And 14 Years Later...

I know... I know... I haven't posted in over a month. I will do my best to fill everyone in and I apologize for my lack of filling you in.

My baby brother just turned 21! I cannot believe this! It's so funny to see him being an adult. To me, he's still the little bitty baby in his diapers calling me "Jeff-ner." He's just too precious and too wonderful to be this old. (P.S. If you can't tell, I'm a little biased)

Grandma Bertie (Justin's grandma) is doing pretty well. They are going to put her on some medication to thin the blood so she won't have another stroke. I think Grandpa Glenn is taking care of her right now so at least she can be at home. Grandpa Glenn is my "other boyfriend." He's pretty spectacular... but so is Grandma Bertie. Please say a prayer for her successful recovery if you have the time. We would greatly appreciate it.

Jus and I went to the 'Ville to hang out with the li'l bro for his 21st, so we stopped off in Ravenwood to see my Grandma Lewis. Jus, Daddy, Mama and I took her out to lunch and had a very nice time. Poor thing can't hear worth a darn, but she'll be 94 this year, so she's earned it. :)

I have to admit, we were only gone for a few days but we totally missed the girls while we were away. It's funny how much we are used to our cats - and I swore I would never be one of "those" people - but I miss them so much when we are gone. They love to watch outside (so we often leave the front door open) so we thought we would take them for a ride in the car (not in their cages that they hate). That was a bad decision. I think I may have scars on my shoulder.

Well, anyway... I hope everyone has a wonderful day and I hope to see many of you soon!

Soooo... to fill everyone in

Okay, still haven't heard back from the neurologist, but I'm assuming my head's pretty empty... once they see what's wrong they'll know.

Right now, I'm officially a cougar (Jus doesn't turn as old as me until the 16th). He's such a baby. :)

I have decided to do what I can for diabetes research and have "officially" donated my organs to science. I guess they have specified areas for all of that crap to go in for research but it's kind of strange that I had to do so much to help others. Maybe other people would be more generous if they didn't have to go through so much stuff to be helpful.

I thought it would be a nice thing to do. I figured that my pancreas sucks, so I should just get rid of it, but Mama swears it does other things that I should need/want it for. Guess I will just wait and find out what other stupid things it can (or in my case - cannot) do.

As far as me and Jus (and our baby girls + the fish named Kitty) we're all doing pretty well. Hopefully we will hear back from the EEG tests and be told that it's just a diabetes thing. Either way, I'm still lucky (and grateful) to be here.

I certainly hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter with their families and I hope that you all have a wonderful day tomorrow/today. :D

Man! I'm Getting Bad at Updating

Sorry I have not updated this page in quite a while, but things have been very hectic.

Poor Justin's Grandpa Winkler passed away just before Valentine's Day, which was a pretty rough time for his family. We cancelled our reservations and headed up to Keokuk to be with his family and to attend his grandfather's funeral. I never really know what to say at a time like that. They said that Mr. Winkler passed on his anniversary with Mrs. Winkler, who passed away last year. They had been married for more than 70 years. I guess you could say that it was nice that they can be together again and he doesn't have to hurt anymore.

We ended up spending Valentine's Day dinner with Debbie, Wally, Jessica and Derek. The place we ended up going was rather busy, as a young woman was having her birthday party there... let's just say it was loud.

We changed our Valentine's Day arrangements for the next weekend to go to Skies here in Kansas City, as Justin had never been there. He was adament about us making new dinner reservations, even though I didn't think it was necessary. We, as usual, ate too much but I'm glad he got to see the views.

And speaking of romantic little things... Jess and Derek got married. Justin has another brother-in-law! We are so excited for them. They had a very small wedding at City Hall and that completely sounds like the two of them... very low-key.

As for me, I am in the process of doing my very long EEG. There has been some confusion that we are trying to settle up, which knocked me off of my hind end. Originally when the company I am scheduling this with called, they told me it would be a regular 24-hour one and I may or may not need to take my current medication. Then they called back and said there was a mix-up and it was going to be a 24-hour sleep deprivation one, but I should bring a hat to cover my head when it was done. Unfortunately they couldn't tell me any details about what I needed to do as far as my current medications were concerned. Sooo, I called the neurologist's office and it turns out that it will be a 72-hour EEG and a hat is NOT to be on the head.

Oh my gosh! I can't imagine having all of these electrodes stuck to my head for 72 hours. I will have to have my head wrapped for protection and can sleep lying down, as long as it's only on my side. My guess is I'll sleep in a chair, as I am a tosser and a turner in my sleep. And as dumb as it sounds... I'm a little embarrased not to be able to wash my hair for over 72 hours (though I'm sure I can't be the only one they've seen with dirty hair after an EEG). Oh the mix-ups. I will be very happy when this is all over with.

For those of you who don't already know... I'm an official Kansan now. I got my driver's license a couple of weeks ago and now I'm changing the plates tomorrow. Sob! I'm from Missouri... how can I "officially" live in Kansas? For all of you other Missourians out there, just know a little piece of my heart will always be there. :)

And Jus and Luke are ready for their March Madness Bracket to commence. If you are interested in participating (I already have), registration is free, there are several different publishers (and prizes) to choose from and all you have to do is predict: http://www.athletixnation.com/bracket_challenge. You can choose if you would like to participate in any one of the state listings or choose the national one. You have nothing to lose (as it's free) but there are lots of great prizes. Good luck to those who participate!!!

Thanks for checking in and I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Okay... I Know It's Been a While

Hey all!

I know I haven't written on here for quite some time, but things have been kind of back and forth around here. My big exciting news is that I can go back to driving now. Yay! They lifted my medical restriction, so I am once again a woman with wheels. I told Justin that on Sunday (the day it was lifted) I was driving... didn't care where... just wanted to drive. Poor Daddy still has to wait until March, but hopefully he won't have any other episodes. It's been much, much more than six months for him.

Justin has started his own LLC so he's been working quite a bit at home. It's kind of nice having some company, but I am still ready to get back to work. Luke said if I was tired of being a stay-at-home girlfriend, Jus and I should start having kids (then I wouldn't be bored). I told him he was skipping a few steps that Jus and I had planned to have happen first. :) I mean, don't get me wrong... it does give me a lot more time to get stuff done around the house and have dinner ready by the time we usually eat instead of having to just make something quick out of convenience.

As far as the two of us, we've been pretty good. Things haven't been exactly going entirely our way as of late, but we're making do. As always, life doesn't always go the way you had planned but you gotta make what you can of it. I guess you don't necessarily learn to really appreciate your good times unless you've paid your dues.

So I finally used one of my Christmas gifts from Justin and took my "day at the spa." I had an hour massage, manicure, pedicure and a haircut. It was lovely (except for the lady who kept talking to me during the massage). I don't think I'll go to her again. It's the second time I've had a day at that spa. It's always nice to be spoiled.

Jess and Derek moved into their house. It looks like a very beautiful place. We haven't been there ourselves yet, but we saw their photos last time we caught up in Keokuk. It's located in Aurora, IL and it looks pretty huge! It has six bedrooms and three bathrooms. Makes our three bedroom, one and two half baths look pretty dinky. I just tell myself that our house is a lot less to clean... makes me feel a little better. :)

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great rest of the week.

Happy 2009!

Hello, everyone!

We made it back from Keokuk (visiting Jusin's family) tonight. His family did their Christmas dinner on Saturday, so we headed out for Iowa on Thursday. Since it's about a four and a half hour trip, it's always nice when we have a couple of extra days to spend with them, instead of having to drive a lot on Saturday and then leaving on Sunday evening.

His sister, Dawn (the one in Colorado) is still recovering from her surgery but it sounds like she's doing fairly well. She's still in pain and pretty uncomfortable, but she's coping with it like a trooper. His Grandpa Winkler is doing really well with his surgery and whatnot. He's already up and using his walker. I'd say that's pretty good for a 94-year-old who just broke his hip.

As far as our uber-exciting New Year's Eve, we just stayed home. We had our champagne and watched movies. I'm not exactly sure when I turned so old and boring, but I'm guessing most of my "wild days" are over. I guess I used 'em all up going to college. :) I still have 'em once in a while when I go back to the 'Ville and see old buddies, but I guess I've gotten to be a geezer. Next thing you know, I'll have to (gasp!) mature.

Well, I hope everyone had a very nice weekend and I wish everyone a spectacular 2009!!!

It's Been a While

So... we did our 1st Christmas dinner with just the two of us. Since Mama and Daddy got me the greatest slow cooker ever, we decided we'd use it for our big day. Usually we're at dinner with the families, but Justin's Mama is in CO and my Florea family dinner was last weekend, so we were on our own. It was kind of weird. I reckon we should get used to it.

Justin's grandpa fell yesterday and broke his hip, so iffin you could say a prayer for him... we'd greatly appreciate it. Once he got to the hospital, I guess they found out that he had quite a bit of blood on the brain so they took him to surgery this morning. Like I said, if everyone could say one extra prayer, we'd all love it. Thanks, in advance, for your assistance.

We're gonna head to Keokuk next weekend (on New Year's Day) to spend time with Justin's family. I guess the girls will have to be on their own again. They seem to like having run of the house anyway. I'll prolly bring them home a special gift (they're so spoiled).

Well, here's wishing everyone has a wonderful/safe holiday season!

Guess Who's Goin' to the Finals...

The Bearcats are the stuff!!! 41-7 vs North Alabama. This means that for the 4th consecutive year my boys are (by the by... we are the second team ever in the history of DII football to do this) gonna show their stuff in Florence, AL. This deserves an extra-special BOO-YAH!!! You best believe I am gonna be rootin my boys on next weekend (featured on ESPN2).

On a side note... I got my hair cut today - the shortest it's ever been.

This is the first time in my 27 years here on Earth that my hair has been too short to pull into a ponytail. It's still pretty new to me, but it usually takes me a few days to adjust to a "new do." You'd think with the various lengths/colors that I've done, I'd be used to it. Not just yet, I guess.

I reckon I'd better finish doin' my Christmas decorations (otherwise they won't have much time to be out and about) and finish one of my Christmas trees. I think we're getting our real tree tomorrow. Iffin' I don't get my decorations out, it just won't be Christmas. :)

I hope alla y'all have a wonderful week!