On Christmas we made it to his sister's house just after 7:00 but no one was there yet. Turns out they were on their way home from watching The Waterhorse. His nephew really liked it but it reminded their father and his sister's boyfriend of Free Willy. Said it was good but too much like Free Willy.

We weren't their 15 minutes and his step mom started passing out the presents. Sad that two of the items they gave me had to go back. One was a protector for my iphone, but I like the one I have, they gave one to HD too but he doesn't need two of them. Also they gave me a headset but the round part that goes in my ear is too big. It wouldn't fit at all. They gave HD an external hard drive from Apple for his lap top but it's a smaller version and he wants the big one so he took all of those items back yesterday and will get the larger version. We'll either get me a different headset from Apple or go with another company that we were looking at on line on the 24th. It never occurred to me to even think about the part that goes in my ear but it should have. The ear pieces that go with the cord that came with the phone barely fit. The slightest tug on the cord pulls it right out.

They also gave me a new nail kit with a pink bag to put everything in. And some lounging clothes. They're black and white with a fleur-de-lis on the left side of the chest, can't remember if there's a pocket there or not. I'm hoping it fits. My SIL, who had my name on my side of the family, also gave me pajamas. The bottoms fit with no problem but the top is a little snug. But they're really really soft so I'll probably wear them anyway. Just one more incentive to stick to the weight loss resolution this year.

Yesterday was back to work day. I really didn't want to go. And although it was nice and quiet it was a long one. Although hectic days can wear you out they at least go quickly. Today is another one: quiet but long. It's only 10:40 and it feels like it should be 12:40. Oh well, back to it.

Media quote of the day: Let's free Willy! We can take him by the bay, and put him back in the water. - Jesse - Free Willy

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it and Happy 25th to those that don't.

My family got together on Sunday. We got there just as everyone was sitting down to eat, perfect timing if I do say so myself. HD had to work overtime the night before from 10pm to 6am. He took a nap until 12ish when I woke him up to start getting ready. He helped do a few last minutes ribbons and got ready while watching the first half of the Saints game. They looked like they just might pull it off, sure they were down going into the half but were putting up a fight. But they lost Stecker and he's a key player right now. The family was watching the Bears game when we got there so we were getting updates at least. And, at least we got to see someone get their asses handed to them. Go Bears! Until next week that is. They can sit their asses down then.

We haven't gotten our tickets yet, still don't know where we'll be sitting. And now there's a slim chance I won't go. Family things have come up and we might give my ticket to one of them. We'll see, things need to be discussed before that's official.

After eating the kids were ready to start in on the opening of the presents. My brother Wayne had HD's name. Wayne has a friend who owns a tattoo place. On Thanksgiving Wayne and HD had talked tats and what they've both been wanting to do. HD has been wanting to have another fleur-de-lis wrapped around the one he has now on his left arm. So I had taken a couple photos of it and sent it Wayne who took it to his friend who then sketched a few sketches and decided on one. So they made a copy of it and Wayne made an appointment for him this Saturday at noon. But we'll have to reschedule. I thought he took this whole weekend off but he didn't, he'll be working until 2pm. So we'll have to reschedule for later in the day if there's an opening.

Afterward we played a game of Scene it TV then two games of Scene it Disney. Visited for about 20-30 minutes then played Apples to Apples. We had a good and loud time. I'm glad I brought the games over. Well, not the Disney, that one was already there.

Yesterday HD worked again and I did the last minute shopping and then wrapping of his family's gifts. We made it to his grandma's about 7:15. Dinner was just being put on the table so once again perfect timing. His sister had to go pick up her son from his dad's house so when they got back we opened presents.

It's so much fun watching kids open presents. Their little faces lighting up. Heck, even adults when you know you got them the right present.

His niece who's nine months was really excited over a present his other sister gave her. Later on after everyone was in the other room and only his mom, two sisters, niece and I were in one room together K started playing with her toy. Her mom was talking to her sister when K started to sit and stare at her gift and then all of a sudden start to clap. My MIL and I called J to look at K. It was the first time she clapped and she did it on her own. Now J had been trying to get her to do it for the last couple of days but she never did, didn't even begin to, and now she did it all on her own. Luckily HD's camera was there and she kept doing it so I got several pictures in a row of her clapping. Too cute.

We got home close to midnight. HD went to bed and I stayed up to do some laundry he needed for today, he had to work again. I finally woke up around 10 and haven't done much of anything all day. Basically, watched some tv and played poker on line. But I still have the couple presents for this dad and step mom to wrap to I guess I'll go do that and then clean up. The room is a mess with wrapping paper and bows all over the place.

After he gets off work we'll be heading over to his sister's house to open presents from his dad and step mom. I really don't want to go back to work tomorrow.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Media quote of the day: The brand of the fleur-de-lis, the mark given to those who are to be executed for murder. - Athos - The Three Musketeers

Why oh why won't the pains go away?

I swear, am I ever going to feel 100% again? It's really pissing me off. Every day this week I've had something going on. Monday I was finally feeling better, as my title and post said but within an hour of posting I started to feel like shit again. It just got worse as the day went on. During the football game I was half out of it but stayed up instead of going to bed to be a cheerleader for the Bears because my Saints depended on it. Didn't help though, that's for sure. Tuesday I felt better than Monday but still wasn't so good. Wednesday was feeling a little better again but by the afternoon had sinus issues. Then yesterday I was almost back to normal until around 3ish when sinus issues started up again. Just the pressure at the top of the nose and in between the eyes was horrendous.

Then I went and got my hair cut by HDiTty's sister but she wasn't able to start on it until almost 9:00 because she was doing their mom's hair. Afterward we all went to dinner so I didn't get home until 11:30. Today at work we're doing a "snack day" and I was going to make some cookie type things but because I wasn't home all evening I never got a chance to. The good thing though is that we also did it yesterday and I had made my beloved Blueberry Fluff. So I did contribute but I still felt bad about not bringing anything. I also was hoping to get a few things for some coworkers and never did. And this morning I couldn't find my key for work. The accounting dept is in a locked office you see and that's the key I couldn't find. So I was stressing a little bit and now have a friggen headache that's of migraine material. BUT, I took some Excedrin Migraine and I'm hoping it'll kick in real soon. My stomach is finally better though. About 30 minutes after taking the pills my stomach started to feel upset, I'm thinking it was the pills and the diet coke I used to take them. But it's mostly settled now.

I counted up how many people we have left to buy for it's 13. THIRTEEN, and 7 of them are in my family. We only have this evening and tomorrow to get the presents and then wrap everything up. AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!

And my damn tree still isn't decorated yet!! It might get some lights on by tomorrow sometime. Maybe. Hopefully. We'll see.

Yeah, I'm stressing a little bit over here. But we have continuous Christmas music going to get me through the day. HAH! It's been going since the 4th. So I've been hearing the same songs over and over every day multiple times a day. On the 5th I actually kept track. By noon out of the 32 songs played 10 of them were played 2 or more times. Out of those about 4 of them were played 3 times. One of them was played 4 times. 3 and 4 TIMES BEFORE NOON people. That's just crazy. Be very happy if your place of employment doesn't play your local Holiday station.

OK, here it's several hours later I still have the damn headache. I think it's not gonna go away until I'm able to relax at home tonight.

Media quote of the day:

Silver Bells, Silver Bells
It's Christmas time in the City
Ring a'ling, here them ring
Soon it will be Christmas Day

Feeling better

So I'm finally feeling better. Not quite 100% but close enough. And we did some shopping yesterday so about half the kids are done, his mom is done, one of his sisters is done and my brother is done. But even with all them we're still not even half finished. We're supposed to go again tonight after I get off work but I have a feeling it won't happen.

The football game tonight is an important one for the Saints. I'm already a Bears fan but tonight I have to be as big a fan of them as I am of the Saints. They really really need the Vikings to lose to help with the wild card slot. So I have a feeling he's going to try to convince me to stay home and watch it. But after they win then I have to go back to not being as big a fan, especially on the 30th when we'll be seeing them at Soldier Field. Now HD lost a bet last year when they met last time and that bet was that he'd have to be a Bears fan the next time they played. He was going to try to bribe the person he made the bet with by offering him the 4th ticket to the game for free in exchange of not having to be a fan. But the guy can't go so I asked him what he'd do. He said he might welch on it. Or he'd wear a hat but still have on his Saints shirt. On the back of the hat he'd put a sign stating he lost a bet. I like that idea the most but it is a dilemma since it's not really the way the deal is supposed to go. But then, I don't think he really cares to much, it's not like the guy would know since he's not going.

I'm not completely opposed to the idea of staying home though, since we still haven't decorated the tree yet. It looks awfully sad over in it's corner with no lights or ornaments. If we stay home then I can decorate while watching the game. And maybe even get the presents wrapped. Hmm, maybe I'll suggest staying home. I don't know though, we really need to get the shopping done. I hate dilemmas!

Media quote of the day: I'd say I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not. I excel at not giving a shit. Experience has taught me that interest begets expectation, and expectation beget disappointment, so the key to avoiding disappointment is to avoid interest. A equals B equals C Equals A, or whatever. I also don't have a lot of interest in being a good person or a bad person. From what I can tell, either way, you're screwed. Bad people are punished by society's laws, and good people are punished by Murphy's Law. So you see my dilemma. - George - Dead Like Me.

Now that was a great show, too bad it didn't last.

Sick again

I have been feeling like shit all week, it's sucking the big one hard. Tuesday we had a bad ice and rain day and the roads were crappy as all hell but I drove all the way out to work in it feeling horrible. I had been up since 2am sitting on the pot. Going back and forth between hot and cold too. Plus it didn't help that I had to get up earlier than normal because I had to take HDiTty to work because my truck was at the shop. Yeah, I finally, or I should say HD finally called the shop for me. We dropped it off Monday night for the bumper, back up sensors and right turn signal to be fixed. Anyway, I really didn't want to go in but I don't have anymore sick time plus I've already missed a day or two every month since August.

But as soon as I walked in Bosslady was telling me to go home. She could tell I didn't feel well just by looking at me. I kept trying to say I need to stay and she kept telling me to go home. So I clocked in for all of two minutes before I was on my way back home. But it was a good thing I went, my stomach was cramping and I could tell I was getting a fever. I stopped at a gas station on the way home and got a couple sprites, got home changed clothes then laid down and rested. Well, in between getting up and going to the bathroom that is. Finally around 12ish I was able to fall asleep for a pretty decent nap.


But around 1ish HD called and woke me up telling me I needed to get with Enterprise to get my rental car. I went about doing what needed doing for that but not getting the van yet because we were going to wait until he got off work to do that. Then I get a call from the shop saying they had to order my bumper and it won't be in until Friday so they won't be able to even start work on it until Monday. They said I should pick it up rather than leave it there until Friday because the guys insurance company won't pay for a rental for the days that it's just sitting there but drivable. So I had to call Enterprise back and put the van on hold until Saturday morning.


As a surprise Christmas gift HD deciding to have a remote starter put in my truck. But because of the price he decided it'd be best to tell me about it. So even though I knew about it before we went to pick it up it was still a surprise because the iphones were supposed to be our gifts to each other. So I'm a happy girl because they went ahead and put it in while they had it and then on Friday I'll drop it back off on my way home.


Yesterday I went to work and was ok for the most part until 3ish when I started to go down hill. But I stayed of course. Now today I'm feeling almost as bad as I did on Monday. I'm not running to the bathroom like then but I've gone back and forth between hot and cold. My face hurts, my eyes hurt and I'm completely drained of all energy. And this morning when I went to the bathroom my (this is gonna be gross - don't take a bite of anything) shit was green. GREEN people!!! So I looked it up and it says any green food, such as leafy greens can cause. Don't eat leafy green foods. It also says any foods with green food coloring such as Popsicles or green icing can do it. Haven't eaten anything like it. Then, the last thing says that diarrhea can cause it too. Well, I haven't had that since Tuesday afternoon and it wasn't green then so why the heck would it be now. But luckily I haven't done anything but pee since this morning so hopefully it's all done.



Media quote of the day: Yeah, cus sick people are hi-lar-ious. - Jayne - Firefly

Got my Christmas tree, I'm happy girl

Well, I finally got my Christmas tree. We got it last night but just now put it in the stand. I didn't know where the stand was last night and by the time we got home was pretty tired so decided to wait until today. Tomorrow we'll decorate it. By then all the branches will have fallen and we'll see what limbs will need to be trimmed, if any, and which part looks the best to have facing into the room. Although, from what I can see right now it looks good from all angles. We got a wreath too. I've never bought a wreath before. I put some small wooden ornaments on it that my father gave me when I was kid. They look good.

I called my brothers trying to get a list for the kids since I still haven't gotten anything out of them. Scott says he still hasn't received anything himself. All I can say is that I'm not giving anyone any money. Even if I have to make sure there's gift receipts for everything I'm not giving money.

I was at Sam's club earlier this morning and saw some really pretty black and red wrapping paper, decided I needed it and then saw a package of red paper. They were in packages of 4 different styles. After grabbing those two packages I saw a 2nd package of red paper with 4 more designs on each and decided I needed those too. So we'll wrap all gifts in these, it'll be a red theme. I'm going to try to remember to wrap at least 2 or 3 empty boxes for my MIL. She says every year that the gifts we wrap are just too darn pretty for opening. So this way she'll have some pretty presents that she doesn't have to open. She can just sit back and admire. But HDiTty will have to do the ribbons, if any, that will be put on because I can't do ribbons and bows as well as he can. In fact, he's the one who taught me how to wrap so darn pretty in the first place.

I think I'm gonna get my mom the movie of The Phantom of the Opera. I mentioned last month how we took our mom's to Chicago to see the musical. It was really good but since neither of them have ever seen it before, in any capacity, they didn't know much of what it was about which then makes it harder to understand when watching it live. So we loaned our movie to them both, in fact his mom still has it, I wonder if she's watched it yet. Anyway, my mom took it home the night after the play and did watch it. When she gave it back to me on Thanksgiving she said she really enjoyed it, was able to understand more and said it would be one she'd watch again. I know she'd never buy it for herself so I think I might. And maybe a Netflix subscription for 6 months or a year. They don't watch a whole lot of tv but I know they like to watch movies. They don't have cable or satellite tv so it's not like they have access to movies other than rental places or us kids. I believe it's something they'd really like. We gave them passes to the local theater last year also. But once again, not something we can give again without looking like we're copping out.

I saw some really cool dolphins at Jewel (a grocery and pharmacy store for those of you who don't have Jewel in your area) but didn't get them because they're on sale and I don't know if I'd be able to bring them back if HD didn't like them well enough to give to his sister. She loves dolphins and it's actually been a while since we gave her any. I'll have to take him there to check 'em out and see if he'll like them well enough to give. Have no idea what to give anyone else in his family.

And we only have two weeks now, I'm so running out of time. My family will be getting together on the 23rd so all of their things have to be gotten and wrapped by the 22nd. I found out that we'll be getting the 24th off at work, apparently that never happens so this is a great treat. Anyway, since HD has to work that day until 6pm I'll have the day to finish anything that has to deal with his mom's side of the family, if anything. Along with his dad and stepmom who we'll be seeing on Christmas Day, again, after he gets out of work at 6pm. Normally he's off at Christmas because he has seniority so his vacation gets granted before anyoneelse's. But since he took all his vacation time to go to Mexico in July he didn't have any left over for the holidays. Which sucks, but so be it.

Media quote of the day: Sally: Good morning, would you like to buy a Christmas wreath made from some junky old branches my brother found in a Christmas tree lot? You wouldn't would you? And I can't say I blame you. - Sally in It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown

Christmas gifts - What to do?

This is my 200th post. Seems weird that I've done that many posts. And other times it seems weird that that's all I've done. But then, when I go a whole week without writing anything it makes sense. Anyway.

So Christmas is upon us and we haven't even begun to do our shopping. We have one gift bought and that's because it came from Tupperware and one of the chicks at work was having a book party. I got HDiTty's niece the Shape-O Toy. I remember loving that toy as a kid. Never knew it was a Tupperware item until I saw it in the book and new immediately I had to buy it for her. So other than that toy nothing has been bought for anyone. We have 8 more nieces and nephews to get for.; 4 brothers and sisters; 5 parents and one grandma. Oh yeah, one cousin who's only 12 so since she's a kid we still get her a gift. And then two kids who are HD's best friend's kids. And other than one niece who provided a list a couple weeks ago for her birthday, we have no idea what to get for anyone.

My brothers and I, since we were kids, trade names. This also includes in laws. HD and I have one of the brothers and his wife. We had them last year too. The exact same way even, I had my brother and HD had the wife. We got them gift certificates to a local theater which they used to see Peter Frampton I believe. They liked the gifts but I'm not sure it'd be a good idea to do the same thing again. So now I have no clue what to do. He's not an easy guy to buy for. And she never gives any ideas either. I just don't know.

I've been wanting to get a tree for the past week but we haven't done that yet. I really wanted to go today but unless we go this evening it doesn't look like it'll happen. If it doesn't I might stop on my way home from work tomorrow. I pass three places that sell 'em. Two are nurseries so you know they're fresh trees. I had a fake one last year but that's because I wasn't working then and we couldn't afford to buy one and my mom gave me an extra one that she had. It was ok but I much prefer real ones to fake ones.

I love this holiday the most but for the last couple of years it's been more depressing than not. Last year because I wasn't working I couldn't give gifts the way I normally have. Because we don't have kids ourselves I tend to spoil all the kids in our lives. We couldn't do that last year, we were only able to give one gift to each kid when normally we would give 3 or 4 to each. They wouldn't be very expensive, probably totaling 40-50 dollars a kid but last year we only spent 20 bucks on each which resulted in one gift bought. Each one got a Nintendo game. I know it sounds like it's about the money, how much I spend and all but it's not. It's that I want them to have a bunch of items to open not just one from us. I think I'm gonna send an Email to the parents and try to get lists out of the kids. I should do that now, the sooner the better.

See ya.

Media quote of the day: Christmas is awesome. First of all you get to spend time with people you love. Secondly, you can get drunk and no one can say anything. Third, you give presents. What's better than giving presents? And fourth, getting presents. So four things. Not bad for one day. It's really the greatest day of all time. - Michael from The Office

Weekend Update

Well we had a busy weekend. I guess it really started on Thursday. HDiTy had to work and I slept in some. After I got up I took a warm bath, read some of my book and then made myself stop reading so I'd start cleaning up and get to my mom's. One of my stepsisters and her two kids were there. Had a really good visit with them. My oldest brother showed up right on time. About 10 minutes or so after he got there dinner was ready. Had a really good dinner. Then I washed the dishes while my stepsister dried and my mom kept adding more and more dishes to the sink. Afterward we three, her daughter and my stepdad played some dominoes until HD got there.

We left after about 20 minutes or so to go to his grandma's house. Everyone but his mom had already left but that was ok. We had a nice visit with just the two of them. No drama or loudness to deal with.

I did have to go to work on Friday though, which sucked of course. But luckily we got out at 2:30. I planned on going home and grabbing HD and going out and raking the leaves. But a couple of the girls said they were going out for a drink or two and invited me along so I went. Two others got there a few minutes later. I ended up leaving for home at the same I normally would have if I'd stayed working. But the difference was spent having a good time and a couple drinks.

Got home with enough time to change out of the smelly clothes. Cigarettes really stink ya up don't cha know? Two of the girls smoke but even without them the rest of the place was pretty damn smoky. I even had HD spray Febreze in my hair since I didn't have enough time to wash it. We were meeting his dad and stepmom at the theater to see The Mist. That was really good. I haven't read the story but did listen to the cassette tape when I was a teenager. I can't remember anything about it so that was good. I had no idea what to expect. I can't wait for the DVD to get all the extras. His stepmom was joking about having nightmares and we told her we were going to see Bee Movie and invited them along for that one. We had a little time before it started so we played some air hockey. HD beat his dad, then me but barely. So his stepmom then played him and then beat him. Granted he knocked a couple in himself but a win is a win. Bee Movie was ok but nowhere near as good as I expected it to be after all the hype. I doubt I'll buy that one. Probably get it through Netflix at least to see the extras though.

Saturday we slept in a little. I got up around 10:30 or so, although I'd been awake for a good half hour before that because of Cry Baby. He wouldn't leave me alone begging for attention. Finally I got up and decided to take a nice warm bath and read my book. I love soaking in the tub and reading. Problem is when I'm as close to the end of the book as I was I end up staying in longer than I should. Long enough that I had to let half the water out and run some more hot water so I could finish the book and then clean up.

After I went and woke up HD and told him he needed to get up. He was supposed to work overtime that night. Going in at 10pm and working til 6am. I didn't want him to sleep too late because I wanted him tired enough to come home for a nap before the game at 12 because after that we had to rake leaves. Plus we had a birthday party to go to for one of my nieces and nephews. Her Birthday was on Thanksgiving and his was on Friday so their parents decided to have their party together on Saturday. We had to stop at the store on the way to get their cards. They each got money for the gift. Stuck around there until 7ish and then finally left to go home. On our way to the party he went to look something up on his phone and saw that he had a text message from his partner saying she'd take his overtime if he wanted to give it up. He did so she did and I was happy he didn't have to go to work.

When we got home we watched The Number 23 that we've been having for a couple weeks now. It was pretty good, better than what I remember everyone saying it was or wasn't, however you want to say it. It wasn't fast paced at all so maybe that's why people had a problem with it. Then we watched a few of the shows we had recorded over the past week.

Sunday I was awake again around 10 and finally got up around 10:30. Watched an episode of Ghost Hunters and then went to wake up HD to watch the game. Saints won!!! Woo hoo!!! They looked again like the team we know them to be. Right after we went outside to get rid of the leaves in the back yard. The leaf blower kept stopping on HD. I was raking the leaves onto a tarp and hauling them out the street while he was fighting with the blower. It'd work for awhile and then stop on him. He cleaned the air filter at one point and it worked for a good while after that and then all of a sudden just quit. About a third of the way done it started to rain, or maybe sleet. It was these tiny drops of moisture that I couldn't really see, barely felt but heard them as they hit the leaves. It didn't help much, especially since a lot of them were already wet and heavy because of the tiny snow fall we had on Wednesday. In the shaded parts of the lawn the snow was still there.

After we were done I immediately took a nice long hot bath to relax. HD was watching the Bears game and I got there to see the last 2 1/2 minutes of the main game to see them come back and tie and then go into overtime and win it. Nice to see that.

Watched a few more taped shows, did some laundry and then finally fell into bed around 11:45 or so.

HD is sore today from doing the leaves. I think the only reason I'm not is because of my bath. I mean, I was sore and stiff last night but by this morning I was fine.

So that was my busy weekend. This coming weekend should be fairly relaxed. Other than a Surprise Party that I should go to on Saturday I have no plans.

Media quote of the day: And if I ever want a friend like you, I'll just squat and shit one out. - Mrs. Carmody in The Mist

Happy Thanksgiving

Just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the states that celebrate it. And happy Thursday to those of you who don't. Hope it's a good day for you all.


Media quote of the day: Thanksgiving in November... weird. - Robin in How I Met Your Mother

Normal

3 1/2 hours after making my call I received a call back from one of the nurses. My results are "normal." That's it, she said nothing else. So I figure I'll give my regular doctor a call at some point and see if she can tell me anything else. I was told she'd get the results also so hopefully she can elaborate a little more. Although I'm not in a rush to make the call since all is ok.

On a lighter note. We went to see Beowulf last night. Went to the IMAX digital 3-D showing. That was pretty damn cool to see. The movie itself was pretty good, not as much action as I thought there'd be though. But I've never read the poem, not even a little bit, had no idea what the story was even about. But from what I've read in critiques the movie is extremely loosely based on the poem. Anyway, it was definitely good enough for a look see but not enough that I'd buy it when it's out on DVD. Not unless HD wants it that is.

Ok, gotta go.

Media quote of the day: Tonight will be different! I am the ripper, the terror, the slasher. I am the teeth in the darkness! The talons in the night! My name is strength! And lust! And power! I AM BEOWULF!

No results - Update

My update is, there is no update! I called the office and since he has left his big time practice to go into his own practice there's some legal issues going on. Because my MRI was done before all ties were severed with the old office my information had to be given to them. I called them up and was told that "hopefully" my file is there and "hopefully" the results are in it. She'll pull the file and have one of the doctors give me a call back. There's something like 6 or 7 doctors in that office, ugh! So yeah, it's been 3 hours since I made that call and I haven't heard back from them yet.

So I was told that if the doc didn't call me I needed to call him in the afternoon. So after lunch time on Friday I called the house to see if there were any messages, there weren't. So I gave a call to the doctor's office and got their voice mail. Turns out they close at 11:00 on Fridays. So I haven't received any results yet. But no news is good news right?

So yeah, I'll be calling tomorrow morning to see what's going on. I'll try to get back here and update after I find out. Otherwise I'll get on here in the evening.

No media quote today.

MRI testing

So my MRI seemed to go pretty well. They called on Monday to say they needed me in there at 10:30, the appointment was for 11:00. Now I knew I'd have to be in a little early for the paperwork but a half hour seemed like a lot. Don't know why they needed me in there that early since it didn't even take me five minutes to fill out the paperwork. I was told not to wear any metal or plastics, they gave me a locker to put everything in. The night before I looked for a workout bra to wear but couldn't find one easily enough, they must be squirreled away somewhere. So I had to go braless. I had to wrap my hair up in what was essentially a paper shower cap and put ear plugs in. They taped my head down to help me keep it in place. And away I went. There was a constant knocking that seemed to come from my left side and up a little. Then when they were taking the photos there was a completely different type of knocking/clacking noise that basically came from behind and to the right. I was actually able to sort of zone out while it was going on. For as loud as it was I'm amazed I was able to. The neurologist had scheduled them to do contrasting photos. So for the first 15 minutes or so they took photos on and off and then they pulled me back out to do the injection for the contrasting photos.

They tried my left elbow first but apparently they couldn't get the vein so then they had to use my hand. That tiny little dot is all that happened. But here's what happened with my elbow. They told me there'd be "some bruising" but although I bruise easy I didn't expect this much. (Click on the photos for full view) So yeah, that was fun. I at first thought they had gotten it because I was feeling a warm sensation like fluid was coming into me but it must have just been the blood rushing in or just the pain of it. I don't know, just know it hurt for the rest of the afternoon in to the evening. Hell, the skin hurt too where I had to take off the tape for the small bandage they put on to stop the bleeding. The hand only hurt a little when the needle went in and when they took it out. I didn't want to go back to work after but I was out of there pretty early so I had no excuse not to go back. But it's a good thing since I don't have anymore vacation or sick time to take and I'm not getting paid for any time off until next year when it all renews itself. I should hear from the doc by tomorrow or Friday at the latest. If he doesn't call me I'll be calling him Friday afternoon. The tech didn't indicate one way or the other but she did say I was a model patient. I didn't move at all and the pictures were wonderful, nice and clear she said. They got, "some really great photos." So that in itself is pretty encouraging in my book.

Alrighty, I'm pretty damn tired so I'm gonna wrap this up and go to bed. Laters.

Media quote of the day: Sure, Cyclops. I'll try not to bruise them while I save their lives! - Wolverine in X-Men

Been Busy

Man, I haven't really had a chance to come on here and update in awhile. My plan is to come on tonight and put one up. I'm hopeful it's going to happen.

There's a few different things I could write about:
1. The new chick at work
2. Our day with our moms and going to see Phantom of the Opera
3. My MRI is today at 11.

So those are some things I'll be thinking about today and deciding which to write about. See ya laters!

All's well - Updated

I just wanted to come on real quick and say my appointment went well. I've had to schedule an MRI for next Tuesday but it's just to make sure 100% that my pains are just migraines.

I'll write more later.

--------------

Much, much later today. So yeah, had my doctor's appointment today. When we went in they couldn't find me on the schedule. Turns out the doc is in a transition going from a large practice with many doctors to his own private practice. When I called two days after my initial phone call to reschedule I must have gotten someone from the old office that didn't pay any attention to what doctor I was seeing and just rescheduled me. At least, that's what it sounds like to me. But he was standing right there while I was talking to his two assistants and he said he'd still see me since it wasn't my fault the appointment wasn't rescheduled.

So he says exactly what my doctor said, these do seem to be my symptoms, nothing more. But to be on the safe side he wants me to have an MRI just to confirm it. We left his office and drove down the block to an MRI place to see if they take our insurance and to make an appointment. They do and I did. I go in next Tuesday at 11am.

He also gave me a couple prescriptions. I don't remember what one is called but the other is Imitrex. I dropped them off at the pharmacist this evening and will pick them up tomorrow.

He wants to see me in two months for a follow up appointment to see how things are going. He's thinking that my age may have to do with the reason they're happening more often. The whole hormonal thing: getting older and hormones changing and all. He also wants me to keep a diary. When I get one I'm to write down everything I've eaten for the past six hours. I figured I'd also write down any stressors, the weather and anything else that may be a trigger. Hell, the last one two weeks ago coincided with my period so that more than likely was the trigger then. So we shall see.

Good times, good times.

Media quote of the day:
Strong Bad! The good times are over! I swallowed your computer! - Homestar Runner
Oh, the good times are definitely over - Strong Bad

In Everything Else Vol. 2

Head issues yet again

So I had to stay home again Thursday. I didn't sleep well at all Wednesday night so I called in to say I was going to try to get a few hours sleep and see how I felt then but I planned on going in. Turns out there was no way I was going to make it. While getting ready I couldn't even have the lights on and I couldn't use my toothbrush with the power on because the noise was just too much in my head. But I pushed through. Then, since I was going in so late I knew I wouldn't be stopping for food so I decided I'd try to eat before leaving. I was only able to take about 3 bites before it felt like it was going to come up. I started getting the prickly heat all over and my head went woozy. So yeah, I can't drive 45 minutes that way and I certainly wouldn't be able to concentrate on work.

After calling in to say there was no way I'd be working I went down to the basement and curled up on the couch and dozed on and off for the next couple of hours. At one point the pain let up enough that I actually slept instead of dozed. But HDiTty, who didn't know I was still home, accidentally woke me up by shutting the laundry room door quite loudly. He scared me awake and I in turn scared him by moving quickly and making a moaning sound. He left to go to a class for work and I stayed on the couch for another 20 minutes or so until he called to have me look at the directions that were still up on the computer to make sure he was close to where he needed to be.

Friday it was down to a workable dull ache like it had been on Monday. So although there were a few times during the day that I put my head in my hands for the most part the day went ok. Saturday I slept in until 9ish when I finally made myself get up and go in to work for about 3 1/2 hours to make up some of the time off.

In the last half hour or so I started getting major sinus pressure again which after an hour had gone by had turned into a headache. But I really had to do some grocery shopping and since it wasn't horrendous I went ahead and did it. As soon as I got home I took some sinus medicine (forgot I had some in my purse, silly me). It helped somewhat.

Sunday was more of the same. During the morning I was fine but by 4 o'clock the pressure was back and causing a headache. Maybe if I'm lucky that's what's causing all of these in the first place. Maybe I'll have sinus issues and not head issues. My appointment is for this Wednesday at 8:30 so we shall see.

Media quote of the day: The only tried and true way is to figure out what unresolved issues keep the spirit here - and resolve them. - Rupert Giles - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

More headaches

It's Halloween and I have another headache. So let's count the headaches I've had since last Wednesday.

Wednesday the 24th: The day began with a headache, sinus pressure and both legs in pain. The leg pain and sinus pressure went away after taking my generic migraine pills but the headache didn't, it got worse and I went home from work around 3:00.

Thursday the 25th: Headache #2. Bad enough that I stayed home from work and finally went to see the doc about them. See previous post.

Friday the 26th: Dull headache #3. But according to the doc yesterday it's probably all the same headache just different levels as the days went on. Luckily it was gone by about mid morning.

Saturday the 27th: Yay! No headache

Sunday the 28th: Got headache #4 mid afternoon, took some Motrin because it wasn't migraine strong. It went away. Later in the evening got headache #5, took more Motrin and it went away again.

Monday the 29th: Got headache #6, actually woke up with it. But it was a dull pain, no sharpness to it. No throbbing to it or anything else. Just dull pain all. day. long. But luckily it was dull enough that I was able to function with no problems at all and at times I was even able to ignore it. It helped that I was busier than normal too.

Tuesday the 30th: Yay! No headache. But...both legs hurt almost all day. Even after taking Motrin again; usually the joint pain goes away fairly quickly after taking something but not this time. Lasted a good 2 or so hours after taking 'em.

Wednesday the 31st, present day: Headache #7. Woke up this morning the same as last Wednesday: headache, sinus pressure and both legs hurting. The headache isn't as bad as last Wed. though so that's good. But I took my time getting ready so I was about 10 minutes late to work. As soon as I got there I grabbed a bottle of water and downed two of my generic migraine pills. The sinus pressure went away after a couple hours but the leg pain and headache stuck around.

I was going to try to work through it, I really didn't want to leave again but bosslady kept telling me I should go home. When I started making stupid mistakes in some reports I was doing because I couldn't concentrate I finally agreed to leave. I crawled into bed as soon as I got home and sort of dozed on and off for several hours. The pain had receded somewhat by the time Pretty Boy realized I was awake and started to bug me to feed him. So I got up and went downstairs and to hang out with HDiTty. It's been a few hours since I got up and although the headache has almost gone away the sinus pressure has come back with a vengeance. I just took some expired sinus medicine so hopefully it'll work and not have any adverse side affects. We shall see.

Happy Halloween! Hope yours was better than mine.

Media quote of the day: On Halloween night, the Great Pumpkin rises from his pumpkin patch and flies through the air to deliver toys to all the children. - Linus - It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Neurotic

So, I'm getting a little neurotic here. I left work Wednesday at 3ish because my co-worker pushed me out the door saying if I didn't start packing up and getting out she was gonna tell bossman on me and have him tell me to get out. So I did and promptly curled up in bed as soon as I got home. As I was lying there I remembered taking a nice warm, bordering on hot, bath once before when I had a migraine and it seemed to help. The kind that I can still function but barely that is. So I went ahead and did the same and it did seem to help some. Afterward I laid back down on my bed with the kitties surrounding me.

When HDiTty walked in the backdoor Crybaby took off to meet him but he came back in when HD came in and laid down with me. We were there for about 15-20 minutes and then got up and went downstairs to watch some tv. I was feeling better and figured I'd be just fine by the morning and would go to work.

Nope, I was wrong. When I woke up the next day I was feeling just as bad if not a little worse then I did the day before. So I reset my alarm for the time I knew bossman would be in and curled back under the covers. By that time the pain had receded somewhat to where it was about the same if not even a little lighter then the day before. But still bad enough that I knew I should stay home.

As soon as the doctor's office opened I made an appointment to discuss what's been going on with me this year. You see, I rarely got migraines before. My first one ever was when I was 21. It was a doozy. I woke up crying I was in so much pain. I made my boyfriend call in to work for me and they new I wasn't faking it because they could hear me crying in the background. He kept wanting to take me to the emergency room but I refused to go. It took a couple hours before it wasn't killing me anymore and by that night it was almost gone completely. After that I didn't get another one for several years and then another several years went by before the next. After that I might get one or two every couple of years. None were ever as severe as that first one but they did put me out.

Until this year that is. This year I've already had 3, maybe 4, I can't quite remember. And they've put me out for more then one day whereas the others would last only about one day, very rarely going into a second one. And the second day was hardly more than just a bad headache. So this time I said I was gonna go see me doc and maybe get something stronger than the generic stuff I was using. It's basically the same as Excedrin Migraine.

So I get in there and she asks me to describe what's going on. I get major pain, most of the time it's quite sharp. Sometimes stabbing pain, sometimes over an eye. She asks if it ever throbs instead of stabs. Said that it does but not very often, it's almost always a sharp pain all the time with stabs every now and then. She asked where in the head. This last one was in the front, my whole forehead area going to about the middle of the head. Last July it was from the front all the way back to the top of my neck. I was light and sound sensitive and got nauseous. And my eyesight became blurry. Not so much that I couldn't see, just so much that I couldn't read. I'd have to squint at my computer screen to be able to work. Driving home I noticed the blurriness but it wasn't like I couldn't drive or anything. Each thing was still it's own thing, if that makes sense. They just weren't crisp and I certainly couldn't read any street signs. But then, I didn't have to knowing my way and all.

Well, she says, "These don't sound like migraines to me. At least not your typical migraine." And goes on to explain that a migraine should be a dull throbbing pain, not a sharp/stabbing pain, that usually starts on one side and goes to the other. Sometimes when it goes to the other side it also remains on the starting side. But not from the front to the back or vice versa. Also, in all the years she's been dealing with migraine sufferers she's never had a patient that gets blurry vision. Light sensitive yes, of course and some who see auras but never blurry vision. So because of these two differences I now have to go see a neurologist. WHAT!!!! Oh my GOD!

She must have seen the alarm in my face because she immediately started to try to reassure me that these could just be MY symptoms, that I am having migraines, they're just different than other peoples. But she wants me to get checked out just the same. "But" I hate that word in this situation. I don't want a "but" I want these are just my symptoms, nothing more.

So yeah, I'm freaking out a little bit. She had me do the drunk person's walk, heal to toe. Had me follow her finger around. Had me touch her finger then my nose from different positions. Shut the lights out and looked at the back of my eyes. Had me do other things too. Luckily I passed all those with flying colors. But......

I walked out of her office calling the doctor she recommended and got an appointment for November 28th. In the beginning I was taking/doing all this in stride. But as the day wore on and my headache lingered and I thought about it I started to worry. Like I did about the red dots, only more so. I got teary eyed a few times. At one point in the evening I curled up with HD and got teary eyed again. I know in my heart of hearts and head of heads that this is all going to be ok in the long run, that these are going to be just MY symptoms. But I still can't help worrying.

Friday on my way to work thinking about having to tell bossman and my close coworkers was just making it that much more real and worrisome. I had to take deep breaths a few times to calm myself down. Everyone, including bossman, said that a month was too long to wait and I should try to get in sooner. Especially when they found out one of the reasons it was so long a wait was because I was trying to find the best time to not take off so much time from work. The earlier appointments were still a two-three week wait but they were in the middle of the afternoon and I'd have to miss a whole half day of work. They said who cares, just get it taken care of. So around 1ish when I knew HD would be awake I had him give me the number and I called and got an appointment for Wednesday November 7th at 8:30am. Somehow in less than a days time an earlier 8:30 appointment was there. Bosslady says someone must have canceled. If not it kind of pisses me off that I wasn't offered it before, so I choose to believe that that is what happened.

So now I only have two weeks to fret and worry all over nothing I'm sure. But in between now and then every little to big headache is going to make me wonder and more than likely make it worse. I have one right now as a matter of fact. Actually I've had two today but they're just normal headache aches, not migraine strong. So that's good.

Media quote of the day: Every time I get a headache, I'm thinking this could be it. - Nate in Six Feet Under

I should be in bed

I feel awful right now. My head is killing me, my sinuses are killing me and my legs are killing me. I should be laying (lying? whichever, don't really care right now) in bed reading a book snuggled up with a cat or three. And to top it off my damn period started today. Which is the reason for my legs hurting but not my head and sinuses. I'm wondering if I'm finally getting a cold. But every time I've felt that way, which has been plenty, it never actually happens. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.



Media quote of the day: I need to stay in bed I feel like I'm going to die today. - Dr. Meredith Grey - Grey's Anatomy

Halloween meme

I saw this meme on Green Apple Martini's site, sorry too lazy to link, it's over on the left if you're interested. It's been a close to couple weeks since she did hers.

1. What's the scariest movie you've ever seen? As a kid I'd have to say Dracula. It's the only one that seemed to affect me for quite awhile. I mean, for several years I had to have my sheet or blanket covering my neck because I didn't want a vampire to bite me. And because of that it's become a habit that I've never been able to break. Nowadays, "scary" movies don't do anything to me. Although I enjoy them quite a bit.

2. What was your favorite Halloween costume as a child.? I'd have to say when I was Dolly Parton. (click her name to go to the post I did last year about it)

3. Given enough money what would be your fantasy Halloween costume? I have no idea. I haven't even thought about dressing up since I was kid. So I guess I have to skip this one.

4. When was the last time you went trick-or-treating? I believe I was 14 or 15 and my friend and I went to only a few homes of people we knew as a joke. But we did get some candy out of it. So the last time I went to actually go would be when I was 12.

5. What is your favorite Halloween candy? Well, if this means candy that's only out during Halloween then I'd have to say candy corn. I know, most people can't stand it but I love it. Especially the chocolate ones.

6. Tell us about a scary nightmare you once had. Starting when I was 5 or 6 until I was about 11 I used to have a recurring nightmare of spiders. I would be laying on my back and a spiral of spiders would be coming down at me. Just spiraling and spiraling until I was able to wake myself up. Most of the time I couldn't until they were just about on top of me.

7. What is your supernatural fear? That I'd see my grandfather again. I saw him once when I was eight and he'd been dead for three years. I haven't written about that yet but one day I plan to. It scared the shit out of me.

8. What is your "creepy-crawly" fear? Spiderwebs. Can't stand 'em. At least to be touched by them. I get the willies every time.

9. Tell us about a time when you saw a ghost or heard something go bump in the night. In the house I grew up in there were many times we heard noises, things were moved and things were seen. But one time in particular was pretty freaky. There was no one in the house but my girlfriend and I. I was in 6th grade and school had ended for the day and my friend and I went to my house after. The school is only a block from the house so there's no way my older brothers made it home before me since their schools were many blocks away and they got out after we did. Mom was still at work. So therefore we were in the house alone. We were sitting in the dining room just talking when there was the loudest damn BOOM we'd ever heard. It was from directly above us and we both looked up at the same time. The chandelier was swaying back and forth from the impact of whatever had hit the floor. We both took off running out the back door. My brother and his friend were just getting ready to come in it as we went flying out. They asked what was going on and when we told them they offered to go check it out. I wanted to go with but Monica didn't so she stayed outside. I had the two boys go ahead of me but I stayed close. The bedroom that the bang had come from was my room and the brother that was with me. We shared it with a third brother. There were two sets of bunk beds in there. When we first went in nothing looked amiss. But as we explored we noticed the set of beds that were against the South wall was away from it by a good foot. The whole thing was away from it. It normally was flush against it. All three of us had to work together to get it back to where it was supposed to be.

The guys at first tried to convince me that the boom was just a car door or something like that and the swaying of the chandelier was from that. And that the bed was already that way to begin with that we just didn't remember it being that far away. Yeah, that didn't work. I know it was against the wall because that's the set that I slept in and I had remembered leaning against the wall at one point during the night before. And there's no way in hell a sound from outside would've made the chandelier sway the way it did. I mean it wasn't just moving a bit, it was swaying back and forth a full three inches or so from side to side.

10. Would you stay overnight in a real haunted house? Yep, I obviously grew up in one. At least as far as I'm concerned. And since I survived that I think I could do it again.

11. Are you a traditionalist or a creative carver of your Jack-O'Lantern? I haven't done one in many many years but if I were to do one I think I'd have to go with the creative stuff. I like the traditional stuff but I think those cats and bats, etc are pretty cool.

12. How much do you decorate your house at Halloween? None, although as I mentioned the other day I wish I would get off my lazy butt and do it. I'd really like to do it up big though. Maybe one year.

13. What do you want on your tombstone? Don't know, never thought about it. Especially since I plan on being cremated. So unless HDiTty decides to bury me I'd say I'm not going to have one anyway.

Media quote of the day: Hey! Why you leave me out here? One of you muthafuckas betta come out here and get me, I know that! Or you WILL be living in a haunted house tonight. - Ed Wuncler III - The Boondocks Love this show. It's so wrong in so many ways but funny as hell.

Toenails

So, I'm fascinated by my toenails. Does that make me weird? I guess if I have to ask then it does.

Anyway. I can't believe how fast they grow. They're not supposed to grow as fast as fingernails but mine seem to. Now, after I first cut them they don't seem to grow very fast at all. It seems to take forever for them to finally have that little "head" for lack of a better word, to start showing. But then, spurt, they're so damn long they're bugging the shit out of me.

Take this last week for example. Last Thursday or Friday as I was bent over drying my hair I glanced down and noticed that little "head" and thought, "Finally, it sure seemed like a long time since I've had to cut 'em." And then continued on drying my hair.

Yesterday morning while doing the same thing I glance down and can't believe it. I already have to cut them and how in the hell did they go from barely there to this long already? And now they're gonna snag my knee highs (yes I wear 'em, if I didn't I'd blind people with the little bit of ankle they'd see as I walked). And sure enough, when I took 'em off the right one had a run in it. Good thing they're cheep.

And I of course didn't cut them last night but luckily today is jeans day so I'm wearing socks and tennis shoes.

I kept asking HDiTty to give me a pedicure last night but he refused. All the things I do for him and he can't give me one lousy pedicure. Well phooey on him!

Media quote of the day: No, uh, she needs a pedicure! - Dr. Kosevich - Nine Months
I haven't seen this movie ages, but I have seen it so I'm using it.

It is what it is

I don't know if it's the time of year or what but I just don't have a whole lot to say. I do know this, I can't type today. That first sentence I think I made a mistake in just about every word. Hell, I couldn't type every just now. I kept typing the v first. UGH! That's pretty bad for someone who on her last typing test did 70 words a minute.

Here's the one thing I don't like about fall, and winter too I guess: Having to wake up and drive in to work in the dark. By the time I get there the sun has come up but most of the way is in darkness. I don't mind driving home in the dark though, that has never bothered me, don't know why.

You know what sucks? Wanting to have my house decorated for Halloween but not having the energy to do it. By the time I get home from work I don't want to do anything but sit. Weekends aren't much better. Take this last weekend. I had to go do some grocery shopping, not much, just about 10 or so items. But could I make myself get up and do it? Nope, I kept telling myself to do it but I then kept telling myself, later, I'll do it a little later. I finally did go to the drugstore to get HDiTty's medicine and some hairspray for me but that was it.

Other than that we sat around watching some movies on Saturday. Oh yeah, we did rouse ourselves enough to go see Elizabeth: The Golden Age late Saturday night. Which was good but not as good as the first. But then it is a sequel and that's hard to do. Sunday he was on the computer all day and I read all day with some football games on in the background. Did that until the Saints game. Which finally made us have something to cheer for.

I like those kinds of weekends. The kind with no real responsibility. But still, I feel like I should be doing something. Decorating the house/yard, shopping, cleaning out the extra bedroom. Just general stuff that needs doing. Oh well, it is what it is.

Once again I'm boring myself so I'm going to call it a post.

Media quote of the day: Spain intends to place Mary Stuart on our country's throne, and I am to be assassinated. Does this sound familiar? - Queen Elizabeth I - Elizabeth: The Golden Age

TOO MUCH TV!!!!

I love Autumn. I love everything about it. The changing of the leaves, the crispness of the air and the fact that I don't have to mow the lawn for the next 8 - 9 months. I even love the high winds and rain. Just thought I'd mention it.

We were going to try a new Mexican restaurant last night. They're not open yet but they were having a restaurant warming party, and they went to the station where HDiTty works and handed out invitations to everyone who wanted them, they must have gone to several other places also though. You ask, "Katrina, why do you say that?" Well, I'll tell you. Because by the time we got there they were completely packed with TOO damn many people standing around waiting for a table. So we decided against it and went to another restaurant we've never been to. It was ok, nothing special and the prices were kind of high so we both agreed that we won't be going back. At least, not as a first choice anyway. Maybe like we did last night, if all our other choices are packed we might go.

I said it before and I'll say it again. I really don't want to work. Just thought I'd mention that too.

As also mentioned before, we watch way too much tv. But even still we decided to check out a lot of the new shows this season. We already have one absolute keeper which is Dirty Sexy Money. I don't think there's one thing about it I don't like. Other than there are times that looking at the lead actor, that right now I can't remember his first name but his last is Krause, all I see is Casey McCall from Sportsnight. Others might look at him and see his character from Six Feet Under. I've only watched 2/3 of the first season of that show so he's still Casey to me. PETER, oops, sorry didn't mean to yell but that's his first name. It's Peter. Felicity Huffman from Desperate Housewives was the same way. She was Dana Whitaker from Sportsnight for about the first quarter or third of the first season of DH. So I'm sure eventually he'll turn into only this character.

We're liking K-Ville and Journeyman on Mondays so far. I think the only new show on Tuesday is Reaper. It's ok, we missed the premier though which sucked since it was directed by Kevin Smith. Wednesday is Private Practice and Pushing Daisies. He doesn't watch PP, well not really anyway. He's on the computer when I put it on so if he wants he can completely ignore it. I'm still not sold on it yet. I don't dislike it but I can't say that I like it yet either. We watched the premier of Pushing Daisies on ABC.com then watched the episode that came on last night. It's definitely different but I like it quite a bit. Don't think there's anything new on Thursday. Oh wait is Bionic Woman on Thursday or Wednesday? Doesn't matter either way, it's also one that we're liking so far. I can't say that it's a definite keeper but it's more that than not. And Friday is Moonlight. We like it but not completely sold yet. Oh yeah, somewhere in there are two new half hour comedies. There's the one that comes on after How I Met Your Mother, about the geeks. The Big Bang Theory, that's it. We're really enjoying it immensely. He can relate because he is a geek, not on the level as those guys but he still is one. And I can relate because I'm married to him, although as I said while watching this weeks episode I wouldn't have gotten one or two of the jokes if I didn't know him. The other is Back To You. The show with Kelsey Grammer and Pratricia Heaton. We've laughed out loud several times now. It could use some work but over all it's a good one.

So what is that, 10 shows. Wow, 10 new shows. Of the other new shows that we were going to try we already nixed Life. I recorded the first two shows and we started to watch the premier when we decided we had enough already and before either of us got into it I stopped and deleted it. We also watched the first 15 minutes of Big Shots and decided it blew so that's gone. And I recorded Cave Men and Carpoolers but then deleted them also without watching.

I'm not even gonna mention all the established shows we watch. And there's still a few that haven't even started yet that we'll be watching once they do. We might have to just dump the ones we're not the most thrilled with. Hell, we already dumped Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters and those were established shows we watched. But since we missed the last month/month 1/2 of the last season of each we decided to give up on 'em. Maybe I'll watch 'em on DVD through Netflix.

Media quote of the day:
Hey Barney, see that girl? - Ted
Ohhh yeah, you just know she likes it dirty! - Barney
on How I Met Your Mother

Good times

Man, it's been over a week since I last posted. I've thought about coming on and putting up an update but was enjoying my time off so much that I kept putting it off. But it's been long enough so I guess I'll start writing. It's gonna be a long one, that's for sure.

Last Wednesday evening we took HDiTty's grandma to see Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy. That was pretty damn awesome. There's no way I can do it justice by trying to describe what they did so I'll only write a little. Most of the acrobats were dressed as an animal or bug, one guy was dressed as a tree, the others just had very colorful costumes. There was one lady dressed as a ladybug who was the narrator, but she sang everything rather than speak it. Her voice is great but with it being fairly high and the music being pretty loud we could only understand some of the words. The guy dressed as a tree is an electrical violinist and did great. At first HD and I both thought he was violinsynching but when I read the program at intermission it said it was done live.

If you've ever seen Cirque de Soliel then you should definitely see this. The costumes and props just add to the enjoyment and it's a great one for kids and older people who may not be able to follow along to most other plays/musicals to enjoy. Since the singing didn't add anything, in fact to HD and I we thought it detracted, they don't have to pay attention to her. They can just watch the acrobats do their thing and enjoy it completely. His grandma thought the same as us about the singing and thought the music could've been a little less loud but overall she had a great time and was very happy we took her. This comes highly recommended!

Thursday night I took HD to see Genesis. Too bad none of his photos came out otherwise I'd put one or two up, but the stage is too bright to really see anything well enough. Camera phones are not good for that type of picture taking don't cha know? We had a great time, they played a good mixture of their older stuff and the 80's/90's hits. And although the talking that Phil Collins did between songs was definitely rehearsed he still did it so well it was still really amusing. I had read a review from the New York Times and I regret that I did because the critic put in a lot of what Collins said. So as soon as he started to talk I pretty much knew what he was going to say. But since it was live and in person and it was said with Collins' signature "silliness" it was still good. What made it even better is that we had a whole row to ourselves. Well, we shouldn't have but by the time we got there there was already people on both sides of our seats. The row directly behind was empty so I said that we should sit there until someone comes along saying that we're in their seats. It never happened so we weren't squished which was a very good thing.

This was his weekend to work but he took it off and I took off Friday and Monday so we had a really nice long weekend to enjoy our 12th/2nd anniversary.

Friday we both slept in since we didn't get home until after 12 from Chicago and didn't get into bed until real late. We were going to go do something but since we couldn't make up our minds we agreed we'd be lazy that day and do something on Monday. Except for me going to the grocery store for our empty fridge we hung out all day being lazy watching a shitload of tivo'd shows. We had agreed to go to a haunted house or two that evening but when 6 o'clock rolled around we both agreed we were to relaxed to get up and go.

Saturday was another sleep in and be lazy morning/afternoon. Saturday was our actual anniversary. His sister and her boyfriend met us at our house and we went out to dinner at a local Italian restaurant where all but her boyfriend got long island ice teas. They were the strongest teas we've ever had. Goooooood but strong. She cut hers with her boyfriends real tea, HD cut his with a regular coke and we poured some in mine also. I also was drinking water along with it. But since I only had one meal that day it hit me hard. She and I were feeling no pain by the end of dinner. Afterward we met up with some more family and friends at a comedy club. The same one where he and I had our first official date 12 years ago. The comedians weren't the best we've ever seen but the headliner did hit a few topics that I could relate to. That always helps, plus I had a couple more long islands. They weren't very potent, but then, I didn't need them to be. After that everyone went their separate ways except for one of the girls who had gone by herself. She didn't feel safe enough to drive so HD drove her car to our house while SIL's boyfriend drove mine back. Those two left and the friend stuck around to watch a movie until she felt ok to drive home.

Sunday we slept in again. Watched the Saints get their asses handed to them again. Made us sad again. Am I saying again too much? It's looking really dismal. But we're not giving up. After the game we watched some more of the tivo'd shows. We had a lot since we watch too damn much and hadn't had a chance to watch that many over the last couple of weeks. We turned on the Bears game right after half time and saw that they were losing then went back to our shows. From what I hear we should've kept the game on. Oh well, so be it.

Yesterday, slept in again. The best part of vacations, being able to sleep in if you want. We debated what to do, nothing looked good enough for him. I was ready to go to a zoo or anything as long as we didn't sit on our butts anymore. For lunch we decided to go to the restaurant where we met on our blind date, then went bowling. Played four games, or should I say, we sucked for four games. Neither of us did anywhere near as good as we both can do. I was lucky to break a hundred, awful, just awful. After that we finally went to see Resident Evil, Extinction. For the type of movie it is they do a good job. It was really enjoyable. And Milla Jovovich is one of the few actresses that can pull off being a bad ass. Love her.

After that we had to hurry home because I had thrown stew fixings into the crockpot in the morning and it was going to be ready around 7:30ish and it was already 7:40 by the time the movie ended. We were both still full from the pizza and twizzlers that I just put away the stew in a bunch of containers. But that's ok, stew is one of those meals that tastes better as a leftover. We watched a few of the shows that recorded last night then I finally went to bed around 12:30. Yeah, I'm a little tired today but it's not too bad.

Unfortunately I had to go back to work, which always sucks. It sure would be nice if we could afford for me to not have to work. Oh well, so be it.

So that was my long week. Although I had time to come on here for some updates you can see why I wouldn't want to. I was enjoying my lazy self too much to bother.

Media quote of the day: [to White Queen] I met your sister. She was a homicidal bitch. - Alice - Milla in Resident Evil, Extinction

Game Night needs to happen more often

So Friday night after a horrendous one and half days of nonstop working I wanted to go see a blood and guts movie. That happens every now and then, I need to see violence sometimes. We were going to go see the new Resident Evil movie but somehow never got around to leaving the house. At least not for that. We did go get dinner from Chile's but just went back home and watched tv. It was ok though, I still saw blood if not guts. We watched some UFC fights.

Saturday we watched a couple shows late morning/early afternoon and then started to clean the house for the resurrection of game night. I've been missing game night big time and tried a couple weeks back to have one but that went bust. Only about 1/2 the people showed out of everyone invited but that's ok. There was still a total of 7 of us: we two, his friend Jim, one of his sisters and her boyfriend and two of the chicks that also went to Mexico.

I brought out several games to choose from. His sister isn't the biggest fan of trivia games so I left all of those in the cabinet, we have quite a few. I brought out Apples to Apples, Pictionary, Malarky, Dirty Minds, Battle of the Sexes and it seems to me another one but I can't think of what it is at the moment. Apples to Apples was chosen first and after H Ditty made us some Long Islands we started in. I hadn't eaten anything since 10:30 that morning and it's now about 7:30/7:45 so it didn't take but maybe 5 sips and I was already getting a little tipsy. But that's ok, it made being one of the last ones to get a green card bearable. His sister won the game so reserved the right to choose the next game.

She chose Dirty Minds and then said how much she hated the game because all she could think of was the dirty answers and those are never correct. But she still ended up winning that game as well and quickly chose Pictionary.

Which H Ditty stated would be girls against the boys. So I therefore chose the black piece to represent us knowing it would drive Jim nuts. So then a little sparring ensued on them trying to convince us to give it up. I kept asking HD what he'd do for our anniversary for me to give it up but he never did answer. Then he goes and gets this tiny Saints coffe cup and puts their blue piece in to represent them. But that's ok too since we girls won the game. Which put his sister winning every game we played.

Everybody but Jim had to leave then. One of the girls had to work the next morning and the other was her ride home so they took off. And his sister had to relieve their mother of watching the grandkids and get to bed because of church in the morning.

We weren't quite ready to call it a night so Jim, HD and I played poker, Texas Hold'em, for five bucks each. I won. Kicked ass I might add.

After that HD didn't want to play anymore and wanted to watch some more UFC so that's what we did. And after that I was too beat to stay up, my eyes were barely able to stay open during the last couple of fights so I went to bed. A couple hours later, around 5:30, I heard them go out the back door and talk some more before Jim finally left. About an hour or so after that HD finally crawled into bed.

I had a slight headache but that was more from the way I had been sleeping for the last hour then all the drinking I did. Oh yeah, besides the Long Island I had 2 1/2 Jager shots (we ran out so SIL and I shared the last one) and two or three glasses of SoCo and Cherry Coke. I drank two 16oz bottles of water before I went to bed too so I know that helped with the non hangover. My head was bent way back because I had Crybaby practically laying across my face and definitely across my neck.

Sunday was spent sitting around reading for me and watching football for him. His sister stopped by to grab her camera and some pictures that she forgot the night before and they invited us to go see The Game Plan with 'em later that evening. And since her son really really really wanted us to go we did. For a family movie it was good, for just an adult to watch it was ok. I love me some Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson though so I was not disappointed.

We came home and he watched some more football, I read some more while doing my laundry for the week and then went to bed around 11ish. All in all it was a great weekend. We need to plan another game night real soon. Drinking or not we always have a great time and we need to do it more often.

Media quote of the day: Joe Kingman never says no - Joe Kingman - The Rock - The Game Plan

I hate working!!

I hate working, I don't wanna do it anymore. Don't make me go back, or for that matter, stay here now until 5:30. And the bad thing is is that my cohort is leaving for a long weekend tomorrow at noon. So that means I have to do it all all by myself. You'd think Friday would be an easy day, it's Friday after all, but no, not around here. There are certain reports that have to be done at a specific time and the powers that be are hounding all day long about how much money has been collected and/or will be collected by the end of the day.

And all I'm doing is trying to figure out what to do for my long weekend next week. I already have one thing planned for Thursday night but I can't say what it is because it's going to be a surprise for H Ditty. Although, knowing him, he'll figure it out.

Anyway, what I really came on here to say is. I DON'T WANT TO WORK ANYMORE!!!!

Media quote of the day: I wanna go home/take off this uniform and leave the show - Pink Floyd of off The Wall (I can't remember which song though, oh well) And I might have used this one once before but I really don't give a shit. Mwah

Twitching

Alright, so somethings going on while I'm at work and it's pissing me off. My left eyelid keeps twitching. It did it all day Friday, then about half way home it finally quit. Didn't do it at all during the weekend. Then within 45 minutes of being at work yesterday it started up again. It's really very annoying.

Let's see, I haven't done a weekend recap in awhile. But then, we haven't really done much of anything on our weekends lately. This past one was no exception. He had to work so when he does we hardly ever do anything. Last Saturday, the 15th, was a little different though. It was supposed to be game night but on Friday we ended up canceling it. My brother's FIL passed away and his wake was on Saturday, which we went to. And H Ditty's immediate supervisor and former partner at work had a wedding reception at his home that we went to after the wake. We were going to try to do all three but decided it wouldn't be fair to the people coming over. Because we didn't know how long either of the two would be and we didn't want to push the start time back we canceled and rescheduled for the 29th.

This weekend as mentioned, was pretty quiet. Friday evening we watched the finale of Last Comic Standing. Which we only felt so so about since our favorite, Amy Schumer (sp?) was out already. Saturday he would normally get out at 2pm but for whatever reason wasn't able to this time and worked until 6pm. His sister and her boyfriend came over. They wanted us to go out to dinner and a movie with 'em but when we finally agreed on what movie to see it would be to late since he had to be at work the next day at 6am. So they went and picked up the food she'd been craving and came back to our place and we watched Hostel. That movie is just gross. It was easier to stomach the second time around but it was still gross. It was their first time watching it and she kept talking through it and getting HD frustrated. She finally quit and instead of talking did her nails. Heh

Sunday he worked again. I did some vacuuming, reading and a little watching tv and some shopping. I saw the cutest little Halloween kitty booties and had to buy them along with a couple bibs, which included one that was orange with bats on it saying My First Halloween. And a sleeper that's orange with a green color like leaves and green feet. On the left of the chest there's a pumpkin and it says Mommy's Lil Pumpkin. Too damn cute!

His dad came over for the Bears game, or should I say beating. And for the first half it was touch and go, looked like they could actually win this one. But nope, no can do. It's time for a new quarterback. Anyway, we were all hootin' and hollerin' but then the baby came over for some sittin' while momma and her boyfriend went to meet her uncle who's in town visiting. He wanted her to hang out with him and his family while watching the game at some bowling alley/bar that wouldn't be a good place for a baby. So needless to say when the Bears were blowing it real good we couldn't do any hootin' and hollerin' anymore since she was sleeping.

We changed her into the sleeper and she looked cute as lil punkin!! It was a nice surprise for her mommy, she loved it along with everything else. So I done did good.

Last night was another sad night in the Ditty household. The Saints looked like the Bears did on Sunday night. Looked like the game could go either way and then at half time it went down hill. Although the Saints were struggling just to get what they did I still had faith. All the way until that last interception and subsequent touchdown. Sad, very sad. They need to figure out what's going on and get it fixed.

Media quote of the day:

Excuse me, I uh... excuse me. How is it in there? - Paxton
Be careful. - Man
Why's that? - Paxton
You could, spend ALL your money... in there. - Man


Hostel

Chocolate = Yummy

You know what's on my mind right now? Chocolate. I could really go for some chocolate right now. I'm thinking brownies with chocolate chunks in 'em. Nice and warm where the chunks are still soft and mushy with warmth. Mmmmm chocolate.

Media quote of the day: I use chocolate... that's why they're brown. Which, gives them their name. Brownies. - Angel in Angel

Man, I use Angel a lot. We should really watch this show again, along with Buffy. Two great shows.

Sabbatical - my impossible dream

We watched K-Ville last night. It was good, I enjoyed it so we can add that as another show to our "we watch too much tv" list. But it was sad to see how bad parts of the city still look. It's been two years, which is a long time but on the other hand it's a pretty short time too. So although I, amongst so many others, feel like it shouldn't be so bad still it does make sense since so many people have moved away. There's not many people left to build it back up. But it'll get there again, I have faith. It's nice to see the French Quarter though. I miss it. We haven't been there since before the hurricane hit and I really really want to go back. But with him going to Mexico this past summer and a new job for me we just won't be able to at all this year. So the soonest we'll get back will be fall of next year, if then even. We'll have to see how things go throughout the first 8 months.

H Ditty is cracking me up. He wants an iphone like nobody's business. He had wanted to get one before he went to Mexico but since we had to foot the bill for it we couldn't afford for him to get the phone. Besides, I told him to wait a few months so that way he could get feed back from all the users. Make sure it's worth the 500 or 600 dollars. Also, I figured in about 6 months the price would come down. Well, we haven't heard anything real negative about it so that's good. But sure enough, after only 3 months out the price was already knocked down by 200 bucks. So of course he started chomping at the bit again to get one. I've always had the policy that if he's willing to work the overtime to get the funds for his expensive toys then so be it. So we're at work yesterday and he Emails me saying he doesn't have to work that many more hours to be able to have the funds available to get one. So I say ok, and then he sends back that although he really wants one he'd like to pay some of our debt off too.

I'd of course prefer the debt to be paid but he did work long hours for the cash. He can be so wishy washy sometimes, it cracks me up. But it's a good thing when it comes to big ticket items such as this. He usually procrastinates so much that the price usually comes down some more. It's worked out for us a few times now.

I'm sick of working. I read an article yesterday giving tips on what you need to do to be able to go on sabbatical for a year. Yeah, there's no way in hell I'd be able to. It said to have your mortgage paid off, no more car payments, no more credit card payments and to have at least a minimum of three months worth of savings for a cushion. I have the first three and no where near the last one. There was a section that mentioned a working sabbatical, as in a part time job doing what you enjoy so that way you do have some extra money. But even still, there's no way I could do it. But believe me I'd love to.

Media quote of the day: Hey! I am not unemployed, I'm on sabbatical. - Ross - Friends