Bryan needs a better story...

As he broke his elbow tripping over a lawnmower, Bryan has decided he needs a better story for how he shattered his elbow into a bunch of little pieces. As such, we would like to ask you all to submit any suggestions you might have as to how he hurt himself, or vote for the best suggestion already made.
So far, we have "jumped in front of a bus to save a blind puppy," "beat down an intruder, while protecting me." "testing out a new wakeboard and slammed into the dock," and "rode a bike"
When you go to vote or make suggestions, hit the link that says "comments" it's highlighted right below here.

We're home

Bryan's surgery was yesterday. He was scheduled to go in at 1pm, so we had to be there at 11am. Upon arrival, they took him to pre-op, placed him in a little cubical-sized room, and then informed us that there was a delay in the OR, and they wouldn't be ready to start for a few hours. So we sat there in the freezing cold, until they finally came to wheel him in at 4:45. The doctor came to see me at 7:00. Bryan now has three screws in his elbow, and a wire holding it all together. He described Bryan's elbow before he put it all back together- he said it looked like a pile of potato chips.
We really like Bryan's doctor. He is really good at what he does, (apparently one of the top surgeo on the West Coast) and he's also a really nice guy who will just sit down and explain as much as needed. Our friends Khris and Marti came and sat w/ me for a little while around 6pm, and brought me dinner. Marti decided Bryan's orthopedic surgeon was the real-life "McDreamy."
At 8pm, they wheeled him up to his room. He was doing pretty well except for the pain. This morning the doctor came back in and chatted w/ Bryan. They let him go home at noon. He had tickets to Kenny Chesney, and was thinking we were still going (I was trying to discourage this, but he would have not of it.) It only took about 20 minutes of him sitting in the bed, waiting to be discharged, that he decided maybe the concert wasn't the best idea. By the time we were on the freeway, he was starting to whimper, saying, "I need to go to bed." Needless to say, he's in bed asleep now. I had to crank up the A/C because it's in the upper 80's here, and he is having a difficult time staying cool.
So that's the update, I'll try to keep this up to date.

Today's News

The doctor's office called this morning to inform us that Bryan's surgery is scheduled for tomorrow, (Friday) at around 1:30. We have to have him there to check in and be admitted by 11:30. He will be at the University of Washington, I don't yet know what room he'll be in.
They anticipate the surgery taking anywhere from 2-4 hours. I'll have my cell phone on for the day, If I don't answer, I will try to post updates on the voicemail, like I did last year.
In other news, today was the last day of school. Our neighbor Bob took Bryan out to brunch, so I could go up and wish my kids off. I was really glad to have the opporunity to bid them all farewell. After all my trials and triumphs, I'm really going to miss them...most of them that is. :-)
After we sent the kids off, Deb (my mentor teacher) and I spent about an hour working on cleaning up the room, posting grades etc. After that, we headed over to one of the staff member's house on the water where there was a big end of the year party. Deb had been really insisting that I go, at least for a little while. I now know why. They had purchased a big Azalea bush for our house, and made a little speech about my time at the school. I was completely embarrassed, but thankful for their kindness. I have had a really wonderful time (save the first two weeks) working at the school, and with the staff. Both the Principal and Assistant teacher even told me that when I go to apply for a job, to feel free to use them as references. That's a really great feeling. The Assistant Principal wrote a letter of recomendation for me which makes me sound like a superhero. :-)
I'm hoping to be a sub there in the fall. I have already been told by a few teachers that they plan on being sick. :-)

Our visit with the surgeon

This morning we got up at the crack of dawn so that we could get to the University of Washington by 8am for Bryan's meeting with the Orthopedic Surgeon. The appointment was great- the doctor was really helpful. He explained all the damage Bryan did to himself, and explained how the surgery will go. The surgery is scheduled for Friday morning, they anticipate it will take at least 2 hours. They will keep him overnight, just to make sure everything is okay.
The doctor gave Bryan a new specially hinged elbow brace to wear, instead of the big splint they had him wearing. He seems to be more comfortable now, although the pain meds aren't lasting...I'm on my way to the pharmacist to get him a new prescription that he will be able to take more often.

Bryan's Broken Elbow- The X-Ray

I did my best to make this scan, it is still a bit fuzzy. I hope at least this gives an idea of what he's dealing with. Click on the image to enlarge it.
Bryan was sent home last night. The damage he did to his elbow was so bad, that the surgeons in Tacoma do not feel comfortable operating on him, and are sending him to a specialist at the UW. We'll meet with the doctor tomorrow at 8:30 and will find out when his surgery is...they say probably Thursday or Friday.
So we're home, he's in pain, and I'm playing nurse. It seems like only yesterday I was in Spokane being my mom's caregiver, and now here I am doing the same for my husband. And then, in 6 1/2 months, I'll be doing the same for my child. Maybe when we retire we'll be able to enjoy the summer free of injury and illness. :-) One can hope.

A Friendly Visit

THIS POSTING IS FROM 6/14/06--When I went to add pictures, I had to repost it...so this one is out of sequence...so sorry....

Things have been crazy. I finished up my student teaching last week, but remain in the classroom to now complete the arduous task of grading 170 final projects, 170 final tests, and at least 50 test review posters.
Good times.
How a teacher ever has a life is beyond me. I know teachers who don't bring grading home. I can only assess that they don't assign anything for students to do. I haven't been assigning lots of homework, rather fun projects and activities...sadly however, this means I have to grade them all. How does one accomplish such a task without hunkering down into the late night and forgoing any and all weekend fun in order to grade?

We had Khris and Marty staying with us for the past two weeks, which was fun. We are now rather lonesome, as we don't actually have any friends our own age here in the Harbor.
We had a great time with them, and were lucky enough to have Luke and Holly come down to visit for a weekend. Sadly, it was cold most of the time, but we were able to go down to the park for some bonding and fun.

Also, my pregnant belly continues to grow exponentially on a daily basis, which is cause for concern as I am allegedly only 2 months along, but have been told by many that I look closer to 4 months. Twins run in the family- God help us. :-)
Morning sickness has not been horrible. However, my "turbo nose" is in full force. I had to place a food embargo in my class last week when the students arrived with hotpockets and doritos. Bad news.
Also to add to the fun, I'm sick. Yesterday I left school at noon to come home and go to bed. I was sent home actually, my mentor teacher did not like the look of my greenish-white face.
I think I have a nasty bout of the flu- not stomach flu, mind you, but headache, body ache, low grade fever, can't breathe through the nose, terribly painful throat flu. And of course, being pregnant, I can't just drink up some nyquil and go to sleep.
I have an appointment w/ the doctor at 11 today. Not because I am on my deathbed, but I guess they want to check me out as I'm preggo. Maybe they'll have a wonderful something to give me to help me breathe and sleep.
Well, I need to shower I suppose, and then lay back down. I'm actually in bed now, with the laptop in bed w/ me. Oh sweet sleep, how I miss you.

Dear Lord, please bless my child with coordination- Today's hospital visit.

After church today I drove down the road to the local high school where I commenced to coach our Church Softball Team in our weekly practice. Since I'm in the family way, I am refraining from playing on the team this year, however they were lacking a manager and asked if I might be willing to coach as I won't be playing. In an interest to meet some people from our church, I obliged.
Now I am sure that from the title of this blog, you are assuming I hurt myself once again. This would be an incorrect assumption. My husband on the other hand, was not so lucky. While I was helping out with batting practice, out of the corner of my eye I saw Bryan walking up to the field. He was green, sweating and clutching his arm as if it might fall off if he let go. He waved me over and I asked "are you hurt?" He winced and said, "I just broke my arm."
I looked at him, looked at his swelling purple arm, and told the team to fend for themselves, I had to go.
I hopped in his car, already running, which he had somehow driven to the field, strapped him in, and drove him over to the urgent care. I had to roll all the windows down and turn the air on full blast, because he was sweating so badly, and was on the verge of loosing his lunch.
We got to the urgent care, they took one look at him and ran him back to do take some x-rays.
10 minutes later, the doctor came in to show us the damage. "you'll need to go to the hospital," he said. As he held the x-rays up to the light, we saw the carnage- pieces of his elbow were missing, and he had a couple little fractures running a few different directions. The doctor explained he had severly broken his humerus, the big bone that runs from your shoulder to your elbow. The tip of it, the part that connects in the elbow to the forearm, was broken off.
They called the hospital to consult w/ an othopedic surgeon, who agreed he would need to be admitted. So, off to the hospital we went. I just got home, he wasn't admitted until 10pm.
He'll be having surgery tomorrow morning; they will have to reconstruct his elbow, and pin the little pieces back in place. He's not a happy camper.
So how is it exactly that my husband shattered his elbow? He apparently had planted a tree in the front yard, but needed some soil to fill the hole. He went into our garage for some miracle grow and topsoil. You must understand, the state of our garage is major bone of contention between us-as he has a large collection of stuff filling it, disallowing any parking of cars within.
Anyway, he went into the garage for the bag of topsoil, crawled around or over the lawn mower, and when he stepped back, he tripped over the lawnmower, flipping his body and the mower completely over. He reached out to break his fall and shattered his elbow in the process. I will try to scan in a picture of his break tomorrow night.
The devastation on his face when he was informed he would need surgery was heartbreaking. He had big plans for waterskiing, camping and general sporty merriment this summer, before the baby comes. The ER doctors predicted traction instead.
I am sad for my husband. He is in lots of pain, is going to have a really horrible surgery tomorrow, and his summer is basically over.
It is because of his fall, and my own propensity to injure myself that I am praying to the Good Lord to please bless my child with some coordination. If the kid gets our genetics, we may as well just build a bubble now...at least we have decent medical insurance.

A Little bump...

Here I am at a little over two months (according to our calculations). Notice, my wedding ring is on a chain around my neck- my fingers have already swollen up to the point that my ring was cutting of the circulation. I fear what the future might bring.

Pickles and Mustard

Okay, I am allergic to vinegar, and subsequently cannot eat pickles or mustard. I never have liked them either, the taste or the smell, so really this was not a big sacrifice.
However, lately, I keep wishing I had a cheesburger with some pickles and mustard on it. I can't eat them however, so I just sit here, thinking about mustard and a crunchy pickle, wishing I had some to enjoy.
Every BallPark frank commercial drives me to drool too--I sit here thinking about how tasty a hotdog would be with some onions and mustard on it. I usually can't stand hot dogs. And onions and mustard? Sick. However, right now, nothing sounds better to me.
McDonalds always sounds and tastes so very delicious. I have tried to only eat there once a week however, so as to not cause my body to go into liver failure. However, if it weren't such a bad thing, I'd be eating a Big Mac every single day.
Oreos are the other thing I can't get enough of. I have never disliked Oreos, but I could eat a couple, and be satisfied for a year. Now, I want to eat them all the time- I don't, but I'd like to.
Finally, homemade lasagna is quite possibly the best thing in the world. I can't get enough of it. I make it with fat free cottage cheese, lean ground turkey or beef, and wheat-free pasta, so as to try to cut down on the fat and cholesterol...but it is still oh so good.
This does not bode well for my child's future...I blame my husband and is propensity to eat sweets and meat in large quantities.
My sister couldn't get enough fruit when she was pregnant, but I just want the junk food. I'm trying desperatley to be healthy, eating at least one big serving of pears (one of the only fruits I can eat) every day.
I don't really want to gain 100 pounds with this child, so I'm trying to be very dilligent about what I eat, however, would some one please give me a ball park frank with some pickles and mustard on it?!?

I Am Not a Total Loser!

I am happy to report that this last week of student teaching, for the most part, went much better than the previous one. The students are starting to accept the fact that I might actually know a thing or two about what I am talking about, and they are starting to realize that when they try to cross me, they face my wrath. :-) Only four students got the boot to the hall this week, which I consider great progress.
I am also very happy to report that I now have a university supervisor! I had heard rumors of said supervisor, but only Thursday was the news confirmed when she herself made contact. She came to meet with me on Friday, where we met during my planning period, and then she observed the following class. She is a lovely and very knowledgeable woman who seems most interested and invested in helping me become a great teacher, and survive this process. What a blessing and a relief to have someone from the outside come in and see where I am and offer me some outsider validation!
During our meeting, I expressed my frustrations, and difficulties, as well as my triumphs (few as they may be,) but then when she observed, she was observing my one really good class, so after she looked at me and said "I don't know what your talking about, they seem like a dream." Well of course- this is my one good class! the one with all the "highly capable" kids in it!
She did say however that she thought I was doing very well and that it seems like I have a great lesson/unit plan in place. So in fact I'm not a total loser after all! Woo hoo!

As soon as she left, everything went to pot; as is to be expected I am sure.
The day ended when a student said "spank you" instead of "thank you" to me. Twas not the time nor the place for him to say such a thing, and as my mentor teacher jockingly pointed out, he may have become my sacrificial lamb. I was quick to point out to the student that I am in fact a teacher, not his "friend" and to say such a thing is neither cute, nor acceptable. I continued by asking if he would say such a thing to the other teachers...he said he was just kidding. To which I said..."would you kid like that with the other teachers?" He responded, "no, but you're cooler than most of the other teachers" I said, "I'm not that cool"
I needed to go home. So did the students. Thank goodness it was Friday.
Tomorrow I teach about Antietam, Gettysburg, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg address in 80 minutes or less, all while challenging them, stimulating their minds, and differentiating to each student's learning levels and abilities. This outta be interesting.