Nags Head

Allow me to re-introduce myself: I'm Maureen, and I'm supposed to be the author of this blog.

I know that sometimes it doesn't seem that way, but it's true.

Sorry I've been MIA. That whole, "OMG, I can SEE," thing, took up more time than I expected.

Anyhoo, went to the beach last week. Nags Head, NC.

We went with two of Mike's grade school friends, their wives, and their little boys. The boys are 1 and 1 and a half. Pretty darned cute.


That's Jake. He was my admirer for the week. Can you see my shadow in the mirror? I was on the patio with my laptop (more than once) and he came banging on the door to get my attention (more than once). He and Brady were adorable.

I only ventured to the actual beach once, for a walk before dinner. Otherwise, the whole sand plus toddlers plus wind didn't really make my newly-lasored eyes excited. So it was the pool and margaritas for me for the most part.

Not that I'm complaining. At all.

We golfed a few times, too. Once on the drive down, just before we hit Nags Head. Then twice with Jason and Tom.

Not sure how interesting the golf talk is to many of you, but I probably played my best round on Saturday. Like, ever.

Then I was doing well on Monday's round, but I had to call into a conference call on the 10th hole and it lasted all the way through 18. So I'm still saying I shot a 60. Just don't pay attention to the fact that it was only on 10 holes.

And as you can imagine, playing a third time in one week was just one time too many. Not to mention the course was just impossible for a player like me. And not just a bad player. I'm not sure many women could play the course well, unless they were just monster golfers.

This was the view from one of my tee boxes:

You had to hit the ball dead straight, through the trees.

This was the shot from another tee box:

50 yards of tall grass. So you had to hit it high to get over this gunk.

And finally, in the middle of more than one fairway,

A big pond that was at least 40 yards deep. So you'd have to hit a little shot just to lay up right before the pond, then hope you could hit it over.

Sigh. Needless to say, those pink balls that Aunt Rita gave me for my birthday? Kinda gone now.

We came back on Thursday, and have visited with Mike's parents the last few days, who are in town painting some rooms in David and Lauren's house.

I'm off to Indianapolis tomorrow, which will kick off a lot of trips this July (yeah, yeah, I know, tomorrow isn't July, but that's just details). And travel should mean more appearances of Anticipated posts... I hope. ;-)

IMG00242-20090624-1303.jpg

Nags Head, NC

Since you asked

Joe, you do such wonderful things for my ego.

So, since you asked...

(Jenelle, Stop. Right. Here. You are no less of a friend for not reading any more.)

I was nervous as all get out. I knew it wouldn't "hurt" in so far as pain like cutting or anything. But I knew it would be a lot of discomfort (kinda verging on pain) and then the discomfort part is doubled when you realize -- :Holy s&*t! This isn't pressure on my arm! This is on my eyeball!"

The Xanax does make you a bit loopy and slow. You're conscious that every reaction you have is delayed by a few seconds.

There were two machines, and the first one was way worse than the second. I think both involved lasers, but I honestly don't know.

They prop open your eye, but use something different for each of the two machines. And they only prop open one eye at a time. So I laid down, and he put masking tape over my left eye.

Then he ...

(Jenelle, I'm serious. Do not go any further.)

Then he propped my right eye open with what can best be described as what it would feel like if you took a shot measurer and shoved it in your eye. Meaning, it almost felt like the contraption went all the way down your eye and kinda popped it out.

Hey, Joe asked.

That one really did verge on the hurting. And it went black, so that was scary, too. The doctor had warned about it, but, still, it was scary. He counted backwards in groups of five from 30, so you knew how long it would last, and that really did help.

And he didn't pause between eyes for you to be able to freak out much. Know how I said your reactions, because of the Xanax, were delayed? Well, that machine stopped (I think it was actually slicing the cornea) and he pulled out the contraption on the right eye, ripped off the tape on the left, and shoved it in the left. Like you didn't have time to say, "you know, about this whole thing..." All of a sudden he was counting backwards from 30 again.

I was laying on a table, and he swiveled the table from under that machine, stopped in the middle for a second to shine and light and make sure the cut had been made, taped up the left on again, and put me under the other machine.

(I swear, Jenelle, you're going to throw up here. If you haven't already.)

There was a red light you were supposed to focus on. He started using his hands and tools then, to pull back the cornea. My eyeball moved, and he said to "fight" him moving the eyeball. Um, right. So I tried to stay focused on the red light, and when he removed the flaps, it went completely blurry. More than just without my glasses. I could still see light, so it wasn't like the first machine.

Oh, and him touching my eye didn't hurt. They had numbed it, and that really worked. The clamp keeping my lids open was uncomfortable, but him touching my eye didn't hurt at all.

But then the laser started. You'd think with all this technology, they could make a quiet laser so it doesn't freak you out. But this thing reved up with "tat, tat, tattatatatatatat" and some air bursts.

The doctor counted backwards, this time probably from only 15, then he swung the machine away and used the tools to place the flaps back. Then he smoothed them with a little paint brush. Again, that didn't really hurt, although it felt like something was in your eye. Like you wanted to pull your head away. And you could see the brush going over your eye, like he was painting it.

Thanks to the Xanax, though, it wasn't until he was done when you did the "Holy S*&t" moment again, though. Unfortunately, there was another eye. So I think I was more tense on the second eye than the first, even though none of the second machine hurt as much as the first. Just the

realization of what he was doing.

But that was just a few seconds more, and then he pulled away the machines and literally grabbed my shoulders and pulled me up. I was kinda woozy, but the nurse pulled me off the bed and over to a chair. He sat down and looked at my eyes through a normal machine from an eye doc office and said it all went great, buh bye.

The nurse had me by the arm walking me out before I even realized that he was done, basically.

The whole rest of Friday it felt like sand in my eyes and that was scary. I didn't expect so much discomfort on Friday. I had only heard the stories of people saying, "I woke up from the nap and could see the clock!" And I could. But it kinda hurt to focus.

Yesterday was less of sand in my eyes and more dry eyes -- like I had my contacts in and it was 11 p.m. at night in a smokey bar.

Right when I woke up today, they were really dry and scratchy. But since I've been putting drops in (there are so many drops -- four different types), they haven't bothered me at all.

The worst is that you can't get near your eyes to clean them. So the drops dry and around my eyes feels kinda grungy. The doc yesterday at my follow up appointment, when I asked her for tips to clean my eyelids, told me to get used to it for a week, and not to touch them. Yuck.

So there you have it! The gory details! Hey, you asked!

Did you see that?!?

'Cuz I did!

24 plus hours after Lasik and I'm doing good!

Lauren took me to the surgery center yesterday morning, and we got there really, really early. My appointment was at 8:20 a.m. in Tysons. And you know how that goes -- it can take 25 minutes to get there or 2 hours to get there. So we left around 6:50 a.m., and it, of course, took us 25 minutes.

Poor Lauren. She was a really good sport, though, and we did some driving around trying to find a coffee shop open. We finally canned that idea (probably when Lauren perceptively realized I was so nervous I just wanted to be sitting in the waiting room, even if I was an hour early).

Once they took me back, everything went fairly quickly. The nurse reminds you of all the side effects. Gives you a million drops to take after the surgery, complete with a two-week check list to help you keep track. The doctor comes in and reminds you of all the side effects. He gives you a Xanax.

Actually, an aside on the doctor. He's a surgeon, and they are infamous for not having good bed side manners. This one wasn't very different. Although I did trip him up when I asked him when it would feel like when I left the surgery center -- would I be able to see, wouldn't I, what should I expect?

And he said that it would be like I dipped my contacts in jelly.

So I said, "Ok. But, um, I never dipped my contacts in jelly, so that's not really helpful."

Pause.

Complete silence.

(me, thinking: oh, great, Maureen, piss off the surgeon before he takes a laser to your eyes.)

"Hu. Huhuhuhu. Ha. Hahaha. Ya, I guess you wouldn't have," he says.

Whew.

He gave me the Xanax, turns out the lights and leaves me to rest. I'm sure I fell asleep, and then a nurse was in ushering me to the surgery room. I laid down on a bed, she gave me a teddy bear to hold on to, and they were off.

It was literally 30 seconds on each eye, under two different machines. It was surreal. I was nervous, but the Xanax did it's job. The doctor and nurse did a good job of counting down the time under each machine, which really helped. You can stand the discomfort when you know it's only 15 seconds longer.

The weirdest was when you knew he was pulling back your cornea and then replacing it. He used a mini paint brush to smooth it back out and that realization was freaky.

But then they're done. They sit you right up, look into your eyes. pull off your hair net, and lead you right out to the waiting room.

I had an early appointment, so I didn't see anyone finishing. But I imagine that's unsettling. I know I wasn't steady on my feet, and looked dazed. But, I guess I wasn't crying or hysterical or anything!

Lauren did great getting me to the car ("those are steps, Maureen, hold on," and, as we approached the car and she had to get her keys, "hold these books, stand here and don't move."). She drove me home and helped me get upstairs and read me the directions of which drops to put in before my nap.

Sidebar on getting home for the nap: Fridays is when our housekeeper comes. On top of the surgery concerns, I was anxious that I would come home and need to take the doctor's ordered nap (it's another reason they give you the Xanax -- the first three hours after have the most discomfort and they want you to sleep through it so you don't rub your eyes), and Merecedes would be in my room, bed striped and the vacuum running.

So I left her a note asking to hit up the master bedroom first. (Yes, I actually entered the note into Google translation. I felt really guilty about the request, so it was this five sentence explanation that I was having surgery and needed to nap and I was really sorry to ask, but would she mind...)

Well, the note worked. Because Mike was actually still sleeping when she got to our house. He was going to the Baltimore office and didn't have to be there until a late morning meeting. Merecedes knocked on our bedroom door, opened it, and told him he had to get out because she needed to do this room first for me.

My nap was a success and I woke up being able to see! I was still a little unsteady on my feet yesterday, and really cautious of my eyes. They were scratchy -- scratchier than I expected, although I'm not sure why I didn't expect them to be scratchy. But they improved by the hour, and continue to do so today.

I was cleared by the doc to drive (I had to go out to Reston for my one-day follow up. Drove 35 minutes each way for a 2 minute appointment), and typing on this computer isn't bothering my eyes at all (I all but went out of my skin last night because I wasn't supposed to go on the computer, and when I snuck a few minutes, I actually couldn't even keep focus on the screen.).

I'm about to gather up all my glasses and contact stuff and maybe build a fire in the backyard.

That'd be a sight to see.

The eyes have it

12 hours from now, and I should be able to see.

My Lasik is tomorrow. After what feels like waiting for forever, and the pink eye incident, the surgery is tomorrow.

I've had a really busy week leading up to it, so for the most part, I've been able to put it out of my mind that someone would be taking a laser to my eyes in the morning.

There was Vegas, and Chicago, and hours upon endless hours of sitting on the runway during these crazy thunderstorms.

(Bonus, though, and a brush with celebrity. If one considers the Washington Post Capital Weather Gang celebrity. And if Mike gets to consider getting on the traffic report celebrity, then I get to count this: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitalweathergang/?hpid=weather-sidecar. Scroll to the post that is time-stamped "Posted at 08:14 PM ET, 06/ 9/2009.")

So now I'm home and ready and really, really tired, but still depending on the help on this glass of wine just to ensure that I actually fall asleep tonight.

It might take two glasses of wine. One for each eye, and all.

(p.s. A pre-emptive "thank you!" to Lauren for taking me to the Tyson's surgery center goodness-awful early and sitting around before the mall is even open to drive me home!)

I'm not sure where the weekend went. And this week seems to be going even faster! It's a short week for me because tomorrow we head to our favorite vacation spot... Vegas! A short trip this time -- we have a 4 p.m. flight tomorrow and then a 6 a.m. flight on Monday. Is it bad that I'm already thinking I want to stay longer and we should have booked different flights?

I think this past weekend went so fast because it was so laid back. Wait, that doesn't make sense. But there wasn't much of an itinerary for the weekend, which lea to a lot of aimless and random stuff on my part, which led to, "where the heck did the time go?"

Dinner with Jenelle on Friday night, running in and out of the restaurant between storms. I saw Melis for lunch on Saturday and caught up on her Vermont marathon run (go Melissa!). We met at Anne Arundel Mills mall, so of course we had to go shopping after lunch. After tons of success at the first three stores we went into, we had to cut the trip short for fear of bankruptcy.

Then the cooking began. Not sure what got into me (and sorry for the shameless self-promotion here), but I made this incredible Mediterranean meal:



Babaganoush with grilled pita bread, Spice Rubbed Lamb and Chicken Pops, Grilled Hearts of Romaine, Grilled Scallion Skewers and Orange, Radish, and Mint Salad.
OMFG. If I do say so myself.
The pooches (we were watching Sadie) especially appreciated the lamb bones:

Sunday the kick continued, with salmon rubbed in garlic and fresh oregano, rosemary and sage, grilled asparagus and grilled onions.

Homemade pesto to toss with angle hair pasta, and, voila!

This week, though, has flown by for other reasons. Busy at work, a dog who's messed twice in the house, continued thunderstorms at night which might be the cause of said dog's unease, and packing for Vegas!!!
Thank goodness for the Vegas part.