Scones, MiLady?

A double batch of ginger apricot scones, for the choir bake sale this weekend. I kind of forgot how good they were.

And The Murderer Is...

The spurned lover, of course.

I guessed wrong. It was still fun, though.

Solve Me

We are in Langley this weekend, to solve a murder and enjoy some sunny beach time.

Red Red Red

Red Red Red
Originally uploaded by Arboreality.

The lunar eclipse, as seen through the feeble zoom lens on the new digital camera. Taken Wednesday night from the back side of Interlaken Dr.

Triangulated

Got to walk home via a new route today, which put me past a spot marking one of the great moments in city planning: the corner of Bellevue, Bellevue and Bellevue. Due to the buildings, there actually is no public view here, though if there were I am sure it would be lovely.

Bonsaiiiii

My favorite tree at the Northwest Garden Show

I will hug him and squeeze him and call him...

Moe in Profile
Originally uploaded by Arboreality.

Moe?

So here's the final chapter in last week's drama: my tiny little kidney stone, passed with relatively little pain. It's super tiny, until you remember that there's actually not a great deal of room for anything extra inside you. Also, check out how crystalline and spiky it is! Ouch.

Next up, a visit to my regular doctor to see if he can help me find a urologist, because the one at UW is booked solid for the next 5 months.

A Return

Geese at a statue in the park near work. Its my first day back in over a week... Not feeling great, but going to try to stick it out because I am so far behind!!

Power Glove

Finished one hand of a wrist gauntlet for Talina... My first thumbed wrist warmer! It actually worked!

Whats For Dinner Week 6

Sweet Potato fries and "chicken" sandwich with chard and red pepper, garlic aioli, and rosemary cheddar.

Ouch and Again

Okay, so, now that I'm home and on drugs, here's the whole story in far more detail than you wanted...

I woke up this morning around 5:30 with incredible abdominal pain. After waiting about an hour, T and I headed to the UW Med Center emergency room, figuring we may as well just get there before the crowd. I couldn't even walk from the car to the ER; T had to push me in a wheelchair after I collapsed halfway. I've never felt that helpless and silly, but there was no denying it was necessary.

They hooked me to an IV and dosed me with a little morphine, then sent off lots of tests. I remember the doctor saying sometimes women refuse a pelvic exam because it's 'uncomfortable', and thinking, seriously, after all this pain, I'm up for some plain old discomfort at this point! After another hour, the pain got much, much worse (thank god we went in when we did) and they came back to give me twice the dose of morphine. They kept asking me to rate the pain on a scale of none to worst-pain-ever, which I hate. It's all subjective anyway, right? T sat very patiently by my side through all of it, missing her morning classes to watch me get poked and stuck, call my parents and keep them informed, and even hold the garbage can up for me. She wins the Best Girlfriend award every day, but especially today.

They gave me a CT scan, which involved some complicated liquid gymnastics (iodine feels really weird going in). I actually got wheeled, in my bed, from my room to the CT room. In the room, there's this voice, when you go into the CT scan machine, that said "Breathe in, and hold" and then "Breathe". I don't know if it was the morphine or my usual need to fix everything, but I found it incredibly annoying that the voice didn't go into more detail about the subsequent breathing. Breathe out and hold? Breathe regularly? I'm strapped to a table and half of me is sticking through some space aged contraption that looks vaguely like the StarGate, can't you be more specific!??

After the CT scan I just lay around for a few hours in my own private room, more aware of the discomfort from the IV needle in my arm than the abdominal pain anymore - pain killers are weird. I wasn't allowed to eat or drink in case I needed surgery. Finally we gave up on ever hearing from anyone again, and T headed off to not miss her final class of the day. Just after she left someone came in to explain what was wrong... the CT scan found a kidney stone midway between my kidney and my bladder on the right side. It was moving, which is what caused all the pain.

We made it home around 3pm. I have meds - vicodin for the pain, and some type of prostate medication for the kidney stone (it actually says on it "NOT for use by women", but I'm assured that's just a formality...). I get to stay doped up at home tomorrow, no work for me, and no driving all week! Apparently I'm going to catch the thing in the special funnel they sent home with me, and I have a followup in a week to find out what's caused all this in the first place.

Amusingly, while I was waiting I was reading The Kite Runner, near the end of which a character refers to having had a kidney stone as the most painful experience of his life. AWESOME. I've also heard it refered to as the male equivalent of giving birth. I am here to tell you, it absolutely does hurt like hell. I think I'll live, but I wasn't so sure around 9am this morning.

Ouch

I am having a hell of a Monday...

We The People

Saying the Pledge of Allegience with a thousand of my former neighbors, in preparation for my first caucus. Obama looks to be the bigger winner here today... I see two black voters in the precincts near me.

Your Part and Mine

So today I get to caucus for the first time, here in Washington, our Primary votes don't count, so if I want my candidate chosen, I have to caucus!

While researching the caucus, I found this link which I thought was very interesting: worth visting even if you are 100% sure you know who you'll be voting for!

Can You Pick Your Favorite Candidate when they've been shuffled and given pseudonyms?

Did You hear?

John McCain is the republican nominee! My god, the world has changed.

Caged

Working late 2 nights in a row. :( goodnight, sunset.

Will I Always See Your Face

You, Me, and Season 3 of BSG. Sunday, here I come.

What's For Dinner Week 5

Broccoli and toasted almond soup, with garlic bread.