An interesting month

Holy smokes there's been a lot going on here. From this point though, it should be smooth sailing all the way through summer-except for the in laws visit in a few weeks.

I've had some health issues going on. At first, it was four possibilities: a miscarried pregnancy, kidney stones, appendicitis, or ovarian cyst that ruptured. Pregnancy was ruled out pretty quickly (with a huge sigh of relief from me). So I was sent for a CT scan. This makes my third in 2 years. Appendicitis was ruled out with the scan. Kidney stones and cysts weren't. There was evidence of both happening (large amount of fluid around my right ovary and an expanded tube leading from my kidneys to my bladder). There was no evidence of further stones and one large cyst found on my left ovary (which never caused any issues). So, my base doctor and I decided to take me off of every single med I was on, wait to see what happens, and move from that point. The pain that was killing me on my right side is gone, for now.

About 2 weeks ago, we left for our first ever family vacation that just involved us. We drove through Vegas and saw M&M World, Madam Tussauds, and ate at the Harley Davidson BBQ place (seriously good BBQ, with huge portions). We also met Conan O'Brien at the old Vegas sign at the end of the strip. We spent 2 days there before moving on to LA for Disneyland. We bought 3 day hopper passes, but never did make it over to California Adventures (we could have hopped between the two parks). We went to Seal Beach (great with few tourists) and drove through Hollywood. On the last day, we made the trip to San Diego for Legoland. I guess after Disney, Legoland didn't have a chance. We cut that day short and went to the beach again. We had a blast but let me tell you, I was exhausted beyond words. All 9 days were 12-15 hours long. We are very VERY happy to be home. (For those wanting pics, you have to see my MySpace page. I couldn't get them to upload to Facebook)

While at Legoland, Jayden hurfed. We chalked it up to heat and drinking too fast. A few nights before this, John and I were sick, which we chalked up to bad food. Sunday, on the last day of our trip and driving, Josh hurfed 3 times in the van. For those that don't know me....I can clean ANYthing......EXCEPT puke. Unless you want double the pukage, that is. So I got pretty good of listening for Josh to start gagging, having John pull over, and pulling him out of the van over bags and coolers so he could do his thing on the side of the road. However, there was still much mess in the van. We are now in the process of airing that out (after having to vaccum and steam clean the seats and carpet). Anyway, after being home for just a few hours, Ella and Justin started. By about 8pm, Jonathan and Jayden were complaining of stomach aches. By midnight, everyone was in full swing of hurfdom. John and the boys camped in the living room while I put Ella in our room. She's a very picky eater and only drinks milk, so we were very concerned about her becoming dehydrated faster. I'm crossing all fingers and toes, but it seems to be leaving our house. The kids felt some better yesterday. Ella slept for 16 hours straight, though, and Jonathan only came out of his room to eat once. After resting, things seem to be on the upswing.

So, I'm working on getting things back to normal with my house, the laundry, my dog (that I missed horribly), and the kid's schedules. Admit it. You want a piece of this fun. :))

Wow

It has been forever since I posted! I also took a hiatus from reading blogs too. Guess I need to do some catching up.

Since the last time I blogged, I've been going through my own personal hell. Oh, and did I mention that my oldest son turned 13. I'm old. That's when hell started-his birthday.

I've been open about my depression and anxiety issues. The SAD light is helping tons with the depression, by the way.

Last year, when I had the tummy tuck then the car wreck in the span of 4 weeks, it started my downward spiral. Until that point, I had been controlling my anxiety with simple meditation and breathing exercises. Now, I'm having to resort to medication. I've been on a couple of different ones. Seroquel worked well, but caused weight gain, so I asked to be switched to something different. I was put on Effexor. I went online and read everything I could and after being on it for a month, I'm starting to believe that Effexor should be pulled from the market and banned.

I went in with an open mind, then the side effects started. The good (and only good thing) is that I lost 15lbs in 2 weeks. Other than that, every single side effect that was listed as POSSIBLE, should be listed as DEFINITE.

I was originally put on 75mg a day (two 37.5mg tablets twice a day). I was always forgetting the night tablet though, so figured if 37.5 was working, I wouldn't stress over always forgetting the other tablet. I was still having all of the side effects. Today, I started weaning myself off totally. I'm now controlling the anxiety with Xanax, which is primarily for acute attacks.

I see a psychiatrist in SL in the next few weeks. Hopefully, we can get my anxiety back under control and I won't have to take anything.

I also came to a conclusion around the same time I started taking new meds. My mother has been back in my life since about the time of the wreck. I wonder if she's helping my anxiety to heighten. She's much like my sister. She sucks the very life out of everyone around her. So, I cut back on that relationship, too. Guess we'll see how crazy she truly makes me. Will be interesting to see if I go back to normal, without any meds.

March recap

I know we're only 2 weeks into the month, but wow! It's been almost a month since I posted!

First, Jayden turned 7 on the 5th. We had a dinner of pizza and a chocolate cake for dessert.

Second, Jonathan and Josh finised up basketball.

Third, Ella had her first PROFESSIONAL haircut on the 12th. She's now rocking an A line bob. Almost 5 inches of hair. Gone!

Fourth, Justin turned 12 today. They had a breakfast of cinnamon buttons, a lunch of roasted hotdogs, and a dinner of cordon bleu melts, with a dessert of vanilla cake.

Have I mentioned that it's our birthday season? Jonathan's is coming up in 3 weeks. Then, we have a break until late July.

Also, we've finally made plans for our family vacation. It looks like we'll be heading to California to Disneyland sometime in late June or July. We'd hoped to make it back home, but with that taking at least a 6 day drive with 5 kids and 1 dog, I don't see it happening. I guess we'll only get to Disney World if we get orders to Fla. The good part of this is that now, we can afford for me to make that trip back to England that I've been trying to take for 7 years. Sarah! Here I come!

I just realized...

as long as my kids have been in public schools, I have NEVER gotten a call with one of them being in trouble. Until today, that is. Apparently, Jayden got into a fight with a little boy and in retaliation, he spit on him. I guess it's not as bad as it could have definitely gotten. He knows how to fight. :

You have to admit, that's pretty good, considering the odds.

13 years together

and other various stuff.

Today is my 13th anniversary of my marriage to John. It's hard to comprehend 13 years. We couldn't afford to go out both tonight and Wednesday (our routine date night) so we had a big dinner here.

When John got home from Birmingham Saturday night, he surprised me with a gallon of Guthrie's sauce. For those with no clue as to what a Guthrie's is, it's like the original Zaxby's chicken finger place in the south. There was one in Athens until the last few years, but they're still in small places through Alabama. And a gallon of their sauce will end up lasting me forever!

Also in the Tucker home news today, I made it to the hematologist. He's ordered more tests that have me a tad worried. A colonoscopy to rule out colon cancer or polyps, a few other routine blood tests, and a test for lupus. Since these have to be ordered through the base, I'm not sure when they'll get done. I have to make some calls first thing in the morning. If all comes back negative, we're talking a simple iron infusion. That's starting to look not as bad as it did a few weeks ago.