me and him

Today is transfer day... aka impregnation

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:30:00 +0000

And we're pretty giddy with excitement—or nerves—maybe both, really.

♥

(I can only think of things that are inappropriate, therefore no title.)

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Fri, 11 May 2012 01:19:00 +0000

Injections started on Tuesday. Fluid Ultrasound went down last Thursday (you don't know what that is? google it up. youch). Pap went down on Monday.

Next week: Sperm Extraction and Egg Retrieval. Week after that: Transfer.

Word.

Now, about those injections.... first one took far too long.

Over an hour and a half of pinching tummy chub while completely psyching myself out over and over and over again. I was positive I had to do it myself, kind of like putting in eye-drops. But then I'd realize I couldn't figure out how to jab a needle into my own skin and hand it over to Jas. Once it was in Jason's hands I would immediately have a complete melt down and start crying and yelling "Give it back! Give it back! No dive-bombing! No surprise attacks!" So he'd hand the needle back over (because he knows what's good for him) and I would resume pinching my stomach and counting to three nine-million times and pausing to either cry or laugh (depending which side of the emotional merry-go-round I was on).

In the end I poked myself twice and drew blood once.

It finally went down while in the office, with Gilmore Girls turned on in the background (to smooth the nerves), my eyes shut, pinching my tummy chub with one hand and squeezing Jason's arm with the other. We counted to three together and he stabbed me in the stomach with the tiniest needle in the universe.

I didn't feel anything.

The following night went much smoother. I think by the time we get to the muscular injections I'll be ready for the challenge.

Yeeeeeah, maybe not.

happiness is...

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:18:00 +0000

One day I read my mom's birthday present before I wrapped it up and put a bow on it.

And I'm not sad I did, because it was delightful.

Sometimes life gets dark and dreary—but even still, there is lots to be happy about.

You can just ask Charlie Brown.

red rover red rover

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Jas said that for some reason me going all sorts of dark red really wasn't an adjustment for him. And then that got me to thinkin—it really wasn't for me either. I've had hair changes before that I would have to do a triple-take in the mirror to recognize myself. Oooo, that was mostly that one time in tenth grade when I went short and brown with a side of braces.

Not a high point with my self esteem.

transplantation evaluation, USC

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:30:00 +0000

This day was horrible awful.

People said it wouldn't be fun, but I'm not sure how much we listened to them. We figured we were real tough and could take it, no sweat, but it royally suuuuuucked.

It started far too early (why does 5 am even exist??) to drive into LA in the morning rush. Once at the hospital there were tests and tests and tests for Jason. For me and Audrey, who got to be here for USC eval day, the lucky duck, there was lots and lots of waiting in hospital halls or hospital waiting rooms on hospital chairs (the chairs in the blood lab were by far the coziest). In the afternoon was a four hour stretch of meeting with the transplant team learning all the worst, most negative statistics they could find involving lung transplants. If we didn't realized what a huge deal a double lung transplant was before—we realize it now. And then, when we thought the day might be coming to an end, they threw in the minor detail of the average wait time for a fella like Jas...... which is 17 months. Whoa.

Do you know how long 17 months is? Well! It's a really long time.

While we were having our chitchat with the transplant team Audrey found her way to Magnolia Bakery where she bought us some tasty baked treats to sweeten up the day. They were deeelightful and almost made up for the super sad moment when Jas picked PF Changs for dinner (to eat away our bad feelings from the day) and we drove all the way to the Beverly Center only to find that they were closed down for emergency maintenance that day. Bummer. We ate at California Pizza Kitchen instead because it was right across the street.... and it was just wasn't quite the same.

.............................................................................

In more recent news:

1. Jason got a call from Duke on Monday!! An evlauation was scheduled for June and this one will be four days—buckle up! We are super happy that things seem to be moving forward with the peeps at Duke!

2. IVF is clipping along. I keep calling their office and my buddy Paul keeps answering. I have a feeling we might be pretty close by the end of all this.

There's going to be lots of ultrasounds and blood-work and slicing and extracting and (cross your fingers and your toes) impregnating up in here. May might be the craziest month yet and we couldn't be more pumped! Eyyy eyyy eyyy!!!

3. Audrey died my hair a nice dark red before she left. Pictures to come.

4. I kind of hate the word impregnating, but I can't stop saying it because it's so gross.

day 3 blood-work

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Here's something I didn't realize had to happen before a lung transplant:

Making babies.

(via needles and petrie dishes of course. this blog remains PG... I think)

I guess after a transplant all of the meds and such make sperm not so awesome at becoming babies; so if we want to give the whole having a baby thing a whirl now is the time.

And of course we do, so we're giving it our best shot (oh man this could get punny!!).

The process of in vitro has officially started—let the poking and prodding and little-baby-Egbert-making commence. Right out the gate: Day 3 blood-work. Two weeks ago when I had to call our fertility doc's office on the first day of my period, praying a lady nurse would answer; then proceeding to tell Paul that I was "on day one and would Natalie or Sheri please call me".

Oh, I'm positive it's only going to get more awkward from here, so here's to that!

Little tip for getting blood-work done: drink twenty-seven gallons of water earlier in the day so your veins will be nice and juicy—then they won't poke and dig until they resort to just draining it out of the top of your sad little hand.

.....................................................................

I've been back and forth about sharing this whole part of our crazy whirl-wind life or keeping it under wraps.... But then I realized I would love to find someone out there going through the same thing, sharing the goods (the ins/outs, ups/downs, etc). And if somehow I can help one person who is looking at in vitro fertilization in their future—awesome. And if not—that's cool too, we'll have this baby (literally) fully documented anyway. Cha-Ching!

Journal Entry from May 13, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 22:11:00 +0000

"Today I got myself a screaming headache. The kind that puts you right down and kicks ya til you cry. It was awful. But Jas was really sincere and sweet; while he wished he was studying for his finals he rubbed my head and pretended he wasn't watching Jerseylicious.

And I loved him all over again.

As of right now his health has been on the mend. It's such a wonderful blessing—these times of good health. I don't think we will ever stop being grateful for times like this. No matter how short or long they might be.

But now I have to go because Jason is making me play best out of five in Farkle—because I smoked him last time (600 to 13,000) when we were doing best out of three."

........................................................

A little reminder to self to be so so grateful when everyone is happy and feeling good.

life's a beach

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:39:00 +0000

On Sunday we wrapped up some sandwiches and scurried to the beach. It was just what the doc ordered. Yessssssssss sir. I think I found the cheapest form of therapy.

To make us feel extra special we had our own personal dolphin show right in front of us (seriously right in front of us, like at the first wave-break). There were two little buddies and they were jumping so high you could see every bit of them. I think they were showing off because they wanted to be our friends. And I always wanted a friendly dolphin so I said, "Ok." And Jason yelled "DOLPHIN!!!!" at the couple sitting a ways away from us. I guess he thought those guys wanted dolphin friends too.

the boy's back in town

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 22:18:00 +0000

Monday evening Jason came home from the hospital and I took off my last yellow visitor tag (totaling 21 yellow visiter tags in all), and the home care has commenced.

Game on.

We got four weeks of home IVs through PIC line three times a day. We got therapy and walks and rehab everyday. We got a kitchen counter, kitchen table, hall cupboard and boxes in the next room lined with meds. And we got our game face on.

We don't really have any new information about being listed at any transplant centers. Hopefully we'll know more next week...... I have a feeling there is going to be a whole lot more of this waiting stuff. We're just getting our feet wet. But we coo.

Jason's working hard to get back to himself, working hard through physical therapy and rehab and treatments. He says he feels better than he has in months and hopefully he'll keep right on improving from here. He's getting stronger and he's looking healthier—there are muscles starting to form on his calves again, his feet are definitely not as swollen and his face is starting to look a little less puffy and more like Jason. Pretty soon I think we'll get the old Jas back.... as long as we keep doing our best.

In the next coming weeks we will be visited by moms and sisters and brothers (lots of family) who have set aside their schedules and offered to come to our aide. We are looking forward to seeing you all. Thank you and we love you.

Kelsie and Karli, your little weekend visit while Jas was in the hospital brightened up what had been a very gloomy and lonely time for me. Thank you so much for coming, I just loved our time together. Thanks Tami for sending your love along with Karli and Kelsie in the form of a cozy blanket that was made especially for the hospital stay. You are so sweet, we love it.

Mom—your visit over this past week could not have been timed more perfectly. Your help was heaven-sent. Thank you for everything.

And last, thank you to everyone who has prayed and fasted in our behalf. It has been so humbling to see such an outpouring of love and support and friendship.

♥

a reality shift

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 21:42:00 +0000

An update:

Jason has been in the hospital for the last two weeks and will be there for probably around 10–14 more days (not really sure exactly).

We think he's beginning to slowly find a new balance and he's starting to feel better.

We have come to realize that our life has suddenly changed direction, and we're trying to wrap our minds around the new road before us.

Here are some new facts:

Jason's lung disease has definitely progressed.

The decision has been made to put optometry school on hold while we focus getting Jas healthier as we start the process of being listed for a transplant.

We hope to get listed in the next few months.

We are looking into Duke, in North Carolina, because they're the top in the nation and when it comes to something as delicate and complex as Jason's lung situation we want the best. We will probably know in the next five days if they will look into taking on Jason's case.

.................................................................................

This stay in the hospital has been very different than any other we have experienced. To say it has been intense would be a massive understatement. But, with help from family and good friends we are pulling through it and the future still looks bright.

Now we are trying to find a balance with all the meds, his body (mainly lungs, kidneys, heart, and neck and shoulder muscles), the hemoptysis, his oxygen levels and air hunger. Seeking a balance with all these things is so so tricky and will be a very slow process and will time and much rehab. But it seems like we are headed in the right direction and Jas is already feeling better.

People are so good and prayers are so powerful. Thank you so much for the support and help and strength. We are so blessed to be surrounded my such wonderful people in our life. We love you and are so grateful for you all.

Sometimes we don't do holidays, sometimes all we can do is us....

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:28:00 +0000

And sometimes this is us.

It's not roses and heart-shaped sugar cookies or a fancy romantic night on the town.
It's hard, it's exhausting, it's humbling, it's a little bit scary.... but it's us.

And I love us—so it's alright with me.

♥

mail is better in a pink mini mailbox

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:38:00 +0000

I found these little treasures in the $1 section at Target. Obviously I had to buy one for each of us, I mean hello .... mini mailboxes for silly love notes?? I'm a little offended you even had to ask.

It's simple. Write the gushy/heart-felt love note, fold it up, shove it in the mini mail box and throw up the flag. Taaa-daa! It's V-Day up in heeeea!

To finish up this project, these little darlings were set on either side of the telly. That way we can check the mail while watching Idol.... because we might be just that lazy (or because we are super awesome multi-taskers).

♥

p.s. I sort of hate the term "V-Day" and I don't know why. I'll try not to use it again.

like a little Keebler elf

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:22:00 +0000

Last night I found a little sack of happiness on my doorstep.
No one was there to be found, so I'm assuming they must have scampered away like a little Keebler elf.

Well! Happy Monday, I mean Tuesday, to you too!!

They were delish!

p.s. anyone who can spot the the Christmas tree and snowman among the sprinkles gets a kiss.

p.p.s. has anyone heard of the Neighborhood Plate? because that little lady has been floating around our hood for the past little while. really forces you serve peeps by making them lots of sweet things to rot their bellies.... I've been experimenting with new recipes. best way to do it I say! totally anonymous.

Lately:

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 22:22:00 +0000

I have had a little problem with high levels of stress.

I guess you could say I needed to blow off some steam or something.

And this was the only idea in my head that made any sort of sense.

My Sharona by The Knack on Grooveshark

My Sharona—The Knack

p.s. worked like a charm.

Our WICKED Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 01:08:00 +0000

Our week was a doozy—very long and very busy. So when 6:30 Friday night hit we were both thinking a date night to Downtown Fullerton's ever delish Rutabegorz was in order. As we were circling in on our destination my phone rang.....

It was a super awesome lady from our ward who had just won 2 extra tickets from the Wicked Lottery for that night's 8:00 show!.... In LA.... At the Pantages Theater!

She asked if we wanted to take them.... we thought about it for about a millisecond and said "YESSSSSS!!!" (with some additional squealing from both me and Jason).

We jumped on the I-5 and hurried our little butts to Hollywood....

Jas drove like a champ through the Friday night traffic into LA and we made it to the theater just in time. I was so proud.

Lisa (our newest bestest friend in the whole wide world) gave us our tickets, a pair of binoculars and spoiled us with a beautiful Wicked book, Sprites and M&Ms for the show.

The theater itself made my jaw drop and I had to remind myself to close my mouth. Art Deco at its very finest—sort of made us feel like we should have maybe worn a tux and floor-length gown (the gown would be for me of course).

I cried twice during the performance and got a little choked up once on the way home. Not in the "oh how sad" sort of way, but in the "Oh my gaaaash this is so amazing! I can't believe I'm here!!!!" sort of way.

Best spontaneous date night of my life.

Bucketlist:

Fly to the moon.

Go to a Jack Johnson concert.

Take a million photos in Greece.

~~Go to a professional production of Wicked.~~ CHECK!

See the pyramids.

*ok, so that's not my actual bucketlist. I never really want to fly to the moon, I hear the commute is terribly long—but last night (& my pal Caley) has inspired me to officially write up a hard copy.

Oh hey 2012! Let's try to get along, ok?

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:42:00 +0000

Wait. So you're saying Christmas is over? Like for reals?? What the ...... ?!??!

After a whirl-wind-family-filled Christmas vaca to Idaho and rushing back to CA to shoot a day-before-New-Year's-eve wedding in San Diego, Jas and I decided to kick it real casual on Dec 31st. We had ourselves a movie marathon in our coziest sweats and I wore my best Navajo sweatshirt (if you've been near me in the past few months I'm sure the two of you have met). It was perfect.

Jas fell asleep during our first feature and I pronounced his movie marathon abilities as royally sucktastic.

He had better luck during the second movie (due in part to the giant metal bowl of buttery air-popped popcorn in his lap). And we finished off our bottle of Martinelli's as the ball dropped and danced to C Lo Green and Blake Shelton in front of our tv.

Yesterday was January 1, 2012. The day for writing new resolutions for the new year.

I started writing all sorts of fantastic and fresh resolves like such as: exercising and going to bed earlier and losing weight and plucking my eyebrows more regularly (oh, it's on there).

But then, before I knew it, I was painting sparkly confetti fingernails instead.

I have always had outstanding follow-through.

Jolly ol Mistletoe

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:29:00 +0000

Winter Wonderland by Jason Mraz on Grooveshark

Winter Wonderland—Jason Mraz (one of my very very merry Christmas faves)

Jas told me he wanted me to take these turtlenecks right back to where they came from. I told him I wanted to wear them to every Christmas party we go to this year. So he settled for a good, old fashioned, family Christmas photo instead.

They have posted boy scouts at the doors of almost every grocery store within a 10 mile radius to sell mistletoe and holiday cheer to all shoppers... I successfully avoided eye contact at all of my stops until I came out of Albies and saw the little guy with the freckles and the boy-scout shirt that was sort of too small. I have a problem with the word "no". Or even the combo "no thanks".

Oh well, at least that meant Jas got a little mistletoe action. Win-win really.

It's December and I bought a 15 ft garland.

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 01:16:00 +0000

It's real and it gave my hands a stingy rash.

But I like it because it's pretty and I put a sparkly strand of ornaments in it. Now we are going to pretend it's our Christmas tree, turn on our string of lights around our curtains and soak up some happy Christmas spirit.

Happy December 1—go put up that tree!!!!

Required listening: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Jack Johnson

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer by Jack Johnson on Grooveshark

ladies LA fashion district trip

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 13:23:00 +0000

Last month some of us ladies decided to jump in the car and scurry to LA for a girl's trip to the fashion district (check!).

We walked through the flower district first because we heard it was pretty.

Then came the textiles, where I scored myself some jersey knit for $1 a yard! In colbalt blue! And some lace! And some zippers! And lots of yards of other rad fabrics too!....... I'm feeling the itch to bust out the sewing machine and get all sorts of domestic up in here.

One thing that is super awesome about the fashion district is how the vendors there are always one step forward on the latest trends in women's fashion. SO bummed I didn't pick me up a pair of these..... dang it.

Once our little feet couldn't carry us any farther we decided it was time to take our bags back to the car and find somewhere super tasty for lunch. Our pal Sarah led us to this bratwurst place I cannot, and unfortunately will not ever, be able to pronounce (Wurstkuche. You try it).

But Ohhhh NELLY! That place is awesome! All of us girls were totally into those dawgs. And the Belgian fries. And the chipotle aioli dipping sauce. And the cucumber water. I get acid reflux just dreaming about it all....

Ok, so if you were to let's say, come to visit me, I think I would probably make you take a trip into LA for some Wurstkuche awesomeness. And then you would thank me all the way home.

Before we called it a day we asked a nice looking gentleman to take a group shot.

And the whole time I was screaming in my mind, Holy shizac!—that dude has my camera. Don't drop that! Don't drop that! Don't drop that!

Much to my relief, he was quite steady with his hands and returned her back safely.

Weewwph.

Update:

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:23:00 +0000

Jas broke out of the hospital on Friday. We came home and threw everything in his suit case into the washer—to get all that hospital out of it. Then we threw all those warm, fresh out of the dryer clothes, on the sofa and cuddled up for a minute.

After that we sat and folded and folded and folded while we watched The Lion King.

I really like nights like this, maybe they're my favorite? So low-key, so relaxing and, with all that fabric softener, they smell pretty darn good. Juuuust what the Dr. ordered. (Ooooo, was that punny? Eyeye, I might be loosing my edge peeps.)

Jas is feeling much better than he did when he was checking himself in—but there's still some ground to make up and there's still life that we have to snap back into, catch up on and conquer.

Forward! March!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you so much for all of your comments and support. We so appreciate you all.

This is personal.

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 07:28:00 +0000

It was Friday morning, 11/11/11, and I was crying in the shower, because for whatever reason that seemed like the best place. It was an exhausted, tearless, aching, deep-in-your-chest cry. And as lame-o/uninspired as it sounds, an old Carrie Underwood song came into my head. So I sobbed to the rhythm and whispered the words (because it was oddly appropriate). Then Jas knocked on the bathroom door and asked if everything was alright.

Is everything alright?

I really didn't know how to answer that.

Sometimes I feel like I am being slowly stretched. Stretched farther and longer, in every direction, half inch by half inch, pulling and stretching, I can feel my bones creaking, my back twisting, muscles straining against the stretching, stretching, stretching.... and what will happen next is a small, simple snap.

And that's when I'll break.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

That Friday I was making another weekend trip to Utah to shoot a wedding and after his last final Jason was checking into the hospital in Long Beach. Living in California has brought us to an amazing Cystic Fibrosis specialist, Dr. Randhawa. He is our House. Randhawa decided it was time for Jas to move onto the CF unit for a week of tests and treatment and switching of meds—so he packed a suitcase and hitched a ride.

The truth:

Life's not always like this. But occasionally this is just how it is and we deal with it because that's what we can do. We can deal.

Jas hasn't been doing very well for the last two months. What we thought was a rough cold turned into pneumonia (the usual) was actually hemoptysis and pulmonary hypertension coming back. We didn't know that all of his symptoms were caused by those two nasty culprits, making his lung function and oxygen saturation plummet, until he went to the hospital. So we are happy he did—even though it smells pretty ripe down those hallways and there are millions of people coming in and out trying to run tests and ask questions and draw blood and make him pee in cups. We're grateful for those tests and those cups and those questions. We're grateful for medicine and technology and specialists. And we're grateful when it's all over and he can come home again (maybe this weekend, maybe today).... until next time.

Hemoptysis is scary, I hate it more than anything else CF related. There is something about watching him cough up mouthfuls of fresh, red blood, completely helpless, that makes my heart ache in my chest and eyes sting with tears.

Sometimes life is hard and that's that. Hard and scary and suffocating and exhausting. And my buddy, my man, my other half that helps keep our life in order, has been sick for so long. All the stress and worry and praying..... and the exhaustion. It gets so hard. And I'm tired—we're both so tired.

It's ok, I say. We're ok and we'll be ok. No worries about us, I say.

But sometimes, never longer than necessary, it's also ok to let it all sink in. Everything....... all of it.

Then the moment passes and instead of keeping our eyes focused inward (oh it's so so easy to stay focused solely on ourselves), we have to start to look up because that's the only way relief comes. When we look up our shoulders begin to relax; a heavy sigh escapes before we realize we've been holding our breath all that time. We look up and we see we're not alone in this. Not ever. And that's when we know that everything is going to be alright. Truly. Honestly. Everything is going to be ok. We are surrounded by brilliant doctors, strong family and maybe the most kind and caring friends on the planet. We are so grateful and we are so blessed.

Yes, everything is going to be ok. Everything is alright.

I know it.

"It's better to look up." says Thomas S. Monson (source). It's always better to look up.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

K. I'm done. Sorry for being so heavy on the personal content today.

There's just been a lot on my mind lately, that's all. Back to normal next time—promise.

photo assistant/second shooter needed!

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 03:12:00 +0000

Looking for an assistant/second-shooter for a wedding in

Salt Lake City UT

this Saturday (Nov 12, 2011).

Email me: geriegbert @ gmail.com

*the above photo was taken this summer while second-shooting for Jylare Ann Photography

The Case of the Most Horrible Bathroom in the World

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:00:00 +0000

This little Nancy Drew mystery begins in St. George.

Nope! Actually it begins with me telling you that last weekend I made a quick solo trip to Utah to shoot an engagement sesh—and when I say quick trip I mean drive Friday, shoot Saturday, drive Sunday. Pheewph! I was telling peeps it took 7.5 hrs, but I got my math wrong because time change and adding hrs doesn't make a lot of sense in my head. It was 8.5 hrs, with only one pee stop in St. George both ways (because I ROCK at road-trips).

Alrighty, now that we've got that all cleared up....

On the way back to Cali it was time to get some gas because the meter on my dashboard said so; and because it was time for that trip to the ladies room. So I pulled off at good ol George, taking the weird exit with the weird round-about and a weird gas station/super old strip mall hybrid (nobody likes the weird exit).

I fueled up the car and headed into the strip mall/gas station place. A lady who was obviously on a road trip herself (it was something about the glazed over eyes and the smooshed-on-one-side hair) was hustling away from where the restroom sign hung from the ceiling. Destination spotted.

I power-walked over to the bathroom, pushed open the weird swinging door, and the grizzliest stench in the solar system smacked me in the face. The air was thick with the smell, the light was dim with a flickering florescent, and the temperature was noticeably warmer. Gaaag. Guuhhhh. Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about. And don't hate that lady, it's not her fault her stomach hates her. The next thing I saw was the single stall. I submit there is pretty much nothing so awkward than a public bathroom with a single stall and no lock on the main door. Yes, you just stand in here with me and wait while I take care of my business. Whatever. I was already inside.... After getting into the stall I realized the latch did not lock—at all. I can deal with this. If someone comes in I'll just make some noise with the toilet paper roll or something so I don't get barged in on.

Fast forward a minute, things were taken care of, and you guessed it—someone came in through the swinging door. Crap! I rattled the toilet paper way more than necessary, I shuffled my feet around the floor and then, just as I was about the push down the flusher I heard something..... That other person was definitely peeing out there. Where?! My mind thought back: I promise there was only one stall, I know I didn't make that up in my head.

WAIT! What was that weird divider thing by the weird swinging bathroom door?

It hit me. I stopped breathing, it became completely silent. I heard some rustling and then the sink turn on. I leaned backward an inch at a time until I could see through the crack in the stall door. And there at the sink was a very tall gentleman in an extra large white Stetson and very tight Wranglers. A man! A man a man a man a man a man a man had just relieved himself right next to me. If there had been no stall I could have tapped him on the shoulder and said "Excuse me sir, could you kindly give me a moment before you drop your drawers? Thanks."

Once I was sure he was gone I bolted out of that horrible bathroom and ran right across into the ladies (which was like night and day) and I washed my hands for a solid 4 minutes.

mustard and busy and dancing and exposing myself, the usual

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 01:56:00 +0000

thanks for the photo Shonee!

Life has been so busy lately that I sometimes forget to second-check what I'm wearing. Today I looked real profesh in a shirt with a mustard stain right up front and center. Yeah... didn't notice until I had been in public (lots of public) for SEVEN hours. And at the same time I realized the mustard stain I also realized that the top four buttons of my shirt were undone. I don't know if you're keeping track—but four is a lot of buttons. Well hello there ladies!! Don't know how long that was happening.... it's ok, we cool.

On the upswing I got to go to Ellen yesterday with some lady friends! And how fun was that??! It aired today and if you saw it you might have seen little me dancing with Ellen (by the word "with" I mean a step above, middle row and 1 person in... but whatever) in my bright red awesome pants. It was LL Cool J, Jonah Hill and Jason Derulo—yeah, I had to ask my pal Krystal who all those people were because I'm obviously not wid-it.

It pretty much amazing. Even got myself a free cd—first cd I've owned in a very, very, very long time... now what do I do with this again?

photo by geri: beauty-ful engagements!!

noreply@blogger.com (geri e.) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:01:00 +0000

This pretty little couple is all up on the photo blog-site.

View more of this session on Photo by Geri.