Thursday, July 30, 2009

Happy Birthday Mr. President, I mean Mr. Lewis

Josh turned the big 32 and we were lucky to get to have a good meal, catch a Lookouts game & enjoy many laughs with family & friends. We hit Las Mas prior to the scorching ballgame and then kept the fun going a little while after. Thank you to everyone that got to come for making him feel as special as I know he is. Not real sure what I'd do without him. He's definitely one of those guys that puts family first and does everything he can to take care of his girls. So Happy Birthday Joshy, hope you had a good time. From the looks of the pics I'd say we all had a good time.


Las Mas fun


Jake & his sombrero!!


Boys will be boys (testing out their "guns")


Anne & Alise


Starla & Jeremy


Love this fam!!! (Arden has salsa on her teeth, its not chipped...LOL!
Jen & Jeremy (we lost Kristi on the ride over! LOL)
























M-R-IIIIIIIII.......Don't!

Whom ever came up with the fact that you have to be in a hole that a mole could dig should be shot, um ok that was a bit dramatic. But seriously why does a MRI machine has to be so tiny and confining? So first things first.....the IBS I had prior to pregnancy is back and in full force. If anyone should need to know where the cleanest restrooms in Chattanooga, Hixson, Red Bank & Soddy Daisy are well I'm certain I can give you ample choices. TMI I'm sure but my blog, my perogative. (oh and why doesn't blogger have spell check? I'm in insurance not an English major! So no judgements please on spelling and grammar!). Back to the point....when I became pregnant what, almost 3 years ago it was a god send not only b/c well the life growing inside of me was the most special gift ever but even awesomer (back off english teachers - my blog!) that this little life was consuming all of my nutrients & they were staying IN MY BODY, for a lot longer than I'd ever been used to. Let's just say from Cracker Barrel to home we make stops. So I was thrilled to think the IBS could be gone, well I was wrong. Almost immediately after I'd birthed that child (a c-sec is still birthing in MY opinion) I was back to the old me which was rather disappointing. I dealt tho. So here we are a few years later and its just to the point of being unbearable again & I'd had some other red flag issues that needed to be addressed. My colonoscopy was scheduled - I will never again drink Yellow Gatorade nor will it ever be scheduled any later than 9:00 am. 11:30 was torture and I was starving, and I like to eat & don't deal well when someone tells me I can't. So I slept most of Sunday to ensure my grouchiness was kept to a minimum. It was also that day that my ever so picky daughter chose to chow down on an Egg Roll right in front of me. Seriously - cabbage of all things.....I LOVE egg rolls. I got over it and went back to bed. ha! 4 pounds lighter and a binge fest at Cracker Barrel all to say a polyp was found, removed and biopsy'd. Doc feels nothing to worry about. Good to go right?
No....I'd noticed about a month or two ago when I was shaving that my left leg, from about my calf down to toes were numb. Kind of felt like it was asleep if I pushed on it but didn't realize until after I had cut myself and not known blood was running down my leg. I then realized I had no control over my toes. I was trying to move them and had no luck. That is an extremely odd feeling & a bit scary at the same time. Sooooo after much hounding from anyone that knew about it I made a dr appt for that. 1 hr MRI later I confirmed that yes, I'm claustrophobic and yes, I'm claustrophobic. Ugh - really it wasn't horrible but I just laid there thinking "don't freak out, don't freak out". I never knew how much I don't like confined spaces until I married Josh. You see he thinks its extremely comical to put me under the covers and sit on top of me and hold me down - in my eyes this is reason for separation, not humor. Really...I will always say (well on those 2 nights we do actually sleep together) stop mushing me - he gets closer and mushes away. Anyway just ramblings of a nervous one today I suppose. Won't know anything for a couple of days, and just hoping & praying that its all a fluke. Even though God knows I ask for your prayers please.
I think I mentioned work has been crazy busy, well it still is. I am on the vaca countdown and almost in single digits. 11 days and counting!! So excited about some family time, beach bumming and the serenity of the sound of the ocean, not to mention the house we are staying in is P-I-M-P.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Start Spreading the News.....

I think its ridiculously aggrivating that I have to preface by saying, No I'm not prego!

The post title refers to the recent business trip that I took to the Big Apple! I was lucky that I didn't have to go alone, Grammy & Anne got to tag along.
L to R....Grammy & I in Times Square / Up on Top of the Rock in Rockefellar Center / Playing the "BIG" Piano / Mommy & Elmo to send to Addi - which was NOT free! / Love this of Anne & I on Top of the Rock...a bit windy, huh? / Silly ME! / Miriah Carey shooting her "Obsessed" video at The Plaza Hotel.
(If you know me then you know I was all about 5th Ave & Avenue of America's & ALL the stores that come with those streets....Saks, Tiffany & Co, BCBG, Prada, Coach) I do believe I was supposed to have been born into the Trump family just was switched at birth!! However if you know me REALLY well then you know that unless it comes from Marshall's or TJMaxx its a very SPECIAL occassion that I get the real deal! LOL
It was an incredible city to say the least. I thoroughly enjoyed myself & the company, even for it being a business trip. We ate good, saw a few celebrities, got to fulfill a long time "bucket-list" wish in attending the TODAY show and being on TV several times......

.....
AND then almost died on the way home. Sounds dramatic but I seriously thought we were goners, I believe Grammy did too and I have no idea what Anne thought b/c she was hysterically laughing as people were screaming and crying on our flight (no joke - sick sense of humor, huh??). Its just now kind of funny to me how she seriously could not stop laughing.....kind of. Thanks ladies for experiencing some fun stuff, good laughs & a near death experience with me! I would really like to go on and on about the whole trip however I am entirely too busy. What I will say is that after this trip I have now taken my position as President of our Chattanooga Chapter of National Association of Health Underwriters. Its an association that educates and fights for our brokers, carriers etc in Chattanooga. Its an incredible time to be President of this assoc especially with the health care changes that Obama is trying to have pushed through, and will most likely succeed but definitely with problems. That I will try to not get into b/c didn't I say this wouldn't be lengthy. All that aside work is crazy and I have my largest accounts renewing at this time with everyone taking vacation here and there, myself included so we are all trying to cover for each other, keep our current work load caught up and over seeing a chapter that has its obstacles to over come. We'll see how it goes and if nothing else its a wonderful opportunity for me at a young age.
(Johnny Bench was a key note speaker at my conference....very cool for me as I've grown up watching baseball - he did want to argue with me that I was too girly to play ball so I had to throw in the fact that I did play Division 1 ball!!)


It was incredibly humbling to visit NYC & see the void of the World Trade Center Bldg's. I don't want to try to imagine what it was like but its obvious that city nor our country will ever be the same. We did have the privilege of visiting a couple of fire halls and to see the memorials of those that particular group had lost. Just so sad. Gone but not forgotten is a very, very true statement.


AND Last BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST....this picture could explain why my luggage was 12lbs over the limit. I wish I could have asked one of the very aggitated by standers to take our picture as I was tossing shoes over to Anne two desks away to get my luggage "within limits". Thanks to the very kind family in between us that would toss shoes and throw our heavy luggage back up on the scale to be weighed...this went on more than one or two times. And in my defense wedges are heavier than most normal shoes & I did have to pack for business mtgs.