Animal Activist Soap Box

Stepping on my soap box this morning because I'm perturbed at the way people are responding to Tilikum, the killer whale who is responsible for the death of 3 people going back to work.

Here are the facts: last year, the whale pulled a trainer into the tank by her pony tail and consequently killed her by dragging her to the bottom of the tank. It was tragic, I agree.

I agree that people are important and come before animals, in most instances.

In this instance, I'm finding myself very pissed off at the people who are "appalled" and "disgusted" that the whale has been released to perform again.

Here's why: WE, as Americans, like to be entertained. WE chose to take these whales, place them in captivity, and train them for OUR amusement. They are aptly named KILLER whales for a reason: they KILL. Yet, WE overlook that fact and force them to do what WE want when WE want it. Hmm.....am I the only who sees that it's no surprise that the whale has been linked to deaths?

The very nature of the killer whale is to kill. Kill for survival, kill for food. So......why would we think that it's okay to place these animals into captivity and expect them not to ever do anything bad? Seems a little naive on my part.

Now, should the whale have returned to performing? Probably not. But what else are they going to do with it? If they return it to the wild, it means imminent death for the whale. If they kill the whale, well then they kill the whale. So, why, because the whale was placed in captivity without it's consent, should we condemn it to death because it did what is in it's natural ability and instinct to do?

I think the bigger issue that needs to be explored here is the way we treat animals for our entertainment. I'm not saying that I agree with organizations like PETA, but I don't think that this whale deserves to die for acting as a KILLER whale.

Humans, Americans in particular, need to learn to not upset the natural balance of the world. Until then, animals are going to continue to do things that are harmful to humans and then everyone's going to end up in a uproar all over again. But, is it really the animals fault? No.

Hummus and Hunger

I love hummus. Like, would take a hummus bath and eat my way through the bath I love it so much.
I particularly enjoy these individual serving cups of hummus that come with pretzels. They give you way too much hummus for the amount of pretzels, so you really have to smother the pretzels in hummus. I love it.

I was telling a friend today that I was starving and she hit me with an unexpected question. "Have you ever thought about what it really feels like to be starving? Not just hungry where food is in reach and all you have to do is go get it, but STARVING?"

I hadn't. I donate to food networks and hunger projects in the hopes that my money will feed some starving kid in Africa, but the truth is, I have never really thought about what it means to be starving. The kind of starving where you don't know when and where your next meal is coming from. It was very humbling to say the least. We take for granted the things that we have, like food readily available to us and fresh drinking water, but the truth of the matter is, there are thousands, millions of people out there who have neither of these things. It's heartbreaking.

If you feel so inclined, you can help right here in North Texas, by donating to the North Texas Food Bank. The Hunger Project also does great work, so you could always go for a more global approach and help them.

If you feel so inclined, I've started raising money for in my nephew's honor to build a well in Uganda so that local kids and families can have access to safe, clean, drinking water. If you have thought about wanting to do something before but were unsure of what to do, consider donating in my nephew's honor. Go to www.holdenuganda.org and select "Lucas Paul Stewart" from the drop down menu.

Of course you never have to do more than you already do. These are merely mentions of organizations that you might find it in your heart to donate to. No pressure.

"The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit." - Nelson Henderson
thanks @vanweezy for that one. I love it. 

Sometimes you get sour lemons.....

And then your lemonade doesn't taste so great. 

For real though. This is really about my complete lack of self control over the past weekend. Last week, I had done pretty well (okay, I did an OKAY job) of eating healthy and getting back on the weight loss train. Starting Thursday, however, the train was raided by train pirates, derailed, and hit by missile. Ooops.

See, the problem is, I couldn't eat for 2 1/2 weeks. 2 1/2 weeks!!! That's kind of an insane amount of time when you love food. I probably would have only ventured off track once or twice over the past 2 1/2 weeks, which is still manageable, and often encouraged to keep you on track. Instead, I went ape shit crazy and ate whatever I wanted and I'm totally feeling the regret now.

Not only is it going to make me gain back some of the 20 lbs that I've lost over the past few months, but I feel bloated and uncomfortable!

Today is the day that I am getting back into my workout routine and I have to say, it would have been nice to have a nice healthy start to the whole thing instead of feeling like  a lard ass about to try to run. Le sigh.

Moral of the story? Venture off track from time to time. Your body deserves a reward as do you. But, don't let the temptation derail your train.

"The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook”
-Julia Child

Geek Out

this is my church's cross for Easter. I heart Easter.

So I'm going to Jesus Freak out for a moment, but it's okay...I'm not ashamed to do so!

I recently started listening to Christian Rock again on occasion. I've found a few bands and songs that I really like, but there are 2 songs in particular that I'm really loving and I thought I'd share them for my fellow Bible thumpers. (Okay, I'm not that big of a Jesus freak, but I do love me some Jesus).

Anyway, they are:
The Alters - Light Up the Sky
David Crowder Band - How He Loves

If you get an inkling, check the out. They're pretty good songs.

That's all!

And He is jealous for me, loves like a hurricane, I am a tree
bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden I am unaware of these afflictions
eclipsed by glory and I realize just how beautiful you are
And how great your affections are for me


And oh, how He loves us, oh
Oh, how He loves us, how He love us all

So.....I'm writing a book...

No, it doesn't start with "Once upon a time"

I've told a few people and a few more people have read it but it's funny. I've always loved writing. I see it as a good escape, a way to cope with difficult emotions, and an awesome way to track family legacies, history, etc.

One day, I got the urge to write a chick lit book. So I started it. We're about 20 chapters in now and lots and lots of pages. (I have it in sections so it's easier to read so it's hard to tell exactly how many pages. Plus, it's in Word and book pages are different than Word pages).

Anywho, it's been really fun and it's an awesome distraction from every day life. It's been a great escape (not that it's like a fantasy of mine or anything) and it's just been fun. I'm enjoying it. I wonder though, if I'll send it to anyone to read, try to get it published or anything like that. Who knows? And I wonder what I'll do when I finish it...it can't be that far off, the story only has so much further to go. Interesting things to ponder....interesting indeed.

Maybe someday I'll even be famous! Wouldn't that be a hoot and a half. (Not likely, so don't get your hopes up!)

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.  
~Sylvia Plath

the good news about the tonsillectomy

I think I kicked my caffeine habit by not drinking sodas for the entire time I was down.

It's been almost 3 weeks (at least) since I had my last drink. (Sounds like an alchi) but it's true!

They say caffeine isn't too great for you so here's hoping I can stay off it!

In other news, I've really got nothing. School has started again so I'm kind of busy with that. And busy with trying to catch up with everyone I didn't see for 2 weeks. It's amazing how popular one becomes after surgery! :)

Today has hurt a lot less than yesterday, but it's not over yet. Things could still go downhill! Here's hoping they don't and today ends on a high note rather than a low one.

Keep those tonsils clean folks!

Wooo....finally some relief...

**I took this picture on my phone, while riding around in the Jeep with the top off....such a great weekend!

It's been about 2 1/2 weeks since surgery and I feel "okay". I don't feel terrible anymore, but I definitely don't feel great yet. In fact, I have two doctor's appointments scheduled between this week and next. Mostly just to check progress, but also because I have congestion in my head that I just can't get out. And apparently the only way to get it out is to have it suctioned out by the doc. So, back to the doc we go to have our sinuses suctioned. Woo.

This weekend was actually ahmazing. I finally felt like getting out and doing stuff, and the hubs was off, so it was perfect. We went to Aubrey, TX to see some friends. First we visited with some fun friends who live on some land and have cows. 3 of their cows had babies this year so I really wanted to see the babies. The babies however, were not into seeing me as they wouldn't get within 100 feet of me! But, I got licked by a lot of mamas who were willing to eat my treats, so I guess that's fun too. I heart cows. I think they're so cute.

From there we went to see one of my nearest and dearest and her fiance. I haven't seen her in forever and I miss her so much it hurts! But we had a really good time! We went to the driving range (our goal is to be somewhat decent golfers by the end of summer). And we cooked out some kabobs (her first time with kabobs) and they turned out awesome! Unfortunately, after dinner, at about 9:00PM I was totally wiped so we had to go home. I probably could have lasted longer but it takes about an hour to get home, so I had to factor that in too!

All in all, it was a good first outing for me. I was so thrilled to see so many people that I care about in one day!


Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.  ~Marcel Proust

so tonsils....who needs em?

 I've kind of felt like this dog for the past week or so...

We are officially on day 8 of recovery, one week out from actual surgery date.

First post-op notes are that my tonsils were disgusting and entirely full of infection as well as my adenoids (which, yes, I had removed at the tender age of 18 months). My nose was a complete mess so he was really glad that I opted to do both at the same time. 

Yesterday ( day 7) was probably the worst day, absolute worst day of the recovery so far. Basically, I developed thrush in my throat from the constant stream of antibiotics that I have been on for the past oh, 4 years. It was a complication that we talked about before the surgery, but you just never know if it's going to happen until it does.

Anywho -- days 1 -4 went by very, very slowly. It was painful, but more than anything, it just felt like the days wouldn't end. It felt like noon never got here and the end of the day was even worse. We were basically counting down until Day 6. The day I went back to the doctor to get the stints removed from my nose and get a check up on things.

Days 5 and 6 were terrible. Absolute terror. I thought I was dying. I got very grumpy, couldn't really eat or drink anything and basically floated in and out of consciousness on my parent's couch while my grandmother sat by helpless. We got through Day 5 with a LOT of tears and prayers (mostly praying for the strength to get through the day and to the next day's appointment.)

Day 6 started out....eh. Okay. Not great, but okay. Still woke up in a lot of pain, still was unable to do much of anything. Luckily my appointment was at 9:30 so we didn't have to wait too long for the appointment to get here. My dad ended up taking the day off because I don't know why. Honestly, I think he was really worried about me and was worried what the doctor might say the next day. And since the hubs had some major meetings to go to, dad was the next best option. Both dad, grams and I head into the doctor's office. The nurse does an initial review of my mouth but doesn't see too much going on (mostly because I can barely move my moth). So, the doc comes in and things go from worse to terrible in about 5 seconds. He asks how much water I've been drinking (which at the time was minimal) and quickly gets angry at the lack of intake. He says that I've got about 5 hours to get on a different track fast or I'll end up in the hospital whether I want to or not. So, he suggests that dad and grams take me to one of those quickie ER places to get IV fluids STAT! He removes the ginormous stints from my nose. I can't find a picture of them, but they reminded me of a butterfly wing. On each side of my nostrils. About two inches in size. I didn't feel them going in or out, thank God but the look of them afterwards was enough to make me never want them again.

We went from doc's office straight to ER to get IVs. I felt a LOT, LOT better after the 2 bags of IV fluids but still kind of icky.

So today is better. I've gotten a shit ton more fluids in my body (smart cookie, after all). But I still can't really eat anything. My nose is completely swollen again, which sucks because yesterday I was able to breathe like I haven't in who knows how long. But, after the swelling goes back down, I'm told I'll breathe much, much better.

So, here's hoping the worst is behind us and we will continue on an upward journey from the hell that has been my life for the past 8 days.

Ask me in a week or maybe 6 months if it was all worth it. I haven't made a good decision in that regard yet.

Here's to a much healthier second half of 2011!

Holy ENT Batman!

So, I typically go off gut feelings when it comes to whether or not I like a doctor, especially when it comes to physicians. If they don't rub me the wrong way, then most likely, I will continue seeing them and believe what they tell me when they recommend things like surgery to remove large parts of my head.

Same was true with my new specialist, Dr. Morris B.C. Gottlieb, M.D, F.A.C.S. Wow-- that's a lot of letters.

Let me just say that I decided to pick up the flyer about him and read what he's all about, even though I'm already committed to surgery tomorrow at 8 AM.

Here's some of the highlights, and of course these are the actual words on the flyer from his office:

Morris B.C. Gottlieb graduated with a B.S. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University. He received his medical training at The John Hopskins University School of Medicine, during which time he did cancer research under the direction of one of the most prominent researchers in the field. He completed his residency at Duke University Medical School, one of the best ENT programs and one of the largest tertiary care centers in the nation. He is board certified in Otolaryngology and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a distinction that fewer than 1% of all surgeons hold.

And I'm sold. So, not only is he funny, but he's freaking smart too. He told me that getting my MBA was a huge accomplishment and that he envied me. DUDE you graduated from YALE.

Sweet geez. This guy is awesome. :)

So, if you need an ENT, I highly, highly recommend Dr. Morris B.C. Gottlieb of North Dallas Ear, Nose, and Throat, P.A. Check him out here: www.northdallasearnoseandthroat.com

EPIC, EPIC FAIL!

If there was ever a time to NOT look at the internets for help, today was the day. But I did it. And now, I'm sorry. So sorry!

I decided that I wanted some more pointers on what this surgery is going to be like Thursday. Big mistake. HUGE mistake! I forget sometimes that generally, the only people to write on forums on the internet are ones who are unhappy about the way something went or who had the worst experience known to man! And that's what I got. A bunch of horror stories. Sweet Buddha, please help me! I'm going to have to take a valium before the surgery just to calm my nerves!!!

Needless to say, my list of questions for tomorrow's pre-surgery appointment just got a LOT longer!!! #1 on that list? Tell me about scabbing.

EEK!

This site however, seems to be very helpful. So, if you're curious...click here.