Friday 31 July to Wednesday the 18th of August 2010: Sarah is back and with a whole load of photos from all the days she was gone...

Sarah says:
Wow! That's the longest I have ever stayed away from Face The Day! Today is Wednesday the 18th of August and the last time I posted on here was Friday the 31st of July I think. That's a record for me for sure! I have a good excuse though. As you know, I was in the hospital for a whole week thanks to my back again. Same problem. Same solution. When I got home, it was too uncomfortable to use our computer so I avoided it as much as possible, which meant no Face The Day! But of course I have been taking photos on most days which you can see below. I can't be totally sure about the dates... Hard to say! Anyway - I feel okay now - not great. I still need to rest or the problem can comeback fast. I am not that great in the head either right now. I always get depressed after I have been in the hospital. Too much time to think and the message that it can only stay the same and eventually get worse. Gets me down. My mind is always at battle with my body. My mind wants to go fast and do a million things and my body can't keep up. It is so frustrating. Eventually, when I have to be a little less careful in a week or two and life feels normal again, I will snap out of and away from the negativity and get on with my life and enjoy myself as much as I can. This seems to happen to my back during or right after holidays. I need to keep that in mind and adjust my behavior somehow during vacations so that I can enjoy them rather than being stuck in the hospital on pain IVs!

Photo above - by the way - is at our new, living room desk! I worked from home today and rested in between on the bed you see in the back there. Thankfully, I can do that. If I couldn't, I'm not sure I'd be able to work.

The good news is that our living room looks great! I will post a link to some photos when I have the chance! Paris was also great and I had some really nice moments with Tom during the vacation. With Ayla too - though less as she is a bit in her own world these days...

Above: Tuesday the 17th of August - our new living room wall color!

Above: Monday the 16th of August - first day back to work and rain, rain, rain! I have never been so soaked - to work and home! Hard day to handle!

Above: Sunday the 15th of August - last day of vacation - dark and blue...

Above: Saturday the 14th of August - a good day I think... Felt okay and had nice lunch with friends and bought new lamps!

Above: Friday the 13th of August - loving the new living room!

Above: Thursday the 12th of August - had a bunch of friends over for boterhams and games and Heidi came too! It was a really fun night and we used the new living room well! Happy Heidi and I are back on Face The Day here together! Always great to see her. Never enough anymore! Were so spoiled before working together...

Above: Wednesday the 11th of August - Heidi passed by to cut Tom and Ayla's hair! It was about time we got a photo of us on here!

Above: Tuesday the 10th of August - starting to feel okay...

Above: Monday the 9th of August - ehhh. Glad to be home but not comfortable...

Above: Sunday the 8th of August - pain in my veins! So many holes in my arm and so many bruises from the IV. So tired and drugged... But glad to be at home and not in the hospital anymore!

Above: Saturday the 7th of August - finally home!!!! It's about time! Maybe that's Friday above. I don't know anymore... All I know is that it was my first or second day home and I was so glad to be out of the hospital. That bed behind me was of course waiting. Rest is best and I should be resting and not working until the end of the month but I have to work or I'll go nuts... I'm going to try it this way and see what happens. Fingers crossed I can handle it! I will be careful...

Above photo must be from Sunday or Monday the 2nd or 3rd of August. Tom has come to the hospital with Ayla and they washed my hair for me. I really needed that and to see The Lool. It had been 10 days! She was at camp this year (like last year) and came home to the news that I was again in the hospital. Though we had to cancel our trip to New York to see my dad, Ayla and Tom did still go to Ittre in Belgium with Tom's parents for three nights while I was in the hospital. Thankfully, good friends visited me in the hospital during this time and kept my spirits up! Carmen came every day, the crazy girl!

Who would have thought that Tom would wash my hair for me! Felt so much better after that! Not being able to shower is one of the worst things about being in the hospital!

Above photo is from the 1st of August. I have to upload photo from last year - same day - same pose I think! Was in the hospital exactly a year ago that day for same thing. Crazy! I'll do flashback 1st of the month later. In the meantime, click here to check out the irony! And click here to see the photo!

I think above photo is from the 31st of July when I checked into the hospital and had to wait from noon till after 8pm in the ER till a room was ready! Bad day! Then I had a room with three people - too small. Thankfully they switched me to a two-person room the next day and I shared it with a lovely 82 year old woman who inspired me - which happens every time I am in the hospital. You sure can learn from older people about how to get on with life despite things working against you! Time to move on now!