Busy week ahead...prepping for surgery....

More pretty flowers from my sweet neighbor.

Well I have a busy week this week...back to school is this week. Oh and did I mention that there is a good possibility my hysterectomy is going to be next week! I will know more on Wednesday when I see my OB/GYN again...however, it seems pretty likely that my surgery will be next week. 

To say that I am freaking out is an understatement. I am still in pain from this weekend and am still bleeding. I have things to do but I also must listen to my body and rest as much as possible. 

My husband is freaking out as well. He has no idea how he will do everything that needs to be done. He is entering his crazy busy time at work and his work just doesn't care about what is going on here at home. I have told him not to worry, but he is very overwhelmed. 

I am trying to get as much done as I can before I go in for surgery so that he doesn't worry as much. But it is going to be hard. 

That being said, I made out a list last night of what I want to get done by next week. Some of these are must dos, and others are if I feel like it they can get done. 

I am hoping to work my way through this list this week with the help of my kids and husband but we shall see.

This is what I would like to get done this week:

• Take the kids to get a new outfit and tennis shoes for school
• Clean/straighten up our bedroom
• All trash out to curb
• Straighten boys' room
• Go to library to get books for recovery time
• Clean out the corner of the living room where I will be spending much of my time recovering
• sweep living room, including under tv stand
• dust living room
• doctor appointment
• mark school supplies
• menu plan for this week and next week
• write and schedule book review blog posts
• pack bag for hospital
• mop kitchen, dining room and bathroom floors
• pay ALL bills for the rest of the month
• Invoice and mail bills for 2 tutoring clients that still owe
• text Dad to see if he can take Rebecca next Sunday to a show
• Fill out paperwork for school
• School open houses for kids
• Kids back to school
• Chore chart for kids for back to school

I think I should be able to get most of these things done if I set my mind to it, but ultimately it will depend on how I feel. 

I overdid it...

I have been really good this week. Only doing a few things and resting a lot! Well, I have also been going stir crazy. If you know me, you know that I have to be doing something. With my current health situation that is not the best thing to be doing.
Well yesterday I made a bad decision and I am regretting it today. 

A few months ago, I signed the kids and I up to do a 1 mile walk for our local board of DD. The money was going to go to benefit a local police department's canine unit (the only unit in our county). I also signed Bill up for the 5K. Well, it was yesterday. 

I tried to be good. I rested, sat, laid down as much as possible during the day. And I decided that since the bleeding had stopped and I was feeling alright that I wasn't going to let this fibroid stop me from doing this walk and doing something with the kids. 

Well, I did it and I overdid it. I was overheated at the walk. But I did sit as much as possible before and after. The kids had fun and that is what I wanted to happen.

But apparently I really overdid it, as this morning I woke up with bad pains in my abdomen and back and I am bleeding again. Great....

I know I overdid it and it is my own fault. I have already beat myself up for it. I have had several people remind me that it wasn't my smartest move. So if you need me today, you will find me laying down with my feet up as much as possible. 

Sunrise, Aquarium, mini-golf, Good food and Storms

I am recapping our family summer vacation to Indian Beach, NC. To read more of our adventure, here are the days I have recapped so far: 
DAY 1: We went to Indian Beach
DAY 2: Ghost crabs and beach and pool time  
DAY 3: Fort Macon, Yummy food and date night
DAY 4: HOT weather and great ice cream
DAY 5, Part 1: Went to Raleigh to meet a friend from Australia
DAY 5, Part 2: 17 sea gulls and walking on the beach at night
------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Friday, July 15, started out bright and early for me. One of the things that I have never done when I have vacationed on the beach is to watch the sun rise. I will admit that I don't like to get up early. However, on this day I decided to set my alarm and just do it. I was up and out of the condo before 6AM. 

There were only a few other people out on the beach. I enjoyed being with the birds and just relaxing. The sunrise was glorious and worth every second of lost sleep! 

As I was walking back, I came upon a turtle's nest on the beach. 

When I got back to the condo, everyone was still asleep, so I went out on the balcony to read and wait for everyone to wake up. 

We decided to head out to the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores as it was supposed to be another REALLY HOT day that day and it was one of the places the kids wanted to go before we had to head home on Sunday. (I was able to basically get us half price tickets by buying a Groupon a few weeks before we went!). The kids had a blast seeing all the different animals and walking the trails. They each were very brave and petted a horseshoe crab!

While we were out on the trails, the kids got to play on a new playground that the aquarium had put in. They also walked along the trails to the wetlands area. Jacob spotted a huge crab under water off of one of the lookout points. He was so excited to see it before anyone else. 

After the aquarium, we headed back to the condo to have lunch and relax a bit.  My sister and I dropped Bill and the kids off at the condo and we headed out to the "Big Oak Drive-In" to get lunch for the adults. This was rated as one of the best places to get food on the island. I ended up getting a fried flounder sandwich all the way and cole slaw for lunch. It was yummy!

We also had the adventure of Bill and Jacob trying a cricket. (Bill bought a box of crickettes (real crickets to eat) while we were in Raleigh the day before at the museum.) He decided to eat one and then I told the kids I would give them a dollar if they tried one...Jacob was the only one who took me up on it. He said it was gross! 

Later, we decided to head out to play a round of mini golf at Professor Hacker's Lost Treasure Golf. Bill, Rebecca, Jacob and Ben played. It was HOT, but they had fun. 

After mini-golf, we decided to head to dinner. We settled on eating at HWY 55...which is an old fashioned burger joint. Being that it was a little early, there was no wait to sit and the food was great! 

After dinner, we took the kids to Wings, to pick out a souvenir from the trip. While inside, it was looking more and more like it was going to storm. After we got our purchases, we headed back to the condo and made it back just before the storm hit. 

It was really cool seeing the storm coming from over the mainland and heading out past us to the sea. There was some heavy rain, lightening and some strong winds.  In fact, there were several beach chairs blown off balconies during the storm. 

After the storm passed, we headed down to the beach to walk and see if we could find any shells or anything interesting. There were a lot more shelly areas brought in from the storm and the kids had fun walking on the beach. 

The waves were fairly angry still, but overall it was a fun way to end another busy day on the crystal coast! 

17 sea gulls and walking on the beach at night

I am recapping our family summer vacation to Indian Beach, NC. To read more of our adventure, here are the days I have recapped so far: 
DAY 1: We went to Indian Beach
DAY 2: Ghost crabs and beach and pool time  
DAY 3: Fort Macon, Yummy food and date night
DAY 4: HOT weather and great ice cream
DAY 5, Part 1: Went to Raleigh to meet a friend from Australia
------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Yesterday, I told you about how we went to Raleigh to meet up with Coralie, my friend from Australia. 

Well our adventure on that Wednesday didn't end then. We thought that we would probably eat dinner on the way home from Raleigh. However, the kids slept most of the way back, so we ended up stopping at Circle Pizza to get pizza to take back to the condo. We called almost 40 minutes out so that it would be ready when we got there. When we got there, it wasn't ready. Eventually it was ready and they only charged us for 1 pizza. Their service left a TON to be desired that night, so we didn't even let them know they had undercharged us. 

While we were relaxing after we got home and after dinner, we noticed that a sea gull had dropped something on top of one of the trailers in the trailer park next to our complex. In a matter of minutes, there were upwards of 17 sea gulls all trying to get whatever the first sea gull had dropped! The kids thought it was hilarious. Eventually, the owners of the trailer came out and tried to get the gulls to fly away by spraying water at them.

Later, we decided to head down to the beach for a walk since we hadn't been able to be down there that day. It was a lovely night for a walk! The scenery was gorgeous! 

Overall, it was the end to a very memorable and wonderful day!