updating soon

seriously, what day is it?

i’ve been pushing forward through a big fog that has only lifted yesterday…
so today is emails, bills, blog… in that order :)
i’ll be back in a couple hours

Checked out!

Lisa’s being released from the hospital tonight! Sounds like she’ll be able to get a better night’s sleep in the hotel. From now until Sunday, she’ll be at the Villa Florence hotel with Mom and Dad - after that they’ll be moving on to the Mill Valley house.

Flowers from Mama make the room brighter :)

Just got off the phone with Lisa - she sounds completely with it, but really fatigued. She said the dye test was not nearly as bad as she thought it would be, and that she has been able to sip some apple juice and water today.

She also wanted to thank everyone for your prayers and kind thoughts! It has meant the world to her to know that she has the support of her family and friends.

Update = all good news so far

Lisa is doing great today - she was up and walking around a little last night and more this morning. Her dye test went well, no leaks (!) and if everything keeps going smoothly, she should be able to get off the self-medicated morphine this afternoon. As my dad put it, the progress to expect is that one by one the wires will be coming out (morphine, heart monitor, etc) as the day goes on.

Dad also sent pics from Lisa’s room!  Looks swanky, no?

Out of Surgery –

Hi everyone, Lisa is out of surgery and in post-operative recovery right now. Everything went smoothly during the procedure. More updates to come as I hear from our parents in the hospital!

Feel free to send Lisa some love via facebook, email (lisa.szkatulski@gmail.com) or text messages - she really appreciates everyone’s support!

– Anne

surgery / part I : prep

okay, the quick recap so far. will be replaced later with an actual update -

- friday: last day at work. went to a fabulous lunch with some very good friends. was working until 5:15pm, at which point went home and then was late for my own going-away party at TenPin. it seemed appropriate, although was not planned that way :) had dinner and bowled with more very good friends. perfect night on the town. compassionate yet unsentimental and fresh way to head out the door.

- saturday: slept in. packed. left for parents’ house. had brunch, had a massage, did some girly stuff at the spa, talked about the trip, dad made an excellent dinner, and then we packed some more. sisters and i had some precious bonding time late into the night.

- sunday: left from o’hare at 6am, got to San Jose around 11am. drove up to Sausilito and shopped / walked / tasted a little wine. GPS led us to our rented house for next week in mill valley - it’s on a mountain and kind of a winding road, but looks beautiful from the driveway… then made our way to the hotel, unpacked, had a picnic dinner in the hotel room of goodies picked up in wine country.

- monday: doctors appts start at 9am. we head to st. mary’s for the first time and have breakfast at the cafeteria around 7:30 (we’re on chicago time, people). pre-admitting is smooth, then head to the offices of pacific laparoscopy (also for the first time, obvi)… the offices are very unassuming. i’d expected more panache somehow. we walked in as though it were any of my specialists’ offices, checked in, sat down and waited. met with the physicians’ assistant - who i am nicknaming mcdreamy - who answered any last questions we had. i found out i’m losing an appendix. true story.

finished up in the early afternoon, drove around a little, returned the rental car, and hit trader joe’s for bottles of water and anything else i was allowed to have the day before surgery (pretty much apple juice and chicken soup broth). went to dinner at a fantastic hole in the wall called Fino’s, came home, and i laid out my pills for today.

- tuesday: no food, bus tour, apple juice, back to the hotel, on pill regimen - vitamins, etc every two hours 12 to 10pm - logged some serious phone time today… and now, trying desperately to not let people feel like i’m too far away. it’s been too frantic / anxious to update anything yet. things here are good, i’m heading to st mary’s for the big deal in about seven hours.

holy shit.

shocked by how okay i feel. and more scared about the day after tomorrow than tomorrow itself.

with love -

you will either totally know and love this movie or have never heard of it

it’s THE NUTCRACKER. the ballet… from 1986… largely art directed by Maurice Sendak (of Where The Wild Things Are, of In The Night Kitchen, of Dear Mili)

looking at him now, i think this Godfather was an early five-year-old crush of mine… obviously not an attraction at that age, but it made an impression: to this day i love men who are disheveled, frantic, a touch aggressive, brilliant

i’ll probably be just like that when i’m a crazy old lady, only substituting “eccentric” for “brilliant” (the kind of “eccentric” said between grandchildren with raised eyebrows and a knowing look)

plus the whole movie is freaking gorgeous. see the entire thing with “limited commercials” on hulu.com

etsy unboxing

storyline #1:
so i have this baby blanket i got from my auntie di when i was three months old, and after 27 years it’s threadbare… no more friendly animal faces smiling down on me :( i feel more than a little guilty about it

storyline #2:
i painted my bedroom khaki, put up a maroon wall covering, and i love how it vibes with the orange bedspread and grey sheets and blue world map

so what pulls it all together?
an homage to the baby blanket of course. one that uses all the other colors in the room………….

PURRRRRRRRRRfect

from the etsy shop Norajane

“soul mates”

two examples of this term being used loosely :)

1. my good friend at work who called me his work soul mate, after we learned we had to post personal profiles and i made him lay on the ground while i traced him on paper, kindergarten-style.

and then while he took a picture of his face, i added angel-and-devil Ronald McDonald’s (the account he works on) to the cutout (cue mr. burns: “excellent”)

2. discovering the Door Sixteen interior design blog. i think this chick and i have a really related sense of taste… not exactly the same, but a major overlap. kind of awesome.

my other siblings

not too long after Rothbury, a few Brazilians were in town for a several days - en route between Beijing and Denver of all things! and i really miss them.

it was wonderfully refreshing to have visitors crashing in my home and showing them the city and feeling like my hometown was new all over again

and the best feeling in the world was when i was done with work, on the bus to get home, and knowing there were three people hanging out, ready to have fun :) made me nostalgic for the days when i had roommates…