Lots of things

Where have I been?? I can't believe how many things have happened since I last blogged! To highlight a few faves...

Megan graduated middle school and looked beautiful, of course! She has been staying very busy with her friends!


The boys marked the end of the regular baseball season with Big Field Day.

Dane and Dylan also had a great time at baseball camp this week! They got to meet Gov Lynch, a member of the Fisher Cats team and got to see the 2 most recent World Series trophies won by the Red Sox!


And most thrilling of all, I am excited to announce that we are officially booking our first ever Orlando vacation today! I will still post some things here, but I have decided to start a separate blog for our vacation adventures. I want our entire experience to be in one place for future reference (and printing) after the trip! You can find our new blog here!

I am sad that Nicole is going back to NC on Wednesday and we only got to see her once! :( For those of you following Nicole's life as a Marine, I think I forgot to mention she has now joined us in the world of blogging! Check it out here!

Father's Day was quiet today. Sadly, Scott had to work and the kids are still in lock down, lol. We did finally go through the boy's clothes to weed out the things that are too small (or too ripped, or too stained, etc) and see what "handy downs" they might have grown into. It's a fun way to get a handle on what shopping needs to be done and the boys always crack me up! I laughed so hard when Dylan tried on "skinny jeans" and was convinced they didn't fit him!

Happy birthday, Lou Gehrig!

Happy birthday, Lou Gehrig! Today we remember Lou Gehrig, as he is the face of ALS. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.
Please consider participating in the Covering All The Bases Hitting Challenge! The money raised will be used to advance research, expand patient services, continue public education programs, and advocate for people with ALS. This is close to my heart, because my Mother passed away in December 2000 from this heinous disease.

I also wanted to share that 2 of my favorite designers have collaborated to create amazing new digi kits available today at The Lilypad!


Wild Rump is available right here.



Capture the Moment is available right here.

The kids are doing pretty well today... the fevers seem mostly managed with Tylenol and Motrin and the coughs are quiet for the time being! They are busy watching scary movies on Fearnet OnDemand!

The compound is in lockdown

$15 co-pay for a doctor's visit
$270 in prescriptions for Tamiflu
$120 in Tylenol, Motrin, Mucinex, cough drops and cleaning supplies (Lysol, Clorox wipes and the like)
Countless dollars spent on ice cream, chicken noodle soup and Gatorade

Why, you ask? ALL FOUR OF MY KIDS HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH THE H1N1 FLU (SWINE FLU)!


Dane has been sick since Thursday, Dylan was home the past 2 days and today both Megan and Victoria came home from school sick. I knew something wasnt right. A trip to the doctor's confirmed it's the damned swine flu. UGH! I feel so bad for them because they are not allowed back to school until next Friday- the very last day of school- which means they are missing all the end-of-the-year activities (field trips, finals, yearbook signing, graduation practices, sports parties, etc). They are all so depressed and sick on top of it! My heart breaks for them! :(

Please send your prayers and positive thoughts that they are all healthy and feeling strong again soon!

Guess who needs more surgery!

When I discussed surgery with my doctors, I joked with them that they should remove anything I didn't need while they were in there because I only wanted to be put under once. I specifically mentioned my gall bladder and appendix. Today I went to the urologist for scan of my kidneys and low and behold, I learned that my gall bladder is FILLED with stones! I will need it out as well! Is that ironic, or what? I guess so long as I dont have any specific gall attacks, I can wait till my next physical in January to schedule it.

The other thing that kills me is that I have had several gall bladder attacks over the past 3-4 years. I was told by a specialist that it was IBS. I have literally rolled on the floor in pain thinking nothing could be done about it. What the heck? It irritates me to no end that the doctor never ordered any test to definitively determine what was wrong and now *I* have paid the price!

Dane and Dylan were BOTH home sick today. Dane has now missed 5 days of school. UGH! He is extremely stressed about how he will get caught up with so little time left before the end of the year. I initially thought Dylan was just overtired from listening to Dane cough all night, but I took his temp this afternoon and he was almost at 102 degrees. I am SO praying he doesnt have the same thing as Dane! :( To think, we stayed healthy all winter...

Happy birthday!

My adoptive Dad would have been 65 years old today. How ironic that one of the things we last fought about before he died was the fact he thought my brother and I forgot him at Christmas and his birthday and here I am 21 years after he died and I still remember his birthday like it was yesterday!


My Dad with Jamie and me, when we were little


Rebecca, Jamie, My Dad and his cousin outside Goldenrod's in York Maine... some of my favorite childhood memories are from York when my cousin Rebecca would come visit her grandmother in Kittery Maine and we would get to see each other!


This picture of my Dad makes me laugh because there are notes written on the back pertaining to the composition of the photo, etc.... he then goes on to point out that it's a "bad photo" because his hair "looks like hell"! LOL


This is one of my all-time favorite pics of my Dad. It was take in Orlando the summer before he passed away. It's torn and tattered because I carried it in my back pocket for a year+ after he passed away!


As far as I know, this is the last picture of my dad taken, just about a month before he passed away. Its so strange for me to look at this, because he seemed so "old" when he died, yet he was only 44. Scott is currently OLDER than my Dad was when he died! Yikes! Can you imagine?

Anyway, happy birthday, Dad! I miss you!

In other news, I had my first post-degree interview today. It went really well, but I got a call that they chose someone else for the position! :( They are looking to fill a second position July 1st, so I am holding out a little hope for that, but for right now, I am disappointed. I didnt realize how much I missed working until I sat in the interview and imagined the phone ringing and my own office space. Ah well, such is the economy! I am glad I have another interview Friday to keep my mind occupied! :)

Thanks to everyone who guessed which dress Megan chose over on Facebook! There was only ONE person who actually guessed the one she chose (4th dress on the bottom row). Here is one of my fave pics from the night... her and her best friend, Heather!


I attended Sherri's parent's 20th anniversary party yesterday in the role of photographer, but did manage to get one quick pic that included myself with 2 of my buds- Sherri & Steph!


I am so excited to share that I learned something new today! Since graduating last month, I havent done a whole heck of a lot of learning and I miss it. I started researching "Favicons" and created one for my website. I even mastered adding it to most pages (blog not included since I am a Blogger user). Wahoo!

So, Dane missed two days of school this week and is still hacking up a lung! I am hoping and praying that it isn't whooping cough, which is going around school! I asked him to take some medication for his cough, but he still hasnt mastered swallowing pills. UGH!
Him: I have to wait for a good commercial.
Me: Why?
Him: So I will be distracted!
I just laughed... until he still couldnt actually get it down. I diced pickles into small pieces and had him try with that. Still a no-go but he enjoyed the pickles and decided to try a pickle-pill-pickle combination to CHEW it up. He promptly covered the sink in vomit. Diced pickles is how I learned. Anyone got any other ideas on how to teach a child to swallow a pill?

Oh, and a quick shout out to Doug who came to rescue us by fixing Scott's truck that crapped out on Friday... another dang alternator! We just replaced the last one 3 years ago! Grrrrr! Anyway, thanks for helping us out, Doug! :)

The dinner dance is tomorrow.....

Megan and I had a great time shopping for her dinner dance dress on Monday! She tried on twenty dresses and finally was able to choose one. We then went in search of shoes, earrings, bracelets and a clutch purse! Definitely not an easy task! Shayna is helping her with her nails tonight and Kathy is doing her hair tomorrow after school.

Post your guess as to which dress she chose in the comments and check back later this week to see if you were right!

A weekend full of baseball

Saturday was a ball game kind of day with Megan and Dane both having double headers and Dylan having a game, too! We ended the day with a 4-1 record for the Giallongo kids! :)
Game #1 (Dane) 17-1
Game #2 (Dylan) 9-21
Game #3 (Megan) 10-5
Game #4 (Megan) A lot- A little
Game #5 (Dane) 17-12 (they were down 0-9 at one point so this was quite a comeback!)

We are gearing up for play-offs beginning this week! As much as I enjoy watching my kids play sports, baseball is probably my least favorite... blazing sun (I got burnt hard core yesterday) or pouring rain... bugs... lots of sitting around... I am definitely looking forward to the end of the season!

On another note, an opportunity has come our way. Please pray for wisdom and guidance for us to make the right choice for our family.

Rest in Peace, Gram

Mary E. Kennedy
September 16, 1924- June 2, 2009

Rest in peace, Gram... you will be missed!

So, get this.... I am NOT pregnant.......

I know, I know.... you are stunned I am not pregnant, right? Let me explain...

Scott and I spent like 4 hours cleaning off my desk today. It is the dumping ground of all dumping grounds. It holds details of all our lives... bills, receipts, magazines, school work, letters, CDs... and apparently one two-pack of pregnancy tests with one test missing (from a few years ago). I laughed when I found it because CLEARLY I wont be needing that again! I told Scott maybe we should save the other test, being as we have 2 daughters still at home. He agreed and we didnt speak further about it.

Tonight, Megan came downstairs and came right up to my ear while I was sitting at the computer and whispered "Why did you do a pregnancy test?" I busted out laughing! Apparently, Scott put the box in the toothpaste drawer and Megan found it with one test missing and was completely bewildered. I seriously couldnt stop laughing!

Proud Mama

I am such a proud Mommy today! Victoria had her first horse show yesterday and came home with TWO ribbons (one for suitables and one for walk trot canter). All of her lessons and hard work really paid off! She has an opportunity to compete two more times this summer and I certainly hope she will!

On the recovery front, things are going well. I saw Dr Chibaro on Friday. He was kind to remind me that I can DRIVE on Tuesday, but nothing else.... still no laundry, household work, lifting. *sigh* I am seeing Dr Montenaro this week and am hoping he will think things are progressing normally as well. At this point, I rarely have true pain, but more of an overall ache in my abdomen... it feels like it is bruised from the inside out, which I suppose it probably is! lol

I have added a few more movies to my "watched" list... Juno and Hancock are two that come to mind that I actually liked! It's weird to stay awake for a whole movie.... they usually put me right to sleep! LOL

The Infamous Iron Story

Tonight I heard a dragging noise outside in the front yard. It sounded a lot like a garbage barrel being dragged over pavement. I called to Dane, hoping maybe it was him moving his bike. It wasn't. He was in the living room. To make a long story short, Jen went out (in a towel) because she is far more brave than myself, Dane or Shayna. She didn't find anything. When Scott got home, he too checked and found nothing. I don't buy that it was nothing, but sadly I can't identify who was trespassing, so I will let it go for now.

Anyway... I posted on Facebook saying "Nothing like the scare of an intruder to get your heart pumpin'!" and laughed right out loud at my friend Holly's response: "you could grab an iron and steam em' to death.......lol!"

I can't believe she remembered the story from 1989 when my Mom, Gary, my brothers and I went to my Dads condo in Haverhill. As we entered through the lower level, things seemed out of place. My Mom was always a little skittish and got us all worked up that maybe there was an intruder. We stood crowded next to the washer and dryer trying to devise a plan of entry into the house and how we might respond to confronting someone. My Mom grabbed the iron and said "Let's go!" and then came Gary's infamous response "What are we gonna do? Steam him to death?"

Isn't it funny the little things that stay with you?

A mental test of strength...

Recovery, for me, has been more a test of my mental strength than one of a physical nature. I am finding myself dealing with a myriad of emotions, which likely has to do with my hormones. I have yet to confirm whether or not that is simply a result of surgery or whether it has to do with the removal of one ovary. Physically, I know I must remain "quiet" and "calm" but mentally I am bored beyond measure.

I have never been a movie buff, but I have found myself watching several movies to try to occupy or distract myself. So far I have seen: PS I Love You, Taken, When Harry Met Sally, The First Wives Club, Wristcutters, The Incredible Shrinking Woman, House of 1000 Corpses, The Lizzie McGuire Movie, countless episodes of To Catch a Predator and several other shows on OnDemand in hopes of finding something worth "getting into". Got any other suggestions for movies I should see?

Sunday night!

I am sitting on the front steps with Jen, just chillin' and waiting for the town fireworks to start. Her sister is coming by with her kids. It will be nice to have human contact!

Sharmaine and Kristin came by today and we watched Taken. It was definitely a good movie! I am so sad they are moving soon. :(

I am excited the kids will be back tomorrow and am eager to see Nicole while she is up for the weekend.Thank god for Jen and Sherri or I would have gone nuts this weekend!

Bored.

Day 3 on bed rest and I am really starting to get fidgety. The pain isn't horrible, mostly just achy (except for when I stretch the wrong way and then suddenly it feels like I am being ripped apart from the inside out). The other particularly strange thing that has been happening is my dreams. Not only are they rich in detail, but they feel like they are in the same room as me. I wake finding myself reaching out for things that arent there and dreaming of real life people who arent connected. Its difficult to explain, but I am trying to pay attention to any messages.

Right now I am watching "P.S. I Love You". I fell asleep the first time I watched it, but so far I am holding strong. Anyone got any other movie recommendations for me? I would particularly love a chick flick or maybe a good drama.

Day #2

Today is my second day at home and I am doing pretty well. As long as I stay seated, I only feel a dull ache. Of course, earlier today, I was laying in bed and stretched to get the phone and thought for sure I had ripped my stomach open. I jumped up and ran to the bathroom clutching my side, afraid to even look. Thank goodness nothing was wrong (from the outside, anyway). It's gonna be a VERY long 2 weeks... I sure hope the kids and Scott make good on their promise to be understanding!

It looks like Scott's parents are going to take the kids up north for the weekend. I am really excited about that. I feel so terrible that I cant do much to entertain them here and I know they will have a good time with their grandparents and catching up with their "camp friends"... let's just hope Megan can stay out of trouble!

Thanks to Jen, Sharmaine and Joe Landry for helping me out today... I appreciate all the amazing support I have received! :)

Live from bed.....

I have been home from the hospital for a couple of hours now. Surgery yesterday went fine... the last thing I remember is waiting for "happy juice".... then I have a few moments of memory in the recovery room and then I was moved to my own room, where Scott, Jen and the kids joined me. I guess the first thing I said when I came out of surgery was that I needed help filling out job applications. I guess its pretty obvious what must be on my mind right now, LOL :)

I had Morphine throughout the night which kept me up and itching. I stopped the Morphine this morning and have been flying solo on Motrin since then. Unfortunately, because Megan called so late, there is no time to get my prescriptions filled tonight. :( I hope I can make it through the next 12 hours! UGH!

Well, that seems like enough for now.... have a great night! :)

Big Scrappin News!

Check this out! I am thrilled to be a part of such an amazing website! I am tickled pink with our bios on the site, too!

Details about (and pictures from) graduation will be coming soon!

Busy, busy, busy!

Yesterday Sharmaine and I headed out to Hampton to have our caps airbrushed for graduation. We found two shops- both were closed. :( We search the net, called friends and made phone calls the whole way home, but to no avail. The, suddenly, we remembered Craigslist and found an airbrush artist right in Manchester. We met him in Dunkins parking lot, he took the caps and they were done with 5 hours! They came out awesome!!!! I would highly recommend him to anyone looking for airbrush work. I can't post a pic just yet, but look for a picture on Sunday or Monday!

My visit with the urologist on Monday turned out to be quite productive. The urologist will now be joining my gynecologist to perform an additional surgery on Tuesday. Unfortunately, this will drastically delay my recovery time, but at least I can recover from both at the *same* time. My kiddos are really gonna have to work together to make sure things run smoothly without much assistance from me.

Nicole will be home for Memorial Day weekend and we are obviously really excited to see her! It will be weird not to be at camp for the weekend as we have done for so many years, but I won't be able to go because the surgery anyway. Speaking of Nicole, I am still looking for the Yuma scrapper that wrote to her when she was in Boot Camp...

Weekend Recap

Friday night, Jen, Dave and I headed out to the Yee in Manchester. Scott and some of his work buddies met up with us! Definitely had a good time.... I did some dancing but restrained myself from singing karaoke! LOL


Saturday was Opening Day for baseball! The boys teams both won their games!


Sunday we hit Canobie Lake Park for our annual Mother's Day tradition! I rode on TWO rides this year, LOL :)

Scott is off today and we have a to-do list a MILE long, so I need to scoot! Have a great day!

Yeah for me!

I did it! I completed my degree and can now officially call myself a graphic designer! I am SO excited! I even applied for 2 jobs last night. Of course, I am really trying to hold off until after my surgery, but I just couldn't resist putting my new resume to good use! :)

[Hey Kaplan: I want to note that the degree I am so proud to have earned was NO THANKS to the administration at Hesser College in Manchester NH... it was single handedly by my own dedication and the genuine care and concern shown by the current instructors! Every other office from admissions to academic advising and financial aid was a joke and absolutely useless! What you have done with a LOOPHOLE regarding credentials and your media coverage to allude that many of the staff were not qualified disgusts me! That is simply NOT true. If you feel those teachers dont have adequate credentials, then you should promptly reimburse me for the degree I just PAID FOR with those teachers! Add THAT to the Perception Monitoring page! If you want, you can also update the existing blog content that you stole from me to reflect the fact that I will NOT be pursuing a business degree (or any other degree) at Hesser College!]

And while I am on a rant this morning, we woke to find that Dylan's new bike was stolen from the front yard (right next to the front door). I think it's about time I went to the range and learned to shoot a gun because I have had enough trespassing and theft here in 2009. I have a suspicion that this is directly related to the paintball incident which followed the snowball incident performed by the owner of Turnpike Pizza and his rotten children (the apples don't fall far from the tree).

Despite having been up since before 4am, I havent showered yet (though I did work out and take Victoria to school) so I need to scoot to get that done and get my day moving! Have a great one! TGIF, baby!

The calm before the storm...

Tomorrow is my very last day at Hesser College (and after the events of the last week, THANK GOD)! I have a science final at 930am and then Portfolio Day in the afternoon. (Feel free to stop by the library from 1-3pm to see the portfolios of the class of '09)!

Also, I need to put out a quick APB for someone in Yuma! Apparently one of my "scrapbooking friends" wrote to my step-daughter Nicole while she was in boot camp this summer. Nicole is now being sent to Yuma and she would like to get in touch with you! If this is you or you know who this is, please send me an email at inlovewithdots at aol dot com.

The baseball season officially began for our family tonight with Dane's first game (in the rain)! They won and Dane managed to swindle a trip to Chill N Grill out of the deal by making a single- handed double play! I added Dylan's games to my planner tonight and was horrified to find that many games conflict, not just requiring me to be in TWO towns at once, but THREE towns. *sigh*

Tuesday 5:
1. RAIN (which cancelled 1 game and 2 practices making tonight A LOT more tolerable)
2. Two FABULOUS Graphic Design instructors (couldn't have made it without them!)
3. New x-acto blades for smooth trimming
4. More positive publicity on GMA about the da Vinci surgery
5. Ordered my Double Honor Cord for Phi Theta Kappa

Hi :)

The kids are on Spring Break this week and today was another beautiful day! Dylan's friend Conner was over and the boys played on the Wii and outside all day. This afternoon, I even went out for a game of Knock Out with the boys! The girls stayed busy tanning themselves on the back porch.

Thursday 5:
1. Freshly colored hair
2. Getting game and practice dates in the planner so I dont lose my mind soon
3. Planning Girls Night with Sharmaine
4. Egg salad for dinner (I must need protein, as I have been craving this A LOT lately)
5. Scott being home early

Wednesday 5

5 things I am thankful for today
1. Last day day of regular classes (2 days of finals next week and I am DONE!)
2. The Amatos employee who called Kristin and I "regulars" and had extra sauce ready as soon as we walked in the door :)
3. Completing the design for my soap box with some help from Jen (one of the 2 best professors ever)!
4. New capris that fit perfectly and make my butt look cute
5. First day using Wii Fit

Yes, thats right, my wonderful husband approved the Wii Fit as an (slightly) early graduation gift! I am DETERMINED to lose this freakin' weight! I am SO tired of being fat... or as my new trainer on Wii Fit says... OBESE! Today's walk was not in the cards so I am going to head downstairs and do some time on the recumbant bike instead! Have a great night!

Weekend 5

I was simply too busy to blog this weekend.... it was our second annual Girls Weekend in Old Orchard Beach! Jen once again pampered us, as we laughed our way through another fun filled weekend!

My weekend 5:
1. Pedicures at the mall
2. Massages at the hotel
3. Coldstone Creamery Ice Cream
4. Tarot readings
5. Laughter with some of my very best friends!

It was hard to pick just 5 for the weekend because I really enjoyed our time together so much! I hope that Lesley will be able to join us again next year because I really missed her!

Dylan had his second soccer game today! Auburn beat Dover 2-1 in a very exciting game! Without my zoom lens, I was really lucky to catch this photo of Dylan.


On our way home, we saw an intense smoke plume as we drove down Route 101. Come to find out, it was a car fire! I happened to have my camera close at hand, so Megan snapped several pictures as we passed by. I was happy to read that both occupants of the car were able to escape without injury. It was really an intense scene!

Late night

I am gettin' ready for bed, but thought I would check in with a quick post.....
I am diligently working on my term paper for Sociology. I am 5/8 done with page 4..... so close to the finish line, I can taste it! YUM! :)

I call the dr's office today..... my surgery will be scheduled for as soon as possible after May 6th (the last day of classes/exams)! I am very excited and nervous all at the same time! I had hoped to not have it interfere with Mother's Day.... or my graduation..... or...... well, I guess that's the point.... there really IS no convenient time, so let's just DO IT!

Thursday 5:
1. Pink Lemonade Vodka (this should really be #5, but I am typing it first because it's in my hand now, LOL)
2. Extra cash hidden away in my purse
3. Chatting with friends that keep me grounded
4. My very first "go green" grocery bag!
5. The strength to walk away when that is best

A fondness for cookie cakes......

Here at the commune we have developed quite a fondness for cookie cakes, beginning on the very first day Jen & Shayna moved in. The more frosting, the better! Doesn't this one look yummy?

Wednesday 5:
1. A Facebook update saying KI went digi!
2. Earth Day greetings from earth-conscious friends!
3. The last parent/teacher conference of the year
4. Texting
5. A happy vase of sunflowers smiling at me on our kitchen table

Updates

I have had several requests for pictures of the home improvements, so last week I snapped a few photos of the work in progress. The colors are kind of off because the flash and lighting. At the time I took these, we didn’t have the baseboards put back on and some furniture still needed arranging, etc, but this will give you an idea until I can put more “final” photos up. Of course, even the final photos will be lacking curtains until I can figure out exactly what I want, LOL I also need to start choosing some frames and photos. It could definitely be a long expensive process to get everything just the way I want it. Overall, though, I am madly in love with the floor! It gives the space such an updated and clean look!

I went for ultrasound #4 (or #5?) today. I predicted that the cyst on the left would have disappeared and the right would have no change. I was wrong. The left cyst is still there (though smaller) and the right cyst has grown! I am eager to get the "official" results and discuss my options with the doctor. I expect surgery will be in order in May or June!

Short post for tonight because I need to work on my Sociology paper. It's due Monday! Yikes!

Monday

A few updates....

1. Breakfast- Jen and I have been walking to get some exercise and burn some calories (although after seeing how few a 2 mile walk burns, it is a bit depressing). I found some research that indicates people who eat breakfast eat, on average, 200 fewer calories overall each day, so I have decided to give it a whirl!
2. Megan’s performance in Mulan was wonderful! The hard work that all the kids put into it was very evident!

3. Scott and I were able to escape to The Yee on Saturday night after he got home. It’s a rare treat for us to sneak away, just the two of us. We really enjoyed it.
4. I have only THREE regular class days left and TWO days of finals and then I am DONE… D-O-N-E! I am so psyched about that! My portfolio is nowhere near complete right now. I really wanted to have it done by tomorrow to bring to the NHCC Portfolio Review, but I guess I may have to go as spectator instead! ☹

Monday 5:
1. The newly finished dining room table
2. A great class at The Upper Room
3. Pazzo Bread at Amato’s
4. Waking up before the alarm clock
5. Using a fun bubble tutorial in Illustrator to complete a logo