Exhausted and Dirty

Holy crap on toast, I am so pooped right now! My legs are throbbing in pain from walking. (Oh God am I ever lame. Pretend that they're sore from snorkeling through the Caribbean instead.)

I'm lying in bed but my brain is going a hundred miles a minute, and if Aimee called me right now to babysit I would jump up and jog over. My brain and legs are so contrary because I just cleaned for eleven hours in one go. (You know what would sound impressive? If I said 'eleven hours and I cleaned the house top to bottom'. But that would be someone else's blog, because you know what?) It took me eleven hours to clean my room.

I'll just let you absorb that little tidbit of horrifying information.

Seriously. Whose room is so gross it takes eleven hours to make it clean? WHOSE? (Sidenote; since I am so tired normal things are looking weird, and I just noticed that "whose" is "w"-"hose" and it's weird that the word "hose" is in a possessive form of "who". Now, onward!) Really, who has such a dirty room? There's only so much dusting and vacuuming a person can do before they keel over.

Those of you who know me and/or have seen my dirty room are probably shaking your heads right now in disbelief that I am pretending shocked disbelief. Well, YOU ARE RIGHT. I AM DIRTY. My room is dirty and full of dust and cat litter and EW, if I think about it then yes, I get grossed out too. So I don't.

I wish I had taken a "before" picture but you will have to use your memories for that and settle for "after" pictures. I dusted and vacuumed and mopped repeatedly, threw away and donated and organized and neatened (as strange as it is I am slightly OCD about things being in order. My room can be a hurricane but MY BOOKSHELF WILL BE IN THE RIGHT ORDER. Everything in it's proper place! Or ELSE.) and now my room is so beautiful that I simply must share it with you . . .

. . . tomorrow. (Hey, I'm exhausted and sore here. Ninight!)

Belated Post:: Happy Father's Day!!!

Hi Dad!

Lots of love and Happy Father's Day thoughts to you! I had fun at the Rivercats baseball game where you explained what in tarnation was going on. (Our whole family plus Nick went down to sit in the hot sun and drink lemonade and beer and eat super huge hot dogs and fish tacos and tostadas and burritos, mmm!) It was a lot of fun even though the Rivercats lost, and I'll see you at the game next year! I love you lots and lots, and even though I can't make you brownies for Daddy's Day like usual because of your high blood sugar, just pretend I did. ^_^

Smooches,

Katie

"A Possible Never-Ending Cycle of DOOM"

Yesterday, Nick and I drove to Sacramento to find an apartment for us to move into by mid-August. We looked at four separate apartments: one was old and friendly, one was big with vaulted ceilings and a large balcony (let's call it "Drum" because that's the moniker stuck in my head when I think about it; I have no idea why), one was out of large one bedrooms and only had a junior which made me feel claustrophobic, and one had no availabilities.

On the drive home (exhausted, hungry, tired, slightly cranky) we stopped for Chipotle and discussed which we liked best and why. Our favorite was Drum, because of the tall ceilings and the balcony, and the beautiful flowering trees outside the windows, and because it was a gated community. It was even within our budget, more so if we chose a twelve-month lease. Unfortunately, Drum was a few miles farther away from where we want to be, so it's back to the drawing board.

Which is where I am right now. Let me just tell you how tired I am of apartment rental sites and management company sites. However! My two hours of googling has turned up eight new possible apartments, four of which are perfectly situated near the school Nick will be attending.

Now we just have to go back down to Sac and look at those, and then probably find more apartments in a never-ending cycle of apartment searching doom. Wish us luck!

(On the bright side, I adore imagining what our apartment will look like so it's not all repetition and sorrow.)

In case you were curious

. . . Lexapro tastes like shiznit. I took it tonight (it's my anti-anxiety pill) and took a second too long in between popping the pill and swallowing some water, and GAH! EW! YUCK! Horrible faces, etc. etc.

My solution to all of you lovely people out there; avoid getting so stressed that you cause yourself to need anxiety medication because at some point you will taste it and it is GROSS.

My solution to the producers of Lexapro is two words: CANDY. COATING. (Seriously. Advil makes deeelicious pain relief that I always suck on for an extra few seconds because mmm, it tastes like Skittles. Producers of Lexapro, I am already paying an arm and a leg for your white powdery magic pills, can't you make them taste better?

(See the type of things I get upset over? Is it any wonder that I am on anxiety meds?)

Troy and Quentin: Graduation 2010

My baby brothers graduated high school and are officially unleashed upon the world in all their green and white glory.


It was a wonderful ceremony and they said very sweet and funny things about them. Also; it was HOT. It's very hard to concentrate on ceremonies when the sun is beating down on your back and the rays are reflecting off the bleachers.

Itchy Oh God Oh God

I have never in my life before been this ridiculously itchy and I don't know why I am but I just can't stop itching it started yesterday on my back before I went swimming and it spread and agh it wouldn't stop and then it did and this this morning I woke up and my back started to itch and I spent ten minutes scratching and showed mom and she said my back was red all over and looked like I had hives and went upstairs to get Benadryl still itching and came down then it stopped.

Then I took a Benadryl anyways just to be sure and ten minutes later my leg started itching and it still is and oh god this is ridiculous but it is an insane itch and you MUST SCRATCH IT OR THERE WILL BE DOOM.


Update: Those warning labels on Benadryl that say they cause drowsiness aren't kidding. I fell asleep around noon and am still tired. Soooo sleepyzzzzzzz.

All's Well that Ends Well

Mom is recovering nicely at home from her gallbladder surgery. I pester her hourly with questions on how she is feeling, what number is her pain, does she need more tea, what does she want to eat, does she need to nap, and how long it's been since she used her respirator breathe-y thing that prevents pneumonia.

She is still fatigued and tires easily but is in good spirits and feels so much better! She gets two weeks off of work and six weeks before she is fully recovered. Thank you so much to everyone who has asked how she's doing and sent love! She appreciates you guys very much. Me, too. :)

Well, THAT was interesting

Things I have never done:

1) Driven someone to the ER at 2am

2) Spent the night in the ER


Things I learned last night:

1) Mom is not always right,

and,

2) Hospital chairs are really uncomfortable and you just can't sleep on them.


Things that I am grateful for:

1) That my mom is feeling better,

and,

2) The amazing doctors and staff at our local hospital who were so kind and thoughtful, even though the ER was really busy,

and,

3) The pain relief drugs that the doctors gave to my mom to make her feel better.


Things that I have realized:

1) Two hours of sleep will, in fact, keep you going through the night.

2) Those two hours will even enable your brain to understand what the doctor is saying about gallstones and ultrasounds and elevated white blood cells.


Things I fully anticipate happening:

1) My mommy feeling better soon,

2) Myself taking a loooong nap. Preferably now, except I leave for work in a half hour.


So. This morning I got a phone call from my mom at 2am. She told me she was downstairs and didn't feel good and asked me to come down. I did, knowing that my mom hates asking for help when she's sick and also knowing that she has been having bad heartburn/gastritis problems for a while now. Suffice to say, my mom was in severe pain and it wasn't from heartburn. She has already taken two Aciphex and one Protonix and two doses of Pepto Bismol, to no effect. She wanted strong pain meds for the pain and anti-nausea drugs. I refused, (sorry, mom!) and told her I was taking her to the hospital. Dad and I packed her up and drove the fifteen minutes to our local hospital where they admitted her with acute abdominal pain and immediately put her in a room. Within the hour she had an IV and had two pain meds and a sleep aid being pumped in and was feeling so much better she could doze.

Her doctor (wonderful, funny man) believes she has a problem with her gallbladder. Whether it's an infection, gallstones, or sledge . . . we don't know. She just had an ultrasound and we are waiting for the results that will determine whether or not she is released or if she needs a surgery to remove her gallbladder. I'll update when I know more.

Updated 9:30pm:

The ultrasound this morning at about 7:30am revealed at least one gallstone right at the duct of her gallbladder. The doctor decided surgery was the best thing and mom had her surgical consult about 9:30am. I headed over as soon as I was done with work, about 1:00pm, and had about half an hour with mom before they wheeled her off to the surgical corridor and we met her anesthesiologist, surgeon, and nurse.

Then we went to the ICU waiting room, and waited. About an hour and fifteen minutes later the surgeon came out and told us it went great, she did wonderfully, and that the gallbladder was big and distended, inflamed, and had a couple of stones in it. He said she probably was in more pain than she let on and that she will feel so much better with them out.

And he's right! We got to go in the recuperating area where mom was the only patient, and talked with her while she woke up. She sure was funny. Still smart, asking medical questions, but forgetting what we had already told her because of the general anesthesia. They wheeled her to her room after an hour and she has been dozing on and off all night. She is doing great. The pain is manageable, she says it is much improved from where she was with her gallbladder, and is talking and moving. Mom should be sent home tomorrow morning!

Remarks of Wisdom from my Dad, Regarding the Gallbladder Surgery, Made to the Surgeons:

"Keep all your ducts in a row!" and, "Leave no stone unturned!"

Favorites

Things that Katie Loves, Like, A Lot:

1) Burn Notice (TV series with Jeffrey Donovan, about an ex-spy who helps people and is full of awesome.)

2) Diana Gabaldon's series of "Outlander" books. So long, but so worth it. Go Jamie!

3) Buffy the Vampire Slayer (chick who slays vampires and gets to hang out with Willow and Xander!)

4) Chocolate.

5) Novels by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes and Tamora Pierce (my favorites when I was younger). Some other faves: Janet Evanovich (Ranger!) and Harry Potter. I do love some Nora Roberts romance as well.

6) Country music: Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, Chuck Wicks (hot!), Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire, and lots more.

7) Sleeping. Napping. Reading in the sunlight and falling asleep.

8) Nick.

9) Listening to loud music and singing along in the car with the windows down.

10) Lip gloss! Chap sticks! Lip balms!

11) Steaming hot showers that turn me into a "boiled lobster", quoth Nick.

12) Blogs (Amalah and Dooce! Whee!)

13) Snuggling with my cats. Falling asleep with Oz purring next to my feet. Feeling Io do his very quiet purr by touching his throat in the mornings, where he sleeps on "his" pillow.

14) The smell of fresh-cut grass.

15) Driving home. I love the slow, slightly windy road and the tree in the middle of the road, and that I know a lot of my neighbors, and the wildflowers, and the cute houses, and the dogwoods, and the huge trees over the road.

That's all I can think of for now. I'm distracted by my six foster kittens attacking my bare legs with their needle teeth and claws. I'll add more later!