I just wanted to say a quick HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY to everyone!! I hope you spent the day with the people you love :)
XOXO
2 Second Break
This is gonna be really short cause I'm super busy at work, but I forgot to tell you all that I felt my first earthquake! I'm only excited because it was a little one (a 5.1 in Mexico) and no one got hurt... and I've been wanting to feel one since I moved here 9 years ago. Anyway, it lasted for about 3 to 5 seconds and made the building feel like it was swaying. So weird!
Okay, back to work for me, but, check out this article. Maybe fairytales are real, after all :)
I need a snow day.
Welcome to Southern California - the land of perfectly tanned beauties, buff surfers annnnnnd conceited weather reports?! I always knew that California was pretty full of itself, but this? Come on!
Send some snow my way!
Yes We Can.
Today was Super Tuesday... a day to vote. A day for change. A day to show what America is about. As I stood in line and signed my name and cast my vote, I felt proud. I felt happy. We are a lucky people. We are free. And, in a world like ours, that means a lot. I couldn't help but look around as I filled in my ballot bubbles and think about how lucky I am - how lucky we are. We can go to the polls and vote and not worry about a million things that people in other nations have to worry about. For this reason, and so many others, I love our country. I love America. So, now as I sit at home with my "I voted" sticker on my shirt and my t.v. tuned to the results, I'm anxiously waiting to find out the potential, future leaders of our country. We need something to happen, and we need it to happen soon. We need better education. We need better health care. We need change. The thing is, if I really think about it, voting is really important to me. Maybe more important than I've thought it to be in the past. As someone who is a woman and half black, I represent a collection of people who didn't get to vote for free. I represent a people who had to struggle for their rights, who had to fight for the ability to demonstrate their beliefs. This is why I feel so proud. Even if my one little vote didn't change anything. Even if it didn't sway the election, I know it's important that I made the effort to do what so many other people can't do. And, despite the fact that I'm a registered Republican, this video depicts what should be everyone's takeaway from the primaries and the upcoming presidential election - yes we can. We can make a change. We can make a difference.
Did you vote this Tuesday? I know I did.
I got a ham in a box! :)
So, Daniel's birthday was a hit! It was so much fun to watch him open all of his presents and play a bunch of puppy themed games with him. Eli and his cousin Vin even stopped in for the festivities! Is sure is funny what you can get a bunch of twenty somethings to do when a baby is involved :) We even celebrated Todd and Eli's birthdays, and everyone left with a gift! I must say that my mom is an excellent party planner! Besides all the baby fun, my favorite part of the night was when I received a gift from Ma (thats my grandma, for those of you who don't know). Back home in New Jersey, we have this amazing breakfast food called taylor ham. It's got to be awful for you, but it's basically a NJ staple and something that you can't get in any other state (as far as I know). Anyway, Ma sent me some because she knows how much I love it. The following is the sequence of me getting my gift. (this one's for you Ma).
He's 2!
Today is my little brother Daniel's birthday! He's two!! That's right, two. For all of you who have forgotten, I'm 22! When I really think about it, our age difference is CRAZY. But, despite the some 20 year difference, I feel like Daniel (better known as Baby) and I are very close. He's just about the cutest thing ever, and I feel like I'm always amazied at the new things he can do when I see him. So, since he's two today, my mom is throwing a birthday party that has Daniel written all over it - a puppy party! For some reason, Daniel is obesessed with puppies. I think my mom was thinking of getting him one for a present, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't need one more "kid" to take care of. Anyway, since we couldn't get him a real puppy, Todd and I decided to purchase a musical, singing stuffed animal. It's so cute, and even teaches things like the A,B,C's and colors. The funniest thing about the party though, is the guest list. I'm pretty sure almost everyone is over the age of 21! Guess that's what happens when you have a 22-year-old sister :) So, happy birthday, Baby (for when you're old enough to read this).
Blah
Ugh, I wanna update with something interesting so bad, but I've got nothing :( Nothing new or exciting since yesterday, except for the fact that my weird dizziness is still going strong and I had a random fever last night. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow to hopefully figure it out. Other than that, it's pretty gloomy in SD. There are all these huge rain clouds rolling in, and it's really windy. My mom has to take Kaleigh on her Brownies camping trip this weekend in Julian, and she's pretty worried that it's going to snow and she's either going to get stuck there or have a really hard time driving on the windy roads. Everyone say a quick prayer that the trip is cancelled. Oh, and who else out there has been watching American Idol? Yes, it's another guilty pleasure of mine, but I can't help it - the bad people are SO bad. Tuesday night were auditions in SD, and I must say I was pretty disappointed that most of the people weren't even from here! Anyway, I did see one person I went to high school with, and it was cool to know that the auditions were held in my old town. I'm really looking forward to this season. Last season was pretty bad, so I'm hoping this one is like earlier Idol years. Well, now that I really sound like I have nothing going on in my life, I'm going to go stuff my face at my office party!
Surgery Recap.
More than a week later, I'm back from the sugery table and my mom's recliner, and back to work and emails and articles. I guess I was more scared than I needed to be (what everyone kept telling me), but I'm pretty sure I would be just as freaked out if I had to have surgery again. The morning of the 15th was stressful, to say the least. I think I almost cancelled about a million times, but somehow, I made it through the procedure and back home to rest for a week. My surgery went well, although it did last 4 hours when it was only supposed to be an hour and a half! You can imagine how much my mom was freaking out when the doctors told her "it would be a little longer than expected." All I really remember was talking to a bunch of really nice nurses, being injected with what everyone kept calling a "tequila shot" and waking up some 5 hours later really groggy and confused. The recovery time was rough at points, especially since my doctor ended up working on my septum and didn't prescribe me strong enough meds to cover the pain... but, once that was fixed, I was basically passed out for a week. As annoying as all the nasal rinses were, it was nice to be home and get taken care of. Plus, I had fun spending time with everyone, including Todd, who stayed with us the whole week (after work of course). On Monday, I got the splints that had been living in my nose taken out, which by the way were incredibly large! I couldn't even believe that they could fit in my nose! Once they were out, I felt 10, 000 times better, and I was able to stop taking all the pain meds pretty soon after. Since then, I've been able to breathe out of my nose! It's great slash so strange. I've been feeling better, minus this weird bout of dizziness I've been feeling for the past two days. It's the weirdest feeling - like I'm underwater and off balance. I've been told its "part of the healing process," but I had to leave work early yesterday, and considered staying home today (didn't do that). It's kind of hard to concentrate when my head feels like it's full of who knows what. I'm hoping it goes away soon so I can avoid any more run ins with the dreaded endoscope, ha!
Throughout my week, I felt very blessed and loved - I'm lucky to have so many people around me who are willing to take care of me and who genuinely care about how I'm doing. Thanks to all of you!
And, that's my news for now. Haven't really been doing anything more than that :) Hopefully, things will get exciting soon.
Oh gosh, it's tomorrow.
Well, tomorrow is my surgery. For all of you who are wondering "what the heck happened to Amanda?!"... I'm actually having sinus surgery to hopefully help fix my many breathing/sinus issues. Anyway, I'm more than just a little nervous - I'm full on freaked out! Everyone keeps telling me I'll be fine, but it doesn't help with the fact that I'm terrified of the process. Plus, I've been doing way too much research. You won't even believe all the scary things you can find online about this stuff! My doctor gave me this whole talk about how positive thinking can really change the way you feel. And, while that seemed all fine and dandy while he was going over everything with me, now that's it's tomorrow morning, I'm actually wondering how the heck I'm going to get myself there without having some sort of anxiety attack. Ah! Anyway, thanks to everyone who has been encouraging me and saying they'll be praying for me. I'll be thinking of you all, along with my happy thoughs as they inject me with whatever the heck they're using to make me fall asleep.
So, yeah. That's my post for the day. I'll let you all know how it goes once it's all over.