Do you hear what I hear

This American Life just had an episode called "Living Without" and the first act is called  "do you hear what I hear, by Nubar Alexanian, talking about his life dealing with his Tinitis (a permanent ringing in the ears) and this story is really beautifully done...he did an incredible job explaining what it's like to have Tinitis.

For those of you who may or may not know about Tinitis, this gives a lot of detail about what it sounds like to deal with as well as what it's like to have emotionally.

I also have Tinitis and this has definitely made an effect on my life similar to what this man has gone thru.  I too went to doctors and looked into other forms of natural healing.  It's part of why I itched to travel and get away from my life for a while and for better or worse, it's sent my world into a new direction from what it was and life will never be the same again.

I can't go into loud restaurants or bars, because it makes my ring louder..I have special ear plugs, but I hate explaining what they're for.  I can't be in quiet places, because I begin to get annoyed with my ring, and if I'm slightly dehydrated, the ring also gets louder.

When I first got Tinitis, I thought my life was over.  I couldn't imagine dealing with it for the rest of my life, but yet here I am, living!  Of course there are good days and bad days (good days where I don't even think about it, bad days where I lay in bed thinking about the tone and how much I hate it.

He has this talk with his daughter...
Daughter:  You're trapped inside your own head....I would follow Van Gogh and cut my ears off"
Father:  "I'm somewhat grateful for the tone....on good days when I think about it, the tone was a warning that I needed to slow down....on bad days I think, I've learned this lesson... ok, I've slowed down, the tone can go away, but it doesn't go away."

Everyone at some point has a problem or an ailment which occurs that reminds us that we are human, that we are not permanent and we are delicate....the day something in us physically doesn't work anymore and we realized it's not going to come back again.  Perhaps, because we've used it too much, perhaps too little, perhaps just bad luck.  For me, this was my hearing.  I had/have to accept the fact that I will never be a professional musician....something I don't like to talk about after 20 years practicing percussion and marimba, but I'm at a place where I believe this was my bodies way of saying, it's ok Sarah, it's time to slow down, time to move on and do other things you want to do...life goes on!  So that's what I'm doing!  Sometimes, having something go wrong is a wake up call to live!

Octo-beer-fest

My uncle is a microbrewer and a damn fine one at that.
He grows hops in his backyard and is known to combine local fruits and flavors to his beverages....he's good!

He gave my parents a small sample of a particular brew he's prepared for an event he has defined as "Octobeerfest"...yes, he's that cool.

***This is not intentionally meant to cause embaressment or cast judgment on my parents...it's more so meant to clearly define the differences between Minnesota and Wisconsin (my uncle lives in Wisconsin)***

What was their plan for this sample?
Mom: "hmmm.....perhaps it could make a nice beer bread?"
Dad: "I wonder if we could store it in your tea pot?"

True quotes.
I don't think anything else needs to be said further, accept that I may have changed color upon hearing this and started to say half sentences similar to this...
"You want to...."  "In a where....?"  "With a....."

If Wisconsin has taught me one thing, it's that beer has no place in a tea cozy....

flying solo

When R man and I first started dating a friend of ours took me with to say goodbye to him at the airport when he flew home for Christmas.  I was crying in hysterics as if I would never see him again....I was flying to Chile to meet him in a WEEK!  His friend was totally befuddled and holding back tears of laughter at my hysterics....

"girl, you're going to see him in a week!  What the heck!  Chill out!"

I used to believe that once he was out of my sight, he was as good as dead until he came back, which when you love someone, thinking like this for extended periods of time leads to lack of sleep, lack of comprehensive thought - which then leads to losing things and acting really weird!

I've lost keys multiple times, my wallet, important paper work, my work badge and a tendency to forget to eat and shower....all signs of an insane person you might meet in a downtown public library...a hobo.

This is our first longerish term separation in oh...years and years...and I think thanks to having traveled so much now, I've improved greatly in my coping skills.  Sleep - check.  Eating - check.  Things are going well!

I'd forgotten all the awesome perks of living alone!  You eat, sleep, watch, listen to whatever you want, whenever you want without discussion!    No lamp on while sleeping!  I can eat melted cheese all I want!  Popcorn can be dinner!

• There are of course little things I miss a lot...
• I have to take out the trash this morning...buggar.
• There's no one to make my coffee in the morning...not that I couldn't, I just don't if he's not here.  It's not as fun without him!
• The salad spinner wouldn't spin...I couldn't push the button down...poops.
• My phone suddenly wouldn't turn on and I had to think about it for an hour....hmm.
• My computer popped up with an emergency blue screen of death and I had no idea what to do, but press the same button over and over again....
• Last but not least....our fridge is packed, PACKED with food.  

WHO IS GOING TO EAT ALL THIS FOOD? 

So, yes, can't wait for the man's return.  Not because I think he's dead, but I need him to consume produce and fix my electronics!!

I had a friend tell me the thing she missed the most when her husband wasn't around was his ability to open peanut butter jars...at the time I was astonished..."that's it?!?"  Now...I totally get it.  
Things have definitely changed!  No emergencies here!

mouse in the house

"Sarah, come quick!  Look at this!!!  Should I kill it?"

right around when I'm running towards the kitchen I see a small fluff ball moving towards the refrigerator...

A mouse?  We have a mouse?!?!?

So then we wait....
a while....yup!  It pops out again!

This time looking at us a little confused wandering around the floor....
Our first reaction to each other? 
A mix of yelling 2 things simultaneously:
1) KILL IT!  KILL IT! 
2) Awww!!!  Look at its little head...with those little itty bitty eyes!

So, it runs under the oven.
Rodolfo grabs a stick and we decide that we'll simply get it out with the porch door open, it'll be free and all will be well, accept with it's cuteness and fastness, it easily outmaneuvered us and made its way to the bedroom.

So.  We have a mouse.   A cute one.  Freaking adorable sharing our bedroom with us...somewhere...
R man I think wants to adopt it into the family as another house pet.
I'm concerned about our electronic wiring and don't really want something trying to eat my stuff.

What do people do in these scenarios?!?
I'm so stumped!