PotUS

This week started out with a totally unexpected bang -- I got see the President of the United States of America!

Yes, I took that picture.

Unfortunately, I didn't know I would get to see the President, so I didn't have my good camera. I got a last minute ticket. Luckily, my department has a camera that I took with me. But, the camera wasn't charged and only took seven pictures! Talk about good news, bad news.

Regardless of the camera situation, getting to see the President speak was very exciting!


My new-old violin got to play in a quintet (2 violins, viola, cello, and harpsichord) the Sunday before Thanksgiving. It was AWESOME! I love playing chamber music, especially with a harpsichord. If I had room and money, I'd have a harpsichord (and a soundproof room for Jamie's sake).

The one time of year that I hate the crappy economy the most is at Christmas. I only have one gig this year, and I only had one gig last year. The first few Christmases after I graduated college I could easily get six or seven gigs. With the economy in the dumps, fewer people want to hire musicians to play for parties, open houses, ect. But, I am very thankful for the one gig I have -- it just wouldn't be Christmas without playing Christmas music somewhere! I've played for this particular church's Christmas cantata for at least five years. It's a no-pressure job where I'm one of only two violins trying to be heard over 8-10 brass and woodwind players. Plus, I get to play second fiddle to my favorite violin buddy.

I'm looking forward to winding down the fall semester and gearing up for the holiday break. The best part about working for a college is Christmas break! Free vacation time! Woohoo!

You figure it out :)

Creative
One-of-a-kind
Nifty
Nurturing
Integral
Earnest

Wonderful
Awesome
Loving
Loyal

Food, glorious food

Feeding Jamie since his surgery back in December was a bit tricky. He has only a certain variety of foods he likes to eat. Because of his initial surgery, he had some food restrictions -- no peanuts, corn, beans, seeds, gummy things, or anything that comes out looking very much like it went in. Foods like that could cause a blockage in his newly reworked digestive system.

Now that everything is hooked up again, he is off the food restrictions. We're still getting used to the fact that he can have some of his favorite foods again. Last night I picked up lots of his favorite treats -- popcorn, trail mix with peanuts and cashews, honey roasted peanuts, roasted cashews, and dried pineapple.

Today I fixed him my awesome chicken noodle soup with corn and black beans, and there is currently a crock pot full of 4-bean chili slowly cooking for tomorrow.

Hopefully, we can do more eating at home now that he can have a little more variety to his diet. YAY! I like to cook!

Home!

Jamie came home from the hospital yesterday. This was his shortest hospital stay yet (not counting having his port inserted when he was only at the hospital for a few hours). Everything seems to be working ok. He has some pain and discomfort right now, but hopefully it will continue to lessen over the next few days.

He is happy to have his bed, his tv, his wife-cooked food, and to not be bothered every two hours in the middle of the night. Most night nurses will just peep in on patients during the night hours, but we had one who insisted on turning on the lights and doing a full check every two hours overnight. We missed seeing two of Jamie's nurses who only work weekends. They were awesome night nurses.

Wednesday Update

Jamie's continuing to improve. He has eaten real food (the kind that requires chewing) today for lunch and dinner. Keep your fingers crossed - he may get to go home tomorrow!

Tuesday Evening Update 2

A few minutes after my last email Jamie's night nurse stopped by and said "I think I'll just go ahead and unhook you from the IV."

YAY! He still has the needle in his hand, but he isn't tethered to the pole any more.

*happy dance*

Tuesday Evening

Jamie saw the surgeon for all of about 10 seconds earlier today. "Belly's soft" was about all he had to say, which is good. A soft belly is what we want.

Jamie had a five-lap shuffle around the floor and sat up in a chair for most of the day. He was nauseous right after waking up but it went away. He has eaten chocolate pudding and applesauce, and was able to keep two vicotin down. He is conked out in the bed right now.

Things seem to be going ok.

Tuesday Morning

Not much to say this morning. We've only just actually decided to be awake for the day -- not that either of us really slept much all night. Jamie spent some time last night with his new book (Thanks Betsy!) and his new iPod, which is good because last time he didn't want to do much of anything but lay in bed and stare at the tv.

Hopefully today will continue to improve.

Monday Afternoon Update

Jamie's doing pretty well. He spent an extra hour in recovery because of pain. His surgical site is his main pain complaint this time. When he got up to the room, he was really nauseous, which seems to be pretty normal for him after surgery. After some Zofran in his IV and a shot of Phenergan in his hip, his nausea has subsided for the time being. We walked around the hospital floor twice.

We've seen lots of familiar faces and lots of people have recognized Jamie from his previous visit. We even learned that two of his favorite nurses (Chuck and Jen, they're Canadian) from his July stay are married to each other! How cool!

Jamie was on a liquid diet as soon as he got back from surgery. At least he doesn't have to wait on a sip of water. He'll probably be on the liquid diet for a little while. Right now he has a dinner tray of jello, broth, tea, and juice. If he's able to keep down something, then he'll be able to have some Vicotin.

Monday Morning - Post Op

I'm a good girl! I'm doing what I said I'd do!

We arrived at the hospital at 6am and Jamie was quickly taken back to pre-op with the other first-thing-in-the-morning patients. About 40 minutes later, I was called to go sit with him. At 7:20am he was wheeled back to surgery. At 8:45am the surgeon called to say he was finished and everything looked good. I'm currently (9:00am) sitting in Jamie's room up on the third floor of the little hospital waiting for him to get out of the post-anesthesia/recovery unit. Hopefully he'll be up in about an hour.

I'm really hoping that since this surgery was so quick that his hospital stay will be much shorter. Hopefully, his belly will wake up quicker. Hopefully, he'll look much better when he gets wheeled into the room this time.

Story of Us, Part V

So, it has been a while. Jamie went into the hospital on July 23 for his second surgery and didn't come out again until August 12 -- 21 days later. The full story (in emails) is posted in Story of Us, Part V.

My new violin (I think I'll call her Sabine...Top Gear fans might get the reference) had its first public performances -- in church with piano accompaniment and at a wedding as part of a violin duet. I can't wait to play it in an orchestra!

For Labor Day Weekend, we took our first mini-vacation trip. We've traveled to other places and stayed in hotels before, but we've always gone because of something. When we visited the museums in Raleigh, we were in town for me to play at a wedding. When we went to the beach, we were there to be Mom for her surgery. When we went to Anacortes together, we had to pack up Jamie's stuff. When we went through the Shenandoah Valley and up to Bethlehem, PA, we were on a business trip.

We went to Charlotte for our mini-vacation. We stated at the Hilton Garden Inn in Uptown Charlotte. It was super nice and directly across the street from the NASCAR Hall of Fame. We ate great food and visited lots of new places: Discovery Place, the Charlotte Nature Museum, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Southpark Mall, and the Carolina Raptor Center. We took lots of pictures (go to our Flickr album!).

The days are quickly counting down to Jamie's third and final surgery on October 11. This surgery will only take about an hour and will have a much shorter recovery time (3-5 days). Since the surgery will be shorter than the last one, we're hoping Jamie won't have the same intestinal problems. Anesthesia makes the digestive system really sluggish and sometimes it takes a while for everything to start working again. The longer a patient is under anesthesia, the harder it is for the gut to wake up. And, when the patient has digestive problems to begin with...well you get the idea.

If I'm a good girl, I'll post my surgery/hospital update emails on the blog as soon as I send them.

Pre-Op

Today Jamie had his pre-op visit for his surgery on Friday. He answered some questions, gave some blood, and had his vitals checked twice (two different places that don't really talk to each other). The only bad thing we learned is that he doesn't check in for surgery until noon on Friday. Argh. Early is better. We were hoping for a 6am check-in. I'm guessing his surgery won't actually get started until at least 1:30. The procedure could take anywhere between 3 and 5 hours. It will be a long day. Plus, he has to stop eating/drink at midnight before the surgery. He'll be one hungry dude by the time it's all over.

I'll start my regular updates on Friday once I get settled in the waiting room. YAY for free wireless and an awesome laptop!

In the meantime, head over to the Flickr album to see pictures I took at High Point University. I would have a hard time choosing between HPU and Salem College, if I had to pick out a college right now. HPU is so NICE!

Newest Edition

I've had three violins in my life. The first wasn't around for very long. It was a 3/4 sized loaner instrument that I didn't even have for a full year. My next violin was a full-sized student instrument. It served me well from fourth grade through seventh grade. In the seventh grade I purchased, with my own money, the instrument that would see me through the rest of middle school, high school, Governor's school, college, and the start of my semi-professional career as a violinist.

I played my first Irish fiddle tune on this violin. I played two high school recitals and my college senior recital on this instrument. This fiddle flew to Texas with me and even went to Ohio once. It has played in countless concerts, numerous weddings, a memorial service in the woods in the rain, and for impromptu performances in family backyards.

But now, this instrument sits in a shop waiting to be bought by its next owner. It has been lovingly broken in and has come into its own special sound. I was its first owner and I'm a little sad to see it go. But the time has come for us to part ways.

Yesterday, Mom, Jamie, and I headed downtown to partake of some yummy bbq. After we finished stuffing ourselves full of smoked beef brisket, us ladies dragged the non-musically inclined guy over to the music shop. Mom and I mainly wanted to look at music, but I couldn't help oogling the instruments.

There hanging above a glass case was a gorgeous old instrument with a not-to-bad pricetag. A sign on the case said "We're happy for you to try out our instruments!" I took the invitation. A salesman carefully took the violin down and handed it to me with a bow. I pulled the bow across the strings. Ah! What a sound! I asked the salesman about trade-ins, but he said to come back on Saturday to speak with the owner and the violin guy.

Today, Jamie and I headed back downtown with my violin. To make a long story very short, we walked out of the music shop with a 1739 German violin in my case.

Before buying, the owner of the shop told us the story of the instrument. It was being sold on consignment by a man whose sister had been a member of the Winston-Salem Symphony and had died several years ago. She had played the viola in the symphony but had several violins in her collection. The music shop was also selling her viola, which she made herself, on consignment. Her name was Margaret Ann Smith.

My eyes widened at hearing her name. Several years ago, a man brought several crates of music to the Moravian Music Foundation as a donation. His sister had died and he was cleaning out her home. He said we could keep the music or give it away as we saw fit. The collection was made up mostly of violin studies and ensemble music (quartets, quintets, trios, etc.), which we sent over to the Salem College Fine Arts Library. But there were a few books that caught my attention and I claimed them for myself. When I got home from the music shop, I flipped through my shelf of music books. I found a book of Violin Duets by Playel with "Peggy Ann Smith" written on the cover.

Perhaps it was meant to be. :)

Facing the Swelter of Summer

Summer doesn't officially begin until June 21, but someone forgot to tell Mother Nature. Yesterday afternoon my car thermometer read 92! In NC, when it's that hot outside and humid, be prepared for really nasty weather. About an hour after I got home yesterday afternoon the skies darkened with ominous clouds on the southwestern horizon. The storm wasn't terrible, but we did have nickle-sized hail, wind, downpours where we couldn't see down the street very far, and continuous rumbles of thunder that would last almost a full minute before dying down. And, the lightning. Haven't had brilliant lightning like that in a while. We never completely lost power, but several times we had, for lack of a better phrase, power drains; lights dimmed, tv dimmed, the fan slowed down. That was weird.

I updated the Story of Us, Part IV with the latest emails.

School's out for...about two more days

Commencement was tonight. I get to spend the day decorating our division's room at the coliseum. We do an awesome job, if I do say so myself. My college commencement was outside and it had rained earlier in the day, so there was a lot of mud. The best part of my commencement was throwing tissue paper butterflies in a rainbow of colors instead of our mortar boards. I think Mom still has a little bag of those butterflies tucked away somewhere.

Speaking of Mom: I got to spend Mother's Day with my mommie for the first time in several years. I bought her a pretty yellow orchid corsage to wear to church, and I went with her to church! Afterward, Jamie and I took her out to eat. I'm going to treat her to a movie (Robin Hood...) sometime soon.

Jamie had chemo on Monday. His platelet count went from 84 two weeks ago to 130 this past Friday. Hopefully we can stay on schedule for the next 4 treatments, even though he does feel really bad. The fatigue and general blerg feeling are only getting worse, but that is to be expected. The doctor might stop the chemo drug that cause the uncomfortable tingling in his fingers and toes before the 12 treatments are up. Most people aren't able to get the full 12 treatments of that particular drug because of the side effects.

This past semester I taught my first college course. It was soooo cool! Though, I don't really feel that it's fair to call me a "teacher" or an "instructor". The course is online and was already set up, for the most part, before I took over. I have added some assignments and deleted ones that I didn't like. Hopefully, I'll get to teach the course for a while. It's a really good side gig. Summer semester starts up on Tuesday. I hope everybody does well in my class!

My violin isn't being too neglected (though I'm not practicing nearly as much as I should). I've played two weddings recently and I have a concert with the new orchestra at the end of the month. I really need to practice for that concert! I've been "promoted" to 2nd stand in the 2nd violin section. I need to sound like I know what I'm doing.

Oh! Right. My biggest accomplishment lately has been all the jewelry I've been making. Mom says I should be taking pictures of everything I make, but I keep forgetting. I've made over 100 individual pieces and sold quite a few of them. Most of the ladies at work are sporting handmade, one-of-a-kind necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. Several of my pieces have been given as gifts. Everybody who gives one of my designs as a gift always tells me how much the receiver liked the piece. And, everybody who buys something usually always stops by my office to show me their jewelry when they wear it. I love making jewelry! I really do need to post some pictures sometime.

Googlesites Sucks

Excuse the strong terminology, but it's true.

Googlepages died and Googlesites has taken its place. Googlepages was good. Googlesites -- not so much. Googlepages didn't translate directly over into Googlesites; so, now all of my layouts are funky and I can't get them to look like they used to. Well fine. I'll take my ball and go home; or take my blogging elsewhere.

From now on I'll blog directly into our Blogger blog.

Unfortunately, all of the pictures in this here blog were linked to the pictures uploaded to Googlepages, which meant their address was for somewhere within Googlepages. Now all of those pictures are in Googlesites. So Blogger can't find those pictures anymore because their address changed and they didn't leave a forwarding address. Bah. Oh well. Don't worry. Those pictures aren't gone forever. They're in one of the two Flickr albums or safely saved on the computer.

I've uploaded the latest updates in the Story of Us Saga. Parts II, III, and IV are basically in the form of emails that I've sent out to update family and friends on Jamie's emergency hospital stay (Part II), his surgery (Part III), and his adventures in chemo (Part IV). Links to these are located on the right-hand side of the blog.

Now I need to go pay some attention to the hubby because he is feeling neglected. :)

February 8, 2010

Hmmm...where to begin. We (ok..mostly Jamie) have been through quite a lot since I last posted on this blog, as evidenced by the new additions to our Important Dates column.

Our grand adventure started with Dominoes pizza and wings one night for dinner, which led to a trip to the ER for massive dehydration due to throwing up for 36 hours straight, which led to a colonoscopy, which led to a diagnosis of Colon Cancer, which led to a total Colectomy and Chemotherapy.

I plan to put the whole story here, but first I have to organize it! It's mostly in emails that anybody who might read this blog has already received, but I want the story all together in one place.

Check back later for how the story begins.

October 29, 2009

I'm a lazy blogger.

We haven't disappeared off the face of the earth. I promise.

We've been moderately busy during October. October is one of my favorite months. The first weekend in October I played for a wedding in Fuquay-Varina. It was an interesting experience between a pianist who really didn't have much classical music training and no legible road signs for getting around town. Jamie and I took off to Raleigh on the morning before the wedding to see the museums. YAY for FREE stuff to do! We visited the NC Museum of Natrual Science and the NC Museum of History. I took some pictures and they're uploaded to the Flickr album.

I entered five of my photographs in the Dixie Classic Fair's Amateur Adult Photography Contest. I didn't win any ribbons, but my photos looked just as good as the other non-ribboned photos I saw.

Keeping with fall tradition in my family, we went to an October race. But we didn't go to Charlotte. We checked out the short-track action at Martinsville last weekend. Getting there and back were the most interesting part of the day since our Mapquest directions got us lost in the middle of nowhere, rural NC. The trees and vistas were very lovely, though we did drive probably half an hour more than we had to. I took more pictures and they're uploaded to the Flickr album too.

Our little house was about to burst at the seams. We had six people stuffed in it. Mom came up with Mema, Grandpa, and Aunt Gloria for the race, though we left Grandpa at home on Sunday, which was A-ok by him. Mom and Aunt Gloria will be back in a couple of weeks after a Camp weekend. Then Mom, Mema, and Grandpa will be back for Thanksgiving. I'm soooo excited! Food and family and shopping and CHRISTMAS decorating!!!

As much as I complain about stores setting out Christmas stuff before Halloween, I do secretly LOVE seeing all the Christmas stuff. Like tonight, I was drooling over some very adorable holiday plates at Target. As I get older, I love Christmas time more and more and I'm very disappointed when it ends. I love the lights and decorations!

September 9, 2009

We had a moderately lazy Labor Day weekend. Last Friday we checked out another new (to us) Mexican restaurant. We've been to 9 in town so far in the search for excellent Mexican food. This last one was the best so far, since it's menu was TOTALLY different from every other restaurant. Plus it has the word "Taqueria" in its name, unlike any of the other Mexican places. We didn't get any tacos like the name suggested, but we did very much enjoy what we got.

After stuffing down some enchiladas and a chimichanga we headed to the movie theater to catch an afternoon showing of Inglorious Basterds. Good movie. Not for everybody though. I loved Brad Pitt's twangy southern accent, especially when he pretended to be Eye-talian.

We didn't do anything Saturday or Sunday except watch the races in Atlanta (woohoo for Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne!).

On Monday I worked HARD. For the past few weeks (months maybe...) I've felt like the apartment was sooooo dirty. Of course, things are always neat and orderly around here, but underneath all the neat and orderly just felt grimy. The kitchen and bathrooms got a thorough scrubbing, which meant I was on the floor A LOT. Toilet paper seems to leave a fluffy film on everything in the bathroom that is hard to clean without elbow grease. Dust in the kitchen area mixes with general cooking grease and splatter and just makes a greasy mess on surfaces. I am happy to say that we have lovely clean baseboards now! Who knew they were actually white! All the floors got vacuumed, and it is now safe to walk around barefooted without worrying about stepping on something. YAY!

In the midst of cleaning, I went into the kitchen closet for something and saw a huge puddle of water on the floor. OH CRAP! What has exploded?! The AC unit and the water heater are both in the kitchen closet (which is also under the stairs). I was worried that the entire closet was flooded, but it was just one spot. The AC drain had gotten clogged. Funny how the SAME thing happened in the previous townhouse too. Plus, one of the hoses connected to the unit was leaking. Luckily, it was just two little drips that had dripped a LONG time, since the AC had been running all day. After mopping up the mess with some towels, I put a bucket under one drip and a rubber bin under the other. Crisis averted until the maintenance guy could come fix it.

Once I put away all the cleaning stuff and had steamed the flood in the closet I asked Jamie if the house felt cleaner. He said yes. All of my hard work was worth the effort! Hurrah!

Keep an eye out on the Jewelry page in Stylishly Crafty. I plan to take pictures of the many necklaces and bracelets I've been working on for the past few weeks.

Oh...and I might be in a new Irish band. More on that later!

August 20, 2009

Our annual employee picnic was today at Tanglewood. I took my fiddle and my camera! The bad thing about playing an instrument is that it's very hard to get a picture of yourself playing. Oh well. Our school's marketing director went around snapping photos. Maybe she'll forward me some. I played with our Dean of Learning Resources who is a Renaissance Guy when it comes to playing instruments. I thought I played a bunch, but he plays even more than I do!

After we sweated off our lunch (it was hooooot even in the air conditioned barn), I scoped out the gardens and arboretum at Tanglewood. There is a very nice rose garden on the front lawn of the Bed and Breakfast on the park grounds, and some meandering gardens behind it. I snapped a few shots, but didn't stay out long because of looming thunder clouds (which never produced any rain) and the 150% humidity. Ugh..it was thick outside.

Enjoy the pictures!

Oh, and this Sunday I play at the church I was supposed to play at last month. Pray that I don't forget my bow again!

August 10, 2009

First of all, an apology to all of the NASCAR fans who had to miss the past two races because of rain and being rescheduled on Mondays. I'm sure it's all my fault because at the end of July I decided to take vacation time on August 3 and 10, which meant I got to actually watch the races! HA!

But on to my latest project...

Before:

After:

After-after:

Mom had some red paint leftover from one of her painting projects and gave it to me to repaint my cabinet. She and I painted it together back in July. Then, this past weekend I stained it and attached the green woven placemats I found at the Dollar Tree for $1 each. I stained the placemats so they weren't quite so garishly apple-green. The stain didn't take so well because the grass mats had been finished with something shiny. But the fact that the stain didn't take uniformly over the mats is kinda cool. Looks pretty nifty, yeah? I think it looks modern (the colors) with a twist of country/traditional (the hardware, the woven mats, and the design).

July 27, 2009

My dearest mama came to see us! She stayed with us for 10 whole days. We had lots of fun, though we really didn't do much but loaf around house for most of the time. We did go to the zoo last Monday. I think Jamie might be zoo'ed out for the year, so we might not go back until sometime next year. The weather was pleasant and the crowds were sparse. As far as I can remember, we saw every animal, even though some of them were in the far reaches of their habitats. We shopped. We ate. We played games. It was a fun week!

Mema sent tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, and string beans from her own garden. Mom brought Bum's bbq, collards, slaw, and corn bread. And Mema even sent pieces of her and Grandpa's birthday cakes. They were very tasty!

Congrats to Mom on her one year anniversary! On July 18, 2008 she had her lumpectomy and she's been cancer free ever since. I hope we celebrate many many more anniversaries!

July 6, 2009

Happy Belated Birthday, USA!!

Jamie didn't have to work on the 4th, but we didn't do anything at all. We just stayed home and watched the race at Daytona. Whew! What an ending! Congrats to Tony Stewart and horray for pushing Kyle Busch out of the way.

Several weeks ago a friend from college sent me an email asking if I'd like to play at her church on July 5th. She said her choir and handbells took the summer months off and she was lining up special music for the season. I love to play! For anybody! Anywhere! So, of course, I said yes. I picked out my pieces to play and diligently practiced them. I'm a lazy violinist and sometimes won't practice for weeks on end, especially if I don't have an upcoming gig.

The morning of July 5th came. I remembered to set my alarm the day before. I had packed my violin the day before. I got up. I got dressed. I put on MAKEUP (yes, MAKEUP). I kissed Jamie goodbye and waved to him as I set off on my merry way.

In 30 minutes I was in High Point, NC, a place I'd only been once before, but never to this particular part of town. I arrived at the church with plenty of time to spare. The pianist and I introduced ourselves and I proceeded to open my violin case. Where I discovered that I was missing BOTH of my bows. About that time, my friend came into the sanctuary carrying a music stand for me. "Shelley! I left my bows at home!!" I exclaimed. She laughed at me and I had to laugh at myself. That was the dumbest thing I'd ever done. There was no way I could head allllllll the way back home and then alllllll the way back to the church before the service started, much less in time to practice the pieces beforehand. The pianist called someone to see if they could bring a bow, but they'd already left their house for the morning. Shelley said not to worry and I could redeem myself later in the summer. Good to her word, she sent me an email asking if I could play August 2nd and I quickly replied that I would and that one bow would be forever GLUED to my violin case.

Needless to say, I came right home and put both bows back in my violin case. Earlier in the week I had messed around with both bows and instead of laying them in the open case with my violin (I usually leave the case open if I'm going to practice a lot) I put both bows on the music stand. When I packed up my violin, I completely forgot about the bows on the stand. Ironically, I had gone in that room that morning to get a safety pin from the closet and didn't even notice the bows laying on the music stand. I am a dingleberry.

Also, we apparently had a shrew pay us a visit. Jamie said he'd been hearing things on and off in the main living area of our apartment (the open kitchen/dining room) and last night finally found the source of the noise. A shrew poked his head out from under the dryer. This afternoon Jamie managed to see how the critter was coming in and out. There was a gap at the bottom of the molding that goes around our sliding door. After he was sure the shrew got back out, he sealed the gap with some caulk. Maybe that'll keep out the spiders and other multi-legged things.