Tuesday, March 25, 2003

 
I'm one-handed due to my flexor tendon release surgery (aka trigger thumb surgery) on my left thumb on March 14. The surgery went well. I've been staying with Bryan since my surgery, my recovery is taking a while. I've been frustrated at times because I didn't realize how much I use my thumb. Driving is a huge challenge because I can't grasp my steering wheel with my left hand. It's also hard for me to close the driver's side door and put my seat belt on. I drive a stick shift so driving with my left hand is essential. I can only type with my right hand, so typing anything of length is a challenge and my spelling is atrocious because my fingers want to hit two keys at once. (btw, this has been edited because I'm so embarrassed by all of my typing mistakes) The pain pills they gave me have made me so tired, so I'm very caught up on my sleep. I still have my stitches in my thumb and they are so irritating because the incision is along the crease where my thumb meets my palm. The stitches poke my incision if I bend my thumb a certain way. They are not beautiful at all, they are the gross black ones that look like black fishing line.

I've been catching up on Days of Our Lives, I had taped three weeks before my surgery so I've been watching that. Bryan doesn't have cable and has no reception, so regular tv is out of the question. It's been kind of nice because it keeps me from watching too much war coverage.

I've been reading a ton. I was about 75 pages into Moo by Jane Smiley before my surgery, which I was reading for Bryan's book group at the library. I finished that in several days. Debi was so nice, she loaned me a bunch of books that she's gotten from book reps. So I've been reading some books that aren't even out yet. :) I read Cooking for Mr. Latte by Amanda Hesser. It was really cute, I really enjoyed it. It was a quick read because after each chapter are several recipes that are mentioned in the chapter. I won't be cooking any of the recipes because most of them have either meat or sugar in them. I think it's a reallly neat layout for a book. If you liked Bridget Jones and those kinds of books, you'll like Cooking for Mr. Latte. I'm currently reading Behaving Like Adults by Anna Maxted, who also wrote Getting Over It. I'm really enjoying it. I have about 9 more books I want to read. I'm sure I won't get through all of them but Debi was such a dear for loaning them all to me. Bryan is doing The Lovely Bones by Alice Seybold for his May book group. Hopefully I'll have time to get more of the books read that Debi loaned to me before I start The Lovely Bones.

I thought I would miss knitting and cable tv so much, but I'm really enjoying just reading most of the day. :)

If I haven't heard from you in a while, I would love to hear from you. I'm able to read my email but most likely you'll get a short response back. :)
posted by erica Tuesday, March 25, 2003 []

  Tuesday, March 11, 2003

 
I picked up my ring today! It's more beautiful than I remember it when I tried it on.

I took a few photos of it, but the photos aren't great. It's hard to take a photo of your own hand. :)

Here are the photos.
posted by erica Tuesday, March 11, 2003 []

  Sunday, March 09, 2003

 
Well today was a big day. Bryan and I went shopping for an engagement ring. It's really pretty! It needs to be sized so I'll pick it up tomorrow. It's a platinum band with channel set diamonds along the top. It's so gorgeous! I feel officially engaged now! Bryan remarked that most guys that walk in there with their girlfriends are completely out of it. They let the girl pick out the ring and the guy pays and that's it. :) It was really funny because I got the impression that he thinks most guys are completely out of their element in a jewelry store. I'll post photos when I get the ring tomorrow.

Yesterday Brandi and I went out shopping. We were looking at jewelry at several of the little boutiques around the city and also went to two places with handmade paper. The first store had some amazing Japanese handmade paper. It was gorgeous and made me miss my papermaking class. We went to lunch at another great vegetarian cafe called The Victory Banner Cafe. It was so good. I had a veggie burger that was scumptious. Normally I wouldn't get dessert, but they had a maple pecan pie that didn't have any sugar, it was just maple syrup sweetened, so we had to get it. It was SO Yummy! I would go back everyday just for the pie! :) It was really interesting because when we went into the cafe it was raining and the temperature was pretty pleasant. During lunch we watched it really rain and then the rain turned to snow. When we left it was cold out and there was nnow on my car. After lunch we decided to go to another paper store that had tons of great papers, including some beautiful handmade papers and great cards. I'm thinking of making my own wedding invitations. I saw some amazing ones online, but they seem a bit expensive to me, so I'm going to see what I can do on my own. I may end up ordering the invitations I saw online.

Last night, Bryan, Meredith and I went out for dinner at a restaurant called Tomboy. They have great food. It was the first time that I had gone out with Meredith since I told her I was engaged. After dinner, Bryan and I went to see Cat Power at the Abbey Pub. It was a decent show but they opening bands weren't that great and when Cat Power came on the lights were kept really low so you could hardly see them, they didn't talk to the audience much and they had a few songs that they just "jammed" on. There were a lot of jerky people there. It was so smoky there and the smoke really got to Bryan and I. We both decided that we can't stand to be in a place where people are smoking. For the most part it was only a few people around us that were smoking, but they smoked a lot.

Well, it's another week at work. It will be a short week for me. I'm having surgery on my left thumb on Friday because my trigger thumb has gotten really bad. I will be staying with Bryan for several days after the surgery. I can't knit so I'll be doing a lot of reading while I'm at Bryan's. I'll also be off of work three days next week. It will be a nice little vacation even though it's not for a vacation reason.

posted by erica Sunday, March 09, 2003 []

  Tuesday, March 04, 2003

 
Dearest Bryan was so sweet this morning! He drove from Wauconda (45 minutes from where I work) to give me my very own copies of Throwing Muses and Kristen Hersh the grotto. He has connections because of the library so he got them last night!!! He wanted me to have copies to listen to today while I'm at work! You know you're with a great guy when he'll do this for you! :) He thought that I might not be able to get my copies today, so he brought them to me at work. He even beat me to work, which he wasn't supposed to.

I know I'll be listening to these all day! I have many meetings today, so my ability to listen to the albums all the way through will be somewhat unlikely.

I signed up to volunteer for Junior Achievement through work. I'll be working with a first grade class in Des Plaines, Illinois. :) I'll keep you all updated on what I'm doing with them. I'm really looking forward to it.

In April, Bryan and I are going to Kansas to see Danforth Chapel and just for him to see the KU campus. :) I'm really excited to take him to Lawrence and show him places that were so great for me while I was in school. We'll probably have lunch at Free State Brewery! Then we'll head to Hutchinson to stay with my parents for the rest of the weekend. It will be the first time that my dad meets Bryan. My mom will meet him for the first time when she's in the first weekend of April.
posted by erica Tuesday, March 04, 2003 []