Random Updates

It's one day until Matt's birthday, and once again I don't know what to get him. I have a couple ideas, but they're all out of my budget. I need to come up with something. I'm tired of shopping the day of his birthday. I was supposed to stop by Dick's Sporting Goods yesterday after my doctor's appointment, but I started talking on the phone and completely forgot. I have another appointment in town tomorrow so maybe I'll try again tomorrow. If Dick's doesn't have anything, TJ Maxx and Ross are also right there. And if all else fails, Toys R Us is in the same complex.

It's almost time to replant the vegetable garden. My spring garden was pretty much a bust, between getting the seeds in too late and the soil being too poor. Then the weeds took over. I'm going to get some weed killer and spray down the whole garden. Then I plan on tilling in a combination of manure and bagged fertilizer. I'll probably do the manure first, then do my soil testing to determine what type of bagged fertilizer I should add. In the mean time, I need to determine which seeds to plant for the fall and get those ordered. I also need to figure out a better type of fencing to keep the raccoons out. I actually think that orange barrier fencing used with electric fence posts will do the trick. We've been using a similar set-up in dog training and it seems to be really sturdy.

I had my second and hopefully last surgery on my nose last Thursday. My surgery in May was fairly non-invasive. The surgeon used scopes to go through my nostrils and straighten my septum and make my sinus cavity larger. There were no bandages and I was off work for less than a week. That surgery worked very well. I went from having headaches every day to about once a week. The problem was that I still felt congested every time I breathed through my nose. It turns out that I have small valves in my nose. Breathe Right strips helped tremendously, but they were causing sores on my nose and cheeks from wearing them every day. So I was referred to a second surgeon who decided to put cartilage grafts inside my nose to make the valves larger. That means cutting my nose across the bottom, harvesting cartilage from my septum, and wearing a splint over my nose to keep the grafts in place. I am 5 days post surgery and my nose is itching like crazy. The splint covers my nose from the tip to between my eyebrows. Tape holds the splint in place and stretches across both cheeks, up my forehead and down the sides of my top lip. I look like Hannibal Lecter. I cannot wash my face. I cannot take a shower. I have to take bathes and Matt has to wash my hair for me. My ears have dead skin pealing off of them in sheets. I can only imagine what my nose is doing under this bandage. I'm going to need a facial when this is all said and done. I really hope it's worth it.