Nov. 20, 2008

Six months ago tonight, I was on the flight that saved my life. My how things change in 6 months! Blake is 14 and in the 9th grade @ RHS. Brooke is 12 and in the 7th grade at Elmwood. I am in my 5th year as a Technology Curriculum Specialist, and life is as busy as ever! I ate dinner @ Hot Rod Mike's with Joey and his "tribe" tonight, and we had a blast! Mike and Christina Gall, Joey's brother and sister-in-law, have opened a restaurant in Fayetteville with authentic Chicago-style food. His kids and I wrote everyone's names on napkins and played Hangman, and it made me remember all the fun times Blake, Brooke and I used to have doing all those "kill-the-moment-waiting-for-the-food" things! Kids grow up so fast!! And every day, I am getting older. But that really doesn't bother me. Okay......I have to admit....the grey hair does bother me...the cellulite does bother me...and the tiredness does bother me. But, overall, I'm completely fine!! :) More than anything, I'm so very thankful to be alive! No time that passes will ever take that away.

October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween! Things are going great in our world, and I wanted to share a few things that I haven't gotten to in a while. First, my 40th birthday was a wonderful surprise @ Joey's house. I got there thinking we were on our way to Eureka, so I was totally shocked to see a huge tent (because of all the rain in the forecast) and lots of people waiting to surprise me! We all had a great time! Thank you again, Man Joey, Andrea and Michelle! You all are the best!! :) And thank you to everyone who shared my special day with me!! Several people contributed to the foundation I'd been wanting to start, so we were able to work with Bill Watkins and my Uncle Rocky to get the foundation underway. A basic website can be located at:
http://sites.google.com/site/healinghandsmassageinc/ and more will be posted soon.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Happy Happy Joy Joy! That's really all I can say! I just had my follow-up echocardiogram, and they said everything looks great! Yippee! I knew I had been feeling better and getting stronger every day, but it's always nice to hear you have a clean bill of health from an official person. :) Now I can truly rest easy, know all these medical woes are behind me, and enjoy my 40th birthday on Monday completely. Alot has happened in the past 4 months, and I'm so very thankful to be alive to enjoy each day! Like I said before, "Happy Happy Joy Joy"!!!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Hello! Time has certainly flown since I last posted. I was not planning on posting much more, but several people have asked me to keep this up, so I promise to post things more regularly. I can't imagine that my life would be that interesting, so people must be desperate for cheap entertainment. Ha! :) The most recent news for us is I went back to work on August 1st, and Blake and Brooke started school on August 18th. Blake got his driver's permit this summer, and he has been practicing quite a bit. It's funny to listen to his little sister complain about his driving. Guess she doesn't realize her time is just around the corner. I'll post some pics of the first day of school later. Blake is a Freshman @ Rogers High School, and Brooke is a 7th grader @ Elmwood.

Almost a Week Later---June 10th, 2008

Well, I have been home almost a week, and it feels sooooo good to be here!!! I have been enjoying time with Blake and Brooke, relaxing, and getting my sleep patterns back to normal (noone here pokes and prods me fifteen times a night, so I'm not used to it...ha!). It has been a wonderful time visiting with family, getting caught up with friends (old and new), and just enjoying life. There are so many people that just keep doing random acts of kindness for us. Just when I think it can't be anymore, someone shows up with food, flowers, an e-mail, kind words, running errands for me, cleaning my house, yard, and pool, etc. It's just amazing!! I hope I can return the favors someday!!

Several people have asked if I'm going to keep up the blog. At this time, I have to say I don't think so, but that could change, and I'll let you know if it does. It was a WONDERFUL tool to keep everyone informed, and it was the highlight of my day to be able to post and let everyone know what was going on while I was away. However, I started typing up my whole ordeal from beginning to end, and that is going to take some time. So......if I try to do both, I'll be overwhelmed, and we all know my new motto....take it easy, and don't overload~ha! :) I will let everyone know when my saga is all in print, and for those of you bored or curious enough, you can read it at your leisure. :) I am also really wanting to check into how to start the foundation I was talking about before I go back to work. I have several good leads, and from everything I've heard from others, I'm not alone in believing human touch is one of the the best healers of all. So, I'm anxious about that!!

Please feel free to e-mail me, call or come by. I'm getting more and more strength every day, and if I take it easy, I can handle more and more each day. If I can't, I'll just tell you I'm pooped. Ha! :)

Thank you to each of you who have made a difference in my life!!
Joey :)
P.S. This is on my perpetual calendar for today (not a coincidence, I know), so I'm going to use it in place of my scripture:
" Live for today but hold your hands open to tomorrow. Anticipate the future and its changes with joy. There is a seed of God's love in every event, every circumstance, every unpleasant situation in which you may find yourself."
~Barbara Johnson

Homecoming!!!! June 4, 2008

When I arrived home in Rogers (the best place on earth in my opinion!), this is what I was greeted with! My sweet Blake and Brooke had made this poster, and Nonna (my mom) had brought them over to be here when I walked in the door. I was sooooooo excited to be home and see my Mom, Blake and Brooke!!! I just wanted to do the Happy Dance (still working on stamina, but getting there!!!) There's definitely NO place like home!!! Did I mention I love my kids?!?! :)

Coming Home!!!

On Wednesday, June 4th, 2008, I was released from St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis, MO. I was sooooooo ready to come home, that I woke up early, took a shower, cleaned everything up, put on make-up and fixed my hair (shocker, I know!!!----sorry for the scary photos previously), and twiddled my thumbs until it was time to go!!! I finally got my pick line out (which had been in my arm since May 20th) and signed all my release paperwork, had prescriptions in hand, ready to leave the hospital......and they couldn't find the cart (which had been ordered an hour before) to help carry stuff down!! I'm telling you, by this point, I had ants in my pants and was pacing the room. So, being the typical Joey that I am, I just started picking up stuff and carrying it downstairs. I wanted to get home!!! :) Joey 2 kept saying I was crazy and I needed to let him carry everything. He said, "It's just not right....you were in here on your death bed two weeks ago, and now you're carrying your own stuff down the hallway to leave. This is wrong!" Well, I thought that was such a great plan, but after one trip, I was totally pooped, so I waited downstairs outside for Joey to go get the rest of it. In the meantime, the man with the cart (let's call him "Cart Guy") was out of breath next to me declaring he "found the missing cart that someone else had taken by mistake". He also had the rest of the stuff from the room on the cart, so I text Joey and told him to not make that trek up to the 6th floor. He didn't get the text and saw an empty room when he got up there, so I'm sure he panicked a bit, but you never would've known it! Anyway, we hit the road at about 11:45, stopped for lunch and lots of potty and stretching breaks along the way, and I got to see some of my favorite people on this planet when I got home!!! It's great to be back!! :)

My scripture for yesterday was:

Philippians 4:4-7~ (NKJV)

"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

(Other than getting very antsy and in a hurry to leave the hospital, I did pretty well with these verses.) :)