Surgery Date

I just wanted to let everyone know that I found out that my surgery is not going to take place until October 24th. I was pretty upset with that news because it originally was going to be done quickly but then the specialist and the surgeon realized they needed to do the surgery together and it was hard for them to arrange their schedules being the very busy doctors that they are. My parents and I also have a trip planned to Florida for the second week in October and couldn't really get a refund on our tickets and didn't want to disappoint my grandmother who we are going to visit that I haven't seen in 3 years. So, because of all of those reasons I will just have to stick it out. They changed my medication yet again so now I am getting used to another type of antibiotic and trying to decide if I am going to take painkillers for the next 5 weeks or if I can drop that and just stick it out with Tylenol. We will see how it goes.

In the meantime I have started substitute teaching more and more and I am tutoring a 7th grade boy a few times a week in English and that is currently my favorite past time. I really love the time spent with him and helping him grasp grammar issues that seem impossible for him to understand and then to see him reach those "I get it!" moments. Good stuff.

I decided to stick some pictures of my student teaching days in this post. I can't believe it was a year ago I started the adventure, challenge, and fun of middle school student teaching!

Sapulpa times...

I love my best friends from home. They are definitely the sisters I've never had and I enjoyed a fun day with these lovely ladies today. Now that 2 of them are married and teachers our conversations are a little different than when we were little girls, or junior high girls, or high school girls, but in the end were still friends like we've always been. They are blessings in my life and I'm glad 2 of them still live in Sapulpa and that I get to part of all of their lives. (I also really love the 2 husbands--Trevor and Jeremy--and think they are great additions to our little family circle!)

Escape to Arkansas---God's Country

While I have been home these last couple weeks I haven't been able to do much and basically twiddle my thumbs between doctors appointments and not feeling good. So last Thursday I decided to run away for four days to the blessed land that is Northwest Arkansas and all of my dear friends that reside there.

It was so much fun. So good to see Teeny and enjoy being on pain medication together (she broke her foot ironically), a dangerous and giggly combination. I love Siloam Springs too. Here are some pictures to sample the fun times I had and the great friends that were a part of them and took such good care of me in my infectious state.

A Change of Situation

So, I haven't posted in quite awhile and I promise I have a really good excuse. I am no longer in Lake City or Colorado at all, sadly. I am now home in Sapulpa and getting used to Oklahoma heat, humidity, accents, Wal-Marts, Sonic, and Taco Bueno (the Sonic and Taco Bueno are very good things to return to!). I had to leave Colorado for health reasons, so here's the story to date:

About 3 weeks ago I was in Lake City still planning on being there for another month and a half. I spent a great day in Gunnison with my friend Amanda and her two very cute children Silas and Priya. We had a fun day of thrift store and grocery shopping, eating at a cool sandwich shop and impulsively jumping in the lake on our way back up the mountain because why not? The only downside was that a lot of this day I kept having a pretty intense toothache. Now with all of my dental history I've never really had this severe of a toothache before. I thought, great now I'm gonna have to tough this out until October. Well that night I mentioned how bad it was to Carol and Doug and Carol got on the phone immediately and set up an appointment with the dentist who comes up to Lake City to do a dental clinic once a month and just so happened to be there the next day (I'm convinced a miracle). That night my teeth hurt so severely I couldn't sleep or even think straight half the time. The next morning the dentist tells me I have no cavities. Bizarre. Why am I practically in tears from pain sitting here then? He takes x-rays and finds a dark mass under my lower teeth directly in the front of my jaw. Long story short I have to overnight these x-rays home and the dentist in Oklahoma says that I need to come home in order to investigate this further. So my dad has to fly to Colorado to bring me back because I'm not supposed to be driving on the pain medication.

Tuesday of this week I went to a specialist who took more x-rays and showed much more intensive damage than we suspected from blunt trauma to my face. The source is a car accident I was in 3 and a half years ago where I was the passenger and I hit the airbag. The dentist says there is years worth of damage absessed in my jaw and there is really no way we could have known up until this point because at the time there was no real pain or outward damage. So basically I have a large absess under my front lower teeth that has eaten away A LOT of bone in my lower jaw. Tuesday they gave me 3 root canals. 3. It was awful people. Anway, Thursday my parents and I went to meet with the surgeon and he will be opening up my gums and cleaning out the "huge, huge lesions" and replacing all of the missing bone by doing bone and membrane graphing. So at this point I am waiting to hear when this surgery will be taking place and more than likely it will be in the next couple of weeks.

I have been pretty traumatized by this whole scenario that has developed so fast and at the same time been going on for so long without me being aware of it. Thank goodness for that toothache that started all of the investigation. I'm currently on quite of lot of medication to control the pain and fight off the infection and get it out of my blood stream. I'll post again when I know the date of the surgery.

A Day Off

Yesterday was my day off. It was so wonderful. I slept in WAY too late and spent WAY to long getting ready and enjoyed a nice sandwich from the funkiest little cafe ever--Sweet Peas.

Then Tori and I had set up a trade with the Hartmans' daughter-in-law Amanda, we would babysit in exchange for a lesson in tie-dying. So fun...this town is making me more and more of a flower child. I embrace it fully. I now have 3 tie-dyed shirts, 3 pairs of socks, and a pretty sweet apron.

I then started the trade off and took 2 year-old Silas and 1 year-old Priya in their double off-roading typical Colorado stroller to the baseball fields where we ate a picnic dinner and watched some of my local friends play on the community teams. As I was walking with the stroller to the fields two little girls on the play ground saw me from a distance a ran towards me yelling "Ice Cream Lady! Ice Cream Lady!"---is this place for real? I love this charmed life in the high country.

End of Summer Sundae

While I am remaining in Lake City into the fall the other college girls are beginning to head out to their various schools. This has been very sad, and I think I will soon have to do a post that is an ode to the girls and talk about each one of them, for now this is about ice cream.

The Soda Shoppe has a tradition that at the end of the summer where the girls stay after closing and make a sundae masterpiece to be shared by all. The owner's daughter, Amy, who has worked there since she was 12 is the genius of this ridiculous dessert.

We really do have a ridiculous amount of fun working at this place---some good time examples:

1. A customer asks Tori what is in the Rocky Road....she mistakingly responds "almonds and mushrooms"....we collapsed in laughter at the customers' faces for awhile.

2. Exploding shakes in each other's faces, all over our clothes, on the walls, and yes even the high ceiling.

3. The time Diana wanted to hug me and as she tried to put her arm around me and I started yelling "NO! NO DON'T!" because I thought she was going to put snowcone ice down my shirt again.

4. The times Diana or Tori put snow cone ice down my shirt or pants, yeah, awesome.

5. A little boy who was so appreciative of his ice cream from Tori he said "I love you, can I kiss you?" and then he did.

6. Middle school boys leaving us their numbers on napkins, this has happened multiple times.

7. Harry McHottie.

8. Arielle falling into the freezer head first.

9. Bob--a cut old man who comes in always in a cut off t-shirt and running shorts, who I call Trouble and he calls me Emerald Eyes.

10. as much free ice cream and treats as we want!

Children of the Mountains

I love kids. I always have. I was raised the daughter of two parents who work in the public education system and love all children ALOT. So, it has been a great joy to be living with and working for the Hartmans who have 4 adorable grandchildren who we get to interact with daily.

I love all of them. But, one of them is a little extra special. Silas Frost Hartman. This little 2 1/2 year old boy has completely stolen my heart. I have never had a boy adore me at the level of this little boy's infatuation. I find it ironic that he is 2.

We have a routine when we see each other. He runs to me with a big grin on his face, he touches all my jewelry saying "neckwace, earwings, etc." (he always notices details, even my toe nail polish, he is gonna really impress the ladies someday), and last but not least he goes for my hair. He is totally obsessed with my hair. He strokes it, wraps it around his face, around my face, and holds it while he sucks his thumb. Everyone finds it so humorous how into my hair he is, I find it charming. Silas and I had a special day together today, and though he may have hald a cold, wet his pants 3 times, and almost refused to take a nap---it was still great. We were swinging on a swing together in the park and he just kept saying "Emowy and Siwas, Emowy and Siwas". Oh, I love it.

His parents own a weaving studio and weave BEAUTIFUL rugs out of recycled materials and so in exchange for babysitting I get customized woven rugs, pretty sweet deal really. I want to include some adorable pictures of all of the cutiepies, but look for Silas---he is the one with shaggy blond hair and bright blue eyes and reminds me of Denise the Menace.