Fireplace fun!

The insurance company is replacing all of our floors downstairs due to the leak....yes! We will be picking out new floors sometime in the near future. Dalan and I decided to do some additional renovations downstairs while the house is torn apart. First, the fireplace surround, and then the downstairs bathroom.

This weekend we decided to start things off with a small project and replace the tiles around our fireplace. They previously were a ceramic tile in a mauve/rose color that we did not really like, and looked quite outdated. We decided to replace them with a natural stone in a neutral tone.

We found the tiles that we liked, and got to work. We ran into some problems immediately. The tiles around the sides of the fireplace were not true 4 x 4's, although that is even what they are labeled at the hardware store. They are in fact 4.25 x 4.25, and Lowe's and Home Depot do not sell any of the natural looking stones in that size......grrrrr! So after accidentally buying the wrong size, we ended up finding some at tile discount store in Draper that we really liked in the right size for only 50 cents a piece. Getting the tiles cut correctly for the floor was a bit of a pain, and after two additional trips to Lowe's, we finally had everything all lined up and ready to put down on the floor. I love the result. It looks so much better, and I cannot wait to get the new floor.

The mauve tiles...last Christmas....I forgot to take "before" pictures.

Bye, bye old tiles!

Dalan surveying the damage!

Just concrete!

Oh no! They are the wrong size!

Almost done! This is the best pictures of the colors!

All done, just waiting for the rest of the new floors!

Surgery

Overall, my surgery went pretty well. Before my surgery even started I received three phone calls from the hospital. One to get my insurance information...again. One to get my health history...again. And one to give me my scheduled time. I was scheduled early in the morning, and the hospital was running on time. Ya-hoo!

We got there, checked in, and they got my insurance information...again. I was then put into a hospital room and I had to go put on hospital clothes. The nurse came in to start my I.V. and take my health history...again. The nurse, bless her kind heart, struggled to start my I.V. I told her to go for the right arm, because that place is vein heaven, and she could not get it work. My arm is bruised to hell, and I almost never bruise from needles, blood draws, or I.V.'s. She eventually started it in my left hand, which was bothersome, but better than being poked repeatedly.

Next, I was wheeled up to the operating floor. I was given a blanket, and then was parked in the hall waiting for a room for about ten minutes. The anesthesiologist put his special liquid magic into my I.V. and the last thing I remember was looking at the clock, and it was 8:55 am, and the clock was super blurry.

Then, I woke up downstairs in the recovery room. I have no memory of them taking the breathing tube out, the elevator ride down to the recovery floor, etc. This is all fine with me, apparently, I got in trouble according to Dalan for only giving my birthday with the month, and the day, and not the year. To my credit I had given it about 50 times by that point, and I was so out of it.

I had trouble taking deep breaths and using the restroom in recovery, plus the I.V. kept getting tangled up and not giving me my liquids. This delayed my my discharged by almost two hours. Blah! Poor Dalan had only gotten two hours of sleep, and ended up taking a sick day to so he could stay home and rest too. Plus, they ended up discharging me without me using the restroom, which is not good, and if I had not pee'd by 9:00 pm we were going to have to go to the E.R. for further treatment. However, I did end up peeing by 5:00 pm, so thankfully, that did not happen.

We got home, and I felt so, so, so sick. I managed to take a little nap, and woke up knowing my mom and sister were here, but did not want to wake up a maybe sleeping Dalan, so I whistled for my family. They were impressed with my whistling skills I was feeling a little silly at this point, and learned that laughing hurt so bad. I took another little nap and woke up feeling extremely nausea. Cole was here, and I was not a good host. He brought me beautiful flowers, and a nice card. My mom and Ali left during this time, taking Piper with them. She was very concerned with my well being, and kept trying to lie (lay?) on my belly. I took a longer nap, and woke up feeling better. I finally ate some toast (I had some jello earlier), and took another nap.

Throughout the night I have only been able to sleep for two to five hour stretches, but I am not too tired. My belly is still very sore, and my movement is limited. I have had pain in my shoulders from the anesthesia leaving my body, and some pain in my back. Ice and my pain meds help quite a bit. I have no idea if this is comparable to a C-section, but I have no desire to find out. If a woman get this sore and has a baby to care for, I cannot even imagine. However, I think by tomorrow or Thursday I will be feeling almost back to normal, as there has been an amazing difference in how I felt the first 12 hours versus the second 12 hours!

Wow, that was long. I think I have turned into an old lady who makes people look at my vacation photos, and hear about my surgeries. Hopefully, the rest of my summer stories will be more age appropriate.

au revoir monsieur gall bladder

A date has been finally set for the removal of the thorn, er, I mean internal organ that is causing me immense amounts of pain, in my side. On June 22, 2009 I will be saying good bye to my gall bladder. We had a good run.....it will be 30 years and five days together when the sucker makes its appearance on the outside of my body. However, the last six weeks or so have been pretty rocky (get it, rocky, because I have gall stones. hahahaha), so it best that we go our separate ways. I will be going home to recover, while the gall bladder will be put into some sort of hazardous/medical waste disposal, unless of course, they let me keep it. Then it will be heading to Portland, Oregon since Jan Harrison (best man at our wedding) has requested to possess it post removal. Also, Ali has already called the stones, so sorry people, all of my innards have already been spoken for this time. If you are interested next time, let me know a little sooner.

Also, as you can see in my title, I am practicing my French for our trip to Montreal Canada. It is going ok. As with Spanish, I think I will be far better at reading it, than actually ever speaking it.

au revoir

I just hit submit

I just submitted my final project for my ESL endorsement! I will soon be fully endorsed to teach English as a Second Language....

can I get a hip, hip hooray?

No more classes, no more papers, no more readings, and no more total disorganization and miscommunication between Weber State and the district. While I really enjoy being a student and learning new things, I am totally looking forward to being a person who just has a job, instead of being a person with a job who is taking six credit hours at a time on top of that.

I am so giddy after a long year of class after class...
no more classes!
No more classes!
No more classes!
No more classes!
No more classes!

Menage a trois

Dear Diary,

I have had such a confusing week. As you know, I broke things off with diet coke last week, and started drinking water almost immediately, but then over the weekend I started drinking lemonade too. Now, I just can't decide which one I want to drink on a regular basis. Each one has so many positives and negatives too!

Water is natural and good for you. A person cannot really go wrong with water. However, water is boring and does little to excite me. I do like water, and don't mind drinking water in the evenings, but don't like water being my only beverage choice.

Lemonade is sour and sweet, and not boring. It will make my kidneys feel better in the long term. However, I only have luke-warm feelings about lemonade. I like lemonade ok, but don't see myself being a long-term lemonade drinker.

Diet coke is not very good for me. It does nothing for my health, and is just another addiction. However, diet coke excites me. I love the way it tastes, and the way it makes me feel. I love diet coke and even though, it is bad for me, I want to drink diet coke.

I am so confused, diary! What should I do?

The picture you all have been waiting for.....

Here are three pictures of my kidney stone. Up close and personal it looked and felt just like, well, a stone. My doctor was so impressed with the size he suggested we stuff and mount it as a souvenir. The second two pictures are a little blurry. I apologize. Enjoy!

Elvis has left the building

This afternoon, I started feeling ill again, went upstairs to rest and pray the kidney colic was not returning. I had to use the restroom, and I passed my monster kidney stone. It was pretty big, and while it was painful to pass, it was not as bad as I expected. However, it made me feel even more nausea. I feel better knowing that I am not carrying that sucker around anymore, and that I have something for the doctor to analyze. Hopefully, it will give them some good information. I have some pictures of it. I was going to post them so people could see the size of this thing, but then thought it was too gross. Let me know if you want to see it, and if enough people are interested I'll post them sometime next week.

Seriously, so soda-free

Dear Diet Coke,

Let me start off by telling you I have loved our time together. It has meant a lot to me, and you will always have a special place in my heart, but I am breaking up with you.

Now, now, it is not YOU, it is ME. I am just in a new place in my life, in which my kidneys and bladder seem to have an adverse reaction to you. I just can't go on with this seemingly unhealthy relationship. I need to take some time, and figure out what is best for me. Maybe, I am just going through a selfish phase of life, and I don't want to put you through that.

You are probably wondering if I have found another? Well, for the sake of honesty, I will tell that today I did drink water- a lot of water. And, although water does not bubble and fizz like you, or give me the energy I crave in the morning. Water is healthier for me, and is stable. Water may not be as fun, but water doesn't make my kidneys hurt so bad that I cry and throw up. At this point in my life, I need to think of my future and pick the best choice for me.

I hope we can still be friends. Take care.

Love,
Jess