Merry Christmas

In less than 24 hours I will be on a plane flying to Guatemala to spend my daughter's first Christmas with her. My husband is not able to go as he has work commitments. It will be our first Christmas apart since the 2002 the year we got engaged. This back pain reminds me of then...

see wavy lines as Rebecca remembers back...

2002 - It was coming up on Christmas with all the hustle and bustle we all know. I was working a minimum of 45 hours a week in the burn unit at our hospital. Alan was 80 miles away at Ft. Leonard Wood. My back was hurting me as it often did, but I made no mind of it this weekend. Alan was coming for the weekend and I had packages to mail and things to do. I was going to be making Christmas dinner this year at my mom's house and all the family in town was coming. Alan and I had only been dating since October and so this season was especially joyful with the thrill of a new and special relationship. It felt like anything could happen. It did. I tried to stretch my back out and it seized up on me. An ambulance had to come and get me. I couldn't move and I was in the worst pain imaginable. On a scale of 1-10 I was at a 10 (I really hate it when someone says on a scale of 1-10 they were a 15. You can't be a 15 on a scale of 1-10! The most you can be is a 10! but I digress...) By the time I was admitted to the hospital I had been given 25 mg of Demerol, 20 mg of Ativan (used to relax the muscle), more Demerol and morphine. Those amounts I don't remember, but I'd been given a lot of drugs and finally the pain was tolerable. Alan had come and stayed with me the whole time. He left around midnight. Some time in the night I awoke to noise all around me. I could hear the nurses say they were giving narcan and oxygen and I thought, "uh oh. Someone's in trouble" Then my bed was moving and I opened my eyes. I was on o2 and they were moving me to another room. I was the one in trouble. They had given me too many pain meds. I had stopped breathing and the nurse aide had found me with an 02 saturation of 35%. Not good. Fast forward to Christmas Eve. I am still unable to move much at all. I have IV fluids and oxygen. Alan was supposed to be coming to spend Christmas with my family, but I wouldn't be there. I couldn't leave the hospital. There was snow coming. We got 2 feet of snow in about 4 hours or so. I was worried because Alan had called to say he was coming before the snow got really bad. It was normally a 1.5 hour drive and 3 hours later he hadn't arrived. I watched the news and saw people off the road everywhere. It had taken my sister-in-law an hour to make it a mile. I was so worried about Alan. He should have stayed at home. Finally he came. Still in his uniform it had taken him 4 hours but he'd made it. My brother and sil left to make it home in daylight. Alan and I watched TV and talked little. (Isn't it nice to have someone you can just be quiet with?) The next thing I know he had climbed over the side rail and is laying in the hospital bed with me. I looked at him like what are you doing, the nurses will kill you. (I'm a nurse. I should know) He looked at me and said Rebecca will you marry me? and pulled out a box with a beautiful solitaire diamond ring. I was so excited and said yes. He put the ring on my finger and kissed me. A few minutes later he was getting out of the hospital bed (they weren't made for 2) and turned to me and said, "That wasn't the drugs talking was it?"

wavy lines as Rebecca comes back to the present

No it wasn't the drugs. lol I meant it then and I mean it now. :) That is my favorite Christmas memory so far.

This is my last post this year as I will be away until after the New Year. From our family to yours we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year.

May there be peace on Earth,

Rebecca

Weekend

We had a long but wonderful weekend traveling around. We went to Metz in France and visited their Christmas market. Last year, we were wandering around France and when we decided to eat we were near the town of Metz. We found parking and a nice restaurant. After we ate we went walking around the shopping area and came across a wonderful Christmas market. So, this year we decided to go back. We walked around and bought some lovely ornaments, sampled the muled wine (it was freezing cold and the mulled wine was much better than what you get in Germany) bought some home made soaps that smell wonderful and enjoyed the atmosphere. We found a wonderful little Italian restaurant for dinner and then drove back to our hotel. We did some shopping in Kaiserslautern and met Dawn and her husband for lunch on Saturday. This was the first time we had met in person. They were interesting and intelligent and we had a good time. I currently (and all weekend) have had a pinched nerve in my back so that has been a trial. Please pray that it gets better before I go to Guatemala.

Christkindlmarkt

Yesterday we went to a wonderful restaurant commonly called steak on a rock. They bring out these large cuts of meat raw on a way hot square stone that cooks it. So everyone can have it cooked as much or as little as they please. On the side are various sauces to dip it in if you choose. The only one I like is the garlic butter. You can order several different meats. It could be that I have posted on this before, but if I have you can see how great it is by me mentioning it twice. You can order what they call a t-bone steak which I would call a huge porterhouse, bison, crocodile, kangaroo, ostrich, or rump steak. I don't recall there being any others. Anyway, it's just wonderful. Hubby always gets the t-bone, but last time I got the bison and this time I got the ostrich. Ostrich is a red meat and tastes quite a bit like beef, but then most red meats that I have tasted do taste similar.



Anyway, after that we went to the Chriskindlemarkt here in Bamberg. Last year we went to the one in Nurenburg and we may go again this year. Last night the stores in downtown Bamberg were open until midnight. They do this once a year and so we went to enjoy. We tried the gluhwein but didn't like it. lol we liked the non-alcoholic kinderpunch that the children drink. We had a good time anyway.

The Diet

Well, it's really not a diet. I should just say I'm trying to reduce. A lot. These are the things I have learned in the past 2 weeks or so.

My goal here is to only eat when I'm hungry and then to eat fewer carbs. The reason for the low carbs is that carbs convert to sugar in your body very quickly. They leave you feeling hungry faster because they are digested faster. My sister thinks I need to give up sugar all together. I have cut it way back, but I don't know if I can give it up all together. So, I have eaten hard boiled eggs and made homemade beef and vegetable soup etc. I did cut out drinking anything with sugar/calories in it. That hasn't been a big problem since we have that good bottled water and then too I drink a lot of iced tea and put splenda in it. I'm working on eating more vegetables and fruits trying to get more fiber. Yes, I'm still eating Spaghettio's. :)

My name is Rebecca and I'm a foodaholic.

They say that recognising and admitting you have a problem is the first step. So there it is. One night at the beginning of this I was just nervous. I was anxious and upset and restless. I paced around the living room and was positively nervous. I remember thinking, "this is how I felt when I quit smoking." Then it hit me. I was jonesin for a fix. I wanted to eat something, but I wasn't hungry. I really, really wanted to eat. It's a real addiction. The thing is that you can't just quit cold turkey like you could with alcohol or cigarettes etc.

So, as time goes by I will journal my challenges and victories. Feel fee to come along on the journey with me.

Friday

Whew! Another busy day here in Bamberg. Woke up this morning to find that Smokey the cat had played all night in the coupons I had so carefully sorted and stacked. Coupons everywhere. Could the Lord be preparing me for motherhood? 3 loads of laundry today, wrapping Christmas presents, making dinner and the bed of course. 4 pounds lost. Errands run.
Yesterday was bizarre. I woke up when I heard a loud noise just after my husband left for work. I thought, "Oh stink! I forgot to put my water bottles out for exchange! The delivery is today! So I get up, throw my robe on, look outside to see if I could see the truck. I didn't see it, but it was only 0915 (yes a late start I know). Anyway, I had a little water left in the current bottle and I wanted to exchange all the bottles so I hurriedly empty the water into some pitchers, and get the bottles out side. Can you just see me in my bathrobe with hair sticking out everywhere? Anyway, I went on about my day but I waited to take a shower because I didn't want to be in the shower when they came. After a couple of hours and no one came, I call the company. The call doesn't go through. I tried every number I could but it either wouldn't go through or no one was answering. Now I was getting upset. I went outside to see if they came early and left a note in the mail box like they are supposed to. No note. I called my husband and asked him to call thinking maybe he would have better luck. He got through, but there was no answer. I got more and more frustrated and upset. Then I discovered that it was Thursday and not Friday. The delivery day is Friday. OOOPS! lol The whole day I was thinking it was Friday when it was not. Confused my whole day.

Monday

You know, house work never ends. Now, I realize that this is not a huge revelation to well to anyone however some days it just seems endless. Today I truly felt I was climbing Mt. Washmore. Between sweeping and mopping the floors (we don't have carpeting) emptying the dishwasher 3 times and loading/running it twice, making the bed, 5 loads of laundry done completely (2 more to do tomorrow) rearranging the pantry, putting up Christmas decorations and some other organizing, I'm a bit tired. While I'm writing this I'm instant messaging with my brother in Missouri. He's watching some PBS show that we wont get to see and bragging about it oops I mean telling me about it. Oh wait, make that 3 loads to do tomorrow as I have baby wash to do to get ready to go to Guatemala. Not that I'm complaining. I'm not. I'm thankful to have the clothes to wash and a husband to cook for and a baby to wash for, but I think most of you know what I mean about some days it just seems endless. I hope you all had a wonderful day.