Still Here

In case you have been wondering, yes I am still alive. Things have been busy and mostly I haven't had any ganas ("want" or "inspiration") to write when I actually have the time, but of course, when I don't have time I could write a million posts. And so that is why I haven't posted in forever.

But I figured I should stop by and let you all know that things are going good. Christian is recovering well from this surgery. His English classes are going well and I am trying to talk to him only in English (although really it just depends on the topic, mood, etc.).

The most exciting news is that one of my best friends is coming to visit this Friday!!!! Staci and I met freshman year in college and lived together our junior year. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding and is an awesome friend. I can't wait to pick her up from the airport on Friday morning!

Recuperating & Trying to Avoid Stress

Yesterday Christian got the ok from the doctor to come home so I went around noon to pick him up at the hospital.  He is now at home and resting in bed.  He has medical license for 11 days and has to go see his doctor for a follow-up next week.  He is supposed to get up and move around the house during the day as well as rest.  The doctor said the worst thing to do would be just lay down the whole time.  He has to follow a "bland" diet so hopefully this weekend I can take the items he is able to eat and make something more exciting than crackers with jam or jello-o with fruit.  He is recuperating and I am sure every day he'll be a little bit better.

I, myself, am trying to not stress out as much as possible.  Work has been a madhouse.  I have a lot of projects to work on (which I like) and new issue to investigate are coming up all the time but I slowly feel myself sinking under a pile of things that I seem to never be able to finish.  This drowning feeling is not one which I welcome and thus I have been feeling stressed and pressured lately.  This is apart from the stress of this week with Christian's surgery.  I trusted the doctor and the hospital was great, but any time a loved one has major surgery it puts some deal of stress on you, even if you try not to let it.  And then there are some other factors that I can't mention here that have added more stress.  Mostly things out of my control, but for me, those are the worse type.  Logically I know I shouldn't let these external factors bother me, but it is something I almost can't help.  I am trying best I can to push any negative thoughts out of my mind, but once in a while they creep in.  I have been keeping up my gym routine this week too in order to help combat the stress.  But my leg started hurting this week on top of everything else and yesterday no amount of IB profin was taking the pain away.  This, in turn, meant that yesterday when I got home from work I only wanted to do two things: 1. eat and 2. sleep.  After eating, helping out the husband and giving him a massage I was able to go to bed.....but my mind and body were still so accelerated from everything that has been going on that I couldn't fall asleep for over an hour.  And my leg was killing me.  Ugf.  

So sorry if I haven't been blogging much and more than that, if you are one of the 30+ people to whom I owe an email, please be patient.  My inbox it out of control right now and I am trying to respond as soon as I can.  

~Tyffanie

Christian is Ok

Just wanted to send a quick note that Christian's surgery went well.  He is still in recovery but should be coming up to his room soon.  The doctor said everything went well so hopefully he'll get to check out tomorrow morning and head home to rest.  Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts!
~Tyffanie

The Good & Bad of the Husband

The great news with respect to my husband is that he won the CORFO English scholarship which means he'll get about 3 months of super intense English classes for almost nothing!  We have to pay like $200 as a deposit and to guarantee his spot, but considering he will be in class 6 days a week, 3 hours a day....that is about 216 hours in total and would probably normally run you over $2000 if you calculate that one hour classes run you minimum $10.  I am so excited about this because he had to have an intermediate level of English to even get the scholarship (intermediate being between 400-600 points on the TOEIC).  CORFO sent him to take the TOEIC in early July and he scored within the range and was accepted into the program! Waaahooo! This means his English is going to increase greatly in the next few months which is awesome considering we want to move back to the US in the short term.

The bad news is that today he has to have surgery for a hernia.  He found a highly recommended doctor who has been amazing so far so I am confident it will all work out well.  Please do keep him in your thoughts as well as the doctors & nurses caring for him (so that they are thinking clearly and putting his needs first).  I'm at work for a few hours this morning and then will be taking him to the hospital around lunchtime.  I'll post an update when I can to let you know how it goes.

~Tyffanie

Fourmile Fire - Boulder, CO

If you haven't heard, there is a 3,500-acre fire northwest of Boulder that is eating up houses and anything else in its path.  I just saw the news about it thanks to this article from the Daily Camera.  My heart goes out to those who have lost their homes and everything inside, and those who had to evacuate and aren't sure what happened to their homes.  I hope the firefighters are able to contain it and that the weather helps out (ie. no more wind).  Please keep everyone in Colorado affected by this fire in your thoughts!!!

~Tyffanie

Domingos de Dulcinea: She's In Trouble

This is what happens when my husband and Dulcinea have too much time on their hands:

{Original photo here}