About 8 Hours

There is less than a day (about 8 hours) before I will be at the Mayo Clinic. I optimistic but trying to not let my hopes up too much. I really want all of my pain issues to dissolve tomorrow with the doctors finding a solution but I know that there is a possibility that they won't have an answer. I know that these types of things are really out of my control and that kinda drives me crazy. I know what I want but have no way of getting there yet! I wish I could sleep right now but it takes me forever to fall asleep because of pain.

I started a Pop Tab War in my residence hall to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House Charities. So far the West side has gotten about 2.5lbs of pop tabs. The East side has about 5 ounces... They are a bit behind.... Tsk tsk tsk! There are 2 more weeks of collecting pop tabs before they are officially weighed.

School seems to be going well. I haven't failed anything (knock on wood) and I am enjoying most of my classes. We had our midterms recently and I got them back. I passed both of them. Whew! I also decided to add an additional lesson on my own. I decided to try to learn Spanish. Not sure how that will work out with the accent but I'm going to try.

One last thing, I went to my bowling class today. I got a 300, perfect score! But the only thing is that our lane was working weird and both of us on this lane got perfect scores everytime! Everytime I get a goodscore the lanes always seem to be broken in some way! :)

Buenos Noches!

Women of Faith

I went to Women of Faith Pre-Conference today. It was awesome! I go every year with my mom. I love going because the speakers are so amazing and I get to spend a whole weekend with my mom. At this pre-conference I got to see Marilyn Meberg and Sandi Patty speak. I was really interested in what Sandi Patty had to say. Her speech was about unpacking your box. She spoke about how everyone has a box of stuff that weighs us down (issues that cause you to feel shame or embarrassment) and how we need to find someone to talk to to unpack our box so no one is alone. (I hope that made sense to everyone reading.) It probably sounded much better when Sandi Patty was talking about it.

For those who do not know, Sandi Patty is an amazing singer. She has a voice range that is astounding. She appearing on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition for a family who had a member who was blind. She sang while the house was being demolished so the blind person could "see" the demolition. She sang some songs for everyone at the Women of Faith conference. During one of her songs she turned to the Deaf section and started signing what she was singing!
I was so happy about this I got my camera out and started recording (its a bit shaky). Towards the end of the video she asks all of the Deaf people to stand and join her in signing. I was so moved that she would think of the people who cannot hear her song and learn sign language so we could enjoy her singing as well. I joined in and signed along with her and everyone sitting around me. This was really the best part for me because I could appreciate her song in that way.

Unfortunately I can't attend the whole conference. I am on duty at my dorm and I didn't request time off soon enough so I had to come back and work. I am pleased that I did at least attend the pre-conference.

There is less than two weeks before I go to the Mayo Clinic. I am so hoping that something comes out of this visit! My pain level has still been elevated but I have been able to manage it. I hope that one day I don't have to manage it because it will be gone.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

If Only It Were True...

I went to my bowling class fully expecting to get the normal score ranging from 90-120. I got a surprise today however. I was bowling strikes! One after another after another! My scores today ranged from 184-245. I bowled four games and in order my scores were: 198, 216, 184, 245. Let me remind everyone that a perfect game is a score of 300. I must say I did pretty well...

If only that were true... (sigh)

I really did get those scores today but there was something I left out from the above, the computer was on the fritz today. Everyone in class was getting strikes because if you hit 8 pins or more the first time the computer automatically said that you got a strike. That means that I could miss 2 pins and still get a strike. I loved it because that means that I could look like a pro bowler when in fact I am completely average. After a while though I came back to earth and realized that I am still an average bowler with the computers going haywire. Oh well... It was fun while it lasted...

I really did get these scores... I just didn't really get them...

If you look closely, you can see that I got 9 strikes this game. Only the 4 white one I got myself. The rest were computer glitches.

Mayo

Good news! I am going to go to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester on October 29th. Hopefully some answers will be found. I am willing to try almost anything to get rid of the pain. My mom wanted us to stay at the Ronald McDonald House the night before I see the doctors because my appointment is so early but I am too old so we will either be getting up at the crack of dawn or getting a hotel room.

My pain has been pretty bad lately and I have thought multiple times about taking Vicodin to try to make the pain lessen. Normally it doesn't work and since I am allergic to it, I get extremely sick from taking it. Each time I take it I seem to get more and more sick. I think pretty so I won't be able to take it because the reaction is so bad. I am trying to refrain from it by reminding myself that it really doesn't get rid of my pain anyway but pain is a big motivator to try something again and again even if it didn't work the first time.

I am also having alot of pain in my hands and wrists. It makes it pretty hard to take notes and write papers. I'm hoping that goes away soon and I can concentrate more on my studies.

Moved In

Well I am finally comfortably moved in. Now my residents are moving in today and this week. I'm hoping I have cool residents. I have both guys and girls so that should be interesting. Also, some of my residents are older than I am. Anyway, I am looking forward to being a CA in my residence hall.

I got my bed lofted so I can also have a futon in my room. :)

Unfortunately I can't watch T.V. on that television. That is my videophone.

My door covered with other CAs door decerations. The ones that I made for my residents looks like the one that is in the center of my door between the peepholes with the sign language on it. I think they turned out pretty well.

This is my doorbell. I had to make signs for it because last year people would walk by my room and push it for fun. I decided that I should post them right away so everyone knows why it is there and I don't run into problems with it.


This is my fire alarm (complete with flashy light) and my doorbell that flashes blue every time someone pushes the button. Its pretty sweet.

New Dorm

Well I am starting to move into my new dorm room. I am so excited!!! Here are some pictures of what it looks like before I move in. I even have a sink attached!

Relaxing

I am out of camp and loving every minute of relaxation. I am enjoying luxuries such as access to the internet and electricity. I almost went back to Northwoods for one more week but I decided that I needed to relax and recover from working at Singing Hills. Working almost 24/7 for two months can be taxing! My next task is to start packing for school. I am a CA this year so I move in early. I can't wait for school to begin this year!