Today

Some events from the day:

• Created a Halloween garland for work.  It turned out pretty cute, amazingly enough, due in large part to huge encouragement from my very creative and artsy coworker.
• Convinced another coworker that along with the bats we were hanging about the office, we needed one of them to be Batman.  He was totally game, and created a fantastic Batman to hang from the ceiling, which cracked me up every time I saw it during the day.
• Got good news and bad news about the foster kids I work with: two are SO CLOSE to adoption with their sweet, sweet family, but the other one is headed to yet another placement.  Hopefully, this one will be a perfect fit!
• Saw three people get arrested.  It was AWESOME.  It's been a good 18 months since I've seen anyone get arrested, so it was nice.  It was a great distraction for the day.  Did much else get accomplished?  No.  But was it fantastic?  YEP!
• Made mini pumpkin cheesecakes with moderate success.  The cheesecake part is pretty stinking yummy, but I just used vanilla wafers for the crust since I was in a hurry, and they turned out a bit soggy...oh well.  It'll be my contribution to the office Halloween party, and I'll do it differently next time, if there is a next time.
• Went to the gym and worked hard.  I am already sore.  Good thing, because then tonight I had to sample the mini cheesecakes to make sure they were done and presentable for a public engagement.
• Bought too much cream for the cheesecakes, so now I have leftovers.  Anyone have any recipes that involve cream and magically erase all of its fat?
• Heard what was, perhaps, one of the funniest segments in a news story EVER on NPR this evening.  I'll try to find it online so that you can all enjoy it.

Tomorrow is Halloween, one of those holidays that just doesn't do anything for me.  However, there is going to be lunch at work, and that does a lot for me.

Beetlemania

I just saw another beetle in my room.  Truth be told, I think it's actually not a beetle, but a Box Elder Bug.  Somebody's Mother could identify it quickly, but wouldn't even be interested in collecting it because it is pervasive in the area and fairly generic.  However, "Box Elder Bug Mania" isn't as interesting as "Beetlemania," so that's what I'm going with.

Gross.  Yuck.  Apparently, it can also fly.  Now I'm hoping for some snow to kill the population off.

A friend said that the ultimate reason to get married is to have someone to kill bugs.  I told her that I thought the ultimate reason to get married was for presents, but I'm starting to rethink the bug thing...

Gross.

Just for me, if anyone sees one of these little suckers outside, go ahead and smush it for me before it finds its way into my room.

Decisions, with credit to Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler, long I stood and looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth.

And stood, and stood, and walked down the other path, wishing that it didn't have to be so.  And glanced back, disappointed, wishing that I could take the first.  Of course, although the first path was more traveled by, it isn't well traveled by me, so odds are that I would've ended up looping back, but all the same, wishing, wishing, wishing...

Oh, I kept the first for another day!  Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back...

Lame, Lame, Lame

I'm working on schoolwork, a bit, trying to focus (fairly unsuccessfully) on a huge amount of work that I need to finish this weekend.

On the website where I log in to many of my online classes, I can see how many people from each class are signed on.

Right now?  Pretty much just me.  Why am I the only one doing homework on Friday night?  Is that a bad sign?

Relief

I read about the development of an exciting new technology.  It really was impressive, and I'm always amazed at the things people can figure out.

Although the technology can be used for many things, one of the applications that the article listed for this technology is to simplify iPod controls.

So glad they figured that out.  My iPod is so complicated and not user-friendly.

Current Thought

I also need to be a little bit more careful about what I say on this blog.  Apparently, the LAPD and Captain Hammer are among our viewers.  They were waiting for me at the Mayor's dedication of the Superhero Memorial Bridge...Captain Hammer threw a car at my head.

End Socialization

Somebody's Mother says that Sundays need to be my day to be social, since I'm swamped in work and school all of the other days this week.

Tonight, I attended Ward Prayer, which has become the social staple.  I go, I chat for a few minutes, and then leave.  Tonight's socialization led to one of the least pleasant conversations I've had since moving into the ward.  Amazingly enough, it happened because I was trying to talk to someone I hadn't really talked to before, because they were standing alone.  Apparently, they have heard me talk with others before (never really talked to them though) and had already formed an opinion of me which they proceeded to share.  I think they thought it was funny.  I didn't, and I shortly left.

Later, someone else passed judgement and mocked me for who I had been trying to get to know earlier at ward prayer.  I'm trying to make friends here.  I don't need any external discouragement.  I find plenty of that from myself, thanks.

Fortunately, I met my new neighbors, who are really nice.  I'll take that.  And another girl in the ward said that she thought we should get together some time and said she thought we're peas in a pod, which is probably at least fairly accurate.  Not sure when I would have time to get together with her until Christmas time, but I appreciate the sentiment.

So, tonight's summary: new neighbors?  Great.  Nice girl?  Great.  Insensitive others?  Not appreciated.

I don't have time for this stuff.  Project Socialization will have to be put on hold until further notice.

That will leave more time for Project Catch Up on TV.  Or homework.  Probably a bit of both.

Sister Revisited

Today I talked to my sister for over an hour.  Our topics of conversation?

• Politics
• Religion
• Grad School
• Weight Loss
• Airline Charges
• Indoor Floor-based Defecation
• Crime and Punishment
• Hair cuts
• Babies
• Statistics
• Vacations
• Seattle
• Scriptures
• Racism
• Paris
• Union City
• Netflix

Sounds potentially heavy, but it wasn't.  It was just one of our conversations. I love my sister.

Sister

I've thought about my sister LL about 400 times today.  

One of them was just now.  As I was getting ready for bed, I was watching TV.  

The show is discussing a murder of a nun, Sister La Rue.  It made me think of one of my sister's nicknames, which has the last name La Rue.  The first name is not sister, however, so it's funny to hear that name.

My sister is fantastic on so many levels--who else would share my inability to accessorize, my gift for saying strange things ("I go through paper like it grows on trees!"), my unfashionable choices...

Blog Action Day

Today is Blog Action Day, this year dedicated to the issue of global poverty in preparation for Poverty Awareness Day this Friday.

Microfinance companies worldwide are radically improving lives of those living in poverty.

Check out some organizations.  Read up on the movement.  For book reading, I highly recommend both of Muhammed Yunis' books.  A year or two ago, he won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in microcredit--pretty impressive stuff!

Try grameenfoundation.org for some good starting information.

Just because global poverty is a big problem does not mean that it's a problem that we can give up on and ignore.

What Not To Wear

A clip of "What Not To Wear" was on TV just now, and the outfit that is being mocked is so, so similar to so many things that I wear on a regular basis.

Further confirmation that I am not stylish, at all.

I did, however, impulsively purchase a bracelet the other day when out with Somebody's Mother.

That's right--spontaneity AND accessorizing all at once.  I'm amazing... 

Celebrations!

Today consists of many excellent things:

• My sister's birthday.  Her age this year to me signifies a need to go have ice cream.  I may just do that in her honor.  Love ya!!
• My sister-in-law's birthday.  How awesome is that??  Two of my favorite people celebrated on one special day.  I am delighted that all of those years of having brothers is paying off now--I get sisters-in-law, and I couldn't be happier about it.
• Columbus Day.  Why does this matter?  Because I get the day off of work paid.  Bet you all wish that you worked for a financial institution. 
• Shoe shopping with Somebody's Mother.  She has excellent taste, and it's been a while since we've gone shopping.  So fun! 
• Quick shout out to my Canadian reader(s): Happy Thanksgiving!  I think that you should celebrate today, and on American Thanksgiving too--there's no reason to not celebrate extra!

Tomorrow will be hard, as I am returning from vacation last week (more on that to follow, perhaps), but today, I'm celebrating.

The Toes **Graphic Pictures**

By popular demand, here is the story and pictures of the toes. They were actually not injured as I hiked downhill (which is very common for toe injuries) but as I hiked uphill. The toenails rocked up and down, sort of grabbed by the sock, I suppose, and by the top, one hurt a lot, and one hurt a little. After I got out of the shower (shower after a 25 mile hike = best shower ever), I realized that the ones that hurt were not the same color as the others.

They looked bad, then they looked worse, and now they look lots better. They are still sort of black/purple, but don't hurt very much. The nails are very loose, making me think that they're going to fall off at some point. If that does happen, I'll be sure to post follow-up pictures.

Looking at these pictures now, I really don't think that they looked that bad. One person asked to see them and then gagged, but mostly people just thought they were gross and averted their eyes. However, no matter how bad or not bad they looked, they hurt SO MUCH. It was painful to walk, even painful to sleep. I had to get creative and prop my feet up in strange ways to keep the pain down.

I now know why they pull out fingernails as torture. It was, perhaps, one of the most physically painful things I've ever experienced.

This is your last warning...here come the pictures...

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This picture is just two days after it happened. You can see that the big toenail is starting to puff up on the right foot. The other injured toenail is the second toe on the left foot. I have no idea why just those two toes were injured, but that's how it happened. The world may never know...

This is the same day, a close shot of the second toe. The white around the base of the toe is the stretched cuticle.


Two or three days later...big toe getting puffier...


Closeup of the puffy big toe. The base of the toenail poked up in the skin--you could actually see that the entire nail was raised up out of the bed. In this picture, it's just under my thumb.


The next day...


Side angle to compare the two big toenails...pretty strange stuff.


As the swelling went down, the purple/black color just increased. The swelling is completely down on the little toe in this picture, and you can see how black it is. It's not black anymore, as it has separated from the nail bed completely. I was going to take some pictures of that today, but couldn't find my camera.


In this picture, you can see how dark the little nail is. Also, you can see a little bit of bruising in the second toenail on the right foot. That showed up a few days after I got home.


Incidentally, you can see a bit of nail polish on the big toenails in most of these pictures. I hadn't bothered to remove the nail polish from those nails because it is actually just a nude polish, so it usually doesn't show, and you can't usually tell that I haven't kept them painted nicely. However, when a toe turns purple, you start to wish that you didn't have that nail polish on.

So, there's the story and the pictures. Hope it wasn't too much of a letdown after all the talk!

Detached

My two injured toenails are approaching a point of detachment.  

I know, I know--you all want to see pictures of them.  (And by "you all," I mean Bonny...)  I can't get the pictures to upload to blogger right, but as soon as I do, you'll get to see them.

But I digress.  The situation remains that the nails have separated and are quite wiggly.  I think that I need to trim them, but I think they might rip right off if I try to do that.  If they get any longer, they may snag on things and rip off.  Maybe they're going to catch on something and rip off anyway.  Maybe they're not still growing.  These are the things I don't know.

I did some googling about toenails falling off, and got a lot of ways to prevent toenail injuries. That's like googling morning sickness tips and getting results about birth control.  Not really helpful.

I did, however, come across a great word: onychoptosis.  Apparently, that's the word for when your toenails fall off for one reason or another.  It doesn't help the situation at all, but it does have Greek roots, so...

If one of my toenails rips off, I hope it's not in public.  If it is in public, I hope it's not gross.  If it is gross, I'm going to have to come up with a great story to defuse the situation.

And then I'll take a sick day.  Recovery from onychoptosis sounds serious.

Bringing Awkward Back

Sometimes, I make a joke, and even I know that it was bad...yesterday, as I was walking out of my office, I had been in conversation with a coworker, and my parting comment was as follows:

Me: If I had a nickel for every time I had to explain that, I'd be needing to redistribute my deposits for NCUSIF.

Hmm...I'm so, so lame...