i suppose they call this growing up...

Whoa. So when I started this little blog of mine I was determined to keep up with it all the time. Fail. I just realized it's been since September that I've blogged. I think I went into hiding a little bit :) A LOT has gone on since then. First off, my dad went through a liver transplant in October. It was the hardest thing my family has really ever been through. Just emotionally and physically draining. Wondering how the surgery would go...wondering how the recovery would go...would he even survive the surgery...will he reject the new liver...when will we ever sleep again...when can he be on his own...the list goes on. I am EXTREMELY pleased to say that his surgery was a success! It's 4 months post surgery as of this month, and with only a few bumps in the road, so far so good! It's funny, actually, because we were all SO concerned with the surgery and never really thought about the recovery process. They should really tell you that if your loved one survives the surgery, the recovery is way more taxing. And let's keep in mind, we weren't the ones that had just had our organs ripped out, fooled with, and replaced (gross humor lessens the emotion of it :)) Recovery was, for lack of a better term, a huge bitch. What he went through physically, having his organs start working again after they were essentially asleep for a day (during surgery) was hard to watch. Turns out, that's painful. He didn't know what to expect and neither did any of the rest of us. And of course, anyone that knows Jack, knows he wants to try to do things his own way :) Like...the day he decided that he only needed one pain pill. WRONG! That sucked...he had to wait 4 hours before he could have another and was in some SERIOUS pain. He had been cut from one side of his body to the other; sure one pain pill 4 days after surgery I'm sure will be fine... Learned that lesson the hard way. From then on...2 pain pills it was! The staff at Piedmont is pretty amazing. Dr. P was the one that did my dad's surgery. He's a tiny little man (which we get great humor from now) but a fantastic little man. He was just awesome. Pre-surgery he was very calm and comforting. There was never a sense of "you're just another liver I'm gonna take out and replace." He was very genuine and had true concern for my dad and our whole family. All the nurses on the transplant floor were fabulous. The Albertson clan can be a bit much, and they never made us feel unwanted or like we were a bother. (because we were all there, all 6 of us, most of the time) So, long story short, Jack is back! He has 2 birthdays now...his regular birthday, and Billy's (Billy Ruben, his new liver...yes we make humor out of everything) birthday, or the Liversary as we call it :)

On another note, my friend, Sarah, who was mentioned in my last post from when we went to find out she was having a baby girl is due in less than a week! Holy crapballs, it seems like it was 2 days ago they called us and were like...uh...peed on a stick and turns out it's positive! It's been so awesome to watch her every step of the process. I have to give her some mad credit...she has been at the gym her entire pregnancy. It's one of those things where you watch other people go through things that you will hopefully go through one day and can take from what you watch, what you want to. Let me tell you something...my ass will be in the gym my whole pregnancy too because she looks fierce!(when that time comes, I'll need to revisit this post, I'm sure :)) Our trainer, D-Dog as I've named him, said to her that if her ankles and wrists stay the same size then she has done what she needs to and drum roll......she has no swelling. That's pretty amazing. We were texting back and forth this morning about "is this a symptom of labor, what about this, and this" and it's just funny! It's exciting and I feel very honored to have been a part of it with her! Baby T will be here before we know it! Wearing her tutu's (duh, of course I got her one for infant dance class) and headbands! I LOVE BABIES!!

So, I, in general hate to talk about myself in a positive light (weird, I know) but this is my blog so I suppose I'm supposed to do that...I believe I had mentioned some months back that I was starting with a personal trainer. Let me say...best. decision. I've. ever. made. Honestly...not only have I dropped 30 lbs (which is both awesome and disgusting) but I feel amazing. I actually enjoy working out. weird. Only a few more pounds to go before I'm at my drum corps weight. And, now I have some muscle. weirder! Turns out I had gotten fat! I'll call it the "happy fats" :) You know, when life is just being lived...nothing to "lose weight for" and then you realize you've been eating mozzerella sticks and sitting on the couch at night for 6 months...oopsie! Well, not this chick anymore! It's quite liberating! It's something I do for myself and I LOVE IT! But, I haven't done this on my own. My trainer and other health nut friends have really taught me a lot about what I'm putting in my body. And to be truthful, I don't crave the shit I used to shove down my throat, and it's hard to imagine that I used to do that. You know the whole "it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change" bit that used to REALLY piss me off when people would say...well, yeah, turns out it's true. ha!

So all in all, the last few months have been quite fun-filled, and also emotional. I've learned a lot about myself and the person that I am now versus the person I was a very short year ago. I suppose they call this growing up...