The Results are "BACK"

As you know, I had an MRI this week because it was believed that I had a fractured vertabrae or a ruptured disc. Today that doctor called with great news. I have neither of the conditions that were feared. The MRI showed a large amount of swelling in my lower back, which is responsible for the pain that I am experiencing. Praise the Lord!

So, for now I have 2 choices. I can either A.) deal with the pain with pain killers and work through it until the swelling goes down or B.) Go to PT and be tortured and still take pain killers and wait for the swelling to go down.

I have actually opted for a third choice. I am going to take ALEVE instead of pain killers, and use all of my previous experience with PT to make sure that I am stretching and keeping mobile, and wait for the swelling to go down.

Thanks for all of your prayers. I am thankful that I won't have to deal with anything else major when it comes to my back!

OUCHY!

When I asked my friend to pray for me about a "little" issue I was having, I didn't expect it to make the prayer list at church- but I know intentions were good.... so I am not mad or anything. Now I just have a lot of questions to answer, so I thought this was a good venue to do that.

First let me say, Yes, I know that I am stupid.
Yes, I know that I broke all of the rules.
Yes, I know that this is all my fault!

So, anyway... this is what happened. About 8 weeks ago, I was standing on a chair, painting. (I know... bad idea.) On top of that being a bad idea, I didn't have shoes on...only socks (very bad idea). I am sure that I don't have to tell you what happened next... Conni came tumbling down... Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall... and it hurt- A LOT....

So with time, I felt better, although I was bruised. Last week things started to hurt a bit more, and by the end of the weekend, I was experiencing a great deal of pain. With a little nudging... I decided to make a doctor's appointment.

Upon examination it was determined that I likely have either a fractured vertabrae, or a ruptured disc. I guess that explains the pain! So... they sent me for an MRI today, and I should have the results tomorrow or Friday.

I am thinking three things at this point:
1. If it was something really bad, they wouldn't have let me leave the hospital.
2. No matter what it is, I will be fine.... I have dealt with a lot already.
3. I will never stand on a chair again while painting!

Thanks for your continued prayers- God is good.

More Decorating

We had pretty much given up on finding a new bedroom set after searching high and low. We had decided that it just wasn't meant to be. But then.... we stopped in at Ashley's Furniture and low and behold... there it was. It is the perfect blend of what he wants, and what I want. It is just perfect! So, we decided to buy it, and it will be delivered on April 28th!

Now, I guess I don't have a good excuse anymore to wait to get the painting done in the bedroom. I have the new bedding purchased too... so I just need to match colors, and get busy with the roller!

Does anyone know any great little stores that have great decorating pieces? I like Pier One and places like that, but they haven't gotten anything new in a long time and I am kind of getting bored with them! I am betting that there is some little hidden store that has great things that I don't know about.... maybe in Webster or Old St. Charles? (what about an on-line store?)

Anyone have any ideas....??

Easter Ham

I was with a few friends tonight, and we were talking about what we had eaten for Easter lunch. We started talking about how ham is the most common Easter meat, and we wondered why. A few ideas bounced around the room, but I wanted to see what the internet had to say about it, because everyone knows that everything you read on the internet is true! :)

Anyway, I visited several sites, and here is the most common answer to the question-

Why do we eat ham on Easter?

"Because the Old Testament forbade pork, and in Christ's New Testament the old food laws no longer hold. "

Does anyone out there (perhaps a scholar) have another explanation as to why most of us eat Ham on Easter?

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! I pray that you will have a very blessed day remembering the most important thing in life.....HE'S ALIVE!

All glory and honor and praise be HIS for evermore!

The Wizard...

We all know that the Scarecrow wanted a brain, the Tinman wanted a heart, the Lion wanted courage, and poor Dorothy just wanted to go home.
What would you ask the Wizard for?

I love you Cardinals....

... But, WHAT'S THE PROBLEM? Do you boys not know that the idea of the game is to get runs? Do you remember what it is like to win? You are the world champions... I know it is early in the season... but come on already.... show us that you want to win again!

It's all Jimmy's Fault

Qdoba Addiction.

Need I say more?

My Night

What a great show!

Bekah was in her first professional theatre show this weekend. We are so proud of her- not only was she was accepted to the professional theatre, she was chosen as the chorus captain! HOORAY for Bekah! It was a great show, and it will close tomorrow afternoon. If you want to see the show, you can contact MetroTix. Unfortunatley, we were not permitted to take photographs at the show... sorry. We are so proud of her- it was a GREAT show.Here is the ticket from the show!
Between shows today, we went to supper. It was pouring rain, and the sky was pretty scary. We were excited to see a rainbow though. I tried to get a picture at the stoplight so I could share God's promise with the rest of you! It's amazing... even when you are not looking for Him, He reminds you of His presence. God is good.

Conni the Waitress

This morning, the YMCA hosted Breakfast with the Easter Bunny at Applebees. It was a lot of fun for the kids and a good fundraiser for the Y. Jason played the Easter Bunny... which made me laugh... he will never live down hopping around in a very feminine bunny suit! The girls and I had the role of seating people and taking pictures. Well, at least that is what was supposed to happen. It was pretty obvious that Applebees had not prepared well with staff, and before I knew it, I found myself in the kitchen, preparing plates and drinks for people. BEING A WAITRESS IS HARD WORK. There were damanding people, crying kids, and crabby cooks to deal with. Wait staff doesn't make enough money. In fact, I am not sure you could pay me enough to do it on a regular basis. Well, I didn't feel like it was fair to ask my staff to do it, so I did as much as I could before I recruited my sweet girls to help. I was impressed with Bekah and Jenn's ability and willingness to help. They didn't even complain.

Now we are home, and hoping for a nap before we head out to see Bekah's play this afternoon, and then again tonight.

More chruch signs

I saw two more church signs on my way to work this morning that I thought were worth sharing.

"Looking for a sign from God- this might be it."

"Jesus built us a bridge with 2 pieces of wood and 3 nails."

What church signs have you seen that have made an impact on you?

Another Thought for the Day

(I read this on a church sign tonight while going to take my mom to dinner for her birthday... and thought it was worth sharing.)

"Forbidden fruit always produces plenty of jams."

I think there is a lot of truth to that. What do you think?

I like Cereal!!

I love cereal. When I want a snack... I often choose cereal... when I am home alone and it is time to eat.... cereal it is.... So, I was just wondering... what is your favorite kind of cereal?

Is it Fruit Loops, Shredded Wheat, Raisin Bran, Rice Crispies, Chex, Frosted Mini-Wheats, Honeycomb.... or something else?

YUM.... I think I will have a bowl right now!

Thankful

This morning, I was thinking about things that I am especially thankful for this week. Of course I am thankful for my friends and family, and to be a child of God, but these are things that just struck me as blessings that sometimes I take for granted. So here is part of the list of things that I am especially thankful for this week:

1. Mommy-Daughter time at Applebee's with Boo.
2. A relaxing dinner with my sweetheart and a wonderful friend.
3. A meeting that had the potential of being really bad that turned out beautifully.
4. Diet coke and chex-mix at 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
5. My sweet Bekah grabbing my hand during a prayer at church.
6. Tuesday morning prayer.
7. Walking away from a bad situation so Satan can't creep his way in!
8. Playing computer games, and competing with my girls- THEY ALWAYS WIN!
9. Pre-season Cardinal Baseball
10. Shopping with my mom.
11. Dinner with great friends on Wednesday night!
12. Marketing!
13. Comfy shoes.
14. Cuddling with my hubby.... even though Mikki likes to wedge her way between us!
15. Not letting people from the past affect me... even though they still pester!
16. Being part of the best small group ever!

I could go on and on... God has blessed me in so many ways! What are the "little" things that you have been thankful for this week?

Decorating, Decorating

I love decorating! I LOVE IT!

The kitchen is completely painted and put back together. I shared pictures a while back...

The new living room furniture, rugs, lamps, and pictures are all in their new places... and now I am thinking that I don't like the new curtains, so I am taking those back, and now I think I want to paint... which was my original plan, but I decided not to after picking dark curtains... but now that I am keeping the light ones, I think I need at least an accent wall! I should have painted first. Sometimes I do things a little backwards! Anyway, the living room is just about done.

We went looking for new bedroom furniture last weekend, and guess what? WE DIDN'T BUY A THING! I have new bedding and curtains waiting for the new bed and windows.... I just can't find a bedroom set that really jumps at me! Maybe I am too picky! Does anyone have any suggestions of where to get good furniture for a great price? I am thinking that once we find furniture, then we will donate the old stuff to Lydia House, and then we can paint the bedroom before the new furniture comes.

We have plans for Mikki's room/Office too, but we want to finish the other bedrooms first... the girls' are just about done too... they keep changing their minds on the last little details. It is hard having teenage girls...

We hope to have the house done by summer, and then it will be time to deal with the yard some more. ... I am thinking that we will get Tim to come and take care of us to start out with... Winter was hard on the yard....

Oh Yeah... and then we have the shutters to deal with.... ahhh.... it never ends....

Just about the time we get that all taken care of, it will be time to start raking leaves again.

I love decorating, but I am not too thrilled with the yard work and outside junk!

When the Innocent Get Blamed

Innocent people should not be blamed.

Now this may seem like common knowledge, but somehow it is not.

There are a few blogs that I read everyday. There are others that I check from time to time, just to see if there is anything going on.... SO.... I popped on one that I had not checked for some time, only to read a blog about Harry Potter.... and then a bunch of comments from the author and some anti-American crazy person, and as I continued to read, I see a comment that sites MY BLOG, and basically blames me for the comments, and then uses some nice not very nice words!
I don't appreciate it!

I have much better things to do than trash your blog... so please.... don't blame those who are not guilty.

Say Goodbye Sanjaya

Please make it stop!

Please America... don't vote for him again.

Say goodbye Sanjaya, PLEASE say goodbye!

Great Small Group!

Tonight some of us from small group met at Dave and Buster's for a time of food, fellowship and fun. The food was pretty decent... the fellowship was awesome and the fun was great...but could become VERY addicting if you're not careful!

Does anyone else out there like Dave and Buster's as much as I do?

The Agony of Defeat

After a year of bragging rights as the McKnight Road Trivia Champions, tonight our small group lost the title to a well-deserving team. To tell the truth, we got slaughtered.... But, we had a great time, and are already looking forward to next year! For the past 3 years, there has been one team that really gives me a hard time, and says, "You are going down!" I'd like you all to know that tonight, for the 3rd time, our team beat his! HOORAY. The evening was great, and everyone had a great time. Here are a few of the highlights. Mikki couldn't come with us, but she still looked cute in her St. Patrick's Day shades! She is SO CUTE!.... (this picture reminds me that she needs a haircut!

Bekah was the winner of the costume contest.... she looked great! Way to go Bekah!

Steve did a wonderful job providing music for the Irish Song round- he is so talented. Thanks for sharing your gifts with us Steve.

The youth group was well represnted and did a great job! It was nice to find out that the school systems are acutally teaching something to our kids! I think the picture above is way too funny!

As always, it was fun to hang with my honey and my girls. It was so weird to hear Miss Denise tell Jennifer to go stand by her "sister." It seems so weird, but I suppose it is accurate. They have gotten as close as sisters.... well, and they fight like sisters too. We are so blessed to have 2 special girls! We love you Boo and Jen!

This year the Trivia Night was a fund raiser, and over $1,100 was raised for Children's Programs. Our small group put together an ice-cream basket for the auction, and it was well received! I was glad that the Crawfords liked it so much and that Anna was so excited to take it home.

Well, it is late, and I need to hit the hay...

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY everyone!

Simple Math

1 husband + 9 stikes in a row = 1 very happy husband!
Way to go Jason! Love you!