Playing catch-up and my back brace appointment

We were told that Krispy Kreme doughnuts will give kids with good grades a doughnut for their A's. We thought we'd give it a shot. We went and took their report cards. The manager was so great and gave us a dozen doughnuts! What a treat!

Summer is almost over, it's hard to believe. It seems to have gone by pretty quick. The kids have enjoyed playing at the neighbors house and having them over to our house too. Silly kids!

Jacob built a Bionicle creature while over there one time and had it attack their dog Zoe. She is such a great dog and puts up with everything the kids do to her.

In June, Brian and our neighbor friend got to attend a cub scout day camp for three days in a row. They had tons of fun and earned a lot of belt loops. Some of the activities included BB guns, archery, swimming, games and crafts. During a leather craft, he was stamping the leather and ended up smashing his thumb. Poor little guy! It wasn't too bad of a smash. He was ok after the ice.

Onto the news about my back.

I had another follow-up appointment Friday for my brace. I have been hurting a lot more lately, much to my dismay, and it has been very uncomfortable to wear the brace, so I wasn't sure what was going on. I told Dr. Andy many things that were on my mind and he said, "Oh, it sounds like you need your elastic bands replaced. Let's see, how long have you been in the brace?" He was already starting to input information into his laptop when I told him I got fitted for it the first part of October 2008. Wow, has it really been that long? No wonder the elastic is worn out....it's almost been two years of stretching to hold my back in a less stressful position. Wow. So yesterday my brace got a transformation. It has pretty white brand new elastic bands on it that actually feel like elastic. They are so fantastic. I had forgotten how good it felt to wear the brace. He helped me get all strapped in and it felt so good to have the support. 100% better, no kidding! Off we went to do the x-ray in the brace. My curves have improved a few degrees since last July. Here's the run down since the beginning. October 2008, out of brace - top curve 68 degrees, bottom curve 54 degrees. Same day, in the brace - top curve 63 degrees, bottom curve 49 degrees. January 2009 - top curve 59 degrees, bottom curve 49 degrees. July 2009 - no change, same measurements. July 2010 - top curve 57 degrees, bottom curve 48 degrees. Let's celebrate the small things, right? I'll take a few degrees better! The good thing now is that I know the signs of my elastic wearing out and can hopefully not get to the point I was at this time of hurting so much again. It was a great Friday!