sweet samson's saga

Several weeks ago, we noticed something funny about Samson's ear.  After surgery, a cone, learning to navigate the house with plastic horribleness wrapped around his head, suture removal, more healing, more stupid cone, et cetera, et cetera.



It was all for naught. 

The damn thing came back.  His ear filled back up with blood. 

This week, we have had the ear drained twice.  Fortunately, the hematoma is much smaller than the first time and we are hoping this time, well this time it's for keeps. 





Tuesday he goes back under the knife.  More sutures. More of that damn cone. But he just rolls with it.  We say, "come on sweet boy, let's get the cone on" and he just trots over and sticks his neck out.  It's his new normal right now.  And ours. 

He is such a trooper.  We will do it all again but are looking forward to the day of no cone. 

Lend me your ear

Last week, we had a problem.  Samson's ear filled up with fluid.  Aurel hematoma.  All my years with dogs and I have never heard of this.  Who knew. 

After two very painful drainings, we were left with only surgery. So Monday, Mr. Handsome went under the knife. He came home mopey and crabby, his head contained in the cone of shame. Who can blame him for being crabby?   Not me.  If you put a cone on my head, I would be crabby too. 



On the outside of the ear, our vet sutured a small piece of x-ray paper.



This keeps the ear from refilling with fluid and blood, and helps the ear heal.



It's not attractive. 



But bless his heart, he is such a trooper.  30 days that cone will cover his head. Monday we will find out what's next for our sweet Handsome boy. 

A day of gratitude

It was one of those days. Today, I was last out of the house to get Handsome Boy to doggy day care at Whiskers. Whatever trepidation, concern or angst we had about leaving him anywhere, is well, in the history books. He LOVES it there. LOVE. Here is how the day started. I leave the house to take him - he is lethargic at best. I mean the dog is KILLED. He has been in doggy day care for three days and is so tired that when Paul took him out last night to go potty, he sat down in the grass. Sat right down. Killer. So this AM, when we start to approach Whiskers and say, 'Samson do you want to play with your friends?', I get a small squeak. When we get out of the car, he is SO excited. He doesn't even turn around as he heads toward his fun day with 4 legged friends. Oh, and they have a pool He usually comes home wet. I love to see a happy dog. I love even more to see a happy, tired dog. :) Our friend Barb, is going to take her dog Maggie to Whiskers next week too. I hope she has the same results!

I had my two month follow up with my favorite podiatrist. :) He is very happy with foot and its progress. I had some more xrays today and this time I got to see the permanent pins in my foot. Ick. My toe is a little stiff and will be for a while. And that's a good thing. I can start walking again in tennis shoes, start joining Paul and Samson on their 5:30 am walks and start riding my bike. I am not allowed to jump. Not a problem since well, I don't jump. Oh, and I can't go barefoot. No issue there either. So take a look at the xrays and enjoy to picture. Isn't that a fine looking foot? I hope that I can go with next year without any bad feet. :)

The weekend is busy. Tomorrow is an event at the Navy Operational Support Center for which I am the designated photographer. We have to stain some wood for the kitchen and Sunday is dinner with our good friends the Heeringas...well because we have no kitchen and ain't to proud to beg, sweet darlin'!

An ending, a beginning and a little limbo

Well, my FMLA is coming to end as I return to work tomorrow. It's the ending of a very painful time in my life and I use those terms in the literal sense - dang it was painful. I have taken good care of the foot and the Pin, not wanting the bend the Pin (can't even imagine the pain there...), cleaning the foot and rubbing my scar with Vitamin E cream.

So the beginning of my back to work week will be interesting. At home, I have been able to elevate and ice the foot when it got sore. I will have to see how that will work at at desk. I have ice available and a place to put the leg but still chuckle when thinking about how it will look. Oh well. :)

Oh good friend Deb came over for dinner last night. We are in remodel limbo of the kitchen; we have signed the contract, ordered some of the stuff and now we wait for time, materials and manpower to intersect. We have on our calendar August 11 and we can't wait! Back to Deb, she had a terrific idea for our basement door - she was thinking about a pocket door for our basement - one that would slide into the wall. Our basement is located in a highly inefficient location in our kitchen and the doors take up way too much space. As our friends at Guinness say, "Brilliant!" Jeff from HWC Homeworks checked his email this weekend and said that he would look into it.

And Gary, I know that I have been ignoring posts on Mr. Handsome. The poor dog has been mightly confused having me around in this gimpy state. He will bark and whine at the door when hoppy things are in his yard and then look at me with the, "if only you were a little smarter..." look. Since his recall is not 100%, I can't run the risk of taking him outside in my fashion-forward black plastic and Velcro foot boot. Then he will let out a big sigh, and plop down. Poor thing, he just can't figure out what's going on. Tomorrow he will be back to his usual self. Be assured, that he gets LOTS of exercise, discipline and affection.

Tomorrow, it's back to work!

Alternate Universe

Well, today was a good day. Today was the day that my stitches were removed. It was not a day that I anticipated with great joy; rather it was a day of fear and trepidation. My podiatrist recommended that I take a Percocet in anticipation of the pain and discomfort. So dutifully, I got up this morning and with a good breakfast of grapefruit juice, a piece of toast, sausage and coffee, I took my happy drugs.

On the way to the doctor's office, the drug really kicked in and I was feeling quite ....tired. Just tired. It left me wondering if I perhaps had that wrong drugs? No pie in the sky feeling, no woo hoo feeling, nope, just wanted to put my head down on the cement bench outside the doctor's office and take a nap. I was thinking about this experience of being and feeling so disconnected, so out of it. I really felt like I was in some weird universe, not connected to the grind, frankly, not connected to anything. I feel so out of touch. In one of my favorite books The Prophet, he writes about Work:

Then a plowman said, "Speak to us of Work."
And he answered, saying:
You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth.

I miss work. Really. Mostly the people and some of the work.

So he took out the stitches and it was just a non-event. No pain, no discomfort, no blood. I am thinking myself - dude, I think that you have this all backwards - the pin and the surgery, THEY HURT. Stitches removal, well that didn't hurt. Left there shaking my head. Oh well.

The day was shot with the Percocet. Paul brought me home and I promptly went to bed. I slept the entire day. I got up briefly to eat a bit (to try and settle my stomach) and went right back to bed, didn't wake up until 4:30. What a lost day. But I learned something of tremendous value today. I have absolutely no fear of becoming addicted to pain medication. Percocet made me feel so lousy, headache, upset stomach, wooziness and just plain tired that I will, unless absolutely necessary, never take it again. Ever. So that's good news.

And there are the pictures. Fair warning, they are not pretty. Really. But enough have asked so here they are. Enter at your own risk. Paul is making us dinner - a couple of steaks on the barbie and a nice cab in the bottle. I am making progress, one day at a time. :)

The end of a good weekend

It is my second weekend with the Pin. Two down and four to go.

Tomorrow, the stitches come out, fingers and toes (that are able) are crossed. As Paul says, 0600 wakeup and 0630 Percocet, then breakfast and coffee. For the strong, Paul will be take pictures of the evolution. Since I am not a fan of how it all looks, rather than post pictures, I will post links. It will be up to you if you want to look. :)

While I sat on my duff, Paul was busy at work. We are the proud owners of a new air compressor. Paul needed air for his tires and the gas station was out of order. Enough he said and with his coupon for Lowe's, bought us our very own. He filled the propane tank and bought new stones for the grill.

Menu for the weekend was terrific. Saturday, I have felt the best since the surgery and he made me Tenderloin Deluxe - tenderloin with soy sauce and scallions. It is my very favorite recipe and while it's warm here, this might be one of the last times we use the ovens before the kitchen renovation starts. Tonight, he grilled some chicken breasts with a little cous cous and white wine. A thoroughly enjoyable way to spend the evening, even if I have a Pin in my foot.

I suspect that I will be quiet tomorrow as I rest from the morning. Good thoughts and prayers please. This is a big hurdle in the evolution of the foot. Good night from Grand Rapids.

And now for something COMPLETELY different

With some urging by friend and blogger Lisa, I am trying NOT to dwell on the toe. It's a tad bit difficult when I have a pin sticking out of it but ya know, it's sort of old news. But if I have to look at it every day, I will probably write about it or at the very least mention it in passing. There were two hilarious conversation exchanges with the doctor on Wednesday. Given my state of mind, and heart, I wasn't on my best banter behavior but two of our exchanges warrant eternal life blogger-style.

The first exchange centered around pain and pain management. He told me about another woman who had the very same surgery, very same pin (well a different pin, same kind though) and imagine this, had absolutely no pain and no problems. And I simply sat there thinking two things. 1. Where's the bitch? and 2. Why in the WORLD are you telling me this? My doctor is SUCH a nice man and perhaps thought that demonstrating that pain affects people differently might help my perspective. Instead, no, it made me feel inferior and like a LOSER. Thanks.

Exchange two centered around the Pin. This is actual content of the PIN conversation. (Paraphrasing for brevity). As your foot heals, the Pin may become loose and will move around. (Holy cow, are you KIDDING ME? Not only do I have a Pin but now will have manage its whereabouts? ) Some people have it fall out in the middle of the night, so be careful. (You didn't really just say this and no, this won't happen to me. This sucker will stay in securely to the bitter end. Trust me). But the best comment that still has me ROTFLMAO was this. Make sure that you don't catch the Pin on anything.... Eight years of medical school and I get -don't catch the Pin? No kidding. NO KIDDING. Now I know that he HAS to provide counsel on topics like this. But for real I am bright enough to know that I NEVER want to catch that damn Pin on ANYTHING. EVER. Unless it is being pulled out the toe.

My sweetness Mr. Handsome, will not leave my side. Wherever I hobble, limp and sit, there he is. He will be sound asleep and even when I start to move, he is awake, ready to accompany me to my next location. So I worked quite a bit on Friday, with my foot elevated on a table and lots of ice and didn't move around. He had a few minutes to catch up on his sleep. And there is nothing in my mind more beautiful than one tired dog enjoying a good stretch.

Truly enjoy the weekend. Even with the Pin, life is good.

The Friday Happy Limp

Posting not for the faint of heart. Fair warning.

No dancing, just gimpy, limpy me and Samson and Paul who is working hard.

We have had a busy couple of days. On Wednesday, sans Percocet, my foot was really, really sore. I was not very happy with my decision to go through with the surgery given the pain. I was trying to explain the pain and came up with three relatively demonstrative examples.

1. The pain feels like someone has taken a blow torch and singed all my toes.
2. My foot feels like a slab of steak beaten to death by a meat cleaver.
3. The shooting pain feels like the Red Cross newbie who can't find a vein with that big, honking needle.

That's what it feels like. So with that pain, I headed to the doctor on Thursday to take out the stitches and I got my first view of my foot. I almost passed out. I have a 4 inch scar on the top of my foot from just under the nail to the top of my foot. I have a black and blue lump that I could only equate to a camel's hump in the middle of my foot. And I have that attractive pin that is shoved in the bottom of my foot sticking up in an L shape at the top of my toe. It has an attractive green ball on the end of it. And yes, I can feel the pin every minute and can feel it on the bottom of my foot. For you gals, at least I won't lose my toenail. I did not bring the camera or take pictures. It was too ugly, even for me.

So the doctor decided not to take out the stitches. I am healing well (no infection but still lots of swelling) but I am not healing quickly. With that decision and the swelling that is still occurring, I am out of work for another week. Of course, it doesn't stop me FROM working, just can't be on my feet AT work. So I sit at my desk, in my sweats, with my foot up and icing much of the day pounding through the work that is piling up. Good news - I can start putting weight on my foot and wearing that very fashion-forward, black plastic and Velcro Foot Boot. At least I am off the crutches.

Oh, and I did get new pain meds. The doctor didn't think ES Tylenol was enough so he gave me some prescription-strength Motrin of some kind. Paul picked it up yesterday on his way home and to be honest, I don't notice much of a difference. It just hurts. All the time.

I received a lovely bouquet of flowers from our good friends Bud and Barbara. They are lovely and filling the room with blooming beauty. :)

The stitches are now scheduled to come out on Monday. The doctor game me fair warning that I should probably take a Percocet for that evolution. Wow, that scares me. He said it will hurt and if he is saying that now, it probably will. So I have the weekend to enjoy the world sitting on my duff and reading. Updates as conditions warrant. Have a great weekend.

My first glimpse

I got a get well card (you know, as well as one can get with a pin in her foot) from a friend who shared a story about a friend of his. His friend had surgery and asked the doctor why he didn't tell her that it would hurt so much. The doctor said, well because you may not have had the surgery. Well DUH, that's a no-brainer. There is a reason that I maintain that my podiatrist is the master of understatement. This evolution has been difficult, more difficult than I imagined. Thanks William for the card and the chuckle.

I didn't write or blog much in the first couple of days because, frankly, I was sleeping and pretty darn doped up. I learned a number of things on this journey. Vicodin does nothing for me. Nada. Anesthesia is not my friend. I vomit, a lot. And a 40 something woman throwing up in a bucket is NOT a pretty sight - not evening being the one looking in the bucket. Add to it the fact that I couldn't bathe, drugs weren't helping the pain, not even Vicidon, I wasn't happy, my brand new screaming fast 4gb RAM, dual core chip WASN'T PICKING UP MY WIRELESS NETWORK and oh by the way, I had a pin in my foot, no wonder Paul wanted to got back to work. And fast. I wanted to go back to work to get away from this!

Eventually, we upgraded the pain meds and lo and behold, Percocet did the trick. A few comments on Percocet. Now painting the picture of me in bed, with my Bucket and my unwashed Billy Idol hair, betadyne-red foot with saturated wrap AND PIN and ice covering as much as possible and... we are on the phone with the medical professionals batting around medicines like I (we) are pharmacists. Truth be told, I have very little recollection of the medicine conversations between Paul and me and the medical professionals. I vividly recall the foot-on-fire feeling, and Bucket in my arms and the final decision to get the Percocet. Fine, I am thinking to my drug-induced self, get the damn Percocet and let's call it a shop, shall we?

So yesterday, I ended some other pain killer and decided that it was a good time to end the Percocet too. So at dinner, after my two Tylenol (which frankly come nowhere close to that Percocet feeling), Paul mentions that Percocet is an opiate. You know, Paul the chemist, Paul the engineer, Paul who should have been a pharmacist, Paul who knows everything.... I about spit out my food. An Opiate? OPIATE IF YOU MISSED IT. Holy crap - I had no idea that it was such a powerful drug and no wonder I felt so good!

I took a peek. I mean it's my PIN in my FOOT, albeit temporarily. I had to look. And let me just say that it isn't pretty. And there is a good reason that the podiatrist didn't show me the pin before surgery. There is a good reason that he didn't tell me how much it was going to hurt. He also forgot to get mention how my foot would swell and how disfiguring a pin in the toe would make it look. Let's just say it's going to be a while before I get another pedicure.

So I am back to me. No more bucket, no more pain meds, no more drug-hazed days. Just me with a couple of crutches hobbling around with a pin in my foot. And it hurts. And it is going to hurt for six weeks.

A lesson in mobility

It is not easy to exist in my current state. It's quite humbling. I am not allowed to put any weight on my foot until the podiatrist clears me for the fashion-forward, black plastic and Velcro boot. So every single thing I do involves crutches - coming to dinner, showering and bathing, hobbling to the backroom. Everything. It is incredibly inconvenient. And every time I need something - my glasses, one of my computers, a glass of milk, a meal, more light, a clean towel, medicine, even a cup of coffee, Paul has to get up and get it. I am not the only one needed things; Samson is pretty demanding too - needing walks, runs and pets, food and water, and just attention. So between taking care of us and taking care of our neighbor's dogs while they are out of town, this hasn't been much of a weekend for Paul. There is still the laundry to do, meals to make and dishes to do, so he hasn't been dawdling or blogging, just moving. :) It will be nice to be given clearance to hobble in the fashion-forward, black plastic and Velcro boot; I won't feel like such a slacker.

I still tire quickly and have still been sleeping quite a bit. I talked to our friend Deb who (after her leg injury) joked that she didn't think that she would ever be able to work again since all she did was sleep. That made me feel a LOT better. I was getting concerned that all I was doing was sleeping (which I am) and would I ever wake up? Jeez, I hope so, I am enjoying my afternoon naps but this will get old. I think. :) Maybe I am catching up on sleep that has been deficit a few years back. At this rate, I will be all caught up when I return to work.....

Food is also starting to taste good again. For a couple of days, everything, including ice cream (sob) tasted like plastic. It was devastating. Last night, Paul made one of our flank steak recipes, Fantastic Flank Steak, and it was delicious! We had some cous cous and a Caesar salad. With the small fridge currently in use, we don't have a lot of extra space - meals are made one at a time and no leftovers hanging out around here!

So the Sunday agenda is a big ole nothing but hanging out, moving from one reclined and elevated state to another. It's getting old but I have to hang in there, I see the doctor again next week. Enjoy the day.

Friday Happy Gimp

It's hard to do the Friday Happy Dance when I am gimping around with a pin and screws, crutches and the ever fashionable, black plastic and Velcro foot boot. The boot doesn't come on for a couple of days, until I get weight-bearing clearance from the good podiatrist. So I sit in bed, or the backroom, with my leg elevated with lots of ice. Add some Percocet and it's pretty darn exciting.

Paul went back to work today and our friend, Denise, came over to sit with me. She works at Clark's Retirement Home (while being a full time student at Calvin and the daughter of good friends) and last night she worked the night shift. I didn't need much, just someone in case I fell or had a problem. She was terrific and got to sleep a bit while I was too. Before she took off, she helped me with lunch and my meds and I slept the rest of the day. It was nice and cool with a beautiful breeze. Samson stayed with me most of the day.

Today was the first day that I took a mini-shower. It felt great to wash my hair and my face. :) Keeping the foot dry is an exercise but worthwhile and I am feeling a little more human, each day is a little better.

This weekend will be quiet, with more rest and recuperation Paul has some work to do, a little shopping and laundry. The weather looks good with maybe some rain. Updates as conditions warrant.

More for my money

Thank you for your kind thoughts, words and prayers. I am grateful for all the kindness.

Along with the PIN, I got two extra screws. A little more damage than the good podiatrist thought. To make the experience even more joyful, none of the pain medicines worked, except to help me vomit MORE so I have settled on Percocet and pray that the pain starts going away. I have been sleeping since 11 am yesterday and enjoying a menu of Cherry Garcia because that is what stays down. Pleasant don't you think? ( I am too old for this...)

I have the constant companion of Mr. Samson who won't leave me. So, I made it through the ugliness, now comes the inconvenience. Nurse Paul is doing well and I am going back to bed. Updates to follow.

Under the knife

Well, it's D-Day and later this morning, we will head over to the dear doctor's surgical center and have my toe fixed. Well, fixed is the long term strategy, short term is the icky-pin-in -the -toe -until-it heals strategy. I slept incredibly well despite the impending evolution and the worst part of the morning, at least for now, is that I can't have any coffee. This is NOT the way to start the morning. And curiously, normally I don't wake up hungry, even coffee is enough to start the day but this morning, I woke up famished - as Paul says, ready to gnaw off my arm. Not the way that I intended to spend the day but oh well.

One note, our grass is looking very nice! Paul cut it last night and I can't believe how lush and green it looks. He has done a magnificent job getting it to come around - battling the winters is not easy and everything is filling in beautifully. Certainly adds to the quality of life around here. :)

I have spent some time exploring my new XPS laptop with Vista. It came on Monday and with the refrigerator debacle, I didn't have much time to play. The machine has a ton of RAM and big hard drive, blue tooth and a fingerprint scanner. And that is just skimming the surface. The next couple of days, I will have plenty of time to explore the machine and Vista. I was talking to my VP, Henry last night and was telling him that I so far relatively happy with the OS - stable so far, easy to navigate, intuitive, visually appealing (like a Mac) and overall pretty darn ok. I think that I waited long enough for the incompatibilities (with drivers, etc) to be worked out. I am looking forward to getting to know this machine.

So shortly, we will be off. Since I will be in a drug-induced coma, don't quite know when I will post again. Enjoy the gorgeous day!

Just to be clear

It happened again. From another medical professional.

Today I had the opportunity to speak with the scheduling nurse, getting the last of the details ready for Wednesday's trip to fix my toe. I went through the myriad of questions in preparation for the surgery. Her last question to me was, "Do you have any concerns about the surgery." For a moment, I couldn't speak. Was she KIDDING? Concerns? My response was, "You're damn straight I have some concerns. You are sticking a pin in my toe that is going to stick out at the end. I can't walk much for six weeks. I can't drive. I can't run my dog. I can't do stairs. I can't do much of anything. Hell yeah, I have some concerns...." There was a polite pause (apparently I missed the social IQ component of this question - she really didn't want to know if I had concerns) and her response was priceless. "It isn't so bad." Aaaaccck. I asked her what I have asked every other medical professional who has deemed it necessary to bequeath me with such wisdom. I said, "So tell me your experience with walking around with a pin in your toe, sticking out the end. " Well, of course she had no DIRECT experience but all patients had TOLD her that it wasn't so bad. I explained that after MY experience, I would be happy to share if indeed their truth was my truth too.

And if it isn't SO BAD, why do they have to give me Vicodin?

There is no one at my work who thinks that it will be fine. And these are people I trust. I think it will be lousy. Inconvenient. Annoying. Unattractive. And yes, Painful. But I have good drugs to cover up the pain.

To top off a perfectly wonderful day, our refrigerator died. Stupid thing couldn't last six more weeks. That is the very last time that I will buy an Amana anything. So we bought a cute little replacement that when the kitchen finally gets done, we will have a fabulous spare. Brummels is delivering it to us tomorrow. And for a palty $10, will cart away the old one. What a deal.

So tomorrow will be my final dinner before surgery. Surely I will post pictures of the new fridge. Good night from Grand Rapids.

The verdict is in

There was a bizarre bug going around our office and I got it yesterday, tried to work, gave up and came home to sleep. And sleep. And sleep. I slept all afternoon, got up for dinner and went back to bed. Slept through this morning and feel a whole lot better. While I didn't appear to have a fever, I was burning up all night and it finally seem to quit this morning. I have kept it low-keyed today, just not wanting to relapse. Really strange.

We ran out to HWC Homeworks to finish up the tile and cabinetry selections. We picked a very simple cabinetry, cherry wood with a rattan finish. The wood type will darken over time, as seen in the picture. When installed, it will look quite a bit lighter. It is great color. The cabinets in the picture are not the type we selected - it was the only type that could show the color of the wood. Our selection is much simplier - plain, Shaker-like. I will try and find some pictures. We also splurged and will have a few built-ins - step stool and a mechanism on each cabinet to gently close cabinets and drawers.

The floor tile is the lower, right hand brown and we picked a complimentary grout. The grout is treated to not change color over time, nor absorb spills, dirt, etc. And knowing me, I will probably spill. Something anyway. The square tile in the middle is quartz countertop, it is a gorgeous combination of brown, black, caramel and flecks of white. It looks fantastic. The backsplash will be the large, light brown tile underneath the quartz, with accents of the small tiles separating the tiles.

We were able to come to consensus on the plumbing fixtures (it's wonderful) and all that is left is lighting and hardware for the cabinets. Lighting isn't a pressing decision since we buy that ourselves and our electrician will install it. The hardware is weeks off so we can be picky in our selection. Things have to be ordered, made, scheduled, started. The tear out is going to be loud and messy. But with the end in mind, it will be terrific. It was a nice escape from the PIN.

It is a gorgeous day. No humidity, wonderful breeze, lots of sunshine and no rain. At least for today. Paul is grilling chicken this evening, with some couscous and a chopped salad. Well, enjoy your Saturday!

The Friday Happy Dance

In a weird sort of way. I am grateful for Friday but am not so excited that we are moving closer to D Day, or Deirdre Day and the day that I have surgery on my foot. :( (You know, needles, doctors, anesthesia, pin-in-the-toe-for-six-weeks surgery). I am not very good about keeping personal secrets which is why blogging is so cathartic. And every person who I know, knows that I am having a pin put in my toe. And every person who I know who knows that I am having a pin put in my foot knows that I am NOT A FAN. Not even a little bit. NOT A FAN OF THE PIN.

It's sort of weird to hear medical professionals tell me that, "it won't be so bad." Bad? Compared to what? Childbirth? Broken leg? Amputation? What's the baseline for 'not so bad'? Well, I have yet to hear a good answer. I have a wonderful colleague, a faculty member in our biology department, explain to me why my foot wouldn't heal on its own and frankly, he did a far better job than the medical professionals. Thank you, David. :)

So I wait. And ruminate. And worry. And think about how many different ways that I going to frag myself with the PIN IN MY TOE STICKING OUT. Like stubbing the toe. Stepping on the toe. Having the dog sit on the toe with said pin. Running into the door with toe. Forgetting that I have a pin and walking too fast with the toe sticking out.... You know it will happen. I know it will happen. So I am practicing the scream that will be emitted when any of said things occur.

So what does a girl do when she faces such wretched surgery? Well, I had a wonderful time with my friend who takes care of my hair (and sshh....hair color), had a pedicure and well, I bought a new computer. Screaming machine with 4 gb of RAM, huge machine, awesome graphics, etc, etc. Should be home in time for my recovery. You know, I need a reward for the damn pin. :)

Happy Friday. Enjoy the weekend. This won't be the last time you hear about the PIN.