anyone got a copy of Blogging for Dummies?

I so need it. i keep seeing other blogs that are SO much better than mine, but can i figure out the commands to do that?

naaaahhhh.

oh, went to the doctor today. they took out the staples.

except that they weren't staples. they were suters.

ow.ow.ow.ow.ow.

dammit all. that hurt more than any pain i had after the surgery!

but on the bright side, i don't have the maxi-pad of a bandage on my back.

i asked the PA (all the doctors were out) if i could see it before she took 'em out. for whatever reason, she wouldn't show me. maybe she thought i would throw up. does she not realize i like watching (most) surgeries on TV?

so the suters are out, and surgi-strips are on.

which means again: no shower for 24 hours.

what the hell?!

oh well, what's one more day.

at least then i can start walking more...i want to head off to the track at the college to do some walking. i want to really try & lose some weight this time, so when i do go back to work, everyone says "wow!"

oh yeah, and for my health, blah, blah, blah.

so i guess i need Blogging for Dummies & Losing Weight for Lazy Dummies.

peace out.

i can't wait!

now that i've whined about the husband....

i won a set of lenses for my digital camera on ebay! a wide-angle & a telephoto. i absolutely cannot wait till they get here!

my only worry...the seller is on the East Coast of Florida. i sent her an email yesterday, not necessarily because of my goodies, but i was worried that she sustained heavy damage. hopefully not.

i have another friend who lives outside Cape Canaveral...they survived Wilma with only a few extra loads of towels & some trash & palm fronds on their lawn. Jules, from the CKMB still is without power...yikes. phone service, but no power. does that make sense?

i cannot wait to get these new toys...it'll give me something new to play with!

and i'm grateful to God that that's the only thing i have to worry about.

does anyone understand guys?

i'm looking for guidance.

B made an appointment with the dentist for today...at 9 a.m. he calls me at 10:30, and is there still. found out he needs two crowns & a deep cleaning. so he decided to do half of the cleaning & one of the crowns today.

what th'....?

i don't get it! if it isn't manditory that you do it immediately, why not wait? he still has to go to work today; i might have planned to do it on his day off, but that's me.

so great. now i have to worry about him driving home after all that.

why do men do what they do?

and for purely selfish reasons, this ain't gonna be pretty on the ol' budget. granted, with insurance, my surgery won't cost us much, but if i am off till next year, i worry how that could effect my pay, if STD or the State decide not to pay for the additional time off.

oh brother.

the silver lining, is that the Dentist told B he wouldn't bill him till next year...thankfully that will make it smoother on insurance, and B can up his FRP to pay for it.

but sheesh. what was he thinking?

the world may never know

Happy Anniversary, Baby...Gotcha on my Miiii-nddd

(you know i'm old when i quote songs from the late 70's)

Brendan -
Eight years ago today, we said i do.
Eight years later, i still will.
In spite of the pain.
In spite of the infertility issues.
In spite of the every day boredom of married life.
I would do it again...but only if i can do it with you.

I love you baby. Thanks for being my rock. Thanks for being you.

well, nobody told me about THIS.

what do you do when you start to feel better but can't do anything about it?

my back feels better. i want to do a little more (not much, i know) but my body won't let me do much of anything. now, add some PMS to the mix...

bloody hell.

the Husband is at Blockbuster now getting videos. there is absolutely NOTHING on TV during daytime.

i know it'll get better after i get the stitches out. i'll be able to move & escape this place.

but in the meantime...

save me from myself!

did this before i went into the hospital

it's my niece & newphew @ Christmas last year. i was playing around with some filters & effects in PictureIt! just for fun.

i like drugs...oh yes i dooooooooooooooo

again. not having that much pain, but i do feel so much more relaxed. occasionally i get this weird sensation...not exactly pain, but not comfortable, either. i'm still so amazed that a) there's no pain in my leg any more and b) how good i really do feel. but before you start lecturing, i'm taking it VERY EASY.

on the home front, last night was B's first night back at work since the surgery. i went between "whoopee!" and "ohdeargodinheavenwhatthehellamithinking?!" but it went really well...
Elvis the Wunderkat has stayed in my lap most of the time. he's a good kitty (in spite of what my mom says). i am lucky.

well, yesterday afternoon, i woke up from one of my many naps to someone knocking at our door. i look out the peephole (yes, it did take about a year to get up!) to see my downstairs neighbor, here to check on me & to bring a pizza from Domino's.

not a leftover pizza. a whole pizza.

yum.

i didn't tell him i haven't been eating a whole lot of solid foods, been pretty much sticking with jello, broth & juices. (WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU DON"T WANT THAT MUCH INFO!) the thought of straining at the pot just scares the beejeebers outta me.

well...after listening to the pizza call me with it's sirine song, i finally said the hell with it.

i ate two pieces.

i may pay for it today (but maybe not, i took a Colace), but lordy was it good.

don't worry, i was really good this a.m. i ate a piece of toast with jello.

food? eh. it doesn't interest me right now. which will be good for the diet.

i just cannot wait till they remove the staples. and i can take a shower.

that's way better than pizza.

good, good. surprisingly good!

I'm amazed how good i feel.

Had the surgery Wednesday. Turned out i not only had a herniated disk, but also a cyst on the disk that they had to remove. So now i'm paranoid about screwing things up, because if i do, it's back to the hospital, flat on my chest for a week while they drain the cyst.

But i digress.

Surgery went pretty dang smoothly. And again, i'm surprised how good i feel! Not much pain, and there's no pain at all in my right leg (where i had all the pain before). I also got these huge thigh-highs to help combat blood clots.

Again, i digress.

So far the diet has consisted of broth, jello and Popscicles. Yum. Oh well, doing anything other than peeing would hurt like hell.

The roommate was OK. She was an older woman who had a gallbladder surgery, and was nice to talk to, but wasn't very nice ( i thought) to the staff. Never said "please" or "thank you" to any of the nurses or staff there. I didn't think that was nice...these people work hard to be kind to people at some of the worst times of their lives. A kind word goes a l-o-n-g way, right?

Behold - the Queen of Digress!

Got home about 5pm yesterday and have been in our recliner ever since.

Brendan has been quite patient...he usually isn't the nursey type...his usual M.O. is to "throw some dirt on it, and get back in the game." But he's been really good, getting me jello, water, whatever i need. He even though enough to go to the medical supply store & rent a walker (for support when i do get out of the recliner) & a potty booster (do i need to explain that?).

He also got paperwork i need from the doctor today to send to the company that administers our STD. Took a look and imagine my surprise when i saw the date to return to work. 12/30/05.

12/30/05?

Yikes. i wasn't expecting that. Minimum 6 weeks, possibly 8. But December 30th?

(although it would help with my Christmas shopping)

guess i'll just have to wait & see.

So thanks for your prayers, good thoughts & karma. Keep 'em coming. Moving up & down sucks big time (as you can imagine).

See you soon...

Can you believe it's finally here?

I can't.

I can't believe that by this time tomorrow night, this whole nightmare with my back will - hopefully - be over.

Amazing.

I check in the hospital @ 6a.m. tomorrow; surgery is scheduled for 7:30a.m.

Wow.

Here's the "fun" part of my day today. I had my pre-op tests yesterday & was told to call today between 1-4pm for the final time for my surgery. So i call.

My name is not on the surgery roster.

What the...

Nope. I'm not on the list for surgery. "Call us after 3" they say.

I call again. Nope. No one knows anything.

Am i cursed? I really need to NOT have this kind of stress. Sheesh.

So i called my doctor after calling the hospital AGAIN.

The doctors office apologizes most profusly. They also acknowledge that this kind of stress i don't need. But i am scheduled for tomorrow @ 7:30a.m.

No doubt.

So, by this time tomorrow i'll be vicadened outta my gourd & won't care a fig about anything.

Except that it's over.

I'll be back in a few weeks. Peace out!

what am i doing?

(we interrupt your regularly scheduled blog for this mindless rant)

what am i thinking, having back surgery?! why am i allowing a total stranger to cut into my spine? why is it so bloody important to not be in pain? i have vicaden! there are drugs that can and mostly do help!

so why am i doing this?

i hate vicaden. i hate pain. i have nerve damage (not that this will fix that). this back thing is affecting other parts of my body, that i won't get in to.

again...so why am i doing this?

i want to feel normal. i want to feel like i did before May '04, which is when i originally injured it.

but i want it over. there's nothing that can happen to me that i haven't already dreamed of.

let the games begin.
(we now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.)

Happy Friday

It's the last weekend before surgery. And i've noticed i'm SUPER cranky & short with everyone.
Even though i don't feel anxious, apparently i am. Wigged out a little last night, crying, etc.

I just want it over with, but i don't want to do it, either.

Waaaah.

On to more depressing subjects...if you're in the LA area, you've probably heard about the USC student who allegedly gave birth, then left the baby in the dumpster to die. This isn't helping my mood at all.

I believe in God. I truly believe there's a Higher Plan for everyone's life, and that some day, when we go to Heaven, it will all become clear.

However...

i fail to see the Big Picture right now. How can it be that i am not allowed to have a baby, when this child would have a good & loving home, and this chick can leave her baby to die.

I just don't get it. I'm angry. Angry & hurt. I just don't get it.

And probably never will.

Have a great weekend everyone....make a difference in someone's life today!

blah, blah, blah.

Hmmm. Didn't think it had been as long as it has since I last posted.

What to talk about?

Probably nothing.

Surgery next week.

Cat meowing at all hours. Won't let me sleep.

Work, work, work.

Good dinner tonight. Husband made carne asada, I made spanish rice & heated some refried beans. Yum.

It's the bottom of the 8th. Angels are STILL ahead. Go Anaheim. (yes, Anaheim. don't give me this crap that they are the Los Angeles Angels. LA's got their own team. The Angels are ours. Anaheim.)

Thinking about submitting a layout to a magazine. Can't decide whether to send it to Scrapbooks, Etc or Simple Scrapbooks.

Yesterday, the Husband & I drove down to San Diego for the day. So cool. I love San Diego.
He got back Saturday from Michigan. His best friend's mom passed away two weeks ago. She was a second mom to Brendan, and a really wonderful woman. I'll miss her & her wonderful energy.

Once again, a lot of nothing about nothing.

May all your Mondays be bright.

Recipe time

OK - Julia Child i'm not. Alton Brown i am most definately not. But i do like to cook.

And after finding a killer chicken curry recipe on Cathy's blog, i thought it only fair i share my most favorite, absolutely killer recipe for:

Mexican Brownies.

(stop. they have cinnamon in 'em. not anything else)

enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: These Are Not For The Dieter. These Are Full-Blooded, Calorie-Laden Bits Of Goodness From The Chocolate Godesses.

Mexican Brownies

1 stick margarine
5 tbs cocoa
1/2 cup Crisco
1 cup water

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

frosting:
1 stick margarine
5 tbs milk
4 tbs cocoa
1 entire box of powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

In a large saucepan, combine margarine, cocoa, Crisco & 1 cup water - bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl combine flour & sugar. Stir well, then slowly pour hot mixture over flour/sugar combo & mix well. Add buttermilk, cinnamon, baking soda, eggs, vanilla & salt. Mix well, pour into a 9x13 (or bigger) pan. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

Let cool for 20 minutes. While cooling, combine first 3 ingredients of frosting, after margarine has melted, add vanilla & powdered sugar - mix well till smooth (i use my hand mixer, it really works well & i get to lick the beaters!), then pour over brownies.

Let cool completely, get out the cold milk & enjoy.

boo, dammit.

that's the punchline from one of my favorite, sort of naughty jokes.

here's the Readers' Digest condensed version.
a recently married couple are on their way to their hotel for their honeymoon night. as they drive, they see two dogs doing...well, what a boy & girl dog will do (again, people, please spay & neuter your pets). the new bride, being a naive sort, asks hubby what they are doing. he responds that the boy dog is scaring the girl dog. after a minute or so, our lovely bride says "honey will you scare me like that?" "sure!" he responds enthusiastically, pulls over & they have at it.

several minutes later, the blushing bride asks her husband to scare her again. "OK" he responds, but less enthusiastically. they pull over again.

fifteen minutes goes by, as they continue to drive down the road. once again, the bride says "honey, scare me again!" exhausted, her husband turns to her and says, "boo, dammit."

i'm not looking to be scared right now. i'm about to rant.

we live across the street from Knott's Berry Farm, a really cool little amusement park here in So. Cal. B & i got married there (they have the coolest little church that was built in the early 20th century {still seems weird to say "early 20th century}) and had our reception there.

every October, they turn the park into Knott's Scary Farm. the Halloween Haunt is, without a doubt, the scariest Halloween party around. they creep out the rides, they have people in the rides just jump out at you. they have mazes. the place will scare the beejeebeers outta you.

B & i used to go, until about two years ago, when we realized we were old enough to be a parent to the average age group. talk about depression. 'sides, he works nights & weekends; makes it difficult to go. and i'm too chicken to go by myself.

my rant is that we are so close, it blows trying to get anywhere around Knott's.

we have a few favorite restaurants on the other side of the park. traffic gets soooooooooooo bad, a 5 minute drive has taken 30 minutes. ugggh.

so, it's simple, i guess. don't go anywhere near the park on Thursday-Sunday.

boo, dammit.