Cross 'Em Off the List!

Yesterday, I completed two of the things on my "50 things" list. I chopped my hair so I can donate it! See!



I sent my hair to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths instead of Locks of Love. I think most of their wig donations go to women who have undergone chemotherapy while Locks of Love's go to kids with alopecia. Pantene only required 8 inches of hair, while Locks requires 10. When I measured the ponytail the woman chopped off my head myself, I think it was about 9 inches.

The second thing I can cross off my list is making a homemade pizza. I found out that I had a pizza dough recipe in one of my cookbooks, so I used that and topped off the pizza with some stuff from the CSA (tomatoes, basil, green peppers, arugula) as well as tomato sauce, onions, and mozzarella that I picked up on the side. It turned out fairly nicely. Look:


I'm really flying through this list! If I get too many things done before the due date, I guess I'll just have to write a new list early on!

The weekend

Jake and I went on a trip to Delaware on Friday and Saturday. On Friday afternoon, we drove out. We stopped at this awesome place called "Yoder's Country Store" and I bought random cheap spices and stuff. Then, we toured the Dogfish Head brewery. Their beer is interesting. A lot of it has a very high alcohol content. Jake and I both really like their "Punkin' Ale". It tastes like pumpkin pie. Yum!

Then, we drove to Econolodge in Rohoboth Beach, DE. I wouldn't recommend staying there. They gave us a smoking room when we requested non-smoking (and the room smelled bad, despite what they told us about cleaning it up for us...), there were a couple of broken lamps, and the bedspread had holes burned into it. Ick. Whatever...it was just a cheap room.

On Saturday, we hung around on the beach. Here's Jake on the beach:

This is one example of my fine photography. Oh, and it will only get better as I continue in my class...

It rained Saturday afternoon and I got totally soaked running to get the car while Jake sat under a gazebo and managed to stay dry.

On Sunday, Jake and I toured the National Arboretum. Now I sort of wish that I had taken Maria there when she visited because I'm sure she would have enjoyed it. We took a tram tour first. Then, we walked around and saw an exhibit of bonsai trees, an herb garden (there were a bunch of different types of peppers growing in there and I was very tempted to try to steal one...), and some columns that were removed from the Capitol building in the 1950s. Awesome.

Oh, I almost forgot...

I wanted to blog about Oprah yesterday, but my internet wasn't working.

She had a show on Tuesday where Jenny McCarthy came on and talked about her son, who has autism. Jenny made the claim that she thinks her son developed autism as a result of the MMR vaccines. I seriously wanted to throw something at my tv when she said that. I'm sooo pissed off that there will be parents that see the show and decide not to get their kids vaccinated based on Jenny's statements. The research doesn't support the idea that vaccines contribute to autism. Thimerisol was taken out of the MMR vaccine in the US in 2001 or 2002, and autism rates have still been increasing. Gah...people are morons.

Why do I continue to watch Oprah? First there's all this crap about "The Secret", then she plugs psychics, then she spreads all this misinformation about autism... Oprah, you are quickly falling from grace. I really think you mean well, but sometimes, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." (I suppose that quote would be more powerful if I actually believed in hell...but maybe I just mean hell metaphorically or something...) Really, woman, you need to do better on the fact-checking...

My Finger is Healing and I'm Having Random Fun

I got my stitches out yesterday. Yay! The nurse told me to be careful with my finger for he first 24 hours of the stitches being out. She actually said, "You know, don't whack your kids with that hand or anything..." WTF?

Jake and I started a photography class on Tuesday night. Did I mention earlier that we bought a digital SLR camera with some of our wedding money? Well, the class is going to teach us what all the buttons and doohickeys are on it. We are supposed to take pictures every week and bring them to class to be critiqued. I took a few already yesterday while on a walk through the cemetery near our apartment. Jake wants to leave for the beach this weekend, so I'm sure we'll take a bunch more. Maybe I'll post some examples of my finest photography later as the class rolls on. :) Our teacher is Pete Duvall; he and his wife do freelance photography. They have a website.

We've been watching Badger football on the weekends at Hamilton's, which is the new alumni bar in DC. We all (Jake, Jon, Ellen, and me) like it better than the Exchange, the old alumni bar.

Here's a picture of me, Jon, and Ellen dancing around in the bar:


This past weekend, we wandered around after the game and found out that a new Shakespeare theatre opened downtown. We got a bunch of free food that Target was giving out, and Ellen and I made crowns:


Last night, Jake and I saw Naomi Klein speak about her new book "The Shock Doctrine". It was interesting, but I felt like I only had a vague idea about some of the stuff she talked about (I'm not really hip to stuff about Chicago-style economics or Bolivian history or anything...but it was interesting to learn a bit about). It also made for a bit of a late night, but I think if there's ever anyone speaking again at Politics and Prose that I'm interested in, it's worth it to go and hear a talk. Plus, it's still on my list to go and get a signed copy of a book (I suppose I could have done that last night, but I think I'd want to get a book about something that I know more about and could actually possibly have an intelligent conversation with the author about...is that too much to ask? Or should I just resign myself to the fact that I'll probably have anxiety talking to anyone while getting a book signed? Well, maybe I could get a signed copy of Wayne Williams's book without worrying that I looked like a moron...)

If anyone is interested, there is a short film advertising Naomi Klein's book:


I have a phone interview tomorrow morning, and once that is over, Jake and I are planning to go to the beach in Delaware. Yay beach!

Gah, I want these things out!!

Sorry, people who are squeamish. Here's a picture of my stitches. I'm getting them taken out tomorrow (finally!).

Halloween

Jake and I just bought plane tickets to go to Milwaukee the first weekend in November. We're going to a wedding reception for his friends Feryl and Erika. The thing that's different about this reception is that it's going to be a costume party, so we have to come up with costume ideas before we go.

I thought it would be cool if Jake went as Duff man and I went as a beer bottle, but then Jake saw me looking at the steps some other guy went through to make a Duff man costume and said it would be too much work. We'd have to make a belt with beer cans attached to it somehow. I don't know how I'd make myself into a beer bottle either...

Anyone have any cool costume ideas?

Trip to the ER

Yesterday I was busy doing dishes around noon when a glass slipped and broke. I got a huge gash across my left pinkie finger. I wadded up a tissue on the injury and tried to apply pressure, but the cut was so deep there was no way it was going to clot up. I called Jake at work freaking out about what to do and he said he'd bike home and drive me to the ER.

So, after a few hours, a tetanus shot, some x-rays, and six stitches, I came back home yesterday. Thankfully, I'm covered by Jake's insurance. This would have really sucked if it happened before the wedding. The doctor also told me that I was lucky that I didn't end up with a severed tendon. I'll probably end up with a crazy scar on my pinkie. It's weird to type with a messed up pinkie finger...

I was actually supposed to go to the gyno yesterday, so I called and rescheduled my appointment for Thursday. It is going to be a couple of weeks filled with medical appointments. The ER referred me to a doctor to get the stitches taken out, so I called to try to make an appointment for that. The doctor probably won't be able to take them out for another 2 weeks, but I was told that I needed to schedule an appointment in a week "just to check on it". The receptionist woman also told me that I should try to swing by the hospital to pick up copies of my x-rays before coming in for my appointment. WTF? What a waste of time...I'm not going to do that. Doesn't that seem like a strange request? Screw that...

Now Jake has to do the dishes and stuff at home because I can't put my hand in standing water. It also puts a kink in his plan to go to the beach in two weekends...yeah, I don't think Jake is too happy I got hurt.

I wanted to take a picture of my gross looking finger with all the stitches in it, but I couldn't find a good way of doing it on my own. This picture of me bandaged up taken by Jake will have to do: