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 Sensational Haiku Wednesday Welcome to “Sensational Haiku Wednesday!”
The basics:
Haiku is simple! It is 3 non-rhyming lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively (a great way to use your fingers!)
As of February 3, 2010, Silly Haiku Wednesday became “Sensational Haiku Wednesday”. Please adjust bookmarks and blog posts accordingly!
This week’s theme is: Metamorphosis
My submission for this week:
Such quiet changes
A hint of what once was good
Happiness returns.
Next week’s theme: Generosity
Note: Nothing makes me happier than to see new people getting “hooked on haiku”! Keep it going to make it to the Hooked on Haiku List
To participate in this week’s event, please use the following code in your post on your own blog (if you don’t have a blog, post your Haiku as a comment):
What a beautiful weekend! The snow is melting, the sun is shining, and all is right with the world.
Wee One was tickled to be outside with just a light jacket, and able to swing in the sunshine. (We’re also tickled that her two bottom teeth are finally coming in!)
Please, Mother Nature… let it stay! We’ve all had enough of winter.
Seeing more clearly… pain is gone!
Another chapter in my surgery saga. It’s been 2 weeks, and I am definitely seeing very well now. I still have very dry eyes, but not nearly as bad as they were (I can actually get them open in the morning now without first using drops), and I don’t have to medicate to get to sleep now. I still can’t drive at night (the glare from headlights is brutal) but I’m hoping that will clear up soon so I don’t wear out the extreme generosity of my loved ones!!
P.S. 6WS visitors – thanks for stopping by! I will return the visit, but can only leave a comment if you have Name/URL enabled on your blog…
Not quite a month ago, I wrote about something going a bit awry with our larger choral group. One of the Basses had decided to pull something rather nasty, which caused quite an uproar. (Things are better now, and we’re working on new material for our June concert.)
When I mentioned that they’d be singing Unchained Melody, I had a request left by JennyMac to upload it to YouTube so she could enjoy one of her favourite songs.
Always eager to please, here it is for your listening pleasure!
As upset as I was with what was going on, I do so love to listen to our guys do this song. I love that I can pick out J-B and Knarf in certain spots too! (ShaMoo and I are obviously very dialed-in to their voices by now, and would know them anywhere!)
They were a big hit at this past concert, for good reason – they were wonderful! Even better in person than the concert recording suggests. And of course seeing them do it was sublime – there was no video taken though.
Our own group was also featured, doing Somewhere Out There, which was such a pleasure to do for this concert! I’ve already uploaded that one before though, so I’ll let the men entertain you on their own this time.
Enjoy!
Sensational Haiku Wednesday Welcome to “Sensational Haiku Wednesday!”
The basics:
Haiku is simple! It is 3 non-rhyming lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively (a great way to use your fingers!)
As of February 3, 2010, Silly Haiku Wednesday became “Sensational Haiku Wednesday”. Please adjust bookmarks and blog posts accordingly!
This week’s theme is: Chrysalis
My submission for this week:
Quiet reflection
Changes begin, but slowly
What of the future?
P.S. I just realized that this is my 200th post! :)
Next week’s theme: Metamorphosis
Note: Nothing makes me happier than to see new people getting “hooked on haiku”! Keep it going to make it to the Hooked on Haiku List
To participate in this week’s event, please use the following code in your post on your own blog (if you don’t have a blog, post your Haiku as a comment):
So that was fun. Not.
As most of you know, I underwent PRK Advanced Custom Wavefront laser eye surgery last Monday. Following that has been, in all honesty, the week from hell.
A quick [simplified] lesson in the differences between Lasik and PRK surgeries:
With Lasik, there is a flap of tissue lifted on your eye, which is then treated with the precision laser, and then the flap is replaced. It is painless, quick, and recovery time is negligible.
With PRK, there isn’t sufficient corneal tissue to create a flap (there may also be other factors), so the top epithelial layer is removed entirely, the precision laser is used, and then a protective contact lens is placed over the area while the epithelial layer regrows, which usually takes 3-5 days. The procedure is also painless and quick, but the difference in recovery is where we part company with the happy Lasik treatment.
As much as I was excited and so looking forward to this surgery, had I known the agony I would be in for 3 solid days, I am not so sure I would have opted to undergo this procedure.
Understand that I have a very high pain tolerance, and I’ve also been through 2 painful pregnancies, one of which culminated in an extremely unpleasant birth. This, my friends, was worse. The literature and clinic staff did very little to prepare me for what was to come. They said there would be “mild to moderate discomfort, while a “small minority” may experience a lot of pain”.
They lied.
I would be considered one of the “small minority”, but now that I’ve been speaking to more and more people who have had this done, including a couple of the clinic techs, I’ve come to realize that the norm is extreme pain, and the “small minority” experience moderate pain. I don’t think the “mild pain” recipients even exist. They appear to be trained to minimize the discomfort in their literature and preop consultations, and use words like “uncomfortable” rather than “painful”. Granted, every person walking into their clinic represents $2,000 – $5,000, and money is obviously their goal here. Telling them the bald-faced truth would have the PRK candidates running for the hills.
In retrospect, the pain wasn’t my only issue with this experience. The surgeon who did my procedure also added to my nightmare. Yes, he was the best, and yes, he did a bang-up job. But the man was a machine, and treated me like a piece of meat. Zero reassurance, zero bed-side smarts. He didn’t warn me at any point or explain what he was doing, which was beyond disconcerting, and extremely traumatizing. So I was probably in shock too, wrapped tight in multiple warm blankets in my dark bedroom, shaking like a leaf for the better part of 3 days.
I debated whether or not to go into great detail about the procedure, and I think I’ve decided to spare you the details. If you really want to know, you can email me [jenn@... my domain name: you can figure it out] and we’ll chat.
Confession: I love Codeine, and would have married Codeine last week had it been possible. Even if I am a teensy bit allergic to it, and got the most amazing rash after using it, and even though, for a time, it only took a tiny bit of the edge off. We parted ways on Friday once the worst was over, but Codeine will always have a special place in my heart. I love you, Codeine.
My hubby got major bonus points and pretty much made up for a dismal Valentines by taking very good care of me while I was laid low and blind. He gently woke me every couple of hours for multiple eye drops or mega doses of pain pills until I was able to take over and do them myself. He made me eat when I didn’t want to, just to keep my strength up. I don’t know what I would have done without him.
And then there were my sweet friends: ShaMoo, J-B, and Knarf. Always there for me; true blue. ShaMoo showed up on day three to deliver this gorgeous fruit bouquet from the three of them:
I was just able to get a shot of it with my cell phone before Wee One got going on it. There were, after all, chocolate covered strawberries involved. She managed to get a couple before I got the phone out, you’ll notice. Yes, I did manage to get my fair share of it, if you’re wondering.
So you’re probably wondering what the results of the procedure was, unless I miss my guess? Well, I haven’t reached the final results yet. The recovery takes time, and I’m only at the 1 week mark. It could take at least a week more before my vision clears to where it’s going to settle. Yes, I see better. Some things are clear. Some things are not. It’s a little frustrating to be honest, considering what I went through last week. By mid-evening I’m still experiencing pain and fatigue, and I still need migraine strength pain medication to fall asleep. My eyes are unbelievably dry, to the point where I need to pry open my bottom lid and insert eye drops just to get them fully open every morning. Not fun. I will need reading glasses, and did in fact purchase my first pair just this morning. I’m ok with that though – there are some damn cute reading specs out there!
I’m not driving yet, although I suspect I’ll be ok to do that this week, at least during the day. Night time driving will take a while longer. I’m thankful to J-B for offering to be my ride home on nights when we’re out together at rehearsal! Like I said: True Blue. Hope he doesn’t get sick of me…
With PRK there is the potential for regression, so down the road I might find that my vision needs to be “enhanced” again. As long as I have corneal tissue, this is possible. Enhancements are also included in the initial cost, so if I do opt to do it again, I don’t have any further out of pocket expenses past medication. But wow. Would I do it again? Honestly? I don’t know. I’d certainly have to think long and hard about it. If I could fix it so I would be completely unconscious for 2 days, I just might! Time, as they say, will tell.
I am definitely going to enjoy not wearing glasses anymore. Of that I am 100% certain!
TEAM CANADA TAKES THE GOLD!!!!!!!
Both the Men’s and Women’s hockey teams took Gold! WOW!!!
SO VERY PROUD of our phenomenal Olympic athletes and their amazing performances at these Olympics, hosted by us in Vancouver. Canada actually took the most gold medals with 14, which breaks the record for most golds taken by a host country ever! So exciting!
My eyes are still not where they should be, so it will be a “light” week, but I will be posting about my experience in a day or so. Stay tuned!
Week from hell; still can’t see!
While my surgery was successful, I’m still not able to see very well, and I’m a bit down about that. I am mostly feeling my way around online – I certainly do these things enough that I know instinctively where to go and what to do without straining my [extremely sore] eyes. I’ll hopefully be back up to “useful” status this coming week. I’m still not up to reading email or other messages though – hopefully in a few days.
I just heard about the Chilean earthquake, and the tsunami heading for Hawaii – this directly impacts my friend Thom – please send your good thoughts for his safety (and of course everyone in the Islands).
P.S. 6WS visitors – thanks for stopping by! I will return the visit, but can only leave a comment if you have Name/URL enabled on your blog…
Sensational Haiku Wednesday Welcome to “Sensational Haiku Wednesday!”
The basics:
Haiku is simple! It is 3 non-rhyming lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively (a great way to use your fingers!)
As of February 3, 2010, Silly Haiku Wednesday became “Sensational Haiku Wednesday”. Please adjust bookmarks and blog posts accordingly!
This week’s theme is: Vision
My submission for this week:
Blurred, devoid of shape
Lost; a world of haze and hue
Suddenly made clear
Next week’s theme: Chrysalis
(written last week!) Please excuse me for not visiting you this one time for SHW (I’ll catch up, I promise)! On Monday I underwent PRK Custom Wavefront laser surgery on my eyes. If all went as expected, I’ll be offline for about a week, recovering. And then, for me, life begins anew… “See” you soon!
Note: Nothing makes me happier than to see new people getting “hooked on haiku”! Keep it going to make it to the Hooked on Haiku List
To participate in this week’s event, please use the following code in your post on your own blog (if you don’t have a blog, post your Haiku as a comment):
A few weeks ago, Jenn asked me to do this particular guest post as she had spent the day babysitting Little Bit while Frank #2 was having surgery. Just a disclaimer folks… this post is a bit of a downer. I tried to jazz it up, but it hits a little too close to home for me. I promise to make you pee your pants with laughter next time.
Have you ever had a nosebleed? If you never have, I bow down to you in utter jealousy… I get at least four or five per day. Yep, per day. Sometimes my bathroom looks like some horrible CSI crime scene; God forbid if the authorities ever need to search it with those super cool UV lights… they’d think that multiple people met their demise in my bathroom sink.
Through the miracle of genetics, all of my siblings and I inherited a disorder called HHT from my father. If you want all of the nitty gritty details go to www.hht.org; it is a fantastic resource. In a nutshell, it is an autosomal dominant disorder (meaning that each child of an affected person has a 50% chance of inheriting an HHT mutation) which leads to malformed blood vessels in the body. Normally, arteries and veins are completely separate in the body. However, in someone with HHT, an “AVM” (arterio-venous malformation) can form, which creates shunted pathways between the high pressure artery and the low pressure vein. Due to the pressure differential, the vessels tend to weaken and rupture easily. Recurrent nosebleeds are the main noticeable symptom and can range from being little trickles to those that are so severe that blood transfusions are required on a weekly basis.
Growing up, my dad always had Kleenex jammed up his nose or a blood stained hanky in his pocket. We all were so familiar with the “sniff sniff” sound that announced the arrival of yet another nosebleed. My sisters and I all had the odd nosebleed but really didn’t think it was much more involved than that.
Fast forward to my third year of university… I was living with Shmenkman’s parents at the time (he was attending school in another city) and had been experiencing week after week of horrendous headaches and couldn’t chalk it up to school stress any longer. I made an appointment with my doctor and checked it off of my list. Well, two days later, Shmenkman’s dad found me face down on the couch and couldn’t revive me. Long story short, I had had a seizure and it was suspected that I had a brain tumour. One week later I was operated on and it was discovered that I did not have a tumour (thank God) but a brain abscess. While they were working on removing the abscess, they kept noticing that regardless of the amount of oxygen they pumped into me in the O.R., my levels were not rising above 88% (the normal oxygen saturation level for healthy folks is 99% at ambient/room air). As it turns out, I had a huge mass of these AVMs in the lower right lobe of my lung which was severely affecting my oxygen levels and had also caused the brain abscess (since the arteries and veins were connected, my blood did not filter properly to remove the bacteria). After several pulmonary angiograms, I left the hospital with over 40 tiny coils in my right lung (the coils are used to block off the AVM pathways) and a mostly dead lower right lung lobe.
My family and I were all blown away by all of this since we were so oblivious to the issues HHT could cause. However, we still thought that was the extent and went about our lives. When my sister had her two children, HHT reared its ugly head again. Her son had a stroke at 4 weeks of age, and her daughter stroked in utero (at the time we didn’t think these were related but the coincidences were getting a little too much… plus the research done on HHT had improved and we were learning so much more about what could happen).
When Shmenkman and I started our family, I was really only on the lookout for nosebleeds. Frank #1 had the odd one as a baby… but nothing serious. When Frank #2 was almost two years old, he needed surgery for an unrelated matter and when the nurse was taking his baseline vitals we discovered that his oxygen saturation level was only 87%. Shmenkman and I just looked at each other and said “Oh s**t”. Shortly after that, we had both boys genetically tested and Frank #2 did indeed have the same mutation as me; Frank #1 was far more fortunate. So, to date, our little trooper has been through three pulmonary angiograms in his short life to repair multiple pulmonary AVMs. He needs more work, but for now things are stable and they’re waiting until his oxygen levels plummet again.
With all of this going on, I was privately terrified during my entire pregnancy with Little Bit. It seemed that every day we were learning more horrible things about this disease and its repercussions. My sister and her husband were being overwhelmed with the daily struggles of rehabilitating children who have had strokes and my other sisters were being diagnosed with other HHT related issues. So, when Little Bit was born, I watched her like a hawk. We had a sample of her umbilical cord blood sent for genetic testing and when she was two weeks old, it was confirmed that she had the mutation as well. I was devastated… Once I got over that grieving process, I tried to focus on Frank #2’s issues and the fact that I had a beautiful newborn in my life as well as an incredible five year old. However, when Little Bit was three months old, I started to notice that she wasn’t moving her right arm like she was her left. Shmenkman and I lived in denial for a bit, even though I think we both knew what the real deal was. After much prodding and pushing of her specialists and paediatrician (who all believed that she was just fine, thankyouverymuch), I managed to have her MRI date moved up by about one year. It turns out that, as I suspected, she had also had a stroke, most likely in utero. The additional problem was that her cerebral AVM (unlike my niece and nephew) was still open and ready to bleed again. So she was booked for a cerebral angiogram and they repaired the malformed vessel by injecting it with a glue-like substance. The procedure went perfectly to plan and, although it back-tracked her progress with physiotherapy by about a month, she recovered like a dream. Thanks to the amazing resources in our community, she is now followed very closely by a multi-disciplinary team for physio and occupational therapies, as well as speech and general development.
The road ahead for my sweet little ones will have its rocky moments but I really hope that I can impart a sense of empowerment to them over this crazy disease. It sucks, yes, but we’re as on top of it as we possibly can be and are living our lives fully. As deeply as it has affected our family, there are far worse ailments out there so I count my blessings every single day. This is not to say that I don’t have my down days about it… that would be an outright lie, but when I look at the smiling faces of Frank #2 and Little Bit I know that we’re doing everything we can to keep them safe and healthy.
We are so lucky to live in a country [Canada] where we have access to some of the finest physicians, research, and medical procedures in the world. We are also so lucky to have the support of our extended family and our very close friends (including, of course, my dear Jenn, Knarf, and John-Boy, as well as many others). Life truly is good.
ShaMoo
Going in for surgery on Monday!
I’m so excited!! Having PRK Custom Wavefront laser surgery to correct my abominable vision – wish me luck!!
P.S. 6WS visitors – thanks for stopping by! I will return the visit, but can only leave a comment if you have Name/URL enabled on your blog…
I am so excited.
All my life I’ve been living with horrible vision, which has held me back from so many things I’ve wanted to do! When I was little I wanted to be a pilot. A fighter pilot, actually, and then a commercial pilot. Kinda need to have good eyes for that. Then of course, my passion was swimming. I was a synchronized swimmer, and it put such a damper on things when I couldn’t see my team clearly, and missed moves, etc. Gave that up eventually. Even vacations were a pain – scuba or snorkeling was limited and I never did it enough to justify the money for a prescription mask, so missed out on many adventures!
It’s been a crutch I’ve used, too, but this isn’t a post about negatives.
But no more. On Monday I’m finally doing what I’ve dreamed about since laser vision correction became available, years ago. Finally I can afford to SEE. Finally I can justify doing something just for me.
I feel as though I’m in a chrysalis stage, waiting to awaken to a whole new world.
Am I building this into something unrealistic? Do I really expect my whole world to change in an instant, and have everything I’ve ever wanted realized? Nah. But things will change. And I cannot wait.
So I won’t be here next week. PRK correction takes longer to recover from, and I won’t be online or driving for about a week. I will be depending on the kindness of strangers for rides (ok, loved ones, not strangers) and scheduling a few posts (the haiku, of course, and maybe a couple others if I have time) and I’m awaiting a guest post from ShaMoo that will hopefully arrive in time to be scheduled for that time too.
So excited. See you soon!
Sensational Haiku Wednesday Welcome to “Sensational Haiku Wednesday!”
The basics:
Haiku is simple! It is 3 non-rhyming lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively (a great way to use your fingers!)
As of February 3, 2010, Silly Haiku Wednesday became “Sensational Haiku Wednesday”. Please adjust bookmarks and blog posts accordingly!
This week’s theme is: Renovation
My submission for this week:
Fresh paint, sawdust tracks
Measure that again, I think…?
Happy work best shared
Next week’s theme: Vision
Regular readers will know that on Monday I’m scheduled to have laser surgery to correct my extremely horrible vision. I am so excited, I can’t put it into words. Wish me luck!
Note: Nothing makes me happier than to see new people getting “hooked on haiku”! Keep it going to make it to the Hooked on Haiku List
To participate in this week’s event, please use the following code in your post on your own blog (if you don’t have a blog, post your Haiku as a comment):
My Bloggy friend Betty had this up on her blog yesterday, and I thought I’d post it.
Now, it is a Valentine’s Day related Q&A, but I’m not real big on V-Day (and yes, I did have a rant post up yesterday, but quickly realized how whiny I sounded, and trashed it) so I decided to do it today instead.
♥ What are your middle names?
Mine is Lynn, his is Brian
♥ How long have you been together?
September 5, 1990 we started seeing each other (which means I broke up with his room-mate, first), we were married the following June 1st.
♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?
A few hours…
♥ Who asked who out?
Um. I think we met at a bar that evening after work, but I don’t recall whose idea it was. Mine probably!
♥ How old are each of you?
He’s 43, I’m 42
♥ Whose siblings do/ did you see the most?
My brother and his kids. We never see his family, because they live in another province.
♥ Do you have any children together?
The Teen (born Oct 1994) and the Surprise Wee One (born Oct 2004)
♥ What about pets?
Sadie, our rescued Australian Shepherd, and Boo, our cat. I don’t include the half dozen land hermit crabs or his fish as pets.
♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
I think my readers are getting sick of hearing about the lack of romance…
♥ Did you go to the same school?
Nope
♥ Are you from the same home town?
Nope! I grew up out West, and he’s from the East. (Canada) We met somewhere in the middle you might say.
♥ Who is the smartest?
He would say I am, but mechanically, he can’t be surpassed. I do win at Scrabble every time though, and I’m very good with my hands (um, meaning of course that I’m patient and able to fix things, or create things).
♥ Who is the most sensitive?
I am, he’s completely insensitive ;)
♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple?
We like Moxie’s for nice dinners out, but most often we take the kids to Montana’s.
♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
As a couple… hrm. Probably Scotland.
♥ Who has the worst temper?
I’m the passionate one, so naturally, I do!
♥ Who does the cooking?
We both do – he’s a good cook, but it’s basic stuff that he prefers. I like to be adventurous.
♥ Who is more social?
I am, hands down.
♥ Who is the Neat Freak?
Oh man, I wish one of us was… me more than him though.
♥ Who is the more stubborn?
He is. Totally inflexible!
♥ Who hogs the bed?
I do – I like to stretch out :) Good thing it’s a King.
♥ Who wakes up earlier?
Used to be him, but since I don’t sleep well anymore, it’s always me now.
♥ Where was your first date?
Had to be the bar mentioned above. We didn’t do a lot of “dating”. We just “were”.
♥ Who has the bigger family?
He does – a brother and sister, who both have kids, plus countless cousins. I have 1 brother, his 2 kids, and a few cousins. No aunts or uncles.
♥ Do you get flowers often?
The obligatory bouquet at V-Day. Lets not talk about that…
♥ How do you spend the holidays?
Holidays are always spent at home. Vacations? We try to get out of town for a week or two every year. The beach is usually where we head – Florida, Barbados, etc.
♥ Who is more jealous?
I don’t think I am, and he never WAS, but he has proven to be somewhat jealous recently.
♥ How long did it take to get serious?
Hours.
♥ Who eats more?
He does – I could never pack away what he can. Nor would I want to!
♥ Who does the laundry?
I do – if he did it, all of our clothes would be pink or grey.
♥ Who’s better with the computer?
I am – I maintain the 5 computers in our household, plus my folks’ 2, brother’s, and a few other people. Sometimes I dread answering the phone.
♥ Who drives when you are together?
Usually he does.
So there you go!
Not really looking forward to tomorrow
I may have mentioned once or twice that I’m married to a very unromantic guy… :P
P.S. 6WS visitors – thanks for stopping by! I will return the visit, but can only leave a comment if you have Name/URL enabled on your blog…
Something unsavory has been going on in our larger choral group that we sing with lately.
We are a great group of about 55 voices. Strangely enough, out of that nice number, only 5 are tenors (including John-Boy), and out of that 5, only 4 are men (um, also including J-B!). That leaves, of course, one female tenor. Lets call her RF. Imagine, if you will, being the only female tenor in a group of that size. It has taken RF years to become comfortable with herself in this role, and be “one of the guys”. And one of the guys she certainly is. The rest of us have never had a problem with it, and accept her as such with good natured ribbing, but you have to know that it’s always in the back of her mind that she sticks out a little from the rest of the section.
A few weeks ago, Knarf and I had dinner with J-B at his place (ShaMoo was unable to make it), and I asked them to sing “Unchained Melody” to me, which is a song the Basses and Tenors are doing for our concert on Feb 20th. Instead of singing it though, J-B floors us with the announcement that one of the Basses had made the decision to exclude RF on the basis that it was a “Men Only” piece.
RF has never, in the entire history of her involvement with this group as a tenor, been excluded from a piece simply because it’s a “Man’s” part. No one has ever even suggested it until now.
There’s a lot more to the story, but it’s involved, and frankly, you won’t care so I won’t bore you with the details. Suffice it to say that I was mad. Steam-from-my-ears-mad, in fact, and ready to do battle at our next board meeting, which was the following week. This individual is on the board with me, unfortunately. He is the type who believes he “owns the joint” and has the right to make decisions like this. I beg to differ.
Anyway, I fired off a late-night email to RF when I got home that evening, and had a reply first thing the next morning, in which she asked that I not bring it up – although she was very grateful to know that she has people in her corner and that I was happy to go to bat for her – and that she’d rather let it go. J-B, wise as always, also held me back. Not an easy thing to do once I’ve got something in my head, let me tell you. But I bit my tongue and kept quiet.
Ok, that’s not entirely true. I had a word with our president to let her know exactly what was going down – she wasn’t surprised – and I also had the same conversation with our artistic director. I was extremely happy that she was as shocked as we were about it, and had not been told.
The kicker though, was that Butthead intended to introduce a SECOND piece of music that ALSO excluded RF. He actually thought that it was “OK”, and that she’d understand. Believe it or not, there is no visible brain damage involved here. He’s just that stupid, and completely lacking in social skills.
At this point, J-B stepped in, and essentially put a stop to it with a quiet word, and an amazing amount of class. Totally not what I would have done, since I was ready to go to war, but absolutely the best way to do it, and for that I am extremely impressed by and proud of him. Also thankful that he saved the hothead me from making it an all-out battle when it didn’t need to be.
It’s not over, by any stretch. Damage has been done, and it will not be forgotten. In times like this, you learn who your friends are, and where people stand. RF knows she has people in her corner, and she’s going to be ok. One thing I’m certain of though; It will never happen again.
Wow, that was dramatic, wasn’t it??
I had about a dozen vials of blood taken on Monday in anticipation of a visit with my doctor today. Foremost on my mind was the extreme levels of cholesterol I was harboring at the last visit, and what that could mean in the long run, given my family history of cardiovascular disease.
Imagine my surprise then, when I went in today expecting to be smacked and medicated, to find that my levels are actually very close to normal now! All except my HDL (good) cholesterol level, which is extremely low. It’s hereditary though, so there may not be too much I can do about that.
Everything else came back sterling – I am one very healthy gal! My doctor was suitably impressed too, and asked what I’d been doing differently. The only thing I could come up with was the group, and how happy I’ve been this past year, singing shoulder to shoulder with the finest people I know. Laughter and happiness makes you healthy – did you know?
I’m relieved. The only thing I have to worry about is the acid reflux thing, which I am taking new meds for (that appear to be working! YAY!).
Oh, and Thom? I also had hormone levels tested… and I’m nowhere near menopausal. So [and even though I think the world of you, I mean this sincerely] shut up, will you??? ;)
P.S. Sensational Haiku Wednesday isn’t over – find today’s here!
Sensational Haiku Wednesday Welcome to “Sensational Haiku Wednesday!”
The basics:
Haiku is simple! It is 3 non-rhyming lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively (a great way to use your fingers!)
As of February 3, 2010, Silly Haiku Wednesday has become “Sensational Haiku Wednesday”. Please adjust bookmarks and blog posts accordingly!
This week’s theme is: Comfort Zone
My submission for this week:
Most comfortable
But going nowhere… and fast
Time to change is now
Next week’s theme: Renovation
Note: Nothing makes me happier than to see new people getting “hooked on haiku”! Keep it going to make it to the Hooked on Haiku List
To participate in this week’s event, please use the following code in your post on your own blog (if you don’t have a blog, post your Haiku as a comment):
Yesterday I shared a song that we recorded at our first Studio session last week. I have to tell you, that night was one of the best ever. Definitely an item that we could all cross off of our collective bucket list! ShaMoo, Knarf, John-Boy and I sang our hearts out and had a wonderful time. Our fabulous accompanist, Walt, was a real trooper – we knew he was exhausted but he still came from quite a distance, and did us proud. He rocks. We owe him a night out for doing that for us.
You might recall that we were pretty upset when our Christmas concert’s recording was botched so badly that it was completely unusable. This completely made up for that disappointment! Here are a few of those tracks that we have to share with you.
This session was a learning one for us; while we are used to being mic-ed, it was a bit different with super sensitive equipment! Some of the tracks reflect minor mid-song changes that were made in settings, and we weren’t all that concerned about doing “perfect” tracks this time. We’re going back, probably a few weeks after I have my eye surgery… we still have more songs to record. Hopefully we’ll do a couple of these over again too.
I’ve also been suffering with acid reflux (eesh, I’m such a mess, aren’t I??), which has affected my throat and of course, my voice. Not a happy camper about that, believe me! The songs where I’m more “visible” are the ones I’d really like to do over again! Hopefully my vocal cords will heal and my voice will get back to normal soon, now that I’m medicated (some say I should have been medicated all along…)
Anyway, hope you enjoy them!
Recording Studio = Bucket List Cross Off
The group spent Wednesday evening in the recording studio, and we had the BEST. NIGHT. EVER!!
Want a sample? Here’s ShaMoo, John-Boy, Knarf and I singing “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You”. Enjoy!
Note: The mix is a little off towards the end, so Knarf shines through a bit more than he intended! We love his beautiful baritone though, so it’s all good ;)
P.S. 6WS visitors – thanks for stopping by! I will return the visit, but can only leave a comment if you have Name/URL enabled on your blog…
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What you said!