Oh so much!

Oh so much to write about, prepare yourself! The end is the best, so skip to the bottom if you get bored ;)

First off:

Husband

The husband is doing much better. We had a near incident where his wife was going to go down to Ft. Hood and kick some cammo butt. 3 days post-op we were running low on pain meds so we call and are told that it will take 72 hours...we would be out in 48 hours. In order to have the refill in time apparently we should have ordered the refill the day of the surgery... Being on only a few hours of sleep (meds every 4 hours--puppy going out on alternating 2 hours), I was a little irritable. So I call the clinic and am informed that since my husband was not with me (since I was at work) that they couldn't talk to me. As panic and anger set in, I called in the Big Guns... my father... who then got on the phone with our local congressman, who called the office of the congressman in charge of the Ft. Hood area... and then the doctor called back and the refill was complete... Crisis averted! Looking back now, I may have pre-maturely panicked; however, the idea of my husband in serious pain was not okay and I would rip down full-grown oak trees covered in honeybees if needed to prevent that!

Married Life

We finally got some honeymoon photos back. It was such a blast. I highly recommend Atlantis! Everything was right there: dolphins, waterpark, food, aquarium, beach, several pools, snorkeling, shopping, spa and a casino (which we didn't use). And going in May was perfect because there weren't very many kids there yet. We had an ocean view room that overlooked several ponds with rays and sea turtles.

The waterpark was crazy fun! I know it's silly, but the tube ride that ends with sharks swimming over your head was really cool! We also got to snorkel in the aquarium (where these 2 HUGE Rays tried to eat us...and then I swear they giggles about it! I saw bubbles) and swim with dolphins...twice! :)

Just Liz

So I've been having some soul-searching and discontentment with life lately. I've been feeling a little unfulfilled and frustrated with day-to-day life. I love my husband, my parents, and my pup. My health has been okay, but not great. But when the 3rd person in one week asked if I was pregnant I got a little paranoid. I decided to start running (especially since it helps with job-related frustration)... So I started with 2 minutes of running, 3 walking (since I haven't run since before the pelvic fracture almost 2 years ago) I figured that was good place to start. I created a whole running plan that had me up to 20 minutes of running by my birthday in September... Unfortunately, my pelvis did not agree to this plan... OUCH! I paid for it for a few days. So no more running, must try some thing lower impact... Swimming was suggested; I need a pool! Which brings us to the next thing; husband and I are planning to start loan shopping next week to start building a house (hopefully with a pool)... I am currently obsessed with http://www.houzz.com/. So fun!

So after running out of ways to improve myself and my life, I realized what I really need to do... the thing I've been talking about since undergrad...

Introducing...

Shelter and Support for Trafficked and Enslaved Persons (SSTEP)

There will be much more to come regarding this. My goal by the end of the weekend is the get some media stuff up and running, to include a blog and facebook page. Which means the first order of business is the get a logo... any ideas? If you want to learn more about trafficking in the U.S. look at my links on the right side. Really excited about getting this going!

Sister Wives

My secret (well not any more ;) "trash tv" is Sister Wives... I just find it so facinating... The TLC "tell all" about their new book (No I am not that close of a follow, I had no idea there was a book...) is quite interesting. I can't imagine sharing my husband; but the idea of community living with other women to help out with the kids and each offer something different to the family is nice. I could never do it, but there are some interesting aspects.

I love how Kody's response to marital problems with his first 2 wives was to marry a 3rd, lol... And telling your wife (3rd one or not) that you weren't attracted to her (and never really said he currently was either) is not okay... As I've watched the shows one thing about this man that stands out it his covert emotional abuse. He's not outright about it most of the time, but he is controlling and always makes sure his wives know "their place."

The whole group parenting thing would be very difficult... I would not want 3 other women telling my kids how to grow up. But the support system would be nice... you know, if you liked them.

I do feel sad for the kids having to move to a different state because of their parents' choices. It's neat how they have different takes on whether or not they want to have a plural marriage.

Robin created an "alter-ego" to help deal with being stronger... that sounds a little worrysome...

I love how honest Christine is. She's probably my favorite... I do like Mary alot too. But I feel sad for her. She seems like there are parts of her that are so unhappy with her choice. I noticed throughout the show she gained alot of weight. She looks better now. The clinician in me really would love to sit down with each other them and discuss so much!

Okay, the sleep deprivation has gotten to me! Time to medicate the husband and go to bed! Back to work tomorrow

Army Wife Challenge #57

Well I experienced true Army health care in the form of the hubby having shoulder surgery on Friday. He's been dealing with pain since he returned from Iraq (in August 2011). So after 11 months of pain, shots, useless physical therapy, useless painkillers, and useless PA's, he was finally able to get surgery.

Let me tell you a little about army medicine. It is so not the same as civilian medicine. As a civilian, at a civilian hospital, if you want to be with your loved one up until they go into surgery, you can make it happen. As a veteran of hospital regulations (my mother had cancer twice and I worked with the Advocacy Center to support sexual assault survivors as an advocate), I am usually able to get through the red-tape. However, when dealing with the federal government, it's different. There is no "let me talk to your supervisor"... I found out later why they wouldn't let me be in with him for the nerve block procedure; turns out they mistook the husband's neck for a pin cushion. The surgery before his apparently went long and I happened to run into the OR doctor in the hall asking about the progress. He told me I had waited patiently and he would sneak me in to see him...so it turns out the rules are only the rules if you talk to the wrong person... next time I know! So I guess that part it's as different from civilian hospitals as I thought...

The surgery took a few hours. Then the surgeon came and talk to me a little but wanted to wait till the hubby woke up and tell us exactly what he did. He took a little long coming out of the anesthesia (which was quite scary I must admit). When we finally got to his room, the nurse tried to get ahold of the doctor, but in the words of the nurse ( 6' 3" male nurse, I might add ;) "It's Friday, he probably got outta here already." So I still am not entirely sure what they did to him. *sigh* That part is different from the civilian world...

I met some other Army wives in the waiting area. It was fun discussing our husband's careers. One wife married her husband right out of high school, 15 years later she still loved him but it was hard now that he was having injuries and finished 5 deployments... She also had her mother-in-law living with them (and 3 kids, the oldest a senior in high school) in base housing. One thing I found interesting talking to these wives was that 3 of the 4 had family living nearby. Their parents or in-laws had moved nearby when they got stationed at Ft Hood to help them out. It was interesting because I have never heard of this happening. Now that I think about it though, Ft Hood is really an easy location for such a move. The cost of living is low and retired parents could afford to live near the grandkids and help out during deployments. It was nice to know I'm not the only army wife still getting some help from the parents to survive this lifestyle.

The husband is doing as well as can be expected. I'm struggling with the sleep deprivation of 4-6 hour medicating and feedings, but surviving :). He makes it easy. So appreciative and lovable about it. Note to those who haven't dealt with husband surgery yet: Invest in a baby monitor so you can sleep in your own bed and still hear him if he needed you. That way at least the little sleep you get is comfortable!

Physical therapy starts tomorrow... I decided to take off one more day of work to take him to that and hopefully talk to the surgeon.



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