Apparently it wasn't finished with me yet

Well, I went to my post-op appointment on Monday. The doctor used a scope and a vacuum to take out most of the packing tissue in my nose. Now I can breathe but I can only smell the scent of dust. I KNOW there are other things to smell. The doctor has me flushing out my sinuses with a mixture of vinegar, baking soda, sea salt, and water. I did the first one a few hours ago and I'm hoping I did it incorrectly...otherwise I'm in for ridiculous pain twice a day for two weeks. Loverly.

I could describe in gory detail how fascinating this packing tissue is and what it looks like (I'm supposed to sneeze the rest of it out during the rest of these two weeks) but I don't think anyone would read my blog after that. Using the phrase "sneeze it out" probably verges on too far for some of my readers. I apologize.

I would like to share with you, my dear readers, an image that was my normality for the better part of a week.

Yes, that's me, gauze tucked under my nose and held there with a rubber band and gauze tied around my head (at first it was taped to my cheeks but that caused too many problems), a gel-filled sinus ice pack, and a headband to keep my hair out of the way. I'm not wearing the gauze anymore but I thought it was too hilarious not to post.

Note about the background: please excuse the pastel early nineties wallpaper and the paintings on the wall. I chose the wallpaper (or rather my mom chose it) when I was probably six years old, and the painting was a joke two of my friends made for me when I turned sixteen. You can also see Sylvia, my new camera!

And now to expound upon the glories of someone I've spent a lot of time with this week:

Target ClearRx
I hope all of you have the opportunity to receive your prescription drugs from Target pharmacies. They have put a lot of thought into how they deal with pills (and liquid medicine), as they have put a lot of thought in everything, in my opinion.
I have been taking prescription medication for one thing or another all my life. I used to take ritalin for my ADHD (and then switched to a less dangerous drug, and then stopped taking it altogether when that med ended up having negative side effects). So I know how confusing having multiple medications can be.
Target has completely re-thought prescription medications for the better. They use close to the same size bottle for every medication (I think I had one pill that was extra large and so the bottle followed suit) and each bottle has the flat face design. This not only helps with keeping all the information in one place, but it helps with storage too (no chasing after bottles rolling all over the floor). I also think, though I don't know if this is true, that this design uses less plastic than the traditional round bottle design. The top is flat and displays the name of the medication in bold print, so I can read at a glance in the dark what medication I need.
Then, the lid of the bottle has a rubber ring whose color is customized for every person in the family. This helps a lot since members of my family and I sometimes take the same medication.
And finally, my favorite feature: there is an indented slot on the side of the bottle that holds a little card labeled, "patient information." This has a description of the pill (color, shape, size, and labeling), an outline of possible side effects, what to do if a dose is missed, the prescription number, common uses for the medication, and the pharmacy's phone and address.
I know it sounds silly to sing praises of the thought put into a prescription bottle, but it has helped me so much this week, and I really appreciate the designers.

I made it back alive!

Hey everyone, I'm back from surgery.
The actual surgery was scheduled for 8:40, which made the 5:30 check-in time rather ridiculous, but we got to check into a private day surgery room and I watched some of Mr. Rodger's Neighborhood and then like two and a half episodes of Monk.
I barely remember entering the operating room and I don't even remember them having me count down backwards from 100 as they always do. I woke up in the recovery room in a ton of pain, partially because of the ventilator tube (I'd never had one of those and thought they took it out before i woke up the memory of it on the muscles hurt), but a good portion because of the surgery itself. They asked me to rate my pain on a 1-10 scale and I said an 8, and they gave me some morphine. Then it got worse and I just kept saying "ten, ten, ten!" and spelling out "mom" in finger spelling, which of course they didn't understand. I finally said "mom" and said it repeatedly but they told me each time that my mother was not allowed back there. I was in the recovery room for more than an hour, and then they brought me back to my room. Note to self: Morphine does nothing for my pain, so a morphine addiction is pointless. Huzzah!
They made me eat something and drink some water to make sure i could hold it down before giving me my pain meds (vicodin...now THAT works). Apparently the surgery itself took longer than expected because he had trouble reaching one of my sinus cavities. That's how small the openings were!
So now I'm at home, waiting for Dad to come back with my meds and a milkshake. I have a post-op appointment next week to see how it went. The doctor said it would be up to a month before all the swelling completely goes down.
I'm just so grateful that I don't have a job or live on my own right now. This way I get to take as much time as I need to rest, which I intend to do.

Hey if you know me and want to call me that's fine, I might sound a bit out of it and I might not talk for long. I would love to hear from you though!
Kate

This week so far

** Edit**
My appointment is scheduled for 5:30 AM (central time) Tuesday. I can't remember how long the procedure should last but I'm fairly certain I'll be awake by 8. I don't know if I'll feel well enough to post an update tomorrow, but if you don't hear from me tomorrow you should hear from me Wednesday!
**Edit**
I had my pre-op appointment for my sinus surgery today. A doctor stuck a camera up my nose, and I felt it regardless of the anesthetic spray. It was without a doubt the strangest experience I ever had. On the upside, I got to see my vocal chords and my epiglottis along with a lot of other interesting things in my head, including the skin that lines the skull on the other side of the inside of my nose, at which point the ENT said "and on the other side of that is your brain", and I got a little freaked out. Something got knocked around in the process and I am VERY sore in the nasal area, and I can't seem to stop sneezing!
My actual surgery is on Tuesday, though I don't know what time yet (I will by the time most of you read this post I guess). The doctor said it will get a lot worse before it gets better, so I'll be on pain pills and antibiotics, and I have to pack ice on my cheeks after the surgery. I will definitely be out of commission this week (I take a while to heal), so it is a very good thing that I don't have a job right now. One of those would be very nice soon though, I would very much like to generate income and have insurance.

Prayers will be appreciated.

On a side note, I have a funny work story. I'm working at the church nursery this week while they do pre school teacher inservice. I have eight three year olds, and I think I'm in love with them. One little boy in particular is just hilarious. He has somehow developed a New York accent though we live in Texas. We were playing with a toy with a pull-string voice box, and the voice box didn't work. I told him that maybe the doll was "tired of talking" and he liked the phrase so much that he repeated it over and over throughout the day. "Toired of toawking" chorused from his no-nonsense mouth repeatedly throughout the day and set me to giggles. He also told me after we crashed the toy cars we were playing with that that was why "We don't hit or pinch the cars." He said something else about that was why we wear helmets when we ride our bikes, but I can't remember. Tomorrow (Friday) is my last day with these kids and I'm going to miss them! I wasn't too happy that I got threes at the beginning of the week, but this summer has really taught me that all ages of children have very delightful qualities if you get to know them. I'm slowly eking my way out of ageism. Next I may tackle pre-adolescence. Shudder. I don't know if I'm ready for that.

Dance, where has the artistry gone?

Recently I became slightly obsessed with Tracy Chapman's songs, "Behind the Wall" and "Fast Car". Being the former dancer I am, I decided to look for videos of dances done to these songs on YouTube.
Granted, these dances are mostly from studios and not professional companies, and these kids performing these dances can barely grasp the themes in these songs. However, I think that the point of dance (especially LYRICAL for goodness' sake!) is being missed, and that it has been relegated to a mere athletic exercise.
I don't know how to put Youtube videos straight into my blog, so you'll have to click on them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTszeTw3x10
This performer looks like she can't be more than about thirteen. Already we get into an emotional maturity issue. Here we see an overly-literal interpretation of this song, as the performer slams herself against a "wall", using the prop a total of about seven seconds throughout the entire routine. This dance is what I like to call "circused up", with as many technical elements and as few artistic elements as possible. This is rather common in dance competitions that I've seen. From the extremely erect way this dancer holds herself, it's clear she doesn't get the raw nature of this dance. A song as emotional as this calls for more "getting into the floor". This might be more the choreographer's fault.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU_tCnT8aQY&feature=related
Okay, so she's not competing, she's obviously practicing in the studio. This routine is better (I could do without the cheerleader butt-swings) even though it's apparent that this dancer isn't as advanced technically as the first one. She understands the movement needed for this song. Notice the body rolls and the floorwork. If I could see her face more I would like it better, and if I could see her in costume I would be able to get the whole effect, but overall THIS routine is better than the first. It contains maybe three technical elements (and the leap isn't that great), but focuses more on the meaning and emotionality of the dance.

Now, on to "Fast Car"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHZxjOhW1Eo
I can't tell but it looks like this was done with a stop-motion camera! From what I can tell, the dance does a good job of telling the story, it's not a trick show, but it has technical elements seamlessly blended into the rest of the routine (no "watch me as I run to the back corner of the stage, do a huge tombe, pas de bourre, chase, leap combination because it's the only way I know how to do a leap with any height" element). I think the choreography and her performance lend it to be upbeat for most of the routine, which is something I've never understood about dancing to sad songs (I did a lyrical routine to "Every Breath You Take" by the Police, yes, the stalker song to end all stalker songs, and we were told to smile). Maybe she's trying to pull off the optimistic feeling. All in all though, she DOES manage to capture the mood of the song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_DiglJNnDs
I'm waffling on this one. The first thing I would like to point out is that it is danced by fifteen year olds with their hair piled on top of their heads and ridiculously skimpy tops. "Fast Car" does not mean "Fast Women". Okay, I will grant that it is GOOD choreography. It doesn't really tell the story of the song, which is a shame, but in general it is danced well and has good choreography. Now about these dancers' attitudes. Look at how they walk on and off of the stage and how they work the beginning of the routine. This song is all about hurt and lost chances, it implies some vulnerability. These girls strut around like they're performing with the Pussycat Dolls (who have some pretty neat choreography), they're haughty, strong, sassy. Not quite what I would be doing right before I started a dance like this.

Now I'm sure randomly I will hear from some person who randomly found my blog about "oh yeah, well what would YOU do with it?" So I will tell you.
With Behind the Wall, I see a couple, probably like a fiance relationship, not quite husband and wife yet. The woman in the dance is basically telling him what she heard behind the wall and he's trying to comfort her. It's hard to explain the moves exactly, but the audience would know where the "wall" was without the use of an actual wall. It would be more about sharing the helpless feeling about wanting to help but not being able to.
With Fast Car, I picture more of a slow hip hop (see Tabitha and Napoleon from So You Think You Can Dance). Female solo, more street and into the floor than a "ballet lyrical". Kind of like the second performance for "Behind the Wall". The challenge is to make sure the dancer and choreographer don't get caught up in the upbeat tempo and make this a "happy" dance.
OR with Fast Car you can go down the whole literally acting out the story bit, depicting a woman wanting out of her situation and a man who seems to be the answer to all her problems until he becomes the problems himself. The challenge here would be in not going too literal (I'm sure unless you were joking you would not choreograph the man "driving" around the stage...it's awkward enough in context for "Waiting for Life" in "Once on this Island"). An emotional story can be told without the distraction of gratuitous props or the cheapening effect of melodramatic literal interpretation.

So....

I graduated.
And I got my braces off.
That is all!

This is bordering on insane...

Okay, to my friends reading this, know now that I am incredibly happy for you and know it is the right time.
That being said,
I have 22 friends on facebook who are engaged. 22. And only six of them are both sides of the couple (so I guess to be fair and only count the girls, I have 19 friends on facebook who are engaged). I have around five weddings to attend next summer, one in November, and I think one in September.
I know we're getting to that age where everyone is getting engaged, but I never thought everyone WOULD get engaged!
It is so strange to me that people my age are ready to take that step in their lives. I'm nowhere near ready for that! I have so many things to do! I'm turning 22 in a little over a month, and I cannot imagine having my life set before me so definitely. I mean, I don't even know where I'll be in the next few months, where I'll go to grad school in the following years, where I'll end up after grad school...
This past school year I was very upset because I seemed to be surrounded by relationships, and I hadn't been asked on a single date. Now, I cannot imagine being in a relationship then. I'm not saying that if someone asked me out I would say no, because unless he's just a definite "never in your life" type, I'll probably say yes. But I can really appreciate the fact that my life is a lot less complicated since I don't have yet another tie holding me to a certain place or track.
I mean, imagine that I had been in a relationship, and that we were planning on getting married, I don't know, in late spring of 2009 or so. How could I ask someone to pick up and move with me to whatever state had a school for art therapy and accepted me? And how could someone expect me to give up my dream simply because he couldn't leave his job/family/hometown?
Again the thought struck me that many of my friends have had a relationship for only about a year. Thinking about those timelines, I could meet the man I will marry tomorrow, then be engaged by February, and have my wedding in August (though I wouldn't because I think a couple of my friends are getting married then). I very much doub t that will happen! Thing like this ARE unpredictable. It's just strange thinking about how things change, how people change, how lives change so quickly.
At the beginning of my freshman year in college, a girl in her junior year sat down with me at the cafeteria. We were joking about how "no men seemed to be on the horizon". I ended up going to her church. That February, a guy started showing up at the church with her every Sunday. That November, he landed a helicopter on the quad and asked her to marry him. They were married that June, and have been together just over a year now. Some of these things seem to go so quickly!
I feel much too young to be 22. I think I'll go back to 19 and a half.
I can't believe I graduate on Saturday.