Today has turned out to be a pretty good day, despite having two appointments to see two different doctors. I had to wake up early today so we could take Steven to school – how sad is it that he has to go to school on this birthday? – but that was alright, since we got McDonald’s hotcakes for breakfast along the way. After we dropped Steve off we had to drive all the way to Fort Myer - a big Army Post in Arlington, where I sometimes see various doctors. The first appointment of the day was at 11:00 to see an orthopedic doctor about the recent developments regarding my left foot. You see, my left foot (the one with only
four toes) is changing shape. Why? Because the bones are shifting around. Ewww. Pleasant, isn’t it? And boy can I tell you, it feels *fabulous*.
The doc took a look at it and is concerned that the shifting bones are actually shifting into a patch of nerves, which is causing more pain than normally expected. But, he wants me to see a podiatrist to make sure it’s not something more complicated, and to see if it can be helped at all with some kind of exercise or shoe-insert. Let’s just keep all of our fingers crossed that it won’t be bad enough to require surgery, cause the Doc did say the bone displacement was quite pronounced for having been big-toe-less for only 2 years.
My next appointment wasn’t until 1:20pm, so I waited around at the pharmacy for a while to pick up a prescription from the Rheumatologist that I saw yesterday. But even after all of that, I still had an hour and a half left over. So I decided to head over to the PX (the military’s version of Wal-Mart) to have my make-up done, cause I was bored. They have the typical department store make-up counters – a big step-up from Wal-Mart – with the likes of Lancome, Estee Lauder, Clinique, et cetera. I wandered around the department for a while until an incredibly happy, pleasant Iranian woman said she’d be more than happy to do my make-up and “play for a while”. She was fantastic, the absolute best Make-up Lady I have ever met. She told me that there was no pressure to buy anything since she didn’t work on commission or anything, and that she just works for Estee Lauder because she loves playing with make-up. She said she “lives for putting make-up on pretty faces like yours.” She taught me all about cleansers, facial care, anti-wrinkle stuff that I can do now while I’m young, and she got into such amazing detail teaching me how to apply make-up. Now, I’m definitely not a girly-girl, but this is just fun. It’s such a nice experience to go in looking all sloppy, then to have a nice woman take you by the hand, and put some make-up on your face while other Make-up Ladies stand around and remark on how beautiful you look; it’s such a cheerful environment that you can’t help but leave with a smile on your face and a bounce in your step.
I actually ended up spending an hour and a half just having my make-up done because we had such a great time talking. She was a very beautiful woman, and when we started talking about preventative skin care, she told me that she was forty years old! I couldn’t believe it, she had probably only four little wrinkles around her eyes and that was it. It was amazing. I have been converted now – I’m never going outside without sunscreen, and I’m loading up on special moisturizers tomorrow. I want skin like hers when I’m 40.
When she started working on my eyes, she asked if I had ever had my eyebrows plucked. My eyebrows were by no means bushy or over-the-top hideous, but she said that I should definitely have them done by a professional, that it just gives a very nice, clean, polished look. I trusted her because, well, her eyebrows looked fantastic. I said that I had thought about having it done, but didn’t want to try it on my own. She said, “No, no, always have it done first time by a professional!” Then, she looked around her and said, “I would do it for you, I wonder if it is allowed…” She ran off to ask one of the other Make-Up Ladies and they all decided that it would be okay. I didn’t have time right then, though, because I was already getting close to my appointment time. She said to come back afterward and she’d be happy to teach me how to pluck my eyebrows.
I *really* wanted this done, because normally it’s ridiculously expensive to have a professional do it at a spa, which is exactly why I’ve never bothered with it. So I went to my 1:20 appointment with my primary care doctor and ended up staying there for an hour as well; we had a lot to talk about. She’s going to have me reevaluated by another neurologist and to have another neuro-radiologist read my MRI results because of some confusion over whether or not I really have the Chiari I Malformation. The MRI report says I do, Dr. Carroll says it’s nothing but migraines. Honestly, as much as I adore Dr. Carroll, I think the radiologist is right. It just fits too well. It really makes me happy that my doctor is so willing to send me to as many specialists as it takes to play everything on the safe side. I love that, it makes me feel so much better, so much more confident with what’s going on.
Another thing I love about my doctor – she gave me more percocet. :) (And I also found out I’ve been spelling it wrong all this time… whoops.) Now I can finally fall asleep for a change when I get a headache. In fact, I think I may take some now, or at least a sleeping pill, because it’s nearly 2:00am and – like clockwork – my head is pounding.
After that appointment, I went back to the PX to see the Estee Lauder Lady. She helped me pick out the proper tweezers, and after I paid for them she sat me back down in the make-over chair and went to town. She was very cute – before she started, she held me gently by the arm and said, “Now honey, this is going to hurt, are you sure you’re ready for this?” I was thrilled, honestly, and didn’t really care about the pain. I didn’t think it could be much worse than everything else I’m used to. She did the first eyebrow without letting me watch in the mirror. Then, when she was done, I held of the mirror and finally realized how messy my eyebrows used to be. Comparing them directly side-to-side, plucked to non, it was really shocking. I never really thought my eyebrows were that bad before, but suddenly it looked so different.
She let me watch as she plucked the other one, so I could get a feel for how to do it on my own. It was great, I learned so much, and I’m *so* grateful for her. She’s the nicest person I’ve met around here in a while, and she was just so happy. It was obvious how much she loved her job. If my TV show gets off the ground, and if Dean okay’s it, I’d love to have her do my make-up on the show. She’d be so fun to travel with.
Steven’s birthday party went great. I decorated the dinner table, and I took care of decorating his cookie-pizza birthday cake thing. It was so cute! I’ll put a picture of it on here tomorrow. He enjoyed his presents, and now I can finally tell you what I got him that I was so excited about – “The Little Prince” on VHS. Our old recorded copy is so dead that you can hardly see anything at all. All of the colors kind of blurred together, and the sound was all warbly. Tomorrow we’re going to record all of the music digitally onto Steven’s computer, thanks to the fact that he now has a VCR and DVD player hooked up to his computer. I really want a copy of that soundtrack, and it’s not available to buy anymore. I just love technology.
You know what else I love? Childrens photography. I’ve decided I seriously love it. I spent a whole day in Denver playing around with my cousin Jennifer and her two girls, Rose and Ella. We went to the Botanic Gardens, then spent the afternoon at an indoor playground. I took about a million pictures of Rose and Ella and I just had the chance to transfer them all from my camera to my computer. Not all of the pictures were great; after all, kids move fast and cameras can’t always keep up. But there are a few in there that are just so incredibly cute that I can’t help but laugh. I wish I could post some online, but I think I should ask Jen first. I can’t wait to hear what she has to say about them. I made a series of desktop wallpapers out of some pictures of Rose and Ella to include on the photo CD I’m sending to her, that way she can use them on her computer if she likes. They’re just so freaking cute! My absolute favorite picture of Ella was taken at the playground; I had asked her to smile, and all she did was make a rather strange little face. So I leaned forward, raspberried her tummy, and she started to giggle. I pulled back and took a picture real fast, then went back in to give her a raspberry. I repeated this several times and got four fantastic, smiling, happy photos of her. She’s still only a year old, so she certainly doesn’t pose as beautifully as Rose does, so it’s quite rare to get a photo like that from a baby. It’s so cute that one’s my wallpaper at the moment.
And finally, an update on the TV show – I won’t be having lunch with Dean tomorrow because he has to run up to New York for two days to film something last-minute for Dateline. So instead we’re meeting up on Friday, same time, same place, and we’ll get this thing wrapped up and shipped off to the Count. I’m psyched, and I’ve decided I’m going to wear my nice black pant-suit. Now I just have to go out tomorrow and buy some black shoes… Wish me luck, I’ll need it. With the shoes, I mean.
