Constant changes.

     Remember a while ago when I wrote about life's constant changes? Well, true to form, life has thrown my family another curve ball. Recently I took a hiatus from Facebook (some of you may or may not have noticed). The reason for this being that I honestly was getting so fed up with the little, tiny bits of drama that people felt the need to share on a daily basis. Not only that, the arguments and such that were being shared were so ridiculous and infuriating that I found myself in a terrible mood every time I got on.
       A few days after I started noticing how upset I was getting over Facebook, Facebook!, I found out that my Dad (and best friend) had been diagnosed with an Acoustic Neuroma (or, in the medical world- Vestibular Schwannoma).  I know this may sound like a bunch of jargon to you all, and trust me- it was to me at first too. Basically an Acoustic Neuroma is a brain tumor that sits on the nerve that connects the ear to the brain. It severely impacts hearing in the affected ear and also affects balance. The tumor is usually benign and is slow-growing. It is also a fairly rare diagnosis with only approximately 2,000-3,000 cases diagnosed per year.
     I am breaking all of this down medically because, honestly, it's the only way I can really handle all of it right now. My reaction is to research, research, research. He is planning on having surgery and will require a fairly long amount of recovery time to compensate for balance issues and possible total loss of hearing. As many of you know, this is going to be an especially difficult road for someone who has total vision loss. His use of hearing and balance is vital in his daily life. I don't exactly know how to begin to express the mix of feelings I am experiencing, and the worry that all of my family is experiencing. I do know that my Dad will fight through this and is, and always has been, one of the strongest individuals I have ever known. I'm not typically an over-sharer when it comes to things like this. I had thoughts of spilling all of my heart out via blog post, but honestly, I just really don't have the words right now. I appreciate any and all good thoughts, prayers, words of support, and love that you all may share, and just know that even if you don't have the right words- it does help to know that you are there for us. I have received more kind words recently than I can ever remember and it truly has helped. Thank you all for being there, and thanks for letting me spill out all of my crazy emotions with you. I know that this post may not seem super personal to many of you, but it has taken weeks for me to work up the courage to write this.


Also, I don't have the heart to read back over this post for grammatical errors and mistakes, so please forgive me if there are any (which, let's be honest, I'm sure there are plenty of errors with commas as I am the reigning terrible-comma-using-queen).

With so much love,
Jennie

I'm alive!

Can we all shout out a big "hip-hip-hooray!" that my computer is still lounging in the my lap of luxury! 

I got it back from the Geek Squad quite a while ago, but simply have not had the spare time to string together a coherent set of words for you fine friends to read. I have definitely entered the crazy throes of the semester, and projects/papers galore are looming ahead of me. It's not a pretty place, I tell ya. 

So, in keeping with my scattered lifestyle, I will now provide a scattered line of thoughts that spontaneously corrupt from my brain: 

I am so happy that the Giants won the Superbowl! Woohoo! This saves me from an extended mourning period within the Duff family. Peace and happiness has been restored. 

I just discovered the deliciousness that is the Odwalla protein "shake". It literally tastes like I am drinking a Yoohoo, and honestly, who doesn't love that. 

A very exciting possibility has begun to happen on the school front. I promise to give details as soon as I am sure this thing is 100% real :)

I have no chicken in my house right now. I'm not sure this has ever happened as this is really the only type of meat I eat for dinners. I'm not sure what to think about this. I am also not sure what I will be having for dinner. 

Did you just hear my stomach growl? 

Speaking of stomachs, I hope that everyone is staying healthy and far, far away from this nasty Norovirus mess that is going around. 

I've recently discovered a new word that I find absolutely disgusting. Some of you reading this may know that I have self- diagnosed myself with verbal defensiveness (this is similar to tactile defensiveness where people have a severe aversion to specific types of touch). I will not write the new word on this page, nor will I write any of the words I despise, but rest assured- I am aware of my weirdness on this matter. 

Well, now that I've gotten that bit of over-sharing out of my system, hopefully I can return soon to our regularly scheduled programming. 

Lots of love,

J-dub