Monthly Archives: January 2014

I realized the other day that it’s been quite a while since I last blogged about how cold it is here. Last winter, when I was still new to the Rochester area, I continually found myself amazed at how cold it was. Temperatures reached the single digits? You bet I’d blog about it. Wind chills feel like -3? I’d blog about that too. Snowstorm? Pictures galore! After all, anything below 32 degrees is kind of a big deal to a native Texan. On Tuesday, amidst all the polar vortex hullabaloo this fine nation has been experiencing this winter, the wind chills hovered between -15 and -25 degrees…all day. And, you know, I thought nothing of it! It didn’t even get a mention on this little old blog! Kind of amazing what a difference a year makes, isn’t it? Granted, my skin (and my soul, I’m pretty sure) has thickened a little bit, I now own – and regularly wear – wool socks, exceptional snow boots, thermal waffle shirts, CuddlDud long john under layers, a long down-filled coat, and thick gloves and hats that were actually made for this climate. But now, wind chills below zero is kind of old hat. Still cause for the occasional grumble or complaint, especially when the winds are whipping around at 30 mph, which they frequently are, and snow is blowing in your eyeballs, and your face gets a wicked red wind burn rash that lasts for days. But I just thought it was funny – the difference a year can make.

On Tuesday night while Ted was away at a tech rehearsal, I was at home on the couch nursing my extra-sore jaw with ice packs (yes, when it was -20 out. I do see the irony. And I probably could have just gone and shoved my face in the snow for a while, but alas…), and though it was only Tuesday, I was still whipped from my wisdom tooth extraction on Friday (which I think the meds are playing a major part of) and we were up against a tight deadline at work to get an excellent quality Clybourne Park Discovery Guide written and to the printer, which was really exhausting. And so I wanted, and needed, nothing more than to lay on the sofa wrapped in blankets, eat mushy mac n’ cheese, numb my jaw with ice packs, relax, turn my brain off for a few hours, and watch something entertaining but mindless…something I didn’t have to pay too much attention to, and if I dozed off in the middle of it, so be it. Enter the perfect show for a cold, achy, girls night in on the couch…House Hunters. House Hunters International. Beat the House. Property Virgins. Basically, any HGTV house buying show you can think of. And, after sitting through several episodes of various shows with couples looking to purchase homes in Boston, New Jersey, Atlanta, New Zealand, and South Africa….along come an episode about a young couple – probably close to our age – looking for the perfect home right outside of Rochester, NY. Attention grabbed…instantly. Except their budget was $200,000 – which is kind of unfathomable to us since our budget would likely be somewhere in the neighborhood of $75,000-$125,000. But there were several things that really struck me….

One: It’s kind of amazing how much, or little, a $200,000 budget will get you, depending on what area of the country you’re looking to live in. The Rochester couple was hoping to stay right around $200,000 and they were shown several really large, spacious, nice, upgraded homes in our area for that price. A home in Texas would likely be similar. The couples from Atlanta, New Jersey, and another New York community had budgets between $400,000 and $500,000. And even with double the budget, these other couples were struggling to find something similar size and quality wise to a $200,000 Rochester home.

Two: House buying brings out the picky in the people. And, I suppose, it should – it’s a huge decision. But some of the couples and individuals – especially on House Hunters International – looked at homes that were just fantastic. Right in their budget, had everything on their “must have” list, were beautifully maintained, great views – and they were still like, “Well, I don’t know…” I’m kind of flabbergasted by how many people on these shows don’t realize that a huge part of buying a house is prioritizing and compromise, and again, how many of them can’t commit to an excellent deal when they see one. Some of these homes, I would have snapped up instantly. And yet people were dragging their feet on the smallest of details. I get it – everyone wants their home to be just right for their family. Fair enough. I do too. But when you’re working with a budget, sometimes you just can’t have absolutely everything, and when something that’s 95% great comes along, you just gotta jump, you know? For me, if I were in the house buying boat, a beautiful, spacious, upgraded kitchen, an amazing bathtub, and a great deck/backyard would be near the top of my list. Ted’s list would definitely include a basement he could convert to a workshop and bowling alley, a big garage, and a nice office space. Though these would be important features to us in a home, I think we could be flexible and compromise as well, if need be. And if a great home, right in our budget, came along that had everything but one or two of the things we’d had our heart set on – who are we to tempt fate?

Three: I’m a little nervous now that I’ve discovered Beat the House. Because the show is kind of intriguing and I can see myself wanting to watch it…often. The premise is that an individual or couple has already found a house that they love and want to put in an offer on. Two different brokers battle to show the buyers a home that is a better house then the one they’re planning to purchase. It’s an interesting show because one of the brokers is usually content on getting the couple their perfect home – without compromise and with minimal regard to their budget – while the other broker is intent on getting the couple a great home that they might want to upgrade a bit, but for under their budget. Meaning, the female broker is willing to go over the buyer’s budget to get them to fall in love with something that is completely move-in ready, requires no renovations, and has everything they’re looking for, even if it’s over budget by up to $100,000, and the male broker would rather find the buyers a great house that has most of the things on their “must have” list, but is under budget so they can use the money they’re saving upfront as money they can invest back into the house to make changes and renovations that allow the buyers to put in their dream kitchen, but still increase the value of the home in the long run. Frankly, I’m much more inclined to follow along the path of the male broker. But the show presents an interesting premise, and kind of makes me excited for the day when we decide to purchase a house and can make these decisions for ourselves.

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Clearly, this is precisely the type of long, rambling blog post that comes out of post-op meds and multiple nights spent on the couch nursing sore gums.

Thanks for reading along :)

Also, in case you missed my post yesterday about how to score yourself some awesome FREE clothing and milk – quickly and easily right now, be sure to check it out here.

Well, I did it! I survived my wisdom teeth extraction surgery on Friday. I realize that this is a common procedure and that many, many people before me have made it through – no big deal. But I honestly thought, as an adult, that I’d never need to have my wisdom teeth out and I’d lucked out of this little rite of passage. I was wrong.

First and foremost, I have to tell you that I was dreading it. Terrified, crazed, nervous wreak doesn’t even begin to cover it. But you know what? It wasn’t pleasant, but it really wasn’t nearly as awful as I’d expected, and for that I have to give so much credit to Ted, who was a truly incredible husband and nurse to me all weekend. He has been just ridiculously, unbelievably awesome for the past five days, and continues to be so, even five days post-op.

I, wisely, opted for IV sedation, which was a total Godsend, practically painless, and put me to sleep instantly. After my college-aged looking oral surgeon and his team of nurses put the IV in, got me on oxygen, and hooked me up to all the monitors, the surgeon kept me talking (and my mind off of what was going on) by shooting several vials of meds into my IV line, the first three of which he referred to as PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon beer) and the last one, he told me, was Wild Turkey (a bourbon). Ha. Bourbon at 8 a.m. He’s funny. But you know what? That’s kind of what it felt like. The last thing I remember was a comforting, warm, tingly feeling taking over my body and mind while I attempted to ask if this would hurt or if I’d be able to feel anything…and then I was gone. When I awoke an hour later, I was exhausted, and groggy, had two less wisdom teeth, and had slept through the entire thing, which was exactly what I had hoped for.

Now, here’s what nobody tells you about wisdom tooth extraction – the good, the bad, and the ugly:

1. The IV sedation meds will make you feel way out of it and super emotional. After they woke me up from the surgery and got me situated for Ted to come and take me to the car, I just sat there in the wheelchair, with a cheek full of bloody gauze, and tears streaming down my face – for no reason at all. Not because I was in pain, not because I was scared, or overwhelmed, but just simply because those meds make you cry for some uncontrollable, inexplicable reason. I’m pretty sure it took all of Ted’s willpower not to whip out the video camera and laugh while I sat there staring off into the distance, mumbling unintelligible nonsense statements, and crying.

2. I was exhausted – like, I absolutely could not stay awake on the car ride home exhausted. I was OUT. Ted drove the whole way home with his hand on my knee for comfort and support (somehow I felt, and remembered, this – he’s the best!), stopped at Target to put in for my prescriptions, stopped at McDonald’s to get me a vanilla milkshake, left me in the car at home for a couple of minutes while he went inside to lay out towels for me to walk on and get a chair ready for me to sit in when I got inside…and I seriously slept through everything. And then, at home, after I somehow managed to get through the milkshake he’d gotten me (which was a lot harder than it sounds – especially because your mouth feels all messed up and you’re not allowed to suck through a straw), Ted got me situated on the couch with blankets, pillows, slippers, PJs, movies, an ice pack, gauze, plenty of painkillers, towels for me to bleed all over, and my iPad. I fully intended to get some actual theatre work done (ohhh, the plans I had!)…and I promptly fell asleep and basically stayed that way for the entire rest of the day. And was still tired that night when I went to bed. I was tired on Saturday. I was tired on Sunday. And Monday and Tuesday back at work took some adjustment too, but all I wanted to do when I got home from work was relax.

3. Oh, the blood! Eww. I bled through gauze square after gauze square after gauze square. Of course, in my drug-induced haze, I immediately drooled blood all over our beige carpet as soon as I got into the house, which Ted – the angel – immediately cleaned up and never even mentioned again. But, really, I never even considered that my mouth would bleed pretty much all day. It happens, so be prepared and have plenty of gauze on hand.

4. The first day was actually the worst. I’d expected that I would be totally numb all day – that I wouldn’t start feeling anything until day 2. And that was not what happened. Almost as soon as we got home, the numbness had worn off and I was aching, swelling, sore and in pain. Fortunately, the cocktail of pills they have me on is highly effective, but day one was definitely worse than I expected. Which, fortunately, meant that days two and three were better than I expected they’d be.

5. You’ll stay busy. Between a 6-hour rotation of pills, replacing gauze, heating and icing your jaw, swishing salt water after every meal, and coming up with enough soft foods to keep you full – your waking hours will be well spent.

6. It’ll be difficult to open your mouth, and it kind of hurts to talk during the first two days, so I mostly ate baby bites of soft food with a small spoon and avoided phone calls and talking as much as possible.

7. I got a freaking SWEET bruise from my IV! I was pretty proud…that thing was a BEAST.

I know you’re impressed.

In terms of food, since you can’t eat anything solid, spicy, or hot (temperature wise) for the first two days, I lived on vanilla milkshakes, vanilla yogurt, chocolate pudding, applesauce, mojito sorbet, lukewarm creamy potato leek soup, lukewarm cream of wheat cereal, Powerade, and soft-boiled eggs over guacamole. All of which I’ve grown pretty fond of. Yum! I’d also recommend egg drop soup and soft Asian noodles, if you’re looking for something a little more exciting once you’ve healed up a bit.

I also got a ton of much-needed rest over the long weekend and finally got to read several chapters of The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, finish watching season 2 of Call the Midwife, and watch the new live filmed Carrie Underwood version of The Sound of Music that Ted had taped for me back in December. And The Sound of Music, even if it’s not the best adaptation in the world (and it wasn’t), always makes me feel better.

And, as if this entire post weren’t TMI enough, this is where I get sappy and wax poetic about how totally amazing Ted was. He anticipated my every need before I could even ask for it, he kept me totally comfortable at all times, kept on top of all my pill, gauze, icing, heating, and salt water swishing rotations, woke up with me in the middle of the night when I needed to be awake to take care of myself, brought me whatever food I needed, wanted, and could eat, checked in with me constantly to make sure I was feeling okay and didn’t need anything, and – in general – just made my recovery so easy and comfortable. If you ever need your wisdom teeth out, I sure hope you all have someone wonderful to take care of you – it really makes a HUGE difference.

And, Cider got her first taste of bloodworms this weekend. Nasty, we know, but she adores them. Also, our fish eats out of a food bowl. We are one weird family.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Little things lately…

• Watching the whole series of Parenthood, episode by episode, on Amazon Prime…all the time. We’re nearly done with season 2. I love the cast, and I love how much I love and hate characters and situations all at the same time. For those of us who come from a family of four siblings, this show hits home. For those of us without kids, this show is an eye opener. It makes me laugh, but it also doesn’t shy away from family difficulties. It drives me crazy, but it really doesn’t because I love it. It’s nice to have a really good, solid show to sink my teeth into.
• Craving Asian noodles, Dim Sum, Vietnamese Bahn Mi, gyoza, edamame, spring rolls, miso…Asian inspired cuisine all around! Please and thank you.
• Eating at least four clementines a day. At least. Basically, as many as I can get my hands on. I’m addicted. I eagerly await the start of clementine season every year, and thank heavens its here.
• Reading The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. I’m only just into Part II, but I really like it so far. I think this book is hitting me just at the right time in my life. It speaks to me in a way that only a book can. I’m also starting to get into Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed, which I’ve been looking forward to reading for a while now.
• Purging my closet and selling some gently used clothing to Twice and thredUP. I’ll let you know how it goes. No point in hanging on to stuff that just isn’t right anymore, you know?
• Insanely busy at work. Insanely. I still love every stinking minute of it, because, duh, awesome job at awesome theatre with awesome people making awesome art! But does everything have to happen allattheexactsametime!? I’m looking at you Clybourne Park discovery guide, Stage Door Design Project, Theatre & Race: A Community Conversation, and 2 million other little projects…
• Apparently its shorts and tank top weather in Texas right now? Well, it’s subzero and snowing here, so I’m highly, highly jealous Texas friends!
• I’ve been informed I have a ten-year high school reunion coming up in June at a local country & western dance hall near the town where I grew up. TEN YEARS. Thinking about going…mostly because I just desperately want a trip home to Texas to hang out with my parents and my family and my friends, catch some stellar sunsets, eat delicious Tex-Mex, sip at a few strong margaritas on the back porch, and – obviously – to love on my ridiculously handsome cat. But it might be nice to reconnect with people too? I’m still mulling it over. Also, I’d kind of need Southwest to give me a free flight, so…
• We’ve snagged a lot of free goodies lately (and by we, I pretty much mean I because free cosmetics isn’t exactly Ted’s cup of tea), including chocolate covered pineapple pops from Edible Arrangements, Snickers ice cream bars, awesome Origins cosmetics trail size products, Bath and Body works hand lotion, a Self magazine subscription, and a bottle of fish oil vitamin gummies for adults…among several other sweet freebie things. This couponing stuff is working out, I think. And hey, who doesn’t like free?
• A certain pair of gorgeous green satin Express flats, new with tags yet still steeply discounted from ebay, arrived in the mail for me today…thanks for the treat awesome hubby! :)
• Speaking of Ted, he’s been keeping busy with some exciting work for his own company, TORventures, and a few other theatres that will take him to Green Bay and Florida in the next few months, and hopefully a few good shows coming his way this summer too.
• Cider, our crayfish, is TOO MUCH. Not only has she mastered escaping her tank, but she now refuses to eat any food that is not a live fish. She used to love carrots, cabbage, veggie rounds, shrimp pellets…all of it. Now, she won’t eat anything that she cannot hunt down and kill by herself. The only thing she wants to eat are her tankmates. Why does she only want to eat her friends!? Girlfriend is getting picky.
• My wisdom teeth come out on Friday. I am dreading this impending doom like. the. plague. I’m horrified. Please don’t make me do it.

Here.

Today, I want to be here.

I want to forget about bills and to-do lists and wisdom teeth and just take a trip…here.

Where do you want to be?

If anyone wants to contribute to the “Lara Really Needs New Work & Weekend Appropriate, Non-Ratty, Un-Tattered, No Holes Shoes With Fully In Tact Soles” (a novelty, I assure you) fund, may I recommend…

{Express Pointed Toe Satin Flats in Green, Size 9 – Get them here – Ebay auction on them expires in less than 10 hours!}

{Modcloth Vanilla Bean Flat in Nude, Size 8 – Get them here}

{Modcloth My Fair Lacy Flat in Black, Size 9 – Get them here – only 2 left in stock!}

{Modcloth Stacks or Fiction Heel in Brown, Size 8.5 – Get them here}

{Refresh Women’s YoYo-01 Oxford Lace Up Ankle Booties in Rust, Size 9 – Get them here}

{Modcloth Seedless Romantic Flat in Red, Size 8 – Get them here}

Please and Thank You! A girl can dream, right? It would be far-fetched to say that I’m just one of those shoe-obsessed girls who is constantly blowing her dough on new kicks (clearly, because the last time I bought shoes was about 4 years ago…and I’m pretty sure it shows – as a side note: I realize that most people wear shoes much longer than 4 years – I certainly do too. 75% of my shoes are from high school and college, but the way shoes are designed and constructed nowadays, they’re not made to withstand years of daily use – sad but true), but this year, my feet are really starting to feel the shoe-blues growing pains, and it would be pretty spectacular if the Shoe Fairy paid me a visit.

When was the last time you bought new shoes? What kind of wonderful, magical Fairy do you wish would pay you a visit?