Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone. I hope you all have a wonderful new year filled with all the best of everything.

Tough

Yesterday I got some health news about someone who is very near and dear to my world. The news so far is fairly neutral, however, it has the potential to be noting at all, in a best case scenario, or traumatizing to devastating at the worst.

Since they're still waiting to get anything definitive, I wont go into details. Suffice it to say, however, it has been messing with me like you wouldn't believe. I just hope that after it I'll be able to just say, "phew, false alarm."

And Now I Wait

Well the interview went as well as possible. I hit all the points I wanted to get to; I was lively and impressive, placing emphasis on my strongest qualities; I kept her interested and didn't let the conversations lapse for more than a second or two; She seemed impressed by my experience and even gave me some pretty good compliments. We even got to speaking about salary. She told me what the salary was and if I would have a problem with a salary in that range. I told her that it was actually what I was aiming for. She seemed very delighted and said that the salary had been a deterrent for some people coming up from the city. No surprise.

So who knows. I hope it went well. She said she'd call me by next week when she comes back from the holiday. Round two is to meet up with some of the executives and round three would be to meet with the CEO. And if all goes very well I'll be starting by the end of January/ beginning of February. The place is actually really great and does work I can honestly get behind. I think I'd really like working there. So I'm hoping I get the job. Here's hoping.

Preparing for The Interview

Inhale and release, inhale and release. In a few hours I have an interview. I prepared for it most of yesterday. I have my notes, questions, my resume, printout of the job description with notes on that, references and driving directions. I have an idea of what I'm going to say and what I'm going to focus on, so why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?

Grrr... I hate this feeling. I know I'm not really forgetting anything, I'm just getting anxious. I mean it's been a while since I've worked and it's killing me that I'm still not working. Perhaps that's it. It's just my nervous energy effing with me.

My Arm is Hurting So Badly

Aaron got me one of the most fun gifts I've gotten in quite a while; a Wii!

I love it. The thing is already nicely set up where it's going to live. No one set it up but me. I was so not about to let anyone touch it. When I went to open it, Evan kinda tried to jump in and try to open the box but backed off when I shot him "the look."

And of course on the very first day we played for hours straight and now we're paying for it. Ow. Ah well, at least no one launched one fo the controllers into the TV.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

Since I'm going to be out most of the day today. Merry Christmas everyone.

And just because it's one of my favorite Scenes from a Christmas movie...

Cough. Cough. Hack. Cough. Groovy.

With some firm (forced) persuading I decided (given no choice) to finally go to the doctor's and see what the hell is going on with my persistent (and highly annoying) cough. My head seems to have cleared but the coughing refuses to go away and has been waking me (and everyone else within a three mile radius) up in the middle of the night.

So as it turns out it was pretty much a bad cold. He gave me a cough syrup with Codine. Nice. I should have gone sooner. Ah well. He said if the coughing persists for another week, to come back and see what the hell I've got. I didn't like the sound of that.

Since I was there so early I decided I'd finally let them draw blood. My doctor has been asking me to come in to get blood work done. It's been a while since he did a full checkup. I did the standard stuff a few weeks ago but he really wanted to do the rest. While I understand the importance of knowing what the hell is going on in your body and understand that he doesn't really want to cause me pain, my irrational fear of needles has pretty much been the inspiration for the litany of excuses I've come up with for not going.

I'm not the kind of person that passes out at the sight of needles or blood or anything like that. I actually give blood every year and have done so since I was 17. I just really despise the thought of needles going into my skin; hence, I have no tattoos. But yes, I did my little breathing exercise, even faster talking and even asked the nurse to give me a countdown. I warned her that I'm a big baby. She laughed. I couldn't blame her. I'm well aware that from the outside it's pretty funny. And I'll be the first to admit when it comes to getting shots, I'm not much braver than little kid. Hell, if it were socially acceptable, I'd demand a lollipop afterwards. I'm not kidding getting my regular allergy shot as well as flu shot (teeny as those needles are) still involves me squeezing my eyes shut and "eeeek-ing." Ah well, at least I'm good with knowing that my arm is not due to be impaled with anything until the spring.

The good thing is that the cough syrup seems to be working really nicely. I'm relaxed as can be, I haven't been coughing a whole lot and I'm getting kinda sleepy. This is great. Like I said, I should have gone sooner. I just hope this works. I have an interview on Monday afternoon. I'd hate to go in there trying to make a good impression and then start hacking away.

So sleepy... time for a nap.

My Hero

Today Aaron gets the hero award. He totally saved my day and all he had to do is tell me to take a nap.

The whole thing started when I got up this morning. I was kinda tired but we had a few things to do, including finishing shopping, wrapping, etc. Then my Mom called and got under my skin (totally related to the holidays. Too long a story to get into). He asked me what was wrong. Rather than explode I told him that there was nothing wrong. Then a few more things happened and I really started to lose it. Picture if you will, a cracked window, but rather than leaving it be, imagine several people throwing pebbles at it. Yeah. Plink, plink, crash!

I blew up and he got to hear it all. He understood that I wasn't yelling at him but rather yelling my problems to him. So he didn't react negatively at all, he just listened and offered the appropriate consolatory comments. He's good like that. He offered to make me a cup of tea. Then suggested I sit and relax on the couch for a little while and brought me my new magazines. He also offered to answer all phone calls for a while so that no one disturbs me. He then suggested I take a nap. I told him I wasn't sleepy. He didn't say a word when I turned on the news for a while (he usually rolls his eyes and grumbles a bit). Still, I was out pretty quickly.

When I woke up, two hours later, all was right in the world. Huzzah!

OMG Awesome

My friend Dave sent me this little gem so I had to share.

"Tiiiiiny Bubbles..."

I swear when I'm in a medically induced sleep, I do it like a champion. Two days ago I took NyQuil Cold and Flu ("Capitol N, small Y, big fucking Q! I love that fucking Q!" Yes. I had to throw in the Dennis Leary line) to get some sleep. Holy shit, did I ever get it. So not only did I sleep for what seemed like days, I was actually unable to answer Aaron's cell phone (he left it behind when he went to work) when it rang incessantly in the middle of the night, perched within arm's reach on the nightstand. I was aware that it must be Daren calling and I was aware that I wanted to throttle him for the calls and I was aware of the plan I had for both him and the phone, I just couldn't do a damn thing about it. Then in the morning, when Daren called again--and every ten minutes for about two hours or so-- I again knew the phone was ringing, I knew who it must have been and I knew that I had upgraded my original plan to now include a possibly implanting of a cell phone into a skull, should my aim and throwing arm prove to be of full use.

Then there were the fun dreams I had. During one of them, I was chasing down something with a marshmallow gun. But apparently it was the strongest one in the world and could actually stun the hell out of a person without actually killing them. In another dream that night, I was the captain of a boat, not sure why or how, but I still had my trusty gun with me. Then the most intriguing... I also dreamed that I had bubbles in my scalp. Yep. I went to brush my hair and kept seeing little bubbles flying all over the bathroom. When I checked my hair in the mirror, there they were, at the base of every hair was a little translucent bubble, just like the ones from bubble solutions. And the more I tried to get rid of them, the bigger they got. I pretty much ended up with an Afro of bubbles that refused to wash or blow away.

NO. Fecking. Clue. "NyQuil, NyQuil, NyQuil, we love you! You giant Fucking Q!"

So yes, now that I've slept for most of the last two days, I feel much better. The aches and pains are gone but I'm still pretty congested and my voice hasn't fully returned. Oh yeah, did I mention that we're in for a pretty big snow storm and we're supposed to be going to a Christmas party up in Peekskill? I think we're going to get there very early and heading out early. Aaron has to work and I shouldn't be there overnight. Really I don't think I should be there at all, but I really need to get out of the house. I feel waaaaay too couped up and I'm afraid to look in the mirror now.

Oh yes, in case you're wondering, no. Daren had no reason and/or emergency going on that required that many phone calls. He was calling to say hello and to see what Aaron was up to and see if Aaron wanted to get coffee (in the morning it was breakfast). I should explain. Daren's the kind of single guy who really doesn't understand why his buddies don't want to hang out to all hours of the morning and would actually want to do things like be responsible, go to work, and get married. He fully believes everyone should be hanging out with him at a diner or fiddling around with music that will never be heard by anyone but him. He's basically in a perpetual state of arrested development; stuck at oh, say, 21-22. You know, the age where you really couldn't give a rat's ass about anything because you're now a full grown adult and can even drink. Apparently, the reality check bitchslap that gets us all shortly after that stage missed him. That in a nutshell is Daren. A perfect target for my marshmallow gun. Ah well.

Oh, Guess Who's Cooking Tonight

You got it. As it turns out, I think I have the flu. I have a mild fever but my entire body hurts. I mean even my hair is achy. So Aaron is going to have to cook on his own while I gently shout out orders. This should be fun. No I mean it, I think I'm too delirious at this point to get annoyed or snippy. Granted, he may walk into work with a Thai noodle cake with pineapples and a toffee topping with a lovely red wine reduction but hey it'll at least make people laugh.

And yes, I have every intention to go to the doctor tomorrow if this keeps up. I should have gone today but I really didn't want to go outside. I went out yesterday to purchase noodles and ended up toy shopping with my Mom. I was cranky as hell and tired. I swear I almost threw a child worthy, nuclear fit in the store. I so wanted to go home. So yes, after yesterday's shenanigans, I think I will be staying frimly plated in my home. Damn it.

All I Want for Chirstmas is...

To feel normal again. This stinks. Ever since the weekend, I have yet to feel like I'm back to normal. Now I'm getting all congested and feel like I'm starting to come down with a cold. What's next? The plague?

I've gone through what seems like gallons of hot tea but nothing seems to be working. I think tonight I may break out the big guns. Vick's vaporub, a shower soothers, my decongestant and maybe, just maybe, I'll be breathing without feeling like someone shoved cotton up my nose.

Ah well, at least I'm able to function well-ish; which is a good thing. Aaron needs me to make him a platter of food for his command tomorrow. The group of cops he works with decided they're having a small Christmas thing tomorrow and they are all bringing a platter of something. Aaron told them I'd make Thai noodles. Luckily it's not too difficult to make, I just have to make sure I have enough noodles. Now had he asked me to make something more complicated, we'd be in trouble. "We," because he would have to do the cooking while I hover over his shoulder, giving him directions. Not a pretty picture. Wish me luck.

Blech, Blech and Double Blech

There's nothing quite like waking up from a sound sleep and realizing that, no, you weren't dreaming the world was spinning. Everything really is spinning in a goopy, green, slow motion and oh lord...

Yeah that was my night last night and it didn't stop till about 4ish. I'm pretty sure it had something to do with what I ate yesterday. Nothing I made at home made anyone feel this way. It was just me. Huzzah. Something definitely did NOT agree with me. Ah well at least I've managed to keep down a few saltines and some tea. I just hope this pattern continues.

Happy Chanukah!

Since today is the first day of Chanukah. I thought I'd share this with yall and you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy it.

The Chanukah Song: Redone by Neil Diamond (yet another reason to love the man).

Just for Vizma

More fun for the holidays.

More Holiday Fun

I recently remembered these and looked them up. They still make me laugh.


12 Days of Christmas Correspondence
Dearest John:
I went to the door today and the postman delivered a partridge in a pear tree. What a delightful gift. I couldn't have been more surprised.

With dearest love and affection, Agnes

***

December 15th

Dearest John:

Today the postman brought your very sweet gift. Just imagine, two turtle doves.... I'm just delighted at your very thoughtful gift. They are just adorable.

All my love, Agnes

***

December 16th

Dear John:

Oh, aren't you the extravagant one! Now I must protest. I don't deserve such generosity. Three french hens. They are just darling but I must insist.... you're just too kind.

Love Agnes

***

December 17th

Today the postman delivered four calling birds. Now really! They are beautiful, but don't you think enough is enough? You're being too romantic.

Affectionately, Agnes

***

December 18th

Dearest John:

What a surprise! Today the postman delivered five golden rings. One for each finger. You're just impossible, but I love it. Frankly, John, all those squawking birds were beginning to get on my nerves.

All my love, Agnes

***

December 19th

Dear John:

When I opened the door there were actually six geese-a-laying on my front steps. So you're back to the birds again, huh? Those geese are huge. Where will I ever keep them? The neighbors are complaining and I can't sleep through the racket. PLEASE STOP!

Cordially, Agnes

***

December 20th

John:

What's with you and those birds???? Seven swans-a-swimming. What kind of joke is this? There's bird do-do all over the house and they never stop the racket. I'm a nervous wreck and I can't sleep all night. IT'S NOT FUNNY.......So stop with those birds.

Sincerely, Agnes

***

December 21st

OK Buster:

I think I prefer the birds. What am I going to do with eight maids-a-milking? It's not enough with all those birds and eight maids-a-milking, but they had to bring their own cows. There is poop all over the lawn and I can't move into my own house. Just lay off me. .

Ag

***

December 22nd

Hey:

What are you? Some kind of sadist? Now there's nine pipers playing. And do they play! They never stopped chasing those maids since they got here yesterday morning. The cows are upset and are stepping all over those screeching birds. No wonder they screech. What am I going to do? The neighbors have started a petition to evict me. You'll get yours.

From Ag

***

December 23rd

You Creep!

Now there's ten ladies dancing - I don't know why I call them ladies. Now the cows can't sleep and they've got diarrhea. My living room is a river of poop. The commissioner of buildings has subpoenaed me to give cause why the building shouldn't be condemned. I'm sicking the police on you.

One who means it, Ag

***

December 24th

Listen Idiot:

What's with the eleven lords a-leaping? All 234 of the birds are dead. I hope you're satisfied, you rotten swine.

Your sworn enemy, Miss Agnes McCallister

***

December 25th (From the law offices Taeker, Spedar, and Baegar)

Dear Sir:

This is to acknowledge your latest gift of twelve fiddlers fiddling, which you have seen fit to inflict on our client, Miss Agnes McCallister. The destruction, of course, was total. All correspondence should come to our attention. If you should attempt to reach Miss McCallister at Happy Dale Sanitarium, the attendants have instructions to shoot you on sight. With this letter, please find attached a warrant for your arrest.

-Merry Christmas



And in honor of my crazy hero. Love her! ... So crazy,



Martha Stewart's Holiday Planning List

December 1
Blanch carcass from Thanksgiving turkey. Spray paint gold, turn upside down and use as a sleigh to hold Christmas Cards.

December 2
Have Mormon Tabernacle Choir record outgoing Christmas message for answering machine.

December 3
Using candlewick and hand gilded miniature pine cones, fashion cat-o-nine-tails. Flog Gardener.

December 4
Repaint Sistine Chapel ceiling ecru, with mocha trim.

December 5
Get new eyeglasses. Grind lenses myself.

December 6
Fax family Christmas newsletter to Pulitzer committee for consideration.

December 7
Debug WindowsXP (or latest version).

December 10
Align carpets to adjust for curvature of Earth.

December 11
Lay Faberge egg.

December 12
Take Dog apart. Disinfect. Reassemble.

December 13
Collect Dentures. They make excellent pastry cutters, particularly for decorative pie crusts.

December 14
Install plumbing in gingerbread house.

December 15
Replace air in mini-van tires with Glade "holiday scents" in case tires are shot out at mall.

December 17
Child proof the Christmas tree with garland of razor wire.

December 19
Adjust legs of chairs so each Christmas dinner guest will be same height when sitting at his or her assigned seat.

December 20
Dip sheep and cows in egg whites and roll in confectioner's sugar to add a festive sparkle to the pasture.

December 21
Drain city reservoir; refill with mulled cider, orange slices and cinnamon sticks.

December 22
Float votive candles in toilet tank.

December 23
Seed clouds for white Christmas.

December 24
Do my annual good deed. Go to several stores. Be seen engaged in last minute Christmas shopping, thus making many people feel less inadequate than they really are.

December 25
Bear son. Swaddle. Lay in color coordinated manger scented with homemade potpourri.

December 26
Organize spice racks by genus and phylum.

December 27
Build snowman in exact likeness of God.

December 31
New Year's Eve! Give staff their resolutions. Call a friend in each time zone of the world as the clock strikes midnight in that country.

The 12 Pains of Christmas

This makes me laugh every single year. Tonight my personal favorite is number four, the card man. "Yo, ho! Sending Christmas cards," and "Oh, I don't even know half these people." I honestly thought about saying screw it, I'm not sending them this year.

Here you go:



Now I know this clearly isn't the original video but it's one of the few that give you the lyrics. Besides, it's funny.

Getting Together With Old Friends

Today I spent a few hours with some of my closest friends from back in high school. I've seen then a handful of times since high school but not a whole lot. Sadly, we pretty much lost touch. But it was incredibly nice getting to see them and catch up.

We met up at the Cheesecake Factory a few towns over from me and lost track of time chatting away. My friend Agnes has two beautiful little boys and my friend Marie is happily married and working as a teacher in the area. It was really nice getting in touch with them. I just hope that we can actually keep our word and remain in touch this time around. I've missed them over the years. I definitely think I'm going to have them over once the holidays are over and things kinda get back to being normal. Now, if we could only get back in touch with our other friend who's kinda MIA.

It Finally Feels Like Winter

Woohoo... Snow!


Outside in The Snow with the family.


The munchkins enjoyed the day outside.




Teehee.. child labor

"Christmas, Christmas Time is Here..."

Ahhhh... I'm now happy. I have the place looking the way I want it (for this year).

Two days ago, I got the tree up and a few other decorations out. But I still wasn't completely happy. I felt I needed a few more touches. So today I got my hands on a coupon from Michael's and I went to town. The great part of it was that they were running a sale on ornaments, and decorative pieces. I went only slightly nutty. I walked out with a bunch of things and only spent about $30. Woohoo! So now my place is starting to look a whole lot merrier. I love it. I will not rest till the place looks like a Bavarian village damn it. One year at a time, one year at a time...

Then I'll get to start all over again once we get a house. Yeah, it'll be a while till then, but still. I have big plans. I fully plan on making my house a home that Martha would be proud and hopefully jelous of.

How Funny

I normally don't participate in phone surveys, but this place had been calling for the past three days finally I decided, why not, I'll see what they want. The lady seemed very nice and happy that I actually said yes. She said it was about television viewing habits. She then asked me for my age. Then I heard her say, "Oh noooo." As it turned out, I'm one of the few people who actually agreed to do the survey, but they already had all they needed for people in my age group. I can't help it, but that kinda made me laugh.