I’ve had a very full, busy, yet obnoxious day today. But somehow I’ve managed to stay in a somewhat pleasant mood throughout. Perhaps it had something to do with a very kind email Jan sent me this morning; maybe it was due in part to a lovely dream I had last night, albeit a short one; or maybe I have finally reached the stage of delirium induced by denial. 🙂 Whatever it was, let’s get through the day’s recap, shall we? Someone cue the cheesy soap opera music…

What started out as a simple appointment to get a referral from my primary care doctor ended up turning into an hour-long Q&A session thanks to everything that’s happened in the past month. I’ll start with the bad news, and then end on a high note:

– My doctor is highly concerned about my stress levels and the fact that I’m having such bizarre and horrific nightmares. She wants me to see a therapist at another military hospital to see what I can do about alleviating stress and to make sure my PTSD hasn’t come back. (I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder when I was about twelve or so, because of the toe incident. It was understandable, expected, and treated, but when you’ve got it once, it can easily manifest itself again. It’s nothing bad, it just means that sometimes my body just isn’t strong enough to handle stress.) I guess seeing a therapist is both a bad and a good thing – on the one hand, it’s bad that I’m in such a state as I need one, but a good thing that I have the opportunity to go. So we’ll see.

– My feet are really messed up. My left foot’s shifting around again, and my right foot isn’t coping well. But more on that once I’ve had them x-rayed and had a chance to talk to a podiatrist. But things aren’t looking too good. *sigh*

– I’m having surgery. Again. But for something different this time, so at least I’m adding a bit of variety to my medical history. (hooray.) I won’t go into details because even I still think it’s really gross. Suffice it to say, it relates to the tumors that were discovered a few months ago. And it involves medically necessary plastic surgery. From what I’ve read, it looks like it’ll actually take several operations to fix the problem and make sure there isn’t anything dangerous going on. But I should be fine. I’m not too worried, it’s just the time and the pain involved that are bothering me. Oh, and the fact that it’s really gross.

And now for the good news… I’ve lost some weight. Hooray! I’ve managed to lose about ten pounds, which is of course very happy news. And, um, that’s all. At least from the visit to the doctor.

Now for an update on my baby. The damages, as tallied so far, total around $1,800. But that’s just an estimate for the bodywork, they still have yet to figure out why the thing smells like gas, and why it shocked me so badly. Why can’t they figure this out? They’re still trying to pry the hood open. So that estimate will most likely go up radically within the next few days. Thank goodness for auto insurance, that’s all I can say. And I’ll also say, if that body shop screws up my car, they’ve messed with the wrong woman.

In other news, on Sunday I successfully finished the cutest blog I think I’ve ever made. Check it out. I made it for my friend Andrew. He specifically asked for a piglet blog, so I spent four hours drawing, redrawing, and coloring the piglet graphic on the left of the blog. But I think it’s seriously cute, don’t you? I’m a genius, I am, if I do say so myself. 🙂

Another reason I may be in a decent mood is because my parents took me to Sweetwater Tavern this evening. That helped quite a bit, although I think I’m eating there too often. I’m going there for lunch tomorrow too… oh well. More root beer for me!

*sigh* And I still haven’t gotten around to blogging about what happened at orientation meeting for the WWII Memorial Dedication thing. Maybe I’ll write about it tomorrow, maybe I won’t. I have another training meeting tomorrow night (Tuesday night, cause even though it’s past midnight, I haven’t fallen asleep yet, so to me it’s still Monday. Yeah.) I received a new volunteer assignment today because I couldn’t meet the physical requirements for the first assignment I was given. So instead I got the world’s coolest volunteer job – I’ll be working with the Smithsonian Institution at what’s being called “Reunion Hall.” It’s this centralized location where veterans who are visiting DC for the weekend can sign into computer databases or post notes, asking for information about people they served with during the war. These veterans, most of whom haven’t seen each other since they served, will then be able to coordinate meetings at this Reunion Hall, and then see each other for the first time in over fifty years. This is absolutely perfect for me, because one of the major reasons why I signed up was so I could meet veterans and have the chance to talk to them. Now I’ll get to share in some really amazing moments. I must remember to bring a lot of tissues, I think it’ll be a very emotional weekend.

But I can’t wait! I have a very special day planned tomorrow, all to get ready for my service as a volunteer. At the orientation meeting I managed to get several lovely prints of two different watercolors painted of the memorial – one scene at night, one during the day. I was certain to pick up at least two copies of each print for a very specific purpose. There are two men I know that live in my neighborhood and go to my church who both served during World War II. One of them served in the Army Air Corps as a pilot, but he doesn’t talk much more about what all he did. He’s very quiet, very humble, and only ever says that he just did what was needed of him. The other man I know was part of the Normandy invasion. I haven’t had the chance to talk to him too much, but the courage he has shown and the humility with which he addresses his past, it’s an inspiration. When I first thought of volunteering, I thought of these two men. Both of my Grandfathers served in WWII, but they both died when I was still quite young. I never got to learn about their experiences. But these two men, even though I haven’t had the chance to talk to them too much, I’ve learned a lot from them and their examples. It was them who really inspired me to volunteer, and I want to thank them for that. Only one meeting into this and I already feel like a changed person.

Earlier this evening I went to Target and bought two very nice frames. I put one watercolor print in each frame and tomorrow morning, I’ll be wrapping each one up as nicely as I can. Hopefully I’ll be able to visit one of those two men tomorrow, provided he’s feeling up to it. My Mother and I are planning on stopping by so that I can present one of the prints to him, and ask a very special favor of him. I want to get copies of his and the other man’s serviceman’s pictures from the war so that I can make button pins for my volunteer uniform. One of the women I met at the orientation meeting has a button maker at home. She and I are going to get together and make buttons with pictures of all the veterans we know, so I think I’ll end up with four buttons on my shirt – my grandfathers, and my two friends. I’m really excited about this, I think it’ll be a nice little way for me to honor them while I serve.

Also, I’m going to see if I can get those men and their wives to come over for dinner. I don’t know if they’ll be up for it – the fellow who was in the Air Corps was just recently in the hospital and I’m not sure if he’s able to get out and about yet or not. But I’ll find out tomorrow and see what I can arrange. I’d love to learn more about what they did during the war.

So even though some things in the past few months have been pretty horrible and obnoxious, things are looking up in a lot of ways. The dedication’s going to be loads of work, but I’ve never been happier about work before in my life. Oh! And the last bit of really exciting news for tonight’s blog – just this past weekend, The Daily Prophet was judged by an international jury of industry leaders in Austria for a really exciting award! I was nominated a few months ago and I have been anxiously awaiting the announcement of the winners. Please, please, cross your fingers for me, pray for me if that’s your thing, because this award would really help out the Daily Prophet a lot, and it’d be such perfect timing. The award would be given out right around the time I’d get my tax ID number and I’d start sending out applications for funding. Plus, part of the award is a rather substantial cash prize, which would totally cover the cost of setting up the server I need! It’s just all so perfect, now I just have to hope I win one of the prizes. Also, I think part of the prize includes a trip to either New York or Austria, or possibly both, which would be great! I’d get to meet all sorts of really interesting people and learn a whole lot from the other people who entered and won. So please, wish me the best of luck, I think I’ll need it. I’ll find out some time around April 30th if I won. Even if I don’t win, it really helped me organize my thoughts to pull together the entry form on such short notice, and it was a huge honor to be nominated. But, naturally, it’d be more fun to win. 🙂 Cross your fingers with me!