Happy Birthday Patty...

Love you!

Happy Halloween...

Happy Birthday Mom...

Love you!

Happy Birthday Bambi...

Aaron's Dedication...

Today was Aaron's dedication at New Life Westmoreland.

Dwayne Darrah, the newly ordained campus pastor performed the sermon and the dedication. So many friends and family were able to make it to service. My parents even drove up for the dedication. After the service we had a huge pot luck lunch with everyone. It was such an experience, one that Mike and I are proud and thankful to have been a part of.

Happy Birthday MUFFIN...

We hope it's amazing ELIZABETH

Love the Merrills!!!

Hashimoto's...

So, for those of you who see me regularly...you may have noticed or heard me complain about my "allergic reaction". Since September 17th I have been having abnormal skin reactions to anything I come into contact with. I, and many others, thought that it was just my skin being allergic to my mother's laundry detergant. When I went to Salem for my "vacation" my mom washed all of my dirty laundry, and it wasn't until I began wearing those clothes that my skins starting swelling, breaking out into red, itchy, puffy hives. It didn't matter what I touched, I got hives. As stated in an earlier post, I'm a self diagnosed hypochondriac - so, thinking that it was just a simple allergy I began taking benadryl....daily, multiple times daily. It did nothing but make me feel like a zombie. So after two weeks of this "allergy" I finally called my doctor. My doctor spoke to me over the phone and told me to try a couple of changes and that if it was still reacting the same after a week she'd see me. She told me to change from my current detergent to Dreft, to change so that I used non fragrant body wash, face wash, lotion....everything. I did it - still had hives. So I went to the doctor. It had now been 3 weeks of me having these stupids hives. I got to the doctor around 1:35 for my 2:00 appointment. I sat, and sat, and sat. Finally at 2:20 they called my name. I went to the exam room, sat for another 20 minutes and then finally the doctor came in. She asked me to explain my problem. Her response... SHE DREW AN "X" on my arm and timed how long it took for it to swell up, turn red and become a huge, ugly hive. Oh - about 1 1/2 minutes. She then asked if I was taking any medicines. I told her benadryl at night, Claritin (from the hospital's nurse practitioner) during the day. She said "Great" well, I think we'll replace the Claritin with Zyrtec and continue with the benadryl. She also said I had Urticaria - a complicated word for hives. Gee - thanks doc. She said that in order for urticaria to be treated by an allergist it required that it be chronic - meaning it lasts for more than 6 weeks. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!? So, I left and waited, another week went by, still had hives, another week, I couldn't take it. So I called and requested another followup. At this appointment my doctor pretty much said the same thing, but prescribed Zyrtec - as opposed to the over the counter kind I had been taking. Could this not have been done earllier? Still, another week went by and I still had hives. So, another trip back to the doctor this time, where by now my doctor was as sick of seeing me as I was of her. She order blood tests and gave into my demand for a referral to an allergist. The one good thing about my doctor's office is that they use an automated phone service to provide results from any lab work. It only takes 3-5 business days to get the results. If anything is abnormal the doctor will call you directly. But, rather than waiting, I immediately called one of the ten allergists my doctor recommended to see if I could schedule my appointment. "Um, December 8th is the first appointment we have, would you like morning or afternoon?" What? December, I can't wait that long - was what I was thinking in my head, but I resisted the urge to be rude (myself) and said, "well, if that's the first you have, I'll take it". The woman proceeded to ask the normal questions - "What's your name, address, date of birth, and what is the diagnosis" - when I said "urticaria with contact dermatitis" she said "Oh, can you come in this Thursday at 2:00?" - um...........let me think about it........... YES!!!!! Shockingly, last night - the night before my allergist appointment I was about to take a relaxing bath to calm my nerves when Mike popped in to say "Your doctor's on the phone". It was 7:30pm on a Wednesday night....but I answered it. And boy am I glad I did. It was my doctor calling to tell me about my lab results. The results showed that I have thyroid antibodies - a condition called Hishimoto's Thyroiditis. To which my response was "that sounds fake - are you making this up?" But she continued - she told me to go ahead with the allergy appointment and she'd followup. So, today when I went to the allergist they confirmed that it is in fact Hashimoto's. Which means that my thyroid will constantly change from hyperactive to hypoactive and occasionally be normal. It also explained why in my many attempts to lose weight why there would be periods where I would lose weight easily, then would stop losing weight then gain weight or just plateau. It also explained some of the other symptoms I have had - extreme fatigue, headaches/migraines, irritability, increased sweating, muscle weakness and occasionally shaky hands. That was at least comforting - now I finally knew what was causing all of this - now just to treat it. While at the allergist I also had an allergy test done where I had a positive reaction to all of the samples - grass, trees, mold, dustmites and I don't remember the last one.

The first set of pictures is right after she applied the samples. A positive result is indicated by a red, swollen bump (hive) in the spot where the sample was applied. At the bottom of this post is my "positive" reaction to all samples tested. It was a first for the nurse who administered the tests - she had to go get the doctor to explain it to both her and myself. So, the next step is to see an Endocrinologist - one specifically that specializes in auto-immune disorders. I will most likely have to see an Endocrinologist monthly for bloodtesting to determine the proper dosage of medication to regulate hypo versus hyperthryoidism. I will also have to have my allergies retested once my thyroid is properly regulated. So, thank you to everyone for their support in the recent weeks, I hope to have more answers in the weeks to come.

Going back to school...

I'm sure many of you have had ideas of going back to school, just like I have had the "idea". Some of you have acted on it. Some of the people reading this went straight from their undergraduate degrees on to attain their masters. Some are in the process of doing so as I type. I have toyed with so many ideas I'm sure my friends and family will never take another "possible life transition" seriously. For those who don't know, in 2004 I graduated from Roanoke College with my Bachelor's of Business Administration, with two minors - Sociology and Health Care Administration. I know - who takes sociology with business? But, as you may have noticed, I'm a rather nosy person and enjoy learning about other people and their lives, issues, successes, etc. I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to work in a hospital. My favorite college course was Health Care Economics. I took that course my last semester at Roanoke, which I found very helpful when applying for jobs, reviewing benefits packages, etc. After graduation I worked for a year in an unrelated field of study - food. Although I enjoy food, I will never ever ever again work in the food industry. I have a great respect for those employees and services, but no more slingin' burgers for me. So when a friend of mine said she was going to nursing school and was looking for someone to fill her position as an HR Assistant in a hospital I jumped at the chance to interview. It might have helped that I was her friend, and that her dad is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the hospital. But hey - I'm not proud....I got the job and have loved working at Sibley ever since. After about a year of working as an HR Assistant I was reevaluating my decisions regarding further education. I knew what a nurse made - starting out - and it was more than I was presently making. So I did a little research and discovered that with the classes I had taken at Roanoke, if I wanted to go to nursing school to become an RN, I could do it by going part time - and I could finish in about 2 years. I was psyched, and most of my co-workers were very encouraging. Most of them, with the exception of the VP of HR - Queenie. Queenie and I are very similar in the sense that we are type A personalities and that we like things done a certain way - our way!!! She was devastated that I would consider going to school and then leave in 2 years. So after about a semester of attending nursing classes I was promoted and got an awesome raise$!$!$ Needless to say, I discontinued nursing school. But I've always thought about going back - whether it be to nursing school, law school or simply to get my Master's in Human Resources Management or Health Care Administration. I've spoken with Queenie several times on the topic and each time she encourages me that the Master's is the way to go. So I've researched and attended some information sessions, but am still so lost on what to do. But what I can say is that Queenie is good - she's damn good. Last year, as a ploy to encourage me to go back to school Queenie asked that I come be a guest lecturer for her students. Queenie is a Professor of Human Resources at Georgetown University. Wow! How exciting - I was scared to death. But I accepted and went in October 0f 2007 and spoke for about an hour. This year Queenie asked something even bigger of me. She knew she was going to be out of town this year for one of her classes. She asked that I teach BY MYSELF!!! Talk about mindblowing - I probably couldn't get into Georgetown if I applied - but ... I can teach there :) So, again I accepted. I got to St. Mary's Hall early tonight to make sure I setup my powerpoint properly. I plugged my flash drive into their "high tech" computer station and actually knew what I was doing. I finished just in time as the students started piling in - all in their comfy jeans, sweathshirts and flip flops - oh, how I miss college. I must confess, I did bribe the students with a basket full of halloween candy - which was empty by the end of class - but all in all it went quickly and without incident. So, just call me Professor Merrill!!!

In Laws Visit...

After a late Friday night - staying up to 2am talking with Lil' Merrill and the Gardner's it was up and at 'em early Saturday morning, as Mike's parents were driving up from Salem. We knew we needed to be showered and fed before they got here so we could get on with the day's activities - whatever they might be. So, to provide nourishment for our long day we ate a nutricious breakfast of buffalo chicken dip and tortilla chips - Breakfast of Champions!!! Mike's parents arrived as scheduled at 11:30am. We helped them unload their car and planned our afternoon. Thanks to some complimentary tickets from work we knew we were going to spend some if not all of the day at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. If only we knew...more on that later. But as the afternoon was quickly passing we decided to stay in for lunch rather than go out - hoping it would be quicker. And it was, not only was it quick, but it was free and delicious. Mike's sister Lauren had baked some quiches the night before and we stuck them in the oven to reheat. Oh my gosh....deliciuos. She made a sour cream chicken chili quiche. It was out of this world. Thanks Lauren!!! After eating we loaded up in the car and head into Maryland. It wasn't a far distance to travel, but as we got about a mile outside of the festival there was traffic as far as the eye could see. Mike's dad doesn't have the most patience in the world (not that I can talk - I drive the "Rage Mobile") so that made the drive even more interesting. But we finally parked in a field and were ready to get inside. Only we had to walk about a mile to get there...fun, fun, fun. Once inside we realized that none of us had any idea how big and popular this festival actually was. There were people dressed in costumes that you could rent, but I would guess that 80% of costume wearers were owners rather than renters. There were some serious Ren peeps. And then there were just some that needed not to wear costumes...of any sort. Everything was great. Do you prefer that your food be on a stick - then the Renaissance Festival is the place to be: cheesecake on a stick, chocolate covered cheesecake on a stick, deepfried cheesecake on a stick, steak on a stake, chicken on a lance, etc. We didn't even touch the surface of the Festival...but we were able to toss some axes, go through a maze and be hypnotized. I would love to go back next year, but allocate more time to enjoy it! Saturday night for dinner we decided to stick with a safe but delicious menu at Faccia Luna. While waiting for our table we ran into an old family friend of the Merrill's. Mike Jeffreys, graduate of Salem High and UVa, now lives in Arlington with his wife Holly, but back in the day he was apparently the premier babysitter for Karen Hills. It was such a pleasant coincidence to run into them. We caught up briefly then made our way to our table. We enjoyed the fresh pizza and bruschetta. After gorging ourselves on pizza we came back to our apartment to play Shanghai Rummy. Fun!!! Lauren - the first timer - beat us all, but I was a close 2nd. After a couple glasses of wine and a little tv we went to bed, knowing Sunday would be another long day. But how long - well, breakfast at IHOP went a little longer than expected but the unplanned house hunting was even longer. When we finally got back to our apartment at 2pm we showed Patty how to use her new Ipod Shuffle (an early birthday gift from Lauren) and put a couple of songs on, just in case she doesn't before we visit Salem again (October 31-November 1). It was a great weekend full of friends and family. We enjoyed it all and will cherish the memories for many years to come.

Brett & Mike's Joint Birthday Extravaganza...

Yesterday was Mike's 27th birthday. Last night Jill and I held a joint birthday party for Mike and Brett. Brett's actual birthday is Wednesday, Oct 15th - it made perfect sense to host a party together since we share many of the same friends. We started the evening with Happy Hour specials at Chadwicks. Apparently traffic was ungodly and many of our group was stuck, but those who did make happy hour enjoyed several drinks for those who weren't able to join us. We sat for dinner around 7:15...but, as our luck would have it, a hostess had given up a larger portion of our reserved section so we were split into to groups of about 14 each. After dinner we walked up to the corner of Fairfax & King to begin our intriguing Ghost Tour. Because there were 28 of us we were able to get a group rate of $5 per person - Thanks Jill!!!

Our tour guide started by telling a couple of ghost tales involving houses in Old Town. We learned why Hiller's and Michelle's apartment is so ridiculously hot and found out where George Washington lived - there are actually people living there now - crazy. We ended our tour in the cemetery - oooh spooky! I highly recommend the tour. It was something that Mike and I have been wanting to do since we moved to Old Town over 2 years ago... it was fabulous. After the tour about half of the group made it back to our place to enjoy cake, cupcakes, buffalo chicken dip and chili cheese dip!!! We sang happy birthday to the birthday Boyz and hung around catching up. Thanks to everyone who came out to help Brett & Mike celebrate their birthdays. We really enjoyed hanging out with everyone and look forward to doing it again soon!!!

Happy Birthday Mikey...

I hope you have a wonderful day today babe. You deserve the very best!

Baby Einstein...

I know many of my friends and readers are not at a stage in their life where they frequently watch children's videos. But recently, both with friends and through the S&H Kidz Klub I've become familiar and amazed with the videos by Baby Einstein. I haven't seen all of the videos but the ones I have observed don't seem entertaining - not to a 26 year old non-mother. The Baby Einstein website says that the videos are created from a baby's point-of-view and incorporate a unique combination of real world objects, music, art, language, poetry and nature — providing an opportunity to introduce babies to the world around them in playful and enriching ways. But I think the videos were created by hypnotist to mesmerize and subdue infants and toddlers to provide stress relief and adult time to overworked parents. Please view the video below to see exactly what I mean.

What 13 month old boy sits still for that long, doesn't allow things to distract him. I know 27 year old boys that can't devote that much attention to something (love you hubby).

Saturday Night with the Gardner Clan...

All week I kept saying how I wanted to do nothing this weekend. But when Saturday rolled around I was nearly bored to death, so I joined Jill & Co. to help make baby shower invitations for a friend. Before heading over Jill called and asked if Mike would be interested in joining later that day for dinner with her and Brett. Of course we said yes. So I brought along a pork loin, asparagus and ciabatta rolls to cook and a bottle of Barboursville Chardonnay to drink!!! The majority of the afternoon was spent card making but once that was finished we had baby play time - always a favorite of mine and then waited for the grill to heat up so we could start cooking. In addition to my dinner contribution Jill cooked a deliciuos sweet potato casserole and a kilbasa sausage. After dinner we enjoyed a friendly game of Mexican Train Domino's and Mike's Train Dance then ended the evening by watching a bit of Saturday Night Live which poked fun at Palin - again a favorite past time of mine. We always enjoy Gardner Game Night!!!

Feel better Mikey...

As if the Mets losing and ending their season wasn't enough, Mikey had a wisdom tooth out today. So this is just an email to wish him a quick and easy recovery. Rest honey, I'll be home soon with a Peanut Butter Paradise smoothie! Love ya.