Wow
Okay, so I haven't posted anything since mid-May. Yikes.
Let's see. What's been going on...
Mom's coworker LOVED the baby blanket I made for her. It coordinated perfectly with the decal that she put in her nursery.
I'm super proud of this. I taught myself to crochet the flowers, thanks to YouTube. The blanket turned out to be about 3' x 4', so it'll work for the kid for a long time to come.
Now, my friend Megan is pregnant again, so I'm going to have to make another blanket for her! However, since I'll be doing at least 7 semester hours this fall, I've decided to let myself only knit during the 4ish hours of UT football each weekend. That will hopefully keep me from doing more knitting than studying.
Speaking of knitting, I've done a TON of it this summer. I've sat and watched Buffy and Angel on Netflix and created a lot of scarves of all types. I've also gotten addicted to making those easy ruffle yarn scarves that are going to be so popular this fall. I keep meaning to set up my Etsy account so I can sell all of this stuff I've made, but I've been lazy.
The biggest news: this past Saturday, my gallbladder tried to kill me. I had a lovely double cheeseburger from Whataburger (I was starving at the time) Saturday afternoon. By Saturday evening, I was nauseated as hell. My stomach started to hurt. I started having other symptoms that led me to believe I had food poisoning. After throwing up everything I've ever eaten in my whole life, I finally asked Sis to take me to the hospital Sunday night. The nurse practitioner walked in and said, "It's your gallbladder." I was like, "Really? I thought it was a stomach virus." He was all, "Nope, I'm 99% sure it's your gallbladder." The ultrasound tech showed me the images. There were something like 8 stones in there, each the size of a pea. Yeah. That lovely, yummy, wonderful cheeseburger made me so unbelievably sick. I seriously haven't felt that bad GI-wise since I had the norovirus before Christmas.
The pain... holy shit. It felt like a knife trying to cut me open from the inside. Or like that scene from Alien, where the baby alien bursts out of the guy's stomach. Seriously, I thought I was going to die there for a little. Once the nurse said gallbladder, I was afraid it had ruptured. Thank God it hadn't. Monica (my therapist) also gets gallbladder attacks--I love that that's what they're called, because it totally IS--and said that it's just as bad or worse than labor pains. So yeah.
Of course this means a massive change in everything I eat. I'm a binge eater. I know that. I self-soothe with food--including those cheeseburgers and pints of Ben and Jerry's. Now, I can barely eat anything. Monday afternoon I was so freaked out I was afraid to eat anything. Sis said, "Now you know what it's like to be anorexic. That complete irrational fear to put anything in your mouth." Granted, the motivations behind the fear are different, but the feeling is the same. If I eat, I'll die. And the different gallbladder diets out there are scary. There's one that basically says that the only thing you can eat are a few fruits, some veggies, and a little fish. Yeah. That seems a little extreme. Sis recommended that I see the dietitian she saw when she was still in the midst of her eating disorder. I now have an appointment with Michelle next Thursday evening. Hopefully she'll be able to help me figure out what all I can do with this.
I also now have to get this fucker taken out. Since I have no insurance, I have to work the county public health system. Trying to get an elective surgery done is going to be insanely difficult. I was able to wrangle an appointment with Dr. Hall for the 22nd, which is actually a miracle. He then has to refer me to a surgeon -- probably GI, but I'm not sure. I then have to see the surgeon, and that appointment probably won't happen for several months. After that, it'll probably take another few months before I can actually have the surgery. At least it's a laparoscopic one -- where they use several small incisions and use long grippers and things to do the actual surgery, instead of having to open me up, which would be bad. I've been thinking about how that will affect my school schedule, but I'm trying to convince myself to only worry about it once it's closer. And I'll have a really good excuse for absences, so there's that.
My moods have been good and I've been pretty stable. The fibromyalgia hasn't been too bad, though I did have a flare a couple of weeks ago where I just hurt all over for about a week. I'm just basically pissed off right now that my body HAD been actually working well, and now it feels like it's totally working against me again. That's so frustrating. And it's hard for Mom and Sis to be understanding and sympathetic. They think it's only like having food poisoning. I can't seem to explain to them how much worse it feels, since it's screwing with all of my body systems, and it's painful as fuck.
Our AC in the house died a couple of weeks ago. Naturally, it was during serious heat in July. Mom, Sis, and I ended up all having to camp out in the living room where we had a window unit, a box fan, and a large oscillating fan running at all times. The first night, Mom slept on the couch, Sis took the love seat, and I slept on the floor. When Mom called our landlord Wednesday morning, he said that he didn't deal with the house problems, and that it was his partner that did that. However, Richard was not in town and wouldn't be until the next day. He finally got back to us Thursday morning and said that the first time someone could come out to fix it would be Friday afternoon. Yep. So we spent three full days and nights sleeping in the living room together (at least we bought an air mattress for me to sleep on after that first night). The AC tech that came out thought it was ridiculous that we'd been put off for so long. It turned out to thankfully be an easy fix: the capacitor on the outside unit that powered the exhaust fan had blown, causing the fan to stop and no longer pull the hot air out of the house. As soon as he replaced it, the house started to cool down. And now it's fantastic again. Thank God.
I had heard the rumor that the new Doctor would be Peter Capaldi. I thought it'd be a great choice. He has proven that he's brilliant at both comedy and drama. And I figured that if he was cast as The Doctor, Craig Ferguson would totally freak. How awesome would it be to be a die-hard Whovian and have one of your longest, best friends to actually BE the Doctor?? I watched the announcement special on BBC America (I'm so thrilled that they're now really working along with the BBC to get us the same programs at the same time... now if only PBS would do the same). I was in the middle of feeling like death, but I still squealed with delight when Peter walked out. Mom thought something bad had happened, but was happy that I was happy. And, amazingly, she said she liked the casting and it might actually make her want to watch Doctor Who again. (She used to watch Four when I was a baby and up with colic. So I've technically been a Whovian since birth.) I've been trying to convince her to watch Who for a long time, but I'm excited that she might join me in the fandom now. I think the 50th anniversary episode will be the infection vector.
I got to go to my first Astros game at the end of June. Megan went with me. We lost horribly, but it was still awesome. I just keep telling myself that it's a rebuilding year, and they'll be better next year, instead of dead last.
Also, FOOTBALL SEASON STARTS TOMORROW. Well, it's the NFL preseason, but I count it because it's football on TV. Woo!!!
Doug and I went to see Jurassic Park in 3D at the Houston Museum of Natural Science in June. Holy crap, was that awesome. I've probably seen that movie 100 times in the past 20 years, but 3D IMAX makes it even better. The 3D-ifying wasn't perfect, but the important parts with the T-Rex and raptors were. I walked out of there in an adrenaline rush like I'd just come off of a rollercoaster. Doug hasn't seen the movie since it came out in the early 90s, so it was like seeing it for the first time for him. Watching his eyes be so wide was just as great as the movie itself. I'm hoping we can go see the new Egyptian exhibit at the HMNS before I start school.
This totally made me laugh so hard I hurt my abdomen, but I didn't care. You need to watch both parts, because seriously...
I'm going to lie down now and take a nap if I can get to sleep.
Let's see. What's been going on...
Mom's coworker LOVED the baby blanket I made for her. It coordinated perfectly with the decal that she put in her nursery.
I'm super proud of this. I taught myself to crochet the flowers, thanks to YouTube. The blanket turned out to be about 3' x 4', so it'll work for the kid for a long time to come.
Now, my friend Megan is pregnant again, so I'm going to have to make another blanket for her! However, since I'll be doing at least 7 semester hours this fall, I've decided to let myself only knit during the 4ish hours of UT football each weekend. That will hopefully keep me from doing more knitting than studying.
Speaking of knitting, I've done a TON of it this summer. I've sat and watched Buffy and Angel on Netflix and created a lot of scarves of all types. I've also gotten addicted to making those easy ruffle yarn scarves that are going to be so popular this fall. I keep meaning to set up my Etsy account so I can sell all of this stuff I've made, but I've been lazy.
The biggest news: this past Saturday, my gallbladder tried to kill me. I had a lovely double cheeseburger from Whataburger (I was starving at the time) Saturday afternoon. By Saturday evening, I was nauseated as hell. My stomach started to hurt. I started having other symptoms that led me to believe I had food poisoning. After throwing up everything I've ever eaten in my whole life, I finally asked Sis to take me to the hospital Sunday night. The nurse practitioner walked in and said, "It's your gallbladder." I was like, "Really? I thought it was a stomach virus." He was all, "Nope, I'm 99% sure it's your gallbladder." The ultrasound tech showed me the images. There were something like 8 stones in there, each the size of a pea. Yeah. That lovely, yummy, wonderful cheeseburger made me so unbelievably sick. I seriously haven't felt that bad GI-wise since I had the norovirus before Christmas.
The pain... holy shit. It felt like a knife trying to cut me open from the inside. Or like that scene from Alien, where the baby alien bursts out of the guy's stomach. Seriously, I thought I was going to die there for a little. Once the nurse said gallbladder, I was afraid it had ruptured. Thank God it hadn't. Monica (my therapist) also gets gallbladder attacks--I love that that's what they're called, because it totally IS--and said that it's just as bad or worse than labor pains. So yeah.
Of course this means a massive change in everything I eat. I'm a binge eater. I know that. I self-soothe with food--including those cheeseburgers and pints of Ben and Jerry's. Now, I can barely eat anything. Monday afternoon I was so freaked out I was afraid to eat anything. Sis said, "Now you know what it's like to be anorexic. That complete irrational fear to put anything in your mouth." Granted, the motivations behind the fear are different, but the feeling is the same. If I eat, I'll die. And the different gallbladder diets out there are scary. There's one that basically says that the only thing you can eat are a few fruits, some veggies, and a little fish. Yeah. That seems a little extreme. Sis recommended that I see the dietitian she saw when she was still in the midst of her eating disorder. I now have an appointment with Michelle next Thursday evening. Hopefully she'll be able to help me figure out what all I can do with this.
I also now have to get this fucker taken out. Since I have no insurance, I have to work the county public health system. Trying to get an elective surgery done is going to be insanely difficult. I was able to wrangle an appointment with Dr. Hall for the 22nd, which is actually a miracle. He then has to refer me to a surgeon -- probably GI, but I'm not sure. I then have to see the surgeon, and that appointment probably won't happen for several months. After that, it'll probably take another few months before I can actually have the surgery. At least it's a laparoscopic one -- where they use several small incisions and use long grippers and things to do the actual surgery, instead of having to open me up, which would be bad. I've been thinking about how that will affect my school schedule, but I'm trying to convince myself to only worry about it once it's closer. And I'll have a really good excuse for absences, so there's that.
My moods have been good and I've been pretty stable. The fibromyalgia hasn't been too bad, though I did have a flare a couple of weeks ago where I just hurt all over for about a week. I'm just basically pissed off right now that my body HAD been actually working well, and now it feels like it's totally working against me again. That's so frustrating. And it's hard for Mom and Sis to be understanding and sympathetic. They think it's only like having food poisoning. I can't seem to explain to them how much worse it feels, since it's screwing with all of my body systems, and it's painful as fuck.
Our AC in the house died a couple of weeks ago. Naturally, it was during serious heat in July. Mom, Sis, and I ended up all having to camp out in the living room where we had a window unit, a box fan, and a large oscillating fan running at all times. The first night, Mom slept on the couch, Sis took the love seat, and I slept on the floor. When Mom called our landlord Wednesday morning, he said that he didn't deal with the house problems, and that it was his partner that did that. However, Richard was not in town and wouldn't be until the next day. He finally got back to us Thursday morning and said that the first time someone could come out to fix it would be Friday afternoon. Yep. So we spent three full days and nights sleeping in the living room together (at least we bought an air mattress for me to sleep on after that first night). The AC tech that came out thought it was ridiculous that we'd been put off for so long. It turned out to thankfully be an easy fix: the capacitor on the outside unit that powered the exhaust fan had blown, causing the fan to stop and no longer pull the hot air out of the house. As soon as he replaced it, the house started to cool down. And now it's fantastic again. Thank God.
I had heard the rumor that the new Doctor would be Peter Capaldi. I thought it'd be a great choice. He has proven that he's brilliant at both comedy and drama. And I figured that if he was cast as The Doctor, Craig Ferguson would totally freak. How awesome would it be to be a die-hard Whovian and have one of your longest, best friends to actually BE the Doctor?? I watched the announcement special on BBC America (I'm so thrilled that they're now really working along with the BBC to get us the same programs at the same time... now if only PBS would do the same). I was in the middle of feeling like death, but I still squealed with delight when Peter walked out. Mom thought something bad had happened, but was happy that I was happy. And, amazingly, she said she liked the casting and it might actually make her want to watch Doctor Who again. (She used to watch Four when I was a baby and up with colic. So I've technically been a Whovian since birth.) I've been trying to convince her to watch Who for a long time, but I'm excited that she might join me in the fandom now. I think the 50th anniversary episode will be the infection vector.
I got to go to my first Astros game at the end of June. Megan went with me. We lost horribly, but it was still awesome. I just keep telling myself that it's a rebuilding year, and they'll be better next year, instead of dead last.
Also, FOOTBALL SEASON STARTS TOMORROW. Well, it's the NFL preseason, but I count it because it's football on TV. Woo!!!
Doug and I went to see Jurassic Park in 3D at the Houston Museum of Natural Science in June. Holy crap, was that awesome. I've probably seen that movie 100 times in the past 20 years, but 3D IMAX makes it even better. The 3D-ifying wasn't perfect, but the important parts with the T-Rex and raptors were. I walked out of there in an adrenaline rush like I'd just come off of a rollercoaster. Doug hasn't seen the movie since it came out in the early 90s, so it was like seeing it for the first time for him. Watching his eyes be so wide was just as great as the movie itself. I'm hoping we can go see the new Egyptian exhibit at the HMNS before I start school.
This totally made me laugh so hard I hurt my abdomen, but I didn't care. You need to watch both parts, because seriously...
I'm going to lie down now and take a nap if I can get to sleep.