Sunday, January 24, 2010

Dinner

The great thing about cooking Sunday dinner is......J. cleans up!

I had assistance from my sous-chef, H. who offered to assist me in dinner preparation in exchange for 2 hours out of the house. This was his school-work day - but he did get one assignment done completely and made progress on the other, including going to the city library for research material. I couldn't deny a kid who even said he'd wear a chef hat if I wanted him to - and then helped me make 'Crushed Potatoes', Rib Eye Steaks with Blue Cheese sauce, and Molten Chocolate Lava cakes with homemade whip cream! It was delicious! J. made a salad and we ate in the dining room - a belated celebration of B.'s 19th birthday yesterday. YUMMY!

He arrived home from Santa Barbara around 4PM and admitted that he didn't think he'd voluntarily be away from home again on his birthday - it just wasn't the same.

I reminded both kids there were plenty of chocolate cakes leftover for breakfast tomorrow! Hopefully, that will get H. out of bed on time.

I cleaned out the fridge from top to bottom. Also wiped out the pantry and tidied up shelves. Went grocery shopping, making liberal use of coupons and left with bags of food and two 12 packs of soda for only $35. YEAH ME! Even got two iced teas (2 for 1 coupon at the in-store Pete's) that I will save for work tomorrow - they are in the car and given the temp outside, they will still probably have ice in them in the morning! Especially 'cuz I plan to go in early.

I worked a couple hours yesterday - tidied up my office and got old items boxed up and ready for storage. I'll finish up my cleaning tomorrow morning early and then jump in to another busy, busy week.

It was a nice weekend - though we are sure ready for a bit more sun and warmth. Spring can't come soon enough. I've been spending time with my Park Seed Catalog, planning our garden! And I found an Orchard Supply coupon for 15% off one item, which I plan to use to buy a compost bin...taking my recycling efforts to a new level. I don't plan to start using kitchen scraps but we have plenty of leaves and grass trimmings to use. I'll look at what they have and see if I think it's worth trying.

We have coordinated schedules - J. is taking H. to school M&T&F and I will take him W&Th. Still carefully planning how to transport him where he needs to be since he is still not driving by himself.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Fragging

My laptop is in the process of having it's drives 'de-fragged'. I have no idea what this means or why it's necessary or what it's doing. I just know that it's taking frickin' forever - it's been running for HOURS and it's only 12% complete.

J.'s doing this because this morning, the slowness of this damn computer was making me crazy. I'm ready to buy one - possibly two - more. One for my games. One for Internet stuff. One for word processing/spreadsheets, etc. Ridiculous, I know. And we won't. But this computer is taking forever to boot up; gets stuck periodically, usually at the absolutely most inopportune times. For example, anyone who tries to chat with me on Facebook - I'm not ignoring you. But the minute you open the chat box by writing to me, my computer totally freezes. And stays that way for awhile...and then periodically refreezes as I'm trying to talk to you in chat. It's maddening. People seem to just give up and 'close' and probably think I'm rude and ignoring them - but I'm not. I am just having computer issues....

At this rate, the de-fragging will be working all night. Hopefully, it will consolidate/clean-up things enough to give me a bit of a lift in processor speed. If not, I'm going to start socking money away in my 'get Majah another laptop' account - the same account that just paid for my iPod Touch - so I can have a 'slow' computer for stuff I'm not in a hurry about and a 'fast' computer for everything else.

J. and I are heading out to Dave Wong's in Stockton for dinner - our second night in a row of eating out ALONE. Last night we had Mexican. Tonight, Chinese feast. We've invited son #2 on both evenings but he's 'chilling with friends'. We could torture him and force him to go - but that would sort of make the dinner 'tense'. And if we're paying for a nice dinner (we really haven't been eating out much these days), we want to really enjoy it. And at Dave Wong's, we definitely will. And there will be leftovers for tomorrow's lunch.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Random Thoughts on Not Much

Chocolate croissants are best eaten slightly warm. Otherwise, it's like you're eating a Hershey bar that's been stuffed into a croissant. You shouldn't have to 'break' something when you're eating a croissant. It's just not right. So heat 'em up. Pete's Coffee in the new Raley's, take note. Get a microwave.

I shouldn't have had that chocolate croissant but it was a hard morning so I treated myself to coffee and a croissant this morning. Had to get cash at the bank anyway - the new Wells Fargo branch also opened this weekend!! YEAH! No more driving all the way across town for banking errands!

Having a bad day is really just admitting you're in a bad mood and projecting that issue onto a unit of time that can't defend itself. It's a fine thing to 'do' if you need to - but be honest about it. You're just grumpy. The day had nothing to do with it.

Storms with high winds that knock out power for hours on end suck. The rainbows and bright, crystal clear blue skies that periodically occur during these atmospheric events are the 'bonus' part.

You can get a lot done in the dark by power of your Blackberry, candlelight and various cell phones if you need to. Three hours sitting in the dark yesterday required creativity on the 'be productive at work' mantra. I did a lot, though, and that felt really good! Working by candlelight is kind of fun. And we told ghost stories off and on just to pass the time. Remember 'iiiiiiittttt flooooaaaatttssss' said in your scariest voice?.....it was a fun day, all things considered.

Jay Leno should just retire. Seriously. I never understood his 'earlier' show - he retired, didn't he? And yet, he's back. What in the world is NBC thinking allowing him to 'return' to The Tonight Show? I hope the ratings bomb and while it will be sad to see a late night institution go, I won't miss Jay Leno or his ego one bit. And I'll be watching Conan, wherever he goes. Just because I want HIM to be successful wherever he lands.

I'm getting over a cold that started last Friday. How do I remember specifically what day my cold started? 'Cuz I had to blow up 15 blue balloons that day for my volunteering in a 1st grade classroom and my throat hurt so much, I had a hard time blowing up the balloons. That, and I have the lung capacity of an 89 year old, apparently. It was hard to get them started with 20 little pairs of eyes watching my every move...but I did it. They BEGGED me to let one go so it would fly all over the room - and I probably would have, but then I'd have to blow up another one and I couldn't do it. That, and I'm slightly afraid of the teacher. She would have been so not amused by that. We made 'globes' with those balloons. It was chaos. And fun. Antarctica ended up in so many different locations on so many different globes....and I did appreciate the teacher reassuring me: Majah, we're making 1st grade globes. It's OK. Thank goodness I wasn't graded on how close the continents were to where they should have been. I'd get an "F". Anyway, today was the first day I've felt 'decent' since LAST Thursday. I know I've been feeling 'off' 'cuz I've been sleeping in until close to 6. I've been getting to work around 7:30 every morning - and I feel 'late'. When did 7:30 become 'late'? I need to sleep in more....

I can't wait to see what we're doing tomorrow in my 1st grade volunteer class. I am nervous....I'm always nervous. Last week, one of the parents got to help them play a 'spelling word' version of Candy Land and the other got to help them 'shop' at a store. Crafts? Me? It is great to be 'out of my element' but it terrifies me at the same time. It exhausts me in ways I can't describe. For all you teachers out there, you have my sincerest admiration. I don't know how you do it....every day. I can barely make it 1.5 hours and I look at the clock too much (read: all the time) 'cuz I secretly can't wait to be back in my office, with my adding machine and stacks of stuff to do. 20 unique little people with the energy of....well, I can't really pick a descriptive word that is 'best'. If we could bottle that, we'd all live to be 1,000 years old.

I love my 'big sister'. She's amazing and one of my best friends. And since we didn't really become 'friends' until less than a decade ago, it's been such an amazing thing to become such great friends this 'late' in our sisterhood. She's incredibly wonderful and I love her to pieces. Just letting her know - (Hi, Sis!). Oh, and she's a great farmer!! On Farmville!!

My oldest son turns 19 on Saturday. And he is in Santa Barbara all weekend celebrating with friends. I miss him. And it will be weird to have him 'not home' on the anniversary of his birth. We will celebrate together next week. He wants to go skydiving for his birthday 'celebration'. Not with us, but with friends. I'm not jumping out of a plane....though that's kind of what I think I felt like the day he was born. That 'wow, what in the heck just happened here?' feeling - he's enjoying the 'focus' of our parenting being diverted to his younger brother - a 'break' for him on the parental interference scale. Lucky him.

He just started his 2nd semester of college and he's really loving it! And I'm so happy for him - that he's really enjoying his classes and looks forward to learning and is finally 'seeing' that there is a practical reason for school - 'cuz if you're learning about something you're interested in, it's a lot of fun to read and study and question. I'm happy for his happiness.

OK - time to get moving in some way....even if it's heading up to bed shortly.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Farewell, People

I have read People Magazine from the very first issue - March 4, 1974. I was 13 years old and still remember what I felt spending 69 cents on a magazine. I stopped and looked at the magazine - just stared at it - finding it hard to imagine I was about to spend money on something that was so 'not a need'. I bought it and took it home - my mom was a bit surprised - but I had my own money from babysitting, etc. I know now, with teens of my own constantly withdrawing from the Bank of Mom and Dad, she was probably glad I had money to buy stuff for myself. I read the issue and every issue after before bed every night. I could make the weekly issue last all week until the next one came out. I loved reading it.

I have never missed an issue. Never. I've subscribed since they started offering subscriptions (for a long time, they only sold in stores - no subscriptions). It was a lot of $ to subscribe - a weekly magazine, 52 issues, is expensive in subscription form. I renewed for three years and paid in four installments. The past few years, I've just renewed annually.

My interest in the magazine has been declining for some time. It's just a 'tabloid' these days - full of pictures and 'snippets' and one or two 'articles'.

The most recent edition to clutter my mailbox has Heidi Montag on the cover. This stunning, beautiful, TWENTY-THREE YEAR OLD girl had TEN plastic surgery procedures at once. She was beautiful BEFORE the procedures. She's still beautiful. The magazine devoted SEVEN full pages to the article - to before and after pictures; to pictures of Ms. Montag in an ambulance after surgery going to a posh after-care facility. Details how she 'stayed in hiding' for seven weeks while healing, telling family and friends she was 'ill'. Not a lie, really - but she was ill because of self-inflicting ten procedures on herself for sheer vanity.

This week's edition was preceded by the front-cover news that Kate Gosselin got hair extensions. Wow...I slept so much better after seeing her 'fresh start'. $7,000 for hair extensions. Twenty hours of time in a stylist's chair for hair extensions.

This is a sad statement on what we've become....and I realized that they publish this crap because people buy it.

But not me. Not us. Our subscription is actually under Mr-Mrs - because my sweet mother wanted to give me a subscription one year for Christmas but it was so expensive, she had to call me back and ask if it would be OK to make the gift for both me and J. Hence my subscription became our subscription. And we've left it that way, all these years....sort of in memory of her.

We canceled this evening. Refund in process. We'll take the refund money and send it to World Vision for help to Haiti. I had two payments left on this year's subscription - and I'll send that money to World Vision also. What I would have spent on 'fluff' can go towards helping those suffering huge tragedy. It's the right thing to do....and it is something I would have done anyway - but now I can send what we were sending PLUS my savings from no People Magazine subscription.

If People ever starts printing the kind of stories that warm my heart, teach me something or are at least informational in a way I'm interested in, I might reconsider. But in this age of 'Twitter' and 'Facebook'; where people want quick 'sound bites' of info vs. 'the rest of the story' versions that my generation prefers, it is unlikely I will be reading much of this magazine anytime soon. I can catch up in hospital or doctor's office waiting rooms....and read crap for free.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Fortitude

Intestinal fortitude - I have none.......

It was a long night. Enough said. Going back to eating tablespoons of food at a sitting vs. even a small 'plate' of food. Another long Sunday night is over....thankfully, I didn't spent this one in a hospital ER room...just my bed. And the bathroom. Repeat many times and that's how the night was. I did sleep a bit...

I am already 'late' since I intended to get to work very early. It's 6:30AM and I'll be leaving shortly. Need to pack some food for the day.

It will all get done when it gets done...that will be my mantra for the day/week....and next weekend is a three day weekend so that will be awesome!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Did and Did Not

Things I did this weekend:

  • the monthly Target and Petsmart shopping trip;
  • caught up on Lion's stuff;
  • surprised J. and the boys by meeting them for dinner at Moo Moo's on Saturday night;
  • got one long overdue work item off my list;
  • helped/supervised H. detailing the inside of my car;
  • continued the cull out project by shredding a giant bin of stuff;
  • watched the movie "Parenthood" (which we think is one of the greatest movies of all time).
Things I did not do:

  • finish catching up on Lions stuff;
  • get ALL the long overdue work items off my list;
  • nap;
  • work - for work - as I'd planned;
  • feel ready for another long week.
It was a good weekend but they just go by so quickly. I just fixed Pasta Carbonara for Sunday dinner - easy. I'm going to dig back into Lions stuff and do some organizing and filing to hopefully catch up. We have a Lions Board meeting Wednesday and a regular meeting Thursday and I have lots to do for both. And I have a school board meeting Tuesday and am in Sacramento most of Tuesday to attend a workshop on the Governor's budget. Should be entertaining (not).

I am feeling much better and ate more this weekend than I have in a long time. The burger at Moo Moo's last night was delicious - and the sweet potato fries are the best! They are thin so they crisp so much better than most sweet potato fries. I love them! And enjoyed the pasta this evening. Cutting my portions in 1/2 is helping, I think. I didn't eat the bun on the burger last night and I am really careful about not over-eating - and I feel a lot better!

All three of my guys have been under the weather this weekend - stomach bug passing through. J. and H. were not well yesterday and B. is ill today. They all appear to be on the mend....

Back to work.....plan to go to sleep in a few hours and head in early tomorrow - to partially make up for not working this weekend, I will need to put in some hugely LONG days this upcoming week. Oh well. It's OK. Makes me glad I'm approaching 50 'cuz I need so much less sleep these days to be coherent. If I were doing this job in my 20s or 30s, I wouldn't be able to function. But these days, 5-6 hours of sleep is plenty!

Friday, January 08, 2010

Winner

I gave it an extra 18 minutes - 'cuz the response was so overwhelming, I wanted to be sure no one crashed a server trying to comment.....

Thanks to all who did - it was so great hearing from you and your kind words mean so much to me. I write for me but it's nice to know there are people out there who enjoy reading.

So, courtesy of www.random.org, the winner is: [drumroll.............] BUG! Way to go and congratulations!

I know your address so I will send it to you! Congratulations!

To others out there who I know are reading and didn't comment, thank you for reading. Thank you for lurking. I know you're there and I love that you are!

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend. I'm continuing The Great Cull Out of 2010. And working. For work. I will wedge in a nap tomorrow, somehow, someway. For sure. Oh, and tending my various farms - Farmville; Farm 52; Farm Frenzy. It's busy running three farms.

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Doc

I love my doctor. He's the best. Saw him this morning and he read the CAT scan report and said he agrees with me - he is pretty sure I did have a partial bowel obstruction and the 'full obstruction' had resolved by the time I got to the ER. So IF we end up responsible for a bill that's in the mid-four figures, I'll feel so much better about it. 'Cuz I really was 'ER level' sick....

I am doing all the 'right' things at this point - eating small, mild 'meals' at shorter intervals throughout the day. Avoid things that are hard to digest. Just stick with bread, rice, yogurt, cottage cheese, saltine or Ritz crackers, broth soups. No raw fruit or veggies. Not a lot of meat for now. It's a new way to eat...and I'd love to say I'm embracing it but the thought of coming home and attempting to fix dinner for everyone that I would then not be able to eat was not something I was looking forward to. So I agreed to H.'s request for Taco Bell. I had a small bowl of rice - no sauce, no cheese. And I still feel miserable. But it will pass. I should have just had white rice....I figured 'but how 'spicy' can TB rice really be if there's no sauce on it'? Apparently too. Oh well. Live and learn.

Made it through the day at work. Made an attempt to get through my 'in' basket. And my emails. And my voice mails. And meeting with my superintendent. And my team. And other people who stopped in....

I schlepped H. to and from school today - which is hard. I'm just not used to that 'time requirement'. If I wake up early and want to go in at 5 or 6, I do. But if I'm taking him, I can't. Or, I guess I could - I just need to go in and work for a bit and then schlep him and return. Maybe that's the key...just go, come back, and return. And do the same thing at 3 when I have to pick him up. A 5-7 minute drive became 20+ minutes because at 3PM, every school in the city is getting out and there's 2-4 school zones between my work and his school. Yikes! He was sort of 'irritated' that I didn't get there until close to 3:30. But I left shortly after 3 and it just took me FOREVER to get there....

I did not sleep much last night so I am heading to bed in just a couple hours, I think. I am tired today....

Oh, and another area to clean out this weekend....I am having a lot of itchiness and my doctor confirmed that it's likely due to the narcotic pain medication I received on Sunday. It's a common side-effect and when I said 'it can last three days?', he said 'yep!'. So he suggested an antihistamine - Benadryl is the first one I thought of and I said 'it makes me so sleepy'. He suggested Claritin. I stopped at home to pick up my lap top and lunch bag before heading to work and went into the medicine cabinet and viola! We have Claritin. I tear off a tablet at the perforation, peel back the cover and pop out the pill...and then I notice it expired in May, 2005.

I took it anyway. And I think it still helped - thus proving that expiration dates are usually meaningless? You be the judge. I will be culling the medicine cabinet this weekend and restocking with currently dated over the counter products. And I'll take a Benadryl tonight - sleep and anti-itch in one OTC. Such efficiency! And those ARE current!

3 comments so far. Will yours be next?

Soup

Threw caution to the wind last night and 'dined' on soup. Bean soup. Seemed 'substantial' (vs. a broth soup) and I needed something besides cottage cheese or yogurt.

Huge mistake. I was pretty miserable within a matter of minutes and definitely miserable within 1/2 hour. Went to bed feeling horrible and couldn't sleep - thankfully, though, kept everything down. Slept about 5 hours fitfully which makes the circles under my eyes just that much more pronounced.

Heading to the doctor shortly and work after. I have deadlines to meet and will just have to weather the issues my body is creating as best I can. If I'm miserable, I'll pack up stuff and come work at home.

Took H. to school this morning 'cuz J. left at the crack of dawn. Will pick H. up at school as well because we're tracking his every movement. Often wishing I had a GPS chip in him. Reminding all of us - including J. - that semantics are important. We had an almost huge blow-up over a misunderstanding - J. assumed H. was doing something after school related to making up an oral quiz and in fact, that isn't what H. said he was doing - so when I emailed his teacher to confirm he showed up and the teacher knew nothing about it, I became concerned. Unnecessarily concerned, as it turned out, because H. had said he was going to go talk to the teacher about the quiz he'd already made up during class time. These details are important. I live in a home with 3 individuals for whom attention to detail on that level is not the norm. It frustrates me. And I torture them regularly with what they think of as 'mom's grilling' - getting to the details so I actually understand what the heck is happening around here. It's fun - in a sort of odd way. I should be a lawyer. I'd be a great one 'cuz there is no detail that slips past me. None.

Two comments on the previous post already!! And the best part is: they are people I actually know in real life!!! Thanks S. and K. for being brave enough to navigate the requirements of setting up a Google account so you can post comments. Now that you have an account that allows you to post comments, I hope you will. It's fun reconnecting/staying connected via here and/or Facebook. Never thought I'd ever say that about Facebook but I do enjoy it....

Have a great day and I'll do my best to do the same.

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

701

This is my seven hundred and first post. I should offer a prize to the six of you that still read regularly. Tell you what: post a comment here and you'll be entered into a random drawing for one of my favorite things - a Starbucks gift card. I'm serious. There's only six of you 'followers' so you just might win! [Actually, only five of you 'cuz one of my followers is my husband and the drawing is not open to individuals who live with the prize manager - that means you, J. Sorry, sweets, but you know where my always loaded Starbucks card is and can borrow it anytime]. All the rest of you now have an even BETTER chance of winning 'cuz I just prohibited someone from entering. Wow, the power...

Ok....so shortly after pushing the 'publish post' button on my 700th post (I would have commemorated that occasion then only I didn't realize it was my 700th until just logging in this time - oh well).... about how I was feeling a bit nauseous and wasn't that odd since my other symptoms felt more 'cold-like', I was in bed...the kind of in bed when you realize 'oh my gosh, I am feeling HORRIBLE and wow, just a minute ago I was feeling just marginally not great'. 5 hours of throwing up and other 'stomach issues' (often simultaneously - my garbage can with liner removed became my new best friend) and hugely, horrifically bad pain on my right side. I was super-dee-duper 'under the weather'. Upon exiting the bathroom after 5 hours of this, J. said 'honey, you really are green' - and a look in the mirror confirmed it. My skin was a pasty, sea-moss color. To which I said 'I need to go to the ER' - not the first time I'd uttered those words that day but I really meant it this time. I was so sick...I was in pain...weird, impossible to describe pain. The throwing up and 'other' issues were just the icing on the cake. It was the pain that scared the crap out of me...

I've never been one to go anywhere in PJ's - but I had only a sweatshirt on...(in bed most of the day and had taken off my jeans 'cuz they make it too hard to warm up when I have clothes on and get under the covers) and J. brought me a pair of fleece pants and my new Lands End slippers [a Christmas gift from Santa (aka myself) and boy, howdy, have they been the best thing EVER]. I felt strange in PJ bottoms and slippers - but getting dressed sure didn't appeal to me. Staying vertical was a challenge and I just wanted to get there....so the 'uber-casual' motif seemed to be the best approach.

The ER was 'mild' as ER's go - at least when we got there. They triaged me and were convinced that I should be 2nd on the list of who should be seen. That changed to 3rd when a heart attack guy and 4th when another person came in with symptoms more severe than mine. But we were in a room within 1/2 hour of arrival. IV fluids, medication for pain and nausea came quickly - blood work took a bit longer. And after blood work, a tech came in at 11PM to take me up for a CAT scan. By then, I was reasonably sure something was wrong.....they don't do CAT scans for nothing, right?

CAT scan showed 'inflammation of small bowel'. Translation: stomach bug. Blood work showed 'inflammation signs' (my SED rate was elevated, I think - a sure sign there's something 'abdominal' going on). But no blockage - at least not at that time. Honestly, I'm reasonably sure there was some sort of partial blockage - because when I tell you I was throwing up, I only threw up within MINUTES of consuming anything. I could keep nothing down - whatever went in promptly came out - like Linda Blair 'out'. It wasn't like it was a stomach thing that was sort of 'on the edge' of barfing....it was just 'oh my gosh, you consumed something and there's nowhere for it to go so out it comes' barfing. Hard to describe. But I know my body...and there was more going on than a 'stomach virus'.

So, they sent me home with pain meds; anti-nausea meds; anti-diarrhea meds. We arrived home at midnight and I slept off and on through the night until 8ish. J. called into work for me - calling in sick after a two week break is never a good thing but at least I had medical evidence that I wasn't just stretching out the vacation into a longer vacation....

I was also home today but am thinking I will be able to work tomorrow. I've only eaten cottage cheese, 5 crackers and a yogurt today (and yesterday) but I am keeping things down. Things are 'rumbling' in there but at least they're staying where they belong, presumably digesting.

AND, I've started off one of my New Years Resolutions by losing FIVE POUNDS already. The hard way...but it counts!

I was so sick that I didn't give a moment's thought to insurance. We have it - and I don't think they'll be any issue - it's a PPO (vs. an HMO) plan - but now I'm a wee bit tense about the thought of that bill should we somehow be responsible for it.....yee gads. I did remember in my drugged haze that we now would have deductible - first of the year and all - but oh well to that, too.....it'll hopefully be only the $300 deductible - or it will be more than that. Not going to worry (too much) until we know what we're worrying about. It is what it is and the hospital will accept a payment plan if necessary. Which it technically won't be 'cuz if it's our responsibility, we'll figure out how to pay it....

The other thing this episode has done is remind me how blessed I am with good health. When you are so sick that you suddenly focus on just how much you were feeling good and now you are feeling oh-so-bad, it really puts things in perspective. Mild aches and pains that come with age are nothing....heck, I'm grateful the old bod is hanging in there with me. And today, even though I still feel 'off' a bit, I feel so much better than I did this time 48 hours ago. It really helps remind me to be thankful for feeling decent - and to do anything and everything I can to continue to enjoy relatively good health. Seriously. You can never underestimate it - and we don't appreciate it until those moments when we feel horrifically, mind-altering-ly bad.

So this is a good start to 2010, as starts go....made me mindful of what I eat; how much I eat; how much I drink (not alcohol - I mean actual fluids. I don't drink enough during the average day, especially when I'm not at work); etc. It's a good way to start off the year - a mandatory '2 day cleanse' that I have no desire to 'undo' anytime soon. Mild diet for awhile for me and that's just fine. Already told my boss that I've sworn off Indian, Mexican and Thai food and any other spicy food for the foreseeable future - it's going to be white bread turkey sandwiches (no cheese) from here on out when we go out to lunch. (Not really - I think white bread is nutritionally void of any value, much the same as iceberg lettuce). But I'll avoid seeds and things that can get 'stuck' and create 'issues' at least for awhile. Give my intestines time to calm the heck down....it will do them a world of good.

OK - leave comments for the SB card. One lucky commenter will receive a $15 Starbucks card - comments must be submitted by 6PM PST, Friday, January 8th. Winner will be announced Saturday morning. If you're reading and a lurker, now's the time to come on out and post openly. Really, you'll be glad you did... I know I will. And if you're related to me in any other way than 'by marriage', you're still eligible. Only individuals residing in the same household are excluded. You know you're out there....and you'd love Starbucks!! So leave a comment!!

Sunday, January 03, 2010

Avatar

J. and H. drove to Dublin to see Avatar at the iMax theatre....and it was completely sold out until the 10PM show tonight. WOW! Three weeks after opening and it's sold out - that's enough to make even ME want to see it. We'll try to buy tickets for a show next weekend in advance.

Last day of the break....and my desk is looking so much better! Such progress......and my sweet husband tackled the Christmas tree, the decorations and cleaning up the garage a bit! Organization 2010, here we come!

Sadly, I am actually thinking I'm getting a cold...a real, live, 'feel like I'd rather be curled up in bed' cold. Or something worse....I saw signs for H1N1 vaccinations when I drove to the bank just now - but since I already feel 'under the weather', I didn't think injecting a virus into my body was a good idea.

Later.....ate something and am feeling like that wasn't such a great idea. Nauseous. Is that part of a cold?

Friday, January 01, 2010

2010

Happy New Year!!

I awoke with a monstrous headache....now I know...you're thinking 'ha ha ha - hangover'....but I honestly don't think it was. I did have some refreshing beverages last night - but never even felt slightly 'buzzed'. Drank a couple margaritas and a small glass of champagne over 8 hours, accompanied with plenty of food and water...so I don't think it was a hangover. I think it was sinuses 'cuz they are giving me grief.

Two Excedrin Migraine and some cheese and crackers and I was much improved. Went and curled up in bed again - primarily to get warm, which took an hour...just freezing - and drifted off to sleep and woke up FOUR HOURS LATER. At 5:30PM. Showered and went to the bank and picked up greasy hamburgers and fries for dinner. Now THAT'S the perfect 'hangover' cure, if a hangover was the malady.

Slowly but surely, we are coming to grips with the break being over. Starting to plan out our week - who will take H. to school and who will pick him up, etc. A complicated choreography. I resisted the urge to go in - rationalizing that it will all still be there when we get back...not working during the break just makes the days that much more 'full' next week - but I think I can handle it.

We had a lot of fun at the party, as we usually do. Fun group and fun activities. Ping pong, darts, billiards, Jenga and Wii bowling. My partner and I were the 'champions' of billiards - which is shocking 'cuz it's the game I'm weakest at. We don't have a billiard table so how can I practice from year to year? But I came out of the finals a winner - so that was cool. J. and his partner were also in the billiards finals - so one M. family member had to come home a winner in that game. B. spent the night there and we allowed H. to spend the night at a friends house as well. Now it's back to 'grounded until you're 30'....or something like that.

Two more days of organizing, tidying and preparing. A new year and a fresh start. 2009 was a good year....though some parts of it I'd like a do-over. And some I'd most definitely not want a repeat...and am grateful the year is over.

Fresh starts. We need that in this house. A mind-clearing, emotion-healing fresh start.

March

I'm starting to think maybe I will just do a monthly post and call it what it is - whatever month we're in.  Here we are winding dow...