January 6, 2009

Guitar Hero

If you have never played guitar hero on Wii or another gaming station DON’T. It is the most addictive game I have ever seen. After swearing I wasn’t playing it anymore today, Cody came over and said it wasn’t calibrated to the high def TV we have so he calibrated it. Well then I had to try the stupid thing again. I have the worst headache ever and every single time I close my eyes I see stupid notes flying by on the neck of a guitar. It is EVIL people EVIL. I think it is worse than crack!! However it did keep me occupied enough that I stayed on program today for weight watchers. Since I am on day 143 straight for Wii Fit (another crack addiction of mine) I decided it was time to stop eating everything in sight and actually lose some weight!!

 

January 11, 2009

Moehlmann fun at the mall

Emily needed a dress for a dance at Oakville with Cody. This girl cannot go shopping by herself or let me sit in the mall and when she finds something I pay for it. No she makes me go through all the racks which would be fun if I were a normal girl and enjoyed shopping. I hate it! No matter how much money I offer her to let me sit in the mall she won’t take it. So today for some reason Kayla and Allyson decided they wanted to come too. Now they hate shopping too except when we went to JC Penny I figured out why Allyson wanted to come. She knows they have webkins there so of course she suckered me into one.
So anyway I think it was at Penny’s Emily was trying on 3 dresses and Allyson and Kayla were trying to decide if they could walk into the dressing room without making the doorbell sound go off. The attendent said it was impossible because it is at the top of the door so you can’t jump over it. So first Kayla tries to sneak in the side and ding dong and we start laughing. Then Allyson tries it same thing. So Allyson runs through full speed and it beeps again. We are dying laughing and Emily is yelling from the dressing room that we are retarded. Well then Allyson goes full speed and jumps in the air and quiet no door bell. She does this two more times and Kayla tries it and ding dong. So then Kayla tries ducking down to be Allyson size and jumps and ding dong. BY this time the attendant is long gone cause she knows we are too retarded to steal anything. Emily is irritated by all the ringing and tells us to knock it off. Of course i am sitting in the chair laughing my head off because I am the most mature mom ever. Well Emily finally gets down with the dresses and rejects all of them much to my disappointment because that means another ***** store. So she watches Allyson jump through the thing and no noise while Kayla sets it off again. She tries it and ding dong and by this time we are all laughing. I almost thought maybe we would get kicked out of the mall for setting the doorbell off.
Fun times for the Moehlmann girls!

 

January 21, 2009

F.P.

It’s been a while since I wrote a note and this is a funny story so I just had to share.

The love dare has been over for 21 days but we are still doing the things we learned and one of them is writing on the mirror with a dry erase marker. (it comes right off). This has been a lot of fun and we don’t write stuff every day and sometimes the kids put stuff on our mirror too. About five days ago Emily drew this really cool heart on it so last night before I went to work I wrote Rachel above it and Brian below it. (Kind of nice to be back in jr. high!) So this afternoon when I finally got out of bed and looked at the mirror this was written on it..

F.P. is no Rocky Horror Picture Show.

I was like what does fp stand for and decided maybe free porn. So I left him a message on his cell phone and then I went and started Wii Fit (day 155 for those of you who are interested). While boxing it dawned on me Fireproof so then I had to call him back laughing hysterically and told him maybe if my mind wasn’t in the gutter all the time I would have known instantly what that stood for. Now how lucky is he? His wife is a gutter thinking pervert.

Last week at church Pastor Tom announced that the church would be sponsoring Fireproof this Sunday at 7 for anyone who wanted to come. So I asked Brian if he would see it for the third time if I could get people to come. He readily agreed probably thinking no one would because I usually have really bad luck in this area. However I already have about 6 people who are planning on coming including the neighbors across the street so the Fireproof junkie couple will be there Sunday night!

January 30, 2009

25 things about me

If I tagged you in this note it’s because I think you should know more about me! Ha Ha!
Actually you are suppose to do it too and then tag your friends. I have really enjoyed reading these so I broke down and did my own list!

1. The Love Dare was instrumental in saving my marriage. Feel free to read all about it in my notes! I dare everyone reading this to do the love dare!

2. I quit smoking a year ago today.

3. I went to South Africa in 1983 and vomited for over 8 hours straight while flying.

4. I listen to all of Rob Bell sermons on my ipod. They can be downloaded at http://www.marshill.org. He is the best pastor ever and if Michigan wasn’t so cold I’d move there.

5. My in-laws have a house at Lake of the Ozarks. I hate being outside so when we go I stay indoors and cross stitch or scrap book. This is the best way to relax!

6. I met my husband on a blind date. We were fixed up because I liked skinny guys. He was 5’11” and weighed about 125 pounds.

7. When I find a song I like I listen to it over and over for months. It drives my kids insane.

8. I go to a church that meets in a movie theater. I can buy popcorn and soda and eat and drink while worshiping God!

9. I almost flunked my pediatric rotation in nursing school. I was told I should consider a different career choice; I had no business being a nurse. I spoke up and said I never babysat, took care of kids or even liked them and passed clinical by the skin of my teeth. I just wonder if I would have listened to that instructor and quit how many people would not have been touched by me.

10. I originally wanted to be a doctor but my father refused to pay for medical school.

11. My parents divorced when I was 5. My mother was told by many people my sister and I were ruined for life and would turn out to be losers!

12. I have a cell phone but rarely have it on me. This really annoys my sister and others because they can’t reach me.

13. I worked in the burn unit at St. Johns for ten years. I have great stories and it was both a very challenging and rewarding job!

14. I finally caved about 3 months ago and added unlimited texting on my phone plan. Kayla uses my phone and between Emily and her they have sent and received like 6000 texts.

15. Every car I have owned has been a stick shift except the mini van. I bought my first car with a stick not having a clue how to drive it. I still remember driving around Seckman Jr. High parking lot with my parents saying how do I stop this thing and both of them busted out laughing and said step on the brake. I remember thinking oh that is all there is to it? Trying to get off a hill the first time was pretty funny too!

16. I was 39 the first time I was ever pulled over by a cop. I got out of it because my license plates say RACH-RN and the cop said it was against his principal to give a ticket to a nurse. I got pulled over a year later for speeding and got out of it for the same reason. This really annoyed my family!

17. I had a breast reduction when I was 17 years old.

18. I rarely ever lie because I can barely keep the truth straight and if I throw lies in then I am for sure to get caught anyway!

19. I have colored my hair red since I was 18. My mom was suppose to just do highlights but half way through she said screw this and dumped all of it on my head. Everyone liked it so it has been like this ever since. My husband loves to say “better dead than red.”

20. I work on women’s health now and part of my job includes taking care of moms whose babies have died. If a mom wants to see her baby again then I go to the morgue, get the baby, warm the baby up and dress it and bring it to her. Most people find this really creepy but I just tell myself this will be the last time she gets to see her baby until heaven! I also have a nephew in heaven that I never held or touched and if I had it to do over again, I would have even after he was gone!

21. I didn’t drive until I was almost 18. My mother forced me by signing me up for drivers Ed without my consent.

22. I don’t have a my space page because I won’t allow my kids to have one. I feel it is my job to set a good example.

23. I originally wanted to be a writer but my mom told me I don’t have any talent. I might have some talent but I have serious problems with spelling and syntax! I will have to stick to facebook notes.

24. The smartest thing I ever did was to go to counseling.

25. Big Stuf camp this past summer was the best experience of my life. For the first time ever I really felt God loved and cared about me. I am now starting to feel it from other people as well!

 

March 5, 2009

So many changes A two month update

It’s been over two months since I wrote a note so I thought I should probably write an update.

So many changes I hardly know where to begin. My financial advisor “no longer works for the company” which means in St. John’s terms he was fired. I really liked him personally but am now assigned to a woman so I will have to try and give her the benefit of the doubt. I also found out my credit card that I have had for years has been sold to a different bank so that is changing as well. I wonder if they will sell my home loan as well. One year it changed hands like 3 times but in this economy since I pay every month I am sure my company would want to keep us. Two months ago there was a million jobs listed downstairs for nurses, now there is maybe a page or two worth. I was at a meeting yesterday and was told a nurse with 20 years experience applied at BJC and was offered 18 an hour and told they could hire a new grad for that rate so take it or leave it. I am at the top of the pay scale so I could see them wanting to ax me except I can do the work of 2 people most of the time and just won the efficiency award. So I must remain positive and a team player at work because I really don’t want to work anywhere else.

Today was day 201 in a row of exercising. (shock treatments perhaps). I still do Wii Fit every day but my sister in law suggested my fitness coach (does not use the balance board) which I do five days a week. It is a Wii game also and every day the focus is different and the exercise is different. If you choose it is too easy the game makes it harder. Sort of like having your own personal trainer. I wish I could say I have lost 20 pounds but I have not lost an ounce because I eat like a pig. A prime example of this was while watching the biggest loser this week I was eating a sonic recess peanut butter blast. Hey at least it was the small size but just an idea my food intake sucks but I don’t have the motivation to change it.

It’s been two months since the love dare was completed and most of the time I wake up and think is this really me, is this really my husband, is this really my family, am I even at the right place. Things are totally different and I am at peace 98% of the time. We have had one fight since we finished and it was handled totally different than in the past, partly from the love dare and partly from counseling. A couple of weeks ago his pipe fitter license renewal came and he wanted me to write a check right then. Well we were out and they were on order. He completely freaked out and acted like such a fool. He went straight to the bank where my sister works and had a bank check written. Well when he returned home he realized it was made out to the wrong place so I sent him back over there to get a new one made. I then apologized to him for all the years that I would just fly off the handle for no reason and that I must have been really difficult to live with. It was interesting to be in role reversal!

I have a Fireproof addiction. I have seen the movie a total of four times now. The first three times with Brian and the last by myself. Of course I bought the DVD the first week it was out. I also watched it a fifth time but it was the brothers who wrote it talking through the whole movie explaining all the scenes and different people from the church and stuff. That was really interesting. There is also a section that is Fireproof in sixty seconds and if I need a laugh I watch that because it is so funny. Right now I have moved on to Flywheel and am watching the commentary on that. It is a miracle that movie was ever finished and they filmed it with only one camera. It was certainly God working in the entire production. OH I also read the book Fireproof and it was too bad the movie didn’t end like the book because it was totally how I believe God works.

 

March 13, 2009

How to save 80 a month and go crazy at the same time!

If you ever walk into the AT&T store and they ask you if you want to save 80 dollars a month run from the store screaming! This all started a couple of weeks ago when I decided to add my mom to my cell phone plan. She does not have DSL available in her area and she is always on the internet and we can never get through. Of course she has now had the phone for 2 weeks and I haven’t called her once. Anyway Kayla had constantly been using my phone to text her friends and when Emily would try and reach me she would get Kayla so she told me to go ahead and add Kayla on now and not on her birthday. Well since for Christmas Emily’s present was unlimited texting I had started texting and couldn’t stand using the keypad for this. So I decided to upgrade my phone so I could have a full keyboard text. Emily had Brian’s old cheap phone so I decided to upgrade her as well. Now why I thought I could do this in 30 minutes is beyond me. So anyway we pick out all the phones (won’t tell you the cost) and the girl asks me if I have AT&T for my home line (yes) internet (yes) direct tv (no). So she tells me if I switch to direct tv and bundle my bill together I will save 80 dollars a month. (I don’t think I will ever know because I will probably kill myself first). So I think about and say sure, I am past 2 years on dish network so it will cost me nothing to cancel them. So 2 hours later everything is all set up and I leave the store with my four new phones and the nightmare begins about five days later. So a week ago I notice the phone is ringing like ten times and voice mail is not picking up so I call AT&T. Apparently when they switched my plan they removed voice mail. I told them not acceptable I have to have it so the girl tells me she has changed it back. Later the phone is still ringing like 8 times so I call back. Nope girl hadn’t changed it and I can’t access my mailbox and now call waiting (which is by far the RUDEST feature ever) is on my phone. Well tech support tells me I will have to call on Monday to get rid of that and voice mail is back on. So Monday I still cannot access voicemail so I call AT&T while direct TV is out here installing the system. Finally someone with a brain fixes it and voicemail is on and call waiting is off. Except now the direct guy cannot get the DVR to work. Seeing as how I am a spoiled rich American there is no way I am going without DVR. He finally hangs up with the person he is speaking to and says to me she doesn’t have a clue what she is doing so I am calling someone else. It works and he leaves. I plug in the phone line so that we can see caller ID on the TV (and you thought I was kidding about being spoiled) and it works about half of the time. So on Wednesday I get up and I cannot get on the internet but I notice my cell phone bill is beyond insane so I call them to go over line by line and get that taken care of. After not being able to get on the internet all day I know call the internet tech support and they tell me there is something wrong with the line and they will test it and call me back. In the meantime I wonder if the problem is the satellite having the phone line run to it. (Now it worked perfectly with dish network). so I unplug it and the internet works perfectly but now the satellite cannot find a signal. Finally after arguing with Brian for ten minutes that a phone line does not have to plugged in for the system to work it kicks back on. Later I move the receive and off the signal goes again. It is off for well over 30 minutes so now I get to call tech support about direct tv. They cannot fix it so they sent a tech out today. He changed out a cable and right this minute everything seems to be working. I may save 80 a month but they made sure I earned every dime of it! The only thing left to do is for Brian to change out the phone line to see if we can’t get call ID back on the tv. The moral of the story there is no such thing as a free lunch and be wary of any offers to save a bunch of money!

 

July 9, 2009

Vacation and Wii Fit

So I must say vacation was awesome and not just because I personally spoke to Rob Bell, although that helped a lot.

I am in a totally different place than I was 2 years ago. A much better, happier, cooler place and I don’t know about the rest of you but I can totally see it in my eyes. Plus the fact I took a lot of family pictures and me with Brian. There was a time when not only did I not want to go on vacation with Brian, I didn’t even want my picture taken with him. Now that is a hard thing to admit but it is the truth and I just thank God every day for the two “providential people” (that would be a church sermon from a couple months back http://www.oakbridgecc.com.) that entered my life. Patti for sharing she had been to marriage counseling and recommending the counselor nazi I went to and of course Megan for telling me I needed to see Fireproof with Brian. Speaking of that and the love dare a couple of months ago Brian was really getting on my nerves and I realized I was hanging out in the depreciation room (see day 7 of the Love Dare) and not the appreciation room. Just changing my focus to all the cool things I love about Brian changed my entire outlook in a rather quick way. So things have been going very well in the marriage.

The vacation was great. Yes the car trip got a little hairy with the girls fighting but considering the 5 of us spent >24 hours total in a car together we did well. I also think it was a good bonding experience for the girls with Brian. They really need that! Niagara falls was awesome, Cedar Point was well hot and Rob Bell’s church didn’t even look like a church from the outside. But then again he spoke about how much he hates clever “church signs” so no wonder there weren’t any.

As for the wii fit, my streak was broken on day 311 in a row. The first hotel had an AUX channel but the last two did not. I even called my computer geek neighbor and asked him and well basically he told me I was screwed. I had prepared myself this might happen so I ended up more aggravated that TV programming beat me rather than the streak. I did not pick it back up I’ve done it like 3 times in a week) when I returned as Big Stuf camp is in 3 weeks and I have decided I am not dragging it along so after Big Stuf I will see how long I can make my next streak!

I have also lost right around 16 pounds (another reason why I let my picture be taken, hee hee) from weight watchers and not the wii fit. I did wii fit for months and got no where but it is amazing what happens when I added in eating much healthier. After all if you don’t want to starve on WW you have to eat veggies! Cucumbers and green peppers are a staple around my house now. So my goal is another 20 but for the short term it’s 6 so I can weigh what my skinny ass, hot husband weighs! I’ll keep you all posted. It also helps two of my best buddies from work are also doing WW so we encourage each other a lot.
I’ll try and post notes a little more often. My life is often funny enough to be a comedy!

 

July 25, 2009

An awesome paper I found by accident!

I am trying to pack for camp and as you can see I am not getting anywhere fast. I lost my favorite pair of black shorts like 2 weeks ago and since they are made for walking in hot sweaty weather I really need to find them before camp. So I decide to look in Brian’s shorts drawer just to see if I put them in his stuff by mistake. Well they weren’t there but I came across this piece of paper that I thought was blank. Well being the nosey person that I am, I opened it up to find the positive list about me from the love dare last year. Of course I read it and was shocked because he had written on it “good driver”. Really he constantly rides me about driving too fast or too jerky all of which are true. He also had written good friend, hot, good at crafts and kind. There was some other stuff but really I wasn’t trying to memorize it or anything. I was very pleasantly surprised. My positive list about him is in my top drawer where I keep my swimming suit and this box of 96 crayons which have special ones with the names of the people who named the crayons. I so need help. Actually Emily asked me the other day when I die if she can have the crayons!

So I came to write this note and the computer was taking so long to load facebook I had to go to the bathroom. When I turned around there were my missing shorts sitting on the floor in the computer room. That is just weird as i never get dressed in this room so at least i found them. Two good things, I saw my positive list and i found my shorts.

Now back to packing for an awesome week with God and the beach to boot!

 

August 1, 2009

Upsetting news, please pray!

My husband gave a kidney to his father 6 years ago this August 5th. About 8 weeks ago Brian (my husband) had routine labs drawn to check kidney function. They came back out of whack so he had to have them redrawn in 6 weeks. During this time I had him drinking 64 ounces of water a day just in case the elevated creatine was related to dehydration. He had his blood redone this past Thursday. With all the excitement of camp I forgot totally about it so when I got home today his lab work was sitting on the table with a note from the doctor. The levels might be slightly improved but are suggestive of chronic kidney failure so he is to see a nephrologist (kidney specialist) this week. I worked in the burn unit for 10 years and a lot of the larger burns would go into acute renal failure (it went away) so I am sending him to the doctor that treated all the burn unit patients. Maybe because he only has one kidney this is normal but I am really worried that it is not. I can tell he is very nervous as well cause he agreed to take off work no matter what the time or day. I will be calling first thing Monday morning and keep you posted. Until then please pray for us as this is very, very scary!!!

 

August 3, 2009

My prayer journal

One of the things we do at camp each day is get up and go out on the beach at 7:30 for quiet time. So we have a choice to pray, stare at the waves, write in a journal, anything as long as we are quiet. So I wrote out prayers most days and since my small group thinks I should pray out loud and I refuse because I talk to God like a crack head I thought I would type one out for you all to read. That way you’d know not everyone prays like a preacher.
Wow what an awesome week. You know that I really didn’t believe it could get better than last year but WOW. If I felt your love last year-it’s like I am sitting on your lap this year. Anyone reading that sentence would think I’m nuts but then again those that know me wouldn’t be surprised. I know you aren’t surprised.

It’s nice to see how other girls are. First of all I can’t believe how freaking long it takes them to get ready. I guess I just loved sleep too much and learned how to get ready fast and not screw around. I have certainly passed this gift on to Emily & Kayla. I guess you made them that way cause you know I’d have a hard time relating to a bunch of girlie girls.

The beach was awesome this morning. A little too hot (could you do something about that?) but otherwise good. It was worth getting up early for but help me not to fall asleep during Reggie’s talk. Ok why are there a bunch of ants on the beach? You know how much they freak me out.

We (as in I need your help) need to do something about my work environment. I just don’t know what to do with all the complainers. I know thinking and saying you people have it so easy compared to the old days is not beneficial. Everyone just tunes that sort of smack out. Maybe you could help them find a job they would be more suited for. Oh and thanks for the courage to basically say that even though Dr. X is an a-hole, he is instill made in your image. It was one of those Rachel shocker things but it is true. Like I need to tell you of all people this. (wait you’re not exactly a person, I am never gonna get it)

These nice notes so remind me of high school. Always left out, always not noticed. I mean I really don’t need the notes, it’s just a reminder of how painful high school really was. (Ok you really need to do something about these ants, I think one just bit me-I am moving right now). Like at work no one mentions me and I just have to remember “do not do what you do for the glory of men but your father in heaven.” Yeah that would be you. It’s just nice to every once in a while be recognized. Ok I moved out of the shade cause the ants were freaking me out and it was overcast. Was it really necessary to bring the sun out? I mean seriously! Although the mention on patient rounds last week was nice and the fact that I have no idea who it was is also a remainder that every day I affect people without ever knowing it. So help me stay on the positive effect side and not the negative for it is so easy to join in gossip, nail people to the wall with my words and forget the forgotten.

Ok enough ramble writing for the day. I just might have to put this on facebook so people know that prayer at least for me is NOT the way pastors do it. Of course they might get thrown out of leadership if they were calling people a-holes in prayer.
Looking forward to an awesome day and a totally awesome night of worship with the band. Will be feeling you there and feeling the love.
There you have it folks now you know I am true to my nickname CR (crazy Rachel).

 

August 4, 2009

A very special birthday!

I can hardly believe it was 9 years ago today that my nephew was born and died. I can remember the entire day like it happened yesterday. From the time my mother in law called and said if you want to see him alive you better get up here now and I said the F word repeatedly and yelled at God. Then I had to call my husband at work who wasn’t allowed phone calls unless it was an emergency so when his boss got on the phone and wanted to know what the emergency was I said in my blunt way of stating things “his nephew was born today and will not live, I think he needs to know now and not when he gets off work.” His boss said nothing and got Brian on the phone. The day ended with my driving home and pulling off the road to puke.

Today I went to the cemetary and havne’t been there for a long time. I only had one decent rose on my rose bush so I decided to skip flowers. When I got there I decided to turn his vase up and serioulsy considered stealing flowers out of someone else’s vase but kept myself under control. I told Brian about it and he said yes you should have stole them everyone is dead and they wouldn’t care. So anyway I decided to leave his vase up emtpy to say “hey it’s my birthday and I may have only lived six hours one Friday but I impacted a lot of peoples lives.”

Happy Birthday Andrew! Can’t wait to celebrate in heaven with you!

 

August 5, 2009

August 5, 2003

It’s hard to believe it has been six years since the kidney transplant. I remember dropping Brian off at the hospital on the 4th and stopping by the cemetery to visit Andrew’s grave. I distinctly remember saying “you already have 2 brothers in heaven with you so you don’t need Papa or Uncle Brian just yet. Make sure God watches over them.” Brian and his dad were roommates before surgery and then afterwards Brian went to a regular room and his dad went to ICU for a day or so. That first night Brian had SCD’s (leg squeezers so a person doesn’t get blood clots on) and I pushed the cool button. Well Brian’s mom freaked out and made me turn it off. The next day Brian was like yeah my legs were feeling great and then they got hotter than hell. I told him it was all his mom’s fault for making me turn the button off. I think Brian came home on day 2 and his dad on day 4 or something like that. Brian was off work for about 10 weeks. I will post a picture of Brian’s incision on day 5. The surgeon’s comment was perhaps he used too much glue!

 

August 11, 2009

My husbands swimming suit stupidness!!

I have been trying to write this note for a week now and something always happens. Tonight I just noticed my ankle is swollen and bruised and hurts even worse. So since it is always something I am writing this note instead.
Last year we bought a pool and the people installing it jacked around and then we had to build a retaining wall and it didn’t get finished till October. So this is the first year we have used it. So once it was opened my husbands gay swimming trunks came out. they are blue with a green stripe down the side. I actually enjoyed them until he started wearing them all day every day. He cuts the grass in them, he barbeques in them, he sits on the deck in the evening in them. He never takes them off. He tries to come in the house and sit on the furniture and tell me his trunks are dry when indeed they are not. I have banned him from my couch. I told him sit in his recliner and ruin his chair but stay away from my stuff. He constantly flexes and says stuff like see I am buff, aren’t I turning you on, you know you think I am sexy. I just want to say consider a chest wax and I hope you get diaper rash of the crotch from wearing a wet suit for hours on end. So Sunday at Kohl’s I finally found a couple new pairs of swimming trunks and they actually look pretty good. However I will probably be sick of them in a week after he lives in them.
Oh and could someone please tell me how his ugly old swimming trunks ended up in the backseat of my car? My husband says it’s because I love them so much I couldn’t leave the house without them and I say no the devil is trying to get me to murder my husband!!

 

August 24, 2008

Visit to the kidney doctor through the eyes of a crackhead!!

Since my favorite kidney doctor had retired I picked the new guy in the group. I really did get this feeling that he should be the one. The minute he walked in the door I instantly liked him, there was something about him. He is very nice, funny and of course hot so that makes him the perfect doctor for me! Oh and his first name is Brian so what more could a person want. We spent 1 1/2 hours in his office. How is that for a visit, usually they shove you in and out the door. It reminded me of my mom’s first oncologist visit when the doctor was running 2 hours behind but spent and hour with us. (he was never late after that first visit). So anyway Dr. Ringhofer (for you St. John’s nurses) had a resident with him so he was grilling the resident the entire time. Brian and I both learned how a nephrologist thinks and what they ask for and why. it was very interesting for me although I felt like I was back in nursing school.
Cutting to the chase not sure what is up with Brian’s kidney. The creatine of 1.4 could be normal for him so they wanted us to contact Barnes to get Brian’s labs from before transplant. One call to Brian’s mom and we had those within an hour because she is awesome. Yep Brian’s creatine 5 months before donation was 1.2 and did eventually drop to .8 but 3 months after donation was back up to 1.3. So this creatine could be normal for him. However it does not explain the decreased GFR rate which puts Brian in mild kidney disease so we get to visit the doctor every six months. I think Brian was fully expecting to hear “your primary doctor is a worry wart, every thing is fine you don’t need to come back.” So in trying to cope with this he is barking at the kids to pick all their stuff up out of the living room. Men are so much fun.
He is putting Brian on another B/P medicine which is an ACE inhibitor. Helps dilate the renal arteries thereby reducing the amount of pressure needed for blood flow and reducing their work load. This is a “kidney friendly” medication. So he takes it for 2 weeks and then has more labs drawn and we go from there.
Thanks for all the prayers, they really do work and help.

 

September 2, 2009

Why I am never walking in nature again!

So I have been officially training for this half marathon for 8 weeks now. Plus I had a week or so off cause of my stupid calf injury which is totally healed as evidenced by me running today and feeling like my lungs would explode but my leg was fine. Therefore I am back to my normal. (Notice that says my normal and not normal! Ha)

So I have walked in various places, the most dangerous is around my house out on the outer road or so I thought. I have also went to Grants Farm trail for anything over 6 miles. This past weekend I decided to go to Cliff Cave park which is basically a paved trail in the middle of the woods. Now I hate being outside much less being in the woods but since it was 5 miles long and I was doing 10 I did it twice. Well it wasn’t so bad so I went yesterday to do 6 and it will be the last time I ever go. I’d rather get run over, whistled at, called vulgar names or honked at on the outer road than deal with nature. I am walking along and out hops a deer with its baby on the trail. It is staring me down and I am thinking I hope this crazy thing doesn’t attack me because no one is around. So it hops off and I walk faster cause the adrenaline rush. Finally get my heart rate to return to normal when this buzzing bug like thing dive bombs my head. It is all I can do to keep from screaming and running but I remain calm but walk faster cause adrenaline rush again. Not too much father along a run into another deer that stares me down. By this time I tell myself I do not connect with God by nature anyway so as soon as I get out of here I am never coming back. I will listen to Rob Bell’s sermons while risking my life on the outer road and be much more connected to God.

I have 6 miles scheduled for tomorrow and 12 on Friday which I am doing at Grants Farm because that trail crosses major intersections, a hockey rink, houses, business and is not isolated with weird bugs. Oh and i forgot to mention the attack of the flying grasshoppers. Yep I’ll live in the house with climate control any day of the week!

 

September 21, 2009

Intentions not done are the same as not doing!!

This week’s sermon was basically if you intend to do something and you don’t do it, then it is the same as not doing it. However in our heads we seem to think intending and doing is the same thing. Here is a perfect example, I intended all week to write a facebook note and I did write one in my head but since I never typed nor posted it and no one could read my crazy ramblings I didn’t do it.

I wanted to write about the marathon and how that went. It was great fun as I am sure those of you that looked at the pictures could tell. It was the second ½ marathon I have completed, the first four years ago with team in training. Well while I was walking all those miles I started thinking about Tommy the only patient I ever followed from the burn unit, down to rehab and I still keep in touch with. (Of course I have been intending to write him a letter for a year so I guess that one is next.) He ran the Chicago marathon in 1999 in under 4 hours. New Years Eve (as in the Y2K year when the whole world was going to end) that year he came down with meningitis the really bad kind (meningococcal) and the only reason he survived was because he was in such good shape from marathon training. So he was transferred to the burn unit because his arms and legs were basically rotting off. The medicine they gave him to keep him alive cut the circulation off to his extremities. Well we knew what to do and that was to start amputating. I was the nurse who had to witness his mother’s signature to amputate his legs. She looked at me and said “I hope he doesn’t hate me for this” and I said “I hope not either.” Not much has changed about me in ten years has it? However I wasn’t going to say oh he won’t hate you because seriously if that was me when I woke up I would have wanted to kill her and the rest of the world! However he isn’t me and he woke up with an amazing attitude. He was discharged in 5/00 and when the Olympic torch came through St. Louis in 2002 he carried it with prosthetic arms while walking on prosthetic legs. (His right leg amputated above the knee, left below the knee, right arm was amputated mid forearm and his left hand amputated.) He already was a pharmacist but went back to school and graduated top of his class from law school. (This with no arms or legs and in a wheelchair). So he taught pharmacy/law for a couple of years and then moved to FL to be a lawyer. So yeah if Tommy can accomplish all that I decided I could run the Chicago marathon in 2010.

So Saturday I went to the track to walk 4 miles. I decided to see if I could run one lap (1/4 of a mile). It actually wasn’t too difficult so I became all cocky and ended up running one lap of each mile so ran a mile total. Felt great yesterday but today different story. Walking and running use totally different muscles. So I went to track anyway and did 1/8 mile runs with walking in between. Did a total of ½ mile running and the other 2 ½ walking. I was complaining in my head about this and then I thought oh what are you carrying on about at least you don’t have to strap an arm on to pick your nose. Seriously…. I thought that! So Tommy is my motivation!

 

October 14, 2009

The Rock rocks and a year has passed since Fireproof!

Apparently my fans are demanding a new facebook note and I couldn’t think of anything to write about when it dawned on me all sorts of anniversaries have come upon me.
Saturday 10/10 was exactly one year ago since Brian and I went and saw the movie Fireproof together for the first time. Remember we saw it a total of three times together. I wanted to watch it on Saturday but he became distracted with the loser Cardinals and St. Louis Blues while I was distracted on the computer and we didn’t watch it. The next day was 10/11 which was the 24th anniversary of our first official date. (We were set up on a blind date in September but we never count that, probably cause we have no clue what day it was.) Our first official date was to the blues hockey game and they were playing the RedWings. I remember sitting down and telling him if I got hit in the head with a hockey puck I was suing him. To this day I am not sure why he ever took me out again. I didn’t get hit either in case anyone was wondering.
On Sunday we headed up to Kansas City to visit Rockhurst College with Emily. She got to spend the night in the dorm with another freshman and Brian and I stayed at a hotel and celebrated the anniversary thing. The college was awesome and all three of us loved it! Brian has stopped trying to get Emily to go to Mizzou and now only says the rock over and over. The place felt like my church (oak bridge community church.). Everyone knows each other, the class size is small and for freshman orientation the entire class does a community service project together. Now that is awesome and all the freshman told Emily that was their favorite part of orientation. Not sure how we are going to pay for it but we’ll pray about it and know that God will provide.
It’s been a good year. Although up until December was hard because we were doing the love dare and some of that stuff was tough. Reading the three things that bugged him about me wasn’t easy. Finding his list of my positives this summer was fun. It was so worth it. I should have went to counseling 20 years ago. I lived way too much of my life completely shut down and walled off. Well I can say the rest of my life will be lived completley different and one hundred times better!

 

October 21, 2009

My anniversary gift!

As most of you know my husband is quite the interesting gift giver so I wondered if this anniversary would be any different.
This year i received a 20 ounce bottle of diet dr. pepper (my favorite soda) and a snuggie. Yep one of those blankets with sleeves I have been wanting since they first came out. Now that they are available at Walgreen’s and no longer require a phone call and ridiculous shipping and handling I am the proud owner of a cheetalicous one. (that would be the leopard pattern design. Ever since the movie the cheetah girls came out, my kids call everything with that pattern cheetalicous). So this winter I can cross stitch with a blanket with sleeves on, I am so excited! The dork in my lives on!

 

November 5, 2009

I finally ran over a mile!!!! 1 down 12.1 to go!

It’s been a rough week or so with the entire running thing. I was really starting to think I was just wasn’t cut out for running. On Halloween I went to the track really thinking I was going to run a mile straight without stopping only to feel like my lungs were going to explode at 1/2 mile. I tried running on Sunday and it was even worse. Monday no better and then on Tuesday I decided to check the ipod to see how fast i was running. My pace was 8 min/mile. Well a little light bulb went off in my head and said this is your problem. My pace for walking is 16 1/2 min/mile so trying to run 8 min/mile would make my lungs feel like they are exploding. It’s a marathon not a sprint. couldn’t run yesterday because I took Kayla to the eye doctor and was gone almost 4 hours and had to go to work. So today I head out and decide to pay attention to what i am running. I slow it down to 11 min/mile and I ran over a mile. I am going to drive it before I go to work because I am neurotic and must know the exact distance. My ipod chip is not the most accurate thing. It needs to be recalibrated to my run/walk thing but too lazy to do it. So now running the 1/2 marathon seems doable. Oh and I have been breathing in and out my nose now instead of my mouth cause cold weather is coming fast and I need to be in the habit!

 

November 14, 2009

Married Life Live’s Great Date Experiment (or something like that)

The church I go to has a program called Married Life Live and it meets quarterly. It is for people who are married or are thinking of getting married. Basically it is like a date night because there is food, music and then a short message. Brian and I have attended all of them except one or two. The bottom line of the program is what you work on you get better at and what you don’t work on you get worse at.
It was last month and we were challenged with something called the great date night experiment. If Brian and I agreed to do it we got ten dollars to Olive Garden and had to send an email about the date. I signed us right up and thought for sure a facebook note. A lot of other people signed up too. The instructions were in a sealed envelope which weren’t to be opened till the date night.
Last night we decided to go on the date on Friday the 13th no less! So I opened the envelope and read through the instructions. I tell Brian the first thing it says it he has to make out with me at every red light and I have to yell he is hot in public. So we go to Olive Garden without hitting a single stop light, the reason being Brian plotted it out for all right turns. Yep seriously the man is a punk at heart! So I told him I wasn’t saying he was hot even though he is! We had a bunch of discussion questions to answer. One was when did you know your spouse was the one. Brian still cannot answer this question. He started saying ridiculous stuff like as soon as I saw your neon flannel pants (yeah I wore those on our first/blind date, not sure what I was thinking.) I told him to give it up and I knew by the end of the date cause I came home and announced to my mom I met the guy I was going to marry. I seriously don’t remember saying this but she does and she has said this for years. Another one was to describe your spouse in one word that you would have tattooed on yourself. Brian said kindness for me and I said HOT for him. He almost fell out of the booth, probably cause I give him grief all the time because I weigh less than him. (well not this week but last week I did.) It was all fun.
Then is said when we got home we were suppose to either carve our initials in a tree or graffiti the garage. Well I was in no shape to do anything. Oh yeah I told Brian to just surprise me with a drink so he came back with Michelob ultra and said that the commercial says that is what runners/athletes drink. (WOW! told you he was hot!). So this morning I got up to do it, only to find Brian had did it last night. So that is what my facebook picture is all about. Cracked me up that he added RN after my initials. He used his middle initial so he wouldn’t be BM, you know nurse in the family always thinks of one thing.
Can’t wait till December 11 for the next married life live and the next date experiment!

 

December 24, 2009

A Moehlmann Christmas Eve

My side of the family celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve so I have always been off on Christmas Eve and work Christmas Day. Going in to work at 3 on Christmas Day isn’t so bad. All the presents are open and everyone is feeling pretty stuffed. There is usually some idiotic football game on that I don’t mind missing.
This year the celebration was at my house. Everyone arrived by 5pm. It was the start of a great day. My mom (aka smoking grandma) had finally gotten her DSL service to work. This was a 3 day project and numerous phone calls and two phone line techs to get it done but she could get on and open her virtual presents. My best friend Jennifer sent me a text and she may just end up working on WH after all. One of the night nurses is going to ICU so that opens up yet another position so there is hope! That was the best gift ever. Christmas angeling had been completed. We did two families this year in opposite directions of our house so we spent a lot of time on the road and in gas but the memories outweigh all of the craziness.
So we ate dinner and then played pass the trash. Usually we do a play and sing happy birthday to Jesus and eat cake. Well I felt all gross and stuffed and didn’t want to do the cake just yet so I suggested we open presents first and then sing. Well my sister was digging presents out from under the tree and was getting all frustrated and yelled I could use some help. She leaves and I start removing presents and sliding them to the middle of the living room. The next thing I know the tree has crashed over on it’s side and the ornaments are falling off. Then it was a mad scramble to the tree. Brian and Kenny held it up while the rest of us removed all the ornaments. the tree stand had snapped in two so there was no way it was going to stand up again. Ever since we put it up I felt it was really leaning to the left so anyway we get a new tree. I have already put all the ornaments away but we leaned the tree up against the wall because how weird would Christmas Day be without a tree.
In all the nonsense we totally forgot to sing to Jesus or do the play. There is always next year.
Never a dull moment in the Moehlmann house. Brian got his 365 day Love Dare daily devotional and seemed pretty excited about it. We start January 1 and I can’t wait. It will be fun to blog again.
Oh and this year for Christmas Brian gave me Bob & Jillian biggest loser workout for Wii Fit and a GPS thing for the car. He knows that I have no sense of direction so it is a great gift. I also told him that Garmin makes great things for training so check that out of my birthday. He got a fire pit and sham wows cause he is always saying sham wow!
Looking forward to Christmas morning and remembering the savior who came to set the world free!

 

December 31, 2009

Love does Not win on New Years Eve at the grocery store!

For those of you who go to my church you know that the last six weeks we talked about love winning. The kind of love described in 1st Corinthians 13:4-7. I try to apply that every day to my life but some times it is way to difficult and I just want to rip off the love wins bracelet, throw it to the ground, stomp on it and then set it on fire. (yep I have a little bit of anger issues).

Anyway went to the store today because the Hong and Johnny are coming over tomorrow night and I have to have food to feed them. The place was a mad house. Between a zillion people and the workers trying to stock the shelves I found myself trying to find a lighter for the bracelet. Is it really necessary to park your cart in the middle of the aisle and touch each piece of fruit? Just pick some and throw it in the your cart. Also when in the aisle treat it like the highway and stay on your own side and for God sakes when someone is trying to get through move your cart out of the way. I had to go to the store on Christmas Eve and I swore I would not be going the rest of the holiday because Christmas Eve was just as bad. But because of poor planning I found myself once again irritated. On a positive note their was a checker for every register so there was no wait to check out!

PS Brian asked me what day I was on in the Love Dare thing. I said we haven’t even started yet. He is on like day 15. I said it has only been 5 days since you got the book. He says it is too short of reading. So I told him look up the bible verses. Well he wasn’t so sure if he should read the bible while in the bathroom. I said I really don’t think God cares if you read the bible while taking a dump, he’s happy you are reading it. He tried to say it was sacrilegious and I said look here mister no where in the bible does it say you can’t read while pooping!