Down South

I'm in South Carolina!!! That was the surprise. I flew in yesterday and surprised the crud out of my parents, it was priceless!!! :) We've been on the go ever since and I just wanted to take a moment to update real quickly... I'll be posting pics soon, its so beautiful here and I'm having a blast with all my family. I spent a few hours at the pool today with Elliot(14) & Douglas(12) and I'm excited to report that I'm gonna come home with one heck of a tan!!! WOOT! :) Little Alex (almost 2) is a doll and quite the handful but he's warming up to me and already cries when I leave the room without him... its so cute! Oh and Kong, their dog is just the cutest! Andres has him trained to pick up a ball and tear it to shreds when he's asked, "What do we do to the Boston Red Sox?" HILLARIOUS! Gotta teach Sirius the trick! ;)

Anyway, gotta run. I'll post pics soon!

The Girl in the Bubble strikes again... and other EXCITING NEWS!!!

I'm really good at hurting myself... really, really good at it! A few days ago I managed to jam my pinky finger and man, that hurt! The next morning I woke up and it was killing me, so I cautiously flexed it and heard/felt a loud and nasty "pop/crunch!" I decided to buddy tape it to my ring finger and see if that would help... After a day or so the swelling kinda went down and although it still looked bruised I figured I was on the mend... until today. I jumped up a little too fast from bed and had a little encounter with my ol' buddy orthostatic hypotension. (Sorry, I know I could have just said head rush, but I'm enjoying using medical terms now!) I started blacking out so I reached out to brace myself and smashed my pinky against the bookshelf by the bed. AHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Ya'll know I don't have a potty mouth, but I almost let a few choice words slip out... Oh man that killed! So I decided it was time to get something a little more sturdy to protect my poor little re-injured pinky finger... It looks funny, but I'm fairly certain this could withstand another smash or two... which knowing me is bound to happen before this thing heals up... *sigh*


By the way, its really annoying and cumbersome to type with this thing on so I'm very grateful I waited until after finals and my 16 page Psych paper was due before I busted my finger!!!

Ok, so now for the exciting news.... Matt's home! :)


This is my lil'bro-in-law. (Not so little, I know... he's taller than me!) He got home last night from his 2 year mission in Tijuana, Mexico! We're so glad he survived and made it home in one happy piece, albeit charred to a crisp, heehee... Welcome home Matt, it's good to have you back!!! YAY! :)


I have more exciting news to share (NO, I'm not pregnant.... ha! That'll be the day...) but I can't share it just yet, lest I spoil the surprise for those whom I'm planning on surprising... which is obviously a secret. Not that they read my blog... but just in case, right? I'll blog more about it tomorrow evening or Friday... more likely Friday since tomorrow will be a long day. Anyway, stay tuned and I'll post pics... Again, it's really not that interesting to anyone other than me, really.... but I'm excited so I had to get something out! :P

Results are in...

I conquered the beast!!! (Summer term, that is) I just checked and I ended up with a 95 in Pharmacology (Or how I prefer to call it, my "How not to kill your patients when administrating meds" class) and a 97 in my Psych class. I'm a bit miffed about the 95, but it's still an A so I suppose I shouldn't complain... For those that think I'm crazy for being unhappy with a 95... well, you should have known me in junior high and high school. I self-grounded if I scored anything under 95...

Yes, I'm insane.

Anyway, feel free to ignore this post, this is more for my own gloating purposes than anything else. As previously mentioned, I've had a rough past 6 months (more specifically past 2 months since my surgery) and the fact that I managed to keep up A's during the last 8 weeks is a big accomplishment for me, considering how everything else completely fell apart...

Anyway, I'm done gloating and patting myself on the back... but, as promised a few posts ago... here is my happy dance! (Well, not ME, but I can't film myself doing it so here's Balki and Cousin Larry in my stead!)

Please excuse the teenage girls...

... and their never ending SQUEALS! *sigh* This is going to be really annoying during opening night, since 1/2 the movie (I bet) is going to be comprised of shirtless Jacob and then Edward, Edward, and oh yeah... shirtless Edward :)
Anyway, here are 2 exclusive clips smuggled out from the Comic Con previews... enjoy them while they last, I'm sure YouTube will pull them off any minute until Summit releases them "officially." Sorry, I can't help myself...

Clip 1 (yes, he does that in the book)


Clip 2 (yes, he does that in the book too)


*sigh* Is it November 20th yet? Nope... dang.

Studious Finisimo!!!

That's my very happy I'm-done-with-school (at least for a few weeks) spell! (It just made all my books burst into flames and my notes self destruct like a Howler... minus the screeching.) Heehee... j/k of course.

So I just submitted my last project, all 16 pages of it (phew, glad that's over!) and am happy to report that I am almost positive that I got straight A's this term! I aced my Psych final with a 100% and my Pharmacology final ended up at a 96% or a 90% (worst case scenario) I'm not sure because 3 of the questions were not multiple choice and will have to be graded manually. I'd much prefer the 96, of course, but I suppose a 90% will have to do, if that's the case. Either way... I'm 99.9% sure I ended up with A's as my overall grades which is a big accomplishment for me given that the summer term started the same day I had my surgery, 8 weeks ago! (What was I thinking?!?!)

Now I just have to sit and wait for my 2 final projects to be graded and everything to be tabulated so I can see it with my own eyes... Tuesday can't come quickly enough... This is going to eat away at me until then... *sigh* I'm such a doofus, I know!

But seriously... YAY- I'm done!!! :)

Life is a marathon, not a sprint

Its no secret that life has been pretty hectic and somewhat overwhelming for me over the past few months. So many of my posts have in one way or another whined about it, and while I try to put on a brave face and brush it off on the surface, deep down it really has been a trying time for me, not just physically but mentally as well. With the added stressors of my surgery and all its post op complications, school, and work I've run myself into a pretty big rut.

Particularly I've been overwhelmed with feelings of not being good enough, of being a burden, being a failure, and an ever-present sense of doom, like any second everything could come crashing down on me and my life will just turn into one big never-ending catastrophe. It's not fun feeling like that all the time. I'm sure many of you have felt something similar at least once in your lives so I'm not ashamed to admit this of myself... it's hard to accept that you need help, but I guess that's just human nature, pride, and all that.

Today I came across something that made me stop and reflect... and lifted my spirits immensely. Sorry about the grainy picture, but its worth watching if you have a minute or two:



This video brought to mind 2 scriptures I need to get in the habit of repeating to myself when I start getting anxious and overwhelmed and filled with thoughts of failure:

27 And see that all these things are done in wisdom and ^aorder; for it is not requisite that a man should run ^bfaster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order. (Mosiah 4:27)

&

7 I have fought a good ^afight, I have ^bfinished my course, I have kept the faith: (2 Tim 4:7)

I am grateful to know that my Heavenly Father loves me and has/always will sustain me through all my tough times. I just need to remember to not "lean unto mine own arm" and instead reach out and accept the help He is willing and eager to offer. Perhaps this is just a (not so) gentle reminder of the importance of humility and the need to seek the Lord's help in everything I do.

Read before you swallow!

I've always been really particular about reading the pamphlets that come with your Rx's and tell you about all possible side effects, drug interactions, etc. I always read them... always.

Except today. Why? Because I've taken drug X a gazillion times, which means I've read that piece of paper a gazillion times. Then what's the big deal you might ask? Well... I'm on a new medication now that I wasn't on all the other gazillion times I took drug X... can you see where this is going?

It's 1:15 am right now... I should be in bed asleep, but instead I'm sitting here, trying to keep myself awake because I am itchy all over and and have broken out in hives. Drugs X and Y don't like each other much. Normally, I would reach for drug Z (you know, Benadryl) but it just so happens that drug Z also interacts with drug Y, and the fact that drug X makes drug Y much more potent increases the odds of drug Y and Z causing me to stop breathing in my sleep...

So... I'm trying to stay awake, to make sure the itchiness and hives go away soon, per the pharmacist's orders. Basically, as long as it doesn't get worse (ie. my tongue swelling) I'm ok, otherwise its off to the ER with me... *sigh* I'm trying to avoid that right now.

Hmmm... maybe its time to pop in Twilight/Harry Potter/HSM/Mulan again. This is going to be a long night... *yawn*- slap!

PS> We saw Push tonight, it was good. I'm not an action flick kind of gal, but it was pretty decent. I kind of wish they'd make a sequel.

Veryus Funnycus...

... except for all the cussingicus at the endicus! (This will make sense later)

So normally I don't approve of posting stuff with potty language, but this had me rolling.... Please don't play if children are around, Jimmy Fallon has a potty mouth. The really bad part is the "out-takes" clip... I'd rather skip that part anyway but it's on there at the very end. It's all "bleeped" out but still very obvious as to what they are saying... just be forewarned!!!

"Robert Pattinson" ~vs~ "Daniel Radcliffe"

Channeling my inner Balki

This semester has been pretty rough on me, with work, visiting the ER so much and then my surgery and all its post-op complications. Saying that I've been stressed out would be a monumental understatement, so I've been trying to think of ways to reduce my anxiety and self-soothe when I start getting my panties all in a wad. I recently remembered an old saying from everyone's favorite Myposian, Balki Bartokomous. He was once trying to help Cousin Larry calm down and had him repeat, "I am a hollow reeeeeeed. Troubles blow through me like the winnnnnnnnnd!" over and over again, until he was calm.

Welps, with finals week coming up as well as 2 unit tests, 2 major projects, 3 discussions and 2 more case studies due (all in the next week) I do believe this will need to become my mantra. Then, if all goes well and I survive... I will do this:

Good news minute

As described in the post below, last night was a blast and totally worth the 3 hours of sleep(since I had to get up early to go the dentist and then my 6 week post-op)! Anyway, so everything went great at my post-op and I've got the green light to resume all my normal activities, including exercising- WOOHOO! I've missed my Wii-Fit & Pilates workouts. I'm ready to get out of these maternity pants and back in my regular clothes! (well... I have to admit, the no button/zipper thing rules about maternity pants, they are so comfy!) We'll see how my belly-button handles that, it is still pretty tender, so who knows... last time it took a good 2 months before I could squeeze back into my regular jeans without my belly-button screaming bloody murder...

However, I got some really great news from my doc on the way out... He noticed I was studying (for my "How Not To Kill Your Patients" oh, *ahem*... I mean Pharmacology class) and when he saw my book (I guess I hadn't mentioned going back to school?) and realized I'm going for my RN, he got really excited and told me that when I graduate, I should go work at Integris Baptist Hospital because... their benefits cover IVF!!! I just about crapped a brick when he told me about 2 of his patients (nurses that work at Baptist) that had most of their multiple IVF rounds paid for!!! *GASP!* Seriously, I think I must've said, "You've got to be kidding me!" about 4 times before I believed him. I almost started jumping up and down, for reals. He knew we had pretty much given up all hope of ever having biological children due to the insane costs of IVF, so he was really happy to see me get so excited.

Of course this is all quite a bit in the future, I still have to finish school and actually pass the NCLEX-RN! Not to mention being able to get a job at Integris! BUT, at least now there is still a teeny tiny little bit of hope left... hope that we had pretty much given up on due to expenses and my high risk. Who knows, this may not work out but its nice to at least have the option. Neither one of us has been feeling too excited about taking the adoption route, but we saw it as our only avenue. Now we may have a choice again... *sigh* WOW... that just feels so good to know.

Man... Harry Potter and hope for our reproductive woes all in the same day... WOOT! :)

Half Blood Prince

Ben and I went to the midnight showing last night!!! It was GREAT! Despite some deviations from the book (grrr...) I think is was well done, overall. My only big beef was that I felt the end to be a little too anti-climatic and a bit rushed. I was expecting... more. However, it was very funny at all the right parts, very tender (surprisingly enough) at all the right parts, and of course... very sad at all the right parts. The cave scene was superb... prepare to jump out of your seats... I did, and I knew what was coming! The actors that played young Tom Riddle were just spot on... really really creepy, and Slughorn was just hilarious, as of course was Luna! Rupert Grint (Ron) totally stole the show, though... absolutely fantabulous!!!

Hmm... we've been toying with the idea of driving up to Tulsa this weekend after work to go watch it in the IMAX theater, oh I hope that works out!!! Click here to see the HD trailer. Sorry, they've disabled the embed feature.

Update: HBP doesn't hit IMAX until the 29th of this month... grrrr!

Tha Sad Tale of a Stubborn Stitch Named Stan.

There was once a stitch by the name of Stan. Stan was born with two missions in life: 1) Hold his assigned incision closed tightly until it had healed and 2) Once finished with his first mission, quietly and quickly dissolve and return to that great big pile of dissolvable stitches in the sky... But no, this stitch was special. You see, Stan was a particularly stubborn stitch. His goal was to be the strongest stitch out there, and do the very best job he could at keeping his assigned home (incision) safely closed up. So zealous was Stan about his first duty, that he began forgetting about (or ignoring, in my opinion) his second duty. One by one, Stan's stitchy buddies began saying farewell as the weeks went by and Stan's home healed and closed tightly. Yet Stan stood steadfast and immovable. Each day Stan's home would check to see if Stan was still there, and sure enough, he was. After a few weeks, something long and metallic began pulling on him every few days, but Stan did his best to hold on... and hold on he did. "Why is my home trying to pull me out?" wondered Stan. Resolved to make his home proud, he held on even tighter, and did his best to be visible and poke his home several times a day to remind it the he, Stan the Stubborn Stitch, was still there... doing his duty.
Today however, was a sad day for Stan the stitch. Countless times, that long metal instrument had failed to pluck him from his home. Today his home tried again, but with a much less formidable enemy... fingers. "Ha!" laughed Stan... "You shall never overcome me, Stan the Stubborn Stitch! I shall stand my ground forev-"
"Yes!" cried Stan's home as all of a sudden Stan found himself trapped between two fingers. "Finally!" the home screamed. And with that, Stan was chucked unceremoniously into a nearby trashcan.

The End :)