Here I Am ~ Epic Post

"This will be a daily Hamper Scamper post."

HA!

How about ANY post AT ALL??
Just call me underachiever and let's all move on. Shall we? I have been doing fairly well keeping up with the chores, and my family has been good about helping too. Things are starting to feel more normal around the house and a lot has happened since I last posted.

*TMI warning*

My Dad came for a lovely visit and we all spent many days in heated and mostly good-natured battle at various card, board and Wii games. He took my son fishing and even caught some catfish. Thankfully the farm where they caught the fish did all the fish preparation and they brought home only the fillets. Then my Dad taught us how to cook and eat the fish. I tried a bite, decided that it tasted like this fish ate dirt and that was enough for me. This is a picture of my Dad from his visit. As you can see he is a camera hog. Really loves having his picture taken.

I managed to get to Worship Team and Choir rehearsals at FUMC(and my Dad went too!) and am back on track finally (at least for now) serving both services and loving it.

I had my girly appointment with the girl who would be my favorite doctor if she were, say, my podiatrist. Sadly, she is my specialty Gynecologist and so she therefore, by default, cannot be my favorite. She asked me if there was any change and I said no. She allowed me to tell her excitedly how through the telling to you all of my gynecological history I came upon the realization about the catheter installation possibly being related to my current ailment and she grinned at me and gave me that look that people give me when they see my zeal and are afraid if they don't make nice, a limb of mine might fly off or something. I am so excited and I say, "So....I think if we just cauterize the thing or something like that and get it over with, then I can go on my merry way ~ happily ever after." She became a little less shiny in my eyes when she replied, "I would like you to go see the specialist." He is a gynecologist with urological background (or something like that) we'll call him my urogyno just for fun. She says he'll probably want to take a look inside the bladder with a camera. *jumping off the highest point of the Grand Canyon in my imagination* That, my friends, is called a Cystoscopy. It is a nasty business; humiliating, embarrassing, disgusting, uncomfortable, humbling, and strangely fascinating ~ that you have to be awake and un-numbed for. I tried to defend my personal space by pointing out that my Urologist had already done this procedure and that I could personally vouch for the interior of my bladder being in tip-top, working condition. I saw it after all. On the TV. In.real.time. She said, "Yes, I know. But Dr. Urogyno will want to see for himself."
I know that a good doctor will want to see my history and read what all the other invaders doctors have tried, tested, poked, prodded and postulated and then will want to do these things for his/her own self. And it truly is my prayer that he is a competent doctor who will have the diagnosis AND the solution right there in his Urogyno brain. But secretly, in a little corner of my tender little heart, I want him to say, "I know from reading your file that you need to take this one little pill. One time. It will heal the tip of your crazy little Urethra. It will not make you gain weight. In fact, it will make you lose weight. All of the extra you have, but not one pound more. Losing that weight will cause your breasts to once again be perky, yet voluptuous, and not one bit saggy. And also, it will make it so you never have to have another well-woman exam again in your life. Cause after all, you have no cervix and no uterus."
But that's just me.
I asked her if she could please prescribe me something to help me sleep and she agreed. Also, she made me have the whole pelvic, breast exam. And as a parting gift gave me the order to schedule my first, baseline Mammogram. Oh the absolute rapture. Maybe I can get it the day before or the day after seeing Dr. Urogyno just so I can have a fun-packed week. Perhaps I will start some sort of count ~ how many strangers can touch parts of me that I tell all my children never to let strangers touch! Okay ~ maybe nobody would be interested in that. At least nobody I really want to associate with. She told me that she had called and tried to put in the referral but was told by TriCare that I have to go to my Primary Care Manager to get the referral approved. That usually means being 'seen' by a doctor, in other words ~ examined ~ so that they can say, "Yes indeed, she should go see the specialist for an exam." But God stepped in and provided mercy for me and I was able to get the referral approved through mere begging phone calls. Hallelujah! Perhaps this week I will get the letter and I can make my appointment. Did I mention that I have to drive 3 hours one way to go see Dr. Urogyno?

So, the renovations to the east wing are mostly done. What we're working on now is finish work. Last sanding, one more coat, trim and the like. I can start posting pictures for you now if you'd like ~ or you can wait until it is completely finished. You just let me know your preference. I am really loving the change I must say. When we completely complete the east wing renovations, we will begin on the west end of the house which includes the master bedroom. We are still trying to figure out if we can improve the bathrooms without actually adding on to the house. (We hate roofing! ~ to prove it, I'll show you a picture of my misery roofing this house....)


What else has been going on? The price of gas and plane tickets! Geez. GGG and I have decided that this year we will be road tripping to Chicas of Faith. It's about 1400 miles. I can't understand why everyone I discuss this with gets that 'oh geez! her limb is going to fly off' look. We have an unfair disadvantage as the worship leaders; we travel with our instruments. You have to pay for your luggage people. So, we automatically have TWO suitcases to pay for. GGG showed off in one of her recent posts about how she bought a new backpacker. The hater. However, nothing compares to your full-size, rich sounding, favorite guitar. Just nothing. We will be driving through some absolutely beautiful country in the midst of my favorite season. Plus, if we can actually pull it off without turning me into a complete lunatic(traveling beats me down) - we will get extra days of fellowship together. (I mean - the Cali girls all get to travel together, why shouldn't we?) And maybe, if she brings her backpacker too - we can rehearse in the car on the way to PA. I have already put in the request to my husband to trick out my little trailer to carry our luggage, and also to make improvements to my sound system to make my minivan bumpin'.

My brother is still very ill and still very much in need of your prayers for his salvation. He has been in the hospital for a week and says he nearly had to have his arm amputated due to an infection associated with his dialysis. He is lonely and frightened and lacks control over what is going on with him. He needs a Savior. As we all do.

I apologize to you that I have not only not been commenting on your posts, I have barely so much as lurked. I promise you that I do think of you daily. I am still going crazy, although as I said before, things are improving, and I really am doing the best I can. School starts again in a couple of weeks and we will be back into a regular routine. More progress. Praise the Lord.