The Wedding is Here!

I am so excited because tomorrow is Robbye and Melissa's wedding! It will be at St. Patrick's cathedral in New Orleans with the reception at the Hampton Inn near the Convention Center. Most of the family will be there, which is what excites me the most. I have been missing Zach and Matthew so much, and they will be flying in from Houston today. We all have rooms at the hotel for tonight and tomorrow night. I also get to see Angela's baby for the first time. I just know the entire weekend will be a great time, so I don't even care if I am not feeling well. We will be making memories together. I still need to finish packing so I will blog about the weekend later.

Doctor Again

30 more days of prednisone starting at 60 mg! I will look like a snowman for Christmas. I may be able to play Sanat Claus. I refuse to start prednisone until after the wedding this weekend.

Better at times

News Flash - I felt good November 1-3. Okay November 4-5 and then sick again November 7. Rollercoaster of health!

30 Days!

So yesterday I went to Houma for a visit with my pulmonologist and an infusion at the hospital. It seems that many xoliar patients that have been doing well over the past year are suddenly having trouble since the hurricane boys Ike and Gustav visited. My doctor seems to feel that November may be just as bad as October has been - yea :( and basically said I need to "Stay home or leave town!" He wanted to give me an excuse to be off work for 30 days, but I have several things coming up that I need to get done and it would only mean I would have way too much to do in December. We also have Robbye's wedding November 15 in New Orleans. I told him that we are going to Florida for Thanksgiving week, so I just need to get through the next three weeks at work. He wrote a light duty excuse until December 1. So now I just have to follow the rules such as no stairs, stay inside, eat right, drink water, take my meds (he added some and switched when I take some), take breathing treatments, no heavy lifting (which is a part of my job believe it or not), rest often (I am good at that), and be a good little asthmatic until things get better! Typically December is not a bad month for me, so here's to the next 30 days of getting closer each day to being back to normal (or what is normal to me at least!)

Need answer soon

Yesterday my granddaughter turned six years old. I can hardly believe it has been six years. She is truly a joy and a gift in my life. I have tried so hard to be a great grandmother to her. The past few months my asthma has made it difficult to do anything - for Sara, for my husband, for my family, for my job, for myself. I honestly am at a loss as to what to do. I don't know if the two recent hurricanes are the cause. I don't know if the insurance mess up that caused me to not get my monthly infusions for a few months has meant that the infusions need more time to work again. I am going to see my pulmonologist next week. I hope he has some answers. All I know is that I am fighting for every single second. I want to be able to do so much, but I do not have the energy. My mind plans things, but then my body cannot follow through. I just don't know how long things will be like this. I really don't want to have to stay home all the time and take a medical leave or sabbatical. I just know that I cannot continue this way. I feel guilty when I cannot get to a school to help a teacher. I feel guilty when I can't spend more time with Sara. I feel guilty that I am so tired that I just want to go home instead of doing something for my family or visiting them more. I feel guilty that my husband has to do everything. I feel that I could burst into tears all the time, but the reason I don't is because it makes my asthma worse. I have tried everything - medicines, breathing treatments, air cleaners, etc. We are waiting now for them to come install an expensive air conditioner that is supposed to get rid of allergens in the air. Who knows if it will work? I probably should live somewhere other than Louisiana, but I love my state. I could never leave my mom and granddaughter Sara. I want to be healthy. I am 47 years old and feel like I am so much older. I guess this is a pity blog. I just hope that I get some answers soon.

Daytona July 4-8, 2007

Wednesday, Happy Birthday America

After a couple of rainy days in Jacksonville, we were thrilled as we entered the infield of the Daytona International Speedway on the fourth of July. Keith and I found a parking spot for Rose at a church on Williamson Drive. For a $50 donation to the church, she could park her car there until Sunday. Not much was going on at the track today other than watching the RV's and rigs pull in. To celebrate Rose and Patrick's very recent 25th and 30th birthdays, we went to Carraba's across the street from the track. Patrick walked because all six of us cannot fit in the Jeep. It was a very long walk in the hot sun, so he definitely earned his meal that night. On the way home, Keith made two trips so no one had to walk.

Thursday-Friday July 5-6

Thursday was the Rolex race, which is not that interesting to me, but Keith watched most of it. Both days, we spent time at the haulers and getting pictures and autographs at the gate. We saw practically everyone. I actually have not seen Jimmie Johnson in 3 years, but I think I have seen everyone else at least once. The picture inserted is Keith with Joe Gibbs Racing driver of the #18, JJ Yeley. On Friday, the Busch drivers qualified, but the Cup driver qualify session was canceled due to rain with 14 drivers left to qualify. Keith and I went to the taping of Trackside in the afternoon because I wanted to see Darrell Waltrip. After 3 years, I finally got to see DW! We also went to the superstretch looking for the Team Red Bull hauler. We finally found it (we had looked all over for it earlier). Unfortunately, it was closed and open only on Saturday. I was exhausted and still did not have an Allmendinger shirt for my brother. So we made plans to go back the next day. Rain continued so the Busch race was postponed!

Saturday 7-7-07 RACE DAY

DIS held both the Busch race at 9 AM and the Cup race at 8 PM. Obviously 9 AM in July in Florida is NOT the best time for a race. It was extremely hot on top of the RV. Sara and I ended up spending the middle of the race in the pool! To top it off, Kyle Busch won the race. To quote Sara: "Kyle Busch! Who's Kyle Busch? He's not one of our drivers!" Then they still did the fireworks display - sounded great, but you couldn't see the fireworks in the daylight. It was soon time to go back to the superstretch. We tried to catch the shuttle - after waiting forever, it was full when it arrived. We then decided to take the jeep - no parking. So finally Keith let Rose and I off at the tram and he went to the store. It was a long walk, but at least the hauler was open this time. I have my brother's Allmendinger shirt, but I felt bad that Keith couldn't come with us. Rose and I went to get him a David Reutimann hat. When I asked for the hat, David Reutimann himself was in the hauler, so we were able to get the hat autographed for Keith.

PEPSI 400

Keith, Rose and I went to Fan Zone for driver introductions. We were able to get on the tri-oval, sit on the banked track, and sign our names on the checker start-finish line! We were able to see even more drivers as they walked to the stage for driver introductions. We watched from behind the pits for a while before going back to the RV. Keith and I were shocked because Rose was on the top of the RV with Patrick. She is afraid of heights so she never gets on top the RV. I did not get to make Sara take her nap today because I had gone to the superstretch; therefore, she had already fallen asleep. Keith and I joined the kids on the roof for an extremely close race. It was thrilling as we had no idea who would win. Jamie McMurray won the race by inches over Kyle Busch. I love Jamie, so I was pleased. The top ten had some of the drivers I do not care for, so I was concerned that one of them would win the race. For the past two years, Tony Stewart has won this race. Tony wrecked early, so it was probably good Sara fell asleep - Tony's her favorite driver. Now this fireworks display was awesome! I taped ten minutes of it for Sara, but my arms were too tired to tape it all. Another great Daytona race ends with excitement. Tomorrow, we head home until next July's race.

Chicago Part 2

Thursday, June 28, 2007
8:30 seemed late on Monday, but today it seems very early after our late night at the theater. I had a headache for most of the day, so this was not my best day. We had breakout sessions to practice the software presentations. We were in a room with no windows, and the AC here does not work like it does back in Louisiana. I also was bored because I didn’t need practice for the software. It is very much like netTrekker to set up students and reports are similar to Achievement Series, so I felt confident and prepared from the get-go. I presented the software demo games and the section on writing. The training did not complete until 5 PM. Everyone met in the lobby at 5:45 for a group dinner at Giordano’s Pizza to experience some authentic Chicago pizza. It was very good, especially the deep dish spinach pizza.


Friday, June 29, 2009
This morning everyone received individual feedback on presentations from one of the trainers. I was pleased that my trainer felt I would be ready to present immediately. They had a limo service for me at 11 AM because my flight was at 1:13, so I left for O’Hare after telling everyone a quick goodbye. All the people in this group have been interesting and fun to meet, so I hated that I had to be the first to leave. I had to fill out some forms before I left, then off to the airport. This ride with AC was much better than the hot taxi ride on Monday; however it was chaos at the airport. Apparently, weather had forced many delays and cancellations in the past few days. I saw that my 1:13 flight was now changed to 2:00 PM meaning I would not make my flight to Lafayette from Dallas. We actually did not get to leave until 2:30. The airlines had gotten a 747 and merged two flights to try to catch up the backlog of standbys. I felt like I was on the Amazing Race as I tried to find options for getting home. I checked flights directly to New Orleans, but everything at O’Hare was behind, so I decided to try my luck once I got to Dallas. Luckily, I was able to get on a 7:10 flight to Lafayette. Did I say 7:10? Silly me, thunderstorms in Dallas, flight changed to 7:20. 7:40, 7:55 – every time I looked at the monitor the time changed. I contemplated going to Houston and catching a redeye in the morning, but then decided to stick with this flight. We finally took off in the rain at 8:20. After landing in Lafayette and driving to Morgan City, I finally arrived home at 11:30 P.M. – 12 ½ hours to get from Chicago to Morgan City. Now I just have to unpack and repack as we leave for our Daytona trip at 10:00 AM tomorrow morning!