A House Divided, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

Jabari: So I’ve decided to install Windows 7 on one of my main computers. I even have battle music on in the background just for the occasion.
Me: You mean the doomsday music?
Jabari: Shut up.

Oh No, I Was Definitely Serious, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

Friday I did something I’ve never done in my life: I drove myself to the emergency room.

I hadn’t been feeling very well. In fact, all the signs I was exhibiting pointed to some kind of heart and/or cardiovascular problem: headache, lightheadedness, difficulty breathing, tightening in my chest. Seeing as how my occasional high blood pressure has been left largely untreated, this would not have been a big surprise to me. Of course, being in a family plagued with ailments such as hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease a heart attack or stroke at age 29 would have been right up my alley.

Let it be known also that I have a HIGH tolerance for pain which means I only go to the ER or see a doctor if I’m missing a limb, in absolute pain, or fear of death.

So that afternoon I called it quits and took off from work a little earlier. I was feeling a little light headed anyway, my hands were shaking, and my chest was in knots. I figured if I were to collapse, perhaps it would be better I collapse in the ER waiting room and not in the middle of my office.

Luckily there was a Baylor in Carrollton so I headed straight there to the ER. There was only one person sitting in the waiting room and I don’t thinks he was even waiting to be seen, I think she was just there hanging out. The woman who took my information was very nice and paged the nurse almost immediately. She had me in the wheel chair and wheeled me into one of the exam rooms. Within seconds, I was half naked under an ill-fitting hospital gown. I had 3 or 4 people working on me all at one time, taping wires and electrodes to various parts of my body, checking my blood pressure, monitoring my heart rate, and asking me questions. Things like, “Young lady, are you on any medications right now? Young lady, are you abusing or have abused any sort of drug? Young, lady are you a smoker? Young lady, are you single or married?”

The nurse who kept addressing me as “young lady” was named Joann (I ended up catching her name later after all of the excitement died down). She was a very direct woman when it came to doing her job, the kind of woman I wouldn’t mind barking at everyone else if it came to my own life or death, but I learned later that she did have a thoughtful, gentle demeanor when it came it interacting with her patients.

They ran several standard tests: an EKG, CBC, urine test. My heart rate was continuously being monitored as was my blood pressure. One of the nurses was having difficulty sticking my arm for the blood sample. At one point she had left one of the needles dangling out of my arm while it hung vertically us so the blood would have an easier way to drip out (not very comfortable at all). It didn’t work.

So after 4 attempts to get the IV properly inserted, a couple large bruises, and what looked like “track marks” they finally decided to switch arms.

Everything calmed down a couple minutes later and eventually it was just me and Joann in the room. She informed me that they had all the tests run, now they’re just waiting for the results. In the meantime she would just try to get the IV in my other arm and have the blood pressure cuff on my right arm instead.

I asked her if she had any kids. I needed to engage in topics of conversation other than my current situation. “No,” she said, as she worked on getting the IV into my arm. “I raised brothers and sisters all my life and, well, just being a nurse just took up a lot of her time and it never happened.”

She gave me some medication after that: an aspirin, something called Lopressor to lower my blood pressure, and something else to relax me. Then she injected something into my IV for the pain. After that, she turned down the overhead lights and told me to relax and she’ll come back to check on me in a few minutes.

I laid there and stared at the ceiling for a while, wondering how I had come to find myself in the emergency room with chest pains and difficulty breathing at the age of 29. For a split second, I wanted to make a deal with God that if he let me out of here with a minor diagnosis, that I would promise to make some changes in my life.

An hour later, the doctor came into my room with some papers and he said, “Well, we couldn’t find any explanations for the difficulty breathing or the chest pains. All of your test results look normal so it looks like it might just be anxiety considering the amount of stress you’ve experienced these last two weeks.”

Inside I sighed.

“Do you have a primary doctor?” he asked.

“No,” I said. So he said he would refer me to a doctor that I can follow up with about my condition, especially to treat my high blood pressure. Then he walked out of the room.

It was a relief to know that it wasn’t anything serious. Had I known it was just severe anxiety, I probably wouldn’t have gone to the ER at all. But I guess it’s better safe than sorry, right? It’s just strange because I’ve been stressed and I’ve felt anxious before, but not to this extent. I guess life is just catching up with me.

A few moments later, Joann came into the room with my release and diagnosis sheet. And then she explained that I really should follow up with a doctor next week to discuss my health. And then she listed off all the reasons why I needed to see a doctor as soon as possible, ones that I’ve heard before but never heeded until now. She said they’ve referred a doctor, but she said to absolutely make sure he’s covered under my insurance plan to save myself the headaches later. The ER doctor that made my diagnosis prescribed Xanax for the anxiety and she said I should take it whenever I’m feeling stressed, up to 3 times a day of course. I’ve never been on any anxiety medication like that before so it will be an interesting experience.

And then when she was done, she had me sign a release document and said I’m free to get dressed and leave.

My mind was a jumbled mess of thoughts. I felt a mixture of relief and anxiety (yep, exactly what put me in that position to begin with), but when I walked out into the cold night air, all I could do was take a deep breath.

I called Jabari on my way home and explained what happened. And then I called my mom, who was relieved as well. It’s funny though because she told me not to worry to much. Hah. If only it were that easy.

I did get the Xanax filled that night and when I came home I examined the battle wounds on my arms–various bruises from the multiple needles I was stuck with. Izzie was a relief to see of course so I took her outside for a quick walk. The rest of the evening was quiet. I made dinner and watched a little TV. I decided to take one of the pills before bedtime. This definitely helped because I slept like a baby that night.

At this point all I can do is what the doctor told me: have a follow up appointment and then take it one day at a time. So cliche, but I guess in this case, that’s the most appropriate thing to do.

(Not really, because it’s pretty disgusting, but I figured it would be an appropriate title for today’s entry–ha!)

So yeah, today I had my first root canal. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always been prone to cavities and all kinds of dental work. Today one of those cavities finally caught up with me. Over a year ago, I had to have an old filling replaced because it was already passed its prime. When my dentist removed the old filling, he discovered even more tooth decay beneath it. The larger, new filling ended up reaching the tooth nerve which meant it was only a matter of time before the nerve would die and then I would need a root canal.

After putting it off and putting it off, I finally scheduled my appointment for the root canal after my dental hygienist twisted my arm before I left my last cleaning appointment. I decided then I would schedule it at the earliest possible hour just so I could get it over with and have the rest of the day to either nurse my poor mouth and/or sleep. In fact, the sun wasn’t even up this morning by the time I was already in my car on my way to my dentist’s office.

The root canal treatment itself wasn’t as bad as most people make it out to be. In fact, if you can tolerate a filling (or several) then you can probably tolerate a root canal. Honestly it was just like a much more intense filling. Except that one part during the procedure when he took that pointy file and started scraping out the nerve insides. Oh yeah, it was graphic.

Luckily though, he said it was a standard root canal–no surprises. Needless to say, despite how non-scary it was, I would try to avoid it if not for my own comfort, then at least for my own wallet. It was NOT cheap.

Jabari: So how was the movie?
Me: I’m pretty sure I’m on Team Jacob now.
Jabari: TEAM JACOB!!! …So who killed the black guy?
Me: Oh the werewolves.
Jabari: [silence] …TEAM VAMPIRE!!!

Ok… So Now What?, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

This afternoon I left work a little early to pick up a couple packages that were waiting for me at my apartment office. One of those packages was this beauty: a Janome 3128. I bought it on Black Friday (shopping online of course). I was so excited to get it that I brought it home and opened it immediately, carefully extracting it from its styrofoam casing. Once the dust settled, I was left there staring at it, unsure of what to do next. I have no real plan. I know nothing about sewing (except what little I can remember when my mom showed me some basic stitching as a kid). Where do I start? Suggestions anyone?

Day 2, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

It snowed today. It was so crazy this morning. I heard Jabari just about to leave out the front door when he called to me. “Kristine, it’s snowing!” At first I thought he was just saying that to get me out of bed (he’s jealous that I start work later than he does), but then I overheard him call someone on the phone to say it was snowing. I figured then that I had to take a look for myself. I couldn’t believe it. There it was–as clear as if I had my glasses on. I could see the large snowflakes blowing in horizontal streams and gathering in a white powdery blanket on the damp ground. Unfortunately though, the snow caused Jabari to slip on the stairs and lose half his batch of cookies for the cookie contest at work. Nevertheless, it was beautiful snow. Too bad it didn’t stick (although rumor has it it’ll snow again later this week AND it will probably stick because temperatures will be freezing). Crossing my fingers!

Journal Your Christmas 2009 Manifesto, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

I’m awake pretty late working on this page. Surprisingly it wasn’t due to lack of creativity, it was due to a certain someone who had a cookie contest at work and needed help baking. I started working on this page around 10 and finished a little past midnight but I got it done I’m hoping the next 25 pages don’t happen like this one!

National Blog Posting Month is a worldwide event every November in which bloggers publish a minimum of 1 post every day. This is my 3rd year participating and has also been the most challenging by far. So here we are at the end of the event and I thought it would only be appropriate to end the blogging marathon with a list of tips on how to survive an entire month.

Plan, plan, plan, plan, PLAN!
This is by far the most valuable tip I can give anyone who is wanting to participate in Nablopomo. When you’re trying to write a blog post every day, you have to at least put some thought into it ahead of time so you don’t get stuck.

One of the things I did this year was a topic calendar. A topic calendar is your basic calendar and each day contains an event you know is taking place that day or a possible topic to publish that day. For example, topics you might consider first are: birthdays, holidays, trips, outings. Next you can add topics you’ve always wanted to blog about but haven’t had a chance to actually write.

A topic calendar isn’t anything you have to keep up with religiously. In fact, I only filled it out the last week of October and I only looked at it maybe once a week to see what sort of topics I could blog about if I ever needed some help.

Post Scheduler Can and Should Be Your Best Friend
This is the one thing I wish I had taken advantage of more often this year: the post scheduler. Most blogging software such as Wordpress or TypePad allow you to publish a post ahead of time.

So for example, let’s say most of your free time is on the weekends. You could potentially write several days or an entire week’s worth of posts ahead of time and just schedule each post to publish on a specific date and time.

Make It As Easy As Possible For You To Blog From (Almost) Anywhere
Scenario: it’s 10PM in the evening and you know you haven’t gotten your daily blog post in. Not only a that, but you’re away from home. In fact, a computer isn’t even within easy access. What do you do?

Every once in a while, you may find yourself in a bind where you know you haven’t gotten your daily post in, especially if you didn’t take advantage of the post scheduler mentioned above.

This is where your contingency plan should kick in. So let’s think. If you don’t have access to a computer, what DO you have access to?

You have access to your cell phone of course. And if you have a smartphone with web access, you could just as easily login to your blogging software from your phone and write a quick post from there. If you have an iPhone, check to see if your blogging software offers an app via the App Store.

If your phone isn’t equipped with a usable Web browser or fancy apps, but you can send and receive email from your phone, you might want to look into blogging via email. I know Wordpress by default has a post-by-email feature which is setup to work with your domain’s mail server, I’m not sure about other services like Typepad or Blogger but I would imagine they offered that as well.

Perfection Is a High Bar to Reach
Every once in a while you might have to write a post that’s less than stellar. I know I’ve written a couple of those this month. You know what I mean, the ones that go, “Right now I’m blogging from my phone so I figured I’d just drop a quick post and say hi!” This is where I give you permission let posts like that go. Not that EVERY post can be like that, but I think you should give yourself permission to write a post like that every once in a while. Life happens, you know. Just be sure to make up for it with an awesome post the next day

Much like you might write a post or two that’s only a few sentences long, you may accidentally miss a day or two (but let’s hope it’s no more than that). Of course the point of Nablopomo is to publish a post a day, but like I mentioned before: life happens. It’s just as important to learn how to persevere amidst setbacks.

If you participated in Nablopomo this year, what are your tips for succeeding?

Treasures, originally uploaded by krisalis903.

I bought these 3 papers from Aaron Brothers today at 50% off. I initially went in there to purchase some picture hanging wire, but as I was browsing the aisles, I saw they had their paper racks severely discounted so I picked up a few sheets of 25 x 25″ paper.

The top sheet is called Gold & Turquoise Paisley. It’s basically a sheet of turquoise paper that has a layer of gold on top which lets some of the paper come through.

The next sheet is called Green Mica and has this magical cobblestone texture to it. It’s absolutely gorgeous. This one wasn’t on sale but I absolutely love it. The sales associate said it reminded her mermaid scales.

The third sheet is called Copper Beaded Silk, which is exactly what it reminded me of when I first saw it.

When I was in college, I took an upper level drawng class. This is where I discovered my affinity for paper collage. As one of my final projects in that class, I constructed a book of paper collages made using bits of handmade paper as well as handwritten letters (these are actual letters I had intended to send to someone, but decided not to at the last minute). It was my absolute favorite piece I created that semester. I’ll have to try and find it next time I’m at my parents house because I think it’s still there somewhere among all of my other art class pieces.

At a pub right now with the cuzins. Haven’t gotten a post in yet so I figured before I have my first beer I would say hi.

Hi!