Grey's Anatomy and Dr. 90210

I love Grey's Anatomy.  I always have.  A couple of friends introduced it to me when I lived in England.  We were get together about once a week to have dinner and watch an episode on her laptop.  From there, I was hooked.

But once Izzy got skin cancer, I had a real problem with the show.  I turned into a total hypochondriac.  I was constantly afraid that I had a brain tumor or something was wrong with me.  And this lasted for quite a while.  It scared me into have skin checks (which is probably a really good thing since I have such fair skin) and into making sure all of my physicals were done as soon as possible (which also turned out to be a REALLY good thing).

When I found out I had thyroid nodules, I immediately had to STOP watching Grey's.  Even though I had seen all of the episodes and knew how it all turned out, mentally I couldn't handle it.  And it got even worse when the nodules turned out to be cancer and I knew I had to have a surgery.

I was so petrified of having surgery, it probably sent me into crying attacks daily.  Despite the fact that I knew it was fiction.  I knew the types of cases they had on that show were SUPER rare and that most surgeries went off without a hitch.  Otherwise, no one would ever have surgery.

So in order to prepare myself for having surgery, I started watching Dr. 90210.  I figured, if those people were CHOOSING to have surgery, then it really couldn't be that bad.  And I really didn't have a choice.  I NEEDED the surgery.  I even watched at least 3 or 4 episodes of it the day before my surgery, to really DRIVE it home.  In a really weird way, watching Dr. 90210 completely worked.  I watched person after person have surgery and come out totally fine.

After my first surgery, I found out that I actually performed REALLY well under anesthesia, which was the main part I was afraid of (well that and having the surgeon accidentally cut a major artery in my neck which, again, was always INCREDIBLY unlikely).  The fact that I had done SO WELL during my first surgery made it so I hardly worried about the second surgery.  I just wanted to have it over with.

Since putting cancer behind me, I have decided I can start watching Grey's Anatomy again.  I skip certain episodes though (since some of the story lines still get me).  It helps that things have gotten so ridiculous on that show that it is almost laughable.

But what it really tells me is that I am not nearly as irrational/crazy as I used to be.

I figure that's always a good thing.

PS - But I do sometimes wonder if something weird happened during my surgeries, like they always show on TV.  I'll probably never know (and that is totally fine with me).

I Like Reruns

For about the past 9 months or so, I haven't been able to watch new movies.  Or really new television.

Movies come out that I am dying to see... we really don't see many.  So when they come out on DVD, we buy them.  And then I still haven't watched them.

Books that I have wanted to read... I'm afraid to read them.  I tried to start reading The Book Thief, but when I realized (about the first page) that it was narrated by Death, I quickly tossed that book to the floor.  It will soon be finding itself at Goodwill I think.

I got a spotify account and have been listening to Disney music.  I find it comforting.

We watched a lot of stuff that I have already seen:

Gilmore Girls
Friends
Big Bang Theory
Friday Night Lights
Harry Potter
Couples Retreat
American President
The Patriot
The Good Wife
Old Seasons of Big Brother
Disney Movies

Or we watch a lot of crappy reality TV, which Phil is not such a fan of.

I just can't watch new stuff.  Phil finally got me to branch out and watch some Duck Dynasty.  But that was really only after he told me about most of the episodes.  And I did watch Big Love for a while there, but I always had the option of looking up what happened on wikipedia or IMDB.

I know this makes me sound like 20 kinds of crazy-pants. 

Phil and I were talking about it yesterday.  I think it is because the drama on movies and TV shows just freaks me out.  Life has been so complicated lately and full of drama... seeing how things could be even more dramatic just freaks me out.  Phil's response was, "But it isn't real.  It is fictional drama."

And he's right.  It is time to put on my big girl pants and branch out.

But not tonight... So You Think You Can Dance is on.  :)

Surgery Concerns (somewhat humorous)

I am nervous about surgery.  I think that is totally normal.  It would probably be weird if I wasn't a little nervous before surgery.  There are a couple of concerns I have, which range from normal to completely irrational.

1.  What if the surgeon slips and accidentally cuts my artery?

This would qualify as an irrational surgery.  The surgeon works at probably the best hospital in the state.  Plus she's been a surgeon for 30 years.  And she is double certified as an ENT surgeon and a microvascular (I think) surgeon which I think means she is specialized in veins.  And finally, she has multiple awards in her waiting room, toting her as one of the top 100 surgeons in America for thyroid care, thyroid cancer, and neck surgery.


2.  General anesthia.

I think this is a rational fear as there are always risks when you undergo genearl anesthia.  I have been under before and everything was just fine, so that makes me feel better.  But seeing as this is my major concern, the anxiety has been kind of hard to manage.  It is almost to the point where the thought of having cancer has been out of my mind because I am so worried about the surgery (that is stupid).

So I came up with what I thought was a good remedy for my anxiety.  I have been watching episodes of Dr. 90210.  There are 6 seasons on Netflix.  That is a bunch of people who undergo anesthia VOLUNTARILY and all come out fine.

{Source}

It is kind of helping.  I think I should be a therapist.


3.  What in the world will a wound in the neck feel like?

This sparked an interesting conversation with Phil last night.  I think with certain surgeries, you kind of know what to expect.  When I had surgery on my feet, I knew it would hurt to walk.  When you have your wisdom teeth taken out, you know your mouth will hurt.  But I have never had a wound to the neck.  And you don't really realize how much you use your neck.  Not to mention that the neck is just a vulnerable spot in general (i.e. no bones or anything protecting it).  So I told Phil this last night and here is how that went.

Phil:  Well, it won't actually hurt.

Me:  What?

Phil:  They will do the stitches and the cutting while you are out, so it won't hurt.

Me:  Are you serious?

Phil:  Yeah.  What would you feel?

Me:  Are you telling me that after I am out of surgery, you don't think it will hurt?

Phil:  Well I am sure you will have a little pain...

Me:  Are you kidding me?

We talked it out.  Turns out Phil has never had surgery or stitches, so he really doesn't have any experience to base his opinion on.  He did manage to make me feel like a big baby though.  We defined what is classified as "sharp" or "dull" pain.  I hate to say it, but... Men.

Prison Wives

During my lunch breaks, I like to watch shows on Netflix.  Yesterday, I found a new one:

Prison Wives

It is a documentary style show about people who's spouse is incarcerated.

And it reminded of a story.

I was a sophomore in college and I was dating a guy who was finishing up grad school at the time.  He decided he would throw a party for his frat buddies and they would make kaluha.  So he found a recipe from a prison family website and threw a party.

He also made ham.  The ham was really good.

The kaluha made a mess.

He had made me a sandwich with the ham on French Toast bread from Winco (it has maple syrup in the bread) and it was delicious.

The moral of the story: 

If you ever want to make gallons of kaluha, try looking for a recipe from a prison family website. 

And also... make a ham.

Engineering and TV

I think engineering gets a bad wrap.  Part of it is because most people don't really understand what civil engineers do.  Almost everytime I tell someone I am a civil engineer, they immediately ask what exactly civil engineers do.

"What is an easy way to fix this problem?" you ask.  Easy...

Hollywood.

Clearly the problem comes because there is no television show (reality or fictional) for engineering.  There's no Desperate Engineers, The Real Engineers of Portland, Grey's Engineering.  Such a television show, sadly, does not exist.  (yet)

If there were, the world would see just how exciting and sexy the world of engineering can truly be.  That's right... I said sexy.  Not for me though because I work with my family.  But I am sure for some people, office romance ensues.  (Side Note: We had a couple of employees that dated.  They tried to "hide" it for the longest time.  It was pretty obvious though.)

As an example of the exciting nature of engineering, if my week were being broadcast to the world, everyone would get to watch as I madly write, calculate, and erase to determine the appropriate retaining wall geometry that fits the design parameters while minimizing the amount of excavation and concrete required. 

You're intrigued already. 

The world would also see how when I finised said calculations I stood up, threw down my pencil and yelled, "NAILED IT! WOO!" while doing some fist-pump hand gestures and then a little dance.

But sadly the world did not get to see that.

And no... you can't find it on YouTube.

Maybe someday.  In the meantime, go ahead and watch one of the 17 shows about rich housewives, the Kardashians, or New Jersey.  Ridiculous.

(Give me a call Bravo)

I like Peanut M&Ms

Phil and I were in bed last night... reading (like I would post about anything else.  Come on people, my mother reads this sometimes).  Phil is currently reading a book written by a comedian.  The comedian was for some reason describing the three parts of a woman's cycle:

1.  The "Are you really crying at that television show?" phase.

2.  The "No you are not fat and you have plenty of clothes in the closet you can wear" phase.

3.  The "Just throw a bag of peanut M&Ms at her and run" phase.

(I may have paraphrased a little.  I can't remember the verbage exactly.)

Naturally after Phil told me this, I immediately asked him if I was that bad.  Poor guy... walked right into that one.

Phil's reply:  "Well you definitely do the first two occasionally."

NOTE:  I have sobbed like a baby during Project Runway before.  Not because someone was being eliminated or anything.  But because the contestants were being mean to each other and that really bothered me at the moment.  Hormones anyone?

Phil continued (and this part kind of surprised me): "But at no time have I felt the need to treat you like a bear."

Not me!

Well that is good to know.  :)


Love, Mrs. Janney

Laundry Soap

I am a reality show junky.  I don't watch all of it.  I can only take one show based out of New Jersey.  I can only watch a show about the Kardashians when I am in just the right mood (which isn't often).  And I don't like the Bachelorette, but I love the Bachelor.

LOVE Big Brother.  Seriously.  I think it is the best part of Summer.  The year of the writer's strike, they had 2 season of Big Brother in one year and I LOVED IT.

And I pretty much love any show on TLC which involves large families:  Quints by Surprise, Sister Wives (man that show is fascinating), 17/18/19 Kids and Counting.

So I was listening to an old episode of 17 Kids and Counting and they were discussing how they save money with such a large family.  I took notes because I am CHEAP.  And Phil and I have some large purchases in our future I think (i.e. cars since both of our are getting up there in age/miles).

So of the things, I already do like shopping at thrift stores.  I haven't gone thrifting yet because I haven't had time, but I have been shopping clearance.  Tegan and I have been shopping clearance racks for a while.  I got some pretty good deals at Old Navy a few weeks ago.  I will talk about those in another post.

But another thing they mentioned was making their own laundry soap.  They went through it on the show and it looked super easy.  AND it was super cheap.  Basically it will work out to being $2 for 640 loads of laundry.  It won't save us a TON of money, but I think it will add up. 

We just bought some laundry soap on sale a few weeks ago, so we won't be needing to making any laundry soap for a while.  But I am going to start looking for the supplies so that we can make it probably in a month or so.

I am guessing I will have a little more soap than Phil and I will need in like a year.  So if anyone is interested in trying some of the laundry soap after I make it, I will sell you some.  For the cost of the soap (aka 20 cents a gallon which is about 64 loads).

Love, Mrs. Janney