On November 21st 1997 we were married by a strange woman with big hair that was actually shorter that me and resembled the old lady from poltergeist. Eli was an hour late and it was snowing. It is hard to believe that was 10 years ago.
Eli's Dad bought us this bottle of wine that year. It was the same wine we drank on our honey moon. We have been waiting forever to open it. First we said we would open it on our 1st anniversary, then after Erika, then Olivia, then Makenna, then we just said we would wait till our 10 anniversary. I personally thought we should open it to celebrate Eli's vasectomy but we thought that would be a little inappropriate. Well first of all, according to some website it was worth ~$250 and it should have been opened last year. Second, nobody told me to store it in a cool dark place. It was ultimately the nastiest bottle of wine I have ever had and was severely altered. We chased it with a few more and found our new favorite....A recommendation from the manager at The Melting Pot, where we went for dinner, we stuffed ourselves.
We are not like normal couples and most of the time we don't buy each other gifts. Not saying that we haven't but mostly we don't. We give the gift of love.... After Eli and I opened, well drank, the first normal non altered bottle of wine, he decided to go to his car and get my anniversary card and then signed it right in front of me.
We had a romantic evening. After dinner we came back to a quiet house and watched our wedding video. The first time we actually sat together and watch the whole thing. It was great to see how much we changed, how much other people changed. Remembering who we were back then and how we beat the odds.
Yet again, Makenna has taken another trip to the ER, her 4th trip since January. Yesterday she woke up with something called petechia, all over her face, ears, butt, and left shoulder. Eli and I spend Thanksgiving morning with her at the peds unit at St. Joesph Ann Arbor. They tested her blood for a few things. Nothing major was determined except for a few abnormal white blood cells that are consistent with some blood viruses. We followed up with her regular pediatrician today. What we know right now is that she has some kind of blood virus and that it caused a vasculitis but they are not sure what kind of virus. They did say they were going to monitor her blood and urine every week for the next month for any abnormal signs or "flags". At home we are to monitor her mood, any sign for joint pain, fever or more spots, in that case we are to immediately return to the ER. When I asked what they are monitoring the blood for, he told me that there wasn't anything that indicated "leukemia"at this time, but he wants to stay ahead of the game. He assured me that he is on top of it and will be watching her closely but does believe it is just a blood virus and she will be fine in a couple of weeks, he even told me to take a deep breath, easy for him to say. Makenna is acting fine and behaving like her 2 years old typical self, cute as a button. Except for the red freckles all over her face she looks relatively normal. She didn't even cry for the 2 blood draws that she has had so far. Mommy was so proud of her big girl. So if you could in the next couple of weeks keep Makenna in your prayers. I'm sure she'll be fine, but a little prayer couldn't hurt. She is such a trooper and she is too cute for words.
Today Eli turns 32. Happy Birthday ELI ~ I LOVE YOU!
He is probably tired and exhausted from being up all night last night.....not why you think. We had 2 girls up sick and screaming all night long. He was off to work by 5 am. That just shows what a great Daddy he is. Thanks for you help with Kenna last night....wasn't the birthday present I was looking to get ya! lol
We are putting the celebrations on hold until the weekend!
I was getting a little nervous that I didn't get a call from AEC, totally second guessing myself, maybe I messed up or someone thought I was a total B#*$%. Gosh, what was I thinking. Dr. Robertson called and apologized for not calling yesterday. So I got the job! YEAH! I go for training next week and am working two Sundays this month 7am to 4pm. Yes I will be giving up church for work this month, I'm ok with that and God totally understands why. I think I might still go to the other interview on Sunday, just to check things out and for practice. Maybe something will work out where I can help out there too, once in a while. Eli thinks I'm crazy. He asks me "how many jobs do you want?" Just 3 ~ is that too many? I just want to be happy! Paying off debt, helping Eli, putting food on the table and taking care of my girls....that makes me happy! If I can help, I want too! Plus student loans aren't free....
So I didn't hear from AEC yesterday. I am wondering if I should call or just give it a couple days. I think I'll wait until the end of the week. I did get a phone call on Sunday from the original place I wanted to do relief work at, Brighton Towne and Country Animal Hospital. I had sent them a resume in September and Dr. Gerster called me a few days later and told me she didn't have any openings but I would be first in line when something opened up. Well.......something opened up. It is the midnight shift 11pm - 7am Friday and Saturdays and she said that if worked out I could work as a relief tech there during the week at nights and there would be more shifts opening come early spring. So off to another interview. Sunday night I will be doing a working interview from 8 till whenever. Good part about this place is that it is literally 5 minutes from home with traffic. Bad part, I live in this city and will run into people I know all the time. I'm a pretty outgoing person, but sometimes it's best not to know, you know? Anywho......this week isn't going how I planned and I just need to get through Friday. I have a quiz today, a test tomorrow, a test Thursday and my big and only paper due Friday, that I still have to work on. Tomorrow is Eli's birthday, he will be the big 32! So that is my highlight for the week. Hopefully we will get to celebrate sometime this weekend. I would tell you this great story about how Eli already started his birthday celebration last Sunday, but I wouldn't want to spoil it. You'll have to get the story strait from him. It's a pretty great story and will be remembered for some time to come. Now I'm just procrastinating because I don't feel like studying so I should go!
I have interviewed at 2 vet emergency facilities. The first one was at VCS (Veterinary Care Specialist) and the second, AEC (Animal Emergency Center). I turned down the job at VCS because I didn't feel like it was the right fit for me. My second interview was great! I loved the facility, the doctors and the staff. Yesterday I had a working interview from 3 -7 at AEC. I ended up staying until 8, I didn't even notice it was 8. We were swamped. I was supposed to "observe and interact with the staff". Ya, that didn't happen. I jumped right in and had a great time. In the 5 hours I was there I learned a new blood machine, digital x-ray, blood pressure, 2 different style IV pumps with fentanyl piggy back, and nebulizer. I'm not saying I have a complete grasp on all of it, but it was so exciting to learn something new. All the girls were so helpful and nice. The two doctors were great. I placed a catheter on a 9 week old puppy that only had one vein to work with and I was nervous but I was pleased with myself, especially when everyone is staring at the new girl. There was even a "welcome Dana Schultz" sign on the bulletin board, I thought that was nice. I worked at an vet emergency facility part time along with my job at Jeffrey's before we had Erika and I loved it. It was too much working 50+ hours a week, so I had to quit. I love emergency because on the busy days your are constantly going and you just don't stop and it is exciting, there is no set appointment schedule, what comes in comes in, always unexpected, never know what your gonna get, every case is different. The one thing that sucks is working holidays and weekends. I don't mind midnights, but it is going to be hard to be away from Eli and the girls more on the weekends. So I should hear from AEC on Monday if they liked me or not and if I get the job. I am praying that I do. If I do, I make my own schedule and choose my shifts. It is part time, relief basis. So it's not a set schedule and if I can't work, I don't schedule myself to work, no big deal. This is not to replace my job at Jeffrey's, it's an added job for some extra money. I have 6 weeks left in this semester and after that I am hoping to be working full time between the two places until I start the nursing program. I am in the final stretch with my classes, I finished algebra early, so I technically am only taking 3 classes now. I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and my attitude is starting to shift. I have to say, I am exhausted and almost feel a little hung over. I was at work at 7:45 yesterday morning and didn't get home until almost 9:00 p.m. Working two jobs in a row was a little tiring. I forgot how to work the 12 hour shifts. I didn't realize how tired I was until I sat on the couch with Eli last night to catch up on Heroes. Good thing we gained an hour last night.
It was the last year for the piglet costume and I wanted to cry. Erika wore for her 2nd Halloween and she wore it to visit Olivia and I in the hospital when Olivia was born. Olivia wore it the first year in the house in Brighton, when she was 2. Makenna was the last to wear it and now it is retired. It is the cutest Halloween costume ever! Where did the time go?
Erika holding Olivia
Erika pointing to her "big sister sticker"
Olivia with two suckers in her mouth. One is never enough! GIMMIE CANDY MOMMA!
Halloween was spookytastic! The weather was perfect, the day was perfect. Filled with 2 Halloween parades, one at Erika's school, one at Olivia's. Makenna learned how to say "trick or treat" and would say "thank you much" every time she would get candy. Makenna cut out after going around the "short block". So her and I passed out candy the rest of the time. Eli took the girls with a another little girl and another Mom from down the street.
Olivia turned 6 on Monday. On Sunday my family along with Kimmy and Marina went to Spicers Apple Orchard and had a fun filled beautiful morning with barn yard animals, teeter tauter's , pony rides, hay rides and pumpkin patch picking. It was a crisp, sunny, fall day and just perfect, except Diane and Jeff were totally hung over a smelled like a brewery! Everyone had a great time. We even made it to swim class that day and I took Olivia shopping to pick out her birthday present. Monday we had dinner at my parents and made brownies for desert. She was happy to get the traditional wand from Nana and a new webkinz and lipgloss from her Auntie. Here are pictures from Sunday and Monday.
Eli, yet again, pulled off another dream date. I would call it the fourth dream date of my life. The first one Eli took me on was to Ernesto's in a red porsche with R Kelly playing, that was our first "real date", he ever took me on. Eli taught me how to drive a stick (no, not that way, the porsche.... silly!) We sat up all night and talked, until my mom called and screamed at Eli for not having me home on time. We had our baby shower there (at Ernestos) on the day of our 2nd anniversary, because that night was the night I knew I would be with Eli forever. Yeah I'm being cheesy.... Little factoid, Eli used to work there as a cook. The second dream date that Eli took me on was a couple of years later. He picked me up in the same red porsche and took me downtown to an awesome restaurant that I can't remember the name of and he gave me my anniversary band at dinner, the way he did it was like he proposed all over again. We went to a martini bar and played put-put at the bar and sat and listened to jazz. That night we weren't bothered by my mom because we were married and the kids were somewhere and we had the house all to ourselves. The third, oh the third, was the night of the Fleetwood Mac concert. We had the greatest time. I was will my husband and my best friend at the same time. We were goofy, singing and rockin on, being obnoxious and loud and we had a BLAST. The forth and most romantic just happened a couple of weeks ago. Eli took me to get sushi for dinner, we had coffee (may not sound like much for some people, but for Eli and I to actually sit and have coffee with each other without kids running around is a milestone). We went and saw the Dane Cook movie (which I could've actually done without, but to be alone was all that was important). Afterwards Eli surprised me with a room, well actually a suite at the Homewood Suites. Not only did Eli do this, him and the girls went to the room while I was at work and put rose pedals all over the room. He had my favorite wine with two wine glasses sitting on the table and my favorite scent of candle in the bedroom. We actually spend a whole uninterrupted evening together and even had breakfast together in the morning. There has been many wonderful events, dates, and nights out that Eli and I have experienced together, but these were right up there with the day we were married. I sit and think about how blessed I am as a wife and mother that I have Eli in my life. Not just as my husband, or my lover, or the father of my children, but as my best friend......my soul mate. The one that makes me whole. The one that puts a smile on my face. The one I can watch in a daze as he plays with his little girls, who adore him. It is so easy to forget all the wonderful things that you experience with one person when you are so wrapped up in the everyday, when your so angry when things aren't going your way. These days with Eli, put my life into perspective and remind me of how awesome my life is, and what a gift it is to be able to share it with the one I can truly be myself with. Eli has seen me at my best and at my worst (I can honestly say, that I am at one of my worsts right now). He loves me for me.......unconditionally, no questions asked. He know me better that I probably know him (that hurts me to say that). He can finish my sentences. He could write a book on the good, the bad, and the ugly of Dana Schultz and he would leave out the bad and the ugly. He complements me, sees me for who I am and what I want to become. He supports me. He recently dedicated a song to me by snow patrol and it hit me hard. To listen to it is very hard for me because I know he struggles with me, how can he not. I can be pretty unbearable lately. He is truly my GRACE FROM GOD.....sent directly to me as a gift so big I could never repay (as Dave Kurt puts the word "grace"). I am in awe for the love he has for me and I only hope he feels all the love I have for him.
I love you Eli with all that I am. Thank you!
These three verses, Eli turns up the music every time and then reminds me how much he loves me...
Are you beginning to get get my point They're always fighting with aching joints It's doing nothing but tire us out No one knows what this fight's about
It's so thrilling but also wrong Don't have to prove that you are so strong Cuz I can carry you on my back After our enemies attack
I tried to tell you before I left But I was screaming under my breath You are the only thing that makes sense Just ignore all this present tense
Not by choice, Eli and I had to get a new car to take the mighty trip to Dearborn and back. The transmission decided to go on the "Grandma Taurus", of coarse because it was the most expensive thing to go....the story of our lives. Not wanting to put any more money into a car that already had a ton of miles, we did some shopping....a lot of shopping. The best deal we got was on this little number. Payments are tiny bit more and now Eli is driving a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu with only 30000 miles, I guess better than racking up more on the credit card for a new transmission. So this is the first time in our marriage that Eli is driving a new and nicer car than me. Poor Eli only had to wait 10 years. It gets better miles per gallon (32-34 mpg) than the Taurus and a much better than the van. So I get to drive it to Lansing on Tuesday and Thursdays. Because our insurance company sucks...(they raised our payment $50 bucks a month because of Eli's accident and then wanted an extra $37 for the newer car. We are switching insurance companies, thanks to Dave and Cathie Kurt, for telling us about Deb Hoffman, she is a miracle worker and is just such an awesome person to talk to.
When Erika and Olivia were little like Makenna, their hair was always done with bows, pig-tails, ponytails, barettes, curled, blow-dryed....blah blah blah. Makenna's lucky if I have time to brush her hair once a week. Her hair is so frustrating. Even if I attempt to do it, it will look similiar to this within the hour....I give up.
The girls aren't even in school for a full 2 weeks and we have a bug in our house. Bandit looks after the sick, sad, and/or pregnant. This is his way of taking care of Erika. Poor KaKa.
Makenna turned 2 yesterday! On Friday, Kimmy, Diane and I went to the park together and we had a little celebration for her last night. Eli made the best ribs and his cheesey potatoes put mine to shame. Auntie bought Makenna this huge canvas play set thing that took up the whole downstairs and kept the kids busy most of the night. Makenna did really great sharing all her new toys with her sisters, cousins and her best friend Marina. Makenna is growing up so fast and keeping up with Erika and Olivia. Watching Makenna and Marina interact with each other the past few days has been so fun! They love each other and call each other by name now, have conversations and give each other hugs and kisses. Last night after everyone left, Eli and I sat back and watched Erika and Makenna play together and it was such a precious moment (Olivia actually fell asleep on the couch in between Eli and I and was too tired to play). They were dancing, singing, and giggling. This is what I live for. My family makes me smile. My children make me smile. Time is going way too fast! If I could've pressed pause last night, I would have.
Here are pictures from the park and Makenna's birthday celebration.....
Here is a little video when we sang Happy Birthday and Kenna eating her cake. It's a little long, but cute ~ Eli decided to take the video of her until there was no memory left in the camera.
This is from our trip with Kevin and Cathie, oh about a month ago. I've been waiting for the pictures from Cathie and she finally decided to get them onto Picasa so I could download them. Our vacation was so much fun. The kids were whooped by the end of the day. They were in the water from morning till dark. We had a fire every night.....we even got to have adult time because the kids fell asleep pretty early. Feeding 10 people for breakfast, lunch, and dinner became an assembly line. The weather was perfect and it started to rain when we were pulling away to go home....perfect! What a blast!
You can see all the rest of the pictures here.......
Jeffrey Animal Hospital, my favorite place to work, is sponsoring a vaccine clinic tomorrow at Hines Park in Livonia from 12 - 4. I will be there with Dr. Demetriou and Jeannie doing what we do best. Good prices on vaccines and it sounds like there will be a lot to do with you four legged friend. Eli is planning on bringing the girls to see all the fun. I love to do vaccine clinics. It's great to get out of the office, do something different, and see new people, and it's also fun to people watch. Pray that this one goes well......for Dr. Jeffrey's sake.
Last weekend Eli and I went out to celebrate Cathie's Birthday. We went out to Zuki Lake Tavern for dinner and then went to 2 bars afterwards. The first bar was like being a gentleman's club, well to be honest, more like whore house, anyways we left there and went to another bar after we dropped some of the couples home. We had a lot of fun and those nights don't seem like they come as often as they should. You can read more about the evening here and here and see the pictures from Cathie's birthday celebration and day at the pool here.....
Last Sunday, we headed out to Irish Hills for the Agusti and Marshall family reunion. Irish Hills is a beautiful area! We drove through Saline and I want to move there. The Agusti's are not blood relatives but were a huge part of my life when I was growing up. I think of my Aunt Mary and Uncle Oscar as true family. Our families did everything together. Kathleen and Diane are still very close. Peggy and I have drifted a little, but alway have a great time together when we see each other! We all have children now, except for David. It was nice to get all the kids together. Interesting that the oldest and the youngest child belonged to Eli and I. We are also the couple with the most children. David informed me that Eli and I are the reason for overpopulating the world. Still, sad to say, David was the only one that couldn't make it, and was missed. Peggy is a teacher in Livonia and is married to Curt and together they have 2 year old little girl named Megan. Kathleen is a social worker and is married to John and they have 2 year old twins, Dillion and Katie. All the kids had a great time. They went jet skiing, played in the lake and sand box, and made s'mores. Erika loved playing with the little one's. Interesting the our parents left on the pontoon boat and were gone for over 2 hours. Maybe all the kids were too much for them. You can see more pictures here......
Olivia is in the Duck Room! She's a big "kindergartener!"
Erika and Olivia off on the bus! (Makenna in the background, yes she is still in her pjs, at least she has shoes on)
Is this totally selfish to say? I'm excited for my girls to be in school. There were people sobbing at the bus stop and sobbing at kindergarden orientation. Oh Please!!! I was ready to get out the pom poms and start cheering. (Yes I was sad when Erika started kindergarten and I may have shead a tear or two, but I am so over that, plus I was pregnant and hormonal!) It is really cute watching Kenna scream "bye bye ka ka, bye bye bia" and wave to bus all the way down the street. Then her and I run back home as fast as we can and snuggle on the couch and watch Finding Nemo together.
Eli set up Makenna's bed today. It is sad to think the next time we set up the crib it will be for our grandchildren (wipe the tear). Makenna was so proud and she layed down for her nap right away and said......."GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO", and pointed to the door. Now I just have to get that stinkin binky away from her. Baby steps.
