Life After 40

So, I got through the surgery okay, despite having a mild infection that was discovered the morning of the surgery - which resulted in three days of IV antibiotics and a postponement of the surgery until then. I was supposed to have it on December 4th, but it didn't happen until the 7th, and I was in the hospital until the 10th. Interestingly, my neurosurgeon had planned to fuse both L4 and L5 (because both are usually involved when a vertebral congenital defect is involved - yay me), but discovered that the disc at L4 had calcified and fused itself sometime during the last year. Three incisions (1 front, 2 back) and a bone graft later, I'm fused.

Recovery was...interesting. First off, I HATE the back brace, which I had to wear constantly unless I was in the bed. I needed to be moving fairly consistently, not laying around, and that really wasn't difficult since I got bored just laying in the bed and the drugs made my attention span that of a toddler. The weird thing was the leg cramps. I think we finally decided that those were from the fact that my leg muscles had become accustomed to my maladjusted spine, and when the spine was straight as it should be, the muscles said "oh no" and threw a fit. The only real pain I had from the surgery was the incisions, but the leg cramps threw everything off and I had to stay on the narcotics and muscle relaxers for longer than I intended. All is well now, however, and I haven't taken any of those in 2 weeks. There are restrictions until my 3 month follow-up at the end of March: no pulling, no pushing, no twisting, no bending at the waist, and no lifting anything more than 20 lbs. So there goes GW this year, although we had pretty much decided we weren't going to give our bank account a break. With the blown transmission, last year's war was pretty expensive for us.

Went back to work last week and promptly came down with the stomach flu. I lost 8 lbs. in 3 days and I am still having issues with my appetite. I needed to jumpstart the weight loss, but I was really hoping to use WW and not such a drastic measure. Poor Michael has been at his wits end trying to make things that I will eat.

And just when we thought things had settled down, and despite our fervent prayers that 2013 would be a better year for us than 2012, my precious, grumpy, bitey, loving calico Maddie had to be put to sleep Monday morning. She had an undiagnosed heart condition and threw a clot spray around 6am that affected her spine and lungs. The emergency vet very kindly explained that treatment was lmiited and there was no guarantee that this wouldn't happen again. I couldn't stand to see my baby in pain, so we made the choice to put her to sleep. It was peaceful, and she was purring in my arms until the very end.

I'd like to get off this roller coaster now.

After being in a relationship for 6 years and living together for 5 of them, count_gunthar and I made it official on September 15th.

Mercury is in retrograde. How do I know this? Because every electronic thing I touch seems to be spazzing out on me. The BIOS issues with my desktop at home were apparently not resolved, because the thing decided it really liked blue screens. And, of course, the Swiss Army Knife Squire of Awesomeness was on vacation and then at Pennsic. Said Squire is coming over tonight to take a look, but I'm betting that some hardware upgrading will be required to fix this mess.

Then my work laptop decided it needed to have issues and the Yahoo IM upgrade I performed earlier this week has been nothing but major fail. I'm not even going to mention the issues I'm having with the keyboard on my little notebook. We were planning on picking up an iPad2 this weekend, but now I'm waiting until after August 29th. I just might blow it up if I don't.

The ear issue is still a problem, but I can't do anything about it until Monday, which is when I get to see the ENT. Earaches as an adult are not fun, let me tell you - especially ones that go on for days.

This week can go DIAF.

I've been having ear problems on and off since a bout of bronchitis last September. The first bout cleared up on its own, the second (which had me nearly deaf and with earaches) required draining in the doctors office, and the third bout cleared up on its own. Now I'm dealing with bout number four and I'm heading for the deafness and earache portion of the show. Over the counter ear rinse packages aren't working at all. My primary care physician has thrown his hands up and referred me to an otolaryngologist (ear, nose, throat). Hopefully, she can fix this. I'm getting desperate.

count_gunthar and I celebrated five years together last Friday. It just doesn't seem that long. ;) Anyway, he made reservations at what was touted as a nice steakhouse but in reality was mediocre at best. While I loved the company, the dinner was less than stellar and I doubt we'll be returning for a second visit. The most amusing part? The table they originally sat us at was directly under a vent with the air blowing hard enough to move my hair. We were moved after a brief "argument" with the waiter, and then watched with amusement the rest of the evening as they unsuccessfully tried to seat anyone at that table.

On Sunday, we met the members of our France tour group for an informal cocktail hour held at a very nice high-rise apartment overlooking the Turtle Creek area. Gunthar learned he is one of only two men going with our small group (picture me laughing here) and that our tour guide, Nicole, and I are probably the youngest members. It's an eclectic sort of group and I think we'll end up traveling well together. We'd better - it's two weeks.

Posting on the actual trip details to follow...

The BIOS update on my home computer failed spectacularly last Friday, leaving me without a gaming-capable computer for the weekend. Can you say "blue screen"? We have a teeny notebook that we use for travel, but it is incredibly slow and good only for e-mail and limited web surfing. count_gunthar, in a move to avoid any unseemly pouting on my part and aggravation on his, let me use his newly ramped up computer all weekend to play WoW whenever I wanted. This is why I love him (or at least one of the many reasons). ;)

We have plants and a working fountain in the backyard. The sound of the fountain running is very nice, but I wish it weren't so bloody hot outside so we could enjoy it. We are watering the hell out of everything to make sure nothing dies, and I'm sure my water bill for this month is going to be ridiculous. I'll post pictures soon (not the bill, my plants).

The weekend was quiet in general. On Saturday, we went to the gym, kept the briefest of tabs on Crown Tournament, went shopping, ate a really good dinner out at Pappadeaux's. I didn't leave the house at all on Sunday. Gunthar was good and went to the gym again and did a little grocery shopping just before dinner time.

The diet is going well for both of us. We've thrown out the bad stuff in the pantry and in the fridge. It has also forced us to start meal planning again - the lack of it is how we ended up with the extra pounds. Sunday is our weigh in day: I lost 5 pounds last week and Gunthar lost 6. I head to the gym tonight for another walk/jog 5k. Go me.

Dear Executive that I sometimes am forced to work with:

Yeah, it's well known in the company that I have pretty good document-locating skills and, if it's out there, there is a good chance I'll find it. Note that I said "pretty good", not "perfect". Every once in a while, I come up with a big fat zero or I just flat out don't have access to it. If that lack of access relates to subscription fees to an outside vendor we don't have services with, you're just going to have to pony up the dough, pal because I'm not. And if I can't find it, or any information even remotely relating to it, I can't just make it magically appear. Harry Potter I'm not.

Seriously, dude, get a grip. I honestly thought you were about to pitch a temper tantrum when I told you I didn't have the document. You're like in your thirties, for God's sake!

Get away from my cube,
Me

Other than the few things I already have in process (decant circles and an ebay auction), I have put a moratorium on any more BPAL purchases until I get more caught up in my testing. Of the 246 individual scents I have either in imp or bottle form (excessive, I know), I have only gotten to 70 of them. Plus, I think my wallet would appreciate the break.

On the positive side, my wish list has gotten significantly shorter.

ETA: Oops, should have looked at my list before I gave numbers. I have 273 individual scents plus another 11 in the order process. Even more ridiculous.

Just to be perfectly clear, I HATE April Fool's Day.

Thunder and lightning, as seen, heard and felt while 15 stories up in a glass building, is rather disturbing. Especially when you are close to the windows.

I did it. I'm a homeowner. OMG, what have I done?

Seriously, the closing was this morning and my realtor, loan officer and title officer made this whole process ridiculously easy. I'd heard the horror stories about finding a house, the loan process, the inspection, etc. I didn't have any of that and, frankly, for that I feel very blessed. The three issues, minor really, that came up in the inspection were handled quickly by the sellers and the repairs were complete as of yesterday afternoon.

I have a flooring company coming out tomorrow to give me an estimate in putting in hardwood floors in the great room, replacing the carpet in the master bedroom and maybe the carpet in the front hall and remaining bedrooms. A finishing contractor, who is also a SCAdian, is coming out on Saturday to give us an estimate on the painting. If all goes well, we'll be moving on December 11th.

The house is mine, mine, mine.