Semi-Failed Experiments and Why I've Been Absent, Plus 29 Pictures

If you've wondered why the regular hijinks of Violet, Java, Natalie & Co. have been absent but for Wordless Wednesdays for a couple weeks, allow me to explain.

For a couple of months, one of my molars had been hurting, a little and then a little more and then a lot. I was going through NSAIDs like they were M&Ms and frankly was very, very, very afraid for my liver. Ibuprofen, acetaminophen, naproxen, etc., had all gone from working for 6 hours to working for 4 to working for 2 to I was still waiting for them to kick in 3 hours after taking them. Dental insurance is one thing that I do not have, and while we could afford an extraction, a root canal was going to be into the thousands and that was pushing it. Also, I was afraid that I was going to have to have my molar pulled and look like a hillbilly, I won't lie.

Ultimately, it hit a point where I could think of absolutely nothing but the blinding pain I was in, enough was enough, I really didn't even care anymore if I did look like a hillbilly anymore, and Eric drove my crying self to get some emergency care.

Turns out I get an F on the "Identify the Painful Tooth" exam, and what I thought was a molar kind of toward the front was a wisdom tooth of all things. It had cracked and developed a ping pong ball sized abscess above my wisdom tooth that was so evil that it was putting pressure on the nerves of four of my upper molars, and radiating into my cheekbone, eye socket, jaw, everything. They said that it could've ruptured into my brain, which would've been a very, very scary thing. It had to come out then. It was excruciating, but hey, I don't look like a hillbilly and I don't want to die from the pain and we didn't bankrupt ourselves. Win-win-win.

I spent several days in a pain medication fog. Missed a whole day of classes, which I never do. It's been 8 days now and I am on the mend.

That aside - I had a bright idea to begin a relationship boot camp with my camera. I've fallen into a slump of "It's a birthday party/special occasion/planned photo shoot, bring the camera." My mom is sending me text messages of ridiculously cool pictures that she's taken with her phone of just any old thing that she sees, and that used to be my style, too. I'm over my lighting issues, I'm over my ISO issues, and I need to start bringing my camera everywhere again. So I decided - for a week, I'm going to photograph everydamnthing. Just anything and everything. Catch the cool, arty, unexpected, quality photos, and catch the moments that are going to take a flash that I just don't catch because they won't be "good enough." All of it, and go from there. I was set to start that the day after the wisdom tooth removal, and in spite of everything, I actually did do it that day (results to follow). I fell off the wagon after that (Vicodin...), but I'm starting it again soon.

So here you have...my life, for a few days. In pictures.

And can I just say - microsuede looks weird in flash photos. We recently got an essentially brand-new microsuede couch, and it does not look mottled and weird in person.

Shortly before the wisdom tooth expedition, my amazing friend Chelsea (more on her later), who is doing my wedding makeup, came by to do a trial run. I was in blazing agony, but I felt like a million bucks. She did the most amazing job. 

All I could eat afterwards, pretty much. And soup. No straw, of course. Smoothie with a spoon. Whomp whomp whomp.

Meijer haul.

Oh, look. It's my wandering house-taking-over jew. He's getting a little bit too big.

Violet's favorite time of the day: melatonin wrapped in bread time. It helps her be a normal dog.

My recovering nest.

Scariest nursemaid ever. Okay, okay, she was yawning for once, but still!

You think your tooth hurts, mom? Oh yeah? What if I crush your kidney with my foot? Take your mind off your pain? Ha, ha, ha.

Naptime in the E. house, at last.

The wedding shelf. One wedding shelf of several.

Flower girl dress and MOH dress, side by side in my closet.

The wedding to-do list and stack of reply cards. Oh boy.

Collie calendar!

He practices this look every day.

He sits like his a lot.

So back to my awesome friend Chelsea. Among all of the other awesome things that she does (professional makeup, anyone? Being mom of the year and general badass? Activism for several extremely worthy causes?), she also owns a successful business making nail polish. Amazing nail polish. You need to go check it out. Pretty & Polished - go ahead and click that. Look around. Buy yourself something nice. I'll give you a moment.

Back? Okay. Well, she made me this amazing custom polish in my wedding colors (purple and black, with some lavender and grey in there too). I've known this gal for about 5 years now, and she gets cooler every year. Truly, you need to be jealous. You wish you knew her and you wish you had my nail polish. But, take heart. You can go buy your own! It's Pretty & Polished if you need the link one more time.

Flea market find!

The only way that they allow Eric to watch TV.

Where Java lives when I'm on the computer. #1 Velcro Dog is what his coffee cup says.

Aww. They were sleeping like that before I picked up the camera.

Return of the Prodigal Blogger

Well, I'm not even going to look at how long it's been since my last post, but I'd put it at three weeks. But I'm back. In the last month...

• I finished the semester. Did I mention that? At the end of it, I did well. Not perfectly. I did not keep a 4.0 like I wanted to. It was my first semester and I found that my educational background hobbled me a little more than I expected in Astronomy, I didn't know the basics of chemistry and that became a huge problem, but I made it through. Mythology was tougher than expected at first, but I hit my stride after about a month and came through it with a good grade. My arch nemesis, bane of my existence, ultimate foe, math - actually, I did alright. I had a high B when all was said and done, and for me, well... I still haven't expanded on that "educational history" story, but a year ago, I didn't know the most very, very, very basic algebraic concepts. I had a fifth grade education. So for me, a B in a college math course is something to be happy about. English - A. That class was kind of a nightmare because of the professor, but the material itself was never difficult for me.
• I registered for next semester's classes. Sociology, history, bigger English class, and social work! Yesss! My first major-specific class. I'm excited.
• Eric had back surgery. We had to drive to and from Cleveland to see a specialist, twice - once for surgery, once for follow-up. On the first trip, Java came. Violet is anxious in the car and bad about jumping up, so she was definitely not able to come, and I was very wary to leave Java. I didn't want it to turn out to be a wonky socialization experience. Two hours into our six hour drive, Java developed diarrhea. Explosive diarrhea. Diarrhea all over the middle of a sidewalk at an extremely well populated rest stop. I think that we both wanted the earth to swallow us up, and he continued to have diarrhea for the entire several-day trip and hotel stay, but to his credit, he had not one single accident in the car or hotel. It cleared up shortly after we returned home, but it was an interesting trip, with a completely bed-ridden, half out of it fiance and a sick dog in a strange city. We all handled it with aplomb in the end, and all was well. On a positive note, Java got socialized half to death, and he rose to the occasion.
• I'm reading Train Your Dog Like a Pro by Jean Donaldson, and following her program for Java's training. We're through the basic basics and proofing his duration sit-stays now. He will stay all day until I release him, the only challenge is not letting him lay down and turn it into a down-stay. Today, we'll be proofing with distractions today.
• 5.5 months until the wedding.
• My camera died for a week or two. Turned out the battery had just crapped out on me, but Cleveland and the camera have been the two reasons behind my slacking here. I'll be making up for it now, don't you worry!

Let's begin with the Cleveland pictures.

The very best traveler.

  

Baby wrinkles.

  

Cowlick on his nose. 

If you've noticed a strange pattern of "No pictures, no pictures, no pictures, a ton of pictures, no pictures no pictures..." here lately, it's because I'm still in the getting-to-know-you phase with my new camera. It takes a little while. We were experimenting with shutter speeds this morning, catching treats (and cupcakes, as Violet is a cupcake fiend) in the air, and then zooming after a frisbee.