Virtual Tour of Our Condo: The Living Room

My parents came to visit us today. Their visit motivated me to do some of the cleaning and picture-hanging that I've been meaning to do for the past several weeks but never got around to doing.

Knowing that many of you have never been to our condo, or that those who visited when Jeff lived here with his brother may be curious as to how things have changed, I have decided to give you all a virtual tour of our home.

I'm planning to show you one or two rooms a week. Doing this in our blog will provide the motivation I need to keep working on finishing up our other rooms (for most of them, they're just lacking pictures on the walls).

(These pictures are going from right to left.) When you walk into our condo, you enter in the living room. To your right (behind the door) there is a short wall with a coat rack, then a short hallway leading to the rest of the condo, and the fireplace.

We decided to make the decor of the fireplace family-centered.

Next to the fireplace is the TV. This is actually what you see straight in front of you as you open the door to the condo.

Next to the TV there are some vertical blinds concealing the sliding door that leads to a small private porch (I didn't include a picture - it's small and rectangular and not very interesting to photograph). Occasionally we'll set up our hammock out there when the weather is pleasant. Unfortunately, the smoking of our neighbors prevents us from enjoying it most of the time.

On the short wall next to the porch doors there's a bookcase which holds our games, music, and Ensign magazines, the old AC wall unit that we don't use (we have central air), and Jeff's really nice digital piano.

Next to the piano, on the wall that has the door leading into the condo, is our couch (which faces the TV).

So there you go. Welcome to the beginning of the virtual tour of our condo. Tune in next week for: The Dining Room and The Kitchen (at least, that's the plan).

Stupid Human (Mouth)Tricks

Have you ever watched those tv shows where they have people that can do stupid human tricks? Well, Christine blogged about the crazy mouth talents that I have. I have always had a huge mouth and mine is really stretchy. So I thought I would share some of my stupid human mouth tricks with you. DON'T try these at home. I always wanted to say that.


This first one is what has been termed "the fangs". I haven't met anyone else who can do this trick.

The second trick I can do is a little more common. I can fit my lips around our drinking glasses. It looks kinda freaky so if you are squeemish - be prepared.

The third trick I can do is to turn my lips inside out. - WARNING: This one is worse than the previous one.
The other day Christine took my picture when I had 13 grapes stuffed under my lips and some when I had only a few. It kind of makes me look like I am from Whoville or Planet of the Apes. And for my final trick. I can fit most of my fist into my mouth. Especially don't try this one at home. :)

We were tagged.

We got this from Jeff’s sister Rachel and thought we’d try it. My responses are in regular font, and Jeff's are in bold.
Four random things about my husband/wife:
1. He has crazy mouth talents, like fitting his mouth around a glass and his “fangs” (keep your eyes open for a future blog post w/ pictures).
She can crack just about every joint in her body. I can crack her back just by hugging her.
2. He is an AMAZING musician. He composes pieces for the piano and is VERY good at it. He’s made and sold some CDs and is currently looking into a way to better promote his music.
I have to be careful when I make her laugh really hard because it makes her hyperventilate.
3. He helps in the kitchen, which has been a WONDERFUL blessing.
She is really good at card/board games and consistently wins more than I do.
4. He’s really good at fixing things and figuring out how they work. I guess that’s the engineer in him.
She has a lot of blue shirts (they match her eyes)

Four Movies I could watch more than once:
1. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers /Sneakers
2. The Court Jester/Bill Cosby’s skit about the dentist
3. Lord of the Rings/same here
4. Ever After/some of the Star Trek movies

Four TV shows I watch
1. Numb3rs / same goes for me
2. Monk / House M.D.3. Stargate Atlantis / ditto
4. Avonlea (I recently discovered this childhood favorite is posted on YouTube and sometimes watch it while grading papers.)
College football – I used to watch 12 hours each Saturday, now it is about 6-7.

Four places I have been
1. Indianapolis (where I was born – go Hoosiers!) / France (Belgium & Luxembourg too)
2. West Point, NY / California
3. Washington D.C. / likewise
4. Kansas / Niagara Falls

Four people who email me regularly
1. Jeff / Sweet Pea – that’s Christine by the way.
2. my brother Kenneth (who’s on a mission in Fiji) / I get his emails too.
3. my boss / junk mail
4. my sisters / my family… sometimes irregularly… but I don’t write much either.

Four foods I like to eat
1. Ice cream/ I scream, we scream, we both scream ice cream.
2. Chicken tetrazzini / Pizza – only meat toppings and pineapple – no veggies.
3. Mashed Potatoes / Lasagna
4. Chocolate / Sun Chips – Cheddar flavor

Four places I'd like to visit
1. The West Coast / New Zealand
2. Washington, D.C. (to have time to go sight-seeing with Jeff) / same if I get to go with Christine
3. The Grand Canyon / I’ll definitely have to take her to the Grand Canyon. (It’s too close not to.)
4. any theme park with good roller coasters/
Alaska – cruise – summertime only.

Four things I am looking forward to this year (Now till October 2009)
1. Getting the use of my right pinkie back / My first Christmas with Christine.
2. My first Christmas with Jeff / I said it first.
3. I am already looking forward to the end of winter. / She got me there. She said it first, but I wholeheartedly agree.
4. Thanksgiving with my parents / Lots of fun times with nieces and nephews.

Four people who are “tagged” (and should now do this in their own blog)
1. Suzanne
2. Marie
3. Kat and Travis
4. Linda
(These are the only other four blogs we read.) We look forward to reading them and have fun :)!

Monday Morning

I missed school on Thursday and Friday following my surgery a week and a half ago. When I came into my classroom on Monday morning, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my students had decorated my board.

It was so nice to feel appreciated! I was so happy, I took my camera with me to work and took a picture to share with all of you.

My First Cast

At my follow-up appointment this past Thursday, they took off my splint. It was really weird seeing my hand all shriveled up like that. I felt like an old woman. It was also the first time that I had seen my pinkie since the surgery, and it was a bit of a shock. There were three stitches along one side of the finger, and the pin was sticking out of the other side (it's in my finger at an angle). It was just a little disconcerting seeing my pinkie look like that, so I just avoided looking at it.

I was a real wimp when the nurse came to take out my stitches. I didn't really know what to expect, since I'd never had stitches before. I thought it would hurt a lot, and that they might give me some kind of painkiller. So when the nurse just sat down next to me and announced that she was going to pull them out, I got really nervous. I hated the idea of her just snipping them and yanking them out, and I was certain that it would hurt more than she said it would (she compared it to the sting of a bug bite). But of course, the nurse was right, and it really didn't hurt too much.

After the stitches were taken out, I had a cast put on. Since it's my first (and hopefully last), I decided to get a fun blue one instead of boring white. I didn't know, however, that the white bandages underneath would show, or I would have gone with white on top.

But the cast has grown on me. Jeff and my girls (my students) have decorated it. And it is definitely better than the large and bulky splints that I've had on for the past few weeks. I have more mobility and am even able to write with my right hand again - it's awkward, but doable.

I will have the cast on until the end of October: only 3 weeks, which isn't bad. Then they'll take the pin out and I'll slowly begin using my pinkie again.

Finger Update

Well, it turned out that I did need surgery.
I had surgery this past Wednesday. They knocked me out completely, which I was grateful for - I get a bit squeamish. Everything went fine. I'm not sure what all happened, because I didn't get to see the doctor afterwards, and he only talked to Jeff briefly. But the doctor put a pin in my pinky. I'm not sure if it's staying in or if it's only temporary. I'll find out more on Thursday at my follow-up appointment, when they may be putting a cast on (I have another big splint on for now).
Things went better after my surgery than I was expecting. The numbness that they put in my hand lasted for longer than 24 hours - at least partially - and this really helped with managing the pain.
They sent me home with Percocet, which I had heard could make you loopy and dizzy. I didn't have a very strong reaction to it - I just felt kind of foggy and tired - but I didn't like it. Fortunately, the pain was low enough by Friday night that I stopped taking it, and I haven't taken any since.
I don't like taking drugs, and I avoid taking them when possible. I don't like feeling out of control of my faculties. And I'm especially grateful that I was able to watch General Conference with a clear head.
I took Thursday and Friday off of work, but I'll be back on Monday.
Throughout all of this, Jeff has been a wonderful help and support. I'm so grateful for his love and patience.
So overall, my first surgery (I don't really count getting my wisdom teeth taken out as a surgery) went well.