By now, most of you know that I have started writing a column for the local newspaper's website. If you don't know...why didn't you read my bulletin??? What the hell?
I have my own little column called "Maybe, Maybe Not." It's about being single, Jewish, in my thirties and FABULOUS! Ok, I do whine little about the suckyosity of dating and people's attitudes toward singletons. But I also want to show that we're not all sitting around waiting for Mr. Right. We're out there with you living life and doing what everyone else is doing but we're just doing it alone! And that's ok!!!
(Well, except having a baby. I looked into it and decided I don't want to do it alone. But I do have friends who are doing it!)
I am supposed to do a new column every other week but since they're online, I can file them anytime I want to. So, check back often to this address:

www.Jacksonville.com/community/cc/kgamble

Bookmark it, add to favorites, whatever you have to do...please come back often! And then let me know what you think!

Love, Kris

I wondered when it would really hit me. Life had been such a constant flurry of activity after I got fired from my job in Washington, DC that I guess I didn't have time to really feel it. 

Friday night it finally hit me...I am homesick.

Oddly, I'm not missing Philadelphia or New Jersey, where I grew up and lived most of my life. I miss Washington, DC. I miss Maryland and Virginia too. The places I lived for the last six years of my life. The only place -- in 20 years of radio -- I actually settled down, bought a house and laid roots.

I miss my neighbors in the Woodside section of Silver Spring. We would have just closed our street and held the annual block party last month. My 3 year old next door neighbor, Melia, would be running between my lawn and hers buck naked, but for a pair of her mom's black leather boots. I'd grab a pizza at Mama Lucia's, bring it over to Liz and Perry's and sit on their porch eating and drinking beer. 

I would walk a couple of blocks to the downtown S.S. Starbucks for my triple venti sugar-free vanilla non-fat latte and then DSW for some shoe therapy. And then make the same walk back for a Chicken Bol from Chipotle...looking up in wonder at the Discovery Building and whatever odd Shark-like creature they have hanging from the ediface.

Friday night would come and Becky and I would go to Bethesda Jewish Congregation for Shabbat service. I would sit watching the Hazzan in complete awe of his intelligence, talent and piety. I'd sit and imagine a life where I could leave radio, study and become a rabbi. After the oneg, Becky and I would grab a bite to eat and then drive around singing at the top of our lungs. And I would feel so happy. I always do after synagogue.

I want to shop at H&M and Nordstrom. I want some ethnic diversity!!! 

I don't dislike Jacksonville at all. It's very nice here. The people are so kind here and I love living by the beach. But I'm already sad that I won't see snow this year.  

   

By now, if you were a listener of our radio show, you have probably read Mark's blog about our first couple of days in Jacksonville.

These past few weeks have been insane! After getting fired, recovering from spinal surgery, a broken toe and grade 3 sprained ankle, I packed up my 110 lb dog and baby parrot in my little Honda and drove 11 hours to Jacksonville. Other than Bailey barking at every noise in the Holiday Inn, the animals were very well behaved.

Since then I have put my house in Silver Spring on the market.

Hey, if you know anyone looking, here's the link:

http://www.realtor.com/FindHome/HomeListing.asp?snum=1&locallnk=yes&frm=byzip&mnbed=3&mnbath=2&mnprice=500000&mxprice=550000&js=off&pgnum=1&fid=so&stype=&mnsqft=&mls=xmls&areaid=20910&poe=realtor&zp=20910&sbint=2&sorttype=sbint&presort=sbint&typ=1&x=27&y=6&sid=07FDDBC9322CC&snumxlid=1075371008&lnksrc=00002

My first day of normalcy was Wednesday. I got up and went to work with Mark Kaye and did the show we've been doing for almost 7 years together. It felt amazing. I missed it so much.

Today, I can say I had my first feelings of true happiness since November 1st. I came home from my wonderful new job where I work with some of the nicest people I've ever met and took a long walk around a lake with my dog in the warm sunshine. For the first time in months I was able to actually appreciate these things. I actually wanted to be outside instead of inside on the couch.

Thank you God for blessing us with this new opportunity.

Thank you to all our wonderful listeners from Washington DC who have called The Ape, written us emails, posted on My Space and supported us during one of the worst times of my life.

Thank you to our new co-workers at The Big Ape for welcoming us with open arms and making this station so great!

Thank you to the people of Jacksonville who have also welcomed us so warmly and are just generally kind, considerate people. Loving your Southern hospitality...oh and your boiled peanuts!!!  

   

 

 

     We had planned such a fun day! I drove over to Teapot Tim's house to do a fun, Old Hollywood Glamour photo shoot. We made cappuccinos, talked and planned out my wardrobe.

     As I walked downstairs to have James do my hair and make-up, I slipped and fell down the staircase, landing with all my weight on my right foot and ankle, which was bent the wrong way under my body - as was my big toe.

     At first, I was in shock. I'd NEVER felt pain like that in my entire life! I started sweating profusely and thought I was going to throw up from the pain. I wouldn't let Tim or James come near me, I was seeing spots and felt like the walls were closing in.

     After a few minutes, I told the boys I needed to go to the hospital. We went to the Critical Care Center ER and waited. And waited...and waited.

     Finally, they took me in and a doctor examined my ankle and foot. I yelped in pain every time she touched me. They gave me a shot for the pain (In the ASS!!!) and took me into X-ray.

     My ankle was severely sprained and my big toe was broken. They wrapped it up with a splint, put on a big wooden boot, gave me Vicodin and crutches and sent me on my way.

     Now, I thought, "Sprained ankle? That's not that bad. I'm sure it will feel better tomorrow!" Well, it didn't. It got worse. It has now swollen up so much I have a CANKLE!!! And the pain...well, I can barely walk! Doing the little everyday things is so difficult. Apparently, a sprain can be worse than a break...who knew???

Check out the balloon at the end of my leg! Such a pretty blue and purple...(Sorry the last pic is so blurry...ahh, Vicodin...)

In order to get my house ready for sale, (a sad by-product of losing my job) I had to go through a process that many adults must go through at least once in life...a horrifying experience known as The Total Kitchen Remodel.

For the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I lived -- with ALL of my belongings, a 110lb dog and a parrot -- in ONE ROOM!!! Yes, I was hermetically sealed with plastic sheeting over the doors into my living room. Oh, except for the days that I had to move the parrot upstairs into my bedroom and block off the door with towels so he wouldn't die from the toxic chemicals. Only, he didn't WANT to go upstairs, so he took LARGE hunks of skin into his beak whenever I moved him.

Then, there was the issue of meals. I had no kitchen or appliances, so I had to order out every day, three times a day. I got it down to two meals a day - since Triple Venti Sugar Free Vanilla Latte from Starbucks is now offically a food group!!! Not to mention the fact that having to order out every meal is SUPER expensive...oh, and did I mention I have no job?

After all of this, the plastic came down and...TaDaaaaaaa! I have a beautiful new kitchen! (Well, I have it til I sell it) And here it is! The hideous brown tile and fake wood laminate is the "before" kitchen...

Kitchen Slideshow

 

This one is for the 18+ people...

I met a lovely girl at a party this weekend who recently divorced after getting married way too young. She's now dating a very sweet friend of mine and she told me he matches 20 of the 30 characteristics she has on her list. Of course, I asked, "What list???"

This was met with surprise. This is the list of traits that a woman is looking for in a man! Apparently, women believe it also keeps them focused on Mr. Right and not flirting with Mr. Wrong for too long. I think more than a few people may also think that it may be good mojo? A lucky list?

My question is: How many of you (men or women) have made such a list? And did it help you find the person you love? 

 

 

 

So, there I am sitting on my couch watching one of my soaps today...when I hear the announcer say,

"Once they were HOT...and now they're not!"

I look up to see MY FACE on the TV screen telling everybody that I was still "HOT BABY!"

Yep, it was a promo for the news piece WUSA Channel 9 did on my surgery and on The Mess's ouster from the radio station!

Here's the deal:
The piece will air tomorrow (Wednesday) night during the 11 PM newscast! Channel 9, WUSA, Washington.

And hey - no cracks about how I look...some of the footage was taken in the hospital! 

Hello again-

I've received a lot of email asking me about my recovery from my spinal surgery and even more asking me what I actually had done. So, I thought I'd fill you in and tell you where you can actually see me having my surgery on TV!

The proceedure is called ACDF...Anterior Cervical Discectomy with Fusion (and Instrumentation). Now, in English...I had two discs that act as cushions in between my vertebrae in my neck move out of place and put pressure on my spinal cord and the nerves that run down to my arms and hands. Besides YEARS of waking up to a stiff neck, I started losing feeling in my fingers and having pains shoot down my arms. It got so bad this summer, that I was averaging about 2 hours of sleep a night! Outta control!

So, the doctors removed the offensive discs and in their place they put cadaver bone!  Yup, bone taken from some dead person! Then they hold it all together with some screws and plates. Here's a really cool model of what it looks like:

Yes, I have to wear one of those funny neck collars and I'm not allowed to do anything physical other than walk for the next six weeks.

It hurt, but not nearly as bad as I thought it would! That first day in the hospital sucked! I was in a LOT of pain and I was so hungry, but everytime I ate anything I threw it right back up because of all the morphine I was on. I had one of those little buttons I could press for another dose of that sweet, sweet relief! I was VERY scared to move my head for a week after surgery. It freaked me out to know what was done!

The other freaky thing was that the surgeon went in through the front of my neck! But that is actually a lot less risky than going in past your spinal cord. Now, I have a 2 inch red scar on my neck - just right of center. I'm hoping it starts looking better soon - it's a little nasty right now!

I went back for my first post-op doctor's visit and had an x-ray taken. This is not mine, but this is exactly what it looked like. Check out all the hardware!

So, the big question: DID IT WORK?

Yes, it did! Within days. I noticed the arm pain and numbness and tingling were all gone. When I go to bed at night, I fall asleep right away and stay asleep straight through to morning. I have a little stiffness occasionally, but it's nothing compared to what I lived with for years. And the doc says it will go away with time.

**Thanks to Dr. John K. Star, Dr. William MacNamara, the nurses at Physicians Accociates in Rockville and all the WONDERFUL nurses at Sibley Hospital - especially Craig and Lauren! **

Look for my story to air in the coming weeks on 9 News Now, WUSA-TV. Peggy Fox will show you everything I went through from start to pain-free finish this month on Channel 9 here in Washington, DC. 

 

I just wanted to thank everyone for all the love you have shown the Original Hot Morning Mess -- not just the past few days -- but our 5+ years here in Washington, DC.

I'm heartbroken about the situation but I guess it's time to start looking forward to the future. What's next? I have no idea but I'll make the most of it!