Ole One Kidney

So, yes, once upon a time 11 years ago today, I got my kidney ripped out of my body, and it was placed gently into my sister's body. Hence the motto of my blog: Half the Kidneys, Twice the Fun. It was an experience full of fun, craziness, and lots of presents (thanks everyone for all the presents). The nurses ripped me out of bed 12 hours after being sliced in half to weigh me. I got a sweet 9 inch scar. The Dean of Students at my college called me every Wednesday to see how I was doing. I got a nice bottle of pills to take home with me. Thanks to cable, I could watch 3 hours of 90210, straight. Every time I stood up, I could feel all of my insides swishing around trying to find a new home. I slept a lot. Oh, and my sister got to pee again. So that was good. No, that was great. She didn't puke nearly as much anymore and she actually got real color in her cheeks, not that crap from CoverGirl she would swipe on her face. That was the best part.

But the second best part? The drugs right before the surgery. They put this epidural in me. Then shot it full of some happy koolaid. I was higher than high. It was feeling good. I had no idea what was about to hit me. There is a picture of me and Kathryn right before surgery. It was after I had the sweet elixir of morphine, and before Kathryn had any drugs. The picture looks a lot like this:

Hope your (or technically, mine) kidney has 11 more years of fun and sassiness, sis!

Bathing Suit

For my Prenatal Water Aerobics class, I have been wearing the ghetto-est get-up available. Partly because I am cheap. And partly because I haven't had the heart to buy a new swimsuit until I got a bit bigger....and knew it would fit the whole time.

The Old Outfit: A shiny black, hideous WalMart special that was like 12 bucks and is now stretched to the max, paired with a lovely pair of Carolina Blue Boy Boardshorts from Old Navy that I have had for probably 10 years now....I think I took them to Mexico in 1998....

I took a picture the other dayLately, because the belly have gotten big, pulling up the swim suit has involved a lot of deep squats and odd contortions in the changing room. The Shorts now cannot be enclosed with the velcro enclosure, and I have to roll down the top of the shorts a few times, secure with some crazy boy scout knot on the ties, and hop in the pool really quick to avoid being seen by anyone I work with (did I mention these classes take place at my place of work??? How insane am I, really?)

The New Swimsuit: I got bottoms from one store (a skirt with bottoms attached) and a top from another, and when I mentioned that to my lovely husband, he said :I don't understand, you had to buy two parts at two different stores???. I know....

So I took this picture of me in my new swim suit:

Hooray for modern photo taking!

I don't really know why I am smiling. I guess just smiling through the pain.....Today will be the first time I wear it in the pool. I hope it stays on and doesn't fly off my body, but with my luck, you never know.....

Wake Up Calls: Two in one week.

So I got a wake up call in my hotel this week when I was in Nashville. That was exciting, as my morning voice sounded kind of like a witch and the lady hung up really fast so I couldn't cast a spell on her.

But the other wake up call I got? The more exciting and slightly depressing one? Saturday Kyle and I were walking downtown, cruising around and I caught a glimpse of myself in the huge window of a store, walking down the street, like from the side.

This is what it looked like, like this could be a real picture I took that day it is so life like: (mind you, this is really the first time I have seen myself in action, from a side view)