Re-education.

So much of what I'm doing right now seems like a complete re-education. I'm learning how to live again--what I want my life to feel like and how I have to live. Most of the things that I have learned (or thought were true) growing up about how my body handles food, weather, sleep, etc, I've had to learn anew.

With all the healing that I'm doing, there is just no way to make it go faster. My breathing thing is still a major issue. It seems that I just have to wait. It takes time for things to heal up and get stronger. All my life, I have been more of a fast mover, fast talker, fast walker, etc. All those things, I now have to do a little bit slower. I think it's a good change, but it's a hard thing to learn--changing my life speed + style so completely and penetratingly.

And painting, too, has been a re-education. For the past six years, I have been a graphic designer by profession (and formal education) and the world of fine arts is quite different. Not just the medium and expression, but the professionalism of folks within the field is completely different. I'm still pretty new to the Pittsburgh arts scene, and I've already been quite surprised at the differences.

Breathing (or rather panting)

So, it's been a little over a week since the operation for the tear duct. It went pretty well--especially considering what they did! They had to break some bones in my nose area to get to the tear duct. [Yikes!] The anesthetist was concerned about giving me too much sleepy stuff, because my breathing is still an issue. So, they gave me a "minimal amount." That translates to "Stacy will wake up in the middle of the surgery." And I DID. For the last 20-30 minutes, I was awake and becoming more an more cognizant. The area of my face that they were working on was completely numb, so I didn't feel anything. However, I could hear the surgeons singing along to the music, the beeping of the oxygen machine, and the bone being broken as I tried to will myself back to sleep. I know that a few of folks that read this are probably getting queasy, so I'll stop with the details there and just say that it was definitely one of the MOST SURREAL experiences of the past four years of the medical world for me. The anticipation of the surgery was a lot worse than the actual thing itself. I also am happy to see that the doctor managed to leave minimal scarring. I think it will be hidden by my glasses.

Another recent happening, Ralph and I celebrated our 1-year wedding anniversary this weekend. We went to a French restaurant about an hour outside of Pittsburgh. It was pretty good, although I think I'll have to think twice about getting lobster outside of New England. Although, still very good, it's just not the same.

Introducing...

This month, I have finally gotten around to changing my name. I've been meaning to do this for the past year (since the wedding), but for one reason or another, it never seemed like a good time. I decided to do it now, because 1) I realized that it's never going to be extremely convenient to change a name, and 2) I have been scheduled for a gallery show in March 2007 using this new name! That's right, in March of 2007, I will be have gallery show with local painter, Joana Ricou. We are still settling the details of the exhibit, but the paintings will have to do with women. Women painting women. I have started producing some paintings for this...here is the first:

Brrrr!

Boy is it COLD! I think it's about 60 degrees outside today. That's too cold for the first week of September, I say!

Nothing too much has changed on my medical front. My breathing is still an issue, but the docs are addressing it. Hopefully all will be good in a week. Other than that, the blocked tear duct that I referred to a couple of posts ago seems like it needs to be fiddled with. And by fiddled with, I mean operated on. Apparently, they have to go into the tear duct to unblock it before it gets infected. When the doctor said this to me, I just started laughing. What else can I say to that? The big event will take place on Friday. ;-P

The Mayor didn't make it.

Last night, Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O'Connor, passed away. :-(