my wonky thumbnail

Shortly after the new year began, I noticed a bump on my right thumbnail. At the very center, starting at the cuticle. It was kind of weird, and the bump started growing outward throughout the weeks.

It weirded me out a bit, if I'm being honest with you. Because I hadn't smashed my thumb or anything like unto it, y'know? I hadn't earned it.

Initially, I thought it was, perhaps, a thickening of the nail, so I grabbed a nail file, and I sanded it down.

That. Was. A giant mistake. And rather painful...

As it turns out, it wasn't a thickening of the middle part of my nail at all, but the bump came from underneath the nail itself. Ergo, I essentially filed my nail to almost skin-level down there by the cuticle. (If you don't understand how that feels, go ahead and try doing what I did. But really: DON'T TRY IT. Just take my word for it that it was painful, okay?)

Aaaanyway, I was hanging out with Jami one afternoon (when we were working on my dining room set) and I showed her my wonky nail, and she was kinda freaked out by it and encouraged me to go to the doctor about it.

So I did.

I sought medical help over my wonky thumbnail. And I sat in that doctor's office for the better part of 40 minutes while the PA poured of a medical book or two, trying to figure out what the what was going on with my right thumb.

My thumbnail problem was that weird, folks.

I took this picture a few days after visiting the doc.

When he figured out what it was, he came in to tell me about it.

It's called median nail dystrophy, folks, and there is no known cause. It only happens on the thumb nails, although sometimes it's bilateral. (Sooo grateful it's just my right thumb, I have to say.) Also, sometimes it happens on the big toenails. (Once again, I'm thrilled it skipped my toes altogether.) Starting at the cuticle, right in the middle, the nail either grows out with a bump, or else it starts splitting. And sometimes when it splits, it looks like a fir tree. There's no cure for it; it just grows out.

I was super bummed, because I'm vain when it comes to my nails, I suppose. I went home and googled "median nail dystrophy" and read up on it; in addition to what the PA said, I discovered that when it grows out, there's no exact time table. Sometimes it takes months. Sometimes it takes years.

Then I went ahead and looked at the google images of MND, and I felt sick and kind of depressed. Because the "thumb cracking to look like a fir tree" was simultaneously accurate and inaccurate. Some of those pictures were gross, and I kept thinking I'd have to cover my thumb with BandAids until the nastiness grew out, you know?

Also, I (maybe, a little bit) started praying, since my nails grow fast, that the wonk might not, in fact, last years.

Shortly after I visited the doctor, my nail started to crack.

It's lovely, isn't it?

More cracking.

This picture was titled "March 9"

And this one was titled "End of March"

On April Fools Day, it hit me that the wonk was, in fact, growing out!!

Mid-April...

April 17th

Yesterday

 I can't tell you how happy I am that this...median nail dystrophy...is leaving my body. THE WONK IS ALMOST GONE!

*I totally wasn't going to post anything about this, because YUCK. But now that it's almost gone (yay, hooray!), I'm less sensitive about it. And also: I kind of want to remember this, in case it ever comes back (heaven forbid!). 

I hope that I haven't grossed any of you out too badly. I also hope that median nail dystrophy never graces any of your thumbs...

Happy 10th, Jackson! (and a few other things)

I became an aunt for the first time ten years ago today.

That means JACKSON IS TEN YEARS OLD!

He started out skinny, but filled out into this lovable squish in just a few months...

...and now suddenly he's a big kid!

Now, a loving message to all my nieces and nephews: STOP GROWING! You're all getting too grown up too fast, and it's absurd.

And now: stuff I've been up to in the past two weeks:

My driver's side door handle was replaced. With a black handle. Klassy.

I went to Utah the first weekend in April. Gosh, I love my hometown...

I swooned a time or two on the drive home...

Gorgeous fatty cloud.

I mean, really. #swoon

I got to spend some quality time with him

...and her

...and him

Marshall and Kaylee took me on a hike near their house.

Marshall found a slug on a stick on our hike.

And this here tire swing was our final destination.

Golly, she's cute.

Derek relaxed in the stroller.

I got to play with my boys Seth and Emmett (and Jackson, too!)

And I made some salsa cream cheese bread.

 I also spent some quality time with my girls Jane and Julie, but...I didn't take any pictures (shame on me!). 

I hope all is well for all y'all. Oh, and Happy Tax Day!

hello...april?!

My heck, time is flying by with ferocious velocity. Just indecent speed. 2014 is 1/4 done, and I can hardly wrap my head around that fact.

Aaaanyway...

My oven is broken. Not broken-broken, but the lower element is busted (see picture below), and that made me feel very frowny. I use my oven a couple of times a week, and being without one is ridiculous. Probably because it's broken, I've wanted to bake a great deal more than I would in a "normal" week. I've had a hankering for homemade bread, and also chocolate chip cookies. And muffins. (What can I say? Carbs is my favorite food.)

See what I mean when I say it's broken? New lower element is coming in today and will be fixed right after work.

I broken oven can't stop a girl from cooking altogether, though. I made some Double-the-French toast last week sometime. (French toast made with French bread.) 

It tasted even better than this picture looks.
Topped with a bit of blackberry syrup and fresh sliced strawberries.

ALSO, I've been craving homemade BBQ chicken pizza, and I bought all the ingredients necessary before I discovered the brokenness of my oven. So I got online and discovered you can cook pizza on the stove. You better believe I've had a couple of mini pizzas made just so. I've got enough dough to make a few more (but I'll probably make a regular one this evening, once my oven is fixed).

Mmmm...pizza!

Another something that is being fixed today is my car door handle, driver's side. Last Friday it broke off in my hand, and it was a very sad moment for me. (Why does car stress make me feel weepy every time?!) My new roommate Serena (shout-out!) followed me to my car guys' place then drove me to work. I called my guys to see when it might be done, and I was told that the wrong door handle was delivered; someone was (is?) driving the correct part to them from Pocatello, my car should be done around 1:00, and they'll drop my car off at my work. Isn't that great of them?! 

A broken car door handle is a pain in the bum.

Getting into my car over the weekend proved to be obnoxious; I had to get in the passenger's side, start my car, roll down the driver's side window, then get out, walk around the car, and open the door using the inside handle through the open window. (Glad I figured that out before I went to church on Sunday! Climbing over the center console in a dress--in the snow, no less--didn't sound very appealing unto me.)

And now...other things:

There was a bird flying around the gymnasium at my work last week,
flapping around and pooping on the climbing wall.
Kaity got close so many times to hitting the dang bird with well-aimed spit wads.

Dove Dark chocolate with sea salt and caramel might just be my love language.

A couple of weeks ago, the wind here in I.F. was a real jerk,
knocking over and decapitating some mailboxes in my neighborhood.

Last Friday, I took a creeper picture of this gentleman drilling said mailboxes into the cement.

This was March 26th. A cool, overcast day, but so lovely!

 And this was March 30. On my way to church.
There was at least 2 inches of wet, heavy snow on my car after church.

 

Also: I'm currently in 7th place (out of 14) in my work's NCAA playoff pool. I couldn't even tell you who I'm "rooting for" to win. Virginia, maybe? (I'm dead last in my family's pool.)

Happy April!