Ultrasound

I had my ultrasound today and the technician brought in an x-ray doc to take a look at it as well, and neither of them saw anything ‘scary.’ I was glad that the technician got a second opinion because she seemed young and inexperienced. She even asked me to spell ‘synthroid.’ Have you ever had a medial professional ask you how to spell something? If she only knew how great of a speller I really am.

Anyway, the doctor said that even though he didn’t see anything the tissue could still be I there, and it might have been laying flat causing it not to be visible on the ultrasound. He said I could come in and get more tests as well if need be.

I’m taking it as good news as I assume I won’t have to have another surgery. I don’t feel 100% relieved though, because I know there I'll still have to take more tests. Of course good news to me would be no tests at all!

It’s also unsettling to me that they didn’t find anything. At least if they found something then we would know why my test came back positive, ya know? At least one thing would have been answered and we could have headed in the correct direction to fix it. Now I guess we will just be troubleshooting? Trying to hunt down the mysterious tissue?

I’m very curious to see what my doctor says next week, and what the next step(s) will be.

Finds

Sorry for the lack of posts. This past weekend was pretty busy, and I didn't get much done, although I have no idea what I spent my time doing. Well I do know one thing I did. I looked through some boxes of old photos that my mom gave to me that were my grandma's. It definitely wasn't as big of a job when I did it for my other grandma last year, but here are two gems that I came across.

Here is a super cute photo of my grandma:

Here is the baby announcement my mom sent to her when I was born:

I wonder if my grandma found the baby photo in her mom's stuff when she passed away. Makes you wonder. I'm really excited to have this though. I didn't even know my mom sent out announcements!

I also came across some other photos that I had never seen before, which is always neat. You know Grandma's always have their own photo stashes of their grand kids.

I have a blog list of items I need to tell you guys about. Don't worry! I'll get to them eventually! Hope you all had a nice weekend!

Team Ugly Brown

In spite of all my blues yesterday at least I had one little ray of light…PROJECT RUNWAY! Thank god! What made it even better is that John and I accidentally found out that it now airs at 6pm! We just signed up with DirectTV this week, and as John was perusing the list of recorded shows he saw that PR was on there. He decided to play it before he erased it and as we started watching it we realized it was the new episode!! We are having some difficulty figuring out how to record a series of shows, but it looked like we lucked out with the PR recording.

Before we even get to this week’s challenge I must say how ANNOYING Suede is! All he ever does is talk about himself in the third person. Who does he think he is? Did he see that Seinfeld episode of George, (doing the same thing), one too many times? What is worse is that he thinks he’s SO awesome when he’s just annoying. At least he can back up his annoyingness with his work. I really liked the dress he made for the challenge…oops! I’m ahead of myself.

So the challenge…pick environmentally friendly fabrics for a cocktail gown and the client is your model. The twist? The models will pick out the fabric! I really didn’t think the twist would be that big of a deal, but I’ll have to give the producers credit for this one. Who knew models don’t know anything about fabrics? It really makes you wonder. Maybe they looked at it as a mini shopping spree for $75? All I know is the majority of the designers were pissed at what they had to work with. Probably half of the models picked a brown or ivory satin, (which I guess is really hard to work with).

Rocker lady was complaining AGAIN in this episode saying that she wants to make styles she’s used to making, and she’s never made anything like this before…blah…blah…blah. I seriously do not think she’s ever seen one episode of this show! Then she started going off about how much she loved leather, and that once she pooped a leather turd and then made it into a hat.

In the end, her dress was really ugly, but the judges liked it because she put a bit of herself into it. Big surprise! She did the same thing she did the week before which was have an exterior stitch going up the side of the dress. We will see how many times it takes before the judges get tired of it. They always do.

I must say that these two dresses were awful as well! I can’t believe that blue peacock dress didn’t make it into the bottom. What is that gaping breast hole? The fabric covering her boobs doesn’t look like it fits at all.

For the dress on the right, I think the judges said it perfectly that no woman wants extra fabric on her butt/thighs!!! Who wants that area emphasized? Oh look! My ass is about to take flight! Look out below!!

Below is crazy Tan Man who made the diaper leotard last week. I actually like it this dress. DANG IT!

Here is another dress that was part of Team Ugly Brown. Now I thought this had potential, however the designer opted NOT to listen to Tim Gun, and she almost got the boot for it. When will these designers learn? There is normally more than one designer EVERY season who doesn’t listen to him and then they get kicked off the show. Tim was totally right too. He told her that she was over working the details, and needed to tone it down…exactly what the judges said. We will see if she learned her lesson next week.

Here is the winning dress on the left and the second runner up dress on the right. Aren’t they both so cute? I hate to admit that Suede designed the winning dress, but it was impressive. The whole top is made out of strips of fabric. I think the judges (and I) really appreciated the time and effort he put into it. And it’s cute to boot! Totally hip and young.

I also think the runner up dress is great. Don’t you love the collar? This was made by the rock-a-billy chick who is so cute! I wonder if I could pull off that look.

Here is the loser dress. Isn’t it awful? The whole time he kept working on it, it continually went downhill. However I must say that the outfit he was wearing on the runway was than his dress! I really think that is why they gave him the boot. He was wearing shorts and read loafers with no socks. Did anyone else catch that eye sore?

They also had a special guest judge this episode. They said it was someone who represented ‘young Hollywood.’ My guess was Miley Cyrus, and boy was I wrong. It was Natalie Portman! John and I were both so excited as she is one of our fave actresses. But ‘young Hollywood’? Spare me! She is older than at least a quarter of the contestants. Maybe she’s considered ‘young’ because she’s younger than most of the PR staff. Whatever. It didn’t matter though, because she’s so cute. Did anyone notice how huge Heidi looked next to her on the runway? E-gads! Talk about the odd couple!

Overall this episode was enjoyable, but nothing could compare to last week’s designs, (or challenge for that matter). I think the materials that the designers had to work with last week really made a difference in the pieces that were created. Until next time…carry on!

When it Rains it Pours

Sorry for the lack of posts. Things haven’t been going the smoothest over the last few weeks, although I did have a great time in LA last weekend that I need to blog about. I’ve just been lazy. Not the most motivated, but now I feel like I can share some downer news with you. Not interested? No prob! Go here, and don’t click on your back button.

First of all, my grandma passed away last night. Two days ago she started throwing up blood and then went into a coma. She had actually been bed ridden for the past five months, so I’m hoping she is happier now, wherever she is. I can’t believe I’ve lost both of my Grandma’s within the last two years. I’m done with death and funerals. Comprende? So all of you start taking your vitamins ASAP!

I don’t have too many photos of my grandma and I since she hated getting her photo taken, but here is one from my bridals shower 5 years ago.

On to more not so fun news…

After I took my radiation pill last year the next step was to get some blood work done 9-12 months after. So this past week I got some hormone shots and then a few days later got some blood drawn. The main goal of the tests were to see if there were any thyroid cells left in my body, (which there shouldn’t be). I talked with my Dr. today and he said that one test showed that there is still some thyroid tissue left in my body. He said it’s normal to have left over tissue after surgery, but it’s not normal to have it after radiation. He said we need to find out if it’s good tissue or residual tumor. Interesting right? What the heck is this left over tissue/cells doing in my body? I hope they are on vaca minding their own business and not causing any problems.

The doc wants me to get an ultra sound first, and then depending on those results I may have more tests and possibly another biopsy. NO THANK YOU! I’ll pass on that one, (that first biopsy was so awful). Too bad I don’t have an option right? I think I may ask the ultra sound technician if he can see anything. He can tell me that right? Just not make any predictions of what he sees. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get another photo of it printed out, but I’ll see what I can do.

I have the feeling that if the tissue is large enough to see on the ultra sound then my doctor will want it biopsied. I wouldn’t think it could be that big. Hopefully if they do need to biopsy it, it will be big enough to get a sample. What if it isn’t big enough to biopsy? What if they can’t find anything, yet my blood work says there is something still there? I wonder how accurate blood tests are.

Anyway, if all these tests go that far I’m then wondering if I will have to take another radioactive iodine pill. That would make the most sense right? Try to kill the remaining tissue? That sounds ok to me. I don't want any scalpels involved. Although wait…what about my PTO that I’ve been saving for 7 months for my Italian adventure this October?? As of now I should have 14 days saved by the time of my trip. I should only need to use 9, which would leave me with 5 for a possible quarantine. I guess that would be ok but COME ON!!! There is no way I should have to deal with this AGAIN! I vowed I would not miss more than a day of work this year from being sick. I will never forgive my thyroid for causing me to only have one week of vaca last year. The nerve!

I feel pretty ill about the whole thing. I was trying to remember how I felt last year, and I don’t think I felt anything. I was just in shock for a few weeks until they stuck me with the IV. Now I know what to expect…I’ve been through this before. Will it make it easier? I don’t think so. Oh my god…if I have to have radiation again, then I will also have to do the ‘cleanse’ for the body scan! Oye!!!

I’ll try to stay positive and hope for the best. It’s hard, but as John reminded me, thyroid cancer is one of the best ones to have. Thank you Mrs. Thyroid, (where ever you are), for being the best.

Is that a Coffee Filter?

As most of you smart people may know, the season premiere of Project Runway 5 was on last night at 9pm! (Why is the time slot so important you may ask? Well I can now watch it the night it airs, instead of having to wait a day. You know I need my beauty sleep).

I’m assuming most of you saw it, but if you did not and are planning on watching it later, please don’t read any further (in case you want to know what happens.)

Let’s see…where should I start. Maybe at the challenge since it is/was my FAVORITE challenge EVER?? They took the very first PR challenge and threw it at the new contestants to see what they would do with it. Here’s $30 bucks…go see what you can make a garment out of at the GROCERY STORE! Brilliant I tell you! Just brilliant!

I almost died when I only saw one contestant buying live vegetation. Did NONE of them watch season one? Who were these posers? I guess some of them did watch season one, but did NONE of them learn ANYTHING?? The one huge factor in Austin’s season one victory was because he used live vegetation! I couldn’t believe it. (I must say that I was so pumped that they brought him on to be the guest judge! He is by far one of my all time fave designers and totally got the shaft in his season. Don't even get me started.)

They even interviewed the contestant who is named ‘Suede’ (a real winner), and he said he saw the first season, but never thought about what he would have done in that situation! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Even I thought about what I would do, and I’m not even a designer! Some people I swear.

Then they show the rocker designer and she’s buying garbage bags. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Another derelict who did not watch season one? The first dude that got kicked off on season one made a dress out of garbage bags!

I told John that I could do a better job on the show then some of the contestants and I’m not even a designer! I was really quite disgusted.

A ton of designers also used tablecloths, which was pretty disappointing. I mean I know it is the first round and people want to play it safe to stay in the competition, but still. Kind of boring.

Here’s my breakdown of a few selected designs:

The vegetation dress. Of course this scored high. Duh. She also used table clothes, but this didn’t really look like a tablecloth like the other constant’s designs did. I thought it was pretty neat, and I liked the garnish.

The cup dress. Yes he made this out of plastic cups! Isn’t it amazing? I totally thought he wouldn’t finish it in time but he did. Very impressive, although he looked super pissed that he didn’t win.

The vacuum cleaner bag dress. This is what beat Mr. Cuppy. Isn’t it cute? Granted I don't think coffee filter boob covers will be the latest and greatest thing in fashion, but if you are flat as a board like the models then you'd have nothing to worry about. Don't panic... I don't plan adding the filters into my wardrobe antyime soon. I love that she used dye and bleach on the bags, when no one else thought of altering their materials.

The psycho killer raincoat ensemble. Wasn’t this just AWFUL? I would have been so embarrassed if I was this designer…and he was SO cocky! Just from his first interview I didn’t like him. (Granted the majority of the designers seem really cocky compared to past seasons, but he was a little much for me.) I'm wondering if he would have given her some heels and gotten rid of the gloves if it would have have helped. Who knows.

The diaper dress. As much as I hated the American Psycho combo, I think I hated this more. First of all…what the hell is it? Is it supposed to be a bathing suit? A leotard? A body suit? A bodice? A nighttime bed-wetting device? How come none of the judges asked these questions? I’m sure it was because they were so shocked and could not take their eyes way from the white snow crotch. I'm really hoping this designer gets the boot soon. I mean anyone who is obsessed with tanning has a serious prob.

Side Notes:
- Did any of you notice that some of the models actually had boobs this season? I was totally shocked.
- As much as I love the gay guys, I almost love the straight guy more, as I feel he is a total under dog.
- I love how there is such a wide variety of personality types this season among the woman. We have rocker/rock-a-billies and a few nerds. It should be interesting to see how their designs differ.

I know last season I was all pumped and planning on writing up reviews of each episode. We all know how well that lasted…all of one post. Not sure if I will try that this season since I know not all of you watch the show, and I don't want to bore my readers!

Boob Tube

John and I have a perfectly good working color TV that we aren't using. Do any of you have any ideas where we could donate it? I'd rather give it to an organization/shelter then take it to Goodwill. Should I call some old folks homes? I really have no direction regarding this. However if YOU would like an awesome TV you are more the welcomed to come and pick it up. Sorry delivery not included.

Say What?

Today at lunch John was snacking on some peanuts. Right after he took a bite he started walking towards me and didn't stop until he was right in front of my face. I started to back up and asked him what he was doing.

John (with mouth full of peanuts): You had a white fuzzy in your hair.

Me: Dude! Keep your mouth closed! I don't need to see your nuts.

The Haircut '08

Ta Da!! What do you think? I absolutely LOVE it! I can't believe the cut looks so good on me! If you had only seen how bad my short hair cut I had 12 years ago looked, you would understand. If you are lucky I will look for a photo and scan it in for you this week. But only if you leave me LOTS of comments...total blackmail I know. Wait...is that considered blackmail? Oh whatever, you know I will look for the photo anyway.
This is the only photo of the do I got after it was styled and it was took on my cell phone in Staples. Not the best move, because the style got destroyed during the rest of the day by doing yard work and laying out in the sun. The back was all nice and brushed under, but once it got wet it stuck out like a stiff leg.

My nightmare did not come true and John was able to cut off the hair, although my hair dresser, Marijke, started the cut. It was totally weird to know that he was cutting off all my hair!

Here I am supposed to look scared even though I look excited. I obviously do not have a wide range of facial expressions.

An action shot. Marijke stood in as the paparazzi and did a fabulous job!

It's off! Doesn't it look puny? Kind of disappointing that it looks like a little dog tail.

The sensation of the cut reminded me of Sixteen Candles and what Caroline Mulford must have felt when her best friend cut off the back of her hair.

The morning after:

I did a practice round of fixing my hair this afternoon, so come Monday morning I wouldn't be stressing out about it. Even though there is a lot less hair, it will take a few times before I get it down fast. The hair in the back is SO short that it was really hard to get to lay flat. That is why it looks a little curvy. Here is a more final after shot:
I knew I wouldn't be looking that good before my actual hair cut, so I had to do a few photo shoots during the week.
Of course I had to capture my hair straight AND curly. I'm hoping that if I do try to wear my hair curly, that it won't look quite like an Afro due to the a-line cut of the style. Who knows though. I might have do to a practice run of that on a weekend.

I totally think I've maxed out the number of photos you are supposed to post of yourself on your blog. E-gads!

Quick survey...how much are you supposed to tip your hair dresser? I've always tipped 15% like at restaurants. Please leave comment and let me know!

Ode to mi pelo

As the day of my hair execution is rapidly approaching, I thought I would take a moment to reflect on things you short haired people do not experience. I know that once I get my hair cut I too will not remember what it is like to have long hair, so what better way to remember it then to document it, right?

Let me just say that the last time my hair was this long I was 5 or 6 years old. No joke. My mom finally got tired of having miserable hair fixing sessions with me and whacked it all off. Just so you know, I have a really sensitive head. I wasn't just being a brat. You know my sister never believed me? It wasn't until a few years ago that she met someone else with a real sensitive head that she realized I wasn't lying. Anyway, after the hair cut I was then referred to as a boy for many years, but I'll save that for another entry.

Where was I? Oh right, my current long hair. I'm not sure why it took me 25 years to finally grow my hair out. I actually like it long, and I totally look like Catherine Zeta Jones. Seriously. In fact I look PRETTIER! I bet I could become a movie star with this hair. Seriously. I'm so generous to risk my possible film career to help out some ladies with cancer. Don't worry, I'm already patting myself on the back.

Where was I? Geesh! What is with these tangents today?

Ok…so the following things are things I've noticed since having long hair (past my shoulders):

- Sometimes when I lean against something or sit back in a chair I also lean on my hair which causes me immobility of my head. Total handicap.

- Sometimes when I put my deodorant on my hair likes to think it's cute by sneaking in my armpit and getting stuck like a fly on a flytrap.

- If I wear a short-sleeved shirt I can feel my hair on the upper part of my arm. That took a little bit to get used to. I kept thinking there was a bug on me. Also, if I wear a V-neck shirt I can feel my hair on my chest, which is also weird.

- The last few weeks here have been pretty warm here in SLO, and I've recently noticed how hot my long hair makes me. I've had a little longer than shoulder length hair before, but that is different, then middle of the back length hair. It is definitely easier for air to get under shorter hair than longer. Due to the increased heat on the weekends I wear my hair pulled back throughout Sat. and Sun. What is the point of having long hair if you pull it back the whole time?

- I've also noticed that with longer hair that it can really become a visual obstacle. For example, when I go to the bathroom, sometimes my hair gets in the way and I can't see what is going on, down below. TMI? TOO BAD! These are serious issues when you have long hair!

- One cool thing is that I can see a lot of my hair. I remember having to strain my eyeballs to one side to try to see my hair back in the day. Now I can look down and see it.

I've been trying to prep for The Haircut of '08, so when I look at myself in the mirror I put my hands in front of my hair and try to envision what I will look like with short hair. I haven't found this to be very successful. I mean I get a vision, but it not an attractive one.

The only other time I had really short hair was when I cut it off to get rid of my perm, (in '96), and it had no style. I looked REALLY bad. So with that being the only short hair reference I have, I've become a little paranoid.

I asked John last night if he thought I would look ok with short hair, and he said of course I would. However last night we BOTH had nightmares about my hair cut!

Mine took place tonight…Thursday night. I decided on a whim that I would just cut off my own hair before my actual hair cut. Why not? I had the scissors, what could go wrong? So I whacked it off, and then proceeded to style it with curls. However I cut it so short that I gave myself a total mini Afro!! You know the look. All of our mom's, (or mom's friends), all had the permed Afro in the 80s. I was completely MORTIFIED that I had wrecked my hair, then had to go to work looking like that, and because John was supposed to cut my hair and I totally took that away from him.
In John's dream we were in the hair salon and my hairdresser picked up a some clippers and shaved off my pony tail! John totally freaked out and asked her what she was doing, and she told him not to worry since I would wearing a wig! She then proceeded to give me the Brittney Spears and shaved off the rest of my hair doing a really bad job...leaving chunks of hair at all different lengths.

I could not believe that John had such a bad dream. What is worse is that it gave our hair dresser totally got a bad rep! She is far from the psycho lady that was in the dream, and is by far the best hairdresser I have ever had. Most of the time I just let her do what she wants, and I'm always pleased with what she does.

I'm thinking I will go with a mix of Posh Spice and Jenny McCarthy's dos, but maybe not so linear, and possibly with a few wispy bangs.

Will I be stylin' like a movie star, or will I need to invest in some new hats? Stay tuned!

Fogworks on the 4th

John and I decided to make an 'All American Meal' for our fourth of July celebration. First we brainstormed of what we considered all American dishes. We came up with the following:

Fried Chicken
Watermelon Salad
BBQ Corn on the Cobb
Lemonade

Now I know some of you are wondering where potato salad is, but as you know I do not like potato salad so that was out. We also BBQed for lunch as that was a must. I was pretty impressed with all the new recipes we tried. Here is my break down:

The chicken was really good...but of course it was fried, so that was a given.

The corn was good as well. I had never had it with so many spices before, which was a nice change.

The lemonade really was the best lemonade ever. It was a tad too sweet for me, but the following day it was more bitter, which was better. I had never made it from scratch before, which was pretty neat.

The watermelon salad was good, but also a little odd. I liked it with the feta, but the basil added a bit of a weird taste. Granted it could just be that I'm not used to those flavor combinations, but it was still nice for a chance.
After we pigged out on dinner I then realized that I should have tried a new all-American dessert! I blew it. Oh well. Maybe I will do that next weekend. I really enjoy cooking when I have time...i.e. on the weekend vs. the weekdays.

Here is another photo of John slaving over the stove:

After our dinner settled we decided to heat north to Morro Bay to check out the fireworks. As we headed north we drove right into the fog. Hmmmm we thought about turning around, but were optimistic and stayed with the task. We drove down near the water and totally lucked out by finding an empty bench, while everyone else had brought their own chairs.

The fireworks started and let me just say we saw a lot of colored fog. Occasionally there would be a few low fireworks that we could see, but we decided to get in the car and drive up a hill to see if we could see the fireworks in Cayucus as well. We couldn't see those fireworks but I think there were few boats in the water that were lighting their own which were good, and away from the fog. We did wind up seeing a few more of the ones from Morro Bay as there was a break in the fog, however overall it was pretty disappointing. Let me just say that it doesn't compare at all to having your own firework show in your back yard.

A+

Italian class went good tonight. We got there early enough to stake out our seats away from Mr. Throat Clearer. He was still somewhat obnoxious pronouncing words a split second before our teacher. Next weeks plan is to sit on the other side of the classroom, as far away from him as possible.

The only highlight came when John and I went up to the teacher after class to ask her a few questions. As we were leaving I told her Buona Notte, (good night), but I miss pronounced it, and John said 'Prego' (you are welcome), instead of thank you! I'm sure we made her very proud.