My life is so exciting that I noticed things like that. Equally as exciting is my new commitment to water. Recently, I’ve been feeling perpetually hung over, and I haven’t been drinking. I basically had a headache for 7 days straight, which was coupled with nausea. Two days ago, I started carrying my nalgene with me to work instead of my coffee thermos. Tuesday, I had about twelve 8-oz glasses of water. Yesterday, I had a bit more, and today, I’m already on glass 10. I feel a noticeable difference, and I weighed myself this morning – surprisingly, I’m 4 pounds lighter than last week. Go H20!

So that’s the extent of my exciting life at the moment. Actually, I take that back. I am taking tomorrow off, which is thrilling to me. We (Morgan & Audrey — our guests, John and I) will be taking the train down to Baden-Baden for the day. Hurray mini vacation!

This story describes medical information that I feel a little weird about sharing, but at the same time, I want to tell what happened on Friday/Saturday. My urge to tell my story won out over my reluctance to divulge such information.

Last Wednesday, I could not shake the itchy feeling I had in my right foot’s middle toe. I took a Benadryl (we did not have any cortisone cream) and went to bed. Everything was fine until the next evening. I scratched it a bit, but it didn’t help, so I took a Benadryl. My toe was bothering me so much that I couldn’t sleep, so I got a bag of ice and left it on my foot so that it would dull the itch (actually the feeling in my foot) so I could sleep. Friday it was bothering me off and on.

Late Friday afternoon, I was at the Shopette at the kaserne about 15 minutes from our apartment and was talking with the alcohol/liquor buyer about getting Shiner Bock and Leinenkuegel in stock. All of a sudden, the itchiness intensified, so I wrapped up the conversation and hurried to the car. I drove down the street to the commissary to pick up cortisone cream. By the time I had driven there, I was fighting back tears because my foot hurt so bad from the itching.

The cortisone cream didn’t help, and I didn’t have any other option but to drive the 10-15 minutes toward home/John’s office. I called him and was bawling by this point, because the pain was pretty bad. John left work early and took me to the acute care clinic (on another post down the street). They are only open until 7 PM, so I’m glad we made it there before closing. They saw me almost right away because I was so uncomfortable.

After examining me and taking blood, they came back with not 1, not 2, but 4 prescriptions. Seriously. I took all but 1 because it was a strong painkiller that I did not want to take. (I prefer to only take what’s necessary to get better, and I did not consider myself in enough pain to warrant something strong like that.) Anyway, I took an antibiotic, something that would stop the itch (but was also for anxiety), and a painkiller (but like I said, not the uber strong one).

By the time we got home (8 PM), I was so out of it that I only managed to scarf down two slices of pizza before passing out on the couch until 11:30 when I finally managed to move myself to bed. I woke up at 1 AM with the chills and extremely nauseous. I finally managed to get back to sleep and slept basically until 10:30 the next morning.

Bottom line: Itchy toe is not cool.

I’m better now though. The antibiotics seem to be doing their job!

1. It has snowed (albeit lightly) off an on since last night. Nothing extra is sticking, but now it’s just the principle of the matter. It’s mid-March for goodness sakes! Bring on the sun and the blooming flowers.

2. Morgan and Audrey arrive Sunday morning for their week-long visit, and we are so excited to see them and get to share a bit of our lives with them.

3. This  morning I was on my way to the bathroom at work, which meant I had to walk past 4 German contractors putting together furniture in the other half of our building. Right before I got to the bathroom, the oldest dirty man said “Guten Morgen” to me in a creepy flirtatious manner. I was creeped out and just walked past him. What I should have said was, “please move. I have to poop.” TMI? Oh, sorry.

4. Béni has gotten a mind of his own lately. Not too long ago, we started taking him outside briefly without a leash. When we said go home, he would be pretty good about running back to the door. Yesterday, however, he ran a big circle around me and took off for the courtyard. By the time I ran around there (in my work shoes, mind you), he was in the far corner of the yard. I lured him in with a stick and had to trek though ice/snow with my shoes clearly meant for warmer weather. Brr!

5. With only 14 months left until we can move back to the States, we are starting to make some plans and things aren’t quite looking like we initially planned. I didn’t realize secure I felt in the old plans until everything changed. I know that we’ll have great adventures whatever we decide and it will be good because we’re together. That said, it’s still frightening not really knowing what our lives will look like in 14 months when the Army kicks us out the door. All we know for sure is that we have an awesomely supportive family as well as great friends back home. That’s enough to get us through!

Was all of that gibberish? I hope not.

6. I am going to the craft store this evening, and I’m giddy. Fridays are Fat Quarter Fridays, where they sell 5 for the price of 4. I’m looking forward to adding a few more fabrics to the quilt I want to make for John. Some day I will actually start the quilt…

7. We have been making time to read before bed every night, and I’m loving it. I used to read before bed every night when I was younger, but college kind of destroyed my hunger for leisure reading (as well as any chance of reading before bed that wasn’t studying). It’s good to get back into it.

Our lows have been in the teens again. Brr. Really.

We have some friends coming for a visit soon, and I really want the weather to be nice for them. I have been checking the forecast every day, and every day it’s drastically different. First it was supposed to be cold and rainy the whole week they’re here. Then it said it was supposed to be sunny and in the 60s (what? early spring? YES!). Today I checked the forecast, and it says we should have a mixture of snow, rain and sun with highs anywhere from the 30s to the 60s by the end of the week.

Oh my goodness, I would LOVE for it to be in the 60s even for just a few days of their visit. Maybe we will even get to see some blooms. Maybe.

Starting off, I have some “bad” news. We had two items that were previously crossed off that we will now have to “uncross.” Last week, we cancelled our Western Mediterranean cruise, so:

1. Go to Spain.
Scheduled for this summer in conjunction with our cruise! Scratch that.
2. Go on a cruise.
Scheduled for this summer! Scratch that too

Bummer, I know. However, John and I have planned to try to take several other mini vacations instead, and actually, we are much more excited about this. Honestly, neither of us is particularly interested in going to Spain anymore.

5. Sarah: Try at least 1 new recipe every month. 

• 1/2009: King Ranch Chicken (my paternal grandmother’s recipe)
• 2/2009: “Easy Parm Chicken” (also my paternal grandmother’s recipe)

10. Sarah: Get new glasses.
I’m happy to report that I went to the optometrist a couple weeks ago and now have a new prescription for glasses. I will be buying a new pair when we’re in Texas visiting family. Then, I can finally use my in-network coverage for the vision insurance I pay into…grumble grumble.

21. Go to Fiesta in 2010.
Planned for this year!

22. Try a new cheese once a month for a year. (4/12)

•  1/2009: We tried some sort of goat cheese that again, unfortunately, neither of us liked.
• 2/2009: I tried white cheddar for the first time. Oh my gosh. Yum!

27. Get a new TV.
Yay! We did this in January or February. We also bought a new sound system. They were good buys!

43. Back up all our digital pictures.
A couple weeks ago, I thought my laptop was failing. All our photos are now backed up on a hard drive. It only took a real scare for me to cross this off my to-do list. It’s been on the list for 2-3 years. Eep!

46. Have fresh flowers on our kitchen table 3 times. (1/3)
John bought me flowers for my birthday!

There we go. 101 in 1001 updated. It’s amazing that this list is only a few months old and already some of the things on the list don’t interest us anymore. We will give it another couple months before I remove those from our list. Maybe we’ll add a few new ones. Is that considered cheating?

Visit Chelsea at Roots and Rings to see how everyone else answered the Ten on Tuesday questions!

1. If you were given an hour to use a $200 Amazon gift card, what would you buy?
I would buy either a cast iron frying pan or a Le Creuset French Oven. With the leftover, I would stock up on books I want to read.

2. Are there any fairly common foods that you’ve never had?
I am not a fan of the thought of eating things that swim in the ocean, so I have never been able to bring myself to eat lobster or salmon. I do usually like crab, Mahi Mahi, tuna, and tilapia, though. I have also never had duck, rabbit, deer, blah blah blah. 

3. What was your favorite way to use your imagination as a kid?
I’m not really sure what this question is asking (sorry Chelsea – it’s still a good one!). I played with my Fisher Price kitchen a lot. Oh, and I never made my dolls talk out loud. They had conversations, but they were all in my head. I guess I was too shy to make them actually speak.

4. What’s your favorite state? Why?
Texas. If you don’t understand why, then I don’t think we can be friends.
I kid…sort of.

5. If it was our culture to have our parents choose our spouses, do you think yours would make a good choice?
No, but only because they wouldn’t have known John, and thus, they would not have picked out John as my husband.

6. What’s your favorite herb?
Mint or lavender, just for the smell

7. If you could have dinner with one celebrity, who would you choose?
President Obama or maybe Tyler from Tyler’s Ultimate. I figure Tyler might cook me one of his fabulous dishes. Yum!

8. What’s your favorite Disney movie?
That’s a toughie. It’s hard for me to choose between Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast, but I think I’ll go with the latter.

9. If you had to listen to the same song over and over for 24 hours, what song would you choose?
Oh my gosh, no song is good on repeat. If I had to do this, I’d choose a long classical piece – perhaps Carmina Burana or Mozart’s Requiem. I know that’s sort of cheating, but I cannot fathom any one SONG being tolerable for 24 hours straight.

10. How do you order your steak?
Typically, I order my steak medium well; however, it frequently comes out cooked medium. I don’t mind either. I just don’t like medium rare. Blech.

Yesterday that happened to me. I have had a cavity…a visible cavity, which needs filling. The last time I called the dentist, they said it had been over a year since my last cleaning, so they would not fill it until I had another cleaning. I was so frustrated that I couldn’t bring myself to schedule a cleaning. I don’t get time off from work to go to appointments, so the last thing I wanted to do was go spend 1.5 hours getting my teeth cleaning so I could take off another 1.5-2 hours to get a filling.

I was annoyed about this, so I wrote a letter to the dental commander (yes, our dental clinic is a military dental clinic — I don’t have any other coverage). He said I just needed to get an exam, which is fairly quick.

So during a moment of insanity yesterday, I decided I could get an exam and hopefully get my cavity filled next week. I called the dental clinic, and they explained that they take walk ins for exams daily from 12:30-3 PM. I asked when it’s least busy, and they said just not early in the week. I asked how long it takes, and they said only 5 minutes. Ok, great, I’ll take off a little from work so I can get this stupid exam done.

I walked into the clinic and checked in. The receptionist told me I would need a cleaning as well before I could get my fillings done. Oh, but they had an appointment the next day at 7:30 AM, would I like it? Ugh, fine. So then, the receptionist said they would call me right back. In fact, he even said that they might call me before I had time to sit down. Twenty minutes later, they called me back…along with another woman. She was ahead of me. The nurse instructed us to have a seat (in another waiting room in a hallway) to wait to have X-rays done. Um, excuse me? X-rays? Full X-rays? I don’t want that much radiation going through me. I had full X-rays last year. I’m ok with getting a couple X-rays after seeing the dentist if he/she needs to see more about what’s going on inside a tooth, but having X-rays just for the sake of having them is ludicrous.

Still, I maintained my composure and waited. And waited.

Twenty minutes later, the lady in front of me got called in. I got livid (inside…on the outside, I was still calm). I wasn’t about to wait another 20 minutes to be called in for 20 minutes of X-rays and then who knows how long of waiting to see the dentist. By this point, it was 2:30 in the afternoon and I hadn’t had lunch yet. I felt a massive headache coming on.

I got up and went to the receptionist’s desk. No one was there, and I felt like I waited another 10 minutes, but in reality, I’m sure it was only a minute or two. One of the receptionists returned, and I informed her that I couldn’t stay for the rest of my appointment and would also have to cancel my cleaning since I was missing my exam. She informed me that I could have my exam in conjunction with my cleaning in the morning. At this point, I really lost it. Seriously? I told her no less than 3 times that I needed to cancel my appointment. After the third time, she looked at me – still confused – and said, “so…you want me to cancel your appointment?” UGH, yes, lady!

I got in my car and had a bit of a screaming match with myself. Tears were flowing as well. I was so hungry and angry that my headache was in full force, so I did the only rational thing – I drove to the Shopette (convenience store on post) and bought a bag of Doritos and a Dr. Pepper. When I got to the checkout line, the cashier asked ot see my military ID. Ok, no biggie. I showed it to her through the plastic window in my wallet. She puts her face inches away from the wallet and then says, “I can’t see the date on your ID. You need to remove it from your wallet.” Yes, I snuck on post just to come to the Shopette and “illegally” purchase a bag of chips and a soda from AAFES. Brilliant.

I had a very frustrating day yesterday. Bah humbug military dental. Bah humbug.

End result? I am now enrolling in a new medical plan. It’s not free like the basic military medical plan, but it’s worth it.

Visit Chelsea at Roots and Rings to see how everyone else answered the Ten on Tuesday questions!

1. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey

2. What is your earliest memory?
I remember watching the Fiesta parades while my mom was in the hospital having Andrew – I was 3 then. I’m not sure if this other memory happened before or after then, but I would wear this one pink, blue and black plaid outfit, and we had a pink feather duster that matched it. Every time I wore the outfit, I would carry around the feather duster and pretend to be a maid.

3. What is your earliest memory of a dessert?
I remember when Circle K opened down the street from us, and my dad took me there and bought me my first ice cream sandwich. That night while I ate it, I stared out the window toward the backyard and watched the lightning. Oh, and the ice cream sandwich got all over me and it was delicious.

4. Do you have any recurring dreams?
Yes. I have one in particular that comes to mind — I have a dream about going to my favorite house. Every time I go there, it’s the same. I absolutely love being there, and there are hidden “areas” that open up to huge rooms/groups of rooms. Oh yeah, and it has a tall steeple with a bell. It’s awesome.

5. Have you ever dreamed about dessert?
I don’t think I’ve ever dreamed about a dessert, which is lucky, because I would probably wake up with a drool-soaked pillow. Blech!

6. What is one thing (aside from a cell phone or computer) that you cannot go the entire day without?
Breathing. Hah! But in all seriousness, I don’t know. I wouldn’t like to go a day without talking to John, playing with Béni or drinking a glass of water.

7. What is one dessert you could go your entire life without ever having again?
A hot apple pie from McDonald’s. I loved them when I was little, but now? No thanks.

8. If you could go on vacation tomorrow, where would you go? (Assume someone else is footing the bill, but within reason…so “the moon” won’t work)
That leaves me with too many choices! I would love to go somewhere warm in order to escape the grayness that we have been living in for the past 6 months (so Australia or New Zealand sound good – but so does Playa del Carmen, Mexico). However, I really would love to go to Norway, and I don’t know that we’ll have the money to be able to go there while we’re still in Germany, so I’m torn — visiting the land of my heritage or basking in the sun? Is it sad that if I had to choose right now I think I would choose the sun?

9. If you could have any dessert tomorrow, what would you have (assume someone else is buying it for you. Within reason though, no “gold sprinkled ice cream cones.”)
I would have the chocolate cake from Eddie V’s that has hot melted chocolate inside. Yum!

10.  What was your first impression of your significant other? If you’re single, what was your first impression of your best friend?
My first impression or my second first impression? We “met” twice. The very first time, I thought he was a great photo subject, was decent company and was kind of cute. The second first time I met him, I thought he was really cute.

11. What is your first impression of dessert pizza?
I love it! The cinnamon sticks at Gatti’s are awesome, but I had a much better dessert pizza back in college. My friend showed me a way to make a fruit pizza – you bake pizza dough, spread a cream cheese spread (I think you put something else in it) on top as the “sauce” and sprinkle berries all over the top. It was delicious!