Mr. Liver's 15th Anniversary

15 years ago today my dad got a new liver ~ sadly this also means that another family lost their loved one on this day in order for this to happen. I remember it like it was yesterday ~ I was a senior in high school and my brother was in college in between quarters and had literally just driven into the driveway in a fully packed GIGANTIC U-Haul. He had come home in a U-Haul because he was changing campuses, but couldn't get into his new apartment until the new quarter started ~ so here we were out in the driveway unloading the GIGANTIC U-Haul when we got the call. Dad was actually in the hospital, and had been for about a week, getting IV antibiotics for an infection ~ at the time he was # 1 on the transplant list, but they had taken him off of the list while he was in there ~ a real emotional blow to all of us. Luckily he was being discharged the next day and when they got the call that they had a match, they decided that this was probably a pretty good time to give him that liver ~ I guess they figured any germs he could have possibly had were dead! When mom called, Bryan and I stopped what we were doing, loaded up, and headed off to the hospital. On the way there we had to go by my dad's plant to pick up some paperwork, and after that we were off to the hospital once again ~ now of course I was speeding and got pulled over on the way in the big city of Pasa-get-down-dena ~ the cop asked why I was speeding, and when I told him that my dad was about to have a liver transplant he looked at me like I was crazy! He informed me that he was sure the liver would still be there when I got there if I were to be driving the speed limit ~ apparently he thinks they just let the harvested organs sit around in coolers for an unlimited amount of time. Whatever! So he let me off with a warning and off we went again! When they were preparing to wheel him off for the surgery it was a real emotional roller coaster ~ we didn't know if we were ever going to see him again ~ to make matters worse the week before all of this he had gone completely deaf over night and so the only way we could communicate with him was to write notes. It was an incredibly long surgery ~ over 14 hours ~ during which he tried to die on the table on them a couple of times! Being that he is a stubborn old bird though, he pulled through and hasn't looked back ~ the liver is the best part of him at this point in time! I remember my first trip into the ICU to see him ~ mom had tried to prepare me for how bad he was going to look because of all of the tubes and things coming out of him. When we walked in all I could say was he looked FANTASTIC! Despite all of the tubes and wires he looked phenomenal! He was actually white again instead of yellow! His new lived had started doing its job as soon as it got in there ~ normally they will reject their new organ in the first week, dad never rejected his. He was home not many days after the transplant and was like a whole new person. If it weren't for the generosity of the family who donated their loved ones organs my dad wouldn't be here today. He would have never seen me graduate from high school or college, or walked me down the aisle, and he would have never had the opportunity to meet his 4 grandchildren. We have never met the family who gave my dad the gift of life, they wished to remain anonymous, but I would still so love to meet them and be able to thank them in person for the 15 additional years they have given us. My dad is an "old timer" in the transplant world ~ I thank god for every additional day I have with him, and pray for many more to come. I love you daddy!

My Name is Shannon & I Will Be Your Magical Tour Guide!

So our upcoming Disney visit has grown by 8 feet ~ our friends Chris, Avis, and their kids have decided to join us! Yes, this is the same Chris and Avis that we insist on punishing our livers with! Scott has already laid down the ground rules of NO staying up until 4:00 AM! He feels quite confident that one full day in the park will do Avis in and she will be the first one in bed ~ we average about 8 miles a day walking while there! We're very excited that they have decided to go with us ~ Avis hasn't been since she was a kid, and their kids have never been ~ Hunter is soooo excited that there will be another little person his age there! We were supposed to stay at Animal Kingdom when we went, but unfortunately there was no availability for a 2 bedroom there during our trip, so we will now be staying at Old Key West instead. I'm still quite excited about this, as we have yet to stay here and it looks awesome! Maybe we will catch Animal Kingdom on our next stay ~ we will still have enough points leftover for another short trip this year should we so desire! Scott and I have apparently lost our minds ~ we are thinking that we will be driving to Orlando this time ~ the airfares just aren't coming down ~ but we will make that final decision after our drive to Natchez in 2 weeks for my sister's wedding! If Maisie is hideous during that drive we are flying to Orlando, no matter what the cost! We plan on hitting the road around 6:00 and driving through the night ~ at least this way Maisie should sleep the bulk of the trip and hopefully it will be okay ~ I'm not concerned about Hunter in the least, he will be perfectly fine ~ he will watch movies and listen to his I-Pod and sleep. I guess if it is truly hideous getting there Maisie and I can always fly back and have my parent's pick us up at the airport! It should be a great trip and I can't wait!!!! Fun, fun, fun!

A Whole Year Already?

I made my first entry a year ago today ~ the traditional first anniversary gift for those of you feeling the need to send me something is paper ~ let me know if you need my mailing address! I might ought to read back over the last years worth of post to see just where the year has gone! My original intention with the blog was that I would post pictures of my growing kids instead of bombarding people's inboxes with pictures that they may or may not want to see (although I don't know how you couldn't want to see pictures of my kids! There's that bias part of me surfacing again!) ~ this way if you wanted to see what my kids were looking like or the things they were up to you could check it out at your leisure. I thought I might, occasionally, actually write something too ~ wasn't really counting too much on that happening though ~ guess I was way wrong on that front! I quickly found that I really enjoy blogging ~ sometimes I sit here typing things and laughing out loud as I relive the topic at hand events! Since I don't leave the house to go to a job where I would get to have adult interaction and conversation this is like my my adult interaction ~ my dad says if I have time to blog then I have too much time on my hands. The truth of the matter is I don't have spare time on my hands ~ in order to sit down long enough to make an entry I have to carve time out for myself to do it ~ typically I find the time after the kids are in bed and I have finished all of my daily items ~ I do on occasion sit down in the daylight hours to post an entry, but I can almost guarantee you that it took me several hours to compile the one entry because of how many times I had to stop and take care of something else. I love my job ~ although it is undoubtedly the hardest job I have ever had in my life, it is also the most rewarding and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm thrilled to get to share a piece of our lives with you through this blog and even more thrilled that you care enough and choose to make us a part of your life ~ thank you!

Corporal Punishment

Apparently Scott and my livers have been misbehaving ~ I have come to this conclusion based on the fact that last night we decided to severely punish them! What were we thinking???? Obviously we weren't is all I can think of to answer that question! We have a group of friends ~ mostly college friends ~ that we try to get together with once a month to do some sort of a cookout. All of our kids are in the same age range so they all play together while the adults drink beer, cook, and catch up. We rotate houses and whoever is hosting picks what's on the menu ~ last month we hosted and cooked burgers and dogs and broke in the kegerator with "the family". Last night was a fish fry ~ YUMMY! When we left our house we had a virgin 18 pack in the cooler ~ thinking of course that we would be returning with some beer in said cooler ~ let me just say that today the ice that is left in that cooler is awfully lonely! Not only did we drink the 18 pack we arrived with, but then we moved on to other beer from the host ~ good god what were we thinking???? We set up the pack and play and put Maisie to bed ~ this is standard operating procedure since she goes to bed so early ~ this way we get to stay and play a little longer and typically pack up and leave about 9:30 or 10:00. So Maisie was sleeping and the boys were watching a movie when Avis said you might as well just spend the night ~ fortunately they have a very large and lovely home and plenty of room to sleep extras ~ we decided that was probably a pretty good idea and so the mass beer consumption began. Scott was finally smart enough to get up and head off to bed at 1:30 this morning ~ can't say Avis and I were nearly as smart ~ no, we stupidly stayed up until 4:00!!!! Have I asked what were we thinking? Needless to say my kids were up bright eyed and bushy tailed at their usual 7:30 ~ I was anything but bright eyed at that point, and I certainly wasn't bushy tailed ~ I feel fairly confident that my liver did indeed jump out in protest and was laying on the bed next to me! Sorry about that Mr. Liver! Now getting snockered isn't something we typically engage in ~ not that we don't drink, obviously we do or we wouldn't have a kegerator ~ but it is typically just a couple of beers and that's that. I unfortunately don't just suffer from a hangover ~ I am a barfer ~ and I don't mean I barf once, I typically barf from around 7:00 - noon! Always have been one, always will be one ~ that is my deterrent right there from getting snockered ~ wasn't a deterrent in college, but now that I don't have the luxury of laying around and feeling like warmed over dog doodie all day it is a wonderful deterrent. I suffered my first hangover in Hunter's life New Years Day 2007 ~ oh my god I was sick! Scott was working offshore at the time and needed to leave to go back to work, but I couldn't keep my head out of the toilet long enough for him to feel confident that I was able to take care of Hunter. At one point Hunter asked what was wrong with me ~ as my head was undoubtedly in the toilet ~ and Scott informed him that I was "choking on my own stupidity" ~ have I mentioned that I sometimes hate my husband ~ this would have been one of those times! I finally quit barfing and Scott headed off for work never to have another hangover again ~ until today that is! I can proudly report that I did not bow to the porcelain god this morning ~ contemplated it, but didn't do it ~ however I feel like crap! I think it has more to do with the fact that sleep is lacking in my world than any other factor. While I did consume a large quantity of beer, it was over a long period of time and I wasn't stumbling drunk when I finally poured myself into bed, just buzzed. Whatever the case may be I have come to the conclusion that Chris and Avis are EVIL and must be stopped! I have apologized profusely to my liver and promised not to do it again ~ until the next time that I have a momentary lapse of reason I guess!

Happy Birthday Mom & Dad

Today is my parent's birthday ~ not just one of them, both of them. They were born the same day, one year apart ~ how crazy is that? This has always fascinated me ~ I don't know why, it just has ~ maybe because it makes it virtually impossible to forget one or the others birthday ~ if you forget one of them you've just screwed the pooch all together on the subject matter! They are also from the same town in East Texas and both went to UT where they met ~ although they are only a year apart in age my dad is some kind of boy genius and graduated a couple of years before he should have, so while my mom knew who he was, he was way too cool for her in high school! Given all of the health issues my dad has had, I never thought I would see the day I got to wish him a happy 67th birthday ~ thank god for advanced medical technology ~ without it, this day certainly wouldn't be possible! It's hard thinking about my parent's growing another year older (who am I kidding it's hard to think about me growing another year older!) ~ although I guess this is just how the circle of life plays out ~ it's still hard. A friend of mine commented about her mother getting older and said "it just really pisses me off" ~ I must agree with that commentary ~ she was referring to the fact that her mom can't do all of the things that she used to ~ I see that as my parent's get older ~ it's not like they sit in their lazy boys knitting all day or anything like that, but I can definitely see the slow down happening. My mom tells me "it's hell getting old!" ~ I'm just thankful that they are both still young enough to enjoy doing things with my kids and certainly still young enough to make lots of memories that they will never forget. My mom's parent's were the greatest grandparent's in the whole world! I used to go to their house and spend the entire summer with them ~ we lived far away from them so we didn't get to see much of them throughout the year ~ those summer memories are still with me even though they have been gone for 15 years now.

Happy Birthday mom and dad ~ I look forward to wishing you many more! I'll call you later to sing Happy Birthday to you in a terribly off pitch, screeching tone ~ since you're a year older I won't wake you ~ you need your rest!

I Think I Have Seen it All.....

Okay, 2 brand new grocery stores opened in my neck of the woods within a week of each other ~ one of them is located at the entrance to my neighborhood and the other one is about a mile from the entrance. Both are very nice stores ~ probably the nicest grocery stores I have ever seen to be exact. To make their big grand opening impressions (which have been going on for several weeks now) on the neighborhood they have had all kinds of lovely free items ~ coupons were mailed out for all types of different things ~ thank you very much by the way, I have enjoyed all of my free goods! Anyway, back to the point of this entry. I typically hit the store at the entrance as I prefer this one over the other ~ today however the sale ad at the other store was more in tune with the items on my shopping list so it was off to this location that I headed. After I had finished my shopping and was making my way to the front of the store I heard singing ~ not singing like on the radio singing, but singing like a live person singing ~ sure enough when I made it to the very front of the store there was a lady singing and a man playing the keyboard ~ no shit! I had heard that Elvis was spotted in the same location last week! I just have to wonder what is it costing the store to have live entertainment for our listening pleasure while we fill our baskets with goods ~ is the cost of the live entertainment being cancelled out by more shoppers being drawn in? I am really kind of doubting it, but what the hell do I know! What I do know is that it is quite lovely to have 2 such very nice stores in such close proximity to my front door ~ but in all honesty live entertainment isn't going to make me shop in your store ~ the prices of the items in your store are what will bring me in and keep me coming back!

Boobaholics Anonymous

Today Maisie entered a 12 step program ~ her addiction, booby juice! What can I say, the girl likes her boobs, okay the girl likes my boobs! This was a non-issue with the boy ~ he weaned himself at 8 1/2 months ~ no work required on my part. The girl however hasn't been so quick to give them up ~ although I have managed to cut her down to one serving a day at breakfast. She's not even 14 months yet, so it's not like she is walking up and asking for the boob, or walking up, lifting up my shirt, unhooking my bra, and helping herself ~ she's still a baby, but the time has come and I think even she is starting to realize it. A couple of weeks ago when the bubonic plague swept through here I thought I was going to get out of her breakfast for that day ~ god only knows I certainly didn't feel up to it ~ I was afraid that I would have to throw her off of me to run go put my head in the toilet ~ fortunately it didn't play out like that. That morning I just gave her a cup of milk in hopes she wouldn't notice the lack of Boppy time ~ she noticed and sat in the middle of the living room floor screaming until I couldn't stand it anymore and picked her up and caved to her demands ~ then she was happy as a pig in you know what. So I came to the realization that while she had let me cut out the other 3 feedings, she wasn't giving up the last one without a fight ~ I figured I would continue to humor her a little longer until she was ready. I have noticed this week that she has nursed for a shorter time everyday and is then thrilled to see her ice cold cup of milk emerge from the fridge ~ I believe she has come to the realization that she doesn't have to work so hard to get the milk that comes from the cup so it is the better way to go. This morning I didn't even give her the boob option ~ just a cup of milk ~ so far so good ~ we'll see if we have the same luck tomorrow or if she is going to fall off the wagon.

I find myself not rushing Maisie in any way, shape, or form ~ I want her to stay a baby forever! I think knowing now just how fast they grow up has really made an impression on me ~ I am not kidding when I say I am looking for the last 5 years ~ Hunter has grown up so fast on me I just can't believe it. I definitely want to have another baby ~ okay who am I kidding I have baby fever so bad it's not even funny ~but I also know what a long, rough road it was getting Maisie so having another one isn't a guaranteed thing. So just in case she proves to be my last, I want to savor every single day of her babyhood.