Junie's Online Thoughts
Thursday, October 02, 2003
After lunch, and after stopping at my Aunt Kathy's house, Grandma and I returned to her house. As I loaded all my stuff into my car, I said, "Grandma, it's snowing!" Sure enough, flakes of snow were falling from the sky....on October 1st!! It melted as soon as it hit the ground, but boy, I wasnt expecting to see snow before I came home for Xmas.
It was great to see Kathy and Gma....and to play Go (a card game) with Gma. Jeremy and I played a lot of cards in Ghana, and we always thought of her when we played Go. We chatted, I showed photos from Ghana, and caught up. At home, I watched a few more episodes of American Idol (although my dad accidentally ruined the ending for me by telling me who won) and went to bed.
Today Im back at STacy's to chat with Jeremy, email and help with the roof. The pace is starting to slow down. The bachelorette party is this Saturday, and after that is finished, life will be pretty relaxed until a few days before the wedding. Maybe I can even put a dent in that magazine pile on my bedroom floor!
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Gosh, Ive been too busy! I'll start from Sunday and work through today. The shower seemed fine. They are such strange things--basically ways for the bride-to-be to get more stuff. We ate, played three games, watched Stacy open gifts and cleaned up. I think I did alright as MC and nobody complained that it sucked. The kids were running around like gremlins before the shower started, so I was exhausted by the time I rolled home. I got to see alot of my family and family friends that I hadnt seen in a while. Stacy did a pretty good job, but its tough to be a spectacle when you're not used to it.
I knew I was in Wisconsin when on the drive home, I saw a guy standing by the side of the road holding a HUGE crossbow and wearing camo (its bow hunting season) and heard gunshots across the lake from my folks' house (its duck hunting season, too.) drove home and finally got organized. Unpacked. Wrapped all my Xmas gifts from Ghana. Ive been eating so much crap food and never actually exercising. I tried to walk around by where my folks live, but its so cold! Even with layers, it hurts me and I cant break a sweat without freezing my butt off. I'm fighting the weight gain....but its hard. Im back in the land where the only fresh produce in the houses are apples, iceberg lettuce, onions, potatoes and those little shaved off carrots.
That night I watched Alias, then Law and Order: Special Crime Unit. Ah, addictive tv...shiny moving pictures. But I gotta tell you, the shows are SO GRAPHIC. While its fun in my mind to be a spy, reality on TV is so different than the real reality. And boy, I remembered how many more rapes there are in the U.S. than anywhere else...even just general brutality against women. I never once thought about sexual assault in Ghana. I dont think I was naive, but that threat just wasnt there. I might be harassed or robbed, but I never feared rape. However being back here, that would be foremost in my mind if I was walking alone anywhere. And so much detailed depictions of people getting hurt. At least two people died in each show and it was never done in a cartoony way, but it still felt detached and unreal. Very strange. And sooo fast-paced. It was hard to keep up with the stimuli jumping across the TV screen.
I miss Jeremy. I miss not having a cluttered brain. I try hard not to get annoyed at the attention thrown at me. I know its all out of love and missing me. Its just hard when its so much and difficult to find space for me while Im sharing space with everyone else. The vegetarian thing seems to be the most challenging for everyone. I keep hearing questions like, "Can you eat this bun?" "Can you eat this brownie? It has nuts and eggs in it." Its nice that nobody wants to trick me into eating anything I dont want, and if I were a vegan I would appreciate it. But as long as the buns and brownies dont have meat in them, I can eat them. Its just funny. Interesting that in some places, its hard to concieve of what to eat if you dont eat meat at the meal. I understand it because this is where Im from, but its not so complicated if you think about it.
Monday I took a short walk, then drove to Green Bay to see Marta. It was wonderful to see her and I missed her so much. We went to Fox Valley Thrift so I could buy a coat and a vest and a wok for my parent's house, then to the post office, then back to her place to say hi to Dan. They seemed to like their gifts and that was nice. We chatted, I showed my pictures (and felt grateful that they genuinely seemed interested in all my stories. THanks, guys!). We ate yummy chinese food and watched part of a Ghanaian movie I gave them. I think the pacing was too slow for most American viewers, and the Ghanaian English is quite difficult to hear if you're not used to it. What we saw had two sisters with one constantly causing trouble for the other. She eventually broke up her sister's relationship, tried to steal her boyfriend, lied and got her in trouble with her mom. Ten years later, the good sister let the bad sister live with them for a few months, but she soon turned mean again. The bad sister poisoned the good sister (a common GHanaian movie theme) and the first disk ended. MOstly we all just laughed at the vocal ticks of the characters and the bad music. I tried to explain things, but its hard to really get a feel for things if you dont know what Ghana is like. Anyway, it was fun. Very Ghanaian.
I drove home and finally tackled my zine pile. Ive got some cool stuff. Cant wait to read it. This morning I drove to STacy's house to go with her to her doctor's appointment. SHe has some trouble with her heel. Not heel spurs and not scar tissue, but I forget the name of whats going on. BAsically she's got these hard nodules under her heel that cause pain when standing or walking. She's tried physical therapy and special foot pads, but the doc finally suggested a cortisone shot. Stacy was a bit worried about the size of the needle and the duration of pain. She's been getting shit from everybody for being a big baby, but its a scary, painful procedure and I think she just wanted to psyche herself out to handle it. We waited in the room for the doctor, who seemed cool and explained things really well. The needle itself was about an inch and a half and after smearing iodine on her heel, she pushed it in. Stacy braced herself and didnt make a peep. The doctor kept pushing and pushing until the ENTIRE NEEDLE was deep into her foot. BAsically the point was to inject the fluid into the fibers directly next to her bone, rather in the fatty pad on her heel. It looked like it hurt like a BEEE-ITCH. Like, hardcore. Stacy did so well. I was trying to give her words of encouragement, but I think she had tuned me out so she wouldnt cry. I tell ya, I would have been cussing like a drunken sailor and nearly kicking the doctor out of sheer agony. The doctor emptied the syringe and pulled it out. As she wiped up the blood, Stacy sat up. I had made the mistake of giving her my ring hand to hold and she had squeezed so hard she indented a few fingers with my ring. I didnt mind, I was happy to be there to support her. Problem was....damn, I was woozy. The room had gotten so hot and the energy was so intense that I thought I was going to pass out for a second. Maybe it was sympathetic watching. Maybe that needle freaked me out. I sat down and the doctor gave me a wet napkin for my head. Strange. But Stacy did SO AWESOME and so strong. She ain't no baby. That probably sucked ass and she handled it like a champ. Go Stacy!!
Today Im here and chatting with Jeremy, emailing and then Im homeward bound. Hopefully I will blog on Thursday. Until then, take care.
