Fadedwords

I went to the spine specialist yesterday, and while I was a little perturbed at their service, it was an OK appointment for the most part.  Also, my doctor’s name was Windy.  Like the weather pattern.  It was a little difficult to take her seriously knowing that she has such a meteorological name. 

She told me a lot of things I already knew; yes, I have a herniated disk in the L4/L5 area.  Yes, I have rapidly diminishing disk space between those two vertebrae.  Yes, that is causing my sciatic nerve to be compressed… which is causing the paresthesia and radiculopathy. 

Course of treatment right now is conservative.  I will do physical therapy for the next 5-6 weeks, although I’m unsure of the frequency.  I am on a prednisone pack for the next 6 days.  I will work hard to lose some weight, which the specialist agreed would be difficult because I’m not supposed to “over exert” myself physically and I can’t limit calories too much thanks to my thyroid disorder.  I will return to the specialist at the end of May and see how it looks.

The positive thing is that I haven’t experienced much weakness in my legs, and she said that we could probably continue to treat conservatively until that happened.  The down side is that she thought that it would eventually happen.  So we’ll see.

It’s been a fairly positive week at work.  A lot has been accomplished, and I’ve received a lot of compliments from people higher up.  So I feel like I’m at least getting things done in a good manner.  It was a long week though, and I’m very excited about the weekend.  I go to Biltmore with Jake tomorrow, and I cannot wait to see it.  I’ve heard such lovely things about it.  There will be many pictures I’m sure.

Speaking of pictures, I posted my Savannah pictures.  Go take a gander.

Well it’s my birthday too!  On April 15, 1981 at 2:49pm I made my grand entrance in this world.  I’ve been causing trouble ever since.

I don’t know how old I was here… maybe 2.  I was a party animal even then.

Thank you to everyone who has already wished me a Happy B-Day… and an advanced thanks to everyone who will.  Remember that my birthday is much like Hanukkah, in that it can be celebrated for a full week.  Feel free to send presents any day this week… they will be opened excitedly and with much vigor.  Kateakah is a serious deal, so be sure to get your groove on.

Jake took me out to dinner last night, and we are going out again tonight.  I still have to decide on a place.  He is also taking me to Biltmore this weekend, which is beyond exciting.  He spent the weekend while I was gone buying a tiller, tilling one of the front flower beds, mixing in soil, and getting it ready for me to plant.  He also bought a beautiful iris.  I feel exceptionally loved.

This morning began with a friend singing happy birthday to me, and then continued on with wonder as an entire 5th grade class sang to me when I walked in to ask their teacher a question.  It’s been a great day already.  Yay Kateaka.

One of Merlin’s favorite things is helping Jake in the yard. He gets a little nervous when he’s not allowed to be the right hand mutt.

P.S.- My birthday is tomorrow. Eeeep.

It’s been a very busy and stressful week.  There’s a lot going on at work as I begin to prepare for End-Of-Grade (EOG) Testing.  This is a big deal in North Carolina, and the planning for it is a nightmare.  I’m doing my best though.

Today I’m leaving at noon though, as I have much preparation before my trip to Savannah with Courtney.  We’re leaving tomorrow morning at 8am.  We’ll spend 4 days in Savannah, coming home Monday evening.  Our top priority is to get in to Paula Deen’s restaurant, so keep your fingers crossed for us. 

When I leave here today I must:

• Go to the bank.
• Clean out my car (I don’t know whose we’re taking yet)
• Do dishes.
• Clean the house up a little.
• Do the laundry
• Pack up my things.

Court will be here this evening some time. 

I got observed on Tuesday this week and am axious to meet with my principal about what she thought.  I always get nervous about observations, as this is my first year being required to teach in classrooms.  Hopefully she liked the lesson as much as the classroom teacher and her students did.  She told me yesterday that they had “loved” the lesson and she was “really glad I’d come in with that one for her kids.”

Blogging will take a back seat while I’m in Savannah.  I may update a little, but mostly I just want to enjoy my time with my good friend.

OH!  I almost forgot a very important Public Service Announcement:

My birthday is exactly one week from today.  The countdown to begins.