Thankful Hearts

So I know that this is a little overdue, but I thought I would fill everyone in on the ongoings at Ida. Joe is doing much better and went back to work this week. I think more than anything he needed to get out and feel like he is doing something again. His normal daily life is a little more busy and exciting than sitting at home cleaning the house and doing laundry:) We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and were able to spend time with both families and Luke and Julie. Over this past six weeks it has been a big adjustment on both of our parts but it also has made me realize a lot so here are a couple things I am thankful for.
- I am thankful for the daily strenght I get from my savior.
- I am thankful for being raised in a Christian home.
- I am thankful for my wonderful Husband, who means more to me than he will ever know.
- I am thankful that God has blessed us with two beautiful boys who are the light of me life.
- I am thankful for my wonderful parents and Gretchen and Marc. Also my great in- laws and extended family that we are so close with.
- I am thankful for great close friends who have always been there for us.
- I am thankful for the house we have right now (even though we don't own it) and how it has helped us.
- I am thankful for Noah's school and his teachers
- I am thankful for the jobs we have and that they have been a blessing for us.
Anyway the list could go on, but I thought I would share a couple things with all of you, if anyone still reads this :)
Blessings to all
Emilie

Cuts Like a Knive (But It Feels So Right)

So here I am, 10:19 on a Monday night.

I have had my surgery this morning, at 8am, Emilie has gone home to get some sleep (she needs this dearly). The boys are at Oma and Opa's for the next couple of nights. The only things going through my mind is that "I can't believe that we are done". I mean we have been thinking, dreaming even of this time, when I was done with the surgery. I am comfortable, for the most part. I am on pain meds, but have a bit of a head ache because of them all, and because I have not had a smoke in over 24 hours. (If anyone is reading this, this does NOT mean that I intend to stop smoking anytime soon. Let us not go down that road right now!!)

My doctor told me that I can't return to work for at least two weeks! I hope I do not become the Wally Pipp of the DART program. It has been nice to hang out with my family so much though. I must say that my wife absolutely is the best hands down. I will not even take arguments regarding this! There is NO better wife ot there than Emilie.

So now I wait to go home. I know that I am here for at least one more day, maybe two. I cannot leave until I have the cathader removed. (Which I will not boast of the benifit of. I can fart around on the internet, drinking water and grape juice and not have to get up to pee. I know to some that may not be cool, but for me it rocks!!!) It's not bad here, I have a private room, if anyone want to visit, 5025 I'm not going anywhere!

Great nurses, pretty good coffee (I also learned that coffee is NOT bad for kidney stones)
I have my computer to watch movies, play on the internet.

Until next time....

Stay (Wasting Time)

So it's Friday of the first week that I am at home...bordome has set in. I think Emilie is getting tired of me being home all the time. I have changed the way my boys get through the day, they are not used to daddy being home so much. I have learned that there is not much to offer as far as daytime TV goes. I can only hope for a good documentary on the History Channel and the allowance from my children to view it. I have watched every movie we own, and am being to enjoy the thought of bangging my head upon a wall. All the while, I am still in pain and at times the taking of more percept and going to my "happy place" is the only respite at times.

So that is the negative...the positive are great.

I am at home! I have not seen my boys this much in a long time and it is truely great. I have spent so much time with Levi and realized that he is one of the funniest little boys in the world. Noah, is very gifted at everything he does. We have eaten many meals together and it reminds me how important family is. I have also spent a day with my Mom, who is sick herself, and had a great time. (There is nothing like being with Mom when you don't feel good).

I have set a loose goal of going to at least one class next week, or maybe I'll try to go into work. I am trying to just "get used" to the pain for at least half the day. I also realized that I have some control issues that I need to work through. Emilie has to drive me everywhere and at times I do not act as a supportive husband as I should. (Sorry about that Em)

I check my email very regularly throughout the day hoping for some interaction. Soon life will get back to normal, until then I think I will take this time and enjoy my family.

Hey, You, Get Off Of My Cloud

So here's the latest on the stone patrol...

Ever hear of a cystoscopy and ureteroscopy? No you say, then click here to learn all the exciting details. I had this done on Thursday. It does not feel real good. The doctor said that if it is bothering me then I can take it out. Yes, by myself. If you did not read about it, let me just say that it is a stent between my bladder and kidney and there is only one way out. Think about the work URETERoscopy and think where it comes out!!!!!

I have to wait until the 13th of November to have my large stone surgically removed. So I have two weeks of drowning in Viducin, Diladud, and Percocet which all provide varying degrees of "fuzzy headedness". So how am I going to work and participate in school with either pain or pain medication? I do not know!

Since I can feel the stent in my body, and have other associated pain, the thought of no pain medication is not pleasant, but the thought of being on a different cloud is not nice either.

My whole family has been incredible. Emilie is truly the best thing during all this. She knows exactly what I need, even when I don't. Noah and Levi know to be gentle with me. Maybe just Noah. I explained to Noah that there is a rock in my back and a doctor has to take it out. Then I tried to explain to him that I have a hose in my body. He asked me if we could go out and water the lawn with my special hose. I told him about all the special pills that Daddy has to take and he thinks it cool that I have an orange pill that helps me poop.

Hopefully this will all end soon, I keep you posted.

Everybody Must Get Stoned (or The Friday Song)

Can you guess what this is? No, it's not a moon rock nor is it a old tangerine that is hard. You guessed it, it's a kidney stone and if you know me at all you know that I am fond of these puppies! For the last six or seven years I have struggled with these things and finally I broke, I went to the doctor to take care of the problem.

So on Tues. morning Emilie took down to the ER (after laying in my living room grunting like a drunk cow) to begin the process of kideny stones removal. What did we learn? A couple of things, (1) we always have great nurses whenever we are in the hospital, I tend to have great conversations about theology in there (granted I am pumped full of morphine) (2) I have a big stone that needs serious attention. Next step...go see the urologist on Wednesday morning. (Only after three hours on the phone with my insurance company).

Forward to this morning, 8 am, getting x-rays and seeing the urologist. (its not my-in so it must be u-rine) He looks at my x-rays and states "wow, that's a big stone". He said that lithoscripty will not work because its too big, they will have to operate. Sweet, not only do I hate needles, I have never had surgery nor am I comfortable with the idea of someone cutting open my side, take out my kidney, cutting that open (no joke!), removing the stone, then putting everything back together again.

So I get to wait until the 13th of November to have that, but get to have a smaller "procedure" on Thursday to help elevate some of the pain, which is not helped by a constant stream of Vicodin and Diludid. To top it off, our best friends are coming into town from St. Loius as we speak.

For more information on kidney stones (or to be bored out of your freakin mind) click here. For more cool pictures of kidney stones click here. To interact with me as I sit around my house in a medicated stupor, click below where it says comments.

Go Tigers!

Cat Scratch Fever

I really never thought I would see this again! The Tigers are in the World Series!!

Bring on So Taguchi

Roam (If You Want To)

So our little Noah had his very first field trip on Friday. They travelled to Klackels Orchard in Greenville. He even was able to ride on a big yellow school bus for the first time. If you have spent any time with him, you know that this was a very special occasion in his young life. The secratary, Ms. D as Noah called her took some pictures of them and sent them to us...

How 'bout them apples!

We know call him "The Big Doughnut"

Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car!

One of the rules is that you cannot smile on field trips, can you find the rule breaker?

Some people fish, others get pumkins. It's actually quite an accomplishment to pick up a vegetable (or is it a fruit) that sits in the dirt

This is his class of fellow pre-schoolers, he's not even paying attention. That is rare for Noah when there is a camera around

In other Schelling family news we have accepted thier counter offer on the "big blue house". We are having our inspection on Wednesday morning. I will follow the inspector around with a cup of coffee in tote pretending I understand what in the world he is talking about. We might be moving as soon as a couple of weeks. If anyone is into stipping wallpaper and painting then give us a call. Oh yeah, if anyone is in the mood to help us out moving let us know because we are going to need as much help as possible. We will keep you posted.

Manic Monday

I have not been able to create a new post in a while. I have been very busy but consider this an update on current state of affairs with the Princess and her three pigs.

As far as work goes, it has been very crazy. As part of my internship, which I am doing in our outpaitent clinic, I have been perpare for our CARF accredation. In a nutshell it is a painful process where you have to meet certain standards of practice in order to recieve national accrededation thus giving your program a "good name". It is a meticulous, line by line assurance that your paperwork all says what is "proper", you facilities are clean and accesable, your staff are trainied in all "meaningful" areas, and oh yeah, paperwork. If anyone has a complaint about paperwork in any social service agency, the reason is probably CARF.

In happier news, I think that we finally found a house to buy.



I know it sound crazy to even think about buying a house while going through school and work, but so far it has been pretty stres free (for me anyways). It appears to be a pretty sound house, but we have yet to get an inspection. It needs some cosmetics, i.e. ripping down wallpaper adonred with ducks and swings, changing some flooring, but nothing that is terribly major. Eventually we will reside the house. We are hoping to get all neccesary paperwork (here we go again) in this week and make an offical offer. We would like to move in during the semester break. The boys love the house and it would offer us a tremendous amount of room, we would not have to move for along time.

That's all I can think of for now...

Hail to the Victors

OUCH, How does that taste South Bend?

Photographs and Memories

Here are some more pictures of the family. All of these photos were taken by my wonderful sister-in-law Gretchen. I love the pictures that she takes, and the way she pours my coffee on Friday nites!

Here is one of my favorite pics of the Princess and her three pigs.

This is little Levi Joseph with his cousin Avery Joy who is one month older than he is

(baby-tastic!)

A closer look at Avery Joy

The fabulous Kurt and Jen (sister and brother-in-law)

The many cups of coffee that have been spilled with them (he was asking for it!)

Levi Joseph looking at what life might be brinning him from the left

This is Max. The one and the only!

Noah James (for some reason all of our children look towards the left)

The whole fam! Don't mess with us!

Again, many thanks to Gretchen for spending the day with my family and taking great pictures. These are memories that we all will forever cherish!

The Magical Mystery Tour

As I sit, I am looking another year of school in the eyes. While this would not normally cause concern, I am working full-time (plus an intership) this year. Granted, I am not the first and only person to do this, since this is my blog, it's all about me!

Work is good, even great, but busy. I am very thankful for the opportunity I have at Hope Network. Although we just watched "Fun with Dick and Jane" last night and are conviced that a similar situation will find us soon. (I think I am a bit pessimistic)

I am also going to try to add new music links over there on the side. I am very big on Paste Music right now. I have downloaded some tunes from a few of the artists featured and look forward to adding them to my study music rotation. Check out the links for Jason Harrod, Luke Brindley and Jan Krist. Very impressive music if you like the new folk scene. yes it's mellow (some would say said) but very emotional and isn't that what music is supposed to be!

So with that being said, I must not put off this paper I am to write any longer. The unfortunate thing is that it is on a topic that I have no idea about, so it should be fun.

Has anyone seen a Columbus Honey anywhere?

HELLO EVERYONE, EM ENTERS THE BLOG WORLD

I'M NOT SURE IF ANYONE EVEN READS THIS OR NOT BUT I HAVE DECIDED TO SHARE WITH YOU SOME OF MY THOUGHTS, OR JUST THE DAY TO DAY ONGOINGS OF ME, THE PRINCESS AND MY THREE WONDERFUL MEN. LIFE IS ABOUT TO GET EVEN MORE CRAZY, JOE STARTS SCHOOL NEXT WEEK AND NOAH STARTS PRE-SCHOOL ON SEPT. 11 LEVI TOOK HIS FIRST STEPS ON WEDNESDAY, AND OF COURSE WILL NOT ATTEMPT IT AGAIN. AS FOR ME I TRIED TO DO TO MUCH YESTERDAY AND CLEAN THE HOUSE BUT NOT JUST ANY CLEANING, I CLEANED AND ORGANIZED THE BASMENT, GOT OUT ALL OF THE KIDS CLOTHES FOR THE UPCOMING SEASON OF FALL (WHICH I CAN'T WAIT FOR) AND WENT THRU ALL THE TOYS AND ROTATED THEM. THAT WAS MY FUN FILLED DAY.:)
AS I WAS SITTING LAST NIGHT DOG TIRED, I BEGAN TO THINK ABOUT MY LIFE AND HOW LUCKY I AM. YES LIFE IS CRAZY FOR US AND PEOPLE WONDER HOW WE DO IT, BUT I HAVE SO MUCH TO BE
THANKFUL FOR. I HAVE A WONDERFUL HUSBAND WHO WORKS SO HARD FOR OUR FAMILY AND AND IS SO GOOD TO ME AND OUR BOYS. I ALSO HAVE TWO WONDERFUL CHILDREN WHO I COULD NOT IMAGINE MY LIFE WITHOUT, MY THREE BOYS ARE THE REASON I GET UP IN THE MORNING.
OK SORRY FOR GETTING SAPPY, I WILL TRY TO GET SOME PICTURES UP HERE SOON, GRETCHEN IS TAKING FAMILY PICTURES ON SATURDAY. THE CAPITALS ARE ALL TO PISS YOU OFF JOE:) I LUV YOU JOE

She blinded me with sceince

Hooray for technology! Hooray for me for stepping into an age that is already old and passed away. I recently recieved a palmPiolt from my mom (big props to the moms) but it did not seem to want to wake from it almost year slumber away from any energy source. Finally she awoke with a falsh of a light, can't really explain why.

Although I have discovered the world around me has given to me numerous digital calendars, phone, email, pda, Outlook, I can't seem to get the damn things to get along and work in a wonderful digitally united universe that I command!

Now it is on to my next earthly goal, going from comp-u-tarded to comp-u-tastic!

Hooray for tech geeks!

Mama Said

Some may say that being a "mama's boys" is not tough. I can proudly say that I am a mama's boy. Mom's are pretty cool!

*This picture was taken at John Ball Zoo circa 1987

Family photos, can't get enough!

Here are some random pictures that I have accumulated on my computer. The b&w's were taken by my sister-in-law. I think they are great. They are a couple of years old now, my how time flies....

I have to get some new photos on my computer soon. I will try to update this again soon!