Successful Surgery and The Boredom

The surgery was a success.  I have two small incisions which I am thankful for.  My orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Scott "Tosh" Atkins, is wonderful.  He is part of the UOC group here in Tuscaloosa and I highly recommend him for any type of orthopaedic surgery.  I did have a small reaction to the morphine.  I've had morphine before but this is the first time I had a reaction.  I'm in more pain today than yesterday since all of the good pain medicine has worn off and the swelling and bruising is pretty bad.  So, they gave told me to keep my arm elevated as much as possible. 

Here is a before picture of my cyst.  We have nicknamed it "The Alien" since it appeared overnight.

Here is an after picture and yes I am in my PJ's...sorry about that.  :)

The biggest thing is that boredom is starting to set in, so I decided to attempt to do a post one-handed.  I seem to have a hard time sitting still.  It is so quiet at home since William has been staying with his Grammie.  She is going to bring him over today so I can see him.  The first night my Grandmother and William both spent the night with my Mom so she could be with me during the surgery.  William was so excited that he was getting to have a spend-the-night party with Grandmother.  He loves her so much!  I so wish I had some video from that night because I am sure it was priceless! 

Halloween 2010 - My Little Super Hero!

For Halloween William was my little Spiderman!





William's Birthday

I'm trying to get caught up posting things so I figured I would start with William's 3rd birthday party from the end of October 2010.  William insisted having a "Monster Truck" birthday party, so we decided to have it in The Country.  It was tons of fun and both the kids and adults had a great time.



Wednesday's The Day

My surgery has been scheduled for Wednesday morning.  I will be out of work the remainder of the week and I hope that I will be back to work on Monday.  However, the total recovery time is 6-8 weeks so this is going to be an interesting few weeks to say the least. 

Surgery Time?

Tomorrow is the day that I will find out when my surgery will be.  Since I failed my Carpal Tunnel nerve test on Wednesday, I will have both the cyst removed and the Carpal Tunnel surgery at the same time.  I am hoping that I get to have it as soon as possible, but we'll see.  In the meantime, I have all the shopping done and the house clean just in case it is sooner than later. 

UA Gym Tide Time

Friday night we went to cheer on the UA Gym Tide.  They were competing against Boise State and beat them 196.325 to 195.000.  William and Perkins had a great time dancing to the music and devouring popcorn.  I was going to get some pictures of them, but William wasn't feeling very photogenic that night.  If anyone has a chance to go to a meet, I highly recommend it.

OMG...OCD!

As many of you may already know I am very OCD.  I'm not sure where this disorder came from but in my mind everything has its place and that's where it should be.  So I constantly have this crazy to-do list in my head and (at times) it drives me a little insane.  For example, there are times where it bothers me that there is something in the dirty clothes basket.  Since William has come along that doesn't seem to bother me much.  However, I do still have to make sure all of the pillows are straight on the couch before I can go to bed.  This is also the same reason that I chose not to redesign my blog myself.  My goodness it would take me months to ever get it up where everyone could see it.  Now my to-do list is ever changing but for now it goes a little like this...

• Clean Out Guest Bedroom Closet - DONE
• Clean Out William's Closet - DONE
• Clean Out Garage....AGAIN - DONE
• Refinish a Piece of Furniture - DONE
• Reorganize my Mary Kay Inventory - DONE

Typically my list is small things like do laundry, dust or mop.  However, now each item on my least is seems to be a huge task that might take FOREVER to complete.  Well, with my upcoming surgery I know that I don't have a lot of time to get these things done so I'm thinking that the plan is to get it all done today.  Given it is already 2 AM and I am still up, I probably should get to bed so I can get all of these things done.  Better yet, I should probably spend all day tomorrow trying to find a cure for my OCD.  HA!!! 

Random Thoughts & News

My new blog redesign is complete and I'm very excited about it.  Thanks again Faith! 
On Friday I had an appointment with my Orthopedic surgeon.  I received another cortisone shot in my knee and was told that my only option left for my knee is complete knee replacement surgery.  I also have a cyst on my wrist that is wrapped around my artery that has to be removed as well.  Since my symptoms are similar to Carpel Tunnel symptoms I will be having a nerve test to find out if my surgery will be to just remove the cyst or if I will also have Carpel Tunnel surgery as well.  The only difference will be the size of the incision - either 4 or 6 inches.  Now the worst part is it is on my left hand...and guess who is left handed.  None of the news that I received on Friday was what I really wanted to hear.

On a better note, I finally got my car back.  Several weeks ago I had an unfortunate collision with a deer.  I knew they could cause some damage but I guess I never really realized how much until now.  Funny thing is that David was hunting when it happened and I was the one that killed a deer.  So far the score is - Ashley 1 and David 0.  LOL! 

Cabin Fever

So it is finally time to get out of the house! I have been at home for a week with a terrible cold and I am ready to get out of the house even if it is to just go to work!!!  However, I have really enjoyed spending some extra time with William! 
 On a brighter note my new blog design is underway. I just can't emphasize how wonderful Faith has been to work with and I so look forward to working with her in the future! She's sort of been my ray of sunshine during my sickness and has given me something fun to look forward to! I really am impressed with her communication. She has asked tons of questions and let me see little previews along the way. Thanks again Faith!

I saw another preview of my blog today and I absolutely LOVE IT!  I'm so excited that I will get to be sharing it with everyone soon!

New Blog Design

I'm very excited to get my blog redesigned.  I'm having "A Design of Faith" design my blog for me.  I looked at her portfolio and was very impressed with her designs. Not to mention she has been a delight to work with.  Thanks Faith!   If I had the time I would like to do that on the side because it looks like it would be tons of fun.  


I would love to do my blog myself but I just don't have the time.  I used to be a software developer so I think it would be lots of fun.  However, I am so obsessive/compulsive that I would spend hours and hours getting it perfect and I really don't have the time to spend feeding my OCD.  I'm super excited about it though, and I can't hardly wait to get it implemented.  So, keep checking in to see what it will look like.  

It's Snowing

It is finally snowing.  It looks so pretty falling and on the ground.  We don't get snow that often, so it is really nice from time to time.  I could never live where it snows all the time.  First of all I could not drive in it and secondly I would have some serious cabin fever.  Hopefully, I will have some pretty pictures to post later.  We have a Siberian Husky, Harley, and she is pacing back and forth on the screened porch wanting to go out and play.  We all would love to get out and play in the snow, but with everyone being sick lately it is probably not going to happen.  

New Year's "Goal"

Welcome to my new blog!  This is something that I have been hoping to do for a while now.  However, there just never seemed to be time to get it all started.  So, I decided to have a New Year's "Goal" to get a blog setup and start posting.  I say "Goal" because I don't do resolutions.  If I do then it is completely forgotten about by the end of January.  So this is more of a yearly goal instead.


I want to use this blog to post things that are going on with not only me but also my son.  He is growing up so fast and I feel like I sometimes miss some of the best moments.  I have gotten better about taking more pictures. When he was born I took thousands, but as things started getting crazy I noticed I was taking less pictures.  Granted that most of the pictures I take now are on my phone, but that is so much better than no photos at all.


So please be a little patient since my blog is still under construction, but I will have it all up and running shortly.