Reasons I’m Looking Forward to Spring

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  • Can race in and out of gym for water aerobics in a t-shirt and shorts, rather than having to drag my coat and winter gear through the locker room.
  • Can leave water aerobics with wet hair and not feel cold the rest of the evening.
  • 200+ bulbs we planted in the yard will be blooming, and I can start on vegetable garden planting.
  • Maybe, finally, our roof, gutters and balcony porch will be done — and we’ll be able to read and have tea on the balcony at night, looking at the stars.
  • More wedding planning.
  • Route 66 planning.
  • Long walks with the dog around the neighborhood, taking pictures.
  • Getting started on one of the furniture refinishing projects in the garage.

So — how about you? What are you looking forward to?

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The Whole Story

So apparently, sometime recently the furnace in my old house went out, and the pipes froze and burst. One of the people viewing the house found this, and the contractor they brought with them to see it shut off the water this morning. So the furnace needs replace, the pipes need lots of work, and more than likely the offer I had in the works to buy my house will go down the tubes.

On top of this, I’m having yet another bout of pleurisy and round of drugs to combat it — I’ve been taking the prescription steroid Prednisone. The working theory of my pulmonologist is that I have early onset Rheumatoid Arthritis, which causes joint inflammation and lung inflammation, and if left untreated causes severe joint damage and other problems. I’ll scheduled to go back to see the guy in April, but if I keep having reoccurring problems I think I’ll need to go back in sooner.
The Prednisone is both a good and bad thing — it certainly makes me feel way better – my stiff knees and joints go away, the pain in my lungs goes away, my endless stuffy head/runny nose goes away. My mood is way, way better – I feel great, have tons of energy.

The downside is that I’m ravenously hungry all the time, and even when I’m eating healthy, I gain lots of weight. I’ve gained 30 pounds since Christmas time, when I started taking the new medication. And aside from actual weight gain, I’m also retaining water, which is as bad or worse. And I’ve been exercising regularly, too, which you would think would help – but not so much really.

Basically I’m having a really crappy day.

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Valentine Underpants

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Stephanie stop at Old Navy yesterday while waiting for her hair appointment, and she bought a bunch of Valentine’s Day merchandise on high discount, including several pairs of my favorite kind of underwear. Then she hid them around the house while I was at water aerobics last night, because she’s leaving to go to a skating competition in Michigan for the weekend.
So as I’ve been getting ready for work this morning, I keep finding little valentine presents hidden, like a scavenger hunt. It’s very sweet. I love my girlfriend.

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Valentine’s Day, Snow Day

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I had a second snow day today (I worked at home yesterday, due to inclement weather) and Stephanie had the day off as well because we couldn’t get her car out in the morning. So we spent the morning digging out the street with the help of our neighbor Craig…
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and in the afternoon, I worked on a website design for one of our publishing partners at work, while Stephanie edited pages for her work. Meanwhile, the animals had their own fun…
Spike in the Snow
Huckleberry Busted
Annabelle watching for Birds
Then Stephanie made a romantic candlelight dinner for us (we’re being economical, since my house is still for sale — although we have an offer and some counters, which is looking really good) and now we’re going to watch the oh-so-romantic tale Corpse Bride.

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Sick of the Weather

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I realize I’m just being whiny given that we has such a mild November and December, but I’m sick of the snow and cold. I just can’t seem to get warm, and I have this constantly runny nose that just won’t stop. Plus we’re going to get a bunch of snow dumped on us tonight, which will either be good, (snow day!) or bad (slogging to work in snow).

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Delicious Annual Nut Sale (Spay-Neuter Serv.)

I know this “true story” is true, because it’s an actual memo that got sent around our work email.

It’s this time of year again!

The wonderful nut assortments are once again available, benefitting Spay-Neuter Services of Indiana. Included are pecan halves, mixed nuts, chocolate pecan clusters, whole cashews, honey roasted peanuts, white chocolate pretzels, and chocolate-covered almonds.

Order deadline is Oct. 9. Please stop by my desk on 5th floor (5062).

Thanks — take it from those who ordered them last year — they’re delicious and reasonably priced!

Update – One of the folks from Spay-Neuter Services of Indiana found this on my blog and wrote me to let me know that they still have nut sales going on to fund-raise for their not-for-profit work — you can find out how to order here:

Spay-Neuter Services of Indiana, Inc.
P.O. Box 55917
Indianapolis, IN 46205-0917
Voice Mail 317.767.7771
Fax 866.771.0358

www.spayneuterservices.org
Available:
27 almond $7
17 clusters $8
8 malted milk $6
22 peanut $5
45 pecans $8
60 deluxe mixed $7
(sorry, no more cashews)

They also have some fun t-shirts for sale at their website.

Delicious, funny, and for a great cause – that’s quite a trifecta.

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Passive Aggressive Blogging

One of my favorite amusements lately is folks who read something I’ve written here, and rather than commenting/disagreeing on my site, or even going back to their own site and commenting there while linking to my post, they simply comment on their own sites in general terms, without providing any context to what they’re reacting to for their other readers. It’s entertaining because it often results in completely inarticulate posts, or even just silly-sounding non sequiturs or unprovoked scolding or ranting.

There are three people who do this with some regularity, and for each of them they’re people I just don’t care to spend time with (even though I read their blogs) because there’s something that strikes me as really dishonest and babyish about this behavior. It’s blogging equivalent of talking bad behind someone’s back and not telling them to their face what you think of them. Be an adult and stand behind what you say.

I completely realize I’m doing the same thing right now, because I’m reacting to something I just read from someone who’s this done to my writing several times, but I’m not really interested in starting a flame war just at this moment, so I won’t link to the post in question.

But it’s very silly, and you just sound shrill and childish, dear.

span class=”hilightyellow”>2019 update: This has a specific name on Twitter – Subtweeting. “The act of mentioning a person on Twitter™ without using the symbol @ before their name so they do not see what you have written.” Still a jackass move, even on another platform.

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Must Be Naptime

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I’m home for the second day in a row with pleurisy and a head cold. Today, though, I’m back on the helpful prescription, so I should back in business soon. Lucy and Huckleberry are snoozing on the bed upstairs, and Dru and Annabelle are curled up and dreaming on the trunk in the library. Spike is nestled under his blanket on the klakbo chair nearby. I’m pretty sleepy so I’m going to nap too.

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Ugh, hospital soap

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I washed my hands in the locker room at the Y after my swim class, and discovered they have started putting the horrid antiseptic soap used by hospitals into the soap dispensers at the sinks. Talk about stomach churning. I still feel like I want to throw up. And the worst part is that it takes days to get the smell to go away; you can’t just wash your hands with something pleasant, because the smell just lingers. So now my hand smell like death, and I’m going to be away all night because of it. I swear I’m taking my own soap in my gym bag from now on.

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