by Sarah | Apr 26, 2012 | All About Erik, Crap
[flickr id=”6293299563″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]For a few months Erik has been sick. After about two months of issues, he finally made the call and went into the doctor.
After a handful of tests he was sent to the specialist (A GI doc). He then had to go through more tests of the minor outpatient surgery variety.
Then came the waiting period. You know, the part that SUCKS.
His follow up appointment is Friday.
Two days ago we got a letter from the doc. It had the biopsy results. With several mentions of “pre-cancerous” conditions.
All of which my husband Google’d.
As a (slight) hypochondriac myself I try to not Google medical issues that pertain to me (I will Google for others). I know that if I Google for myself I stress more. It builds in my head.
And that’s what’s happening to the hubby now. One of the conditions in the letter could end up serious, and it’s sort of freaking us both out. The poor guy has been doing his best to keep calm and all of that – but depression and stress don’t mix well (although he has been doing a stellar job overall).
Tomorrow we meet with the doctor. In the hope that he will ease the worst of our fears and have a good, clear plan for where to go next.
The worst part – is it doesn’t seem like either of the ‘conditions’ in the results has anything to do with the symptoms that sent him to the doctor in the first place. The symptoms that are still plaguing him.
All we wanted is answers. In its place we got fears, more questions, and no resolution to the original problem.
by Sarah | Apr 25, 2012 | All About Erik, All About Marriage, All About Me
[flickr id=”7114409929″ thumbnail=”small_320″ overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”] From the time I knew we were going to St. Louis I knew i had to do a brewery tour. In my head I had the images of Laverne & Shirley on the line and I wanted to see that in person. I wanted to abuse my camera and get loots of pictures.
The day I went to sign up Erik & I for the tour I saw the price – $25 a person. I gasped, choked, and hit ‘pay’. I sort of hated that I was paying that much money when I don’t even like beer.
It was the best money spent the whole weekend (Star Trek Exhibit aside). Worth every penny.
The tour is amazing. If you ever go, skip the free tour. In advance shell out the money for the Beermaster Tour. It is worth every penny if you do – and worth every penny if you don’t – like beer. The campus of Anheuser-Busch is amazingly beautiful. The buildings are lovely and well maintained. Just stunning. The tour guides are well informed, friendly and didn’t sound practiced/scripted.
With the beermaster tour you actually go out on the bottling floor, walk among the machines. Up close and personal. I really felt like Laverne (or Shirley) out on that floor.
Oh, and at the end of the tour you’re left in the suite with an open fridge of many flavors of beer and told to sample what you want. (For the record, my husband ‘sampled’ four of them LOL).
now without further ado – I give you pictures. Because words alone can’t pinpoint all the fun that was had.
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by Sarah | Apr 23, 2012 | 45 before 45, All About Erik, All About Marriage, All About Me, Random
[flickr id=”6960802096″ thumbnail=”small_320″ overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]Erik and I have returned from our mini-vacation in St. Louis.
As you can see one of our favorite stops was the Anheuser-Busch Tour. Erik enjoyed it immensely – and even I did (and I don’t like beer as a general rule).
So much happened on our trip and I learned so much at Bloggy Boot Camp – and we met so many wonderful people…
My head is still spinning. My 45X45 list is calling out to be updated. My photo editor is overflowing with pictures to be edited (85% of which were on the BeerMaster Tour).
We have declared today our vacation from our vacation day.
Tomorrow I’ll be responding to a ‘tag-you’re-it’ post from a friend to give me an extra day for thought-processing and photo-editing, and then I hope to be back to posting as usual.
So I’ll keep it short and say – awesome weekend. Awesome people. Awesome learning. Awesome town (we really did thoroughly enjoy STL and its people).
Now we go back to bed.
~zzz
by Sarah | Apr 22, 2012 | Critters, Writing, writing tips
“The best writing is rewriting.” ~ E. B. White
That is so absolutely true. The first draft of a literary project is rarely presentable, whether it’s fiction, non-fiction, or somewhere in between. My writing tends to be a “stream of consciousness” sort of event, words jotted down as the imaginings unfold.
While I’m writing, I taste, hear, smell, see, and feel the same things that my characters are feeling. I interpret it from their unique and distinctive perspectives. I tell their story as I see it flowing through their eyes. My characters and I are experiencing the story, together. I am their emissary. I am their ambassador to the reader.
I can’t just hook my readers into my brain so they can watch it like a movie, however. I need to make the life of my story real for my readers, too.
That, my friends, is where a good critique writer (“critter”) comes in to play.
It’s the critter who tells you to change your verbiage (“was” and I are still locked in an on-going death match). It’s a critter who detects that storyline or timeline flaw. “How did that character leave when he never showed up?” They’re the ones who listen to your sentences and taste the flavor of your imagery.
The best critter is someone who is your paramount cheerleader. They want you to write, to succeed, and to accomplish your goal. They motivate you. They yell at you to write when you really just want to cruise Facebook. They call for the “PowerHour” of writing that gets you one chapter closer. A good critter helps you write YOUR story. Not his or her story. The good critter offers positive and negative feedback.
A critter is your battle buddy, your writing partner, and your shoulder. They’re with you from the start, and they’ll be with you until well past the end.
Sometimes they’ll make you cry. Sometimes they’ll make you laugh.
The best writing is the writing done when you’ve truly found what it is you want to say and paired it with what it is you need to say.
Writing is the tangle of your mind and imagination, let out for the world to see. Successful critiquing is the untangling of that knot, so the world can truly see each beautiful strand.
*~*~*~*~*
Fiona is a Work-At-Home-Mom with two lovely daughters and a hyperactive dog. She is currently writing a romantic fiction novel and fending off The Muse at every other opportunity, while staring at the growing pile of “Good Ideas” that are beginning to litter her home office. Fiona has worked as an Analyst in the Army, a computer systems engineer, and is currently working as a “jack of all trades” in marketing and business operations. Fiona’s blog, The Writer’s Block (http://fionadruce.blogspot.com), archives her on-going struggle with writing, her thoughts on writing, and the very important random topic that comes to mind at 3 am in the morning and must be published.
I am very happy to welcome today’s Guest Post Author, Fiona. She’s a new friend, and a new crit partner I have found in this vast world of the WWW. We appear to be kindred spirits and I’m very glad she came by to visit today!!
by Sarah | Apr 21, 2012 | All About Kennedy
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A daughter is a day brightener and a heart warmer ~Author Unknown
Our silly monkey. The one that hid herself until near the end of the pregnancy, and then became so impatient once we knew you made your escape a month early. You screamed your way into the world and our hearts.
You look every challenge in the eye and scream or laugh it away. You’ve overcome every obstacle the world has put in your path in your own unique way.
You are at turns beautiful and funny and smart – and then weird, quirky, and goofy. A Kewpie doll voice, a smile that melts the angriest heart into a puddle of goo.
We have been blessed to know you, to see you grow. So tied to your big sister – but so much your own person.
Happy Birthday to my littlest angel.
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