Next?

My good friend Jill recently did a post on her blog about where she wanted to take her next vacation. She picked Croatia. I have heard wonderful things about Croatia from the friends and my sister who have travelled there. I think she will have an amazing time. So, she got me thinking, where should I go next?

Ryan and I kind of have a pattern when it comes to vacations. We tend to rotate between relaxing beach vacations (ala Cancun and Kaua'i) and on the go vacations (ala Europe). Our last vacation was 2 amazing, wonderful, tiring weeks in Italy so this next one should consist of me on the beach, tropical drink in one hand, good book in the other, kids splashing in the surf nearby and Ryan snoozing on the lounge chair next to me. Sounds Heavenly right?

I have really been wanting to go to Turks and Caicos, namely the Beaches Resort there because it is supposed to be really family friendly and sounds like the perfect place to keep the kids and adults happy and entertained!

But, with Carrie in New Zealand in a pretty serious relationship, I have a feeling we will be jetting off to Kiwiland before we go anywhere else. Not that I mind, it just wouldn't be my first choice. I really really like warm weather and NZ is known more for rain... Oh well. From the photos my sister has sent, the scenery looks amazing and I am very excited to meet Billy and see where my sister has spent the last year of her life.

Any other thoughts on where we should go??

Driving Miss Daisy

on the way to LA for surgery

Yep, that has been my nickname of late, Miss Daisy. I had my hip surgery a week and a half ago and have not been able to drive (or do much of anything really), hense the nickname.

Waiting for my name to be called

The surgery went great. I actually don't remember even going into the OR or coming out of it and going back to the hotel. Good thing we had a lovely hotel with a huge comfy bed and lots of pillows! And Ryan enjoyed the PPV movies while I was passed out. Although why he chose The Golden Compass I will never know. The day after the surgery I had a check up with the on call Dr and then we headed home. I slept most of the way (thank you Vicodin).

My bandage after surgery

The three incision sites

I am on crutches and will be for another 2-3 weeks (ugh). I am in a fair amount of pain and doing the simplest things like sneezing or bending down are excruciating. I am sooo thankful that Ryan has been home these last few weeks because I literally would not be able to do ANYTHING without him here. I feel pretty guilty laying in bed all day but I know it is Drs orders so.... I try to get up and get out of the house once a day but I am finding that I am paying for that later.

This past Monday we went back to LA and had a check up with my Dr. My mom had removed my stitches the day before (major major ouch) from the 3 different incision areas so he checked that, got an X Ray to check on my healing and did a few mobility exercises with me (another major ouch). He told us what he had done in the surgery, which was different than what I had originally thought he was going to do. They disclocated my hip then he went and shaved off some of the socket so the ball of the hip joint would be able to move freely. Hooray for modern medicine!! Sounds lovely huh?!

I start physical therapy next week and will do that for about a month. Dr said I can get on the bike at gym in 2 weeks, walking on the treadmill in 4 and running (running?? like I did that before the surgery...) in 6.

So, in the mean time, Miss Daisy it is!

Little Earthquakes

I have taken a very long break from blogging, and not for lack of things to write about. It truth, there is so much going on in my life right now that I do not know where to start.

I liken the past 4 months of my life to little earthquakes, though some call it a soap opera. I have been dealing with multiple events, each one rocking me to my core. Most of these I won't discuss here, they are very private matters and I do not want to share them in a forum like this.

Those I can tell you about are that my mom was diagnosed with Schleroderma, pulmonary fibrosis and schlerosis and is now undergoing chemo. So far she has been doing really well and has not had a bad reaction to the chemo! Also, Ryan no longer works at the winery but has a wonderful prospect on the horizon (more to come on that as it develops) and already has multiple guest chef dinners lined up at different wineries in Paso Robles. He was also recent featured in Central Coast Magazine as a Top Scoring Chef in their Iron Chef competition.

I am having hip surgery on Friday 5-23. I will be out of work for 2 weeks but when I return, I will be transferred to the Paso office which means no more comuting and a lot more money!!

We have had 2 sets of foster children. I can't go into the details but they have enriched our lives even in the short period of time that we had them and we are looking forward to our next placement! We are also considering adoption...

The kids have been wonderful! Riley is playing baseball and is one month away from finishing first grade. He finished his first series of motocross racing and has been doing fantastic!! Bella is taking gymnastics once a week and we are starting her in dance after she turns 3 in July. She also starts preschool at the end of August.

So, I appologize for the absence, and I hope you can understand that this has been the hardest few months of my life. Luckily, I am beginning to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. And what a sweet sight it is!

A dose of reality

Remember when we were young and in elementary school and we had drills? I lived in Idaho so we only had fire drills, no earthquake or nuclear disaster drills. We were told to all line up and go outside where our teacher would do a head count before we went and played until the bell rang and signaled us to go back inside. It all seemed so idyllic and innocent.
My how the world has changed.
Riley's school had a drill a few weeks ago. When I asked him what they practiced for the drill, he told me they were instructed to stay in their seats and be very quiet. This seemed very odd to me so I told him that for a fire drill, they were supposed to go outside and for an earthquake they were supposed to get under their desks. What was this teacher teaching my kid anyway?? Riley told me that this was a disaster drill and during the drill the teacher locked the classroom door, closed the blinds and told all the kids to be silent. It took me a minute to realize what they were practicing. It was a school shooter drill.
School Shooter Drill!!
Did you ever imagine a day when our precious children would have to be drilled on what to do if a maniac was shooting up their school?! This has hit me very hard and I am still struggling with the reality that this is the world my children are growing up in.
I remember being able to ride my bike 7 miles into town to spend the day with friends, camping out on their trampolines in the front yard. There were no cell phones to keep tabs. We were safe. We knew were were safe and our parents knew we were safe. Now, kids aren't safe anymore.

This is a sad dose of reality. This is the world we live in.

Thank God!

For those of you who have been following my long, drawn out hip saga, I am happy to report that the end is in sight!
For the last 2 years I have been plagued with chronic pain in my right hip. Some days it is excruciating and I cannot walk, other days it is mild. I have been unable to exercise for two years. The pain has severely limited the quality of time and play I have with the kids. I have missed tons of work. I have seen doctors from UCLA to Stanford, from orthopaedists and neurologists to rheumatologists. I have had multiple MRIs, X Rays, blood work and two rounds of physical therapy. I have had 4 extremely painful cortisone injections and been on 5 different anti inflammatory drugs. And all of this was to no avail. Until now!
Our friend and neighbor, Katelyn, mentioned that her brother is an ortho working in Santa Monica. She told him my story and he agreed to see me (no charge because his office does not accept my insurance). I checked out his bio on the practice's website and saw that he specializes in disorders of the hip and groin. Hooray!!! I immediately had hope that he would be able to diagnose treat my hip.
And he did just that. According to him, I have a hip impingement, which basically means the ball and socket of my hip joint are malformed and are causing the pain. He said this is something I was born with. The surgery to correct it is called a hip athroscopy and can be done on an outpatient basis. I should only miss a week of work and will be back to my old self in about 6 months!!
I cannot begin to convey how thankful I am for this diagnosis and treatment option. I am so excited to get my body back that I am even anxious to get a gym membership and work out!! Something I normally despise.

I am hoping to get the surgery done in the next month or two, I will keep you updated on the progress of that!!

In other news, Bella was not able to be in the photo shoot after all. We were told they were postponing in for a week due to the weather and I responded to the photographer that we could still do the next weekend. Apparently I responded to the wrong person (even though we were told to confirm everything through the photographer) and so they thought we would not be able to make the rescheduled shoot and they filled Bella's spot. I was really disappointed and angry about it but I know everything happens for a reason. And, there will always be a next time!