Leading up to Father's Day, I'll be writing about different memories I have with my dad. Today is the first.
A long, long time ago (I can still remember, how that music made me smile... ok end song tangent.) But a long, long time ago my dad owned a Ford Blazer with a manual that my mom couldn't drive. She never learned on a manual car.
I have two things I remember about riding in that tan Blazer. One is that when it was just dad and me, I would get to go through his tape case (ah, remember those big suitcase things?) and pick out a tape. I always liked how the different tapes looked side by side (designer/creative-type coming out in me already, I suppose) though most of them were just black with white letters.
The other part was sometimes when we would go to church, it would be just us. Either my mom would already be at church because she was singing in the choir, or mom had to sing at 9 o'clock mass, and we would sleep and go to 10:30. Either way, when it was just us two, we would make racing noises as we rounded the right turn from Highway 100 onto 47, right before turning onto Madison to go to church. That intersection has been redone a few times since then to add more lanes, but it was once a longer curve, had more of an incline to it. In going through the curve, when we didn't have to stop for oncoming traffic, we'd go "Nnnnnnnnyyyoooowwwwwwww"!
Monday, June 11, 2012
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Let's Play: What's In Jamie's Purse?
Preparing to move makes you do some things you've neglected for a long time. We boxed up my purses a couple weeks ago, and when we did that, I took everything out of them. I mean everything. I don't know about other women, but when I switch up the purse I'm using at the time, I don't necessarily take out everything that was in it. So over time, I've accumulated a lot of receipts, junk, and other random stuff. Really random stuff. This is a photo documenting some of the more amusing items I found.
To list it all out: 9 Taco Bell packets, Modern Auto oil change punch card, 2 Dixie cups, purple cell phone calculator, compact mirror, 5 gift cards, Lime Lip Smackers, necklace chain, parking pass to Barnes, 2 fortune cookie fortunes, Lip Smackers with no label, USB drive, Blueberry Lip Smackers (this one is, like, 15 years old), a button, broken dinosaur key chain, 2 pennies, safety pin holding yet more safety pins, eye doctor's Rx, some guide about taking care of my Pyrex stuff, blue Crayola marker, 2 pens, 2 button pins, Hooters crayons, Borders rewards card (hello, they're out of business now), reward card to Hot Topic, hand lotion, film canister, Buffalo Wild Wings towlette, 2 Bank of Franklin County pens, 2 packs of partially eaten gum (the Key Lime Pie one is gross, don't buy it), a Christmas card from Marie, 1 Fun Dip tri-packet, the receipt to Jarrod's wedding band (purchased over a year ago), a straw, emissourian business cards, lip gloss, a notepad briefly documenting my Make-A-Wish trip from 2005 (yes, that's 7 years ago), 1 turtle sock (so THAT's where it was!), and a lighter.
I hope you found as much humor in this as I did. I will end with: I really have no idea why I bought a lighter. I feel like it was for something with theater back in high school...
To list it all out: 9 Taco Bell packets, Modern Auto oil change punch card, 2 Dixie cups, purple cell phone calculator, compact mirror, 5 gift cards, Lime Lip Smackers, necklace chain, parking pass to Barnes, 2 fortune cookie fortunes, Lip Smackers with no label, USB drive, Blueberry Lip Smackers (this one is, like, 15 years old), a button, broken dinosaur key chain, 2 pennies, safety pin holding yet more safety pins, eye doctor's Rx, some guide about taking care of my Pyrex stuff, blue Crayola marker, 2 pens, 2 button pins, Hooters crayons, Borders rewards card (hello, they're out of business now), reward card to Hot Topic, hand lotion, film canister, Buffalo Wild Wings towlette, 2 Bank of Franklin County pens, 2 packs of partially eaten gum (the Key Lime Pie one is gross, don't buy it), a Christmas card from Marie, 1 Fun Dip tri-packet, the receipt to Jarrod's wedding band (purchased over a year ago), a straw, emissourian business cards, lip gloss, a notepad briefly documenting my Make-A-Wish trip from 2005 (yes, that's 7 years ago), 1 turtle sock (so THAT's where it was!), and a lighter.
I hope you found as much humor in this as I did. I will end with: I really have no idea why I bought a lighter. I feel like it was for something with theater back in high school...
Allergies: What Did We Learn?
All my allergy testing yesterday didn't quite lead to the answers I was hoping for. Obviously, we were hoping I would test negative on all the drugs, but that was not quite the case.
I had a positive reaction to penicillin and ceflosporan. What this means is I reacted to an ingredient in most of the drugs I'm given when I go into the hospital. Think of it like a cooking recipe. Let's just use spaghetti for ease: If I use sauce, noodles, and meat, I get spaghetti. But if I'm allergic to the sauce, I might have difficulties, even though I'm not allergic to spaghetti, per se.
That's what the situation is. I have "Multiple Drug Allergy Syndrome". So yay for that... What it means moving forward is that we have to be careful. We'll have to monitor me a little better, maybe, because I may or may not have a reaction. The reaction itself could range from minor to severe, also.
In conclusion, we didn't learn a whole lot. Now everything is documented, which is good, but basically I might have a reaction, I might not; it might happen early, it might happen late; it might be bad, it might be tolerable; it might get worse as I age, it might go away... so I continue to be extremely complicated!
I had a positive reaction to penicillin and ceflosporan. What this means is I reacted to an ingredient in most of the drugs I'm given when I go into the hospital. Think of it like a cooking recipe. Let's just use spaghetti for ease: If I use sauce, noodles, and meat, I get spaghetti. But if I'm allergic to the sauce, I might have difficulties, even though I'm not allergic to spaghetti, per se.
That's what the situation is. I have "Multiple Drug Allergy Syndrome". So yay for that... What it means moving forward is that we have to be careful. We'll have to monitor me a little better, maybe, because I may or may not have a reaction. The reaction itself could range from minor to severe, also.
In conclusion, we didn't learn a whole lot. Now everything is documented, which is good, but basically I might have a reaction, I might not; it might happen early, it might happen late; it might be bad, it might be tolerable; it might get worse as I age, it might go away... so I continue to be extremely complicated!
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Live blogging at the allergy doctor's office
Im at the allergy doctor's right now. Pretty bored.
We just started testing me for drug allergies. My appointment was at 10:00, and it is...
11:19 -- They have pricked my arm 14 times with 6 drugs, two different doses, and two controls. I'm really not looking forward to the next step, which is where they make the little bubbles under the skin. Not only does that hurt like hell, because it has to be right under the first layer of skin, it is more likely to cause a reaction than these little skin pricks. So, itching when you can't scratch it.
11:27 -- Ok Round 1. Bubbles under skin. Time to sit 15 minutes and see if they react. If they DON'T then we go to Round 2. And possibly Round 3. So that would equal 18 bubbles by the time I'm done. Goddamn.
I have to remind myself, I wanted to do this. We need more drug options so I can continue to stay healthy so this needs to be done. On one hand, I want a few of these to react so I don't have to get stuck so much. But on the other I don't, because that means I'm not allergic and we can use it (a much better long-term effect than dealing with needle sticks.
I think she's gonna need some real estate on my right arm. Right now, I must say I'm fairly impressed in my one-handed typing speed with my right hand. I'm using a borrowed iPad so it's not too bad.
11:48 -- Round 2. No reactions yet. The nurse lied, haha, and turns out we don't have another round. So yay! This is it. My arms look pretty ridiculous right now.
12:04 -- Looks like I might be reacting to a couple of these. Penicillin for one.
12:15 -- Two positive reactions. Waiting on the doc now. Bye folks, this has kept me un-bored.
We just started testing me for drug allergies. My appointment was at 10:00, and it is...
11:19 -- They have pricked my arm 14 times with 6 drugs, two different doses, and two controls. I'm really not looking forward to the next step, which is where they make the little bubbles under the skin. Not only does that hurt like hell, because it has to be right under the first layer of skin, it is more likely to cause a reaction than these little skin pricks. So, itching when you can't scratch it.
11:27 -- Ok Round 1. Bubbles under skin. Time to sit 15 minutes and see if they react. If they DON'T then we go to Round 2. And possibly Round 3. So that would equal 18 bubbles by the time I'm done. Goddamn.
I have to remind myself, I wanted to do this. We need more drug options so I can continue to stay healthy so this needs to be done. On one hand, I want a few of these to react so I don't have to get stuck so much. But on the other I don't, because that means I'm not allergic and we can use it (a much better long-term effect than dealing with needle sticks.
I think she's gonna need some real estate on my right arm. Right now, I must say I'm fairly impressed in my one-handed typing speed with my right hand. I'm using a borrowed iPad so it's not too bad.
11:48 -- Round 2. No reactions yet. The nurse lied, haha, and turns out we don't have another round. So yay! This is it. My arms look pretty ridiculous right now.
12:04 -- Looks like I might be reacting to a couple of these. Penicillin for one.
12:15 -- Two positive reactions. Waiting on the doc now. Bye folks, this has kept me un-bored.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Home Is Wherever I'm with You
In case you weren't aware, Jarrod and I will be moving. We are hoping it will be sometime this summer, but we'll just have to see how things go. We have decided to move to Washington, for a number of reasons. But mostly it is because that is where my family is, our friends are, my job is, my church is (I miss Lourdes a lot) and we just feel it is what we need to do.
After finally reaching that decision about a month ago, we have begun the process of figuring out the logistics and whatnot. We went looking at houses Tuesday night with a realtor, we're talking with some finance people for our mortgage, and we spoke with another realtor tonight about listing our house. I'm not as scared about the buying aspect this time, since we've done it before. But the selling part makes me anxious. Not to mention, we're not exactly looking forward to it; we're not the neatest people on the planet, and we'll have to really buck up and pick everything up ALL the time for when the house is being shown.
But "the pieces are moving" on all fronts, so hopefully everything works out. Our house should be on the market in a couple weeks. We have a few things to do before we list it, and we'll tackle all of those this weekend and next week. She had some suggestions for things to do before we take pictures and list it, so that was good.
After finally reaching that decision about a month ago, we have begun the process of figuring out the logistics and whatnot. We went looking at houses Tuesday night with a realtor, we're talking with some finance people for our mortgage, and we spoke with another realtor tonight about listing our house. I'm not as scared about the buying aspect this time, since we've done it before. But the selling part makes me anxious. Not to mention, we're not exactly looking forward to it; we're not the neatest people on the planet, and we'll have to really buck up and pick everything up ALL the time for when the house is being shown.
But "the pieces are moving" on all fronts, so hopefully everything works out. Our house should be on the market in a couple weeks. We have a few things to do before we list it, and we'll tackle all of those this weekend and next week. She had some suggestions for things to do before we take pictures and list it, so that was good.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Not Just Any Ol' Piece of Furniture
The picture below is our new TV chest. But it’s a very special TV chest. I love the back-story to it, not gonna lie…
So this all started as an idea for a wedding present. Rick (on left) has made both Jarrod’s parents a mantle for their fireplace and one for Justin and Mallory as a wedding present. He knew we did not have a fireplace, so he asked what we might like. We felt we would really like a nice stand for our TV. That’s a little much for a wedding gift, so we all agreed it would just be a separate project. Rick just wanted us to let him know what we wanted.
So I sketched it out, we decided on cherry wood, and a dark stain similar to our bedroom furniture. We then had two options, we could buy the wood or get it from a cherry tree. Rick was able to find a cherry tree at a job he was working on for someone. We decided on the tree. I think they were going to cut it down anyways, so he asked if he could have it. We obviously saved a lot of money versus buying the wood, but the tradeoff was that we’d have to wait another year or so because the wood had to dry out.
There was a lot of love, thought, and talent put into this. Rick found us the tree, for starts. Then another family friend, Dan, has a saw mill. So he made the boards from the tree. Then it went back to Rick, who does woodworking, and he made the chest for us. Then it went to yet another family friend, Danny (on right), who stained it and finished it for us.
The finished product is what you see here, but it’s a lot nicer to
see in person. Rick and his wife Terry are on the left, Dan and Sherri
are on the right. This is something we are so thankful for, and will
forever cherish.
So this all started as an idea for a wedding present. Rick (on left) has made both Jarrod’s parents a mantle for their fireplace and one for Justin and Mallory as a wedding present. He knew we did not have a fireplace, so he asked what we might like. We felt we would really like a nice stand for our TV. That’s a little much for a wedding gift, so we all agreed it would just be a separate project. Rick just wanted us to let him know what we wanted.
So I sketched it out, we decided on cherry wood, and a dark stain similar to our bedroom furniture. We then had two options, we could buy the wood or get it from a cherry tree. Rick was able to find a cherry tree at a job he was working on for someone. We decided on the tree. I think they were going to cut it down anyways, so he asked if he could have it. We obviously saved a lot of money versus buying the wood, but the tradeoff was that we’d have to wait another year or so because the wood had to dry out.
There was a lot of love, thought, and talent put into this. Rick found us the tree, for starts. Then another family friend, Dan, has a saw mill. So he made the boards from the tree. Then it went back to Rick, who does woodworking, and he made the chest for us. Then it went to yet another family friend, Danny (on right), who stained it and finished it for us.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
New Blog, New Beginning?
For some reason, I have been itching to do a new blog. I’ve done this once before, where I ‘moved’ blogs.
Previously, I did it because I knew there were people who looked at my blog that I no longer wanted to. So I switched, emailed the new URL to specific people, and never looked back.
But the main reason I am switching things up is because my old blog is tied to an older email address, and I can’t change that.
Previously, I did it because I knew there were people who looked at my blog that I no longer wanted to. So I switched, emailed the new URL to specific people, and never looked back.
But the main reason I am switching things up is because my old blog is tied to an older email address, and I can’t change that.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
I mean, REALLY?!
Something I love to hate on the news are new studies that prove things any knowledgeable person could already assume to be true anyways. Things like 'New study finds that smoking may lead to other types of cancer besides lung cancer' or 'Leaving your child alone with strangers is a bad idea' or 'Spending too much time on your cell phone may cause pain on your ears.'
But this one is just SO dumb I can't believe that a MILLION dollars was [supposedly] spent to do this study. Here is how it goes: "Cheap Drinks At College Bars Can Escalate Drinking Among College Students— It's no secret that alcohol use among college students can cause a number of problems, including injury, violence and even death. A new study has examined the impact of drink discounts at college bars, finding that low alcohol prices at drinking establishments pose genuine threats to public health and safety." And so on.
Really? REALLY? Lower prices at bars means people drink more? Holy shit, what a revelation. I never knew that.
Take it away Kermit.
But this one is just SO dumb I can't believe that a MILLION dollars was [supposedly] spent to do this study. Here is how it goes: "Cheap Drinks At College Bars Can Escalate Drinking Among College Students— It's no secret that alcohol use among college students can cause a number of problems, including injury, violence and even death. A new study has examined the impact of drink discounts at college bars, finding that low alcohol prices at drinking establishments pose genuine threats to public health and safety." And so on.
Really? REALLY? Lower prices at bars means people drink more? Holy shit, what a revelation. I never knew that.
Take it away Kermit.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
A 'final' update
I'm calling this my final update because I am also calling this day the end to my crazy 4-month lung saga.
I had a follow-up appointment today, and it went ok. On the bright side, my oxygen was where it should be, but that's about it. Let me review since I just realized I haven't written anything since Easter...
Mid-April (actually, that week after Easter) I went into the hospital suddenly after a morning of coughing and a week of feeling like crap. Lo and behold my numbers had really dropped and my oxygen levels were only 89%. I went into the hospital straight from my doctor's appointment, and spent 8 days there. I did a full two-week course of antibiotics and we got my numbers back up to 28%. Still not where I was...
My doctor wasn't ready to call this a home run quite yet, so for the past three weeks we tried a few more things. Like usual, I had side effects with the meds and had to end a little early. But I didn't know that I felt all that better; it was slight, if any.
Well, today confirmed what I thought which is that: I am no better. In fact I'm slightly worse than three weeks ago...
And that's just the way it's going to be.
We're going to continue my normal regimen, give my system a break from antibiotics for as long as possible. And I'm hoping I can try to come back from this a little bit by taking some walks, and eventually building up to using our elliptical again. I have been telling myself, and I even promised Jarrod, I would take walks every other day, but I still haven't made it happen. I can't even describe the internal frustration with myself that I have right now because I still haven't done it. But the fact is that I can't just continue on like I did 5 months ago; I have to be extra diligent with my treatments, stay up on my rest, and exercise. Or else I will continue on this downward path, end up in the hospital constantly, and yeah, that will pretty much define my life every couple months.
I'm having a really hard time with today's results. I don't know what is going on with my health that I can't stay healthy anymore. It seems like any hard work, IV meds, hospital stays all help for such a short period of time, and after that it's all for naught.
I'm sorry these blog posts as of late aren't filled with better news. I wish they were.
I had a follow-up appointment today, and it went ok. On the bright side, my oxygen was where it should be, but that's about it. Let me review since I just realized I haven't written anything since Easter...
Mid-April (actually, that week after Easter) I went into the hospital suddenly after a morning of coughing and a week of feeling like crap. Lo and behold my numbers had really dropped and my oxygen levels were only 89%. I went into the hospital straight from my doctor's appointment, and spent 8 days there. I did a full two-week course of antibiotics and we got my numbers back up to 28%. Still not where I was...
My doctor wasn't ready to call this a home run quite yet, so for the past three weeks we tried a few more things. Like usual, I had side effects with the meds and had to end a little early. But I didn't know that I felt all that better; it was slight, if any.
Well, today confirmed what I thought which is that: I am no better. In fact I'm slightly worse than three weeks ago...
And that's just the way it's going to be.
We're going to continue my normal regimen, give my system a break from antibiotics for as long as possible. And I'm hoping I can try to come back from this a little bit by taking some walks, and eventually building up to using our elliptical again. I have been telling myself, and I even promised Jarrod, I would take walks every other day, but I still haven't made it happen. I can't even describe the internal frustration with myself that I have right now because I still haven't done it. But the fact is that I can't just continue on like I did 5 months ago; I have to be extra diligent with my treatments, stay up on my rest, and exercise. Or else I will continue on this downward path, end up in the hospital constantly, and yeah, that will pretty much define my life every couple months.
I'm having a really hard time with today's results. I don't know what is going on with my health that I can't stay healthy anymore. It seems like any hard work, IV meds, hospital stays all help for such a short period of time, and after that it's all for naught.
I'm sorry these blog posts as of late aren't filled with better news. I wish they were.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Easter
Happy Easter everyone! It's been a good day today, starting with mass, visiting with family, sitting outside, and then visiting with more family. Mass was great. We decided to go to Lourdes, so that was nice to see everyone; Lourdes is still my parish 'family'. Our priest told a cheesy joke to start off his homily, and it's hilarious to see him sprinkle everyone with holy water because he just laughs the whole
time watching everyone's reactions to getting wet. It was some of the most beautiful weather today too, and it was great to sit outside all day. We're back home now, and trying to chill a little.
Easter today meant a little more to me than usual. I can't remember the last time I updated this, but here's the latest on my health: I'm doing so-so. Unfortunately all the meds and treatments we did in the past few months did nothing for me, and I'm still where I was when we started. That's just the way things have to be right now. My body needs a break from meds right now, so that's mainly why I'm not back on something. Of course, were I to get sick, we would treat it, but since I've not caught something, I just have to hang tight. But I'm not gonna lie: it sucks. It really sucks. I'm coughing more than I ever have in my life (for a normal day), my treatments don't go too far, and I am frequently tired and worn out. I'd say almost every day, by the end of the day, I'm feeling pretty blah (as in, not breathing well) and I'm also tired. This past week I've been waking up every night coughing as well, and/or coughing when I lay down to fall asleep. So I've probably been averaging four hours of sleep on top of all this.
I had a huge breakdown and let out a lot of anger and frustration about this on Friday, and then today's Easter message spoke to me. In our priest's homily he was talking about believing in the risen Lord
and turning to Him when we feel hopeless and helpless... I can't think of two better words to sum up how I felt on Friday night. So Easter, for me, really felt like God was trying to call me back, remind me He's still there.
But I now realize that He's been doing that for a while. And will continue to. Yesterday at the baby shower, I had many people ask me how I was doing. But it wasn't your typical greeting of "How are you?" It was a true, caring "How have you been doing?" or "How are you feeling?" This morning at mass, I had more people ask me how I was doing and said they were praying for me. My friend Doris, who is the most religious woman I know, greeted me with "May the risen Lord heal you!" and hugged me saying she had been offering up Holy Week for me. God is definitely talking to me through all these special people. It's slightly strengthening, even when I feel like I have none.
time watching everyone's reactions to getting wet. It was some of the most beautiful weather today too, and it was great to sit outside all day. We're back home now, and trying to chill a little.
Easter today meant a little more to me than usual. I can't remember the last time I updated this, but here's the latest on my health: I'm doing so-so. Unfortunately all the meds and treatments we did in the past few months did nothing for me, and I'm still where I was when we started. That's just the way things have to be right now. My body needs a break from meds right now, so that's mainly why I'm not back on something. Of course, were I to get sick, we would treat it, but since I've not caught something, I just have to hang tight. But I'm not gonna lie: it sucks. It really sucks. I'm coughing more than I ever have in my life (for a normal day), my treatments don't go too far, and I am frequently tired and worn out. I'd say almost every day, by the end of the day, I'm feeling pretty blah (as in, not breathing well) and I'm also tired. This past week I've been waking up every night coughing as well, and/or coughing when I lay down to fall asleep. So I've probably been averaging four hours of sleep on top of all this.
I had a huge breakdown and let out a lot of anger and frustration about this on Friday, and then today's Easter message spoke to me. In our priest's homily he was talking about believing in the risen Lord
and turning to Him when we feel hopeless and helpless... I can't think of two better words to sum up how I felt on Friday night. So Easter, for me, really felt like God was trying to call me back, remind me He's still there.
But I now realize that He's been doing that for a while. And will continue to. Yesterday at the baby shower, I had many people ask me how I was doing. But it wasn't your typical greeting of "How are you?" It was a true, caring "How have you been doing?" or "How are you feeling?" This morning at mass, I had more people ask me how I was doing and said they were praying for me. My friend Doris, who is the most religious woman I know, greeted me with "May the risen Lord heal you!" and hugged me saying she had been offering up Holy Week for me. God is definitely talking to me through all these special people. It's slightly strengthening, even when I feel like I have none.
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