Monday:  Root canal.  Thankfully it was a piece of cake.  To my surprise, I never felt any pain.  I watched television throughout the whole procedure and the time flew by.  It is amazing how much easier a dental procedure is when you are wearing headphones and don't have to hear the sounds of the drill or listen to the dentist chit-chatting with the assistant.  I left the office and went straight to Chick-Fil-A! 

Tuesday:  I had a phone interview with the nutrition department for the CDC NHANES test.  It was very boring but at least I made some extra cash.  :-)  

Friday:  My dad had his OTHER shoulder replacement surgery.  He now has two titanium shoulders.  We are thanking God that this surgery went much smoother than the last.  The Dr. said this shoulder was in really bad shape and that he had to clean out a lot of bone fragments and spurs, but it was much better than the first one.  After the first surgery the Dr. told us that it was one of the worst shoulders he had ever seen.  Dad came home from the hospital today and is doing really well.  He was happy to get home in time to watch the end of The Masters tournament.  He can't wait to start playing golf again in about 3 months.  

It has been a while so I wanted to share a couple of photos of the dogs.  I took this picture of Balto several weeks ago: 

 Here's one I took today.  Balto LOVES to sit on the back porch and watch the outside world.  

And...here's Blossom begging for food. 

I Promised

I promised that I would post again this weekend so here goes...

This is going to sound like one of those ads you see on a website or a handwritten sign on the side of the road but, I got paid $190 CASH this weekend to pee in a cup!  It was part of a government study called the NHANES that Scott and I were chosen to take part in.  Volunteers are chosen at random by the goverment through the census.  For some reason, Scott and I received a letter in the mail (that we didn't read) and a knock on our door.  Two weeks ago, we had an employee of the CDC come to our house for a 2 hour interview of our health history and lifestyle.  We were approved.  

So.....last Wednesday I spent several hours having numerous medical tests to help determine the health of Americans.  Each participant represents 50,000 Americans.  Can you believe it?  I, freakish Julie, am representing 50,000 people!  Everyone involved is paid to participate AND receives $5000 worth of medical tests for free.  It was so strange getting paid $170 on Wednesday for "going to the doctor"! I could get used to this!  I am supposed to be wearing a physical activity monitor for 7 days but I gave up on that because the strap was too itchy for me.  So, I won't get paid for that test.  I have two tests left.  One is a urine test and the other is a nutrition interview.  In 2 - 3 months I will receive all of my tests results to take to my doctor. 

In other news I will be having root canal tomorrow (Monday) at 10:45.  My root canal has nothing to do with the NHANES therefore I will not be making any money off of the procedure and will have to pay for it myself.  Hmmm....I guess the NHANES came at a good time. 

So Far Behind

I can't believe it has been over a month since I posted.  I've been lazy.

The animals are all doing well.  Greta is in here with me now.  I can hear Blossom and Balto wrestling in the den (I'm not kidding).

I'm looking through the pictures on my phone (literally) to see what happened since I last posted.  

Here is Greta sunbathing:

Kevin (my brother) and I went to Laura's horse therapy class on Good Friday.  She was awesome! We followed the class on an Easter egg hunt/trail ride and then watched Laura in the horse ring.  I didn't want to distract her so I didn't get any good pictures, but here is one of her sitting on her horse.  

My friend Linda invited me to go to a Checkers' game with her family last Saturday night.  Turns out, we had the "Ice Suite".  I'm spoiled....the seats rocked!

No, Linda isn't a die hard Def Leppard fan, it was 80's night!  Here is a picture of me with Linda, her daughter Laura, and her son David.  Scott, her husband, took the picture.  Scott, my husband, was at church volunteering. 

I was tweeting a "twitter friend" of mine when Linda and I felt a paw on our back.  I turned around and it was Chubby.  I'm so glad we weren't on the jumbotron because I jumped.  Here is a picture of David with Chubby (Checker).  Chubby wore a mullet for 80's night.

Laura was picked to win a prize pack.  They didn't even know that the next day was her birthday!  Here is a picture of Laura on the jumbotron:

 

Laura won some really cool stuff and she even gave me a yearbook and a game used puck autographed by former Checker and current Carolina Hurricane, Drayson Bowman. (Did I tell you she's my favorite?)

I have more to say about the past couple of weeks but I have to go for some government health testing right now.  No joke!  I'll fill you in later. I PROMISE to post again this weekend.    

Buddies

I may or may not have posted these pictures before.  I was looking on my phone the other day and saw a few pictures I had taken of Daniel and Uncle Scott that I can't remember posting.  So, here they are:

And, I took this one Sunday at Nana's house:

"Ketchup"

It has been a few days since I last posted so I'll check my phone to remember what happened :-)

Oh yes, I went to York on Saturday to visit with my former Youth Pastor and his wife.  I hadn't seen them in over 15 years.  I had not yet downloaded the GPS to my new phone so I printed the directions off of Google Maps.  HUGE MISTAKE.  The directions were wrong & I struggled to find a data signal out in the boondocks.  It took me 2 1/2 hours to find them, but I was determined, and it was worth it.  Then, a thunder-snowstorm came from out of nowhere.  Within a few minutes my car was stuck.  It took 3 men to push me out and get me on the road. 

I called mom (who lives next door)when I left York, and she said that it wasn't snowing at my house.  A little less than an hour later, this is what my house looked like when I pulled in my driveway...

Speaking of mom, it's her birthday.  Happy Birthday Mom!!!!  I love you!

This is what Greta has been up to since my last post...

Balto starts "shy dog" class on Saturday.  Speaking of Balto, he knows he isn't allowed on the furniture...

One of my favorite people in the world, Sarah Westbrook, is moving to Charleston.  Her husband, Cary, got a new job there last Fall and she is moving to be with him.  Thankfully, they aren't selling their Charlotte home so we hope to see them back here before too long.  Tuesday, along with some of my very best friends and 2 other people :-), we celebrated Sarah. 

Also on Tuesday, our church worship team, Elevation Worship, released their new album. Surprisingly, it skyrocketed to #1 on the Christian charts the very first day.  Even more surprisingly, it went to #5 on the overall charts sitting between Mumford & Sons and Fun.  I'm a big Mumford & Sons fan.  Fun (the band)...not so much.  You may recall, my friend Christy and I attended the live recording so it is extra cool to remember hearing the songs and know that we are singing along on the CD.  If you want to hear some good worship music, check out their new CD Nothing is Wasted.  The deluxe edition includes studio versions of all of the songs.  One of the worship leaders was even nice enough to let Scott hang out with him at the recording studio one afternoon while they were recording some of the album. 

If you are interested, I found this youtube version of one of my favorite songs from the CD.  Look for me in the audience.  I'll be more than a little surprised if you can find me. 

OK...I think that catches me up.  I'll try to do better. 

Wacky Wednesday

This morning, I got out of the shower to find this familiar scene...

And, as I was walking out the door, I saw this....