Monday, August 9, 2010

Pre-Op Appointment. Age Poll. And Other Stuff.

I’m heading out in a few minutes for my pre-op appointment where I will have blood work done and will also probably need to sign papers that will promise my first born son to the financial person. Such a fun time.

Of course, I will also be meeting with my surgeon to make The Final Decision so that he can get the correct thingamadoochies ordered for my exchange surgery. From what I understand, they never order the permanent implants any earlier than a week before a scheduled surgery because they’re so expensive. So we’ll have our Big Chat and he’ll get the order placed and I should be good to go. Surgery is slated for Tuesday, August 17 and I am extremely and completely and inordinately ready to have that day come. (And go.)

In other news, it’s certainly been interesting watching the results be compiled in the Age Poll. There’s quite a battle going on between the 36-45 and 46-55 age groups. Every time I look at the poll, those two groups have either been exactly even or just a few numbers apart. I don’t know who’s going to end up winning that particular segment but at least I know where the majority of my readers are, age-wise. It’s been so much fun to see the results--thanks to all of you who have voted so far.

And as for whether any males are reading? Well, as of today it said that 462 votes had been cast and 455 showed up as female. So it appears that I have at least seven male readers. (Woo-hoo!) I guess “seven” isn’t big enough to be a blip on the poll meter which is why it isn’t showing up in the actual results. But I’m glad to know that at least we have a few fellas hanging out in our midst.

And on the subject of the Age Poll, here are a few comments that have come in. I especially loved this first one:

Anonymous said, “All right - where are all the old farts? Only 5 (!) in my age bracket???”

That one really made me smile.

Trine said, “Do you have any clue about how many readers you have, Becky?

Jodi added on the same subject, “Wow! Becky, that is all I can say, "WOW!" Did you know you had that many regular readers? Wouldn't it be great if all those people who answered the poll all commented on the same day? I bet you would be giddy with excitement. Congrats on all the readers you do have.”

Trine and Jodi:

Thanks for your enthusiasm! I am truly grateful for every single Smithellaneous reader who stops by. As for an estimate of the number of people who come here, here’s a graph from StatCounter which is installed on Smithellaneous. The big hike in April was because of my cancer diagnosis/surgery. (This graph just measures page loads and not unique visitors.)

At any rate, I feel blessed to know that “quite a couple of people” make the time to come by and visit on a regular basis. (“Quite a couple of” is something Sarah used to say when she was little.) You guys give me an outlet for my writing and a reason to share my story and I can never thank you enough for that.

stats

I also have StatCounter installed on Sarah’s site and today the number there was 1,910, 465. Hard to believe she is nearing the two million mark!

Trine had a couple more questions:

2) Becky, do you ever print your journals out (from here and Sarah's site) or do you just save them on the computer? I mean it would be sad if your sites one day crashed and your computer, too.

No, I don’t have the journals printed out. It would be a huge undertaking (paper, ink, time) because I have written many hundreds of thousands of words between the two sites. I agree, though, that it would be great to print them out at some point.

3) Have you read the book 'My Sister's Keeper'? What is your opinion about the subject and the book/movie covers?

I only saw the movie but have not read the book. The movie was heartbreaking and inspiring and wonderful and I enjoyed it immensely.

4) Becky you write so much but have you ever written a fiction story?

The very thought of writing a fiction story makes me feel completely overwhelmed. I’m in awe of authors who can spin a story out of nothing, complete with plot and dialogue and flow and beginning and ending and the whole nine yards. How they ever accomplish that, I can’t imagine.


Pam D. asked, “What is Steve looking at in that last picture? He reminds me of Adam when we're at the docks in Destin. Always looking down into the water, hoping to spot a crab!”

Pam, I can guarantee that Steve wasn’t looking for a crab. I’m not exactly sure what he was looking for but I think the fact that he’s a very curious guy makes me him look at all sorts of things everywhere he goes, just to see what he can see!

Jenna said, “Wow- Becky, your writing is incredible. You write with heart, soul, and passion and truly have a God given gift. I urge you to submit this story (Where Seventeen Went) for publication (perhaps to a family or women's magazine)- and also to consider writing a book. You have a lot of wisdom and perspective that could bless others through your words (just as your blog is already such a blessing to so many).”

Jenna, that is so sweet of you; you have a gift of encouragement. You really made my day!

Catherine asked, “I love the carpet. What's the color called?”

Carpet is by Bliss. Color: 01 Saddle. Style: 2876 Relax.

I believe someone else asked about the paint color for our bedroom but I don’t have the paint chip on that anymore.

Steve (my hubby) said, “OK, I have to confess that I signed in at the poll twice. Once as my real age and once as the 85-110 year old.”

Sigh. There’s always a trouble maker in every group.

Anonymous asked, “By the way, when is Sarah's Birthday?”

Sarah will turn fifteen on August 23, two days before she starts High School. If you’d like to send her a card you can mail it to:

Sarah Smith
127 Raleigh Wood Dr.
Manteo, NC 27954

And speaking of Sarah, here are a few dishes from a meal she made recently. Can you tell she got the “arranging food decoratively” gene from her mom?

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And here’s the ham and noodle casserole. Yummy. And completely calorie free. Well, except for the, um, calories.

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Okay, I know I’ve been promising final pictures of our bedroom redecoration project and I haven’t forgotten! Really, I haven’t! We finally got curtains hung and with just one or two more touches, I should be ready to snap a picture or two for you. (Maybe later today or tomorrow at the latest.)

In the meantime, if you would like to be truly inspired, here is what our stairs looked like just a few short days ago. The old carpet on the stairs had to be taken up a few days before the new carpet arrived so that the trim could be painted by Steve and his helpful helper from church. That meant we were walking around on this yucky stuff for a while. Ain’t it lovely?

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Snowy didn’t know quite what to think as he made his daily rounds.

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Quite a change from this . . .

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. . . to this.

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And now, off to my appointment I go . . .

9 Had Something To Say (Just click here!):

Sue G said...

Good luck today with your appointment. I know you will be glad to get this all behind you. But I'm sure you will also admit that in many ways you are richer for the experience. Cancer may be a formidable enemy, but overcoming it...facing the beast and winning...has so many inherent blessings and lessons built in.

My goal is to one day be in your shoes, putting my cancer journey behind me. Until then, I am gratefully learning lessons and gaining wisdom from all that transpires.

(P.S. I am confused about the third surgery. What will that be for?)

bearie1 said...

You NEED to READ My Sister's Keeper". The ending of the book is bery different from the ending in the movie.

The news stairs look lovely. If only brand new carpet could look brand new forever.

Good luck today. And on the 17th. Elaine (one of the 5 old farts.)

MaryH said...

Hope your appointment goes well today and we will all be prepared to pray you through this next surgery. I can't imagine how relieved you will be to finally have this completed. I am in awe of the change in the carpet - wonderful workmanship - AND I agree with one other post - where, oh where are all the other readers in my age bracket - I think we have 6 now! Makes me feel very, very old. Or, we are just cool because we are blogging!

Anonymous said...

Hi Becky! Thinking of you today as you are off to your appt! Thank you for the updates. Looking forward to the 'after' pics of the house. Pam Tuey

Anonymous said...

whoops... just realized that I voted in the wrong age group, but I wasn't able to change my vote.
Since I'm 67, you have one older than the old farts!

Alyssa said...

I second that...you NEED to read My Sister's Keeper. The book is WAYYYYY better than the movie. It is one of my favorites.

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