I Need Constant Supervision - Any Volunteers?

This is a picture of one of our greens drinks. It has lots of green leafy veggies in it and is really good for you!

These past couple of days have been very interesting. I've embarrassed myself, nearly broke our iMac keyboard and mouse (and my work laptop, yes all at the same time) and have began experiencing "unusual sweating".

So, where do I start? Hmmmm....How about I start with how I embarrassed myself? Although, I will say that I've embarrassed myself so much in my life that I rarely get embarrassed anymore. Now-a-days I think it's funny more so than embarrassing.

Anyways, since I've been feeling better I have been taking the dogs for more walks. Usually I'll take them for a walk in the morning (a long one), then take them on a couple more short ones throughout the day. On this particular day I decided to take them on a walk around 2:00PM.

Just as we got outside of our apartment door a large bee started buzzing around me. Since I am very allergic to bees, this stressed me out immediately, however I tried to remain calm - at first, at least. This is how it went down (let me add that the bee was not actually talking to me and neither were the dogs, but this is my interpretation of events):

Bee: bzzzzzzz, ooooo look shorts that look like flowers, I should try to "get my pollen on" with them. bzzzzzzz

Me: Great. Bees are my favorite. Sigh...thinking 'stay calm, remember what happened to the My Girl kid'

Bee: "bzzzzzzz, doesn't smell of pollen, bzzzzzzzz, but sure looks like it" it says as it tries to fly up my shorts

Me: "AHHHHHH! GEEEEZE! NO, NO, NO THANK YOU!!" (remember I am still right outside of my apartment, in the breezeway, I start to run away at this point - jumping around like I'm stepping on hot coals at the same time) I also start talking to the dogs because I realize I've freaked them out..."You're ok, it's me it wants not you! Let's go!"

Turner: Don't step on my paws! They are very sensitive! Last time you acted like this you stepped on one of my paws!!

Callie: "Oh man, I hate running and crazy running is the worst" she says (in the saddest puppy voice you can imagine)

Bee: "bzzzzzzzzz, trying to make a fast get a way, huh? bzzzzzzzzzz, not on my watch" (it continues to chase me as I run away)

Me: "Ok, that's enough I don't have any pollen! Get it! NO POLLEN!" I say talking to the bee and just as I turn around I nearly run into my upstairs neighbor.

Upstairs neighbor: Oh, hi!

Me: "Errrr, ummm, there was a bee..." I say as I'm looking around frantically for it, however it is nowhere to be found at this point.

Turner: Grrrrrrrrrrr, I don't think I've met this human before. Seems suspicious....grrrrrrrrr

Callie: "bark bark bark bark bark....why don't you bark want to bark pet me bark bark bark bark" as she lunges towards the neighbor

Upstairs neighbor: Ignoring the bee comment and the crazy dogs she says "I wanted to ask you something...." but she is kind of looking at me like she's thinking 'what a wacko'

So, that's how I embarrassed myself. It wasn't too bad, but I actually felt slightly embarrassed this time (for a change).

Next thing I did was almost ruin our iMac keyboard and mouse (both wireless) and my work laptop. This morning Binderclips brought me in 2 different cups; one with greens drink in it and the other with protein shake in it. I already had a glass of water and apple cider vinegar that I was drinking, so I had waaaaay too many spillable items on the desk at once. Anyways, I managed to spill the water/apple cider vinegar mixture - EVERYWHERE. Thankfully, I was able to clean it up quickly with no harm done. However, cleaning the wireless keyboard and mouse were fun because they actually still worked even though I was cleaning them off like 3 feet away with a towel. In the process, I accidentally dimmed the desktop cleaning the keyboard, but was able to fix it....thank goodness.

Also, I've been taking something for endometriosis and the side effects say "unusual sweating may occur". Last night I sneezed a couple of times and started sweating profusely.

Needless to say, I think I need constant supervision. Any volunteers? :)

Calling All Chocolate & Bacon Lovers!

While shopping this past weekend at Whole Foods Binderclips and I encountered something interesting....


A chocolate bar with bacon in it!!!! 

Sadly, the bear did not receive any of the chocolate (that's why he looks so sad). Hey, we don't know if bears are like dogs and can't have chocolate. We figured we would rather be safe than sorry. ;)

It's made by Vosges and has applewood smoked bacon bits in it. They sell both a dark chocolate and a milk chocolate version.


I chose the dark chocolate and Binderclips selected the milk chocolate bar to try. We decided to get the .5 oz. sizes, just in case we didn't like them. Plus, the .5 oz. costs $2.50, while the 3 oz. costs $7.50.


Here's my review of the Mo's Dark Bacon Bar:
It was definitely rich dark chocolate that wasn't too bitter, very good. Since it's a smaller .5 oz size bar it's a little brittle, so I would recommend not wearing light clothes when doing your tasting (unlike me). The bacon pieces were small and softer than I expected. I like my bacon crunchy, however I'm not sure how crunchy bacon could be accomplished in a chocolate bar, honestly. Overall, it was ok. I think I would try some of the other options they have because the chocolate itself was good, however the dark chocolate bacon bar was nothing to write home about in my opinion. 


Here's Binderclips review of the Mo's Bacon Bar:
Milk chocolate = good
bacon bits = ok
Would have rather had chocolate covered bacon




Some of the other exotic options they have are the following (they come in Gift Flights as listed below):

1) Gift Flight A includes:

1 Red Fire, 1 Black Pearl, 1 Gianduja & 1 Naga


Naga: sweet Indian curry + coconut + deep milk chocolate, 41% cacao

Gianduja: almonds + caramelized hazelnut paste + deep milk chocolate

Black Pearl: ginger + wasabi + black sesame seeds + dark chocolate, 55% cacao

Red Fire: Mexican ancho & chipotle chillies + Ceylon cinnamon + dark chocolate, 55% cacao



2) Gift Flight B includes:

1 Creole, 1 Oaxaca, 1 Barcelona & 1 Woolloomooloo


Woolloomooloo: roasted & salted macadamia nuts + Indonesian coconut + hemp seeds + deep milk chocolate, 41% cacao

Oaxaca: guajillo & pasilla chillies + Tanzanian bittersweet chocolate, 75% cacao

Creole: New Orleans style chicory coffee + cocoa nibs + Sao Thome bittersweet chocolate, 70% cacao

Barcelona: hickory smoked almonds + grey sea salt + deep milk chocolate, 41% cacao


3) Gift Flight C includes:

1 Goji, 1 Matcha, 1 Mo's Bacon & 1 Calindia


Calindia: Indian green cardamom + organic California walnuts + dried plums + Venezuelan dark chocolate, 65% cacao

Goji: goji berries + pink Himalayan salt + deep milk chocolate, 41% cacao

Matcha: Japanese matcha green tea + deep milk chocolate, 41% cacao

Mo's Bacon: applewood smoked bacon + Alder wood smoked salt + deep milk chocolate, 41% cacao

I'm not sure if Whole Foods has all of these, however I'm thinking I might be up for trying some of them. Namely, the Woolloomooloo (say that 5 times real fast), Barcelona, Goji, and Matcha. Any of you tried any of these? If so, I would love to hear how they are.

Also, they do have truffles as well as many other yummy treats. Let me know if you've tried any of them.

Later gators!

Surgical Intervention - Part II

This is a picture from the Minnesota Arboretum, it has nothing to do with this post. I took it a while back and just thought I'd share it. I hope you like it!

This is a continuation from my Surgical Intervention post a couple of days ago. To learn why I had the surgery, check out this. I've decided to document how my surgery went and I am hoping that it might help you or someone you love in the future with getting through the surgery process. Specifically, the recovery process...

Last time I left off I was just waking up in the recovery room, feeling terrible. The surgery lasted about an hour, so it was fairly quick. However, recovery was another story all together.

Prior to going into surgery I had met with the anesthesiologist and told him about how nauseous I get from the general anesthesia. I also told him that the last time I had the surgery I had what they called a 'scope patch'. It helped me not be nauseous immediately after surgery and for a couple of days following it. He responded by telling me that the general anesthesia today is different than it was 10 years ago. When I told him that the last surgery was 3 years ago, he wrote something down in my chart and then left immediately after. The first time I had this surgery performed they placed the scope patch behind my ear, the common placement for it, however as I headed into the surgery room without it this time I wondered if they were planning on putting it on me there...

So, as I was saying, I woke up in recovery feeling really bad. First of all, I looked down to see my abdomen largely inflated. I mean to the the point that I looked pregnant, we are talking 6 months pregnant kind of big.  I've never been pregnant, but I'm just guessing that that is exactly how I would look at 6 months pregnant. 'Geeeze' I thought 'I've heard about things getting left inside of patients during surgery, but they would have really had to pack me full of stuff to make me look this big'. I wondered if they had left gloves, sponges, funky surgeon eyewear, amongst other things in there.  Then I remembered that they had blew me up like a balloon with nitrous oxide or carbon dioxide to better view what was going on inside me. With how much they put in I wondered if I might float if it had been helium they filled me with instead of carbon dioxide or nitrous oxide. 'That might be fun' I thought as I imagined myself in a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory type of scenario. Then it hit me - not the blades at the top of the room like what Charlie and his grandpa found themselves drifting towards - the nausea. It hit me like a ton of bricks, suddenly.

At right about that time the nurse walked up and asked me if I wanted something to eat. The thing was, I was STARVING. It was around 10:00AM and I hadn't eaten since around 9:00PM the night before. But because I was sooo nauseous, I didn't want anything to eat. All I kept thinking about was the amount of pain I might feel if I started dry heaving after having an incision made in my abdomen. Just the thought of it right now, still kind of makes me nauseous. However, figuring I should try to eat something I asked for some crackers.

Just as the nurse walked away my left middle finger started feeling numb. From working in cardiac rehabilitation at one point in my life I knew that women experience different symptoms than men do when having a heart attack. 'OH MY GOD I'M HAVING A HEART ATTACK!!' I thought as I panicked inside my head. As I looked down at my finger I realized it was the SaO2 monitor thingy they had put on it prior to me going into surgery that was making my finger numb. At this point I started saying profanities in my head, so use your imagination. 

Prior to going into surgery the nurse had put the SaO2 thingy on my finger, which was now a sticker type thingy and not the normal plastic contraption (kind of looks like this usually, but not attached to a wrist band). It is actually a pulse oximeter device they put on your finger to measure your saturation of oxygen in the blood. Anyways, the nurse put it on my finger extremely tight and it was really bothering me prior to going into the surgery room (I kept picking at it trying to make it looser, to which Binderclips would tell me to stop), now it was wreaking havoc on me yet again. I was convinced my finger was going to fall off soon because she had put it on soo tightly.

Soon after, the nurse brought me back some crackers and some water. I opened the cracker package, looked at the crackers and then set them down. I was too nervous to try eating them. After having a staring contest with the crackers for about 5 minutes (I won, btw), I decided to pick them up. I took about a squirrel size bite off of the corner from one of the crackers (getting cracker crumbs all over me in the process) and swallowed it, then felt it starting to come back up. I quickly picked up the water and took a swig hoping it would help wash the cracker down without it coming back up. Sadly, the water made it worse but I managed to keep it down somehow.

The nurse had made her way back to me by that point and was asking how I was doing again. "Bad. Nauseous. Really nauseous" I said, since I couldn't speak in full sentences at that point. I thought about adding 'dying' into the mix and pointing at myself, but decided against it. The Nurse Liaison walked up at about the same time and asked the nurse how I was doing. Her job was to tell Binderclips how I was doing in recovery. The nurse responded with "her scope patch isn't working, I'm going to have to give her a shot of something else. It's going to be a while longer before she's going anywhere." The Nurse Liaison promptly left to deliver the message to Binderclips and I thought 'So, I must have gotten the scope patch...' Although, I did not feel like I did.

About 3 hours after the surgery I was finally able to go home. Thanks to the shot of anti-nausea medication I didn't end up getting sick. However, after a couple of days both Binderclips and I realized one thing - I did not have a scope patch on AT ALL. GRRRRR

My apologies about the lengthy post! Hopefully it was worth reading (if you did read it, and btw, thank you if you did). :)

Later folks!

To Tell or Not to Tell, That is the Question

Hello out there! While recovering from my surgery I contemplated whether or not I should share why I had the surgery to begin with on my blog....

And I'm happy to tell you that I have decided to. I mean what the hay, ya know? Since I share this with some of my closest friends and Binderclips, some are already aware. However, others have not heard as much about it. I am simply trying to ed-u-ma-cate everyone on this not-to-well-known disorder or disease (depending on what school of thought you come from). ;)

So, here I go:

I had laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis. When ever I say the word "endometriosis" to anyone they usually; 1) Respond with "Oh, ok?", which usually means they have no clue what I'm talking about and/or 2) Since they are uncertain what it is, act like I might be contagious and they need to stay away from me.

To clear up any confusion I thought I'd include a little background on what endometriosis is. Basically, the lining of the uterus is shed each month (in child bearing women) and is excreted from the body during menstruation. For women who have endometriosis this lining does not get fully excreted from the body but instead finds it's way into the abdomen. It's essentially like the system gets backed up and the tissue has no where to go but inside the abdominal cavity.

This results in the endometrial tissue adhering to the woman's fallopian tubes, ovaries, uterus, or even other internal organs causing lesions or growths. Since the lesions/growths are made up of endometrial tissue they can essentially have monthly bouts of bleeding just like what occurs during menstruation. This back up in the system along with the lesions/growths results in organ inflammation, the formation of scar tissue, and sometimes intense pain. Adhesions can also form that connect organs together. In addition, ovarian cysts can also form, which hold blood and can rupture spilling the contents into the abdomen.

So, that's what I have and it's not contagious. YAY! --insert me doing a happy dance here--

Specifically, the surgeon vaporized the endometrial implants I had (imagine the doctor with a microscopic laser gun shooting at me on the inside saying "watch out endo here I come to vaporize you!") and removed an ovarian cyst. So, I'm feeling a lot better lately, I mean A LOT. This is the second time I have had the surgery and the last time I had it - it had the same effect.  It made me feel tremendously better afterwards.

I will be posting the rest of my Surgical Intervention story soon, so look for it! Have a great night everyone!

Happy Birthday Bro!

This is a picture from when I was 4 and my brother was 2....still, to this day, I think he was one of the cutest kids ever! And I'm sure you will agree after seeing this picture.

Anyways, I wanted to dedicate this post to my brother. Today is his 30th birthday!

Happy Birthday Bro!!!

Dear Bro,

First, let me say, that you (tearing up here) are my favorite brother. No, I mean it, you really are. Ok, ok, so you're my only brother, but even if I had 2, I'm sure you would still be my fav.

In all seriousness, ever since you were born you have brought so much joy to my life. From a very young age, I remember us always playing and having the best time together.

We have been through a lot over the years and have remained close despite the challenges we have been faced with. We have learned about life and (in a lot of cases) what not to do by watching some of those who are closest to us making mistakes. These life lessons made us both who we are today and you have grown into an amazing person, who I am very proud of. And even though we don't get to see each other often I cherish the time I do get to spend with you over the holidays.

Happy Birthday to the Best Brother EVER from a sister who misses you terribly. I hope you are having a wonderful day today!

As a side note, I'd like to mention that the sweater my dad is wearing in this picture is a sweater I still have and wear. It's my lucky sweater, it's been worn to many of tests over the course of my life. Thanks Dad!

As another side note, I'd like to say Happy Birthday to my Brother-In-Law. Today is also his birthday.

Adios folks!

Surgical Intervention

Hi Everyone! I made it through my surgery and I'm officially back in business! Wooo Hooo!

First, I want to say thank you to everyone who sent me well wishes! Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts. I received some very nice cards and messages from everyone. Also, I received this wonderful edible arrangement from some of my favorite people and it was delicious! Thank you again everyone!! Also, a special thanks to my In-Laws for coming in and helping out during my recovery. I'm certain I wouldn't have recovered as quickly had you not been around!

I'm sure you all are dying to hear how the surgery went (well, even if you're not, I'm going to tell you anyways)....in short, it went well. However, I'm not going to give you the short version, so here I go with the long version (prepare yourselves folks):

The day of my surgery (or surgical intervention, since that's what my doctor likes to call it) Binderclips and I showed up at the hospital promptly at 7:00AM as we were instructed. Prior to going I had to remove some piercings (which always causes anxiety for both Binderclips and I) - I have 4 piercings all together, 2 normal ear piercings, 1 in my tragus (another part of the ear), and my belly button. The tragus piercing is the hardest because the earring has got a little, teeny, tiny ball that joins the 2 sides of the hoop together. It's not the taking it out that causes anxiety as much as it is the knowing we will have to put it back in eventually.

Anyways, we showed up and promptly they called me back to get disrobed and into the wonderful hospital gown they gave me. I also took the liberty to put on the hair cover-net-type-thingy...hey, she gave it to me, so I thought I needed to put in on when I put the gown on. Needless to say, I looked ridiculous. However, I wasn't really thinking about that at all at the time. Instead I was just nervous, I guess surgery does that to a person. ;)

After I was changed the nurse put in my IV, which apparently required beating the top of my hand to a bloody pulp (ok, so it wasn't bloody, but it felt like it should've been). As she did this I thought 'I would hate to see what she does the patients with bad veins, geesh!'

Soon Binderclips was able to come in and when they brought him back he started laughing at me immediately. Then made a comment about me being a pirate (which, he also posted on my facebook wall, thanks again for that, oh hubby of mine). I realized soon that it was the hair cover-net-type-thingy that set him off on the pirate talk. Although, instead of removing it I embraced it...hey, what else should I have done?

Then the anesthesiologist came in. I told him I get very nauseous from the general anesthesia and that when I had the surgery done before they gave me a scope patch (a patch used to treat motion sickness, they give it to folks who go on cruises and stuff like that). He responded by telling me that the anesthesia used 10 years ago made people more nauseous than the stuff now-a-days.... 'Uhh, I had the surgery done in 2007 before, jackhole' I thought, then told him "last time I had the surgery was 3 years ago". He said "Oh, ok" then wrote something down and was gone before I knew it.

Soon after Binderclips was sent out and I was headed down for surgery. Last time I had this surgery done they had already put the scope patch on me (it's a patch that goes behind your ear). 'Maybe they will put it in when I get closer to the surgery room, perhaps?' I thought. Now, I should tell you that when I had this surgery done before I was knocked out prior to going into the surgery room. So, when we headed downstairs I thought they were going to put me into a holding room, give me the anesthesia to knock me out, then wheel me (unsuspectingly) into the surgery room. No dice folks. Instead, they wheeled me directly into the surgical room, then asked me to move myself onto the surgery table!!! This does not help one's nerves, I will tell you that.

After that, I remember thinking 'why are there soo many people in here?' and 'are ALL of these people going to see me naked?!?! WHAT. ON. EARTH.' Then a women behind me gently took my IV and said "this will just help you relax" as she injected something into my IV. The next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery, feeling terrible....

To be continued

Things not to watch prior to having surgery

Binderclips and I have been doing a lot of hanging out at home and therefore, have been watching a bit more TV/movies. This past weekend we decided to watch The Time Traveler's Wife, a movie about a guy with a gene that causes him to involuntarily time travel and the issues that it causes with his wife/marriage.

*SPOILER ALERT*

If you haven't seen/read The Time Traveler's Wife and plan to, do NOT keep reading.

Now, you may be asking yourself why this is not something you may want to watch prior to surgery? Well, the reason is if you have a husband like I do, the only thing he takes from the movie is that the time traveler dies and his wife has to go on living without him. Which, results in Binderclips immediately starting to imagine me not making it out of surgery and him having to live without me. It's kind of sweet, but just slightly overdramatic. LOL

Another thing not to watch - Monsters Inside Me on Animal Planet. It's a show about when humans fall prey to parasites - S.I.C.K. If you want to be paranoid about getting some kind of infection/parasite in the hospital, watch this show.

I'm sure there's more, however the 2 above made such a big impression that I can't remember the others.

Seriously, Binderclips and I will be standing in the kitchen and all of a sudden he will look like he wants to attack me. When I ask him "What? Why are you looking at me like that?", he says "If you die you're in big trouble." My response is usually to laugh, unless he's really having a bad day (and really imagining his life without me) - then I reassure him that I'm not going to die, then laugh.

Anyways, I thought I'd compile a list of things to watch prior to surgery also. Here it goes:

1. Bethenny Getting Married - I can't get enough of this show for some reason
2. Top Chef 
3. Work of Art 
4. Wipeout
5. Chopped - to some extent I feel like this is the type of challenge I'm presented with every night when I make dinner
6. Extreme Marksman - the name says it all
7. MonsterQuest 
8. Fight Science - I feel I am destined to be on this show at some point because I'm so ninja-tastic

Oh, and one more very important thing: I RECEIVED MY FIRST BLOG AWARD!!! YAY!!

I was given this award by TB at Year31. Thanks TB!! TB's following is growing quickly and for good reason. I recommend checking her blog out when you get a chance. She is definitely deserving of the award.

In order to accept the award all I have to to do is write about my blog philosophy:

My philosophy is to write as often as I can about what makes me laugh, which, are usually things that happen between Binderclips and I. So, to sum up the philosophy - "If you can't laugh at yourself, life's gonna seem a whole lot longer than you like" from Garden State. Or "Live well, laugh often (very often), and love much" also sums it up.

I'd like to pass this award onto this most deserving blogger:


Bossy Betty


Bossy Betty's blog is everything I hope my blog will be someday; funny, informative, and interesting. Enjoy Bossy Betty, you deserve it!


Ok, surgery is Friday - wish me luck everyone. I'll try to get back to blogging as soon as I'm feeling up to it.

Nothing to go on....

Hello out there! It's been a while since I've posted and I promise there's good reason for it. Before I get all into that I thought I'd share this site I found with everyone www.LOLcaption.com - if you need a laugh, you are sure to find something there to laugh about.

So, much like the sign in this picture, I've felt like I have had "nothing to go on" in regards to blog posts lately, at least. The reason being, I've just not felt that well.

I should also mention that one of my pet peeves includes complainers who do nothing to help their situation (except complain to others and never change anything).  And, quite honestly, I've kind of felt like a bit of a complainer lately. So, what did I do, you ask? Well, I did something about it. 

Now, you all should know that I became a complainer because of Binderclips. Before him I used to keep everything to myself and I was happy to do so (or so I thought). However, throughout our time together I've realized that talking about how I'm feeling with him allows him to be more in tune with what is going on with me. Which, what has been going on with me has not been that pleasant, but he wants to hear it, so I tell him. Hey, he asked for it!!

In short, I'm having surgery on 7/9...I'm sure everyone has their own issues, so I won't bog you down with the 'whats' and 'whys' of the surgery. Instead, I will say I'm looking forward to the surgery and to feeling better. Until then I may not post as much and probably not after either (since I will be recovering). However, I hope to be back in business soon. Wish me luck folks!

Later gators! :)