Birthdays, Meatloaf, & Cat scans

Well, what an adventerous week it's been since returning from an awesome weekend in Aggieland.

Long story short:
1.) I went on a date -- let's just say it was with a different guy and way better than my previous date a few weeks ago.
2.) It was my dad's birthday!
3.) I have to have surgery

Explanations:
1.) This guy shall remain nameless...but let's just say we work together and he's an Aggie.  I have no idea if it'll lead to anything other than friendship, but he's really funny and is becoming a good friend.  I don't know if there was that initial chemistry, as I've known him for about a year, but a sincere guy that can make you laugh is sometimes better than anything else.

We went to an area called city centre around the central part of town.  It's a cute new area that has a ton of restaurants and fun bars/outside fires -- that's a weird combo, I know, but trust me it's cool.  They also have a ton of trees lit up all year round, fancy lofts above the street, and it's just a really nice atmosphere. We just went to a restaurant and had dinner before I had to go to work.

Is this really Houston?

2.) It was my dad's 53rd birthday today, so due to our crazy schedules we celebrated it this past Sunday.  Nothing says a manly birthday like meatloaf and mashed potatoes -- which we made and is conveniently my dad's favorite meal out of any meal in the world.  I'm not a huge meatloaf fan, but for an easy and quick recipe (which is adapted from the back of an onion soup mix box):

1/3 c onion
2 lbs. ground beef (I think we used 1 lb ground beef/1 pound ground pork for flavor)
1 1/2 c. soft bread crumbs
2 eggs
3/4 c. water
1/3 c. catsup
1 envelope of onion soup mix
-Combine all together in a loaf (hate that word)-- put in a shallow baking pan and bake at 350degrees for 1 hour.  I also stuck in some thinly sliced mozzarella cheese in the middle for some italian flare.

will taste better than it looks -- promise

cracking an egg one handed while snapping a pic with my DSLR = accomplishment of the week

combine

finito

3.) I recently went to the ENT for what I thought was a sinus infection - a problem I have a lot.  Instead I got sent to an MRI place where they did a cat scan and after my follow up today - it's suggested I have surgery!  I'm freaking out -- because a.) I'm a natural 'freak-out-about-surgery' type. b.) I've only had one surgery ever - and it was my wisdom teeth.

Basically, without getting too detailed, he wants to break my deviated septum and fix it so it's straight, reduce some of my sinuses that are swollen, and clear some sinus passages in my cheek bones .  This has been an ongoing problem for me since moving to TX that I've just learned to deal with.  My dr wants to fix the underlying problem of the nose bone/swollen sinuses & hopefully that'll make things better, but I'm really scared of complications and anesthesia.  I've been assured it's a super common outpatient surgery that doesn't even take that long and everyone in my family says now is the time to do it -- so I think I may go through with it.  I'll have to miss 5 days of work and can't do anything strenuous for like 2 weeks.  Still have some thinking to do to though . . .

*stop reading if you don't like seeing x-ray type photos*

And of course, a blog is not complete without encrypting files from your MRI that show your deviated septum and swollen maxillary sinuses..I actually think it's kinda neat, and I'm sure my favorite med student may agree :)