howdy ho good neighbors...

i am happy to report that my week of convalescence is drawing to an end, with gallbladder successfully extracted and incisions healing right up...
it was admittedly rougher going than i had thought it would be. mostly i hadn't thought too much about how rough it would or wouldn't be, so i was surprised because of my lack of expectations, i suppose. the surgery itself wasn't the rough part since i was knocked out for it, but as soon as i started waking up, it was less than pleasant. i won't elaborate on one particular nurse's inability to perform a task that had to be performed before i could leave the recovery room... that was by far the low point of my hospital visit. four nurses later, i was out of there, like a turtle out of really thick mud. (that would be 'slowly')
the nausea is the worst, i tell you what. all of monday was spent feeling like i could die any second. my friend kristin took care of me in the recovery room and drove me home, then made sure i was all supplied with chicken noodle soup and pain pills before leaving me to konk out for a marathon of sleeping. it's a mercy that i was so sleepy, because every waking minute of that day was misery pure and simple, all because of the nausea. if they can figure out some way to have people recover from anesthesia without extreme nausea, they'll have hit on something good.
around midnight that night i woke up and was free of the queasiness, praise the lord, but still couldn't eat much. it's funny because they tell you to take your pain pills with food, but your body completely rejects food for the day or two after surgery -- what's a girl to do?
i eventually worked my way around to eating, and healing up, and walking around, and doing a heck of a lot more sleeping. i thought i would be bored with a whole week of doing nothing but recuperating, but it turns out that when you feel like doing nothing, it's not all that boring.
who'd've known?
i finally got a little bit stir crazy on friday, and i think i'll definitely be ready to get back to school on monday.
so there's the surgery report, for all you inquiring minds! thanks for your prayers and concerns -- it's very comforting to know how many people care. one of the men from my church came by the hospital right before i went in for surgery and prayed with me, and it truly was something special. different random people dropped by or called or sent flowers all week long. i felt loved. i'm very grateful for people.

when i get back to school where there's a scanner, i'll scan in one of the pictures they took from inside my stomach!! it's so cool!
something for you to look forward to.

deja vu?

you may remember hearing this... but i'm having gallbladder surgery on monday! what you may not remember is seeing this beautiful color image of your insides with appropriate labels included! i thought i'd take it a notch up so you wouldn't get bored hearing the same thing twice. the green gourd-shaped thing is what i'm getting taking out. the exciting part is that they pull it out of your belly button! i wish i could see that. granted, they do make a small incision in your belly button, it doesn't just open up for internal organ release as one of my friends thought i meant, but it would still be a neat trick -- to watch them pull it out of there...
wait, there's another cool part too! after they clamp and cut right below the gall bladder -- around the cystic duct area -- that part eventually will enlarge and begin acting like the gallbladder acts, performing the same functions and all! isn't that neat how the body compensates?
i think so.
one of my 9th graders had this same thing done last week, so i was able to see her incisions and hear her story. that was fun. it sort of freaked me out, just a tiny bit. not for any reason you might think -- i wasn't thinking i'd die or something -- i'm just really sad to have scars on my stomach! it's been so nice and smooth my whole life. a little flabby in its smoothness, but it hasn't had the trauma of say, an elbow or a knee. it's only been exposed to the sun a few times in its life, so it's a nice lily-white color...
now it's going to be marred. they're doing 3 laporoscopic incisions around the gallbladder area (high and to the right) and one inside my belly button.
i know they say that scars mean you've lived and they give you character... but i've had enough character imprinted on my body in other places.
i really am going to miss my unmarred belly. i'm also pretty emotional and hormonal this week, so i might just be over-reacting.
i'll be going in at 7 a.m. and the surgery's at 8:40. if you think of it, offer up a little prayer (again). last week the sweetest couple from my church came by the hospital looking for me in the morning, before i was able to get the word out that i wasn't there, and i felt so bad! they were coming to pray with me before the surgery. isn't that sweet?
i hope they try again.

'mugsy sent me!'

so the general gist of this play is that you're in the 1920's going to a speakeasy (with root beer, of course). you enter through a side door into one of the gym hallways, wander through a shopping district, are directed down a dark alley and are instructed to just tell the man, 'mugsy sent me' for admittance... after a winding arrival, you finally get to the door with the sliding window, tell the ominous eyes the password, and are allowed to enter the speakeasy.
during a spaghetti dinner, the play was acted out all around the tables and up on the new stage. the music and costumes were the best -- they made it really fun.

this set was more time-consuming than it could have been and turned out less cool than it might have... but the kids worked hard and enjoyed themselves. that's the important part, right? right.
they made papier-mache lamp posts & fire hydrants, brick walls, painted stacks of crates, turned boxes into crates with charcoal, turned styrofoam into boards with paint, created shop windows for the shopping district, traced shadows for the walls of the speakeasy party room, aged 1920's ads to look authentic, and did general odd jobs to make it all come together for the big night.
shannon gray (blonde) and sierra terry (short black wig) were amazing! i have them both in art so not only were they the main leads for the play, but they helped create the set also -- they were just all over the place.

next month, medieval dinner theater! it's the main production of the year. the whole commons will turn into a castle by the magic of the art department! we're very magical.

postponed impending doom

well the doom is still impending, but it's a little less immediate anyhow. i was scheduled to go in monday morning for the gallbladder surgery, but wouldn't you know it, sunday afternoon i got a case of raging flu action that laid me pretty low for the rest of that day... doctors aren't too keen on operating if you're recovering from something else at the time, so it's been rescheduled for the 25th.
you might think i have some sort of mental psychosis that brought this physical ailment upon myself to avoid the procedure... i suppose NEXT sunday will be the deciding factor. if i get abducted by aliens or spontaneously donate a kidney to my long lost sister twice removed, then i think it's safe to wonder.

until then, i'll just keep thinking god had a reason he didn't want me to have surgery yesterday. even though i was still pretty under the weather on monday, i got quite a lot of stuff done -- laundry, bank, library, etc... it was nice to have a day off. i thought about just keeping the sub for the whole week and spending the time doing other fun things, but then i'd have to take all next week off as well, and it might just get boring. i'll save up my time off activities for next week i suppose.

it was so fun to be back at school today though! i think a day off is sometimes really good for teacher/student relations. they need time to realize how good they got it :-) i told them i'd be taking mondays off from now on so they'd appreciate me more.
there's so many heavy things going on with some of them though -- it makes me so sad. i don't really know what i'm supposed to do with the information i hear... or if i'm supposed to do anything but listen...

anyhow, coming soon -- pictures of the play set! the costumes are really the best part about the pictures, but i had nothing to do with them. my favorite thing about the play was the music -- it was SO fun! jazzy 1920's music is the coolest.

impending doom

well the play is over, praise the lord above, and i just have the residual stress knots in my shoulders to deal with. i wish i had pictures of the set to show you -- it turned out well for the most part. not as good as i envisioned, but all in all, a success.
life is looking pretty good right about now. a whole week off of work, some good pain drugs to make it go by fast, and the possibility of going to any business i want during business hours... i might just go to the bank and sit there for a while, just because i can. maybe get my hair trimmed...?
the whole surgery thing is just a minor blip in these wonderful plans i have for the week. i had a pre-registration sort of thing yesterday -- blood work, etc, which made it sink in a bit more that i'm actually having surgery monday. with everything going on, i don't think it's all that real to me. just as well -- no need to add stress that won't do any good to stress over anyways.

i'll be a bit incomunicado for a while, so i'll just take this opportunity to say so long and i love you all! if you could cast a prayer in my direction monday morning, it would be appreciated :-) i'll be going in at 6 a.m. and the surgery's sometime around 8... i don't know what we'll be doing for 2 hours, but i'm sure it will be important.

pray

this is a picture of natalie & alonso cano. i grew up with natalie -- her parents are missionaries in mexico. natalie & alonso have been serving in mexico for the past few years as well.
tuesday night alonso was struck by a drunk driver. early wednesday morning he passed away. please pray for natalie, their 3 children, & all of their families. this is such a tragedy. alonso was an amazing guy. i can't imagine how much he will be missed.

www.ntm.org /news/3948

the superior male

while i'm on the soccer topic, i find myself wondering a few things. the foremost thing i find myself wondering is why the men on a co-ed team have to be the way they are?! they have this whole superiority complex thing going on that is just infuriating to me. last night we had another pick-up game that was fun, but the guys were seriously lacking in the humility realm. there's such a huge difference between a guy with a solid sense of his abilities but who still defers to those around him and a guy with a solid sense of his abilities who assumes those abilities trump everyone else's.
i've long had this bone to pick with the egotistical male population (and no, i'm not calling the entire male population egotistical -- the 'egotistical male population' is a sub-sector of the 'male population). it doesn't seem to be just soccer -- i gave up ultimate frisbee a long time ago for the very same reason. plus it's just not my favorite sport -- perhaps skills in throwing frisbees would be helpful.

i suppose the moral of the story is, if i ever do get married, humility is a quality i find very attractive and will look for in a man.

soccer!!

last night was so glorious!! we got a bunch of people together and played a bit of soccer and it was so great!! i'd forgotten how much i love it. did i mention it was fun?!
lately i've just had soccer on the brain -- i keep thinking we should start up some sort of intramural soccer at the high school i teach at, or at least get people together more often -- maybe join a city league or something.

soccer is in the same part of me that speaking spanish is. this may not make sense, but when i speak spanish it brings back a whole world of culture and growing up and people, like turning the channel in my brain to mexico... soccer is the same way -- it brings up all the practices and games and friends from high school. it's strange how life gets compartmentalized like it does -- each chapter has its own flavor and smell and texture. the smallest sensory reminder can take you back to that time like it was yesterday.

all that to say, i miss playing soccer. i think the last time was actually during intramurals in college that fateful night when i tore my ACL... that was over 4 years ago! it's high time to get back in the game.
it's just not as easy to find a game to get back into when you're a 28 year old art teacher :-)

dating update

this e-harmony thing is pretty fun, although i can't say i've taken the plunge yet. basically they keep sending you matches to your e-mail and you can read about different guys -- they let you read a basic page that gives a general description of their personality and has some of their answers to questions (i.e. what are you passionate about? what could you not live without? etc...) and then you're supposed to eventually sign up, at which point you can start talking to any one or all of the matches, see their pictures, fall in love, and live happily ever after in wedded bliss.

right now i'm enthusiastically enjoying just reading about these really amazing-sounding guys that are out there. it's sort of reassuring to just know that there indeed does exist a number of good solid guys with integrity (or at least ones who know how to present themselves in a convincing way that makes you think they have integrity...)

sometimes i wonder if there's just even a normal good guy out there ANYwhere, since my personal interactions with guys in general have convinced me otherwise.

i don't know if i'll ever go all the way in the online dating world, but for now i'm having a good time almost-dating.

dating in our generation

i've always had a pretty narrow-minded view of the whole online dating world... until one night of babysitting boredom changed my mind. (okay yes, it's tonight and i'm still babysitting and still bored)
at some point in my online past, i've found myself on eharmony's mailing list -- i get e-mails from them all the time. i usually delete them along with the other random spam mail, but tonight i found myself actually clicking on one and reading about them... they have you fill out a personality profile before signing up with a pretty detailed compilation of questions that delve into the 29 layers of the soul, or some such byline (i know 29 is part of it, but don't quote me on the rest)
i went ahead and did it, mostly because who can resist a questionaire? i know i can't.
about half an hour later, i was thoroughly analyzed on every one of the 29 layers, and then was told to click the button to instantly find matches within my specified distance that would be compatible to beginning a relationship. this is still without signing up, so i think to myself, 'why not?' and click away.
wouldn't you know that the first guy they bring up sounds like a really cool neat christian fellow?
i don't know if they have stock characters on file that match up with your soul to get you intrigued and willing to shell out the big bucks, or if he's a real person, but he sounds very neat. the fun thing is, you never really have to sign up, they'll just keep e-mailing you matches, and you can keep reading about them but never committing. you can't see their picture or find out how to contact them, but you can read quite a bit about them.
maybe i'll just keep reading about people and imagining, but never take the plunge.

mostly the whole thing makes me wonder how proactive we're supposed to be in the relationship realm. the underlying theme that most christians will spout is that god will provide, you just need to wait on his perfect timing. does that also apply to finances? do we sit at home and wait for god to provide a paycheck? no, we go to work, like every normal person agrees is the good thing to do. applying the concept across to relationships, that begs the question, what is the appropriate way to 'go to work' at finding a spouse?!
that's where we all sit and scratch our heads.

in the meantime, while the question's being pondered by the big minds of our generation, i'm going to keep reading these matches and wondering who these guys are out their in the nether regions of cyberspace.