Impending Surgery

I haven't been on here in a while. Wednesday I am going under the knife. I have tried not to whine, but it has really sucked for a while.

So, Wednesday I will be having disc replacement surgery in my lower back. Discs L4-L5 and L5-S1 will be removed and then replaced with a prosthetic.

I am not allowed to leave my house for 3 weeks and I will be off work for at least 3 months. The doctor said he would rather me be off the full 4.5-6 months, but I don't think I can afford to be off that long since Worker's Compensation has recently said they don't want to pay me.

Either way the surgery will happen and I will fight it out in court later to try to get them to pay the debt we are about to incur. Please keep me in your prayers and if you get bored, I'll be here.

It's Been a While

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted something.

Things in the Hejna Household are great. We have been super busy, but I am not sure if I know with what. It seems the days have been flying by this month and I don't know that I have much to show for it.

I guess I do really. Last weekend I hosted, along with Kate and my mom, a bridal shower for my cousin's fiancee, Megan. It was lovely. I am shocked at just how many people will fit in my family room comfortably! Megan had quite a stash of gifts when she was done...Nothing says I love you like new appliances!!!

Later today I am going to present to the employees of Riverbend HeadStart at their meeting at the Gateway Convention Center. The topic? Personal Safety. I think I have the presentation timed perfectly, but I hope I am able to talk slowly so they get all of it and it doesn't turn out to be only 15 minutes. I'm sure it will be fine.

I hope to have a party at the house in the next month or so to sort of show it off. We wanted the back yard oasis to be complete prior to the party, but it's just not in the cards. So keep your eyes open for an invite. It will just be an open house and I would love it if you are able to make it.

Okay. I'm back to bed now. After my presentation, you see, I have to go to work for the night.

Destin Day 3, The Armament Museum

Well we started our day on the beach but the rain
came and quickly dampened our fun in the sun.

After showers and lunch at Taco Bell; Mark, Shannon, Steve and I went to the Elgin Air Force Base Armament Museum. It was really neat looking at all the planes and weapons from the various wars/eras in our military's history.

Not to mention learning about all the advancements!

Mark knew a lot about all the planes!

Steve, Shannon, and Mark in front of Mark's favorite plane!

Steve and I both got to sit in an A-10 Warthog Trainer cockpit!

Destin, Florida - Days 1 & 2

We got up early Saturday morning and joined Steve's Mom (Laurie) and Dad (Mark) and kids (Andy, Shannon and Allison) in the Yukon XL for the 12 hour drive to Destin, Florida. 7 seatbelts and 7 people = oof.

It was a long ride in tight quarters, but we made it here without any problems. The first night we unpacked and went to the beach with Mark, Shannon and Allison. Laurie and Andy missed out on the fun the first night while they went to the Urgent Care. Turns out Andy has MONO! The poor kid feels like crap. The rest of us are stocking up on Vitamin C and just trying to stay away as much as possible. Hooray for Clorox wipes!

Today was fabulous. Steve and I woke up around 0630 and sat on the balcony for our coffee and breakfast. Laurie and I went to the store and bought food for lunch and dinner. When we returned from the store, we all went down to the beach. After finding a few jelly fish in the water, the boys removed them with the lacrosse sticks Steve brought and we headed to the pool.

Swimming, tennis and a trip to Target led up to a fabulous dinner cooked by Laurie. Chicken Parmesan and spaghetti, I am STUFFED! After dinner I helped Alli with her math summer homework and realized I am WAY out of practice. Who has summer homework anyway?!

Tomorrow should be either beach or the armament museum. Maybe both! We'll post as we can and I will try to actually take pictures over the next few days. Love you all!

SO much fun!

Since Steve and I are spending more time at home now that we have our house, that means Patrick and Eva are coming over more to play with or help us. Here are a few pictures of our good times. (Can you tell I just downloaded pictures tonight?)

They were being so sweet!

Eva was hangin with the monkeys

P is just like his mama...Gotta have the Humm Dingers!

Uncle Steve built P a fort. He LOVED it!

Look at me go!

As I just promised in the previous post, here are some pics of us moving in. I got busy moving and unpacking and didn't take very many, but here ya go!

This stairwell proved to be difficult

Getting our bedroom set upstairs was "interesting"

Dad definitely didn't want me taking his picture

YAY! Look at my guys go!

Even Patrick got in on the action!

The "before" pictures

A few of you asked for pictures of the house we bought in May. Since it is the reason I haven't posted in a while, I figured I would get on that.

We didn't really have to do anything to move in, but there are still a few small projects on the list for inside and a couple of larger projects slated for the outside of the house. We do have one big project in the back room we want to accomplish, but that won't happen for another year or so.

We should be getting the last chair this week and that will complete the furniture buying for this phase.

Here are the "before the move" pictures of the house. I will post the "during the move" pictures soon and then I will take and post some "after the move pics in the next few days, or let's be realistic, weeks.

1821 Evergreen Ave; Alton, IL 62002

The view as you walk in

The living room is to the right just inside the door

More of the living room

The dining room is directly across from...

The kitchen!

The family room is an addition at the back of the house

It is "L" shaped and GIANT!

The upstairs bathroom

Our bedroom

The guest room

A second view of the guest room.