Tran Siberian Orchestra Concert

So everyone is getting ready to go to my Granddad's for Christmas dinner and it is too crazy for me. (At least they were when I started writing this.)  They all took showers at the same time and now, not only does the water barely make it out of the showerhead, but also the water that does come out is cold.  So, I decided I would procrastinate a bit and write a Xanga post.  (I did end up getting hot water by the way, in case you were curious.)  I saw the Tran Siberian Orchestra Saturday night and it was amazing.  The music itself was great but what I enjoyed the most was that the concert got me into the Christmas spirit.  But let me explain what I mean by that.  I don't just mean that I now felt it was Christmas time or that I was now excited for Christmas, although that was the case.  The main thing the concert did for me (and I hope this doesn't sound cliche ish) was that I made me focus on the true meaning of Christmas.  As my sister and I listened to the first half of the concert, we wondered if the members of the TSO were Christians, because it was so Christ focused.  But then I realized, Christmas is about Christ, so the music should be focused on Christ, however many times this is not the focus.  As they spoke and played the songs I thought about the words to those songs and this feeling came over me.  Now I know that "religious experiences" aren't all about feelings, but I just really had this feeling that I can't really describe, but basically, I thought about what a huge event this was and that at this time, God came down as a man and God's plan of salvation through Christ began.  And I thought about how ironically and unfortunately this is lost so often at Christmas.  I also realized that through many of the songs that were sung, everyone at the concert had the opportunity to hear about Christ and God’s plan of salvation.  In particular, a few stuck out in my mind:

O Holy Night
O Holy night, the stars are brightly shining.
It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Til he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh hear the angel voices!
Oh night divine! Oh night when Christ was born!

Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the new born king
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled
Joyful all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With angelic host proclaim
Christ is born in Bethlehem
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the new born king

What to Say

Well I gotten a few complaints recently about the fact that I haven't posted in a while.  The truth is, when I was on co-op I had plenty of free time, particularly during the day, or at lunch, to write and write frequently.  Now that I'm back doing the whole classes and homework thing I rarely have even been on Xanga or facebook for that matter.  Today it just so happened that there is absolutely nothing for me to do at my Dean's office job, so I figured I could post. 

It's been tough readjusting from co-op back to classes.  Last weekend I wanted to just relax and hang out, but I realized there was work to be done.  And on most week nights I don't want to do work but I just have to.  On top of this, I don't know how well the surgery has worked.  The doctor said it could take a month until I notice a difference, but right now I am still tired all the time and have had issues getting up for class in time.  It would really stink if I went through the surgery and the recovery and the pain and the not eating, only to be back where I started, expect without tonsils or a uvula.  The only good things from all this is that I can't make a snoring sound so I will never snore.  I didn't realize this was a big deal, but when I was talking with Kirsten, she said that it would be a nice benefit for me and my wife and that my wife would really appreciate me not ever snoring.  I never thought of that, so to all you ladies reading this, just keep that in mind, no snoring from this guy.  

Anyways, when you don't post frequently, its hard to know what to say, I'm not going to give a run down of what I've been up to, but I don't remember everything I've done in the last two weeks, and you probably don't want to read about everything I've done in the last two weeks.  But I guess I could give a few highlights.  One of the best things that happened so far this quarter was Sarah Mesh's first Christmas party.  Sarah had never had Christmas dinner before, so last wekend she made a Christmas dinner for a bunch of us, which was amazing.  We all got dressed up (like suit and tie for guys, expect Alan ) and we had dinner and hung out for a whille.  It was quite alot of fun.

This weekend is Julie and Sherwin's wedding in Indianapolis.  It'll be a busy weekend, but it should be a good time!

UPPP Surgery for Sleep Apnea - My Recovery

If you are one of my regularreaders you don;t have to read this.  This post is more to helppeople searching online for information about UPPP recovery. 
As I have been recovering, I havebeen curious to see if I could find information online from otherpeople who went through the UPPP surgery.  So far, I have beenable to read online about people's recovery through many people's blogsand see comments from other people on how their surgery went, when theystarted to feel better, when the started to eat more, when they wereback to normal, etc.  So I figured I would keep a kind of journalof my experiences, particularly what I did, how much pain I was in, andwhat I ate until I was "back to normal."  I realize everyonessurgery and recovery may be different, but I thought maybe it would behelpful to someone.  So just a few details before I start the"journal" part of the entry.  For my surgery I had aUvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) which involved my tonsils and uvula being removed and my palette trimmed.  After the surgery, my doctor gave meliquid Hydrocodone (or Loritab) as a pain killer and Amoxicillin as anantibiotic.  I would highly recomend liquid hydrocodone, it workedwell and my brother (who also had the surgery) had hydrocodone in pillform which was difficult to swallow.  The liquid may burn slightlywhen you take it (the nurse told me it might) butjust sip some water with it.   I also drank plenty of icewater throughout my entire recovery, I mean countless glasses of waterevery day.  Alright so here are my day by dayactivities/feelings/eating habits.

Day 0 – Wednesday November 22, 2006
Surgery at 4:00pm
Leave Hospital at 10:30pm
First Night I throw up and actually feel better than Iexpected

Day 1 – Thursday November 23, 2006
Don’t do much of anything
Not much pain because of medicine, talking hurts but feelbetter than I expected
Only drink water

Day 2 – Friday November 24, 2006
Don’t do much of anything
Not much pain because of medicine
Have several popsicles, try milkshake but too creamy so Iclear my throat alot
Friends come to visit, so I’m talking quite a bit but ithurts

Day 3 – Saturday November 25, 2006
Still spend most of my time relaxing, but move around more
Not much pain because of medicine
Eat popsicles, applesauce and drink Slimfast

Day 4 – Sunday November 26, 2006
Still spend most of my time relaxing, but move around more
Pain slightly worse
Eat popsicles, applesauce, drink Slimfast and cooled, thin,short noodles

Day 5 – Monday November 27, 2006
Moving around more than previous days
Slightly cut back on medicine because I’m starting to runout, pain is worse
Eat popsicles, applesauce, drink Slimfast and eat cooled,thin, short noodles

Day 6 – Tuesday November 28, 2006
Moving around more than previous days
Run out of medicine so take Advil, pain slightly worse thanprevious day
Advil seems to help enough
Eat popsicles, applesauce, drink Slimfast, cooled, thin,short noodles, bread, scrambled eggs
Friends come to visit, talk a lot, pain is okay

Day 7 – Wednesday November 29, 2006
Sick of not doing anything so I go out to my friend’s house
Taking Advil doesn’t seem to help, in a lot of pain
Eat applesauce, try milkshake, because I’m out with friendsand in a lot of pain and need something to cool my throat
Lot of pain, icepack on my neck seems to help a bit

Day 8 – Thursday, November 30, 2006
Go out to do some errands because I need to
Taking Advil doesn’t seem to help, in even more pain
Eat applesauce in morning try bananas but that hurts
Call doctor to try to get more Hydrocodone and am able toget more from the pharmacy that day
Hydrocodone helps pain sooo much
See comedian Brian Regan, who was great. 
Laughing didn’t hurt at first but afterwardswas in a lot of pain, even with medicine
Realize that not talking at all helps to avoid pain

Day 9 – Friday, December 1, 2006
Back to being a couch potato for the first half of day
Taking Advil doesn’t seem to help, in even more pain
Eat applesauce, scrambled eggs and soft French toast
Sleep entire morning and don’t talk at all, and I feel muchbetter
Do see friend at night and talk a bit, pain a little worse

Day 10 – Saturday, December 2, 2006
Have to drive back to school (hour away), so I have tonot take medicine for the first half of the day.
Pain is not as bad as I thought it would be, if I don't talk I'm good, but I still take my medicine when later in the day when I can.
Eat Applesauce and McDonald's hamburger and french fries (I had a craving) I chewed very slowly and it wasn't too bad

Day 11 - Sunday, December 3, 2006
Go to church, go about day as usual
Cut back on pain medication and still fell good
Eat bagel, mac and cheese, and soft chocolate chip cookies

Day 12 - Monday, December 4, 2006
Go to classes, go about day as usual
Still taking reduced amount of pain medication
Eat normal foods with just a little bit of pain

By Day 14 I was back to normal, eating the food I wanted to eat without any pain.  However, I did find out that sneezing hurts really bad and it opens your throat and you start to bleed.  Not alot of fun.  The only thing worse than sneezing is holding in the sneeze, then it really did open things up in my throat, and I was in a slight bit of pain for a few days.  I'd recommend looking at a light when you feel the need to sneeze, I don't know why it works but it usually stops me from sneezing.

Weekend Update Question Mark

My surgery went well.  I can’t tell if it did what it was supposed to yet and I probably won’t be able to until it all heals, but so far I’m getting better faster than I thought.  Although, it still isn’t fun to just sit around and do nothing and not get to eat, but that will hopefully change soon.  It seems too late to talk about last weekend seeing as we have had another weekend since then, but I will do a “quick” recap of the last week.  You don’t have to read this; it will really be pretty boring.  It’s more for myself because I’m bored and it gives me something to do.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

• Church with Darren = Good
• Ride Home to Rochester Talking to Christina = Time Flies By
• Called everyone and their brother to hang out Sunday night, but did not have much success initially.  Everyone had these lame excuses that they were in North Carolina or
• Ohio or something, some friends they turned out to be.
• Heard through the grapevine that a movie was being watched at Kate and Nell’s with Drew and Johnny.  I’m not usually one for serious movies, typically I like comedies, but The Insider was very good and quite interesting.

• Slept In
• Lunch with Brent at Brandini’s
• Allergy Shot
• Packed
• Drove Home

• Two Doctor’s Appointments
• I find out that my surgery (which is on Wednesday) may or may not be covered
• I need to talk to someone because I am now quite nervous a but my parents and sister are currently flying home from Kansas, so I stop at Wegmans to see Rob Hoy
• I don’t know if it was the fact that Wegmans has good cappuccinos, or that I got to talk to Rob or just the fact that Rob knows how to make good ones, it’s probably all of those things, but it was the best French vanilla cappuccino I’ve had and I felt much better after it.
• Get home and find out that the insurance will cover my surgery
• Family comes home and I get to see everyone
• Hang out with Kevin and go for Applebee’s Steak and Ribs Combo with Mashed Potatoes!

• Wait and wait and wait and finally go in for surgery.
• That was pretty much my whole day.

• Nothing too exciting has happened.  I’ve slept alot and watched football alot, talked to some people on the phone, and not eaten much.  The most exciting things that have happened were that my grandparents, Kevin and Jon and Kirsten all came to visit me on Friday.  Jon and Kirsten brought me Superman popsicles!  Other than that it’s just been me sitting around and resting.  I’m getting to a point now where I just want to get out and do something and I want to eat, but because of my medicine I can’t drive and I feel drowsy and woozy all the time.  Oh well, it shouldn’t take too much longer.  
• Brian Regan is on Thursday!  

Currently Listening Swiss Army Romance By Dashboard Confessional see related

Weekend Update

So I usually don't do the whole "currently listening" thing but what I'm listening to kinda describes my mood, particularly a few songs on this CD.  I'm just in an emo kind of mood. (Or at least as I started to write this I was.  I ended up finishing it much later.)  However This Weekend = Good Times, so I'll talk about that.

Friday was my last day of work!  Woo Hoo!  The people there were nice and all but the work was not the most exciting, so I’m glad to be done and on break.  After work I stopped by my dad’s work to pick up some things, in particular, my new suit.   I then went over to get Kirsten, Christina and Erin’s advice on what shirt and tie to wear with the suit.  I ended up staying there for a while and Erin was nice enough to make dinner.  At one point, I was sitting on the couch in their apartment and Erin and Christina were in the laundry room.  All of a sudden I heard a crash and screaming from the girls.  I go to see what happened and find that a huge jug of Tide had spilled all over both of them, on the floor, on their freshly washed clothes and on the washer and dryer.  It was quite funny, at least for me.  After we cleaned up, we went to watch Erin’s brother Josh’s hockey game.  He is a pretty good size guy and he had some real nice hits and a break away; unfortunately they lost.  After the game we went to Applebee’s and then picked up Rob to go country line dancing at the Roost.  Unfortunately, there were literally only two girls dancing and since none of us (except maybe Christina) knew what we were doing, we decided to just go upstairs and play darts.  All in all it was a pretty good night.

Saturday I slept in late and woke up with just enough time to shower and get spiffed up for Russ and Sarah’s wedding.  I picked up Brent and we drove out to Syracuse.  It was really nice to get to talk with him for a while and just catch up because I don’t get to see him much during the quarter.  The wedding was great and I was so excited for Russ and Sarah.  At the reception we had turkey and mashed potatoes and vegetables, which was perfect for me because I wont be able to eat on Thanksgiving because of my surgery.  I had a lot of fun dancing.  I even polkaed with Emily.  My grandma would be proud.  So overall, the wedding was great and I got to see a lot of people and have a lot of fun.

After the wedding I went to Darren’s, where I spent the night.  As always it was great to see Darren and his family.  It was mission’s week at his church and the speaker was a missionary from Iran.  The guy, Daniel, told us his amazing story of how he started out as a part of the Iranian revolutionary government that overthrew the government at the time and helped start up Hezbollah in Lebanon and then how he came to know the Lord and is now in Iran bringing others to know Him.  If you are interested, you can hear his testimony here: http://www.lafayettealliance.org/audioSermons.html  It is the one titled “Conference – My Testimony - Daniel Shayesteh – Australia.”  It’s informative and I thought he was pretty funny in some parts. 

So I am really tired and I’m going to go to bed because I have surgery tomorrow.  If you read this tomorrow, pray for me.  Right now I’m a little nervous, but generally feel pretty good about the surgery because I know God is in control.  I couldn’t eat after 12am and I probably won’t be up for eating for several days so at 11pm I went to Applebee’s with Kevin and had steak and ribs!   And we also stopped at Tops and got me a donut.  I am content.   So I will write more tomorrow or Thursday depending how I feel.

Welp See Ya Later!