done and done

as most of you probably know, i had back surgery last week. some of you may not know, that you cannot have surgery if you are sick(cold,swine flu,cough,whatevs). i have the immune system of an ox so i've been able to avoid getting sick this whole season. so of COURSE the week before my surgery, not only is literally everyone in my life sick(including those in my own house)but my throat is feeling awfully scratchy. there was absolutely no way i was postponing my surgery so i took every precautionary measure possible in order to ensure my scratchy throat didn't turn into anything else and peaced out of my life asap. the first thing i did was tell my sick friends(and this may or may not be a direct quote)"sooooo...just so you know, we can't be friends this week. but i would be happy to continue this friendship when i return to work after my surgery".i also consumed disgusting amounts of vitamin c and emergen-c in order to maintain my ox strength immune system status.

i spent nearly the entire week avoiding the general public as well as the sickness in my house which means i spent a LOT of time watching movies and seasons of friends in my bedroom. i also worked a ton on my recipe box,which had been pretty neglected since...well...since i decided i wanted to start a recipe box.

all set up and ready to do work!


oh i forgot to mention that the kids that i teach have the sweetest parents. a couple of them sent me home with flowers on my last day of work before my surgery:

cute potted plant:


beautiful bouquet:


so sweet.

my surgery was on a monday, so i used saturday as a "live it up" night, since i knew nothing would be lived up for a while after the surgery. as i mentioned before, i was avoiding the general public so my last hurrah had to take place at my house. are you prepared to see the biggest house party of your life??

me, chillin with a glass of wine, catching up on my jersey shore:


i'm outta control.

i have to add this picture for good measure.(i heart pauly d)



my parents are the best in the west so they said they would be able to take care of me until i was able to get back on my feet. i stayed at their house the night before, woke up bright and early monday morning, and me and my mom were off to lakewood surgery center so i could get sliced open. unfortunately the camera i was using decided to malfunction, so as much as i wanted to take a video of me saying funny things while coming out of sedation in order to post it on youtube so that i may become an overnight internet sensation-i was unable. oh well. maybe next time?

the day of the surgery i was able to walk a little, but it was super painful so i did very minimal moving and maximal sleeping. serious. i think i slept 21 hours of the day. it helped that my parents guest bed is like heaven wrapped in clouds on top of marshmallows and cotton balls. SO comfy. anyway, i digress...

this was the extent of my view for four days:

to my left, a tv with dvd and dvds brought from home. i thought i would spend hours of my time watching said dvd's but my high doses of pain killers the first few days made it impossible for me to keep my eyes open for more than 12 minutes:


straight ahead, a huge window with a great view of the sky. sunsets were especially beautiful to see from here:



and to my right, a dresser of some sorts, topped with the beautiful flowers my grandma<3 had sent to me:




when i wasn't sleeping i was crazy busy playing cooking games on my ipod, surfing the interwebs on my ipod, texting, or reading my book. by my side was also fresh fruit for when i got hungry and my glasses, in case i ever wanted to see something far,far away.(not pictured, the bag of jelly beans my mom snuck me in case i got tired of eating fresh fruit):


on thursday my most precious friend megan came to visit me with her most precious babies. i was especially excited for her to visit because i had never met her littest bebe audrey, who was born 4 months ago. and also, because she brought food! megs is a great cook and had made delish toquitos which me and my mom gladly scarfed down.

SO yummy!(toquito, with a side of corn nuts imported from texas)


thanks again for the visit,meg<3!


i was well enough to slowly and carefully function on my own by thursday so i went home that night. each day i have been gradually feeling better. i had my follow up appt yesterday and my doc gave me the ok to return to work, which was great because i was getting cabin fever like whoa. so today-fri i'm working a half day,then will return to full time on monday. i'm moving around pretty ok but i have to remember that i am still healing and to slow down a little bit just to make sure i don't re-injure myself. i also still have some pain but the doc expects that won't go away for another 6-8 weeks. so i really won't know if the surgery was completely successful until then. crossed fingers!

i just wanted to thank everyone for their well wishes and support, especially work for being so accommodating to me taking the time off i need, and my mom for taking days off of work to make sure i was properly cared for. i am the luckiest.


p.s. i was watching "my strange addiction" while typing this. there's a girl who takes 150 laxative pills a day, and another girl who eats pottery and cigarette ashes. seriously disturbed.