In My Copious Free Time

Well, that was fast

My brother is already awake and fine after his 15-minute brain surgery. Wow. It was definitely a cyst, which they drained but did not remove the sac. They'll monitor him and if it seems to be filling up quickly, they'll remove the sac, but that will require a more invasive surgery with more risks associated (apparently). Everything being said sounds like he'll go home tomorrow, but that sounds crazy me. Who knows.

Thanks to all for the good thoughts...

In other more urgent matters

As I type, my brother is in an operating room where his scalp will be opened, a small portion of his skull will be removed and a baseball-sized arachnoid cyst will be drained*. I'm just putting this out in the universe as a virtual good thoughts catcher...

The backstory is that about 5 weeks ago he was "struck by lightning." I use the quotes because the lightning apparently struck very, very close to him. Close enough that he thought he had been shot, he had a seizure and he was unconscious. In running tests to ensure he had no brain damage from the shock, a large mass was discovered. Over the next two weeks he had many more tests and saw many more doctors, one of whom told him that he thought what my brother had was actually three masses, two of which were tumors, one of which was likely malignant. That diagnosis has since been refuted, but I think we'll all breathe more easily when we hear that he made it through the surgery just fine and it was just a cyst filled with spinal fluid after all.

One thing is for sure, though: all the doctors have been amazed at how big this mass is. It is "impressively large" to use one doctor's words. And to think he wouldn't even know about it if it hadn't been for the lightning.

And for those whose first reaction to being involved in a lightning strike is "he should buy a lottery ticket!"...well, he actually did that at some point in the last few weeks (I think 3 weekends ago?). In keeping with his typical luck, he hit 5 of 6 numbers of the Florida lottery. What boggles my mind isn't the amount of money but the amount of amazing karma.

*They will try to remove the sac as well, and the small hole in his skull will be covered by a metal plate so that if they have to go back in at some point, it will be easier.

The great posting drought

I have no idea what I'm going to say here; I just know that I've been really busy and haven't spent any time blogging and I have to break the cycle somehow, even if it's just an inane and somewhat scattered update post.

Work has been really busy, which is nothing new, I suppose. We had an event for a client on Friday -- the largest event we've ever done as a firm (about 1500 people, I think). It went really well but was also very difficult to prepare for. I came home from the airport on Friday, was in bed by 11:30pm and didn't wake up until noon on Saturday, and even then, I felt like I walked around in a daze the entire day. It wasn't so much that I was physically tired -- I was mentally tapped out.

Alex has been going to day camp at the YMCA this summer, and he really seems to like it. They swim every day, and he loves it. Of course, he can't swim, but he always has 1-on-1 attention in the pool, and Joe and I have both observed swim time enough to be satisfied with regard to his safety. One of the kids in his group is M from his old school, so he's really happy about that.

Backing up a bit, Alex finished kindergarten with a mix of emotions. He's excited about being a bigger kid, but he'll miss his teacher. Overall, he's a little nervous about first grade, but he'll be fine. I'm just amazed at how far he's come and how easy the transition to real school has been. He's still going to receive services (primarily for OT and PT, with consults to his teacher on overall concerns and speech) through first grade year, but the "autism" label has been removed, and if his therapy progresses as expected, he will be declassified out of special education by the end of the next school year. It isn't a "cure" but it's a big deal nonetheless.

At the same time, I feel like he's regressing with regard to his eating. He is so picky about food that for the last 3 years he's had Carnation Instant Breakfast 1-2 times daily. We've always called it "chocolate milk" and never had any issues getting him to drink it. Until now, that is. He's decided he hates it. He won't take vitamins, either. He seems truly afraid of new foods or unknown tastes and textures, and I don't think it's an act. It isn't like he'll just eat any sweet put in front of him but balks at vegetables. The kid won't eat 99% of the junk available, either. During the last week he's even been refusing grilled cheese sandwiches made at home, saying he prefers Cracker Barrel or "the lunch place" (a cafe near my office). I'm feeling at the end of my rope about this and I honestly don't know what to do next.

At the end of June, we all flew to Alabama to visit my sister. My brother, his wife, their new baby boy and my brother's older son also visited at the same time. Alex and his older cousin played together so well, particularly for a couple of kids who never get to spend time together. (My nephew lives in Italy right now.) We all had a good time and it was really nice to spend time with my new sister-in-law without the holiday or wedding craziness that has surrounded the few times we've seen each other.

On more trivial fronts, my fingernails have been growing like crazy lately, and I'm not sure why. I've been having to cut them back because they've been growing so long without breaking, and that's something that hasn't happened since I was pregnant with Alex. (No, that is not an announcement.) Tonight I accidentally bent one WAY back (OUCH) and it split on one side. It didn't break off completely, but it will soon. But that's the first break in I don't know how long. Strange, since my nails are usually so thin tou can read the newspaper through them. I did manage to get a pedicure on Saturday -- that was about all I was capable of! -- and Alex went with me and sat still in my lap the entire time. He was the darling of the salon, and everyone was commenting about how well-behaved he was. Of course, this is the same place I used to go and he'd sleep in his stroller through my mani-pedi.

Speaking of Alex and shopping behavior, he's sort of become the darling of the cosmetics department at my local Macy's. He's charmed just about everyone, and they always speak to him. My MAC guy (C) is always super-nice to Alex and asks him what new lightsabers he has and when he's going to bring them in to show everyone. They just rave about his behavior, which is a nice reminder to me that even when he's being a pill in my eyes, he's still pretty darned good when compared to the average.

Speaking of my MAC guy, tonight I stopped in to pick up a couple of backup lipsticks* and he let me peek at the new Flashtronic line. OH. MY. GOODNESS. It is sooooo gorgeous. It comes out on Thursday, but C isn't working that day, and I like to shop with him whenever possible, so I'm just going to wait until Friday.

*MAC does a lot of limited edition stuff, and I've learned the hard way that if I love something, I'd better buy a backup of it. They have a new lip product called SlimShine, which is a glossy lipstick, and the Bare colorway is the closest thing I've found to a MLBB  -- My Lips But Better -- shade. Lovely nude shade, not too pink, not too brown.

I should do some makeup stash photos, but not now. I recently got my first MAC Pigments and I'm slowly figuring them out. I also finally got the Bobbi Brown Lip & Shimmer Brick in Tawny -- a wonderful compact with bronzer/shimmer powder and 4 lip products. Believe it or not, that is my first Bobbi Brown product. I followed it up with the very popular new Stonewashed Nudes eyeshadow palette. This has been a hot topic on makeup blogs and communities. I'm not convinced it's worth the hype, though. I've used it a couple of times but it doesn't wow me. It might be going back to Nordstrom.

Alex can relate anything to Star Wars, but last night when I was getting him to take his medicine (he's running a fever), I told him that the grape medicine was "purple like Mace Windu's lightsaber" and he scornfully told me that medicine had nothing to do with Star Wars.

My XM radio isn't working in my Passat, so I took it to the dealership for service while I was out of town last week. They changed the oil, rotated the tires and did the inspection, but the XM module is on national backorder, so I have no idea how long it will be before it's in and they can replace it for me. All I do know is that I'm apparently addicted to XM. Good thing I got a new iPod FM transmitter/charger for my car and it works a lot better than my first one.

I'm sure there are a million other things I could write about, but it's time for me to go to bed.

one thing I really hate

throwing up

maybe I should go into hiding

It's been quite a week so far. I forgot to mention that yesterday afternoon Alex dropped a book on my foot. Of course, it landed corner-down right on the top. One little spot was swollen and slightly bruised immediately. It is now really bruised and not just a little spot, but I honestly don't know if I did more damage to it last night or this whopper of a bruise is just from the book.

So today I took the morning off, then swung by the office to pick up two coworkers and go to lunch. On the way to the restaurant, someone rear-ended me. (pause for dramatic effect) Thankfully it was at very low speed, so other than a bit of a scare, everyone was okay and no damage was done to the car.

But...sheesh.

Good: no one saw

Bad: it hurt like hell regardless

This evening I was cleaning up and managed to step squarely on a small toy rife with stabby bits. Maybe I'm just a wimp*, but that whole "Achilles' heel" thing doesn't compare to how sensitive the bottoms of my feet are, particularly the entire arch area. It's shocking how just the slightest bit of pressure or pain there can cause my body to instantly collapse. Kind of like the Vulcan Death Grip, but for feet. It doesn't even have to be a big or sharp object -- a mere Lego brick can take me down, and there's nothing I can do about it. It's totally reflexive and feels like a protection mechanism.

Anyhow, back to tonight. I stepped on a small bridge piece from one of Alex's many train sets. In milliseconds I found myself first recoiling, my body trying to defy gravity to relieve the pain my foot felt in that moment, then realizing that I was irreversibly off-balance and I was going to fall. I ended up falling squarely on top of a big basket of toys, banging up my right arm and wrist, hitting my head on the wall (not hard enough to really hurt), and getting jabbed in the back by a toy trolley. For the second time in as many seconds, I was reacting again, hurling myself off the toy basket and on to the floor, cursing all the way.

My head is fine and my back wasn't injured by falling on the basket. The bottom of my right foot has an angry red divot and it hurts to walk on it. My arm is going to be sporting several shades of purple in the next few days, and I am typing gingerly as to avoid putting any pressure on that little bony knob where my right hand meets my wrist. My back is stiff, however, and I think I strained an ab muscle trying to keep myself from falling. If I'm already sore now, I'm going to be really sore in the morning.

Honestly, I'd rather go back to just having underwear problems.

*I probably am just a wimp, but for a moment, let's pretend I'm not.

All's well that ends well

I originally typed "happy ending" as the title of this post, but I figured that wasn't quite the message I wanted to convey...

About a month ago, I posted about a bad customer service experience I was having. As you can see from the post, I didn't mention the seller by name. However, someone I know from an online community -- we'll call him Craig ;) -- read it and recognized it as Shoes.com, his employer. He quickly sent me a message apologizing, though he works in IT, not in order fulfillment or customer service. The situation dragged on for a while, and Craig checked in with me a couple of times and asking if he could help. Finally he asked me for my order number, talked directly with customer service and then emailed me to tell me how horrified the woman he spoke with seemed and that she'd be contacting me soon. No sooner had I read this than I got an apology email. Surprisingly, I also got a $20 off coupon. I didn't expect that at all -- I keep thinking of my friend Leslie's experience when she received a watch from Blue Nile with a dead battery: they said they'd refund her expense up to $6 if she faxed in a receipt. (L, correct me if I'm wrong.) Seems like taking care of customers went the way of the dodo for many companies.

But I digress...To be honest, the eventual response email was nice and the coupon was very appreciated (I wasn't looking for a deal, but I'll certainly take it). But it was Craig's determination to make it right and untarnish his employer's reputation in my eyes that impressed me the most. I like to think that if a person cares enough about his employer to go out of his way like that, the company must be all right.
So I'll be giving Shoes.com more of my business. I just hope they realize what a gem of an employee they have in Craig.

Reporting live from the 42nd floor

Just checked in and got settled into the Sheraton New York...decided, "to hell with cabs" and walked from Penn Station to here. Only 19 blocks up 7th Avenue. Arrived to learn I had three rooms in my name. No clue as to why.

I'm in town for the Omega Being Fearless conference. Al Gore speaks tonight - Jane Goodall, Nora Ephron, etc. Looking forward to it. Must get out of jeans and into something...else.

Another exciting Friday night at the airport

I was in San Jose this week for an NTL Human Interaction Laboratory. Awesome - one of the best things I've ever done. A lot to think about and write, but also a lot I can't really share or even put into words.

Two weeks ago I spent 8 hours of my Friday night in the Cincinnati airport waiting for a long-delayed flight to Columbia, SC. This Friday night I'm spending 6 hours in San Francisco International waiting for my 10pm red-eye home. I have:

• Eaten some delicious lentil soup. Very. Slowly.
• Read two magazines.
• Read about 50 pages in one book and 20 in another.
• Downloaded this week's episode of "The Office" while doing the above three.
• Watched "The Office."
• Caught up on my feeds.
• Eaten 4 butter rum Life Savers and half a small bag of honey roasted cashews.

2.5 hours to go until takeoff. If there is anything right about this universe, I will be able to sleep on the flight.

Updated to add:
Right now I'm surfing and listening to my iPod. Random Guy walked up to me and asked if there was wifi available in the airport. I assume there is and said as much, adding that I wasn't using it since I had a Sprint card (tapping the part of the card that sticks out of my laptop). He continued:

Random Guy: But are you accessing the internet?
Me: Yes.
Random Guy: Well, you are using wifi, then. (he might as well have patted me on the head when he said it)
*pause*
Me: No, I'm accessing the internet via Sprint's EVDO mobile broadband network.
Random Guy: Oh, satellites. Cool.
Me: I'm sure wifi is available, though.

Behold the cuteness

This baby is so sweet, you might need a flouride rinse after seeing this picture:

Great weekend - awesome friends to laugh with, unbelievably adorable and happy baby to snuggle, cat to give scritches to, southern cooking to eat (cheese grits! biscuits and gravy!). So fun.