Short Update

I have managed to start feeling better. I am not involuntarily shaking 24 hours a day which a really good thing (that was a little scary). I want to thank everyone for praying for me, calling/texting and sending e-mails. I am going back to the doctor tomorrow to assess the status of the infection. I can still feel it behind my cheek bone and in the joint of my jaw. I am exhausted with a very weird sense of disconnect or "balancelessness"...if that makes sense. I am still not sleeping well, but that is from all of the meds, and the headache from teh pressure still in my face is still there. My boss said they were going to send flowers but no one would deliver to my neighborhood. HAHAHaaaa, funny.

Speaking of my neighborhood. The move has so far been successful. I was completely stressed last week laying around with a fever when I should have been packing. BUT!! 3 Chevy short-wide bed truck loads later we (over the course of a few days we=Kelly Brooke, Chirine, and Bill) had every box out of my house except 1 (let's also not forget 2 closets of clothes and cleaning stuff...and my fridge stuff)! The movers came yesterday at 2pm (just after my precious momma left...side note: got a great video of her "dancing" in my kitchen to my neighbors new rap album. PLUG: http://tripleteamentertainment.ning.com/ yes, they really are my neighbors). Three guys (and a little help from me) took 2.5 hours to wrap my furniture in pads, load it on a truck, drive it to the unit and unload. Almost everything I own fits into a 10'x10'x9' storage unit...climate controlled, sprayed for bugs and nicely equipped with mouse poison.

The really cool part is that two of the movers were big strapping dark men who spoke French to each other...as it turns out they are from Congo! I told them that my incredibly cool pastor is from the Congo (Well, his father rather). We started talking about cool Congo last names (ie. Tshibaka = man of many women)...haha and now they will be coming to hang out with me at church. They were pretty funny. When I told them that I once carried my 9'x12' rug up 3 flights of stairs alone, they both dropped it and acted like they were going to walk off. Then they decided to take it as a personal challenge to see which of them could pick it up alone. Of course they couldn't (I am super woman).

So, the search for a new home is on!! I need a 3 bedrom, (preferably) 2 .5 bath historic home with exposed brick, nice sized closets, a nice kitchen, a dinning room, and hopefully some storage and a yard :)

Best snack ever made...Hands down.

Cranberry & Almond is a delightful mix of tangy cranberries and crunchy almonds, creating a delectable snack whether morning, afternoon, or even a late-night treat! This KIND bar is enhanced with antioxidants such as Vitamins A, C, & E which fight free radicals, helping to maintain the immune system and healthy skin...
(PLUG)
But don't be discouraged if you don't like cranberries or almonds...there are many to choose from and so far I have not been disappointed :)

kindsnacks.com

"I love Wrocky...wwwwwroad"

I'm getting some "complaining" about my lack of a blog routine (apparently my activity is reaching "lame" status)...so either my blog is sooo awesome or some people just don't have enough to do...Either way my fan base is crying for more...so here's more. If you get bored of all the sick details, I would scroll down for the pictures...and if you can't read, I would just scroll down for the pictures. 

Maybe I'm naive (probably), but when I go to a professional I typically think they know what they are talking about and they are probably trustworthy. I tend to give their opinions  a little more weight when making a decision. with that said...let's begin our journey. 

I went in to the dentist for my 6 month cleaning in March. She said my teeth (which are VERY porous and sensitive) looked good. However; an old filling looked like it could possibly be leaking and she wanted to replace it. OK, that's cool. I came back 2 weeks later and she did so.I told her my bite didn't feel right. She took a look, said it seemed fine and that I was numb and probably wasn't biting right. She also told me that it had been leaking and she had to drill a little deeper so my tooth might be sensitive to heat and cold for up to 2 weeks. OK, fine. My tooth was fine...a little cold sensitive, but not much. Come the beginning of May I started to complain that my tooth was sensitive. It had been about 2 weeks since the "replacement". The pain seemed to spread to my lower jaw by the end of the weekend. so naturally I thought I had cancer in my jaw. (what hypochondriac wouldn't think so?!). Of course I stressed about this rather than going back to the dentist also hoping that it would go away on it's own...I just don't have time for dentists. 

FINALLY, on the 14th  I went to the dentist. She said the bite was off ("well no crap lady" was my first thought...I told her that a long time ago). She said that it was the same as punching yourself in the same place on your arm for a few weeks..."eventually your whole arm and shoulder would also feel the after effects; which also explains why your lower jaw hurts". Dr. L fixed the bite by grinding down my tooth and sent me on my merry way with the good news of full recovery in a week. By the next day my tooth still hurt, but it was a different kind of pain. I decided to give it until Monday. Sunday after I got home from church and the spa I started to walk up to Big Bear Cafe (plug) and read. I didn't get far. I WAS SOOO COLD. I decided to go home and lay down. I took my temp. and it said 97 so I figured I really was just cold. I laid in my big comfy chair reading and eventually fell asleep. 

I woke up off and on with sever pain in my mouth and shaking from the cold (despite how many blankets I had on.) I automatically assumed I had the swine flu and I once again was going to die...or that the cancer had spread...either way I was going to die (How's that for dramatic Mindi...if you even read this). I finally got up (shaking) and took my temp again. 101.3. So now I have a fever and chills and my mouth is in so much pain. What does any grown woman do at this point? I start to cry :) and of course I called my momma. 

Monday I went back to the dentist. By now my face is swelling (actually Chirine said it looked swollen on Saturday night...someone else just said my face looked fat Saturday night...hmmm). The dentist got me in for an emergency appointment. Of course she doesn't come into the office until 1:30 on Monday's so I sat at home with fever all day Monday waiting to go find out what the excruciating pain was stemming from. 

Right off...she says those two dreaded words "Root Canal"...NOOOOO!!! First of all, I thought they were only for "old" people since my parents both recently got one. secondly i heard they were expensive, but third and most importantly...I heard they were painful. She wants to get in the tooth and clean it up for the "pre-treatment". She tells me that the swollen area is an abscess and that the Novocain will hurt 10 times more than usual because of the infection. LIAR!! It was more like 20 times worse. My mouth did not fully go numb because the abscess was blocking the Novocaine...but since my root was already dead I lost the argument and let her drill as it was. I did not feel a thing, so evidently she does know what she is talking about sometimes. When I left her office, she had put me on vicoden (I told her i was allergic to codeine and percocet) and an antibiotic for the infection in my gum. I still had fever off and on t

he rest of the day. The vicoden made me a little nauseous and I felt like the 

swelling was getting worse by the end of the day. Tuesday morning I woke up sick to my stomach, dizzy, nauseous and vomiting. When I finally had the strength to get up I glanced in the mirror and started to cry. My face has swollen up worse. I stopped taking the vicoden. Called 

my Dr. for a new prescription and to update her. She said the antibiotics would take some time to get into the infection and make a difference...the infection may get worse before it gets better. If the swelling gets worse she wanted me to call her and she would send me to a oral surgeon. Becky, my super awesome sister in law (Krystal, you're totally awesome too) came over and made me food which was perfect since I couldn't stand up for more than 3 seconds without getting dizzy. Stefanie brought my new (non-vomit inducing) pain meds over after work and Chirine came down and cleaned up my kitchen and did my laundry for me! Thanks!! By now I am trying to make the most of this bad situation...like sending my own pictures to friends asking if I looked ok...haha. I look like Chunk from "The Goonies", but it was still funny. I fell asleep thinking everything was going to be better Wednesday. 

2:30am Wednesday morning: I am in so much pain (my cheek/ mouth) that I cannot sleep. I have fever again and now I'm truly scared. I had sent Mindi my pic as a joke and saw that she text and called while I was asleep saying she was worried about me. (She's an ENT in Tulsa..

.and normally tells me to suck it up; so now I am worried). I don't want to wake up Mindi, so I send Dr. LoLo (she's working nights at Johns' Hopkins) a picture text of my face asking her if I should go to the ER. She replies that it looks bad and I should indeed go to the ER...now I'm freaking out as to how to get there. I don't want to go walking around my neighborhood at 3am (but then again, I look so monstrous that I really don't think anyone would want to rob me...definitely not rape me!), but my face had swollen even more. So I resort to what any grown woman would do...I call my mom crying (LOL, my poor mom). She has a way to calm me down. I hang up and call Heather for a ride. (Praise the Lord for Heather and Jenny Sigler!! thanks for getting up Heather; Thanks for letting her take your car Jenny!!). 

In the ER they took pretty good care of me. They injected an 1 1/4" needle to the hub into my upper cheek just below my eye to numb the main nerve. That didn't even hurt...what REALLY hurt was when they injected the needle only 1/4" of the way in to the roof of my mouth where it is essentially all bone. THAT WAS PAINFUL!! They sliced open the abscess on my gums...if you can call it that. My gums no longer existed. the cheek met my "gums" right at the tooth line, everything else was so swollen it had protruded all open space in my mouth. and suctioned out the infection that they could get to. They changed my antibiotics, said what I was on "wasn't the best choice for this type of infection" and wrote me a prescription for a different painkiller that shouldn't make me sick (that's what they all say). 

They also refer me to an oral surgeon who does root canals for the hospital and can probably get me in TODAY!! What a blessing that would be. I double check that this Dr. does root canals...YES!! So I cab home from the ER in the only DC cab that had NO SHOCKS. my mouth felt every pebble we drove over (does that make me a princess? oh wait that was a pea...never mind).

I fall asleep for about an hour and a half, wake up, call the ER Dr. and they want me to come in right away!! I get there via the 80 bus...thanks crazy bus driver for hitting every pot hole and jumping the curb at 3rd and H ;) I fill out all kind of paperwork, wait an hour with confirmation that the Dr. CAN get the "procedure" done today!! It's almost too good to be true...He gets me back to the room, pokes around in my mouth (ouch!!) and tells me "yep, I can get 'er out"...WHAT?! I don't want you to pull my tooth out!! I need a root canal..."we don't do those here, young lady. We remove teeth". So apparently the ER Dr. at GW didn't have all his facts either. 

 So once again...I went outside sorely disappointed that he could not do my procedure and started to cry. I am in so much pain. I haven't had a good nights sleep in 5 days now, I still have a low grade fever, my face hurts and I look more like "Sloth" the ugly guy the Fratelli's had chained up in the basement in Goonies rather than Chunk. My sister in law came and picked me up. We filled my new prescriptions and she took me off to the adorable suburbs to rest in peace and quiet. Her neighbor's husband is a dentist, so we called him and got a recommendation for a specialist...Dr. Meza got me in this morning at 11am!! Timing was perfect. I was able to wake up nauseous, at 4am, lay in bed dizzy all morning, eat, shower, throw up in the bushes in front of Becky's house and get to my appointment. The root canal went well. The infection is alarming to Dr. Meza so he did open up my cheek and try to scrap out more infection. That is the painful part I am dealing with now. The tooth itself seems to be fine and isn't very painful. I am still dealing with a some dizziness from the medication I was on last night...but slowly flushing it from my system.

So with all that said, thank you do much to everyone who has been praying for me! I also am so blessed by all my friends who have cooked, cleaned and carted me around. I am also very thankful for all the encouraging texts and e-mails and all of the offers to come and take care of me!! Thank you all so much! I am feeling better, but still off on my balance and still REALLY tired. I'm going to go lay down now...

and PS...I didn't proof read this...I'm too lazy right now.

Man of my dreams

I've made a few check lists over the years...some while I was single; some during a relationship to remind me of what I don't want in the next one... I have prayed for these qualities and characteristics and am quite confident that God will provide the perfect man for me and thus there is no need to rush it on my own. Sooooo! I thought I'd take the time to share some of them with all my friends...Because I may have just found that man!

These are in no particular order... I want a man that has a sense of humor. One that is not afraid to wear a vintage outfit when he's not bringing home the bacon in the corporate world (just kidding, he doesn't need to be corporate). He needs to be a guy comfortable to wear sunglasses inside or out...and someone who loves to dance. I mean really know how to move. If he can play the air guitar that's just a bonus. I like semi long hair (no mullet, but just on the verge). I want someone outgoing...ya' know, not afraid to have a good time in public or just talk to anyone he meets. age really isn't much of a factor...SO! with all that said, if anyone knows this man (and as long as he's not freakin' married)...send him my way!!


ROFL!! Seriously, that's not really my list...there's a lot more than "plays a mean air guitar"... ;)

It's been fairly quiet on the block this week and I was out of town all weekend. I did see one of my favorite drug dealers yesterday (let's call him Karl). He told me he's been in the hospital because he was stabbed buying a car battery at the auto zone on 4th and Rhode Island Ave, NE (A big shout out to my lighthouse host Heather!!). I responded with "shut up Karl, you know you were runnin' with scissors again and are just trying to look bad in front of your friends"...of course they all laughed; we chatted for a while, I asked more details - he showed me his puncture wound...yep looks like a shiv to me.
He told me he had about $280 on him...so I told him I was going to buy a mask (a pink one of course) and come rob him because I needed some money. He struggled to laugh as I pretended to "mug" him. He said the blade missed the vital organs and he is slowly recovering. His slow movements and weakened state didn't keep him from asking me when I was going to cook supper for him so we can hang out...(It seems to be a pattern for guys I talk to in my neighborhood, right John?). I told him I'm not home much. I'll cook him some thing, pack it in a Tupperware bowl and record some conversation so he could still talk to me while he ate alone ;)
Ironically he laughed at that also...I don't think he realizes I'm serious!

innocence of hide and seek

My sister in law called the other day to tell me a story...Becky ran up stairs for a minute to get something while Abby was playing in the living room with her toys. Becky got halfway down stairs after about 1.25 minutes and realized the house was dead quiet. She said her heart has never pounded so fast. She said "Abby!!" and then from the armoire came a scream and a laugh as Abby pushed the doors open to reveal her hiding place. Abby (my vivacious and beautiful niece) had never hidden in there before and this has fast become her new favorite spot.
I went over and baby sat my niece last night after I got back to DC. She decided to sneak in there while I was sitting in the same room with her. Of course later in the evening when I had my video ready, I told her we should play hide and seek. She went to hide as I counted to 10...it is so precious and hilarious to hear her little voice on this video...it's also such a beautiful example of a child's innocence! turn up your speakers so you can hear...but wait until I finish counting to 10 ;)

If you can't decipher what she is saying...she "wants to see Abby"...she likes to watch video's of herself :)

Banana time?

My little bro' sent me this photo a few weeks ago (Many thanks to an inner city missionary in Chicago with time to search the web!)... I laughed so hard when I first opened it that I literally went into a state of paralysis and couldn't move. Tears involuntarily came from my eyes and I almost peed. Although I don't laugh as hard when I look at this now, I still pop it open from time to time when I really need a mental break from work and a good laugh.

Now I am reminded of the men (there were a couple) that thought it would be a good idea to show me their "goods" last summer. Prime example: When I did own a car I would park it on the parking pad behind my house. In order to get there you have to drive down a tight ally with trash cans (of course most of the trash is on the street next to the can...putting it in the can makes too much sense), about 20 billion cats and from time to time a person or two. This was late July so the "block was hot" at this point due to the recent activities (another blog). It was a Sunday; the car had been parked on the street but needed to be moved before Monday morning (I had illegally kept my Maryland plates to save money) or else it would get a pretty pink parking ticket. I had been hanging out at Mrs. Jabella's house and lost track of time...it was dusk (8:30/9ish). I get my car and head for the ally.

As I am turning the corner to the ally I notice that a guy (I did not know) who had been on the street and looking at me from time to time was walking down the ally toward me. as I slowly drove down the ally he proceeded to put his hand down the front of his pants. My first thought was "HOLY SMOKES, HE'S GOT A GUN"...within about 1.5 seconds I decided that if he pulls a gun on me to try and car jack me I was going to run him over with my car. I speed up to about 30 (in a narrow ally) getting ready to drive my car right into him...and then he pulled out his "gun"...SHEESH!! come on..seriously??

Soooo...with warmer weather I am seeing more and more people come out onto the streets that I haven't seen before and I find myself pondering hmmm... "how many guys will feel the need to expose themselves to me this summer?" I am hoping that the answer is zero...

my family portrait

Mom and Dad...Chris and Becky...Chad and Krystal...guess which one is me ;)

Angel or Garden Gnome?

A few weeks ago, Erica (my neighbor), her daughter Leila and I went to the Big Bear Cafe (plug...AWESOME coffee shop in DC) just to hang out and catch up. On the way home Erica and I were talking about some of the regular homeless people in the neighborhood. She asked me what I thought a particular man looked like...This man has long grey hair, typically a beard. In the winter he wears a blue hoodie tied on his head with his hair poking out and a big red puffy jacket zipped up over top. This man also has piercing blue eyes and that seem to hide a mystery...plus he doesn't talk to us; He doesn't even say hi.
So she asks what I think he looks like and I immediately reply "A garden gnome..."
Erica says "Oh...I kinda thought he could be an angel"...

How's that for conviction ;) So now I lovingly regard him as my homeless angelic garden gnome. Do you see the resemblance?!

Special shout out to Jason for the candid shot of "Awesome haired guy" as he lovingly refers to him :) Whoot whoot!

Bye Bye Monica

A few months ago a woman started hanging out in my neighborhood...I didn't realize at first that she was a she. I thought she was a gangly man. My first interaction with Monica (I recently found out her name) was in late January. I had just parked my sister in laws car on my street, turned off the lights and was sitting in the car finishing a phone conversation. This "person" comes limping down my street, stops 2 cars in front of me and proceeds to take down her pants in front of my neighbors car. Of course by now I am not paying any attention to the phone call, I am trying to figure out what this person is doing in the snow at 9:30 at night. The DC Police were parked at the corner of N.Capital's frontage road and the end of my street with a giant Ingersoll-Rand spot light lighting up the street. So SURELY this person is not going to the bathroom 6 houses down from the cops in plain sight of anyone on the street.

"Sho' nuff" she was...So I did what anyone would do. I Laid into the horn, opened the door to the car and started yelling at this person to "get the hell outta here! What are you thinking! That's NOT a bathroom...I'm gonna go get the cops right there and have you locked up!!" I scared the crap (probably literally) out of her. She pulled up her pants and took off down the street walking right past the cops on her way to beg for (crack) money on the corner of N. Cap and NY Ave.

(above you can see Monica working her usual stompin' ground). Early March, my friend Matt was visiting from out of town. He and I were walking up the ally to P street to go to my (favorite) Peruvian chicken take out. I noticed through a dilapidated wooden fence the same lady was huddled up in the corner of the yard by herself. I stopped and watched her. She looked up and saw me. So again, I did what anyone would do and said "what are you doing?" Monica replied "Smokin' some crack; wants some". Matt was appalled (he used to be a cop) and told her in a diplomatic and firm wording that we in fact did NOT want to smoke crack with her. I told her that was no way to live, blah, blah blah...I'm sure it had no effect on her. Matt and I began to discuss the feeling of evil that we get from this woman despite the patheticness (I know that's not a word...whatever) of her situation. Her front teeth are all but rotted completely off, her eyes are distant and empty and her mind is scattered and delusional. Despite all of that, there is an arrogance about her that is not normal especially for someone on the streets.

About 15 minutes later I was outside with Montana (my fearless warrior of a dog) waiting for Matt to come out with the food. Monica called out to me from across the street, "You got 10 dollars I can have"...
"WHAT DO YOU THINK?! of course not! I am not supporting your crack addiction" I replied. She tried her most charming tactics to convince me that if I gave her 10$ she would not ask me for at least 2 weeks for more money :) I did find that part rather funny.

So for the next few weeks I would see her pretty much everyday begging for crack money on the corner. Every time I saw her, she would ask for money, I would say "No, but I'll make you a sandwich if you are hungry" (she never took me up on that offer). I heard some really sad stories from the beat cops of other ways she acquired crack without money. She also informed me one morning while walking Montana that she not only has 66 trillion husbands, but she is also the Queen of Balile (I am pretty sure that country doesn't exist). I discovered that she is rather economically savvy. She explained to me about Balile's trade policies and the exports that bring her family their money...sunglasses, shoes, canvas bags...that sort of thing. Her mother is also the queen of Balile, not sure why that doesn't make Monica a princess...but she was pretty adamant that she is an equal queen to her mother.

One evening, late April, I was having dinner with my new neighbor and friend Jaquette along with Chirine and Jaquette's co-worker Leila. around 10pm we finally broke up the dinner party. Chirine and I walked Leila to the metro (since she didn't have any mace). On the way there we passed Monica standing on the street corner of N. Cap and NY Ave (typical). She was staring at us somewhat funny so of course I assumed she was lite. I waved since she was staring and she immediately started mumbling what seemed like very hostile sentences, but not loud enough for us to hear her. She had a hateful and deviant look in her eyes as she spoke obviously to us even though we could not understand what she was saying. I don't think I have ever seen someone look so full of evilness as I did that night. I haven't seen her since.

Besides the slight humor I was able to pull from her stories of royalty and marriage, I feel extremely sad for this woman. I wonder what life circumstances would have put her in the position to have no other choice (seemingly) to turn tricks and beg for crack change on the street corner day in and out. (However, she also really likes coca-cola...so the money didn't all go to crack). I would like to be able to do more for her...but you can't help someone who doesn't truly want it; and I refuse to be an enabler to people who just want you to do it for them. It's now been 3 weeks with no sign of Monica. Good bye, I wish you peace and safety Monica...where ever you are now.
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