How Many Pollocks Does it Take.....

Okay, maybe that was a bad title to this post, but I couldn't resist! Here are the pictures from our Poland Adventure 2009. It's a LONG post, so take a deep breath and get ready....because here----we-----go! (Said like the little boy in Polar Express):

Here's where it all went down....the hospital in Gorlice, Poland. Roy was very fortunate that there was a hospital in this town because it was in the middle of nowhere!!

The view from Roy's hospital window. This is basically what we saw each and every day we were there.

This is the room he was in. He was very blessed to have his own room. All the other rooms had at least 3-6 patients in them. Here's a funny story about this picture...I took it when Roy was getting his first shower. I was aiming my camera to take the picture when a nurse walked in (who didn't speak any English). I pointed to Roy in the bathroom and she smiled and left. She probably thought we were some kinky couple with him in the shower and me with my camera out. Why else would I be taking a picture????
Bless Roy's heart, he was SO bored in that place. There was NOTHING to do. He said he looked at this corner in his room just about all day long and studied the different angles of the sheet rock. The yellow walls drove him crazy, too, and he now hates the color yellow. The yellow on those walls was a mixture between a scrambled egg color and a mint green. It was interesting.

I brought plenty of entertainment for him, though.

I even snuck him some Gatorade. We had to hide this from our translator because he was extremely strict on us giving Roy food. He thought we were going to kill him!

Here is Roy with the translator, Aleksander. He let Deanna and I know everything that Poland was famous for, including breads, soups, and cheesecake (inside joke).

Each and every time we went to see Roy, we had to wear these blue shoe guards on our feet. Here is Deanna, modeling them. By the way, I will travel any where at any time with Deanna. This girl knew where she was going and was about 10 steps ahead of everything the entire time! She was a godsend and I am so glad that we got to bond in Poland. Who would've thought?! I can't say enough good things about her....she is a saint and is so down to earth and real.

This nurse was one of Roy's favorites. She is obviously a nun, and she removed Roy's catheter. We were wondering if that was even legal?

These are some of Roy's other favorites. The girl on the left was the nurse who changed all of Roy's bandages and gauze strips. She was so sweet and timid and when I asked to get her picture with Roy, she got so nervous! The girl on the right was Roy's physical therapist and she was also very kind to Roy. She spoke enough English to be dangerous. The morning that Roy was released, she brought him this little ornament from her own personal Christmas tree:




This is the head nurse of the surgical unit. She, too, was SO sweet and she said it was a privilege to take care of Roy! She was always smiling. She kind of reminded me of a Polish version of my Aunt Sharon (anyone agree?).

Here is an example of Polish hospital food. Rice, some type of carrot mush and a ball of some mystery mush. Roy ate a few bites of rice. Yummy looking, huh?

The man of the hour---Let's hear if for Dr. Kapinski! This is the doctor who performed Roy's surgery and he did a great job checking up on him daily.

Deanna's and my Home Sweet Home for the week...the Hotel Margot. We were so happy when we first drove up and saw that they had decorated for Christmas!

Each day we ate at this little table because it was near a Christmas tree. We ate many pieces of grilled cheese and chicken broth here and listened to classic American pop songs:)

"See ya!" Is it just me or does someone look a little happy to be getting released?! Here he is waving goodbye to all of his new friends.

Here we are in the Krakow airport waiting for our long plane ride to begin. I think Roy was a little nervous to get on a plane for 10 hours. No turning back:)

Cue "In My Mind I'm Going to Carolina". The next day we boarded the plane for NC and needless to say, Roy was happy. I looked like I had been to Poland and back, but doesn't Roy look handsome? I think gall bladder surgery agrees with him:)

This whole ordeal will be something we will never forget. It was not the way we would have wanted it--especially the timing of it all, but we are so thankful that Roy has recovered and we are all home as a family again! Thank you, again, for praying for Roy and our family during this time. We could definitely feel the peace and the prayers and we will never forget that!

It's Our Day!

Happy 8th Year Anniversary, to my sweet Roy Boy!

To My Dear and Loving Husband

If ever two were one, then surely we.

If ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee;

If ever wife was happy in a man,

Compare with me ye women if you can.

I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold,

Or all the riches that the East doth hold.

My love is such that Rivers cannot quench,

Nor ought but love from thee, give recompence.

Thy love is such I can no way repay,

The heavens reward thee manifold I pray.

Then while we live, in love let's so persevere,

That when we live no more, we may live ever.

-Anne Bradstreet

I HATE BROWN RECLUSE SPIDERS!!!

I have never been afraid of spiders (except if I saw a nasty tarantula or something like that). I hate mice, rats, and snakes, but spiders I don't mind. It never scared me to step on one or pick it up with a tissue and flush it down the toilet.

Well, I am on a spider hunt now. I detest them. Ever since I've been bitten by that crazy brown recluse, I am constantly looking around the house for them. Remember in The Sound of Music how Frauline Maria checks her bed for spiders before she gets in? Yeah, that's what I do now. After googling brown recluse spiders, it seems that these guys love to come out at night. They hide in the walls, in shoes, in odd places and about two hours after the sun comes down, they come out. Creepy, huh? I then went on to read that they are very common around the households of the SouthEast and the Central part of the USA. They are also called Violin or Fiddleback Spiders, because they have a white violin shape on their backs. Most of their victims are bit in their sleep, therefore they don't remember being bit because apparently it's supposed to be a bite that really hurts. I don't remember a thing. Oh, yeah, and don't worry about getting rid of them--there is nothing you can do. If you get your house sprayed for bugs or spiders, this only amplifies the problem because brown recluse spiders love to eat dead bugs and other spiders!!! AND the bites can be deadly in children under 7. GREAT! This past week, if I have seen any spider inside or outside of our house it has been killed within seconds by my foot.

After seeing all the pictures of BR bites on the Internet, I was ready to cry the other night. They looked awful and one site even said that often skin graphs were needed to fix the ulcers that the bites create. Fingers crossed, but so far my bite is closed and I am hoping it stays that way. I am on an antibiotic, so hopefully it will do the trick and no ulcer or pus will show up. My arm is in some serious pain, though. This is one of the most painful things I have ever had to endure, besides poison ivy, an impacted colon (yes, I said that) and childbirth. Who would have thought that a tiny little spider could do this much damage? Don't forget to check your beds tonight before you climb in. Oh yeah, and check underneath your pillows, too. Night-night!

Coke and Spidey

Yesterday we took a little trip up to Boone to see Roy's new prize. He has been talking about this for months and yesterday was THE day. Last Fall, he purchased an original 1937 Coca-Cola drink chest for $100. He was so proud of it and couldn't wait to refinish it. When I saw it, I was a little concerned that he had spent $100 on it! Well, it has been refinished and let me just say that once again, my husband is a true "out of the box thinker"!! He has a gift to see the finished product even when the product looks like junk. Yesterday, he was SO excited, proud, happy....every good emotion imaginable:

Here is the proud coke boy in front of his new toy. Everything has been refinished to it's original condition.

Now we have to figure out where to place this thing!

Another exciting piece of news this week is my huge sore on my arm. I noticed I had a bruised feeling on my right forearm on Monday afternoon. It just felt like I had an internal bruise. On Tuesday night, it started to raise up into a large, red knot that was so sore to the touch. On Wednesday morning, it was even bigger and my entire arm was sore. I had two doctors look at it and they think I had a brown recluse spider bite my arm! All I can say is that today the bump is bigger, redder (is that a word?!) and my arm is extremely sore. It hurts very, very badly. When I touch the bump, it feels like I'm jabbing glass into my arm. This morning when I woke up and told Roy that my arm hurt even worse than yesterday, he told me to flick my wrist out. He had a straight face, so I was thinking that maybe this would help relax the muscles or something. So I did it, only to have him smile and say that this is how Peter Parker became Spider Man, so maybe a spider bite would make me be able to shoot out webs from my fingers. Haha. I can only imagine how Roy would be if a brown recluse bit him.

Taking a picture with my left hand is not easy! Do you see the red knot right below my wrist? It looks and feels like an egg.

Am I a "Hair-Wrecker"?

Recently I saw a lady we know and she had just had her hair done. It looked great! The color was perfect--just what I wanted. Perfect shade of blonde...not too drastic but just the perfect pick-me-up for Spring time. When I saw her I instantly asked her where she had it done because I LOVED it! She told me the salon and the stylist's names and I wrote them down to look it up later. She added that this particular salon specializes in color jobs. PERFECT! I was ready to call the number, but then I started to feel guilty.


I remember Nancy writing about this same topic a few months back and now I'm wondering the same thing: Am I cheating on my stylist by going to a new one?! I mean, I have been going to the same lady for 2 1/2 years. She's decent, she's funny, she let's me read my People and Us Weekly magazines in peace. But I don't "love" her. I never walk away from the salon absolutely loving my cut or color job. She's reasonably priced, though, so I always come back. Until now.


I called the new salon, which is located in a very trendy part of Charlotte. When I heard what area it was in, I knew it would be more pricey than my current salon. But my mind kept wandering back to that lady's hair and I kept dreaming about how nice my hair will look when I walk out of that salon. I can see me in slow motion right now, exiting the salon, putting on my sunglasses, swinging my blonde hair back over my shoulder. No more brassy blonde and no more nasty roots! I'm going to be a new woman! So, I called the salon and made the appointment with Sydney. Sydney...cool name. She has to be good, right?

So my predicament is this: Do I call my current stylist and break it off? Do I tell her that I found a new "someone"....that we just didn't have great chemistry? Will she wonder what happened to me? What if I bump into her at some restaurant and my hair just happens to be blonder? What would I say?!

When I told Roy that I was going to go to Sydney, I gave him a round-about figure of how much a highlight and trim would be. He said it would be okay and then added, "I have never been too crazy about how the other girl does your hair anyways". WHAT?! Now you tell me, after 2 1/2 years!! So, I'm going to do it. Next week, I am going uptown into a new salon and hope for the best. Am I doing the right thing? I'm a little nervous!!

SUCKERS!!

It all started when Roy got this in the mail on Tuesday:

In case you can't read, it's a birthday wish from United Airlines saying Roy has 2 free round trip airline tickets anywhere for anywhere within the continental USA waiting for him! He called the number and they informed him that in order to pick up the tickets, we would have to attend a 90 minute meeting on "How to Better Your Traveling". Roy asked if there was a catch, and they said no. We debated doing it but then thought, "hey, two free tickets?!" so we signed up! I know, I know.

So, last night, Ashleigh was sweet enough to watch our kids while we ventured on over to Gold Hill Road to find this place. Roy met me there after work and we walked on in to the travel agency just as it was getting dark. The whole front of the store was glass and I instantly started to smile/laugh as I saw the people waiting inside. Now, please believe me when I say that I am not trying to be mean or make fun of anyone. I guess you had to be there with us to really "get" these people. Here is an example of the other customers that were in the waiting area chowing down on the free ham sandwiches:

Like I said, we were both smiling as we walked up to the door, but my smile turned into a full-fledged snicker because as we opened that door, the song "Burn, Baby, Burn" was blaring over the loud speakers. So, imagine these kinds of people, the music, the ham sandwiches, me and Roy walking in just wanting our free tickets! We soon realized that there was not going to be a group meeting. Instead, we saw little round tables with a sales agent talking to couples one by one. The receptionist asked us to fill out our information and then help ourselves to the free sandwiches. So, we were sitting there, (not eating the sandwiches) snickering to ourselves for being such suckers. I begged Roy to let me take pictures with my phone for my blog but he said "absolutely not!!". Oh, and by the way, the song list went on to play such classics like "Celebrate, Good Times, Come 'On!" and "At the Carwash". Great disco songs played at an incredibly loud volume.

So our name was called and a very excited (being sarcastic) sales agent brought us to our table. In an attempt to get to know us better, he started asking us questions about our traveling experiences. We told him up front that we came for the free tickets and were not prepared to buy or sign up for anything. He agreed and then went on to ask one of his first questions: Where was the last place you went on vacation? We replied "Jackson Hole". He said, "Where's that?". We knew we were in trouble.

He tried to sell us on a vacation for a lifetime package, which can be willed to our children. We weren't interested, so he brought his boss over to try to sell it even harder. His boss was a bald headed smoker with a major smoker's laugh---an OBNOXIOUS man. So he started selling us this package as hard as he could. At one point, he looked over his shoulders, leaned in really close to us and whispered, "do you know that a lot of these people in here tonight only come here for the free gift they're offered?" I nudged Roy's leg and told the man (with a nervous laugh) that I could only imagine. Then he gave us the bottom like of the deal: We could get everything for $9,995!! We declined, so he slashed the price to $1995!!! $8,000 off the original? I told him that it was a great deal, but that it was still a lot of money to pay all at once. That didn't stop him. He offered to FINANCE the package for us--this man had an answer for everything. Again, we declined and finally he got the idea. The funny thing is, while we were sitting there for the 90 minutes, people were actually signing up! And when they did, cheering and clapping would go on and sayings like "Welcome Aboard!" would go out from the staff--all of this while the disco music was blaring. Let's just say that Roy and I were nudging each other a lot during the night. I honestly felt like I was on a cheap, cheap, cheap cruise ship with a fun bunch of people.

We casually walked up to the front desk, asked for the form to fill out for our "free" tickets (we still have to pay a $49 fee), and quickly got out of there! Once we were out of sight, we started laughing hysterically and bringing up funny points that were said or that happened. If anything, it was a fun memory that we made together, but are we suckers or what?! Oh, and by the way, Smokey asked us to recommend any local friends who would be interested in hearing about these packages. Hmmmm......what names did we give out?

LOL!

I've finally decided to go digital with my scrapbooking after talking with my friend, Jessica. So, I asked Dolly to send me some pictures from her wedding so I could get caught up. I laughed so hard when I saw some of these pictures a few minutes ago. First, let me explain...

I have a BAD history of getting my hair done professionally for a wedding. Two weddings in a row turned out to be a DISASTER. For Dolly's wedding, I made an appointment at a nice salon in Lynchburg. Well, the stylist was a no-show, so Dolly's stylist squeezed me in last minute and literally did my hair in 5 minutes. As I was leaving the salon, I thought, "not bad. I think I'll redo the front when I get home, but it's not bad". Looking back, the style kinda resembles a nurse from the 50's? Well, when I walked into my parent's kitchen, the faces that met me told me the opposite:

And if your mother can't tell you the truth, who can? Mom said (very matter of factly) "Donna. I just don't think your hair becomes you". Well, me, being the 11 weeks pregnant that I was, ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs in tears! (Mom, no hard feelings...it's funny!). Kim and Teecy were in Dolly's bathroom and when I ran in (hysterically crying), they looked a little scared. They dropped everything--Teecy stopped doing HER hair to do mine-- they gave me a pep talk, and my hair ended up looking good!! The first picture cracks me up because it is so "Kim". You have to know her to laugh at this picture (I think I kept saying, "I'm just pregnant. I don't know why I'm crying!!!):

Dolly's wedding was on a pouring rain day, so this picture was at the end of the reception (outside!). My hair was getting flat and fuzzy!

And after seeing this picture, I'm beginning to think that this is where it all began for our LeRoy:

Zumba!

Picture Britney Spears music and her moves mixed in with a little Carmen Electra. This morning, I met Nancy at church for a Zumba class and let's just say that we looked like fish out of water. I think we laughed or looked confused just about half of the class!! We had to pull out our inner-hip-hop, and I know it's there...we just have to keep pulling. It was so much fun, though, and I'm going to keep it up. I can already feel it in my abs and back, but that may be from laughing so hard. I've got moves I didn't know I had! Watch out.

My Friends, V-O-T-E!

This morning my little American and I hit the polls.

There's no hiding who we want the next administration to be:

My fervent prayer today is that EVERY Christian, no matter his or her party, will vote with a Biblical and Ethical world view. Wherever you are today, VOTE! It's your right and your duty! Pray, too. And if you have time, head on over to the Scholle Shoutout for some good voting discussion today:)

Equal Rights!

Roy Austin's first birthday is fast approaching. The other day I went to go record a date into his baby book and realized that I wasn't even halfway done with it! I think I had Caroline's book just about completed by her first birthday. The only thing lacking was her birthday page. I kind of panicked because I realized I had SO much to write, document, so many pictures to find and print out to finish his book. I promised myself when I had Caroline that I was going to do a baby book for ALL of my children...you know, be fair and equal with all of them. Remember how I found my baby book when I was around 11 and just saw my name, weight and height? Don't worry, I'm not holding any grudges, but I will say that it did affect my self-esteem. It took years and years of constant uplifting myself up, looking myself in the mirror DAILY and telling myself that "Donna. You ARE somebody and you can accomplish great things". Seriously, just kidding. I threw that in to tease my sweet mother and make Smalley laugh. Hey, I think if I had 5 kids, I'd probably wear myself thin trying to finish a baby book. Forget the stupid book...who cares at that point!

But in all honesty, I do try to do things equally with my children. So, the past few days I have been documenting moments in RoyBoy's life, scouring my picture files looking for pictures, visiting the photocenter at Wal-Mart copying pictures. I have to say that once I get scrapbooking, I can't stop. So the goal is to finish this book by October 26th. Think I can do it?

And while I was at it, I consulted our family scrapbook to see where I left off. New Year's Eve, 2007...Cissie and Corey's wedding! I have almost a year to catch up on that one, too! Why, not...just throw it all on me at one time. This is what I get for trying to make memories for my family. So, I'm working on the family book, too. Anyone local want to have a scrapbook party where you come over and scrap with me? I'm serious!

Home from the Range

Finally! I'm able to upload our pictures from our trip. Let me just say that RoyBoy1 did a phenomenal job with planning this trip! He was so excited to surprise me and the result was that we truly had a wonderful time together. When we arrived at the airport to check in, he was still trying to keep the destination a secret, but bless his heart, he was having trouble getting his ticket to work on the automated check-in machine. The airline lady came over to assist and asked him where his final destination would be. I cringed as I saw the disapointment in his face and he slowly said, "Jackson Hole". WHAT?! I got so excited because I had never been there and I knew that it would be cold...and romantic!

We traveled throughout the day and got into Wyoming after dark. It was so cold outside and we were so tired. When we got to our ranch, it was very dark and quiet and we couldn't see anything, as far as scenery. The next morning, I opened the curtain to go out on the porch and this is what I saw:

Can you believe that view?! I was stunned and literally stood there starring at the beauty for a few minutes. Unless you've seen the Grand Tetons in person, you cannot explain this view. The pictures do not even do it justice. It is something out of a movie. The smell of Jackson Hole is wonderful, too. It's a constant "fire burning in the fireplace" smell that's mixed with cold, crisp air and pine. I loved it!

The first day we took off right away for Cody, Wyoming. Roy has been talking about a certain museum in Cody for years. It's the Cody Firearms Museum and it is FULL of Winchesters. Winchester used to be a maker of guns, for all of you gun-illiterates. This was his "selfish day" he warned me would take place! It was a four hour drive east, but we did it through Yellowstone National Park so the views were unreal. Roy was so excited to go on a tour of the Firearms Museum that he even arranged for a private tour.

After seeing over 6,000 guns (yes, six thousand) we went to the research office where the staff can find where any Winchester originated from! Can you imagine?! Oh, the thrill. By this time in the tour, I have to admit, I was very bored, but I was still smiling and meeting Roy's eyes with smiles and words like "wow!", "That IS a pretty gun", "I can't believe the condition that thing is in!" and I would even shake my head in awe at the gorgeous Henry's on display. Anyway, our tour guide looked up one of Roy's Winchester's in the records (Roy knew the year AND serial number on the top of his head!) and the smile on RoyBoy's face was totally worth the 8 hour car drive for the day. He was grinning from ear to ear and he was so proud to see the original records of his nineteenth century gun. I can still see his face in my mind and it brings a smile to my face when I see it!

On the drive back, we stopped by Old Faithful. I had been there when I was 13 when my family went there for Christmas. Back then, there was snow everywhere so this time, it looked very different. We got there just in time to see some action:

We even had to stop for wildlife crossing on our way back:

The next two days were rainy and overcast, so we slept in, walked around the downtown area of Jackson Hole, took naps, drank hot chocolate, and drove around the surrounding areas. It was too cold to do any outdoor activities like horseback riding, but it was still nice to just have no schedule or kids around. We even went to go see some movies. Here is what Roy thought about "Nights in Rodanthe":

I have to agree. It was pretty bad. And Appaloosa wasn't any better. We also drove around the Teton ski area, where we were lucky enough to narrow down the choices for our future vacation home. Now we only need to raise about $6.2 million:

Here are some pictures of the cute, little town of Jackson Hole...

Another cute thing was the stop signs at our ranch. They all said "WHOA" instead of "STOP".

Every night Roy would make a fire in our room before we went to bed. We'd be so cold coming in for the night, and a roaring fire was something that we looked forward to. I tried to get Roy's picture next to the fire but he said, "no, because if I do, you'll put a stupid caption on your blog like, 'this guy lights my fires'". Hmmmm. Good idea, Roy. Thanks! So, here is one of the fires that the guy who lights my fires lit:
On our last full day in Jackson Hole, we drove through the Teton National Park. This was my favorite day because the views were unreal. We would get out of the car every once in a while and there would be no noise. Just magnificent views and fresh, cold air.

I wish I could add a scratch and sniff area here for the wonderful pine scent that we smelled when we took these pictures!


We had such a good time together and agreed that we need to do it more often. We missed those little kids of ours, though. I have to admit that a lot of our conversations went back to Caroline and Roy Austin. We arrived back in Charlotte on Tuesday night and came home to two excited kids....well, basically one. Roy Austin was timid and a little scared. Thank you to my mother-in-law for watching our kids for 6 days! That was a lot to take on and we really appreciate it. The kids had a great time and it was such a needed get-a-way for us! Thank you, Roy!