Overjoyed (Stevie Wonder)

As I was laying in bed this morning, I was kinda hesitant about getting out of bed because I knew this was the day that the wick was to come out & after experiencing the pain I felt on Sunday & Monday, I was NOT looking forward to inflicting that upon myself once again. I did, however, suspect that it wouldn't be nearly as bad as just a few days ago because the wick hadn't been in as long as that one was.


So, I got up. Went potty. Pulled the gauze off my leg. Yep, wick still there. Look out hot shower (doctor's orders), here I come. I still wasn't looking forward to pulling it out, but carried on about my business by washing my face & then onto my hair. After I rinsed my hair, I look down to see my wick is missing. It must have fallen out with the water pressure on it (it wasn't a very long wick to begin with). Yes!! I don't have to pull it out, afterall. Needless to say, I was superthrilled!


What's more, I poked at it a little bit to see if more pus/stuff would come out & it didn't hurt at all. Woo!! You can kinda see in the picture where the hole is & how big it is. There is a little bruising around it, but the skin is mostly irritated from the tape being on it.

Amerian Idol is in full swing. This week, the boys were FAR better than last week. The two that I thought were the weakest & likely being sent home were Sanjaya & Brandon, though that saddens me because I really liked Sanjaya in his auditions & want to see more of him. A couple of the guys sang songs that I didn't know or like & so it was really hard for me to tell if they were singing them good. For example, I wasn't impressed by Sundance (I'd like to see him go home) & the judges just raved about him.

Tonight, after watching the girls perform, there are 3 that I would not be surprised if they were voted off: Antonella, Haley & Alaina. I don't think Antonella will be going home this week for two reasons - 1. I think she's this season's Kellie Pickler (cute, but ditzy & can't sing) & 2. there's some buzz going around about some naked pictures of her on the internet. I haven't seen them, so I don't know for sure, but I think she'll get a fan base because of it.



Today, I am thankful for:


1. Mountain surprise
2. Bike shorts
3. Having multiple TVs
4. Approved overtime
5. Marie Callender's delivery

Better Off Dead (Bad Religion)

So today, I pretty much wanted to die. Okay, not really, but severing my leg at the groin would have been A-OK with me. Man, this whole infected sweat gland thing isn't fun. Lucky me, eh?

So, when I went to the doctor on Saturday, she said it was looking good & healing nicely. Yay me. She left the wick in & said to pull it out about 1/4" each day & come back on Wednesday. Uh... What?

Sunday afternoon, I went to take a shower & gave my wick a tug to no avail. It hurt like a mutha. At that instant, I swear I was about to pass out. I started shaking & sweating, nausea nearly took over me & I was out of breath. If Jeff had seen me, he probably would have dialed 911. But, I'm strong (sometimes); I knew this would pass & it did... several minutes later. I covered up the wick w/a waterproof bandaid & got in the shower. Near the end, I started feeling a bit woozy once more & quickly got out so as not to fall down in the tub. As Ryan would put it, "that's bad." I spent the rest of the day on the sofa.

This morning (monday), I went to give my wick a tug again & it wouldn't budge, but it did hurt an awful lot (& once again, the sweating & shaking ensued). So, I left it alone & carried on about my business & went to work. I called the doctor & told them that this wick pulling wasn't working for me & made an appointment for later on this same day. The doc looked at my leg, said it was healing nicely as well. Then she took out the wick & Oh My Goodness!! At that point, I wanted to die. She said she could leave it be & use a local anesthetic on it (like they used when they cut it open 5 days earlier) & try pulling it out once it was numb. I told her it wasn't necessary because her pulling the wick out felt just like the needle giving the anesthetic did (a local pinpoint "prick" feeling) & that it would be over soon, so please hurry :o)

She was going to just leave it open & let it close, but then at the last minute, she changed her mind & put another wick in. NOOOOO!! But, she said to go ahead & pull it out on Wednesday. Basically, what had happened with the first wick was my lovely goo (pus) had kinda grown on/around the wick & it was blocking it from coming out with ease. Again, lucky me. But, with this new wick, it will only have been in my leg for less than 2 days (surely not enough time for the goo to attach itself to my wick... or is it??).

So, what's on the agenda for now? Moist heat compresses on my leg. Continue with the antibiotic regimen. I have the option of going back in on Wednesday, but I'm guessing that won't be necessary. Well, we'll see. Seeing how my luck has been, I'll be back, I'm sure.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Mid-day busses going home
2. Lamb in Love
3. Drive thru dining
4. Food Network
5. Independence

Lump (Presidents of the United States of America)

Last Friday, when I went to bed, I noticed a marble sized lump on my inner thigh. Of course, I poked & prodded at it all night long to make sure it was really there or if it had gone away yet. And, of course it hadn't. Instead, I think I made it bigger or at least more tender & gave it a bruise. My first thought? I have leg cancer. My second thought? Who gets leg cancer?

When it didn't go away on Monday, I made an appointment with good ol' UW Physicians. My doctor poked at it some, asked if it hurt (yes, but not unbearably so) & then diagnosed it as a "not uncommon" infected sweat gland. Doesn't that sound pleasant? She wrote a prescription for some antibiotics & told me to take a hot bath (as hot as I can stand) several times a day or put a heating pad on it & come back on Wednesday to drain it. I like baths, but that wasn't going to work for me. I took one that night & the next day after work, bought a heating pad.

Wednesday, I went in to get the sucker drained. Two doctors looked at it this time (one was consulting the other to see if it was liquified enough to be drained). They decided to give it a go. The most painful part of the day was getting the local anesthetic. That needle hurt!! But, once it was numb, I didn't feel the scalpel cutting my skin. Didn't feel the doc squeezing the pus out of it (by the way, the pus looked like mom's secret sauce - you know, ketchup & mayo mixed together). Didn't feel her inserting the gauze into the hole (yes, INTO the hole). She sent me home with some gauze, tape & a medical glove to put it in. After my fun appointment (which lasted close to an hour), I went into work & only then, after walking for a short ways, did it start to hurt. The doc had offered some drugs (vicadin) for the pain, but I didn't think I needed it. And, I survived without it thus far.

So, here I am with what looks to be a candle's wick poking out of my leg. It hurts some, but it's not totally excruciating. I think I'll survive.

Saturday, I go in to get my wick either replaced or removed. I'm not sure which. Either way, I'm honestly NOT looking forward to it. Thinking about the wick makes me nauseaus. Literally.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Doctors able to see me 'last minute'

2. Aleve

3. Bruno's

4. American Idol

5. Food Network

Sunshine On My Shoulders (John Denver)

This morning, I woke up about 10 minutes after 8 & the sky is, for the most part, blue. I absolutely love it when I go to bed & it's been kinda nasty out or dark & grey and then the next morning, it's so clear outside. Seems it's most often like this in the spring. I love it!

Thursday night, I had gone up to Joel's & Mickey's house to check out their Fortune presentation. When I was just about home, the time/temperature sign at the bottom of the hill said it was like 49° & my car said 51° (my car, for some reason is always 2° higher than that particular sign). Mind you, this was close to 11pm. I was kinda surprised how 'warm' it was for how late it was for how early in the year it was (it's still only mid-february afterall).

I thought the Fortune concept was interesting, but since I still have a few unanswered questions, I won't post my opinion on here of the whole thing just yet. Joel, I'll get those questions to you in the next week or so. I'm not necessarily interested in becoming a manager, but just have general questions on how it'll all work out, etc.

Tonight, Jeff & I are hosting a potluck & games night with our friends. It originally started with Trina & David coming over as a thank you for having Jeff & I over at their house several weeks ago for dinner & a really bad movie. She asked if we wanted to invite others over & make it a group shindig & I said sure; I love my friends so c'mon on over. I'll be making some meatballs in the crockpot. Mmmmm!

Yesterday at work, I was chatting w/a co-worker via email about our plans for the 3-day wknd (President's Day is on Monday, ya know). She said she was going up to her cabin on Camano Island & invited me & Jeff to come along to hang out & play games. I said no because they're going up on Sunday & I have a Stamp Camp on Sunday & we wouldn't get there til late anyways. But, I invited her & her husband to our game night. It might be a little awkward because Mindy & I have never actually hung out outside (or inside) of work; she works at our Kirkland branch & I'm downtown Seattle. We talk on the phone a bit (when she has work related questions). Anyways, though I have a feeling they won't come, I hope they do. It's nice to make new friends. Kat & I have talked about this before: you don't get many opportunities to make new friends when you're older. And we all know about the social butterfly that I am.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. My Valentine
2. Rod Stewart
3. Kitchen scales
4. Melonballers
5. CHOCOLATE!!

Lady in Red (Chris de Burgh)

It's been a pretty busy few days since I last posted. At least it seems that way.

Friday, a bunch of us met up in Seattle at Bandit's Bar for two reasons: to help celebrate Kim's 31st birthday & to meet the love of her life, Henry. It was quite crowded as Kim is the popular gal with all her friends so unfortunately, we didn't get to spend as much time as I think any of us would have preferred to spend with either Kim or Henry. But, from what I can tell, they are both very much into each other & are quite the happy couple. Sounds like there's some great plans for them to see each other in the not *too* distant future as Henry is coming back to N. America & some possible co-habitating plans are in the works.

I wonder what it takes to get a passport these days... I see some traveling in my future...

Saturday, Jeff & I took 3 big garbage bags full of clothes to the Goodwill. We also tried to give them 2 microwaves, but they wouldn't accept 'em. Not quite sure why on that one. They work just fine. If you're interested, leave a message on here. The microwaves are free. I was *kinda* sad because I did give away my prom dress & two other formal dresses I had. Okay, not like I'm ever going to wear any of 'em again, but they were pretty dresses. Or, at least back in the day, they were.

Saturday night, Jeff & I spent the evening together, playing cards, watching a little tv & drinking. I had my fair share of Smirnoff Ice. I've got two bottles left & after that I am done. Blech! I wasn't totally wasted, but was in bed before midnight. Of course, that's not any measure of anything... I'm usually in bed before midnight on every other night.

Sunday, I awoke with a headache, but was still able to do all the things I wanted to / had to. I cleaned house some (there's always dishes to do around here...). I made yet another crotch pot meal - split pea with ham soup. Yum! I went to David & Katt's house for some Superbowl goodness. And, I watched several cooking shows I had recorded.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Aspirin
2. Hot & Spicy drumsticks
3. Easy to make split pea soup
4. Belly dancing classes
5. Tupperware

I Wanna be Rich (Calloway)

I got an email from my boss this morning saying she had my review done, she tracked down the paperwork & would I be available at 3:00 for my annual review? Holy cow & heck yeah. My review was actually processed on time & ready for me on time. This is awesome! Now I had to wait all day (well, til 3p anyways) to see the results. I knew it wasn't entirely bad because she eluded the other day that I did, in fact, get an increase. Just how much was that increase going to be?

A year ago, when I started working in the department, I had a goal in my mind of how much of an increase I wanted. After realizing I was slacking in an area or two, I thought to myself, "there's no way I'm getting my desired increase." I was, however, pleasantly surprised with the amount she gave me. It was less than my desired amount, but more than what I thought I was getting. Actually, it was just about in the middle of what I had originally wanted & what I thought I would get.

What's also cool, in my opinion, is that I'll be getting promoted to the next "tech" level shortly, so that's another 5% increase in pay. Hopefully, that will happen within the next month. Ch-Ching!! I so can't wait.

With my additional income, I'm going to work at paying off my car even faster. According to the online calculators, I *should* have it paid off by 9/08 rather than 5/09 IF I am diligent in making those extra payments.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Grilled cheese sammies

2. Chicken noodle soup (condensed)

3. Bourbon street salad from Beba's Deli

4. Raisin bran cereal

5. Fiber One &/or Kashi cereals