Birthday & Bedtime Fun

Olivia's 2nd Surgery!!

I found out a few days ago that my daughter Olivia will be receiving her 2nd Cochlear Implant on April 16th, 2007. YAY! I'm UBER-excited!! I have been waiting for clearance through insurance for the past 3, almost 4 years and am happy that it's finally happening!

Olivia has to go and see Dr. Baker at the Hough Ear Institute in OKC for a work up before her surgery and then we will be spending the weekend before her surgery in OKC just traipsing around and doing nothing. Then Monday morning, she will have an early check in and the surgery will take place.

This is a great advancement in technology, when Olivia received her 1st implant, they weren't sure 2 would be available for another 7 to 10 years. Technology is awesome!

For those of you who don't know Olivia's story, Olivia was born profoundly deaf and did not benefit from hearing aid usage. When she was 15 months old, she was implanted with a Cochlear Implant and has been able to hear and speak as a normal child ever since. She is continuing in therapy even now, at nearly 5 years of age and is surpassing all our expectations.

It is shown statistically that Olivia will benefit even more from a 2nd implant by being able to hear from both sides as a normal functioning person can. She will localize even better and hearing up to twice as well. In that ear, she will start off as a newborn baby,(just as she did with the other ear)but should excel more quickly in the usage because of her excellence with the other implant.

I AM SO EXCITED! We are getting 2 brand new updates of the BTE (Behind-the-Ear) processor that she already has. The new version is called HARMONY AURIA HI-RES. and is compatible with normal electronic equipment that we use. Which means that Olivia will be able to talk on a telephone just like you and I do. This also means that she will be able to listen to such electronics as portable MP3 players and CD Players, etc...

Did I mention I'm UBER EXCITED??!!

The picture above is a picture of the new processors Olivia will be receiving when she has her surgery. The only difference is it will not be gold, but silver. It looks pretty much the same as the one she has now, only with the differences I mentioned above.

Zoo-licious

We went to the zoo. Yay. We saw aminals. Yay. We had eff-you-inn FUN. Yay.
You should be jealous.

Visual DNA

Yah OK So I'm doin the whole Vis. DNA as Jackie suggested. I'm totally original. Psssht! haha
So what you do is click on the box, and there's this book. So you click on the book and it will tell you all kinds of neat little things about me by the pictures I chose for each section. Then you can do your own afterwards. Have some fun-ola!!!!!!!

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

So that's it. Neat huh? Yah I'm boring. hahahahaha

Slide Show Mania!!!

St. Paddy's Day...yeeeoww!

Loads of fun. I'll let the pics speak for themselves. Me & Garland's fam. had a blast! Well, only partially...damn karaoke guy kept pushing me to the back of the line! Then when they wanted more...[cause you KNOW they do & did] I couldn't deliver because it was TOO LATE! psssssht on the karaoke guy...YOU SUCK!

The Perpetual What If's

I found this on someone else's blog. thought it was wonderful. Wanted to share. Enjoy!

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& DisableFrom the outside looking in, here’s what you see;
Your friends just got engaged…they are flashing the rock, getting handshakes and hugs, toasting to the future. It’s all smiles and tears of joy. Then there’s a downtime, followed by a steady stream of wedding plans that you honestly get tired of talking about and even hearing about. (Don’t lie…we know) That’s followed by invitations to be in the bridal party or a groomsman, maybe the Maid of Honor or Best Man. Some time later the invitations go out…and it’s “save the date” and all that noise.
Through all of this, it’s smiles and laughter.
Occasionally, one of your friends will want to know if you’re SURE…are the ANY doubts? Even a little?
Here’s the straight dope on that happy couple as they exist in the time between proposal and wedding…
OF COURSE THERE’S DOUBT!!! When you buy a car and you sign on that dotted line, you are doubting. Even if it’s the perfect car for you and you KNOW you can afford it…WHAT IF?
Your mortgage closing? You sweat. Even though this house is everything that you had on your list of requirements, the mortgage is less than you’ve been paying in rent, and it doesn’t need any work…WHAT IF?
Getting married is a bigger contract than either of those, and it’s forever OR until a soul crushing divorce. (And it ruins your credit, just like forfeiting on that loan) ANYONE who is engaged and tells you that they don’t have doubts/fears is either (1) lying to your face or (2) not thinking about this nearly enough. (Or, to be fair, has been living with someone for like, 10 years…and even they will have moments when they wonder)
When Fiance comes home for her class at 10:30 or so, and is exhausted and cranky and complaining about how tired she is…BUT will stay up watching bad TV for another few hours before crashing…only to complain again the next morning that she’s exhausted…
Or when we have a bad weekend, and just can’t get on the same page and annoy the crap out of each other…?
Or when you hit a sexy time dry spell and can’t connect for the life of you because of schedules, stress, exhaustion or whatever…?
You don’t think I wonder? Hell yes I do. I’m engaged, I’m not sedated. You wonder and you doubt and all sorts of things cross your mind. My brother described it as the “Perpetual What If”.
Just because you’ve slipped that ring on her finger doesn’t mean that you’ve become the Cardinal of Faith, and that you believe SO DEEPLY and SO FERVENTLY in your love that doubt dissipates like pot smoke in a convertible.
It does NOT.
So, there you are…sweaty palms, looking at the ceiling in your bed. Wishing you still smoked and that you didn’t have to work tomorrow. What do you do? Keep your mouth shut and hope it passes? VERY quietly pack your essentials, grab your guitar, and make a break for it in the dead of the night? Pick a fight and hope she leaves you?
You could. Broken engagements are a dime a dozen. Don’t think so? Bring up the return policy at a jeweler and see how readily they can recite it. You could go right back to that barstool for the playoffs and your seats at the Nats, wondering who the next tanned and toned future ex girlfriend will be.
Or, you can swallow that “OHGODOHGODOHGODWHATHAVEIDONEHOWDOIGETOUTOFHERE” and say the following;
Baby, I’m scared to death.
Chances are that she’s going to say;
You and me both.
Then this amazing thing is going to happen…you’re going to start talking. (Imagine that) And you’re going to find out that you’re both afraid of the same damned thing. You figure out that really, it’s the monster in the closet, which is to say it’s nothing.
And you laugh a little.
And you talk about the things you want to get better at, and the things that you are thankful that you don’t have to deal with because you found each other.
Suddenly, like pot smoke in a convertible, the Perpetual What Ifs go away. You make dinner and you wonder why people watch Grey’s Anatomy, b/c you liked it better when it was called ER 10 years ago…
…and you laugh that 10 years ago, she couldn’t drive a car…
…and she sings the Jem theme song as the yeah-you’re-old-inside-joke-that-never-fails-to-make-you both-laugh…
And by the time you’re clearing away the dinner dishes, you’re so much more focused on all of the reasons that you are engaged that you can’t remember why you’d ever want to not be.

Yah. THIS is why I'm HOTT!

OK. Despite my lack of blogging lately, and against my better judgement, I'm taking a cue from Wendy and going to do a list. Yes. A LIST. SO sad really. Like I can't be ORIGINAL. Whatev.

1. I'm sticking to losing weight this time. Last time I failed. Gained more. This time I'm actually doing it...and sticking to it. Imagine my surprise! Started at 210. Right now I'm around 176. Kind of a fluctuation between that and 173. It's all good. Goal: 150. I startedc at size 20 now I'm in a 12. Go me.


2. Heart=Broken. So much loss around me lately. A good friend of mine had a tragedy. My best friend is losing her grandmother the same way I lost mine. Reminders give grief hold...and the wound opens, accepting the salted tears, stinging in a way that I thought was put behind me.
   
3. I still love Grey's and Housewives. I DO NOT love that they are reruns.
   
4. I got a new hd.plasma 52 inch on my wall. Patrick Dempsey looks positively DELICIOUS on a 52 inch.
   
5. I'm emotionally exhausted. I'm physically exhausted. Ever been surrounded by so much death and sickness that you can't breathe? Ackkkkkk! 2 losses in 2 weeks and another 2 soon...:( & my kids have been sick sick sick so if one is sleeping through the night, the other one is not...but at least we are over that as of yesterday.
   
6. Picture day is Friday for Livi. I love picture day. Already planning the outfit. Yah. I know. I'm a mom. blech! LOL
7. I love this weather. It's ideal. A little cool, but not TOO cool. A little overcast, but not CLOUDY. This is THE weather. I LOVE when it's rained a little bit, although the sun is nice too.
8. I love myspace. I love yahoo messenger. I don't know why I'm telling you this, I just am.


9. Pics of me: 5/06 & 3/07 :