Since I posted yesterday about what was presumed to be TMJ, there has been a development. And no, this post has nothing to do with crafting.
Right after I finished writing my last entry, I had some cereal, and ended up in agony. My husband has been trying to get me to go to the hospital for a while now, and since I was in so much pain yesterday, I gave in. He left work early to come home and pick me up. We got to the Celebration Hospital around 3:30pm, and at 6:00pm I was finally seen. The Doctor gave me a little look and decided it was in fact TMJ. He ordered an injection of steroids, a course of steroid pills, pain relievers, and muscle relaxers. The shot idea had me panicing, and the doctor feeling around made my jaw feel INCREDIBLY painful, so I was being a big crying baby. Then the nurse came in, gave me the shot in my bum, and I was still a crying baby... because I'm deathly afraid of needles and I was feeling very very faint. Eventually I got myself together enough to walk out, ALMOST passed out on the way to the waiting room, and sat my sore butt down while my hubby sorted out the financials. My signature after shots is to gently slip out of consciousness whilst in the waiting room, but my jaw [and butt] were so painful, and I was so shaky, that I managed to avoid it.
On the way home we stopped by Target to fill all my prescriptions. By then my jaw was almost COMPLETELY painless! I cannot even describe what relief that was. I was literally getting to the point where I would look of photographs from earlier and I could not remember what it felt like NOT to be in pain all day everyday. Now, I'm just mad at myself for not listening to my husband and going to the hospital sooner.
I took the muscle relaxer before bed, as instructed, and I am very pleased to say that I slept the entire night through... for eleven hours!!! I cannot even remember the last time I slept through the night. I'm amazed. Doc said to take it easy today, so that's what I'll do! I'm not sure if I can knit, because in the past that did contribute to my jaw pain, but we'll see. It's a great excuse to cuddle up on the couch and watch Turner Class Movies all day! So far today I feel a little pressure, but relatively no pain, and I'm assuming that as I go through this steroid treatment, the pressure [caused by the inflammation] will go away. Gosh, I hope this lasts. Now I know what to do the SECOND it comes back next time.
Epic news, people - I have finished knitting the giant monstrosity known as the Bob Bag! I am now knitting the strap, which is obviously a breeze.... but still VERY boring. *sigh* It's almost over!
However, I have been stricken with an illness that is keeping me from being terribly productive. I don't know what it is - At first I thought it was a cold, maybe allergies, and now I'm thinking it's just plain old T.M.J. I've been struggling with this for about two or three years now, on and off, but usually it's at it's worst this time of year. It's horrible. All day, every day. No sleep. Sooooo many pills. And I'm gaining weight like crazy because I can't take all these pills on empty stomach. Picture it: it's like five o'clock in the morning, I'm in agony, I need to take pills, so I grab something quick and carb-y [meaning fattening]. Ugh. It's insult to injury, really.
Anyway, despite all of this I did manage to bake my butt off yesterday. My husband and I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day. Instead, we celebrate our relationship on February 13th. He made me heart-shaped pink pancakes [raspberry and chocolate chip] for breakfast in bed, took me shopping, and then we went out for a really nice Indian dinner. It was great. I wanted to do something kinda special for him, so I spent all day in the kitchen. Don't let anyone tell you any different - the way to a man's heart IS through his stomach. Let's face it - besides expensive gadgets, they don't really care about anything else, haha.
I made white and pink white chocolate drizzled brownie biscotti, which is one of my favourite things to make these days. And for the first time ever, I made flan. BUTTERSCOTCH flan, which is my hubbies favourite sticky goodness. I had two little heart-shaped ramekins, for an added touch of cuteness. And finally - a heart shaped pizza! It was semi-homemade: I bought the dough from the grocery store and rolled it out into it's heart shape, then PILED on the cheese, hehe. Hubs brought home some wine, I put the flowers he gave me on the table, and it turned into quite a cute dinner!
Unfortunately for me, all the tension of baking [haha] really did a number on my jaw so I was in agony by the time I was eating. The wine helped, but the benadryl.... oh yeah. I was feelin' good! ...For like an hour. *sigh*
Picture Time:
Butterscotch Flan
As for what I'm working on... yup, you've guessed it - The Bob Bag [still]! I know, I know, it's taking me forever and you're sick of hearing about it! Trust me, I'm sick of knitting it! haha. I've just been rather busy and/or distracted lately, and haven't really had a chance to sit and knit. I PROMISE I'll be done soon! I have to be, anyway!
I also signed up to make a couple of items for a Celebrity Gift Basket that will be placed in their greenroom at the TwiCon in Las Vegas! I couldn't resist! There are going to be stars from Twilight, Vampire Diaries, and [wait for it...] TRUE BLOOD! *dies* Sam wearing something I made him!? *dies again* Plan is to paint a leather cuff and/or leather wallet.... Don't know what I'll paint on said leather items, but I thought that's what those kind of men might like. Can you see Peter Facinelli tweeting a picture of his new wallet - painted by yours truly?! No, I can't either - but a girl can dream!
I love having a deadline. Sure, I freak out about it for a good long while, but I always get it done in time. Having a deadline keeps me from stalling [*ahem*Bob Bag*ahem*]. The guilt of not being productive usually weighs so heavily on me that I could never just waste away on the couch watching soaps. Not that I do anyway. Maybe I should say "...farming away in War Craft." Oh God, I am so horribly addicted!
Besides stalling on my knitting, signing myself up into a couple different projects, creating a "musical listening experience" mix CD for my BFF, and spending hours fishing in War Craft to get a rare Sea Turtle mount [you heard me], I have also been working hard to get myself back on track! As in, a life path, or whatever you want to call it. I have gathered the information on what I need to apply for Financial Aid so that I can get back in to school and finish getting my Bachelor's in Fine Art [I'm three years into it]. For the longest time I have felt resentful at the art school establishment and was seriously rethinking my major, but a week or so ago it all just CLICKED.
... So yeah, there's that.
Since my last post, I have parted ways with Facebook. Kinda. I use to spend waaaaay too much time on there, so I cut myself off. I only log on once a day, if that, for a quick check of certain peoples' updates. I don't comment, I don't do status updates, I don't "share" things anymore. I've also deleted the Facebook app from my Blackberry, and it's VERY liberating! If I do feel the absolute desire to send a little quip into the world wide web, I use Twitter, which limits me to like 140 characters. And, no one reads or responds to it, so it works well.
Apparently my husband, who was the first to suggest I leave Facebook, has notice quite a difference in me. I do feel less obsessive compulsive about it. I also feel less regected, as stupid as that sounds. I mean, I had like 175 friends on my Facebook, but whenever I posted something I go little to no response. Like Drew Barrymore's character in He's Just Not That Into You: "Now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It's exhausting." I am a very much introverted person, but when it came to Facebook and all forms of social networking, I am an extrovert. I have no idea why. I suppose it's the same reason I write this blog. I know no one cares, but I feel like I have something to say, and being that I am so painfully shy, I never get an opportunity to say these things out loud.
I have been abandoning popular websites for a while now. Around 2003-ish, my friends and I were posting all over LiveJournal. Same story there: Me writing way too much and WAY too much drama developing. So, I jumped ship for Myspace at a friends recommendation. Rinse and Repeat. Myspace was getting out of control! So, I retreated to Facebook [around 2006/2007], which at the time was for college students only, so it was nice to go somewhere simple and quiet to connect with old school mates. Then they went public, and I thought it was SO awesome that all my current friends were leaving Myspace and joining me in my new world. And now, with all that's going on in the world, I can no longer stand the negativity that overwhelms my "Friends List." Sometimes Twitter makes me feeling like I'm shouting in to a HUGE mob of people yelling a lot louder than me, but I think that might be better for me, to keep me from getting obsessed. Really, I just use Twitter to follow Dita Von Teese, Michael Sheen, and Peter Facinelli. I think it's fascinating! I mean come on, Dita tweeting a photo of her ironing in her Paris apartment, which just happens to have a french door balcony looking out onto the Eiffel Tower?!
SO! Instead of me smearing my personal business all over the internet [with the exception of this blog post], my husband treated me by taking me to Books a Million and pick out a pretty journal! I got this cute little red one with the old British Propaganda slogan "Keep Calm and Carry On" on it. We thought it was appropriate as well as being perfectly "me." I also got a FABULOUS bookmark to keep my place in it. Why is it fabulous, you ask? Because it has a picture of a zombie, a pile of yarn, and says "Zombies are crap at knitting." *pause for laughter* It makes me smile every time I open my journal. That right there is a step in the right direction. Any time I need to talk about something that doesn't belong anywhere public, it's going in this journal. I feel better already!
And now, for your viewing pleasure, a couple snapshots from the spontaneous and goofy photoshoot that started whilst shopping in Michaels:
This Bob Bag sure is going slooowwwwww! I've just started on his mouth, and all I have to say is this: I will never EVER work with polyester yarn again! I got it because it was not only the cheapest, but also the sturdiest yarn to use for a big project that's not going to be worn but suffer a fair amount of physical abuse... ICK! I can barely stand to touch it at this point.
Not only do I have a growing animosity towards this particular knitting project, but there is another project I'm anxious to get started on - a *gasp* PERSONAL project! I want to do some painting on a big canvas. I've got an idea in mind, and I'm just excited to get going on it. Also, my plan is to lose weight and reward myself with a new homemade dress... in my favourite colour - deep purple!
Personal projects aside, I've also got aspirations and new ideas for my etsy store. And maybe, just MAYBE, even open another store just for the scrub caps I sew, and perhaps some other bits 'n bobs. *shrug* We'll see... Basically what all this means is that I need to go to Michael's and stock on supplies! w00t!
By the way, if you're looking for something totally cute and unique and/or feel like treating yourself, check out this etsy store, Hearts for Haiti, where all sorts of wonderful etsy sellers have donated items to sell with 100% of profits going to Doctors Without Borders to aid them in their work with Haiti! So far they have raised OVER $12,000, which I think is just AMAZING!!!!
You see, I have never knitted anything from a picture pattern. Mine are always written out [including the only time I used a picture pattern in the past, when I was just learning how to knit, and my awesome mother wrote the whole pattern out for me], but this time I realized I couldn't just wing it, so I sat down to write the pattern out myself. That's only part of the battle, too. I still have to think while I'm knitting because of the multiple colours and multiple strands of said colours. Yes, I said multiple strands.
This is not only my first experience with what is called "intarsia" knitting, but also "fair isle" knitting, and it's just about as complicated as you can get, unless your Scandinavian and fancy knitting yourself one of those gorgeous sweaters. While I am only knitting with three colours, I have five strands yarn going. It's my own, personal mutation of several knitting methods, I guess! Like I said, I'm not going by any pattern here, just the gridded picture from this awesome book by the amazing domiknitrix, so I don't really know if I've done something wrong until after I've continued to knit and I come across a deformity.
Pfft. As if it were cold enough in Central Florida to warrant hibernation. Well, actually, it kinda is. Brace yourselves readers, this might shock you - We have SNOW in our forecast. Please, please - simmer down! Any Northern readers will no doubt be, at this moment, snorting at my use of the word snow. No, we won't be getting anything that will actually stick to the ground, but still - Doesn't the fact that there will be actual, real-life SNOWFLAKES falling down from the sky in FLORIDA deserve some attention? What was that nonsense about Global Warming? Nahhhh. It's just a conspiracy... Keep calm and carry on.
[Editing Note: I woke up at 5am to sleet against my window, so I walked outside to investigate and THIS is what I saw - Yes, the sleet was collecting on my plants and forming a snow-like appearance!]
Anyway. The purpose of this post may not be entirely to inform you of my latest crafting adventures... I know, I'm sorry. Well, it's just that, you know - with the holidays and all - I've not really done much... as in, I've done a fat load of NOTHING but get fatter! Ok, so that's not ENTIRELY true....
Right before Christmas, the always wonderful Miss Kelly came to me for more scrub caps... with some Christmas themed fabric. So, I spent a couple of days frantically trying to get those done for her to actually wear in time for Christmas. I finished those just in time to begin the mad bake-off for Christmas. I made Chocolate Covered Cookie Dough truffles, which tasted remarkably like cookie dough, despite not actually being made from cookie dough. [One more time for good measure: "cookie dough."] That's right - safe to devour without the risk of the nasties that come along with consuming raw egg! All there was to worry about was caloric intake, but since we all know that calories don't actually exist during Christmas, we were all free to gorge ourselves. They ended up being little festively bagged favours placed at everyone's table setting.
The other brand new, never attempted, edible crafting I did was to make biscotti! I wanted to make something that I could actually finish the night before Christmas, but that we could eat on Christmas morning [you know, before we broke into our stockings and started on the chocolate]. First of all, I have to admit that the author of this recipe [Biscotti with Cranberry and Almonds, dipped in White Chocolate] was none other than that HORRIBLE "Everyday Italian" Giada woman from the Food Network. Oh, how I loathe her! Her and her huge, toothy white smile and over-Italian-pronunciation. Blech! So whilst I secretly hoped that the recipe was horrible and icky, alas, it was delicious and simple. GRANTED, she tried to over complicate it with her usual, so-called "only the best" ingredients. Pfft. Maybe if I was married to a wealthy business man and had my own tv show on the Food Network I could afford to use only THE BEST white chocolate and FRESH dried, chopped cranberries - but then again, if I was, you wouldn't be reading this blog now, would you? And we all know how much you love reading this blog, so there you go! Anyway, despite her annoying me to death, even on paper, the damn stuff was delicious and I didn't burn the house down. I even bought a cute little glass tree shaped jar from - aw crap, caught again - WALMART to store them in! 'Tis the season to sell your soul for convenience.
So, where does that leave us - ah yes, Christmas day was a food-induced coma.... as was Boxing day... I honestly don't remember when my memory came back... So let's just write the whole week after Christmas off, shall we? I mean, honestly - who actually accomplishes anything between Christmas and New Years? Ah yes, New Year's Eve! Whilst I was busy getting my butt electronically handed to me on the Wii, apparently some people were shopping! I got a notification on my phone a couple hours before midnight of a sale on etsy! Pretty sweet way to bring in the New Year, if you ask me!
Unfortunately, stores apparently close early on New Year's DAY, which happened to be a Friday this year, so I couldn't get out to get any of my shipping supplies until the following Monday. I took everything I needed with me so I could package the order up in the car and drop it off at the Post Office on the way home. I also got some of the supplies I discovered I needed in order to finish the rest of Kelly's non-Christmas scrub caps - which I finally did today. I feel bad that it took me so long, but between the various holidays, coinciding shenanigans, lack of supplies, and sick days... well, the point is they are done now.
So there you have it! A nice long blog about absolutely nothing, really, to keep you entertained for a few minutes. It was just the combination of GUILT from not updating and the insomnia that has recently developed. I blame television. No, seriously. I watched the Season Four Finale of Dexter this past week and I'm absolutely TRAUMATIZED! I can't fall asleep because I just lie there, wrapped up in the fetal position, convincing myself it was a lie. You might also remember in my last post that I mentioned I was begining to watch Dr. Who... well, the Mayburys came over and schooled me on all things Doctor via DVDs. Just in time to get into it, and start figuring out just why Michelle is oh-so in love with David Tennant/ The 10th Doctor, and he's leaving the show! Nope. It's not happening. I've stuck my head in between the sofa cushions. If I haven't seen the 10th Doctor regenerate, well then it just hasn't happened! LA-LA-LA-LA!!!! .... Crap.
*estimated time of consciousness
