Less than 2 weeks

Psalm 121:5-7 "The Lord is your protector, there at your right side to shade you from the sun. You won’t be harmed by the sun during the day or by the moon at night. The Lord will protect you and keep you safe from all dangers." (CEV)

I had another attack last night. It wasn't fun, but just as I started worrying about it happening during my trip, I read the verse above. It's all in His hands. He will protect me and I have to trust in that.

On another note ... as much as I'm thankful for my new phone and that I can get internet on it and update Facebook and my blog, typing anything too long can be a real pain on this teeny keyboard, so that's all from me for now. :P

Happy Easter!!!

Christianity happens when men and women accept with unwavering trust that their sins have not only been forgiven, but forgotten, washed away in the blood of the Lamb. Thus, my friend archbishop Joe Reia says, "A sad Christian is a phony, and a guilty Christian is no Christian at all.".

Computer woes

Well, I'm without a computer again. :( My computer died on me a couple of months ago and I got a new one a few weeks ago and now that one's died on me. I don't have the time or energy to research and go buy a new one right now, so I guess it'll have to wait until I get home from my trip. Ugh. I really DO want to tell you about my experience in the delivery room and show you pictures, but it'll have to wait.

Oh, I have an appointment with the surgeon on May 2. When I booked the appointment she said it'll be about 20 minutes and then after that she'll book me for the surgery once I get back from my trip. When she said that, my stomach did a little flip. I've never had surgery before. Heck, I've never even been in the hospital overnight ... I've only been to emergency twice in my life and from about the age of 12 - 30 I didn't even HAVE a doctor because there were no visits needed. So this whole thing is a bit new to me. And I'll be honest with you ... when I drove into emergency a couple of weeks ago, I was wondering what the possibility would be of them cutting me open right then and there and it made me sad that I was alone. I wanted someone there to hold my hand. I always feel like I'm pretty independant and content being single, but this was one of those weak moments where I wish I wouldn't have been alone. Yes, I could've called someone, but one thing about being single is that you (obviously) don't have the spouse there to see that you need to go to the hospital and just jump in the car and drive you there, so you have to make the effort to call someone and you really don't want to bother people. Plus, I really didn't think they were actually going to cut me open that night, so I knew I could handle it alone. I had phoned my parents while I was waiting in emergency and when I called them back to tell them what had happened, I told my Mom about wishing I had someone with me, and she said that her and Dad had thought about that but were worried about my car all alone in the parking lot all night! haha! That cracked me up. :)

Anyway, I've actually been feeling pretty good the last week, so I'm sure it'll all be good while I'm gone. I've alerted my insurance company that I've got this pre-existing condition so that if something does happen while I'm gone that I'll still be covered. One day at a time, right?

Easter ... and an analogy about surfing

I read this a couple of months ago on Jamie, The Very Worst Missionary's blog and it was such a good analogy that I thought I'd repost an excerpt of it here:

This is about surfing... but not actually.

If you could do me a favor, I’d like you to imagine, as you read this, that I have a body like one of those girls from that surf movie Blue Crush... or like the super-model, Giselle. Yeah, Giselle would be good. Trust me. I just feel like this whole story will come off better if you can pretend that I’m sleek and athletic, rather than stumpy and jiggly. Let’s pretend I’m “lithe”, I like that word. Also, lets pretend that I’m a pretty good surfer. I’m not. At all.

I get the same bruise every single time I surf. Same bruise, same spot, same reason. Every time. I walked out of the water with it, throbbing along the back of my arm, this week. And even though it always happens, it still kinda surprised me.

It’s a good deep bruise, the kind that bleeds into the closest joint, making everything feel stiff and sore. The kind that reminds you, every time you stretch your arm or roll over in your sleep, that, oh yeah, you were surfing today... yesterday... earlier this week... You were on the water with your eyes stinging and your lungs burning of salt, and you slipped off your board into the sea -like you always do- and, as you tumbled under the waves, your very own board came back at you, above you, trying to kill you. So you put up your arm to protect your face and head from the fin that was racing toward your skull, and that’s when it got you, right smack in the same spot where it always gets you, on the back of the arm.

That's how it goes every stinkin’ time. And this might sound weird, but I love that wretched, painful bruise because it reminds me of how I love to surf.

I love the struggle of surfing. You have to battle against the forces of the Earth just to get out past the break. You have to beat the current, and the waves, and the wind, and your own tired body, before you can let it all loose again to come together and push you back to shore.

Then, once you're out there, there's a moment of quiet. A time of Peace. Where the crush of waves over your head has been replaced by the graceful sway of the water underneath you. You’re just there, in that place where you wait for the wave that will pick you up, steady your path, and shoot you back to the sand a little faster than you’d like.

When it’s time, you can feel it rising behind you pulling you backward, upward. And then the fight begins again, to paddle ahead, to stay upright, to get up on your feet as white water surges behind you, and then all of a sudden... you’re standing, moving, surfing along the wave, you are flying free and fast, and you don’t remember anymore how hard it was to get there. You aren’t bothered by aching muscles or burning lungs. The struggle is over. The battle is won.

It’s not until your feet are buried in the sand again, and after you’ve caught your breath, that you feel the pulsing at the back or your arm, where the fin of your board laid into you, You can feel the blood pooling under the skin and seeping down into your elbow, but you totally don’t care because that’s the price you pay for the freedom to glide above the water. And it was worth it.

And that’s when you remember another price that was paid so that you could be free.

Today, I am reminded, whenever I flex my sore right arm, that we are commemorating the battle waged, the broken body, the shed blood.

Tomorrow, a moment of quiet anticipation, as we wait for what's to come.
And finally, on the third day, a celebration. The freedom granted to each of us by the empty tomb, the battle won.

Now, I need to stop wondering if I’m worth it...

One Minute Sermon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUQYJ77qa50

Where do I live???

How is it possible that on April 14, THIS ...

is what I woke up to this morning? WHAAAAAAT?

My vacation can't come soon enough!

Ultrasound results!

Well, I just got out of my ultrasound and luckily she didn't tell me that she heard the heartbeat! Haha That would've been a whole other ultrasound and I would've felt ripped off! ;) But, I am the proud owner of gallstones! I know that may sound weird that I'm proud about that, but I'd been so nervous that they wouldn't find anything and there'd be no cause for the pain/issues I've been having, so to hear her say to me, "you've definitely got stones" was a big relief to me. What happens now? Well, I'm not 100% sure, but I've got my follow up apt with my own doc on Thursday next week and I'm sure he'll tell me where we go from here. The tech seemed to think I could be put on a list with others having the same problem and it'll depend how often and severe the attacks are before I would have surgery to have it taken out. She, herself, had her gallbladder out and she said it took forever to even get a consultation with the surgeon. I'm not holding out for anything to happen before my trip, but now that I can technically put a term to what I'm going through, I'm ok with it. Thanks again for all your prayers and advice!

Gallbladder update

So, I had another "attack" (until they confirm that there's a problem with my gallbladder, I have to put attack in quotes because it's alleged, not confirmed) last night. I was sick of it, so I drove myself to emergency. I was happy to see the waiting room virtually empty and 10 minutes later, I got called in. The doctor came (he didn't look anything like George Clooney, btw) and did a little interview with me. I didn't realize how stupid I'd feel that I wasn't actually an emergency. I was more there because I was sick of feeling this way and wanted to get an earlier ultrasound than the 27th ... and pretty much because my doctor had told me to go in the next time it happened. I was in pain, but it wasn't excruciating. When I think of the ER, I think you should have an appendage dangling by a thread to go in there, but I guess that's not always the case (I heard another guy in the bed next to me later tell the doctor he felt bad for wasting his time, so it wasn't just me). Anyway, the doc told me that he couldn't get me an ultrasound then and there because the techs had gone home for the day and they only call them back if it's a true emergency. "Sheesh! Why was I there then?" I thought. They took a few samples and then the waiting began. I had to go out once and pay for more parking, but just before that one was about to expire, the doc came back to me and said, "Well, your samples came back fine." Of course they did. Ugh. "But I'm going to order you an ultrasound anyway." THANK YOU!!! "I can't guarantee that you'll get in earlier than the one you've already got scheduled, but we'll see what we can do. I was home 3 hours after I'd gone in and had a good sleep.

This morning, I got a call from the hospital and they've booked me for an ultrasound on FRIDAY!!! Whoo hooooo!!!

I'm trying not to worry about the thought "what if the ultrasound doesn't show anything" because then I'll be back to square one with no reason why I've been having these "attacks."

Anywho, just thought I'd give you a quick update. Thanks for your prayers ... would appreciate if they continue. :)

Movie Monday

Short and sweet ... it definitely had some funny parts, but knowing my readers, I'd say you can skip this one.

Catch up!

It seemed like I was on a roll there for awhile and then I left the planet for a bit. Sorry about that. I was actually quite busy and when I finally did have some downtime, I wanted to just sit on my couch and catch up on shows I'd PVR'd (that would be DVR'd for my American readers ... hopefully that's not Lost in Translation ... ooooh, there's a GREAT old movie I could review for Movie Monday ... but that's for another time). Anyway, here are a few of the events I was busy with over the past couple of weeks. Sonya's quick visit. When Sonya told me she was coming down to Abby, I asked if I could get some girls together to see her. She was all about that, so here we are reunited at Earl's. The lovely Kori and Jill joined us as well ...

And Rachel was also there. Apparently I didn't get the "wear black" memo. :P We had fun chit chatting and jumping every time my phone rang because, I don't know if you noticed, but Jennie was absent from this night (so was Keri, who was on her way to Palm Springs ... whatever. Who chooses Palm Springs over girlfriends? haha - JKJK!). Jennie was supposed to come, however, she was having contractions that night and they were 6 minutes apart and some of them were so bad that she could hardly breathe through them. We all thought, "Tonight's the night!" but alas, it wasn't to be. What was to be turned out to be something different all together.

Unfortunately, I ended the night quite abruptly. I've been having a few stomach aches over the last month after I've eaten a meal, but I was just attributing it from going to strictly Jenny Craig food (high in fibre and soy) to a "normal" diet again. Well, I got my regular stomach ache and I joked that I should tell Jennie, "Oh, I totally know how you feel about your contractions. My stomach hurts, too." haha We all had a good laugh, until all of a sudden I had stabbing pains just below my chesticles (as Len from Dancing with the Stars calls them). I excused myself from the table and went to the bathroom for so long that one of the girls was about to come and check on me just as I was coming back. Don't worry, I won't get too graphic on you here, but let's just say that I was lucky I made it home in time before my quesadillas decided to make a reappearance. So, you know after you puke you usually feel better. Nope. Not this time. The stabbing pain continued for another 10 minutes or so and then it was like someone flipped a switch and the pain was gone. Exhibit A - the meal in question

I love my quesadillas at Earl's and have had them many times before. I chalked it up to bad chicken or something. Until the pain came back the next day while I was sitting in the movie theatre. Same story. Excused myself and went home. By this time, people are starting to tell me that my symptoms sound very similar to (insert family member's name here) story of when they had gallbladder attacks. I decided to be my own physician and google it. I could pretty much check off every symptom I found on google. It said it could also have been a problem with my appendix, but when I clicked on that, none of the symptoms matched. Anyway, to make an already long story short, I found out that my Dad, my uncle, my Grandma and 2 of my cousins have had their gallbladders out, so my doctor thinks that's most likely my problem as well. I've now had 4 "attacks" in 2 and a half weeks but of course, unless you go into emergency, I can't get an ultrasound until April 27. Crappy thing is, if they find something, I leave on my trip a week later. Oh well. I know it's all in God's hands and will work out how it's supposed to. But there's my update on that.

The next weekend I went out with my cousins for a little stagette/shower for my cousin Taraleigh. I got to go to her dress fitting as well, but none of those pictures can be shown here ... gotta keep that beautiful dress a secret! Janelle and I planned to take Taraleigh downtown and keep her in the dark as to what we were doing. We left just before supper so I made this cheese plate to take along with us to eat on the drive in.

We saw this street performer downtown (who looks strangely like Mr. Tumnus) and we told Taraleigh that as part of her stagette, she had to go stand with him and have her picture taken with him ... as you can see from the picture, she didn't comply. haha We weren't into that kind of stagette.

We were, however, into chocolate. After walking around and window shopping for a short while (we didn't realize the stores we wanted to go into closed so blinkin' early!), we headed to our reservation at The Sutton Place for the Chocolate Buffet.

Yes, I said Chocolate Buffet. It was pretty darn good. I would definitely recommend it, but I will warn you, it's not cheap. You definitely pay for the atmosphere as well, though. It feels very posh with the pianist in the background (he was really quite good), the fancy table settings and decor and of course, the company.

Here's plate #1. Yes, I was a little nervous after what had happened at Earl's the week before, but I chanced it and all was ok.

Here's the happy bride. Janelle and I were wondering if she was going to want to kill us for filling her up with chocolate a month before her wedding ... but then we thought, "It's a month before the wedding! She'll have lots of time to work off the chocolate!" haha Luckily Taraleigh agreed with us and wasn't mad at all. :)

Plate # 2 - I had to go back for a crepe! Good think I only see my Jenny Craig consultant once a month now! I conveniently forgot to tell her about this when I saw her. ;)

She looks a little nervous opening this bag in the middle of the restaurant, doesn't she ... or maybe she looks excited ... I can't really tell.

And THIS is what you get when you ask someone else to take a picture for you. I didn't think that I had to specify to focus on US and not the huge painting on the wall behind us. Funny. I didn't crop it because it's actually kinda funny.

Taraleigh decided she wanted a better look at what was in the bag when we got to the car, so she pulled this out ... with 2 others in different patterns. They were SUPER soft and a great price for 3, so if you know anyone who's getting married and you don't want to get them something super slutty, I'd say to head over to La Senza for these cute little nighties. I almost bought myself some because they were so cute and soft, but then ... really ... why? haha!

And the last "big" event that I planned was a mini Bornefest. My cousin Brenda was coming out to visit from Manitoba so I sent all the Bornes that are in the area an email letting them know when and where to meet and they ALL showed up! It was great! There were 19 of us in total and we had so much fun.

There were 6 of us cousin there representing 6 different families (out of 10). Usually we have a bunch of siblings in the group when we get together like this, but this time it was different. We have: back row - Taraleigh (Art), Edee (Vern), Janelle (John) and front row: Brenda (Henry), me (Herman) and Gord (George).

So, those are just a few of the reasons why I was busy over the last weeks. There were a bunch of coffee nights with individual friends where we were chatting so much that I didn't take any pictures and then nights out with my Little Sister and so on. The biggest event that happened in the last few weeks will have to wait for it's own post. SOOOOOO much to tell from that amazing day. My schedule has cleared up now so hopefully I'll be able to post about it soon.