There’s a few things I’m learning during this post-op imprisonment within my own room. A few I already knew, but they’ve been reinforced rather firmly. Here they are, in no particular order:
- Always get it in writing. The surgeon gave me a bunch of instructions the day before the surgery, and a bunch more after the surgery (or so I’m told. I certainly don’t remember that part). Between my lack of memory and switching between Dad’s house and Mom’s, a lot got forgotten. And that’s why it is always essential (rule #1 as a stage manager!) to make sure everything gets written down.
- There is nothing good on TV on Sundays. I’ve been using MyBestBets (found via lifehacker) for several months now, and I must say I adore it. It’s currently set up for my school’s TV schedule (which is one of the most absurd I’ve ever seen), which means it’s not as accurate for all the channels I have available at home. However, it does give me a pretty good idea of what’s available. And you know it’s sad and depressing when all day long BestBets has been unable to find anything remotely interesting except for Food Network. Which brings me to the next point. . .
- The time you most want to watch Food Network is probably the time that it’s the worst idea. Right now, there is nothing I crave more than to actually chew something. To sink my teeth into a thick steak, or a chewy piece of caramel, or hell, even a nice, flaky pastry. I mean, my fantasy dreams have turned to pastries and brushing my teeth. I’m twenty-one years old! My fantasy dreams ought to involve sweaty barely-clothed men, perfect specimens of their gender. Instead, I find myself lusting after danishes. And not the European kind.
- A yearly inbox sorting is a better personal recap than any of the thousands of lists out there. I started from the top of my inbox and worked my way down. Each email from my grandmother or my cousins reminded me about some point during this year where something had seemed oh-so-important, and six months later, I’d completely forgotten about it altogether. Time is fleeting, and excess emails just keep you cluttered. This is the perfect way to start the year off on a clean slate (and an empty inbox).
- No matter how old you get, you’ll still be their little baby. My parents have been amazing through this. While I am cranky, in pain, miserable to deal with, testy, irritable (feel free to stop me at any time here), they have been nothing but patient. They have managed to put aside their issues in dealing with each other in order to make sure I’m taken care of in whatever manner is needed to make sure I heal properly. It really makes you think about how much they’ve sacrificed throughout the last twenty years of their lives to make my life better. That’s really amazing, when you think about it. I love my parents more than words can express. And that’s probably the most important thing on this list.