Tinnitus in Stereo

I think it’s been happening for about 2 weeks now.  The first time it happened, it startled me as much as it would if I could suddenly hear again.
Have you ever used one of those metal noisemakers they give out at New Years parties?  The ones I remember were rectangular with a little spinning handle [...]

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Moving along, or not, as the case may be

Freeze Frame
As of tomorrow, I’ve had my CI approval letter for one week. So far, I haven’t gotten any new information. It’s starting to get frustrating, but I also haven’t been pursuing it as aggressively as I could so it’s just as much my fault as the doctor’s office.
On Friday, when I got [...]

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Dazed and confused

I’m sitting here trying to think of a short, succinct sentence to describe Freshman Orientation Day at the public university my son will be attending this fall.  Words fail me.
I’ll go the long, rambling, wordy route instead.  First off…WHY?  Why do they schedule such an important day to start so dreadfully early?!  Sure, they offer [...]

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Breaking News!

I’m in the middle of a long post about going to Eric’s college for freshman orientation, but I had to pop in to say…my cochlear implants just got approved!!!!
Paige went out to get the mail and the letter was there.  It’s kind of hard to understand (and that’s saying a lot because deciphering insurance used [...]

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Let me show you the world in my eyes

A thunderstorm woke me up this morning.  It felt like someone picked the bed slightly up off the floor and then let it down with a thunk, followed by vigorous shaking.  One of our cats, Beanie (aka Sabrina) was sleeping with me at the time and it freaked her right out – she sprung up [...]

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Arachnophobia

I’m in the kitchen, rinsing dishes and loading them into the dishwasher.  I turn around to check the countertops in the kitchen and make sure I didn’t miss anything…and glance down in the process.  Gah!!
“SPIDER! SPIDER!  SPIDER!“
Dave comes running in from the living room, glancing around wildly.
“There!  There!”  I point to the floor, hopping [...]

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Old Habits Die Hard

Ever since I went completely deaf, I wake up in the morning and put my hearing aids in.  Every morning, without fail.  This is as helpful as putting in my contacts after I’ve lost all my vision, but still I persist.
The first week or so after I lost all of my hearing, I actually was [...]

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Waiting, Anticipating, Avoiding

Waiting is hard.  It feels archaic, compared to the instant gratification I’ve gotten used to in the internet age.  Although I can access my medical claims online, I can’t access anything that shows how the preapproval process is going for my cochlear implant(s).  All I can do is wait for a letter to arrive in [...]

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Graduating, Interpreting & Realizing

When my kids were born 4 years apart, it never dawned on me that one day I would be attending two graduations just a couple of days apart. The schools here are broken up into elementary (K-3), intermediate (4-5), middle (6-8th) and high school (9-12). They have a big ceremony for 8th grade [...]

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All grown up

My baby boy, my first-born, turned 18 this morning at 4:39 a.m.  It sounds like such a cliché, but seriously, it feels like I was 18 just a couple of years ago.  How on earth can my baby be 18?!
This little apple-cheeked baby:

grew up into this handsome, tall fellow:

When I think of Eric the first [...]

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