Queen B

Archive for the ‘Big time stuff’ Category

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The life cycle, Frank style

In Big time stuff, Healthy shmealthy on October 25, 2011 at 2:49 pm

The other day my daughter found a dead Robin (#1) in the back yard.  When dear husband went to “help it fly into the woods” the following morning, he found another dead bird (sparrow, he said, but he knows nothing of birds so in reality it could’ve been a wren or chickadee or a damned hawk for all I know) on the back patio.  Sad, for sure.  We wondered if any of the neighbors had recently spread insecticide or something because of a similar occurrence related to insecticide at the old house resulting in mass death of birds and frogs.  It was carnage and it still bothers me.

As a side note, my husband commented that birds do not launch into the woods quite as readily as small critters with fur.  Just so you know.

Yesterday as I was sitting quietly in the kitchen minding my own business, a Robin flew so hard into the glass door that I jumped and yelled “OH GOD!” thinking instantly that I had figured out what happened to the dead Robin (#1) and possibly the “sparrow” as well.  When I looked, the current Robin (#2) was sitting on my deck, right by the slider window looking extremely stunned.  I was shocked to even see it upright, the impact was so loud.  Then it opened it’s beak and started panting (which I’m pretty sure birds don’t actually do) and other things that I can’t repeat and certainly couldn’t watch.

I left the room for the bird to either recover or die, neither of which I could be a part of.  I certainly couldn’t sit and watch it die, if that was the direction things went (and it looked as if that was how it was going).  It made me cry.  I don’t think I’m so good with death.

After I cried it out,  I did one of those peek-between-your-fingers-type looks and I found that the bird hadn’t died.  It actually ended up shaking it off and flying away after about 45 minutes while the kids and I watched in amazement!  Go figure.

This morning I got up extra early for my blood work and mammogram.  I had to fast from last evening.  Not even a drop of water!!  I can’t tell you how many times I woke up with my entire mouth dry and stuck together, needing a drink of water last night.  I know it’s negligent to say that I am not entirely certain what all the blood was being tested for, but they took no less than 7 full test tube vials full.  It was a lot.  In fact, I don’t know that any testing has taken that much blood from me.  Not even all the zillion tests the rheumatologist ordered.  It was confirmed by the phlebotomist today that I have small veins.  Great.

One thing I asked for was the CA125.  I have a friend, you know.

Immediately following the blood-letting, I was led to radiology.  I had my very first ever mammogram during breast cancer awareness month, ironically.  No, I didn’t plan that.  Those images sure can look scary to the untrained eye when you’re standing there half naked and unsure.  The woman told me that she only needed four images, and then she took six with no explanation.  That didn’t help with the uneasiness, of course.  We shall see what comes of it when the Dr. give me a call.

The good news is that I get to make lots of new blood.  The bad news is no cookies.

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Not dead yet

In Big time stuff, Healthy shmealthy on October 21, 2011 at 2:36 pm

I made it through the dreaded Dr. appointment, and it didn’t kill me.  Surprisingly.  Of course, he ordered a bunch of tests that I’m not thrilled about, but only because I’m a big baby and I don’t like to give away any of my blood.  Unless it’s voluntarily, and even then only because I’m sick of that old blood and I’m in the mood to produce some new blood.  OR I see that if I do they’ll give me a cookie.  The LAB never offers me a cookie for my blood, in fact they don’t even graciously accept my compliment when I tell them that they are a good phlebotomist because their abuse on my veins didn’t even actually hurt that much.  Even though I insisted that a baby sized butterfly needle be used, and still appear pale and clammy from the procedure.  You’d think they could cut a sister a break and be gracious.

On Tuesday, I’m going to withhold my compliments (assuming that they don’t hurt me, of course) until they offer me a cookie.  We shall see who cracks first.

(Based upon the fact that they are testing my blood sugar, the odds are not in my favor.)

I’ve been absent, don’t you know?  Maybe it wasn’t even recognized.  I’ve been consumed by my other endeavors.  Some good, such as working on my photography skills (no examples as my practice subject matter is as exciting as photographs of my steering wheel and handicapped signs while my girl kicks a ball) and joining the gym (swimming A LOT), and some not so great such as my previously mentioned doctor appointment and mundane activities including mulching the leaves from the yard with the lawnmower, working, and cooking meals.  Is it me, or do the mundane take up an inordinate amount of time?  Life seems so lopsided sometimes.

With the frost last night, I can safely assume that the sun tea season is officially over.  It has been suggested that I purchase some of those special light-bulbs to combat S.A.D. sad as the dark season closes in.  So far that hasn’t happened, but I have not missed the clues.  I’m star gazing in the morning on my way to work rather than joyfully watching the sun rise.  Also, my right hand is cold all the time and without relief.  But, these things are all tolerable and I’m not sure a special light-bulb will matter.

In related news, my Rheumatologist is leaving the area.  I got a letter from her as I was walking out the door for my doctor appointment, remarkably.  That only means that if I decide to revisit all of that auto immune nonsense again it will be like starting over.  Which… ugh.

What’s that about a continued Dr. hiatus?  Why, yes, I don’t mind if I do.

We’ll let the phlebotomist and lab techs be the judge of that.  I better get a damned cookie.

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In case you were wondering

In Big time stuff on September 19, 2011 at 4:09 pm

My new theme song: Price Tag by Jessie J., featuring B. o. B

It’s a little sad and inspiring all in one. Listen to it.

Miss you guys!

20110919-041344.jpg

For those of you who can’t quite make this out, it’s my daughter’s face on the “flyers” posted all over the entry to her disco party last Saturday night.  I think my mom had that left hairstyle in the late 70′s, and CC looks just like her superimposed on that rockin’ style. Of course the middle one could literally be my Senior picture.

And yes, it DOES say featuring DJ Corn Flakes at the bottom, which would be my husband.

If you can’t laugh at yourself….

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Good Morning Sunshine!

In Big time stuff, Photography on August 26, 2011 at 3:54 pm

I work very early.  As in leave the house before sunrise early.  One morning last week I realized that I get to witness the sun rise every single morning.  A stunning realization, and honestly the main reason I am able to get out of bed at 4:30am day in and day out.

I started taking a sunrise pic somewhere along my route every day with my iPhone (which isn’t great for capturing the very best colors or giant red suns low in the horizon, but makes instant sharing far too easy to cast aside in favor of the big girl camera), so that I could share the awesomeness of sunrise with my husband, kids, and mom.  Some days are better than others (depending upon the cloud cover and where I’m at en route when the sun actually starts making its show).  Today, what was lacking in clouds for color reflection was completely made up for in foggy mist.  I heart foggy mist in the morning.

Happy Friday, and I hope that everyone is able to find that magical twinkle that gets them out of bed in the morning!

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A good life

In Big time stuff, Serious Fun on August 6, 2011 at 10:43 pm

Isn’t living a good life the best revenge?  I think it is.

I can do one better.  I have a great life.

Yesterday was my 41st birthday, and I spent it with my absolute favorite people on the whole planet.  Doing fun stuff together which ended up NOT including the Lollapalooza festival.  You know, plans change.

It went down like this:

My husband won two tickets for each of the three days of the festival from a local radio station.  We decided quite some time ago that if it was an either/or situation, he would take our son because the two of them know more of the bands and are more interested in that stuff than myself or my daughter.  If we could swing it, we planned on either winning (hopefully) or buying another three-day pass for me and getting a hotel room for the weekend to have a whole weekend birthday celebration (kids 10 and under are free to Lolla so it would have worked out with just three tickets).  Then we saw the jacked up prices on the hotels.  Ridiculous!!  Plans changed and we instead decided to sell off our Saturday and Sunday tickets, use some of that money to purchase a Friday ticket for me and head down for my birthday proper.  The hubby didn’t want to split up on my birthday.

When we arrived, it was a madhouse.  We hadn’t won a ticket for me, and we couldn’t find anyone selling them, either.  The line to get inside looked like it was taking at least an hour.  AND we could see the crowds inside, and they looked brutal, even early.  Oh, add to that the text I had gotten from my mom about flash mob race riots (against my race, incidentally) in Milwaukee and the levels of alcohol consumption by the people not yet inside the festival (very high) and it was an easy decision to sell off those last two tickets.  For a profit, of course.

Instead we kicked around the city on the $$ made from won tickets.  Hit my favorite vegan diner, an awesome guitar shop, and watched a funny movie.  My husband was sweet to me, and has treated the entire weekend as a holiday.  Lovely.

I got the right one.  For sure.  Not that there was ever any doubt.

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Finally

In Big time stuff, Nothing to it but to do it on July 4, 2011 at 11:14 pm

We have FINALLY gotten the basement refrigerator fixed.

Now we can get some real work done around here!  It’s not natural, this dry method we’ve been forced to become accustomed to.

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He’s Baaaack

In Big time stuff on June 24, 2011 at 9:06 pm

I forgot to mention that my husband lived through his flight back to the America.

In coach.  I’m sure he survived just barely.

Cry me a river, he got to see Freddie Mercury’s old house.

As my daughter would say (in front of the entire family on Christmas morning):  Bloody hell!

Color me GREEN.

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We’re f*’d

In Big time stuff, Nothing to it but to do it, Punishment for what? on June 7, 2011 at 12:04 am

My husband and I decided today that we both need to be working every single free moment of every single day between now and July 16 to be ready to host my son’s graduation party or we’re f*’d.  Except I didn’t abbreviate when I was talking to Craig.  And then we laughed, because we both know we’re f*’d either way, and it’s pretty typical.

So in that vein, this is my day:

4:40am :  swear at the alarm clock.  swear word should not be how I start my day.  but it is.

5:20am:  holy crap, get out the door!

6:03am:  OK, only a tiny bit late.  if I hadn’t been behind that gravel truck the entire ride I would’ve been early.

8:00am:  feed me, I’m melting!

11:00am:  rush of energy, I’m off like a prom dress.  my coworkers just love it when I say that on my way out.

12:00pm:  run to the orthodontist to get more rubber bands for the boy.  it is ungodly hot because i’m not accustomed.

12:30pm:  spackle the drywall screw holes in the basement.  sucks.  i think he used a million screws plus four.

4:00pm:  freak out and string together a sentence consisting entirely of swear words when I realize that a carpenter bee has started drilling a new hole in the BRAND NEW SIDING my husband put up but didn’t yet stain.

4:15pm:  craft an entirely new and equally impressive sentence of swear words when I can’t find the house stain in our ridiculously disorganized and messy garage.  make mental note that in addition to the other million plus thirteen projects, we should clean the garage.  curse the missing paint.

4:20pm:  notice zinnia seeds have sprouted!  the neighbors probably think i’m crazy when i start to jump up and down.

4:30pm:  kick can of paint while washing the spackle knife in the laundry tub.  do a little dance.

4:40pm:  kill that f*cking carpenter bee who has the nerve to come and start drilling into my siding while I’m trying to paint it!  do a new dance, that makes eight kills.

4:45pm:  dance around in a panic when the ants start biting me because I’m standing on an ant hill while attempting to paint the siding.  Hate. Ants.

5:30pm:  clean up from house paint, move on to trim paint to paint over the old cream (when was this house cream?) trim paint that was exposed when we moved the gutters.

6:00pm:  clean the danged old paint brush again!

6:15pm:  edge the impatient bed with stones I have laying willy nilly in a flower bed, plant more impatients in the bed from whence I removed the rocks ~ it’s all a delicate dance around here.

7:00pm:  make my husband walk around so I can point out all the work I did.  expect praise.  didn’t get nearly enough.  Pfffft.

Cook dinner, clean up from dinner, empty and reload dishwasher, wrangle children, send long overdue emails.

Rest while husband takes his diy shift.

12:01am:  feel guilt for writing blog post instead of working.

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What a day

In Big time stuff, Healthy shmealthy, Punishment for what? on March 19, 2011 at 11:15 pm

It was a perfectly lovely day today, wasn’t it?

It made me think that I should run outdoors.  I have since decided that running = the perfect way to ruin my perception of a perfectly lovely day.

It did make it a tad easier to order a cheeseburger for dinner, though.

My daughter has been sick for a week and a day today.  First it was a fever, then coughing, and then vomiting.  Now we have a lingering cough with occasional vomiting induced by gagging due to the coughing.  It’s not been a lot of fun, in case you were wondering.

She is my main running partner, but coughing and running are not a good match so she rode her bike to keep me company.  It was really nice to have company, and in all honesty I probably would’ve quit running a million times if she hadn’t been circling me on her kick ass retro red bicycle.  At some point I reminded her that if I passed out in the road, she would need to fish my phone from the pocket of my windbreaker and call 911.  It was that bad.

I’ve decided that my poor eating habits are having a serious impact on my running.  And by that I mean a negative impact.

You’re welcome for the clarification!!!

I’m weighed down (in more ways than one), sluggish, and slow.  It makes it more painful, much more difficult, and less enjoyable.

I may have just had an epiphany, in case you didn’t notice.

Dammit.

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I try

In Big time stuff on January 24, 2011 at 12:12 am

Here is something to know about me.

If I say that I will help you, please know that I will do everything that I can to keep my promise and help you.  I will recommend you for a job, I will send emails on your behalf, I will make phone calls, I will cook you a meal, I will give you a ride, I will throw you a party, I will give you a recommendation, I will throw you some business, I will hold your hand, I will write you a letter, I will carry you on my back if I am having a good back pain day.  You name it.  BUT, I can’t compromise one person’s needs for another, so sometimes there’s only so much that can be done.

Regrettably, I have heard the saying ‘No good deed goes unpunished.’ Many times.  I’ve lived it.

Some days my back hurts too much to carry people around, anyhow, but I’ll still try.

Today there is something that I can do.  Something so small.

I have a very nice friend that could use a hand.  She is involved in a link up competition for the best home cooking blog on Apartment Therapy.   It would be great if you could help a girl out, and click on the link and throw her a nomination.  Please?!  For me?!  Need to check her out first just to be sure (because you don’t want to take my word on it? dang…)?  You can check her out her Seaweed Snacks food blog if you doubt me.

Please go to the Apartment Therapy website, register, and then comment in the following format (you can copy and paste if it’s easier!):

Name:  Seaweed Snacks

URL:  http://seaweedsnacks.blogspot.com

That’s it!  So super easy, right?  You will feel so good about yourself when you’re done, of course.  Who doesn’t feel good helping someone out just because you can?

Someday I’ll throw you a party in return, to show my appreciation!

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