Top 10 highlights of 2011

This year as I have come home for Christmas, everyone has commented on how hard of a year I have had, and how glad they are to see me upright and healthy. I realized this might have something to do with the blog and Facebook whining I do a little too often. In the spirit of the holidays, and because I really think this year sucked, but could have always been worse, I wanted to make sure I remembered the great things that also happened this year. So, here is my top 10 list of 2011:

10. Being at NASA during the historic end of these shuttle launch, including being onsite at 3am when the last shuttle landed, and being in mission control during its last mission.
9. Trip back to Berkeley at the beginning of the year to visit all my Bay Area friends (and also so we could eat our way through the north half of the state).
8. Successfully pulled off NCAS at JPL and MSFC this year.
7. Three days of road trip fun with Caitlin, driving from Phoenix to Houston, and then having a super fun roomie for a few months while she worked with me at NASA.
6. Eve facing and beating the development and removal of a brain tumor.
5.Trip to Vancouver, my first time in Canada, all on the company dime.
4. Saw an amazing shuttle launch in May, and spent a couple of days resting and recovering in sunny Florida.
3. Had the "best night ever" in Gulfport with Kat and Jess and a lot of gambling/dancing/drinking (please note, the best night ever was followed closely by NOT the best morning/6 hour drive ever).
2. My mom overcoming skin cancer and my dad pushing back against prostate cancer.
1. Brooklyn, Brylee, Bear, Liam, Andrew, Naia, Molly, and Sofia. Need I really say more? I'm one lucky aunt.

See, 2011 wasn't all bad. I just hope in 2012 my top ten list is of bad things instead of good things =)

Health Insurance abuse?

Well, it is December. I hit my out of pocket max on my insurance about 3 months ago when my gallbladder started acting out. I should have had a party. I think I paid $13 total this year because I have been so healthy up until this point I have rolled over my money every year, and this year I just sucked it dry. But, good thing cuz otherwise this year might have been quite expensive for this girl.

Anyway, so I had a free gallbladder removal, as well and all the sinus and tonsil stuff. And of course I took full advantage and had my thyroid meds refilled, and long with the blood work down before the end of the year. I also am having a sleep study done on December 29 (yea, talk about pushing it right till the end of the year), and had follow ups with my sleep doctor and my ENT this month. Good ol' insurance. Anyway, got the blood work results this morning, bright and early at 8am. So normal Vitamin D levels are somewhere between 30 and 100, although really they apparently like to see them between 50 and 70. Mine was 10.4. The nurse said they were so low that the big pill they usually give patients once a week was going to need to be taken twice a week. No big deal, I can take Vitamin D twice a week, and a multi vitamin every night. Just add it to the list. Sure would have been nice if my insurance would have covered this vitamin...but alas, not to much. At least the covered the blood work. Anyway, so another possible reason for the fatigue. I know, its like every reason in the book, right? I'll let you know in 3 months...

In other news, I have been crazy sick for the last week, but am finally crawling out of my hole and feeling a bit better. I head back to California on Thursday and I am so excited to see everyone. There are new babies to cuddle and meet, old friends I haven't seen in months, and my family, who I haven't seen since I was too drugged up to remember. It has been a trying year, and it makes me smile from ear to ear to see these special people. It is time to just let go of all the problems of life and enjoy the holidays. These people know me best, they know how to make me smile, and we always laugh and have a great time. Can't wait!

Other thoughts:
Caroline and Jesse are getting married New Years Eve. I hope it is not 40 degrees outside.

I am behind in Christmas card writing. If you want a card, email or text me your address. Or put it below. You might get identity theft also. Totally your call.

Tony is a carb monster now. He eats bread, rolls, and anything else carbs. Straight through the package. He and I have had words multiple times this month. Anybody want a cat?

The Neti Pot has apparently killed 3 people with a brain eating amoeba from the water they were using. I know I should use distilled water, but I am still too lazy, despite this news. Is that bad? BTW, if you dont have a Neti Pot, you should, it is the single best thing ever for congestion.

I have rediscovered my hatred for Christmas shopping. This is exactly why I do all my shopping after Thanksgiving. One day, and then it is all over. This year, though, i have a new plan. I am now paying my little sister a percentage of the costs of the gifts to buy them for me. This, in my opinion, is highly worth the extra money.

I have learned how to work the system with Kohls and the Kohls cash/bonus bucks. It makes me think the people that run Kohl's are idiots. But I am not complaining, I am basically making money. I am gonna go with it.

I have half a post written to wrap up the year. Maybe one day I will finish it and post it for you. If you really want the wrap up though, go back and read my posts from the year. Yea, that'll depress you ;-)

My book, Take 1

I was told today that my life would make a good book. I am not sure if I should take this as a compliment or not. But let me tell you (Jessica and co.) that I think you might be right. And good thing I can write pretty well, because this could make us millions (wait a minute, us? This could make ME millions).

This morning I set up a camera in the local McDonalds, I then convinced Jessica to go and buy me a $10 McDonalds gift card that comes with a free 2012 calendar including coupons for free food. I then told her to go back and buy another gift card with the original gift card, thus getting another calendar, but reusing the same $10. After the really intelligent woman at the cash register charged her card about four times and the manager was called in, who knows how much this all cost her. From the back of the restaurant, someone finally yelled “just give her her nuggets.” Sucker. So anyway, now I have a free calendar and lots of free McDonalds food (cuz, ya know, I eat there SO often). And damnit do I wish I had really set up the camera. I might add, this was all going on while I was so loyally doing work at my desk (don’t laugh, you know I am working damn hard, 3 days after coming back from FMLA…why did I come back again?). What was Jessica doing at McDonalds at 10am on a Thursday? My guess is, trying to stay busy so she didn’t have to come back to the office to her real responsibilities (ie, decorating the building for Christmas). Man, her job is so high level.

We have this picture of this kid in our office. We call him Josh. He is from our program several years ago, when he submitted 3 head shots of himself along with his application. We do not require headshots. Anyway, 2 of them have been lost overtime, but the third one has lived on, and has been passed around and around. Currently Josh is living on my desk, after I found him in one of my fingerless gloves during a particularly cold day in the office (probably about 40 degrees with the air conditioning blowing from my own personal vent). Thanks Jess. Let me just say though, Josh has made the rounds. He once spent the afternoon taped to Kat’s front windscreen, looking in until she got in the car to stare back. He spent some time on the bottom of my mouse, so that I could get no response from the little arrow on my screen. He even made the trip to Vegas with us one year. Dusty was not happy about an extra man coming with us. I was even less happy when Josh watched me brush my teeth for 3 minutes and I never saw him, even though he was taped at eye level on the mirror in front of me. I might have been 10 beers in, and $200 richer at that point, but at least I wasn’t the one eating food off of EVERYONE else’s plate (Jessica). Anyway, if you want to be part of the TAS fun, send a picture our way and we will make sure it gets taken everywhere and taped in funny places along the way.

While discussing a house that Jessica and Dusty were considering buying from a rather attractive single man, Jessica says to our single friend who was quite possibly interested in this guy “I am just not sure he will go down enough.” Ten minutes later, when two of us stopped laughing and Jessica removed the look of pure shock from how dirty we are, she added “on the price! I don’t think he will go down ON THE PRICE!” Uh huh, Jess, whatever you say.

There is this student who is here this fall. She is perfectly nice, but comes to visit all the time, tells me her life story, and never leaves. Literally hours have been spent with me sitting on my desk chair staring past her as she recounts yesterday’s guitar lesson or the paper she is writing for some online course. So yesterday, I heard her voice and nearly jumped out of my skin. Luckily she was 2 rows over still. So what did I do? I quietly slipped down 4 rows to Jessica’s desk and hid. Like ducking and everything. Jess thinks it is bad that she has moved down to BFE in our office. I think of it as a good hideout. Now if she could just supply snacks, it could be like out secret club house. Maybe we could get a sign and a secret handshake.

Jessica has twins. They say you can’t have favorites, but I do. Don’t tell them, it wouldn’t go well. Brylee and I have been buddies since the beginning. When she was in the hospital, she was somehow always the one I held. Once she came home, she was the difficult eater, and y’all know I love a challenge. Well, sort of. I loved the challenge, but never won. Brylee always spit up on me. Always. I switched to Brooklyn for a while, who at the time was a great eater. Then something happened. Brylee doubled in size in about an hour. My little buddy (who I called Gilligan), suddenly had six arm joints and wrists the size of mine. Little Thunder Thighs quicky earned the name “Chunk” and because my best friend. When I walk into the house, she stares me down until I pick her up. And she LOVES her Aunt Debs. Don’t get me wrong, I love both of those little girls with my entire heart, and would do anything for either of them, but Brylee has wedged herself into my life big time. She has the cutest grin, and she just stares at me until I grab her and throw her in the air, at which point she laughs. And this little girl’s laugh is the best thing in the world. She doesn’t just giggle, she actually just smiles and says “Ha, ha ha, ha” and looks expectantly at me, as I crack up. And when she and her sister talk to each other, Jess and I die over the cuteness. Man, it doesn’t get any better. I am teaching the girls how to wave and blow kisses. I think Brylee has waving down, but refuses to do it. She knows what to do, she is just stubborn, much like her Aunt Debs. Don’t worry, when she gets older I will teach her how to use that stubbornness to her advantage against her parents by sneaking out and drinking beer behind the pool house at age 14. She is a rule follower, so no one will ever think anything of it. Brooklyn can come too, but she is going to have to leave all her cheerleader friends behind.

So, there's chapter 1. Chaper 2 will consist of some stories from Jessica's pregnancy (specifically a long discussion of low carb foods versus fast food and also how she still wears the shirts she wore while pregnant and doesn't think they are stretched at all. C'mon, Jess, you are 3 inches wide and you were pregnant with TWINS. Your shirts are stretched!), and also some fun commentary on some of my other friends and the chaos they call life.

The Tonsil Saga

Oh. My. God. It has been 10 days since I have my tonsils removed and my sinus surgery. And I thought the Gallbladder recovering was rough. Never in my life did I think this recovery was going to be quite this difficult. I mean, you read online that this will be the worse sore throat you have ever had. And I have had some nasty sore throats. And you collect all the advice of everyone who ever had anything to do with their tonsils done to them. Because, ya know, everyone has a story. And then you go through it yourself. And man does it suck.

My mom arrived on Monday night and we tromped off to the Houston Physicians Hospital bright and early on Tuesday morning. Arrived around 8, and promptly got an IV, an 8th medical history, and met with Anesthesia. I was pretty much an old pro by this point. Mom came back to say her final good bye, and they gave me some of the fun medicine that makes you not care about anything (I wonder, can they prescribe this for my own personal use during certain work meetings?). I remember rolling back to the room, and moving across to the operating table, and then meeting the medical student. And then. Nothing. The next thing I remember is HOURS later. Like, it must have been 3 or 4 in the afternoon. And I was a scene. Ice pack on my neck, Oxygen mask near my mouth, nose bandage under my nose, and cold compress on my forehead. And there was my mom, feeding me ice chips.

I vaguely remember getting my phone and getting texts from people from earlier in the day. I think my mom must have called Jessica, because at some point she texted some of my Houston friends. I, apparently, was useless. There was dinner, which I think may have been jello and some sort of cream of chicken soup. I tried to eat some, but my body was not having it. I think I slept most of the night staring at the TV, in and our of consciousness.

My mom came back the following morning with a jamba juice, which was really just peaches and bananas with sorbet. I had strict orders for nothing red and nothing citrus. Try that at Jamba juice. They brought me pancakes and eggs, and I looked at them like they were nuts. They replaced it with orange jello, which I did manage to get down. Mom brought me a Vivano smoothie from Starbucks. That may have been the only thing that I actually finished in the last ten days. By lunch the doctor was on her way in. She checked me out and asked me how I was doing. And let me tell you, at this point, I was doing pretty damn well. And I told her. I mean, my throat wasn't too raw, I was all sedated and warm and cozy, and nothing really hurt. She laughed, and told me it was going to get worse before it got better. She wasn't kidding.

We drove home and stopped at Sonic for a slushie and malt. Jess met us at the house with the babies. Brylee and I took a nice long nap on the couch and I took my first Demerol. Life was good. I remember saying something to the affect of "man, the next two weeks are gonna be so boring if I just have to sit around and do nothing, even though it doesn't hurt that much." I was psyched. And then I woke up the next morning. And all hell broke loose.

I had taken Demerol in the middle of the night, but waking up every morning for the last 10 has been my own personal piece of hell. Everything hurts. At that point my nose was still draining, so I had blood in my mouth. And I could barely move my jaw. The first two days at home were basically my mom bringing me ice, me sucking on it, falling asleep, waking up for medicine, looking at food she brought me, trying to drink a bit, and then repeat. She would make smoothies that I would take 2 sips of, and then not be able to drink anymore. She would bring me soup, I couldnt eat more than a few mouthfuls. By Friday night I was in a major amount of pain if I wasn't asleep. Saturday was a little better, and I had finally eat a little bit of rice pudding and a little bit of jello. Sunday morning my mom left to go back to California. I spent all day Sunday in bed sleeping. Didn't eat anything, made a smoothie but it was too cold for my still raw throat. Monday, Veronica arrive to take me to my doctor appointment. I weighed myself that morning, and I had lost 15lbs. I took one walk past my doctor and she ordered me a steroid shot. Once in the chair, she removed my nasal stints, and then asked me I was going to pass out. I didn't think I was, but then I wasn't so sure. She told me it might be time to check back into the hospital if I was really feeling bad (which I was). I told her I would see how the steroid shot went and take it from there. She let me go home, and I felt slightly better after the shot. Veronica stopped and we bought an egg and cheese sandwich at Sonic. Seemed like the best type of protein. I ate that and worked on drinking more water. Rachel arrived that afternoon and said I seemed to be doing fine. She missed the presteroid scene by about 2 hours.

Anyway, post doctor things got slightly better, but not too quickly. The mornings still sucked (and still do), because I wake up with basically a raw throat or a scab on my throat that then quickly is ripped off upon yawning or drinking anything. Yea, osrry, gross, but it sucks. Usually the pain subsides about noon and I can be somewhat with it for the rest of the day. I am incredibly shaky still, and I walked from my room to jessica's car this morning to take my sister to the airport, and my knees started to shake. As of this morning I had lost 22lbs. I think some of this is water weight, but it is still scary how quickly weight comes off when you just dont eat (not that I recommend this method to anyone). I am taking it slow and cannot wait for the day that I can wake up with no pain in my throat, and no drowsiness from the 3 doses of Demorol I have to take the get through the night. Definitely less than awesome. Oh, and you should see my throat. It is white. The weirdest thing ever to see. I go back on Monday for appointment #2. Can't wait to see what she has to say to me then. I just want this all the to be over and done with, and for it to be 2012.

Today was day 10. I am still in some pain, but getting through it, and borderline bored sitting at home in bed. However, I am ultra aware I have no energy, and no strength, so going back to work is going to be difficult and no fun. I am still taking it slow, and looking forward to having this weekend to continue to recover.

Let me just give a special shout out to the people to have been by to visit, bring me drinks, food, or just company: Patricia came by and just talked to me, and told me not to respond. Very much appreciated. Jess rolled in the day I came home and brought the babies, which you know will always make me smile. Becky and Thomas brought Liam over to smile and make my mom want a grandchild just a little bit more (yea...thanks Becky...). John rolled in with Odwalla galore and rice pudding, which ended up being one of the few things I could eat. Oh and some Netflix to save me from daytime talk TV. Kat came by to drop some money off and visited for a while (money is ALWAYS welcome). Veronica was like my hero, taking me to the doctor's office and then even buying me food. You all saw me at my worst, and most of you seem to still want to be my friend, so that is great news. I promise my breath will be better the next time you see me (cuz, uh, it can't get much worse). And of course, my mother and sister took care of me when i was useless, bringing me ice and dealing with my crying, bitching and moaning at all hours of the day and night. They deserve gold stars galore.

In 2012, I am doing none of this. Henry is gonna have to stay in, cuz no one is cutting into me for at least a year. I need a break!

Bye Bye Little Gallbladder!

Well, I am now sans a gallbladder. It has been 48 hours, and I kinda miss the little guy. Or well, rather, his escape left me in a lot of pain, and I kinda wish he had never been removed. Now, I know in the long run this will be worth it. But the current state of affairs makes this less than satisfying. Anyway, I am mostly sane now, so here is the story:

I left my house at 8:30 on Thursday morning. Wednesday night I ate some low fat lasagna and then some frozen yogurt. That was my gallbladder's last meal. Frozen Yogurt. And man was it good! So, Susie picked me up on Thursday morning and transferred me to work (in my pajamas, no less) so that Jessica could do the drop off at the hospital that morning. After being dropped off my valet, I headed into Day Surgery, where they were super ready for me...they got me into a gown, took my vitals, and then left me there to read until about 11:45. My first nurse was Lucy, who said she would be there all day, but then I never saw again. Real nice, Lucy, real nice. Oh, I feel like i should mention, and most of you know this, I am horrible with names, but for some reason, in hospitals, make a point of trying to remember names. I think this comes from the idea that if I suddenly needed something, I could yell a specific name and get service a lot faster than normal. Yea, I know. I am a little off. Anyway, so Luzy sent me off with Charles, who pushed me in my gurney down the halls and into the elevator the second floor. This is a but surreal, since you can see yourself decked out in a gown, on a gurney, in all the reflective cameras and mirrors on the ceiling.

Once in the holding room, Charles left me in the hands of Darren, who asked me how I was doing. When I told him this was better than work, he told me I was crazy. But I think he liked me, since I was the only one in there a)under the age of 70 and b) even slightly coherent. Beau (the hot anesthesiologist (came in and gave me some sort of cocktail into my IV (oh yea, some guy whose name I dont remember hooked me up a nice IV into the top of my left hand, which I am not a fan of...why not just in the elbow crease??). A new nurse, Kitty, told me she would be with me throughout the procedure. And Dr. Yo came in to tell me not to lift anything for 2 weeks, and then told me he would see me in a few. And he did. They rolled me right into the OR, had me move over to the operating table, and then masked me. One deep breath later and I remember NOTHING.

So, apparently I was out for about an hour and a half. Around 1:45 I half gained consciousness, enough to be aware of several things:
1) The nurse next to me was Kitty, from earlier. Score for her still being there. She was asking me where my pain was on a scale of 1-10. I told her 2. I mean, c'mon people, the only thing that hurt was my throat from having a tube in it. Everything else was apparently still very numb.
2) I had an oxygen mask on. After many weeks of CPAP practice, this was not a problem at all for me. Except my nose itched.
3) The woman two beds over was screaming in pain and they just kept telling her to relax. I could not, for the life of me, understand how she could be in pain. I mean, after all, I was numb, and everything felt great.
4) I felt a bit nauseous. But, apparently, I did not communicate this.

Soon I was being wheeled downstairs. I don't remember that trip at all, so not sure if Charles came back or not; the next thing I remember was telling them which "room" to put me in (15, for the record). The wheeled me in and I asked for my cell phone and promptly fell asleep. At some point in the next hour, I somehow texted out some mass texts about how I was done with surgery. Sorry to those of you who might have not gotten this, or may have gotten it multiple times. What can I say? The drugs were good. They told me I had to pee before they would release me. Ha! Not a problem. So, apparently I told them I was ready to go to the bathroom. And so they walked (barefoot, which I still cringe about) to the bathroom, and I promptly fell asleep. And they woke me up and told me not to close my eyes. Which I did. I just thought it was the norm, but I imagine from an outsiders perspective, this was pretty funny (less funny for the nurses dealing with me). Back on the bed, I started to feel really nauseous. So, they handed me a blue sickness bag and ordered some Zofran. I thought I just had to burp a lot, so the bag seemed useless at the time. A few nice burps later (all the babies in the my life have nothing on Aunt Debs post surgery!), I felt a bit better (uh, the Zofram might have helped too). Becky arrived about that time, and all of a sudden there was a new nurse, taking out my IV. My stay was over? I was not ok with this, seeing as I was just getting comfy for a nice nap...during the whole burping/sickness timeframe, they hooked up some hose to a whole in my gown and it was like a personal air conditioner unit. I was in for the night! Becky was a little surprised too, but they got me, dressed, unhooked, and on my way. The trip in the wheelchair to the parking lot might have been my first hint I wasn't really ready to be moving too fast. Luckily I had packed the little blue bag with me. Unluckily for Becky, I didn't use it until about 2 blocks from the hospital. Luckily for both of us, I didn't use it a whole lot, and even more luckily, Jessica (my friend who does not do bodily fluids, despite twin 7 month old babies) was not with us. Becky was a champ and pulled over until I could breath through the situation, and then got me home asap, where I then proceeded to get rid of anything that was left in my kitchen garbage can. And let me tell you, puking over a garbage can sucks in the best of situations. It sucks a whole lot more when you have stitches in the inside of your torso and can't really move. Suck. Sucks. Sucks.

I vaguely remember Becky asking me if I wanted to lay on the couch or bed. All I wanted was to be flat, so bed it was. And once I laid down, i felt so much better. She brought me water, saltines, and some pumpkin bread. I tried a saltine, which was a good idea until I realized I was dehydrated and the saltine wasn't going down my raw throat very smoothly. I switched to water and a bit of bread, and we hung out waiting for the pharmacy to fill my pain pill prescription. And apparently i told Becky some stories. I remember one such story, probably not be repeated here, and I am sure she was thinking: "Really Debs? Really?" Yea, I'm that friend. Anyway, eventually Becky went back to fill the prescription and I passed out. I remember very little of Thursday night, so those of you I spoke to, I hope it wasn't too weird. About as much can be said for most of Friday.

I did have a great flow of support over the last few days, and for that I am so thankful. Sara brought lunch on Friday, Patricia brought dinner, then Becky came by this morning with red gatorade and baby Liam for a little visit. Veronica brought the kids and some banana bread, and I have had countless other offers for meals, drinks, ice cream, etc. And phone calls from across the country and world to check in (sorry most of you didn't get a pick up, I have been a little drugged and phone has been mostly on silent). Makes a girl feel loved.

I am doing better today, walking a lot more, and it is getting easier to get in and out of bed (the first day was much like a turtle getting off her back without using any muscles on her right side). I am eating pretty normally, although it is a lot of banana bread and soup, out of mostly fear to eat anything high in fat that might have less than fun affects on me. I have noticed I am a little nauseous if I push it too much, but I think this might have to do more with coming off the Vicodin than anything else. While I love the effects of the meds, giving me the perfect drowsiness to just pass out, I am not a fan of the lasting drowsiness and the cloudy feeling. So, I switched to Tylenol this morning and seem to be doing good so far.

I'm back!

I feel like I should knock on something before I say this again, but I AM BACK. I am feeling like myself, finally, for the first time in over six months. Or well, I should qualify that: I am feeling like my new old self. I am feeling good, great even. I have energy, I have a clear head, and I have motivation to do more than the bare minimum. This means a few things:

1) I am back at the gym, lifting weights and going crazy times on the elliptical, because in my true competitive style, I am always racing the guy next to me to see who can outlast who, only he doesnt know it, so I always win.

2) I am sleeping somewhat normal hours and not waking up stressed at 3am about dumb things (ie, how the busses are getting from LAX to JPL six months from now).

3) I do things after work. Like real things. Today I worked out and then hung out with the minis and their parents and ate bean soup that Jessica cooked (pick yourselves up, Jessica has been known to cook. Once.) Brylee is an expert Sweet potato puree eater, and plays the game well, opening her mouth and being generally cute while eating. Yesterday I didn't get home until 10:45pm. This has been unheard of, even on the weekends, in months.

4) I don't want to crawl under my desk and nap at 10am. Just at 2pm. And that is normal. Always has been. I get through it with a soda run, an ice cream run, or a visit to someone's desk with candy. Being that Halloween is this month, the candy visits are easy right now!

5) I am sending birthday cards again. This might not sound like a big deal, but man, I used to be so good at birthday cards. And then February and March happened. Don't get me wrong, I buy them. And sometimes I even write them. But sending them, and gifts, has all but ceased since the beginning of the year. My dad got a gift, mainly because I could order it online and ship it directly to him. I dropped the ball majorly on all my friends who turned 30. BUT, I am back, and hoping to make up for lost time with some great Christmas gifts. Or, at the very least, a nice card.

6) My house is clean. Now, not immaculate Katie Hutchings clean (please, let's not pretend). But like, live-able clean. The carpets have been vacuumed, the kitchen swept, the bathroom bleached, even the palm trees trimmed (but not the bamboo...cuz that's a project in itself). The cats even have had flea medicine within a month. Dude, I am on it.

7) I am drinking water more. And less caffeine. Towards the end there, I was drinking Coffee followed by Diet Coke followed by more Diet Coke. And barely any water. And I knew it was bad, but the caffeine was all that got me through.

So, I am excited to be back. And to have my life back. Well, mostly. For those of you keeping track, the surgeries start next week. That's right, they are putting holes in me. Several of them in fact. First up, the gallbladder. Yea, this one should be the most minor of the surgeries. Out patient procedure, yadda, yadda, yadda. This just means I can totally get Jessica to pick me up because she thinks it is funny to pick me up after I have been drugged because it seems I am rather funny. So, next Thursday, around noon, I arrive at Clear Lake Hospital (I am now very familiar with this place) so that Dr. Yo (yup, I'm not making it up, that's his actual name) can puncture me 4 times and take out my gallbladder. Mom and grandma have both had theirs out, so I blame them for this, obviously. Then I get a day off on Friday to recover, and a good excuse to not lift anything heavy for the next two weeks (this only sucks because all the babies will just make eyes at me, and I will want to pick them up, and won't be able to. They better learn to walk real fast!)

After the gallbladder, and yet to be scheduled, will be the tonsils. Less exciting, since I imagine this will actually suck once I wake up and have the worst sore throat in my entire life for two weeks. And after the tonsils there is always the possibility that Henry will be coming out, but I am not convinced. Either way, if Henry is coming out, I am requiring that these cuttings all happen during 2011. See, first of all, 2011 has sucked. And 2012 will not suck. So, they all need to happen this year. And second, and possibly more importantly, I am about to hit my out of pocket max for my insurance, and then everything will be free. So, you better believe I will taking care of EVERYTHING this year so I dont have to pay for it next year. Bring it on, Clear Lake Medical Area! And even more so, bring it on, life!

Tourguiding

I recently got into a rather heated conversation with someone who was once a college tourguide. Now, I was a college tourguide at Cal. It was, I believe, the single greatest thing I did at school. I mean, sure I discovered supernovae while in college, but tourguiding...tourguiding was where I learned about life. And where I made the best. friends. in. the. entire. world. I am still in close contact with many of the people i tourguided with. I have been in tourguide weddings. And when I think back to college, it is the days in the visitor center office that I think of with the largest smile. Now, it might not be this way at other universities, but at Cal, the tourguides were like a family. We were all a little crazy about our Cal facts, and we loved each other for it. We were the only ones that would don incredibly unbreathable windbreakers at 10am on a Saturday to walk around in the rain with a bunch of cranky 17 year olds and their over zealous parents. We all knew how to work backwards (I was successful at this even in flip flops), we could recite the history of any building on campus in a heartbeat (I bet most of us still can), and we all had our own bad jokes we used everyday. We had all stopped on the hidden floors in the campus tower, the Campanile, to see the dinosaur bones stored there. Most of us knew how to sneak into the campus library even if our group was more than 10 large. We loved what we did.

What I remember more than work though, was the after work parties and hangouts. We used to have the best time! Blue and Gold jello shots by the casserole dish. Raleighs "staff meetings" where everyone had their own pitcher, and the waiter (always hot) always got a HUGE tip for putting up with us. We wrote new lyrics to the Cal Drinking Song which we would then sing at the top of our lungs throughout the bar. The 16 hour days on Cal Day that would lead to exhaustion drinking (oh Cal Day). The A's games. The trips down to the Stanfurd farm to take tours of their campus and ask every obnoxious question in the book. Football game tail gates, frat parties with the tourguide frat boys, bonfire parties, and BBQs on my back deck until 2am. It was a damn good time. And to this day, my tourguide friends and I laugh and laugh about some of those nights.

Anyway, so this friend of mine. He was a tourguide at University of Texas at Austin. So, our debate started off about the number of Nobel Prizes each school holds, stemming from the recent Berkeley win in Physics (woohoo!). He claimed UT has the most ever. He is wrong. I'm not saying it's Berkeley. but I know it isn't UT. That's right, I looked it up. I threw back with the fact that our library is clearly bigger than UTs. He then says their campus populations was larger (fine, it is). Cal was founded earlier. UT was ranked higher (uh, clearly not true, and I did not let him win that one, don't worry). Anyway, it was a fun argument, and we paused it when we both ran out of facts (I might have been using 2003 facts for a little while, which may or may not still be 100% true). It made me miss it though. I loved that school, I loved that time in my life, and while I love my life now, there is something so special about being part of such an awesome community, and within that community, having such a great group of friends. On tours, people would always ask me why I picked Berkeley. I was always honest, it came down to money and my visit to the campus. But, I would always look them straight in the eye and say "I made the decision to come here, and I have never looked back. It was the best decision I have ever made, and I do not have a single regret." And I still dont. So, here's to my great tourguiding years from college, and the friends who I made who during those years who are still putting up with me. Oh, and of course, Go Bears!

Six months

Today was a hard day. Six months ago, while I was at work early in the morning for a CAS program, Jessica walked in to the Gilruth with puffy swollen eyes and, while holding back tears, told me that our friend Suzy had passed away. I still can't go back into that room without thinking about that morning. We went that morning to see the Cejka babies, who were exactly a month old in the NICU. I held one of those baby girls and just thought about life and how fragile it is. The days that followed were full of tears, and a lot of friends leaning on each other for an amazing amount of support. Her funeral was packed to the point where the overflow room was full. For weeks after she died, I would forget she was gone. My phone would ring and her name would come up on the screen. It was her daughter playing with the cell phone, but it still would get me every time. In June I cleaned out my desk at work and found a note from Suzy she had tucked in the drawer the summer before. That note is still there. At the time it made me sad, but now it makes me smile. It reminds me how much Suzy loved life, and how much we should all love life. Suzy's little boy is six months old now. Her little girl will be three next month. Both of her kids are just like her. They love the simple things in life. They giggle at everything, and they let things roll right off their shoulders.

I think the last six months have probably been the hardest six months of my entire life. I have struggled with health issues and the frustrations of fatigue. I have gone from loving my job to job searching. I have struggled with relationships and finding my place in a world that has been turned upside down. And I lost a great friend. Seems to me that is a lot for six months. I have thought a lot about Suzy today. She was always so kick back, she never let anything get to her. She found the best in everything and was ALWAYS smiling. She would want us all to be happy, and not let the memory of her upset us. Don't get me wrong, I still have my moments, I think we all do. Sometimes life just seems unfair. But, in the end, her spirit is still very much alive and with all of us. And after six of the hardest months of my life, I can only learn from her, learn from her death, and keep her memory alive. And, of course, see life as she did: One big adventure.

Sunroof weather!

Fall has officially arrived in Houston. Now, for most of the country, fall would mean leaves changing colors or bringing out the long pants and sweaters. Here, it just means being outside is actually enjoyable. The nights are beautiful, minus the mosquitos, and I have been trying to spend as much time as possible outside soaking it all in before fall gives way to either a)winter, or rather, stone cold humidity that goes straight through to your bones and makes you want to wear every layer in your closet, because even though it is only 40 degrees outside, the wind and humidity makes it feel like the South Pole, OR b)the 18th return of summer and record 100+ degree temperatures with the weather men screeching about global warming. Yea, Houston is kinda dramatic.

I have been driving around with my sunroof open, wind blowing through my hair, blasting whatever is in my CD player (yea, that was me driving down 96 earlier with Madonna's Immaculate Collection blaring, don't judge). It puts me in the best mood. Like, I even look forward to getting up in the morning because I can get outside and enjoy it before it is gone. Last night we took a trip to the park and walked around the water, which seemed like a good idea until the mosquitos remembered how much they like my legs. I have been sitting on my deck enjoying the evenings after work, and watching Mollie and Tony go crazy outdoors. They love this weather too, and look at me like I am nuts when I call them to come inside.

I guess I should say, I have also, finally (and man I hope I am no jinxing myself) getting good sleep, and feel pretty much normal again. I am still tired at the end of the day, but nothing, and I mean, NOTHING, compared to how I have been feeling. After six months of getting crappy sleep and having no energy to deal with anything other than the most necessary of life issues, it is nice to have some of my sanity back. To be able to put energy into thinking about things instead of just going with the easiest solution. To be able to slowly make plans to go and do things other than just the bare minimum. To be able to go into a crowded restaurant and not get super stressed. See, weird things were hard for me. This mask might be a pain in the butt, but it is worth it to have my life back.

I guess maybe I should qualify that statement. See, I got my life back, but now, the next saga begins: I get to have my tonsils out. Wooohooo? Well, I am kinda excited about it. Not about the actual procedure, but about less sore throats, less sinus issues, and an easier time sleeping with the mask (because less stuff in my throat means the air pressure on the mask can come down). So, while the recovery is gonna such from this surgery (2 weeks minimum I am told), I think the results will be worth it. Plus, my mother says she is coming with her knitting needles, and Jessica is willing to lend her (new and unopened) sewing machine so mom can make curtains for everyone. So, projects in hand, she can make me smoothies and hot (English) tea, and sew, and we can watch hours and hours of TV, and I will whine about the pain and then she can drug me. Fun for everyone. I guess this is what I get for being jealous of all the pregnant girls and their bedrest.

I also go back to the Cardiologist next month to check on Henry. If he is getting bigger, he gets to come out too. I am kind of wondering if I can get a two for one on these surgeries? Seems like there should be a Groupon or something...

HESTEC

This week I took the annual trip to Mcallen, TX. Or for those of you who aren't from Texas, about as far south as you can go in Texas before you hit Mexico. And, just for kicks, Jessica and I (accidentally) drove literally to Mexico's front door before we realized we were going to the wrong way and turned around. Good thing, since neither of us had our passports. Anyway, we are in Mcallen for HESTEC, the Hispanic, Engineering, Science and Technology Week at UTPA. We are effectively the only white girls here. And, well, I can half pass for hispanic if I keep my mouth shut, so Jessica is really sticking out like a sore thumb.

We are staying at the Embassy Suites, where we stay every year. We like this hotel for a number of reasons. First, the rooms are nice because when you are here for a long time, it's nice to have a living area and a bedroom that are separate. Second, free breakfast. Third, free happy hour (which, is cool in theory, but in three years, I think I have been to one of these), Fourth, a pool and hot tub. And fifth, a van that will take you anywhere within 5 miles of the hotel (hello, designated driver).

In true Jess and Deb fashion, we have been living it up on the work trip. Ha. Yea, living it up. Wednesday night I dragged Jessica to Mimi's, my favorite chain restaurant ever. We come every year. There is one in Pearland now, which I have been to a handful of times, mostly when Caitlin lived with me, but the Mimi's in Mcallen is so much closer. And plus, I can only eat so much Mexican food these days (especially after the night earlier this week during which I did not sleep due to some serious tummy pain). So, Mimi's, and then back to the hotel, where we both donned pajamas and laptops and watching "Revenge" on my couch with our laptops. And went to bed at 10pm. Thursday we worked some sort of crazy schedule in which I gave 1000 kids temporary NASA tattoos (which, after 3 days, i have about half removed from my hand after some serious nail scrubbing...those poor kids who got em' on their foreheads are probably less than thrilled with NASA now, as are their parents...). After 5 hours of applying tattoos and dripping water all over myself, I never wanted to see another tattoo. Ever. We cleaned up, reset the room, had some lunch and a quick lunch meeting, and then headed off for a little break. Jess napped and for some reason, I thought it would be a good time to check work email and then workout. Yea, workout. That thing I haven't done more than twice in maybe 3 months. But, it sounded like a good idea. So, the elliptical and I were re-aquainted and then I changed into a pretty hot outfit of shorts and a NASA t-shirt (that I may or may not have flown in the day before), and we headed back for part two of our day. This evening consisted of a VIP reception with food and a bunch of university people. And for this, we decided it was time to bring out Cosmo:

Yup, I was the blowup astronaut. I know, hot, right? I'm in there, smiling cross eyed at the camera, probably with my tongue stuck out. I'm nice like that.

So, I strapped into Cosmo, which is a huge ordeal. Your feet are velcro-ed to wooden platforms, and then there is a life support system that is strapped around you with a battery pack and a large fan to keep you inflated. You can see how lovely I look after being in the suit for an hour or two:

I liken it to being pregnant (not that I would know, I promise), in that you have to make a plan if you are going to move anywhere fast, and especially if you are going to get up from sitting. You are basically carrying 30 extra pounds around your waist, and it all sits on your lower back. I stood in that suit like an 9 month pregnant women, belly and hose sticking straight out, holding onto my back for dear life. But the people love it, and that is what we are all here for, right? Right?!?

In true fashion of living it up, we got gone with the suit and the reception just after 8pm, and basically crawled to the car (did I mention Jessica was driving a glow in the dark mint green Ford Focus? Absolutely awesome, and you can't miss it). We made it in record time to a restaurant, somehow ordered food, stared at each other for a while and tried to come up with a brilliant business plan (which is hard when we are both so tired we could curl up on the table and sleep), and ate a super fast dinner. We were both back in our rooms by 9:30, and I was in bed by 10.

This morning the suit was brought back out, and I was off again, this time with a bunch of middle schoolers. Now, middle schoolers are a special bunch because when most of the boys see an inflatable anything that walks, they immediately only want to do one of three things: poke, push, or trip. Lovely. So, after I got almost taken down from behind several times, I started poking back, from inside the suit. Perhaps not my brightest choice ever, since this really just makes them poke and prod more, but man was it fun. The girls love me, and love it even more when they find out there is a girl inside the astronaut suit. Jessica made the mistake of giving me a bottle of water through my zipped up life support system, and that went well until I dropped it and it ended up in my left shoe, rolling around as I walked. That was an exciting hour (I tried to pick i up a couple of times, until Jessica turned around and said "what the hell are you doing?" which made me realize the inflatable suit probably looks weird as its left leg started to collapse. What a scene.

Tomorrow they think I am getting back in the suit. I have found two suckers who think it looks fun (ok, it is a little fun, let's not pretend), and so I think I might just escort Cosmo tomorrow and let them deal with the sweat, dust, and poking. Seems only fair I share the wealth. Plus, tomorrow is a long day full of families and kids. And my patience isn't what it was on Thursday. Plus, my partner in crime left me today to return to her husband and children (I guess this is a good reason). But don't worry, not before we took a quick visit to the outlet mall down here. And don't worry, I had Mimi's for dinner again tonight. Like you thought I was going anywhere else. Now I am holed up in my hotel room, and looking majorly forward to sleeping in tomorrow before the chaos begins. Go HESTEC?

I am stubborn and a little crazy

Well, the CPAP has arrived. I have had it about two weeks, and after a week of complete denial about the ever having the ability to be able to fall asleep with a full face mask blowing air into my mouth, I bit the bullet, took a Benadryl, and stubbornly swore I was going to at least fall asleep with the mask on for one night, to see if it made a difference. Good thing I am stubborn and don't like to lose, otherwise, this might never have worked. The first night it took me only about an hour to fall asleep, but I was exhausted to begin with, and normally would have just passed out. So, an hour wasn't great, but I did finally fall asleep with the damn mask on my face. I woke up a few times, once from a dry mouth, and a couple of times because I am pretty sure I was holding my breath. With the air blowing at such a high level, it makes it feel hard to exhale, and then I think I just hold my breath instead. Sort of counter intuitive, since the idea behind the mask is to keep your airway open and keep you from actually stopping to breath. Anyway, so the first night I kept the mask on about 4 hours, and then about 1:30am I woke up and took it off. I was pretty aware it was coming off, but I was just happy I had fallen asleep at all with it in. Night two was about the same, I kept the mask on about 4 hours and then it came off at some point in the night. Night 3 I thought I was good to go, and was going to sleep with the mask on all night. Well, I didn't wake up and take it off consciously. However, I did wake up on Friday morning with the entire mask dismantled and removed from the hose and humidified. And each piece was laid out nicely in a row next to the machine. No recollection of doing this at all. I guess I'm not surprised. I am not a huge sleep walker, but only because I usually wake myself up standing in the middle of my room. Yea, makes you want to have me over for a slumber party, eh?

Anyway, after 3 nights of half masking it, I cannot even tell you how much more rested I was feeling. I can't say whether it was really the mask, or the fact that I was in bed by 9 every night just to give myself the extra time to fall asleep. I am hoping it is the mask though, because I feel so much better after sleeping and feeling rested. I even, gasp, had real thoughts about getting back to a gym routine. Friday night was a little bit of a set back, but nothing to do with the mask, and more to do with some less than stellar BBQ I had and its lasting effects on my stomach LATE into the night. No mask or sleep for me that night. I paid heavily today, but got to take some naps and be generally lazy in front of the Saturday college football TV schedule (which, alas, never seems to include any Cal football...might have been good today since the end of the game was apparently not the best ever). Tonight though, I have big plans for this sleep mask and me. We are going to be friends. And hopefully this is the solution I have been waiting for. It better be, cuz, frankly, I'm tired of all the doctor's appointments...although it is about time for the Henry recheck, with the horrendous camera down the throat business. At least this time Becky knows where I will be during my 6 hour being held captive ordeal. Plus, the line of people to mess with me in my drugged up state seems to be growing. I have the greatest friends here in Houston ;-)

I feel I should give a short Aunt Debs update on the local babies. The minis are giggling and talking (ie, making noises) now. Aunt Debs especially likes to makes them talk while Mommy is feeding them. This prolongs feeding time, but is so damn cute. They are also trying solids. Some of these solids Mommy knows about, others Aunt Debs just tries on her own (ice cream and cream cheese are both popular with Brooklyn). Baby Liam is about the same size as the twins, despite being 4 months younger. He eats like a champ and likes to take naps on me. He is definitely a cuddler. Bear is like a day away from crawling, and is about to be into EVERYTHING. I am kinda like the paparazzi with all these babies, and everyone gets random pictures texted to them whenever I have a baby in my arms. See my FB albums for more proof of this.

So this week I am making the first of a few work trips for this fall. It is the annual trek down to Harlingen for HESTEC. Somehow, every year, I get sucked into HESTEC. Every year I say "next year I am so not doing this." And yet, here I go again. Don't get me wrong, the conference is great. We usually have a good time after hours all going out together. There is usually some margarita drinking, and as a special bonus, I know where the Mimi's is down there (are you ready Jessica?). BUT, this conference is infamous for a couple of major issues. First, there are always way too many educators down there, and half of them end up standing around "helping" and not doing much while the other half of us deal with psycho teachers and kids. And, additionally, there are some crazy long days...and some weird short days. But, noon to ten on a Saturday with 30,000 people is a little bit overwhelming. It's gonna take some serious coffee/Diet Coke to get me through this week! And next year, I am so not going.

Oh, also, it's fall now. The highs in Houston have dropped to 98 this weekend, and 96 on Monday. Yup, fall sure is here. Now, where the hell is winter?

You can't make this stuff up

Yup, I am friends with all of these people:

Female friend: "Deb, don't get married, it just comes with a whole bunch of frustration."
Female friend's husband: "Yea, no kidding. A WHOLE BUNCH."

Pregnant friend: "Oh, I am so not doing the dishes. See this? (points to stomach). This is an additional human being I am carrying around."
Pregnant friend's husband: "Yea. I know. I put it there."

Male friend of mine when talking about one of my crazy female friends: "You know Deb, she might be crazy, but maybe she is right. Even a broken watch is right twice a day."

Male friend: "So i'm single now..."
Me: "Yea, I noticed. You are about to break a lot of hearts, i can just see it coming."
Male friend: "Yea, it will be like a bull in a china shop."
(Really?!?)

L (referring to taking a shot at the bar): "Did you do that all in one swallow?
S; I did. Weird that I'm single, right?"
L: "Yea. You are clearly not advertising the correct way"

J:"Deb, you clearly get no benefit from me being your friend..."
Me: "Yea, no kidding"
J:"Hey, wait a minute..."

"So I was playing this drinking game with these people. Well, actually, these people were playing this game, and I was drinking and listening to their game and playing in my head, since they didn't actually ask me to play with them."

"Well, I mean, I liked the ring, but I didn't actually think we would be married this long..."

"I have a spreadsheet of price per ounce of formula and price per unit for diapers."
"Yea, I have the same thing, for beer."


I am also working on a blog dedicated to stupid questions I get via email. Trust me, there is quite the collection.

61

Holy moly, I am a mess. Not like I am falling apart, but seriously, one thing after another. I am pretty sure I have been to every kind of specialist doctor in the Clear Lake are in the last six months. And I have learned a ton about a bunch of different ailments and illnesses from the internet. And I have gotten through my hypochondriac phase, which was exciting, but not too enjoyable for me or my insurance savings account. And, I am still freaking tired. BUT, there is good news. After six months and multiple diagnoses for things I have that may or may not be actually related to being tired, it seems we might have found the real issue. Or at least, I hope. So, in my doctor's office, there is a Sleep Apnea poster. And it talks about the signs and symptoms and stats of Sleep Apnea. ANd last time I was there, I spent some time reading the poster while waiting for Dr. G (who I might add is my favorite doctor in the whole world; everyone should be so freakin' lucky to have such a friendly open minded doctor). And the first symptom of this issue is snoring. Now, I haven't snored in years. When I was a kid, yup, I snored. But in my adult life, as far as I can tell (and for the record, its not like I'm having slumber parties with people left, right, and center to confirm this), I don't really snore anymore. So, I kind of wrote it off (and let me tell you, I don't write off much these days in the doctor's office). Anyway, after talking with Dr. G some more about just how tired I am, and how it is affecting work and my social life, she decided to send me for a sleep test just to make sure i didn't actually have Sleep Apnea. I was somewhat pessimistic about it, but am pretty much willing to try anything these days.

Fast forward two weeks. I spent a long, most sleepless night in a private room with a TV, fan, and queen sized bed. Oh, and about 100 wires taped to me, not to mention some sort of contraption in my nose. I slept for about 3 hours that night. But apparently that was enough to collect the data to tell me that I do in fact have sleep apnea. Classified as severe even. I stop breathing, on average, 61 times an hour when I am sleeping. That's more than once a minute. Good God. So last night they brought me back to try out the super sexy CPAP, which is basically a nose mask that pushes air into your nose and airway, to keep the airway from closing or relaxing too much. I slept for maybe an hour (and I would have told you I didn't sleep at all, but the nurse tells me I was asleep). I am hoping this gets easier when I am home with this contraption on, instead of in a strange bed with wires everywhere. But, I got through it, and after four hours of sleep this morning in my own bed, I don't feel totally hungover (just partially). Why I went to work today is beyond me, but I did, and now I am happily on the couch, just thinking about all the possibilities involved in getting a full night's sleep, and waking up rested, and having energy past about 6pm every day. AMAZING. I am hopeful this will help with a lot of the fatigue, and couple with the thyroid medicine, I am well on my way back to the Old Deb (and by Old Deb, I mean, the Deb of last year, not the Aged Deb, because we all know that will never happen. And that the gray hairs I have found recently are a fluke, and not going to continue).

And so, six months after I started having fatigue, exhaustion, anxiety, and all sorts of other fun issues, I think we might be coming to the end of the road of all of this. And I am thrilled. I feel like I might have the energy to actually get back to the gym, get back outside, and even get back to shopping (although the lack of energy to shop has really helped my savings account). And I am excited to not have to go through another spring (or fall for that matter) at work with this kind of energy problem. I was pretty sure I was going to have to find a new job before then if things didn't change (although, not to sure I dont still need a new job sometime soon).

As I type this, I think that I really should point out that what I have learned repeatedly since March is that while life will send you crazy curveballs and challenges, it will also only send you what you can handle. And in the midst of the times when you don't think you can handle any more, or want to throw your hands in the air and give up, life will also deliver same amazing perspective. Perspective can be great, but it isn't always delivered in the happiest packages. And so, especially in the last six months, perspective has been something I have had to deal with in some pretty horrific ways. Death and serious illness can have a huge impact on anyone's life. They can remind you how sensitive life can be, and how quickly it can be taken from you. And because of this, while this year has been a struggle, and this struggle is most likely far from over, it is still worth it, because in the end, I will be stronger. And healthier. And my family will be healthier. And while a lot of tears have been shed over the last six months, there have been some amazing outcomes from such hard and sad times. And for those things, I am thankful. And the people who have struggled alongside me with their own problems, their own health or personal issues, they remind me how strong we all can be, and how resilient we are as people. And of course, above everything else, and in the lowest of moments, I have been reminded how amazing the people in my life are. And how lucky I am to have some of the best friends in the entire world. When things get really tough, we all lean on each other. And as I have gone through the past few months, I have really learned who my true friends are, and just how much leaning they will put up with. I'm pretty damn lucky.

Weddings

I have been in 8 weddings. That's right. They pretty made the movie 27 Dresses about me. It's weird that they never called me to help with the details of it, actually. This weekend someone asked me if I can name them all quickly? You better believe it. In order and with the colors of the dresses: Leilani (purple), Rachel (red), Cara (light blue), Joy (pink), Andrea (navy blue), Kiyomi (black), Caitlin (brown), and now Lacey (navy blue). And throughout the last ten years and these 8 weddings, I have had some very interesting bridal related experiences. I was reliving some of them this weekend as we were working on the final preparations for Lacey's wedding. I have attended bachelorette parties in several great locations: Vegas, Palm Springs, and San Francisco (interestingly enough, there were several repeats). I have spent many nights folding programs, including a rather late night trip to Kinkos to pick up the copies that were forgotten about until the night before the ceremony. I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of wedding photographers. I have heard the best and worst weddings DJs ever (and hit on a few in my less than sober state of mind). I have danced with 100 groomsmen, a bunch of fathers of the brides (and uncles, brothers, and other random men related to someone in the wedding), and even a waiter or two at a certain wedding. I have had drinks named after me on more than once occasion,

And then there are the after parties for these weddings. Chair races down hotel hallways at 3am with the train of my dress tucked over my shoulder and into the top of my dress. Emptying out the mini bar in a hotel room paid for by one of the groomsman's parents (this might have been in my MUCH younger days). Signing marriage licenses while not quite sober (this always seemed questionable to me). Dodging sketchy groomsmen while carrying heavy bags full of the bride's make-up, shoes, and every other possible thing she might ever need during her wedding. The drive back to NP after Joy's wedding, the day before my birthday (I was not driving) was a party in itself. That was only after I had tried to attack my mother with the plastic spoons we have made into wedding favors. Sorry mom.

Oh, and the rehearsal dinners. Man, sometimes those are more fun than the weddings themselves. Big groups of family, with no buffers, all stressed, tired, and bitching at each other. What more could a girl want (but only when she isn't actually related to anyone in this group). I have eaten Mexican food, BBQ, tapas, Italian, you name it, it has happened. I remember a certain wedding in which the father of the bride was pushing drinks on the bridal party in hopes we would be too hungover to drink at the wedding the next night (which was the bar tab HE would be picking up). This backfired as we ended up at the bar doing shots that night (rounds of 9 shots at a time for the entire group), and had such a good time we continued it the next night at the wedding. I have seen bridesmaids demoted and groomsmen so drunk they didn't make it to dinner. This weekend the brisket burned overnight and the chefs had to start from scratch 4 hours before the dinner started.

This weekend was Lacey's wedding. That's right, wedding #8. And I spent 2 days prepping and driving around with the bride to pick up flowers and family members from all over the place. I was the maid of honor, which comes with a whole lot of extra responsibility, but not too much extra recognition (other than the required speech, which is not really any recognition I want or need). But, I will say, I am a damn good bridesmaid/maid of honor. This is because my belief about weddings is, it is ALL about the bride. So, you can hate me, you can think I am a huge bitch, but if the bride wants me to tell you how it is, that is exactly what I am going to do. And if the bride wants everyone out of her face, I will throw elbows to make sure it happens. And if the brides has a crazy family (let's face it, they all do), I am in charge of keeping them all in line. I have been in charge of mothers of the bride, fathers of the bride, flower girls, questionable groomsmen, you name it, I have taken it on. I have sewed a train to a dress after the bustle broke. I have applied band-aids to the back of heels because some of my friends are a little too dumb to wear comfy shoes when they get married (you know who you are). I have decorate honeymoon suites with candles (possibly against hotel policy, but whatever). I have run through the streets of San Fransisco to find oatmeal and dollar pancakes on a Saturday morning at 7am. I am particularly good at bitching at photographers and DJs. And the bartenders always know me by the end of the night (there might be a drink out there called "The Deb" leftover from a particularly swanky wedding a few years back. Kathy was our bartender this weekend, and at the point when I was behind the bar with her, I realized we were pretty much friends for life. Anyway, the wedding day is the one day of the year where I really believe the bride can say and do whatever she wants and people have to listen. Now, I don't suggest her actually doing this, but this is the one and only time I am willing to put up with it. And I'll tell you where to get off if you cross me.

I would like to now take this chance, on this public forum, in front of the three of you that actually read this, to announce that I am officially now retiring as a bridesmaid. Eight weddings is enough. If my calculations are right, between the dresses, the bachelorette parties, the bridal showers, the shoes, nails, hair, make-up, I have spent upwards of $10K. That is a lot of money. It would more than pay off my car. And so, officially for the record, i would like to state, i am retiring. I will continue to attend weddings, but no longer in a bridesmaid role. Ok, fine, there might be a few people, who as they put it, are grandfathered in, but they better get married freaking' soon (ahem, you know who you are). And then, officially, I am retired.

=)

So, I've got a lot going on. And for once, it's not all work related. In fact, this is my "down time" at work, which means instead of planning 6 spring workshops and working with 400 students, I am planning on fall workshop for 80 kids and writing proposals galore. Anyone that works with me knows my feeling about proposals, but they have to be done, and maybe I'll get some money out of the deal (although then that means more workshops, which, in the end, might not be the best thing for me and my time). Anyway, I digress. I have a lot going on, and I am pretty happy. Or well, not just pretty happy, but actually happy. I am still somewhat tired, and if I dont take care of myself and get enough sleep or eat regularly, I feel the affects. And if I eat too much, I feel the affects. It is a precarious balance, but I think I have found it, and so I am going with it. So, with a little balance comes a lot of Deb enjoying life and appreciating feeling good when I do feel good.

I have been spending a lot of quality time with the babies all over the place, and waiting patiently for Liam and Baby Shah to arrive in the next month or so. Brylee and Brooklyn are learning to smile back when you smile at them, and tonight Brylee gave me some great life advice while gurgling away at me. Bear is laughing when tickled and is a big ol' flirt (he has to be with all these baby girls around). Sofia is blogging up a storm and is freaking adorable with all her hand poses. And Naia is emailing her pictures out all over the place, and is waiting very patiently for my visit. I am so lucky to not only be surrounded by so many amazing friends, but to be able to be part of the beginning of so many little lives.

Last weekend I was in Vegas, the weekend before I was recovering from Vancouver. Now I have a month at home, and I am loving it. I spent this weekend slumming it, enjoying my house, my couch and my friends, as well as my friends' couches. I did about 800 loads of laundry and finally unpacked all my suitcases. The cats were super cuddly and I think are just afraid I am either going to forget to let them in (again) or take off with another suitcase. I told them I wasn't going anywhere, but I am not sure they believe me. The next trip is back to Oakland for Lacey's wedding and then to LA for the birth of Baby Shah (who really needs a name, I mean, c'mon Fitz, we did this 4 years ago, didn't we?).

There is a storm in the tropics tonight. It is not coming to Houston, but rather going up the East Coast. However, the news reporting on this makes me realize how disconnected I am with my usual favorite website, www.nhc.noaa.gov. The Hurricane Center website. Usually I check it like 5 times a day. I guess I have been a little distracted.

The shuttle lands this Thursday at the freakin' crack of dawn. And somehow I have been signed up to escort about 50 high school kids onsite at JSC to watch it on the big screen and eat pancakes at 4am. Hmmm, can anyone say sucker? Yea, pretty sure this is one of those events I could participate in from my bed while watching on TV. But, I'll chalk it up to be the last landing and being of historical significance, or some crap like that. Will I remember this landing 20 years from now? YES, because I will remember getting up at the crack of dawn and how exhausted I was all day. Let's not pretend. I like my sleep. Have you met me tired? Yea, cranky as all get up.

Apparently I have become a vegetarian. Not really by choice, but sort of accidentally. I have only been a vegetarian since Wednesday, and I also am the kind of vegetarian that eats fish. I will probably eat meat again this week, but for 4 days, I have eaten a lot of grilled cheese and vegetables in the form of soup. And muffins. Lots of muffins. Oh and hummus and celery and carrots. its just what sounds good. And also what I have in the house, which helps me not have to go to the grocery story. Score! Anyway, it's interesting to not eat meat, makes meals a lot cheaper and easier to make. Someone told me I better start taking iron supplements. I am not too concerned. I am kind of intrigued to see if I could really do this long term. But not that intrigued. I like chicken too much.

Anyway, that is the update for this week. It is Sunday night and I am actually rather looking forward to work this week (yea, ask me tomorrow night, i am sure this will have passed). Big plans this week for some movie watching with the girls, a pedicure, and maybe even some pool time. Yea, I am exciting like that...

Happy

Sometimes I feel like I just need to stop and realize how lucky I am. I don't think I remember it nearly often enough. I mean, day to day life can get anyone down if they let. Work can wear on you, everyday responsibilities can frustrate you, and life can be hectic and crazy. So sometimes it takes getting away from it all to remember how great life is. I have a great home, fantastic friends (both locally and across the world), a good job, two furry animals who love me unconditionally, and the opportunity to travel and see the world as often as I would like.

This week I am at Jessica's lake house. Today we spent the day playing with the babies, and then handed them off to Dusty for a couple of hours so we could head down to the lake. We got on our tubes and floated in the water for almost two hours. Now, while this might have been a poor choice, based upon the SPF 2 sunscreen I had on, and the now burned swimsuit lines I have on my chest and legs, we had a great time. We just stared at the sky and chatted about life and how I need to marry rich (seriously, anyone know anyone??). We made several good attempts at solving the world's problems, but came up a little short when it came to world hunger. Otherwise, though, we did pretty well. We watched a truck try to pull a boat out of the water for the better part of an hour. We watched a ghetto family take the buoys from a boat that didn't belong to them into the water to float on. Basically, we just enjoyed life. It was two hours, but it did me an amazing amount of good. We spent the rest of the day at the house, where I took a huge nap, and woke up so drowsy it took me 20 minutes to figure out exactly what was going on. You know that was a good nap! This evening we cooked dinner. Or rather, the boys tried to cook dinner and we supervised. And Aunt Debs fed some babies and enjoyed some time with these two little angels who now smile when you smile at them. Yea, I get nothing done now that this happens. We took the girls for a walk and solved some more world problems (ok, or my problems, the world can wait). There were no fireworks tonight, but that's ok, I didn't seen any last year either, and I made it through. It actually made me think about some of the cooler Fourth of July nights I have had. Two years ago I kayaked out in the Galveston Channel and we watched the fireworks above our heads while enjoying a cold beverage, or four. I spent a Fourth of July in DC with Joy, we did it up right with the fireworks at the Capitol and the long bus ride home. Joy and I also spent several Fourths on the beaches of Santa Cruz, digging holes and watching hours of fireworks going off over our heads (this was also the death of my favorite fleece after I was hit with a firework...probably a good thing the fleece was on me, or it might have been much worse). I spent some nights at Astrocamp watching the Hemet fireworks from my porch after long days of camp parades and red, white, and blue wars. Last year we hung out at Dawn's parent's house in their pool with Dawn and Chad and Becky and Thomas, drinking watermelon margaritas and barbecuing. Yea, I have had some good summer holiday celebrations.

So, life is good. I am hanging out relaxing this week, and then off to Vegas this weekend for Lacey's bachelorette party. Looking forward to more fun in the sun (hopefully this sunburn won't be a problem by then). And then I am back in town for a while, which is nice, since I feel like I have been in a different city every week since May. I love traveling, but I love being at home as well.

The Perfect Day

I think I had the perfect day yesterday. And I had no idea it was coming, so there were no expectations. See, it's been a while since I have gone on a trip by myself that didn't include a ton of work. And this trip, while work related, had some down time yesterday (being that is was Sunday). I arrived in Vancouver at around 11pm, and made it to the hotel after almost dying on the streets of downtown a number of times. These people drive FAST (and you know I mean FAST since I am clearly a lead foot driver most of the time). I got into my hotel room by about 12:30, showered, and crashed. Now, let me just say, I am staying in the fanciest hotel I have ever stayed at. Ever. The Fairmont Vacnouver (on the government rate, thanks USA!) is spectacular. The room I am in is super fancy, the bed is amazing, and the shower. Well, the shower is out of this world. I know, random, but I am telling you people, best shower ever. I take half hour showers twice a day now. Also, the hotel restaurant has a dessert buffet. I mean really?

Anyway, so I slept like a rock until about 6am, and then tossed and turned until 8 or so, knowing full well I was going to be tired if I didn't sleep a little more. I finally gave up, got up, showered (half hour, OBV), threw on jeans and flip flops, and headed out to find some breakfast. A cup of coffee and an apple muffin later, I was headed towards the convention center, which is about 3/4 of a mile from the hotel, and right on the water. Now, those of you who know me know how much I love to enjoy life while drinking coffee. I love to people watch, or sit at a cafe, or in this case, wander the streets of a new city. And so I did. There are some great streets here, and some super fun stores, which just means the exploring it that much more enjoyable. I made it to the convention center and found the other NASA people who I was meeting to set up out booth (I'm gonna throw it out there that this day was perfect despite the fact that I did have to work). I had to don a bright orange contruction vest (you know that color is awesome on me), since these Canadians take their safety very seriously (uh, as does NASA, but yet, I have never worn a vest there), and they were unloading things on fork lifts. We set up the booth quickly, and while there might have been some slight OCD when it came to how things were on the table, it went smoothly, and I was soon back out on the streets of Vancouver.

I sat on a wall for a little while, enjoying the sun and watching the boats. Then I started walking. I walked up Granville Street, which was partially now a pedestrian mall, and there were a bunch of booths set up. Apparently I picked a good week, since it is Pride here in Vancouver, as well as the Latin Festival week and International Music Festival week. Yea, try that combo on for a little while. Anyway, so there was Latin food everywhere, but after my previous experience with Mexican food last week, I am still not really eating anything with a spanish name. Plus, I am a loser and didnt have any Canadian money. I finally found an ATM after like 10 blocks and solved this problem. It was weird that it took that long to find the ATM, Canada really likes to hide em' (or they just dont have a lot of them apparently). Anyway, so I continued on my adventure up Granville Street until I got to Granville Bridge. Now, the plan was to to the Granville Island, where there is a cool market and such to walk around. So, up the bridge I went. And I could see the market. So, I kept walking. All the way across the bridge. And when I got to the other end, I had now passed the market. But, I was still on the bridge, and the bridge wasn't ending anytime soon. So I just kept walking. And walking. And walking. And eventually I got down off the bridge, and then backtracked like 8 blocks to the market. By this point, I was slightly sunburned, and getting hungry. I wandered for a while just enjoying the people watching (I am the world's best people watcher, and love to make up stories about people). And then I went into the open market, which was super fun. There were vendors everywhere, selling fresh fruits, veggies, meats, cheeses, flowers, etc. And also some crafty people selling jewelry, hammocks, scarves, and other random stuff. I checked it out and enjoyed some home cooked food from one of the carts. People were everywhere. There was a great band playing on a stage and people were just sitting, eating, and watching. I hung out for a long time and just enjoyed being. And of course, on par for a perfect day, I had some gelato. Hazelnut Chocolate to be exact. About two hours into the market I realized I had to figure out how to get back. I was pretty sure that crossing the bridge back was really not the option I wanted to choose, so I checked out other possibilities. The best one was a very short ferry ride across the creek to the other side, effectively cutting my walk in half. $3 later, I was in a little boat with a rainbow sign for a four minute journey across the water. Best. Choice. Ever. By this point, the bag on my shoulder was getting a little heavy, and I was a little done with jeans I was wearing. So, I hiked it back to the hotel for a little break.

I spent the next hour and a half rinsing my feet from the flip flop funk that I had accumulated, and then half napping on the bed while doing some texting to stay in touch with those of you at home (since texting is still free and phone calls are not, texting has been my only form of communication since I arrived). I then headed out for some dinner. I ended up about a half block from the hotel, since I knew where I wanted to go. I found this great Brewery, and got a seat on the street on their little patio. I ordered a local pale ale, and a brie and chicken sandwich (my favorite combo ever), and just watched people wander past me. I probably sat there for an hour and a half, and just watched. And thought. And watched and thought some more. Yea, I guess I have a lot on my mind. But what better to place to think than from a patio chair with a beer in a great town? Yea, I was content. After dinner I walked around a bit more and then decided to grab the car and go for a drive.

I drove through Stanley Park in Vancouver and then went North to the "Sea to Sky Highway." Or well, I tried. I ended up missing a turn and taking a local road that sort of paralleled the highway for a while before finally meeting up with it (and yes, I thought I was on it all along, and was very confused that is went though a neighborhood). I drove for a while just enjoying the views, and eventually had to turn around, knowing it was late despite the sun not setting. I made it back to the hotel as the sun went down, and was in my room eating cookies and drinking tea by 10pm.

I just can't get over how great my day was. And what is interesting, after writing it all out, is how simple it was. I didn't do anything earth shattering or groundbreaking, I didn't see some amazing historical marker, or experience a once in a lifetime thing. I just enjoyed being in a new place. I enjoyed the beautiful weather, the freedom to be alone and do what I wanted to do, and my ability to be outdoors and on foot. I found myself appreciating the day as I went along. And I was just really happy.

I read something today that hit me. It was in a book written in first person, and at the end of one of paragraphs, the author wrote "Long ago, I had become my own confidante." I think this is so me. I love having people around, I love leaning on my friends, I love having special people in my life. But at the end of the day, somewhere along the line, I am completely satisfied and happy just being alone. Sometimes I even prefer it. And while I wouldn't want to live life alone, I enjoy the times I can just exist, and be with my thoughts without someone else talking to me about them (and yes, those of you who get nightly calls from me know how important those talks are too). I am glad I am comfortable with this, it makes me feel stronger, and makes me feel like I know myself and my life. And that makes me smile.

I am random

So, I think it might be time for a more upbeat blog post. I know, I know, I have been somewhat depressing (although still funny people tell me) in the last few. I guess that's life right now, but its funny, because life itself is not depressing, it just sounds that way when I describe it. Maybe I need to be blogging about more random things, those are always more fun and usually more funny as well. For instance, let's talk about Tony. Tony has recently been displaced from his home. You see, this little furrball too up residence in my back bedroom, usually napping on the bed or in the small space between the dresser and the wall. He would eat his breakfast and then slink back there, not to be seen again until dinner time. I used to go in there and rub his belly when I got ohm from work. He loved it, it reminded me how easy life is, and things were good. And then Caitlin arrived. And poor Tony was removed rather quickly, and was reminded to never come back by the loud vacuuming going on to remove any residual fur. Well, he had to find a new place to sleep. And that he did. Now he has taken up residence in the corner of my bedroom. And let me tell you people, this cat is cute. He walks over the corner, circles twice, and then just flops. And there he stays, all day long. This morning i picked him up, gave him some love, and then laid him back down. He went right back to sleep, like nothing had ever happened. This animal makes me so happy.

On the baby front, there are a ton of new faces around, and they are also super cute. Between the Brooklyn, Brylee, Bear,Evelyn, and Liam (who has yet to grace us with his presence, but will, on July 12, my day in the baby pool), Aunt Debs has her hands full. I spend more than one night a week holding a baby, and let me tell you, that is the best thing ever after a long day of work (well, most of the time, although a certain little twin baby like to spit up on me on a regular basis, which, while cute, I wouldn't miss if she stopped). I am a sucker for a smiling baby, and can spend hours with those little ones sleeping on me. I am so excited to make it to Switzerland so baby Naia and I can nap together and I can teach her all the ways of the world (moms beware, my ways of the world might not be YOUR ways of the world, but they are being taught nonetheless). I am so that woman who pinches cheeks and talks in the baby voice. And I am embracing it.

So, as I write this, I am on a plane on my way to Phoenix, where I will connect to get to Vancouver. Thats right, people, Canada. Check it off my list. And I know, I know, I have been some cool place, but never Canada, so I am pretty excited. Someone told me Vancouver is like the LA of Canada, so this should be interesting. I am going for work, after a bunch of people in the office didn't have passports, and I was given the go ahead. Yea, I'm low on the totem pole, but whatever, I made the list eventually. So, I am looking forward to the cooler weather (the high tomorrow is 69), some time outdoors with some trees and views, and, oh yea, a little work. This conference should be interesting. Something about Engineering Education. I guess I do that. A bunch of NASA people will be there, which always is interesting. My funding source for NCAS will be there, so who knows, I might come home with even more money to run this program. Or maybe a raise. Yea, a raise would be nice. I'll see what I can do. It's been a while since I have been on a work trip that has taken me somewhere cool. I mean, SoCal and Alabama are nice, but this is actually a place I might have spent my own money to come and visit. I'm looking forward to exploring, especially since the sun barely sets this time of year this far north. Not quite Alaska, but still great! Anyway, more soon when I get to some exploration!

Full Disclosure

Sigh. Ok, fine. I like to blog, and I am an open book. Most of the time. But, in the last 3 months, I haven't been writing about EVERYTHING on here (and for those of you who know EVERYTHING, don't worry, I'm not actually writing about it ALL). I like to think that this blog keeps people updated on what is going on in the life of Deb. But, it also is my way of getting things off my chest, and talking about things that are bothering me, and just venting. Trust me, there are some amazing posts you people will never read because I was just venting, and then realized that what I had written should NEVER appear on the internet. So, anyway, in the spirit of being open, honest, and allowing me to get it all off my chest, here goes:

Remember three months ago when I had that cardiologist appointment? And then I had the stress test? And then I sort of just stopped talking about it? Well, yea. That's not exactly where the story ended. So, don't freak out (I have to start this story with that phrase A LOT), but here is the whole story...

After I went to the cardiologist a few months ago, I pretty much told most people he gave me a full pass and sent me away. Not totally true. After he ran the Echocardiogram, he found a small spot on one of the pictures, and wasn't sure what it was, or if it was just a shadow, or a lump of Calcium, or something totally different. So, he called me back in, or rather, called me to come to the Clear Lake Heart Hospital, for a procedure called a Transesophageal Echocardiography, or TEE for short (us NASA people love our acronyms). This procedure is basically where they drug you up in the hospital and put a camera down your throat to take a picture of your heart through your esophagus. They drug you up really nicely so that you are still awake (and can follow commands like swallowing, coughing, breathing, etc), but so that you don't remember anything after the fact. It was somewhat painful afterwards, but they were right, I dont remember much of it, so a sore throat is pretty good considering how big the probe with the camera was. I was picturing a small camera, like the size of my pinky fingernail, attached to a string. Yea, not so much. (Also, some of you might remember the HUGE bruise on my arm...yea, that was nurse Kate and her inability to put an IV

Anyway, what came out of this was the fact that I have a small (1.5cm) benign tumor in the right atrium of my heart. Now, let me stop here. When someone tells you this for the first time, your stomach definitely hits the floor. And then ties itself in a huge knot. Twice. And you stop listening the the doctor immediately and go to the nice blank space in your brain where the beach lives, with margaritas and guacamole and beach balls. Yea, I was blown away. And when I told a few people about it afterwards, they wanted to know things like "what causes this" or "what happens if it gets bigger?" And yea, I had no idea. I mean, I am sure the doctor told me, but I was drunk on a mystery beach by then. At least in my head I was. So, I left the office pretty numb, with the promise that he would check with the heart surgeon to see what he thought, but he was not concerned, since the tumor is small and in the right side of my heart. The left side would be a huge issue, since if it got loose on that side, it could go into my brain or other major organ. The right side wouldn't be detrimental apparently, because the lump, if it fell off, would just go into my lungs, and is too small to actually block an artery. Oh, and get this: this kind of tumor in the right side of your heart only happens to actually about 1 in 1 million people. Yea, I am that special.

So, today (uh, a month later, thanks Dr. T), he called me to tell me after checking with four surgeons (he wanted to check with four surgeons since this is SO RARE in the right side of your heart that there is very little literature on it) they all agree that we don't need to do anything right now, and in fact, that is their recommendation. There is no need to open me up (because, if you people had found on google what I found about removing this through open heart surgery ONLY, you would also not want it removed), but he does want to run another TEE on me in six months to make sure the tumor hasn't grown. I am ok with this, even though I swore I would never let anyone put a camera down my throat again. At least the drugs were pretty fun that day, and Becky enjoyed picking me up from the hospital all drugged up and groggy. I think she messed with me, but I can't be sure. I do know that I gave her a heart attack when I was trapped in the hospital for four hours with no cell phone contact. Pretty sure she was having her own small heart attacks when I wasn't responding (Becky, next time just assume I have run off with the hot doctor to an undisclosed location).

So, there you have it folks. I am not perfect after all. I know you are all shocked. I have this growth in my heart. It reminds me of the scene in My Big Fact Greek Wedding when the cousin (aunt? I dont remember the character) had the twin growing on her neck. It is like my little buddy. The doctor drew me a picture, the little guy is hanging on for dear life on a string, just swishing around in there in all my blood. Yea, I'm nuts, but it's how I get by. And you people keep coming back to read all my stories, so therefore, you are a little crazy too. but now you know, and I dont have to write around it like I have been for the last few weeks. And I am fine, so don't get all weird on me and stress me out. I have enough of that without all of your problems too. ;-)

Road trip recap

Caitlin and I are road tripping. It is kind of a scene. Or atleast, that is the quote of the trip. Today is effectively day 3, and we are still talking to each other, so I guess things are going well. She is making the drive from Oakland to Houston, and I joined up in Phoenix, after making the short flight from Houston (through El Paso I might add, which seems a little counter intuitive, since we drove back through there the next day).

I arrived on Saturday morning to Phoenix and took a somewhat sketchy cab ride to the Biltmore Hotel (uh, yea, we are THAT fancy), and then napped, ordered room service, and laid by the pool while waiting for Caitlin to make the drive from Idyllwild to Phoenix. It was rough for me, but I made it through. Actually, I spent a lot more time in the room than I meant to, trying to sleep unsuccessfully. See, I seem to have lost the ability to nap since this thyroid business started up. Super disappointing. But, the bed was amazing, the sheets were like 10,000 thread count, and the air conditioning was freezing, so I was just fine laying there staring at the wall.

Well Caitlin arrived, met me at the pool, changed, and soaked in the salt water with me for a nice little catch up session during which I gave her the general life update, and she gave me hers. Pretty sure the lady sitting behind us getting a tan agrees that we pretty much could write a Lifetime series about our lives (ok, my life). Luckily, most of the Lifetime series doesn't make the blog. Not like you would believe some of the crap that happens to me anyway. Anyway, this lady was very intently listening to us spill our guts. Eh, hopefully she was entertained. I managed to get an awkward tan line from my bathing suit and burn (literally burn, as in, I couldn't walk comfortably until today) the bottom of my feet on the hot stone walkway. We then retired to the Adirondack chairs sitting around a fountain to dry off and enjoy the dry summer air (as opposed to the air you wear in Houston). After Caitlin finally bought into the fact that I haven't been eating too much recently, we made our way to CPK (yea, we are super uncreative when tired and hungry), and shared a nice little pizza and some water (talk about dehydrated after one day in dry air!). Pretty sure I got the best night of sleep in my entire life that night, considering neither of us got up for almost 12 hours. It was like a cruise ship room in there, pitch black, cold, and quiet. Amazing.

Sunday we made the drive from Phoenix to El Paso. We took our time getting going in the morning, and made several stops for food (it seems after I sleep enough, my appetite returns), including the always necessary In-N-Out burger! We rediscovered the Guilty Pleasures CDs Kelly and I made during grad school, and had some fun playing dance party in the car to all the old favorites. We drove through the really bad fires, and breathed in enough smoke to kill a small child. I think I have a sore throat today because of the smoke. I could never be a smoker. I took some fun pictures for all the Facebook fans, and then Caitlin as I spent the afternoon solving all the world's problems and talking about deep meaningful things, like free donut day, her nut/pit allergy, and the new Ben and Jerry's flavors. By El Paso we were both a little tired and a little frazzled. We made it to our hotel room, and it took some serious motivation to leave again for dinner. We had original plans to make a trip through some Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, but by that point, we just wanted food we knew, and we didn't want to make the wrong turn and end up in Juarez. We made it to PF Changs, where the entire wait staff was just watching the Basketball finals and not working too hard otherwise. I almost fell asleep in my soup, but we finished our meals and made it back to the hotel before I passed out (after pulling out all the sheets and rolling myself up like a burrito, as Caitlin made jokes at my expense).

This morning we again took our sweet time getting up (story of my life), and didn't leave El Paso until 11:15am. This might have been a mistake, seeing as the drive to the lake house took us more than 10 hours. See, Caitlin's bladder decided to go on strike yesterday after an unfortunately long time between bathroom stops, and she is peeing like a pregnant woman (she swears she is not pregnant, just in case anyone related to her is reading this). So, we stopped probably once an hour for a break today. This is harder than you might think on the road from El Paso to San Antonio, where there. is. nothing. We both relived our last road trips out this direction with constant quotes like "oh, that's where I stayed last time I drove to Houston...or maybe it was on my way back...or maybe it was where i was GOING to stay..." Needless to say, there was some giggling and much laughter, and towards the end of the evening we both got a little punchy. We made it through the random check stop with Border Patrol outside of El Paso. The guy gave me a rundown of questions, but let me go as soon as I said I worked at NASA. We government people have to stick together apparently. We stopped at Caitlin's favorite fast food ever, Culver's Butterburgers and Frozen Custard, which if you work with her ever, you have heard of. My stomach is pretty mad about that stop still. Tomorrow I will be needing some serious vegetables. It was in Kerrville, Sara's home town, so we went her a nice text message to let her know. We were pretty excited. Actually, several of you probably got random texts from me. Thank you to those that responded, it was kind of like you were on the trip with us! My mom even got on the text bandwagon AND learned how to use the spacebar in her texts. it was a big day in the Hutchings household. So, we made it to the lake house about 10:30, had to wake up Jessica for real instructions as to how to turn on the water (but only after Caitlin put soap on her hands and then couldn't rinse them), and freaked out the neighbors who were clearly partying it up on the porch (ok, that sounds dirty, its not, they were just blaring music). And now I am enjoying the fact that I am not in a hotel room, and dont have to make more than a four hour drive tomorrow. I wonder how long I could live at the lake house before Jessica kicks me out...

Tomorrow it's back to Houston, and real life. Don't get me wrong, I love real life, but I like fake, fancy, hotel life just slightly more. Maybe because I haven't even though about checking work email since Saturday. I am excited to get back though, I think there is some fun waiting for me...and two furry cats...aw man, and a house to clean...oh well!