My Life's Ingredients

Found this on Lynne's Blog today and thought it sounded quite funny ... and the result is fairly accurate as well... :O Your Birthdate: December 30 You have the type of personality that people either love or hate. You're opinionated, dramatic, intense, and very outspoken. And some people can't get enough of you - they're totally addicted. Others, well, they wish you were a little more reserved. Your strength: Your flair Your weakness: If you think it, you say it Your power color: Scarlet red Your power symbol: Inverted triangle Your power month: March What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Have taken yesterday as my "day off" to just "vegetate" in front of the TV and also read a bit (non anatomy/physiology/etiology & pathology!!!). Was quite good but my brain was still not switched on at all ... today is a little better but I can read things about anatomy/physiology and I may as well attempt to read Chinese ... not going to happen today. Doesn't help that I seem to have developed a cold (sore throat and sniffle)... :( Sooooo... I give up for today and will hopefully be back to 5 hours studying (excl. breaks) tomorrow. Gestern hab ich mal einen Tag "freigenommen" nach dem praktischen Modul, hab vor dem Fernseher "hinvegetiert" und auch ein bisschen gelesen (aber nichts, was mit meinem Studium zu tun hat!!!). War ganz gut, aber mein Gehirn ist immernoch nicht ganz angeschaltet... Heute ist es ein bisschen besser, aber ich kann was ueber Anatomie/Physiologie lesen und haette genauso gut was auf Chinesisch lesen koennen ... stu...

...and that's only how I feel about me!!! The last practical module from my correspondence course is over and done with, and my brain was just BLANK ... nearly the whole weekend!! I was ok on Friday for the mock written test and my Surface anatomy was also ok, but having the Clinical test on Saturday (examination & assessment and then physiology, pathology, etiology, rehab and treatment of an injury) just dragged me down ... again, just a mock test, but I was just stumbling over my words, needed a lot of prompting from my lecturer Colin and felt like a rabbit in front of a snake or a deer in the headlights!!! STUNNED!!! By my own nerves and the brain that denies its existence!!! AAAAARRRGHHH!!! It's really annoying, specially after I have been studying for the last 4 months ... apart from my hospital stays and the fact that my brain just went "doolaly" the last month because of the Zolly!!! So I am not happy with myself and very angry!! I also feel drained ... it...

I found this on Andrea's blog today and thought I try this myself ... Means I have visited 15 countries (6%) so far ... all Europe and North America though... now ... when are we off to Japan and Madagascar??? LOL!! create your own visited countries map And to put that into a little perspective... I have visited 14 US STATES (27% of their country!!) - ok, 2 have been just a "drive through" ;). create your own visited states map Reisen ... Ich hab das heute auf Andrea's Blog gefunden und dachte mir, ich probier das auch mal aus...Ich war soweit in 15 verschiedenen Laendern (6%)...alle jedoch in Europa und Nordamerika...nun...wann geht's nach Japan und Madagaskar??? LOL!!! Und um das ganze eine Perspektive zu geben .. Ich war in 14 US Staaten (27% der USA!) - ok, durch 2 bin ich nur durchgefahren ;) !!!. Falls Ihr es selbst ausprobieren wollt, schaut mal hier nach.

Gosh, it's really an in-and-out thing with me and ERI, isn't it? Was there today for the follow up scan and the head of department Dr T wanted to do the scan by himself - that's the 3rd time now ... Think he's not happy with me having the cyst in the first place and now I am one of his "problem" cases??? Who knows. Anyway - scan was ok (well... as ok as it gets, I suppose!), cyst is going down, but we still have the next follow up appointment for post-Zolly and Cyst on 13th February. Wonder what they are going to tell me then. I asked Dr T if I can expect to have a hospitalisation every 3 months with a cyst now and the master of non-commitment said that it depends on how agressive my endo is. Ack, I really neeeeeed some fixed information there!! :( Can't stand open answers... :/ So we'll see. At least I don't have any pain ... at least not in the lower abdomen, but my headache has reared its ugly head again today... realy could do without it. And a...

isn't it? I am not that comfortable to type/translate my Blog in/to German!!! Weird!!! English is my chosen language now as it seems.

...the week of self-doubts. :( Have been swimming today for 30 mins, always a bad idea as you can let your mind wander. Although I have been studying for about 4 months now (well... with 3 stays in hospital etc.) but I feel as if my brain denies its existence!!! Things just don't STICK!!! Was wondering if I should postpone the Module 12 and exam for another 3 months, but in the end - why should I? I have been always bad with tests (nerves gone etc.) and I can't do more than do lots more studying the next 4.5 days and hope it's enough for the Module - which is NOT an exam, just has mock exams (both written and practical). It's a preparation for the exam itself, and maybe Colin (my instructor for this module - I had him for module 9 already) can help me getting more confident. Today's QVC craft day, and I have been good (probably much to the delight of DH) ... I just watch it for inspiration more than anything, although the DCVW stuff was very nice ... love the "...

...what you expect them to be! Since my 3 eye OPs when I was a child (I was 5 or 6 at the time I think - have to check this with my Mutsch) I've never been in hospital for longer than day surgery with overnight stay. Until 17th October 2006 that is!!! And now I have been in hospital for 4 days each on 2 occasions within 3 months - for the same thing!!! LITERALLY the same thing, as it looks like the same cyst which was drained in November, it just refilled...which it shouldn't have, with me being on Zoladex (can have small cysts as side effects, but not hospitalisation ones!!!) and all that!! :( My IVF consultant is not happy with this at all, he looked very disappointed when he came to see me after my first USS (ultrasound scan). And the nurses in ACU are totally confused as well, one of them even said "Why are you here? I saw you Monday and everything was fine then...?". As for hospital stays ... I know my side of the family is in Germany, as are lots of my friends, ...

Got up today, did a bit of cleaning around the house, cooked the "Letcho" (something like "pepperonata", but Hungarian) and then took the bus into town to meet up with DH to go to ERI (Edinburgh Royal Infirmary) for our follow up talk. All went well, we had a doctor whom we never had but he's nice and gives more information than our main consultant. He confirmed that my Endo is severe and suggested I have a follow up scan on 13/2 to see if I should stay a bit longer on the Zolly or if we can go ahead with the next cycle. Apparently we're now coming to the top of the NHS funding list, probably around 8-12 months. Now we have to consider if we want to go ahead with another self funded cycle in the next 3-6 months (depending on the scan of course) or if we want to wait until we're getting NHS funding. We've 2 NHS cycles left, and if we'd go for a self funded one that would leave us with only 1. But I believe that if you had one "fresh" c...

It's today - follow up appointment at the ACU ... hope they can tell me what grade my Endo is, and also what the consultant meant by the fact that my tummy looks like "Tiger Country" ... he said that it's hard to see things, so I assume that there is lots of scarring etc. (bad enough that the scans showed the cyst last year on the right ovary and they removed it from the left!!!!). I suspect that I have severe Endo (grade 4) but hopefully will learn more in a few hours. After the appt I'm going to meet up with Sharon ... wahey!!! Nice chocolate soup, and then we'll be going back to my place ... Sharon's never been!!! ;) She's going to have a work meeting tomorrow morning, so I suggested that she'd stay over at our place. I can't wait, it's just far too long ago we met!!! Mein Abschlusstermin von der OP letztes Jahr (Entfernung von meiner Zyste) ist heute ... ich hoffe, dass ich nun rausfinde, welcher "Grad" meine Endometriose ist...

There you go ... DH will be a happy chappy when he gets home ... actually, he just phoned and got all excited about it. This box is from the US and should have arrived end of 2006 ... we're not sure where it went missing or just left in a depot, but here it is!!! :) Grown up man playing with Lego ... but suppose, he can always give the excuse that Richard Hammond did it during his recovery. Or maybe to have something to do when his nephew is coming over? :) Weather is crappy outside, icecold rain and gales again... So I am going to have a nice cuppa tea now and play some Lego Star Wars and then go and get some scrapping done. Das Paket ist angekommen ... prima!! :) Maenne wird ganz happy sein, wenn er nach Hause kommt ... Er hat soeben angerufen, und ist schon ganz aufgeregt!! :) Das Paket kommt von Amerika und sollte eigentlich Ende 2006 ankommen...wir wissen nicht, wo es verloren gegangen ist, oder in welchem Depot es liegengelassen wurde, aber hier ist es ja nun!! :) Erwachsene...

Waited for DH's ParcelFARCE delivery today (his 4th Batman Lego box... :) ) but nothing. Am allowed to go to get some peppers for dinner now ... It's just a quick "nip over" to Somerfield, but the wind outside must be around 50mph (and some of the weather websites show 29mph ... HA!!! I doubt that very much!!!!) so I may just get blown away!!! LOL. After that I am going to make dindins, then update some databases and then ... get maybe some scrapping done (???) while DH is going to have a Radio appearance with info of our SuperBowl party in Edinburgh!!! :) Hab den ganzen Tag auf eine Paketlieferung von ParcelFARCE gewartet (Maenne's 4. Batman Lego Box... :) ) ... aber nix wars!! Hab jetzt die Erlaubnis bekommen, das Haus zu verlassen, um einige Paprikaschoten fuer's Abendbrot einzukaufen... Sind nur 5 Minuten zu Fuss zu Somerfield, aber der Wind hier muss so um die 80kmh sein (und einige Wetterwebseiten sagen, wir haben 46kmh... HA! Ich bezweifle das ganz sta...

... to study Sports Therapy? Well... in my case that'll be 11!!! ;) Wieviele Buecher braucht man, um Sporttherapie zu studieren? In meinem Falle waeren das 11!!! ;) First the books provided by Sports Rehab & Education who are the provider of the course: Zuerst die Buecher, die in der Kursgebuehr inbegriffen sind (von Sports Rehab & Education): Principles of Anatomy & Physiology: Support and Movement of the Human Body v.2 Sports Injuries: Their Prevention & Treatment Clinical Sports Medicine And then the books I bought myself or got them as presents (some from the "Reading list" of the course, some just because it's relevant to the sport I am involved in ... American Football - so that's "Collision Sports" and "Taping Techniques"): Und dann die Buecher, die ich selbst gekauft/geschenkt bekommen habe (manche sind von der Buecherliste vom Kurs, andere habe ich, weil sie relevant fuer den Sport sind, an dem ich beteiligt bin...Amer...

...blogging bilingual. So instead of having an English and a German Blog individually, I was thinking about blogging in both languages per entry ... that may be easier for me and gives the non-english speakers of my family and friends the opportunity to keep caught up with our daily life. So... what do you think? One of my blogging friends ( Nat ) blogs bilingual and it seems to work fine. :) Oh ... and just in case you crave a nice snack but don't want potato crisps ... Aldi has Pan Fried Vegetable and Pan Fried Parsnip Crisps!! We believe they have added that to their regular stock now... and they are YUMMIE!!!

....well, I have re-listed 8 items (mainly craft mags and stamps) and have added 3 items. So if you want to have a look, here are my listings - my seller ID is Inselaeffchen . Been studying, and now will do some Sizzix cutting, so Maureen from UKS can get her shapes!! Have to check my "To do" list what else I had planned for today, apart from scrapping/journalling. Oh... and I have made an appointment with my "Voodoo Master" (i.e. Acupuncturist), Julia ... we'll tackle my tiredness and other signs of my endo and side effects of the Zoladex next Thursday. Wahey!!! :)

...did some studying, did some ironing, sorted out money things for our Edinburgh Crop and also wrote a letter to the Tollcross Community Centre to pay for some crops as well as booking the hall for the 2007 crops. Did I do any scrapping? No. Did I do any journalling? No ... not sure if I am just searching for excuses not to do it, maybe my creativity is gone just now...??? Had a small brisk walk today to Somerfield to check if they have issue 2 of "The Art of knitting" (I am not getting them all, far too expensive... just the cheaper ones and then maybe some that I like?) and checking what the new DVD in the Daily Mail was. I got the "Yoga for Beginners" and "Pilates for Beginners" and quite fancy a couple more of the DVDs they are going to bring out over the next 2.5 weeks. However, "Reiki" wasn't one of them, so I went the opposite direction to our small local Post Office ... but they didn't have "The Art of Knitting" eithe...

Well... usually when I am feeling poorly I am doing my 3x45 mins study time on the PC with online quizzes. Today I have been studying from my books for 2x45 mins and the last 45 mins online quiz. I decided that I am going to make some flash cards for the muscles and their actions/insertions/origins/innervation and then flash cards for joint movements and their respective muscles. Probably flash cards for joints and their components as well... :o That might do the trick! As for scrapping ... errr yeah, not done this year really, apart from 1 LO ... hope to catch up though. I shouldn't have started playing "LEGO - STAR WARS II" - it's sooo funny, but takes time away from scrapping (lol). And DH seems to have unlocked some extras for me that I don't have yet, i.e. invincible and speed building ... or maybe it's just because we logged out of his saved game and I started mine? Maybe tomorrow everything is changed after switching the PS2 off??? Who knows!!! :)

That's my answer to anyone going to ask me if I got any scrapping done between my last post and now... ;) Had to catch up with the forums, and then reading my "Google Reader" (for blogs) and then took a fancy of searching the web for digital scrapping stuff ... I am sure DH would be happy if I would change to digi scrapping ... and it looks much quicker, too!! I have a look into it, although I always will be a traditional scrapper as well.. just need the feel. So ... I'll be turning tra-digi in 2007!!! If anyone has any suggestions for favourite websites etc ...all welcome!! I am currently specially interested in American Football digi stuff, as I have TONS of Wolves Photos to scrap and think that would be the easiest start for me. ;) Off to bed in a bit ... probably reading a bit more (really have to finish "A breath of Snow and Ashes" by Diana Gabaldon by now ... I've started it AGES ago, but then came quitting my job, studying, going twice to the ho...

...and I still haven't drawn up my "New Year's aspirations". Ach well, I will do that tomorrow ... just had a lot on this week. DH and I have been shopping a bit today before and after training (well...after 2 hours at training - the players still had 1.5 hours to go! :D ). I got an A5 folder for my Banana Frog stamps (and maybe other cling-on (LOL) stamps if I can find a way to do that) and a plastic ruler for the new Royal Mail sizes. Borders didn't have the CK February in yet, and I couldn't find any marked down scrapbooking things at WHSmiths so I just got my calendar refill for my "filofax", the Daily Mail for the free DVD and a set of organising items (2 magazine holders, 2 slimline A4 folders etc.) for half price. Off to Aldi & Lidl for some food ... seem to have lost out on the Brother labeller though... will have to stick to my manual Dymo type one. Have been shining my sink again and had 1 hour on the PS2 playing "Lego Star Wars I...

No headaches today but my face hurts ... feels like a sinusitis coming on ... could really do without them - have about 2-4 each year! :( Cinema yesterday was a little weird .... I know that some of the reviews were really bad, but apparently it was the SCRIPT and not the books itself ... bad adaptation. DH was in fits nearly all through the movie and I cracked up a couple of times as well... Let's face it: The movie is a mix of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings!!! Plus a little "Dragonheart" added. DH had lots of workmates saying that the books are much better. And why did they have to cast Robert Carlyle as Durza (the King's wizard/magician)???? I didn't recognise him at all - lots of facial prostetics, so they really could have casted anyone!! And sorry, but Rachel Weisz does not get clooooose to Sean Connery as Dragon!!! :) Well... off to do some more studying ... taking it this time the interactive way on the web.

Sneaky postie must have stolen another bank holiday yesterday!! :o Anyway ... no birthday cards yet (geesh... what's happening? Or has everyone forgotten? Apart from my family and some friends who sent e-cards that is???)... BUT I got my order from Banana Frog (2 stamps - the "Elegant Swirls" and the "Big Punctuation" ... yay!!) and the CK January issue from Modern Scrapbooking. Have done my 3 hours studying but think my brain just is against any revision ... may do some interactive studying tomorrow instead. Now onto some housework, and then maybe some scrapping/christmas journalling if I have the time ... DH and I want to go and see "Eragon" tonight.

It's just getting on my nerves really. And the worst thing is I cannot figure out whether it's the weather, the Zoladex or just my normal tormentor!! Woke up with a nasty feeling of a vice clamping down on the left side of my head - across the eye and around to the back of my neck.... not nice, and the ice pack didn't do much either for it. :( Feeling better now, but have given up on studying today (after I had a lighter headache yesterday and only studied for 2hrs (well ... 2x 45mins)) and have done some tidying around the house and finally got the last bit from my Ebay ready to be posted ... just have to walk to the post box at some point today before 6pm. We've got friends coming round tonight to discuss the SuperBowl party (main fundraiser for the Wolves) ... have to get the lounge a bit more tidy for that. Oh ... do Scottish posties have a special bank holiday today? Just so they have 2 extra days for the 1st and 2nd January???? We still haven't had our mail an...

Well.. DH and I decided (again) to keep it low today ... we had Raclette to ourselves (with leftovers for New Year's Day) which is usually for more than 2 people ... like Fondue which we had last year. We invite people around and they always have something else on. Not too happy really .... :( Little "scare" as suddenly everything went out in the house, apart from the lights ... I'd blown a fuse as I used a distribution plug and overloaded it. After DH was running about like a headless chicken for a bit we got the electricity back and enjoyed our meal!! :) Then BIL and his girlfriend came over to watch the NFL (Jacksonville Jags game)until 9:30pm ... Then watched Dead Ringers Christmas Special and Still Game... during this we heard the wind howling outside and we found out at 9pm that the Edinburgh Street Party had been cancelled .... again, after 2003 was cancelled the first time due to high winds. At some point DH heard something outside, and when we checked we had ...