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Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Blah

Ugh... I feel gross. I think I've gained weight again. :(

I need to stop working so much and actually go grocery shopping for healthy food.

I wish I could win the lottery...

Monday, November 26, 2007

Picture Of The Day

I've had about four people e-mail me this picture today. I totally remember this exact moment. The first aid woman was asking me where I was and what the score was, so I finally opened my eyes to be sure of where I was, lol...



I still can't sleep without being propped up in a sitting position, which sucks because unless I'm drugged into oblivion, it's uncomfortable to sleep at that angle. The pressure of being any flatter is worse though, so I guess I'm stuck that way for a while.

I went to the company Christmas party on Saturday, which seemed like a good idea at the time, but really wasn't. There was a stand up comedian after dinner and he was really funny... well, smiling and laughing hurt like hell, even with three drinks and two painkillers. I really suffered after a couple of hours. Ryan and I went back to his place to watch a movie afterwards and I drugged up some more but it didn't do much good. I was a little more swollen the next day but it has subsided since. I actually look really good now... only a little yellow bruising left and a couple of cuts on my nose (and a slight crookedness) but other than that, you wouldn't know I have a broken nose.

I have had a runny nose all day, which is really hard to manage when it's impossible to blow my nose. I've also had a bit of a chest cough, which worries me because I really don't want to be sick!! I went to work from 7 am - 11:30 am and then I just couldn't handle it any longer. My face felt like it was going to explode. I went home and rested and then napped for the afternoon and early evening. Now it's bedtime and I'm not really tired. Great...

Friday, November 23, 2007

Gratitude

My work sent me flowers today. I totally didn't expect that... how nice of them!

Hm... I feel like I've had to tell this story a hundred times this week already, but here it is one more time:

Jules and I went to the Edmonton Oilers / Vancouver Canucks hockey game on Tuesday night. It was a great game and the Oilers were winning... I was teaching Jules various things about what we saw (she's British and had no idea what was going on and why). If you can picture the shape of a hockey rink, we were sitting right in front of the face off circles in front of the net, right where the netting for the crowd ends (it's only around the curved part of the glass) and the glass gets lower. We were sitting in really expensive seats (courtesy of Jules' co-workers - I can't afford $130 per ticket!) and I remember thinking when we sat down that it was kind of scary being that close with no netting to stop the puck from going into the crowd, but then I thought 'What are the odds of that happening?'... um... apparently pretty damn good on that night.

The second period had barely begun and the play was leaving the far end of the ice and was coming up our side into the Canucks defensive zone. I was watching the play intently as I always do (I'm definitely not a person who takes their eyes off the puck when it's in play) when suddenly everything went black and it felt like someone had kicked me in the face or hit me with a freakin' frying pan. My first thought was, "What the fuck?! Who hit me?" I honestly thought someone in the stands accidentally hit me with something... which is stupid because really, nobody was sitting on my right side and nobody was up from their seat or anything.... and then I realized, "Oh my god, I must have gotten hit by the puck!" My hands went over my face then and I cupped my nose. By that time, blood was pouring out of my nose and through my fingers all over my jeans, polo shirt, seat, floor, everything. Jules told me later that she didn't even notice that I was hit until the people in front of us turned around because the puck apparently hit some guy in the back of the head after it hit my face. I swear, within ten seconds, the first aid team was there tending to me. They gave me some sort of trauma towel and I actually got up and walked down the aisle and up the stairs to the first aid station. I remember feeling like I wasn't even in my body because I was on auto pilot. Everyone was, of course, staring at me because I looked like a massacre victim. I heard later that I was on TV (oh yay... another TV moment for me this year... definitely not one I wanted) as well as the big screens at centre ice. Jesus... I'm sure that looked pretty. Anyway, at the first aid station, they basically just determined that I hadn't blacked out and my neck hadn't snapped back. Then they gave me the option of going to the ER by ambulance or by private vehicle and of course I chose private vehicle because there's no fucking way I was going to pay for the ambulance AND then have to go back there somehow to get my vehicle. So yeah, Jules and I walked VERY slowly to the car. It took about an eternity and a half to get to the car and then Jules drove me to the ER in Sherwood Park because it was closest to where I live. She hasn't driven in a long time so she drove me absolutely insane with her timid driving. I think she was scared that she was going to drive over bumps and potholes but I was yelling at her to drive the speed limit and not to care about the bumps. It's Edmonton... every fucking street has pot holes and bumps!

So, we got to the ER and go figure, the hockey game was on in the waiting room. They took one look at me, asked me what happened and I just pointed to the TV. Well, holy cow, I got fantastic service once they knew I was hit by a puck! That apparently classifies as a 'cool' injury and several doctors and nurses stopped by to take a look. I got X-Rays and was icing my face while waiting for the shot of painkillers to kick in. The doctors told me my nose was fractured so much, they couldn't even count how many fractures I actually have... but could clearly see it was at least 5 or 6. Jesus. At this point, my sister had arrived to take pictures for Facebook (clearly very important to her, lol). The doctor sort of adjusted my nose into the straightest he could get it and said I was lucky that it was pretty aligned on its own, but to tell for sure, I'll have to wait about ten days when the swelling goes down a lot more. When he started adjusting it, it started pouring blood again, so he packed the one side with these nasal tampons (they were actually called that on the package) but I kept bleeding through them, so they taped up a whole bunch of gauze in front of it and told me I had to go to the U of A hospital ER where they had an ENT doctor who could pack it better and/or do something else to get it to stop bleeding.

Soooooo... 25 minute trip to that ER.... same thing, triage nurses were in awe of my story, I got in within 10 minutes despite the waiting room being so packed, it was standing room only (at this point it was midnight) and got a blood test to see if I had lost too much blood. By this time, the painkillers I had initially received were wearing off, so I was given two Tylenol 3's and some general anesthetic inside of my nose. I then sat for an hour before the doctor came back and re-packed my nose. Holy mother fucking hell... that is the most painful thing I have ever experienced. Picture shoving an emery board slightly longer and a little wider than your middle finger up each nostril. Then picture shoving a second one up there on one side. It felt like it was piercing my fucking brain, or at least my sinuses. Jesus fucking Christ... I was yelling and managed not to swear, although after the first one went in and I had nearly squirmed off of the chair (in the ENT rooms, they have chairs similar to dentist chairs), the doctor told me that I had every right to swear at her and curse as loud as I wanted and encouraged it if it made me feel better. I was sobbing, it hurt so fucking bad, which only caused my nose to move and the packing to feel like it was piercing even further upwards. It burned sooooooooo bad. I had slumped over against her at one point because she asked me in a panicked voice if I was alright. Then she apologized several more times and told me that of all the terrible things she has to do as a doctor, packing noses makes her feel the worst because she knows just how much pain she has to inflict. Like that made me feel better, but whatever.... I sat there unable to stop crying for a few minutes. The super cute and nice nurse came back and tried to make me feel better and it was at that time that she asked how I had gotten to the hospital. I told her that my girlfriend and sister were waiting for me in the waiting room. The triage nurse, for whatever reason, wouldn't let them come in with me initially. Well, she thought that was absolutely horrible, so she took their names and went out there to get them. Chantel, my sister, took more pictures and then we waited another hour to see if my nose would stop bleeding. It soaked through but was only oozing, so they decided to release me with painkillers and antibiotics and told me that if it didn't stop bleeding by Wednesday night (at that point it was around 4:30 am on Wednesday) to come back to get it re-packed.

We stopped off at the drug store to get the prescription filled and to pick up some Ensure meal replacement drinks that I could take with my meds (at that point I could barely open my mouth to even drink... I kind of just poured it in as best I could). At home, Jules helped me take off my blood-soaked clothes and wiped as much blood as she could off of me and then I went to sleep propped up on five pillows in a sitting position. She told me I snored all night because I had to breathe through my mouth but that it was okay because she knew I was at least sleeping.

I ended up having to go back to the ER on Wednesday night because my nose ended up bleeding slowly all day and by the evening, I had blood in the back of my throat. Again, they took me in within minutes and I had three doctors look at me but they decided not to re-pack it because it was a slow bleed and eventually the blood stopped going down the back of my throat. I was kind of glad because I didn't want to go through the packing agony all over again. I did have the constant urge to sneeze though, so he gave me a prescription for more painkillers and for antihistamine to curb the sneezy, watery eye, runny nose feeling.

By Thursday afternoon I had finally stopped bleeding, but the packing in my right nostril had completely pushed itself out while I was sleeping due to increased swelling. I was happy to be able to breathe out of one side but I looked grotesque (or rather even more than I already was). I had been in contact with work through e-mail on Wednesday and Thursday and knew I was in no shape to go into work so they had no choice but to call my boss in who is on maternity leave. She didn't know when she'd be able to get in (she lives an hour away and had to make arrangements for the baby) so I decided to go in for 20 minutes to check on things and put out any immediate fires. Thank god I did because honestly, they had so many things fucked up, it's obvious how valuable I am to them. I literally had a line up in the conference room where I logged onto the computer and they all brought their problems and issues and questions to me one by one and I dealt with them. After twenty minutes I was so dizzy and exhausted from the effort that I passed out for a four hour nap when I got home. Apparently my boss got there a few hours later and took over from there.

Today she called me to ask me a few things because she's been away from the job for so long that she was afraid she'd mess up some stuff so I talked her through a few things. She was so nice to me on the phone, it took me off guard. I don't know why, but I was expecting it to be a pain in the ass for her to cover for me. I'm just amazed at how my co-workers and family are treating me. I'm not sure why it amazes me, but it does. I think they're actually surprised that I'm intending on going to work on Monday.

Last night I was able to get the packing taken out of my nose and didn't get a nose bleed but the pain of not having the stability of the packing in my nose is very painful. I've had a headache all day and am constantly dizzy. I'm told this will pass in a day or two and that getting the packing removed usually causes the injury to hurt almost as much as it did initially. I at least look better - no black eyes, only bruises under my eyes like a football player and the swelling in my nose has evened out a little more. I've decided that I look okay enough to go to the company Christmas party tomorrow night.

As for my gratitude list... I think I'll just reiterate what my family, friends and co-workers have been saying for the past couple of days:

I'm grateful that:

* I didn't get hit in the mouth
* I didn't get hit in the eye
* I didn't get hit in the temple
* I didn't get a concussion
* I didn't get whiplash
* My nose isn't too crooked, despite having multiple fractures
* I didn't have to get my nose re-packed
* I have painkillers
* I have a wonderful girlfriend/nursemaid
* I have wonderful friends, co-workers and family who really do like me, as it turns out
* I'm needed at work
* My boss came in to cover for me with no problem
* I can breathe out of one nostril and have regained some sense of smell (could smell the flowers I received a little bit)
* I have the puck that hit me

Trophy


This is what I totally didn't see coming at me...
I kind of look like this now except I have more bruising and swelling under my eyes and around my nose.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Owwwwwwwwwwwwww....

Well, I enjoyed the game until a few minutes into the second period. Then I got the puck in the face...

Yep, I have, in the words of the doctors, "More fractures than I can count" on my nose. Long story that I will put on the blog, but for now I can barely sit here to type...

Monday, November 19, 2007

Monday

Well, I found a dress for the Christmas party on Saturday. It's black with some sort of red and green and white pattern... I don't know how to describe it. Anyway, it was on sale for $25! Wow... I didn't even know it was on sale until I went to pay for it. :)

I dislocated my thumb this morning but got it back in place within a few minutes so now it just hurts and feels a little stiff. Unrelated, I went to physical therapy again this afternoon and now have my shoulder taped up with this special kind of tape that gently pulls my shoulder back a little in an effort to work the lower muscles attached to my shoulder blade. Apparently this is supposed to help with neck pain and headaches. All I know is that it hurts right now but probably because I was being moved every which way.

I haven't seen Jen online lately... wondering if she's any closer to feeling better. Hm... I miss her...

The stuff I purchased from Victoria Secret came in the mail today. It came pretty fast considering I ordered it only a week ago (I think... I can't remember). The bras are soooo comfortable!

I had the worst sleep last night... I dreamt that my grandmother was dying of cancer. She was literally on her death bed. It was awful. I was so upset when I woke up. I'm hoping to have a more peaceful sleep tonight.

Tomorrow night I'm going to the Oilers game with Jules and Ryan. The Oilers are playing the Vancouver Canucks so it'll be a good game (even though we'll get our asses kicked hard). Jules got the tickets from her work - a co-worker wasn't going to go, I guess. It's always so much more interesting watching a hockey game live than on TV but tickets are so expensive which is why I/we only go when she can get tickets from work. She barely knows how the game is played (she calls it "the hockey match where our chaps push a puck around on ice and beat on other chaps from another city") heh... it's fun to teach her.

Speaking of teaching, Jules taught me how to play chess yesterday. I nearly beat her but in the end, she prevailed. I tried playing it online last night before bed but it's more fun playing in person.

Today I'm grateful for:

* Finding the first Christmas gift of the season
* My bras from Victoria Secret fitting perfectly
* Having a warm home to live in at this time of year
* Having a dependable car to drive at this time of year
* A trip to look forward to

Sunday, November 18, 2007

"Sure, fine, whatever...." - Scully, The X-Files

Well, the humidifier seems to be working well. I had a great sleep and woke up without feeling like I had been sleeping in the desert. It was also nice to stretch out last night and have the whole bed to sleep in. I mentioned that to Jules this morning and she didn't seem too thrilled... lol. Whatever... it's nice to sleep alone sometimes.

She's also not thrilled with the fact that it's 12:30 pm and I'm still not over there at her place yet. We're going shopping for something for me to wear at my company Christmas party next Saturday. I've been having a relaxing morning and have to feel guilty about it because I should be over there. Well... seeing how I NEVER get this time these days... I was enjoying it. She has way more alone time than I do. At least she recognizes that... but still, she does the girl thing, "No, it's fine... you don't get much alone time... you said we were going shopping today, but whatever, it's fine. You work a lot and I don't get to see you much during the week, but that's okay... I know that." Um.... yeah, I really don't think it's fine with her, but at least she's trying to understand.

So yeah, I'm finally showered and dressed and have folded my last load of laundry, so I guess I'm off to shop (I so don't want to spend more money...god...) for clothes I don't want to buy. :)

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Christmas...

Holy hell... I went into Canadian Tire after work today to pick up a humidifier for my room and was struck with the realization that it is THE CHRISTMAS SEASON.

I was impossible to maneuver a cart anywhere in the store. Not even in the lesser visited aisles in the back where they sell stuff nobody ever needs. Believe me, I tried. I made the huge mistake of venturing into the Christmas tree section so I could pick up the tree that I had a coupon for (a little 3' Christmas tree w/ lights for $9.99). It took forever to de-tangle myself from the mass of shopping carts once in that area. Then of course there was a 20 minute wait to pay at the front. Man, that humidifier better be worth it.

I need a humidifier because Alberta is so damn dry. I wake up in the morning and the back of my throat is dry and my sinuses are sore. It stays with me all day... although now that I think about it, it actually gets worse at work with all of the flour in the air. Anyway, I spend all day clearing my throat (of nothing) and it sucks. Normally around this time of year I will plug in just an old Vicks steamer and use that but that puts out a little too much humidity in a night and reminds me of being sick because one can never get rid of the vapor medicine smell.

Yesterday, while Jules was here, I for whatever reason decided to pull out the two picture frames I had thrown under the bed back at the end of May when I broke up with my ex-girlfriend. One frame fit a 5x7 picture and the other fit four 4x6 pictures. Well, I finally decided to remove the pictures of my ex and myself and put in some new ones. It was kind of hard but also therapeutic at the same time.

Here are some pics that Ryan took of us from the other day when we were waiting to go out to dinner:





Yeah, I know... it's sickening.

Well, time to read the directions for my humidifier... another totally exciting Saturday night!!

Today I'm grateful for:

* My girlfriend
* Indian food
* November half over
* My trip to Philly next month
* Sleeping in tomorrow morning...
This is awesome...

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

No pain, no gain...

I woke up this morning with my left shoulder/arm/hand feeling really funny. It normally gives me grief but today was bizarre. I've had shooting pain down to the last two fingers on my hand all day. It hurts and it's distracting. I finally broke down and called a physical therapy place to see if they can determine what the hell is wrong with me. I'm thinking it's a pinched nerve... but I'm pretty messed up in my shoulder/neck area from years of production line work so who knows. I also have nerve damage in my left index finger that is excruciating if touched near the base of my finger nail (typing only mildly bothers it, thank god). I have no idea what I did to get that... I just remember it developing sometime when I was 13 years old. I've been to a neurologist and he couldn't figure it out.

Anyway, my appointment is at 6:20 pm and costs $93. It's not covered by health care but I think my private insurance through work will cover it. I have $300 a year towards stuff like that.

After my appointment I'm meeting the Quality and Production managers from work for drinks at a restaurant. It's been that kind of day/week for us at work...

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Victoria Secret

Seeing how there is only ONE Victoria Secret in all of Canada, I have to purchase what I want online. My sister showed me the IPEX wireless bra she bought a while ago and it is amazing. I decided to try a couple ($42 ea) and also picked up some of their 5/$25 priced underwear and next thing I know, it's over $100.... Yeah, yeah, I can add... but it just seems so.... much. Two bras and five pairs of underwear.... $109 + tax & shipping = $136.85. Wow...

It is good stuff though... and I'm sure I'd be paying the same amount here anyway... but seeing how I just put over $700 on my credit card last night for airfare... heh. My Visa card is probably melted in my wallet. I guess this is where my insane overtime helps a little, although I do need new brakes on my car before the end of the year... It's always something getting in the way of the fun stuff.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

What a week...

This week was hell!

Sooooo glad work is over with today and I get to sleep in tomorrow. It's strange not having Jules here though. :(

My tonsils are sore again. Sigh. They act up every couple of months. When the hell the doctor is ever going to let me get them out, I don't know...

I booked airfare to Philly today... very excited! I sooooooooo need a vacation.

Blah... tonsils driving me to distraction. More tomorrow...

Friday, November 9, 2007

Friday with flowers

My girl sent me lilies today at work. : )

It's our three month anniversary on Monday...

She's in Banff right now and I'm sitting at home watching Grey's Anatomy... sigh.

At least I was able to leave work at 4 pm today. That's something... although I'm back there tomorrow morning.

Is it weird that I wear my ex-girlfriend's perfume? I never bought it when we were together because that would be strange, both of us wearing it... but last week, I was looking at perfume with Jules and I saw it. I told Jules who wears it... then bought it. Jules is okay with it, she just teases me about it. I must admit that it does occasionally bring me back to a moment in time and I feel a small twinge of something, but I don't think it's sadness or heartache. Maybe just of what was... I don't know. Anyway, it's probably weird... but I love the scent. Jules enjoys it too which is probably why she's okay with it. ; )

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

No Go

Banff will be a no go for me this weekend. Everything and anything that could possibly happen at work is happening... the past two days have been unbelievable. I worked until 8 pm last night and 7:30 pm tonight. I'm still not caught up from last week so that means I'll definitely be working on Saturday. I've managed to avoid scheduling Sunday production so I'll have one day off at least.

I broke the news to Jules this morning and she understands. It's helpful to have a girlfriend who has been in a similar situation before. She used to manage a Chapters/Indigo/Coles/whatever they call them now book store and had to work all of the holidays, work late, etc. I'm sure she's quite disappointed but she's insisting I stay and work... thank goodness because if I went away this weekend there's no way in hell I'd ever catch up. The busy season is in full swing and I'm already having to pull minor miracles on a daily basis to ensure Eastern Canada has enough inventory, whether it means changing the schedule mid-shift or next day... or making the warehouse manager coordinate a stock transfer between here and Ontario on a whim (which sucks and I loathe to do it)... blah... this week we've also been having issues with packaging and ingredients... there's no way in hell I can leave.

I wish my manager would return to work so I could ease up on hours/days...

In other news... My car needs new brakes. My brakes are squealing. Yay... just what I need when the snow season has started. I have no idea how much brakes cost but I'm guessing it's quite a bit, depending on whether I just need brake pads or if I need other stuff too. My car is 14 years old so chances are, it's not going to be cheap.

It's my best friend/co-worker's birthday tomorrow so I have to get her gift bag sorted out. She loves Family Guy, especially Stewie so I bought her some little things that I know she'll like. I also got her some Post-It notes that I found in a cool store that sells paper and writing stuff. They're really... sophisticated. I love their Post-it 'To Do' list pads... she's been coveting mine so I bought her some of her own, plus some other ones. It's funny... people get her the usual stuff for her birthday and Christmas and she doesn't like it. I get her stuff like a clear plastic clipboard and an easy compressing stapler from Staples and she *still* mentions how much she loves them... and that was a year ago. I also get her stuff like hand sanitizer and jelly beans and they're a big hit. It's all about knowing what the person likes. ;)

Today I'm grateful for:

* My girlfriend
* The time change
* Having my passport
* Grey's Anatomy
* My chiropractor
* Kate Walsh on the cover of Marie Claire

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Winter

Well, I think winter has begun. Thank goodness the snow held off until after Halloween so the kids could have a decent night without snowsuits and windburned faces... but now it's here. It snowed all last night so there's about three inches on the ground. The ground is still warm enough to melt some of it, but it's not melting all of it. Blah. It's so windy and grey outside... definitely not an ideal day to go shopping, but seeing how today is my only full day off of the week, I must endure.

Jules and I are going to Old Navy, Chapters, a second hand clothing store (I've never been - she loves 'em), Canadian Tire (going to pick up a second seat warmer for the car... they have them on sale for $16.99!), the grocery store that has 2-for-1 sales on salmon, hand lotion, toilet paper, febreeze, tide, etc....

I'm really feeling the burn out at work this week... I got so mad at one of my co-workers that I hung up on him when he refused to listen to reason. Yeah, not proud of my immaturity there, but I just couldn't take it anymore. I'm really hoping that I can tear myself away from work next weekend (even though I've now had to schedule production for 7 days a week) in order to accompany Jules and Ryan to Banff to see Jules' good friend and former co-worker in Banff. A trip to the mountains would do me some good, I think.

Today I'm grateful for:

* My girlfriend
* My seat warmer
* Leftover sour Halloween candies
* My kitties
* At least one day off a week