The Stitches Are Out

(Warning: there might be TMI in this post for those who don't like discussing my wounds.)
I went to the doctor today to get the stitches in my thumb removed. It was not a difficult procedure, just odd. Shortly after the surgery Dr. Z said to come back in "about two weeks" for the stitches to come out. Two weeks from the surgery was Thanksgiving. His next available appointment was today. That's not the odd part.
Over the weekend I noticed the stitches were starting to be covered up by skin and they were itching kind of a lot. I don't know if you can see in this picture:

Dr. Z is a mellow, relaxed kind of doctor - I like that about him - but he was a little concerned about the amount of time that had passed because the stitches could get embedded in the skin and need to be cut out. As it was, he had to snip some of the dry, old, dead skin around the stitches to grasp them and clip the threads. I think my thumb looks much better even so:

It's a little tender - my thumb has been wrapped up for over a month, first in the brace, then the bandage, then band-aids - I have exercises to do to increase the mobility and range of motion and I have to go back again in a month just because he likes to see me. Not really; it's to check one more time that the trigger has not come back and I do not have pain or anything. Dr. Z is thorough too.
I'm hoping this is the end of the thumb drama.

This is me stretching my thumb muscles.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like We Aren't Picture People

MusicMan called today to ask for a picture of Tarzan and I for the annual Christmas card. Unlike other members of the family Tarzan and I do not take copious amounts of pictures and particularly not of ourselves. We don't have kids to document and I am extremely not photogenic so it isn't something we do a lot of.
And inevitably we find ourselves with this moment at the end of the year, trying desperately to find a photo of the two of us that wouldn't make us jump in the East River knowing the rest of the family and a lot of people we have never met are looking at it.
I put it to you kind people of the Internets. Which of the following do you think is Christmas card worthy?

There are a few from the wedding weekend:

These from the county fair:

A baseball game:

And when we went to the museum last smmer when RHM was in town:

I realize my sunglasses are on in three of these so that might not work. Is it kosher to photoshop one's Christmas card images?

This is me and next year I should plan better for this.

Put It In The Oven

I apologize for the lame overlap. Blogger is not making this format thing easy. I love anyhting with cats as I am sure you have figured out by now. This was one more awesome thing to add to the list:

This is me; you don't want to know how long it took me to realize the narration was added after the film was shot so they could time it correctly.

USC vs Notre Dame

That was one of the weirdest games I have ever seen played. It was almost like watching high school ball again - only in a fancier stadium - what with the interceptions and passes dropped and weird tackles and penalties and inability to hold onto the ball.
And then it stared raining in the middle of the game.
So bizarre. We almost made something happen at the end there but it was not to be. Maybe next year.
USC: 16
Notre Dame: 20

This is me and I do love that there is a player on the Notre Dame team called Floyd.

Countdown Begins

Do you realize that Christmas is only four weeks from today? Four weeks. That's 28 days. I have so much to get started on. There's the Christmas tree decorating party by the kids for the ward Christmas party which is a week from tomorrow. There are about six musical numbers I have to schedule rehearsals and Tarzan for before the Christmas program which is three weeks from the day after tomorrow and there's the shopping and the baking, people to be fetched from the airport, a cousin getting his Eagle Scout award, dinners and all that stuff that comes every year.
I love it, I do, but it seems sooner this time around. Or maybe I'm older and don't have as much energy?

This is me, wondering if those people up north don't have it right. Do Thanksgiving early and then there's plenty of time to slide into Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

My three kernels for this year are the following in no particular order.

• Sleep. It's probably lame to mention but this fall has been insanity and I am so thankful for the opportunity to lay down each night, put all the problems and issues of the day out of my mind, get warm and snuggly and drift off for a few hours. It makes the next day possible.
• Tarzan. He makes it all worth it. The crazy weeks and weekends. The scheduling nightmares, the assignments. He's strong and supportive, kind and loving. He works hard and is happy to do so. He's a mite random so it's a trick to follow on occasion but it just keeps my brain active. So many things to be thankful for.
• Safety. There was a huge fire not too far from our house last night. And a few months ago a warehouse down from us exploded. And there's the crazy crack whore next door. And the whole middle of the Jungle thing. But we are safe, every day, and our house is protected and the cats are safe. It's a huge blessing.

This is me and HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone.

The Other Thing We Did

Lest you think that all we did while the house was being tented was ride horses and sleep I profer these few pictures. Remember when I mentioned the thirteen boxes of apples we were taking out to my parents:

We spent most of our time cutting:

Coring:

Peeling:

And canning those apples into pie filling:

This is me and it will be awesome come February to have pie.

The Tenting Aftermath

I don't know if it's good or not that the fumigation company finished early yesterday morning and removed the tent from our house before we were back in town. The gas company even agreed to come the same day as the tent removal - this is a huge accomplishment - to turn the gas back on.
In many ways it's very great, but it's a little not great because I didn't get a picture of the huge striped tent with the name of the fumigation company plastered across the front of it and our flag stuck in the orange tree because we forgot to take it down before the tent guys came. This is a fair approximation of the color, style and form of the tent on our house:

It does leave out the fence around our property and the sign naming the fumigation professionals. Also, our trees are not of the palm variety but it gives you the idea.

The good news is the cats are all okay. None of the ones we can identify snuck under the tent so they are all alive. The less than stellar news is all my succulents in the front yard look like they have been stepped upon.

Other news that might not be considered good, though Tarzan, ATL and I are fine after having eaten food that was here during the process, all three of us have noticed our eyes itching quite severely since we've been home. We're thinking it might be from air trapped between the layers of plastic bags we had to wrap around everything and once all the bags are gone the itching will be gone too but if not we're going to have to open the windows and let in the November air which is a tad chilly of late.

Remind me why I thought this was a good idea.

This is me and I hope we never have to do that again.

Our Weekend

(We're back now so this post is legit.)
How I spent the weekend at my parent's house while ours was being fumigated for termites:

How Tarzan spent his:

This is me and that's the difference.

USC vs OSU

(This post is totally postdated because I hate to think I missed a day when I was doing so good.)
The game was not what I wanted it to be. No one likes to lose, but it was such a sloppy game and then to have the quarterback get injured and just get whupped in the score. Not the most fun I have ever had watching a game.
USC: 7
OSU: 36

This is me and that was not good.

Reflections On The Fourth Year

(This was actually composed before we left town so I don't consider it NaBloPoMo cheating.)
Happy Blogging Anniversary to us here in The Jungle! It's been four years and I like to think we've come along rather well in the posting department. Tarzan has upped his contributons to the site, albeit a tad random in the subject matter, and we have a few more fans than last year.
It's been a long year as far as activities participated in and a fast one relating to time.
But I do love to come to the computer and see new posts from friends and I really love it when I have some subject matter to share with you. Some times I am making it up as I type and that doesn't satisfy me as much as a really good event - like the Road Rage incident - to create some commentary on human behavior. I've discovered that that is what I like best, discussing people and why people do what they do.
I should have been a psychologist so I could get paid for it.

This is me celebrating four years blogging.
This time last year in The Jungle: Reflections on the Third Year.

Travelling

Does anyone know how to get thirteen boxes of apples, sixteen bags of wheat, three people, all their stuff for four days, two kittens and THEIR stuff plus miscellaneous nonsense that can't really be left in the house while it's pumped full of noxious gas, into one KIA Spectra?

This is me and it's going to be a long drive.

New Interest

It's all thanks to Rocketgirl that I have discovered Hyperbole and a Half and I have to say, that blog is one of the funniest things I have read in a long time. The cartoons totally make the stories and they are so very hilarious. You know how obsessive I can be about new blogs. Going back and reading everything from the beginning in case there's a continuity issue. This one doesn't really have a day-to-day thread, but it is totally worth the read from the start.

This is me laughing at a new blog. Awesome.

Termites

It seems we are having our house tented for termites this weekend. It's all the rage in The Jungle these days and since we found filings on our front porch, we're jumping on the bandwagon.
My question is, what do I need to know about termite tenting? The chick from the exterminator company was really nice and friendly and she said to get all the cats and plants out of the house, to bag up all the food and tell the neighbors to keep their animals indoors. Is that all there is to it? And does anyone want to come help me find all the spices and things I use once a year so have tucked into all the back of my triangle shaped cabinets have gone to? Or you an help me pack up ten cats and all their stuff to a very kind neighbor's spare garage type thing. Or just help me pack my and Tarzan's stuff for four days at my parents'.
Oy.
These things always seem so simple when I start out.

This is me, tired already.

Five Guys In Kilts

Just when I though I'd have to take a pass for today because nothing of note has happened - you've heard about my thumb, no change there, and no one wants to hear how busy I am yet AGAIN - I remembered that I hadn't mentioned how the Celtic Thunder concert ATL and I attended had gone.
Bonus! Blog material.
It was interesting to be on the escort side of the viewing instead of the insane fan side. Usually I am the one shrieking with delight and so delirious I don't remember vast sections of the night. This time I was watching all the others shrieking and being delirious. The night was much less of a blur.
As mentioned previously, they are five hot guys in kilts who can sing. Right away it's a good time. Secondly they don't seem to be caught up in their own fame, which I count as a plus. There were a few times during the performance where they just seemed to be friends hanging out and goofing around. You can tell they are amused and a little amazed at the notoriety they have:

And yes, the flips at the end are on purpose. The guy on the far right, Paul, makes it his signature thing. He's always flashing his legs to the crowd. Ryan, the dark haired guy on the far left, is ATL's favorite. He's the "bad boy." For a 'favorite,' I am torn between the slightly older, Scottish guy (all the others are from Ireland) in the middle, George and the youngest, Damian, who has gone from a short, high tenor at 14 to a tall, deep bass at 18.
We got to go around to the stage door and hang out with the milling throng of teen to ancient ladies yelling for their favorite voice to sign a program, arm or unmentionable item. ATL got Ryan to sign her program and I was close enough to catch a few words from each in their sexy accents.

This is me and in short, it was quite fun.

Chubbs Just Bites My Toes

This is how much I love you readers. So much that I am willing to share the following picture despite the obvious reasons:

(Lest you think I tempt them, I am only holding the cheese in this picture so she will stay up for the camera. Usually she jumps down as soon as I step away.)

Yes, Spike climbs up the kitchen drawers every single time she thinks I am making something for her. I only do that at dinner time but she climbs up at least half a dozen times a day. Making toast is a real challenge because every time the toast pops she's up there to check it out. Each and every piece.

This is me and it's cute but also annoying.

The Unveiling

Today was the big day when I got to take my big old bandage off my hand and replace it with a smaller band-aid. Which was a good thing, the old wrapping was getting kind of grimy and it was a pain to take a shower with. Have you ever tried to wash your hair with one hand? I swear the left side of my head is cleaner than the right.
Additionally, this was the first time I would get to see the wound and I was curious as to the nature of it. The doctor had explained to me how the procedure would go, indicating the incision and placement of the scar etc.
I will say only this; my doctor will never get any awards for his stitching:
This is me and it'll be a much funkier scar than I was hoping for.

USC vs Arizona

I was prepared for a really tough season; new coach, nasty media coverage, BCS sanctions, blah de blah.
It's true, our record is not what it used to be. The team is a lot less flashy and fancy footwork than under the previous regime and a little bit more traditional football. We're running some sneaks and fake plays the NEVER used to work but do now. Sometimes.
I am liking our special teams right now. A blocked field goal or point after the touchdown, making the two-point conversion. These are not things that our team can manage to pull off usually. But in the last few weeks I have seen it all.
USC: 24
University of Arizona: 21

This is me and I like where it's going.

Do I Trust A Man So Happy To Slice My Hand Open?

As previously mentioned I went for (minor) surgery on my right thumb yesterday.

It went well, I suppose - the doctor called it "beautiful" - but on his recommendation I chose the less severe anesthesia option which meant I was awake for it and I was not amused by the sounds I heard during the procedure. I was amused by the doctor though. Apparently he "loves" his minor surgery days and he was "a little goofy" yesterday. Lots of jokes, which maybe are meant to distract the awake and clearly nervous patient.

I am also surprised at how much it doesn't hurt. My young, bald-headed-on-purpose doctor wrote me a prescription for Vicodin - after joking "How many do you want? 20, 30, these things have street value you know" - which led me to believe I might actually need some of it. When I had my wisdom teeth removed I enjoyed the relief those lovely little white pills can give for a day or two.

Here I had my hand cut open and then stitched up and it's been a little sore and achy but nothing that I even need Tylenol for.

Of course I can't turn the car on, button my own shirt or cut my steak, as we amusingly found out last night at dinner, so I guess it's a fair trade.

I also can't tell if I will be able to bend my thumb when this all heals up because of the enormous wrappings around my hand:

The incision is on the inside of my thumb and is packed with all kinds of gauze I can't take off for three days. Dr. Z asked me to wiggle my thumb while the wound was still open but I couldn't tell if it was moving let alone locking or clicking like it had before. Why do medical professionals insist on asking questions that the patient has no answer for? He's the doctor, can't he tell if he did it right?

This is me and no, I did not look at my hand from the time they washed it off until it was wrapped up again.

Veteran's Day 2010

A decidedly odd day all told, trips back and forth across town, a gigantic fight and then some making up, surgery on my hand for the stupid trigger thumb that has come for what had better be the last time...and then dinner out with some friends.

Not the usual way one spends time on a holiday dedicated to the soldiers who have and continue to defend our country. And yet, they served and fought and died to preserve the freedom of this land so we can spend our days however we want.

To borrow from the Kohima Epitaph:

"When you go home

Tell them of us and say
For your tomorrow
We gave our today"

This is me and I hope I will always spend my days well.

One Thing I've Learned In Ten Years Of Marriage

Do not ask Tarzan how much he wants to eat. Being the smart alec he is he will say "a goodly portion." Sick, hungry, tired, busy, bored or angry, that's his answer.
Instead.
I ask him how hungry he is. If he's "eh," (that's a real answer) I don't give him much.
If he's "starving" then I give him a lot.
And if he's hovering over the pot asking when dinner is, I just serve him all of it.

This is me and it's a proven system.

Why this World deserves to die......NOW!!!!!!

Today was one of those days when you wonder why God lets this orb keep on rotating. It started with an extremely disturbing article in the LA Times about the unbelievable escalation of drug violence in Mexico. Very striking piece that I highly recommend you read, here.
The article's summary is "The extreme violence produced by the drug war is seen as a form of social disfigurement in which Mexican values get more distorted each time a mutilated body is found." I didn't know that over 600 people have been beheaded in Mexico since 2006. We read about the mayhem in the paper here so often that I had lost count.
I want to quote the last segment of the article which I found particularly worrisome. Sorry the quote is so long.
"The reality of rampant brutality is itself an illustration of a kind of growing acceptance, at least within a segment of Mexican society. But, it turns out, even hit men need to be conditioned to new depths.
An accused former enforcer for the notorious cartel known as La Familia told police this year that he took newcomers to a far-off spot in the Michoacan hills for lessons. They learned how to behead and dismember people — using real victims.
The suspect, former state police officer Miguel Ortiz Miranda, said in a videotaped statement that peer pressure worked on reluctant trainees. After watching others cut into victims, they eventually joined in.
In a matter-of-fact tone, Ortiz said the dead were dismembered with a foot-long butcher's knife and then burned over a pit fire until no trace remained.
"It's not difficult," he explained, saying he had no qualms.
"Nothing," he said. "You don't feel anything."
WOW talk about the ultimate in negative peer pressure. That passage really channels Moroni 9 in a perky current events way. Let me say that I am never stepping foot in Mexico again and I find it offensive that I have to share this life with monsters who do these things.
So that was the first peal of the Armageddon Bell. Then I came across an article on MSN about naked sushi that I will not link to. Google the term if you don't know what it means. I guess that I'm naive but I never imagined I'd witness that level of public debauchery. Strike two.
Then on the way home I caught a continuing piece on NPR that I have been enjoying. They're creating a small t-shirt business and then writing pieces about the different aspects of running a business in today's economy. Today they talked about buying cheap cotton. This of course led to a story about how the USA had been sued and found guilty of illegal cotton subsidies by Brazil in the WTO. So instead of fixing the problem which is politically too hard, the US government has decided to bribe Brazilian cotton farmers with $147 million dollars every year from now to forever so that the US government can continue to pay the cotton industry to grow cotton. So much for the moral high ground of the Promised Land!
The explanation on why this is strike three takes a bit of explaining so stay with me. The easiest industry for a developing country (like Mexico) to foster is agriculture. We compete unfairly with the 3rd world by paying the soulless corporations (who for the most part have either competitively destroyed or bought out small, traditional family farmers) to grow stuff at a cost that the 3rd world can't match. This destabilizes their economies and forces them to rely on us for aid and their displaced agricultural workers to come here looking for work. A whole lot of problems come from that.
Meanwhile a flood of American weapons sweeps into Mexico paid for with American dollars that we pay the cartels because of our insatiable hunger for drugs that is turning Mexico into a failed state and bring open warfare with Gadianton robbers into this country.
At the same time, our jaded and debauched citizenry choose to ignore the problems of their own creation and ceaselessly discover new disturbing ways to stimulate their flaccid mojos.
In short this world is burning, its our fault and we're fiddling while our civilization is burning to the ground. The sad thing is that things can and will get worse.
At the same time, I am very happy and continually surprised with how happy and how many reasons I have to be happy; considering the many sad things I see happening in the world around me. Thank goodness for righteous living. Its the only way I can stomach staying on this miserable rock sometimes. Everyday I understand a little better what God is talking about in DC 86:5.
"Behold, verily I say unto you, the angels are crying unto the Lord day and night, who are ready and waiting to be sent forth to reap down the fields."
This world is so wicked. How much more will God allow to happen before he pulls the plug? Frankly I'm scared to find out.

Why It Doesn't Hurt to Be a White Man in the 'Hood

So Saturday was a rare free day for Jane and myself. Without school, church or family obligations it seemed like a mini vacation. So I decided to get some chores done around the house. One of the California lilacs died in the front after achieving a very substantial size and was a bit of a fire hazard. As I proceeded out to chop it into kindling, my next door neighbor (the crack whore) presented herself. She had been high on crack for the last three days which had naturally put her out of her mind. She had been screaming so much for the last 72 hours that her voice had been reduced to to a hoarse, painful sounding rasping. We usually put up with quite a bit from her, probably more than we should, but this was something else. She was wandering around outside with a sizable cut on her arm minus her shirt screaming that she had been shot. She hadn't been of course. So at the request of her boyfriend I called 911. First time ever in my life by the way. So I called on my cell phone and am quickly connected to an operator. After hearing the situation I am transferred quickly two more times and am in the middle of explaining the situation to LAPD when a black and white screeches to a halt in front of my house. Within 1 minute of my dialing 911, the cops have arrived at the scene. Within 3 minutes of my dialing 911, 3 more black and whites show up and a total of 8 cops, 1 ambulance, two paramedics, and a fire marshal truck complete with a fire marshal are in front of my house dealing with the crack whore. It takes all of them to muscle her to a stretcher that they then have to tie her to. Overall I was very impressed with the speedy response. Of course the crack whore's boyfriend starts complaining how no one ever shows up when he calls 911. All things being equal, it doesn't hurt to be a white man in the 'Hood. At least the authorities come running quick when we call.

Pitiful

I really hate it when I can't find a program install disc I KNOW I have and it's not where it should be in the filing system and I need it to recover some information from one of the times my computer crashed this last year and it's irritating and I can't download a copy from the all-powerful Internets because the company has ceased to support the program any more and all the shady websites have errors during the installation process and after it's taken an entire day or three to find this all out Tarzan buys me another copy so I will stop complaining and then I find the original disc somewhere I SWEAR I've already looked at least three times.
GAH!

This is me and I'm annoyed.

USC vs ASU

It was a tight game - ATL may be on to something when she says if the other team scores first USC will win, and vice versa - but thankfully we pulled it out at the last with a field goal.
If someone had told me it would come down to a field goal after the first two tries I might have cried.
USC: 34
ASU: 33

This is me and I think we've seen this game before, from the other side.

Celtic Thunder

Under normal circumstances I would writing about USC vs ASU in this post, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. Because while I am crazy about Wicked, ATL is crazy about Celtic Thunder. (They are hot men in kilts who can sing real good.) And she managed to score tickets for tonight. Shortly we will be on our way - Tarzan is taking the crazy women to dinner first - for an evening of songs, music and hopefully some Celtic cheesecake:

Go George!

This is me and the football will have to wait.

Road Rage

I was motoring along, just as I do every Thursday, on my way to the Home Storage Center and I stopped behind a car making a left hand turn. It was a crowded intersection with large trucks maneuvering and sometimes blocking the street. When the light turned yellow there was a truck in the way of the car in front of me. This car went out and around the truck and I chose not to move as I was still within the lines.
The guy behind me did not like this plan AT ALL.
He honked his horn and then honked it again, longer and harder. I took a page from Tarzan's book and waved at him in the rear view mirror, just so he knew I'd heard him. This was clearly not a good idea as he flipped me the middle finger and proceeded to spend the rest of the red light pointing from his eyes to my car, like he was watching me or something.
When the left turn arrow came on I proceeded to make my turn and he came hard and fast behind me, sped up, passed me, then came back into my lane, in front of me and slammed on his brakes. I braked as well and changed lanes so I wasn't behind him. He then changed so he was in front of me and again slowed down.
We were really lucky there were not a lot of cars on the same road.
He kept up the same behavior until it became clear, I must assume, that I was not going to ram him or try to pass him or honk at him, so he came back to normal speed and zoomed away. I was glad to see him go straight through the next light, rather than right, as I was going.

This is me and I have never seen behavior like that outside of a movie.

Ode To Are You Kidding Me?

Tarzan and I have been married for ten years today, boys and girls!
That's right
TEN.
YEARS.
I am speechless when I think how long that sounds and how fast it's gone by. I realize how cliche that sounds but it's true. I've got nothing but my jaw on the floor when I think about it.
We've done a lot of things but it's hard to remember what happened when or in relation to what else. To quote another cheesy line; "It's all a blur."
I am honored that Tarzan has stuck around and despite it all still seems to like me.
He sent me flowers today which was sweet:
As far as the celebration goes, we had planned a weekend in the same hotel where we spent the night after our wedding, right before we flew to Paradise. This hotel had a hot tub on the balcony and we loved it. We've lived on that memory for a long time and we wanted to go back there knowing what was coming and not as exhausted as we had been the first time.
Only to discover that in the intervening time the hotel has renovated their rooms and taken out the hot tubs. Losers. So we did some research and found a really cute hotel on an island that we like but they don't have openings until the new year. So the tenth anniversary par-tay will be slightly on hold until January.
I'll post pictures.

This is me and we have been married for ten years.

Cliche Day

Our household subscribes to the wonderful world of Uncle John. While perusing a volume day before yesterday I ran across a few lesser known holidays and November 3rd is Cliche Day! Which makes me want to;
'Look before you leap.'
Except that 'he who hesitates is lost.'
Then again, 'haste makes waste.'
Of course, 'a stitch in time saves nine.'
But, 'time and tide wait for no man.'
Those who 'act in haste, repent at leisure.'
If we 'lay our cards on the table,' it might look like 'the pot calling the kettle black.'
When 'the fat is in the fire'
All I have to say is 'the best is yet to come.'

This is me, HAPPY CLICHE DAY everybody!

Voting

I am proud to say that I voted today.

I went to our polling place in the middle of the morning hoping there would not be a long line so I could take my time. That was not the case, which is actually a good thing. I'm always pleased when a lot of people vote.

My philosophy at the ballot was to check yes or no for the Propositions. I had that decided beforehand. Then I went down the list of candidates for each position and paused before each name. If I got an icky feeling - and I really tried to not listen to any of the anti-commercials about anyone but I did do my research in other ways; I wasn't just guessing - then I moved on.

I was happy with the end result. We'll see how it all comes out tomorrow.

This is me earning the right to complain if it doesn't end up the way I wanted.

Starting Gun

I don't look forward to November quite the way that RHM does but National Blog Posting Month helps me feel like I'm making up for all the times I didn't post when I should have throughout the rest of the year. This year has just been going by so fast with so many things to do, I predict a lot of pictures for NaBloPoMo.
Unless...
You think up things for me to write about! This blog was not set up with a central theme, leaving me nothing to fall back on, except maybe all the cats we have, and there is an incredibly long post coming about that, but here's the chance for some audience participation. Ask me anything and I will post about it. In fact, I might even make some cookies for the best question.
Contest #2, is now open.
What have you always wanted to know?
What do I not post about enough?
What sort of pictures do you want me to take?

This is me and let me know!