under the knife

FINALLY after years of doctors visits and pain and bagillions of dollars spent in co-pays...i'm having back surgery. the surgery is on feb 7th at 8 am. my pre-op appt is on feb 1st. i'm no doctor so i'm probably going to get this wrong but my L4/L5 disk is bulging and is putting pressure on my spine. the doctors are going to go in and remove the parts of my disk that are causing the pressure and that should relive my back pain...forever!i chose the outpatient option-i will get operated on and go home the same day.expected recovery time is about three weeks. they suggested i take a full week off of work,and i should be able to work part-time the second week, and full time by the third week. i'm not looking forward to not working and expect to get cabin fever after two days so i'm hoping i heal faster than anticipated.

this may sound weird, but i'm super excited. i have been dealing with some sort of back pain for the past TEN years. when i would go to the doctor ten years ago a few doctors told me i just had a weak lower back. it wasn't until 2.5 years ago when i literally could not walk for three days that doctors bothered to do an mri and found out i actually have ruptured disks and needed surgery. at the time of the mri i didn't have insurance(that's how horrible it was. i went to the e.r., with no insurance, and had an mri. only crazy in pain people do that)so i couldn't fix anything then. it was only when my back freaked out five months ago that i decided i couldn't/wouldn't/didn't want to take it anymore.i now have insurance and am WAY too young to be dealing with this. i should be able to lift my nephew and give him a hug, or do any workout or ride any ride at the fair without having to worry about hurting myself. now, hopefully i will be able to.

i'm also super nervous just because it is surgery and there are risks with any kind of surgery. i'm going to be put under anesthesia, there's a risk of infection, or that the doctor messes up when he is operating, or i could not heal right. i mean, this is my BACK. if something goes wrong it could change the rest of my life. but i'm trying to be optimistic about everything and not let my nerves freak me out-otherwise i probably wouldn't go through with it.

alright, so that's my back update. of course you know i will keep everyone posted on how the surgery and my recovery go. please keep me in your thoughts and wish me luck!!

blocked

writers block. i totally have it. i don't really consider myself a "writer" per say, but when i have a zillion thoughts running through my head and i can't find the words to organize them and put them down on paper then i get frustrated. if i have something to say that i feel is important i will think about it for a few days, let it stew and then when i feel i'm ready, i sit down and write. this may be in the form of an email, if it's for a specific person, or a blog post, or even a journal entry. i have several blog posts that i've written but never posted. they're mostly just rants and raves on current frustrations or aggravations.

right now i have about three different important topics that i want so badly to express my feelings and thoughts on and i have no idea how to do it in a way that people will understand or not get offended by, or even in a way that people would WANT to read it.

i know there's no "cure" for writers block, and that people say the right words will come to me in time. i'm just hoping that they will come soon. i'm starting to get a headache.

haven't met you yet

today has been nuts. is it time for a full moon? my kids have the attention span of .2 seconds, everyone at school is getting sick, and the weather won't stop being crappy. it's days like these where i just wanna go home, put on my favorite tunes, and relax and breathe a huge sigh of relief that it's almost tomorrow.

this song has been running through my head for the past few days. and while i'm not the hugest michael buble fan, i can't help but be a big fan of this tune. it's just so dang catchy and optimistic. so when my friend posted a link to it on facebook today(thanks pattie cake! ;) i knew i just had to share the video for your viewing pleasure. plus, he just has a way of making grocery stores look sooooo sexy. enjoy!

simple kind of life

it all started with a phone. my sidekick lx to be exact. i LOVED it. this phone wasn't as awesome as a lot of the phones out there, but it had everything i wanted. i could instant message, take decent quality pictures, watch any youtube video, and check my facebook wherever i was at any time. if you spent any time with me at all you know i was CONSTANTLY on that thing. i was especially dangerous while driving. i'm pretty much pro status when it came to texting/checking email/watching videos while driving. how i never got into an accident i'll never know.

but then, one day...it broke.

as much as i loved the functions of my phone, it was a crappy phone in general, and i was not about to shell out money for a piece of crap when i would be replacing it in a few months-as soon as i was available for an upgrade. i settled for an extra phone my friend was willing to give to me for free and moved on with my life. picture your phone circa 2004. it calls. it texts. that's it.

now that i don't have all the phone stuff to distract me i am definitely more aware of the people that i know that do spend a lot of time on their phones. i actually get irritated when i'm trying to have a conversation or spend time with someone and they can't resist checking their emails,text messages, or current favorite social networking site. like, really? i swear anything that is there can wait until the end of our time together. the world is not going to implode and end because you didn't read your message .4 seconds after it was received.

more and more i'm starting to realize-i'm tired of technology. sure, i know there are TONS of benefits, especially if you're a business owner or artist trying to market a product/brand/whatever. but if you're just a joe shmo like me, does it REALLY matter if you have 5820984098 followers on twitter? at the end of the day, do you REALLY think all those people are sitting at the edge of their seat waiting for your next tweet? or if you don't post an update for a couple of days-how many of those people are actually gonna notice? i'm willing to bet anyone that does notice you are probably friends with in real life and you are texting back and forth anyway.

i also miss actually talking to people and hearing about what they've been up to. when i ask someone about their day or how their christmas was i don't want to be told that i should just read about it online. i actually enjoy looking at facial expressions and hearing the laughter in their voice when they get to the part of the story when uncle john poured gravy all over grandma.

as many downsides i feel there are to our advancing technology, i know there are just as many, if not more upsides. and it's not like i've had a life changing discovery or am suddenly meeting/seeing more people since i've cut back on my electronic use. i'm just more aware. these feelings and this new awareness may change next week, or in a few months when i am finally able to get my new phone, but until then, feel free to drive next to me on the road :)

nye 2010

happy new year everyone! i hope everyone had a safe and fun new years celebration. my night was pretty fun. i was expecting to be at home celebrating the new year with my sister and the babies so i didn't have anything even remotely acceptable to wear for a night out on the town. that morning me and sam headed out to find me something. i didn't do too bad considering i had one store and one hour to put an outfit together. mad props to my sister who was the BEST personal shopper a girl could ask for.

the limo picked us up that night and we headed to The 5th Amendment. apparently this is one of the newest 5 star hotspots in houston. it was fun. we had our own bartenders along with our own bottle of grey goose and champagne in an ice bucket on our table along with tonic water, cranberry juice and diet soda to mix it with. ballas! here's a few pics from that night:

sisters=<3 (sorry we took a few good pictures and i couldn't choose just one. haha)




brother in law and seeeester:


party hat:


like i said, a good time was had by all. it's gonna be hard for nye 2011 to top that, but i'd like to see it try!