Guess Who Has Arrived!!!!

My new nephew!! Gavin Joseph Lewis.

7lbs. 8oz.

I love him to pieces already!!!!

Oh Me Oh My...Let's Catch Up!

Seems like so much has happened since I have last posted, I don't know where to start. I got an apartment in Sioux Falls. I think I am finally settled. For not having much furniture, I sure found a way to fill the thing up! I like it though. It is a very quiet building, which is awesome, I was really worried about that! I moved in last weekend, and I am already spending a week away! I am staying on a farm (ick) outside of Crooks with my cousin while her parents are in Florida. It's not too bad. She is 17 so she pretty much does her own thing. I think her parents just wanted me here during the night to make sure she was not out all night!

Speaking of staying at my aunt and uncle's...I had to work at 5 AM today. Went out to the garage to leave, and SURPRISE!! my car won't start! I had no idea what the heck I was going to do. I had to be into town in a half hour for work, and who exactly do you call at 4:30 in the morning for a ride?? I ended up waking my cousin up, which I didn't want to do. She told me just to take her mom's vehicle. Thank goodness they left the keys. My aunt even told me she was going to leave them, "just in case" something were to happen to one of our vehicles. She cursed me, I know it!! I guess Prostrollo's is coming down with a trailer tomorrow and a loaner car. My dad said sounds like my fuel pump went out.

Now speaking of my DAD!! He FINALLY went to the doctor!! He called down to where he had surgery and they told him to make an appointment with his primary doctor, which is Sample. I really didn't want him to go to the doctor in Madison, but I figured any doctor was better than none. They did an X-ray, and the doctor could not see anything on there that would be causing the pain. He was going to have the radiologist look at it. If there was still nothing detected, the next step is an MRI. The doctor said he is considering it to be a bulging disc in my dad's back. If that is the case, the only way the pain will ever get better is if he has surgery. His exact words were, "Not this guy!". We will see though, without knowing exactly what the problem is I am not going to worry whether he will have surgery or not. I am just so GLAD he finally got his buns to the doctor.

Let's see...I don't know what else to tell ya...Oh yeah!! My nephew will be born on December 1st!!! I am beyond excited, as is everyone else!! Well I think that is all for now. Other than all of this exciting news, I am just busy working. We have been pretty short staffed lately, so I have been finding myself picking up hours here and there. So, until next time...

6 Is The Number...

I got this meme from Tracy!! Go to your pictures, pick the 6th folder, and then the 6th picture and post it!!

I don't know why I do it, but going to the bar on Halloween FREAKS me out!! I don't like how people dress up, covering their faces, and me not knowing who they are. This is a picture of my uncle Larry, for those of you who know him, know that he would have been thrilled to scare the beejeebers out of me, unfortunately for him, he is a poor actor and I figured it out quick.

This and That

First of all...Yes Kerrie, it is dark when I close my eyes. What have I been up to?? WORK!!! It has been very busy at work. We are short handed for one, which does not make anyone pleasant to work with. Speaking of work, yesterday was a day I would not like to repeat in the near future. Everything was going very well in the morning. I was keeping up with the time, which is sometimes hard to do. I should have known something was up. Around 10:00 in the morning one of my coworkers turned ghost white, and stated she felt funny. All of a sudden she was out cold. It was very very scary. She just went limp, but she was still responding. My supervisor told us to keep her talking, so we were asking her question after question. Then, just like that, she was no longer talking to us. I have never been in a situation like that, and I was scared out of my mind!! Once we got her off to the hospital, I looked outside and there was a lady lying on the sidewalk. Apparently she had fallen and smoked her head on the concrete. As if things couldn't get any worse, right? My coworker went to the hospital and I guess they checked her out and everything came back normal, which seems odd to me, but I hope that is the case. The other lady was a bit shaken up, but is fine.

Now, my stubborn father!! I talked to him last night on the phone and he was getting ready to bowl. I just talked to my mom today, and she said that his leg started bothering him again, and she told him he is going to the doctor. He told her he has already been to the doctor, well yeah but not for his leg. My mom and I are now going to be on a mission to get him to the doctor, the sooner the better. I do remember him promising me that he would go, so I will for sure be letting him know I did not forget that. I also told my mom we may simply just have to hog tie him to get him down here. I don't know how to do that, but I am willing to google it and learn.... So once again, I will keep you posted on my dad. For a while he hadn't been saying anything about his leg, so I figured it must be feeling better. Well, now I wonder if he was just not saying anything because he knows he is fighting a battle he is going to lose against my mother and I...

Well for as long as it has been since I last wrote, I really don't have anything else to talk about. So I will leave you with that for now!

I've Got Nothing

I've got nothing to write about.......So, ask me something....

Twin Cities

I spent the weekend up in the Twin Cities...first time ever...I know sad. I went up there with a friend and her aunt. The drive is something I could do without, but we had a good time once we got there. We left Madison on Saturday morning. We stayed at my friends aunts' house. We arrived around 1 PM and did not waste time, we headed to the outlet malls right away. Her aunts live in St. Michael/Albertville, so we just went to the mall there. I did not spend a whole lot of money, but of course I did find a few good buys. After we were all shopped out, we went to eat at Space Aliens, kind of like GiggleBees, but they had excellent food!! We spent the rest of the night just relaxing and watching a movie, What Happens in Vegas. It was a pretty good movie if I do say so myself.

On to Sunday... We woke up early early, for no reason. We all sat around the kitchen table and had about three cups of wonderful coffee before even discussing the day. We decided we would go to IKEA, which is a nice store, very big, but I was not really looking for anything like they had there. It was still fun to walk around though. From there we went to the Mall of America. Along the way we drove over the 35W bridge and went down below, the site made my stomach hurt thinking of the tragic event that had happened there. Finally at the Mall of America. I am not much for crowded places, and that was just what it was. I did not spend any money there, partly because my friend's daughter who is one was screaming her head off most of the time, so we got out of there shortly after we got there. I was a bit disappointed because I would have like to see more there, but I was getting a headache from the screaming, I am just not use to being around that.

We went back to the house and played some Rock Band, which I am pretty much a Rock Star, just thought I would throw that in there. It is kind of an addicting game, so we stayed up playing that. Monday morning we all woke up way too early again, had our coffee and just sat around. We rode the four wheeler for a while, had lunch and then it was time for the LONG drive home. The ride home seemed to take about three times as long as the ride there. Ashlyn was not happy about being in a vehicle, and we had to stop at an apple orchard to get carmel apples...YUM!! When we got back into South Dakota, it started down pouring, which lasted about all the way to Madison.

That concludes the trip, not too exciting, but nice to get away. Now I am back to working, seven days in a row...:( Oh well...I am sure I will survive...Until Next Time...

Update on Dad

Update: I just got off the phone with my dad...we talked about his leg and he wants to try the chiropractor ONE more time...I told him I would feel more comfortable if he went to the doctor and he said he would go if this trip to the chiropractor was unsuccessful...I made him promise...And also told him I would make the appointment if he didn't...am I being too pushy?? I didn't think so...



Well I thought things were looking better for dad and his pain. He went to the chiropractor on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday he said he had felt better, and was not experiencing much pain. Well I just got off the phone with my mom, and she told me his leg was REALLY hurting him at noon today. I told her that was it, he is going to the doctor...listen to me... Surprisingly she agreed with me. We discussed how even if it is nothing serious, we would both feel better knowing he had been to the doctor. We will see what he has to say about that. I told mom to put a bug in his ear today, and when I go to Madison tomorrow I will give him a takin to...

I did look up a little bit of information on the internet, but could not really find anything. I found some info on complications after surgery and the only one that made any sense was Deep Vein Thromosis. Who knows if that is even what it is, but I knew I shouldn't have researched it because now, of course that is the only thing I keep thinking about. One other thing, my parents have a friend who had the same procedure done a couple months before my dad, and he is now having problems with his back and legs. He is going to have an MRI, which makes me think maybe seven months is not so normal to have the discomfort.

Either way, I hope we can get dad to go to the doctor. Like my mom said today, maybe after being in so much pain this noon he will finally decide it is time. Usually I can talk him into things too...I mean I am a daddy's girl, and let's face it...I know what I am talking about! HA well at least I think I do. Anyways, thank you for the kind words, and sometime down the road I will update again on if he went to see the doctor, which...he probably will sooner or later :)

What's a post without a picture...

Happy Birthday!!!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!

Big Bad Ally Kat

Meet the Big Bad Ally Kat, according to Kerrie!! Yes, he is my father and one of my best friends. Him and I are two of a kind. My mom always says I am my father's daughter, and I am finally beginning to understand why she says such a thing. He makes me laugh, constantly, he is always willing to help, even when I don't ask for it, he is fun. He trys to put off a big biker man front, but in reality he is a HUGE teddy bear!!

He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in January of this year, and I was very very scared for him and for the unknown. I had not dealt with anyone really close to me being sick. I didn't know what was going to happen. He underwent surgery in April, which once again, in my life I have never experienced either of my parents having a major surgery. The surgery went according to plan, and the doctor assured us he had gotten all the cancer. It was the weeks to come that prove to be most difficult.

I have always thought of my dad as the tough one in the family, I mean he is my dad, he is suppose to be strong and nothing is suppose to bring him down. Recovery was very challenging for him, but also for our whole family. I wanted so bad to be able to take six weeks off of work and concentrate on taking care of him and making sure he was getting everything he needed/wanted. We all know that was not possible. So, I bought him different things to make the time pass while he was at home. I bought him oil paints and canvases, movies, and brought movies I had for him to watch. Not important, he didn't use any of it :) Which is fine with me, as long as he was content.

Now the reason for my post, he has been having trouble with his leg ever since he had surgery. He has been back to the doctor twice since surgery for his follow-up tests, and they say everything is looking very good, as far as his blood tests are. He mentioned his leg to the doctor and was told that it was normal. The doctor said during surgery he was stretched out on the table, and the muscles were just adjusting back to normal. I was at my parents' house yesterday, and my dad was having a horrible time with his leg. He said he tried bowling last week during his league and about fell on his face, which I know was very embarrassing for him. Now he is kind of down in the dumps and wants to quit bowling and is just getting very frustrated with his leg not feeling normal. I am praying that the doctor was right and that his muscles are still trying to get back to normal. It's been alomst 7 months since surgery, so one would think it would not be too much longer.

I want him to get back to the things he enjoyed, and bowling was one of them. I don't want him to quit because I truely believe that everyone should get out and have fun which is exactly what he does when he is bowling!! Please keep him in your thoughts...

Yes he totally loves the shirt I made for him...when I was 22 years old...

Sunday Funday

Another weekend is gone! I did not do much this weekend. It was my weekend to work, and when I have to get up at 3:30 AM, I don't tend to get out much the evening before. I do not mind working my weekends though. Everything is usually pretty quiet and things seem to go smoothly.

On Sunday when I got off work I headed up to Oldham!! What an exciting town. I went up to visit a friend and her family. I played the Wii with her son who is 5, and I think I only won maybe two times. Then we took the 4-wheeler out for a ride. I had never been on one, and I enjoyed it, until her husband took me for a ride. Of course, he had to go fast and try to spin out...I am not a fan...I get too scared :)

When the kids went to bed, we sat in the hot tub for a while. Then it was time to call it a night and head to Madison to stay at my parents' house. We did manage to take a few pictures with my new hair so here you go...

I really really like it, and am thinking about going a little bit darker. We will see though. Well that is all the boring stuff I have to talk about. I am working all week, and then I am going to the cities on Saturday until Monday!!! I can't wait!!!

Hair

I got my hair did by the best stylist in town!!! Oh...and I LOVE it!!! No pictures yet though...Soon!

Surprise!!!

What a fantastic weekend!! We had a surprise party for my Uncle Paul, and boy was it a surprise!!! We all met at a hotel and had his son call and say his car wouldn't start. All was well until my uncle got there and tried to call my cousin 5 times with no answer. He was just pulling out of the parking lot when my cousin called him back, and he was less than pleased with his son!! We finally got him in the hotel and he was baffled!! He had NO idea!! It was great!! That was the frist surprise!

The next surprise was my uncle from California flew in to surprise my uncle!! It took about ten minutes before my uncle Paul even realized Tom was there!! Everyone in the family was there except one aunt who lives in Arizona!!

It has been a LONG year for this side of my family, especially my uncle Paul! He was diagnosed with cancer in January and now is finally in remission after a bit of a roller coaster ride, to say the least. So, even though it was a birthday party, it had more meaning behind it than just him getting old! The party was a huge success, which is not uncommon for the Allen's...most of the time it is a party when we all get together. Here are some photos!

My uncle with his whole purple family! (Exluding Matthew who is at Basic Training)

I think he got enough Vinkings gear for every game of the season!

Surprise #3...Paul will get another grandchild in May!!!

Happy Birthday Uncle Paul!!! Love You!!!