Currently Watching The Sentinel (Widescreen) By Michael Douglas, Eva Longoria see related

Happy Labor Day

I've got the day off so it seems it's a good time to write. I've been so busy lately that I don't seem to have time for much of anything.

The Swordsman's ball was kind of a downer. I really wish we had just gone black tie because very few actually followed the theme and it would have saved us money Lots of rich, drunk people talking about how awesome they are. I had a good time with my parents but i never cease to be amazed by people and their behavior. I'm not a teetotaller but pardon me for thinking that it's unacceptable to get fall down drunk at a black tie event. I am going to be volunteering for the next ACS event, a golf tournament at the Marietta Conference.

Last week was busy at work with the exception of friday. We got to go home a little bit early, a welcome escape. We had Carmina Rehearsal on the 27th and again on tuesday but we have a little break until this coming thursday. I went hiking at the mountain wednesday night with Rachael, taking Gypsy and Charlie. They did great. I died about half way up. I hate being out of shape. I've been kind of worried about my left ankle and knee as both have been giving me significant pain. I still made it all the way up the mountain and back down but I was hurtin'. I just need to keep it up and I know it will get easier.

Friday, we went over to Kate and Nick's house for dinner. Her mom moved back in with them this week and she mad a great pasta sauce to go with the spaghetti. We also watched the movie "the ringer". Much better than I expected and actually a really great vehicle to showcase all of the positive aspects of special olympics.

Saturday, we of course attended the Tech Game.Tailgated for several hours with my parents, sister and bf, my boss and his wife, and some of their friends.  I think we made it on TV. They definitely had the camera on us enough. We have season tickets front row 50 yard line behind the tech bench. The game was a real bummer. We were doing so well in the first half. Notre Dame is not as good as they thought they were though. Enjoyable night overall. I managed to limit my junk food intake to one bag of cotton candy which of course my mother gave me crap about. She couldn't believe i would eat that "pure sugar". Apparently she forgot about the margaritas she had at the tailgate while I was drinking water. hmmm.

And now for a little rant on alcohol, I'm really not a teetotaller. I do drink. But it is very rare. Why? Because Lemonade, water, and coke are far more refreshing than a beer for me. It's just interesting that people who will down sugary alcohol drinks like they are going out of style will give Kyle and I crap for having a coke on a very rare basis. We don't keep the stuff in our house. We only drink it when we are out. When Kyle's band plays he sticks to coke while others down mixed drink after mixed drink after beer after beer and then tell him that he shouldn't be drinking coke. It's bad for him. Yeah...like that beer is full of nutrients. I get it from my family all the time. Drives me nuts. I don't care if you drink but don't act like because i'm drinking coke or eating something with sugar in it that I am an offender of some kind while youa re sitting their sipping crap yourself. ::end rant.

We had a labor day bbq sunday when kyle got home from work so I cleaned yesterday morning and picked up the groceries we needed. My parents, sister and bf, and Kate and Nick came over. I never heard back from JJ and Chuck after saying midweek the might attend. I would have been nice to see them. We had a great meal, played cranium (which kyle and i won but nick and kate came in second) and then my parents and sister took off. Kyle taught us to play Euchre and I finally get it. It's a pretty enjoyable game. Kyle and I won but barely. My fault really. I chose to go it alone and it didn't play out like i thought it would. After they left we watched the Sentinel with Kiefer Sutherland and Michael Douglas. I know the movie didn't get the greatest reviews but we loved it. Thought it was great. Jack Bauer can do no wrong in my book.

Today we have no plans. Kyle has to work from 10-6 but will probably get off early. I'm still in bed but watching a marathon of CSI. That is the best part of holiday mondays, marathons of CSI and L&O. What could be better. I'm going to call petsmart in a bit to find out if they are open. We need to get Charlie a name tag since we are keeping him. I really hope my sister keeps Jack. I would keep them both if I coul d but we just can't have 4 dogs. Jack is such a good dog. Amazing really. I hope we find a good home for him soon.

Currently Watching The Big Picture By Kevin Bacon, Emily Longstreth, J.T. Walsh, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael McKean, Kim Miyori, Teri Hatcher, Dan Schneider (II), Jason Gould, Tracy Brooks Swope, Don Franklin, Gary Kroeger, Alice Hirson, Grant Owens, Fran Drescher, Suzy Cote, Eddie Albert, June Lockhart, Stephen Collins, Roddy McDowall see related

It's been a long time

Ok I know. It's been way too long! Over two months. I guess at some point the gap just makes it more overwhelming to post.  Much has happened. I guess I can give a brief run down on my recovery and address my health.

Well, I found out I have cancer. That was kind of a bummer. They found two tumors in my thyroid as well as two on my lymp nodes in my neck. The tumors on my lymph nodes were benign but the ones in my thyroid weren't. Atleast they were all removed during surgery. It's weird to not have that giant mass in my neck. I had almost gotten used to it. After recovering from surgery I went through radiation treatment and my latest scans show that I am currently cancer free. Now I just have to pay the bills. The total came to over 26k but thankfully i will only have to pay around $1500. Still more than we have but better than the full amount.  This surgery has been a blessing in so many ways. My voice is back. I'm singing with Atlanta Opera for Carmina Burana this fall and I'm back to singing in general. My thyroid levels still aren't where they need to be and I'm still pretty exhausted but I feel a ton better than I did.

I've been walking with Kyle at Kennesaw Mountain and our dogs (Gypsy and Kasey) a couple of times a week. They absolutely love going and as much as I have to drag myself out there I am always glad that I do. Jack and Charlie are still with us. We are strongly considering keeping the Charlie man. He's just such a doll. We love Jack too but we have to part with atleast one of them. We've had them for almost 9 months so it will be hard to let go. We just can't do 4 dogs.

Other random notes:

• We joined netflix. It's awesome. We love it. In the last month of membership we've seen a ton of films. I can't believe Rob Chamness doesn't have netflix. It seems like it would be perfect for him.
• Kyle GOT A JOB!!! That's probably the best news. He's a webmaster for CNN.com. He's been there for a little over 3 months now. He's also beginning to do more ccontract web work on his own. This will be such a good thing because we have a ton of recently accumulated debt to pay off.
• Tech football season starts in a week and a half
• I can't wait for this weekend, as usual. We are going to be attending the American Cancer Society Swordsmen's Ball. 40's theme and all. I still don't know what I'm doing with my hair.
• I broke the lens on my Nikon.  It's going to have to be fixed because the motor is shot. Suck!

Time to go to bed now. Exhausted after going to play trivia with Kate and Nick. We got second. Boooo.

Currently Watching Law & Order Criminal Intent - The Third Year (2003-04 Season) see related

I told you I had a neck

So check it out guys. i took another picture. I am now almost two weeks post op. Now that the swelling has gone down I am amazed to find that I have a neck again. Yay! I think it looks great for two weeks. I am  feeling so much better although I'm still exhausted. I return to work tomorrow, hopefully I won't get swamped in the first day back. I've actually kind of missed it. I think I mostly missed getting out of the house.

This week has flown by. I had rehearsal for Sound of Music and slept a lot. I went back to see Dr. Silverman, my endocrinologist, on monday for labs and tuesday for an actual appt. My calcium levels are looking pretty good so my parathyroids are normalizing. They identified the cancer found as papillary so apparently it's very easy to treat. Dr. Silverman wants to wait until I'm a little more recovered so I believe we are targeting the week following Sound of Music (7/18) to do the radioactive iodine treatment. It's supposed to be pretty easy although i will have to isolate myself. Not sure how I'm going to do that in this house but I guess I will try. It also means I can't get pregnant for 6 months to a year. And whenever I have an full body scan (looking for cancer) I will have to wait 3 months following that. I hate having to deal with health stuff. I'm hoping all of this is cleared up within the next year because although Kyle and I aren't trying now, next year we probably will be.

On Saturday we went and bought a digital voice recorder so I can record my scenes and work on memorizing them. I REALLY need to get that stuff memorized. Walter Huff from Atlanta Opera called on Saturday and I made the Atlanta Opera Chorus so I had my first rehearsal for Carmina Burana tonight. I love the piece and we are performing it in conjunction with Pagliacci. So everyone come see it in October. My summer is finally shaping up to be quite busy. Now I just need to fit some time in to go see a movie. Because of that rehearsal I had to cancel going to see "Nacho Libre" with Nick and Kate. Maybe next weekend? I don't know. I have rehearsal on Saturday for AO and I'm supposed to help with the Set for Sound of Music. I need to be at the rehearsal so I need to speak with the director of SOM. So much to do... And I still haven't written my review for the AJC yet. Dang it! Someone please remind me to do that tomorrow because it is due on the 20th.

I went back to the doctor today. I now have to take 4 recaltrol plus 2000mg of Oscal everyday for the calcium issue. This appears to be indefinite. Woohoo! Also, they got the pathology report back and they found two cancerous growths so I have to go back monday to see Dr. Silverman about undergoing radioactive iodine treatment. Atleast the lymph nodes were ok so no lymphoma. Thank God for that. Now to get rid of that tingly feeling. Darn these calcium levels.

Not much of a difference between yesterday and today. I feel a lot better although my neck and shoulder muscles are aching. The prescribed a new medication to regulate my calcium levels but here's the fun part. I found out when I went to fill it that my insurance won't cover it. They consider it a supplement. Without insurance a 30 day supply is $120! There are several other drugs that are far more expensive that do the same thing that are covered so they are going to call one of those in instead. Oh well. Serves the insurance right. I did get a 10 day supply of the "supplement" so i'm set for now.