St. Louis Highway Personalities

Starting my full time job at the Challenger Center has introduced me to the fact that each highway in St. Louis has drivers of certain personalities. For most of my tenure in St. Louis, I have driven highway 64/40. But now the CLC job has me driving highway 70 to and from work. I have now realized that drivers on 64/40 are fairly decent human beings with the occassional jerky driver while highway 70 is filled with selfish assholes! Prime example (though far from being unusual on 70):

While getting onto 70 on my home from work the other day, I was trying to merge onto the entrance ramp for 70. There was a brand new, fire engine red Mustang to my left and slightly behind. There was just enough room for me to turn on my blinker to nicely let her know that's where I wanted to go. So what does this driver do? SPEEDS UP and doesn't let me in. I HAVE to merge otherwise I'll end up exiting onto another road that I don't need to be on. So I let her get far enough up so I can pull behind her (where there is a whole line of cars BTW). As I pull in behind her, I beeped at her to let her know that I didn't appreciate her actions. She not only sped up to prevent me from merging, but she then, get this, sticks her hand out the sun roof and flips me the bird. I was pissed. Later that day, I thought about it and realized that if someone told me about that story I'd laugh my ass off, so I laughed it off and let it go. That's when it hit me that all my bad highway experiences have happened either on 70 or on the Poplar Street Bridge (which incidentally carries I-70 drivers over to Illinois).

FYI, I-270 is St. Louis' version of NASCAR. The speed limit hovers around 85 or 90, with people whipping around each other like they are Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt, Jr. This includes little old ladies in their ginormous Cadillacs and hoosiers in their jacked up F-250's (you know, the ones that have Confederate flags and decals of Calvin peeing on Osama).

I have yet to drive I-370. Although, there have been a couple of wrong way driving accidents on that highway, so my guess is that 370 drivers are morons. Not certain of that yet, it's just a theory.

Please let me know about highways 44 and 55, as I don't drive them enough to know.

Quick update

Went to see the doctor about the not sleeping because of twitchy, restless legs, and he believes it is "Restless Legs Syndrome" brought on by the trauma of the surgery and the stress from the new job. Prescribed Ambien, my new best friend. Ambien is not the typical treatment for restless legs, but I tried it the night before I saw the doc, it worked so he wrote me a script for more. I now use it in fear of staying awake or being awoken by those restless legs.

Started the new job at Challenger Learning Center and I LOVE it. I'm busy every second of the day, but that's good because the hours just fly by. My job has many many aspects to it, and right now we are running on a skeleton crew for missions, so I don't have much time to work on non-mission related duties. (huh-huh, I said "duty") On my second day, my boss and co-worker (yes, there are only three of us in the office on a dialy basis) took me out to lunch. That day I found out that not only is my boss pregnant, but so is my co-worker. So I kind of feel left out like that, BUT I am SO NOT ready for a baby right now. Between the recuperating, new job and restless legs, I could not handle a baby.

Not sleeping is for the birds

OK, so what the hell is wrong with me lately?! I have not been sleeping right. The other morning I was up at 4:30 a.m., and now I can't get to sleep. This is so messed up.

Anyway, so all those plans of things I wanted to get done while recuperating at home?? None of them done. I'm so darn tired every day, just the smallest things wear me out. After a shower I have to rest for a few minutes before I can finish getting ready. Going out and running an errand almost requires a nap when I get home. But my energy levels are slowly getting better.

Part of this not sleeping thing is that my legs feels weird, like I need to move. So I get up, walk a couple rounds around my home interior, then sit down because I'm tired. Then my legs want to walk again, so I'm off like a race horse, walking around and around until I'm tired again. Or until the cat finally pisses me off enough that I have to sit down so she'll quit attacking my legs while I walk. It's like she knows something isn't right. She is probably thinking, "why the hell is Mommy up? She never comes back out into the living room this fast after she's gone to bed... what's wrong with her?"

OK, I'm thinking like I'm the cat. I really need sleep.

Screw the rooster, I was up before him!

Yeah, so I woke up at 4:30 this morning. No alarm, no major storm, just woke up. Totally awake. So I got out of bed so I wouldn't toss and turn and wake up my hubby. When I got out to the living room, I decided to check my e-mail and various blogs. While looking through Jessi's blog, I remembered that she had a link to get a copy of my credit report. So I figured it might be good to look through my credit stuff and see how it all looked. While on the site, I went ahead and purchased my credit score to get a full picture of what it all meant. My score kicks butt!!! I'm only like 40 points lower than my parents' score, which is above 800 (a VERY GOOD score). This is awesome. I'm so looking forward to finding out what Ben's score is. I bet it's close to mine since they are now linked. I'm just so stoked. I hope this means that we'll get a good loan when we go to buy a house later this year/early next year.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you thought I was geeky before...

I have surpassed my own geekiness today. This morning I actually got bored playing Bejeweled and Jewel Quest, so I started playing Ben's Role-Playing-Game, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I thought at first, "Oh, I'll just make up a character and see how close I can get to having her look like me..."

That took all of 10 minutes. I still wasn't ready to go back and play an Arcade game... so I thought, "Well, let's see how long I last until I get my ass kicked by something in the game, then I'll quit."

About 2 hours later, I saved my game and called Ben. He must have been busy because I had to leave him a voicemail. In said voicemail, I told him this..."Honey, I just wanted you to know that I am now addicted to Oblivion." When he came home for lunch, he was so proud of me. And I CONTINUED to play until 3 p.m.!! At that point, I decided that I should at least put some laundry in the washer and get cleaned up.

I can't believe that I am now an official gamer. Not just a girly arcade player, but an official gamer. Now I have to go back on and try to kill some Demons from Oblivion (the game's version of Hell). They were really the reason I stopped playing earlier. Those bastards must have killed me about 5 times before I gave up. Maybe I'll wait til Ben gets home and have him be my Guide Master. Oh my God, I'm a dork.

P.S. Jessi and Craig are probably laughing their butts off right now... that's OK. I think it's totally funny too. Let me know what you think in my comments section!!

Pet Therapy

So if you read my kidney blog, you know about the pet therapy, if not, go read it and come back. I'll wait.

Welcome back! Anyway, so now I think Ben is closer to getting a doggie!!! Between seeing sweet Simon and Heidi, he's starting to like the idea of a smaller dog. YES! Shoot, he's gonna read this and say no. Not that I want a doggie right now... but after we buy a house..... a small dog that won't make our kittie feel intimidated. She should not feel like she's being replaced. I just think she'd like it better if the dog we get is small so she won't feel pushed around. Imagine it... kittie in one lap and doggie in the other lap. How CUTE!!!!

Out of the hospital

I'm out of the hospital now. I was discharged this morning. I took a shower this morning before I left and it was AWESOME. Ben had to help me, I couldn't get both hands up to wash my hair, or stay steady on my feet, so I sat on a shower stool and he bascally washed me. I'm a very independent person most of the time, so asking him to help me for such basic things like showering has been hard, but he's but so sweet and great about helping me out. I've got a good one here, ladies....

My back is really sore, my neck gets pains due to the CO2 in my body from the surgery. So the heating pad has become my best friend. I am trying to be mobile as often as possible, but it's so hard! It totally feels like my guts are going to spill out when I walk around. My abdominal muscles have been cut into, so they aren't as tight as they used to be, hence the feeling like things are going to come out. I walk like a little old lady. Walking through the hotel today, I had littel old ladies passing me!! Not really, but they probably could have.

It also hurts to laugh, which is hard because most of you know how funny my parents and husband can be. Example one: Dad and Mom came home from shopping for me today, and Dad pulls out this package of black licorice. His response: "I know it's past St. Patrick's Day, but I felt this might be fun anyway!" OK, here's the explanation for those of you who don't eat black licorice. If you eat a lot of black licorice, it makes your poop green. I do eat black licorice, I knew this, so I found it hilarious. Example two: Ben and I are watching soaps today while Mom and Dad are gone, and a preview for My Name is Earl comes on. I've seen this preview a few times before, I've been watching NBC nonstop for three days! Anyway, in the scene, Randy (Earl's intelligence challenged brother) is sitting and talking to a robotic toy dog when it gets hit by a ball. As it falls off the table, Randy screams like a girl. It is really, really, really funny. But I've been able to keep from laughing because I know it will hurt. Well Ben just about falls off the bedd laughing from this little scene, and he's laughing in the high-pitched laugh that he does when something is absolutely hilarious. So I had to kick him out of the room until he got the giggles out. I could still hear him the living room of the hotel suite, laughing and saying "screamed like a girl... *chuckle, giggle* he screamed like a girl......"

But I am doing well. All of the prayers that are out there for me and my aunt are helping, keep them coming. I can't wait to get home and see you all.

A year... it's been a year

I can't believe that today is the one year anniversary of my Granma's death. It doesn't feel like that long ago. I've been surprisingly calm today. I thought about today being the anniversary a few days ago, and I thought that I might be a wreck, but I've been OK.

Life without Granma hasn't been too terribly different, unfortunately. Since I haven't lived near her in 20 years, I'm used to her not being around. It only seems to hit me when I visit Grampa's apartment. When I see her chair, her scooter, just sitting there. I know the scooter gets used by Grampa when he has to walk a long distance, but it doesn't get used all that often.

Grampa is toying with the idea of moving to a one bedroom apartment in his retirement community. He doesn't need the space of a two bedroom. We all don't visit that often, and when we do, we can stay in the guest quarters, hotel or Gramma Mc's. But I think that he is having trouble letting go of the last home of Gramma. Not only did they share this apartment, but he would have to get rid of the bed they have shared for DECADES. The one bedroom is small, and would require him to use a twin bed rather than the queen size he has now. I can't even imagine how hard it must be for him to think about not having the things he shared with Gramma around.

One year. Wow.

"Granma, be with me on Monday. I would love to know that you are watching over me."

Set in Stone

So now the surgery is scheduled. March 20th is the big day. I don't know yet what time my surgery will begin, but I do understand that Sheryn will be under for less time than me. For what I can tell, my surgery will take about 3 to 4 hours (maybe even more). Since the transplant will be done laparoscopically on me, it will take more time than the previous "open" surgeries took (3 hours).

I think that I will set up a separate blog that will just be about the kidney transplant. That way people can be kept up to date on both Sheryn and me.

Today, I informed Ladue that I would be leaving them in the near future. They were upset that I will be leaving them, but they understand. I really have loved working there. It's a good school with an amazing staff. And my students are the best (OF COURSE!). I wrote them thank you notes that I'll give them before I go. They are really great kids, and I know that they'll each go very far in life. I will miss them a lot. The kids were heartbroken when I told them that I got the new job. I think that the eighth graders were almost relieved that I'm leaving. But they didn't let on. :) Hah hah. I think they know that I make them follow the rules because I care about them and want them to know how important it is to live by the rules. They do serve a purpose.

Good, Better, Best

Good: Had a good day back at the job today. Teachers were all glad to have me back, and my kids missed me. They were so cute when I came back.

Better: Great job interview today.

Best: Got offered the job! Accepted and will be starting mid-April after recovery from the kidney surgery.

I'm now the new Education Coordinator for the St. Louis Challenger Learning Center. My job will entail coming up with curriculum for our Discovery Classroom, our scout programs, teacher trainings, and corporate training workshops. Oh yeah, and planning for our summer camps this summer. No daily lesson plans. No grading assignments! When I go home at night, I can truly relax.

Good Ole Leftie has a new home

So my surgeon had decided to take my left kidney for my aunt. He explained the whole procedure to me. It is fascinating. Oh yeah, he doesn't look like Ah-nold. Maybe his lips are Ah-nold-like. He's taller than Schwartzenegger is (apparently, I am too...). He was super nice. It took me a little bit to get used to his Italian accent, but I understood him perfectly by the end of the appointment.

Last Saturday night, I didn't end up watching "Tombstone," I ended up looking at old family photos and getting more family history from my Gramma. She let me keep a picture of me as a toddler, as well as some pictures of Grandma and Grandpa Carew, Aunt Sher and Jessica with Cousin Sarah. I'll be making copies and sending them all over the country to family. Then, on Sunday, I helped her figure out her new Swedish geneaological programs. So I got to learn a lot about my Swedish history. Magnus will be a perfect name for a Bellinger son......

Grampa is doing well, too. He looks great, and he seems to be in good spirits. He's typical Grampa, but I'm getting better at handling him now.

I got to meet Sheryn's friend, George. He's great. He's my new best friend, too. He brought us fresh shrimp. I mean, they were frozen, but they weren't crappy shrimp that you get in the MidWest. And they were HUGE. I've only seen shrimp this big on cooking shows! I loved them. Now George wants some steaks from the MidWest. Anybody know of a St. Louis place that ships steaks? I want him to have some great local beef. E-mail me and let me know if you happen to know of a St. Louis place that does that.

I'm so excited to be going home this afternoon! I get to see my husband, my kitty and sleep in my own bed. I'm through the roof happy. Less than 12 hours and I'll be home. Damn, I know that I just jinxed myself. I'm going through Atlanta, which is notorious for delayed flights... Great.

P.S. Jessica's husband, Craig, matched with Boystown, USA in Omaha, Nebraska. I lived at Omaha when I was a kid. I can't wait to go visit them and show Ben one of my childhood homes. Too bad my Dad doesn't still own it.

Gramma's history lesson

So last week was focus on the Carews and Mitchells, this weekend has been focus on the McCarthy's, Emmanuelson's, Magnuson's, etc. I have learned so much this weekend with Gramma. Ben and I have been talking (more like joking about) naming our future son "Magnus," but now it's really growing on me. It's a family name (on my Swedish side), and it's unusual enough that our son wouldn't be one of a million Magnus' at his school.

Kevin and his girlfriend, Robin, as well as her son, Paul, have been here also. I've had fun talking with Robin, playing with Paul and movie watching with all of them. Last night's feature film was "Wyatt Earp." Tonight will probably be "Tombstone." Apparently, "Tombstone" is a favorite of Kevin and Robin's. Ben likes that one a lot too.

Tomorrow, I'm off to Wallingford, CT, to visit Grampa Carew. I'll have to make sure to take pictures for Mom. She'll want to see everyone. :)

I can't wait to be home. I miss Ben. I miss my bed. I miss being regular (don't ask if you really don't want to know).

P.S. I got a second interview, scheduled next week (Thursday)!! YAY!!!! This could mean a new house.... then travel..... then baby.... Yah!

Life in Southboro, Mass

There are trains every 20 to 30 minutes behind my aunt's house. It's actually not bad, it reminds me of being at Mom and Dad's house (they're a little farther from the tracks though). I'm making meals or helping Sher make meals on most days. For example, I'm eating my homemade chicken salad on a pita, and I'm LOVING it!

Tests have gone well for thekindey testing. All my appointments are complete except for my surgeon appt. on Tuesday. That should go well. I hear he looks like Ah-nold. Thank God I'm doing this surgery laparoscopically!!

I met Grace Corrigan yesterday. She is Christa McAuliffe's mom. I was in the house that Crhista grew up in. I was in awe. Grace was SO nice. I had tea with Grace Corrigan. She's a superhero in my book. She has not only learned to live with her daughter's tragic death, but she is out in schools ACROSS THE NATION promoting space science. What a gal. I'll post a pic when I have the film processed.

This weekend, I'll rent a car and drive down to see my Grandpa again, and then stay with my Gramma. My Grandpa is my mom's dad, and my Gramma is my dad's mom. I love them both dearly. Grandpa is getting a little codgety in his old age, but he's a good guy, he's just trying to make sure I'm a good little lady before he's gone. Gramma, she's awesome. She just needs to quit cooking everything under the sun for me. Aunt Sher and I went there last Saturday for lunch. Gramma made a whole thanksgiving like dinner!!! For lunch!!! She loves you with food, that one.

Also, I had a phone interview today for the education coordinator position at the St. Louis Challenger Learning Center. I feel really good about it. I hope I make it to the next round of interviews. I'll find out later today.

I'm trying to check my e-mail as often as possible, but I don't want to tie up my aunt's phone line. Yup, I'm using dial-up. (dun-dun-DUN!) I'll survive. :)

Boston Trip

I've been in Boston for a few days now. Everything is going well. Aunt Sher looks good, she just gets tired very easily. It's been fun hanging out with her. She's been giving me family history lessons and knitting tips.

My CT scan was on Friday. Boy, that was an experience that I don't want to do ever again. The scan itself wasn't bad, it was the contrast that they inject into your arm during the scan. It burned going in, and then gave me hot flashes, and it felt like I went to the bathroom on the table. Your whole torso gets warm, but it's mostly on the back half of your body. Then, the pain and warmth is suddenly gone. It's weird.

Today I met with the social worker. That went well. She was just making sure that I knew what I was getting into, as well as address any non-medical concerns that I had. She realized quickly that I'm normal and know what I am doing.

Then I met with my anesthesiologist this afternoon. She's British. She was really nice, and I feel really good about her or anyone else she might hand pick for me.

Unfortunately, I found out today that I still have to stay until the 28th/1st. The transplant coordinator made a typo, and she cleared that up for me this morning. Oh well, it's just more time to spend with my family here in town.

Well, e-mail me if you want. I'd love to hear from any and.or all of you!! :)

P.S. I got Dunkin' Donuts yesterday!!! And tomorrow, I get LOBSTER!!!!!!! Yeah, baby!

Valentine's Day

I have the best husband ever. Just so you know. I got roses and chocolate at work today!!! It was awesome.

For him, I bought the Wallace and Gromit DVD. I also made us dinner (Chicken Parmesan, garlic herb biscuits and Caeser salad). We had wine and chocolate, too. Candles, roses. We also had good conversation.

What a great day!!!

Now we're watching the Olympics. We're so dorky.

More plans

Man, it seems like every time I turn around, I think of (or am politely reminded of) another thing I want to do while recuperating.

*clean my room (yup, just like an 8 year-old would)
*clear off my dresser
*help Bob with his house
*practice my sign language

So much to do, and I'm not sure how much of it will really get done.... Oh well, as long as I really try to do most of it. I'm sure that Ben would appreciate me at least clearing out my side of the room so it looks decent.

I could probably also donate some clothing. I'm sure there are clothes in my closet (and/or dresser) now that have not been worn in a year. That's pretty much my rule these days. If I can't remember wearing it in the last year, it's gone, baby.

Plans

While I'm home recovering from the surgery, I hope to get a lot of things done. Some of these are jobs around the house, and others are related to finding a full time job WITH BENEFITS for next year.

-get desk organized
-go through old bills and mail
-put together resume packets for sending out
-knit scarves
-learn to knit simple hats

Getting my desk organized will hopefully not take long. Going through old bills and mail could take years.

The resume packets are a lot of work. I swear, schools now want to know SO much about the people who are applying. First off, they ask for a cover letter, resume, letters of recommendation, transcripts, your shoe size, etc. It's such a pain. And not every district wants all the same stuff. Some districts ask for a copy of your teaching certifcation, some ask for your scores on the certification test. some require original transcripts, most are OK with a copy during the application process.

I have gotten a lot of compliments on the scarf that I most recently completed, so I've started new ones using the same yarn (Chenille). I'm hoping to maybe sell them to friends and family who might like the colors, designs, and/or feel. I love mine, it's SUPER warm.

Finally, I want to learn to knit a hat (to go with the scarf from above). I have some left over yarn and I don't want to waste it. There's not enough for another scarf, but there might be enough for a hat. I bought some double pointed needles, cuz I know you need those to make a hat. I've had one offer from a friendon how to knit a hat... I just hope it's simple knitting, I have no interest in purling or sewing it together or anything like that.

So much going on.....

On Thursday, I'll be flying to Boston for a CT. This is one of the final tests before the surgery (which won't be happening until mid to late March). The CT scan will help the surgeon decide which kidney to remove for donation. While in New England, I'm going to visit my grandparents and other relatives. I'm also planning on having some lobster; fresh, cheaper lobster. Darnit, if I'm going to be traveling and donating, I'd much rather have something to look forward to, like my visit with my family, my grandmother's cooking and lobster. I'll probably gain weight while back east, but that's to be expected. At least it will be less weight gain than if I were staying with Gramma Mc.

I'll fly back on March 1 or 2. The transplant coordinator is shooting for the surgery to be Mar 20. I'll have one last blood draw to insure that my aunt and I are still a match. Apparently, from time to time (only 3 times in Marti's 20 years), the recipient's antigens change based on their exposure to certain illnesses. This change causes the recipient to no longer match with the donor. So prayers that sher and I are still a match would be appreciated.

Also, I'm starting to worry about the job front for next year. I have two job prospects on the table now, and I'm hoping that they don't diminish during my recovery time from surgery. It will probably be pretty hard for me to get around and interview during my recovery time. But I have to believe that God will put me where I'm meant to be. Hopefully, that will mean teaching at the school I'm currently employed with or with the Challenger Learning Center. I like the idea of getting to teach gifted students in science and communication arts (LMS). I also like the idea of not having to lesson plan on a daily basis and no grading (CLC). I'll get to do some traveling with the CLC job. But at LMS I would get the benefit of working with the same kids on a day to day basis. That allows for relationships to be built, allowing me to make more of a difference in a student's life.

Something funny

Perhaps this next thing is only funny if you were there, or after a couple of beers, but I went out for drinks with some coworkers of mine tonight. We all got to talking about gender relations, and one guy told us his theory of how you could really mess with a girl's head. Tell her she has manly shoulders. Seriously, that's his thought. What's so funny is the fact that he's probably right. There is nothing that a woman could do to have less manly shoulders. No Nip/Tuck will ever fix that. Everytime she wears a tank top, she'll always wonder "do my shoulders look big? are they getting bigger?"

For some reason, I found this funny enough to laugh myself to the point of tears. It might have been that I was one beer down, and getting ready to order another, or the fact that I could tell that he was holding back from telling that to a gal at the table that he didn't like. He is a fairly nice guy, and decided not to hurt a coworker, but I know she gets on his nerves. She's very stand-offish, and I have trouble reading her. She can be very friendly at times, but other times, she doesn't want to work and she complains about it. I know that there are worse people that I could work with, so I'm not terribly upset. I rarely have to really spend any real time with her, so it's all good.

"She's got manly shoulders." Say that to a chick who has pissed you off.

So now it's getting more real...

OK, so I am days away from scheduling my trip to Boston. My renal ultrasound came back good, so things are really progressing. All I have left is a CT scan, and that has to happen in Boston. My plan is to schedule the scan and then schedule the surgery for a few days after that. I really don't feel like paying to fly there for a scan, fly back to St. Louis and then fly back to Boston for the surgery a fews days later. My aunt needs this as soon as possible. I don't think that she's on dialysis yet, and I don't want her to hold off on that for much longer.

The whole thing still doesn't feel quite real yet. Surreal is very much how this situation feels. I know that it's going to happen soon, but it feels so far away. Like February is not starting next week. Weird.

Anyway, so that is what's going through my head now. Not funny, not thoroughly entertaining, but like I said, few of my blogs will probably be super funny.