Too Much of a Good Thing

Cooking makes me feel normal. I love to make things, and cooking is often a solitary sport.

However, it is totally possible to go overboard.



18 Dark chocolate coconut cupcakes



16 Chocolate chip peanut butter cookies


Anyone need a snack?

The One-Eyed Man

I have been deaf in my right ear for more than a decade and I have never worn a hearing aid.

That is, until today.

Let me tell you something about hearing aids. They are not the same as hearing. Not at all.

But, I know I should at least try one. And I am. But the doctor said that the hearing aid would be good in situations with a lot of background noise, and playing music.

Yeah, not so much.

I guess it's all trial and error. Especially where, in the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

An Epic Disappointment

I try to not let being deaf affect my daily life. The sun will come up and go down, the wind will move tree branches, and traffic will suck regardless, and I should keep moving on, too.

But, about eight months ago, something changed my attitude about being deaf. My ear doctor delivered me a new hope in cochlear implant surgery.

I've been exploring my options since then, and finally went ahead with a surgical consult yesterday. The office manager who scheduled the appointment told me they'd get a jumpstart on the insurance paperwork and it should be smooth sailing from there. I might even have a new ear by the end of 2010.

I doubt many people could understand how excited I was.

All of that changed yesterday, though, when the a different ear doctor than I usually see greeted me in the exam room, did some rudimentary tests, and then brought the other ear surgeon in.

Suddenly, the surgeon was backpedaling. He told me that I wasn't nearly as good a candidate for the surgery as he initially estimated, and that if I did elect to have the surgery, he wouldn't do it unless I couldn't hold him liable for the consequences if it wasn't successful.

They wanted me to try the Baha implant demo, which is less invasive than a cochlear implant. I just about burst into tears from stress and confusion. I thought to myself, "Why would you string me along, tell me that there's hope, and then take all that away?"

It's still hard for me to write about this. Just thinking about it has made tears well up and a caused a tightness in my throat. More than that, I'm ashamed of myself. I did exactly what I shouldn't -- I pinned all of my hopes to this procedure. And now that it hasn't worked out like I had hoped, I am terribly disappointed.

I cried and cried yesterday. I couldn't eat. I could sleep despite being exhausted. And now, I have to just move on.

I wonder if I still can.

Tomorrow's High: 90 F

Folks all over are posting about autumn's slow arrival. I read this tweet just a second ago by @thematesofstate:

thematesofstate

1. Weather on Trash Night: it's raining and about 67 degrees. Autumn makes her first showing of the year, and I welcome her per-ushhh.
   
   
   

Here, we're just happy to have days that don't hit triple digits. In fact, today it got ALL THE WAY DOWN TO 89F DURING THE DAYLIGHT HOURS.

Meaning: I had to take the dogs on a W-A-L-K, which is how we say "walk" in our house, lest we not get puppies over-excited.

On Saturday, though, we went to a wedding. It got up to 107F. Initially, the bride and groom planned to have the ceremony outside. In August. In Texas. With people wearing satin and tuxedos.

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

I love weddings, though. Put a check in a card and get dolled up, amiright? Only, there was no dancing or booze at this wedding. It was ceremony then thanksforthecheckpeace!



That's OK. I got dolled up anyway.



Then, we had some friends over. They were awesome. Well, they still are awesome.





Tomorrow, the high is 90F. Sounds like puppy-walking weather to me.

A Break in the Heat

After 18 straight days of 100-plus degree temperatures, we got a delightful, breezy reprieve. I think we didn't hit more than 95 degrees yesterday, and of course, we managed a very rewarding sunset after a hard Wednesday.

Taking Inventory

"Count your blessings," they say. And I do, often in fact.

I have a house. I have a nice car. I have a wonderful husband. I have sweet pets and dear chickens.



Fitzgerald says he is a blessing. (We agree!)




It's a blessing that Mr. Orange and Hornsby get along.


But sometimes, even the blessings can be a challenge. Like the house, for instance. We just had a significant amount of plumbing done, only to discover that we need more electrical done. It never ends.

But, I hope that even as things are challenging, we can still rely on our family and friends to lift us up when we need it.

(And puppies, too!)