Happy New Year

The last of the partygoers just left the house....

I never would have imagined a party like this tonight. Just wait. I have pictures. But for now, I MUST go to bed.

Status

Oh 2009 where are you??

#4 in Fort Worth

#5 in Dallas

Nope, not a typo.

Cool Story

So I've actually met a lot of new friends through this blog. It's been very, very cool. Most of them have stumbled on this blog just like I have done to other blogs (the late night googling sessions for "liver blogs"). It's been really great to know that there are other individuals out there in similiar situations. A lot of them have helped me when I was feeling very discouraged.

One gal in particular contacted me through the blog when Geoff and I were in Seattle. Her name is Kristina. Oh, and don't worry she totally gave me permission to talk about her as long as I didn't mention how drunk she got the first time we met. Totally kidding.

Anyhow, she was recently diagnosed with PSC and found my blog. One of the cool things about this whole story is that she lives in Dallas and has 2 young kids. So, we e-mailed a couple of times and decided that we should totally get together for dinner.

We met last week and it was an absolute blast! I kind of felt like I was going on a blind date...with a girl. I was nervous. I even called a friend of mine and said "okay, if I disappear I was last seen at Mi Cocina". The really cool part about this entire thing is that we had so much in common, so there was no need to worry that she might try and kidnap me.

• She's 5'10-me too!
• Her daugther's name is Ava-me too!
• She had a super cute outfit on-me too!
• She loves Nordstrom Rack-me too!
• She had the exact same necklace on that I got for Christmas! Weird!

I know this is all completely useless information to all of you, but remember this was a complete stranger up until a week ago.

Most importantly though, I hope that I was able to share with her that there is life after transplant (not that I've had one or anything...but you get the point) and if you have a great support system you can get through anything.

Reflection Part #1

Just go with it.

2008 was a fun/shitty/happy/exciting/trying/overwhelming year.

The last couple of days all I could think about is how much 2008 sucked. AND then it dawned on me....HELLO I had Conner in 2008. So then the guilt really set in. How could it be such an awful year when I had that sweet, sweet boy (the whole birth part wasn't sweet-sweet but you get the point).

Remember this?

Back to my reflection.

So, 2008 was not a bad year (entirely). We were blessed with a miracle and now were just waiting on another. There's not like a 1-miracle-per-family maximum, right? Or maybe it's like a flex-spending account where it just starts all over the next year? Either way, we were blessed this year.

Besides the birth of Conner being a huge highlight we also survived another year with mini-me (aka Ava). This year more than ever Geoff and I realized how much she is like me. Yikes. This girl will have no problem holding her own in Kindergarten. I have to say, I'm pretty proud.

And now...this is the girl who will be teaching your daughter how to sneak of the house out at night.

That's enough reflection for now. I'll be back.

Merry Christmas Y'all

Church last night with the Clarks!
The "before"

Very, very in to it.

The "after"


I totally gave up on the wrapping and just started putting bows on everything. I even resorted to wrapping Geoff's gifts in one big J Crew bag.

Conner was up first!

The calm before the storm.

This was me following Ava around going "do you like it, do you like it"? I wanted HUGE reactions...

Inspecting the leftover reindeer food. Yes, I know, my outfit is super hot.

The $10 Hannah Montana make-up set which turned out to be the biggest hit!

Still not overwhelmed....

Conner LOVED his stuff. Geoff was excited to get some boy toys in the house.

And here's Grandma!

I've declared a winner

Whether I like it or not, 2009 is only a mere 8 days away. Wow.

Now, about the winner part. This was a recent submission for the liver naming game. It's definitely a winner in my books. Big thanks to Erik S.

We'll be making bile in a little while

The journey continues 09'

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Status

#3 in Fort Worth
#4 in Dallas

It's the holidays. No sense in getting mad. I think about the families who will lose someone this holiday season. The true meaning of an organ donor becomes a scary reality.

And now you can officially call me...Debbie Downer.