Well, it's finally happened. Yesterday I received my school schedule in the mail. I was very excited to see it come, because I had been waiting for it for a week. Yesterday's wait was extra special because I knew that it would be arriving, but the mail came three hours late. It truly almost killed me.
However, its arrival was bittersweet, because it also meant that school is starting soon. A week from today. I have been dreading this for the past month. I really don't want to go back to school, but there's not really anything that can be done. It's going to happen. I just don't want it to. I want to be done with school.
Ok, I'm starting to rant now, so I should go and spare anyone who is actually taking the time to read this. Please pray for me. The beginning of school is always so stressful for me, and this year seems to have a little more added to it.

Not Over Yet

My mom may be home from the hospital, but she is far from being 100%. After two weeks without eating, her stomach is having trouble digesting the food she's eating. She has been throwing up and having bad stomach aches. She has managed to keep down the last few things she's eaten, but the aches continue. Please be praying for patience as she goes through this healing process, and that it will pass quickly.

She's Home!!!

It's finally happened. My mom is finally home. After over two weeks in the hospital, my mom arrived home yesterday between 10:30 and 11:00 a.m. She looked relieved to be home. Yet at the same time, she is incredibly tired. She hasn't been allowed to eat anything the entire time she was in the hospital, so her nourishment was lacking greatly. She's taking it very slow, and rests a lot. I think she said she's planning to go back to work on Thursday, but I could be wrong. She definitely needs to work up her endurance again. In the mean time, we are glad to have her home again.
Actually, she was home on Wednesday night already. She got my dad to take her out of the hospital for a few hours so she could get home. She was completely unattached to any machine, and just had the central line sticking out of her neck. The nurses didn't know if she was wandering the hospital, walking outside, or at home, so my mom escaped for the evening. I think she enjoyed that immensely. Aunt Ellie and Uncle Gary went to visit her in the hospital, but she wasn't there. They came to our house after calling us, and soon after Yvonne and Eric joined us as well. It was a party.
For now we are glad to have her home, for good, hopefully. But I guess you never know what could happen, right? She has to go back for a checkup on Wednesday, I think, so hopefully things will still be clearing up by then.

HOORAY!!!!

Yesterday we found out that my mom will be coming home TOMORROW!! They took out her nose tube which was draining her stomach, and her catheter. As far as I know she still has the central line in. I think they may be taking that out today. After that, as long as nothing goes seriously wrong, she will be coming home tomorrow. So I need to go now because the house is a mess....

In case anyone is wondering, there are pictures of my mom in the hospital on Chrystal's blog. So for anybody that doesn't usually look at her site and wants to see them, you can go check those out. It's gonna be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

A Week Late

Sorry about this, but I tend to be quite lazy with keeping up with things. You know how you think about doing something but never really get around to doing it? That's me most of the time.

What I have been planning to write about was the Phantom of the Opera. Yvonne, Chrys, Tasha and I saw it live last Saturday. It was absolutely amazing. We own the DVD and I've watched it many times, but I have always wanted to see it on Broadway. I had a chance to do that a few years ago, but I got sick the morning we were supposed to leave so my sisters had to go without me.

But last Saturday, it finally happened. I was there, sitting in row 12, seat 62. Amazing seats. There were certain scenes that I had wondered how they would perform them live, such as the underground lake scenes in the Phantom's lair. But every bit of it was spectacular. One thing that did bug me, however, was the voice of the girl who played Meg. I can't really explain it, but it was really annoying.

Everyone else in the cast was impressive. It was everything I expected and more. I am so happy that I was able to experience this at least once in my life (which I think everyone should). I loved every minute of it.

Third Time's the Charm...

This morning at 10:30 my mom went in for her third CAT scan. She had two yesterday, but apparently they couldn't get a clear enough picture, or something. Hopefully they will be able to help her better after this one.
It's been a week now, since she left for the hospital. It was last Wednesday. I'm amazed that she has been able to tolerate this. She has never lain around during the day for more than four hours, according to her.
What to pray for: That the doctors will know exactly what is going on this time, and that they find the best solution possible if this surgery doesn't work. Also, that my mom will have patience because it doesn't look like she's going to be coming home any time soon. Finally for us at home, that we will be able to cope without her. We've been okay, but we miss her and worry constantly.

Puppy Pics

Just to let everyone know, Chrys has pictures of our new puppy, Diego, on her blog. It's listed in my links on this page. If you want to see pictures, go there.

Misdiagnosed

Sorry about the lack of updates recently. Yesterday we found out that the doctors misdiagnosed my mom. Apparently nothing going on in her body made sense with the twisted bowel. Now they said it's diverticulitis, which is when little pockets/bubbles form in the intestine. She is now on antibiotics for it, as well as morphene. According to my mom, it is working.
We are hoping that she will get better soon, but according to the huge medical book we have in our kitchen, diverticulitis can take up to two weeks to heal. She still can't eat anything in case she has to go into surgery. Again, we are praying that it won't come to that. We are visiting her as much as possible, but it would be nice to have her home.

This evening my mom went to the hospital because she had been in severe pain all day. After several hours and updates from my dad, we finally learned that she had an obstructive bowel. I think that's what it's called. It means that part of her small intestine is twisted, which caused her pain. Apparently it can untwist itself, but if it doesn't, then she'll need to have surgery. We're praying that it won't come to that, but we don't know what's going to happen right now. She's staying at the hospital overnight so they can keep her hydrated because she can't eat or drink anything. She's on morphene for the pain, and apparently she's quite out of it. I'm not sure whether that would be interesting or disturbing to see. I don't know if we us kids are going to visit her in the hospital tomorrow, but I would like to see her.
Any prayers sent her way would be greatly appreciated.

Hooked

Over the past few months, Chrystal has been playing nothing but the soundtrack to Rent in her car. I'm not exaggerating, that's literally all she played since she discovered the musical over three months ago. Every time I rode with her in her car, she has had that soundtrack playing, and she just about threw me out of the vehicle while it's moving every time I tried to change it. I absolutely hated it. I couldn't stand listening to it at all. I hated the music, the words, the names of the characters (Mimi? Seriously?), and just about everything about it. It was pure torture.

Now, my opinion of this particular musical has changed drastically. I have listened to it so much, I know exactly which voice belongs to which of the eight main characters. I know the general plot, and have watched a few clips of the movie. I want to watch the entire thing with Chrys now, because I want to understand everything that's going on.

Tash thinks I've gone to the dark side, and until now I would have agreed with her. Now, I can see all the amazing features of the musical. It's story line is realistic and emotional. The voices of the cast are unbelievable. When they sing together, it sounds unbelievably beautiful. When I actually watch the actors perform the songs on the film, it makes them so much more emotional. I love it. There are a few songs that I listen to over and over again, because they are so emotional and beautiful that I just can't get enough of them. It is now one of my favourite musicals, possibly up there with Phantom of the Opera. For those who don't know me, that's high praise.

Fiesta in the Sky

Last night I went to see the Vancouver Festival of Lights. I went with all of my siblings but Tasha, and a few of Yvonne's friends. Mexico performed for 25 minutes, and after that there was a six minute finale. Mexico won the competition against China, Italy, and the Czech Republic. It was really cool, but there were parts of Mexico's performance that were boring. They just did the same thing over and over again for a few minutes, and it was all yellow. There wasn't enough variety. But there were parts that were really cool. A few of the fireworks that were set off were circles with stars in the middle. It was cool. It makes me wonder how these fireworks are made. What gives them height or shape or colour? However they do it, it was fascinating to watch. There was music playing along to the fireworks, and that made it even more spectacular. It was a fun night, as these events usually are. It was really good to actually be able to watch them this year, though. Last year at the finale my Jared proposed to Lisa halfway through, so we didn't see much of the fireworks after that. I can't wait to see next year's performances.

Tasha

I suppose congratulations are in order for this particular sister of mine. She has been accepted by YWAM in Perth, Australia. She has her flight booked and everything. She's flying out there with her friend Dania, whose family is out there for schooling and missionary work, I think. Tash will be gone for six months, leaving in October. That is really crappy, because she will be missing a lot. The birth of our first neice/nephew, Christmas, and five birthdays. However, I think it's good that she is going now, because she really wants to, and if she were to keep putting it off, there would be even more things that she would miss.
I'm happy for her, even though I know I'll miss her more than even I can imagine. When Chrystal went to Spain for one month a couple years ago, I missed her a lot. I can't imagine what six months separation will feel like. On the other hand, I know she will have a lot of fun down there, seeing those penguins, koalas, and kangaroos. Also, when she comes back the day after my birthday, it will feel like she never left. Maybe not right away, but after she's told us everything that we haven't heard already, and she's all moved back home and settled in, it will feel that way.
But no matter how much I know I'm going to miss her and want her back, I really hope she'll have a great time, because this could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. At least I hope it is.