Happy Birthday to me!

I'm 28... commence with the jokes about how I'm getting closer to 30, and the wisdom about what I can expect in the next few years. I'd be more happy had I heard something back about a job... but for the 4th year in a row, I have nothing to really celebrate on my birthday besides making it through another year without going insane. :) Plus, I kind of feel like crap with all these holes in me... and I get the fun experience of going out in public...with a bandaid on my face. Am I vain? A little.

My Dermatology Surgery

Well, I made it through alive! I had three things removed. 2 of them I knew to expect (in fact, I initially went to request they be removed) so it was no surprise to me last week that he would say he wanted to remove them. The 3rd was a place on my leg that I've had for about 3-5 years. I was about 99% sure that it was a varicose vein, but when he looked at it last week he said, "oh..." with a very cautionary tone, and then followed up with, "I think that's actually a cyst... it needs to come out!" As a person with melanoma, and lymphoma that runs on both sides of my family, I'm generally pretty good about watching things and making sure they don't change color, shape, or size. Yes the thing on my leg got bigger, but it had also gotten to a size and stopped for over a year, so I wasn't too concerned. But apparently I should have been. I scheduled surgery less than a week from my initial consultation, which brings me to today. I was back with them for about an hour. First they deadened all the areas they were taking care of and then the Dr. came back and got to work. He "punched" out the place in my face and arm (it's a nifty little tool that is sort of like a drill... cuts right around and into the tissue and punches it out, very quick and with the least amount of tissue removal). Those went great. Then he had me turn over on the table so he could work on the back of my calf. I could feel pressure on my leg, so I knew he was starting, and then he said it... "Oh!" An exclamation... I was thinking, "this guy really needs to work on his reactions..." but then he finally said, "clear fluid just came out... I've never seen anything like this before..." And then a bit later the gal tech said, "wow... I've never seen ANYTHING like this...!" and I asked, "What do you mean?!" Her response: "It looks like a little marble!" And sure enough, it did... I saw it in the cup to send it to the lab... it looked like a little white marble. What did he think the cyst was? A clogged sweat gland that turned into a cyst! Hmmm... we'll wait for results to come back on all this, though, of course. So, now I'm all hopped up on Tylenol and I feel wiped out... but at least I know that I've gotten it all taken care of. I'll just keep praying that everything comes back from the lab with GOOD NEWS! Thanks to everyone who thought of me, prayed for me, whatever while I went through all this. I was quite scared about my leg... although, in my opinion the worst is yet to come... stitches removal! EEP!

Here's what's up...

I got back from the beach Thurs (Jul 16th)... for the most part I had a very relaxed vacation! I enjoyed the time with my nephew greatly... and it was play, play, play... after he and his parents left and I stayed on at the beach with my parents, I took some time to send out my resume/cover letter by email. I know, what was I doing working on vacation?! But, considering I don't yet have a full time teaching position, it was necessary... so...

I got a call yesterday about interviewing on a campus in my current district... my interview is tomorrow at 4pm. I'm very hopeful... they have a handful of positions open, and I'm hoping to get one of them! I think if I just stay calm, and think before answering their questions I'll do great. Also, my portfolio has been revamped and I've included letters that my students wrote me from when I student taught as well as my thank you note from my autistic student's mom from this past school year showcased in there as well! I think/hope that those things will speak strongly.

Also, I finally had my dermatology appointment this afternoon. I'm a little upset... I had him specifically look at 3 things that were bugging me... One of them specifically I was SURE was nothing... and it turns out it's more of a something than I would've thought. I had a bump on the back of my left calf that I was positive was a varicose vein... after reading a lot of things, I was positive that it was due to my weight gain in the past 3 years as well as being on the combo birth control pill. Turns out, it's a cyst of some kind... when he first saw it he said, "...oh..." in a very skeptic sounding way that is never good coming from a Dr. Anyhow, everything will be sent to the lab, so I'll be playing the waiting game on that, and hopefully it will turn out to be nothing at all... :( So, I'm having surgery Monday afternoon to remove the places... I'm most nervous about having to go back in to have stitches removed... I hate the feeling... it's very uncomfortable and stresses me out... but I'm glad to get this taken care of NOW.

I'll make another post later about my vacation... right now I'm trying to stay more focused on tomorrow's interview so that I'm not freaked out going into it... after I'm done with that my focus will immediately shift to Monday's schedule... :(

Beach bound!

The family and I are headed to Port Aransas tomorrow morning (early)! I'll miss all my animals, but I'll be glad to go to the coast and see Conner having a fun time... plus, word has it he's getting excited about going and seeing all of us there (probably mostly his PawPaw, tho!)...

In other news, I passed my ESL test... and I paid/applied for my certification today. I've updated my resume, and I've begun sending it out! Hopefully I get some bites and land a job! If not, apparently I still have my current position, so at least I won't be w/o funds... :) And maybe something would open up beginning of the year due to enrollment... wouldn't that be nice?

BUSY BUSY BUSY

Well, I haven't posted much lately because a lot has been going on. Ricky came in from L.A. to visit for basically the month of June... during that time our good friend Long (who lives in the Dallas area) came down to SA to visit us... I haven't seen either of these boys in about 1-1/2 year!!! :( I was sooooo glad to see them! We spent a day in Austin while Long was here... hitting up our usual eating spots and spending a chunk of time in IKEA (actually in the Round Rock area) and we just had a great time! I can't wait until I see both of them again!

Ricky left July 2nd (which was incidentally the same day that I took my certification exam... still no word on results yet, btw) and I didn't really see much of him the few days before that bc I was studying. I did have a great visit with him... and I got to see Druck more, too... Summer is a time I can try to map out chunks of time here and there for people. When distance doesn't matter too much (I have a handful of friends that live on the other side of town... about an hour drive round-trip!)... time is precious during the school year, so when I don't have to worry about that, I make more time to see people. Although, I spend time with family a lot during the summer, too...

For example, we went up for the day to Spring to see Conner the Saturday after his birthday! He's SOOOO cute! This Saturday, we're leaving for our annual Port Aransas beach vacation with them... :) I'm very excited to see how much fun Conner has this year... he's 2 now and I imagine he'll have much more fun at the beach and pool than last year! And just in general, I'm glad we'll get to spend a few days with them...! Although, I have a sneaking suspicion that Conner will mainly only be interested in spending time with his PawPaw...! They're buddies... end of story.

Anyhow, today I had planned on running to Walmart to get a few things so that I can slowly start packing and all for the trip, but I just don't have the same motivation I had yesterday to get out and get things done...! Maybe in a little while, though!