Remodeling

Before:
















Now:
















And look what they found under the green wallpaper!

Jurassic Park: The Musical

I had really bad insomnia last night, and when I finally got to sleep, I dreamt I was in "Jurassic Park: The Musical." I actually woke myself up singing in my sleep, then I couldn't fall asleep again because the stupid tune I was singing kept going through my head.

The American Dream

I'm taking a Colonial American Literature class this semester, and for Monday I had to read excerpts from the diaries and journals of several colonial settlers, including Capt. John Smith who served briefly as governor of the Jamestown colony. He was also the one who established rather good relations with the native people and became friends with Pocahontas. Here's a picture:

Anyway, so he wrote several books about his experiences in the New World, some more authentic than others, including "A Description of New England" published in 1616 which ends with a sales pitch to potential new settlers. Two lines in particular struck me:

My purpose is not to persuade children from their parents; men from their wives; nor servants from their masters; only, such as with free consent may be spared: But that each parish, or village, in city, or country, that will but apparel their fatherless children, of thirteen or fourteen years of age, or young married people, that have small wealth to live on; here by their labor may live exceedingly well...

Isn't that the American dream? This is a land of opportunity where no matter who you are or where you come from, if you work hard, you will succeed.

I've been watching the political conventions the last two weeks and have felt a little sickened by the idealism on both sides. I'm ready for the debates to start so we can stop throwing around all this empty rhetoric and talk about how the candidates are going to actually do what they say they want to do. And I seriously doubt that, even if they come up with fantastic plans, either one of them will really be able to accomplish much as President.

But, despite my cynicism toward both parties, I have to say I believe in the American dream as John Smith verbalized it almost 400 years ago. I'm proud to be from a place that from its very inception offered new opportunities to people who needed them. And our history is full of their success stories.

Toad Meets His Namesake

House Closing

We closed on our new house yesterday. It was exciting and not as bad as we were led to believe it would be as far as the paperwork goes. We went later in the afternoon to pick up the keys, and when I opened the envelope, this fell out:



That, my friends, is a leopard print key. And now I kind of want to decorate the house like a jungle. You know, to keep with the whole theme.

We took Toad with us to see the place. He really likes the yard and had a lot of fun running around the empty rooms. I think he'll like it there.

The one bad thing was that when I went to unlock the front door with my leopard key, there was a sign hanging on the knob from the pool company that said "Pool motor went bad. Needs repair. Call me." Since we had owned the house for exactly 12 minutes at the point, I called the realtor and asked what we should do. Luckily, we have a home warranty that covers the pool, so if it is our responsibility to fix it, we don't have to pay for it. But it's kind of a bummer to arrive at your brand new house (at least, it's new to us) and discover a huge repair immediately needs to be done.

So, we are officially homeowners. We'll throw a party once we're settled in and remodeled. And we get the pool fixed!

Migraine Study

This post is sort of going to be about my period, so any readers who don't want to know, you might just want to skip this one.

So, I was watching the local Waco news the other day. Why was I doing that? Because my Waco TV has only 3 channels and no DVR. Yeehaw! Anyway, they had a little spot on a clinical trial the Waco hospital is doing for menstrual migraines. I have suffered from migraines since I was in junior high. A doctor once diagnosed them as menstrual migraines and put me on a few different medications for them, but nothing I have ever tried has been successful. Since I have become an adult, I have developed pretty good coping mechanisms for it. I pop four Advil at a time as soon as I feel the tightening begin in my head, and that usually makes the pain manageable. I call it the "ghost headache." Where I can actually feel the headache lurking behind my eyes, and if the wall of ibuprofen were not there, it would feel like an icepick through my skull. But as long as I catch it early, I can function like a pretty normal person. If I don't catch it early, I have a day like I had yesterday.

I woke up with a headache. I, of course, forgot to bring any painkillers with me to Waco. My roommate - who is apparently oblivious to pain - does not have any in the apartment. So, I taught my first class with a migraine. Luckily for me, the adrenaline got me through because I was so nervous.

After class, I walked back to my apartment. It was hot, I was in pain, and I honestly didn't think I was going to make it before I collapsed in the middle of the sidewalk. Fortunately, I did make it. At this point, my head hurt so badly that I could no longer drive a car to go pick myself up some pain medication. I just stumbled up to my room and slept on the air mattress, waking up sporadically because of the pain in my head.

After about 2 hours, I returned to my campus office, and there was a girl there who had mentioned having Tylenol in her desk. I asked her if I could have some, and she had not only Tylenol, but my precious ibuprofen as well. I popped four of them, ate a graham cracker (the first thing I had eaten all day), and went to teach my next class. Again, I pulled through on adrenaline.

I decided to drive home to Dallas after class because the Advil wall was kind of halfway up, and I figured I could make it. Maybe that was foolish, but I really just wanted to be home with my dog and my own pillow. Anyway, about halfway through the drive my headache faded completely away, heralding the arrival of my monthly sign that there are "no babies in here."

So, I wrote the hospital in Waco. I am going to participate in a clinical trial for menstrual migraines. We'll see how it goes. I've never done anything like this before, but it also means I have to get back on the pill which makes me want to lose like 15 pounds before I start. I have two months before they put me on any drugs, so here's to losing 15 pounds before the pill forces me to gain them back!

I'm a Huge Dork

I totally went to the wrong class today. Well, not really the wrong class. But I thought my Wednesday class was today, so when the professor walked into the room (luckily they are both in the same classroom!) I totally thought she was the TA b/c I know my other class is taught by a male professor. So, I'm sitting there thinking she's the TA, and then all of a sudden she started handing out syllabi and talking like she was the teacher. Which she was. Oops. I totally brought all the wrong books which didn't turn out to be a big deal, but I still felt like a huge idiot!