Did I leave my flip-flops over there? Literally.

Well...we're back from Jamaica. Boo to that. I think so far, this has been the best of the 3 trips. I wasn't ready to come home. We left on the 24th and came home on the 1st. We met several people at the resort that were fortunate enough to get to stay an extra night due to problems. No flight crew, cracked windshield, overbooking. We weren't one of the lucky ones. Everything there was fantastic! The people, the food, the drinks, the music. There were even "stray" hermit crabs! You could see them all over the sidewalks. We even had one in the room.

I would love to say that we spent a lot of time at the beach, but truth is...there's no bar at the beach! So 90% of our time was spent in the pool (with the bar). :)

New friends-D'Sean and Dario

We met some really nice people here...guests and staff. Our agenda (on most days) went like this: eat, drink, swim, eat, drink, swim, shower, eat, change locations to pub to drink. All in moderation, of course.

Wednesday night until Saturday we did nothing!!! It was incredible! We woke up, ate breakfast (which was delicious), had coffee (also super delicious), then headed to the pool.At night, we had dinner and watched their nightly show, which usually consisted of music and dancing. After that, we headed up to the pub for more entertainment...be it talking with new friends, karoke, or a piano/guitar sing-a-long with new friend, Robert. Next time we go, however, I'll change my state of residence to somewhere other than Texas. Telling that to someone with a mic is a big mistake. Lots happened in that pub...I was told I was (insert British accent) "absolutely gorgeous" by a "disgracefully drunk" Englishman...who then went on to moon me. Nice.

On Sunday, we hiked up Dunn's River Falls. It's in Ocho Rios, which is about 1 1/2 hours from Montego Bay. We took a bus over there. Wow. It's amazing we didn't die just from the ride over there. We almost hit a goat, got pulled over by the police, and were passing someone as someone was passing us! The water was cool and very refreshing. It took most of the day. We came back, ate and ended up in the pool...again.

On Monday, we went ziplining over and through the rainforests of Montego Bay. I posted a link to it in my last blog. It starts with another bus ride up the mountain. Once there, we're strapped in harnesses and fitted with helmets. From there, we ride higher up the mountain in a safari-type jeep. All I can say is good thing we had the helmets! There were 7 "ziplines" or traverses, as they're technically called, and 2 repels. Off of platforms. Suspended over 50 ft. in the air. So much fun! The funniest was Shelley, who almost flat out refused to jump off the platform. And then when she did, she was crying! Sorry Shell! Once done, you're taken back down the mountain by jeep. Except we got a flat. We walked half the way down and were then picked up by the other driver...who came up the mountain...in reverse.

Shelley

Mom

Karola

Me

Best tour guides: David and Dane

On Tuesday, we stayed around the resort and took pictures and continued with our regular routine of going to the pool. Oh...and we were given some ganja, of course. Some guy slipped it in Shelley's pocket at the buffet. We weren't going to smoke it so we passed it off to some friends we met in the pool...who also happened to be a NY city cop. Ha! Oh the irony! All in all, it was tons of fun! We're planning another trip there in November. We'll see how it pans out. For now, I'll end with some of the highlights:

1. Kabooms
2. Pool soap operas
3. Being mooned, not once, but twice!
4. Delicious
5. Literally, sorry, definitely, and, of course, flip-flops
6. Jamaican delights :)
7. Yee-haw!
8. Learning the dating rules
9. Pick up lines
10. Pub nights

Thanks for reading! Go Cowboys! ;)

I break stuff...

...including promises. I'm way behind on posting pics of Mel and the baby, like I said I would. So here are a couple:

Mel and Jacob

Proud Parents

Family shot

Uncle Matt

Beautiful Baby

I have a TON of pictures of the baby. I'll try to post a few in the next couple of weeks. Yes...I'm giving myself some time. :) They've all been home for a couple of weeks now and everyone is doing fine. Happy and healthy! As Jill said yesterday, "Is it possible he's gotten cuter?" The answer: YES! He's adorable!

Tomorrow we're leaving for our annual Mother/Daughter Trip. Leaving on a jet plane to Jamaica! Shelley and Karola came down on Friday to spend some time with us, er...the baby, before the trip. Shelley and I've had so much fun! Well, not according to her, but... We went to the movies and out drinking on Saturday, Six Flags on Sunday, and walking/workout yesterday. I don't know what the two of us were thinking going to Six Flags. I had 2 free tickets so we were only going to go for a couple of hours. Ended up staying the whole day. We rode almost every ride and the park wasn't too crowded. It was insanely hot, though.

We'll be in Jamaica until next Wednesday. Spending a little quality time with the beach. We're planning on zip-lining through the forest. Go here to watch a video on it: http://www.chukkacaribbean.com/MontegoBay/canopy.php I'll be posting blogs throughout the trip (hopefully) with pictures. We can't wait!

As for my port, it's finally healing! The bruising is almost gone. There is some scar tissue under the scar, but I'm proud of that. Feels like a little mini port. :) I went to see my surgeon (who's awesome!), but was a little disturbed by the clock in the exam room:

Okay...better go. Still have to pack.

Thanks for reading!

Jacob Bryan Booher

Here he is! The most beautiful, perfect, sweet baby boy! Born at 8:59 PM, 8 lbs, 5.5 oz, 20 inches long. Mom, Dad, and Jacob are happy, healthy, and exhausted. Mel was so tired, I didn't even get pictures of her holding him. I'll get those tomorrow. :)

Jacob Bryan

Proud Dad Love
Matching wristbands

Beaming Oma Tearful Aunt Kimi

Isn't he precious?! Now I'm off to bed. We were at the hospital with them all day and will be back tomorrow. More pics to come!

Goodnight!!!!

Awaiting the arrival of sweet baby J... and other news.

This post is written from the hospital room. The room in which my sister-in-law, Melony, is waiting. And that's it. Just waiting.

Most of you know, Mel's pregnant and was due on June 10th. She had a doctor's appointment on Thursday. Her blood pressure's been higher for a couple of weeks so the doctor advised admitting and inducing her last night. So now we're just waiting. They don't expect anything until around midnight. I'll keep this updated as the day goes on, but for now, here are some pics from last night:

Baby heartbeat!

And in other news...I'm healing quite nicely. I've taken off the bandages. Still bruised, but I'm able to move now. There's a pretty gnarly (ha!) scar there. I posted new pics under surgery.

Also, there's only 2 1/2 days left of school. I, unlike most teachers, do not look forward to the end of school. Especially this year. I have four kiddos moving on to middle school. *sniff, sniff*

Okay...check back later for updates!

UPDATE (7:38PM)--Still no baby. They'll check in an hour and then there's a possibility of a C-section. But for now...more fun pics!

Check back...we'll be up. :)

UPDATE (8:37PM)--C-section it is. They just wheeled her back. In an hour and a half, sweet baby J should make his appearance!!!

Updating the blog...

Still deciding...

...if the pain's worth it. I had my port out on Thursday. What an ordeal!! Here's what happened:

My original surgery time was scheduled for 12:45. I was to be there an hour before. Now...the other two times I've been there, they've called and told me to come earlier due to cancellations. So when the phone rang at about 9:30, I knew what to expect. But I was wrong. My surgeon, Dr. P, had an emercency surgery and was running behind. The nurse told me I could wait it out or reschedule. I told her I'd just wait it out...I had already taken off of work. I was to call back around 12 and in the meantime, call Dr. P's office to see when the soonest I could reschedule would be, just in case. She said she was sorry, but thanked me for being kind (she said I was the first one!) I called Dr. P's office and was told the soonest would be Friday.

At around noon, the phone rang again...Dr. P was back in and the surgery was on! I needed to be there at 2. This was good news for me. As you know, I was having a hard time with this surgery anyway and had psyched myself up to have it Thursday. I was dreading having to postpone it by a day. So Matt and I get there at 2, sign lots of paperwork, and I wait to be called back. In the meantime, Mom gets off work and meets us there. Pam, my prep nurse, calls me back and Matt comes with me. I change into my gown and hop into bed. I'm asked to sign and initial more papers, such as do I have a living will, in the case of needing a blood transfusion should they do it and is it okay to have students and technical people back there to observe. I initial and sign all of them, even the students. I'll be asleep, what do I care? Then I get my IV and am prepped for surgery. Then I wait. There are people ahead of me and I'm told it'll be about 45 minutes or so. Here are some pictures:

Waiting...

Bored

My IV

Now during this time, Dr. P comes by to say hi, I meet my surgical nurse, Matt, and my anthesiologist. Matt, the nurse, hangs out with us awhile and tells me the details of the surgery. And now the bad news...I can't keep the port. Apparently anything they pull out of you is considered a foreign object and has to be sent off to the pathologist. He promises to save it so I can see it after surgery. Mom comes back for a while now, too. We're the last ones and there's no one else back in the preop room. Finally it's my turn. I say my goodbyes and Nurse Matt wheels me off to surgery. I get some good drugs and fall fast asleep.

I wake up in recovery shaking uncontrollably, thanks to the anesthesia wearing off. Matt and Mom are back there waiting. Nurse Matt shows off the port, which he didn't have a chance to clean. Cool. :) Finally, I'm awake enough to get dressed and go home.

My port!!!

Nurse Matt showing me the port

I'm starting to love my surgery place. I had the exact same team as when I got the port in. I was told that was unusual. AND...the compliments from these people flowed. When I was getting radiation, I received lots o' compliments. I think these people are paid extra to make you feel special. Here are some of the compliments from my surgery...from Nurse Pam--I have a beautiful smile; from Nurse Matt--when I passed your bed, I could've sworn you were a teenager. You're not pulling off your age very well; from another random nurse--your haircut is so cute! (I told her it was longer before my diagnosis, which got us talking about cancer and how I didn't lose my hair...so then she says...) Well, you have such a beautiful face, you could pull off being bald! So let's see...what else can I have surgery on?? :)

So here's how I'm feeling now. It's been a couple of days. The pain meds didn't seem to work quite as well. When I take Vicodin, it makes my neck and jaw hurt to the touch. So I'm off of those and on to plain Tylenol. I took the bandage off. It was bleeding a little when I got home on Thursday...I think that happened when I was trying to put a shirt on. And now we wait for the healing. I did feel it a little above the bandage...it's hard to feel it without feeling the tube running up my skin. Strange.

Anyhow...sorry the major long post. Lots of new surgery pics posted under the surgery album. Check them out, if it doesn't gross you out. There's some of my port before it was taken out, too.

Thanks for reading. :) Off to sleep now...

The time is here.

Tomorrow I'll have my port out.  I'm nervous and anxious beyond belief.  And that's it.  Have to go to fill out paperwork.

Goodnight.

Potpourri...and not the smelly good kind.

I was recently interviewed for our Special Ed Newsletter for the district. Here's what was written:

Teacher of the Year

Kim Riggle is the Teacher of the Year for Moseley Elementary and the sole Special Education teacher among the district Teachers of the Year for this school year. Kim graduated from UTA (Bachelors) and UNT (Masters). She began teaching in the Structured Learning Class (SLC) program at Florence Hill before moving to Moseley Elementary when it opened two years ago. Kim originally attended school to learn how to use Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) with animals. However, while doing home therapy with a child with Autism, she found enjoyment and satisfaction applying similar techniques. To share Kim’s words- “I don’t teach ordinary kids... my kids are the most amazing kids ever.” According to Ms. Milham, Moseley principal, Kim is calm despite her challenging students. She demonstrates a high level of skill with her students and is well liked by students throughout the building. The staff was impressed by her courage and fortitude during a health crisis that did not adversely affect her professional duties.

Congratulations Mrs. Riggle!

That's a picture with my principal. I'm sure she'll appreciate me putting it up. She's welcome. :)

If the "economy" hasn't "affected" you and you're in the mood to donate money, here are a couple of good donation sites. The first is by the American Cancer Society and their Relay for Life. This team was formed by the Student Council at our high school in honor of current and former students fighting cancer: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?team_id=494272&fr_id=17453&pg=team The next is for a friend of friend training for the Team in Training by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society: http://pages.teamintraining.org/ntx/nikesf09/lstewart The next is for my personal bank account. For, ya know..."research". Contact me for details.

I've finally made the appointment to get my port taken out. It's been a hard decision for me in ways I can't describe, but the time has come. The date is set for May 14th. And I'm asking to keep it. Hopefully, they'll let me and I'll post a picture.

And last...I've officially booked my trip for Jamaica this summer! Every year, my mom, aunt Karola, cousin Shelley, and I take a trip. We call it our Mother/Daughter trip--the creativity flows when the 4 of us get together. We only started 2 years ago. We went to California and Nevada. Last year we went all over the East Coast. This year, JAMAICA! Here's a video from our first trip...if you're bored, have 15 minutes to kill, and are interested in seeing pics only of us and scenery:

Anyhow...hope to update later...post surgery.

Thanks for reading. Goodnight!