andy's appt. and the snow...

Andy’s appointment on Thursday at Duke went well.  They took more x-rays and the doctor gave Andy the go ahead to take off the air cast he had been wearing since the foot was healing up.  And this also meant that the doctor said it was ok for Andy to start driving again!  We were both really excited about this since it means that Andy will be able to start going in to work again soon.  The doctor also talked to us a little about Andy’s hip and said that it was healing as expected and we’d still have to wait and see…but things are looking good.  Andy will be walking with a cane and doing more PT for 6 more weeks at least.  So it was a good visit and I drove part of the way home and then Andy drove a little bit too down a familiar straight road.  He drove around a little more on Friday to get used to things again and said that it felt good.  He had been working with the PT a lot on moving his ankle and putting more pressure on it, which he said had been helping him to feel comfortable with being able to accelerate and brake and all.

This weekend the big storm hit North Carolina…but we were lucky enough to be south of most of the snow.  We only got an inch or so and some ice.  Things are still pretty shut down around here since people are nervous to drive with the ice and church was cancelled.  So we spent the weekend inside and I got caught up on a lot of cleaning/organizing that I had been needing to get to for a while.  Andy did venture outside and cleared off the cars a little bit for us.  He was out there before I realized it and navigated the ice ok.  It was nice of him to make sure the car was cleaned off for me since I’ll be heading to work tomorrow and hate the snow!  He was supposed to be trying to head into work tomorrow too, but his boss already called and told him not to worry about trying to drive in for the first time with the ice.  Here’s a picture I got of Andy when I realized he was outside:

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

not much news...yet...

It took me quite a while to get over being sick….I am finally feeling better. I got some antibiotics towards the weekend to get over everything.

On Saturday, we had a CPR class scheduled for the youth. It was a long day and I still wasn’t feeling great so I just dropped Andy off and he completed his CPR recertification with the youth. And that was pretty much our weekend…long day in Fayetteville on Saturday and resting and recovering.

Andy is doing really well in therapy and is using a cane almost all of the time to get around. His PT also thinks his foot is pretty much healed and she has him stretching it and walking a little without the aircast. We have a doctor’s appointment at Duke tomorrow and we are hoping for good news that things are healing well…and that he will be cleared to start driving again! We are both really ready for him to be able to get around on his own and get more back to “normal”.

sick...

On Monday, as we were coming back from our weekend getaway, I started feeling yucky.  Not any stomach junk, just a really sore back and neck, and a bad headache.  I had a hard time driving home and was really wishing Andy could drive (because he felt fine).  But we made it and I came home and crashed hard and slept for a few hours.  I had to call in sick on Tues. since I had a much worse cold and migraine.  I felt really bad about it since we’re so short staffed at work, but I wouldn’t have been any good there.  I slept all day yesterday and was hoping to go into work today, but as I was trying to get ready this morning, husband tells me that I “still look like hell” and he knew I shouldn’t go in.  I feel bad because the girls won’t even get a lunch break for 2 days since there is just the 2 of them without me there.  But I knew he was right.  I’m finally feeling a little better….hopefully on the upswing.
I still had to get up and take Andy to PT at 8am both mornings….we’re both really, really ready for him to start driving again soon!

why did I bother?

As we took down our Christmas tree this weekend, (I know, I know, we should’ve done it last weekend, I just got busy with laundry and other things and never got around to it….Andy decided to help me get going with it last week when he wanted to light a fire and moved the tree and decorations away from the fireplace in a big, messy, pile….thus forcing me to finally get it over with this weekend) I wondered why I had even bothered with the tree and decorations this year.  We weren’t even at our place for Christmas, didn’t fill our stockings, and Andy could care less whether we decorated or not.  And it was a huge bother for me to do it alone….lug the tree out of storage, set it up, decorate it alone, and all….but it helped me somehow to feel like it was more normal I think.  I set it up the weekend after Thanksgiving while I was home alone and Andy was up at his Dad’s.  His accident and injuries were all still pretty recent and scary and we didn’t know what was going on day to day with him.  I pulled it out and enjoyed decorating and trying to remind myself that we were thankful to be able to celebrate anything together this year. That was Christmas for us this year.  Not the most fun, and really crazy every step of the way….but thankful to be alive and able to celebrate.
And now, we put them away and see what next year brings….

our relaxing weekend...

This past weekend, we randomly decided to head down to Myrtle Beach for a few days.  We both had Monday off (for MLK day) and decided to enjoy it.  We would have normally asked Andy’s dad if we could use their condo, but it doesn’t have an elevator (yet) and Andy would not have been able to handle going up the 3 flights of stairs.  So we put a low bid on priceline.com for a hotel and didn’t really think it would get accepted…but it did!  We ended up staying here……right on the oceanfront…

and we woke up to this view of the sunrise…gorgeous!

We had fun exploring the outlets and Broadway on the Beach.  Andy was feeling pretty good, and is using his cane most of the time, but we got out his wheelchair for the longer shopping/exploring.

Andy had fun feeding the fish and ducks….

but he accidentally dropped his cane in the water….

(that’s it sinking…the blue thing next to the duck…)

We used some Christmas money to splurge on some fun restaurants….

Medieval Times was a fun, different experience dinner/show.  Andy wasn’t too crazy about the fact that they don’t give you silverware (since it wasn’t invented in the medieval period) and you have to eat with your hands.  We were glad we tried it, but probably won’t be going again anytime soon (we mostly went because we had a buy one get one free coupon for Andy’s birthday).

50’s diner – not that exciting, but the waiter was funny and wanted to set up/take this picture (he made smily faces with the ketchup)

We tried to take a picture of us all dressed up to go to the Melting Pot…but it didn’t turn out that great…here it it though – backlit and all.  We had a good time at the restaurant though – it was restaurant week and so it was a little cheaper than normal.  But worth the money….it was so good!

It was a great relaxing weekend, with great weather in the 60s….here are a few other beach pictures (I went for a few walks on the beach, but Andy wasn’t able to yet…hopefully next time we go he’ll be walking on the beach with me!).

Hope everyone else had a good weekend too!

tgif....

It’s been a long week for me.  Still busy at work and we’re going through a stressful season of reviews and all, so everything is crazier.  And we’ve been adjusting to getting up earlier and taking Andy to therapy 3x this week before I go to work.  So glad it’s Friday.  And a long weekend.

Andy’s therapy is going pretty good.  He says the PT is taking her time and really doing a lot of stretching and cool-down time afterwards.  He is working on strengthening his hip and straightening out his leg so that his knee faces forward (instead of how he has been resting it all day to the side).  He’s enjoying being back to work and we both had a good time having our first meeting back with the Red Cross youth group on Sunday evening.  He also volunteered to lead our Disciple Bible Study group this week, as our regular group facilitator was away.  He did a great job!

We are both looking forward to a nice, long weekend (we’re both off for MLK day on Monday!).  We just made some really fun plans this week – somewhat spur of the moment – to relax and celebrate our birthdays.  We’ll take pictures and share them next week.

On a side note….the American Red Cross is very busy with all the relief efforts to Haiti.  Andy is not directly involved with this, as that is covered by the disaster side of the Red Cross (not the Services to Armed Forces that he works with), but it is obviously affecting him and his co-workers.  We are very thankful that he is working with such a good organization that is able to do so much for people in need.  We know of some people who may be going to Haiti and are praying for them, their families, and all of the people down there.

birthday basket

Andy didn’t want much for his birthday….the only thing he keeps asking for is lots of junk food when I go out.  So I made him a junk food basket (filled with a lot of his favorite snacks) for his birthday…

My mom used to do something similar for us when we were growing up…maybe not this much junk though!  Just a few of our favorite drinks/candy/chips in a basket for us to wake up to find on our birthdays.  I think he liked it!  And I although I’ve been trying to eat healthier (and cook us both some good healthy meals too), he has actually been losing weight so I guess he can have his junk food.  Even though he’s just been sitting around, he’s been exerting a lot of energy in therapy and just to work hard to move – I guess he’s been burning a lot of it off.  Lucky guy!
We had a nice dinner out to celebrate his birthday and husband was happy.  He likes nice, low-key birthdays.  We’re planning on celebrating both of our birthdays (mine is rather belated…but it was right after he came home from the hospital and we couldn’t really celebrate it then) a little more this weekend.

happy birthday Andy!

Happy Birthday to my my husband!

Here’s hoping for a great year for him (and us!)….and for a full recovery….

So thankful for him and that God placed him in my life!

new physical therapy...

Thursday morning Andy started out-patient PT.  We had to get him up and dropped off before I went to work, so it was early! He said his new therapist is good, but she “put him through the ringer” – he walked on a treadmill for the first time, did weights, a lot of stretching and new exercises.  He said she thought he was doing well and might have some ideas for seeing a doctor down here and/or being cleared to drive soon.  Which would be very exciting!  As it was, I had to drop him off, run and open up and get things started at work, then slip away for 13 min. (I timed it to see how long it took) and go pick him up and drop him back off at home.  It wasn’t too bad, but considering how short staffed we are and that Andy is going to be doing this 3 times/week for the next while, it will still not be easy.  So the sooner he can drive the better.  I’m still going to be a little nervous with him driving his long 45+ min. commute to work though – he drives on remote roads where he doesn’t even get great cell phone coverage if he should have any problems.  So we’ll see – hopefully he can start driving soon and practice with shorter trips first before he has to go back to working full-time in the office in a few weeks.

Friday wasn’t too bad for me at work – just another long day.  But it was good to have my boss back working with us and we got the good news that one of our old co-workers who moved away wants to move back and is going to be able to transfer here and start working with us again soon!  Which means no training time or anything for a regular new hire and we know this one well and that she is a good worker who really will help us out.  Friday night we finally watched “Julie & Julia”.  I had been trying to get it on Redbox for a while, but couldn’t find it on the weekends here for the last few weeks I tried to rent it and then when I did actually reserve it online last weekend, the Redbox I rented it at was broken so I couldn’t get the DVD.  They reimbursed me and gave me a free code, but anyways, I finally got the DVD last night.  It was a good movie – about blogging and cooking – of course I liked it!  Andy watched it with me for a while, but said he was getting annoyed by Meryl Strep’s voice as Julia Childs and he put on his headphones and listened to something online while I finished the movie.
This weekend we don’t have too much going on…I think I’m going to go to the post office and maybe get a cup of coffee from the cute little coffee shop downtown in a little bit.  Then home for cleaning and such.  Tomorrow we are going to church and then in the evening we are going to start back with the Red Cross Youth program again.  Another volunteer has been doing a good job leading in our absence, but she’s ready for us to come back and take over!  So that should be fun.

Hope everyone else has a good weekend!

follow us...

I'm so indecisive....I am again switching blog hosts....so sorry for all this.....but we're still at

abiandandy.com

so hopefully we don't confuse too many people. I mainly switched because we can keep the blog open but make individual posts private - which I think will work better. Somehow it wasn't as fun to update or ask people to read if you had to sign in first...such a pain! If any blog posts on our new site are private and you'd like to read them, email or message us and we'll be happy to send you the password.

Thanks!
-abi & andy

bad news, good news....

Don’t worry….it’s not that bad.

I just woke up this morning with really bad eye pain and my eye swollen shut.  I remembered that I had a hard time the previous evening getting one of my contacts out. After a long time trying to get it out and not seeing it anywhere in my eye, I gave up and hoped that it had fallen out and my eye was just irritated from my trying to get a contact lens out for a little while.  Apparently the contact was still in and/or something was wrong with my eye still this morning.  I called in late to work and went to my eye doctor.  He looked at my eye and found my contact still in it, but it was in several pieces.  I have no idea how that contact managed to tear apart, but somehow it did.  Anyways, I’m fine – just have to use antibiotic drops for a few days.  Just a pain.  Sorry if this was a little TMI for non-contact lens wearers.

The good news is much more exciting….

It was a good thing I stayed home a little this morning (due to the above mentioned eye junk) because I got to be here for Andy’s PT session.  His therapist came in and started talking to us about getting Andy started with out patient physical therapy sometime soon.  We talked a little about everything and got the recommendations of out patient clinics for him.  Then the PT had Andy doing some exercises and walking around and he turns to me and says “Abi, can you see about getting an appointment for Andy to do out patient this week?”  The PT was surprised at how much Andy had improved in the past few days and how much weight-bearing he is able to do now.  He thinks that he really can’t do much more with Andy at home and he needs to get on machines and do weights and all.  Which is great news!  It’s going to be interesting to see how we work out juggling several therapy sessions a week with my working full-time and him still not being able to drive…but we’ll figure it out.  Thankfully our town is pretty small and everything is really close, so I’m thinking it will be ok.  And Andy’s already talking to the therapists and doctors – bugging them about when they will clear him to drive.  He says its so he go back to work and stop making me drive him everywhere.  I think he just really wants to drive his new car.

back to work....

The weekend was too short – even though it was a 3 day weekend for me.  I worked New Year’s eve and came home so tired that I didn’t make it up anywhere near midnight ….we turned on a movie and I was out so fast I don’t remember much past the first few minutes of the movie.  Good thing we didn’t have any big New Year’s eve plans.  I was off New Year’s day  and we had a fun time running up to Raleigh and doing a little after-Christmas sale shopping.  Mostly Andy just likes getting out of the house these days, so it’s easy to talk him into shopping!

Today was another long day and as I have many days recently, I have come home really exhausted….we have been really busy and VERY short-staffed.  But I came home and even made a good dinner.  I like to cook, but had been having a hard time feeling putting much thought or effort into making dinner at all since Andy’s accident.  I don’t know why – it just seemed like more thing to worry about or something.  So we’d end up doing more fast food, easy meals, and breakfast/snacking for dinner than was good for either of us.  It was getting a little out of hand in my opinion – even though Andy didn’t usually care – he could snack all day every day and be fine I think.

Anyways, I’m going to get back on track with planning and cooking.

But today was really good because Andy went back to work!  He got the all clear from his doctors and was just waiting to hear from his employers about how everything could work out.  He decided to start with part-time working from home to get re-aclaimated to working.  He said everything went pretty well and he had a lot to catch up on.  Its good to see him focusing on his work instead of the pain and frustration he’s been dealing with for a while now.  We’re thankful that his job is being so supportive of everything and is willing to let him work from home since he can’t drive yet and it would be hard to get him there.

a new year....2010!

Happy New Year!  We hope everyone had a good one and a good Christmas.  We haven’t blogged for a while, so here’s a recap of 2009 and what we’re looking forward to this year.
2009….

• We renewed our lease and decided to stay another year in our current apartment and little town.  Andy talked to some people in the national office and we found out that he is/was higher up on the list to be moved overseas which could possibly look like the end of 2009/beginning of 2010, so we decided that a year contract was a good gamble.  He also was on the backup list to be deploy in June, but thankfully that didn’t happen!
• Abi’s job is still going well…she’s actually one of the senior employees now and has a lot more responsibility and has been really busy.  But a lot of the drama is gone and she enjoys working with her current co-workers.  They have been really supportive of her and we are thankful she has a good job.
• We got to go and celebrate Abi’s sister Katie’s wedding (more here) in May and then spent a week vacationing up north visiting DC and MD and then up to Maine to celebrate Abi’s cousin Daniel’s wedding (vacation pt. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
• We celebrated our first anniversary (and decided not to get a dog right now).
• We started going to a new church and a new Bible study together.  We are doing a Disciple Bible study and are systematically reading through most of the Bible.  We are loving it and are glad to be making new friends.
• Andy was in a very serious accident in November and was injured but is alive and healing.  (Email either of us if you would like to read more info about his accident and recovery).  He spent a week in the hospital and still has a lot of physical therapy to go…we are so thankful for all the love and support we received this past year while going through everything.
• Abi turned 30!  She wasn’t too excited about it and her actual birthday wasn’t very good since it was right after Andy’s accident….but she had a fun surprise birthday party in Baltimore when she went up to visit and celebrate her good friend Becki’s baby at the end of October.
• We got a new car!  A fun red Ford Focus….gets good gas milage and we got a good long test drive the day we got it….going up to Baltimore to visit Abi’s family for Christmas.  We had a good time and were glad we got the chance to get up there to see everyone.
• Andy has been working hard in physical therapy and has recently started walking with a cane!  He looks like an old man, but this is really good progress as he is starting to put more weight on his hip and leg.  We like his physical therapist and are glad he comes to work with Andy at our home.

in 2010….

• We are looking forward to and praying for a full recovery for Andy!
• We are thankful his job has been understanding and supportive and are looking forward to him returning to work.
• We hope that he can quickly return to being able to drive – our new car!
• We have no idea what Andy’s job will be like this year…if we will be moving overseas or Andy will be able to be deployable or not, or if we will be able to stay here….just keep us in your prayers as we (and his HR) figure it all out.
• We hope to still be able to spend lots of time with our families….we are thankful to be so close to Andy’s dad, sister and his stepmother and step-siblings and we want to make time to visit with his mom, grandmother, and Abi’s family who are all a little further away.
• Abi’s excited about a new girl’s Bible study and some new friends she has made – she hopes that will be a good outlet for her when she needs suppport and/or gets too stressed.
• We are looking forward to a good year with the American Red Cross youth group – hope to help them do another major activity/fundraiser this spring and several more service projects.
• and who knows what else?????  We are glad that we can stay in touch with so many people and would love to have more people follow us as we blog.  Thanks so much!

And in case you didn’t notice….Abi is being indecisive and has changed blogsites once again…..she didn’t feel very inspired to blog at a private blogsite (although she knew it was necessary to keep some things privately viewed at this point)…so she looked around and realized that she can password protect certain blog posts on WordPress’s site….and she decided to switch over and blog here.  We are still keeping
http://abiandandy.com
but switching hosts and blogging here instead.  Abi can also more easily blog on her Blackberry from WordPress’s site….so hopefullly you will get more frequent updates.  Thanks for following our journey!
- Abi & Andy