Book Club

I don't know if I have mentioned that I am in a Book Club that I enjoy thoroughly.  It started a year and a half ago and it is so much fun!  Although you really need to enjoy reading books in order to appreciate it.  It is made of about 8 ladies who I look forward to seeing every month.  The ladies in my group are friends that I don't know if I would have met otherwise.  Tonight we are going to see the movie The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  We read this book and I cannot wait to see it in movie form, they do have a European version that I have seen that was good but I am going to enjoy not having to pay attention to the subtitles.  Yea for movie night!  The movie was good, very dark but that is what the book was like.  The ending of the movie was different with a new twist.  I am already looking forward to the next movie of the trilogy.
Archie is working full time, keeping busy.  We are going to the primary care doctor tomorrow for a follow-up visit.  I don't expect it to be very in depth.  We really do not have anything to report to the doctor which I like.

Day after Christmas a few days late

Monday I had off from work for a Federal holiday, which was great because Archie and I got to sleep in after our busy day of driving on Sunday.  He had a little bit of work to do so he did that and I cleaned the house.  It is amazing how messy it can get so fast!  We ran some errands around town later that afternoon.  We saw our friend Jim and he invited us over for dinner.  We went to Jim, Lisa and their son Luke's house for an amazing dinner of crab cakes and steak wellington.  Can you say delicious!  Lisa's parents were in town so we got to see them, we haven't seen them since August when Luke got baptized.  Time slipped away from us and before we knew it is was 9:30 and time to head home since we had work the next day.  Tuesday we both went back to work but we were thankful for a four day week!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas!
It was a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Yesterday morning we did some last minute shopping right when the mall opened.  I wrapped presents and got stuff ready for the next two days.  We went to mass at 3 pm with my family.  We then headed to my parents' home to open presents and eat dinner.  Dinner was delicious and the present opening was fun to watch with the nephews tearing through gifts.  We went home and opened presents.  I got Archie a bunch of smaller gifts while he got me one big one.  I did surprise him with a gift that he mentioned that morning of wanting, which is awesome because I was taking a chance on buying it.  Then I surprised him  with the 30 for 30 set, a wallet, a shirt,  and several other items.  Archie got me some gorgeous diamond earrings (I had lost a diamond earring earlier this year).

This morning we got up at 4:30 am so we could be on the road by 5 am.  We headed to Wichita Falls early so we could see Archie's grandmother before she headed to Oklahoma for the day.  We then went to his mother's house to open presents and eat a good lunch with his mother and stepfather.  Afterwards we headed to Bowie to see his father, stepmother and nephew so we could exchange gifts.  We chatted for a little while and then went to Frisco.  It was a busy day but we got to see a bunch of family members on Christmas.

First Movie Night

Today we Archie and I both had to work.  Archie had a couple of jobs and the bank was suppose to be open all day long.  But I got to go home at 1 pm.  My bosses are awesome!   I got to take a nap for about an hour and then Archie and I head to see a movie.  It was the first movie he had seen since his aneurysm.  We didn't know how it was going to go because he is still sensitive to noises, they are a lot louder in his head than anyone else.  We went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie.  It went well, Archie did well and the movie was wonderful!  We grabbed some Boston's Pizza for dinner. 
The next couple of days are going to be busy ones.  Tomorrow we are going to 3 pm mass and then celebrating Christmas with my family.  Of course the Cowboys game is on the agenda.  Then Sunday we are are making a day trip to Wichita Falls to celebrate Christmas with Archie's mom and stepdad.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Home

Archie got home this evening at 5 pm. I was excited to see him after 5 days! He said that they worked full days while he was gone. He was tired but that is very understandable. They got the house functioning but will have to go back after the first of the year to finish the other small tasks. I had a good, busy time while he was gone. I went had something every night that he was gone. Last night I met my friend, Vicki who was my boss back when I worked at Chase. We met at the Cheesecake Factory and talked for over two hours. She has gone through some medical issues this year as well. She is doing amazingly well and getting better everyday. Tonight Archie got home around 6:30 pm and we went out for some Mexican food. Then we went home and I worked on a few tasks. We have the next couple of nights open to relax before the Christmas madness begins!

Monday, Day 105

It was a busy day at my work today.  It will be my first full week of work.  It is hard to believe that Christmas is this week.  It was raining tonight so traffic was a little rough but we need the rain and thankfully it is not freezing. Tonight I went to dinner with my friend Mindi, we haven't seen in each in a while so we sat and talked for a couple of hours catching up.  I talked to Archie and he said they are making headway but they probably will not be completely done.  They will get a majority of the job functioning  and then they will return later on a later date to finish all the little things. 

Busy Weekend

Archie was busy working all weekend.  He said they got a bunch of work done on Saturday which is a great way to start off the trip.  Yesterday he was having internet issues, it kept going up and down throughout the day which is challenging when you are using the internet to program the system.  He said the modem finally died last night so at least they know the cause of the issue and it will be fixed today so that should help.

I was busy this weekend!  Saturday morning my mom and I met with the wonderful lady who sold Archie his insurance policy to discuss a way to track medical expenses.  She has been amazing to my mom and I throughout the hospitalization and after by answering questions and assisting us.  After the meeting I stopped by the hospital because I was only a couple of miles away to drop off cookies for the nurses and visit a friend whose husband is still in ICU.  He arrived at the hospital a few days after Archie and he is still in ICU, he was in a motorcycle accident.  I am now pretty against motorcycles after the amount of motorcycle accidents that we saw at Baylor.  I talked to my other hospital friend who husband had a brain anerysm a few days after Archie and her husband said his first words on Friday night which is amazing!  That afternoon I attended our friend Shawn's graduation from UNT and then a party afterwards.  He has been working so hard over the past years and I am so excited that all of his hard work paid off.  It was great to see everyone as well.  Sunday I got up and went to church.  Then we stopped a a church friend's brunch.  Emily and I went to see the movie Hugo which is one of the book club books we read this year, it was great.  Then last night we had family dinner with my family but were missing Archie.  It was a busy yet productive weekend!

Lake Tahoe or Bust, Day 102

Archie was heading to Lake Tahoe at 1 pm.  The nice thing is that the client has a private jet that he gets to ride on so his first trip will be a lot easier than flying commercially. He did not have to deal with security and explaining the metal plate in his head although, really all he would have to do is remove his hat and show his scars.  His mother and I asked him to let us know when he left and arrived to make sure it went well.  At 1:20 pm I sent him a text to see if he had left, he said they were boarded and about to leave.   Then at 6 pm his mother called me to see if I had heard anything.  I sent him a text a little while later and he said they had just landed.  He called me a few minutes later, he told me that the flight went well and that he head was fine besides the typical ear popping.  There was not additional pressure or anything which is great.

I went to work for a full day.  I then went home, changed clothes, grabbed my cookies and headed out again to the Cookie Exchange.  I had a great night with some new friends.  Theoretically, I should have left last night with like 8 dozen cookies but I didn't grab that many because Archie I cannot eat that many cookies and I would hate to waste cookies.  Everyone brought a different type of cookie and it was amazing.  I would definitely go to another Cookie Exchange in the future!

Betty Freaking Crocker, day 101

Today is my last day off work before I go back to work full-time. So I took the day for myself, Archie went to work by himself.  He is doing great driving and I feel comfortable with him behind the wheel alone. This morning was my nephew's Christmas program. They sang a bunch of Christmas carols and it was adorable.  Below are some pictures:

Singing Jingle Bells with bells

He is excited about the new song

He just melts my heart

After the program I headed home.  Archie called and I met him for lunch in Addison at Cyclone Anayas.  Afterwards I started baking cookies, I am  going to a cookie exchange tomorrow night and I had to make 8 dozen cookies (yes I said 8 dozen).  Hence the name Betty Freaking Crocker!  It took several hours to make them.  I borrowed my friend Melissa Schmidtzel's recipe for some Cowboy Cookies.  I wrapped some presents throughout the afternoon.  Tonight we went to Archie's company Christmas party,  it was Matt, his wife, Chris, Archie and I.   We went to the Keg for a nice dinner.

Tomorrow afternoon Archie is going to Lake Tahoe with Matt and Chris for a job.  They are going to be gone until Wednesday afternoon.  I know everything is going to be fine and Archie will return safely.  I have just been with him throughout the past 3 months and able to make sure he is doing good and now he is not going to be with me but I know the guys will take care of him.  I have been praying and know that God will watch out for him.  I am going to busy while Archie is gone, I have something planned every night he is gone to catch up with friends.



Tuesday, Day 99

Today I was off of work again so we got up and headed out. We first went to Addison to pick up some equipment for a house. We then headed out west to Ft. Worth to work on a house. Archie replaced a receiver and then we went to lunch and meet our friend Jimmy. Afterwards we headed back to our area. Archie dropped me off so that I could take a nap. We went out to pick up a couple of gifts. Not a very exciting day. I think that after we both go back to work full-time that life is going to be boring so I will probably not post everyday since there isn't much going on.

Workday, Day 98

Today I went back to work, I am going to work Wednesday and Friday as well.  Then next week I will go back to full-time.  It was a good day with many tasks to do.  The nice thing is that I have busy days that go by fast.  Next week I will be able to get back in the swing of things and take over all of my job responsibilities which will make life a little more normal.  Since I am in and out of the office I cannot take everything over at once. Archie went to Ft. Worth today to work on a job.  Tomorrow we are going back to Ft. Worth for the day because I am doing a ride along again.

Tonight Archie put the disc with CT scans in his computer bag for his trip to Lake Tahoe on Friday.  I would rather be prepared, with our great luck I want to have everything ready.  I pray that they won't need it.   He asked me why he needed to do this and I told him it was just in case something goes wrong they are able to see what his head looked like after all of his surgeries.  I reminded him that his ventricles in his head are larger than normal.  Say a prayer that everything goes well while he is traveling to Tahoe and back.   

Cold Beer, Day 97

This morning we got up and headed to 8 am mass.  Afterwards we went to the mall to try to get some shopping done without success because only the anchor stores were open that early.  We headed home and I cleaned the kitchen and did some laundry.   I finally put some Christmas decorations outside- a snowman and a lamp.  We are not doing anything else besides that in regards to decorations outside the house and we aren't doing anything inside either, making it an easy year this year. I headed out again to try to get some shopping done while Archie watched some football.  When I got home from shopping I found Archie and our friend Joshua at the house.  The guys headed out to go play some Golden Tee and to watch football at Buffalo Wild Wings and I wrapped presents and hung out at the house.  I left after a few hours to meet up with them and a few more people (Jim, Norman and a new friend) to watch the Cowboys game.  Archie had his first beer since Labor Day tonight, plus a few more. The Cowboys are leading with 3 minutes left hopefully they will win!

Hot Date, Day 96

This morning Archie and I went to breakfast and then dropped off his truck to get his tires aligned and get some new tires.  I then headed to a Lowe's to meet my sisters and nephews at a kids workshop.  The boys were building a coal car of a train, they are given pieces of wood to nail together and you add the wheels.  I was actually very impressed by the project.  Then I took my two older nephews on a hot date to the movies.  We went to see Happy Feet 2.  Brody, my nephew told me his favorite animal is a penguin.  We got there right when the movie was beginning.  It was Brody's first "date" with me, he has not been old enough to sit through a movie before.  He did pretty well during it overall there were some times that he stood up but he was not walking up and down the aisle so in my mind I was pleased.  The movie was great! Below is a picture of my nephews with the chipmunks that were at the movie theatre:

I dropped the boys off and then headed home.  Archie's truck was ready so we picked it up and dropped off my car before we ran some errands.  I was going to try to run into the mall for one thing but it was out of control!  People were parking across the street in the grass so that idea went out of the window.  Then we headed to downtown Frisco for a Christmas display and my friend Jennifer was in a Flash Mob (a whole bunch of people randomly start dancing in a public location) tonight!  I had seen some of these on tv before but had not seen one in person.  I thought it was so fun!  Jennifer had this on her bucket list to do and now she can mark it off.  I am sad because I thought I videotaped it but it did not work.  Archie is a typical boy and did not really understand it. We went to dinner at Mannys with Jennifer, Derek, Miles, Parker, Jennifer's parents and Derek's parents.  It was good times.

It's Friday, Friday, Day 95

This morning we got up and moving a little earlier than usual and there was not any issues with traffic so we were able to stop for breakfast.  We stopped in Colleyville at the Snooty Pig for some yummy food, we haven't been there in a while so we enjoyed some delicious muffins and breakfast.  We went to Lake Granbury to a lake house to pick up a piece of equipment and then to Ft. Worth with Archie doing the driving.  The guys worked all day until about 4:30 and then we headed home.  I spent the day reading and watching movies it was a good day. Archie did a wonderful job driving.  We went home and then we on a sushi date.  I then headed out to the luxury movie theatre in Allen to enjoy Breaking Dawn.  My friend Bethany and I liked the movie.  Poor Bethany was patient enough to wait until today to watch the movie, she told me she kept pretending the movie came out this weekend instead of a month ago.  She does enjoy the Twilight series! Archie hung out at the house while I was at the movies watching tv, for some reason he did not want to go to the movie with us.

Hi Ho Hi Ho it's Off to Work We Go, Day 94

It was another day if work for both of us today.  Tuesday was the day of getting reacquainted with the my job and to dust out the cobwebs.  Today was a full busy day for me and I was so glad that I am back in the swing of things.  The next two months will be busy for me as we prepare for exam.  I sent out a bunch of long emails and I am getting a game plan prepared.  One thing I did not miss was my commute which is normally an hour, well last night there was a broken down car and it took me an hour and a half.  Argh!

Today Archie went to a couple of houses in Plano to troubleshoot some issues.  He also braved the mall, he is a crazy man.  I do not go to the mall unless absolutely necessary.  He also watched a bunch of Burn Notice episodes. Archie did finish taking his anti-seizure medication today!   He is done with medication oficially! Tomorrow we are going to back to Ft. Worth to work, Archie is driving us.  Tomorrow night I am going to Breaking Dawn, I know you are jealous!

Feeling a Little Under the Weather, Day 93

I have been feeling a little under the weather, it started on Monday and had not gotten better.  I have some crazy drainage going down my throat which is causing a cough to break it up.  I can breathe through my nose.  So after urging from Archie (him telling me if it was him I would force him to go to the doctor) I scheduled a last minute appointment today.  I was hoping to schedule it on Friday but the doctors were both booked.  Archie and I headed to Ft. Worth this morning with Archie driving to work on a client's house.  I called for an appointment and they had a 1:30 pm appointment so we left at noon to make it back in time.  The doctor said I have an ear infection and my nose was not looking good.  The doctor was a little surprised when we got there because normally it is Archie there to see her, not me.  I am just glad it is happening now and that I made it during the hospital stint and during Archie's recovery before I started feeling bad.  I got an antibiotic and a nasal spray to try to get it cleared up.  Archie cooked dinner tonight for me.  Tomorrow I am headed back to work and Archie is going to Plano to work so he will not be driving too far.

Working 9 to 5, Day 92

Okay, so I worked 8 to 5 but it was close enough right? The first thing I did this morning was call the IT help desk because I could not remember my password to get on my computer.  I cleaned out my 300+ emails and just tried to catch up on all the things I had missed in the past 3 months.  One thing I did not miss was the commute but I was glad to be back at work.  I am thankful that my work held my job and have been so willing to work with my situation and needs through Archie's recovery. 
Archie left this morning around 7:30 am to drive to Lewisville.  He met Matt and then they drove over to Ft. Worth for a full day of work.  Archie said he placed orders and answered phone calls for the most part.  His client had a welcome back lunch with cake and balloons for him which I thought was so kind.  Archie got home safely.  Tomorrow I am off and going with Archie to work then Thursday I go back to work.  I already have a to do list of things to work on when I return to work which is nice.

Archie is going to Lake Tahoe next Friday through Wednesday.  It will be his first plane flight and trip away from me since the brain aneurysm.  I am a little nervous about him being so far away but at least I know he will be with Matt and Chris and if anything goes wrong they will take care of him.  We have a disc with CT scans from Sept. 5th and Nov. 5th (the beginning and the end) just in case.  Please pray for Archie next week during his travel.  I know God will give me peace about the trip and that Archie will be brought home safely.  Thank you for all of your love and support.

Rehab they said No, No, No - Day 91

This morning at 11 am we met with doctor to get the results of the neuro psych evaluation.  The doctor said that Archie's recovery was exceptional.  He said that Archie does well with open-ended questions and organization.  The doctor also said that Archie showed frustration when there were no instructions and unstructured.  The left side of Archie's brain was affected by aneurysm because that is where the bleed was and the left side of the brain controls the right side of his body.  During the evaluation they observed his right and left hand motion they noticed that the right hand was slower and the not as coordinated as the left hand was.  The doctor said that Archie should go back to work gradually, when I asked what that meant he said an example would be 2 weeks of 4 hour days, 2 weeks of 6 hour days and then go full time.  Obviously that cannot work for everyone so he said he will have to figure out what works for him - for example tomorrow Archie will work a full day because I am going back to work and he is carpooling with Matt out to Ft. Worth so Wednesday might be a shorter day.  Once Archie goes back to work he can see if there are any issues with the right hand, clumsiness or if anything is bothering the doctor can set him up with a short stint of occupational therapy.  If Archie is having some memory or cognitive issues the doctor can set him up with a few sessions of cognitive rehab to help him with some strategies to help his memory.  Recovery from brain injuries is usually 6- 18 months according to the doctor.  Archie's life will probably not ever go back to the way it was, just like my life probably will not either.  He said we will have a "new normal" life, he expects Archie to be recovered in 3 - 6 months from today.  Archie will accomodate for his deficiencies and figure out work arounds for his weaknesses.  Overall it was a positive meeting and there is not any therapies.  I told Archie afterwards "they tried to make you go to rehab and they said no, no, no."

We stopped to check out a job on the way home and then headed home.  This afternoon we went to the grocery store for some food options for dinner.  We had dinner provided by my mom's friend, Maureen and it was great. 

Tomorrow I go back to work which I am pretty excited about because that means we are headed back to "normal".  The only thing I am not excited about is email because I have not checked it in 3 months.  That will be fun!  Archie is going to drive to Lewisville and then carpool over to Ft. Worth with Matt.  Have a good Tuesday!

Church & Party, Day 90

Sorry that I never provided a picture of his head after the stitches were removed. Below is a picture of Archie's head where the stitches were, plus you can see a little bit of his haircut and that all of his hair is all the same length:

This morning we went to church at 8 am. Archie had not been to church in 3 months. He did well overall but the speaker was right above his head. He made it until after communion and then he left to wait outside the sanctuary. I think next week we are going to try sitting in another location in the sanctuary to see if that helps a little bit. We went to breakfast with my mom afterwards. Then we headed home for the afternoon.
This evening we went over to my sister's house to celebrate my nephew, Colter's first birthday party.  His birthday was two weeks ago.  It was a party for the family.  Below is a picture of the birthday boy in his cute 1 outfit and his crown.

Colter has been cutting teeth so he was pretty fussy.  We had some yummy dinner and then Colter ate his smash cake.  It was not an ordinary smash it was a round cake pan size, Mimi wanted to make sure he had plenty of cake.  He loved the icing! 

After cake they were going to open the presents but we left, Archie had a headache.  Archie is doing better about noises but Colter was not happy and crying quite a bit.  Plus there were sixteen people in the house so there were a bunch of people talking.  Archie did say he had a good time until about twenty minutes before we left.  It was a good birthday party!

Tomorrow we are going to find out the results of the neuro psych evaluation at 11 am.  Say a little prayer that the results are good.

Rain, Day 89

This morning I had an Advent Brunch at church with my mom and sisters.  I went with Archie to keep him company at Le Peep while he had breakfast and then headed to Coppell for brunch.  Brunch was delightful, there was a speaker, raffle items and time spent with family and friends.  Afterwards, my mom and sister Jessica went for pedicures at mom's favorite nail place.  It was a nice treat, I can't remember the last time we went to get pedicures together.  I headed home after that to see what Archie was up to.  He was watching some football.  The rain was perfect napping weather so I slept for a little while.  We hung out at the house due to the weather.  We did go to Corner Bakery for dinner, Archie drove us in the rain there and back.  Tomorrow Archie is going to go to church for the first time in 3 months plus he will be driving to church so he will drive on the highway for the first time as well.

Missing Husband & Truck, Day 88

This morning we headed to Grand Prairie for Archie and Matt to check out a job.  I stayed in the car while they checked out the building.  Archie bailed out a little early because the noise inside was giving him a headache.  Afterwards we went for another job to see if Archie could help out, he was able to do a few things.  We stopped for lunch and then headed to the house.  I dropped Archie off at the house and told him that if he needed to go anywhere to give me a call.  I headed out to try to take care of some Christmas shopping and to get our Magi/Angel tree gift for church.  I went to five stores and got a bunch of presents taken care of.  I got home a couple of hours later to an empty house, missing husband and truck.  I called him and he told me he went to meet Matt in McKinney for a job.  He drove himself on side roads to McKinney.  I wrapped all the presents I had.  When Archie got home he told me that the job took longer than he thought, he was hoping to get home before I got home. I felt like a mom with a teenager who was not truthful with me.  Not that I didn't trust Archie, rather I would have preferred to have ridden in the truck with him.  He got to McKinney and home safely and we agreed that I would ride in the truck with him for at least the next week.  I also asked him to not mess with his phone while he is driving to avoid distractions at least for a week or two.  So if you call Archie and he does not answer he might be driving. 

Overall, this first week of work for Archie was good.  He worked a few hours everyday except the day he had his neuro psych evaluation.  Next week he will work longer days and I go back to work as well.

Tour of DFW, Day 87

This morning we headed to Ft. Worth around 7:30 am and arrived there a little after 9 am.  There was an accident on 121 in Lewisville and then dealt with construction traffic.  We stopped at one house and Archie figured out what is needed so he is going to go back on Tuesday with the part.  Then we headed to another house to fix a couple of issues which were resolved.  We then stopped at our friend, Tito's house to look at his house to see what equipment would be needed but they will have to return with Matt to look up in the attic.   We headed back to Dallas to pick up the needed part for the Tuesday job.  We stopped for lunch and then home.  I took a nap this afternoon and Archie watched tv.  I made pork chops, corn and broccoli for dinner.  Archie liked the pork chops but not the broccoli and had issues with the corn so overall dinner was a failure.  Tomorrow we are looking at a new job and then a house in Colleyville.  We had a nice tour of the DFW area.  I hope everyone had a good day!