2nd Anniversary!

The last 2 years have flown by! We looked at our wedding pictures, and it seems like not long ago. Last year we went to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, where we met up with Mama and Daddy. It was so much fun, and the leaves were changing. What a great 1st anniversary. This year we looked at cruises, maybe a Las Vegas trip, maybe just a weekend in Orlando. We just couldn't make up our minds. Our indecisiveness turned out to be a blessing. When we got the word that Uncle Richard was so sick, and I came for a visit in August, our minds were made up: 2nd anniversary would be a trip to Mississippi. This was the longest amount of time I have spent there since leaving in 1997. Our goal for this trip was FATTEN UNCLE RICHARD UP before his next chemo. Robert made wonderful bread, smoked gouda alfredo, pizza, and spaghetti. We opened the last bottle of our wedding wine that Scott (Robert's brother) made and toasted our anniversary, family, health, and trip. Uncle Richard looked wonderful!! He is working so hard to eat well and do everything the doctors are telling him. He has the best attitude!
We went to Tunica, Mississippi for our anniversary. We stayed at a beautiful casino, had a jacuzzi suite, and had a great time. The view of the Mississippi River from our 29th floor room was breathtaking! I was able to pick up some great Mississippi State stuff too. We got back in time to see Eddie and Justin, and watch most of GLEE! We went to the Canton Flea market while we were visiting. I saw some very creative things that have put me back in the artistic mood! I was able to get some cotton and hope to grow my own cotton plant here. They were picking and ginning cotton. I LOVE FALL!! We were able to visit the gin where Daddy works and watch the process. It is amazing to see how it all works.
We showed Uncle Richard Google Earth, which he loved! We "flew" all over the world, and made plans for future trips for him, which was not something he could have imagined possible 2 months ago. He will be getting his 4th chemo on Wednesday, and a scan soon after that to check the status of the internal tumors. We are hopeful that they are reacting the same way the skin tumors are!! The last night we were there Aunt Wilma planned a cookout for us. We aren't going to be able to make it for Thanksgiving, so this was our early Thanksgiving. It was so much fun!! Aunt Wilma made burgers, with lots of sides, sweet potato pie, brownies, YUMMM!! Uncle Richard's friend Country Jack visited and brought his guitar. He has the BEST stories, and wonderful songs!! It was such a special time!! I am so grateful for the time we spent our family and the hard work that went into the cookout!! GREAT TIMES!! It was hard to leave, but I feel so much better knowing Uncle Richard is doing so well!!
We stopped by Fairhope to see Marcus on our way back. I think we found the perfect town. I now know why Marcus has been trying to get me to visit for 8 years. I WILL live there!! It has the most adorable downtown area, is right on the bay, has flowers everywhere, houses with wrap-around porches and has to be perfection!!
We made it home at midnight, and I am still tired, so I may have to tweak this post as I get rested. Shannon

Backtracking.

I need to blog about my trip to Mississippi in August before I go on to the 2nd Anniversary post. I have had time to process and deal with the emotions of that visit, so here goes:

My Uncle Richard was sick, VERY sick for about a month. The doctors thought he had staph infection in his forehead, finger, and toe. They had him on strong antibiotics, put him through painful tests, and he kept getting worse. Then came the devastating news: He has cancer that has metastasized all over, and they aren't sure if it started in the skin, or lung, but things looked grim. As a hospice nurse, I knew what all of this meant. As a niece, I knew what I couldn't accept. The thought of my Uncle Richard, who is such a peaceful, loving, positive, and amazing man, suffering was more than I could handle. As fate would have it, I was able to get time off work and a flight 2 days later to Jackson, Mississippi to check on him. I was prepared to stay in the hospital with him and hopefully not be "one of THOSE family members." For those of you who don't know what that means, it is the family member who comes in from out of town and is pushy, demanding, and willing to show their ass at any moment if necessary to get what they want/need. I knew he was in GREAT hands with my aunts taking care of his every need, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the nurses and doctors were doing a wonderful job as well! They fell in love with him (not a shock! He is lovable and always hilariously funny, even in these circumstances! ) As I was landing, he was being discharged from the hospital. They had given him chemo to help with the pain and let him go home. When I saw him, he looked better than what I had expected. He had visible tumors on his head, fingers, toe, chest, and back, but that smile, laugh, and HUMOR were, as Daddy says, "salve for the soul." I stayed with him for the next 4 days, visiting, laughing, telling stories, trying to get him to eat as much as possible, and trying to get his pain under control. We talked a lot. I took lots of notes. The doctors had given him a 2 month-ish prognosis, dependent on how he responded to the chemo. When I left, we were fully aware that anything short of a miracle would make this be our last story telling, laughing, sharing visit. I had time off in October for our 2nd anniversary, and we hadn't decided where we would go. My wonderful husband agreed that Mississippi was the place to go, since this would be the end of the 2 month prognosis, and I had a deal with Uncle Richard that I would come when "it was time" and make sure he didn't have pain at the end of his life. Leaving was emotionally draining. I wanted to cry, fall out, lose it, but I kept my composure for all of those around me. This seemed the best thing to do. All of this "stuffing" of my emotions led to a "barfing on the plane" escapade that I will spare you of the details. Suffice it to say, don't eat a soft pretzel when really upset. It won't turn out as a shining moment on a bouncy plane full of kids pumped up about going to see Mickey at Disney!!
Dana and Joey came to visit Labor Day weekend. They also had a wonderful visit. By the time they visited, the chemo had "kicked in" and the tumors were almost completely gone!!! His pain was more manageable, his appetite was much better, and things were looking up!! Our miracle was in the works! He was losing his long curly hair and his beard was thinning, so he asked Joey to shave his head. This was the first time he had short hair as long as we have known him!
I couldn't wait for my visit in October. What a different visit it was going to be at this rate! By the time I would visit, Uncle Richard would have completed 3 chemo treatments, and tolerated each one really well.

(Sorry it took so long to write about this and about the way it is written. I needed this post to lead into my next post.) Shannon

How Time Flies!

Two years ago today I married one of the most understanding men on Earth!! Happy Anniversary! I will write more on the blog about our anniversary trip. Love, Shannon

So Much Going On!

I have so much going on and so much on my mind. I plan on writing this weekend and basically "barfing" my feelings out, but I need to organize them first! Stay tuned!! Shannon

ZUMBA!

Several of us from work have been taking Zumba class for the last 2 1/2 months. It is the most fun exercise I have ever done. It feels more like club dancing than exercising. We go twice a week for an hour and it is so fun, fast moving and exciting, that the hour flies by! It is like a drug, and I am addicted! As our teacher Ms Georgina says, "You either really love it, or really hate it." Well, we love it! I have missed dancing since I stopped to go to MSMS 20 years ago! This is the perfect outlet for my need to dance and exercise, and it is quite a workout! I leave class soaked with sweat!
Saturday we had Zumbathon, which was Zumba from 11am to 3pm to raise money for American Cancer Society. We had 3 short breaks (about 10 minutes) after each hour, but otherwise danced the entire 4 hours! We raised just over $1000 on Saturday. I am stiff and sore from Zumba-ing for 4 hours, but look forward to class tomorrow night.


If you haven't tried Zumba, you should! It is a blast!! Don't worry if you lack rhythm, for you will find that you are not alone! We laugh a lot, we sweat a lot, and it is a great way to blow off steam after a stressful day. Our teacher Ms Georgina teaches our class to raise money for scholarships for students of Pasco High School. She is such a giving person and wonderful teacher. I am so thankful that we have her and that we found out about ZUMBA!


I got some really funky looking exercise shoes today to exercise and Zumba in. They are called Vibram and are really neat! Robert got a pair too. They make his feet look like gorilla feet! We love them. We were only going to try them on, but ended up getting a pair because they are so comfortable.
Have a great week!! Shannon

Disney Wonder!!!

I am awe-struck and without adequate words to explain our Disney Cruise!! I'm not a big fan of letting people know when we are going out of town, so this has been a difficult task to keep from posting about my excitement leading up to the extravaganza.
This was all set in motion while we were on Robert's 40th birthday cruise in February. As a matter of fact, Robert's Mom called us about it the day we got back from that cruise. I was in shock and pretty sure I wouldn't be able to go. You see, I have been on a "every 2 month vacation plan" since February. This is VERY unusual for me. Two months after the 40th birthday cruise we went to Mississippi for my 20 year class reunion, which I am still sad that it is over! Now, 2 months after that, we had the Disney cruise.
This Disney cruise was to honor the life and memory of Grandma Doris Stenberg, who was the sweetest, most beautiful, and youngest woman in her 90's that I have ever met. She was known as Gigi by Rian and Mason. She was so kind and loving. We shared the same birth week and were quite similar in our strength and independence. She drove (and drove well) until shortly before she became ill and passed away. The Easter before she passed, she wore red, had her hair and makeup done as usual, was dressed to the 9's and looked fabulous. She never let on the she was very ill. That was Grandma Doris! Always the PERFECT hostess, looking like she was ready to go anywhere at any time. Her home was modern and young. She had wonderful taste in clothes, furniture, food, EVERYTHING. I was so blessed to know her for the 3 short years I did and only wish that she was able to be at our wedding. She sent me a birthday card when Robert and I had only been dating about 6 months. Her writing looked like my Nannie's writing! When I called her to thank her, I cried and told her that I never expected to get another birthday card from my grandmother, and I missed that. She told me that she was my Grandmother and she loved to send cards! She loved to travel, so this cruise was the perfect way to celebrate her. She was the rock of the family! We miss her so!
I will come back later and write about the cruise itself. I started in one direction and went into another more thought provoking direction and I want to sit a while and think of my 3 grandmothers: Nannie, Mamaw, and Grandma Doris. Happy, wonderful women who have given us happy, wonderful memories.

A Week Later, and Still Processing!

One week ago at this very moment, we were deeply enthralled in conversation with classmates, some that I haven't seen in 20ish years, and if Heaven is any better, I want to go TODAY! It was a cleansing of the soul for me that I have needed desperately!! My outlook on life is so much better, my mood is so much better, and I feel that my life is so much better because I spent a weekend with these amazing people. I plan on keeping my new-found positivity through much adversity that surrounds me. I am still processing, and will continue to as the photos and photo comments are posted. We are already planning the 25th reunion and a mini-reunion in a couple of years to pull Marcus out of the brink of certain despair as he turns 40! I am having some sadness/withdrawals from the fun!! I learned this weekend that I can stay up past 11pm, and I can have a lot of fun!! (Now I must rest up!) Thanks to everyone who shared a wonderful weekend with us! It was far too short!
*** I had to add another thought: We are so blessed to have each other! As a talk incessantly about our reunion, I run across more and more people who say, "I haven't been to any of my reunions and don't plan on ever going. I didn't like those people and why would I want to see them now?" Wow!! What a sad thing!! We are missing each other so much, and there are people out there (who went to other schools) who don't care about each other and have only negative memories of high school. I only wish they could love their classmates like I do!! I miss y'all!! I am so glad that we had our reunion last weekend and not this weekend! The people of Yazoo City are in my thoughts and prayers. That is so close to home!

Some Things Do Stay The Same (20 Years Later)

**I'm going to try to summarize this past weekend the best I can. I may have to revise it often as I process everything and get over my severe case of sleep deprivation.**

September 1988 I arrived in Columbus Mississippi to the new "Mississippi School for Math and Science." We had a caravan of cars and trucks to drop my brother off at Mississippi State for his Freshman year, and continued on to drop me off in Columbus. I was scared, excited, and CLUELESS as to what I was getting myself into, but I was also determined. I wasn't running away from a bad home life or unhappy school situation. I was running to adventure and the possibility of experiencing just about anything. It amazes me still that this day even happened! Let me go back 11 years and explain how close I was to missing this opportunity. This is proof that one small decision can change your life forever. You see, back in "those days" parents had a little more flexibility in deciding when to send their children to kindergarten. I was born in November, so I would either be the oldest in my class, or the youngest. Mama enrolled me in kindergarten in 1977. When it came time to go to kindergarten Mama asked, "Shannon, do you want to go to school, or do you want to go to Jackson shopping?" Being a girl, I chose shopping, so off we went and the rest is history. I did go to kindergarten then next year, which set me up to be in the Inaugural class of MSMS!
Back to my time at MSMS: I met this wonderful guy on our first day, and he would stand by me 21 years later as my Man of Honor at my wedding. Marcus kept me sane and has continued to be a steadfast friend. Christmas break junior year I was diagnosed with a severe case of mono that was causing my liver enzymes to elevate and my spleen to be enlarge. My doctor suggested I not return to MSMS since I was so sick. Are you kidding me?? I HAD to go back! Mama came to school with me to set up my room so I wouldn't have to lift anything heavy, and I was moved to the bottom floor so I didn't have to go upstairs. I didn't miss a single day of school! I'm so glad that I fought to stay! Graduation was so exciting and difficult. I lived with these people, loved these people, and didn't want to leave these people. (I felt the same way this weekend!)
When we arrived Friday at the campus I was greeted by the same faces! I mean everyone looks the same! Oh, we may have a little more weight, or a little less hair, but all in all, not bad for 20 years! Some of our teachers look the same too. We took a tour of the campus and quickly realized that we also act the same. It was like we never left. Robert went to our small 15 year reunion in New Orleans. We had only been dating 2 months, but he felt very comfortable around my friends. It was the same this reunion. They embraced him like he went to school with us. Robert, Cass and Jason could get into trouble if they lived closer to each other. We stayed up until 4:30am Saturday morning and 5am Sunday morning. It was like we wanted to make the most of every minute! I am paying for it now. I feel smarter after spending a weekend with everyone! Just being in the same place and breathing the same air as these brilliant people makes me want to learn more. Even though everyone is brilliant, the weekend didn't become a "let me show you how much smarter I am than you" reunion. It was like we were 17 again, only with legal alcohol, spouses, and children. We have lost teachers, one classmate (Roger), and gained lots of spouses and children in 20 years. We opened the Time Capsule that we sealed at the end of junior year. Mrs Judy Morris was obviously in charge of this. She kept a lot of pictures and mementos. She and Coach Butler were missed! There were a lot of funny things and embarrassing things in the time capsule. I'm so glad we did that!
I have spent the last few days looking at pictures from the reunion, longing to be back there, laughing at the photo captions and comments, and feeling truly blessed to have such wonderful people, as Marcus put it, as my family. I feel so bad for the classmates who couldn't make it. It was an experience that has changed my attitude and outlook! I haven't stopped talking about the reunion and laughing so hard that I wheeze!!



I am having a lot of sadness about not being at the reunion, so I still need to process! I will continue to add and edit this post. Shannon

A Holy Crap Moment.

(Please don't take offense, as I realize it is Holy Week. Happy Holy week and Thanks be to God for the greatest gift to the world!)

Anyway, every so often I have a "Holy Crap" moment. Usually this happens when I hear something, and it makes me think about my age, which leads me to think about what my parents were doing when they were my age. What caused this particular moment was something I heard on the radio. They were talking about how having your parents at each of your sporting events, or how not having your parents there affected you. Honesty, I had never really thought about it. It was a given that Mama was going to be at everything. She always was. I didn't think it was an option. Daddy was at a lot of stuff too. That lead me to think about what was going on when she was 38 (which made Daddy 41). I was 11, which meant Joey was 13, and Dana was 15 (which was driving age in Mississippi when we grew up.Let's see puberty + puberty + new driver = hell) Daddy was farming through the rough years, and working at Cottonwood in Louisiana, but still made it to every dance recital, Catfish Festival and as many games as he could. He also taught us math and helped us with our math homework, which was his expertise. Mama was into every aspect of our lives. She was "Room mother" to one of our classes EVERY year. She was at every football game (pee wee, junior high and high school), every Little League, Pony League, and High school baseball game, every cheerleader competition, every dance show, and every lame "tom turkey"/pilgrim class play, and made the costumes too! When I was in junior high she was working at the bank and Daddy was working in Vicksburg full time. She still didn't miss anything, plus she ran the farm while Daddy was away working 16-20 hour days during farming and hunting season. She literally came in from the bank, stripped off her pantyhose and high heels and threw on her jeans and tennis shoes and went out into the field. (Yes, prissy Scarlet O' Meme ran the farm, got in the dirt, and did it all with style!) Their sacrifice takes my breath away. We didn't have drive-thru Wendy's or McDonald's, we had real homemade food. We went to dance seminars each summer, and went to Vicksburg to see Daddy almost every weekend. He would take me out fishing or riding every time we were down there, no matter how tired he was. I don't know how they did it. I think of how tired I am after work, and how I truly DREAD the idea of running any errands and I wonder "How DID they do it?" Mama was everywhere, and had a smile on her face, or what I could see of it poking out from behind the video camera that was the size of suitcase. Daddy would come in from the field covered with dirt and dinitro (yellow chemical) and sit down with us to teach variables. Mrs. Guy couldn't get any of us to understand how in the world you could add an "X" to a "Y", but Daddy did! They were and are an integral part of our lives academically, emotionally, and athletically (not so much athletically anymore!) They molded us and continue to do so. I feel like I just expected it as a kid and didn't appreciate it or think it was a big deal. They never acted like it was a big deal or a sacrifice, which is even more amazing. I appreciate what they did so much. They went above and beyond what parents are called to do, and for that I am forever grateful and indebted.
It is so good to have a moment like this to remember what is important, and it is quite appropriate for Holy Week too, as we think about Jesus, and God's sacrifice as a parent, and how He is with us all the time and continues to be no matter how old we get.







I am so blessed! Love, Shannon

One Month!

Wow! I am bad! I can't believe it has been one month since I posted anything! I can't say "Oh, we've been so busy, I just can't find time to write." That would be a lie. Actually, we are just plain boring.
Right now we are both "under the weather." I shy away from the word "sick" because I don't FEEL bad, I'm just tired and SOUND sick. (OK, that could be a little denial, but I don't feel as bad as Robert did.) I love oranges, HATE orange trees! For anyone who has been around orange trees in the early spring, they have a sickeningly sweet pollen that covers EVERYTHING for miles and turns my sinuses into ground beef that free-flow a river of snot. I am about to the point of taking "feminine hygiene products" (the bullet shaped ones) and sticking one up each nostril. The only reason I haven't: I don't want my nose holes so stretched out that it's like looking into 2 caves of drippy snot. I know: Vanity!
My 20 year class reunion is coming up, and I can't wait to see everybody! I can't believe it has been 20 years. Any other day I would say, "I don't feel like I could be old enough to be going to MY 20 year reunion" but today I do feel it.
Almost 2 weeks ago we bought a Wii. I have been hearing what good exercise it is and how much fun it is. WE LOVE IT!! The first night we played every game at least once on the "Sports" and "Sports Resort." I beat Robert at boxing. It is quite the workout. My arms were sore for 3 or 4 days. I'm so glad we got it.

Tomorrow I have my first ever jury duty. I'm a little freaked out. I guess this could make for a great post!! The last time we went to this courthouse was to pay a speeding ticket for Robert 4 years ago, and we laughed so hard. The people watching was fabulous! I wasn't sure if I wanted to be the lady behind the glass or not. The excuses people came up with for why they got their citation and why they didn't think it was fair was hilarious! The lady just sat there quite robot-like and repeated "That will be One hundred eighty-two dollars and fifty cents" ......... "But I had to get my dog to the vet! She was having puppies all over the back seat and the officer wouldn't listen, and they said to take it up with courthouse, and what would you do if your dog was having puppies all over the back seat! You would drive 82 in 55 too! They said to take it up with the courthouse!"......."That will be One hundred eighty-two dollars and fifty cents" and on, and on. Each person that walked up had a great story, and felt that THIS was the place to state their case. We got to the point where we started playing "Guess the infraction, guess the excuse." You would have thought they had Judge Judy behind the glass. They actually had a lady that was probably making slightly above minimum wage, and really didn't give a $hit sitting behind the glass. Everybody had their crying kids and their excuses recited like a soap opera. I could see the logic: Multiple crying children under the age of 3 + GREAT story= I get to keep my One hundred eighty-two dollars and fifty cents. WRONG AGAIN. That equation may work IF you fight the ticket IN THE COURT, but it doesn't work AT THE GLASS WINDOW. Maybe I came up with an idea! Zephyrhills has a drive thru "git er done" marriage place, maybe I should open a drive thru "git er done" court. Just an idea. I do think that the "lady behind the glass" should write a coffee table book of good and not-so-good excuses for speeding and other traffic violations. *** I had to add this one: We were at a local outdoor mall and a well dressed blond lady driving a BMW was complaining that she was getting a ticket. The meter was empty. She said, and I quote: "I thought the meters were for DONATIONS." I am not making this up. She is either A) a BAD lair B) REALLY dumb C) not a charitable giver or D) All of the above.


Well, we shall see what tomorrow brings. Shannon

Happy 40th To My Wonderful Husband!

We just returned yesterday from the most wonderful way to celebrate a 40th birthday! We went on a 5 day cruise out of Miami to Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas. It was amazing to spend this week together, since we have opposite work schedules most of the time.
Our vacation started out with a triple birthday party for Robert, Clint and Addison Sunday night complete with great food, great family and great friends! Dana, Clint and Ryan took us to the boat Monday, at which time Ryan informed us that he was pretty sure that the boat had a bunk bed room (hint, hint.) It was rainy and cool when we left, but there was NO WAY to dampen our excitement!! Miami is stunning from the water!! We even saw surfers at Miami beach!! I thought they were pelicans!!



We had the most wonderful dining room service from Imade, Gusti, and Samita! They sang Happy Birthday to Robert on our first night. The food was purely delectable every meal! The hot melty cake is an all time favorite!!



Wednesday we went to Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos. It was a beautiful little island with AMAZING coral reefs and snorkeling. Despite the fact that it was in the upper 80's the water was cool. It was only a few minutes before I adjusted though. Several cruisers had "overindulged" in drinks and sun on Tuesday, our "Fun Day at Sea." There were lots of half white/half red people hobbling around Grand Turk. Our snorkeling guides were so kind and wonderful. We went to 2 reefs. The last one had 2 friendly stingrays and one friendly barracuda.


We had some very rough seas due to a storm over Half Moon Cay, which caused us to skip that port. I was prepared with my Scopalamine patch and Phenergan, but it didn't help much Thursday night. I'm sure I was one of several people who were kneeling at the porcelain alter Thursday night.
Friday was SO much better. Nassau was beautiful!! There is so much more we want to do there. I hope another trip there is in our near future! We were one of 5 ships at port that day. Atlantis is breathtaking. We only wish we had more time to walk around town and go to the beach.


Now, it is back to the real world! No more naps, having my bed made twice a day, having every meal prepared for me, dishes washed, fresh towels delivered, heavenly soft bed turned down, and worst of all NO MORE HOT MELTY CAKE!! This is going to be difficult. Reality is cruel! I must say that Carnival has been such a great experience for us. Even though we had to miss a port, they are masters at making people happy. It only took us 15 minutes to get downstairs, off the boat and through customs! (It took 1 1/2 hours in Tampa!) We had the best time people watching while we waited for our wonderful chauffeurs Dana, Clint and Ryan EARLY Saturday morning. We played "What band or music artist would this person listen to?" Try it! We laughed so hard, we cried. Thanks so much Dana, Clint and Ryan for your hospitality!! It is always 4 star!! Love, Shannon and Robert

Day 6 No Fried Food, Hold the Salt.

Well, it has taken me 6 days to "get it together" enough to write about this. I had a dose of harsh reality Wednesday of last week when I tried to exercise my "duty" to give blood. I have always felt strongly about blood donation, and since there are so few who can and will, I try to do it when the blood mobile comes by our office. This time was really important, because of all the suffering people in Haiti! I used to give every 2 months, until I pushed myself when I was borderline anemic and went ahead and donated, and ended up barfing up oreo cookies on a patient and passing out in his house. All I could say was "I ate oreos. It's not coffee grounds" (meaning, "I don't have a GI bleed, I just ate oreos, which can look a heck of a lot like the crap you barf up if you do have a GI bleed.") Anyway, I went in the bus, and did all pre-donation stuff, then she took my blood pressure. 176/110!!! Yep, that's where you are when you can have a stroke, and end up REALLY messed up!! They made me wait and took it again: 150/108! Bingo! Still too bad to donate, still REALLY bad. Well, as a nurse and a perfectly manipulative and in denial one at that, I figured that my BP would be up when I went to my yearly Dr appointment later that afternoon, so having a pint of blood drawn off that day would drop my blood pressure for that visit, but they wouldn't take it. Long story short, I'm now on a strict diet of low salt, low cholesterol (no fried food), and low calorie. I'm also on BP pills twice a day. My thyroid was worse, my BP was bad, my cholesterol sux, I'm having sleep apnea (I'll talk about that in a minute), and my weight has gone up ridiculously since I was there Oct. 2008. Yes, I got married AND became the supervisor all at one time, but I am so irritated with myself!! Yes, I have a very stressful job, but I should have more control than this!! She also broke it to me that I will be "high risk" if I get pregnant. Not what I wanted to hear. I want to be "low risk" and use a midwife in a birthing center in a tub! I'm not a hospital person. They give me the shakes!!
(Back to Sleep apnea) I have always been a sleep talker/walker, no biggie, as a matter of fact, Robert has really funny stories about some of my shenanigans. He even finds it funny depending on the amount of sleep he has had. Well, the last few months, Robert has noticed that I quit breathing. He used to wake me up saying "Are you ok? You aren't breathing. That freaks me out!!!" Well, he knows I will start back breathing, so he doesn't wake me as much. He said I go 15-20 seconds without breathing (apnea.) This can increase blood pressure and cause weakness, irritability, weight gain, feeling of fatigue all the time, swelling of the ankle, etc. All of these are me. I went for a sleep study Friday night and I'm waiting for the results. I didn't sleep well, so I'm not sure if they will find anything.
I have been eating sensibly for a week now, and I'm doing really well with it. I thought going without fried food would completely go against my Southern system, and in some ways it has, but I'm dealing with the emotional part of dieting really well this time. I think the whole idea that "it's do or die" helps. Also the "over achiever"/OCD part of my personality kicked in because I WILL be "low risk" if I get pregnant.
Anyway, our house is on a diet! I'll keep y'all update on it! So far, I don't feel homicidal, or even depressed. I actually feel better. I cried all the way home from the Dr Wednesday night, but I'm great now. It's amazing how much better I feel since I had my head pulled out of my ass with my well-timed dose of reality. Thanks for all of your support!!! Love, Shannon

Let's Talk About the Weather!!

Can I have a little global warming please? This super cold weather is definitely the yin to our sweltering hot summer's yang. I know I am NOT going to get any sympathy from my northern friends, but y'all have to understand, much like people acclimate to living on the equator, y'all have acclimated to living in super cold. I HAVE NOT ACCLIMATED TO COLD WEATHER. 60 is great to me, 30 sux! The hair on my legs is growing at a feverish pace. I have to MOW my legs daily! It is like an expose' I saw on the fur industry. (You know, the one where they take rabbits and fox and other animals and force them to live in really cold enclosures to make them grow thicker longer fur.) I could grow my own fur coat! It is supposed to dip into the upper 20's here in the Tampa area through the weekend. A cold snap here and there is great, but this is going to be over a week of freezing temps! We went to Target tonight and I bought the last pair of knit gloves in the store. They are absurdly ugly!! They look like your great aunt Myrtle knit them for Christmas! At this point, I don't care. They will keep my hands warm! It is so cold that when Robert rides his bike to work, within 3 minutes he is sleepy and seeing Jesus. Thank goodness we have extra padding on us for insulation. The really great part of this is thinking that in the spring and summer, we should have a lot less bugs around and the fact that this is perfect snuggling weather! Everybody snuggle up and stay warm! Love, Shannon