Tuesday, January 12, 2010
July
Shortly after our return from Oahu, I celebrated my 32nd birthday. We went to Ola's for dinner with Bill, Kelly, Madison, Brittany and Kari. Later that night, Kari and I met up with Brandy and Carly (who happens to be the daughter of my boss, Lisa) at J & H. And even though Ben had to work and said he couldn't make it, he showed up anyway.
A few days later, as if I needed to be reminded that I'm getting older, I began to feel a pain in my side. I tried not give it much thought, but when the pain remained, I decided to go to the doctor. It started to feel a lot like a kidney stone, so I was given pain medication and told to return if the pain did not go away over the weekend. The following day, Kathryn got married, and so, hopped up on pain pills, I sucked it up to celebrate.
Ryan's brother was the officiant. 
Below, the bride and me.
It was a reunion of sorts. Mandy and her husband Mark on the left and Amanda, my old teaching partner and her husband Drew on the right.
My old boss, Dave and his wife Bev (right) were there, too. (Dave was also Ben's soccer coach when he was 3 years old. Can you imagine 3 year olds playing soccer??? He was also one of Ben's teachers and, eventually, principal of his middle school.) Jamie (left) came with her husband. She also worked at Park Oaks taking on whatever jobs were available, like I did when we first moved to Moorpark. She now works at Intuit.
Concie from Park Oaks was also there, along with Kari. Ben was my date of course!
The bride and groom enjoying the night.
The girls dancing. I like how Jamie looks like she's listening to a violin concierto (and playing an air violin, for that matter) while Mandy and Kari rock out.
After the wedding, I was hopeful that I would start feeling better. I thought I would pass the kidney stone and life would be good again. But this was not meant to be. The pain didn't go away. I couldn't sit up, stand up, lie down, etc.,. I was extremely uncomfortable. I realized that what I had may not have been a kidney stone at all. It was confirmed when I was reading Sunday's Parade magazine and there was a full page ad asking if I had isolated spots of pain, alongside a burning, blistery rash. I lifted up my shirt, and there it was! The rash, the blisters! It was horrible. You may be thinking, "I've never heard of anyone having shingles." And up until I had it, I hadn't heard of it either. Shingles talk usually makes its way through older circles, like 70s and up. Everyone who I talked to seemed to agree that their "grandma had shingles" and so on. But if it's painful and leaves blisters and potential scarring, I'll take it!!! So for the rest of July and all of August, I was out of commission. It was awful. I sat in my back yard a lot and visited with friends when I felt up to it. I avoided people who had never had chicken pox or if they were pregnant, as shingles is contagious for them. Up until this point, I thought that it would be difficult to top the pain of a kidney stone I had years ago, but the shingles did not disappoint in the pain department.
When I was no longer contagious to the masses, I ventured out. Unfortunately the pain can remain for up to six months, which really worried me, so I kept plenty of Vicodin on hand. For a little over 2 months, shingles screwed things up, but I tried not to let it stop me.
I celebrated with Madison (far left) when she turned 7!
And kissed my sweet angel dove when we had our third wedding anniversary. Dinner at Two Guys from Italy. Delicious!
I took care of my animals. What a character Houdini was. I never thought you could see old age in a fish, but looking at this photo of Houdini now, I realize that even Bettas get old and look it.
Precious!
We visited with Nathan.
And were sad when Jason and Megan decided to move back down to San Diego. Megan had already taken Nathan down there when Jason packed up the last of their belongings. I drove the boys around on his last night in Moorpark. It was a wild evening!
July came to a close. And even though shingles knocked me out for a while, I still managed to have a good time and enjoy some of the last days of summer.
# posted by RZV @ 5:58 PM 
Comments:
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WOW what a summer you had!!! The Laura Shingles Wilder episode was funny and sad!Not to mention painful for you!! Uh the pictures of me at the wedding were gross! But you look like Heidi Clum!!! I love your wit and all the pics!
# posted by 
: 1:55 PM
: 1:55 PM
The shingles thing sounds like a nightmare! Once you've had it, can you ever get it again? Keep the new postings coming! :)
Most people only get shingles once, but like chicken pox, you can get it more than once. It's rare, but it can happen.
# posted by : 10:42 AM
: 10:42 AM
its been so long since i´ve been on your blog. i´m ashamed i haven´t kept up better. what have i been doing, i don´t know. its nice to read and see everything i´ve missed. the good and the bad. though it makes me really sad to know of any struggle you have. you have such a place in my heart and when you hurt, i do too. i´m so glad the shingles and other things are behind you. love you.
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