Amanda and Angel, Live and in Color!

Okay, to clarify, for me it's not so much color except my lipstick, which looks REALLY freaking dark.

Angel has posted that video she had her daughter shoot of us at the HP7 release back a few weeks ago. So if anyone's curious enough to see what we look like in action (and to hear my not so dulcet tones), please click here.

Angel's voice is awesome, and although she grips about her chin on the video, I must point out that I didn't notice it.

I did, however, once again notice that I scratched my face and was extremely obviously chewing gum.

Well, they don't let us smoke in the bookstore. Something about poisoning the other patrons. Sheesh. Darn those bookstores anyway, looking out for the health of the majority of their customers!

So, gum it was for me.

Just regular gum though, not Nicorette. First, I wasn't actively quitting smoking yet, so I didn't have much lying around, and second, I just didn't need the nicotine enough to stick one of those lovely little cardboard pieces of gum into my mouth (I tend to chew the "old style" Nicorette).

Okay, enough babbling. Click on over to Angel's.

Strong beverages should be avoided at this time.

Chantix

Whine, whine... the good news is that at least I'm self aware about my whining as well as my ability to quit smoking without a bit more assistance.

I went to my GP today, who is also conveniently my husband's GP. After he nearly threw his back out doing the happy dance because Himself and I are serious about quitting smoking, the Very Nice M.D. wrote us both prescriptions for Chantix.

Actually, he did the prescriptions on this little PDA which fired them directly off to our pharmacy. Cool, huh? So, Chantix, here we come!

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In other news, Angel has posted pictures of the two of us from the HP7 release. The first one, she looks great. I'm grinning so widely though that my cheeks are trying to cover up my eyes and I appear to have developed some weird side-dimples.

On the plus side, as Angel pointed out, it's a good shot of the rack. Magazine rack, of course, is what I mean.

The third picture shows off my nice yellow nicotine-stained teeth. I think I'll use that for motivation in addition to my other stuff.

But we had a blast at the release, and hopefully I'll get my pictures off my camera someday so I can post a few of my own. Those of you who've been waiting for more of my vacation pictures know how long that can take...

HP 7... GACK! (no spoilers)

I now have Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in my greedy grasp, and am on page 132.

Very interesting. I'm yelling at JKR due to certain things in the book thus far, but... very interesting.

AND... I haven't skipped to the end to see how it turns out, which is somewhat amazing for me. Here's hoping I can continue on and be surprised.

Jut a thought... don't read the chapter titles, and don't read the opening quotations. Just start at Chapter One.

And Chapter Two is really quite cool.

Angel and I had a great time at the release. We both had our elder children with us, and her brother-in-law also came along and laughed his ass off at the two of us together.

A video was filmed of both of us babbling. I have suspicions it will be aired. Be warned, I scratch my face at one point and near the end it's totally obvious I'm chewing gum.

Okay, that's all. Back to reading.

Blogroll Additions

I normally don't announce additions to my blogroll (because, like I'm so big it's a major announcement or something?), but in light of the fact that I've either a) nominated these folks for awards, or b) passed awards to some who have then nominated these folks whom I *would* have nominated if I had half a brain, I just wanted to say that Adventures of an Awesome (Sometimes) Mother, The Laundress, Zimmerhouse, and Mostly True Stories are now up in my sidebar.

Oh yeah, and I put Angel's weight loss blog, Slayer in Training up there too (her main blog is "Give Me Something to Sing About").

Check 'em out, y'all :)

Slayer-in-Training

Fat Doctor has just nominated Angel of Slayer-in-Training for The Positive Power of Schmoozing Award (which she herself was nominated for by Lois Grebowski).

The award is described thusly, and is shamelessly borrowed from FD who in turn hijacked it from Lois:

“As it goes, schmoozing is the natural ability “to converse casually, especially in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection.” Good schmoozers effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship…. I’ve thought of some great people who have made me welcome and schmoozed their way into my blog and life that I’d like to give this most prestigious Power of Schmooze Award!”

I have to say, I second this award, and can give even more background on just why Angel deserves it.

Not to say FD doesn't, because she's one heck of an awesome lady herself!

But anyway, I first "met" Angel back when I was expecting my second son. I was posting on some internet boards about pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, etc., under the name "Niamh O'Meara". The Niamh was just because I was looking for a decent Irish first name (I'm of Irish descent) and the O'Meara was my grandmother's maiden name (see, told you!). I soon ran into this funny lady by the name of Angel O'Hara on many of the same boards I was posting on. Girlfriend's got a laser-sharp wit, and doesn't hesitate to speak up when she feels it necessary. She's also got the softest heart on the planet. Add to that the fact that she shares my unseemly reading addiction, PLUS the two Irish last names, and soon we were e-mailing and IMing back and forth like fiends.

One day on our childbirth debate board I mentioned my midwife's name. Angel e-mailed me and said that was the name of HER midwife when she'd given birth to SuperBoy several months prior. We each knew the other lived in Florida, in the same general area, and when I told her the name of the birth center out of which my midwife was based, we were both floored.

Same town, y'all! But that wasn't the end of it.

That night we were IMing and she mentioned her husband played the violin. She already knew my actual first name was Amanda, and when I mentioned I'd played the violin back in high school myself, her husband (who was nearby), got a few thoughts percolating through his brain and told her to ask me where I went to high school. I answered.

He and I had gone to the same high school. Actually, I knew him and his brother quite well. His mom and mine had chaperoned about every orchestral trip in which the two of us had participated from junior high on.

And actually, I'd even met Angel in her real-life incarnation a few times. It was nothing too involved, more like "My old friend's wife (dammit, I know she has a name... now why can't I ever remember it!)," or on her side, "Oh yeah, that's one of the kids [GoalieMan] was in orchestra with back in high school" when we were each out to dinner with our respective families and such.

At this point we were both sitting there at our own respective terminals laughing like idiots and freaking out. Her husband was grinning and thought it was just the funniest thing. Obviously, so did we!

We also live less than 5 miles apart. Go figure.

Of course, after that revelation, getting together in person was mandatory for us. We sat and blabbed forever, and continued blabbing both online and in person throughout my pregnancy. After a time, I asked her if she'd like to come over when I had the baby... and she did.

I kicked her and my mom unceremoniously out of my bedroom when I was pushing the kid out, but they hid around the corner in the hall anway. Hee. I can't say I blame them.

We've drifted in and out of contact as our lives have shifted around us. I went back to work after five years as a stay-at-home mom when my younger son was eighteen months old. Angel was kept very busy parenting her two kids, taking care of her household, and dealing with numerous health issues, but every time we started talking again it was as if no time had passed.

Then one morning I checked my e-mail and found my blog had been commented on by someone named Angel. Hmmm... could it be? I clicked on the link to her Headache Slayer blog. Oh my gosh, yes it was her!

She'd found me through a comment I'd left on one of our local newspaper columnist's blogs (I'd linked back here).

Her husband thinks it's a stitch the way "Teh Intarweebs" keep bringing us back together. I feel the same way.

And I'm glad of it.

Angel, girl, I've said it before on your Slayer-in-Training blog and I'll say it again: you ROCK!

Note: Just to be clear, I did have Angel's okay regarding posting on my blog about us both knowing each other in real life. I was trying to think of a cute way to "come out" about it, but this just really seemed heaven-sent.

General

Note: I was originally going to post this in the comments section for "All in a Week", but it was posted kind of awhile ago, plus the response got so long I decided to make it its own post. I did, however, finally respond to "a mom who thinks too much", "medblog addict" and "angel" in the comments left in the "Tagged" post. I may be slow to respond to comments, but I will eventually respond. Don't give up on me!

Anyway, here's the original comment I am responding to:

From Angel: Dagnabbit, Bloglines hasn't been updating to show me you had new posts. My apologies!

And UGH new doc time, seriously. I think if after bleeding that long a doc compared my uterus to wallpaper, I'd have to hurt him. A lot.

Hey, no worries Angel! It's not like I'm the supreme updating queen anyway. I'm contemplating blogging tonight (note: see how neatly I turned this into a post? hee), but what about? Maybe I'll get tagged again. That often helps.

And yeah, I'm thinking about what to do about good old doc. I have a recommendation from my kids' pediatrician. However, I also have time, testing, and familial/ personal relationship time invested in this arrogant piece of work, so I'm not quite sure which way I'm going. I had lunch today with a friend of mine who has the same GYN, and she said if I go in and have a nervous breakdown in his office he'll come around, i.e., realize that this is definitely having an impact on my life that requires a little more input from him. Thing is, I've been trying to present this all matter-of-factly to him, including expressing my very real embarassment over hauling my dizzy self into the ER that day. I think he believes I'm overstating matters.

Thing is, I'm not. Frankly, going to the ER for me is HUGE. That's the only time I've ever been in an ER outside of a bad car accident 17 years ago, and one visit with my elder son when he was three years old. I mean, that is IT.

So maybe I need to stop being matter-of-fact and turn into a crying, hiccupping, hysterical woman talking about how I've been bleeding more than half of the past 90 days, and how I have NO SEX LIFE which is starting to freak my husband out a little bit, and just become a hormonal raging mess.

I hate to do that, though. I mean, I blow off steam here, but I'd rather conduct the doctor/patient relationship in a professional manner, especially considering that his specialty already is more personal than I like. The annual "spread-em-and-grin" appointment is anything but grin-worthy.

So I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. Do I keep trying to work with this doctor and convince him that yes, dude, there IS a problem and it is a bloody damned mess, or do I go to another doctor, request all my records from my current one, thus likely screwing up my parents' relationship with him to some degree, and possibly end up with yet another doctor who is going to think I'm blowing all this way out of proportion?

Yuck.

Bleeding 49 out of 90 days? Not minor.
Soaking one super-plus tampon and its backup pad more than once an hour for 24-72 hours every month (or more)? Not minor.
Being so cranky and sometimes so freaked out that my husband is wondering where his wife has gone? Not minor.
Having my doctor completely ignore the statement, "I seriously feel like I'm going crazy," from me? NOT FRACKING MINOR.

And yet with all of this, I'm still wondering if I should soldier on.

Yuck. Again.

If anyone has a good idea about how to go about changing doctors with a minimum of muss and fuss, please let me know in comments here. Thanks y'all.

Oh, and Angel, you are SO Tagged for the "8 Things About Me" meme below. Hehehehee.

The Tide is In

Notes:
#1 - Hi there, Angel! Glad to see you're out there in the blogosphere. And yipes, migraines suck. I'm whiny enough just bleeding most of the time. We definitely need to talk!

#2 - Speaking of bleeding, stop here if you don't want to read about the subject line. Yes, more of the bloodbath. You have been warned.

Anyway, yep, it's definitely my period. No wonder I'm lucid. Got up twice in the night to change super-plus supplies and back-ups of same.

Make that lucid but sleep deprived. Slightly grumpy, too.

I had to keep running to the bathroom at work every hour or so to take care of "matters" as well. This is especially obnoxious as I'm the prime telephone answerer, so any time I leave my desk I have to ask someone else to catch the phones. Therefore, any observant coworker with too much time on his or her hands can chart my time of the month.

I await the inevitable office pool with bated breath.

Cramping is running between a 1 and a 3 on a pain scale where zero is no pain and ten is pain comparable to feeling that my pelvis is going to fracture, like the way it felt when I was pushing out the younger offspring. This is nothing like that; ergo, it's not enough to cause me to lose any sleep... just annoy me when I'm awake. I'm actually allergic to Aleve (took it for a year back when it was by prescription only for cramps, then started getting hives), Tylenol doesn't touch the pain, and aspirin when I'm already bleeding seems, well, counterintuitive, yanno? And narcotics would definitely be over the top for a petty annoyance like this...

So yes, grumpy. That would be me.

My doc told me to let them know the start date of my period when they call to give me the results of the biopsy. Guess I'll call them with that info tomorrow, per their instructions, since I haven't heard from them yet and it's officially been a week.

I swear, I must have one of the only bodies out there that can lose blood this steadily and NOT have the sense to be anemic. Sheesh.