Tomorrow's Never Promised

So Sunday I signed into Facebook as usual and found a friend request sitting in there from a person that I haven't heard from in several years. By several years, I mean that I was 10 or 12 the last time I saw her putting it at more than 30 years since we'd talked. I have my account on lock-down, so it's very hard to find me if there isn't at least one friend in common. I noticed there was one.... a girl I had gone to school with. So I went to the mutual friend's page, to see if the requester and I had been talking or if she'd "liked" a thread I'd been talking on. Something to tell me why I was getting this request now....

And that's when I saw it..... those 3 letters that no one ever wants to see on a friend's page.... R I P. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? She and I had just been talking on Friday evening, early Saturday morning about a tv program. Suddenly, just like that, she's gone.... and all because of a freak accident. The same kind of accident that I had not 2-3 years ago. Only this girl, she wasn't so lucky. Seems she fell and hit her head. That's all it took. A fall and then nothing. From what I saw in the comments, they found clots in her chest. It wasn't specified whether they were in her heart or lungs, just that they were there.

*sighs*

She was so excited about what was going on in her life. She had a good job and had just moved several months ago to her dream home.  There had frequently been new pictures on her page showing what she'd done to decorate and how well her garden was coming along. I hear that she'd had a Memorial Day picnic at her new home and had one planned for The Fourth of July. Things were really looking up for her and her long time boyfriend. Then in an instant, it was gone and we're left with a hole in our lives.  She was only a few months older than me..... she was only 46......



It got me to thinking exactly how much there was to lose and exactly how lucky I am. Make sure you tell those close to you that you love them today and hold them a bit closer because tomorrow's never ever promised.....


  

Happy Birthday Iggy!!!

Boy what a time I had trying to find just the right one. There wasn't one with traffic cones singing, sorry. I even checked out the Spongebob one, but considering what you've been through this month, I didn't find it terribly appropriate. No squirrels, I didn't want to substitute the chipmunks in... but I wanted something to put a smile on your face...

cleaning out, new acquisitions,classy slippers

I saw a few comments about the crafts in the last entry. I didn't bother answering any of them via email because I knew I was covering it in this next entry.

So one day about a week ago or so, I got tired of seeing the over filled baskets in the hall closest. They were put in there to make life easier for us instead of having all this little stuff scattered in there. The system seems to work well, except when we get lazy and just toss stuff in...which is most of the time. *laffz* Anyhow, I got it cleaned up and had to re-adjust what got put with what other items. At one point, my items only took up one basket. Thanks to my mom (and a great sale at Bath and Body Works) my stuff now takes 2+ baskets. Oh my! You see, mom used to work for Gottchalk's and was forever getting samples from the girls at the perfume counters to send off to me. If that wasn't enough, she'd send perfume sets for Christmas. Some of you remember that I'd mentioned getting the same set two years in a row. You can see them in the above photo...one's still in its box. Anyhow, she's telling me that she's looking to get into a different industry and not stay in retail so I'm hoping this is the last of the perfume because as it stands, with as often as I wear it, I have YEARS worth of scents in those baskets! If she ends up in retail again, I may send her the picture and just write "Please, for the love of God, NO MORE!" *laffin* I may do it anyhow just to get a laugh out of her.

This little beauty I found in the local Salvation Army store. If the matching piece had been in better condition, I would have bought it too. I figured it was a great deal at $4.99 as something like that runs nearly $10 or more brand new in the department stores. That piece next to it is a dolly my mom had sent me for Christmas. The kitty will look better with some of the other "girls" but I don't have them unpacked yet. I'm hoping to get a nice lighted case one of these days so I can get them displayed properly. As it stands right now, there isn't enough room for them to come out of their boxes yet. Besides, I don't want to unpack them to simply have to pack them back up in a few months. I reminded hubby about our choices again today regarding the living arrangement we're in but I don't think he was overly receptive to that kind of conversation yet. All I got was an "I know" but no details. Men!


A few weeks back, hubby called me from work and let me know that his friend had just come back from vacation and had very generously bought all his friends a bit of beach front property. Wow. Ok, maybe a time share? That would be cool. Get outta the house for a weekend and put the camera through its paces. Then I noticed a couple days later the item below sitting on the DVD case under the thermostat:
Ok, quit ya groaning. Don't you dare tell me you didn't see THAT one coming from a mile off!

The last picture is for punkn Deanna. These are the leopard "they're classy cuz I say they are" slippers I mentioned in an earlier entry. They're my favs to wear around the house. If I could wear them out to every place else, I would. Could ya see me popping into Olive Garden wearing these?
Had a follow-up appt with the allergy dr today to discuss how the treatment is going. She's said that it seems like those that have the roughest time with the build-up shots (like I've been having) tend to have better results in the long run and the serum helps. That's good to hear. We're hoping to get me off the expensive daily pill and have me down to just the OTC meds and possibly just the one spray during peak season. That would be awesome. Good news though...all this hard work for my weight is paying off. No, I didn't get weighed...but I did have my bp checked. I came in with a beautiful 115/60 (normally I'm a 120/80 or 118/78 or so). Yeah, I'm stoked.

After the appt, we went shopping a bit. Stopped in to Burlington Coat Factory because their window advertised a HUGE clearance sale. Gosh that store's gotten rough looking. I don't remember shopping in one of them before with it looking so rough. Ahh well. Found a nice pair of jeans that fit but would feel nicer with a couple more pounds gone. Definitely NOT "that time" jeans. They don't have the stretch that my usual pairs have but I was pleased to see the 22W fit anyhow (especially after the 24W I tried on before it wouldn't even snap!). God bless the Gloria Vanderbilt lines! Best bet? The original tag price was $21.98 (which makes me suspect it was a first mark down price and they'd been much higher at one point) and the mark down price on the tag now? $9.99. Yep. A bit over $10 and I have a nice pair of jeans. Women's sizes NEVER come that cheap. I may have to pop in again another day and give a proper look around.

Went to AC Moore because I needed to replace some of my brushes. I walked out with only 3 new spotters (brushes are expensive...*sigh*) but that's ok. It'll do. I have a few more items I want to pick up but since they didn't have the canvas sizes I wanted, I didn't bother getting the rest of the supplies for the projects in mind. JoAnn's is less than a half mile from the townhouse and in easy walking distance so I'll just wait until a coupon shows up in the paper and get the stuff later. I'm in no hurry to do those projects yet anyhow. I still have plasters to paint. I have about 10 pieces that I just finished the other day. All that they need is the felt glued to the bottom so I think I'll do that tomorrow. Or maybe Monday.... I really need to consider an internet free day during the week so I can concentrate on my crafting. It might be a Sunday or Monday. I haven't decided yet which day. I do know it needs to be a day when the hubby isn't around to pester me.

Afterwards we went to Best Buy and I drooled over the toy I've been wanting. Some of you might remember that I'd mentioned it sometime before this past Christmas but never got it (if I had you KNOW I would have blogged about it). I just didn't see spending nearly $200 on an item I can get via Amazon for $150 (and if I get it during one of those no shipping costs if you spend x amount...that'd be great!). If I get the smaller one, I can get it for around $85 on Amazon. Not a bad deal, but not something I can justify after spending over $30 on Amazon already this last week.

I met a couple neat bloggers the last couple days or so and would like to welcome them to my corner of the web. Feel free to wander around all the blogs that seldom get maintained. There's plenty for everyone here. While I was checking out their sites, I found a couple that I really like and have added them to my blog roll. There's another game I may just end up playing one of these days ...actually 2 new games. With one of them I'm thinking of adding a twist to it. Maybe adding these games will inspire me to at least post a bit more often.

I think I close this for now. I have one more entry that's in draft form right now (read: the pictures are loaded, I just gotta write about 'em) that I expect to drop either tomorrow or the next day. There's yet another sitting in my email inbox and there are a few more pix in the camera to upload...I got some new nail polishes. You should SEE the shade I'm sporting today (and no it's not Adam Lambert blue!).

Just for fun, cops, decor and more

Got this one off from Jeannie's blog a few weeks back. I'd really meant to post it within a day or two of doing the quiz....

You Are Soft Serve

You are laid back, peaceful, and accepting. You are easy to please, and you enjoy letting others do things their way. People might be surprised to know that you're experimental and funky - at least in your own mind. You are open to wherever life takes you, even if it's very unconventional.

What Frozen Treat Are You?

I wanna thank those that came in to wish me a Happy Birthday (I see a couple new names..YAY! Feel free to visit again.), but someone announced it a wee bit early. I'm not a July baby. Actually, I should have been... however, even from birth the female gene for "fashionable late" was kicked into high gear. Yeah, that's right...I'm going into this particular birthday kicking and screamin and certainly don't wanna be 40 until I damned well HAVE to be.

I see a few of you picked up on the cops comment. Well a few nights ago, I popped into bed early and did a bit of reading. I went to a lights out about 30 minutes after midnight (1230am) and actually fell right to sleep. Very unusual for me but I've been attempting a decent lights out so I'm not sleeping until 11am-noon daily. Anyhow, I fell right to sleep. I was only asleep an hour when the doorbell rang. Yeah, at what many would deem an UnGodly hour. Certainly one does NOT go ringing people's doorbells at 130am unless there's an emergency. As I roused from sleep, I realized I was seeing lights being flashed into my windows! So I very carefully peeked out my blinds and I saw cops in the neighborhood and one standing at my door, looking up and aiming his flashlight at our bedroom windows. I told hubby that we had a cop at our door, so he went down with his wallet to see what was up. I can see the question marks now....why bring the wallet? Well a month or two ago, we had another cop show up at our door , looking for someone and had wanted proof that hubby was who he said he was. I guess the neighborhood must be filled with liars. So anyway, hubby was prepared this time. When he answered the door, the cop asked if everyone inside was ok. Ummm yeah, why? Well, there'd been a shooting in the area so they were checking on all the residents to make sure everyone was ok. They'd said "in the area" but I don't recall hubby ever saying that the cop specified where. I figure if it wasn't our cul du sac, it might have been the one across the street or the one across that empty lot the kids play in (the one where I get some of the "Old Timer" cone shots). It's also possible that it might have been in the strip mall behind us. All three areas are within seconds of our place if the person(s) in question are at a dead run. I actually suspect they hadn't caught the person and that's why they were REALLY looking. Couldn't have been too major, it never made the news here.

A couple days after that one, we had another cop (?) show up at our door while hubby was at work. I hadn't called them and hadn't been making any noise myself (now why can't they show up when I'm teaching the neighbor a lesson? Did ya know heavy metal music pumping at level25 aimed straight at the adjoining wall works wonders?) so I know he wasn't there for me. I question whether he was a cop or not because he wasn't in any uniform that I could tell, just plain street clothes... a polo shirt and dockers. However, he had his id and badge handy for when I opened the door. He asked me if a certain person was here, to which I told him that no...I didn't even know the person... this was the ____ residence and we'd been here nearly 2 years now. I also told him that we're constantly getting calls from the cops regarding that particular person and 3-4 others and each time we've told them that those people haven't lived here for X amount of time. The dude apologized for the inconvenience and as he walked away, said "I guess he gave me the wrong address".... which tells me that maybe he wasn't a cop, but a parole officer. Great.

Hey! Some of you may have noticed that I've taken to answering comments via email. I'm going to try and keep that a habit because I know not everyone has time to come back to previous entries and see if I said anything in response. If I haven't commented back or I've left the response in your blog, it's because I don't have an email addy for you. Please remember I am only leaving the email link up in my profile for another few days. This Sunday it comes right back down. If you're wanting to keep in touch, I'm encouraging you to use that link by Saturday. Oh....and those that HAVE been using the link, you'll notice that I've bounced your answers to my comments on your blogs over to another account before answering. That one's my main addy that I check religiously during the day. The ladystyx1969, well it's checked once a day...if even that.

I'm also on strike with a few of the blogs. If you haven't been visiting and leaving love here, ya aint been a very good bloggy buddy. No one likes one sided bloggy friendships ya know. I know, alot of you follow ALOT of blogs (or work or both) and may not have time, but I don't exactly update this as often as some of those out there. You know the ones I'm talking about, the multiple entries a day posters. I do, however, wanna say thank you to the few of you who do have massive amounts of blogs to follow and STILL manage to leave at least a lol or a one word comment. I won't embarrass anyone by pointing them out, but you know who y'all are. So...if you look around your blog and see I haven't visited in a good long time, yet I seem to be commenting on everyone else's blogs, that could be why. Please remember to leave some comment love where ever you visit. If you got nothing to say, just leave a hug...they're always appreciated! I don't mean on every post, but at least often enough so the author knows you're still there.

Oh! And thanks to those that commented on the new decor around here. I thought that banner in the header was appropriate. My desk, my 2 pennies...but the carpeting is from the dr's office. I thought it'd look cool as a backdrop because of that pattern.... well cooler than the nasty, boring beige we have in the townhouse.

I was reading over at Red Pen's today that the IE error that some of us have been suffering on certain blogs might just have a simple fix. It means dumping the Follower widget off the sidebar. Now all we need to do is decide how important that little bit of code really is. If it's really important for you to have that little widget up so your readers can see who all has been sucked into your blog, then I suggest making friends with FireFox as I haven't had a single problem with that widget it FF. However, if it's really not all that important and you don't like the fact you have to change browsers just to read a few entries... then dump the widget.


I'm going to copy and paste the comments so far from her site here (which amounts to just my comment and hers at this point):



LadyStyx said...
Dang, is that all it takes? Sheesh. You'd think they'd get it fixed.
July 29, 2009 9:52 AM


THE GRAMMARPHILE said...
You'd think that Blogger would have found a workaround for all blogs, but they didn't. Unfortunately, this is the best--and ONLY--workaround I know of. IE8 is really buggy, and I'm actually really curious as to how and why the folks at Microsoft have not yet fixed IE 8, since that seems to be the source of the problem.
July 29, 2009 11:22 AM


Here's to hoping that Windows does a better release the next time around. If not, I may just have to talk to my brother about Linux and Red Hat.

and now for a word from our author

Ok, I think I just about have this blog to where I want it. I'm actually pleased with the look I have so it shouldn't change too much....well until autumn shows up in the next few months!

Anyhow, you'll notice a few additions and changes. Some will be staying for a while and one or two, well they'll be on their way out the door at month's end.

I've got a new profile pic up. There's this cam sitting on my monitor that I haven't used so I was playing around with it a bit last night (early this morning). I liked some of the effects it did, especially the one that's in the profile pic. It kinda reminds me of Hula's profile shot. Does anyone else miss her? I do. Alot. Anyhow, if ya reading this...that pic is a tip of the hat to you, my dear.

Since I changed my profile pic, I knew Pop N Ice would be going thru withdrawals so I reposted the pic of the kids. I may put a slideshow up of them later just so she can get her Dharma fix in.

The pictures I've been posting that I took are also over in my Flickr account. If you look to the right, you'll see a section called Styx Clyx (originial, I know)... click over there and it'll take you to the account. Feel free to poke around and check the other Clyx over there out. Some pictures have notes and descriptions and in some cases, additional stuff that I don't mention in the entries. I'm trying to decide if it's going to be worth my money to go pro there. It depends on the traffic and if I'm clicking enough to make it worthwhile.

Oh...I found out last night, while going through my brother's Flickr that he'd done a shot similar to my banner one. And here I thought I was being original. Sheesh. Anyhow, that'll change in a few days because I think I found a better shot (I was aiming for the words on the mirror) of it.

Some of you have noticed that I added an email to the profile. Well I'm here to say that I absolutely hate the fact that I caved in to those that clamored for it. Sorry y'all. Why? Because all the updates of comments on my blog go to my main account... it's the account I check multiple times during the day because I generally have a certain IM service running. The yahoo account that the account sends you to, well I don't check it as often so sending something there doesn't always guarantee that I'll get it in a timely manner. I've had a few emails show up and I'd completely forgotten why I left the comment I did. I'm really kinda pissed I caved and NO, I'm NOT about to change it to the main account I check frequently. Most of you know why. The year 2012 is coming fast and I need to make sure the hatches are battened tightly. Anyhow, I'm leaving the email hooked until the end of July, at which point it will be removed again. I figure by that time anyone who really WANTS to contact me will have been given the other email addy. Either way, the fastest way to get a response is to drop a comment here.

I've mentioned some weeding. this will happen sometime this next week I think. I'm following about 50 blogs and only have 24 followers... well 23 that I can see, someone is obviously following as an anonymous because I can't see them (wuss!). Anyhow. Since I've been following everyone's blogs and have been more or less faithful on leaving a comment or three daily and I'm getting so little in return, I have to venture a guess that the bloggy love is only going one way and to be honest, I aint up for a one sided friendship. I've got many other things I could be doing than following all these blogs and not hearing anything back. I've got a pretty good idea on who is leaving the love and who aint but I'll be watching and tracking back a month or so to check out the pattern. Anyone who is following me, is pretty much going to be kept in my "must read" area. Those that comment but don't follow, well I'll be keeping you around too. Those that don't bother? Pbbbbt! If this means dropping a couple that I enjoy because they don't visit...ah well. I've done it before and after a few weeks I simply won't miss 'em.

As for the invisible reader... please drop a comment otherwise I'll take this puppy private and you won't be invited. I'd rather lose readers and keep those that really give a damn to keep the friendships going than to be over stressed and cranky because I have little to no time for anything else (painting, needlework, READING!). I have no clue how those with many more followers manage to keep up with everyone but ya know, I'd be much more than willing if I was being shown the same in return.

NYBro, if this goes private, I'll email you the blogs so you don't miss out.

my absolute favorite pic in the whole wide world

Hey look at this... Queenie Jeannie over at Jeannie's Happy World has hit an anniversary on her blog. Congrats!! She's got a giveaway going in order to celebrate. The rules are in her entry, Blogiversary Week - Day One! .

I have so many favorite pictures on my computer but up until a few minutes ago, my absolute favorite only existed in a hard copy sitting in a gold frame on my night stand.

This pic was taken pre-digital camera days with a regular ol 35mm camera. It was snapped by me sometime during our first trip as a couple to meet his folks (I'd only known hubby a few months at the time and was still married to that other louse). I just adore how the love just radiates off of him in this picture.

Yeah, there are 2 garages on the house...you arent seeing things. Both garages hold at least 3 antique cars each.

an attempt to fill in a void

The other night, my hubby was playing one of his computer games (DOOM3) and he yelled out "OMG!! They've even invaded my game!!!"

So of course, I nearly get whiplash turning around to see wtf he's talking about when I see IT. There, standing boldly in the light from his gun...in all it's orange glory.....an ALIEN!

I look at hubby and he very slowly nodded his head...so I very carefully grabbed my camera, fired it off and snapped a shot of one...standing next to a pool of blood. He saw at least 3 more, all basically in the same state.

So here it is, proof that OCHAs are taking over much more than we realize.

I just sent this off to to iggy and thought I'd share it with all of you too. Just my lame attempt to say we miss him lots.

update

Last Thursday was a very rough day for me. We have 3 handsets for our phone, but they dont share info. You see...cell phones generally come up "cellphone" and ~sometimes~ have a state listing next to it. If I dont recognize the number, I wont pick up. Once I know who it is, I enter their info in the phone so it shows up as who it is on the next call. Generally, I pick up on the extension in the livingroom OR the one in the office. The one in the bedroom rarely gets used.... except during times when we're in bed and someone calls during sleep cycles. Normally, I crack an eye to see who's calling and then decide whether to take it or let the machine answer it. This said, my SCSis called during a sleep cycle early in the bloody morning (ok, it was 10:29am but considering bedtime is around 5am these days...)....and I had no clue as to who it was so I let the machine get it. She's like me, hates talking to a damn answering machine unless ya gotta....especially in the day and age of caller id. If it's really important I talk to you, I leave a message but usually I just hang up and try later. I listened and no message was left so I crawled outta bed and went to the office where I picked up that handset and realized it was her so I called back and got voicemail so I left a message (Lord knows what at this point as I was NOT awake enough to remember what I said...just a "if you still need to talk gimme a jingle"). I crawled into bed and had a hard time getting back to sleep. I must have been asleep only 30 minutes or so, just enough to get good and under....I know I was in REM as I was definitely dreaming at that point....when she called at 11:42am. I barely remember that conversation either. I do remember her asking if I was ok and I muttered something about us being on night shift here. She said something about it being a badtime, she didnt realize we were on the nightshift, and that she really hadnt been thinking straight, and when would be better to call...I told her 3-330pm and she hung up on me. Well of course when I finally woke up, I kicked my own arse for not spending time talking to her when she'd called earlier. Didnt matter that I wasnt entirely cognizant of things around me at that point. When the phone didnt ring at 3pm, I called her...and got the voicemail. I didnt bother leaving a message, just called her right back. I tried a good part of Thursday, ringing her number and got no answer. Of course considering Wednesday's mess, I was beyond worried. I didnt sleep well Friday morning because I was worried all day and I half expected a phone call saying I needed to write the eulogy. I worried all day on Friday (after the sleep cycle)....oh hell, I hadnt slept well either....so I called when we got home from our errands, around 930pm. Much to my relief she picked up...sounding better than she had in a long time. She hadnt picked up the day before because she was having some Mom and her time. Seems they get along just fine when all of them arent crammed into 1 efficiency apartment.

Since then we've talked one other time. Things seem to be going ok. She's got a job at a local diner and the boss is already talking about creating a new position for her. She's skeptical about it though as she doesnt really trust anyone at this point. Her lawyer got in touch with her and said his lawyer got in touch with arrangements to pick up her stuff and the 2 cats. This pretty much has her ticked off as there were 4 cats, not 2...meaning he sent 2 of them to the pound. She let her lawyer know the arrangements were inadequate as she was out of state and even if she did drive in, it's a 4 hour drive one way plus she doesnt have a vehicle large enough to get all her stuff (she drives a Miata). She also told her lawyer that he needs to put a hurry on things because she wants the divorce finalized "as of yesterday". Things are still kinda bad, but she's got a bit of hope there and is finally getting her legs under her a bit so that's good. I dont feel the need to be on suicide watch right now....which is good for me.

Im having trouble keeping up with the blogs lately. It seems like I just dont have enough hours in the day anymore (that and I just havent had the desire to be in them much lately...yeah, I know, it's a sign of depression...Im fighting it though). God help me if I read every entry (which I usually do, I just dont always comment). I still need to write in the Jukebox....once American Idol fires up (like, ummm, tonight), I doubt I'll have much time for keeping up. It'll all depend on how fast I get hooked into the show (ok, Im obsessed).

While I was reading the other night, however, I saw an entry that came along very timely. I'd like to thank Bookbitten for the reminder....I needed it.


From the entry at BookBitten: Eye of the Tiger

Rocky is surprisingly profound, in addition to being one of the most
inspirational film series I know of. After a rough night, hell, a rough year, I
went to sleep last night thinking about what he said to his yuppie punk son
(paraphrased): Life will try to keep you down. It is not about how hard you hit
back, rather it is about how hard you can get hit and keeping moving forward.

The next several entries might be nothing but games and such as I found a few while reading that looked like fun.....which means I gotta empty my email inbox out *again*. Until then, I'll be keeping on moving forward.

Thank you

Today, I have hope and things are looking a bit brighter for a change.

PS...yeah, I know the graphic has a typo...but I didnt make it...just found it online.

mental blow up

Ok. So first and foremost, Im going to apologize to all of you as I havent exactly been the best bloggy buddy lately. The green-eyed monster likes to pay me a visit around the end of December when people start talking about going to visit (or having over) family for the holidays . Why? Well because my family happens to have gypsy tendencies and is scattered to the 4 corners of America so the ONLY family I manage to get to see during the holidays is my hubby's family (who all conveniently live in one place). God forbid if we were to plan a trip to see my family or my friends because somehow we'd just have to visit his family anyhow (cutting the trip to see mine in at least half). Ok, his gramma's in her 90's and frail...I'll give them that... but still. We wont even go into the fact that they ask every other phone call (and both sis AND mom call once a week each) when we're coming back in.


If the family issue wasnt bad enough, Christmastime is usually when some blogs go into high gear posting about the kids in their lives....sharing videos and pictures of little ones having a great time opening presents and joining in on the festivities. I CANT be telling others that they can't discuss these things as they're THEIR blogs and I have absolutely no right to tell others what they can and cant discuss such matters. All I ask is that you understand why, at times, I seemingly just fall off the planet. Thing is, I was married before for more than 10 years.....and there are no little ones (other than the furbabies) gracing my home. Although some days Im grateful that one didnt come along at that point of my life because the divorce would have been worse than it was, the fact still stands that Im going to be 40 this year and the clock's ticking away. I know there are a few of you out there that know exactly what Im going through.

The end of January was a little rough too. I was running on a high from my appointment and a low from the bug (discussed below) that I almost forgot a couple of very important dates. The 28th is an important date for me.....this year is Independence Day 4. On the 31st, was my daddy's 63rd birthday and my gramma's 2nd year Heavenly Birthday....man I miss her.

The last month or more hubby and I have had a cold going back and forth between the two of us. For the most part it's been lasting a day or so with me and then pops back over to spend time with him. The same bug's been going around his work as well. This past Thursday, after that wonderful appointment, I came home and wasnt feeling so well. My cheekbones were hurting and my face felt warm. I felt so unwell that I took the first dose of that antibiotic that's been sitting on my counter (it was issued to me over a month ago "just in case")...I even skipped my bike ride. Yeah, I felt ~THAT~ sick. I crawled upstairs to watch my usual Thursday night line up and ended up putting on my long sleeve night gown AND the plush robe.....and I was still cold. I ended up cancelling my shot for Friday because I cant have it if I've been on antibiotics. Friday I was still ill enough to keep me off the bike. Saturday I felt a bit better so I did a gentle ride that day as well as Sunday and Monday. I was schedulled to go to level 8 on Monday *IF* I felt well enough but when I went for my ride, I felt I better not push things. Im going to give it another week or two and see about increasing at that time. It'll all depend on the dr's appointment on Friday. The ZPak didnt seem to do too much good this time around and I suspect by Friday I'll be miserable again. I've been so out of it that I not only failed to keep up in the blogs in a timely manner (there are more than 50 I follow and some of ya'll write many times a day!!), but it was also Monday evening before I switched my tunes out in my MySpace..... Oh man...and I still have a few awards I'm meant to be posting (and then update in the Awards entry) but for the life of me I cant remember who all awarded me ones lately. If you'd be so kind and check...if you have one you awarded me and I havent posted it yet.....leave the link to the entry in my comments and I'll get to them............................I promise.

I havent written my review for Idol yet. There werent too many I was really thrilled with. Alot of "I likes" and not enough "Hell yeahs" to fill an entry...even with 3 night's worth of notes. Im wondering if this will be my last year watching ...or if I'll even make it through the whole year. So damn many plants this year. We'll see once we get through Hollywood week. The big question is, do I really want to put myself through that work again this year?

My SCSis is presently staying with her sister and mom in Ga. The last call I got was loaded with boo-hoos because she'd had a ~really~ horrid day. I wont go into details here. I will say that I finally had enough for the most part and as she was raging at all the things she wanted to do to the man (and I can understand those feelings...I had them at one point or another myself)...I told her to "shut up". Yeah...I used that term with my bestie of nearly 30 years. I told her that yeah I know she wanted to do all this mean, hurtful stuff and it's ok to feel that way BUT she shouldnt ACT on it and proceeded to tell her why she shouldnt (can anyone say stalking and harrassment with the intent to do harm?). I then gave her a suggestion to check out a certain not for profit organization that might be able to help her out, if not directly...then certainly they may have certain resources that will get her steered on the right path. I told her she needed to go sooner rather than later. She did do one thing right though....she called ME at 1230am...and NOT her x2b. Im so proud of her for that. She's also started taking steps for life after divorce.....address change and bank account changed so he has no access to her funds (not that she has any to work with anyhow). I wish she would have done all this sooner to be honest. She IS facing the fact that she's "screwed" and has actually used that term. The one mistake she made during this call was when she asked me how I'd feel in her shoes. It's a mistake because Im likely to be alot more blunt with what I say when Im feeling poorly. I was extremely blunt with her. I told her from day one I would have been packing, getting my ducks in order, changing accounts and would have been talking to a lawyer already. It would have all been done BEFORE I lost my job (not that that was expected but you have to figure if the jerk you're living with gets you thrown in jail, it's highly possible they're going to find a way to leak info to someone in Human Resources or a Co-Owner and manage to get you fired from your job )...at least I would have gotten the first meeting out of the way so I had an idea which steps I needed to take. I qualified it with a "but then again, Im much more pessimistic than you". Boiled down, I told her "I told you so" without being overly cruel about it. Yeah, I know it wasnt really nice, but it was stuff she needed to hear.

We started getting some mixed precip last night (Monday). When I peeked outside, it looked like we were getting some white stuff on the ground again. YAY. The weather's calling for a couple days worth of snow. It'll be nice if the ground gets fully covered over again.

We're on the night shift here. I havent decided if I'm going to stay up real late as per my usual or if Im going to go to bed at a reasonable hour. Im leaning towards the latter to be honest. Not today, obviously....maybe the next sleep cycle. I could use the extra sleep....

I have scads of stuff I emailled myself that I've meant to blog. With any luck, I'll be getting the email cleaned out in the next few days and get some of it put up. I think there's a game or three in there that I saw in other blogs that I wanted to do in mine....I know there were a few jokes that will be going up in the appropriate blog area.

I think that's it....if you can think of something that I didnt cover that you're wanting to know about....put it below in the comments.

Oh...and if someone could kindly talk me through those nifty little messages that some people have up near their comment boxes (Jeannie....Dorky.....someone.....anyone....)...Im thinking I'd like to add something like that to my blog as well.

Catch up, stats and a pic

It seems (even though she knows better than to do this) that my dear friend Chicago over at I Don't Care What You Say Anymore, This Is My Life has decided in her infinite wisdom to TAG me. *sigh*. So anyhow, the object is to go to the 4th folder on my computer and pick the 4th picture. However, since I have several folders within folders both on my computer and in my Photobucket, it can be rather awkward trying to figure out which one to pick. Thankfully, I do most of my non-American Idol day to day blogging on the laptop that's in the livingroom. It makes selection a bit easier as there arent so many folders that would contain pictures on it. The above photo was snapped last January while we were still living in the corporate apartment. We'd just finished supper and hubby had spoiled the dog *again* with scraps so she was very full (proof was a huge belch from her later) and ready for a nap, so that's what she did. He stretched out on the sofa to watch tv, put her up with him and she fell right to sleep....belly up.

ride stats:

January 23, 2009
Calories burned: 360.40
trip miles: 10.29
ave mph: 20.58

January 24, 2009

Calories burned: 354.6

trip miles: 10.13

ave mph: 20.26

January 25, 2009
Calories burned: 369.70
trip miles: 10.56
ave mph: 21.12

I seem to have won this award again. Third time. Somebody upstairs must be trying to tell me something.... Actually, I suspect I know why it keeps showing up.

Anyhow, thank you to Melissa over at The Scholastic Scribe: The Bling That Refreshes for the lemonade award. Pretty much everyone I read has received this awards already so Im not going to issue it out. If you read this blog and have not received this wonderful award, please feel free to grab it for your very own. We all have our own problems and deal with them in our own fashion. Sometimes we share, sometimes we dont but in any case...we all make lemonade out of the lemons we're given.

Im gonna close this out for now. I *just* got an email from my SCSis and the news aint good there. *sigh* I do have a few more entries that I've got bouncing around in my brain...I've emailled the links to myself and I'll eventually get them posted. This is just a very tough time of year for me and with all that's going on in my loved ones lives....well it isnt conducive to my emotional well being.....

a phone call from SC

Calories burned: 382.3
trip miles: 10.92
ave mph: 21.84

My SCSis called today. It seems when excrement decides to roll downhill, it picks up speed and becomes an avalanche. I havent gone into alot of detail in regards to her situation so I'll just say that everytime I hear from her, the situation's gotten even worse. Not only did her husband tell her ON THANKSGIVING DAY that he wanted a divorce, but due to events after that day she's managed to lose her job as well. I really feel for her because I was in somewhat the same position not just a few years ago (losing a job through no total fault of my own). The company boss has encouraged her to file for unemployment and he'll be certain it goes through (the firing wasnt due to poor performance). However, now she's facing a divorce and now no income. The call wasnt all bad though as she's driven to Georgia to pick up her sister and they're making plans to go to Louisiana to get their mom so they can all move to Georgia together after the divorce is final. She's needing a job now though. What she needs is a job that she can do from home online, something she'll be able to keep even after she moves. She is like me, only a high school education, but is quite bright and learns fast (she learned that web stuff faster than me!). In the job she was at, part of her duties was to revamp their website and make it easier to use for the customers to use. She even added the MSDS sheets so they are available to their clients online, just incase one was needed after hours. She'd be really good at web upkeep for a site (or even more than one site). If anyone has any ideas as to where she can at least start looking, it'd be appreciated.

packages, plates and preparing for a trip

A package showed up today from my folks in California. YAY!! In it were 2 packages for each of us, one for BOTH of us and a big gold pressy with a strip of "Happy Birthday" paper across the front of it. In the emailled instructions I received a few days ago I was told that "there is one package among the shipment that you'll KNOW that you can open right away". I would gather that since all the other boxes were labelled "no peeking" and "dont open until Christmas" that the one gold box was the one I was to open right away. So, like a child, I ripped right into that package and what to my eyes should appear but a beautiful porcelain dolly dressed in blue and white. According to her tag, her name's Melissa.

I called mom and let her know the pressies arrived and we talked for a bit. We decided that since
we'll be busy tomorrow with the dr appt and travelling AND because we wont be home for Christmas Day (and we didnt want to haul all the gifts to TN and back NOR wanted to wait til we got home), that hubby and I could open the gifts tonight. He got a couple pairs of really warm lounger pants for when he steps outside to pollute his lungs and a new watch. I guess the latter will be set aside for when the one he has now (one that my mom bought him last year...) finally kills. I got a nice fleece button up jacket and a Donna Karan Cashmere Mist perfume and body lotion gift set (hmm...ummm....same exact set I got from her last year...). Also in the box was cosmetic bag (I dont wear makeup *usually*) filled with perfume samples (I dont normally wear alot of perfume and am still working on the samples from 2 years ago....), and a caddy for all our small electronics stuff (like the cell phones). The caddy is going to go upstairs on the dresser. Im sure it'll come in handy. I think next year Im gonna steer her to my Amazon wishlist. I know how some people feel about those things but it's the one way to make sure I dont end up with yet another DK Cashmere perfume set ...again. Better yet, I'll hint that I need some painting supplies....or a nice piece of jewelry...I dont have much of that. Oh wait...no not that, I'll end up with another watch...

While I was at it, I opened the package that had arrived from a dear friend in Pennsylvania. It's been sitting on my computer cart downstairs for a few days now, just waiting on an approved Christmas wrap unwrapping day. Normally, it would have waited for Christmas morning as per my usual behavior. Why? Because when I was married to The Jerkus, we never had any money to do for each other and the only presents under the Christmas tree were ones we'd gotten from family, friends and the students at the school we'd been working for. There were some really nice things in those presents. Many times, that's where our Christmas meal would end up coming from. Sad really. Anyhow, I opened the pressie from our OCHA Santa himself, iggy, and there was a small calendar (and the autographs of the people from the company he works for) and a decorative box with 2 cds of Christmas music and a dvd with a cozy fireplace! Oh lookit this! One of the songs is one I sang in choir....I dont think I've ever found that song anywhere else!!

Well I guess I better go. I have to get a shower and get packed and clean up the kitchen and and and...well you get the idea. Oh! Before I forget, I got another one of my license plates posted over at http://horriblelicenseplates.blogspot.com/2008/12/sorry-about-your-inferiority-complex.html . Thank you for the honor Mr & Ms HLP!

Oh and today's ride is the last for about a week as we'll be headed outta town tomorrow, unless the obgyn decides I MUST be sent somewhere the day after Christmas, then I wont be going anywhere. We should be back by the 28th or 29th.

Today's ride was a nice comfortable ride, not overly working it (like yesterday) but not exactly lazing off either.
Calories burned: 373.8
trip miles: 10.68
ave mph: 21.36

Everyone have a Merry Christmas, Happy Yule or whatever you're celebrating this time of year and I'll see you next week. Oh and steer clear of the inflatocrap whenever possible.

Feel the burn!

Calories burned: 383.9
trip miles: 10.96
ave mph: 21.92

Feel the burn!!! Best ride of this level and third best for the month. Can you imagine the speed I woulda had if the R&B station was playing all fast music tonite?

Here are the pictures I promised in my last entry. The picture to the left is my school picture from my senior year of high school (1986-1987). I remember the day that was taken. It was in the middle of August 1986 and in the high 90's with the worst humidity we'd seen all summer. I was pretty much melting by the time I got there. This is not the picture that was in the yearbook though. They made me use one of those standard shots for that. A shame as this was the best shot of the bunch.

The picture to the right was taken on graduation day...mid June 1987. As was custom for non-rainy commencement ceremonies, our graduation was held out on the football field. Thank goodness us gals were in the white robes as if I had to wear the blue the guys were in or the black ones the teachers were in....I would have passed out. It was so warm that day we actually had ambulances parked in the parkinglot just in case and volunteers from the honor society and some of the staff passing water out in the stands.

In the above to pix I'm roughly 100 pounds lighter than I am now. I'll be happy to get even *just* that small....at this rate, it's entirely possible.

And here I am now...22 years later with my handsome hubby. This is a special collage we had done with the shots we picked out from our photo shoot. The middle pic is being made into a

10 x 13 for the wall in our dining room...this collage will go in the hallway or up in the office. It's 22 years later and with the exception of my weight, I dont think I've changed too much. I certainly dont look like Im pushing 40...nope, not at all!

Seen on a main road somewhere in Virginia...

OCHA #2: Step on it will ya?

OCHA #4: Im driving as fast as I can man!

OCHA #3: Sheesh we're gonna be late!

OCHA #4: No we aint, that's why we started out tonight. Besides we had to beat all the voter traffic.

OCHA #1: That reminds me, are we going to have time to vote ?

OCHA #5: With the way #4's driving?

OCHA #4: Hey now! I can stop and let you out right here ya know.

OCHA #2: We should make it with a few minutes to spare, once this traffic lightens we'll make great time. Besides you know how much #4 loves his sugar-free orange jell-o with the fat free whipped topping on it. He wont wanna miss that.

OCHA #4: All I can say is that squirrel better not eat it all before we get there. If he does, Im gonna nip his nuts.

OCHA #5: Hey...did someone remember the directions?

OCHA #1: Yeah, they're right here. But I think Mapquest.com messed up again.

OCHA #3: Hang on, I'll double check on my laptop

OCHA #3: Oh man, the squirrel's already there!

OCHA #2: How do you know?

OCHA #3: Because that cheeky little bugger's picture is already up on the celebration pix at http://makingsmallthoughtfulblogentries.blogspot.com/

OCHA #4: That's it, his nuts are as good as nipped!

OCHA #1: Ummm, #4 are you sure you're headed NORTH to Norristown, Pa? I could swear that sign just said Atlanta.....

OCHA #3: Oh hell. Now we really ARE gonna be late!!

MyCommentSpace.com


Happy Birthday iggy! Have a most beautiful day !!!
MyCommentSpace.com

monthly totals, biking, note from a friend, quiet night

Ok. I've hit day 14 now and Im doing rather well. Starting tomorrow I'll be putting the tension on level 2...a half step up from where it was set. It'll all depend on how my knees are fairing whether or not I keep it set at that level though. My right knee's always been a mess so any pain there is pretty much expected but if I develop any stiffness or pain in my presently ok left knee , I'll have to back it back off and mention it to the dr.

I got a Thank You note from my gal in NJ that got married back in August. Seems I made some points with the new husband with the gift card I chose. You see, in July I'd asked her where she was registered so I could get a gift or if she was pretty well set householdwise. She said she was set there and had gone on to say how she wished everyone had thought to ask that. Considering I'd been through 2 weddings of my own and had attended a couple others, I just figured it'd be a good idea to ask, especially since we're not living in our mother's or grandmother's eras and for the most part pretty much already have households set up before we get married. Well she gave me a list of places they like to shop at including GameStop. I figured...if the bride's gonna give me a left of center, off the wall, non-traditional place to get a card from then that's gotta be something they really really WANT as opposed to kinda sorta need right? So that's the option I took. From what she was saying, when they opened the card and her new husband saw that $50 card from GameStop sitting inside it.....his eyes just lit way up. I dont think he was expecting something like that...not at all.

Tonight's been quiet here. I half expected with all the kids in this subdivision that I'd have rugrats beating my door down for goodies tonight but it's been silent. I have a hunch that several had parties to attend because I havent heard the video game next door for more than 20 minutes all night (thank you Lord) .

Guess I'd better let this go for now. Now that Im writing daily, I want to make sure I have something to write about so it's not just all biking stats.

cd,floss, a birthday on the horizon, flu shots and marbles

As you can see by the decor I have up, I'm extremely excited about a certain cd that's coming out very soon. I cant tell you how much Im anticipating this cd. If it's anything like his pre-Idol stuff, it's going to be one friggin awesome cd. The only thing that's going to manage to get me through until his release date is the fact P!nk is releasing a new album this week. I've listened to the preview of this cd several times already and I cant wait to add it to my collection.

http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/pink/2339248/album.jhtml

The first song on the album is the one getting airtime now.

A couple of weeks ago I got an ad through the mail from AC Moore's Craft store. Knowing how much my mom loves to do embroidery, I dropped her a line letting her know they had the flosses on sale at 8/$1...which is an AWESOME price for them because a normal sale price is 4/$1. The sale was for only two days though, so she'd have to hurry to get them. She wrote back to say that she doesnt have an AC Moore's nearby and was rather bummed about it because it's a ~REALLY~ good deal. A follow-up email asked if I'd mind picking some up for her if she'd send a list of colors along...she'd be happy to pay the cost of the floss and shipping. Of course I didnt mind, it gave me a real good excuse to go and pick up some for myself as well....not as though I really needed them but it's good to have on hand in case I feel like stitching. I walked out of AC Moore's with 90 some odd skeins of floss for a bit over $12. Cant argue with that.

I managed to get all but a half dozen or so that she needed. I decided the next day to go to WalMart and see about getting the rest as WalMart's always been the least expensive around. Imagine my surprise that they no longer carry embroidery flosses. Say WHAT???!!!?? So I ended up going to Michael's instead and getting the rest of the colors needed. While there, I decided on picking up a couple items to help fill the shipping box out somewhat. I decided on a set of pillowcases that has a pattern on it so you can embroider flowers on them. There were several sets, but the one set that caught my eye was one that was mostly done in the lazy-daisy stitch. I knew that was a stitch she liked to do best because the piece went fast. I also picked her up some bobbin labeling stickers for her spools of floss. Well I get them shipped off but just tell her the floss is on the way...I made no mention of the "I Love You" gifts I enclosed. I figure turn about's fair play....she always does it to me. This Friday I get an email from her and it starts out:

"Package arrived in fine shape this morning. Something funny must have been
going on during the trip out. The floss gave birth to a set of pillow cases and
bobbin labels. STRANGE!!!"

I love her sense of humor.

Got an email from my SIL in Indiana Saturday night letting me know my niece's birthday card showed up. Thank goodness. I always worry because I always enclose sometime special in the cards. Her kids love getting those little special treats because it always means a trip to Toys R Us which I guess is a rarity in that family. She also let me know that what I had planned for the Christmas presents was a great idea (personalized story books)...especially since it is so darned hard finding ANYTHING with the girl's name on it anywhere. It's as bad or worse than finding personalized stuff for myself. Oh, mine isnt so bad now a days...but when I was a kid it was considered a very rare name.

I was in reading my comics, as per usual and saw this one:

Which reminds me that we arrived into Scorpio as of Friday....which means someone's birthday is coming up in very very short order. Who knows how to bake a traffic cone shaped cake? Remember...it needs to be frosted in OCHA orange.

Has everyone got their flu shots yet? I got mine on Friday. Damn did it ever hurt. I guess it beats the alternative:

I've got something else to share but it can wait until I get up later or maybe sometime the next day. I've got more than enough photos in here as it is. However, before I sign out...I found something in Google that may be interesting. We all know that at times our darling Marmie tends to act like she's lost her marbles (kinda reminds me of Tootles the pirate) ......well here ya are dah'lin...I found them:

Happy Birthday Alice!!!

Glitter Graphics & Comments

Have a wonderful day!!!

Busy busy busy

Boy has the email inbox ever been busy today thanks to the wonderful questionnaire that iggy sent along. I'm sure we all got it a few times over today. Between that and the back and forth communications with my gal in NJ regarding her wedding in a couple weeks and hubby checking in on me. *whew* It took me most of the morning to get through my edjumakatshunalz (got a few of those to post in another post or two...so Tori you could probably skip those when you finally rejoin us), then the blog entries (there's a couple out there that need to be working on theirs too.... :P~~) and a last minute suggestion about a bumper sticker idea (I sent him 3 and now he has trouble choosing! LOL Careful whatcha ask for hun...). On top of that I'm in the midst of doing laundry so I'm up and down the stairs more frequently than I'd really care to be doing. Anyhow....

Taking it back to the 2nd of July...I made another unsupervised excursion out of the safe confines of my town home to the Haircuttery. It had been a couple months since the last cut and it was really beginning to need it desperately. I also opted to spend a little extra (OK...alot more)and have them color my hair as well. Every time I try to do it the color doesn't look quite right...at least not how I imagine it to look. It's either to orangy or too dark and I look all washed out. My stylist opted for a blend of two colors that looks great on me. It's closer to my natural color but it still has some of the red hi-lights that I love so much ( I HATE the blond ashy hi-lights I got naturally). I'll have to get hubby to take a pic the day I go back in for a touch up. Gotta make sure the metallic hi-lights are still gone for the wedding on August 2nd ya know. Especially since I know my gal was showing them several years back so if she hasn't taken to coloring....well I'll look younger than her and her sister. ~grinz~

On July 5th, I got to spend time with my SCSis. Boy we had a wonderful time. They were due in somewhere around 1130 and 1pm. Yeah I know according to Mapquest it's about a 40 minute drive at best BUT it doesn't take into account how horrid the traffic can be...plus they had a couple other stops they wanted to go to before they got here. On the way in they noticed the Air and Space Museum, so when they got here she pointed out that Bull Run was just down the road. Ummmm...I know I don't get out often but I'm pretty aware of what kinda historical crap is around me and I don't care too much about it thankyouverymuch . Well...that's the look she got when she point out Bull Run was close. Then she mentioned that the Smithsonian Institute's Air and Space Museum was there. OK, not my thing but she was trying to find a way to spend a bit more time than just lunch with us so OK, I guess I'm game.

Since hubby and I hadn't eaten yet, we all went to lunch first. The place was OK. I'm not in any real hurry to go back to it again but I wont complain if we do. The food was good but I don't really think it was worth the price (ka-chingville). After we went to the Museum. We were hoping to catch an IMAX movie while there but the machines that print the tickets went on the fritz and Lord knows when they'd come back up so we decided to just hit the museum and more than likely will go back another day when they visit. Like I said before, this place wasn't really my type of thing so I was merely aim n shooting my way through. Here I am, the slowest member of my party because my knees are whack and I'm so heavy that being on my feet for long periods can be quite bothersome to not only my feet but my sciatic nerve, just cruising through and making better time through the sections than the rest of them. It allowed me to get some really neat pix of the planes, satellites and such though (not to mention some "alien" pix for iggy's enjoyment). After I get this entry posted, I'll put the links for my Photobucket accounts over to the right on the homepage so ya'll can see the pix if you care to. The folder on Photobucket is 2008-07-05 Air and Space Museum or something like that. Make sure you get the right year as I have 2 Air and Space Museum trips in there...the other's from a Dallas trip. There's more than a hundred of that museum trip with SCSis...fair warning.

When we were done with the museum, SCSis decided she was ready for an adult level beverage so we carted ourselves off to a sports bar in the area. The idea was to have a drink or two out on the patio and then go to the restaurant we had in mind for supper. After our first round, we pretty much decided it might be a good idea to just stay there. We brought our drinks in and were seated. They had a trivia game going with these electronic answer pads so SCBro grabbed one of those and we played as a team. SCSis had a bit under her belt already and when her hubby asked for a team name she decided on the FluffBunny. *shakes head* Of course the name wouldn't fit and he starts fishing for a new name ....to which I blurt out (thanks the the second daiquiri) yes it does FlfBny. *shakes head again* Yeah, it don't take much....not at all. We had supper and played 4-5 rounds of trivia, winning all but the last game.

They brought us home and wouldn't you know, there wasn't a space to park ANYWHERE in a 4 block radius of the townhouse. Thank goodness they'd been driving and not us because after a long day if I'd gotten home and our spot was taken I would have been pissed. It happens way too frequently for my liking. Now if the vehicle is in and the flashers are on, more than likely it's an emergency. However, it's generally someone that's come for a visit and obviously cannot read that it's reserved. Many of the people in this cul-du-sac have been here a while though and should know to instruct visitors to not park in the spaces with numbers on them. Shoot, I've been here since March and all my friends and family know where to park. *inserts eyeroll*

From the blogs I'm seeing a couple of my fellow bloggers are in the hospital so have them in my thoughts today . I am happy that Tori's getting her eye taken care of and will be outta pain soon. Looks like it may be in time to be healed nicely for the wedding she's going to in August. Marmy's back in for her knee. I'm a little worried about her because it shouldn't be taking this long to get it sorted out. I hope they get it fixed up nicely so she's got one less thing to worry about. She seems to be keeping her chin up from what she writes in the blog but I know it's ~gotta~ be frustrating to say the least when something that was supposed to fix a problem does nothing more than generate more troubles. My thoughts are with both of you two today as you get things taken care of.


As many of you know, I've been having fits getting my allergy stuff sorted out. The allergist had assured me that she did, indeed, write the script for the Manassas Clinic. I got an email on Tuesday morning from her stating that the serum was in the refrigerator at her clinic and that she'd send it to where it needed to go. That email arrived around 9:30am. Hubby had a 3:50pm appointment at the dr's so I figured while I was there that I would ask and see if it came in...maybe get my first shot taken care of . Well, when I got there...the serum hadn't shown up yet (they called and it was in transit) but I was brought back to meet the nurse who would be giving the shots. I went through with her a basic scheduling. The shots are administered on Tuesdays and Fridays. Because hubby works Fridays (and the fact it's $15 every time I go in for the shots), I told her it'd have to be once a week ...it didn't much matter if I could get the shots twice a week. The only way Friday works right now is if I take a cab in and that's extra money out of pocket. Once hubby goes nights in September, I may be able to come up with a second trip in a week but right now I just don't see making a special trip by cab if I didn't have other business up that way already ya know? Oh well....so I set my appointment for next week...the 22nd.

So I sat...waiting on hubby to come outta his appointment when a delivery showed up. The receptionist laughed when she saw it grab my attention and said "No...it's not for you". LOL She sounded like me talking to the dog when she acts up as I'm handling food! Not a few minutes later, the nurse poked her head out of reception and called me back...it had arrived via a different carrier at the other entrance. YAY. I was brought back and she explained what the shots were going to be. Each of the 1st 3 vials would have 4 shots a piece in it. Each shot more of the allergen would be injected....each vial would be 10x stronger than the vial before. When I start a new vial, the smallest possible dose is given. She gave me my first shot...hardly felt it. Well at least hardly felt it until it started reacting to the serum. It got all pink and itchy but no bump which is good. I was sent to the waiting room to fill out a questionnaire while I waited for the serum to start working into my blood stream (they like you to wait for 30 minutes in case a bad reaction happens). Another 20 minutes later, hubby came out from his appointment and was surprised to find me sitting with paperwork. I told him I had another 10 minutes or so before I could go so he stepped out to pollute his lungs (man I wish he'd quit). The nurse called me back again and asked me some questions (which I didn't have an answer to...I've sense gotten the answers and written her via the medical site with the info) , then checked on the injection site. Told her it itched ...like a skeeter bite but wasn't too bad.

Not much more happened after that. Went to the Dairy Queen for a late lunch/ early dinner and then grocery shopping. Didn't need much , just the staples. About an hour after the injection I ended up with a slight reaction...runny nose and coughing, almost like I had a cold but it cleared up after a while.


Oh...my desk! We got the room torn down, carpet vacuumed and shampooed and the desks put back up. As you can see there's a bunch more room now. I took the pic from the doorway and as you can see, I'm not blocked in anymore! There's pretty much space for everything now too. We had to get that cart on the right near the trash can for the printer but it didnt fit where it needed to be so we moved my file cabinet to the left and put the cart near the window for the phone and other small equipment. At least it gives room for the one project that was hogging my desk, namely his box of pictures. I'm working on scanning them and putting them in a photo album. I'm liking the cubby holes for all the little stuff, I was tired of digging around for things when I needed them.

I guess that's about it. It's time to go downstairs and get the load outta the dryer and folded.

*HUGZ*

Mild depression, farmer's market and flowers

I really havent felt much like writing lately. There's just been a couple things on my mind the last couple days or so. Things I was worried about (and one I still am worried about), but yet I really cant talk about. No, it's not anything going on with me. It does have something to do with a couple really close friends of mine though (each with her own problems). There are times I hate being so far away from those that I hold close in my heart. Both hit a bit close to home though, a little closer than I'd care to have.

One was easy once I cleared my mind of all the details and saw what all was at the heart of the matter. It dealt with jealousy and dissappointment issues, a procrastinating future husband and a mother who's suffering panic attacks. This friend is handling the future hubby to be ok but the other stuff was kinda getting her down and she wanted to know if she was crazy for letting all this stuff bother her. I just reminded her she has a very strong backbone and she's not going to please everyone with her decisions. That it was their (hers and his) day and no one elses so no one else's opinions really mattered, so long as THEY were happy. I suggested a few things for the hurt feelings that a couple of people in her life were feeling. I also pin-pointed why her mom was having the panic problems, when they started and why they were getting worse. All I did with that one was put myself in mom's shoes for a bit. She and I have an awful lot in common in that we've divorced and are still healing so it was easy to get into her shoes and see things through her eyes. I think I pretty much got that friend feeling better (I think it helped to actually use the words "you arent crazy"). She's told me Im either psychic or have missed my calling as a psychologist. Hmmm. She isnt the first to have said that lately....

The other friend's problem hits really close to home. A lot closer than is comfortable for me to be honest. She's going through much the same I was before I moved to Texas. Those that have read that other section of my site know exactly what Im talking about. She's got it worse though. Her "problem child" is much more manipulative and evil than mine ever was. In essence, where mine was just nasty with half a brain....hers is down right evil and very smart. On top of things, he's been physically violent with her. I suspect on more than one occassion too. Needless to say this hasnt helped me out much and Im fighting many of the bad memories all over again because she has alot of questions of how I felt and what I thought and etc etc etc. Something tells me it's going to take both of us to help one another heal.


Saturday we went to the farmer's market to get some local honey. Looks like the market in my area doesnt carry it. I saw alot of other products, just not the item I needed. Go figure I found what I needed at a Bloom's grocery store. The honey I got was made about an hour away from us. It's the closest I've found so far. There were no ingredients listed on the label, just honey so im hoping they didnt blend anything else in it. I've been taking it for 2 days now and hope that it'll begin to help things out some soon. If it works, I'll put hubby on it too.

Not much else is going on. Im going to put a few pix in here that I took this last week. The pansies were taken at a business of some sort. The dogwood bloom (the hand holding the bloom is hubby's), floral bush (look iggy...a wrinkled worm!) and irises are right in my front yard. The irises should go into full bloom sometime this week if they havent already (no, I dont look outside...I only notice things when I actually leave the house for something). The tree with the beautiful pink blooms was in a parkinglot of a restaurant. Boy, the pic turned out nice. It just may end up being a background on my page sometime in the near future.

Time for bed. Im finally exhausted enough where I think I can fall asleep for my 5 hour nap. Everyone have a nice day. *HUGZ*