Thursday, June 24, 2010

Dumb, Dumb, Dumb...

Well, today marks the two week mark of when i did something dumb. Very dumb. Sweet husband has been working hard and travelling a lot lately and i decided i couldn't wait anymore, I was going to do my garden by myself! So, I dragged and hauled 60lb bags of dirt and mulch acroos the yard when there was a loud,"POP!" in my neck and a pain like fire shot down my back and arm. Bad news bears!

The next morning, I could not move my neck, it had locked up. I saw my chiropractor everyday for a week, he swore that it would only be three days to heal, but after a week and a half of being miserable, it was time to try somthing else. I called my family doctor and made an appt. She was concerned and sent me to get xrays "STAT" ( i learned that little word pulls a lot of weight in the medical world!) and see a physical therapist "STAT."

I now have three medications daily, which make me feel like a total zombie:one anti-inflammatory, one is a muscle relaxer, and a pain pill. It is Thursday and I couldn't tell you what i even did Monday thru Wednesday this week. I go to the Physical Therapist three times a week for a minimum of six weeks and chiropractor in between.

I had to call my new job that i was so excited about and tell them to take me off of the schedule for all of July...they will call me if they decide to replace me. I feel like I am not making any progress. I was so excited to finally get out of the house and have a job and feel like I was doing something other than being a housewife.

For now, I am at home with orders from the doctor not to lift more than ten pounds and orders from the therapist not to lift my arms above my head or bend at my waist...what am I supposed to do? I think I will waddle around like a penguin, that'll show them!

I keep telling God, "Okay, You MUST have something you need to get me still enough to tell me, so here I am! Bring it on!"

Pray for healing. Pray that my muscles will loosen up enough to bring some relief. Pray that God will show himself to me and be my Healer and Provider.

(I think my mom and I need to get together and take care of each other...she has a terrible eye infection.)

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Facing your Fears Head On.....

I have a wonderful husband,Joe, who i brag on all the time. This post is about his wonderful sister, E.



Families are funny. With some wonderful spouses come a dysfunctional family and you wonder "How in the world did THEY come from THAT?!" But, in my situation, I think I got the best-case scenario: the" holy-grail-of-families-to-marry-into," if you will. I married into a family full of wonderful, fun-loving, genuinely HAPPY people that were so enthusiastic about me joining their ranks and becoming a "Stein." Now, they are a hilarious, very quick-witted and sarcastic bunch, which means I usually lay-low and let them tell the jokes for fear that they will "zing" me and I will have no comeback( I always come up with what funny retort i should have said hours later....tragic!).

But, more on Joe's sweet sister, E, ( the one who just visited us and wanted to go to Philly and run the 'Rocky Steps') has started a blog! Yay! So glad she's joined the bloggy world! You can link to her page here. Looking forward to this blog! It's called "365 things that scared me," and each new day she will attempt to face yet another fear. I read the first one today and it was a hoot... i'm intrigued how she will face the fear of ball-pits!

***Side note:Personally, I TOTALLY understand that fear! I remember being at Chuck-E-Cheese's when I was younger and discovering that things like tokens and tickets fall out of kids' pockets when they are playing in the ball-pits, so a friend and i would scour the bottom of the ball pits looking for treasures that others had left behind unknowingly. We were very proud of ourselves and our new-found riches until i pulled up (of all things!)....a dirty diaper! NO JOKE! Never have been able to face another ball-pit since!

She has such a great sense of humor- every time I am around her I am laughing so hard it hurts! Good luck to you, E, on your first blog- wishing you well as you confront a different fear everyday with smashing success! We love you very much!


PS: I have your next two fears for you right here...you already conquered the subway in a major metropolitan city without getting lost or losing an appendage to the doors that close too fast and will not re-open, and you conquered your fear of alligators (Joe saved you in the nick of time!)

Sunday, June 13, 2010

LONG weekend...

Hi friends! Hope you enjoyed a long relaxing weekend, because I sure did NOT!

Have you ever had the pleasure of experiencing something called "cervical torticollis?" Well, I have many times, and though I had not had it for a very long time, it came and visited me this week. Yay!

Torticollis is basically a fancy was of saying you have a very bad crick in your neck, but in my case, my neck literally freezes in place to where i cannot turn it for several days...again, NO FUN!

So, my weekend consisted of three trips to Dr. M, my saint of a chiropractor, and ungodly amounts of muscle relaxers and anti-inflammatories, missing a day of work at my new job, and sleeping so much in between that i completely lost track of what day it was! Thank you, sweet husband, for taking care of me and keeping track of my meds so i didn't take too much, driving me to appointments and waking me up to eat...you are wonderful.

Ready to feel normal again and get back to working out and taking care of myself...minus all the pills!

In other news, my Sweet Man is officially "Fully Vested" in his company, as of today, at age 27! Five years with his company straight out of college! Way to go Joe! I am so proud of you, love! Keep up the hard work- you're doing a great job...I know the long hours are hard on you, and at times you feel run down, but you do everything with excellence and others notice! Keep on being "Jesus in skin" to those around you at work, and lead with intergrity and honor!

Today also marks one month away from Dave being gone for a year. I can't believe it's been that long;I can't believe that life just kept on going after July 13th,2009. I remember that being one of the hardest things to grasp, walking out of the funeral and seeing kids playing in sprinklers and eating snow cones and thinking "why aren't they sad too? Don't they know what today was?". Going back to work the next week i was racked with guilt because I was resuming life as usual, which felt so wrong.

Mom and I have planned a trip to Seattle together over the actual anniversary week so that neither of us have to be alone on that day...I think it will be a good thing just to get away and think, to scatter the ashes, and to make new happy memories on that day.

Still looking for a church home and good friends, although we are starting to feel like we are finding our place more and more every day! God is good and is bringing some great people into our lives to fill the "friend void" that opens up when you move to a new place. Keep praying!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

The Dairy Widow....

My sweet friend, A (who writes THIS blog), is the very patient, loving wife of her man, J, who is in law school right now. She has referred to herself at times as a "Law Widow."

I, friends, am a "DAIRY WIDOW!"

You see, my sweet man works for a company who deals in dairy: milk, cheese, yogurt, cream cheese-you name it, they do it.

This has made for an interesting married life. Taco spice days at the cheese plant were the pits. My Joe would come home smelling so strong I would run to the other room so he could make it to the shower before I could smell it, but despite our best efforts, I would sneeze the rest of the night!

Joe used to work at the cheese plant, and he would joke that he "cut the cheese all day long." But now, we are in the yogurt division and he likes to say he is"going to work to get more cultured!" Funny guy, that Joe! Cheesy, but funny.:)

Being a dairy widow was never something I thought about or aspired to. It just found me.

But I can tell you how I cringe when I see Subway is running another "five dollar footlong" promotional...that song haunts me in my sleep. They run that commercial and you can bet my man will be pulling weekend shifts trying to fill all the orders for that week! Now that we are in yogurt, you can imagine my disdain when shows like the Biggest Loser add in copious amounts of shameless product placement throughout the show for the new Greek yogurt that Joe is making. Drat!

(Greek yogurt is a newer thing...its zero fat and very high protein, so its a great breakfast with fruit and granola, or a really good snack after working out! The texture and sour-ish aftertaste take a little getting used to, but I really like it...try it! )

On the flip side, the dairy business does have its perks. I always have a nicely stocked Greek yogurt shelf and cheese drawer with every kind of cheese you could ever imagine or want! On top of that, Joe's company is a private label company, meaning they shred the cheese and put it in the bag with, let's say, your supermarket's name on it and sell it as generic. Well, what's the first thing do when the economy tanks? Stop buying name brands like "K_R_A_F_T"( the enemy) and buy the cheaper stuff, which lets just admit it...it's the same cheese people! And what does Joe's company do when the economy tanks? Has the best sales quarters on record, of course! ( Joe has asked me not to divulge the name of the company on the blog.)

So, since we are here to start up this new yogurt division, Joe has lots of business trips and late nights. Lots is actually an understatement. I miss him when he's gone, but appreciate all his hard work. He's a good man with integrity and good looks to boot!

In the meantime until this project is finished though, I remain faithfully yours, "Katy the lonely little Dairy Widow!" :)



(PS: I forgot to tell you, I got a part time job at a Christian bookstore in the area! I needed something to just get me out of the house a bit! One prayer answered....keep praying for friends and a church!)