There is some GREAT things at www.surfstitch.com at the moment. I was going to suggest the below items to help you with your Christmas shopping but then I realised that if you are anything like me, shopping for others usually turns into – one for you, one for me. So enjoy either way!

Bonus – Free shipping at the moment!

Somedays we are lacking a certain spark. Turkey and Pie overdoses. Black Friday Shopping Hangovers. A shift on a Saturday. You gotta look hard for what turns you on. What turns your crank. What lights a fire in your soul. Only then can balance be sought. Today, I thought of the many things I drive past and never stop. I thought about them before even leaving the house. Lucky, me. On M-35 in Negaunee Township the moment was right on the way home from work to pull over and visit this old tractor.

Rusty inspect the merchandise.

We recently made “arrangements” to become deeelers of the Louis Garneau product lines. If you don’t know what it takes for a bike shop to become an authorized dealer of such-and-such brands, let me tell you, it can be an experience. It has to do with all sorts of forms, background checks, strangers with  collapsable showcases of ruffled clothing telling you what women really want to buy next year and sometimes we get free socks. Our experience getting started with LG was scary good and a welcome change to the typical runaround. After a generic email to their website, I was impressed by a series of reps doing their jobs really well.

All that being said, the product is now in the store. Mostly winter stuff. Now’s the time to get it, yaknow. (those bozos are calling for snow tonight…)

LG makes a dizzying array of clothing and they have a nice selection of winter gear. We brought in some toasty jerseys, jackets, a boatload of gloves and assorted shoe covers. The T-Covers are slick little toe covers that are perfect for those days that are too cold for toe warmers but not cold enough to merit the ol booties. i am a nerd…

Here’s a test to see if anyone actually reads this blog. If you come in this weekend (Fri or Sat) and buy a LG product, mention this post to get 10% off and a free NCC mug.

I was dressed nice for work today with high black boots on, nice pants, scarf, the works….I pass a bunch of old trucks….I HAVE to get out of my car.  I look at this line of tired, dirty old trucks and I find a sense of peace…(perhaps I compare them to the patients I treat throughout the day…I don’t know)

You see, there is this magical thing that happens…called erosion….and I think it’s pretty. 

In fact, I look for it, I’m like an obsessesed fan of “rust”….

Headed home (boots dirty, pants dusty, and my scarf blowing in the wind)….content.

Because I can’t think of a creative title right now!

I’ve been doing okay, going to Summit has been helping a lot, as much as I dislike going. These past few days I’ve actually been talking in groups instead of keeping to myself the whole time. Next week I may be moving down to going three times a week. This week I’m only going for one day. Was supposed to go today but didn’t… A few weeks ago they moved me down to four days a week. Bad news is now that I love my therapist and have started working on trauma with her, she’s moving on to another job this week. So, starting all over again! One of the other ladies at Summit will be my therapist. This will be #13. I think that’s enough!!!

My body is a mess!!! End of October I started having sharp pain every time I would eat. Everyday it gradually got worse and I ended up going to a surgeon, who scheduled the surgery for that next Wednesday, November 4th. Later to find out my insurance had sent me to the wrong surgeon! HealthNet tried to find a pediatric surgeon, but they wouldn’t take me because I’ll be 18 in December. So HealthNet’s M.D. pretty much blew me off and said go to the ER if the pain got bad (which it already was). So, Thursday the 5th we went to UC Davis ER because my pain had gotten worse and at this point I couldn’t keep any food down from the nausea. They admitted me and gave me morphine and dilotted for the pain. Their GI doctors wouldn’t do my surgery since I had my Gastric Bypass at Stanford. So the trauma surgery team ended up taking me on, but couldn’t do the surgery until they could squeeze me in since I wasn’t really a “trauma” case. They kept me on pain medicine and IV fluids on Friday and took me in for surgery Saturday morning around 8:00am. I stayed that night (which was THE worst night I have EVER spent in a hospital) and went home Sunday afternoon. So, surgery #10 down. How many to go before I can be HEALTHY?

I already have three doctors appointments scheduled for December. It’s crazy.

December 7th – GYN ,December 18th – Stanford/Gastric Bypass Stuff, and December 21st – GI Doctor. And I’m having my birthday party in Chico on December 12th, and my party for my Sacramento friends on December 16th (my actual birthday). Besides being a “legal adult” I don’t see any other benefits to being 18 years old. I think it doesn’t feel like that big a deal to me because I often times forget I’m even that young!!! hah.

Sunday morning I went on a trail ride with my big sister (not really) Jenni =) That was SO fun! I forgot how much I missed being around the horses. There is nothing that can describe that feeling you get when you’re on the back of a horse. And if you’ve never been on a horse, you probably have no clue what I’m talking about and think I’m crazy! hehe So I got to ride Rusty, the paint horse I love (even though he’s a you-know-what sometimes!). It was good, I’ll be going out again soon, as long as the weather permits!

Also, last Thursday I finally went back to school! Yes, I know, FINALLY! I took four tests and did well on all of them. Still have one more unit to test on, then it’s time to crack open the text books again!

So, that’s enough about me, how’s everyone else?

Hugs,

Kaitlyn

PS. Here are some pretty recent pictures, since I haven’t posted pictures in awhile!