Ladybug Studio

Tonsil what?…

Okay - about that medical thing. About three weeks ago my throat started feeling weird, as if something that I had eaten had gotten stuck. It wasn't painful, just really annoying. This went on for three days. Finally, I grabbed a flashlight and using my toothbrush as a tongue depressor, I took a look at my throat. And to my great surprise, there was something there! A small white object, about the size of a half a kernel of corn, was lodged into the right side of my throat. What the heck…?

I poked at it with the toothbrush, but it wasn't budging. I reversed the brush and tried using the bristles, but that just caused me to gag. We have a set of metal dental tools, but I was afraid that I might hurt myself with those. Then Tom offered up a rubber tipped dental gadget for me to try. I opened up wide, shined the flashlight on my throat and…

It was gone! I guess my poking and prodding was enough to loosen it up and it finally came out and was swallowed. Well good riddance!

Then this past Sunday afternoon I again felt that uncomfortable sensation. Again I grabbed the flashlight and the toothbrush and sure enough - the stupid white bit was there! Now really. What the heck is going on here? This time I decided it was time to see a doctor. I didn't prod at it because I wanted the doctor to see it and diagnose the darned thing.

I made an appointment with an excellent ear, nose and throat doctor for Tuesday morning. (they couldn't fit me in on Monday, sadly) Then Monday evening I took a peek at my throat and the white thing was gone again. Rats! But I decided to see the doctor anyway as I could see where my throat was red and irritated. Maybe he could figure it all out for me.

And he did. I apparently had a tonsillolith, or in layman's terms, a tonsil stone.

Tonsilloliths or tonsil stones are calcifications that form in the crypts of the palatal tonsils. They are also known to form in the throat and on the roof of the mouth. Tonsils are filled with crevices where bacteria and other materials, including dead cells and mucous, can become trapped. When this occurs, the debris can become concentrated in white formations that occur in the pockets. Tonsilloliths are formed when this trapped debris combines and hardens, or calcifies. (read more about it here)

How odd is that? Leave it up to me to get something weird. Ann is enjoying being able to tell people that I have rocks in my head.

So the doctor prescribed an antibiotic and Magic Mouthwash (his own recipe that the pharmacy mixed up for me). He also said if they continue to occur, I may need to have my tonsils removed. I hope it doesn't come to that.

I really don't think it will, because, in the course of discussions this week I found out that Ann's daughter-in-law gets them quite frequently. Then last night I was telling Joy all about it and she gets them too! That's crazy! They don't seem to be particularly harmful, just annoying. I hope that with the prescribed treatment, they will go away and stay away. But based on these two ladies' experience, I'm not feeling that hopeful.

Remember me?…

Look how long it's been since I updated! This has been a crazy busy week and I knew I hadn't written, but I didn't realize I didn't write anything last week either. Guess there wasn't anything interesting going on. The weekend was good, with lots of tennis and bicycling, but it's really too late to say anything about that now.

Work has kept me occupied in a big way this week. I enjoy keeping busy, but it's been a lot closer to hectic these past couple of days. I just finished all of the signs, table tents and whatnot for the Florida Labor-Management Conference. I was lucky to go to the conference last year, because this year things are scaled back a bit and attendance is way down. Damn economy.

Another project that has kept me busy is one that I'm rather proud of. For the first time in the nearly seven years that I've worked at KSC, my assignment was to design the crew and mission posters for the next shuttle launch, STS-128. These posters are the most widely visible items that our group produces, so I am thrilled and honored to finally design a set.

Of course, I was very nervous about whether or not I could really create an acceptable design. The deadline was tight, so I didn't really have much time. But that might have been a good thing as I sometimes do better with a fire under my tail. To make a long story a little shorter, I came up with a design, fairly easily I admit, that coordinates both posters. The mission poster was approved as is! No changes at all. The crew poster needed minor modifications, but overall, it was well liked. Once they're both approved, I'll post them so you can see what I came up with.

Oh - I have some interesting medical news! But it will have to wait until tomorrow…

One small step for man…

Today is the 40-year anniversary of man stepping foot on the moon. There's been lots of news about the occasion in the local papers these past several days. As part of the celebration, a group here at KSC was handing out mini Moon Pies at the entrance to the cafeteria. I'm not particularly a big Moon Pie fan, but I decided it was practically un-American to miss out on one, today of all days.

The weekend was good, over all. A nice combination of fun, sports, good eats and time spent with Tom, balanced out with some yard work and computer time. It wasn't all fun and games, but the percentage was higher, for sure.

We did get a lot of rain this weekend. The usual summer weather pattern. The hotter it gets, the earlier the storms roll in.

On Saturday I spent some time out front with the electric trimmers, shaping the golden mound to the best of my ability. Let's just say that I would never be hired to trim the topiary characters at Disney World. Nevertheless, they look so much better now. I did have to race a storm and had just gotten the electrical stuff put away when the rain came down. On Sunday I was back at it again, this time shaping the topiary trees on either side of the office window. If I had it all to do again, I'm not sure I would choose those trees. They really require a lot of upkeep and will look shaggy again in no time. I also finally admitted defeat and yanked up the dead crown of thorns. They suffered in a freeze this past winter and just couldn't recover. One of them managed to survive and a miniature plant has started thriving. I clipped off the dead stuff and it appears okay. The yard looks so much better now, I keep stepping back to admire it. I would enjoy yard work a lot more if it weren't so blazing hot. Bah.

Hot house…

Alex and Jeanene's baby was born yesterday! Here are the stats as Alex sent them to me: 11:57 am, 8 lbs 1 oz, 20 inches. Baby and mom are doing great. Dad is also doing ok!

* * *

We are having air conditioning problems, despite our recent upgrade to a state of the art, super efficient Trane system just four months ago. It's been giving us an error code and cutting off periodically. Something freezes up, which shuts off the compressor. We've managed to work around it by flipping the compressor breaker switch off, then on again and a few other dance steps. The company that installed the system has been working with us, but but frankly they are at a loss. Trane doesn't even know what's going on. Apparently we are one of six lucky households across the nation that are experiencing this problem. They think they have narrowed it down to about three possible components that could be at fault. Instead of messing around further, trying each one out, our company is going to replace all three and be done with it. Now we're just waiting for one of those parts to arrive.

So yesterday when I got home it was 82 in the house. It got all the way up to 87 before the air conditioning got started again. I was so looking forward to going home to relax and do whatever I wanted to do. But it was hard to relax in that heat and it was a good idea to keep activity down to the bare minimum. So I lounged around watching Tivo until it cooled off enough to move around the house. It just figures. I'm always wanting to just lounge around, but there's always something that needs doing. So when I get the chance to actually just sit around, I want to do something else.

Double birthday…

In addition to this being Denise's birthday, it will also (hopefully) be the birthday of Alex and Jeanene's daugher, Ainara Jade. Jeanene was to be induced this morning at 6:00. I expect to get a phone call with the particulars sometime late today. Their son, Akiva, was born early and hasn't stopped running. He was in a big hurry to get out into the world and he continues to be a fast moving, busy little guy. Though her due date was this past sunday, Ainara has settled in and is perfectly happy to stay in place. Perhaps she will be an easy going and laid back baby girl. We'll see…

* * *

I tried out a new cereal recently and I am in love with it: Smart Start Strawberry Oat Bites. Part of the Kellogg's Strong Heart series, it's described as whole-oat squares with strawberry flavored bits. For something so tasty, I can't believe how healthy it is. The first two ingredients are whole grain oats and whole grain wheat. One serving contains 6 grams of fiber and only 7 grams of sugar. I just hope I'm getting the serving size correct. It's listed as "about 30 biscuits" and so far I have not taken the time to actually count out 30 pieces of cereal. But I think I'm in the right ball park. The cereal is similar to shredded wheat, which I've never had and didn't think I would care for. But I really like the funky texture, even when it gets saturated and soggy at the bottom of the bowl. Delish!

Good news! The space shuttle Endeavour finally launched yesterday, after five scrubbed attempts. I watched the launch from the Singleton tennis courts. Beautiful. Once it was out of sight, we got down to the business of working on tennis skills. The focus was on aiming for a particular spot on the court. Mary Ann had cones dotted all over and we were to knock over the cones and then get the prize she had put under each one. (small things like magnets and keychains) But it was way more difficult that it sounds. I think Mary Ann was a little bit surprised at how long it took us to finally knock down all of the cones. I somehow managed to knock over two cones and ended up with two tennis ball keychains.

I stopped at Publix on the was home and was so excited by something I found in the produce department: champagne grapes! They're just the most precious little things and they taste great too. They almost melt in your mouth. It's been years since I've seen any and I've never found them in Publix before. Big grapes have a texture that kind of creeps me out, but these tiny things are awesome.

Wow. Long time no write…

Between not much of interest going on and being extremely busy at work, I haven't gotten around to posting in quite a while. Rather than play catch up, I'll just move forward.

TOMORROW IS DENISE'S 40TH BIRTHDAY! HOO HOO!

Yep, Denise is poised to join me in the 40s. It doesn't feel much different, in my opinion. And it's nice to actually know my age. I swear, for nearly the past decade I've had to do math when asked.

Yesterday I went on one of the slowest bike rides of my life. I joined Vicky and a small group at Cocoa Village and we rode the south end of River Road. The group was older than my usual gang and the mix of bikes was eclectic. Vicky rode her hard tail mountain bike, one man was on a hybrid and a couple rode their touring bikes. It was definitely a casual ride, but I was more than happy with that. While I didn't burn many calories, it was nice to cruise along without cranking away, trying to keep up with a fast pace.

Tom is on second shift this week, so I was by myself in the evening. Usually when I talk about him being gone in the evening, it's a good thing. It's rare that I'm home alone, so I consider it sort of a treat. But this second shift thing has gone on long enough (he was on 2nd part of last week, too). I rather like having him around. Plus, watching the tour by myself isn't much fun at all.

July 4th weekend…

Holiday weekends go by so fast! It's not fair! How can it be Monday already? Now we have two long months until the next one. (Girls' weekend in Savannah! More about that later.)

Overall, despite the extra day, I can't say that the July 4th weekend was all that exciting though. There were some highlights, but mostly it was pretty middle of the road.

On Friday Tom and I took my little car to the dealership for servicing. Nothing was wrong, but a message was appearing every day requesting a Service A and whatever my little car wants, she gets. While she was having her spa treatment, Tom and I got a loaner car and ran some errands in Melbourne. Now, the loaner car was pretty cool - a GLK350, their new small SUV. We both really liked it a lot and it was fun to drive, too.

Saturday I attended the tennis round robin July 4th party. It turned out to be a pretty good day. I played much better than I had on Wednesday (didn't take much). Even had a player express shock when I missed a ball because, "you never miss anything!" Which is so not true, but made me feel good anyway.

I didn't make cupcakes or the punch. Instead, I got lazy and made brownies. And I didn't like them. I think my taste buds were off because when I asked Tom to taste one to be sure, he declared that they tasted like they always do. But despite that, I ended up bringing most of them back home. It was just too hot and humid for rich baked goods. A lot of people brought fruit and it was by far the most popular. In fact, I too was munching on fruit, but had no use for the other stuff.

While the day was a typical July scorcher, we were all pretty bummed when it started raining. At first it felt really good, but it rained hard enough to wet down the courts and tennis was over for the day.

Tom and I stayed in Saturday night and watched the first stage of the Tour de France. You know what I hate about watching the Tour? The commercials. OMG. By the end of three weeks we'll have them all memorized and that is not a good thing. Bah.

Sunday was kind of a sports day too. I spent 4.5 hours watching the Wimbledon men's final. It was quite an amazing match. And while I like both Roger Federer and Andy Roddick, I was definitely cheering for Andy. Roger has already won 5 Wimbledons, but Andy hasn't won there yet. And he really played like he deserved it, but in the end, Roger won the championship. Poor Andy. Maybe the US Open…

Thank God it's Thursday…

I wish we had gotten rained out last night. But the rain held off and it was actually pleasant with cloud coverage and a breeze. However, weather aside, tennis clinic was horrible. It was the kind of night that made me want to put my tennis stuff out by the curb and find a new activity.

We worked on lobs and overheads. Apparently, I need to do a lot of work on both of these skills. But my problems started with the warm up, truthfully. I prefer to start warming up close to the net, get the hand eye coordination working, then move back a little at a time until I'm hitting from the baseline. The other players were already hitting from the baseline though, when I joined them. And one of them was this guy who consistently hits the ball really hard. Too hard, most of the time. So I was uncomfortable and discombobulated from the start.

Once we began the various exercises, things continued to go downhill for me. I felt like such a loser and really wanted to leave. At least I can credit myself with sticking it out until the end. But the whole experience gave me the blues and now I don't want to play tennis on Saturday, despite the party. Yes, because it's the 4th of July, everyone's supposed to wear red, white and blue, and bring food of some sort. I figured on bringing cupcakes and possibly making Joy's punch. It's not very patriotic looking, but it's so delicious, I doubt anyone would care.

I just hope I can get out of my funk and into a tennis/party mode by Saturday.

Countdown to the fourth…

I didn't get my act together and I've missed out on the Wilson trade-in offer. I was hoping to come to a decision last night, between my current racquet and the demo. But doubles was rained out. I might still have ordered the racquet, based on how well it played on Saturday, but I forgot and now it's too late. Oh well, I'll just think of it as money saved.

I wasn't entirely disappointed to not play tennis yesterday afternoon. I would have enjoyed running around burning calories, but I'm not sure how well I would have played, considering the pain. Our upper body strength training class was taught by a new person yesterday and she really put it to us. I used heavier weights and tried really hard. I was proud of powering out 30 full body pushups on an upside down BOSU, but I'm suffering for it today.

After watching the latest episodes of The Next Foodnetwork Star (I'm rooting for Melissa and Jameka) and Royal Pains, I finally got around to installing the latest software update on my iPhone. Now I can take advantage of some cool new features: voice memos, landscape keyboard, copy and paste, spotlight search, and more.

Today's technically "Thursday" and I'm looking forward to the three day weekend. We don't have any exciting plans though. While my car gets serviced on Friday, we'll get a loner car and run some errands while we're down in Melbourne. It would be great if the camera shop would have the macro lens that I want in stock, but I'm not counting on it.

The Tour de France starts on Saturday, so I imagine we'll make a big point of watching. I love the Tour and I'm excited about watching it this year, but unfortunately, this will also be the start of three weeks of sleep deprivation. Throughout the Tour there are a couple of rest days. I'm pretty sure those days aren't as much for the riders as they are for the fans.

Note to Denise: I'm not a fan of bleu cheese either. You don't taste it. I guess the other cheeses take over. Also, I had them leave the bleu cheese crumbles off of the top. Maybe that's what saved it.