The year in review

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE HOUGHTONS

Springfield, MO --The Houghtons have had an interesting year to say the least. It was the year that saw significant money “donated” to the local health care system. It was a year that felt like a lot happened, and yet also felt like not very much happened at all. It was the year of our first Christmas letter.

The Better Half
Michelle went to full time with her pursuit of a Masters Degree in school counseling at Evangel University. She shifted to part time at work at Burrell Behavioral Health, running the program she started four years ago called KLASS, which is a great program teaching kids in a group setting about, well, social skills. Jeff is too old to enroll as a student. On the Masters Degree front, Michelle slowed down to a more reasonable pace after half of the year spent learning about mental health while injuring her own.

The Other Half
Jeff still works at the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks as a field representative. In that role he sets up blood drives with schools, churches, businesses, community organizations and anyone with blood in their veins that is willing. He then works with volunteers to make the blood drive a success. He has a territory so he is on the road a lot each day getting caught up on many podcasts that he enthusiastically recaps to Michelle each night.

Jeff still performs just about every Friday and Saturday night doing improv with The Skinny Improv at the theater downtown. He performs a lot of traveling shows on top of that too. In addition, his project, The Mystery Hour is still going really well in its second and now third season. It’s a late night talk show. Some people even say it’s the best monthly non-televised local talk show that happens to be downtown in all of Springfield. Even one of the Houghton dogs, Sammy, appeared on the show last month. In addition, Jeff writes an article for 417 Magazine spotlighting one of the guests who will appear on his talk show. He has shot a few embarrassing local commercials, one of which finds Jeff in a housecoat. Oh yeah, and he calls Bingo at a local coffee shop as a grizzled old man named Burt Machowski.


Why Michelle is Not Allowed Around Lawn Mowers in 2009
Michelle and Jeff had a great 4th of July weekend in St. Louis watching the Cubs beat up on the lowly Cardinals (Go Cubs Go!) and having fun at Six Flags. The next day Michelle was at her parents transporting their lawn mower because Jeff had broken theirs with his ‘run mowing.’ It was lifting the lawn mower into the car that proved to be the mistake. Unbeknownst to her at the time, she herniated a disc in her back. After literally laying down for 8 weeks she finally had surgery in late August. She tried her best to keep herself occupied while she and the bedroom ceiling became well acquainted. She had a lot of visitors, books read, websites checked, and pain… oh the pain! Almost immediately after surgery she felt better. Jeff drove back from family vacation in Colorado to be there with her. Noble indeed, but what was he doing out their enjoying himself while she was laid up anyway? Since then she has been easing back into exercise. She and a guy who looks strikingly similar to Jeff now take a Pilates class weekly.


“We do”
In February, Jeff and Michelle’s good friends Jeff Jenkins and Leah Hamilton got married. In fact, they met at Jeff and Michelle’s wedding. Jeff was a good, artificially tanned, best man. In April, one of Michelle’s best friends, Kesha Quigg got married and became Kesha Alexander. Michelle was a more appropriately tanned maid of honor. Then in May, Jeff’s sister, Cari married Bob and became Cari Everhart. It was a fun weekend in beautiful Lawrence, Kansas. Everyone was tan. Well, as tan as Houghton’s get naturally.


Jeff Becomes a Man
Jeff celebrated his 30th this year. Yep, seriously. They celebrated with a barbecue and wiffleball game, just like a 30 year old should.


Jeff Becomes a Man (again)
Onto a subject that should have been highlighted in a Christmas letter in the early nineties… About eleven months was spent with Jeff holding ceramic, rubber bands, metal, and previous meals in his mouth with his adult braces. He talked through them and about them all the time. Then, on the fateful day on November 10th, 2008, a day that will live in famy, Jeff got his braces off! All told he wore them for 2 years. They had become a centerpiece of the Mystery Hour. He is currently searching for new jokes, and sugar, lots and lots of sugar. Feel free to ask him to smile. He will gladly oblige.


Highlights
Michelle’s twin sister, Jenn, moved back into town and they hang out a lot, along with their other close friends. Yes, they look alike.

The Houghtons can often be seen around town traveling by bike. Michelle got a new basket and a bell for hers but ended up not being able to use it for most of the summer. There’s always next year.

Jeff got poison ivy while Scott was in town in July, which joined forces with the chiggers he got while camping with Bob and Cari, to form an itchiness that proved to be stronger than modern medicine for a good three months. Or as Jeff says, “like a whole year!”

The Houghtons took in a stray dog for what was anticipated to be a short time. He stayed long enough for his named to be changed from “New Guy” to Morris. He was as cute as he was not at all house trained.

The Houghtons started their first garden this year!

Currently, Jeff is facing impeachment after attempting to sell Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat.


By the Numbers
5… Number of months the Houghtons cared for New Guy/Morris
43… Number of doo-doos and poop-poops cleaned up after Morris
0… Number of times Morris offered to help
21… Number of times Jeff got knocked over while filming a bit for The Mystery Hour with theSpringfield Roller Girls roller derby team
4125… Times Michelle has said “Good D-O-Gies” to Sammy and Lucy
4… Number of pops Jeff drank in two years while wearing braces
18… Number of pops drank since November 10th

2009…
Next year Michelle will be graduating from grad school and looking for a job. The Houghtons look forward to visiting their friends the Swinks in Washington D.C in March. That trip will come after their annual trip to the True/False documentary film festival that they looooove going to each year in Columbia, MO. Jeff will be wearing a retainer the rest of the year.

Hopefully, we’ll be able to spend more time with people like you who mean so much to us and are such a big part of our lives!

Sincerely,
The Houghtons

lets see here...

What updates to give? Not really anything exciting to speak about. At the moment I am listening to our stray we hope to give away "squeaking" outside (he wants to come in and has a high-pitched bark), my sis Jenn is making me nachos-- (we just got done with "ear-candleing" her, and let me just say its messy and smoky. She sells the candles at Mama Jeans and wants to know what to tell customers about it). Ummm, what else??-- I have been working on my research project for the past four hours, and now its olympics time.

Earlier today I had my pre-operation appointment and got the run-down of how its all going to go. I will get there at 8am, then be wheeled off to pre-surgery where they'll knock me out, then when I wake up I'll have to eat, drink, pee, and breath into this tube thing, and four hours late I'll get to go home.

I'm actually more excited to have the surgery than nervous. Of course i will be nervous, but I can't wait to be able to go out and do things again! I tried to go to Marshals yesterday to shop just a little bit, and made it about 10 minutes before I had to go back into the car and wait for my sister to buy some jeans. I really want to shop right now b/c of all the fall stuff that has come out...

Um, I love the Olympics. The end.

le sigh

oh dear, things are not looking so bright today. The weather is beautiful, which reminds me of Colorado-- fairly warm with no humidity-- which reminds me that Jeff is headed there next week and I was supposed to go with him on my only vacation for the year but I have to stay here, in my boring bed with all this pain...
I have a checkup with my specialist doc on Monday. Its looking like I'm going to need surgery. I'm just not getting much better... I mean, I still cannot function without being on the full dosage of pain meds and muscle relaxers, and when I get up I still can only go a few minutes. Sigh.
I might not be able to enroll in classes for the fall either. I have a little less than three weeks until they start. I just have no idea how things are going to go, and I'm starting to get very anxious about, especially with all the money we're loosing from me being out of work.
Needless to say I'm a bit depressed today. I think I might go outside and lie on the concrete and pray. Get some vitamin d and try to trust that God has a plan.

4 weeks and 4 days

Still lying here folks. I am feeling a bit better, but not much, and am suffering from supreme amounts of boredom. I worked on my paper a bit today, read more fashion magazines, coveted many a shoe, and took two naps. I bet your day was more exciting than mine...

Four weeks and two days...

Its hard to count the days I have been injured anymore so I'm going to start counting the weeks plus days of how long I've been injured and holed up in misery. Its actually not all that miserable when I am laying down and not completely bored, but I must say the boredom is getting to be more the case rather than me being acceptably occupied.

So yesterday was a fabulous day, as far as pain is concerned. I had very little pain when I would get up.. it was so very exciting. I didn't post anything about it because I was nervous the pain would come back today, and alas, it did. I've been up a few times and each time am hobbling across the floor... so there you have it. Boo. I started my IDD treatment yesterday and am going every day this week. I'm sorta thinking that if I am still the same by Monday when I have a check-up with my doc that I am going to request surgery to just get this whole thing over with...

BUT, i did end up getting out last night to somewhere that wasn't a doctor's office or the pool (the pic above is from last night)-- I went to the Coffee Ethic with my sister, Winnie, and Arin. It was wonderful to see civilization and feel slightly normal (although I was getting a few strange looks because I was lying on the couches instead of sitting like everyone else).

Keep praying friends!

-Mitch

Day 26 of Herniated Disc update

Below you'll find pics of recent sewing projects as well as some info on how I'm doing with the incident...
Jeff's Tees

Arin's Owl

Hello everyone. Its about 10:20, and you know what is going on that I am missing right now? The Mystery Hour, my husband's show. Sadness.

As far as how I'm doing-- Well, I got my cortisone shot yesterday. Before I get into that, let me tell you that yesterday had to be one of the most miserable days I've had ever, besides July 8th when I went to the doctor the first time for this nasty incident. I will spare you the details and will just sum it up by saying OUCH. Now, back to the shot. It was very invasive. He stuck a needle into a small opening in my lower spine to get the medicine right at my nerve root... it was sort of a mini-surgery if you ask me... It isn't going to help heal me, but it should make me feel a whole lot less pain, which is very exciting. It can take anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks to take hold... i am crossing my fingers for the earlier side of things.

Anyway, to the good stuff; Pictures! I have more pics of things I've made in the past week above, and will add in a little treat of pics from last Sunday when I went to the pool with my friends and their dogs (I left mine behind for obvious reasons). enjoy!

Mitch and Lilly
Mara and Thora Leah and Leia

Day 23 of Herniated Disc Update

I had my second specialist appointment today. The MRI has been read, and yes, I have a herniated disc-- its the last disc in my spine. As far as herniated discs go its "large", my doc said. He also did a nerve test to make sure my muscles in my left leg (where the extreme sciatica pain is) weren't degenerating, and they aren't, which is good. If they were I'd have to have surgery right away. So, the route for treatment we're taking now is to get Cortisone shots and start the "IDD" table, which is like a better form of traction. I should start on the IDD table by the end of this week or first part of next week.

The biggest snag we're running into is that the hospital I have my insurance through only lets the anesthesiologist do the shots, and the waiting list is THREE WEEKS OUT! OMG! Soooo, we sorta told the doc that that is ridiculous (he agrees, but its a Cox hospital legal thing that he can't do anything about) and he said that he would try to pull some strings for me after he gets done seeing patients today at 3. I am going to call tomorrow to see when he set up an appointment for. That shot I hear is usually very helpful for pain like this, i just wish I could get it NOW, or like, THREE WEEKS AGO! Grrr. I am thinking of writing a letter to the hospital saying how bad of patient care that is, given that I've been in extreme pain for three weeks and the only saving grace I have isn't available for another three.

In other news, I had my sister go to Target to get shirts for me to do applique sewing onto. I'm hoping that I get some inspiration to start doing that for fun instead of just lying here staring at my ceiling. I really should be working more on that paper that's due in August, but I have so much time on my hands and am so "down" from all of this its hard to get motivated to do something I don't want to do when I can't do anything that I want to do. does that make sense? Oh yeah, and I didn't win that decor8 contest which made me sad, but it was a longshot anyway. I could have really used some new fabric and paper to inspire me. I guess I'll just have to get creative with what I've got. (I feel like i've been doing A lot of that lately though).

frustration (Day 21 of herniated disc post)

So throughout this whole thing I've tried to just be okay with the circumstances and accept that I don't get to do everything I want to do. For the most part I think I've done fairly well.

At the moment though, not so much...

I am so sick of not being able to get anything for myself, feed myself, do anything productive, and do anything I enjoy doing, like tending to the garden or my pretty flowers outside. Grrrr! About 15 minutes ago I attempted to fill up the bird feeder I strategically placed outside my bedroom window and ended up dropping the entire bag of birdseed on the ground, spilling all of its contents at my feet. I immediately started bawling because I can't bend over to clean up a mess like that. I calmed myself down, but not before I asked Jeff through my tears to clean it up and huffed and puffed my way through the pain to cut some flowers to fill my new hanging vases in my living room. These ascetic sort of things I love to have around and they make me so happy, especially now, but I can't do them very well when I am in pain and its so frustrating.

Tuesday's doctor's appointment cannot come soon enough. Oh please Lord, I pray that this pain subsides so I can have my life back.

Day 19 of herniated disc

Updates:
Today I went to go to the pool with a friend I rarely see. It was great to catch up and talk. I'm getting TAN people.

I am still crossing my fingers at the possibility of winning the decor8 inspiration contest where I'd win tons of amazing fabric and cool stationary paper. Ohh, just the thought of winning gets my sewing gears turning.
Speaking of, I have appliqued vintage fabric onto two shirts in this past week. One for my hubby and one for my brother-in-law. I am also currently working on sewing the ends of the fabulous bathmat I bought from CB2 that was too big for our tiny bathroom. I can hand-sew from my bed in the lying down position, which has helped me mentally to handle all of this... it gives me something to do that I love. I tried to post pics I took but they were awful, I didn't have enough stamina to take a good shot so I'll post them later when I can get my husband to.

Also, I started on my research paper (well, barely) yesterday. That was a very good thing. Starting I think can be the hardest part on big projects like that.

Anyway, continue to stop by and check on me. I love hearing people tell me they read my facebook notes or my blog. It makes me feel more connected to the world since all I can do is lie in this bed.

Oh, and PS: here are some pics from the other night when Mara brought her dog Leia over (the king charles) and a little miniature yorkie she's dog sitting named Peanut.

Day 17 of herniated disc

So... the MRI machine is weird. Very,very strange situation-- to be in a long tube and have crazy machine noises going on REALLY LOUDLY around you for 25 minutes. I felt like I was in some trippy techno dream or something.
I am getting sick of doctor's appointments at this point. I've been every day this week and am paying dearly for it in pain. My muscles are crazy tight and I've been feeling pain just like I was those first few days, which is rather disheartening. I don't have another appointment scheduled until next Tuesday to start treatments with my new specialist doctor, which is TOO STINKIN' LONG, so I am calling tomorrow to see if there are any cancellations or if my Doc can fit me in tomorrow or the next day. Cross those fingers with me. I want to start getting better NOW.

I thought I'd post a few pics of what my problem looks like:

Day 16 of herniated disc update

So I went to see the spine specialist today. It was sort of a wake-up call to how severe this whole thing is, and also a confirmation of how much pain i am still in. He ordered me an MRI tomorrow, and I have another appointment with him next Tuesday (which sucks, because I still will be in all this pain when I am up and around for at least another week). At that appointment they are going to do a nerve test and hopefully give me a Cortisone shot so I can get rid of some of the pain. After that they will probably start treatments on this traction-type machine called an IDD that deals with discs and such. If that doesn't help me heal and I am still in a lot of pain, then he said I may end up needing surgery. My hopes of getting a shot and all of this being a bad dream sorta slithered out the window at that point. I was also supposed to go to Colorado with the Houghton family mid-August, which looks like it won't be happening because I don't have any vacation or sick time left to take and will start taking leave-without-pay next week... not to mention all of these appointments and tests are starting to add up financially.

Anyway, I am sorta down today. I was going to go to the pool after my appointment, but its been rainy outside, so I'm stuck in my room again with no one home and no ability to do anything that requires me to move. boo.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Day 15 of herniated disc

Updates:

Today I went to the doctor. It was a very long afternoon of lots of movement, which hurt a ton, but I believe we made some progress (hopefully). I got referred to a spine specialist who will most likely do Cortisone (is that the term?) shots in my back to relieve the Sciatica I am experiencing. Hopefully I'll get into them by this week so I can start back to work and school and get my muscle tone built back up through PT. My X-Ray didn't show any arthritis, but did show a bit of a curve in my spine.

I'm still feeling about the same as I have been-- only able to walk or sit for a few minutes before the pain starts getting really bad. Today's excursions already have me worn out, and I still have a PT appointment at 6 tonight...

Mentally I'm doing ok at the moment. Just trying to stay positive and busy.

Comment if you stop by to check on me. Mucho Love.

Decor8 contest

Everyone cross your fingers for me... Decor 8 is hosting a contest for someone to win amazing paper stacks and fabric stacks. Do you KNOW what I could do with all of that right now?!? I am laying flat on my back for most of my life these days and would LOVE to be able to hand-sew more items with all this time I have, I just cannot go out and buy fabric because I'm bedridden for the most part. There have already been, like, 400 people who have entered, so I am setting my hopes high, but what a blessing that would be for me in this depressing situation of boredom.

Day 12 of herniated disc

I've been super excited about my laid-up online purchases coming in yesterday and today, but some of them were disappointments. The CB2 bath matt I bought is too big and I'm thinking about cutting it in half and making two out of the one. I also am not sure about the rug I bought from U.O.-- it may be a bit too "busy" for the sun-room. Of course I wasn't able to stand long enough in the room to get a good look due to the pain I was feeling, so yeah... that whole thing has diminished the joy I thought I would get out of receiving my purchases. To be honest, I'm starting to feel a bit depressed. I'm very frustrated that I still cannot get up for longer than a couple of minutes without extreme pain. I just want to do something. Anything. Even enjoying a shower would be nice. Patience, patience.

day 11 of herniated disc updates

What I have been doing today: reading The Shack and my NYLON magazine, went to the pool with Jeff's bro Scott (he's visiting for 10 days), and watched So You Think You Can Dance with Jenn.
Visitors today: my sister (yesterday: my dad, Donna and Debbie from Evangel, and Mara with her cute dog Leia)
Work status: keeping up on projects for Evangel and Burrell via email.
Research project due in August: Still haven't started
Longest time I was up today walking: 10 minutes.
Number of bottles of Vicodin I have gone through: 3
Date of next Doctor's appointment and (hopefully) an MRI: Monday morning
Showered? yes (thankfully)
Number of times I cried today: 0. (yessss! mental state improved!)
Online purchases: 0. I'm out of money to spend :-(
Number of frozen peas or corn bags I went through to ice my back: 3
Times a cuss word slipped out of my mouth because I was in pain: 0
Times I've called into the living room: "JEFF...": countless

Anyway, sorry to disappoint with not many updates today or pictures. I'll try to do better tomorrow... I should be getting in several packages of my online purchases and hopefully will do some good picture posts with that.

If you stop by, leave a comment. I'd like to know who's checking on me. :-)

day 10 of herniated disc

So, today won't be as much a picture post but more of a rambling "what I'm learning through all this" post (again). Yesterday I reported that I went to the pool for some much needed out-of-my-room time and vitamin D for my mental health. I was feeling so good yesterday. So good. After we got back I took a much needed shower, then Jeff and I enjoyed some Millies salads thanks to his Mommy paying for us to have an anniversary dinner. (2 years-- go us!) Then Jeff's little Bro Scott came into town around 9ish. He's staying here with us for the next 10 days...
So because I was doing so well I started to feel like I should be doing more. I did some laundry, watered the plants, etc. I would get up for 10 minutes, do some chores, get back down for 10 minutes, repeat. Today I'm not feeling as great I think because I might have been pushing it a bit too much last night. I'm just getting so sick of laying here and asking everyone to do everything for me. Its hard. I mean, I just so want to be able to go outside and be a human again. But the Lord (I said "The Lord" I sound so evangelistic) is teaching me to stop trying to do everything on my own. I keep getting his kick right in my rear, literally, every time I think I can do it alone without him.
So I ask, those of you who pray, be praying that what God is teaching me right now sticks. He's doing it for a reason, I know. I needed it. I was just so ragged and burned out and not trusting Him... I just pray that I can learn more about letting go a bit and giving him control.
K, enough of that stuff, I'm gonna look through some design websites and enjoy myself for a while.

I laid in the pool, not on my bed

Today was a WONDERFUL day. Probably one of the best I've had in a long time. My sister was off work so she took me to my friend Mara's parent's pool. It felt amazing. So good to be out of my room for the first time in 9 days (outside of the doctor's office or PT). Too bad my new swimsuit didn't come in time. I bet I'll be there several more times before this whole thing gets better. Here are pics:

day 9 of herniated disc morning shots

More urban outfitters model poses (day 3 without a shower)
bloomies on my new patio furniture
morris jumping on me
lucy jumping on me
Here are some pics of when I just woke up from a muscle-relaxer coma. I needed to let the doggies in to feed them so I grabbed my camera to capture the experience. Updates: getting up didn't hurt as bad as when I had to let the doggies out at 6:30 this morning. Probably because I brought a new ice pack with me to lay on immediately. Time I was up: 4 minutes. Later today: Pool pics!

day 8 of herniated disc picture post

Jeff had a good idea-- since I'm so bored and can't get up without wanting to punch someone that I should keep the camera by my bed and take pictures daily to put on here as photo posts of the excitements of my day.

Here are some pics of just the past hour. First is Jeff's shirt covered in Sammie hair after he petted him for five minutes, second is pics of my doggies keeping me company, and third is how I look all ratty and un-showered. Hey, I'd fit right in as a Urban Outfitters Model!

Shopping in bed

I love online shopping. Well, I'd rather go to the store, but I obviously cannot at the moment. My mom and dad gave me a present today: 100 bones to shop online for whatever I want. Wanna see what I bought???

First thing: a new swimmie. Jeff and I went to Six Flags and walked around the waterpark in our skibbies and I was horrified at the feeling of nakedness in my bikini and just wanted to cover up... quickly. I thought this was very cute and reasonable.

This bag is from Target. I've had my eye on it for several months and then saw it online today for 8 BUCKS! Score!

This rug rocks! We could use a bigger one for the sunroom for when the doggies track in muddy-ness.

One red plate from UO. I know it sounds silly, but I am going to start collecting red plates for my kitchen because i've broken most of mine... mixing and matching means I won't have to worry about replacing the whole set!

From CB2 I got those teardrop hanging vases I showed pics of in a previous post, a new bathmat (exciting I know), and this cool planter on sale. (the green striped one)

There are more things like clothes, but if I went through everything you'd get bored fast.

I'm glad this has kept me a bit sane today since my sister and amazing friends all went to KC to see Feist. I had a ticket but ended up selling it to another friend so she could go in my place. They went to church today, ate at First Watch (a GREAT brunch spot), went shopping, and then saw Feist at the Starlight. I was really sad to miss out, but had the shopping to distract me which was nice. My mom came over for most of the afternoon too which was great. We had some great conversations and she did some of my housework for me, like sweep the ridiculous amounts of grass off my sidewalk and patio from when Jeff mowed yesterday.

Anyway, So far it seems like I'm inching my way to getting better, but I'm not nearly there yet. We timed how long I was able to be up today and I topped off at 13 minutes. Pretty exciting. It hurt like hell getting back into bed after that though.