Enough about those Parisians, you say (you don't really say that, luckily, because more observations are coming); what is going on with you, Sara?! Why thank you for asking, and do allow me to fill you in, Sara in the 3rd person...
I am hat free in Paris!!! I wore a ponytail for the trip here (as I've learned, hats in the airport draw suspicion (since hats are so dangerous, duh) and can require the full invasive patdown, which is not so fun) and had my hair in a pone for the next couple of days. I somewhat accidentally discovered that I could once again do my beloved wet bun without too many tweakers sticking out... and I haven't worn a hat since!! I've been here for 2 weeks now and literally haven't put a hat on. It's been GREAT. I hope Paris isn't tired of my wet bun look, as it's not going anywhere quickly. I do have some tweakers at the top and on each side, but they're nothing a little gel and a lot of careful tucking can't fix. I can feel my tweakers flapping in the wind sometimes, but honestly, I don't care. Not being looked at for wearing a hat is refreshing.
Being hat free has made me a little sad for the good ol' days (nearly 4 months ago) when I could wear my hair down and long and lovely though. I miss it. Yes, I still have a lot of long hair, but I can't let it just go naturally. I have to wear a ponytail, wear a bun, or wear a hat. It actually makes me really sad... It's like it's just hit me or something. I'm still looking forward to chopping my hair, but man, I miss my long, pretty hair. It really was something. :(
On a positive hair note, you may or may not remember that I've had an adorable (sike...) bald spot, about the size of a silver dollar, on my head where my incision didn't heal so well. I've been afraid that it was a permanent inhabitant, as no hair was growing in. However, I am happy to say that it is finally fuzzy!! I can't tell how thick the hair will be there but it is a HUGE relief to know it's starting to come in. WHEW!
I've actually been navigating Paris okay for the most part. I have the route to work memorized:
Out the door of the hotel, walk a block, pass Us Golf, follow Rue de Bassano to Louis Vuitton, enter the George V Metro stop, line 1 to La Defense, exit to the left for "Autres Sorties", up the escalators all the way out, head towards the ugly sculpture, and the black Franklin building is on the right. Elevator to 22, through the door, 1st hallway on left, Roissy conference room. Cha-ching.
The route home is memorized too:
Out of the building, to the La Defense Metro entrance, down the escalators, immediate sharp left for line 1 away from La Defense, exit at George V, take Rue de Bassano past Louis Vuitton until Us Golf, cross street, 1 block to hotel. Booya. Although I do walk past the hotel door about half the time but catch myself shortly thereafter.
My sense of direction is definitely not all peachy though. You might not have noticed, but there aren't many "take a left, take a right" directions in my descriptions above. That's because, although I recognize the route when I see the landmarks I've memorized, I can't tell you at this moment as I type this for sure which direction I turn when I walk out of the hotel door, or which way to go when I see Us Golf, etc. I remember KEY directions (like the correct way to turn when exiting the Metro in the morning) because I've written them down and going the wrong way takes me way off track. Plus when you're in a Metro tunnel, you don't have landmarks to use.
I've had a few of my little directional blackouts, like yesterday when I came out of Starbucks (that I've gone to every single morning before work), could NOT remember which way to walk to work, then turned the wrong direction. It takes about 10 seconds to realize I am walking the complete wrong way. And tonight I went to mine and Jeff's favorite Italian restaurant (it was my 3rd time having their lasagna.... bless you, Maitre Pierre) all by myself, a whole 4 blocks away or so. I made it there fine, but when I came out, I went the completely wrong way. I ended up slightly lost, only by a few blocks, but it took me twice as long to get home as it did to get there. Not so fun in a crazy city like Paris, by myself, as it's getting dark, without a legit map since I have no cell reception and didn't bring a real map. And I HATE being lost. It was actually really frustrating. It just makes me feel like a total idiot. This sense of direction crap is easily the most challenging part of my recovery. I hate it. Makes me feel like crying when it happens.
But enough about me. I've added some links to some lady friends' blogs, which you may see to the right. As I've gone through this adventure, I've been amazed to learn about how many young people really are affected by brain tumors. Way too many of us!! Anyway, I've been expanding my tumor dominating network (power in numbers, of course) and have learned about some strong and incredible ladies. Stalk them with me, won't you?! ;) Krystal is a friend from college who was in my sorority. She found out about her tumor and had surgery just a couple months before I did. I saw her story play out as I was trying to get to the bottom of mine; this was both comforting and scary. I stumbled upon the blog of Jessica randomly, as we have a mutual friend that I went to HS with in Chelan. Jessica lives near where I grew up (and is moving to Seattle soon!). Krystal, Jessica, and I all share 1 thing in common: Dr. S was our rockstar neurosurgeon. He sure gets around, doesn't he?! I learned about Sara at the recent Portland Brain Tumor Walk, as her dad sought me out since she and I have so much in common (and she had wedding festivities to attend to and couldn't be at the walk). We're both Sara L's, we're both super tall, we both have stinking brain tumors that we stumbled upon randomly, we both love live music, etc. She lives in Portland but I'm hoping to meet up when we're in the same city sometime.
I feel like I've just spewed a giant update on here, but Jeff flew out of Paris this morning (sad....) so I've got a little extra time on my hands now. Great reason to catch on the ol' blog, wouldn't you say?! Posts on more Parisian observations and my French adventure are coming soon (with pics). Until next time, goodnight friends!
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