A Day in the Life of Susan

Finding Humor in even the worst...

Many apologies for the lack of posting. Life has been going by at a record pace.

The last, oh, month or so, I have had a toothache. Took Ibuprofen. It got worse. About 2 weeks ago, it hurt so bad I couldn't think. I went to the dentist. Pain killers and antibiotic later, I had a root canal scheduled. For today.

I hate going to the dentist but honestly, after the pain of the last 2 weeks, I was anxious to get the root canal over and done with. The dentist was very nice. But I let the infection go a lot longer than I should have. And after 5 different novacaine shots, I still felt most of the procedure. All the drilling, most of the filing. But it was still worth it. Flash forward to me standing at the pharmacy, after having 5 mouth numbing shots. Five. I told the cashier my name and got my prescription. She totals my order and asks, rather slowly, if I wanted her to swipe my disability card. I asked " My What?" Which sounded more like " Maaa waaa??" Then I made eye contact with her and realized, by her facial expression, that she thought I was mentally challenged. Yep. She sure did. She was in the process of asking me, even slower and more articulating, if I had my disability card when I interrupted her with a high pitched, VERY slurred, " I went to the DENTIST!!"

Instantly she began to apologize. I just laughed. Which probably looks like a seizure considering I still cannot move half my face.

1 Week Til Vacation!

This time next week, I will officially be on a MUCH needed vacation. I am going back to see my parents and sister for the weekend. I have had a lot going on here so I am looking forward to a few days of relaxing.

The most significant thing that I have going on is that I had a medical scare. Last October, I went for my annual "female" doctor appointment. A week or so later, the nurse called to say that one of my lab results came back questionable so they wanted me to get retested in 6 months. 6 months was the end of May. I went and got retested. 2 weeks later, I got a call at work from the nurse saying that the results came back as showing pre-cancerous and cancerous cells on my cervix. Must say, NOT the phone call anyone wants to have, especially not at work. So I had to make an appointment with another doctor who would go in and do a biopsy of my cervix. That appointment was June 25th. My wonderful friend Toni drove me to the appointment, waited for me in the waiting room and drove me back home. The procedure itself only took about 15 minutes and for me to say it was uncomfortable is an understatement. But, the doctor said that he could definitely see the area in question and that it was small. He said that when he took the biopsy, he actually took 2 so that he was in fact, removing all the affected area. So even if the results came back as shady, it was gone. I got a call back about 1 1/2 weeks later saying that it was a type 3 concern. 1 being small abnormal changes in the cells. 5 being OMG stuff. So it was basically caught early and completely removed. From here on out, I will have to start going to the Dr. every 6 months as a prevention. The Doctor said it may or may not come back. But, for now it is gone and for that I am relieved.

So. I am in MUCH need of a VACATION!

I can't wait to take a ton of pictures of Michael and his cousins and his aunt and grandparents. It has been since Thanksgiving that I have seen my parents and about 1 1/2 yrs. since Michael has seen my sister or my nephews. :D

Happy 4th!

Hope everyone had a lovely 4th of July!

Michael and I started off the day by doing a Kids Workshop at Home Depot. The first Saturday of every month, they have kits that you can bring you child in and you and he can build something together. And... its free! So Mikey and I have been going the last few months. He gets to wear a little orange apron with his name on it and gets to use the hammer so he loves it.

Here is a pic of us there last month.

Momma had a killer headache all day so we watched movies and relaxed all afternoon. I cooked dinner on the BBQ grill and then we went to go see the fireworks at the park in Robertsdale. It was Michael's first time seeing them that close. They were basically going off right over our heads. Michael made me hold him most of the show and we wound up laying on our backs on our blanket. After he realized that the fireworks were mostly harmless, he really did enjoy them. On the car ride back home, he kept asking when we could go back.

I must say, it is very difficult to take pictures of fireworks due to #1. camera delay #2 the freaking insane amount of smoke that sitting that close brings with it. But here are the ones that came out.

Watching the fireworks or as he called them "Fire Booms"

Oh, and I was the super cool Momma that brought Milk Shakes for us while we waited for the show to start.

Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July!!!

My Favorite Rockstar

Beach!

My friend Amy and I went to the beach yesterday. There is something about last minute plans that end the day sitting in the sand that is just lovely! Mikey is at his Dad's for the weekend but hopefully the weather will be just as awesome so I can take him next weekend.

 

 

 

Think he likes it?

Reason# 371 that my son is awesome.

Monday... Again.

Ugh. Today was such a Monday. Is it a full moon?!

On a bright note, I might have an opportunity to cross off another item on my bucket list!

When I was 13, I put on my list that I wanted to see the band Green Day in concert. While I still love the band, it is even better that they are coming to New Orleans in August! And I have a friend that wants to go too! So, all I have to do is get the money for the ticket and its a go!

Any ideas on how to make some fast cash? Legal is optional :)

In the market...

So apparently, I am in the market for a twin bed. Seems my 2 year old has officially outgrown his toddler bed. How do I know you ask?

 

Its a dark picture because he was sleeping, but he has reached the end of his bed. He is such a tall 2 yr. old, most people ask if he is 4! So I am looking on Craigslist and in local 2nd hand stores for a twin mattress set and frame. If anyone has any other ideas, lemme know!

Day 2

And the rest of the story!

Well, lemme recap a little bit from day 1.

By the end of the great dinner we had, we both didn't just want to go back to the hotel. So we looked for a bar that we could grab a beer and shoot some pool. So we drove, and drove and drove. APPARENTLY, we were in the one town in the entire state that never heard of recreational billards. Then we found a bowling alley. Beth, I am already laughing out loud at this part of the story...

So I said Hey, pull in there and I will ask them where a good place to hang out at night is. Beth pulls in at a slightly higher rate of speed and directly at the front door to the bowling alley. I go for the door handle and look up to see this woman. (Seriously, I am still laughing). She is inside the bowling alley and every day of probably 80. I am opening the door when she looks up and I promise, she grew fangs and growled at us.

#1. Perhaps she was concerned that Beth's car would shoot through the front doors and plow her over and she was merely responding to this idea.

#2. Or perhaps we were the only people in town out after dark and she was the safety police.

Either way, I had the door opening, saw her wicked reaction and screamed "HELL NO, SHE'S GONNA BEAT US, GO GO GO GO!"

Yes, an Octogenerarian stared me down and won. The shame. But we laughed all the way thru town.

Well, when we finally got over the terror of the fanged old lady, we saw an open sign and a place called River's Edge. We stopped there and hoped for the best. We walked in and were greeted by a whopping 2 people. The owner of the bar and the bartender. Yup. It was empty. We sat down and talked to them and learned that they are not usually open on that night but they let up play pool for free and the owner, Max, said he wanted to play the winner. Beth slaughtered me and got to play Max. Who could not walk thru the doorway much less a straight line. So the game took a little while. I went to the bar and talked to the bartender who told me that they were fixing to close it down for the night and go over to see this new place where and I quote " some fellers are a pickin and a strummin". And they invited us along! So I went back and Beth finished her game with the owner, Max. Max was complaining that while Beth wasn't making a ton of shots, she was leaving him with NO SHOTS. So he cleverly called her, The Queen of Leaves! I loved it.

We finished there and followed them to another place called The Tavern. The band playing was called "Flat Busted". Here they are:

 

We sat down with a group of ppl and the 2 people we had just met at the first place. Beth and I danced and laughed and had a great time. We got back to the hotel late that night and were still laughing about the terror fanged old woman. She really was horrifying.

The next morning, we decided to go see this sight called the Wall of Jericho. Its apparently a waterfall on the AL/TN border. We were actually only about 15 miles from TN. So off we went. We found the park and got out and looked around. We were all ready to hike it up when Beth read the sign. Warning: This is at least a 6 hour hike...

So we only hiked the first part of it. The Wall of Jericho is still a mystery to me and will be for quite a while. But the hike really was beautiful.

 

 

Me, climbing up high

 

So on your way back, I heard Beth say "Oh look, a frog!" I turned back to see the following behind me.

 

Girl is braver than I am!

So since we were less than 2 miles away, we decided to go over the AL/TN border.

 

 

Then it was off to the caverns! I was jonesing to see them seeing as how I have never seen a cave before. We went to

 

See me jumping up over the edge?

Cathedral Caverns was just stunning. I will add some pictures but trust me, they do NOT do it justice. It was amazing.

 

 

Me and Beth in the cave at the deepest part, under Gunters Mountain's peak.

 

 

Me. Pooped.

 

So after the caverns, we headed back to South Alabama. It was such a fun trip. We caught up on our lives over the past year, we goofed around and we got to explore a little. We have decided to take a mini-adventure every year she visits. And I am counting downt the days til she does :)

Longest. Post. Ever.

And the mini vacation recap!

As most ppl know, Beth comes to visit me every year since I moved to Alabama. Well, every year with the exception of the year after I lost my home to Hurricane Ivan. But every year I HAD a home. Usually I plan out these visits with lots of things to do. This year, I asked if we could beach it up as much as possible the first few days she was here and then go on a mini road trip the last 2 days. Mini road trip that let us just go where ever and see what we ran into. So thats what we did.

Saturday, Jamie and her son met at my house shortly after Beth arrived and we all headed down to the water. Sunday, Beth and Michael and I went to the beach to be met by Amy. We stayed for hours just playing in the Gulf and in the sand.

 

 

Then came Monday. Road Trip Day 1.

Michael HATES to ride in the car for more than 10 minutes and it was Madison's turn to have him, so Michael did not participate in the trip. But he got to play hooky from school and hang out with his dad all day so he was overjoyed.

So Beth and I decided to head to N.AL because

1. We had both never been there.

2. I was jonesing to see this state park named Cathedral Caverns.

3. Beth brought a book about obsure Alabama sights and we found a few up there to visit.

So we drove for 5 hours and hit...

MOUNTAINS!

 

 

OK, so they are no Rocky Moutains but they are still mountains. They have names and are lovely so they are mountains.

Well, our first stop was in Scottsboro. Beth wanted to visit the Unclaimed Baggage Center. This is a store that buys airline baggage that was lost and never claimed and then sells it. Pretty neat concept! So we played around in this huge store for quite a long while. I apparently found a strippers luggage cause I found this interesting shoes...

 

And Beth found a new friend:

 

So after our trip to the baggage center, we found a hotel and changed for dinner. We decided to drive to Lake Guntersville to a restaurant called Top of the River. Lake Guntersville was SO beautiful.

 

And the 2 lane hwy we were on goes all around the lake. And there were no cars, so naturally, I decided to do a flip on the highway.

 

I know, I know, I should be proud.

Anyhow, so we get to the restaurant and it was a great decision. Great Food, Great Views and a super friendly staff.

Beth and her seafood platter

 

Me, with an onion ring so large, I wore it.

 

After dinner, we went out to the docks to see the beautiful lake.

 

After dinner, we went out to shoot some pool and listen to some music.

 

Beth earned a nickname from the owner of the place. He shot pool with Beth and titled her "The Queen of Leave". Because she never left him with a shot, lol!

We left there and went to another place called The Tavern and listened to live music and danced the night away.

This is all of what we did on Day 1 so I will post Day 2 tomorrow :)