Good News

 I came home from the Hospital last week. The nurse's were sad to see me go. They all said I rarely called them. Once they had me up and moving, and unplugged from the IV. I was speed walking around the nurses station and doing laps. 

I got a call from the surgeon today. Dr. Surgrue said that the Lymph-nodes came back caner free. Yeah!!! He is still sending me to Oncology to have them verify and make the final decision, but that he is confident that they will say I do not need Chemo.

If it weren't for Bad Luck I would have no luck at all.

 Well, I planned on quilting over the long Labor Day weekend, but received some bad news. I had my Colonoscopy and they found something. The doctor sent me to a Surgeon, and he broke the news that I have Colon Cancer. He scheduled me for surgery on Friday, September 22. According to the CT Scan, it is only in  my colon and only about 5 centimeters. He said that as long as it has not gotten in to the Lymph-nodes, I won't have to undergo Chemo, but that we won't know until the surgery when he removes the parts of the colon that are Cancer and some of the Lymph-Nodes to test them. So this weekend, is going to be a lazy, do nothing, accomplish nothing weekend.

AAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNDDDDDDDDDDDDD its summer time. Almost a full year in our new home!

 Ok, we have been in our home almost a year now. I have finally posted an update to my quilt blog as I have started quilting again. Yeah me. I finally unpacked 1 of the many sewing machines I have. We have found 2 quilt shops nearby, one was found when my in-laws visited at Thanksgiving, the other just a few weeks ago. 

So yesterday Cocoa had to go in for her yearly check up and Natasha went in for a shot. low and behold Cocoa has been packing on the pounds because Natasha is taller than she is so she decided she needs to be bigger than Natasha. Coca weighed in at 19.16 lbs and Natasha at 19.45 lbs. while there they told David that Natasha is at the perfect weight for her. They wanted to verify that the slight heart murmur they detected on Cocoa was a new occurrence and not something they didn't notate last year. So Cocoa has developed a slight heart murmur since last year, Xander had notice that in the last week or so, she has taken to panting heavily and getting restless around bedtime. Right now they suggest just keeping an eye on it, that it is not serious (2 on a scale out of 6), but of course, I am reminded of the time we had Buckeye and took him to be neutered and they said to David, that we had opted for the non-laser surgery. David said there was a laser option, they said yes but they didn't press for it as this was not a major surgery and David's comment was its not major when it's not happening to you, when it is you consider everything major. He asked the cost (this was 25 years ago in Ohio) and the neutering was $35 and laser was like another $5. He told them to use the laser. Buckeye bounced around the house the next day like he had not had surgery. My parents were like are you sure he had surgery, he was so active. Fast for 4ish years and Xander gets BJ. Prices to neuter in Alabama were around $350 (depending on dog weight) and another $200 if you wanted laser.  

All that said, we are monitor her. I have feeling we might move up the time frame on getting another dog, so Natasha is not lonely should something happen to Cocoa. 

Xander is turning 20 next week, he has just completed 2 years at Elmhurst University, with at least the much if not a bit longer to go, as he has changed from Math Major with Minor in Education, to 2 Majors in Digital Media and looking at 3 or 4 Minors within the same discipline (just as crazy as his Mom was for trying for 2 different Majors {Business Information Technology & Marketing} and 2 different Minors {History & Computer Science}).  I think he is also thinking about getting a Masters too (like his dad), not sure if he will go for his doctorate yet or not, only time will tell. 

We get along with our detached next door neighbor and even their attached neighbor, but we rarely even see our attached neighbor and she is not communicative, you say Hi and she ignores you or acts like you are going to rob her. David knows at least 4 our neighbors behind us and several of their dogs. You rarely see her outside, I have seen her pulling into her garage and she barely has her car cleared and she is closing the door already. While we have sun blocking curtains up, we do leave the sliding door curtain ajar when we are home and we have a lacy curtain over our kitchen sink. Our neighbor has blackout curtains so tightly covered, you don't seen a hint of interior light at night, not even over her kitchen sink. Our friendly neighbors said she just acts like she doesn't hear them. At the rate she is going, she might as well live in an apartment building, she is only hurting herself, no one is going to know her and be able or willing to help her if help is needed.

Catching up

 I know it has been a while. Covid, Xander Graduating, adding a baby (pup) to the family, house shopping, getting pre-approved, signing contract, choosing all the options, having them come back 3 different times that the flooring we had chosen was no longer in stock, waiting on the house to be built, packing, signing mortgage paperwork, moving, blowing a tire at 5:30 am on busy interstate, changing tire, buying new tires, changing job positions within same company, unpacking (this is going to take a long time). We moved into our new home August 15. The in-laws came to visit for Thanksgiving and I think they were impressed with the size and layout of the house. 

I have a longer drive (50 minutes in to work and an hour plus home). When I haven't been working, I've been unpacking. Last weekend I took several days off to rearrange and set up my sewing area, reorganized my fabrics and started sewing. Realized that the quilt pieces I had been sewing into strips were just enough for a throw, but I have no matching material for binding. I have decided to put aside until I get more similar fabric to add a few more rows/columns, borders, binding and backing. I have pulled out a few others that have been cut to work on.

Our little girl is now 16 months old. A TToodle (Tibetan Terrier Poodle mix). We named her Natasha (as in the Black Widow), which is fitting as she is black with a white patch on her chest and chin.

Cocoa (top) Natasha (bottom) waiting for Dad to finish teaching in his upstairs office

Natasha enjoying their bed with a bone

David on front porch of our new home

Natasha laying on the floor

Cocoa jealous of Natasha getting attention so she stood up and started kissing him

David with Natasha the first few months we had Natasha

Graduation is getting closer!!

Final days of classes. Graduation is coming quickly. May graduation. Once I have graduated, moving and looking for a job, then I plan on getting back to quilting. I am attending my last WiCyS conference as a student. I have attended my last Hackathon's as a student. I am attending last meetings with student organizations. I will miss those classmates who have made a difference and I hope there are those who will miss me. 

Been thinking

As graduation draws near, I start thinking about what I want to do. I have talked to Doc Wells, my advisor, Dr. Talbert, one of my professors, and Doc Brown (hubby) about grad school. Option on what I can do, whether it is PhD in Engineering focusing on Computer Forensics, etc.

David said I am never going to finish school. Once I finish, if we are still at Tech, I might apply to help Doc Wells teach computer forensic courses and get either another degree under B.I.T. or a certificate program set up.

How time has flown

Here it is August 2018. School beings for me on Monday and it is hard to believe that, as long as everything goes as planned. I will be graduating in the Spring. On top of which, Xander has turned 15 and has earned his Drivers Permit. He starts driving lessons on Monday. It can't wait until he can get his real Drivers License next summer, when he turns 16. Now my degree will be dual majors - Business Information Technology & Marketing and dual minors - History & Computer Science.

How time has flown - Looking towards Graduating

As is typical with college students, I have changed my major and added minors. I started school and thought I would go for an Accounting Degree. After the first semester, I decided that I would rather major in marketing. During the second semester, the School of Business hosted a  Breakfast before Dawn bi-weekly gathering. I attended and talked with the Chair of the Decision Science department, after he heard my previous tech experience and my passion in my voice, he talked me into adding B.I.T. (Business Information Technology) as a major to my degree.

I took several history classes just for fun and have completed a minor in history. I started attending some Cyber Eagles student group meetings and got involved with GenCyber Camp. Last year I actively joined Cyber Eagles, Cyber Eagles-W, ACM, ACM-E & AITP groups.

 Last fall, I took several Computer science classes based on Dr. Siraj's recommendations. Between those classes and the one I took this past Spring, registered for this Summer and registered for this Fall, will finish off a Computer Science minor, as long as I pass the classes with at least a C or better.

I took a Computer Forensics class with Doc Wells and feel in love with finding hidden data. Dr. Siraj is trying to talk me into getting a Masters in Cyber Security. I am debating between Cyber Security and Computer Forensics Masters. That is, if I can get funding and accepted to the programs.

If I pass all my classes that I am taking this Summer, Fall and Spring. I will be graduating May 2019, after dropping my Marketing major because the classes and info is very outdated.

Another Health update

I went to the neurologist for my annual Migraine checkup etc. and walked out with a diagnoses that on top of my Migraines and Hypothyroidism, I also have Fibromyalgia. I went out to The Mayo Clinic website and found that all my symptoms that I have been having, are all symptoms of Fibromyalgia. While my migraines vary from being triggered by pressure systems, allergies, tension, and stress, I have been in pain when I walk a lot within a 4 hour period. I would come home from working at Kohl's and hardly be able to walk, I would look like an old woman. My hips hurt, my back hurt, my heels hurt and my feet would ache. It would last for a couple of days, even with muscle relaxers and pain meds. If I wore anything other than my MBT shoes, I would be in even worse pain.

I am always tired. David wants to go out and do things and I just want to sleep. I have joint pains, my skin is sensitive to touch,  so much to where sometimes I just do not want to be touched.

Health

Well I went for my annual checkup last month. When the Dr. asked how I had been doing lately, I told her, that quite honestly, about the last 6 months I have been extremely tired. She asked if I was using my CPAP and I said yes, that even after sleeping 6-9 hours with my CPAP, I wake up tired. If I do not have anything that has to be done right away, I will get up take the dogs out, take my medicines, and the dogs and I will sit in my chair and cover up and take a 2 -3 hour nap. I never feel refreshed and will actually tell my family that I have been working all morning and need to sit down for a few minutes. I will have difficultly keeping my eyes open, and will tell them I need to rest my eyes for a few minutes, they will set an alarm for 30 minutes and try waking me up but I will usually be down for a few hours. So, they took 3 vials of blood. I get a call back after a week and I am told that I have Hypothyroidism. They have called in a medication for to add to my growing list of meds I take on a daily basics and want me to come back in about 90 days to check how the dosage is helping and if they need to increase, etc.

So I do some research.  According to the Mayo Clinic, Hypothyroidism is an under active thyroid condition http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hypothyroidism/home/ovc-20155291. After reading some of the problems it can cause, it explains why, in the last 6 months or so, I have been having joint pains in my hips when standing/walking for long periods of time, as I do in my part-time job. It can cause weight gain, even when you reduce your intake, explains why, even with weight loss pills and reduced food intake, I was not loosing any weight, I also did not gain any, but I am obese. I am constantly fatigued, extremely sensitive to cold, puffy face, my cholesterol level has increased, I have muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness, that while it can be normal, not to the extend I have been experiencing lately. I have become more forgetful, any thought processes have slowed.

One of the Risk Factors is having a family history of thyroid disease, so I have made my son his annual checkup and told the nurse that we wanted to up date family history to say I have Hypothyroidism and to have him checked.

Friday - Snow day

I scrapped the snow to show how much snow had fallen after 6am and by 11.

 This shows how much snow has come down between 11 and 12:30.

I have scrapped down to show another height at 12:30

3 Tech students came over to have a snowball fight with Xander and David.

 Xander thinking he does not need a jacket, just his pullover.

 Lets hit dad with a snowball.

 David launches one at Philip.

 Xander is trying to building a snow castle.

 Cocoa really wants to play too.

 Shot of snow fallen at 2:30

 snow is building

 Cocoa and BJ are loose and playing with everyone.

Cocoa's legs when I brought her in to warm up. She really has the snow packed in her fur. Had to put her in the cart to try and dry her off without her running around.

Snow - Cocoa's first real snow

Chair shows how much snow has actually fallen since 6 am at our house, before that it was all rain and ice. I know it was after 6 am because I had looked outside at that time and it was still rain/ice coming down.

Cocoa and I had to convince BJ to go out in the snow to go the bathroom.  

Once we got him out there, he was running and playing

 Both of them running and and jumping around.

 Cocoa decided there was something buried in the snow and had to be dug out. Of course BJ would not let me chain him, so when he saw the two dogs watching he took off after them, which meant I had to go out in the snow and pick him up once I caught him. The way he runs is with his chest close to the ground, which meant he had snow everywhere, because he ran around their fence 3 or 4 times before I caught him.

 Cocoa, once again, got caught around this fire pit in the backyard, which meant I had to go and get her uncaught. Both dogs had to be towel dried when they came in.

 The snow blew under the porch up to the back door, getting the grill.