My Really Weird Day

Last Saturday my coworkers had a baby shower for me and another coworker who just had a son. It was a great time... lots of food and gifts! However... on my way to the party, I was waiting to turn right onto Allisonville Road from 82nd Street. As soon as I turned there was a cop flagging me down. I didn't know what I did wrong... turns out I turned right on red during the time when you are not supposed to. I have turned there a million times and I always thought that the no turn on red applied to weekdays only. Anyway, he gave me a 150 DOLLAR ticket. UGH. Pregnancy hormones are at their all time high right now, so as I drive away I start to cry. Great, now I look wonderful for the party.

After the party, I'm driving down Eller Road towards Allisonville. I go through a four way stop and guess what? Sirens! I am pulled over AGAIN. The cop asks me if I've ever been pulled over before. Uhm, yes, about 3 hours ago. Apparently this time I rolled through a stop sign. My emotions went overboard, and by the time she got back to my car I was crying again. I think she took pity on me. She asked me when I was due. She told me to be more careful and let me go, but I continued crying until I got home. Gees, what is up with that?

I have never been pulled over twice in one day. When I got home, I had just calmed myself down when I spilled a full glass of orange soda down my front and all over the floor. It even went in my shoes. Tears welled up in my eyes again, but I didn't have a full on cry this time.

Between the back pain, the medication I'm taking (which makes me want to pass out all the time), and my awkward clumsiness from being so hugely pregnant, I think I might go insane before this baby is out.

SNL - Livin' on a Prayer

Last weekend's SNL was hosted by Jon Bon Jovi, and the musical guest was Foo Fighters. I was really annoyed that Bon Jovi played twice during the show (during the monologue and at the end), and the Foo Fighters only played one song. WTF? I'd rather hear the Foo Fighters any day over Bon Jovi's mediocre folk-rock. If they had done a GOOD song, it might have been OK. I admit I was a Bon Jovi fan back in the day, but the crap they put out now is just plain bad. A couple of the skits made me laugh... the one where Jon was being criticized by the band for wanting to name it Bon Jovi was pretty good. It was kind of strange that they went out on the band playing rather than the usual closing where everyone is on stage hugging and waving goodbye. Weird. They really need to get Tina Fey back. The show has sucked since she left.

Another Year Older

I turned 34 yesterday... I'm almost out of that 18-34 age group that people market things to. I guess time marches on, no matter what!

Last week James and I went to Washington DC for "Pheochromocytoma 2007", a conference all about my condition. It was awesome! Not only did I get to talk to doctors and top researchers in the field, but I got to swap war stories with people who have the same condition I do. WOW. Up until then I had only met one person who gets these tumors too. There was a whole room of them! We also managed to site see a little. I know there are bad parts around DC, but I never saw any. Many of the houses were Colonial style, and I loved them. Driving down George Washington Parkway was just gorgeous. The leaves were just barely starting to change. I'd love to see it two to three weeks from now.

It was a challenge walking around DC while 7 months pregnant. I had no problems flying, which was something that worried James. Walking a lot wears me out though. I did my best!

My blogs always include something about music. I guess that's because I'm always listening to music... at my desk, in the car, at home. James got two CD's for me for my birthday (and a Zelda game for the DS)... "Born Into This" by The Cult, and "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace" by the Foo Fighters. I really like both of them. I'm excited that The Cult is BACK! They are coming to the Murat Theatre in November, and I'm going... I don't care if I have to give birth on the floor of the Egyptian Room. I can't miss it!

More Life Updates

The weather is finally cooling down... yay! I have been so HOT this summer with my baby furnace. Twenty-eight weeks now. He will be born in 11 short weeks! Which also means that Christmas is right around the corner. I need to start shopping before I get too whale-like.

James and I are getting ready to go to DC next week for a conference all about my tumors. I hope to find out about the latest research and meet other people with my condition. It's so rare... I know one other person in Indiana who has the same tumors I do, but her genetic mutation is different than mine. Still, we stay in touch. I can't imagine being in the same room with so many other "rarities". I'm also looking forward to site seeing a little. I want to see the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument since this will be my first trip to DC.

I've been slowly getting ready for the baby. We got new furniture for Tess and relocated her crib to the baby's room, which is still full of "stuff" that I have to shove somewhere in the house. We really, really need a basement in our next house. I managed to find some cute baby boy items (girl clothes are SO much cuter). We are still not certain on his name, and I still don't know what I want to hang on the walls in his room. For Tess, I painted picture frames (with Beatrix Potter prints in them) and wooden letters that spell her name, so I would like to do something equally special for this baby. Any ideas, anyone? I don't care for the matching bedding and all that junk. Especially since babies can't use blankets or comforters in their crib, and those bumpers they sell are not at all necessary.

My laptop's hard drive decided to die last week, so that has really set me back at work. I have a ton of stuff to do to prepare for maternity leave. Just figures.

Oh yeah, Michelle W., my mom, and I met Crowded House last month in Ann Arbor! It was an excellent concert... definitely worth the drive. Neil Finn came out, as well as Nick, Marcus, and Matt (their "new" drummer). Why are musicians always so short? My mom was funny... she has a habit of constantly making lists in a little notebook she carries around. She handed it to Neil along with her ticket stub, and he signed them both. Made me laugh that he signed her little notepad.

I was recently on the radio... yeah, WKLU played my Ultimate Top Ten! It was weird hearing myself on the radio, especially with my voice the way it is. They are sending me a CD of it, so I'll try to put it online for those who missed it.

Speaking of my voice, hopefully it will be much improved soon. My ENT doctor can do a procedure where he moves the paralyzed vocal cord over towards the good side. I will be awake for the whole thing even though it involves making an incision in my neck. I don't really care if the end result means I can talk in restaurants again.

That's all for now... hope to see all of you this fall sometime!

Stuff, Updates, Whatever

I haven't posted a blog in quite awhile. So, what's new with me? Well, 2007 is turning out to be a big year for concerts. James and I went to the Rocco DeLuca & The Burden show at The Vogue, which was awesome. As we were leaving, Rocco and some band members were standing out back. I have met a lot of musicians, and I have never seen a band come out that fast to greet fans! I seemed to be the only one at first, though. The two percussionists greeted me first, and they grabbed Rocco for me. He was VERY nice. I told him that the baby enjoyed the show too (it's now obvious by looking at me that I'm pregnant).

I also saw Cowboy Junkies with Michele S. They were good, but I only recognized one song out of two hours worth. I wished they had done "Miles From Our Home".

Last weekend, Michelle W. and I saw Live and Collective Soul at Victory Field. We agreed that Counting Crows blows, so we left before they took the stage. Live was excellent (they always are), but we wished they could have played longer... especially given the price we paid for tickets.

Next up, Crowded House in Michigan. I'm looking forward to that because not only is it a road trip, but it's two days off from work. Woo hoo!

I tried to get VIP tickets to Tori Amos, but the %*$& things sold out within one minute! So much for that. Now I'll have to wait for the general on-sale and have crappy seats like the last two times I saw her. Oh well.

I am sad that the Harry Potter series is over now. I just love the books. I will miss reading new ones, but I look forward to reading them with my daughter when she's older.

I'm now 22 weeks pregnant. The baby will be born December 3, so I have just over 3.5 months left. And did I mention it's a boy? I'm very excited about it, but it's pretty certain that I have another tumor somewhere, so after I have him it's going to be a very stressful time. I'll have to have scans and possibly surgery again. With a newborn baby, that's going to be difficult. Plus I'm adament about breastfeeding, so I'm going to have to pump when I'm full of pain meds or radiation from scans. That will be frustrating.

Speaking of pain... I try not to worry about every little pain I have, but some of the pain is persistent. My left leg is especially bad. I can't take anything but Tylenol, which doesn't do much. I just try to grin and bear it... which is harder than it sounds. But, like Maya Angelou said "I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one." So, I'm counting the days until I can get this stuff resolved and get on with my life.

Oh yeah, and I've been playing a lot of video games... probably to take my mind off of pain. Guitar Hero 80's, Harry Potter, and NY Times Crossword are my games of choice lately.

Other than that, it's business as usual... working and taking care of Tess, who is so tall now... I cannot believe it! No one believes she is only 2 1/2. She's an awesome kid. I hope the next one is too!

I Met Loreena!

Last week my best bud Leslie and I took a road trip to Michigan to attend two Loreena McKennitt concerts. The concerts were absolutely awesome! Loreena sounds so good live... it was better than I expected. The first show was in Ann Arbor, which was a pleasant college town. Lots of coffee shops and bookstores were around the theatre. We were in the 4th row... excellent seats. The weather was perfect, so after the show we waited by the bus. We talked to some of the musicians who played with Loreena, and then she came out. She was very nice and gracious when we told her how great the show was. She signed our CD's, shook our hands, and gave us hugs. I was really excited because her music has truly helped me get through tough times (besides the fact that I just love it), like dealing with metastatic disease and the death of my beloved pet.

We stayed at the Vitosha Guest Haus in Ann Arbor, which was a very cool old place with a very kooky lady running it. She was quite eccentric. The bathroom had a clawfoot tub, so I HAD to take a bath in it. Then we were off to IKEA for heavy duty shopping. After that, we drove about an hour and 45 minutes to Kalamazoo, a place I will never visit again if I can help it.

Kalamazoo was dirty, dark (not in a good way), and deserted. The theatre where Loreena played was very ornate, and we were in the FRONT ROW (!!!), but we couldn't find any coffee in the downtown, and the whole area just wasn't happening. The show was excellent, of course, and Loreena talked a lot more than the night before. She also changed two of the songs from the previous night's lineup, so we didn't have to hear two identical concerts (not that I would have minded). After the show we drove and drove and drove looking for somewhere to eat. The town was practically shut down... stuff was too far from the exits to see, and when you finally got to it, it was closed. We finally found an IHOP. Turns out there was a Perkins less than 1/4 mile away from our hotel, but what can you do.

The next day we were eating breakfast at the hotel and a guy walked in who looked kind of familiar... turns out he was sitting right next to me in the front row the night before. He drove from Ohio and was by himself. It was pretty funny that he happened to be in the same hotel.

I'm so glad we went to both shows... I was afraid that if I sold the tickets to one of them that the other would end up cancelled and I wouldn't see her at all. It was totally worth it!

An Ancient Muse Live!

I love Loreena McKennitt's music, and today I got an email from her mailing list with presale passwords for all of her upcoming tour dates! Woo hoo! I immediately chose a city that was close (but not Chicago - too much traffic) and grabbed some tickets. I got 4th row right in the center! I have to drive to Ann Arbor, Michigan, but I don't care. I was willing to fly to see her in concert if I had to.

I am such a huge fan that now I am contemplating getting tickets for the following night in Kalamazoo. Two nights of live Loreena... wow, that would be awesome! I have wanted to see her live for a long time. I'm so excited!!!

Give Me A Break

Sometimes you just get fed up with stuff and have to vent. This is one of those times. Over the past 3 months, I've been recovering from two surgeries... first the partial hip replacement on 11/3/06. Yeah, it hurt like hell (still does), but I dealt with it. Then came the neck surgery on 12/12/06... much worse! Recovery from that was absolute hell, and I'm left with permanent effects from it. Right after I got home from the hospital, I came down with some kind of upper respiratory virus, so I was coughing and hacking constantly with my swollen neck and sore incision. Since my nerves were damaged during surgery, I couldn't swallow very well, so I couldn't take pills or drink liquids. I was pretty much screwed. Finally I went to the doctor and got some antibiotics, which I had to break into tiny pieces in order to swallow. I got over that crud after about three weeks.

Shortly after that, I went back to work, and on my very first day back, I came down with the flu. I didn't fully recover from that until about two weeks later, when my nagging cough finally seemed to stop. Less than a week later? I woke up with my sinuses packed to capacity and my throat sore AGAIN. My throat has been sore and bumpy pretty much non-stop over the last six weeks. My voice sounds terrible... like I have laryngitis. It has been weak since my surgery. It really makes me want to scream, but I can't!

I also have continued, sharp pain in my left leg and sometimes in my right too. Who knows what that is from? If I count all the symptoms I had prior to my surgeries, I've pretty much been in pain constantly for the last two years.

I don't think I've ever been this sick in my life... my body is trying to recover from two surgeries, but it can't get the chance for all the bacterial and viral infections. I like winter, but I really want it to be spring so I can get out of the "sick" season!

I just want to be well. I don't think it's too much to ask. I want to live my life normally... Please, all I ask is GIVE ME A BREAK!

I'm a Guitar Hero

So we were at Best Buy the other night, and they had a display with Guitar Hero 2 setup. Some people were trying to play a song, and it was making me laugh because they were missing notes like crazy and were kicked out of the song. So, I picked up the "guitar", set the level to HARD and started up "War Pigs". Now, we had just left a Mexican restaurant where I drank this HUGE and STRONG margarita, so I was tipsy, and I had not played Guitar Hero in several weeks. I wasn't even playing at my best, but due to the alcohol, I was in the zone. I finished the song, and when I turned around I was shocked to see a huge group of people that had been standing there watching me! I set the guitar down, and a guy picked it up and said "That was the hottest thing I've ever seen" and winked at me. Hahaha... I love that game.

Happy New Year

2006 is history, and I say good riddance! It was a hard year. I went through two surgeries for tumors that were discovered during the summer. Now I'm left with a little nerve damage and a persistently aching hip. I'm still in the recovery period, so hopefully these things will resolve.

I hope in 2007 that I can stay healthy. So far, it's questionable. My blood pressure is fluctuating again, and that is not good news. We'll see what happens.

On the brighter side of life, Tess is growing up, and she's a great child. She's smart, cute, and funny. I'm sure this year will be an exciting period of growth for her. She's turning two very soon, and she's learning more each day.

Work is just work but right now I'm not thinking about it. I'm off for awhile longer while I recover from surgery.

I plan to do more work on our house this year, if I'm healthy enough to do so. We want to put down hardwood flooring. We also have some plumbing issues to fix, and maybe I'll finally get around to painting the master bedroom. We'd also like to take a vacation because we haven't been anywhere in a long while. My vacation time at work has been consumed by maternity and medical leaves over the last two years. Perhaps this year I will finally be able to use it to travel somewhere.

Happy New Year to all my friends and family! May it be a healthy one for you as well!