Is It Only Wednesday?

Ok, well here I am sitting in probably what I can say the coolest hospital room ever. I'll post pictures later. It's about 7am and Mom is having surgery as I type. I'll just write the highlights of this past weekend and first part of the week.

Pause: I'm also watching Katie Couric's last Today's show...

Ok, where was I...Friday:

It seems like a month ago that I went up to Norman to see Jason! I got there just a couple of minutes before Jason did. He had a busy day and night. He is now officially the voice of Norman High School. That entails announcing the names of the graduating seniors across the stage. All 400 and something...! When Jason arrived he freshened up and then we went to Coaches's where many of the faculty got together for celebratory end of the year thing. Jason got many compliments on his performance and I got to meet many of his coworkers. It was fun.

Saturday we got up early and headed to Fayetteville. I love the drive on I540. It's beautiful. Unfortunately Jason insides were acting up a little so he had to concentrate on driving and getting there instead of enjoying the scenery. We had lunch with Mom and then went grocery shopping while Jason took a nap. About 4ish Drew, Mandy and the girls arrived. They were soooo cute in their Hawaiian outfits that I got them last October!!! Pictures later. The whole other crew came about 5pm for a cookout for Drewser's 26th birthday...so old!! After that shindig, Jason and I went to see X-Men 3, which was good but a little less than what I was expecting. There were a lot of new characters and some old characters that departed... What happened to Nightcrawler? He's so cool!

The next morning we got up and went to church with Mom and then went to Denny's for breakfast/lunch. Then went to gas up, see Dad and get back on the road again to Norman. We headed straight to his friend's house for a cookout. It was good to meet his friends I've been hearing and reading about. Good luck with the government Eric! HA! Later that night Jason and I just hung out and watched a little NASCAR...

Monday Jason drove me to the airport so I could get to New Orleans for Mom's surgery. I thought he would just drop me off, but nooooo, he parked and walked me in, checked my luggage and hung around the security gate until I disappeared around the corner. I've been nervous about Mom's surgery and Jason could tell, so he cheered me up and made me laugh. Such a sweet guy!

51 minutes into the surgery...

Ok so I got to NO with no problem and caught a ride on the shuttle to the Bienville House in the French Quarter. I've been to NO several times but this is Mom's first so I sorta showed her around. Monday night we strolled the Quarter and found a place to eat. The Red Fish Grill. It was good, yum. I had fish. Mom brought her laptop, which this blog is being typed on and has a DVD player, so I brought some movies and we watched Pride and Prejudice then went to bed.

Tuesday morning we got up, went to Cafe du Mond for some beingets. We also went to St. Louis Cathedral, which is beautiful. Headed back to the hotel and rested, ate lunch and waited for our driver. That's right our own driver. The Center, where all of Mom's arrangements have been made, has a limo service that picks up patients for their appointments and the day of the surgery. Everything. It's great. No worries...this has probably been the most worry free experience I have had logistics wise... So we met with the surgeon doing the mastectomy at Omega Hospital and then went to the Center on St. Charles and met with the plastic surgeon doing the reconstruction who marked her up with a permanent marker. After that we went back to the hotel and trekked out to Bourbon St. We wanted to go to Preservation Hall but it was closed. Even though the French Quarter is open for business, there are a lot of places still closed and needing employees. Fortunately Bourbon House Seafood restaurant was open and we had a good meal. I had fish. So, then we went back to the hotel and turned in a little earlier because we had to get up at 3:45am to be picked up at 4:30 to make it to the hospital at 5am. We've been admitted and Mom's now been in surgery for 70 minutes. I will update ya'll probably tomorrow. I'm gonna get some sleep cause that's all I can do right about now.

Later taters...love,
Jessi

Whirlwind weekend and week coming up!

Well I feel much better at the end of this week than I did at the beginning. It's probably because I get to see my sweetie this evening and then we are gonna trek up to Fayetteville to meet my family and have a birthday shindig for my brother, Drew. He'll be 26. (Oh, how the sibilings grow up so fast...) Did I mention he has a wife and two girls? He'll always be my little brother even though he's bigger now and could beat me up. (It's only fair, he got his share of beatings when we were young). So we're gonna do some grillin' which is only proper on Memorial Day weekend. Hopefully we'll get to see X-Men 3 that night too!!! Then on Sunday Jason and I'll head back to Norman for a get together with his friends. I'm looking forward to it...I'd like to meet his friends. Monday I'm flying from OKC to New Orleans. Mom's surgery is on Wednesday and so I'll be there all next week. It should be interesting. Already the logistics of flights, hotels, hospitals and such have been and will be a headache. It will turn out all right though. It usually does!!! Mom's bringing her laptop, which plays DVDs and I'm bringing a plethora of DVDs to keep us occupodo. Keep Mom in your prayers and pray we get enough rest and recoop time! If I don't check in next week, look for me the week after!

I don't know what to title this...

Well...I have no idea what to post so I guess I'll just write whatever comes out... I'm frustrated...and yesterday I was depressed. I'm always depressed on Mondays because that's the day after I have to come back from seeing Jason. He's big time busy and stressed, I think, because of school. His last day is Friday though! That's a big Hallelujah. I'm sorta blah today...had a good lunch and now I'm sleepy. Don't want to do anything. I guess I can tell you about my weekend, which was really excellent. Last weekend I went up to Norman to see Jason and meet the parents. They were so sweet. There was some talk of going to the Bass Pro Shop and I mentioned that I had never been, it was a definite yes! I think Jason's Dad was pleased. He found the lure he was looking for. If you haven't been to the Bass Pro Shop before, you should at least go once. It's pretty amazing. It has all your hunting and fishing and clothing needs (except underwear, but maybe boxershorts). We also went to Wal-Mart and hunted for some soda and waffle irons... :-D About 15 minutes after we got back to the apartment, Jason's sis and nephews dropped in! Fun!!! It was a full house, let me tell you! After a little bit of wrasslin' we all went to Red Lobster. It was very fun hangin' with the family. I may have been a little quieter than normal but that's just because 1) I can be shy and 2) I was observing.

Sunday we went to church. I think we surprised Mrs. McMullen. It's quite an experience; like going to a rock concert. Afterwards we went to lunch and then back home to wave the parents goodbye and then to take a nap before trekking back to Wacko.

So I was pretty much useless yesterday and sorta today because of various reasons but I'll survive, I think. It's been getting harder and harder to return to Waco, so now I think it's time for someone to start taking some trips down here, so my friends can meet the fella who has taken such an interest in me. This weekend should be interesting as well. We're going to my home to meet mi madre and brother, sister-in-law and adorable nieces. Hopefully we can squeeze X-Men 3 in there as well.

That's about it...I'll go back to my depression and try to make it through the day...

Later taters,
Kitty

I need a vacation...

Doesn't it seem that after a "vacation" you need a vacation to recoop? I'm tired!!!

Lots of stuff happened this past weekend. The original plan was to go home for my Mom's surgery but that didn't work out. The surgical consultation was pushed back to today. But her MRI came back and there is almost no trace of the tumor!!! This is most excellent news and requires less surgery and less recoop time, which is wonderful. SOOOO the original plan was to scoot up to Norman, say hi to my guy and go home Friday through Tuesday. That way I could be there for the surgery and for Pat's going away/birthday party (he's headed out to MO for boot camp in the Army Reserves and won't be here for his 21st birthday). Well I decided to still take off Thursday and Friday because I've pretty much reached my limit on accruing vacation hours (for China). I still planned on going up to Norman to see Jason. Dad called Thursday morning and asked if I was still coming and I said no and it made him really sad. So then I felt sad. Then while I was driving to Norman, Mom called me with the MRI results and we were happy and she asked if I was still coming? and I said....ok, I'll come home, but don't tell anyone. It'll be a surprise. I'll just come back Sunday.

So I went to Norman and hung out with my favorite person and got up at the crack of dawn to trek to Fayetteville. By the way, did you know it seems there is a LOVE's station every other mile or two? It was funny, but I had plenty of options to stop for gas or a break. I got home about 11:30 and woke up Pat who was surprised. I took him to lunch and then picked up his birthday cake. A huge sheet cake decorated in camoflauge. Funny!!! That evening was his party and we had a great time with family and his friends. The nieces came early which was fabulous. And Drew said he did a triple take when he saw me. That was good and then Dad just stared and called me a sneak. Grandma didn't know I was there either. Good stuff. I just want to thank Jason for understanding about my abrubt visit. My family needed me.

Saturday was great. Mom and I went horseback riding on gaited horses. They were so smooth and beautiful. Afterwards we went over to Drew's in Siloam to rescue him from the girls since Mandy was in Russelville. We had a good time, but then I was tuckered. We jumped on the trampoline until we couldn't do it anyore. Then I went over to Dad's. Alison's whole crew was over there because her daughter Beverly graduated from the UofA. Man, it was crowded!!! But good to see them all.

Sunday I went to church with Mom and then went over to another cousin's house real quick to say hi. She was having brunch for her mom and Dad and Grandma. So about 1:30 I left Fayetteville and got to Waco about 8pm. I'm not sick of driving, but it's taking it's toll. Pat breathed on me when he wasn't feeling well and I think I'm coming down with it. Thanks Pat! I'll make though!

I'm very happy right now. Almost bursting with happiness...is that possible? Everything seems brighter and clearer and just wonderfuller. :-D It amazing what being with someone can do to you. I guess since Jason put it on his blog I can put it on mine...we're offically a couple. Ha! A couple!! I like it. Such a sweetie. My friends maybe sick of my gushing about him, but I'm not. Well enough about that...for now...here are some pics I took this weekend:

Alex looking adorable.

Pat with his camo cake.

Me with Emma.

Lucy the Missouri Fox Trotter with owner Ann (Mom's coworker).

Adrenilne Rush and the Aftermath

Well someone told me that if I washed my car, it was bound to rain this weekend. Well it did. Not only did it rain, it poured and hailed and scattered debris all over Waco. Friday night, I'm home alone just chillin' watchin' a movie and the credits roll. Then I hear the tornado sirens go off and I thought to myself, "maybe I should check the TV to see what's going on." Sure enough when I turned it on ABC the first thing I see is DUCK. get Downstairs. (Well that's not happening cause I live on the second floor of an apartment building). get Under something like a mattress. take Cover and I totally don't know what K stood for cause I went over to the sliding glass doors to see what I could see and at that point I saw the pool chairs fly across the pool area. The rain started coming down sideways and then the lights started to flicker. (I didn't like that at all). This is about the time I heard glass break somewhere outside. I thought to myself, "I have a bad feeling about this," and then I went into high panic mode. Running around like a crazy person, I found my flashlight and got matches for candles in the bathroom. Grabbed my iPod, radio, socks and tennis shoes, Bible, purse and comforters and shut my bedroom door. Didn't want glass coming through the bedroom and then into the bathroom. I also made some ice tea and filled another pitcher full of water and stuck it in the freezer (at the time there was no electricity). I had no idea if the pipes would be effected. Then the hail came. That was scary too, slamming into the roof and onto my balcony. It's amazing the effect pea-sized hail can have on your psyche. So for about an hour I was running back and forth from my kitchen to the bathroom, hovering in the hall and watching the weather outside all the while decked out in my comforter. It was scary but exciting at the same time.

About 2am it was just raining and I figured it was pretty much over so I crawled into bed (no covers cause there was no AC). I woke up around 5:20 and saw the electricty was on so I turned off all the lights and got back into bed but set my phone alarm for 8am so I could see what happened.

I went outside in my PJs and a jacket to check my car and it was unscathed. There was debris everywhere. I decided to call some friends to see how they fared but nothing was coming in or out. Yikes! I also wanted to check on the museum to see if there was any damage so I took a shower and drove downtown. Everything was great. It looked as if it just rained. It was open and there were visitors. Wow! They didn't even know there was a storm. Called Jennie from the office to see how everything was there and she told me about her cousin's house. I HUGE tree fell right on top of the middle of their house. Went over there to the house for moral support and played with Brooks to entertain him while the adults were trying to organize the removal of the tree. Then I went to the church cause I heard there was some damage but the guys were gone so I just took pictures of the trees uprooted like dandelions. Then I went over to Chris' house to check on him but I got no answer from Angie's phone who was also over there. Didn't want to bother them. They probably were napping (as was the case, as I found out later). That sounded good to me so I went home and took a nap. I was tuckered. Finally got a hold of my mom and dad. They said they knew nothing about it and was glad I called before they saw it on TV. Mom actually used the words "freaked out." I got more news later that the Coca-Cola bottling plant (which is literally 2 streets down from where I live) was totally ruined. Trucks over turned and the roof gone.

Rain, puddles and queso...

Well another weekend has come and gone and I'm already going through withdrawals. However, I won't miss driving through torrential rain at night while semi's are passing me at 70mph, while my knuckles are white from gripping the steering wheel because I'm hydroplaning all over the place. Not fun! Well, even still, I made it in one piece for another great weekend in Norman, Oklahoma. I also missed what was sure to be a fun soccer game but it was rained out. :-( The good news is I got to sleep in. Whoo hoo! My friend is/was looking to move to a different apartment for various reasons, so we did that instead of the game. He found one that suited him I think.

Here's something I've noticed: No matter what age "men" are, they are still little boys at heart. How can you not be a little boy when you drive through puddles just so you can see the splash! Ha! Very cute... This is also very evident if you have ever seen the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. I had never seen it before and therefore "made" to watch it, so now I know some one liners. "Here's yur sign." I like 2.5 of the guys. Everyone was funny but I think Ron White is sorta sleazy and that's probably what he wants us to think too. Larry the Cable Guy is funny too but I liked Jeff Foxworthy and Bill Engvall the best. So between apartment hunting and grocery shopping we we watched both DVDs. I enjoyed it.

By the way my friend makes great queso. Some people know that I can be a picky eater, but it's mainly for dramatic purposes. He put black olives in his recipe and I ate it with no complaints. Velveeta, salsa, JC Potter's hot sausage (which isn't really all that hot btw), and of course black olives. Yummy.

Back to work all of you who are reading this during office hours (this includes me)! And to all of you who are reading this after hours, have a great evening. That goes for you too, oh procrastinators of productivity! Have a good one!

-Jessica