Pain Meds and Frogging

Here is a fun meme: post ten things that nobody else (or, not very many other people) has/have done.

Here goes:

1. Hugged an Argentinian pop singer. His name is Justo Lamas. He comes around to high schools all around America and sings his songs, which are all about love, peace, and happiness. He basically promotes learning Spanish and learning about the Latin cultures. We got a special chance to meet him backstage and ask him questions (in Spanish, of course) and when we were done we all got a picture together. It's in a box somewhere...

2. Gotten pertussis (whooping cough) while vaccinated against it. Not even joking. When I get stressed out I get SICK. I also got Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. No idea how.

3. Crocheted a Victorian lace Christmas tree. I made lace snowflakes, icicles, garlands, angels, and a tree skirt. It took me a few years (but it wasn't the only project I was working on).

4. Exploded things for a living. Lecture Prep. Those were the days.

5. Put my cell phone in the oven. It all started with a very bad habit I have: taking my cell phone into the bathroom. Not smart. But I did, and while I was in there it fell into the toilet. I reached in there and grabbed it as fast as I could but I was totally grossed out and so I rinsed it in the rub right after. Then I didn't know how to get it dry to see if I could get it to work. Kwiddens called me and I was like, OH NO GUESS WHAT JUST HAPPENED. She said that she had gotten her phone wet once and to dry it off she put it in the oven and it worked like a charm. I thought that was a great idea, so off to the oven I went. Turns out her oven had a WARM setting and mine didn't, so I put it as low as it would go...not low enough apparently because it melted. MELTED. I had to use an old phone for a few years because I couldn't afford a new one.

6. Hit the center of the target with a 30.06 at 200m on the first try. I am deadly. Still, Scott's better. Like, he could enter a competition better.

7. Dressed up as Santa on Halloween. I was Santa, Kwiddens was an elf, and my friends Becky and Lori were a reindeer and Mrs. Claus, respectively. We got several comments.

8. Driven over 130 mph. I had a fast car...I was in a bad place emotionally and was doing some stupid, irresponsible things...plus I had some friends egging me on. Good friends, those. Got pulled over, too. At least when she radared me I was only at 102 mph...my Mim took away the car. Permanently. I walked to and from school the rest of the school year.

9. Seen a plasma. As in a sea of dissociated nuclei and electrons, not like a TV or body fluid. Although I've seen those as well. Only a few circumstances on earth you can find a plasma, all man made (on earth anyway, the sun is in fact a giant ball of plasma). We have an ICP in our lab, and if you look in the little window you can see the plasma cone. It's an argon plasma and is a pretty blue-green color.

10. Dated a murderer. He wasn't a murderer when I dated him, don't worry. On the contrary. He was a really nice guy. A really CUTE guy. And he asked me out. ASKED ME OUT. That almost never happened. We didn't date for long...apparently I wasn't slutty enough. Anyway, I came to find out, years later, that he had turned totally bad somewhere along the way and had murdered someone and was in jail. A little while later, he committed suicide. Sad story.

Last week my wrist got so bad I couldn't move it at all and I was at work...no good. So I went to the doc and she gave me some non-narcotic pain meds so I could take them and still work. They helped but they DID make me woozy, contrary to what the doc said. Oh well. It's gotten better since then, but I had a PT appointment yesterday and he wants me to wear a brace as much as I can until I can get surgified. I also have a list of exercises/stretches and hot/cold baths he wants me to do every day. No problem. It is a little difficult doing things with a brace on, though.


So, Em's birthday present is almost done. Remember a while back when I said I was almost done? Well, I didn't swatch AGAIN and I didn't measure as I was making the present so when I finished the knitting for BOTH halves I had a bright idea and decided to try them on. Too small. So, I frogged and started over in the larger size. HOWEVER, I used the wrong shaping algorithm and ended up with the wrong amount of stitches toward the end, so I had to frog again. At least I had only done one half at this point. Then, I started again but this hand thing really came to a head about that time so almost nothing was getting done on them at all. I did a few rows per day; that was all I could manage without pain. Sad. Once this cortisone thing kicked in I was on a roll though and finished the knitting in just a few days. Now all I need to do is weave in ends and add buttons (that I found in Australia, COOL buttons, you'll see). But, by this time, I am good and sick of the project so I put it aside for a while and started a sweater. Em's birthday isn't until the 17th so I have time to finish them.