Is this thing on?

I really can't believe how long it has been sense I blogged.  So much has happened and I am not going to go back and try to catch up.  That would be ridiculous   Why am I back blogging?  A big reason is to keep in touch better with the ones I love and the second because, even though I keep a person journal blogger is like another journal, but with really cute photo!  I also like to show off things I have learned and made.
We recently bought our first house.  It is very exciting   I feel like it is a blank canvas that I get to be the artist.  I have to say that I am frustrated that I can get all my dreams done right away, but I do think it is quite romantic adding something new ever paycheck to our love nest.  I also hope that I can keep up with the blogging so while my husband is way at training he can see that all is well on the home front and that we have not forgotten him!

To show Jake that I have not forgotten about him I have to say that this, my cocoa motion was the first thing that made me cry about him being gone.  There is a story about this.  Not long after we were married and I truly realized what an amazing man Jake is, and that he would rope the moon if I asked him too.  I told him that I wanted a coffee machine that made hot chocolate.  Lovingly he told me that one day he would make that wish come true.  Sometimes I think he told me that so I would kiss him, but he never forgot it.  A few years later, come Christmas time he so proudly wrapped up a mystery box.  On Christmas morning when I opened it I was thrilled to find a Cocoa Motion!  He had remembered and made my wish come true.  Silly I know, but it is the little things that make you know how much your spouse loves you.  What even makes the story better is that a couple of months earlier and good friend of ours got married and received this very cocoa motion as a present.  Jake happened to be at there house and was told that they thought it was silly and didn't want it.  Jake piped right up and told his friend that, that little machine would save him a whole lot of trouble of having to invent one for me!  He is the best husband ever!
Sunday night I was too exhausted to make much of a dinner, and it was nearing the end of the children's Christmas break we had hot cocoa and popcorn for dinner.  Healthy I know, right?  As I pulled this machine out from the cabinet the whole story of how it came to be mine came flooding back and my heat ached for Jake.  I cried.  How many people can you say has cried over a silly little machine?  Well I have!  

 After pulling it together I thought of having to stay strong for the kids.  I don't think that they knew I was upset but it made me remember that I need to keep life on schedule as much as possible but with a dash of crazy.  To keep with the schedule  Monday nights in our house or family nights.  We try to teach a lesson, sing a song and do an activity.  Family bonding, family togetherness.   The lesson ended up being "YOU DO NOT BACK TALK YOU MOTHER ABOUT DOING CHORES"  I was pretty worn out, but we did do an activity.  We dipped pretzel sticks in chocolate.  It was simple and some what not that messy.  If you look closely at Phoebe you will see that she does have a cast on her right arm.  Christmas afternoon she fell outside while playing and broke her wrist and growth plate.  Let me tell you, it is never a dull moment in the English house!
Speaking of injuries back in November I thought I was wonder woman and lifted a sixty pound bucket of honey.  Right after I did it I knew I had hurt my back.  I tired to tough it out for a week or two but it didn't get better.  In fact it got worse.  Much worse.  I tired to deny what I knew I had done but I didn't want to face it.  When I was sixteen I helped pitch a room over our flat garage.  It was so much fun.  I loved working with tools!  Then came the shingling part.  I quickly learned that I am not a good shingle-er.  Hey we all have our own strengths!  One rule that was pounded into my head was that you NEVER leave loose shingles on an area that was already shingled.  I took that to heart.  I knew that it could be  very dangerous.  Well the person that pounded that into my head didn't listen to his own advice.  While finishing up with some work I slipped in the shingles he had thrown on a finished area.  I feel off the roof and landed on a BBQ pit.  That was the first time I really injured my back.  It took months of physical therapy and an end to a lot of activities that I loved.  In college I again re-injured it.  This time they told me that I had herniated a disc.  Again, more activities that I loved had to come to an end.  Those were every depressing times.  I learned to take care of my back after that.  Especially when pregnancies and babies came around,  I would get an occasional flare up but with Motrin  back strenghthing exercise and rest it would bet better.  Well this time it is different.  Maybe because I am older or maybe because the third time is the charm. This time the herniation is effecting a lot of nerves that run down my legs.  I am in a lot of pain and limp.  I have even fallen in a store due to the numbness that runs from my lower back to my foot.  Today the doctor told me that I need to see a neurosurgeon   He thinks that I may need more invasive help.  I was not the results and I wanted to hear, but life doesn't always hand you what you want.  So I will make my appointment with the doctor and we will see what the future holds for my back.
Below is a photo of where my injury is and what it looks like.  Just for you viewing pleasure.

My injury is in my lower back, involving the disc between the L5 and S1.  I say it is time to start doing some research into this, wouldn't you think?