P. R. O. C. R. A. S. T. I. N. A. T. I. O. N... at it's finest...

Call it the weather... Call it not feeling 100% today... nope let's call it what it is... PROCRASTINATION... I cannot get motivated to flippin' get this house all cleaned up for the arrival of my sister-in-law and her 4yr old tomorrow. IT REALLY NEEDS IT TOO! It's been MONTHS since this house has had an overhaul - and we're trying. Mr Safety-Man did a GREAT job at keeping up with as much as he could! We've even started to organize our garage FINALLY... But let's face it folks... I am down to the last minute of getting the interior done... that last CRUNCH time... she'll be here tomorrow night! Sigh...

I have been working though... for the most part... ALLLL the Christmas stuff is packed away, up in the attic (as of last night), and gone till next year. It's kinda sad looking in my house right now (Safety-Man TOTALLY disagrees... he thinks it's not as cluttered) - I love Christmas decos... and miss the warm feeling they bring me! BUT it's done and taken care of - and I did 95% of it on my own!! YAY! I worked my tail off yesterday and got A LOT more accomplished... yet... there's SO MUCH MORE TO DO (isn't there always something to do????)!!

So what do I do now, after doing a few chores? Sit down, check e-mail, check my favorite blogs, and well hmmmm start typing this post! I could chastise myself till the cows come home (and in this house we don't own any cows... so that would be a long time) but I would still be waiting to accomplish all my tasks until the last minute! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Could I actually say I work well under pressure? I think my family would disagree.

I would love to say it's because my back's not been great this week, or that I'm exhausted (it's true I am), or that I am totally "sensitive" this week (and we ALL know what THAT means). And I am sure that that is part of what is going on... but I think the biggest thing - is that having 3 months "off" - even though it was painful, boring, depressing, etc - was kinda a nice break! It's hard to get back in to the swing of normal day-to-day life. I also think I am realizing that I have always been a crunch time kinda gal... sigh... Hard to embrace that - but true.

So now it is time to get my tookus (new favorite word) off the couch... stop writing this post and go put thousands (ok well maybe not that much...) but MANY loads of laundry away in my room - so it finally looks like a room and not a giant un-organized closet of a room. Then maybe I will have some warmth in this body and I can go clean both bathrooms... (did I mention that it's already 11:52PM?) THEN... THEN I will feel like I am ALMOST caught up!!

After all... she doesn't arrive till 9pm tomorrow... and after physical therapy in the AM I still have the entire day...

Right?!

I LOVE MY NEW VACUUM!!! Ode to my vacuum!!

I love you DYSON... OH YES I DOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo!!

I LOVE YOU DYSON.... I won't be BLUE!!!

I LOVE YOU DYSON... OH YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS I DOOOoooooooooooooooooo!!

OH DYSON I LOVE YOUuuuuuuuuu!!!

Now if you ever knew me before settling down - you would laugh so very hard at me singing an ode to my vacuum! I mean seriously! I was going to travel the world, play it up, have fun... & now I am excited over a vacuum that truly "sucks"... But "sucks" in a really, awesome, good, phenominal, the way the meaning is supposed to mean way!!!

Now that I am feeling better - I think dear Mr Safety-Man is just soooo ready to hand over the healm and get me fastpass on track of my "duties" since my back is gradually feeling better. Poor guy has had so much to do - and he'll do anything to make my job easier to get back in the swing of things!!! I have BEGGED for a new vacuum for YEARS. I first caught a glimpse of the Dyson at my friend's house in TX- as she was cleaning up her child's throw-up on the floor. "This is the greatest machine EVER... and you can take it apart down to the last screw..." (as she was taking it all apart to clean it up inside after vacuumming said throw-up)! Well I saw the remarkable job it did at her house... and knew that's what I wanted!

I FINALLY GOT MY DYSON LAST NIGHT!! A surprise that he was that serious and actually got it! The Blueprint model. I LOVE IT!!! It is AWESOME! I mean it truly is AWESOME! My area rug in our family room has NEVER looked this good since we got it! I can even vacuum our hard floors and not get PELTED by the sand being kicked out and back at me at mock 1 - like our other vacuum used to do! I AM SO AMAZED!!! I think honestly it is the biggest LAUGH that I am blogging about this vacuum - and love it almost as much as a piece of jewelry he's given me... OK OK OK not realllllllllllllllllllllllly - but it's close y'all!!! MAN I just cannot get over how something like this can make life THAT much easier...

Enough said of my little blog-ercial for Dyson!

I love you DYSON BLUEPRINT... OH YES I DOoooooooooooo!!
I love you DYSON BLUEPRINT... & hopefully it won't vacuum Barbie's shoe....
I LOVE YOU DYSON BLUEPRINT OH YES I REALLY DOooooooooo! DYSON I LOVE YOU!!!

hehehehehe
THANK YOU MY DEAR SAFETY-MAN... you made this Momma a HAPPY MOMMA!!!

BACK UPDATE!

Ok - so my 12-week post-op visit to my neurosurgeon was the Tuesday that the kiddos went back to school after winter break (good planning on my part eh?!).

I will fully admit I was COMPLETELY and UTTERLY a nervous wreck the night before and next morning before the appointment. I felt that maybe I had screwed something up... after all I have been "over-doing things" for quite some time now! It's hard to sit around and "rest" when you're feeling so much better!!

All our prayers, all the resting, all the stress of healing, all my WONDERFUL Safety-Man's hard work, well it paid off!!! Thank you so much Lord. I cannot believe how far I've come in 3 months.

I AM OFFICIALLY FUSED!!! Yes! YES! YEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! I am so excited! I had x-rays done (again) and this time they ASKED me to BEND! I got to bend legitimately... backwards and forwards! I will admit - it wasn't very comfortable. But I wasn't "cheating" so it felt GREAT! The x-rays showed that my L5-S1 vertebrae have fused.

THAT IS A GREAT THING MY FRIENDS!!!

I am still concerned about mobility & some residual pain. I still have quite a lot of physical therapy to do. I cannot go play tennis right away, or run as long as I used to (well at all right now)... however the possibility is there! I will give PT my very all. I will work hard to get these muscles toned, strong, and flexible. This I promise. And you can hold me to it!

I got home from the appointment excited, tired from the stress I have been putting on myself (and cold! It's been in the 30's/40's here). I think that is why - my back decided to hurt for the next 24 hours. And by hurt I mean an incredible HURT, once again debilitating! I was in so much pain. And to top things off - my right leg started it's nerve pain (let me tell you - it's not fun). It made me so frustrated, so angry. But as I laid there - trying not succomb to it (it won that round). I think that it was God's way of reminding me - that I am not out of the clear yet...that there is a lot of work, rest, and TLC that I need to continue. I want to progress not regress. I will heed this example. I will take care of myself. Again... this I promise to myself, my family, and my friends. We all want a whole Kymmie back. It's just not fun otherwise.

For now... I am just so excited that I am officially being called NORMAL - ok well close enough(no comments from the peanut gallery there... hahahaha)! I have been released to take things slowly and I do not need to see my WONDERFUL, AWESOME, neurosurgeon until July (unless things do not continue to progress... which they will... so SEE YA in JULY Dr. S!!!)!!!

Things are looking up...

Now it's back to the daily grind... the things that I actually did miss believe it or not... (chores, helping with homework, doing the laundry...) yeah well I am sure it will get old VERY fast... but hey - at least my dear Safety-Man is happy "Kymmie's" back now!!!

I will post the x-rays of the progression of my spinal fusion - (the most recent -showing full fusion- is still in Safety-Man's car) in another post! It is pretty neat to see the changes!!!

THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN to all my family and friends who have helped me progress to this point. I cannot thank you enough. I wouldn't be where I am now - if it were not for you guys. I am so blessed to be able to heal the way I did and also to have such a phenominal support system.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KYMMIE'S BACK!!!!

I am working on getting 100% - but am feeling over the top!!!

Like I said... as normal as I can actually be...

A New Year, A New Decade, and a New 10th Birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SWEET KYK!!

I pray for this year to be the best ever...

I cannot believe that this year has gone by so soon! I cannot fathom that this year is over! It was wayyy too fast and filled with so many things! I think the top on my list - is getting myself healthy - to be a better me, a healthier (in all aspects - physically with my back especially) ME! I look fwd to really working on maintaining this healthy relationship with my body... wish me luck!

The Marriners brought the new year in with some of our fabulous friends - it was so fun to be with our close friends. They are our extended family when our family is so far away. Besides some wonderful toasts to such wonderful friends, delicious food, & crazy singing,... we each told where we were at the turn of the century 10 years ago! WOW we all had such great stories!


I shot my hand up... this was a NOOOooooooo BRAINER!! I was NINE months... FULLY pregnant - I mean she tried to come right before Christmas - so I was ready to BUST! It looked like I swallowed a BIG basketball! We counted down the new year with my parents and my SOoooooo silly dear Mr Safety Man - escaped out in to the garage at the stroke of midnight and shut off the power... It was HYSTERICAL! My dad says to us... "Well I guess that's that - I'll toast to THAT!" And then my oh-so-funny hubby flipped back on the power. It was a lot of fun being with my parents - for this "momentous" turn of the century... I kept singing "We're gonna PARTAY like it's 1999!!" (a Prince song - for those of you who aren't as cool as I)!

We were hoping that our little bundle of joy would come right then... well she wasn't due till the beginning of February. But she came soon after the new year commenced.

Hours after Ky's birth... HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BABY GIRL!

So much has changed in these last ten years. I've grown in so many ways. My dear Safety-Man has grown! Our family has grown! Our lives have changed exponentially. Ten years ago we had been in our house for about 10 months - our own house with lots of used and mixed-matched, old furniture and we have come so far in this house... it is now our home- with lots of love, sweat, blood, tears, but mostly hardwork and love. I was still working for my company in Orlando but was mostly working from home due to being SO PREGNANT! AND the biggest change for me... I WAS PREGNANT! Hello!?! If that is not the biggest change in a young, married couples lives what is?! Our married lives were about to change for the best.

Our oldest daughter blessed us and arrived on January 4th, 2000 at 10:08pm. My water broke (sorry for the tmi) at noon. Kyky was bound and determined to come that day. She was early...by three weeks. My contractions would not cease... I couldn't believe my dr wanted me to come in to "make sure" my water had broken. Heeheehee well joke was on her as I got on the table - sure enough it "broke again" only on her shoes! heheehhehe!! (A small victory for the slam to my dignity...)!

We went directly to the hospital at that point. Normal contractions look like little turtle shells across the read-out tape. Nope not mine... mine looked like the Rocky Mountain cliffs! There was no relief, no end to the pain, and I just couldn't relax... (PLUS I couldn't remember ANY of the Lamaze we had learned in all those weeks of classes with my favorite OB nurse Sue)! I asked for an epidural - only the anethesiologist had 2 emergency epidurals he had to do - so I got "bumped". I did, however, get a shot to fall asleep -but immediately upon waking, they were just as bad. If I didn't progress - I would have to do a c-section. The baby's heart rate did drop. Finally the epidural came. Not a pleasant experience - but I will spare the tmi there!

Luckily I progressed and was able to relax. They backed off the epidural so I could feel and start pushing. Our baby was born at 10:08pm. The NICU nurses were there. It was all so surreal. I got to hold Kyky for seconds... and the first thing I noticed was her color wasn't right. It actually matched my nail color - a grey/purplish color. Then she was urgently whisked away. My DEAR Safety-Man was a saint that evening. I had to do "things" after she came - and he knew what was happening with our baby. My first, dear sweet baby was not breathing. She was quiet. Too quiet. In fact my baby had the cord wrapped around her neck several times. She had been without oxygen. I asked her Apghar score... and no one would answer me. It turned out it was a ZERO then. My darling hubby- stepped in between me and my Ky getting resuscitated. He held my hand and glanced backward to watch his daughter. She wouldn't cry. I had NO idea what was happening the entire time - which was a huge blessing. He shielded me from that pain. I kept asking him to move and he kept telling me how proud he was of me. What a wonderful man. They worked on my baby girl (but I didn't know it) for quite awhile. I remember hearing at one point - one nurse say "she won't cry. She needs to cry" and another nurse shushing her.

And finally... I heard it. I heard the most beautiful sound in the whole world. My daughter crying.

It was the sweetest, most blessed, most angelic sound I had ever heard.

My Kyky was born and my Kyrakin has been the most beautiful child one could ever ask for. She is lovely, smart, intelligent, beautiful, sweet, caring, loving. She truly was the BEST pregnancy, the BEST baby, the BEST little girl. I mean she amazes us every day...

And now my Ky has turned TEN! TEN!!! She continues to be such a wonder to us. We have our great days and of course our struggles. She is very independent yet she wants to be a little girl too! She wants to grow up - yet still needs us greatly. It is an interesting journey. A glorious journey. An exciting story that is unfolding.

Happy Birthday sweet girl! We love you

And now look at this gorgeous girl... This was taken on the eve of her birthday. She had this EXTRAVAGANZA of a party...her friends all came dressed-up to the hilt. They all got to walk the red carpet... and my-o-my did she look TOO old that night!! We're not ready for her to grow up too fast... not quite yet. One year at a time is fine by us!

Musings on a wonderful decade...a momentous decade - beautiful moments!