Happiness, Handbags, H1N1, Hearing, Hospital, Halloween, and Houndstooth

Obviously my journal upkeep failures carried over into my older age. I have a LOT to blog about and just haven't wanted to start!

H:appiness
1. Boston/NYC - I made my annual trip to Boston in September. This time, though, I was lucky enough to have Carli and Denise with me! Denise wanted to visit Martha, our old Relief Society President, so when I told her that I go there at least each fall, she wanted to come along. The day we booked our tickets, Carli requested we go on a trip. I mentioned I had just purchased tix to Boston for 200 bucks and a few minutes later, she said, "Booked!" Good times. She then told me that she gets hotel deals in Times Square and that we should stay there one night. My answer? OF COURSE!!! I♥NY

I got to spend time with my awesome brother and his incredible family, walk the kids to school, help Ethan with his piano practicing, attend the temple, go to a RedSox game, become a human GPS the many times Carli and I got lost, use Ryan's GPS when he got back from DC, use his car the entire time, kill 10 spiders that showed up on the windshield in front of me throughout the week in said car (or make Carli kill them as I was going 80 on the freeway), walk the Freedom Trail, see the USS Constitution, walk around Salem during Halloween season, tour the Mayflower II, visit Plymouth Rock, hold a goat at Plimoth Plantation, eat lobster, play with my nieces and nephews, attend a tea party, and visit a farm. How blessed can one girl be?H:andbags
2. Friday-Saturday, Carli and I drove down to New York City for the night. We decided we didn't want to pay $60 to park in Manhattan and have to brave the traffic there. So, we decided to park at the closest train station and then take Public Transportation in. We drove into our selected site, the Bronx, and looked for the station based on our GPS. There was no station. In fact, if I had not sprained my ankle that morning running after the kids (of COURSE), and was not in a lot of pain, we would have left that place much, much sooner. I had to find a RiteAid to get an ace wrap and a bathroom (long drive) ASAP. Oh my soul. Never again. After being honked at, stared at, waited for at the front door by an employee, and realizing we were the only white people for miles... we pretty much said adieu to the Bronx for eternity. They didn't even have public restrooms and told me to try the laundromat down the street. I'll hold it, thanks.

The split-second decision to pay $60 for our lives and park in the city was the best one we ever made. I got to drive in Manhattan! I was a crazy NYC driver, cutting off cabs, nearly getting killed 49586949 times, and yelling at pedestrians. I loved it. First item of business after it took us an hour to go a mile? Check into the hotel. Second? Head out to Chinatown for handbags.

Bags purchased by Carli: 5
Bags purchased by Lindsey: 0
Stores entered: 3859606
Back rooms entered: 3859600
Hours spent: 5
Elevator rides with freaked-out Canadians: 1
Vans entered: 3
Close calls: 1 (chased out of the building when they thought the cops were there and running down flights of stairs with my sprained ankle and Asians yelling at me to hurry)

Saturday morning, we stood in line for the front-row tickets lottery for Wicked, but did not win. We stood in the cancellation line for a while and got FANTASTIC seats - 8th row or so! We had a couple hours. What should we do? Head to Chinatown.

Bags purchased by Carli: 0
Bags purchased by Lindsey: 2 (Fendi spy bag in mustard/brown and D&B zebra print)
Stores entered: 1
Back rooms entered: 1
Hours spent: 0.5
Elevator rides with freaked-out Canadians: 0
Vans entered: 0
Close calls: 0

A much, much, much better day. We then saw Wicked and got there literally 60 seconds before they shut the doors. Literally. My apologies to Carli, again, for the sprained ankle, my limping through times square in a mad rush with three handbags (my old one included) and a lettuce-wrapped Whopper Junior in my mouth and hand. There's a visual for ya. Our seats were freaking awesome and I kept saying, "I am just so happy right now." Great show.

Number of times I have seen Wicked in NYC: 2
Number of times I have cried from happiness while there: 2
Time it took us to get to the freeway from Manhattan: 3 minutes. Much easier than coming in.
Walking down 5th Avenue with H&M purchases in tow and browsing Saks: Priceless.
H:1N1
3. Unfortunately, that fun picture of us at the RedSox game while in Boston, turned into this:
This was especially fortunate, since I had a sore throat that day. We couldn't get off the bleachers because it was too crowded. So, we just had to stand there and get poured on. I knew I would get sick. We were flying home the next day on a plane with re-circulated air. Yay.....

I missed half a day of work that week from having such a nasty cold. I thought it was done for the month.

It wasn't.

Full-force a couple weeks later, another cold showed up. This one was BAD. Swine flu bad. I missed almost two weeks of work. Chills, cough, sore throat, achy body, sinus congestion, and fatigue. I missed out on the Halloween events I was soooooo looking forward to, including the ward corn maze (missed out last year because I didn't want to see Blanch) and Andrea's annual family party. I had to work one day, so the rules from HR were to wear a mask. Hence, the gorgeousness of this next photo:H:earing
4. Sunday night, my ear was so plugged up from my sinuses that it hurt. The worst pain I have ever had I think. I was sobbing from pain. Can't remember the last time I did that. I got a blessing from my dad and Uncle Tom and my mom took me to instacare. BOOOOOOOOOO on instacare. The "doctor" told me that the infection was from a q-tip, that I had a cold (not the flu), and that it would clear up in two days with some antibiotic drops in the outer ear. Sent me home quickly. Thankfully, the pain subsided (it shouldn't have at this point... I owe this to Divine Intervention) and I went home. My ear was still completely plugged two days later, so I called an Ear/Nose/Throat doctor and was able to get in that day after calling a couple different ones. ALWAYS go to a specialist if you have issues. That's my new mantra. They tested my hearing. The doctor told me I had lost 15% in my left ear, the clogged one. He also looked in there and said the infection was in the MIDDLE ear. He got me scheduled for surgery the next morning! Apparently, the infection was bad enough that it caused hearing loss and would not drain.

H:ospital
5. I checked in at 7:30am the next morning to the outpatient center and took a test......

I am NOT pregnant!!!!

Then, the anesthesiologist walked in to introduce himself. I am pretty sure he was 17 years old. My mom and I both looked at him like... you're going to do WHAT? Have you even graduated high school? He was perfect though. I didn't feel anything and was peacefully knocked out until recovery.

My mom got me stickers with Cinderella and Winnie the Pooh on them. See, this surgery is usually done on infants and children. Even the pamphlet they gave me the day before said I could bring my favorite toy or blanket. I seriously debated it.

What century is this?! Who loses hearing because of a cold? Helen Keller?

Am I 75 years old? You know what I have to tell people now? "Here, talk into my good ear." YEAH!

Isn't that hysterical?

Hopefully my hearing will completely return when the tube falls out and the hole in my eardrum closes up.

H:alloween
6. I used the instacare mask to my advantage when I wanted to attend my ward costume party and not get anyone else sick. I used my mom's scrubs and went as a nurse! Heather was me! Everyone loved it.

For work, I was all better by Friday the 30th (minus the hearing loss), and dressed up as a nerd for the costume party.
The girls and I went to lunch in costume for my birthday, which was two months ago, but we never celebrated. The immigrant working at the Mexican restaurant offered to take a picture of me topless. Enough said.

Poli was a football player. Enough said.
H:oundstooth
7. I got this dress from Shabby Apple and absolutely love it! Kim took this pic at our company holiday meeting on Monday. Nobody asked me to unbutton it for photos, so I guess we're good now! No more creeps!


Thanks for reading this far. I hope you enjoyed my Hecka Hot Happenings post. Holla!