Catching up on the mundane (And the Chronicles of Narnia exhibit)

Whenever I'm out driving around, I have all these potential blog posts running through my brain.  But by the time I find myself back in front of a computer, I've forgotten everything.  Now my brain is mush, yet here I sit, trying to squeak out something interesting.

Despite attempts at living a normal, healthy life, we've been hit with a couple fun ailments.  I spent a week pissing blood and the next week Ron threw his back out completely.  Since it happened at work, he's home and doing the workman's comp thing.  He has an MRI scheduled this week and hopefully they can figure out how to help him.  He's in an incredible amount of pain.  We're only in our early 30's and we haven't even had kids yet.  But we're both walking around like old people.  This does not bode well.  Maybe they can outfit a stroller to also be a walker?  Seriously, I think another year of working on my health and having time to spend with Ron by myself is a good thing.  I still think we'll have to adopt and maybe that is a good thing to start working on next year.

Work has been filled lately with helping researchers, fighting with the IT department to fix computer issues so I can scan images and assessing the condition of wax phonographs from the late 1890's.  One of the things I love about my job is the variety of work I do.  I can sit at a computer all day and the next day find myself pulling old mattresses out of a really old train car.



The big hoopla at work lately has been the opening of The Chronicles of Narnia exhibit.  www.unionistation.org  It has a lot of props and costumes from the Narnia movies and it also talks about global climate issues and environmentalism.  They tied that theme into it based on the White Witch's attempts to basically create an ice age on earth.  The sets are really rich and interesting and it's cool to see objects and costumes.  The interactives are interesting as well.  I didn't take any photos of the inside of the exhibit but I took this picture of a Giant outside the ticketing office:





Our department didn't help set this exhibit up.  Because this is a private company's exhibit and because the objects are mostly props, they didn't need museum professionals to do the installation.  I've worked with this company before to install an exhibit and it's very different from working with a museum exhibit.  No white gloves on this one.  :)



So there you have it! That's my update, for now. I have other things I want to blog about but Roxanne is here for the last time until the end of summer. Hope everyone is having a groovy holiday!Tschus!

Star Trek, and why couples should get out more

Our weekend went pretty well.  Ron and I came to the conclusion that we weren't getting out and doing anything fun anymore.  In an effort to save money, and due to laziness, we've been staying home most weekends.  But we've grown lethargic, cranky and bored.  My health problems have compounded the issue and we quit communicating.  I have to say that when a spouse has a chronic illness, the marriage is really affected.  It's stressful on both people and it just wears everyone out.  Also the outside pressure we, or I, feel to have a baby is getting to be too much.  If it's going to happen, it will.  I am so tired of hearing about it.  Anyways, we were able to recognize the issues and talk about it.

So in an effort to get out and have a good time together, we went to Fork & a Screen at the AMC Theatre.  Basically you can watch a movie, have a beer and have table side food service.  We saw Star Trek and it was awesome.  I was really worried that the movie would suck, as a lot of prequels do.  However the plot was interesting and the actors were spot on with their characters.  I was really surprised how well Zachary Quinto did as Spock.   Simon Pegg was a great Scottie too.  I recommend the movie even if you aren't sci fi geeks like we are.  Here's one of the trailers.  Have a good Monday!

General update

Ron's mom left on Friday; she stayed about a week.  The day after, my ex's daughter came over for the night.  So we had one night of lounging around in our underwear before we had another guest.  I took her to see Aliens vs Monsters which was pretty cute.  Ten dollars a piece though for admission which is nuts.  This is why I don't normally go to movies.

Since I've been so cooped up in the house, I convinced R and Ron to take the dogs to the park with me.  It's just a small arboretum and fishing pond/lake.  There's a huge playground of course but I don't take the mutts through that part.  It was so nice to get out!  I was surprised that Rowdy was able to make it around the lake.  He was so happy to get out that I decided to take him out again today.  I'm always afraid to walk him too much because of his hips but I think a little exercise is really good for him.

Of course, Sadie took a dip in the lake.  She was nice and rank for the ride home.

My health is ok.  I saw the rheumatologist today and they said to keep up the 'roids.  Goodie!  (/sarcasm)  Since there doesn't appear to be any bone damage yet, I don't need any of the major drugs you see on television commercials.  Thank.  God.  So that's good news.  Also, I'm still healing from the surgery.  The bruises had all turned a nice sickly yellow but then I wore my jeans for half a day.  Sad to say they were/are too tight.  I ended up bruising myself all over again just from putting compression on the swelling.  Kinda sick actually.  I guess I'll have to wear my "fat" pants for a while.

(Holy shit, is that ice cream truck just PARKED outside my house?  Ice cream truck music is reaaaaally annoying.)

I'm actually kind of looking forward to work tomorrow.  Weird!  Part of me wants more time to rest and part of me just wants out of the house.  I have done some work from  home and kept up on my work email.  Things are starting to pile up so I really want to get back and start taking care of some research requests.  Maybe I just want to feel useful and keep my job.

Since I've had time off, I've been trying to take part in more photo theme days on Flickr.   I'm not very creative but I'm having fun trying!  The first was a "robot" theme and the second was "The Big Lebowski."

Rat vs Robot

"Jesus"

 Happy freakin' Monday!

Eventuality (plus, gay cowboys!)

Ahhh today feels like a normal KC day.  It rained a lot and now the sun is coming out.  That means HUMIDITY!  So it feels very moist in here.  Moist.  Almost sounds like a dirty word, doesn't it?

I thought I was going to have a really easy time of this surgery but I was totally thrown for a loop.  The amount of bruising isn't just on the surface but it feels really deep.  Any movement is really painful and it's hard to get comfortable to sleep.  Last night I was awake, watching TV on the couch until 1:00 AM.  I just slept there rather than risking waking up Ron and the remaining two dogs in our room.  (Not to mention the two little dogs and my mother-in-law asleep in the guest room.)  There really isn't jack or shit on that late at night.  I watched America's Next Top Model on the dvr and then tried to watch Brokeback Mountain.  Hmm.

I only watched half of it but I have a few observations.  First, the way the cowboys talked, in a muffled, muttering sort of way, was so familiar.  I myself mutter and have to constantly repeat myself.  It doesn't help, by the way, that I haven't lost all my North Dakota accent.  So I was reminded a bit of home and some of my uncles by the way the characters talked.  Their emotional restraint was also familiar.  Second, if you are making a film about two gay cowboys who get it on in the mountains, why would you call it Brokeback Mountain?  Surely they could have chosen a different title.  Maybe Bobcat Mountain or Laramie Peak or anything else.  Cripes.  It's like calling it Mount-Me Mountain, Cornhole Mountain or Cock-n-Balls Mountain.  That really irked me.  Third, no matter how good looking the actors, man-on-man love is just not attractive.  I'm sure any gay man reading this will disagree but I guess that's my take on it.

Other than being in pain last night, I was unable to sleep due to some stressful thinking.  My oldest dog, Sadie, is showing signs of poor health.  She's still eating and drinking, pooping, peeing, all that essential stuff.  However she can never get comfortable, especially at night.  I think it's due to the huge tumors on her side and her chest and belly.  I've known about these tumors for a long time; the tumors are benign, fatty lumps.  They are growing into her abdomen, around her intestines and liver.  Sadie will yelp out of nowhere and we aren't sure if it is her tumors starting to cause her discomfort.  We've been to the vet twice and they don't know what is wrong.  I could put her through some expensive and stressful tests but I'm not sure I want to go there yet.  I cried about it last night because I don't want her to be in pain.  If she is going to die soon, I want her to just slip away in her sleep rather than have to take her into a sterile, strange place to be euthanized.  Death is something eventual, we cannot avoid it.  I just pray she can go in peace and comfort at home, without pain.  I guess all we can do is keep an eye on her and try to recognize her comfort levels.

I was also up thinking about my physical health and job requirements.  Soon we will be moving 10,000 square feet of artifacts from one storage space to a better one.  It will be a tough move and I'm not sure how much will be physically demanded from me.  I'm worried I won't be able to keep up due to the pain and exhaustion I experience.  It's stressful.  I wonder if I need to find a different job or will they keep me on even though I'm totally useless sometimes?  I don't want to ever be a burden to anyone, even at work.

I do have some good news though!  I got my genetic test back and I am negative for the gene mutations that cause breast and ovarian cancers.  Hooray!  That doesn't mean I can't get it someday but at least I don't have to seriously consider ripping my ovaries out in the next few years.  (Although there are many days I would love to remove my reproductive organs.)

Finally, since the movie wasn't holding my interest last night, I watched a raccoon traipsing through our yard.  It was pretty big.  I haven't seen a lot of raccoons in my time so I was fascinated.  (Now I know what got into the garbage a couple nights ago.)  It seemed almost primate-like the way it was using it's forepaws to comb through the grass.  I have no idea what it was eating but seeing it does explain the aggressive sniffing and peeing the dogs exhibit every morning.  Like Ron says, "they are cute until they are trying to rip your face off."

Time to get some work done.  Tschus.

Alive and well

I survived, huzzah!  They tried to give me an IV and managed to get my blood all over the floor.  I have to give them props for trying to be really gentle with the IV.  It just didn't work.  So a different nurse came over and rammed one into my other hand.  I'm pretty bruised all over.  That was my only freak-out.  They couldn't get the IV in and I started crying and sweating and feeling pukey.  But after that, things were ok.  I got plenty of pain meds and anti-nausea stuff after the surgery.  I went in at 8:00 and was home by 1:00.  Then I had some delicious sleep for four hours.

Today I peeled off all the bandages and found a very nice bruise.  No wonder my stomach hurts so much!  I'm also swollen as hell.  I look like I'm 5 months pregnant.  Or that I've been drinking a case of beer a day for a year.  Either/or.



There's a lot of air in my body that hasn't been absorbed yet.  It really hurts to take deep breaths but it's not bad overall.

Ron's mother is here helping us out.  She brought her two little dogs so we now have a herd.  I say herd instead of pack because it just feels like we're herding them around or vice versa.  Rowdy got shaved on Thursday and he looks like a little plucked chicken.  I think he feels really good though because he's more comfortable and walks with his head held high.  Here are some doggie photos from Thursday evening:









Darvocet is wearing off, time to go.  Have a groovy Saturday!

And then there was light…and heat, and a gun.

It's become bright and sunny here in the KC area.  It's also very warm...almost hot.  I'm sure it will be 40 degrees in a few days, as this is a place of extremes.  I'm blogging from our back porch right now.  Surgery is in two days and I have to shamefully admit that I'm freaking the fuck out.  If you don't know, I'm having my uterine septum bisected.  Google "Mullerian anomalies" if  you are curious.  I suppose just about anyone can appreciate a person's fear of having sharp instruments inside or around his/her genitalia.  I'm sure I'll be fine but I'm dreading the catheter and inability to piss on my own post-operation.

I was reading an NRA magazine today.  Yes, I do belong to the NRA because I believe in keeping the right to bear arms.  Some of what I read, I think "right on!"  "Yeah, damn Democrats, trying to take away semi-autos, wtf?!"  However, I can't help but think about all the nut cases that have shot up college campuses and an immigration office.  If guns were illegal, would these people have purchased their firearms illegally and committed their crimes regardless?  Would they have gone mad while driving instead, and plowed their cars into a crowd of people?  If guns were unavailable, wouldn't crimes still occur?  Not to mention the deer population exploding more than it has in recent years.  Chronic wasting disease again.  Because let's face it.  Many rifles are semi-automatic.  I guess I feel that if I want to own a gun, or have an abortion, or marry a chick, I should be able to do so.  Mucking with the constitution and other laws to prevent the above is something I'm very against.  Now that doesn't mean I think anyone should be able to walk down to their nearest Bullet Hole gun store and purchase a fully automatic weapon.  That's not a defensive weapon or a hunting weapon.  That's just a means of killing and maiming as many people as possible.  I don't have all the answers to this big debate but I know what my inclinations are.  That's about it.

Two things of note from this NRA magazine I'm reading which is called America's 1st Freedom.  First is an article announcing the big speakers for the annual NRA banquet and forum: Lt. Colonel Oliver North and John Stossel.  What a pairing!!  Now that I think about it, John Stossel is a pretty plain spoken, no-nonsense kind of guy.  I don't watch him very often but when I have, I've liked what he has to say.  I'm sure it will be interesting to those attending.  The other thing I'm noticing on this same page (page 26 if you are really wanting to see for yourself) is an advertisement for a collector's edition of a custom AR-15 issued in honor of Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska.  HA!  "Called the Alaskan Hunter, the all-white AR made by Templar Consulting is chambered in .50 Beowulf, and includes 50 rounds of custom solids, a custom sling and Starlight case."  Unfortunately I can't find an image of this ummm interesting item at the company's website (www.templarconsultingllc.com) nor could I find anything by doing a Google image search.  I did find some amusing and slightly disturbing images:





Like I said, I'm a gun owner and all for the right to bear arms but Palin's custom AR-15?  Does it come with a helicopter mount?

My last word on gun ownership, I promise.  About a month ago I was home alone during the middle of the day.  Because Patton had hosed down the basement in urine (another lovely story I won't share) I left the sliding glass door open to air things out.  I was all the way upstairs, without my cell phone, when I heard a door slam in the basement.  I figured it was just the wind blowing the laundry room door around even though I KNEW the door was already closed.  There was a moment of "fuck I'm alone, changing in the bedroom without a cell phone and what the hell was that???"  I loaded up Alfonso, the .357 I bought a year or so ago and took him throughout the house.  Don't worry.  He wasn't cocked and my finger was certainly NOT on the trigger.  I didn't find anything and I have never left that door open since.  Thankfully it was nothing but I'm really glad I have that gun here.  A couple weeks ago when I was passed out on Ambien, Ron heard what sounded like gun shots followed by the screech of tires and sirens just up the hill and across the street.  He was glad I didn't hear it and when I asked him if he looked out the window he exuberantly exclaimed "NO!"  So who knows in this neighborhood.  I'm just glad we are prepared for a thug or zombie apocolypse.

Anyway, that's my day.  Hope everyone is well and good!  Tschus meinen freunden.

Tea party and a Deadite

My day was full of snot.  Allergies, allergies, allergies.  I think trees hate me.  I would be a mortal enemy to an Ent.

I started my day by taking Sadie to the vet.  She has been yelping a lot, when no one is near her.  I thought it was her chipped tooth but the vet couldn't find anything wrong with her.  I think it is her poor ear.  It's full of nasty goop from her own prolific allergies.  I got in a good five hours of work today so that's better than nothing.

Speaking of not being able to get in a full 8 hours, I was called by my allergist because they are wondering where the hell I am.  Isn't that nice of them?  Due to a miscommunication, I wasn't able to make an appointment.  If I wasn't so miserable I wouldn't go in there.  I feel like I have enough goddamn doctor appointments to go to.  If you have tree allergies, don't move here.  Back home we don't have trees.  Trees are evil.  Tomorrow there will be more needle pokes, more sneezing, more misery.

Ron and I did go to the Tea Party today though.  I managed to stand outside and people watch for about a half an hour before I got too sneezy.  There were some good points made by the speakers about the various stimulus packages passed by our benevolent leaders.  There were all kinds of people there but mostly white people.  Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, etc.  I mostly read signs that people made.  I was wondering how African-Americans are dealing with the new president.  If you are black and you oppose some major issues that Obama is pushing, are you considered against your own race by others?  It seems like if one is against the tax hikes initiated by Obama, people are automatically considered "conservative" and "right wing."  But during the election, anyone voting for Obama was "far left."  Wtf?  I hate both sides.  I can't stand either party.  It doesn't matter how good a person's intentions are when he/she is running for President.  There are too many corrupt people around them, pushing and lobbying for their own interests.  How can anyone stay true to their convictions?

Here are some photos from the grounds of Liberty Memorial/National WWI Museum:











I am glad to be home.  I had to end my day by trying a new photograph technique: Holga-ing images.  There is a group on Flickr all about it.  It's kind of a retro kind of image: http://www.flickr.com/groups/gameon/discuss/72157616667551196/ .  I couldn't think of anything I've shot today that would work well with this technique so I posed some of my Army of Darkness figures that I got for Christmas.



That's all for now folks.  Time for some good drugs and some relaxation.  Tschus.