the stub

Lortab makes me have weird dreams/nightmares. And it makes my stomach queesy. And it makes me tired. On the otherhand, it takes the pain away for a couple hours. I am not sure if it is worth it. Luckily, I only took Lortab once today, so we are moving up. The motrin seems to be covering most of the pain. Yeah.
I was really doing quite well today until I stubbed my toe really really hard into the metal strip on the edge of the stair into the kitchen. Yeah, that hurt. Overall, however, my toe is doing better. I still can't walk too much, but I am not in constant pain anymore. I hope I am better by Wednesday night, because I have to work all night. That is the goal.

Amputation may be the answer

I got that part of my toenail removed, and now it hurts more than the ingrown toenail did. Dangit. Supposedly they did a matrixectomy. Any sort of ectomy makes me nervous. Ripping something off my bone makes me uncomfortable. And it makes me hurt.
I went to the doctor again today (after trying to call a few people to get their opinions). He said my toe looks great and the procedure seems to have been done very well. He also gave me this little tidbit "I usually tell people they will need to be off their foot for a week to 10 days." That would have been good to know. Shoot. And he is so very very right. I am taking Lortab and anytime I stand up or walk around at all, I get this very bad throbbing/gnawing pain in my toe and down the side of my foot. Then I have to ice my toe for a while so that it goes numb so I don't notice the pain. The sad thing is, my toe feels fine if I am laying down. So then I get ambitious and stand up, to say throw something away. 30 to 45 minutes later, after laying back down, I am feeling fine again. So, it turns out that I may become disabled at the ripe young age of 24. Sad, but that is the way it goes. I am thinking a toe amputation may be best. Think of all the shoes I could finally wear if we cut my big fat big toe off. But then, for some reason I have this perception that the big toe is needed for balance during walking. I could be wrong. And, I tend to think that anything that is a normal part of the body should be left alone. No unnecessary amputations for me.

Toes and such

A few days ago (2-4) I cut my toenail too short. Oops. See, my toenail split, then I ripped off the part that split and it tore really low on the side. Then I tried to cut it to make it smooth. And, that is how I got where I am now. My toe has continued to get more sore each day, more red each day, and more swollen each day. It has gotten to the point that it hurts like crazy when touched at all. Hence, walking is undesirable. That is a problem. I tried digging it out on my own, but it hurt so bad that I couldn't do it. So, tonight I went to the instacare. At 10:50 pm I finally got in to see a doctor. He numbed my toe a ton, and then removed the offensive toenail. You know what they say, if it offends you cut it out. "And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee" (Matt 5:30). The removal went well. I watched the whole thing. I am sick and enjoy things like that. Now I have a huge bandage on my toe, such that I cannot wear shoes. I am supposed to keep the large bandage on my toe for a few days, making working impossible as shoes are necessary. Right now the numbing is wearing off, and it is kindof hurting. I hope that it doesn't keep hurting after the numbing is gone. Meanwhile, I guess I get a day off of work. Lucky me.
Moral: keep your toenails long and straight across the top. The alternative is no good. None.

2nd post of the day- crazy talk

Last night I had a dream (it was so real, it didn't feel like a dream) that I was in South Bend and was needing to move there NOW. I didn't have much with me, I was just visiting. But, for some reason I needed to find a job immediately, and get a car right now. It was a lot of pressure. I was trying to orchestrate a spur of the moment move across the country. And start a new job. And find somewhere to live.
Weird.

I want a kitten

Last night I heard a kitten crying outside. I could tell it was little little kitten. I have experienced the birth and growth of two litters of kittens, so I can tell, somewhat, how old a kitten is by it's cry. This was definitely a new-born cry. So, I went outside and found an itty bitty kitty behind the big bush outside the kitchen window. All by itself. Crying. I immediately wanted to adopt it, but knew that my dad would never go for it. So, my mom and I decided to bring it inside and take care of it until we could take it to the humane society tomorrow. I brought it in, and tried to feed it some milk from a syringe, but it was having a hard time eating. I went outside and saw a cat watching me. Hoping that was the mama cat, I put the baby in a pile of towels in a box on the back porch. Then I watched. In just a couple minutes the cat came and rescued her baby. Yeah. The baby has a home. I still wish it was my kitten. I miss having kittens. It was cute and white and grey. And little. And fluffy.

Dwight and Angela

Yesterday I was riding the train home from work and I saw this couple. He was of bigger build with spiky hair, looked to be in his mid 40s. And he is balding (yet still has the spiky awkward hair). She is very small, thin and blond. Neither smile very much. I have seen them several times.

Every time I see them I think of Dwight and Angela and a smile comes to my face.

I Heart Pioneer Woman

This lady is awesome. I love her love story. I would be okay with my own "Marlboro Man". Any really great men out there?

My dad: Matchmaker

my dad is trying to set me up with someone again. Last time he tried this he gave the guy (the accountant at his office) my number. He never called. I know, shocking. So, he has done this again. Instead, this time it is my parents really good friend's son. Yeah, that way everyone can be involved if/when we go out. We might as well triple with his parents and my parents. That would be fun. And not at all awkward. Lucky me.

South Bend

I got home from my week with my brother and sister-in-law and nephew. I had so so much fun. I got there last thursday, and left yesterday, wednesday.
Liz and Connor picked me up on Thursday in Chicago. Then we attempted the city for a couple hours. Lesson learned: never drive in Chicago. They are crazy drivers. We went shopping for a bit and walked around some. Oh, wait on the way from the airport to the city I was playing with Connor and took his pacifier out of his mouth. He got MAD. We are talking seriously angry. He screamed for 20 or 30 minutes, and would not console. He is a determined kid. I don't think we got off to the best start :)
On Friday we went to campus. The weather forcast said 10% chance of rain, so we decided to risk it. Of course it rained the whole walk there. We got soaked, but we had fun. We walked all through Notre Dame. It is a beautiful campus. Very very religious. On top of the gold dome, which I think is on top of the administration building, is a big gold Virgin Mary. BYU doesn't have anything like that. We do have a naked indian statue. Everyone at ND has a ridiculous amount of school pride. Apparently everyone wears ND attire everyday, not just on game days. And, ND is almost a world in itself. The whole city of South Bend is centered around ND games. It is weird.
On Saturday we went to the church and watched conference x2. Luckily we were able to go into the RS room and let Connor play while we watched. It was a nice relaxing day on Saturday.
Sunday was similar to Saturday except we listed to conference over the internet instead of going to the church. We all took a 2 hour nap in between sessions, which was pretty much the best. Sunday night we played Uno Attack after Connor went to bed. By this point Connor likes me pretty well, but is still a little nervous about me holding him.
Monday was great, we went shopping at DSW, Steve & Barry's, Old Navy and Meijer (groceries). Steve & Barry's is awesome. Everything is really inexpensive. It is amazing. Liz got Connor a costume at Old Navy that is super cute on him.
On Tuesday Liz, Connor and I braved the train to go to Chicago. Connor enjoyed the first couple hours of the train, but it lost its allure after awhile. We had an awesome day in the city. We went to the Aquarium, Planetarium, Zoo and shopping. Everything was free except the shopping. It was great fun. The Aquarium was our favorite, the fish were so cool. The Zoo was great as well, we saw all sorts of animals.
We took the subway between attractions. We didn't get to take "the L" but that is okay, I got my fill of public transit. As we left H&M (yeah!) we had to run back to the train. Literally. We got to the train with about 5 minutes to spare (whew!). Had we missed the train we would have been in the city for a couple more hours. Eek.
Wednesday was another day of travel, Liz and Connor took me to the airport in Indianapolis, a 3+ hour drive. Then, they had to turn around and drive back home. Connor wasn't entirely thrilled about the experience. However, he did enjoy watching people at the airport. I flew from Indianapolis to Phoenix. That is a long flight! I spent a couple hours in the Phoenix airport then flew to SLC. A much more manageable flight. I have decided I love Jet Blue. Southwest does not have any TV screens. I have a hard time sleeping on planes, and can't really get interested in reading on planes. So, I sit and stare at the seat in front of me. Jet Blue has live TV. It is nice. In Phoenix I actually re-met this guy I had met a couple months ago. It was crazy. He and his sister were flying home, so I sat by them on the flight home. We had a good time.

All in all, the trip was great. It was so fun to talk to Liz so much. Connor actually liked me quite a bit by the end of the trip. Although, I seriously disturbed his sleep patterns (sorry!). I got to see Chris in the evenings which was great. He studies a TON. Good job Chris. And, I got to experience the joy of even more forms of public transportation. Yes!

I love spending time with Liz, Chris and Connor. I need to go out there more often.