we were just going to switch around rooms in the apartment: take everything out of DQ's closet, drive to Eastpointe, put it in her closet there....and repeat, LOL. 

So, busy weekend ahead, but also some intriquing possibilities for 2009. If I don't post anything between now and then, I absolutely have to say:

GOOD RIDDANCE TO 2008

and

A blessed, peaceful and healthy New Year to you all.  HAPPY 2009!!!

More Renovations

Long Time, No Post...with Pictures

I just realized it's been about 2 weeks since last I posted. Things have been crazy busy. I've been drafting several documents for work- in addition to coordinating a number of media and event opportunities- that have kept me super busy. That, coupled with our work on the house and LP's daily care...not to mention the holidays...have kept me from having much free time. So, here's a quick update.

When people talk about what holidays they do, I usually say that we start at Chanukkah and work our way through towards New Years. So, this year, The Dancing Queen lit her funky hanukkiah and we lit my amazing modern-art version that I got from www.moderntribe.com. I would post a pic, but they no longer have it at their website and mine didn't turn out well. I'll try again later and edit the post if I can get a good one.

On Christmas Eve we went to the Castle (don't ask...ugh!) and then to service at our UU church. The Interim Minister did an absolutely lovely service, although I must say I was a little shocked when I opened the order of service and saw FOUR homilies on the agenda, LOL. They were each about 3 minutes long though, so it all worked out well. Then, we came home and crashed.

Christmas Day, we opened presents:






For those who may be wondering why *I* am not in any of the pictures, it's because I was too busy taking them with my new hot-pink digital camera!!!

The big reveal came when LP got to open his BIG gift....so big, it had to be wrapped with an entire room, rather than some pretty paper:



When he opened the door (we even let him use the key!) he saw that Santa (AKA Grammy, Poppa and Great-Nana) had delivered his biggest wish....a Power Wheels!!!



He was jumping up and down and shouting "Oh Yeah! Oh Yeah! I got a Cavalier!!" ROFL It took us awhile to explain to him that a red Mustang convertable was WAY, WAY cooler than any Cavalier. :-)

Of course, it says a lot about my kid that (other than the hot rod) his favorite present was a sock monkey:



My other favorite holiday moment came when DQ opened her stocking. She is NEVER without a lip balm or three...so she thought it was awfully funny that "Santa" put TWENTY different kinds in her sock- all flavors and brands!



And finally, my biggest joy of the season: my kitchen is DONE!! And it's beautiful!!



We hung the border today. It matches the border in the bathroom and the wallpaper we plan on hanging in the hall once all the furniture is in place. I'm just over the moon...I think it looks like something straight out of a magazine. :-)

I'm exhausted but blissed. More later, but until then: Happy Christmakwanzahannuhyule.

Counting Blessings

Today, I received some work-related news that totally blindsided me. It is what it is, but it was hard to get through the day today and keep a smile on my face. I spent my day feeling really sad, confused and hurt. So, I've decided, in keeping with my usually-optimistic self, to try and think of all the reasons why I *love* my job. We'll see if that helps.

1) I get to do tasks that I truly enjoy.

2) I have generally awesome co-workers...and those that don't quite count as "awesome" at least qualify as "amusing."

3) Our mission is something I wholeheartedly support.

4) I get along well with darn-near everyone I work with.

5) I get to participate in making a tangible difference in the world every day.

6) I take enormous pride in what I do. 

7) Our Board of Directors is truly an inspiring group of people. I learn so much from them and am grateful for the chance to know them.

8) 95% of my workday is spent doing projects that I'm good at, that I enjoy and that show off my best talents and attributes.

9) I have a high level of independance

10) I have an employer that is genuinely concerned about LP and allows me flexibility

11) 95% of the time, I feel truly supported by my employer.

12) In many ways, this is my dream job.

......well, in some ways that helped, but in other (fairly significant ways) it didn't. 

Times heals all wounds, right? 

I'm off to bed.

House Remodel Update

The Good News

Since I promised both good news and bad news last night, then left you hanging on the bad, here's the counterpoint to the terrible-ness of our weekend:

Two Sundays ago, at the UU church, Daddy and I were talking to a friend of ours about all the stuff we still have to get done in order to finish up our house and move in. The church secretary heard me and asked what we still had to do. I told her that the list was W-A-Y too long for me to try and remember by rote, but that I would email it to her so that she could see. Well, she put the whole thing into the church newsletter!

A few days later, we got a call from someone I'll call Miracle. Y'all know I'm not big on using real names online, so bear with on the cheese-factor...it's the perfect alias for this guy.

Miracle is a licensed plumber who's grandfather helped found this particular UU congregation. Even though the family is not connected anymore, his mom down South saw the newsletter and called him. He called us and, lo and behold, a miracle occured!!

Miracle has coordinated him plumbing company, an electrical company, a floor-finisher-guy and a carpenter to come in and finish everything up on our house so that we can move in without stress. Everything.

I don't have words to tell you what a huge, well, miracle this is for us. They are starting to work right away and the goal is to have us in by the end of the month.

So, while there has been lots of crappy news in the past week, there's also been a lot of good too.

(Did I cheer everyone up again? I don't want you to be sad on our account!)

It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

The bad news post has been "redacted", on the advice of other military-type folks who are concerned that no matter how general my descriptives, it still might not be wise to post. If you missed it, and want to know the scoop, comment here and I'll drop you a line.

A Bigger Life

Last night, Little Pom said something that broke his parents hearts. We were driving him home so that he could go on dialysis and he asked us if we could go bowling. We told him no, we couldn't, because there wasn't enough time before he had to get plugged in. LP burst into tears and said "I hate this! All that I can do is TV and dialysis. I deserve a bigger life than that!"

WOW.

A Bigger Life.

Honestly though, that's NOT too much to ask. My little guy went from school, dance, karate and sports down to...school and dialysis. Or maybe, in a busy week, clinic too. Oh yay. Little Pom is absolutely right- is DOES deserve a bigger life. I'm just not sure how to do that for him.

So, here's where I need feedback: what can I do to expand his world a little bit as we manuver our way through the Land of Kidney Failure? We have 2 hours between when I get home and when he needs to get plugged in for the night. Nearly all sports are out for now, because of his catheter bag. Play dates have been non-existant, because the kids in his class tease him and ostracize him now. (I know....that's a whole other rant) He spends ALL his free time at home. His world has grown very small and that's not okay.

So....ideas everyone?