*My Life...RIGHT NOW

i don't normally do these things, but this one was actually semi-interesting...

1. Find the book nearest you, flip to page 18, and find line 4.
the book nearest me is a sudoku book. i already did the 2 puzzles on page 18. line 4 says: 521 869 473

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What can you touch?
the arm of my purple couch, my husband's african drum

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
derek playing some ps2 game

4. Without looking, guess what time it is:
midnight

5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?
12:07

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
the rain dripping on my aircon, the music from the ps2 game derek is playing with

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
tonight... came home from a day of physio, logistics meeting for CD recording, MasterLife group

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
a few friends' blogs

9. What are you wearing?
nothing... just kidding. t-shirt, thai fishers' pants, tensors on my feet

10. Did you dream last night?
yes... it was horrible about being stuck in a toilet, and world disaster, and teaching a highschool class

11. When did you last laugh?
tonight. cliff told us a gross story about him crapping in his pants when he was 7

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
nothing actually on the WALLS... oh except for a painting we stole from church (long story)

13. Seen anything weird lately?
does derek count?

14. What do you think of this quiz?
now it's starting to get boring...

15. What is the last film you saw?
lotr fellowship of the ring (again)

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?
first, i would pay for amy's friend's friend to come back from pakistan, then i would pay for our 1-year anniversary vacation, then i would set $110,000 aside for grad school, then i would get a bigger flat...

17. Tell me something about you that I don't know.
something that who doesn't know?? i am a certified snowboard instructor

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
cancel all world debt (hey it's the year of jubilee!!)

19. Do you like to dance?
yes... but i can't because i just had foot surgery

20. George Bush
is someone i've never met...

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
india grace

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
gabriel everett (after the archangel and the man who started compassion int'l)

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
i have, i am, i will

24. What do you want God to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
what do i WANT him to say or what WILL he say..? the latter is much more difficult....

*the adventures of a cripple*

so i was trying to take a shower yesterday because we had a wedding to go to, so i figured it would be nice to be clean.... i've been avoiding getting into the shower unless absolutely necessary this past week because it usually involves too much effort and pain to justify a daily visit. i mean, i had a shower yesterday, and my hair wasn't THAT greasy yet... but whatever, it was a wedding.

so i get into the shower, and totally pk'd. i smacked my elbow on the porcelain soap dish (in the same spot that i smacked it on yesterday), fell flat on my tailbone in the tub, and managed to take a chunk of flesh out of my finger. THAT'S why i don't get in the shower everyday....

then of course i have to actually get ready for the wedding. derek had worship practice that he didn't know about, so i had to do it on my own. what should i wear? i mean, exactly what kind of evening attire would go well with a massive plastic blue and grey robo-boot... exactly? and exactly what kind of shoes - er, i mean shoe - would match it? i decided if i was going to do it, i might as well go all out, so i wore the silver heels - heel - i wore at my wedding. let me tell you, getting out of my half-sized door in one heel and crutches is not an easy task. and crutches and a clutch definately do not go together. i get downstairs and what does the guard say to me?

are you going to the doctor's?

WHAT?? yes, i usually go see my doctor at 8pm, dressed in a champagne gown and silver heels - heel - and pearl earrings.

*HE LIVES*

it's been a hard week for me, but the Creator is alive and He's at work in our church and in this city. and derek is coming back tonight!! hoooray!!

Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness.
Let the whole world know what he has done.
Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.
Tell everyone about his miracles.
Exult in his holy name;
O worshipers of the LORD, rejoice!
Search for the LORD and for his strength,
and keep on searching.
Think of the wonderful works he has done,
the miracles, and the judgments he handed down ~ 1 chronicles 16:8-12

check it out. two and half weeks to go!! we ARE letting the whole world know...

*as in a dream*

the past few days have been rather useless... at least i have felt really useless. i have done nothing but sit on my ass and watch tv. not even really good tv. but i've got this sick fascination with reality shows like rich kids cattle drive and gastineau girls. these people are just so unbelievable... i'm not going to say anymore about them because i'm going to say something horrible.

so last night i decided that i'm not going to turn on the tv at all today. so far so good, but man is it hard! i'm tempted every few minutes to reach for the remote just to see if, by chance, there could be something worth watching today. i probably will give in later today.

i'm not sure if it's the drugs or if it's because i havewn't used my brain in about 4 days, but i can't seem to be able to do anything productive. even as i'm blogging, i have to stop often to correct spelling mistakes and make sense of my sentences. my mind has turned to mush. my mind just seems to be in this perpetual state of blurriness, as in a dream.

so i'm sorry if i can't expound on anything terribly meaningful. i'm struggling right now just to focus my eyes on the screen. i've decided that being home alone for more than one day is no fun. much better to have husband around. i have to endure one more day til he comes back. booo. and i'm supposed to go to dinner with his parents and two of his aunts tonight. that should be interesting. it'll be the first time i'm with his parents without any buffers. no husband, no brothers in law, no other daughters in law to divert their attention from me. and i just know there's going to be endless questions about how i hurt my foot and how i should take care of it. i just don't respond well to smothering. i think that's why i can't handle my sister. she smothers like crazy. derek and i watched 'proof' with gwyneth paltrow and jake gyllenhaal last week, and i can totally empathize with gwyneth's character and her sister...

ok. this is enough brain work for today.

*trapped at home*

don't get me wrong, i really love staying at home. but there's something unnerving about it when i don't have a choice. so since i have so much time on my hands, i get to update even when there's nothing to update. instead of being on my church's first-ever mission trip to beijng which i did most of the planning and organizing for since february, i had foot surgery and stuck at home.

so instead of beijing, this has been my schedule over the easter weekend:

THURSDAY
600 - derek left for airport
800 - woke up, freaked out about stuff i had forgotten for beijing trip, got it sorted out with cliff; sent some 180 emails
1200 - michele came to take me to the hospital
1245 - arrived at hospital, took forever to register, fill in forms, etc.
1330 - finally got to hospital room, had to change into yucky hospital underwear and robe
1400 - jacinta & dawn came, brought me flowers and a creme egg :), we hung out, played with jacinta's new macbook pro
1500 - where's the doctor?? (surgery was scheduled to be now)
1530 - nurse finally came to take me to surgery, filled in more forms, waited some more, finally went into surgery theatre
1545 - anesthesiologist came and did his thing, i was out in like 3 seconds...
1730 - "janice! janice! wake up, janice...." "huh...??" throat was dry like a desert because they had to stick a tube down my throat during the surgery, took me like 2 hours to clear my head enough to speak
1930 - had a tuna sandwich and congee while jacinta got to have the cheese burger and fries :(
2100 - really had to pee, but not allowed to get up, was forced to use the bedpan. wierrrrrrd. of course, dave and jess showed up right then, while i had a big dish of pee on my table. NICE. jacinta left. jess and dave brought more flowers and soup :)
2215 - dave and jess left. did a few sudoku puzzles
2300 - passed out.

FRIDAY
900 - finally woke up
1000 - breakfast of congee and lotus leaf wrapped glutinous rice
1030 - physio finally came, made me get out of bed and move around. extreme pain involved.
1130 - tried to check out, but no one would tell me what i was supposed to do. had to sit in stuffy office waiting to pay the bill while my foot was in immense pain...
1215 - michele came back to take me home
1330 - had leftover pasta for lunch, mark brought kfc for him and michele
1430 - michele left. mark and i watched tv and i did sudoku all afternoon
1800 - mark went home
1900 - jacinta came and we went to michele's for roast dinner
2300 - home, sent some emergency beijing emails... sleep, sweet sleep

SATURDAY
1000 - woke up, took a very painful shower, sat on the couch and watched tv ALL DAY.
1600 - abbie and amy came over, watched koala bears on tv
1800 - abbie went to dinner with family
1900 - mark and drew came over, we ate amy's giant strawberries
1930 - kev came over, ordered pizza & ribs, watched LOTR
2300 - kev went home. mark, drew, amy and i played 'oh hell' til 2am...

SUNDAY
1230 - woke up, watched 'rich kids cattle drive' marathon all afternoon
1740 - got dressed and left home for church
2030 - flying pan... mmmm
2300 - mark, drew & amy came over and we played 'oh hell' til 1am... then watched 'dodgeball'
300 - sleeeeeep

MONDAY
1030 - woke up, watched 'gastineau girls' marathon all afternoon
1530 - blogging

*recoup*

surgery on thursday went fine. i'm on my way to recovery, although it hurts like heck, and the painkillers the hospital gave me don't seem to work too well....

michele was kind enough to drive me to and from the hospital, and jacinta and dawn brought me flowers and an easter cream egg :) jess and dave brought me soup... i really feel so blessed!

today i'm home alone though, and i attempted to take a shower. let's just say that hong kong sized bathtubs are not condusive to cripples trying to avoid pain.... it was such an ordeal, and there was much pain involved. now i'm too pooped to try and get the hair dryer out. so i'm sitting here watching 'the passion of the christ' on star movies, with wet hair and a growling stomach. will get enough energy to heat up some food soon....

here are some pics of my foot for your enjoyment :) i had to take the original bandaging off and replace it with a sock thing... it was ridiculously difficult, but thanks to amy, it wasn't too bad...

*pig foot*

i have one of these.

yes, this is what my foot looks like now. granted it's not always this swollen. it's only because i've been walking around with a robocop boot all day which i'm not supposed to.

let's backtrack a little. last weekend, the planet shakers took over our church and there were outreaches on friday and saturday night, and also sunday night at our evening service. friday night, as i was jumping along (not even in the mosh pit, might i add) i heard a loud POP.

and then intense pain. oww.

and i couldn't walk. booo.

and i noticed that my achilles tendon in my left foot was not really there.... hmmm.

fortunately, some of the power prayer women from praise assembly were nearby, and they started praying for my foot. seriously, after they prayed, the pain went away. i kept massaging my leg, because my lower calf really hurt has well, and it felt better. it seemed a bit dodgy still, so derek took me to the emergency room at ruttonjee. the doctor told me it was just a simple sprain and told me to rest it for a few days. i tried to show her the difference between my achilles tendon in my left and right foot, but she still said it was fine. so she gave me some drugs and sent me on my way.

the next morning, derek had to go get me crutches because i couldn't even put a ounce of weight on my left foot. we were at the vine again, and karla handcock, being the cool nurse that she is, looked at it, did a simple muscle test, and said i should go see a specialist right away. she got me an appointment at an upscale sports medicine office, with the 2005 muay thai boxing champion/sports doctor, right away. he took one look at it and said it was probably a ruptured achilles tendon.

(at this point i started to really worry. i was supposed to be going to beijing on thursday for mission trip.)

he said i had to come back on monday for an MRI to confirm the severity of the injury. over the next 2 days, people kept saying i'll get better soon, just take it easy... somewhere in the back of my mind i knew it wasn't that simple. after the scan on monday, the doctor confirmed that it's a complete rupture of the tendon and that i would need to have surgery as soon as possible. (BIG alarm bells going off in my head...) i tried to get myself out of it, or at least postpone the surgery until after beijing. he wouldn't have it. i didn't try too hard, because in my mind i'm thinking this guy could kill me with one blow, as his muay thai champion's belt gleamed in the background.

so.... back to my pig foot. the doctor gave me this serious robo-boot to wear until the surgery. except i have a lot of things to do and i couldn't stay still. for one, i had to hand over every detail of the mission trip to other people as i was handling the logistics, and do drama practice. so it kept swelling up inside the boot because it's hot and i kept walking around...

tomorrow, derek leaves for the philippines, along with most of my friends. and i go into the hospital to have my foot cut up. this is what they're going to do to my foot. it's not pretty.



hmmm..... no moving for 10 days apparently. no husband at home. this is a good combination. well fortunately i have some good friends who have taken pity on me and will bring me food. i'm having a pity party on saturday. yippeeee.

happy easter everyone.