Author: heiditea

Tea Lover

1-Year Annie-Versary

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My one-year annie-versary was met with a beautifully, sunny and warm fall day. However, unlike last year’s day spent in ICU, this day was filled with self-indulgence and rewards- and why not?

  1. I took the day off work. I wanted to celebrate this day with living…not working.
  2. I treated myself to a one-hour aromatherapy massage, a french manicure and a warm stone facial at The Senator Inn & Spa.
  3. Dave and I enjoyed a nice mid-day cruise on the boat after my spa visit and I called my mom…something I was unable to do for almost 7 days last year. He set out a Care Bear and a very sweet card for me. (Check out this entry on the history of the Care Bear.)
  4. Dave presented me with a small pumpkin and a card which contained a gift certificate for my favorite greenhouse Longfellows Greenhouse at the hotel. He had packed the pumpkin in his suit case! LOL
  5. Dave and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner at The Senator Inn & Spa’s restaurant Cloud 9 and started it off with a champagne toast before dinner. We ended with a carry-out tiramisu to enjoy later in our room.
  6. We enjoyed the pool and hot tub at the inn and worked off our dinner…well, Dave did! LOL
  7. We stayed overnight in a spa suite with a nice gas fireplace and very cushy beds.
  8. The next day Dave and I had a terrific breakfast then enjoyed a visit to the greenhouse to pick up some pumpkins, hay and corn stalks for some seasonal fall decorating. I don’t normally decorate for fall, but this year I am because I’m here to enjoy it, so why not?
  9. A fall drive through the hills to enjoy the foliage was next and another sunny, warm day greeted us.
  10. We enjoyed a long cruise on the boat where at anchor, we both fell asleep. Thankfully, it wasn’t windy, so no fear of the anchor coming loose while dozing! LOL

The night before, the day of and the day after my annie-versary, were filled with lengthy discussions and memories of how it was a year ago and things that happened to not only Dave and myself, but to other family members and coworkers. I found out some things I hadn’t known before about the day I was admitted to the hospital and when I went into surgery and during recovery. Mostly because I was on so much medication I don’t a lot of it.

Although Friday was a day filled with rewards for myself, it was reward enough to be here and to be enjoying such a lovely time with my “Maine Man”…who has been smoke-free for a year as well.

I certainly had some strange emotions flowing through me this past week. I can’t even put some of them into words. I just know in remembering how things were last year I’m very lucky and very blessed.

It’s Coming

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A huge, huge hurdle was crossed yesterday. I completed the 2008 Johnny’s catalog layout. It’s not done, by any means, but at least I know that everything will fit. The vegetable section alone is 92 pages!!

Just getting through this bigger catalog, was a struggle and one I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do since I suffered the aneurysm rupture a year ago this Friday.  The last two weeks were really rough. A lot of brain work and lots of time spent staring at the computer screen. It was difficult and I left many days with horrible headaches that stayed with me until I fell asleep and often times into the next morning.

With the annie-versary looming on Friday, this hurdle called for major celebration. So, to no only celebrate my living a year following the rupture, I’m also celebrating the layout completion of the catalog. And, I’m going to do it up right!

I have scheduled a massage, facial and manicure at The Senator Inn & Spa here in Augusta, then we’re staying in a spa suite over night and having dinner there as well. Dave has not smoked in a year and that’s another mark that needs celebrating. Just being together for a nice little getaway, close to home will be great.

There are a lot of emotions and feeling flowing through my mind as I’m getting closer to the anniversary. So, hopefully treating myself in a totally different way will be just the ticket.

Thoughts

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It’s odd. As the one-year anniversary of my ruptured brain aneurysm looms closer, as I repeat doing some of the same things I did last year, I get “nervous”. I can’t think of any other word for it. It’s like, if I do the same things I did last year, it’ll happen again or something. Even though I know it won’t. Silly really.

I also think about the things I did last year not knowing I had the little, well, NOT so little, time bomb there. The stress of work is bringing it all back heavily. How did I not burst an aneurysm during the previous years of the catalog? Why didn’t it burst during my most stressful days last year? Certainly, it could have been worse and I’m very lucky to be here to experience all the lovely stress of THIS year’s catalog process, but I can’t help think about last year and how close I could have come to facing the grim reaper.

It’s almost like I’m reliving last year, but this time with the knowledge I had the aneurysm. It IS making me take things slower and easier and I’m giving myself more breaks and trying to enjoy life more this fall than I did last fall. I’m just lucky I’m HERE this fall to enjoy it right? No one reads this…not sure why I ask questions! LOL

Dr. Be Gone

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I had an appointment with my neurologist last week. She had wanted to do an MRI on my neck, but the insurance company declined the request, so we had an appointment scheduled. She didn’t seem to think it was needed at this point, which was fine with me.

However, she did address my head and ocular migraine issues and I am now on Verapamil and baby Aspirin daily. She said it’ll take a couple of weeks to really get into my system. So far, no serious side effects, but I did experience a couple days of dizziness and light headedness…all side effects listed.

Then at the end of our appointment, she informed me she was leaving the area. What??? I just found you!! I was so disappointed. I really liked and trusted her and now I have to go through this whole process again and probably won’t be able to find another Dr. within a 40 mile range. I guess there IS one man near by, but there are rumors he is retiring, so I’ll pass.