Thursday, December 23, 2010

Things you should know about me if we're going to be BFFs

I've seen this on a couple of the blogs I read and thought it would be fun to do. It's always nice to learn weird little tidbits about your friends. :)

Thanks to Little Miss Momma for the idea!

Here we go. If we're going to be BFFs you need to know:

I am a huge fan of the Twilight series and very much team Edward. The writing may leave something to be desired and book four may be the strangest plot line in literary history, but for some reason I love it anyway.

I daydream of being a guest on morning shows like Regis & Kelly and Good Morning America.

When I want to cheer myself up I make cinnimon coffee and drink it from my green NASA mug.
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This particular mug is also my academic good luck charm while working on papers and projects.

I only like hockey for the fights and the zamboni.

You've Got Mail is pretty much my all time favorite movie ever. Yes, I realize how cheesy it is. That's part of what I like most about it.

I really really do not like tomatoes. I like tomato sauce, ketchup and other tomato based foods, but fresh tomatoes make me gag.

Cucumber skin is also really gross. I'll happily munch on fresh cucumbers or pickles, but only if they don't have skin on them.

When I was little someone convinced me that monsters are afraid of music. To this day I can't handle being alone in the dark unless there is music playing.

If I could only eat one kind of food for the rest of my life it would be peanut butter and jelly. It's one of my all time favorite foods and the only one I have never gotten tired of or sick from.

Epcot is my favorite Disney park. I could spend days there just exploring.

My dream vacation destination is Venice, Italy. Although Spain is a close second on that list fo dream destinations.

I am really afraid of confrontation and will avoid it as much as humanly possible.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Tuesday ramblings

It's a bit crazy at our place lately. I'm no longer working (yay for freedom!) and the house is slowly getting packed up. Finn is trying to figure out all the boxes and mimi is annoyed that her quiet days to herself have been interrupted.

Today I am doing laundry and packing up our closet. Sounds like fun, I know.

It's amazing how much stuff two people can accumulate. We did a huge clearing out of crap when we moved to Savannah 18 months ago and now that we are packing again it seems like the amount of stuff to pack has tripled. I sense another big Goodwill donation is in order once we get to the new place.

I hope everyone is enjoying these last few days leading up to Christmas!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

sunshine, lollipops and rainbows

Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but I really do feel amazing!

I still have the cold that I caught shortly after surgery. I still have some pain in my abdomen where the incisions were made. I'm still having to take things slowly.

However, last night I ate greek chicken for dinner and didn't feel like I was going to die! This is huge for me. I haven't had chicken in almost two months and it's been at least September since I had greek yogurt. Both tasted amazing and it made me happy to know that my body is getting back to a good place.

This mornign I tried out some regular (non-decaf) coffee in the form of a peppermint mocha from Starbucks. The experiment was not really a success considering I had to make a run to the bathroom shortly after drinking it, but I'm not going to let it get me down. It's been less than a week since surgery and as yummy as peppermint mochas are, they aren't exactly low fat or low in sugar... two things the doctor recommended I stick to for a while.

In case you couldn't tell, I'm feeling very optimistic. I feel like this surgery was a huge step in the right direction toward me being healthy again and I'm looking forward to my new beginning with this.

That being said, I sort of feel like this is a bit of a wake up call. Gallbladders go wonky for a variety of reasons, but I'm 99% sure mine was because of the abuse I had put my system through in the past few years. Between straight up starving myself in college to the increase in fatty foods over the last three years, I was not kind to my body... my digestive system in particular. I think this may be a good time for both Steve and I to make healthier choices in our lives with a focus on what we put into our bodies.

I'm really looking forward to after Christmas when I've been cleared by the doctor to start exercising again. I plan to do the couch to 5K program again and return to running as well as get back into playing tennis with Steve. The new year is bringing us a ton of changes and I am really going to give it my best to make them all positive ones.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

small victories and an ugly tummy

The recovery process is going well!

Last night I managed to sleep most of the night before I woke up needing to take more medicine for the pain. I was also able to sleep on my side without any trouble which made the evening much more enjoyable. I am not a back sleeper at all and so being pretty much forced to sleep that way the first night made me incredibly restless.

I've also been testing out some foods that used to trigger my issues and so far so good! I can have chocolate again which, to me, makes the entire surgery and recovery hassle worth it. I can also have chicken broth without feeling like I'm going to die or puke my guts out. Another small but significant victory.

Nothing against being a vegetarian, but it was getting frustrating. That is not the kind of lifestyle choice you want to be forced into.

Last night I did take the band aids on my incisions off. The tape stuff had to stay on, but I could see what was going on and it made me a bit sad. My stomach looks so ugly right now. This may be TMI, but they put one of the instruments in through my belly button and, clearly, had to sew it up when they were done. So now my belly button is all smooshed and sewn shut. I don't like it.

I guess if this is the only negative aspect of the surgery so far then I should be grateful, and I am. I just wasn't expecting it to look that bad.

Over all though I think it's going to be a pretty quick and easy recovery and I'll be good to go for work in the morning.

Friday, December 10, 2010

my internal organs look like chicken breasts

At least, according to the pictures taken during my surgery they do. Check it out:
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Sorry if this picture grosses you out. I find it fascinating! That may be the percocet talking though.

My surgery today went really well. I got to the hospital around 7am to check in and then started being prepped by the nurses around 8am. Getting the IV done was just as uncomfortable as it was during my HIDA scan, but the additional prep work like getting sensors put on my skin and the massaging leg warmers was so cool. I told the nurses so and they laughed. Apparently most people don't think surgery prep is cool.

After the surgery was over Dr. Christmas informaed me that my gallbladder was really inflamed. You can see it in the picture just how bad it was looking. In the top left is the picture of the gallbladder after he moved the other internal material away and got ready to remove it. Notice how it's all pasty white and dead looking? Yeah, that's really bad. I think having it removed is going to do wonders for making em feel better.

I'm more sore than in pain right now, and the percocet is helping me get some good sleep. Steve is home from his business trip and taking good care of me. My mom and mother-in-law took care of me at the hospital and when I first came home. I'm really thankful to have people in my life that love me and are willing to help me out in situations like this.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

A coincidence? I think not.

Not many people know this, but the Thursday before my wedding I had to go to an emergency care center and get checked out by the doctor because of a sudden onset of a bad cold/virus. It was bad. I could barely talk because my throat was so sore, my lymph nodes were swollen, I was congested.... pretty much the worst cold of my life and even worse because the biggest event of my life was less than 48 hours away.

At one point the doctor thought I had mono and I was terrified of having to tell all of our guests that the bride looked like death warmed over because she had felt like dancing in this fountain at her bachelorette party:
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Everythign turned out fine though. The doctor said it could be a physical manifestation of stress and told me to take it easy. He also gave me some precription strength cough syrup just in case. One dose of the medicine and taking an extra day of vacation from my job and I was good as new.

Fast forward to now, the day before my surgery, and I really think the same thing is happening. Yesterday I felt like death. My throat was sore and my nose was congested. Not a good thing while trying to get ready for surgery. So, I took the rest of the day and today off of work to let myself rest, and used my magic throat remedy just in case. 

Today I feel a million times better.

I really think I have a strange habit of letting my stress and anxiety out physically. I think my body just picks up on my emotions and decides it is going to make me face whatever the issue is or make me physically feel like crap until I do.  

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

home remedies

As of right now I'm not sick. However, Steve is sick and even though he's in Nashville I am taking a proactive stance on the issue to avoid any complications with my surgery on Friday. As soon as I noticed my throat feeling scratchy I ran right out and got the things I needed for my med-free throat remedy.

I honestly have no idea where I found this particular recipe, but it works. Not only does it work for pretty much any throat issue, but it is med-free and can be made on the cheap.

Put about 1 lemon's worth of juice into a mug (fresh if you've got it, but 1-2 tbsp of the bottled stuff works too). Then pour in boiling water and stir in about 1 tbsp honey.

Magic I tell you. Pure throat therapy magic.

I'm finishing a mug of this right now then heading off to a hot shower before bed. Between the special drink, the shower steam, and sleeping in tomorrow I think I'll be in top shape for the surgery.

Anyone else have their own special feel-better drink? Or any other type of home remedy?

Monday, December 6, 2010

motivation

As I mentioned in my last post, I have to take some classes that I'm not really jazzed about. Spanish in particular is not my favorite.

Ironically, Spanish culture, art, food, and wine ARE my favorites.

Thus my motivation was discovered.

Steve and I keep daydreaming about taking a long vacation to Europe after I graduate. We haven't been able to decide on a specific country because there is just so much we want to see and do. The only thing we can agree on is that we want to go somewhere we speak the language (at least enough to get by).

Now that I'm going to be taking four semesters of Spanish, we have tentatively decided on a destination: SPAIN!

This country has it all, castles, gorgeous architecture, beautiful coastline, and is home to one of my favorite artists! For a chance to visit I will cheerfully endure and excell in all of my classes. :)

Friday, December 3, 2010

I've got my class schedule!

After some confusion about the status of my English 1101 credit, I decided to just go ahead and register for the other - non-english - courses I need.

The good news is that I am taking two courses that sound incredibly interesting: History of Film and Intro to Women's Studies.

The bad news is that Georgia State requires me to fulfill my two science courses with lab requirement as a sequence rather than just any two lab sciences. They also require four semesters of a foreign language of which I have completed zero.

To put it simply, I have to take Chemistry II (since the biology class I have credit for is only open in a sequence to biology majors) and revisit Spanish. Neither of these subjects are particularly strong suits for me. Chemistry could seriously be considered cruel and unusual punishment and my Spanish is fine as long as I don't need to use verbs.

This semester should be interesting to say the least. I'm going to have to study my ass off to pull decent grades, but the idea of being full time at school again has me so excited. In two years I should finally be done with this degree and able to move on to teaching!

Now, if I coudl only find a part time job....

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Advice from 1915

A few weeks ago (maybe a bit more, I'm not quite sure) my mom found out that a distant cousin had some items that had belogned to my great-great-great grandmother. Yes, that's three greats. If I've got my family history correct, and since my mom reads this blog she could let me know whether or not I do, I'm pretty sure this is the same woman who was the original owner of the watch I wore pinned to my dress on my wedding day. The mother of my grandma Nora.

Anyway, of course the family wanted these things of hers so the guy dropped them off with my uncle in Pennsylvania and they made their way south.

There were some really neat things included in the mix of items (like my g-g-g grandmother's DAR application which filled in some gaps in our family geneology) and a beautiful dining room table that I currently have dibs on. I'm not exactly sure how I would get it here from Pennsylvania or how I would get it refinished, but it's gorgeous and in great condition... not to metion over 100 years old and full fo family history.

By far the most interesting item to me is a famer's wife handbook from 1915 that I have inherited. This book was published to help wives figure out how to solve any problem that may come up on the farm or in the home including medical, veterinary and homekeeping advice. It is fascinating to read the advice!

Some of my favorites:
- clearing pimply skin is as simple as washing the face with borax and lye soap each night.
- snorting borax also works as a wonderful decongestant
- recipes for baking a cake in a woodstove

If I ever go back in time I am set for life!

In all seriousness though, there are a few great recipes that I'm definitely going to try. There are also some strange but useful solutions to household issues that I certainly intend to try the next time they come up.

Oh, and my baking soda and white vinegar cleaner is in there! I feel vindicated. :)