Paddy's day and other miscellany.

Well not a lot has happened since last post. Paddy's day came and went. We enjoyed it by watching the parade from a rooftop on dame street where we had a fantastic view. I've mainly just been taking it easy. I went and saw the doctor on the 13th and he requested that I stay off work for another month! That was a bit of a blow, but I gotta do what the doctor says. The improvement in my leg/back seems to be going at such a slow pace I can't detect it, but the doc assures that it is healing normally. Over the last week I've been getting really stiff and it's hard to move, feels like i need a hip replacement. I'm hoping this won't last for too much longer. I'm swimming and just going for walks, but other than that, not much.

Any way here are some pics of what I've been up to.

Paddy's Day 2009 & other Miscellany

Catholic for a day.

So this week included Pancake Tuesday. In honor of the sacred holiday we made Blueberry Pecan Buttermilk Pancakes.


In other news my back/leg seems to be improving slowly. It's still a bit painful to sit for long periods of time but that also seems to be improving. I'm not getting as many pins and needles anymore either. I think I've finally seeing results and if I continue to improve I should be fine in a few months. And I'm okay with that!

Time

Well I'm 2 weeks post-op now and I definitely have not walked away "pain-free" as I was promised. It's a strange pain now, hard to explain. I still have twinges of sciatica down my leg and my feet have lots of pins an needles now which they never did before. I've called the surgeon to make sure all these symptoms are normal and that i haven re-herniated my back, however he won't be available for 2 days. So I just get to wait. Everyone made this operation sound so simple before i had it, but now i'm finding out it's not so simple at all and it could take me up to year to be back to 'normal'. which is frustrating for me because it's not what i was expecting. I'm not so sure I'll be able to go back to sitting at a desk for long periods of time as sitting hurts the worst. As you can tell my spirits are not very high at the moment and it's hard to just grin and bare it, but i'm trying.

In the meantime, i've passed the days by creating a new portfolio site and have opened myself up to freelance designing in my spare time. Take a look.

UPDATE: The doctor called back and said pins and needles are normal everything i'm experiencing is to be expected and he'll see me in two weeks. phew.

Home Again.

I'm back from the hospital and restricted to bed-rest for the next two weeks. Overall I feel okay, it's a little concerning because the pain I'm feeling now is identical to the pain I had before the operation. But the doctor has assured me that this is normal and the pain will go away. He described it as hitting your thumb with a hammer, once the hammer is removed the pain will remain for a little while. He said my nerves have basically been getting hit with a hammer for about 8 months now, and the hammer has been removed. So, it will be a only a matter of time before the pain subsides. This could be anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months. I'm hoping for the 2 weeks...

I'm moving freely around the house, able to go up and down the stairs and walk around. If I stand up for too long I start to get a bit dizzy, think that might be from the painkillers I'm on. Speaking of them, it's sure noticeable when they start to run out the pain is back in about 5 minutes and i know it's time to take another dose.

I've to go to the dr. next week and get my clips (aka staples) out and then in two weeks I'll be able to go swimming again. Then in a month it's back to the surgeon for a check-up.

Mick has been amazing. He was at the hospital with me the whole time, staying all day until the nurses would kick him out. When I got home he had put together our new orthopedic bed so I can get some good rest, and I have.

I think the hard part is over, now I just get to lay down and take it easy at home and watch the snow fall.

Thanks to everyone for all the loving thoughts.

Here's a few photos from the last few days and of our new house!

Surgery and new house

Surgery

Sitting in my hospital bed after surgery, eating cookies. More cookies stat! Surgery went well, or so they tell me, I don't remember a thing. I woke up in the hospital this morning at 6 to the sounds of construction work next door. I got up to close the windows and looked out on a snow covered Dublin. That was strange. Shortly a nurse came to take me to get my back 'marked' for surgery. After he informed me i had my gown on backwards we headed down to get marked. After receiving a local anesthetic they jabbed some inked up needle into me which hurt pretty bad. After they finished my body thought it would be fun to pass out, all the blood drained from my face and my legs and arms went tingly. I didn't pass out completely but i managed to get all the attention of the nurses. ;)

They then put me on a trolly/bed and pushed me back up to my room where i got my blood drawn and awaited surgery. About 9am someone came and took me down to the anesthesiologist. Can't say I remember too much after that. Woke up, went back to sleep, woke up again and then was taken up to my room where mick was waiting for me. Dr. O'Neill came in and said that everything went very well and that my disc was 'very large' and i had very much reason for complaint. Well not any more!

I'll keep you updated later. Lots of love, jude

Birthday Road Trip

Well, I am now officially in my last year of my 20's. Wow. It's really amazing how life just flies by. Thirty will be here before I know it but I still feel about 23. I figure I better end the second decade of my life with a bang so let the shenanigans begin!

On the 9th I met up with Guðrún who was kind enough to share her birthday celebration with me. I was celebrating a little early due to Mick being away snowboarding and a pre-planed trip to see Jessica in Germany for my actual birthday. It was a good night we started and remained at the Porterhouse all night. It was great to be drinking Red instead of Coors Light for a change.

Then on Thursday the 15th I woke up at 4:30am to get to Dublin airport to catch my flight to Frankfurt Hahn. The flight was good until the end when we attempted to land but the visibility on the runway was at zero. We made one attempt but had to pull back up as we could see absolutely nothing but fog. From there we circled the airport for an additional half an hour and then approached from a different direction, success! After several questions in my extremely broken German I found the bus station and was off to see Jess.

Jess Greeted me at her house with a special birthday quiche, then off for a little nap. The next day we were up bright and early to begin our journey to Zürich. We drove straight through Germany and France and into Switzerland. Thanks to the superb roads the four-hour journey seemed only like two.

Once in Zürich we found our ridiculously clean hostel and began our exploring. Immediately we noticed how clean the city was too. Of course, most other European cities are clean when you come from Dublin but Zürich was immaculate. Shortly after we also realised how expensive it was! Two Corona's, one meal and one starter (split between the two of us) cost €50. This may not have been so bad if the food was good but it was possibly the worst Mexican food I've ever had. Imagine: Cool ranch Doritos with old El Paso Salsa on em with a bit of cheese and some canned guacamole and you can imagine my disappointment. In it's defense however, we probably should have gone for some traditional Swiss food instead of Mexican food...it's just hard for me to walk by those bright yellow and red signs that boasts such delicious cuisine and not stop. Oh how I'd pay for just one 7-layer burrito from taco bell...(yep, it's that bad).

We continued our tour of the old town and meandered down the many quaint ally ways, peering through expensive shop windows. The town was empty, surprising for a Friday night. Not finding much to do and the shops all closed, we headed back towards our hostel with the hopes of finding a nice little local pub to tuck into. Our hopes soon dashed. We asked several passerby's for directions, but they all replied that Zürich has no 'local pubs' and if we wanted a beer we'd have to head back to the city center...strange. Very strange. Defeated we headed for the hostel but soon found ourselves lost. And then... a pub — Hooray! We joined the six old men inside and stayed until late. Good conversation with Jess and good beer. A local man took a shine to us and told many stories in broken german/english, mainly about how he was from the Milkey Way system and broken memories of war. He explained that he has a storm in his brain that made it hard for him think (to me, he seemed to think far too much!). I believe he was just happy to have someone to listen.

Saturday morning we packed our bag and set off for the local flea market before we left town. We picked through junk for the better part of an hour, me buying a small bottle topper and jess a picture. Back on the road again and off for Strasbourg. Strasbourg was absolutely beautiful and much more 'realistic' than Zürich. We walked around the town for 2 hours and toured the town's gothic cathedral. We ate lunch and sampled chocolates. And then headed back for Homburg.

Sunday morning we lazed around and waited for lunch. Jess' mom made a traditional german meal of Klöße with sauerkraut and bacon sauce. Absolutely fantastic!

Overall I have to say I'm happy I got a chance to revisit Switzerland, but I can now say it does not live up to what I thought. Perhaps if I was extraordinarily rich and enjoyed the finer things in life I might move to Zürich, but for now I think I'll stick with this dirty old town.

Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes. Love ya all.


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Germany / France / Switzerland

Times are changing.

Jess and I started off in Dublin together and tomorrow a part of that adventure will end. Jess will be moving back to Germany and opening the door for all sorts of new adventures of her own. Our friendship was built on us both being thrown completely blind into an unknown city with only each other as companions. Companions who couldn't speak the same language, but we were completely lost together.

I will miss our chats about how Dublin dives us crazy, how much we love and hate it. I'll miss our travels together and that friend who is always up for anything even if it's pissing down rain. I'll miss her German common sense.

I know this is not the end and we'll see each other again and be keeping in touch. But I will miss her dearly.

London calling...

So we've all been asked to take a week off unpaid due to the recession. This is hard for a few people but for me however, I welcome the time off. So last week I took Thursday and Friday off and Mick and I headed over to London.

Actually, let me roll back a week to when I got the tickets. For some reason I decided to be a scatterbrain and leave getting the tickets until only a week before going. So when I went online to book the tickets, whaddya know—Ryanair had decided to triple the price! So we pushed the holiday out yet another week. We booked tickets for leaving Thursday afternoon and getting back Saturday evening about 10. When I got home and checked my calendar I realised I'd doubled booked over the Wolf Parade gig I already had tickets for on Saturday night. So I got back online again to book another flight home to make us arrive back in dublin in time for the gig. Only a 40 euro charge for the new flight. I didn't bother cancelling the first flight home as there's a 50 euro fee for cancellations or changes, but no fee if you just don't show up...

So finally we arrive in London and get to the Royal Lancaster Hotel just at the edge of Hyde Park. We settled into our 16th floor room, took in the view and then headed out for dinner. After a bit of looking we ended up at Satsuma, a Japanese restaurant, which was okay. Then out for a drink and back to the room to get a good night sleep and up early the next day.

First thing Friday morning we headed over to Portobello Market to get breakfast. Lots of cool stuff there, but unfortunately, not a lot of food. We ended up getting some vegan pastries and had to balance them out with some German hotdogs and burgers (mmm breakfast). Then onward to our main attraction—The Natural History Museum. We spent a good few hours here and only got through about half of it. The highlights were the dinosaurs (duh!) and The Vault, I had no idea I liked jewels so much!

We then took a short stroll across the street to the Victoria & Albert Museum, we took one look at the map/floor plan and decided that it was far too big for us to tackle if we were ever going to get through our plans for the day. Back on the tube and on to Tate Modern. Gotta say I wasn't impressed. I think I may just be burned out on modern art museums or perhaps it's just because I was recently at MOMA and the Guggenheim in New York, which are hard to follow. At this point we were museumed-out. Back to the hotel for a rest up and then dinner. We were determined to find some good indian food. We headed to a recommended restaurant, only to realise it was Friday night and we'd never get in anywhere without reservations. We settled for Masala Zone a chain restaurant throughout London. The food was good, once again, nothing amazing but it did the job. To the PUB! the pub closed at 11...on friday...yeah. So, back to the HOTEL!

Up bright and early again on Saturday, backed our bag, dropped it off at Victoria Station and headed out to see the sites of london. We wondered over to Buckingham Palace where there were thousands of people staring at nothing. Then a stroll through St. James Park trying to avoid the savage pigeons and squirrels. Past big ben, over the river and to the Imperial War Museum. We were lucky cause while we were there a few vetrians from WWII were having a Q&A session. However we spent so much time listening to them that it didn't leave any time to actually tour the museum as we were to meet up with Mick's friend Colm for lunch. Luckily Colm worked just around the corner so we headed to his local and ended up drinking our lunch.

With a few pints in us, we headed back to Victoria station to collect our bag and get the train to Gatwick Airport. The time was tight, but we'd a half hour till our flight took off. We got to the Ryanair check-in desk just as your man was leaving. No luck, he wouldn't let us check in. See, Ryanair actually count on people not making their flights, that's the way they make their money. So there is no kindness in their hearts and they won't make allowances. In fairness it was our own fault...actually I blame the beer.

Luckily, we still had our second, later flight booked. Only a 4 hour wait in the airport. Phone calls had to be made as, Aishling and Gudrun's gig tickets were at my house, but it all got sorted in the end. We finally arrived home at 11pm which was far passed time to make the gig. Two lessons were learned: 1. Don't go to the pub before a flight and 2. Never think Ryanair will be kind.

Overall though a very good few days and London has been redeemed on my list of places to visit.

A few pictures:

London	LondonBreak28Nov2008

Ouch my aching back! Part 2

Well, I've followed all my doctor's advise. I started doing physio therapy once a week, then every other week. I stuck to doing my exercises everyday but after a month when the pain continued to be persistent. I started to slip with the exercises. I was up to almost an hour of stretches a day and it was now hard to find the time or desire to do them.

I called the doctor again to look into getting an MRI, he suggested I hold of a while longer and perhaps try osteopathy instead. He arranged for me to meet an osteopath the following week. I went and once again my hopes were high. The osteopath took a look at my xray results and concluded that they were actually normal and the problem was with my sacroiliac joint and that my hips were out of alignment therefore putting pressure on my sciatic nerve, causing the pain. Hooray! She said she'd have me fixed after 2 sessions.

The two sessions came and lots of money went, and I was still in pain. Called the doctor back again...please let me get an MRI so I know what the problem is!!! I had an MRI appointment the very next friday. The MRI confirmed the first diagnosis of a bulged disc (or herniated, slipped, whatever you wanna call it) in my back at the S1/L5 vertebrae. Not only did it show a bulge but it showed a very large bulge, that phsyio therapy, osteopaths or time is very unlikely to help!

I have to say once again I am so frustrated with doctors and health care systems. If I would have gotten the MRI 3 months ago when I originally asked then I would have been on my way to fixing my problem a long time ago.

Fixing however is the tricky part. There is a surgery that can be done called a microdiscectomy, it is simply a keyhole surgery and done as an outpatient procedure. So far the research I've read has said that if a disc is to heal its self it will do so in 6 weeks, which I am well over. However, its also not advisable to have the surgery if the problem has been active for over 3-6 months, which I am just over 3 months. If I do decide to go the surgery route, I then have another challenge on my hands; I can do it through the public system, which there is a 2 year waiting list (that's helpful) or I can do the surgery through the private system for only €7000. There is a fund called the National Treatment Purchase Fund that offers to pay for the procedure if I've been on the public waiting list for over 3 months. I'm just not sure how well this fund works and have never heard of anyone who has used it...so I've to do a bit of research there. But even if I were to wait the 3 months to avail of the fund, I would be well over the suggested 6 month mark of getting surgery.

So that's the story. Here are some pretty pictures of the inside of my body:
Side view

Top view

Edinburgh for the weekend

To forget all this talk of recession me, Jess and Guðrún headed up to Edinburgh for the weekend.

Edinburgh

life update

I haven't wrote for a while, mainly because nothing has been very noteworthy. I've been keeping my life fairly uneventful in order to give my back a chance to get better. Unfortunately I seem to have plateaued. I've been taking Difene daily for 2 months now. And I'm starting to get concerned about the effect it may be having on my stomach, so I've been keeping off the drink and spicy foods. I'm still keeping up my physiotherapy and I went back to the Doctor to schedule in an MRI. I'm really torn on this situation because as long as I take the Difene I'm perfectly fine, other than a few aches and pains in the morning and night. But the moment I go off the Difene, I'm crippled again. I quit the acupuncture as it was only helping the inflammation which is none existent while I'm taking Difene.

Ah, that's not what I meant to type about at all...So on to other things.

There's lots of concern over here about the "recession." I'm assuming it's a similar situation as the states right now. I found out today that my back is one of the banks that has been bailed out. Whatever that means. All I know is I don't have 100's of thousands in the bank so I don't really have to worry. Of course I realise this effects business and it's all we here about at work these days.

On the fun side of things, I went with Mick to Carlingford this weekend and a bunch of friends. It was really relaxing, we stayed in Trea's parents house, which is a huge 7 bedroom 5 bath house out in the mountains. It was amazing there were 10 of us and we each had our own rooms/beds. The only downside was it was raining so we had to catch a ride with Tom meaning we didn't get to take the bike which would have been an absolutely beautiful drive (when it wasn't raining). We'll have to take a spin up there sometime again when we get some nice weather (positive thinking, right?).

Speaking of weather, the cold is setting in again and it's dark by 7 and getting earlier everyday. Break out the hat, scarf and gloves again.

On the horizon, I'm heading to Edinburgh this weekend with Gudrun and Jess. That should be great! I haven't been to Edinburgh since Sarah and I went in 2001. wow. Then, when I get back on sunday, I'm heading into town to see Jenny Lewis! That should be good fun too. I've also to look forward to Death Cab for Cutie and Wolf Parade next month.

Hope all is well with all of you, please drop me an email and let me know what's new in your life.

Lots of love, Jude

Not getting any younger.

However, I'm getting older before I should! As I mentioned in my previous blog, the acupuncture seemed to relieve my back pain—for about 2 weeks. Then it decided to come back with a vengeance. The pain that I had prevously felt in my lower back now quickly spread to my butt and down my right leg, Sciatic pain. I knew this was not right, so I scheduled some x-rays to be taken. The x-rays showed a narrowing of the L5/S1 disc space with facet joint degenerative change. Basically this means that two of the spine bones in my back are smooshed together, narrowing the disc space, probably making the disc bulge out, therefore, pinching a nerve and making the pain. Apparently degeneration is a normal occurrence but is not noticeable until you're in over 50, not 28.



So this pain has basically left me immobile, unless i pop myself full of anti-inflammatory pills. I hate taking medicine crazy pills, i feel like i'm just filling my body with unnatural chemicals that really can't be good for me. But at the moment it seems like it's the only thing I can do. I'm also keeping up the acupuncture as well as seeing a physiotherapist who has given me a few exercises I have to do twice a day, every day, probably for the rest of my life. If I can get the the inflammation down permanently so the pressure is off my nerve I should be okay again, but that can take a lot of time. Positive thinking is what I need, I'm trying.

Somehow, this is a bit unexpected. Yet when I look at my life, I lead a sedentary life compared to how humans are suppose to live. Sure I walk an hour every day and I've started swimming weekly, but I'm also still sitting at a desk for 7+ hours a day. I've done this since a computer was introduced into my life at about 12. So that's at least 16 years of sitting and leading a fairly unactive (physically) life.

Two years

What started off as a year adventure in my life has now turned into a two year life changing journey. And I feel like it's just starting. However, I'm also starting to feel the effects of getting older, not just the aches and pains, but that time is running out and I have so many things in this life that I want to do. Mainly travel, thailand, cambodia, laos, south america, Japan, and Egypt which will all somehow involve going through Italy cause that seems to be a hub for everything. I'm trying to schedule in a few weekend trips in the near future a wishlist would be Poland, Germany and Switzerland/Austria. Of course all this involves money and time off of work which don't exactly work together. I'll manage.

In celebration of my two year anniversary I spent some quality time with a few friends from my past. Kerry and Jennine from Oregon are visiting Ireland, so I invited them over for a traditional Irish meal cooked by an American. I made Shepherd's Pie and Guinness Brownies which both turned out delicious!

Today Aishling, Guðrún, Mick and I went down to Glendalough and went horseback riding! We lucked out with the weather considering most of Ireland is experiencing major flooding right now. We had great fun which is a direct ratio to the arse pain.

I'm back home now and ready to start my 3rd year of Irish life.

Lots of love to all and I miss you dearly.

Horse Trekking

I'm a believer!

Anyone who has talked to me in the past year is probably familiar with my constant complaining about my lower back aching. It all started a year ago when I got a case of Strep Throat. I was on a weeks worth of antibiotics, which cleared up the strep, which then immediately came right back. I was put on another two weeks of antibiotics. Well this basically messed up my insides causing the need for more antibiotics? Vicious cycle, I think so. A year later, but insides finally became normal again yet the constant back ache remained. I figured maybe it was just a coincidence and had nothing to do with the bout of antibiotics, it was probably aching just cause I'm lazy, need to exercise more and improve my posture. I focused on doing these things, did yoga, started stretching every morning, paid more attention to my posture, went to a masseuse, osteopath, etc. Nada. Still every morning I could barely get outta bed cause my back hurt so bad. I finally gave up and accepted the fact I felt like a 70 y/o while i'm not yet 30.

Well hallalujia! Am I a believer in the power of acupuncture! I've been going every other week over the last two months and after the first session i thought i was cured! However, it did come back slight, but after a few more sessions I feel great again! It's such a relief. The acupuncturist explained that it had nothing to do with muscles or bones but was simply my kidney's still inflamed from being sick, a year ago! The next few sessions we're going to focus on getting my entire body healthy. Oh i'm so excited!

Summer in Ireland

This is the rainfall meter, it's not set to stop for the next two weeks.



I'm not complaining. (Yes I am.)

It's official.

I'm legal to live in Ireland again! I went down yesterday and extended my work authorisation for another 2 years. I can't believe these past two years have gone by so fast! And I'm continuing to have the time of my life. I now know that moving to Ireland has been one of the best choices I've made. I do miss my friends and my family. But the good thing about them, is they're always there, and they're just as I remember. However, I'm making new friends, some as close as family.

What have I been up to recently, you ask? Well I was helping Mick celebrate his birthday with lots of shenanigans. I tried my hand at baking him what I've just dubbed, Judy's Crazy 8 lime cheesecake, with a strawberry hat. The cheesecake topped off some delicious enchilada's.

I've been relatively busy the last few months and that seems to be slowing down now, unfortunately that means no more holidays planned. I'll have to change that soon. I've a few exciting things on the horizon, but they're top secret for now. More details to come. For now feast your eyes on 'Crazy 8.

Camping

What an amazing past few weeks! To follow up on Budapest, this last weekend we hopped on the bike headed to into the west driving three hours to Oranmore, just outside Galway, were we were camping for 3 nites with some friends of mick. On the second day we took the bike for a trip around Connemara which was amazing. Neither one of us knew Ireland had such a big mountain range! It was pretty amazing, we stopped off at this cute little swimming hole which also amazed us cause the water was so clear blue it looked like we were in the tropics! the only way we even knew we were in Ireland anymore was cause there were cows watching us the whole time. Then the next day we all went to Salthill and walked the beach front and played mini golf, bumper cars and pool. loads of fun. Now I'm back at work...not as much fun as camping.

Camping Oranmore / Galway / Connemara

Budapest and back

Last Friday, Mick and I took off to Budapest, Hungary for 5 days. My previous memories of the city weren't that great, however they were also 7 years old. My new memories are amazing. We basically spent the entire holiday walking, up hills, over rivers, through zoos and parks, only stopping occasionally for food and beer. I highly suggest Budapest to anyone planning to travel to Europe.

A few pictures for you:

Budapest

The fun's not over with yet, tomorrow we're heading off for a 3 day camping weekend near Galway! I've just finished packing and now I've to do my anti-rain dance.

It's good to be home

While America was fun, it sure is good to be back home; my own bed, clothes to choose from, seeing mick, overcooked veggies, the rain...okay maybe not. The weather this last weekend, however, been amazing! In fact this last weekend was one of the best weekends I can remember in some time (perhaps even ever!). Friday, mick and i headed out to malahide to have drinks with some friends, stayed up there and nursed hangovers saturday (okay, maybe that part wasn't the greatest).

Sunday, we were sun-struck and hopped on the bike and headed up north to Skerries and Rush really beautiful coast towns. We stopped along the way to feed swans, walk on overgrown tracks and lay in the grass by the sea. On our way back we stopped off for a bbq at mick's friends. Only to come back to my house to join in on what remained of a house party.

We took advantage of the bank holiday monday and headed south this time to hike up Bray Head. We were almost halted by the fog but we pushed on and once up the mountain and through the clouds we had an amazing view of a fog framed Dublin. We still had bbq on the mind, so we headed back to mine and jess joined us grilling at my house (excellent burgers!).

That's pretty much it, I'm afraid if I say summer is here, it will go away. So I won't say it. Here are a few photo's from mick's fancypants camera:

NYC day 3

Up and at it early this morning, my last day in NYC. I joined Aaron on his way to work at 9:30 and we grabbed coffee at his neighborhood coffee shop. He went on to work and I went on to finally see the Natural History Museum. It was everything I thought it would be. I walked around for 2 hours (that was all my brain and eyes could handle) looking at fantastic dinosaurs, wonders of the deep sea, wonders of the universe and every other animal to walk the earth. Very educational and very cool!

1:45 I hopped back on the subway to meet up with Aaron one more time to do what we do best, eat. We went to the cutest Cuban restaurant that made me want to dance the minute I walked through the door. Then the food made me want to go to Cuba! I had crab cake salad with guava cheesecake for desert! Holy moley!!!

Back on the subway again to head back to aarons, with a quick stop off to one more touristy area so I could pick up some of them 3 dollar I heart NY shirts. Now I'm sitting at the JFK airport, awaiting my flight to Portland. See you soon Oregon!