Lisa and John: January 2010

Sunday, January 31, 2010

An Unexpected Weekend at Home

We were supposed to be in Syracuse this weekend, but a last minute change of plans left us in DC. Its been very relaxing. More snow came on Saturday so we spent the afternoon in doors cozy and watching the snow come down. These poor guys are responsible for shoveling the front of the building across the street from us. A lot of work. Especially if it doesn't stop snowing and you shovel it more than once.

In the evening we bundled up and headed out to one of our favorite restaurants - Granville Moore's. After filling up on Belgian beer, moules, and frites, and catching up with the peeps we know there, we headed down the block to another bar to catch up with some other friends. The perfect night to cozy up to a bar and stay warm by consuming several alcoholic drinks. Here's John making a snow angel after we left the bar.

And today has been...lazy. Very relaxing. And delicious ~ thanks to the crockpot pork chops John made and the ice cream chocolate chip cookie sundaes we HAD TO HAVE.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Kara MacDougall ~ In Loving Memory

May 2, 1992 - January 18, 2010

This past week my little sister Allyson lost her best friend to liver cancer. It is such an incredibly tragic loss, and my heart breaks for Kara's family, Allyson, and all of Kara's good friends. She will truly be missed. Her energy and sense of humor kept you on your toes and laughing. If Kara was in the room everyone was having a good time. At a young age she mastered the language of sarcasm, and between that and her honest spirit you always knew where you stood. She was born an entertainer and I am sure she has already captured quite the audience in her new home. Her passion, determination and fun-loving spirit will carry on in our memories. Kara will be missed, but never ever forgotten.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Putting my feet up

It was a whirlwind of a week but hot damn was it productive! We booked our wedding venue, the band, and the photographer. Not bad. I feel like I can put my feet up now and relax. Okay, maybe not. But we're very excited that all of the big items are taken care of. Now we can start to focus on the fun details: Chiavari chairs, signature drinks, must plays for the band, favors, and wedding vows. The planning is going to be fun, but I'm sure 10/09/10 will be here before we know it!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Nurse Rossi

Apparently John picked up an infection. We're not sure where it came from - Costa Rica, the gym - who knows. All we knew was it was getting worse and worse and not magically disappearing like John was hoping for. It started as a small red mass on his side that grew and grew. A few days before Christmas he finally caved and went to the ER. Five hours later he came home with a chunk of his love handle missing. He downplayed everything, and it was all bandaged up when he got home so I didn't even see it before I took off for my mom's for Christmas. Well, the sucker wouldn't stop bleeding, so when he got to Syracuse the next day his mom took him straight to the doctor. They did some more poking and prodding and determined it was okay, it just needed daily attention and he needed pain meds. All I have to say is, thank goodness he was home with his momma - a real live nurse! Every day she had to pull out the packing, clean out the wound, and re-pack it. It was about a 45 minute process in order to get a sterile environment and enough helping hands to execute successfully. John's sister Karen was there to help each day. When I finally made it to Syracuse a week later the wound had healed significantly, but it still needed to be packed and cleaned each day. The first morning I stood there with his mom to learn the procedure. She took off the bandage and it was pretty gross - but tolerable. The more you look at it the more comfortable you become. She then pulled the packing out - it looked like a 6 inch long shoelace. Okay, breathe Lisa. No problem. You just pulled that out of his side. Could be worse. She cleaned the wound with saline. Going well. The worst part seemed to be the pain that John was in. The final step is to re-pack the wound. She started to stick the end of the packing in and all of a sudden the room started to spin, everything was going dark and OH MY GOD THIS IS WHAT IT IS LIKE TO FAINT! I pulled myself together before hitting the floor and left the room to catch my breath. Apparently I wasn't prepared to see that. The next day I watched as Karen went through the process at the New Years Eve house and I was okay. I better be, because it was going to be my turn soon. We've been home for a few days now and the wound has almost healed to the point where it doesn't require packing. It will probably be a few more weeks until it is completely healed. What an adventure! An extremely painful one for John Buss.

The pictures are pretty graphic and gross so I won't include them in the post. But if you want to take a peek, here are the links. John took these when he went to the doctor in Syracuse, a couple of days after the doctors in the ER removed the infected area.

Picture 1

Picture 2

Happy New Year!

2009 was pretty fantastic. Inauguration. My 30th bday party. Celebrating with my bestest friends in Vegas. D's month long wedding celebration. And helllloooooo... getting engaged to the love of my life. It has been a truly wonderful year.

We had a great time ringing in the new year holed up with friends, booze, and food on Seneca Lake in upstate New York.

The whole gang

It was a bit terrifying getting to the house. And by "a bit" I mean "oh my god we were going to die." Where the snow stops at the end of this hill is the lake. A freezing cold absolutely frigid "oh my god we are going to die" lake. After sliding halfway down the hill in our Civic, Timmy the plow guy came to our rescue. He still stood at the bottom and laughed as we slid down sideways, but at least we would have a witness as we plunged into the lake.