More Cool Stuff!

My brother's been keeping busy....

http://www.cafepress.com/WageSlaveGifts

Posh and Becks

I'm an internet tabloid junky, I love reading the celebrity gossip sites. Not every day and only a couple of sites, but still I love it. Therefore, I have a relative understanding of who David and Victoria Beckham are -- a celebrated soccer player and a professional paparazzi fave, repectively, together turned "international celebrities and fashion icons". Now that David Beckham has signed with the LA Galaxy franchise and the family has moved to Los Angeles, their names and images are getting splashed across US media, and not just the celebrity pages.

Driving home from work yesterday I heard a "weekend celebrity news" recap on the radio. Of course there was news about the lavish welcoming extravaganza thrown for "Posh and Becks" by TomKat (Cruise) and Will and Jada (Smith) with detail of all the accompanying hoopla (Who's Who, etc).

The dj then wrapped-up the segment by speculating "One day people will realize that they're nothing more than a washed-up soccer player and a former Spice Girl.... (whispers) It's not that big of a deal."

I loved that. :-)

Does Koosh make bike seats?

Tony and I went for a bike ride last night (yay, us!). Only the second ride so far for the year which is sad until you realize those two bike rides are more than we've done in probably the last six years combined. I know! We're lazy, that's just the way it is.

I'm in the market for a new bike seat (Tony, too). By the end of an hour-long bike ride, the seat (and by extension my shorts) had just too severely violated my personal space. Not good at all. Maybe this is why we don't ride that often. This and the whole lazy thing I mentioned earlier.

We've got some La-Z-Boy furniture at home that's extremely comfortable. Do you think they make bike seats? What about Koosh? If they could make a bike seat out of that stuff, that would be heaven!

Is this what we're doing now?

Driving by a Wendy's today at lunch I noticed several professionally printed signs in their yard indicating there was some sort of fund-raising effort being undertaken inside.

In large bold letters the signs proclaimed "Help Support Kidney Disease".

Sure, there was smaller text on the signs indicating exactly how you could go about helping to "support kidney disease" while patronizing Wendy's. But by then, my literal, unforgiving mind was too focused on exactly why they were asking us to help support kidney disease instead of supporting the research and treatment of kidney disease.

Hey, that's my cardiologist!

I was driving west on I-94 yesterday, heading to Ann Arbor. Just past exit 183, I saw a Saint Joseph Mercy Health System billboard. They're all over in southeast Michigan, sporting the distinctive maroon banner declaring "Remarkable Medicine, Remarkable Care". I've seen several different versions, each with a larger-than-life likeness of a medical professional or a patient.

I always wondered if they are real doctors and patients or just models. My hunch was real doctors and patients. Yesterday my hunch was confirmed as I approached the sign and delightfully realized the doctor's likeness on this particular billboard is Dr Wilks - my cardiologist!!

Don't ask me why I was so excited, considering the first time I met him he made me cry -- "Nice to meet you Mrs Gartrell, let's get that heart valve replacement surgery scheduled decades sooner than you'd ever dreamed" (and we all know how that went!). But it was very cool nonetheless seeing Dr Wilks ("MY" cardiologist) on the St Joseph's billboard.

Puppy. Had. To. Go.

Ripley (aka "Puppy") didn't have time for polite chit-chat when I came home from work today. She's generally pretty excited to see me return after a long day and she'll take a moment to greet me with a kiss and accept a pet or two before following me to the door to be let outside. Not today.

Today I walked into the family room where she was sitting in her kennel; as soon as she saw me, she stood up (sort of) and started scratching a front paw against the metal bars. I opened the door, she squirmed her way around the door and me and bolted straight for the sliding glass door and started scratching (pawing) FRANTICALLY at the glass.

I opened the door thinking "Oh, she must have seen some wildlife (stray cat, squirrel, what have you) scamper across our deck earlier and was in hot pursuit". No. She made for the deck steps as quickly as her little legs could carry her, ran out into the lawn in a circuitous path, finally slowing down and settling into a squat in her usual "area".

I know a full day in a kennel can be a long time and small puppy bladders can be really put to the test. Poor little Puppy, you just know her only thought once I got home and opened her kennel door was "Grass! I need grass NOW!!!!"

Note to Waitstaff Everywhere

If we'd earlier discussed (twice) my desire for a refill on my iced tea, and during your second trip through the dining room SINCE removing my glass to "bring me a refill", I catch your attention and tap my empty drink napkin, please do not stop to ask me innocently what I need.

I understand you're "new here", but you're dancing dangerously close to incompetence.

Blonde Joke

There's this blonde out for a walk. She comes to a river and sees another blonde on the opposite bank.

"Yoo hoo!" she shouts. "How can I get to the other side?"

The second blonde looks up the river then down the river and shouts back "You ARE on the other side!"

(Thank you for the joke, Aunt Max)

Frack Me!

I blame it on the dramatically sudden and remarkably unexpected road closure.

Today while driving my parents to lunch, I let the F-bomb slip. In the FCC-approved language of Battlestar Galactica, I believe the expletive I used was a bitter "Frack me!".

Obviously, the ease with which it escaped my lips indicates that it wasn't the first time the F-bomb has been uttered by me. But I do believe this was the first time my parents were forced to bear witness. They took it graciously, though. I almost immediately issued an embarrassed apology. My mom responded, ever so sweetly, from the backseat with "Oh, honey, that's all right".

I guess no harm was done, but still.... Oops!

Pantry secrets

Tony cleaned out and organized our pantry cupboard this week. Quite an undertaking - the thing was packed with God knows what. Strange because we never seem to cook at home, so why do we have (and keep buying!) all this food? I'm glad I missed the adventure of the task, but I did come home to the carnage of all the discarded/expired items.

The oldest (known) item he found and disposed of? A box of crackers that expired in 1998. Most troubling considering we didn't move into the house until 1999.

Apparently the one-year expired crackers were of such import to us at the time we deemed it necessary to move them from our apartment, stash them discreetly in the back of the pantry cupboard and hang onto them for another seven years.

Not our proudest moment by any means.

Vacation pics

The trip to the UP with Tony and my parents Labor Day weekend was really nice. It was good to spend time together; we did some gambling, some sight-seeing, and lots of dining! Tony, Dad and I finished the bridge walk in about an hour and forty minutes (Mom was under the weather and unfortunately missed it). Several freighters were passing through the straits as we walked, but crossed under the bridge long before we were anywhere close to them.

We walked the bridge,


saw Tahquamenon Falls,


and toured a lighthouse...


where my vertigo kicked in while climbing down the tower stairs.

(sure, this image is taken looking up at the stairs, but you can imagine the view looking down is even less friendly)

All in all, a very good vacation. In spite of the vertigo.

Mackinac Bridge Walk

Next week Tony and I are heading to the UP with my parents for Labor Day weekend. On Labor Day I'll be walking the Mackinac Bridge with my parents (along with thousands and thousands of other people). Tony's passing on the fun -- for some reason waking up at the crack of dawn to walk five miles (the first half of which is uphill!) just doesn't do it for him. My parents participate pretty much every year; I've done it three times, most recently in 1997 with Tony and my parents. I'm due to give it another go.

Since the end of '05 I've been looking forward to the trip north with my parents and walking the bridge again this year. I knew my surgery was coming up, but I didn't figure my recovery would prevent a five mile walk more than seven months later. Well, let me tell you, it was a wake up in late April when I realized the bridge walk was only four short months away and I wasn't even able to tackle a mile yet!

But that was months ago and I've felt "fully recovered" for quite a while now. I know I'm still working my way back to "normal shape" exercise-wise, but I have so much energy and strength now, the only thing holding me back is pure laziness. Working out with Heather once a week, and swimming once a week with Stefanie is helping me to get back in shape (plus whenever I get on my treadmill in between workouts). I have no doubts about being able to complete the five mile walk without any problems.

Although, looking at that picture.... those cars are awfully small which makes the bridge look pretty intimidating!

M V E M J S U N ... period!

Tony's going to be disappointed, the International Astronomical Union just downgraded Pluto to a "dwarf planet". Pluto has always been Tony's favorite.

How are children going to learn the planets now? We'll need a new mnemonic device because I have a feeling "My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine" isn't going to cut it without the critical "Planets" at the end.

(yes, I had to look up "mnemonic"... who knew it started with an "m"!)

Today's Headlines

More often than not, I find internet news headline quotes to be absolutely ridiculous and absurd. I know they have to try and grab your attention with a tantalizing teaser but I think today a simple "JonBenet's suspected murderer arrested" would have sufficed.

I don't think I'm the only one who gets a little queasy reading the choice quotes used for today's headlines:

"Accused JonBenet killer says death was accident" -- I suppose this article will enlighten us as to how Karr HAD intended to kidnap, drug, beat, and have sex with a six-year old girl but had NEVER intended that she die, God forbid.

"JonBenet murder suspect 'I was with her when she died' " -- No coincidence here, most murderers are with their victims when they die, you a**hole.

And the fact that he was arrested while living in a Bangkok hotel .....well, I say they just throw away the key now. Even if -- no, I mean especially if he's lying.

The Devil's Rejects

This afternoon Tony and I watched The Devil's Rejects. Not the most up-beat movie watching weekend as this selection follows up yesterday's viewing of The Machinist (Christian Bale as a 120-pound -- yes, 120-pound, the man was SKINNY! -- blue collar worker dissolving into insanity after he ... wait, I can't tell you, it'll ruin the movie).

The Devil's Rejects is Rob Zombie's (writer and director) sequel to House of 1000 Corpses about a serial killing family who kidnaps, tortures, and eventually kills hundreds of random passersby. Lovely! Need I say this movie was a Tony selection?

I don't know much about Rob Zombie's music (no titles come to mind) but the man can make a movie! Who would think you'd be made to feel compassion (not just once, but twice!) for the family of heinously brutal unrepentent serial killers? No, it's nothing as easy as a deep-seeded rationale for their behavior; it's much more unexpected than that. They tease each other about whether to stop the car for ice cream, and if so, what flavor would they get. They have home movies of happy carefree times laughing together. Times they weren't in the basement hacking strangers to bits, that is. Okay, so they weren't exactly the Brady Bunch, you still felt something for them and it definitely caught you by surprise.

Now I've got to watch House of 1000 Corpses. And I see he has two more movies in the works. And I really can't blame the selection on Tony as I menioned earlier -- I'm TOTALLY into horror/slasher movies recently. Can't wait to see Saw II (just discovered that Saw III is coming out in October!) and Ring II (we're behind in our rentals).

Caffeine or Calories?

I used to be addicted to Diet Coke. Sometime last year I figured my consumption to be 100+ ounces a day and that's what I would admit to. Since January (and my ordeal) it just hasn't tasted right to me. Granted, I haven't even tried it since March but I figure hey, I broke an ugly habit, why tempt fate by trying it just to see if I like it; let's just assume I don't and I can move on with my life.

Side note: I chalk at least one of the "unresponsive" days in ICU up to kicking my caffeine habit.

I still like to drink pop and my carbonated beverage of choice is now Diet Squirt. Yes, Diet Squirt, I know it's unusual, but it was my go-to drink in February (loved the fruity goodness). Diet is still my preference (no calories) and I'm enjoying being free from the caffeine (and the health related implications of over-consumption). My pop consumption has been reduced to about 20 ounces a day. Yay, me!

Going out to eat poses a dilemma, though. Have you tried to find a diet caffeine-free soft drink in a restaurant? Not really going to happen. Sometimes you just gotta have the pop, though. Water or iced tea doesn't really do it for me next to my combination plate at Mexican Fiesta. So the question is... should I partake of the calories of Sprite or Sierra Mist, or just throw caution to the wind and go for good old fashioned zero calorie Diet Coke?

Instead of opening the Pandora's box of Diet Coke, I have decided to make a habit of opting for the calories over the caffeine. Heck, I'm already addicted to calories so what's a few more?

Poofy Hair

Wow! Has it really been over a month since I've posted? Shame on me!

Over the last couple weeks I've noticed that the back of my hair has been inexplicably poofy from time to time. I wash and straighten it about every other day, sleeping at night with it up in a pony tail. A couple weeks ago I started to notice (while running my hand over the back of my head to smooth my hair) that apparently a cowlick had developed, causing my hair to poof out in one section. Some days I noticed it, some days I didn't but it was always in the same place.

About a week ago while straightening my hair in front of the bathroom mirror, I turned at just the right angle and finally got a peek at what's been going on back there. New hair! New hair has been growing (and thankfully filling in those pesky post-traumatic bald spots) for a while and is now long enough to wreak havoc (you've seen my hair - thick and lots of body). Probably just long enough now (parts over 2" in length) to clamp in my hair iron and get them to calm the heck down.

I'm not complaining. I'm just taking opportunity to brag about my hair growing back.

:-)

Bizarro Day at the Pool

Yesterday evening I went swimming with S, and I swear it was Bizarro Day at the rec center pool. The pool is usually moderately busy but we don't have too much trouble finding a lane we can share to do our laps. Generally the lanes are occupied by at least semi-serious swimmers who are doing laps and tend to keep themselves moving. Last night the pool seemed to be about as busy as usual (not too bad) but by some bizarre circumstance, the lanes were riddled with...."amateur" swimmers.

I'm not criticizing their abilities; hey, I still barely put my face in the water if I can help it (seriously...if I were meant to do that, wouldn't you think I'd have gills?). But I do tend to keep moving (kickboard or back stroke) if I'm occupying a lane. Last night there were three women STANDING in the shallow end of one of the lanes talking (okay, in the half hour we were in the pool, the women each swam about two complete laps, but promptly returned to their standing and talking). Two men (sporting life-preservers) were occupying the deep end of a DIFFERENT lane. There's only three lanes, and the third was occupied by a semi-serious swimmer (we had no gripes about him).

Finally we were able to claim a lane and we started our first lap with our kickboards (which we do to warm up a little before trying something more challenging -- okay, and yes, we are able to talk more while using the kickboards). Before we completed our first lap, Creepy Guy enters our lane and starts some semi-serious laps, giving us the evil eye everytime he passes us. At this point we decide not to surrender our kickboards as neither of us really is interested in having an inadvertent collision with this guy.

By now, Life Preserver Boy has ditched the perserver and decided to try some free style in the shallow half of his lane. I've never seen anyone SPLASH more than he did. So now we're dodging Creepy Guy in our lane and trying to avoid the pseudo Snake River Falls (Cedar Point reference for those not in the midwest) sprays coming from the other lane.

After a while and way more laps trying to steer clear of Creepy Guy, we move into the lane occupied by the women, figuring we can use the other 90% of their lane. About two (almost full) laps in, we find two more "splashers" have entered the lanes - one in our lane and one in Creepy Guy's lane right next to us.

That's pretty much when we called it quits for the night.

Explore Store

Check out the cool stuff my brother has been working on (in all his spare time).

http://www.cafepress.com/explore_store

Clean bill of health (finally)!

It dawns on me that I haven't made a general post about my health and post-op recovery in quite a while. So here goes...

I'm back to working full-time (as of this week) and I definitely feel up to it. The last few weeks have found me feeling better and better, having more energy, and starting to establish (and maintain this time) a regular exercise routine. I'm walking a mile on my treadmill three times a week (with a dab of jogging thrown in here and there) and swimming for 40 minutes once a week. Both activities are enjoyable for me and I feel good just getting back to them. I think my biggest obstacle right now is that I'm out of shape from four months of not being up for a regular exercise routine.

Over the last couple weeks I had several doctor appts (kidney specialist, cardiac echo, and my primary care doc). Just routine follow-ups that were scheduled three months ago; I've been having no difficulties. The word from all three docs is WONDERFUL! The kidney specialist (after reviewing all my current test results) kept asking why I was even there to see him since everything looked so good. Apparently my type of kidney failure generally recovers completely (assuming you make it through the event that caused the kidney failure in the first place).

So you can all hold onto your kidneys, as I won't be having to hit anyone up for a kidney any time soon. I already told my brother he's off the hook. Isn't it siblings that you generally hear about as being donors?

My primary care doc and I had a nice little chat during my visit - again, strictly a routine follow-up so nothing too heavy was discussed. She LOVES my new patchwork purse by the way! If I'd have been thinking I would have asked her to write me a note for Tony indicating that the purse(s) purchase was medically necessitated - "Please excuse Christine for buying two Coach purses. She's been ill following surgery and deserved to treat herself".

The echo was just this week and seemed to go very well. The tech was young (mid to late 20's I'd say) and chatty, but overall the best tech I've had for an echo. We talked about my surgery and complications (she was duly impressed). She was also impressed with the amount of work Dr K had done on my heart during the surgery. I told her that he had planned on doing what he could while he was in there (he ended up replacing the two valves (Ross Procedure), fixing my tricuspid valve and repairing my aorta). She looked at my chart and nodded saying "well, they definitely did 'while we're in here'!".

So everything has worked itself out for the better. My blood sugar results continue to indicate that I am not diabetic (not even close) and I've been told to put my glucometer in the closet. My iron is continuing to increase. Dr S is starting to wean me off one of my blood pressure medications. Any lingering concerns I had have pretty much been eliminated after these recent appts. It's good to have such encouraging news and a clean bill of health just four months after my surgery. :-)