First time skiing

There’s always time to squeeze in a play date here and there, right? To keep the kids distracted from the upcoming move I have been trying to keep them busy. We have been meeting up with friends from the ward, friends in the squadron, and even friends from Daiichi. Two of Abby’s closest friends are probably Iyori chan and Sayori chan from school. Abby and Iyori chan have been friends these past two years because they were both in Tsubomi class together. Since then we have been meeting up with Iyori chan and her mother, Ayaka San, for play dates. They are such good friends I am just so distraught thinking about leaving them. Ayaka told me they plan to come to America to visit when they can, and she begged me to promise that we would return for a visit again soon. I know we will stay in touch with them, and I can’t  wait to find out what gender she is having now that she is pregnant with her second child. Her and Iyori chan are beyond excited for the baby to come and we made sure to give her a big baby present full of soaps, lotions, and other baby items as a gesture of love for them and their family. She was so grateful for the gift and continually thanked me and hugged me (something that most Japanese people don’t do). I told her once she finds out the gender she will have to tell us so we can send appropriate clothing for the sweet baby :)

More than anything I am just going to miss these two cute girls playing together, speaking Japanese together, and going to school together for the years to come. Goodbyes are always so hard, and this is definitely one of the hardest! Good friends are hard to come by, and even though my broken Japanese and Ayaka’s Broken English doesn’t lead to the most stimulating conversations, there is a strong bond that we have that I cannot explain. It’s a friendship that is beyond language or words, it’s a friendship of love and of gratitude.

We also scheduled a playdate with Sayori chan. She is a sweet girl that is in Abby's class at school. Her mother actually called and asked if we could get the girls together one last time because Abby has been so nice to Sayori chan at school which has meant a lot to their family since Sayori has had a hard year. She has been picked on by some of the other kids apparently because she is half black and half Japanese. Of course Abby doesn't care or judge anyone based on what they look like, in facet I sometimes think Abby thinks she too looks Japanese, hahaha The two of them bonded instantly being the odd ones out in their class when it comes to race, and it was the start of a beautiful friendship. It's moments like when Sayori chan's mother thanked me for raising such a good girl and that they will miss Abby very much, followed by giving Abby a nice present that makes heart melt. I may not be doing everything right as a mom, but raising my kids to love everyone and being nice to everyone is important to me, and moments like this make me feel so proud knowing that Abby friended a girl in  need when she needed someone.

Well, It's taken three Japanese winters for Kyle to convince me, but I finally agreed to go skiing with him. I was so nervous since I have only gone once before and that was back when we were dating, so 9 years ago!! I have always used excuses such as "I can't because I am dancing and don't want to get injured," or "I'm pregnant and don't want to fall and hurt the baby" and even "Brayden is too little and can't be away from me because he is nursing." This year I didn't have any excuse to give, so I decided it was time to put on my big girl pants and suck it up and just give it a try. We got our neighbor and good friend, Emma, to come over and watch the kids the whole day which they just loved. Emma also watched our kids on Thursdays when I would teach ballet, and was Abby's sunbeam teacher at church. Basically we love Emma!!! So the kids were covered, and our friends the Hafens decided they wanted to go skiing as well for moral support for me on my first time in years, so there was no backing out now. I was stuck and committed in going.

We decided to go to Appi because the slopes are groomed and they had a good variety of beginner slopes. I panicked the whole drive to the resort, even up to the point where we arrived and I was putting on all my gear. We rented some skis for me to use from the outdoor recreation building on base, and I definitely looked the part of a skier, now could I actually pull it off? Kyle made me go on the gondola ride up to the top of the mountain with him for my first run. I started panicking and hyperventilating to the point where my goggles were really getting fogged up. While I was silently praying and saying my goodbyes to life, fully prepared to die, Kyle was just laughing. I couldn't believe he would take me to the very top of the mountain, what was he thinking?! I knew once I made it to the top that I had to get down eventually and that there was only one way to get down. So I started going down the mountain, taking the green run of course. I was moving so slowly and doing pizza with my skis to make sure I wouldn't fall. Tons of other skiers were zooming past me, but I stayed at a nice slow pace. Kyle patiently followed me giving me instruction as I went as to how to turn, how to slow down, and how to stay balanced. Half way down the mountain it started to feel more natural and I started to pick up more speed.

I eventually made it down the mountain, having fallen only 3 times. It wasn't that bad! I survived! We got in line for the gondola again and up we went to the top to repeat the same thing, over and over again. Each time I went down the mountain I got faster and fell less and less. My legs were burning and I was getting tired, so we had a quick lunch break, and that was just what my legs needed to be able to do a couple more runs. When it was time to leave I slowly took off my gear revealing all my sweaty under clothes. I sure had worked up a sweat, but it was enjoyable. I told Kyle I had fun and would be up to going more times in the future. I don't see myself doing anything more daring or dangerous like black diamond runs, but I am ok to just coast down the green diamond runs. I could tell this meant a lot to Kyle as I know he wants to take more family ski trips in the future.

I have been having some pain in my stomach for some time now. I actually thought it was maybe an ulcer from stress, but this past weekend I got super sick! I was throwing up green bile non stop, couldn't keep anything down, and on top of it all I had a fever and an ear infection. After several hours of it not going away I asked Kyle for a blessing, received enough strength to pull myself somewhat together and headed down to the UCC (urgent care on base) at 2:30 in the morning. When I arrived they took all my vitals, checked out my ear and immediately gave me some drops, then asked the question I knew was coming, "when was your last menstrual cycle." I have not had a period in almost 5 years, but every time I say that no one believes me or they think I'm crazy. So I gave them my answer, they gave me the raised eyebrow look like they didn't believe me, and made me go do a pregnancy test to make sure I wasn't pregnant. I kind of chuckled a little bit because I knew I wasn't pregnant, but even I wouldn't believe the story from a crazy lady saying she hasn't had a period in 5 years and claims she isn't pregnant.

The test came back negative (see I'm not crazy, I just had a weird body apparently) and they did further tests to see what else could possibly be the problem. They hooked me up to some fluids because my body was so dehydrated from not being able to keep anything down and the constant puking. Finally my blood work results came in and the doctor sat down with me to go over them. I was feeling much better with the fluids in my system by this point, and the anti nausea medication they gave me was working wonders. Apparently my RBC count was high as well as my protein count in my liver. The doctor then talked about the possibility of gallstones, or even more serious issues. I related to him that I a am a carrier for Alpha-1 Antitrypsin and he immediately looked startled. He said he was putting in an order for me to come back in a couple days to do more extensive lab work as well as an abdominal ultrasound to check on my liver.

I left a little nervous about what it could possibly be, but a few days later I found out the culprit to all my recent discomfort after my ultra sound...gallstones! That's just perfect, I have gallstones and am about to move in two weeks, what am I supposed to do now?! Luckily they said that for now I only need to watch them and make sure I don't have any more issues. If I do, then it's on to plan B which is to have my gallbladder removed. I really hope it never comes to that because even though you can still live and function without your gallbladder, there are still some foods you shouldn't have or need to avoid. Basically it's a lifestyle change that needs to happen concerning diet and I am not ready to make that change, especially since I am still in my 20s!  I will have more frequent, runnier bowl movements to put it as politely as possible, which makes me think I would be a slave to the restroom... always making sure I was 15 minute radius from a restroom when I needed one. It sounds so disabilitating to me. When I left I cried tears of relief that it wasn't more serious, as well as tears of fear hoping it doesn't develop into something potentially worse. Something else that continued to race through my mind was when the doctor said gallstones are common in women after having multiple children. Uhg, thanks a lot kiddos! not only do I have to carry you for 9 months, push you out, and then take care of you for pretty much the rest of my life, you now leave lovely "souvenirs" in my body so that I will always remember that I indeed did have you. But then I came home and saw how cute they are and told myself to stop thinking worst scenario, I am healthy, there is no one to blame, and these sweet kids are so worth it!