Category: Rachel

ReCharged

On Monday I went under the knife.  I had the battery in my VNS device replaced.  This device is very important, as it’s the only treatment that has ever kept me seizure free.

The original plan was to replace my existing model 102 with the newer and smaller model 103.  With the main advantages of it being smaller with the same battery life and it having a count down timer.  The count down timer feature is great because it enables my neurologist to plan the right time to schedule replacement surgery.

As it turned out, I received the model 102, not a huge deal.  My surgery went well – it only lasted 30 minutes!  We arrived at the hospital at 9am and were out by 1pm.  After leaving the hospital we immediately went to my neurologist’s office so he could turn my new implant on.

I went back to work today and am feeling okay.  I feel like I over worked my right shoulder with a touch of a burning sensation.  With the help of some pain medication, it’s not that bad.  I do have a lifting restriction for two weeks.  At 5-10 pounds, it eliminates me picking up Amelia.  I want to so bad, but don’t want to tear anything and make my healing progress.

I’ve noticed a sore throat for the last two nights starting about 7 o’clock and lasting through the night.  Rachel said that I had the same complaint when I had my first surgery, but I don’t remember that.

Hopefully I can have 5 more years of seizure free living.

Amelia

Tuesday, October 13th 2009 at 8:30am.  An angel was sent to us via mommy’s tummy.  Her name:  Amelia Josephine!

After Rachel’s last OB appointment, it was decided that she was rather large and it would be best for her to come here via C-section.  Weighing 9 pounds, 9.8 ounces, she was rather large.  It seems that isn’t a bad thing as I haven’t heard anything otherwise from either the OB or her pediatrician, Dr. Laughlin.

There were minimal issues with her birth, she had some extra fluids in her lungs due to not being “squeezed” out of the birth canal.  Rachel was sutured, but a slight mishap occured with them and it created a small hole where one spot did not fuse together.  I have been treating it with Neosporin and it is healing greatly.

We spent 4 days in the hospital to ensure Rachel properly healed before venturing forth and becoming an active mom.  Then the real fun began.  The safety and security of the hospital created a fear of being on our own with this little one.

Since then we have been adjusting to fill her every need.  It’s been tiring, yet satisfying at the same time.  I wasn’t as involved in this crucial stage of my first daughter’s life, so I’ve learned a lot.

Now we spend most of our day eating, sleeping or changing diapers.

Big sister Taylor just loves her new sister to death.  She bought her a Minnie Mouse, which Amelia adores.  Minnie sits on her changing table and Amelia stares at Minnie as if she’s in deep thought about what she is exactly.

The kitties are still getting adjusted to the change.  They have both noticed the lack of attention they are receiving, and sometimes force their way into receiving some by jumping on us while we’re sitting.  I’d like to think they love her, but I’ll let time be the judge on that one.

My time thus far  has been taken up significantly by her care and needs.  Mommy does need a break!  Today I started back at work full-time.  I hope Rachel is doing fine today, I really do.

Half a Decade

Five years ago tomorrow, I became a husband.  While I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into back then, I actually appreciate it now.  Five years really doesn’t sound like much, but it’s an accomplishment in today’s world.

Throughout these years, Rachel and I have accomplished many things together.  We bought a house, she got her master’s degree, I lost my job and now our newest adventure, our first child.

Our lives before each other were as different as night and day, but our beliefs have kept us close in many ways.  I think it’s the core reason why our bond has lasted.  It’s a case of opposites attracting.  Our bond has done nothing but grow closer over time, something I hope doesn’t end anytime soon.

We will be celebrating our 5th anniversary with a trip down to French Lick.  We’re going to spend a night at the French Lick Springs Hotel and perhaps do a little gambling.  The traditional gift of the 5 year anniversary is wood.  While the trip is our gift to each other, I have to break the rules and buy a present.  While I can’t say what it is yet, I know she will be pleasantly surprised.

I hope to get a chance to relax, as I haven’t had much time to do that in a while.  School starts back up in 11 days, and I’m back to work at TS full time right now, but that will be scaled back to 24 hours a week at the end of the month.

Today is my father’s 58th birthday as well, I called and left him a message this morning.  I hope he got it.  I love you dad.

August is a very busy month for us.  My father’s birthday on the 13th, our anniversary on the 14th and Taylor’s birthday on the 26th.

A New and Improved Space

We officially finished the remodeling portion of our basement area over the weekend.  Rachel, Taylor and I applied the epoxy basement floor coating on Friday night.  It required 24 hours to fully cure, so by the time her family arrived on Sunday we were able to give the first full tour of our proud accomplishment.

Here is what the space looked like when we purchased this place.  It was dark, dingy and uninviting.



Until now, we mainly used the space as a place to “put stuff.”  We didn’t use or utilize it for any meaningful purpose.  We knew the time would come when we would have to use it, and that time came quickly.

One issue that we weren’t sure about was if we had any structural issues.  The downstairs would get water when it rained heavily.  The first step was to take out all the old paneling and carpet and get the space down to its bones.  To our luck, there were no visible issues.  We corrected a majority of the water issues with a repair to the gutters.

We had many decisions to make, all of which were extremely difficult.  We needed to decide what to cover the walls and floor with, whether or not to install new cable and phone lines.  Many of these decisions  brought on major arguments-in which we were able to bring to the surface any issues we had with each option. 

In the end we decided to go with new paneling, an epoxy basement floor coating, and to add some electrical outlets and completely rewire our homes phone and cable lines.  We decided to add a wired LAN as well.

The only step left is to connect all the new phone, cable and LAN wires, which I plan on doing this week.  I will then officially move my office to a space we have dedicated for that purpose.

The other area, which I am calling the “Den” we have purchased and placed 2 futons and added an area rug.  We needed a space for guests to stay, and this space is perfect.

We did not remodel our fireplace, as all aspects of fireplaces are very expensive.  The things I want to do are not major, but are expensive.  I hope to have that complete within a couple of years.  There’s nothing more comfortable and calming to me than laying by a fire listening to music or reading.

I now have a bedroom to remodel for our growing arrival, baby girl Lawmaster!

Continue reading “A New and Improved Space”

I Can See the Finish Line

Much time and effort has been spent recently on finishing the basement.  My dad came over 2 days this week and helped me, and Rachel has helped me when possible.

I finished installing the new paneling on Friday and we starting installing trim today.  To help save money, we have went with a “rustic” look.  Instead of using “regular” trim, we are using 1×4 standard boards for baseboards and ceiling trim.  We are going to leave them unfinished to help with the effect.  We are then using pre-finished trim for inside and outside corners and filler strips.  These pre-finished pieces are interesting, as the finish isn’t a stain or wax, but like a sticker.

My plans for tomorrow are to work on the trim some more, and get as far as I can.  I start summer classes on Monday, so I will need to rest up as my first class is at 8am.  We are also going to look at 3 futons for possible purchase.

Our plans were pushed way up due to an unforeseen email I received from my aunt Beth.  She’s coming out!  They should be here July 3rd.  We always stay with her when we go to see them in Oklahoma, so we need to return the favor and show her some Hoosier hospitality.  We have currently planned taking a tour of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as they’re big racing fans, fireworks at Memorial Stadium and a tour of Monroe Reservoir.

We’ve decided to purchase 2 futons for our sitting area downstairs, to make it cozy and a good sleeping area.  We are also bumping up our plans to install a shower downstairs for my aunts arrival.  This way any guests we have will have their own full bathroom.

We will soon get to finally utilitize all of the space in our home, and not just half of it!

Catching Up

I’ve been too busy lately with all of my on-going projects to post any lately.  Since I’ve got some free time, let me update you about the ongoings happening in my life.

It’s a Girl:  We found out last Wednesday that we’re expecting a baby girl.  While Rachel is happy she’s having her first child, I’m a bit indifferent.  I’m not saying that I’m disappointed, I was just hoping for a boy – merely because I already have a daughter.  She was acting up during the ultrasound and wouldn’t let the technician get a good look at her heart, so Rachel is going to have another ultrasound during her next appointment, just to make sure she’s developing normally.  We have had a boy’s name picked out for over a year now, but have been having trouble with a girl one.  We’ve finally decided on 2 – which we are keeping secret until she’s born.

Remodeling Blues:  I’ve been over-occupied lately with remodeling.  While I have made a lot of progress, there is still much to do.  Last week I finished the next to last set of wires I need to pull.  It was a complete nightmare, but this will give us some flexibility in the layout of our living room in the future.  My next job is to cover up our duct run and post downstairs.  We have decided to use some decorator panels downstairs instead of paneling or drywall.  These panels are relatively inexpensive and will eliminate the majority of painting we would need to do with our original plan.  I hope to get the downstairs almost complete by the time I go back to school in June.

No Flash:  Friday while in the midst of “wire pulling hell” I wanted to take some pictures.  I discovered our camera, a Nikon Coolpix 7600 has a problem.  The flash isn’t cooperating, you can’t turn it on in most of it’s modes – and even in the modes it does “function” it doesn’t work.  We’re working on finding a solution and have found a nice one with the Nikon Coolpix S210.  Now it’s just a matter of purchasing it.

Demon’s Are Gone:  The spring semester has officially ended.  The last few weeks were quite the nail biter, as I did horrible on 2 chapter tests in my Math-050 course.  I’m pleased to say that after 10 years of taking this course off and on, I have passed it with an 86%.  This summer I am taking 5 courses, this will enable me to finish my degree in 7 semesters.  With a baby coming, the sooner the better.  The next course I am dreading is Math-111, I took it once and failed.  I hope with 050 off my back, and a little help from Rachel I can conquer this as well.  I’ve decided to change my degree and concentration.  I originally was seeking an Associates of Science in Computer Information Technology with a  PC Support & Administration concentration, after reviewing the coursework I know a little about everything.  I don’t feel like I’ll be challenged or forced to use my brain to it’s full extent for that matter.  I’ve decided to get an Associates of Applied Science in Computer Information Systems with a Programmer / Analyst concentration.

Free Tix:  Being a smoker, I get mailings from time to time with coupons, offers, etc. from tobacco companies.  I was pleasantly surprised when I received a voucher for free tickets to the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.  My mother has received this same offer, but for Kentucky Speedway (as she lives in Louisville).  I’ve decided to bring my mother, as I don’t think Rachel will be comfortable in the heat all day.  We get free parking and free rental of headset radios to listen in on the teams.  I’ve never been to the 500 before, and being free makes it that much better.

That’s One Big Apple

It was an amazing trip.  Rachel and I have both came to the conclusions that the stigmas regarding New York from the “old days” are still around, at least where we live.  We felt safe at all times, and only saw a handful of homeless.  I saw many people out trying to help the homeless.  They seem to have people on every block asking for donations.

The first day we arrived late in the day due to plane delays, so we just walked around a little bit and ate dinner.  Our hotel, the Marriott Marquis is located right in the heart of Times Square.  We could see a sliver of the new years ball from our hotel room.

Enjoy the slideshow containing all of our pictures from the trip!

Continue reading “That’s One Big Apple”

Meltdown

Last night Rachel and I had a computer meltdown. My main hard drive was not responding, so I rebooted to get a “disk read error.”  I removed the computer and cleaned it out, switched some power cables – which lead to a rant about all of our computing issues.

I’m purchased a new 160 gig hard drive to replace the failing one. I was surprised at the price for a small hard drive these days, for $40 you can buy a 160 gig!

This is mainly a band-aid on a bigger problem, but I’ll remain optomistic.

So Far

So far I have mostly completed the office area of the basement, it just needs new paneling, paint and the floor coating.

I have begun on the other side of the basement, beginning with the removal of the hideous ceiling fan.  It worked, but did not fit the look or atmosphere we want in our home.  I had a fun time trying to wire the replacement light fixture we put in it’s place, as it had a remote switch wiring scheme.

I have not completed much work on the other side besides the removal of the paneling and replacing the one fixture.  From what I can tell, our walls are sound.  We did have a slight worry since we have a pine tree about 10 feet away from that corner of the house.

We recently had the corners of our gutters repaired, which I think may have been the root of our water leakage issues.

There is one issue that I’m still trying to wrap my brain around, and that’s how I’m going to run new cable, phone and LAN lines to the exterior wall in the living room.  I had believed that there was a line directly going to the corner of this room, as the label on it said “attic.”  I was wrong.  Access to this particular spot is difficult due to the placement of our fireplace.  This particular spot is almost just above the fireplace.  I’ve always wanted a fireplace, but for this particular instance I do not.

My concrete repair work started out slow, but is going much better now.

When I attempted this method of repairing, I came into many issues.  When my sander would contact the patch, the patch would fly out of the hole.  So I changed my game plan, and just filled the hole and not the surrounding areas as well.  This method has went so well that I would like to do the whole basement, but Rachel will have none of that.  She just wants the rooms done.

Our next few weeks are booked, so the time I have to dedicate to working on this is little at the moment.  I have basically the same things to do on this side as I did in the office.  The key difference is there is less wall area to renovate.  I guesstimate that with only 2 or 3 more weekends, I will be ready to put new paneling up.