One Stitch, Two Stitch….In My Head

I currently have stitches in my head, in two different places actually. I am also currently bleeding from the head. Now that can’t be good. Let me break it down a bit.

I went to the dermatologist today. Lately my scalp has been acting up. It’s embarrassing. So, after trying lots of over the counter stuff to see if it would help, I decided to go to the doctor. The dermatologist came in, asked me what brought me in, glanced at my head (no kidding, glanced) and then said she wanted to take a swab of my scalp and send it to the lab. Okay, I’ve had swabs taken before. You know, a q-tip looking utensil is scrapped across whatever and voila, a swab has been taken. Turns out, this swab…not so much like what I just described.

The doctor leaves and says her assistant will come in to get started. Okay, no biggie. So, the assistant tells me that the worst part of the process is the numbing….she’ll be using a needle. Excuse me? A what? For a swab?

Incoming.

The assistant told me to prepare – there would be a “pinch and a burn” then proceeded to tell me when she was sticking the needle in my head and that I’d feel the burn. Oh yeah, felt the pinch and the burn. Then she went and did that on another part of my head. Pinch and burn. Then….she’s gone. I swear I felt like I was having an out of body experience. Was any of this really happening? I didn’t ask for you to stab my head with a needle.

The doctor comes back in and she literally scrapes away a part of my scalp. No, I’m not exaggerating. She scrapes one side, then the other. At this point I’m feeling a bit odd. The doctor asks if I feel like I’m going to pass out. Mmm, not quite…but I do feel like my head is a bit fuzzy (said like Meg Ryan in You’ve Got Mail). At this point she has started to sew me back up. Just the oddest feeling. She asks again if I feel like I’m going to pass out and I said no but I was thinking about my head being sewed up. She suggested we change the subject and asked if I had lunch. So, I figured she was trying to get me to talk. I told her a little about my lunch. Turns out she wasn’t interested in conversation; she only wanted to make sure that I had eaten. Turns out if you eat, the chances of passing out while your head is being stitched up are minimal. Good to know.

I can’t even tell you how weird it is to touch your head and not feel a thing. That just doesn’t seem right. There really are no words to describe what it feels like. I hope you never have to know. I can only imagine what it will feel like when it starts to itch and I can feel it.

So, now I have stitches in my head that I have to put Neosporin on every day, yummy clumps of blood all around it and a headache. This is why I hate going to the doctor – you go in with a simple question and come out with a load of prescriptions, tests that were run that you’re not even sure your insurance will cover and pieces of your head missing. Okay, so that last one doesn’t always happen but any time it does just isn’t right.

Do you think stitches in the head qualify me for a sick day? I go back in two weeks to see the results from my swab aka the cutting open of my scalp. Can’t wait to hear what the results are. Let's hope she doesn't have to run more tests.

Offensive?

Today in church we had a guest preacher. Craig Gross, who is a youth pastor in Chicago, spoke. He is one of the founders of xxxchurch.com - the #1 Christian porn site. What a story this guy has. He shared a great message and an amazing testimony of God's love and heart for people. There are so many things I could write about what Craig spoke about today, so many stories I could tell. I'll stick with one for this post. For others, you can check out their website.

What these guys started out to do was to get people to start talking about porn and the addiction it can become and how it affects lives and families. They (Craig and his friend who had the idea together) decided to launch the website. They decided they needed to advertise so they felt led to go to the porn convention that happened every year in Vegas. To make a long story short, the coordinators of the convention loved these guys so much they invited them back the following year. They've been there 5 years running and will hit 4 conventions total this year - since the industry has exploded so much.

Side note - did you know that the porn industry pulls in more money than the NFL, NHL, MLB and NBA combined? That's crazy.

Anyway, they had to create some sort of booth for the convention. So, they came up with the tagline "Jesus loves porn stars." They have t-shirts and they also decided to give away Bibles at the convention. They are New Testament Bibles with a cover that reads "Jesus loves porn stars." It's true - he loves them as much as he loves pastors, and children, and teachers, and....

Craig told story after story of conversations he's had with people in the industry and story after story of God being at work. At one point he made a reference to some of the super conservative Christians that are out there. I couldn't help but think if they are offended by their tagline and logo that 'Jesus loves porn stars.' I can just hear it now - that just promotes their lifestyle. Telling them about Jesus' love without telling them about his hatred of their sin is...well...sinful. I just couldn't help but wonder if they are supported by other prominent believers.

Every year so far they have run out of Bibles before the end of the convention. Craig and his friends don't lie about what they are offering. They are clear that the book you are about to pick up from the table is a Bible. People take it anyway. He said every year they look through the trash and not one Bible is thrown away. Of course he joked that people are afraid to throw the Bible away because it's bad luck and no one really wants to mess with God. So, some people do put the Bible on top of the trash can so they didn't really throw it away. We got a laugh at that but those that were left on top of the can end up going to someone else who decided to take a Bible home with them.

God's word is powerful. It can break the addiction. It can set the sinner free. You know, Jesus really does love porn stars.

For It's 1, 2, 3 Strikes You're Out...

My mom and Bob were in town visiting this past weekend. On Saturday we went to see the Phillies play the Mets. Although I grew up a Yankees fan and technically now that I live in Philly I'm "supposed" to be a Phillies fan, it was fun to see the Mets win. What a crowd. We ended up in the Mets section - or at least it seemed like it. Hearing their chants - so fun. Phillies fans are crazy too. The mascot is called the Phanatic if that says anything about the fans here. If only I lived my Christian life with the passion that either team's fans have. Of course, for many of them, the libations are helpful in increasing their passion. Alas, I digress.

Tim McGraw threw out the first pitch. He and Faith Hill were in concert right next door that night so he was in town already. Seemed only fitting since his dad Tug McGraw was a Philly. It was fun to have someone I 'know' throw out the first pitch. Personally I would have loved to play the role of catcher or even ball girl who got to bring him the baseball to throw but whatever. I know, can't always get what you want.

On Sunday the three of us went to one of my favorite places in all of Philadelphia - the Italian Market. Basically it's an open market with local farmers selling fresh fruits and veggies. There are also many butchers, fish markets, gourmet markets, cheeses, coffees and restaurants down there as well. I just love it. We ate lunch down in a section of Philly called Old City. We walked down to the water and got to eat ice cream. The weather both days was absolutely beautiful - really couldn't have asked for better - so we wanted to take advantage.

Times like this weekend make me grateful I moved back east to be closer to my family. They truly are a joy to be around. They are a gift.

Screaming from Inside

My friend Katie Sue gave me a copy of Jill Phillips' self-titled CD a while back. If you've never heard of Jill Phillips I encourage you to look into this cd. It's really good. Although there are many songs on the album that I find poignant, I keep coming back to one in particular. I heard it again this week on my ipod as I was walking to work from the train station. It describes my current state and answers the question of how am I better then I can articulate. Here are the lyrics to the song "Live By the Sword":

I don’t see why I don’t see what bothers me
And I don’t know why I don’t know won’t let me go
I should have listened to myself when I had it down
This dose of my own medicine is too big to swallow now
This is the time when I find what’s inside of me
This is the time when I decide what I believe

CHORUS:
If I want to be real in this world
The I have to realize
If I am going to live by the sword
I'm gonna have to die by the sword

It’s easy to be calm when there’s no crashing tide
It’s easy to be quiet when it’s loud outside
It’s easy to be humble when you’re glorified
But now I’m out here on my own and screaming from inside

This is the time when I find what’s inside of me
This is the time when I decide what I believe

CHORUS

You stripped me down to basics
You left my heart exposed
There is no pride in times like this
No one said it was easy
No one said it was fair
But nobody’s happy when it is

Lord, I need your loving arms to carry me
When I look in the mirror and don’t like what I see
I know you know what I desire to do
So help me follow even when it’s not easy to

CHORUS

Shoeless Dawn

Normally when I commute by train I will wear flip-flops, Teva sandals, sneakers or some other type of easily walkable footwear (obviously my choice varies by season and weather). I'll put my sandals or heals on when I get to the office. On Thursday I was at an afternoon meeting that ran late. When it was finally over I bolted out of the meeting (leaving my jacket behind that a co-worker graciously picked up for me) to catch my train. Since the meeting ran late, I did not have enough time to change shoes so I was left to walk in my slip on sandals.

These sandals are actually quite comfortable and I have no problem walking in them for long distances. However speed and slip on do not mesh. I inadvertently lost my shoe at least twice on my walk to the train. As I stepped forward, off came my shoe and down came my heel on the pavement. That felt good.

I managed to walk up the stairs to my platform as my train was just stopping to load passengers. I sat and read my book and was grateful to have caught my train. Once near my stop, I waited in the aisle along with the other passengers. I was about 5 people deep.

As I was exiting the train, I was completely distracted by the guy in front of me. As I got to the last step, off came my shoe once again. This time, however, it didn't just fall off. It fell UNDER the train. Good times. So, I had to hold up the line and sort of climb under the train (in a skirt nonetheless) to retrieve my shoe. Now that was fun.

I'm glad I could provide dinnertime conversation for people that evening. 'Honey, you gotta listen to this. There was this woman getting off the train….'

Good Times

I had to stop at the grocery store on my way home to pick up a few things. For some reason (although I probably already know) I was frustrated as I pulled in to the parking lot. There were two spots that I saw and as I turned to head into one I saw that there was a shopping cart blocking the way. So, I maneuvered around it and managed to park next to it and not hit it with my door as I got out.

In my moment of total frustration I decided to push the cart out of the way (in theory I was making room so someone else could park next to me). I charged toward the cart, put my hands on the handle and ran directly into the cart bar with my shin.

Newton's law of motion - the one where an object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an outside source - you know that law is true? My body (my shin especially) stayed in motion until it was acted upon by an outside force of a broken shopping cart. I knew that was going to leave a mark.

I now have this beautiful, already colorful, fairly large bump on my shin. It's almost as if the side of one of those small bouncy balls is sticking out of my leg. It's pretty and will only get prettier as the colors change and time goes on.

Yup, that cleared up my frustration.

Shopping cart 1 Dawn 0

Flash?

Today I wore this pretty, flowy skirt to work. The weather outlook made my choice seem reasonable. As is the case for most of the country during the summer months, there were some isolated or scattered storms blowing through the area. That happened to kick up the wind a bit as the afternoon wore on.

Fast forward to my leaving work. The wind, although not crazy strong by any means, seemed to be whipping especially around the part of campus I call the wind tunnel. Let me paint the picture for you:

wind + flowy skirt = Marilyn Monroe moment

I turned the corner near my building and this blast of wind decided to blow from the south (if you know what I mean). I quickly grabbed my skirt as quickly as I could and held it down for most of the rest of my walk to the train station. I didn't officially flash as far as I know. But then again, Marilyn didn't quite either in that famous picture.