Busy day at Norwood High School

Hi ladies, I hope everyone is well. I have been getting a few hours overtime at work because we are swamped. It is my job to process the free and reduced applications for meals. Last year we processed about 840 applications. So far I have gotten almost 300 entered into the computer. I only have 540 to go woo hoo. No, actually I am all caught up thanks to staying later at work and working on them. So far I have processed all that we have received, but that won't last. Some families wait until the last minute to send their app in. They are due by Sept. 30th. On Sept. 29th I will probaly have to stay all night processing the other 540 applications. We have been getting some in everyday so hopefully it won't be that bad. Work is going pretty well.

I will be starting my second job on Sept. 9th. Last year I worked Tuesday and Thursday nights for just a few weeks, then went down to working just Tuesdays for cooking classes with Middle School students. I applied for an after school job for every night of the week this year. I haven't heard from the job at Williams Elementary yet. That will be my Monday, Weds. and Friday after school job if I get it. (Thursday also if I am not needed two nights a week with the Middle School students.) I will be the instructor for card making and cooking class at Williams, hopefully.

I hope you don't mind me talking about my job, I don't have kids at home like everyone else.

I have to go, I hear the garlic breadsticks calling my name. They smell great!!! Yum, yum.

ODE TO SIGMUND (Siggy)

I received Amanda's picture of Sigmund, thank you very much Amanda. It looks just like him. But it got me thinking about him, sniff sniff, and I felt compelled to write this:

ODE TO SIGGY

I'm feeling empty, lonely and sad,

I miss my Sigmoid Colon man.

He had a place inside my gut,

Until my insides they did cut.

Poor Siggy has been thrown away,

Upon the dumpster floor he lay,

Until the trashman took him away.

He was taken on top a hill,

To the stinky, dirty, landfill.

He didn't deserve a fate like that ,

Where he will attract bugs, flies, and rats.

They will feast upon his skin,

And all his innards, from within.

How could I have done such a thing,

To someone that was part of me.

hummm......

You know, as I take time to reflect,

I remember my life was nearly wrecked.

Because of you I was in pain,

Sometimes I thought I'd go insane.

I change my mind I don't feel bad,

Not even a little tiny bit sad.

So, heres to you my Sigmoid Colon,

I got rid of you because you were swollen.

I'M BACK!!!!

Hi everyone, I know it has been a long time, sorry. We are very busy at work getting ready for the school year. Our students start back this Tuesday. I am not quite ready yet, I will be extremely busy Monday. We have a district breakfast for all staff on Monday morning. They cater it in so the cafeteria staff can sit and enjoy the breakfast with everyone else. After that it is back to work preparing for the students the next day. I'm sure I will have to work past my regular 7 hour day to get it all done on Monday.

I am feeling fine. I am so glad that I am back to feeling like me again. It took a while but I made it. My body finally feels normal, no more pain and everything in it is working great. Somethings are working overtime like my appetite. I have been so hungry lately. I can't get enough to eat. I don't know what in the world that is all about but I don't like it.

I love the fact that Ryan is so in love with animals. I am at their house, dog, cat, lizzard and catepillar sitting. Well, the catepillars bit the dust but I have kept everything else alive. That is pretty good. Anyway, I was going to work on Weds. and I saw a doe on their street just a few houses down. Yesterday I saw a doe and her two fawns. I was thrilled because I knew that Ryan would be happy to hear that I saw them. I sat and watched them for a few minutes too. I called today and told him and as I thought he loved it. I hae talked to him about his occupation when he grows up. We have decided that he is going to be either a zoo keeper or (I love this one) that he is going to catch poachers. I thought that was so cute that he wanted to stop people from killing innocent animals for coats or their tusks or whatever they do with them. I am glad that at this age he is so passionate about something important. (Unlike his dad who wanted to be a stranger when he grew up.) The only problem is, that poachers usually don't live in the United States, I haven't seen anyone trying to capture squirrels lately, they would make itchy coats. But that is a long way off! Since Sammy wants to be a Jesus teacher, Ryan can catch the poachers and Sammy can teach them about Jesus, I like that plan.

I will try to write more often from now on.

Hi everyone, I hope all of you are welll. I am at Cheryl and Kevin's watching the dogs and cat and 4 lizzards. I thought there was going to be a storm earlier but thank God it passed over. They lose their electric a lot here and when it started to thunder I ran and got the storm kit thing. It is a flashlight, radio, alarm thing that they keep plugged in for when the electric goes off. I didn't need it so I am happy. But I am not going to put it away yet. There are times when they have been in the dark for hours.
Ryan called about 15 mintues ago to say that they will be home around 9:00 pm. They went to Michigan. They left Thursday morning and I got here Thursday afternoon. Everyone has behaved so far. Before I left for work on Friday Morning I got both dogs together and warned them both not to poop in the cage or in the house, I was very stern. Well, it worked because the house was just as I left it when I got home.
I am feeling better everyday. It has been a much slower recovery then I expected. The last surgery I had was 18 or 19 years ago and I went back sooner to work then the doctor thought I would because I bounced back so quickly. I guess I expected that kind of recovery but I am about 19 years older and about 50 lbs heavier then I was then. The surgery was 4 weeks ago Thursday so I should start running around here like a crazy woman soon. I haven't done a thing and I do mean not a thing. The doctor told me not to lift anything or do anything. He said not to push a vaccum or do any housework or lift anything and I haven't. (Please don't visit my apartment until AFTER I am fully recovered.) I just went to the grocery store for the first time on Thursday and was very careful not to carry too much. There was actually no need to go except for perishables, Sonya really hooked me up with groceries. Well, I am almost at the end of those groceries so I bought just a few on Thursday. And until I am comfortable with lifting that is how I am going to buy them.

I start back to work for the shcool year on August 11th. The students start back to school on August 19th. The teachers and other employees start back on August 18th. August 18th is when the REAL work starts. I have to be 100% by then. My job during the school year is very busy and intense. I have just a few weeks to get myself together. I will do it, I am getting there.
My main problem is that I tire out so easily. I have been going home from work and doing nothing but getting ready to go to bed. I can't wait until I get my energy back.

Well, it is almost 9:00 and the Weidenwebers just got home so I need to go talk to them.
Keep me in your prayers and I will pray for all of you.
Debby

FIRST DAY BACK TO WORK!!!!

Well, I did it, I put in one whole day of work after not working at all for 2 1/2 weeks. Not only did I not go to work for that long but I did NOTHING while off work. Do you know how hard it is to go back to work and actually WORK all day after resting every 2 hours, sometimes not even that long inbetween, for 2 1/2 weeks? Around 11:30 this moring I was talking to my boss and I yawned right in her face. I said, oh excuse me but this is my nap time, you are keeping me up. She laughed. I am very tired but I made it through the day!!! My stomach is still very sore from the dreaded food poisioning. I only ate soup for lunch, I couldn't handle anything heavier.
I think I will go to bed early tonight. Do you think 4:00 pm is too early?????????

I thought I was near death.

Well, I must say that the last 2 days have been VERY eventful!! You guys are not going to believe this. I called the doctor yesterday because I have a painful left leg. The inside of my left leg, right above the knee, is driving me crazy with this sensation of needles being poked into it. I left a message and he had his nurse call me back to say that he needed to see me and that he would work me in. I told them I would try to be there around 12:30 so I left the house around 12:00. I figured it would be a long visit so I knew I would have to eat before I went to the doctor. I heated up some chicken in the microwave that I had cooked the day before and ate it on the way. I got to the doctor and he decides I should go to the hospital just to make sure I didn't have bloodclots. So, off to Bethesda North I went to have the vascular test done. I got there around 2:00 and had the test done and, thank God, no bloodclot. But, what is this terrible pain I am having in my leg? The hospital is very close to Cheryl's house so I decided to stop and see she and Ryan. They were in the backyard in the pool so I hobbled back there and sat for a while watching them swim. As I sat there I began to feel sick. I started getting these pains in my stomach. I got up and came into the house and walked around for a while hoping I could maybe walk it off. I kept feeling like I had to throw up too but nothing was coming up. I laid down for a while and couldn't stand that so I got back up. I sat down to watch TV and couldn't stand to sit either. I started getting worried. Could something have come loose after the surgery? I tried drinking water, then milk, then juice. Nothing seemed to relieve the pain. By now Cheryl was cooking dinner and the smell made me even more sick. By now hours had passed. The pain was getting more and more intense. I was beside myself not knowing what to do. I took some Pepcid AC, Zantac and Maalox, nothing helped. I was beginning to get worried. I looked in the mirror and I was as white as a sheet, no exaggeration. I went into Cheryl and said please call the doctor, ( my surgeon). She called right away and they had him call her house. I didn't have a fever and wasn't throwing up but the pain was very severe. He said he didn't think anything had gone wrong with the surgery because my bowels had been moving without any problem and I didn't have a fever. He said he would call something into the pharmacy for nausea and that I should go to the ER if it got worse. Well, by now I was feeling like I was going to pass out. I kept putting my head between my legs so I wouldn't pass out but nothing helped the pain. About 1/2 hour after I spoke to the doctor I was in the family room and started shaking uncontrollably. I broke out in a cold sweat and instantly was dripping wet. I felt nauseated so I headed for the bathroom. I took about 4 steps ( limping because my leg still hurts) and vomit started shooting out of my mouth. It was like a volcano errupting. It went all over the family room. I yelled for Cheryl and she was in there in an instant, Kevin right behind her. I couldn't move because I was afraid I would slip on the hardwood floor, it was covered in puke and both dogs were right next to me. Kevin pushed the couch out of the way to make me a path to the bathroom. I went in there still hurling my guts out. I sat down on the floor hugging the toilet until I realized I also had diarrhea. I stayed in there a little while until it stopped slowed down. I came hobbleing out and Cheryl and Kevin were frantically cleaning the family room. Cheryl said, mom your color is coming back. I sat down in the kitchen and realized the pains were easing up in my stomach too. I kept going back to the bathroom with diarrhea though. In about 1/2 hour I felt a lot better. Kevin said, Debby what did you eat last? I said, at lunch I ate some chicken. He said, could it have been bad chicken? I thought for a moment and said oh no, I wondered if it was still good or not. I had had it for a few days. I just grabbed it and ate it on the run on the way to the doctor. He said, I think you have food poisoning. I felt like a fool.
I went to the bathroom a few more times during the night but other than that I think the poisoned chicken is out of my system. My stomach is extremely sore today from vomiting so profusly and my leg still hurts from who knows what, but the other syptoms are gone.
The doctor called here at Cheryl's bout 8:20 this morning to check on me and I apologized for bothering him last night as I told him what we suspected that I had. He said there was no need to apologize and that he was happy that I was better. Please let this be a lesson to everyone to be EXTREMELY careful with meat, especially chicken. Believe me, I will NEVER take a chance like that again. Leg pain, unresolved!!!

I'M ALIVE!!!!!!

Sorry I haven't posted in a long time but I have been not so well. I made it through the surgery only by the grace of God, not my surgeon. I really have not felt like sitting at a computer and writing or doing anything that involves moving. Today marks 2 weeks post surgery. Everyone tells me I am doing really well, and most of the time I feel that I am doing pretty well, now. After being bedridden for a while it is hard to sit or stand in a prone position for very long. My head was beginning to think it was not supposed to be any higher then my feet. My body got pretty comfortable being in a horizontal position. I still have pain and the dreaded DRAINING from one incision. I don't know how much all of you know about what I have been thorough but it has not been an easy road. Well, it is not like I almost died or anything like that but things could have been better. It is a long story and I do plan on telling it but I don't think I can right now. It is that body, head, feet wanting to go up, horizontal thing happening again. I am going to go rest then get back to you. I wanted to let all of you know I am living and breathing. I'll write later. (I am at home in my apartment.) Later people! Debby