TMI

Or, Confessions of an Obsessed Woman.

Went online again last night, looking for more info about the upcoming back surgery.

Like i've posted earlier, although it's been hotternhell here in So. Cal. (and the whole bloody state is about to burn up), the great thing about my vacation week is that i haven't taken any pain pills in almost four days.

Wow-wow-wow-wow-wow.

That, my friends, is sweet.

Back to the obsession.

So i found a website that showed animation of the procedure. It was so amazing...especially the part where they brought out the "chompers" (i'm sure that's the proper medical term) and removed the part of the disk that's herniated.

What i don't get, is that most of the websites i've checked out, describe the surgery as outpatient. My neurosurgeon is keeping me overnight. I'm not complaining; i just wonder why. Different strokes for different folks, i guess.

Then in the mail yesterday, i got a jury duty summons.

Jury duty.

Oy.

Before i got married, i lived in Long Beach. Every time i got called for jury duty (which was every year) i ALWAYS ended up going to downtown L.A. If you don't think driving that every day was fun...

Well, once the fine folks in Orange County found me, i've traveled from Newport to Santa Ana to Fullerton. At least Fullerton is closer to my home. But this time, i am a call in juror.

Only problem? I start 11/11. Surgery is 10/19. I don't go back to work at the earliest until 11/30.

Hmmm.

So i've called & rescheduled for January.

Dang. I better be better by then.

Peace out.

just not in the mood

for anything.

i just don't want to do anything. first off, it's been really hot here. today, at one point, it was 107. yuck.

secondly, i really thought i would be doing a lot of scrapping. not a bit. haven't even walked in the room, except to clean Elvis' box. woo-hoo.

third, i woke up this a.m. feeling like crud. sore throat. bit of a headcold. went out to breakfast with B...that didn't even help. napped a bit this afternoon. still feel tired.

but, and this is a REALLY GOOD THING, i haven't taken a vicaden in the last two days.

that is something to celebrate.

B goes to the doctor tomorrow - he'll take a look at B's finger & see how it's doing. he still complains about how his chest hurts. no pain with the finger, just the chest. thankfully he didn't crack any ribs on his death-defying stunt.

i'm bummed i've only got two more days off. i've never felt more exhausted.

i guess i need a vacation.

the best laid plans...

oft' go to hell in a handbasket.

I'm home right now. I should be in Mexico, drinking beer & eating lobster.

But nooooooooooooo.

It's Saturday night. B & i are up in Hesperia, at our friends. We have eaten steak (yum), seen fireworks & are gathering in the living room for a yak fest.

And here's where it goes to hell in a handbasket.

Someone comes running in, saying something that sounds like "your husband broke his finger."

Broken finger? Brendan? Nahhh.

Here he comes, his face the color of concrete. My friend's mom, another Valerie, is behind him. He has a towel over his hand, and i see blood.

Blood. Not good.

So, believe it or not, i MAKE him sit down. He was just standing there. So i pulled back the towel and thought, "hey, this doesn't look too bad."

Then he turned his hand over.

(here comes the gross part)

There's a laceration about 1/2 long, and deep. How deep? Deep enough so i can see his bone.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off To The Hospital We Go.

I won't give a blow by blow of all 5 hours there in Emergency. Sufficed it to say he got 5 stitches, and luckily, didn't break it, only dislocated it. One or two good pulls by a cute blonde PA and he was good to go. Literally. A tetanus shot & antibiotics followed.

So needless to say, we decided against Mexico.

But how did this happen? My darling, wonderful, usually intelligent husband decided he was going to ride TWO Razor scooters at once. Hit a rock. Down you fall.

D'Oh.

If there's a lesson to learn (and there is), it's don't think you're Evel Knevel at 45. It ain't gonna happen. All you'll get is a trip to emergency.

And 5 stitches.

Just a few more hours

and i'll be right home to you.

(with many apologies to KISS & "Beth")

In roughly 9 3/4 hours, i will be on vacation.

Woo-Hoo!

No real plans. Husband is off Sunday & Monday normally. He's actually taken off Saturday so we can go to a BBQ thrown by dear friends of ours. What we may do afterwards is still up in the air..Temecula casino & winery? Puerto Nuevo, Mexico? San Diego?
Let's face it, closer may win. With gas prices the way they are now, even a closer trip could cost as much as a long trip.

In some ways, i'm really bummed. Having married a man who has travelled & loves to do so (goody for me!), i've travelled more in our marriage than in my entire life to that point. No kidding.

I've always looked forward to our vacations. We discuss, discuss, discuss. Final plans are made, along with reservations. And then in October, we're off for another week's adventure.

Not this year. Not with the surgery.

But no more surgery talk here.

I'm on vacation. See ya in a week.

irrevelant facts

1) i have a square freckle

2) i love baseball

3) i always wanted to be a writer

4) when i was very little, i wanted a younger brother or sister. i would re-invented myself as Tommy (or Valerie. depended on my mood)

5) i'm 43. i still love PopTarts, Lucky Charms & Spaghetti-O's

6) my favorite candy bar EVER was a Marathon bar , it was a foot long braded chocolate covered dee-lite

7) CSI: Crime Scene Investigation & Mythbusters are two of my favorite shows

8) as a kid, i won a contest for two years in a row that made me Queen of the Circus

9) as Queen of said circus, i met Mel Torme

10) Brendan & i were each contestants on To Tell The Truth. we both fooled most everyone

11) as a frustrated writer, i would create screenplays. i probably still have them in storage

12) i took ballet lessons for about 5 years, and piano lessons for 13 years

13) still can't dance, don't play well

14) i HATE reality TV (i know, i'm weird)

15) i love reading

16) i love scrapbooking

17) i still enjoy counted cross stitch (even though i scrap more)

18) i have had an annual pass for Disneyland for most of my 30's. i just renewed it this year after a (almost) 3 year absence

19) i met both my best friend & my husband at Disneyland (actually, Husband & i had our first date..a BLIND date...at Disneyland)

20) i want to be Jimmy Buffet. i want to live on an island & have my life be one long vacation.

21) on my 21st birthday, i DID NOT GET CARDED. first time to buy legal beer, and didn't get carded. dang.

22) in high school i was listed in Who's Who Among American High School Students

23) i have 5 newphews, 4 neices, 1 each great newphew & neice (this with no blood siblings)

24) i had 10 pen pals in 6th grade

25) when i finally met a pen pal, i got so excited i fainted

26) i love James Bond movies

27) i would love to be a hermit (with some access to shopping, scrapbook stores, and beer)

28) at 11, i cooked an entire Thanksgiving dinner by myself from scratch

28) i didn't travel outside of California until after i got married

29) in high school, i was a staff writer for the newspaper for the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls

30) i can't wait to visit Hawaii

31) as a kid, i practically had every Barbie & Barbie product known to man (or girl) kind

32) Your Message Here

33) favorite ice cream ever: Haagen Daas vanilla

34) i have been in love with Donny Osmond since i was 12 (my husband knows. he doesn't care)

35) my age when we got married

36) my current favorite place on the planet is Catalina Island

37) favorite color: colbolt blue

38) my favorite jewelry is silver

39) favorite things to wear: capris & tees

40) when i got my dream car...a Blazer (cuz i can't afford a BMW 325i)

41) the age when i realized i would never get pregnant

42) i also love Alton Brown of Good Eats

43) my best age right now. (sorry, Oprah)

Just a few more days...

...and i'm on vacation for a whole week.

(see? even my cat is excited)

i originally had the week planned for Thanksgiving, but with the surgery, not sure how i'm gonna feel about a l-o-n-g road trip to Reno & my sister-in-law's.

At my work, for as long as i've been there, i get about 5 weeks off. It's a very good thing. Just a pain to carry it over to the next year & use it by June..or lose it.

So i've decided to take off time before the surgery & try to relax. I even talked the husband into taking an extra day so we can do something. Anything. San Diego. Mexico.
Hey, i'll even take a trip to the Morongo Casino in Palm Springs.

I'm channeling the Go-Go's now...Vacation's all i ever wanted.
A week of fun, scrapping & whatever.
Yippee!!

It's 1984...Again.

I'm having such an 80's moment. I've been hooked, line & sinkered into "Red Dawn."

Remember that movie? Yep, the first time Patrick Swazey & Jennifer Gray were in a film together (and you thought it was "Dirty Dancing").

This movie is completely hokey. And so filled with propaganda, being that it was in the middle of the Cold War. Yay America, Boo Everyone Else. That was the entire message (?) of that movie.

I remember seeing it for the first time in the theater, and being completely terrified that the movie's premise would actually happen. That we would be invaded by the communists.

What a dork i was back then...barely in my 20's. Hey, to me, "The Day After" was a news broadcast, not a made-for-TV movie.

Well, i'm older, but probably not much smarter.

Hey, at least i don't believe everything i read. Or see on TV.

California Dreamin'....

...on such a weird daaaaayyyyy

Ok so no one is gonna mistake me for either a Mama or a Papa. I can dream.

As any of you Southern Californians know...today (and last night) was Totally Weird Weather. Well, weird for here, anyways.

Thunder. Lightning. Rain.

Really, no big thing.

Unless you live here in So. Cal.

Weather, real weather, is almost unheard of here. Hey, when you can be wearing shorts on most Christmas', weather just really isn't a priority. Or an inconvenience.

And in comparison to what's going on in New Orleans & now the Keys, this is nothing.

But people (especially where i work) totally freaked today. Every crash of thunder, especially the big ones, made everyone bob up like prairie dogs. It made me laugh after awhile.

I wonder what they would do if they had to live through Katrina.

30 Days Hath September...

and in exactly one month from day, hopefully, my back ordeal will be over. i'm scheduled for the microlumbar diskectomy @ 7:30am on 10/19. and while I'm thrilled beyond words at the thought of being pain-free, the thought of someone cutting into my spine....uuugggghhhhh.

i've been doing research on the surgery...takes about an hour, i could go home that day (but i know i won't). physical therapy possibly 3x a week. time off work: 6-8 weeks.

wow. never been off that long. it'll be weird (once i start feeling better) to be at home.

I'm scared. my mind is playing with all the "what ifs": what if I'm off longer...what if something goes wrong....what if i get an infection....

what if.

now logically, i know. i know what the odds are, and how good the outcome should be. this surgery has a 95% success rate. that's pretty good, i think.

it's just that, like the rest of you, i hate the unknown.

i just want it done.

and no more what if's

i need a nap.

can't though.

one of my (many) "things", is if i fall asleep after 3pm, i can't sleep at night.

and i'm not sleeping all that great at night, either. too much stress about the back surgery (four weeks and one day and counting). i know it's a good thing, and i'll be better off afterwards, but just getting here....mercy, mercy, mercy.

but today is different. i'm wiped out. up too late (didn't get home till after 1am...that' LATE for me!). went with some girlfriends to the Martini Blues, a dinner/bar/place - two stages. we have a contractor at work in a band, so we checked them out. you can, too....The Undecided in a word: they ROCKED! Deborah is the lead singer (and our contractor)...her voice is what would happen if Bonnie Raitt & Melissa Ethridge had a love child. sooooooooo soulful. gritty. but tender & longing when needed.

i'm a baby. i was up way too late. i like my sleep.

but it was fun hanging out with my friends. it was way cool listening to a band crank out some tasty tunes.