Surprise!!

I have always wanted to have a surprise party. The problem with that of course, is that you can't throw your own surprise party. I sort of had one when I turned 10, but my mom told me about it a few days before.

Well, today I got my wish. My co-workers at school threw me a surprise "going-away/get well soon" party during our afternoon faculty meeting. I was SO SURPRISED! I passed the library earlier and saw a bunch of food laid out, but I just assumed it was because it was our last faculty meeting.

I was a few minutes late, and when I walked in everyone yelled "SURPRISE!!" I was so shocked and overwhelmed. I felt so loved and it was so great to know that everyone is thinking of me. It was so sweet. Everyone had contributed something small for a gift basket:
It has a coloring book, crayons, crossword puzzles, sudoku, playing cards, bubbles and more! Lots of things to keep me entertained when I can't do anything physical. I am so grateful to work with such thoughtful people.

My last day of school is Thursday :( My kids have decided to have a party. We're going to have pizza, watch movies and have fun. I'm not looking forward to leaving them but I am looking forward to having fun with them. Tomorrow is field day so I'm sure that will be fun also.

Thanks to everyone in blog world who is sending good wishes! I appreciate it!!

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They gonna cut you??

So my surgery is in a few weeks. If you don't know, I'm having spinal fusion to correct/stabilize my worsening scoliosis. I went to the doctor today and my curve has progressed from 45 degrees to 56. Yikes! Not good.

I told my students on Monday that I would be leaving school early to have an "operation". They know that my back hurts and I told them that the doctors were going to fix it. I asked if they have any questions. One was "They gonna cut you?" Yes sweet child, they gonna cut me. Thanks for easing my fears about this whole thing. In all honesty, I don't think they really understand much of it. I did read Curious George Goes to the Hospital to give them some understanding. We'll see how it goes. I have 7 school days left :(

Today was my pre-op appointment. We went here:

That's right. Children's Hospital. Since my doctor is the one I have had since I was 7, there is no sense in changing doctors. He knows me, I know him, he knows my medical history, it just makes sense. And since I teach Kindergarten, I totally don't mind being in a kid's environment.

My mom enjoyed herself in the waiting room:
She had a lot of fun playing with the magnetic table. To be honest, I did too. Those things are cool!! They whisked me away to do all sorts of tests and x-rays, then told me I needed to go downstairs to talk with anesthesia.

When we got there, the people told us that since I was over 13 I had to go over to the main hospital. Ok, no problem. We walked over to the "big person" hospital to be told that since I didn't have an appointment they couldn't do anything. A few phone calls back and forth straightened it out luckily. Apparently I am a very unique situation in that I'm a 26 year old adult but having surgery in a children's hospital.

The upside of a children's hospital? Cool band-aids:
It's a dog on a surf board. Would have been better if it was Hello Kitty or a Disney Princess, but I'll take it. The best part of the day came when I saw some crayons and coloring book in the waiting room. I went over to get them and then they immediately called my name. "Damn!" I said under my breath. My mom reminded me that since I was in a children's hospital I probably shouldn't swear. Guess I'll have to watch myself.

So I report for surgery in 12 days. Any advice? Any good movies I should make a point to watch while I'm recuperating? Thanks in advance for prayers and support!

Little by little

One of my New Year's resolutions involves one of these:Yes, I know it's cliche to vow to lose weight in the new year. But since I have this surgery coming up in May, I have a pretty big incentive. The more in shape I am in May, the better recovery will be. To help myself, I made a fun little chart that hangs on my wall. It breaks down my big goal into small, manageable pieces.

Tonight I just zipped up a pair of jeans I bought 9 months ago. They fit! True, in a month or so I hope they're too loose. But right now, they fit and I'm celebrating! Being so excited about my 5 lb. weight loss made me reflect on other things that just take time.

Take reading. You're not born knowing how to read. It takes time. And a lot of practice. Sort of like weight loss. I need to remember this when I get frustrated that my kids aren't automatically reading on a level 2 or 3 (where they should be at this point in the year). The important thing to remember is to not give up and keep practicing. After all, I didn't give up when I didn't lose any weight last week. I kept working and this week I did.

So we'll keep working on the reading thing at school. And I'll keep working on the weight loss thing at home.