Omaha Vacation

I'm home and back at work, so let's take this time to reflect on the last several days of vacation. Without mention of sodas.

Sunday
Our friend Suzzanne had ridden down from Omaha with friends Friday night and was staying with us. We got up and went to church with my parents at 8:30. After that we drove to Council Bluffs, Iowa to see the Kanesville Tabernacle. This is the place Brigham Young was sustained as president of the church. What I didn't know until reading the last Work and the Glory Book was that he wasn't sustained until after getting to the Salt Lake Valley and coming back. After Joseph Smith's death, he lead the church not as president but as president of the quorum of the twelve apostles. I knew that part, but I figured as soon as they got to Council Bluffs he was sustained. Nope. Not until going to SLC and back.

Anyway, the original tabernacle doesn't exist anymore, it was torn down not too long after its construction. It was made of cotton wood, which apparently isn't a good material for building things. It shrinks a great deal over time, and is a good attracter of fungus. The replica was built a few blocks from the original and the church, wanting to be realistic, used cotton wood. The inside support pillars, also made of the wood, are attached to a jack underneath the structure, which will lower as the walls shrink and lower, to keep the roof level. The senior missionary there said that the walls had shrunk a total of 14 inches since construction. And they have to remove mushrooms that grow on the wall and ceiling.

After all this we checked into our hotel, the elegant Magnolia Hotel, nestled between the downtown and Old Market areas. A prime location. Well, the hotel didn't have baths, it had showers. It had room for bath tubs, but they decided on showers. Okay. A bath would have been nice, considering my house doesn't have a tub. And the TV had local channels, about ten sport channels, a few news channels, and maybe four cable channels. Not impressive. But they had pay-per-view. I remember from having cable in our home the wonders of pay-per-view and being able to rent a movie for about $4. So, we looked through the movie selection until we found something we liked. We pressed the button to order, and saw that the movie was $11.99. We decided not to enjoy a movie that night.

The room had free coffee, or we could enjoy a Fiji water for only $5. There was no mini fridge or microwave, which would have been nice, and no pool, which I already knew about, but it would have been nice.

The plusses about the place was that it is a historic building in a beautiful area. The architecture was cool, and the staff was nice. I would just think that for the price, there would be more amenities.

Oh, and they had valet parking. Which they charged $12 a night for (no, you couldn't park your own car). I figured for that, they didn't need tips too, though it seemed they sort of waited for one. We did give the guy a tip while we were checking out, considering he helped load our car.

Also on Sunday night we went to Sullivan's Steakhouse. But I already blogged about that. What I forgot was the severe thunderstorm we caught ourselves in afterwards. After dinner we went to the Gene Leahy Mall, which is really a park with a sort of river going through the middle. It's actually pretty cool, though Suzzanne tells us to be careful of drug paraphanelia. We saw some storm clouds to the south, but didn't think much of it. We let Will play on the grass and watch the swans. Then Emily looks to the south and sees the clouds coming in much faster, along with lightning close by. We decided to make a hasty exit. The hotel was maybe eight blocks away from the park, and a few before making it, the wind picked up and started blowing sand in our faces. Not too fun for me, even less for Emily and her contacts. As we crossed the final street to our hotel, I was blown a foot to my left. I knew it was time to get indoors.

Monday
Most things are closed in Omaha on Monday, entertainment-wise. So we went to Lauritzen Gardens in the morning and the Henry Doorley Zoo in the afternoon. Both were cool, to us anyway, but the zoo is a bit busy on Memorial Day (I honestly didn't plan a Memorial Day vacation when I asked off, it was just the first week Emily was out of school). We ate at this Mexican place between the gardens and the zoo that was wonderful. The menu was in Spanish first, English Second. And they sold real Coca-Cola (previously blogged about) in glass bottles that used sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. Goodness.

That evening Will was understandably getting tired. In fact, at lunch he sat next to me on the booth and just fell asleep. Anyway, he was getting cranky, not getting the long naps he was used to. We went to the mall in an attempt to burn time before dinner, but Will had had enough. So we stopped at this padded play area and turned him loose. He. Loved. It. I swear he just ran around and played for over an hour. Afterwards we went to The Amazing Pizza Machine, a place kind of like Chuck E Cheese's, only ten times better. There's a pizza buffet with pizza, tacos, salad, desserts, fried chicken, and, Emily's favorite, at least four varities of slushies. After eating we let Will play around in the little kids area. There was even this little train that he could ride on. He loved it.

Tuesday
We were going to go to the children's museum just a few blocks from the hotel today for Will then an adult museum (not that kind of adult) for us in the afternoon. Emily's mother happened to call and tell us that the one in Omaha wasn't that great, but the one in Lincoln was much better. It was. It was three stories and had water play areas, a mini town with fake restaurant, hospital, grocery store, and construction area, air planes, a NASA rover, and quite a bit of other play areas.

We hadn't been there long when Will started one of his famous freakouts. We decided to leave to get lunch. After we came back and he actually got a few more hours of play before freaking out again. Not bad considering we screwed up his nap schedule.

That night we dropped him off with Judy, Suzzanne's mother, while Suzzanne, Emiliy, and I went to see Prince Caspian (great movie by the way). When we got back, Judy had put Will to bed. He had freaked out when she put him on the bed, so she put him in this camp chair that had raised sides and front. He was so cute, but I don't think we took a picture.

Wednesday
This was our last day, and we were getting tired. We hadn't spent much time in the Old Market (the sort of historic, trendy, independent (liberal) thinking area) so that's where we went after checking out of the hotel. We checked out an antique shop and a modern American Indian sort of shop then went to the used bookshop. Heaven in a dilapidated building. We walked out with ten books between the two of us. Yes, I know I'm an addict, and I don't want any help.

Next we went to Old Chicago for a last lunch with Suzzanne. When we said goodbye I think Will knew we wouldn't see her again for a while because he kept wanting to go to her, even when it meant leaving me (he's been clingly to his daddy lately) and he was upset when we parted. Very sad.

Anyway, we went to Homer's Music and walked out with a bunch of used CD's, including Queen's Greatest Hits, volumes 1-3. Woo-hoo!

After one or two more stores, I knew it was time to go, so we skipped the rest and hit the road. I wasn't even out of Iowa before I had to pull over to have Emily drive (I had driven less than an hour). But that's okay, because fifteen minutes before getting home, Emily had to stop and we traded again.


Over all, it was a great vacation, we had a lot of fun, I'm still tired, and Emily and I didn't fight once on our trip. That's got to be a miracle in itself.

My most favorite root beer...ever

Henry Weinhard's root beer is the best I've had, and it's been five
years since I've had the chance. You can get them in the store in Salt
Lake City but I've found them nowhere around here. Well, we were at
Old Chicago in Omaha today and they carried it.

You know how if you haven't had something for a long time your memory
of it can make it better than it really was and you get disappointed
the next time you have it?

This wasn't like that. The quality of the soda was as good as its
memory.

Then later we ended up at Homer's Music in the Old Market area, and
they sold it too. Not only did we buy the root beer, we also got the
Orange Cream and Vanilla Cream sodas.

Now what's so good about this stuff? Other than the glass bottle, the
root beer is made with sassafrass, vanilla, and honey. It also is
draft style so it has a good head of foam like a quslity beer, without
the need to see your bishop.

Mmm, good times.

Oh, and it's bottled in Fort Worth, so if I move down there, maybe
I'll be able to find it more often.

Hehehe

This is our soda (and one water) find so far on our vacation.

First is IBC Cherry Limeade. Pretty good, but IBC usually is.

Second is Swedish Kristall Black Currant. Tastes like a watered down,
carbonated prune juice.

Third is Natural Brew Draft Root Beer. Haven't tasted it yet, but I
love root beer.

Fourth is Virgil's Black Cherry Cream Soda. It's lighter on the
stomach than red cream soda, with wonderful black cherry flavor.

Fifth is Dry Rhubarb Soda. It's advertised as refreshingly tart and
complex. If by "refreshingly tart and complex" they mean "just like
ass", then they hit it right on the head. Not that I know what ass
tastes like. I'm just sayin'.

Six is water, and the only beverage in the picture not in a glass
bottle. It's called Metromint Orangemint Water. It tastes like I just
swallowed orange flavored toothpaste with fresh water. Not a bad
sensation actually.

Seven is Coca-Cola, bottled in Mexico. It is made with real sugar
instead of high fructose corn syrup, and about the only Coca-Cola I've
actually liked. We got it at a small Mexican restaurant near the Omaha
Zoo. The food was good too.

Eight is Reed's Spiced Apple Brew. I haven't had it before, but the
cashier said it was awesome.

And last but not least, number nine is Virgil's Root Beer, which I've
had before. Very good. It folows the rule that soda should be in a
glass bottle, and that it should be micro brewed.

For the record, numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9 are from Whole Foods
supermarket, which might have to be my favorite sofa supplier from now
on. Sorry World Market, you've let me down too often.

Sullivan's

Today was our first day in Omaha. For dinner we went to Sullivan's
Steakhouse (I know it's Sunday, don't judge me). This is the kind of
place you go because you have money or you REALLY want to impress a
girl. I just wanted to do something really nice for my wife.

What it isn't is a place for young children. Yes, they had a high
chair, but the manager mentioned it was the first time it had been used.

Now, before you start thinking the wrong thing, all the staff was very
nice and the waitress did all she could to help us with Will, short of
carrying him around on her shoulders.

Anyway, Will had been locked up in his car seat for three hours, plus
the 70 minutes if sacrament, and being told to sit down and be quiet
every time we went somewhere. So he was a little upset.

Considering all this, he did pretty well, but we knew he wouldn't last
through desert. We took it to go and went back to the hotel.

Also, we stopped at the Kanesville Tabernacle where Brigham Young was
sustained as president of the church. I'd never been there before and
it was pretty cool.

Sent from my iPhone

Wicked

We saw Wicked at The Music Hall this afternoon. It was great. I'd seen
it a few years ago in St Louis, and it was great. But this was better.
The lady who played Glinda was awesome. She had so much energy and was
all over the stage. It was so much fun.

On another note, after my new gas friendly driving habits, I averaged
32 mpg, I had been getting 27 mpg. Woo hoo.

Sent from my iPhone

New Indy Movie

Last night we saw Indy 4 at the midnight showing. I'd never gone to a
midnight showing before, but it was interesting. We went to Barnes and
Noble first to kill time and ended up buying three books. Not bad for
us. They closed at 11 so we had to go to the theater then.

It was nice that we didn't have to stand in line like AMC sometimes
makes you. We got to go in and sit right down. We went to the side
where they have the couples seats. That way we didn't have to sit next
to annoying people.

For an hour we sat and read our new purchases before the movie began.
The theater pretty much filled up, but other than a few stupid cheers,
they were pretty well behaved.

The movie was decent. I'd say it's my second favorite Indy film,
behind Last Crusade. Harrison Ford didn't look too bad, and aside from
a stupid scene involving a fridge, I really liked it.

It obviously set up a new franchise with Shia le Bouf playing the
lead, and it even paid homage to previous characters Brody, and Henry
Jones Sr.

So anyway, the movie wasn't the best thing ever, but go see it. Your
money won't be wasted.

Sent from my iPhone

I need to blog...

...but I don't have a topic in mind, so I might ramble.

Okay, first. I got my new air filter for my car. This may sound silly, but it could be a big deal. I had to order it online, because none of the auto parts stores carried it. It's a K&N filter, which is a filter that you can clean yourself and reuse for the life of your car. You never need to buy a new filter. And, it's supposed to increase horsepower, which could increase gas milage, but maybe not.

Second, with gas at about $3.59 in Independekansascity, I'm trying to drive nicer to save. This includes not flooring the gas pedal when getting on the highway, not screeching on the brakes, and not zipping around people in traffic. I'm actually driving the speed limit. And, if I find someone driving slower, I get behind them and drive even slower, because I don't want to be the loser going five under that people hate. I'll behind that person, so maybe I'll even get sympathy. Hey, I don't mean to be a dork, but gas is expensive. Just nine years ago I was filling up for 99 cents a gallon. Of course, it helps that I never drive in rush hour traffic, so I CAN drive at a slower pace and not get run off the road.

Third, vacation starts in an hour and a half, and I'm happy. It's the first full vacation I've taken since starting this job seven months ago (I took a weekend off several months ago), and I'm not sure how long it was at my last job since I had vacation. Tuesday through Friday is just getting stuff around the home done. Saturday we see Wicked at the Music Hall, and Sunday through Wednesday we'll be staying in downtown Omaha (hooray!).

Fourth, I have a doctors appointment at 9:15 in the morning. I have to sign up for our new insurance plan at work. The premiums are decent, but the deductibles are going way up. But, if I get a free health screening beforehand, they'll give me another $300 towards the deductible. But I have to fast for 12 hours before doing the glucose test. :(

Fifth, a few months ago I was going through some of Emily's old documents and throwing away what wasn't needed (it was the same time we figured out she's attended ten different colleges/universities). During this process, we found some old savings bonds she's had. She had cashed most of them out by now, but still had these. She had four $50 notes left, and I mentioned she should cash them out before vacation, just to have a little extra money left. Well, these notes keep accumulating interest after they mature. Today Emily went to the bank and discovered that these notes, face valued at $200 were worth $766. Yeah, she just paid for our vacation.

I think that's about it. So, not too much excitement yet, but in a few days....

Shoes, lots of shoes

We decided this week that we needed some new sandals for our vacation next week in Omaha. Myself, I've never owned a pair and have rarely worn them, but I think they'll be nice for our vacation. Emily wears hers all the time, but her Born sandals are four years old, maybe older, and need replacing.

Mine were easier. We went to DSW and checked them out. There was a nice set of Born's for $60, but the straps cut into the sides of my feet, so I passed. Then I saw a pair of Hush Puppies for $40 that felt great, so I got those. And, after checking the clearance rack, I found a nice pair of Asics for $28. Not too shabby.

Emily was more difficult. She's flat-footed, and shoes give her more problems. Her Crocs are great, because they're flat. But tennis shoes are trickier. The selection of women's sandals at DSW was dismal, even though two thirds of the store is dedicated to women's shoes. So we went to the mall to check out Doc Martens at Steve's. Only, Steve's wasn't there anymore. It had been replaced by The Walking Company. We went in and Emily asked what was a good walking sandal. The saleswoman pointed at a shoe and said those were good. She didn't offer to get any out or any alternatives. So Emily tried them on, and didn't like them. She asked if there wasn't any others. By this point we had both mentioned to this woman that Emily had no arch, and that a shoe with a high arch probably wasn't the best option. The woman insisted she was wrong and indicated an even more expensive shoe. Emily told her it was out of her price range, which seemed to turn off the woman even more. Somehow I think she had decided when we walked in that we were in the wrong income tax bracket for her store. Hey honey, you're working commission. Shut up and show us the shoe.

Anyway, we gave up and went home for the night. The next day we went downtown to the Plaza and checked out their shops. Emily remembered there being a Steve's down there, so we looked for it. No dice. In its place was The Walking Company. Emily wanted to give it another chance, but I decided to try other options first. We got a map of the Plaza and walked around to a few of the stores before hitting up E. G. Geller, a shoe store that exists only in Dallas, Houston, and Kansas City (apparently the owner is from Texas and has family up here). A wonderfully nice woman named Camille (okay, she was a red head, which I like, but she was nice. Remind me to tell you about the girl who dyed her hair red after I mentioned I liked them) helped us out. Emily mentioned her arch problem, and the saleswoman mentioned that she had the same problem. She recommended a sandal she had worn in Italy. Emily loved it and it was funky (and more expensive than anything we saw at The Walking Company). The woman, wanting to make sure Emily was happy with her choice, showed her several other sandals before Emily decided on the first one.

The point here is that a nice woman (and I swear it wasn't just because of her hair) sold a sandal because she was kind and new her shoes and was willing to help out a customer. Isn't that the definition of sales? Getting someone to buy something because they need it? Anyway, Emily had her wonderfully funky shoes and will have them broken in by the time we go to Omaha. And the woman said that they'll last twice as long as her Born shoes. I told Emily that if she likes them and they improve her quality of life, that she can come back in the fall and look at a good shoe for hospital work.

I'm not feeling that stimulated

We got our stimulus check today, or rather it was deposited into my account today. We got $900, which seems like a lot until you consider I was expecting anywhere between $1200-1500. But whatever. It's money, it's my money (because I'm the taxpayer) and I'll use it. Or, we'll use it, because it's going to our vacation.

What gets me is that I know that $900 is nice to have in my pocket, but the policies of our administration (that I have to admit I voted for, twice) is making things worse. Look at gas prices. Sure, there simply isn't enough oil on the market, but part of the reason gas is so high is because the US dollar is so weak. When you print off money that doesn't come from anywhere, the value goes down. And I'm not just talking about these stimulus checks, I'm talking about the administration's policy to spend money like drunken sailors without having the funds to back it up.

No, that's harsh. A drunken sailor will stop spending money when he runs out. And a drunken sailor will go back to work when it sobers up. The government spends money that it doesn't have (think of having a credit card with a Trillion dollar limit, only they can raise their limit whenever they want, without making minimum monthly payments) and they don't really take care of the taxpayer that is the whole reason the government has money.

So, they keep spending money that they don't have, which lowers the value of the dollar, so the oil suppliers want more dollars per gallon because they know that our dollar doesn't mean as much.

When it comes to taxes, you should either have higher taxes with higher spending (which I don't like) or lower taxes with lower spending (which is better for the economy). We have low taxes and high spending.

Do you remember that movie Dave? This guy impersonates the president and brings in an accountant to fix the budget. After going after things, the guy says that if he ran his business like that, he'd be out of business. Our government should be better stewards. But they don't see themselves as stewards, they see themselves as gods.

I am the Elephant Man

This is my new CPAP I got today and will use the first time tonight.
It uses the new nasal pillow attachment, so I'd's not a full mask.
Actually, it's pretty comfortable, and quiet. The pillows (a soft
plastic piece that rests against the nose) are nice, it'll just take a
while to get used to the forced air. And I got it in time for vacation
(which starts in eight days.

More things you may not know about me

I hadn't been married long when Cake came to KC. I didn't know them too well, but got tickets because Emily loved them. I copied the CDs she had and listened to them over and over, even while driving to the concert, so I'd know their songs. It was a fun concert, even though quite a few people were smoking joints and we got contact highs. I swear we had the munchies after the concert. And Emily was pregnant. Will seems okay.

I can't maintain a constant speed on the highway to save my life without using cruise control.

I can't fake interest in something. Whey I try, people know I don't care about what they're saying. I guess it means I'm not fake, but I think it comes off as rude sometimes.

I feel like I always have to accomplish something. When reading, though I enjoy it, I feel like it isn't just for enjoyment. It's to expand myself as well. Everything I do is for some end, not just enjoyment. Even watching DVDs, I do it to accomplish the season or the movie, to learn, or to say that I've seen it.

I want to read everything. I want to have a large private library in my own and be able to give you a mini review of every book I've read, just form memory. And not seem snobbish about it.

I love pipe organ music.

I miss taking long drives.

When I pass wind, I have to say "excuse me", even if no one is around.

If you want to know how I am with friends and life in general, read the last short story in Charles de Lint's Dreams Underfoot, titled "Tallulah". It's pretty accurate. Except for the drugs and sex, that is.

Sundry Items

Just a few fun items that don't really deserve their own blog, but wanted to share anyway.

• Me, Emily, and Will went to see Iron Man on Wednesday. Or Tuesday. Yeah, it was Tuesday. Anyway, it was really good. And though Will did pretty good, I don't think he's quite ready for movies yet. If the movie had been five minutes longer (and it wasn't that long to begin with) and we would have had a full 18 month child freak out. But the movie was really fun, with a lot of self-depricating humor. And Gwynyth Paltrow works as a red head.
• For mother's day, Emily got a new set of knives (our old ones sucked), four wooden spoons (again the old suckage), a four cup measuring bowl (she broke the old one, but not through violence), and a book. Yes, we celebrated yesterday because we don't see a lot of each other on Monday's. The book was a leather bound Barnes and Noble version of The Complete Jane Austen, all 7 novels in one book. She liked all the gifts.
• I also bought Stephenie Meyer's The Host for her, as more of a end of semester gift.
• I sustained a somewhat severe injury yesterday. I was cleaning the bathroom floor, and when I went to stand up (which I did fairly quickly) I bashed my head on the corner of the cabinet door. In a moment I was back on the floor, head clutched in hand. Emily, who I don't think saw the incident, so much as hearing the impact and then seeing me on my knees, clutching my head, rushed to my side. Blood was flowing (or at least trickling) and she nursed me to health. She was even able to check my acuity, which was nice. I actually bled for quite a while. And it really hurt. I still had a headache today. But it's clotted over nice, and I don't think it's negatively affected the sexy (snort) shape of my head.
• I get my CPAP (that wonderful sleeping aid for my sleep apnea) on Monday. I'm excited. I wonder what it's like to get a good night's sleep, able to conquer the day on just 8 hours. I'll let you know when I find out.

And that's it for now.

Yes, I'm Tall

At six feet, three inches, people make some assumptions about me. Let me clear out a few of them.

1. I never played basketball. In fact the only sport I played as a kid was baseball, and I hated it (though I'm glad I tried it out so I know I hated it and don't have to wonder if I would have liked it). A lot of people ask me at some point if I ever played basketball, I guess because I'm tall. You should know that the regulation height for a basketball hoop is ten feet, so that still leaves three feet and nine inches of separation between me and the basket and the top of my head. I'm not all that coordinated, and without coordination, you can't play basketball. Not well, anyway.

2. I don't notice the rain falling any faster than anyone else. At the speed of rain falling compared to the time it takes a human brain to realize it just got rained on to telling the lips to say, "It's raining!", you've already got hit by the liquid projectiles. If you're eleven inches shorter than me (such as my wife), I'm not going to have the time to say "Quick, dodge the flying molecules of death!" before they start hitting you.

3. Yeah, I can reach things on high shelves. I don't even mind doing it. What I mind are the people that don't know my name, or that would never speak to me otherwise, saying, "Hey, you're tall. Can you help me with this?" First, it's like they have to remind me of my height as a way to convince me to help. I know I'm tall, it's not a revelation to me. The bumps I get from low basements remind me of the fact. Second, I'm going to help you, whether I want to or not. It's not like I'm going to be a jerk and say, "Find a step stool, midget." I'm going to help, I'm usually a pretty decent guy. So, sure, I'll help. Just ask. It's not like you have to convince me to do it.

I do have a little fun with my height, though. When I sit at my desk, I slouch. It's not simply a lazy thing, it's the fact that workstations aren't generally designed for tall people. I lower my seat all the way and my knees still bang the keyboard. I slouch back and it makes it a little easier. My last job people would call me on it and give me a little crap. Then I found an article saying that the slightly reclined sitting position is the best posture for work. My supervisor was amused. At one point I told her supervisor that if I ever decided that the workstation was too low for me and was causing me pain, they would have to make accomodations for me. She just laughed, and not in a nice way.

But anyway, the fun part is when I'm slouched people don't really think about it. Then, when I stand up, there's eyes go up. They don't expect me to be that tall. That's fun.

Prom Season

Well folks, it's prom season once again. I remember going to prom. It was nine years ago. I took a friend of mine who was a junior. I didn't have a car so she picked me up and we drove downtown to whatever place we had our prom. I had been to dances before, once with a date, and once without, and had more fun without. But I thought I should have a date to prom otherwise I'd dance by myself. So, I took this friend. Well, through the night she kept letting other guys cut in and dance with her (why didn't she go with one of them?) and I would go off with a group of friends that came on their own (why didn't I do that again?). So, it wasn't a lot of fun.

Today a coworkers son came up with his date and they took pics and all that and one of the LPNs (think RN-light) said she wished she could go back to her prom because it was so fun. I just thought, if you really miss those times, you're doing something wrong. I don't miss prom. Even the dances I went to that were great I don't miss. I'm enjoying life now. I'm happily married, I have a great (and obnoxious) son, a decent job, and I enjoy myself. If you're looking back to a time five or ten years ago and thinking how much you miss it, you need help.

It's like people that say their mission was the best two years of your life. If that's true, then your life must really suck right now. I admit my mission was the best two years for my life, but not of my life.

If you think that some period of your younger life was so awesome and that your current life can never live up to that, you need to pause and evaluate and make some changes.

My Sleep Study

Last night I had my sleep study. I was scheduled to arrive at 8 pm and was on my way to work when I realized I was supposed to bring some paperwork. I forgot it. So I had to go back to the house then rush to the hospital. I got there about 8:20, so not too bad.

At 11 pm they started hooking me up, but first they wanted to do an Arterial Blood Gas to measure the oxygen and CO2 and whatever in my blood stream. The tech came in with a little needle and told me what he was going to do. He broke the skin, which was fine and I figured the little bit of pain was over.

Dude.

When he found the artery, it hurt. A lot. It hurt more than those huge needles they use to take plasma. It hurt worse than those little needles they use to take blood from your finger tips. In fact, it still hurts.

Other than that, it wasn't too bad. The best description I can give was that it was like a stay at a bad hotel: you have an uncomfortable bed and they keep waking you up.

First, though, came the electrodes. They weren't so bad. They just parted my hair, popped the gadgets on my head, and taped them down. Only in the morning when the tech took them off, he told me there was more than tape. They also use a kind of paste to keep them on. While not painful, I can still feel the points where the electrodes were because I can feel where the paste had stuck my hair to my head.

The end result is that I have obstructive sleep apnea. Let me explain what this means. At night when I sleep, all the weird fitting parts of my throat and whatever, including the tongue, uvula (funny ball thing in the throat), tonsils, and adinoids (the tonsils BFF) all rest and close up my airway. For normal people this doesn't happen, but for me, it does. So when I sleep I don't get enough oxygen.

Now, let me take a break to tell you a little about sleep. When you fall asleep, you are in a low level of dreamless sleep. After about 90 minutes you switch to REM sleep where you dream and get your more restfull sleep. Then after another 90 minutes you go back to the lower level sleep, back to REM, and maybe back to the low level sleep again.

For me, when I go into REM, my brain realizes I'm not getting enough air. When it realizes this, it has two options. It can either pop me back into the low level sleep, or wake me up completely. For me, I think it takes turns. I do realize I wake option. Usually I blame this on needing to use the restroom. The tech said, though, that I don't really need to go, I'm just waking up because of the oxygen thing.

Halfway through the study the tech woke me up and put on a kind of CPAP that's called nasil pillows. Instead of a full mask, it straps on and holds an air hose with two openings right on the edge of my nostrils. The openings don't jam up there, it just rests on the openings, forcing air into my nose. After I got used to it, it wasn't bad. It wasn't uncomfortable, my body eventually stopped fighting the airflow, and I could sleep on my side.

At the end of the study the tech said that I do have the obstructive sleep apnea and that they were able to determine the airflow I need to sleep well. In a couple weeks I'll talk to my doctor and I'll be able to get on a mask. Woo-hoo (said mildly sarcastically).

But you know, my life I've felt guilt for not being able to get up early (both for Seminary in high school and on my mission) and for not exercising the way I should. If you know me, you know I'm really good at holding onto guilt. Now I'm realizing it wasn't really my fault. All this useless guilt I've held onto just because my body is a little different.

The tech told me that people with my condition are more likely to gain weight too because you simply don't have the energy to exercise. So maybe I'll finally get into a better shape. I'm a little excited to wear the Darth Vader mask.