No end to the excitement

I'm the only living thing the house who is awake and alert right now. All four schnauzers are fast asleep under ceiling fans. Beanie is in the bedroom (her favorite place in the world) and the other three are snoozing in the living room with Angela and me. Angela is crashed out in the recliner, which has quite possibly become molded to her backside in the past few days. It's her recovery vehicle of choice. If she's not in the bed, or shuffling around the island in the kitchen doing laps at slightly more than turtle-speed, she's in the recliner. I may never get to sit in it again. :-) She looks so comfy and peaceful in it...I guess I can give it up.

I took her to get her staples out this morning, and to my surprise, I was able to watch the whole thing without getting the willies. I'm usually a huge wimp when it comes to shiny metal objects and skin, but I was kinda intrigued by the way the staples released themselves from the incision today. I'm not quite tough enough to leave radio for the medical field or anything, but I'm proud that I didn't pass out.

Angela decided today that getting out of the house is fun, so she's looking forward to a big Walmart outing on Saturday. She said she might want one of those wheelchair carts in case she tires quickly, but I don't think a basket that size is going to hold all of the crap we need. We may end up with a wheelchair cart plus a regular cart and then people will get mad at us for clogging up the aisles. It will be an adventure for sure. I should take pictures.

Totally off the subject...

Rick asked me to play Long Way Around by the Dixie Chicks a few times on my show this week. So far the response has surprised me. The Dixie Chicks/Sheryl Crow version of Landslide comes up in rotation sometimes, and that usually sparks a call or two from the haters who think the Chicks deserve zero airplay, so I expected this new song to produce more of the same. But over the past two nights, I've only received one of those calls. The rest have been wholly positive, thanking us for playing the Chicks. We're going to play Long Way Around once a night all week, and see what happens.

The sleeping beauties are starting to stir, so I should get back to my caretaker duties. Party on...

Note from Angela

Hi everybody -

I'm taking over Jen's blog for a minute to say thanks for all the prayers and well wishes. I'm feeling a lot better than I did the first couple of days, and from what I'm told I'm recovering normally. I hope I don't fall asleep in the middle of writing this.

I would post a picture of the incision, but it's gross and better left to the imagination. Imagine 6 inches of staples and lop-sided pain because most of the work was done on the right side. But the recliner time is nice. I'm doing lots of puzzles (thanks to Sara and Amy for the cool card), and hopefully I'll be able to advance to reading once I can focus. Puzzles and movies will do for now.

Night night! I'm starting to drift off, so I'd better end this before the horses in stalls return. When the schnauzers turn into Clydesdales that's a problem.

Thanks again,
Angela

Drunken anesthesia quotes

The surgery yesterday only lasted about two hours instead of three, and Dr. Rodriguez said all went well. The only concern now would be scarring, but he thinks everything should heal properly and that we'll be able to move ahead with plans to try to start a family. Angela experienced a few post-surgery unpleasantries yesterday afternoon, but nothing major and she was resting comfortably yesterday evening. Big shout out to self-controlled morphine drips!

She was crackin' me up with the anesthesia fog. I went to her room to see her as soon as she got there--around noon I guess--and as soon as she saw me she said, "You've got to reposition the yellow card from work. The yellow card... I always stamp it and alsdkjiohg klkadio...." She trailed off into a bunch of garbledy gook. There is no yellow card at work, so we're thinking she had her office manager job temporarily mixed up with World Cup Soccer. Two yellow cards and you're disqualified from the match, so she might have thought her hospitalization would result in her getting fired. I guess she's not used to being away from work on Wednesday afternoons.

Here are some other anesthesia-laced gems from a couple of hours later.

"When you come tomorrow could you bring my phone charger. I need to..." Silence. Eyes closed, asleep. 11 seconds later: "Horses. In stalls." What?! The dream was hardly long enough to run the Preakness, but her mind was racing. How random is that.

I told her about the restaurant my parents and I went to in Plano and in the middle of asking me what I ate, she fell asleep again. 14 seconds later: "The phone is for Dori." Dori is a co-worker. Back to work.

By the time she called me last night she seemed to have her wits about her. But she did tell me the Rangers won 3-2 and the Padres actually beat them by the same score. Hmm. We're going to the hospital today around 10 and will be there most of the day. Can't wait til she gets to come home tomorrow. She wants Penne Cardinale and Cheese Pizza from Buca di Bepo so that's what she shall have.

Thanks for the prayers and well wishes!

Hospital blog

I've never blogged in a hospital waiting room before. I didn't even know that waiting rooms came equipped with internet stations. If only they had lattes and barristas too. I tried to read a book like most well-behaved hospital visitors, but the internet seems to be a much better time-killer.

Angela and I got here today at 6:30 and I got to stay with her until they wheeled her back around 8:30. She felt weak and lethargic, which actually ended up being a good thing because that left no room for nerves. She hadn't eaten solid foods since Monday morning and she hadn't had a drop of caffeine, so she was looking forward to sleeping for most of the day. She'll be in the hospital until Friday.

The surgery will last about three hours, which means I have time to write a really lengthy blog. But I won't. The surgery involves three different procedures; all of which end in -opy or -omy and make very little sense to my non-medical mind. But they're necessary if we're going to move toward having kids soon.

I love Dr. Rodriguez. He embraces us fully and does whatever he needs to do to make us feel comfortable and accepted. He told us he really wants to get past this surgery so he can get to the fun part...getting us pregnant. His nurses tell us he's impregnated more women around Plano, Texas than any other man. He is quite talented. And he must have incredible stamina.

I hope things are going well in surgery right now. It's hard not to worry a little. But I have confidence that Dr. Rodriguez will appear in a couple of hours cracking jokes and telling me what a success the surgery was. Until then I'll have to find something else to do to entertain myself. All of the magazines are Time and Newsweek and I'm not in a mindset to handle smart stuff. There is a coffee pot nearby. Maybe I'll have a third cup. My parents drove down from Nebraska yesterday and are coming to the hospital shortly. They're the best.

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers. I'll keep you posted.

Weekend pics including an alien head

GayBINGO was a hoot on Saturday night. I wish I was as hot at the drag queens. They were so beautiful, and they all had bigger boobs than me. That's kind of upsetting, but then it doesn't take much.

We went to the Rangers game yesterday. A 10-7 win against the Diamondbacks! That at least partially made up for the Mickelson and Maverick blown leads. Both made me sick to my stomach. Or it could have been the Philly Cheesesteak, nachos, ice cream sandwich, and beer I consumed at Ameriquest Field.

Our seats were in the Fox Box, so we got a good look at rovering reporter, Jim Knox. We went into an air-conditioned concession area at one point and he was in there watching the game on TV by himself so I went up and introduced myself. I told him I was a huge Rangers fan and kept an eye on the score every night while I was on Mix, and he said if he'd known that at the beginning of the game he would have interviewed me on TV. Oh well, maybe next time. We talked sports with him for ten or fifteen minutes and then he had to go do an interview that he had set up with some people in very hot-looking costumes.

Maybe I'll go in costume next time to draw attention to myself. But shouldn't an alien head be enough? Wide forehead (or fivehead) and big, googley eyes. I'm surprised the martians didn't immediately descend upon Section 215 to pick me up. At least we know now that aliens can say "Hook 'em Horns" in sign language.

Ball Talk

The TV card in the computer in the Mix studio "blew up" according to the engineers, so I can't watch the Mavs game tonight. I couldn't watch it Tuesday either. Curses! But I did find a semi-acceptable solution. I signed up for an NBA webcast so I could get the radio feed, and I pulled up ESPN's Gamecast so I could see the real-time updates. I had both audio and video going at the same time since the ESPN updates included headshots of the player who made the last basket, committed the last foul, etc. And I had Angela Tivo the game for me in case I wanted to watch it the next day. I didn't want to see the Miami comeback again so I didn't watch. I have a good feeling about tonight though. Go Mavs! D-Wade has a bum knee and Shaq has already hit his free throw quota for the series. Kick their butts I say.

I'm watching World Cup soccer and the U.S. Open right now. A sports nut? I'm afraid so. I just love competition, discipline, endurance, mental toughness, and all of the things that athletes embody. And David Beckham is hot. :-) I think the Cubs and Astros are playing this afternoon too. I'll probably flip over to that too while I'm working on revamping my website. I'm tired of it, so I'm giving it an overhaul to correspond with the release of the book in a couple of months. I have plenty to do, so I can't be totally sucked into ESPN. But it's nice to dive into it whenever I have a brain cramp.

Go Mavs and Mickelson!

I'm lazy now

Since I'm working til midnight now, there's no specific time in the morning I have to get up. The first two weeks on the new job I set my alarm for 8:30. I shut it off every time and went back to sleep, and got up around 9:30. Now I'm setting my alarm for 9 thinking surely I'll pop right up, and I must have shut it off again today because the clock said 9:42 when I got up. I guess my body is forcing me to make up for all those times I drug it out of bed at 3:37. You're right body, you've earned a rest.

Our IT guy at work yesterday asked how I was getting along with the new schedule, and he said now that I've discovered the joy of sleeping in I'll never want to go back to mornings. Perhaps. There are pros and cons about both I guess.

Angela and I are making the best of my new schedule. We don't get to see each other much during the week because she works til 6, but we're still in constant contact and the weekends are all about quality time. She's having surgery next week and will be home for three weeks afterward, so we'll have lots of time together. It sucks that one of us has to be briefly hospitalized in order to see the other, but it will be nice to be together. Crazy. The surgery is next Wednesday, so I probably won't be blogging much around that time.

The dogs are loving life right now. I'm home with them til 3 or 4, and Angela is home most days by 6. Only three hours for the spoiled brats to pout about missing us. Score! We'll just have to figure out a way to keep them from loving Angela too much after surgery. Perhaps we'll drag out the body-pillow shield. Ahh, quality time.

Reflectin' on the week

Yay Mavs!! Here's the strategy for the rest of the Finals: keep on hackin' Shaq. Don't let him shoot, just hack him good in the process and put him at the free throw line and let him throw up some bricks. 1 for 9 last night? Wow. Usually he'll hit 3 or 4 of those. The game wasn't pretty last night, but the 1-0 lead in the series rocks. Ten days from now that's going to be huge.

Rick (my boss, Rick O'Bryan) told me the plan is to expand my show at the end of June. Yay! We have lots of ideas and we're waiting for the right time. That's all I can say for now. But good things are coming! More fun, more tickets to win, and more rockin' out with our bad selves. This weekend we're doing "confessions for cash." Ya got one? I don't think I have anything left to confess. Well, unless you count the time I used a coupon for $1 off two tubes of Colgate and I only bought one. That's a good one.

What else. GayBINGO asked me to host on the 17th. GayBINGO is a hoot! It's next Saturday at 6 so there's plenty of time to go out afterward. For info you can check out http://rcdallas.org

Tomorrow we're going to the City Arts Celebration in downtown Dallas. I have to do some stuff for Mix so Angela is going to go along and wander around while I'm passing out t-shirts. Sunday it's all about quality time. Grillin', talkin', and watchin' the Mavs! A two game lead in the series would be SO sweet.

Hope your week was good. Keep in touch.

Footage from a Japanese newscast

Check out my friend J.D.! He's the guy behind the counter who is getting robbed. Take that you silly robber you.

J.D. was one of my students at Connecticut School of Broadcasting. I always thought he had enough talent to make the news. He just graduated on May 16th and he's so popular he's already in Japan. Good job J.D.!

Douglas Christensen, Master Logo Designer

It's beauuuuteeeful! I don't know if it's the swooshes, the red blue and yellow together, or the fact that Mavericks and Finals are actually in the same picture. I love it, I love it, I love iiiaaatttt. You're so crafty.

Now, go Mavs!

Angela and I almost got off the couch and drove to Academy immediately after Saturday night's game to fetch our Western Conference Champ gear, but we decided that would just be too crazy. I'm just barely gainfully employed again and we don't need to become indebted with more Mavs t-shirts, yard signs, or other fan-frenzied paraphenalia. We could use a Mavs flag to hang outside though. A house about a block away is still waving a Spurs flag. Talk about letting a freak flag fly. Good for them for not being fairweather fans though.

Go Mavs! I would also like to take this opportunity to thank God and the Mix 102.9 engineers for installing Directv in the studio computer. Thursday night will rock! I'm not even going to freak out if the Mavs lose Game 1. The Suns won Game 1 and that series turned out okay. And let Shaq have his 40. 40 ain't a hundred. We can just stop D-Wade and everybody else. I'll leave the rest of the coaching to Avery now. Go Mavs!

I wish I could spell "ursprache"

Katharine Close is amazing. She's a great s-p-e-l-l-e-r. She won with "ursprache" and the second place girl missed "weltschmerz." The obvious question is, are we in Germany? Can't the English words get some love? I'm not prejudice or anything, I'm just wonderin'.

I actually have much love for German words. Ich sprache ein bischen Duetsche, in fact. Wow, I hope I spelled all of that right. That's all the German I retained from college. After last night, Nowitzki should totally be in the dictionary! You go Dirk! Gehen Sie, gehen Sie! Please get another 50 Saturday night.

I won a spelling bee in 7th grade. I correctly spelled "version." It wasn't "ursprache" or anything. I went onto the Nebraska State Spelling Bee and I misspelled "molecule" and was eliminated in the first round. I put two l's in it. Doh! I haven't misspelled it since though.

Gotta get my weltschmerz on the treadmill now. Have an ursprachen great weekend!