Semester One Done

I have been thinking about going back to school for many years. I have always changed professions every 10 years or so. I have been a nurse anesthetist for 18 years now so I'm way passed due for a change. I want to go to business school and work on achieving an MBA. I was in the process of submitting applications when Drew started going into renal failure. I put my plans on hold until after his transplant. Last summer I picked up where I had left off with my applications and I started school in January. During the application process I looked at several schools in a geographical area. Since Drew was not willing to move for me (again) I looked in this area. Lucky for me there are several excellent business schools in this area. I went to several information secessions and I talked to the faculty at a couple of schools. I also talked to every one I know who has an MBA. I liked Queens University of Charlotte the best. It is geared towards people like me who do not have a background in business. I really enjoyed meeting with the faculty and I liked the way the program was set up.

I have finished my first semester and I can't believe I passed! It was a lot of hard work and it was difficult getting back into the studying mode but I did it! Drew has been very supportive, I couldn't do it with out his help.

Life is Back to Normal

I love the spring time, before the humidity creeps in. I love to see the flowers bloom and the smell of freshly cut grass. It has been 14 months since Drew's transplant. This time last year, Drew was struggling to plant our vegetable garden. This year, one afternoon he decided it was time and now it's done. Drew is back to his old self with boundless energy and his love of all things that grow in the dirt. The other evening while he was planting the vegetable garden, he called me outside (with his cell phone) to come look at a snake. Normally I would just say no and continue to do what I was doing. This time I was just thinking how lucky we are to be at this place in time. I was truly grateful to have Drew outside playing in the dirt. I went outside to look at the snake Drew had found. It looked like a really big earth worm but when I examined it closely I could see that yes it was a snake. That was not the only time Drew called me outside that evening. I went every time he called me. Drew sees the world differently than I do, but I enjoy his view when he shares it with me. Drew stops and smells the flowers, he notices the hawks on the light posts as we drive down the interstate. I am a very lucky person.

Tis the Season to Tailgate

Tailgating season is upon us (which corresponds with football season). For the last 12 years we have met with the same group of people at the same spot to tailgate. Everybody is welcome to come, so friends will invite their friends who in turn invite their friends. I have met so many people from all walks of life, it's always a blast. There is always a food theme for each weekend and this coming Sunday it's Italian. Our friend Bob, always brings anti pasta on Italian day that is to die for. I always look forward to going to tailgate with my friends.

Oh, yeah, then there's the football game. My Panthers aren't doing so well. We have not been going to the games because Drew does not want to be out in the sun. Our tickets are in the sun for most of the game during the early part of the season. This is a small price to pay for being on anti rejection meds (they make skin cancer go wild).

Yes we go just to tailgate and then go home to watch the game.

New Kitty

We have a new kitten. We got him from a friend who found the kitten in an empty rental house. The kitten was headed to the animal shelter so we took him in. Drew and I are not very inventive when it comes to naming our pets. One of our cat's name is Spot because she is mainly white with a couple of black "spots" hence the name. Another of our cats unofficial name is dumbitch (with small letters). She is truly a dumb cat. Drew saw her fall from the second floor landing on her head as a kitten. She has not been the same since. Drew swears the fall gave her brain damage.
When we were trying to think of a name for the new kitty I sent an email to many of my closest family and friends and got many good suggestions. The most obvious name was Socks because the kitten is all gray but has four white paws. We started calling him dumbdick since it was a male cat and dumbdick is an affectionate name Drew and his brother call eachother sometimes. But that didn't seem right since we barly knew the kitten and we didn't know if he was truly dumb. We finally settled on Richard the proper name of Dick from dumbdick.
Richard has been a joy. He has given our other cats hell. He is a ball of engery and wants to play all the time. Richard sleeps with us at night and jumps on our feet in the morning. He is the sweetist cat we have!

All Restrictions are Off

Drew has finally been set free. He is free to work out and do any activity he wishes. His Achilles Tendinitis is 80% better and he feels so much better then just a few weeks ago. He has planted our vegetable garden and finished the project we started a couple of weeks ago. It's nice to have my old Drew back.

Drew gets to do more

Drew has been given the OK to do some gardening. He still is not supposed to lift more than 10 pounds but you know how that goes. The day he was told he could work in the garden Drew went straight outside and he has been there ever since.

More playing in the dirt

Today I spent all morning helping Drew "play in dirt", that's what I call his gardening. He talked about what he wanted us to do all week, he knew I would not just jump up and help him. He talked all week about what he wanted to do and how much he needed my help. We spent 4 hours digging, planting and moving landscaping rocks. We worked on an area that Drew has long ignored. It's an area that we can see when we sit in the breakfast nook (were we eat our meals together), so I really wanted the project to go forward. It was hard work and I sweated my butt off. It's not quite done, Drew is already talking about working on the project on my next day off.

Don't tell Drew but I really kinda enjoyed it this morning. I got to spend some real quality time with Drew. We used to spend Sundays on the boat but we sold our boat this spring. Drew battles skin cancer and the anti-rejection drugs cause skin cancer to grow wildly. Drew tries to avoid the sun like the plague.