Bike MS This past weekend was Bike MS, a 150 mile bike ride from Frisco to Fort Worth. To say it was eventful is an understatement! lol First of all, the City of Fort Worth cancelled all outdoor public gatherings...
Sea World Orlando Today was our Sea World day during our Florida vacation. It was chilly, but sunny, so very nice. We didn't get too cold until the sun started going down in the evening. We started with the sting ray...
Originally uploaded by dacriscloset
Today was our company Halloween day since a bunch of people will be
off tomorrow. We have a costume contest, a spooky spread (pot luck),
department decorating and pumpkin decorating contests. I entered the
pumpkin contest with a Cinderella’s Coach (pictured). It turned out
really cute, but I didn’t win. :( the “blue whale” pumpkin won… I
have to admit it was cute though, she used excedrin for the teeth!
My pumpkin is still a winner in my heart! LOL
We had a great Valentine’s Day this year. We didn’t do gifts or anything, we just had a nice quiet dinner at a local hibachi/sushi restaurant that wasn’t very busy, and then came home to chocolate covered strawberries from Central Market – yum!!
I’ve been working on a special video project for work lately and it’s turning out so much better than I expected! After the big reveal at our Spring Banquet I’ll share a piece of it here. It’s actually two pieces – one consists of video clips and the other is all made up of still photos. So much fun to play around with!
Very excited to say that I was honored as an Employee of the Month for February, thanks in BIG part to my work on the tradeshow! It’s very cool to be recognized when you put in a lot of hard work. So what do I get? A nice certificate and a reserved parking spot for the month, complete with my name on it! I’ll have to post a picture… when I remember to take one! lol
MS Walk Status – I’m slowly but surely moving towards my fundraising goal! Check out http://www.nationalmssociety.org/goto/heatheratpollock to make a tax-deductible donation of any amount! Every little bit helps!
Have a great week!
~Heather
So Jack had his bone scan and white blood cell tag this week… very interesting how technology works and what it can show us about our own bodies… anyway, so the good news – there is no osteomyelitis in Jack’s leg! yay! That was the infection he had right after he got out of the hospital, resulting in 6 weeks of daily IV antibiotics. So… what IS there? Well, we don’t know that so much at this point, and the infectious disease doc is out of the country until after the first of the year (oh to be young and wealthy! lol). So we wait, and see, and pray really hard. God is in control! We believe that completely!
Fantastic news at the doctor this week… he recently changed my meds and they are now working properly! Yay! Hence the 15lb weight loss in the past month! Double YAY!! It’s nice to feel healthier.
Did Christmas with the family this evening before everyone heads off in their own directions. Presents, lights, singing, and good Mexican food. That’s what Christmas is all about folks!
Other than that, we’ve just been busy, busy, busy. Jack’s off to California for work stuff in a week or so (we just found out yesterday!), and I’m super busy at work with tradeshows, websites, brochures, and all that other fun stuff.
Happy Holidays!
~Heather
Brrr… it’s getting cold out there! Two days ago it was 80 degrees outside. Right now, it’s a chilly 34 degrees! Holy Cow! But I love, love, love cold weather. We don’t get much of it here in Texas, though.
I went with Jack to his doctor’s appointments this past week. He’s scheduled to go back next week for the bone scan and a white blood cell scan. These will help to show if the infection is bone or tissue. Once we know that, we will have a better idea of what the treatment will be. So yet again, we’re waiting… for tests, for doctors, for prognosis. And of course with the holidays, I’m sure the waiting won’t be short! lol That part I do remember!
Jack and I were talking the other day about spending the holidays in the hospital two years ago. My mom and dad brought us Thanksgiving dinner at the rehab hospital (a friend brought us leftovers just so it would be authentic! lol), and then we were lucky enough that Jack was discharged a couple of days before Christmas. I remember putting up the Christmas tree in Jack’s hospital room, wondering if that really was where we’d spend Christmas. I am so thankful for the doctors and nurses who took care of Jack during that time. There were times that I felt so lost among the medical terminology, the treatment options and the pressure of it all, but every single person was so kind, patient and understanding. I’ll never forget them.
Ok, so sorry about that little trip down memory lane…. we’ve been doing that a lot around here!
Gotta run… been baking cookies like crazy today, something about the holidays brings out the baker in me! :o)
~Heather
P.S. Awesome news… I’ve lost over 15lbs in the past month!! Yesterday I had to go buy a size smaller pants!! I’m so, so, so thrilled!! I’ll post later about all of that though!
So can you believe that next week is Thanksgiving?!?! I mean, seriously, where did the year go?!?!
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Why? Because it’s the holiday that everyone on my mom’s side of the family gets together in this little town in South Texas where my grandparents live. This is a huge deal… we now have over 60 people in our family from my grandparents on down to all the great-grandchildren! I joke that the town’s population doubles whenever we all come to town (but not in front of Mamaw…. she’s very sensitive about people insulting her town! lol)
My uncle has a ranch there, and he recently built a lodge for hunters. Luckily it’s big enough to house all of the men in the family, and all the women and children are split among family and friends’ houses. Older women get beds, younger girls get blow up mattresses and pallets on the floor. Jack and I are the exception… because of his medical equipment for his leg, we get our own room! :o) Trust me, that’s a big thing! lol
So we usually drive down Thursday morning (it’s about a 6 hour drive), and get there around noon. Another uncle owns a barbecue restaurant in Corpus Christi, so he caters the Thanksgiving meal – and really, with over 60 people, you need a caterer! lol We usually plan to eat around 1:00, but don’t actually get the food out until 2:00 or 3:00, but it’s all good because in the meantime everyone is visiting, catching up, etc. The kids are usually running around getting dirty, much to the chagrin of their mothers (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “Can’t you stay clean for just 10 minutes?!?!”) lol 
When the food is ready, we all sit at what has to be the longest Thanksgiving table for a single family. It stretches the full length of the front porch of the lodge. My 95 year old grandfather prays over the meal, and the family. And then we spend what sometimes seems like hours at the table. Not eating the whole time, but just enjoying each other’s company and telling stories (sometimes more like tall tales!).
Afterwards you’ll find some people in front of the TV watching football games, some out on the porch visiting, some taking off to go hunting (usually with several little boys in tow!), and later in the evening, some sitting around a fire. There’s no place to go, no time to be there, no traffic, no rush, rush, rush… it’s awesome.
This is the only day of the year where I really feel like I have nothing else in this world to think about or worry about. I’m surrounded by the people I love most in this world, good food, and God’s creation. We all get along for the most part (hey, everyone has a tiff now and then), but it’s not like a lot of families I hear about who can’t stand each other… we all love getting together and spending the holiday… so much so, that most people bring along friends or other family members who were going to be alone for the holiday. So our number easily climbs above 70!
I truly feel so very blessed to be a part of this awesome family. I was devastated when we missed it two years ago, after Jack’s accident. On Friday night everyone went to my grandparents’ church for a “family music night.” Some played instruments, some sang, but the best moment (for me at least!) was when my dad called us at the hospital, over 500 miles away, and put a microphone up to his cell phone and I hear my entire family yell “We love you!” I bawled that night… both from feeling so loved, but also knowing what I was missing. We made it last year, and you bet we’re going to be there this year and every year from now on. I can’t help it… it’s my favorite holiday!
Well I finally decided to move *my* blog over here rather than just letting it be a digital playground. So I’ve imported all of my blogger posts, you should see all the categories over there on the left. I wanted to make sure I kept all of the information about Jack’s accident, etc.
Speaking of which… this past weekend was the 2 year anniversary of Jack’s accident. Crazy! It seems so long ago, but just like yesterday. Current status…. he’s doing well. Getting around pretty well, still can’t walk real long distances, but he’s getting there. He still has an open wound… isn’t that insane?!?! He’s still seeing Dr. Kelton, the plastic surgeon, about every 6 weeks. He’s recently started seeing a dermatologist who had some great suggestions that have helped a lot. So we still deal with the repercussions of the accident every day, and will probably deal with them for the rest of our lives.
The weather’s getting cooler… it’s so nice… I love this time of the year. Definitely feeling more and more like fall every day. And my favorite holiday is coming up… Thanksgiving! I’ll post more later about why it’s my favorite.
I’m still teaching classes at The Scrapbook Pad. In fact, on December 1st I’m one of the teachers for this cool make & take day… there’s 10 different projects that you can complete, all having to do with the holidays. It’s very cool. I’ll post a photo of my project. The digital classes are still going strong! I’ve got two digital classes – Digital Scrapbooking 101 and Photo Editing for Everyone.
Other than that, not too much going on. I promise to post more often! :o)
~Heather
My brother and his family were in town this weekend for Easter, so we decided to do the annual bluebonnet pictures on Saturday.
We found a great patch of bluebonnets, but there was one problem! It was 40 degrees outside, and SNOWING!! So the girls huddled up for the group photo, and while we took the individual ones, the other two were huddled under a blanket with mom and Grammy! Sheer craziness!
This one was a little… shall we say… moody. :o)
This one never seems to take a bad photo!
And when this one gave me a real smile, it was gorgeous! Such cute girls!
This one was Sunday morning after church. My sister in law made their dresses, but with the chilly temps, there was a mad dash for matching sweaters on Friday!
The beautiful family.
And the dash for the egg hunt!
Sorry it’s been so quiet lately… just busy, busy, busy. Jack had an appointment with Dr. Kelton today (the plastic surgeon, remember him? lol). He basically cleared Jack and said we don’t have to go back unless something goes wrong. Woo hoo! No more trips to Baylor! (Not that we don’t love the place, but you know how it goes!)
Other than that, I’m just knitting away. I’m working on a pastel bag for myself, then I’m going to start knitting baby caps for donation to a local hospital. Just want to do something to give something back.
Oh, congratulations to my buddy Heather and her hubby on their new house! So excited for them!
~Heather
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