ready or not

Tomorrow begins my first day with my 11 new K4-ers. I have met most of them and am thrilled to think about the fun year we will have. Have I ever mentioned how much I love my job? I love the other teachers I work with as well so going to school everyday is a lot of fun.

I'm pretty sure I have everything ready to jump start us into this new school year. (silly songs, games, stories, curriculum, worksheets, etc.) However, a new school year means: new faces, new whines, new tattles, reviewing rules and procedures a million times, new lunch schedules, new enrichment schedules.... but most importantly new opportunities to teach these little ones not only how to read, but how much Jesus loves them. Ready or not here we go!

and so we come to the end...

This past week we had our annual Jerkins lake trip to Heber Springs. This means 15 people in one nice house, 3 dinners in, 3 dinners out, procrastinating about what to do for the day, hours in the boat, ice cream at the marina, sunburns, late night games of dominoes, early morning wake-up calls from the little ones, a girls day in to town for shopping and lunch at the tea room, and lots of sweet memories. This is a week we always look forward to. This week was a little different than years past due to me being in a huge sling (which meant no skiing or wakeboarding) and d spent a good bit of the week sick. Even with the set backs, it was a great week with family!

This was also my last week of freedom. In-service for me begins on Monday. Summer is officially over. I love my job, but I am always sad to see summer go....especially when I spent most of it on the couch with a sling on my arm. Well, as school begins that means more funny, frequent blog posts about my day at school. I was very blessed to have an excellent group of students last year. I'm a bit scared that my class this year will be quite the opposite. What are the chances of me having 2 excellent groups in a row?! We shall see. I should get my class roster Monday and should know at least a few of the ones moving from K3 to K4. So... goodbye summer. It's been fun.

recovery

When I heard about the idea of surgery, I knew it meant I was going to be out of pocket for awhile b/c when it comes to pain I'm a pretty big wimp. To my surprise, there was really no pain in my recovery. I was uncomfortable at times but it was nothing a little pain pill or ice couldn't cure. The worse part of the whole experience was when the nurse ripped the tape off! A friend of ours had this surgery a year ago so I had spoken with him to get more details. To my dismay, he made the experience sound less than thrilling. I texted him the other day to inform him that in fact must be a "weiner" b/c my experience had been a piece of cake. (In his defense, his roommate was his caretaker and I had D and mom on hand.) For those of you who can handle it, here are some pictures of my shoulder that D took today when they took my bandages off.


Front/ Back

The doctor was very pleased and removed the stitches. I am still in a huge sling for a couple more weeks. The best news of the day came when we asked about our trip to the lake next week. I expected him to frown on the idea of me in the boat. He gave me the go ahead though!... as long as the water wasn't real rough. When I jokingly asked him about wake boarding he just laughed at me.

Update from D

Hey everyone. I just wanted to give you a quick update on how Candace is doing. Yesterday, She went into surgery at the Campbell's Clinic Surgery Center around 12:30pm. Candace and I were very pleased with our experience there. The surgery lasted a little over an hour and went very well. We have some really cool pictures of inside her shoulder. We left the surgery center a little after 4pm, and she has been recovering well since the surgery. The nerve block that they gave her to numb her shoulder/arm is beginning to wear off, which means she is starting to have a little pain, but she has plenty of prescribed pain pills. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. You can continue to pray for her as she recovers and starts physical therapy soon.

surgery

I went to the doctor today to review the results of my MRI. I have a torn labram (which holds my ligaments to the bone.) Thankfully they had a cancellation this Wednesday so I will be having my shoulder surgery this Wednesday at 12:30. Please pray for a quick and pain free recovery. School will be starting before we know it and I want to be as close to normal as possible!

the dreaded MRI

For those of you who know me you know that I just about have a panic attack thinking about being stuck in tight places. (I couldn't even swim underneath the boat w/ D for fear that I'd somehow get stuck!) Well, wouldn't you know it... I had to have an MRI done on my shoulder today for us to better make a decision about my surgery. Thankfully the doctor phoned me in a valium to take before hand. As I approached the doctor's office, I can feel the valium kicking in as well as peace knowing that many are praying. I was somewhat excited about this weird adventure yet nervous b/c of the closterphobia I knew would kick in. As I walk into the room, I was relieved to see that the MRI machine they would be using had an opening on both ends (not fully closed... thanks for the scare Stephen!) I laid down as instructed and as she began to move me into the machine I thought I was going to die. Then she turned some Christian music on in my ear phones and I felt a perfect peace consume me. Yes, my face was inches from the top of the machine. Yes, I could not have gotten out easily if I wanted to. But thankfully there is power in the name of Jesus who I called out to the entire dreaded 15 minutes. Was I thankful when the lady pulled me out? Absolutely! Would I trade those 15 minutes of complete and total desperation for the Lord? Never. Why is it that so many times I find myself calling out to him with the same desperation only in times of trouble? I hope this weird experience will continue to challenge me to call out to him with the same desperation in both good times and bad. Now our next step in this summer altering craziness is to meet with my doctor next Monday to discuss the results of the MRI and from there decide about surgery. Keep us in your prayers as we seek wisdom on what to do next!

you have got to be kidding me

I posted awhile ago about my husband and all of his injuries.... well, I have no room to talk. Tuesday night at my softball game I dislocated my shoulder...again. Clearly my ligaments didn't heal as well as we thought so my scoop and throw to second base landed me in the ER for the second time. The bad thing about this ordeal is it took 8 hours to see a doctor. Yes, my shoulder was dislocated and I was without pain meds for 8 hours. No fun! I go for an MRI next Monday and we'll decide then about surgery. So, goodbye summer.