the long and winding nose

Remember THIS POST? So many of you kind and caring friends have continued to ask how my nose is doing and when I'm going to post an update. As my friend Traci would say, bless your cotton socks - thanks for caring :) I was a bit embarrassed for being so dramatic about the whole nose episode/crisis/freak show, and was hoping to quietly fade it into the background. Even for the open book that I am, I don't make it a habit to speak on topics such as what goes on up inside my nose. That may overstep the boundaries of tasteful blogging. YA THINK? But it has been a long and winding road - hence today's poignant images of famous long and winding noses.  

Poor Cyrano. Can you even imagine? But ah, what a great story. And if you've never seen the movie Roxann with Steve Martin, then you must, MUST see it. But I digress. I'm happy to say that my ENT says he SEES IMPROVEMENT!!! Which means tissue is indeed, slowly but surely, starting to grow back over the cartilage in my nose! No biopsy needed as of yet, and if things continue to go well, it won't be necessary. He said it will take quite some time to show real improvement so my next appt. is not for a month. But in the meantime I'll continue doing all the fun stuff like antibiotic ointment up my nostrils, blah, blah, blah. I'm just  SOOO RELIEVED I don't have to even think about Plan B. Because we all know that Plan B would have been a skin graft from my butt. And the last thing I need in this world is for my boys to find out I have butt skin up my nose. I would never - EVER - for the rest of my entire life, live that down. "Hop in the car kids - we're going to go visit Nana Buttnose" :/

So speaking about long and winding noses, this would be the first one that always comes to my mind. I had to include a few photos of the Child Catcher from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". He is the stuff children's nightmares are made of - at least to me he was! To this day, I still get the chills when I see him. OOOH SHUDDER :0

a poltergeist & nosiness

Call it what you will, but suspicious activities have been going on here lately. I believe we have a mischievous poltergeist amongst us. Or perhaps a gremlin, or maybe an imp. Or a leftover leprechaun - I've heard they can be naughty. Whatever it is, I keep finding evidence here and there. Little tricks played by a little trickster.....

My recycled magazine balls attempt different acrobatic stunts each morning.

Our entryway coat hook is always turned upside down no matter how many times I spin it right side up.

My Italian paperweight is turned over, looking like a stranded turtle, waiting for someone to come rescue it. 

The tops to my glass jars are flipped over as well! This trickster has been very busy!

Even the magnets on our fridge were not safe from the evil creature that lurks within.

Really Mr. Poltergeist? Seriously? Even our sacred family photo from back in 2005? Have you no heart?

Well you may be surprised to know that I am smarter than you think. I happen to know what you really are.

That's right. I happen to know you're NOT a poltergeist - though some might argue otherwise. 

You're not a gremlin, an imp or a leprechaun either. I'm totally onto you and all your stinky, evil ways.

YOU ARE A MOUSE!!!  HAH!!! 

And you thought parents were old and out of touch.....

*   *   *

* Just being a little nosey *

I love my nose. But it sure has been troublesome lately. Well, this is the last you're going to hear about it for at least a few weeks - YAY! I'm sick of talking about it and I'm sure you're sick of hearing about it.

I did finally see an ENT specialist because my nose was not healing like it should, even though I was doing everything I was supposed to. And it still looked doggone scary inside too. The ENT was really patient and listened to the long dramatic tale of my wayward nose and, most specifically, the recent "cocaine episode" as it has unfortunately come to be known in the annuls of our family history. 

The best news of the day came in double form: I didn't have to have a biopsy AND I get to keep my nose after all. Boy, was I relieved! The biopsy may come at a later date depending on how my healing goes, but at least not yet. And this situation is not a cancerous type situation, or the type of staff infection that's going to eat my face off, so my nose will indeed stay intact. I love that kind of news.

The not so great news is that the scary white stuff I've been looking at up inside my nose is my own cartilage. Because my tissue is gone. In both nostrils. Pretty freaky. I needed a moment to wrap my head around that info. So the ENT is hoping new tissue will grow to cover the cartilage, even though that will probably take a long time. If not, that means my blood vessels may be ruined and there will have to be a Plan B.

That's the short version but I'm sure that's already TMI. And I'm the first one to admit that there is always a silver lining. Just think - this could have been so much worse! I'm just grateful to know what's going on. And it may feel strange, but it's not that painful. And it's spring, and everything else around here is going GREAT.

SO HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEKEND!!!    

Idolatry nose Elvis

Let's just get this part over with. Yes, something is still terribly wrong with my nose. Yes, it is still painful and revolting. Yes, I will spare you yet again from all the disgusting details. Yes, I have followed every instruction and taken every horse pill as prescribed MOTHER. Yes, now I'm going to have to go see an ENT STAT ASAP BTW FYI. Yes, I realize that probably means a biopsy will be involved, thanks for the reminder. Yes, I'm worried about what the SAM HILL is going on up there! But there's your update, one week later. And like me, you'll just have to roll with it and pray to the Almighty and pretend Ruffles and diet Coke now come with healing powers. Yes, I'm afraid of becoming one of those people who have had to have their entire nose removed from their face because they've smoked their whole life and cancer has infiltrated their sinus cavities and completely ruined all their tissues and cartilage. Don't think I didn't see all those junior high films. I know what those people look like behind their fake noses! Those are the things nightmares are made of! Why would I have remembered it 100 years later!

So here we are, another week of American Idol (not to mention the season opener of Glee!!!) - Let's recap!

ELVIS NIGHT - with Adam Lambert as guest mentor

First I'd like to mention that I felt Adam Lambert did a fantastic job as mentor. And I don't just say that because I was a huge fan of his last year when he was an Idol contestant himself. He was completely candid and honest with all his charges, and had genuinely good advice for each and every one. And if anyone should know how they feel - as well as how to push the wow factor - it would be him. It was very evident that the contestants who listened to his advice gave stellar performances. The ones who gave a nod to what he had to say but twisted it into what they wanted to do..... not so stellar. Interesting night

1) Crystal - "Saved" - As I've mentioned before, the first performance of the night can be rough, but Crystal does it with ease. Not only with ease, she ROCKED it. A perfect, perfect song choice, and in my opinion, a near perfect performance as well. Loved the electric guitar addition, and loved seeing her smiling and having fun. WAY TO GO

2) Andrew - "Hound Dog" - I so wish when Adam told Andrew he was boring, he had told him to switch songs too. It's been done way too many times. Andrew did kind of take Adam's advice and he gave it a good latin twist but he kept it boring, made it corny AGAIN, and what was up with the way he sang "tiiiiime"? I felt badly for him. 

3) Tim - "Can't Help Falling In Love" - I thought this was going to be a train wreck. Adam gave great advice and Tim wisely took it - pushing himself to face his falsetto range, crafting a lovely, fresh, acoustic guitar version of the song, and subsequently earning himself a genuinely VERY NICE performance. I was truly happy for him.

4) Lee - "A Little Less Conversation" - Great song choice. Great, honest advice. I mean, by now everyone - especially Lee himself - knows that Lee is very talented, Lee has a killer voice, Lee gives great performances, but Lee shows little personality. Every week he seems to show a tiny bit more. Dude! Just smile and have fun!

5) Aaron - "Blue Suede Shoes" - Another song that's been done and overdone. I was ready to cringe on this, but I thought Aaron did much better than I had anticipated. I thought he showed some cute personality also. I still wonder though, how much longer this youngin' can possibly stay. I think this competition is just too big for him.

6) Siobhan - "Suspicious Minds" - I was excited to see Siobhan and Adam together because they are both so unique and have even been compared to each other. But I was sad about her song choice. Out of all the Elvis songs... WHY?! I liked her performance though, and was happy to have the strong, confident Siobhan back. I didn't agree with the judges, that she seemed "lost" or that she was "screeching" again. It just wasn't her best.

7) Big Mike - "In the Ghetto" - For a man who loves to tell a story in a song, this was a great song choice. I thought Big Mike's performance was one of the most genuine and stellar performances of the night. I thought he gave the song an emotion that even Elvis himself did not achieve. You so, so, so deserved that save Michael!

8) Katie - "Baby, What You Want Me To Do" - Not familiar with this song, but a good choice for Katie, regarding her frustration with the judges. Though she is not one of my favorite contestants, I thought she gave another good performance. Aside from the overdone neck talking. Like Aaron though, I think she can only go so much further.

9) Casey - "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" - I wish I could say awesome things about Casey's performance - and overall it was a good performance - but that's really all it was. Good guitar, good vocals... just kind of like a favorite local band you go to see - talented, tight, always good, but nothing extraordinary. 

I think definitely Andrew, possibly Aaron, and possibly Katie, will be our bottom three

I'm predicting definitely Andrew, and possibly Aaron will be on their way home

(remember, it's a double elimination this week)

WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK??? 

nobody *nose* the trouble I've seen

Happy Friday! I hope everyone is having a great day and is ready for a terrific weekend :)

My nose saga continues. I had a really rough day yesterday, and if I have one more migraine along with this freaking nose nightmare I'm going to blow my head off but I'm sure I'll start feeling better soon. One thing is for sure - I will never live the cocaine thing down. Never. My boys think it's hysterical. I've heard more drug jokes than you could imagine. Or I should say, more than usual. But now they've switched from their standard pot and LSD jokes to cocaine jokes just for this special occasion. Bless their little hearts. They make me so proud. 

So since I'm basically sitting around on my arse all day between doing loads of laundry and purchasing more iTunes than anyone could possibly need, I've been working on enhancing and sending more of my photos to Zagg to add to my laptop/gadget 'skin' collection :) The photos you see here are two of the ones being sent. I took both of them in Lucerne Switzerland so they hold really special memories for me. One is of all the multicolored flowers cascading down the sides of the covered bridge in town, and the other photo was taken just outside of Lucern in the countryside. It's one of my all time favorite photos because it was one of the most beautiful places I had ever been. Everyone asks if I really took that photo. Yes, I really did - I took it while being pulled in a horse-drawn wagon no less! So you can all go cry yourselves to sleep on your huge pillows now :D

Have an awesome weekend my friends!

Idolatry and me

No doubt you've all been on the edge of your seats waiting for my recap of last night's show, so my apologies for the late post. I've had a wonky morning to say the least. I've had to do everything backwards because of my nose. That's right, I said because of my nose. 

My doggone nose has been giving me trouble for weeks now, but after night 5 of sitting up on the couch unable to breath and in agony like it had been shredded on the inside, I finally grabbed a flashlight this morning to see what in tarnation was going on. And I nearly passed out. And I promptly and as calmly as possible drove myself to urgent care. Where the doctor asked me all kinds of interesting questions. And prescribed 3 medications. And apologized profusely, but said with this kind of scenario, he needed to ask me if I am a cocaine user. A cocaine user. !!!!!. Yes, that's how bad it is. I will spare you gory details like color and smell and terms like 'membrane'. And this is from me, the mother of 3 boys, who has seen it all, including broken bones poking right through flesh. And if that isn't fun I don't know what is. 

Let's just say the good news is I don't have a sinus infection, but the bad news involves a HOLE and a massive infection in that hole. Which would explain the fever and chills. And all that blood. And a host of other heinous things I just said I'd spare you from. So now I'm all set up with stuff to squirt, and ointment to medicate, and an antibiotic the size of Texas to take twice a day. Which I just took with diet Coke I might add, because now I'm feeling slightly sorry for myself. At least I haven't opened a bag of Ruffles yet. It's only 10:15am after all. My kids are still asleep for goodness' sake! But I might have my last orange cream Cadbury egg. Hey I can if I want.

Anyway, the fun just never ends at our house, as I'm sure you've learned by now. So let's get going with the recap from last night, even though my recap from this morning is probably much more exciting. But hey, I look at it this way: it's a win/win no matter what because Modern Family is on tonight, so we can all look forward to that! Hah! :D  

~ Lennon & McCartney Night (that's right - the greatest duo in song writing history) ~

1) Aaron - the Long and Winding Road - Great kid, but his long and winding road needs to be over. zzzzzzzzz.

2) Katie - Let It Be - Her best performance BY FAR. Even I enjoyed it and she's not a fave of mine. I like how she changed it enough to make it her own but not too much (good comment, Ellen). Very nice job!

3) Andrew - Can't Buy Me Love - NUTS. This was a good song choice, with what I thought had potential for his upbeat, happy vibe. I was hoping he could keep last week's ball rolling. But he tried too hard and it turned corny.

4) Big Mike - Eleanor Rigby - When Mike first said his song choice I was like "what?". And when he changed the arrangement so much I was first taken aback. I know it was a big risk. I'm the first to say I would usually not like a Lennon/McCartney song changed up this much, but I actually really, really liked his arrangement and performance.

5) Crystal - Come Together - By now you probably know I don't think Crystal can mess up anything. I loved seeing more of her personality shine too. (in fact, I really liked how all the contestants talked about each other)

6) Tim - All My Lovin' - Smart, smart choice. I love this song anyway, but he genuinely did an adorable job. Weird!

7) Casey - Jealous Guy - I didn't think it was as amazing as the judges, but I thought this song was an interesting choice by Casey, and that his arrangement and performance was thoughtful, and done very, very well.

8) Siobhan - Across the Universe - I am a fan of Siobhan, and it was hard to see her flounder last week. I think she did a lovely job showing a softer, more restrained side of herself tonight, and I enjoyed her performance. She still seems fragile to me though. I want the quirky, confident Siobhan back.

9) Lee - Hey Jude - Not a huge fan of this song because it can be a snore-fest. I didn't want to see Lee make that mistake now that he's finally doing well. I thought he did a fab job though, piper or no piper.

So my prediction? Either Aaron or Andrew's time has finally run out. What do you guys think?