Old Man River

No, this is not  post about the musical 'Show Boat', or the current production that's running at the Goodspeed Opera House in Jersey.

It's referring to the fact that apparently I'm a 39 year old man, with the internal organs (or at least one) of a 75 year old.
As I mentioned before (in my diverticulitis post), a majority of the doctors and nurses that I talked to in the hospital said that I was really young to be having diverticulitis.  They did say that they've been seeing quite a few occurrences in younger people, but the majority of the cases we in people much older than me. 
That may be true, but let me tell you - if that's the case, then the information they distribute to diverticulitis patients needs to be updated a tad in order to be a bit more 'inclusive'.

I went for my follow-up appointment on Wednesday afternoon and all went well.  There's no plan for surgery and I just have to do some 'diet modification' in order to keep myself healthy so I can avoid any future problems.  That being said, but the pamphlet they sent me home with, sent me into a spiral of depression (not really)....and at the same time, fits of hysterical laughter. 

Here are a few examples:

This is 'me' and my 'wife' eating an unhealthy diet which, led to me having an unhealthy colon (note the sesame seed bun thrown in for good measure)

This is 'me' displaying the painful onset of a diverticulitis attack.

OUCH!!!!

This is 'me' during my hospital stay, FINALLY up and about.

I'm feeling much better now that I'm in my pink robe and slippers....and black socks?!?!? 

This is 'me' - back to work, drinking lots of water, and eating healthy snacks

And finally, this is 'me' back to normal, and enjoying the fresh air!!!!

Thankfully, I have a sense of humor.....and I know that regardless of what the pamphlet says, I really feel like this inside:

And THAT'S what matters.  ;-)

Have a great weekend, everyone!!!!!
xoxo



 

Safe!!!

Happy Hump Day from 'I got somethin' to say'!!!

I finally received word from my boss' boss that I am indeed 'safe' here at work and will NOT be affected by all the changes going on. 

Phew...what a relief! 
Although I'm still not in love with my job, it's nice to know that I don't HAVE to leave it any time soon.  To say that I'll be unaffected may be a bit of a stretch, because I'm pretty sure that things will be changing for everyone, so it's probably best to just say that I still have a job....not that I'll be unaffected.
Either way - it was nice to get that news.  There are a lot of my co-workers who aren't so happy with the news that they received, so I won't take my safety for granted. 

Thank you all for the kind words and comments over the past few days...it's nice to know that my blog friends are out there thinking of me.  :-)

Jim and I had a great weekend....we went to see the latest Harry Potter movie on Friday night (which I really enjoyed, in spite of the fact that it wasn't quite as great as the book) and then went to dinner afterwards....date night! 

On Saturday we went to a wedding, which was VERY fun.  We got to see a lot of people we hadn't seen in a very long time, so it was nice to relax and catch up with them.....yes, baby-free TWO nights in a row!!!

Then on Sunday, I had another recording session for two more video games that I'll be singing on.  So that brings my total to THREE video games that I'll be heard on.  Pretty cool, huh?
Of course, at this point I'm not allowed to disclose any information about the games - but from what I've heard (I know NOTHING about the current 'gaming trends') they're highly anticipated games, and they're a pretty big deal. 
What I can say is that the chorus sounded pretty awesome and the music was really fun to sing....I can't wait to see it all together, when our singing is played along with the actual game.  It should be very cool.

That's all that's going on with me right now.  I have a follow-up appointment today with the doctor from the hospital, so hopefully that will go well.  I've been feeling a lot better and (knock on wood) haven't experienced any more pain or run into any food and/or stomach 'issues' over the past couple of weeks. 
Hopefully I'll get a clean bill of health from him and be on my merry way!!!

I hope you're all doing well.....I look forward to catching up on all your blogs and getting back up to speed. 
:-)

Have a great day!!!  xoxo

An Update....of sorts

I have good news and I have.......no news.  :-)

First the good news!!! 
After much waiting, we can now happily say that Zachary is 'legally free'!!!  We just got the official word last night and are BEYOND thrilled.  We have to wait 30 days (appeal period) and assuming no one files an appeal, we can then start the adoption paperwork.
It's not quite 'over' yet - but there is certainly a great, big, shining light at the end of the tunnel - and we couldn't be happier!!!!

Now, for the other part of my entry, I'm STILL waiting to hear what my fate is at work.  It's been a roller coaster ride of craziness here all week, and it looks like I'm going to be on the ride for a bit longer, much to my dismay. 
In a meeting on Tuesday, everyone was told that at some point this week we would meet with 'one on one' with our manager in order to find out what our future is with the company. 

There were three options:

1. we would be unaffected
2. we would be hired by the new company that is taking over a portion of our group
3. we would be given a termination date, somewhere between now and March of 2013

PS - I have NO idea what the hell those flower things are.  When I see it, in the 'edit' window they're numbers, but I'm loving the flowers...so I'm not going to mess with it. 

On Wednesday, management came to my building to talk to everyone.  Unfortunately, I was out of the office that day, dealing with court stuff related to the 'good news' part of this post, so I missed my one on one. 

I was in a different building this morning, and even though the management folks were all there, they clearly had no intention of talking to me today, as they were on a 'tight schedule' and had to give priority to the people on the schedule for today. 
That leads me to believe that I'm pretty much going to be either given a termination date or sent to work for the new company.  Had I been one of the 'unaffected' - they could have taken the 3 minutes it would have taken them to tell me that, but the fact that they couldn't squeeze me in speaks volumes. 
I know that all the other people who were given dates or being hired by the new company had an HR representative in the meeting with their manager, so they probably have to set up an overflow schedule to deal with all the people who missed their initial meeting.

I'm not going to put in writing what I'm hoping for....call me superstitious.....but I'd rather just wait and see.
Until then, I'm going to enjoy my long weekend (I have Monday off) and not worry about it!!!

Oh - and I'm VERY excited for tonight.  Jim and I are celebrating our anniversary!!!
FIFTEEN years ago (tomorrow) we went on our first date and we've been together ever since.  :-)
I'm one lucky man!!!!

Jim and I in 1996

Our Wedding - September 2005

Summer 2010



Christmas 2010

Have a GREAT weekend!!!!



In the Office

Good Monday, my friends!!!

I'm actually working IN the office today, which is unusual since it's a Monday.  Typically, on Mondays I'm either working from home, or have the day off - but I have some stuff that I needed to do today, and it will be a lot easier to get things accomplished from in the office because my connection at home isn't so speedy.

That being said, I had a GREAT weekend.

On Friday night, Jim, Zachary, and I went to see my niece Julia in a show that she was in.  For two weeks she was going to a 'musical theatre camp', and Friday night was the showcase of all the stuff they've been working on.  She did a GREAT job.  And I'm not just saying that because she's my niece.  Please, I'd be the first one to critique her every move.  ;-)  Seriously though, she really is great on stage. 
She was in several numbers and was in two different tap numbers, which is very impressive because she just started taking tap, but she LOVES it and is a total natural.  It may have taken a while, but I'm thrilled that one of my niece's and nephews (on my side of the family) took an interest in musical theatre.
Zachary was very well-behaved in  the audience.  He didn't make  peep and was fascinated with all the activity happening on stage.  Also, Jim and I won  a Tom-Tom GPS at the intermission raffle, which was an added bonus for the evening. 

On Saturday, we spent the day down the Cape with Jim's parents.  It was SO much fun and very relaxing.  Typically when we go down to visit them, there are lots of people (Jim's sister and brother and their families) but for one reason or another, none of them were down there, so it was just the five of us for the entire day.
We hung around the cottage for a while, spent some time at the beach, went back to the cottage, played games, relaxed, etc.....very fun.

I played my FINAL two softball games yesterday in the ridiculously blazing heat, with only 9 players on our team.  For those of you who aren't aware, you normally have 10 players on the field (4 in the outfield, 4 in then infield, a pitcher, and a catcher) but in our league, you're allowed to play with 9 (only three outfielders) but when the non-existent "10th player" comes around in the batting order, it's an automatic out. 
So....it's a bit frustrating to play with only 9.  I refer to the "10th Player" as Elijah, who's REALLY bad at softball, but no one on my team got the joke, forcing me to explain it.
Anyway....we played well for having 9 players, but we lost both games.  I actually played quite a good game and got a hit every time at bat....so I felt good about the day - in spite of the heatstroke.  :-)

So, here I am on Monday morning.....working in the cool silence of my cubicle.

I hope you all have a great day/week.....xoxo

  

 

Thirsty Thursday

Hello blog-readers! 
I have one more day of antibiotics and then I'll be back in full force!!!!
At least I hope to be.  I have a call out to my sister (the nurse) to get the scoop on when I can safely have alcohol again once I'm done with my meds.  The pharmacist said I should wait two days once I take my last dose, but I want to be sure that's long enough.  The last thing I need is for me to have a 'celebratory beer' and then spend an hour throwing up.  Not. Cute.

Anyway...that's the most exciting thing that's happening with me right now.

This weekend I have two softball games on Sunday, which will be my final games of the season.  Our team has two more scheduled, but I'm not around for them, so this weekend will be my swan song.
I'm also pretty sure that this will be my final season playing softball. 
I'm going to remain on the roster as a non-player, mostly because I don't want to remove myself completely from the league, but this is it for playing.  I've been playing for 10 years and as much as I love it, I've grown tired of having to plan everything around softball games.
I'll most definitely miss my teammates, but I certainly won't miss spending every weekend sweating on the softball fields.  :-)

It's been a while since I've posted any pictures, so I'll post a few for your enjoyment.
We still can't post any 'decent' pictures of Zachary....but hopefully the day when we can is quickly approaching.  Until then, this is what you'll get.  :-)

(all photos were taken by Barrie Smith Photography)

Woof.

Happy Tuesday!!!

Not too much has happened since I last wrote, but things are going well!!  :-)

I'm feeling a lot better, and even though I'm still not 100% - I'm getting there.  I have a feeling that things will greatly improve once I'm off these crazy-strong antibiotics and I'll start feeling like myself again.
That, and I'll finally be able to have a beer.  One of the antibiotics I'm on is one that will make me violently ill if I consume any alcohol while on it so I've been 'dry' since the last week in June!!!  The doctors and pharmacists even warned me about 'hidden' alcohol in mouthwash, cough syrups, etc. - so clearly they ain't foolin'.  I don't want you to think that I'm someone who drinks all the time, but to be honest there have been a few times I would have LOVED a cold beer, especially over the Fourth of July weekend, or at the various BBQs I've attended recently - but I resisted.  Clearly, it's not worth getting sick over.

Anyway....things have been fairly quiet around here.  Work is a world of uncertainty, and no one (upper management) has done a thing to make any of us feel better, so we're all just plugging along waiting for the next shoe to drop.  It's irritating, but it's nice to know that we're all feeling the same way.  Misery does indeed like company. 

I've only had one softball game in the past weeks, and it was a GREAT game (played on Saturday afternoon) against a division one team.  We lost by 1 run, and really had them scared for most of the game.  I was a little nervous about playing again, since I wasn't feeling 100%, but I ended up going three for three and having a very good game!

On Sunday, Jim , Zachary, and I spend the day by the pool with K, B, and {b}.  It was a GORGEOUS day, and since Z is finally old enough for sunblock, he took his first 'swim'.  Jim was in HEAVEN and Zach seemed to be loving the water as well....I have a feeling he'll be in there a lot more often now.  :-)

Yesterday, Jim and I took Z to P-Town for the day.  We haven't been there in over a year and we haven't been there since becoming Dads, so it was a day of 'firsts'. We figured that bringing him during Bear Week would be fun....and it really was.  The weather was BEAUTIFUL, the people-watching was so much fun - as it always is...just with a lot more hair ;-) and we're planning on making another trip down there in August.  We did some shopping, lots of walking around, and we had a great lunch at Bayside Betsy's.  That also happens to be the restaurant which sponsors my softball team.  If you're in P-Town and want a great place to eat - go!  
My teammates made a 'Bayside Betsy's Brawlers' t-shirt for Zachary, which he wore yesterday, and Betsy was THRILLED to see Z wearing it. 
All in all, it was a great day. 

Now I'm back to work and counting down the days until Friday.  Is that bad???? 

I hope you're all doing well.....xoxo

Putting the 'cute' in Acute Diverticulitis

Hello everyone!!!  I hope you had a pleasant Fourth of July weekend.
 
Sorry for my absence, but I was unexpectedly in the hospital for a few days last week and I'm just getting back into the swing of things. 

Here's the Reader's Digest version....or at least an attempt at it.  :-)

Last Monday (6/27) I had the day off and spent it at home with Jim and Zachary…wasn’t feeling ‘right’.

Woke up Tuesday, not feeling any better, came to work for a 9 o’clock call, went to doctor’s at 1pm

Doctor sends me to the local hospital for a cat scan of my lower abdomen.

Cat scan tech sends me to the Emergency Room

Doctors in the ER tell me I’m being admitted because I have acute diverticulitis with a micro-perforation (because, apparently I’m 80)

They bring me to my room on Tuesday night on IV fluids and two heavy-duty antibiotics, also via IV (PS – at this point, I haven’t eaten all day)

On Wednesday I was still on IV fluids and antibiotics and allowed to have clear liquids starting at noon (chicken broth, apple juice, ginger ale, Italian Ice, and Jell-O.....delish)

Thursday – 3 meals of clear liquids and still on antibiotics (yes, I had chicken broth for breakfast) but feeling a lot better.  Still not 100% - but a lot less pain.

Friday – French toast and scrambled eggs for breakfast, it all went OK, so I made it home by 3pm!!!!

So, now I’m on crazy-strong antibiotics for 2 weeks and will have to change my diet. Again, because apparently I’m a senior citizen. No more eating nuts, seeds, or any other indigestible foods, unless I want to have another ‘incident’.

Thankfully, I was home in time and feeling OK enough to enjoy the weekend! We went to the see fireworks on Saturday night, spend the day/evening at the Cape on Sunday with Jim's family, went to a 4th of July parade and a cookout yesterday, and I'm back to work today.

I'll write something a bit more exciting once I get caught up on all I missed at work, but I thought I'd let you all know what the heck was happening with me.  :-)

PS - While  I was in the hospital, Jim sent this to me....and yes, it made me a bit teary.