Lessons learned?

I remember one night when the family was gathered to watch my favorite TV show - The Incredible Hulk -awesome!:). My stomach started acting strangely and I had a panicked realization that I was about to be sick. But I couldn't miss the show! I told Mom that I needed some ginger ale NOW! She came back with it pretty quick and I rushed to swallow it down. Of course it didn't work, just made things worse probably. I got sick in the middle of the living room.

I've often thought that maybe I just really didn't understand the signals my body was trying to send yet. That I didn't believe I was going to be sick, just that I was just a little out of it and thought the ginger ale would help. In reality, I didn't want to miss Lou's sweet green guy.

Flash forward a whole bunch of years to present day. Twangles of a migraine with a tinge of nausea. I'm much better at reading my body's signals. I'm not in front of Lou or even deep in a session online. I start with some ginger ale to "calm my stomach" and find myself almost reaching for a huge cinammon bun. "Maybe if I eat I'll feel better", I'm saying. What, really, has changed?

-----

J was going through some of my college pics and commented on how much he liked my hair with some curl.
Now, I haven't done anything to my hair but lop off dead ends since oh, 1995.
I had a bit of layering at my last trim, about a year ago.
I just really lean towards natural - it's easier and more me.

But he likes the waves, and if I want to experiement it'd best be now, well before the big day in October.
I go on Saturday.
I'm fascinated by how nervous I am. It's just a hairdo. The person doing it is trusted and has taste. And yet, I see myself with a bag over my head next Monday.

Check back for before and afters.

------
Finally - Sonny has yet to pony up any pics of his new place!!!

Peep!

J got me this super-soft "giant" (relatively) stuffed Peep - I love it! It makes me smile every time I see it!

Ran across someone the other day who had only recently had a fresh Peep - previously he had only had stale ones and figured that's what they were like. Oh, what he was missing!

Went to Jenny's Oscars party Sunday. It was a good, relaxing get together - with good food. I finally made the clay pot loaves I'd been meaning to make - the Constant Gardener's Garden Herb Bread pictured in her post. Personally, I didn't try the Turkish Delight because I was nervous about strings being attached....

Happy Pancake Day!!!

The Forgotten English calendar J got me for Christmas says there's an old British tradition of pancakes on the day before Lent.

Not quite Mardi Gras, but I do enjoy pancakes... I'm thinking dinner.

The nature of illness

Been meaning to write this for a while, just kept getting pulled off course.

For most of my adult life the vast majority of illnesses that I have encountered have either been based in a headache/ migraine, or accompanied by one. I guess it just made sense to me that sick=groggy or otherwise not with it.
I expected to come out of the anesthesia groggy and disoriented, but I was probably more alert and coherent than I normally am in the morning (even after I get to work). I slept a lot, but since I was clearheaded I didn't think that anything else was up.
Until I stopped sleeping and started trying to get around. My head kept telling me "duh, you had surgery", but my subconscious was sending another message. It took me a couple of days to figure out what the boundaries were and then I still didn't get it totally right. Now, almost 2 weeks later (at 2 weeks I can work out again and will really start on the road to wedding dress killer toning), almost halfway through what I'm terming the healing period, I understand a bit more what happened.
Interesting the filter a recurring issue can put on things, and at such a visceral level.

In other news, I plan to post some pics soon...Loving the creativity of the wedding thing, but right now, I don't really have pics or solid solutions to share. As I do, they'll show up here.

Good luck to Sonny on the move.
Later.

Thanks to loved ones

I have an awesome fiance who is taking excellent care of me as I get over this - and is feeding me prime Valentine's gifts - "Indestructable Love" Hulk chocolates, Hot Pepper Raspberry preserves, Strawberry Rhubarb preserves, a single rose for the bedroom and a dozen for the living room! :) Best of all is just his being there and being so supportive.

Also extremely grateful the 'rents are nearby - it really helped to have them around during all this and Mom fed me very well!

Want to go to sleep, but I'm in the office for some weird reason.

Recouping

At home recovering from minor surgery yesterday. Not too big a deal, I guess, but still a freaky experience. Walking into the operating room, unable to see very clearly because glasses were left behind,climbing onto the table, looking at the monster lights and faces watching me as others tied me down (so I would slide off) and started the leads for the equipment. The team was excellent and I had no negative effects from the anesthesia. Now, I'm just a bit sore. Standing and sitting upright can only be done in little bits. But it's done. We'll see at the follow-up the official results, but hopefully the whole business can be put out of mind for 6 months or so.
So I can get back to wedding stuff! And reading.

Book #6 - The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Very enjoyable and heartwarming, even though at times a tale of hardship and society's wrongs. The women are strong and wonderful and the breaking down of color barriers a very good thing. Plus, I love honey. I want Mom to read this because it's good, but also because she spent some time in NC back then, at a similar age...

Need to go lay down now.

Just beyond my reach

Last night I had a wedding planning dream. In it, I came up with the perfect idea. "That's it!" I cried, "Eureka!" A little while later, I stirred back to reality to pet a cat or something and settled back into the same dream, but the idea was gone. I don't even remember for certain what it was for. Bummer.

Tissue issue

Molasses is a carrier. Toys that he enjoys are picked up and toted around and ultimately in end up in one of his "special places", various caches around the house (I know of 3 right now). That's all well and good and pretty smart and cute. But now he has discovered toilet paper.

This was waiting for us in the kitchen when we got home from Kenn and Jenn's Super Bowl party. Not only had he found a random roll to shred, one of these was actually on the holder - we found that disassembled in the living and dining rooms.

Poses a bit of a dilemna - here's a product you really need close at hand, but which you have to keep hidden or else it gets stolen and shredded.

Happy news, in our thoughts, and general restlessness

Welcome to Lauren Rose, Tina's new baby girl - born Sunday 1/29 at 2.2lbs!
Continued best wishes and thoughts for Tina and Lauren - hopefully both will be home soon,in loving arms!

Thoughts also for Sherry (hope I spelled it right)- Sonny's bandmate Geoff's wife - as they work through an illness, too.

Otherwise, I have so many ideas for the wedding, I'm busting at the seems. Meeting with the facility today only brought up more possibilites. And the weather is gorgeous. Revising papers and powerpoints? How could anyone focus?

Ah, well, only 1 hour to go....

Looking forward to ditching at least one "ancient" tool

We've finally given up on dial-up and will be getting DSL next week! This is huge, especially when it comes to being able to do wedding planning - registry, guest list management, honeymoon planning, website development - from home! I'm excited.
Maybe one day we'll get cable, but I don't really care about that.
What I might get before the honeymoon is a cell phone so I can get some pics to Flickr before coming home....

One step at a time, though.

Bad Decline and Other Boston stuff

Ahhh, just finished listening to "our" song - :) - BBVD "Still in Love with You"

Book #5 (finishing the catchup on my recent reading binge...it'll slow greatly after this) - Civilwarland in Bad Decline by George Saunders. Initially, I was curious about this, as Saunders is from the Rochester area and it got strong reviews. Then Sonny said he really liked it. I'm afraid it's just not me. I can do dark. But consistently, story after story? Every story was set in some extremely depressed future version of the US, many take place in run-down amusement park recreations of nature or history, gang violence has crumbled society - it's just all so ... down. At least in the novella, Bounty, it's not all absolutely miserable, though you might expect it to be.



Boston was a good trip. Dinner and hanging with Sonny and Pam was the highlight - as the work brought extreme stress for a good 10 hours and much exhaustion thereafter. Still, good work got done despite the mess. Sonny, Pam, and I went out for Mexican food and then did some CD shopping. I think that prevented from utterly losing my sanity. Thanks!

Falling leaves and more books

J got me a scrapbook punch of a maple leaf a while ago. I thought fall colored leaves would be nice as a part of table decorations and maybe accents to other wedding things, so I've begun to punch. I started in Boston - it's easier while away because I have a ton of other things that I tend to fiddle with at home.

Book #3 - Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis - Dan and I are both reading the Narnia books, but in different orders - I am re-reading my old copies and Dan has the new hardbound compilation. The new edition re-orders the books according to the timeline within them, but I refuse to concede and will continue reading them in the order they were written. Makes more sense to me. Man, was Susan a wet blanket (to put it nicely) in this one!

Book #4 - A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K Hamilton. There were things I really liked about this book and things that made me wonder why I was reading it. It's pretty much a pulpy detective/sex novel - and sometimes it even tried to hard to be that - the opening is so blatantly that of a pulp detective novel that I cringed - if she were making fun of it that'd be one thing, but that really seemed the tone she serously wanted. What kept me reading and lured me in was the faerie twist. I loved that the romance and intrigue were amplified by magic and unusual appearances. Nice variety there! Still not enough, I gave it a shot, but won't buy the next.

Book #2

Book #2 - I'm Not Scared by Niccolo Ammaniti. A gripping account of desperation and deception. Told by an adult from his 9-year old perspective, I found it very hard to set the book aside. The characters are strong, often conflicted, and very real. It carries you right through to the end. (SPOILER NOTE: If you follow the link above, the editorial review gives practically everything away - I hate that!) An excellent read!

Sunday J and I went for a long walk in our neighborhood and a nearby park, then came back for tea, snacks, and movies. A most excellent Sunday! :)

Catching up (1)

Seems like I'm always catching up...
Wedding things are starting to fall into place - I now have a date, a time, a place, a dress on order, a photographer, Mom's dress, a MoH and her dress - pretty decent progress and getting closer to teh fun, creative stuff, that I'm hoping I can get Jenny's help on!

Read a lot this past week - finished a few I was close on and read a bunch while in Boston last week for work. Here's a start:

Book #1 2006 - Bellows Falls by Archer Mayor. I'm not all that fond of crime/mystery novels in general. This was in my pile because it has many strong depictions of life in VT, J's home state. What bothered me about the style was that one moment he tried to use a ton of police jargon (BOL for "be on lookout" was a favorite), but the next he has cops doing things they never would, like using verbose, complex sentences on the radio during a chase.

Another post later today with more books and little things. Then Boston pics, dinner with Sonny and Pam, weird wedding pressures, etc. later this week....

Well....

Have been a bit distracted the past week. Had a lot of people to call and email, a lot of fact finding to do. You see,

J and I are engaged!!!!!

This is very huge and very exciting and I'm still quite giggly about it while talking/ writing the tale...
HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

I'm so happy, we're so happy. This is going to be the start of an incredible new chapter.
So, how'd it happen? We were out to eat at a nice restaurant, courtesy of gift certificates from J's Aunt Lisa. After the meal, we were chatting and trying to figure out if we should have dessert (my vote=yes, I like to end on a sweet note, J's vote=no, don't want to be too full), when he took my hand, stood me up, came to my side and went down on one knee. Total shock. I get shivers even writing about it. This was followed by applause and a lady at the next table hugging us repeatedly.

We're planning on early October, so I'm scrambling to secure a place, which means pricing a lot of options. I'd like simple yet elegant, but unique at the same time. I think we can get there. This weekend we start visiting sites and I hope to have it nailed in the next week.
I've created a website for the wedding, but that's mostly for guests, so I'll just be sure to get the cool stuff, milestones, creative moments that make me especially proud in here.
:) :)

Finally - the latest books

Well, I won't get to 50, but I might get to 40! Here are the latest:
Book #36 - The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander - To be added to the pile of books I'd like to read with my kids -another fun adventure!
Book #37 - Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman. Mom lent this to me to read years ago. The format was kind of interesting, all the various interactions and documents rather than just a narration. The whole issue of rules that exist only for rules' sake and the bureaucracy that keeps her from really getting a chance to TEACH came up over the holiday, too, but I can't remember how. I didn't quite see what finally made up her mind, I thought that was what she'd do, but didn't really see the why from the story. I do plan to lend this to a friend who teaches - she'll probably identify with it even more closely.
Book #38 - Shopgirl by Steve Martin. While I liked his story and his characters, I found the writing style way to simple and pretty distracting. I had the existence of the movie in mind as I read it and that meshed, because the book seemed to read more like a script to me. The "backstory" and character development was very disjointed from the action - much like asides or setup paragraphs before a scene. That said, the movie might be cute - I'll add it to my very long queue.
Book #39 - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis - another re-read spurred by a film, but I actually got to this 2 days before seeing the flick. I really enjoyed these books as a kid. As with Coraline, this is high on my list for books for my kids and it too has more depth than The Black Cauldron. I found the movie an excellent interpretation, which kept much of the same tone of the original. One thing the movie didn't do that the book did, and I'm grateful to the movie for this, was the trumped up "court" speech of the 4 right before they find their way back to the Wardrobe. That was annoying. Plan to reread Prince Caspian soon.

In the midst of chaos, peace

We had a marvellous holiday, that's not over quite yet for J and I - we do our Christmas celebration late because we separate to our respective families on the actual holiday. Some memorable moments:
Tipsy Turkey -deep fried turkey, yummy corn casserole, and all sorts of other goodies plus excellent company, as always at a Jenny event
At least a day and a half baking in the kitchen - trying new things along with carrying out long-standing traditions (since 3rd grade I've made white bread every Christmas eve) - and enjoying the happy faces of those eating the results!
Time with family, both at Mom's and at our house - I hosted my first Christmas day and I think it went really well! :)
Delaying the Christmas card until I could get a decent shot of Murphy and Molasses getting along!
Eagerly awaiting a night of baked brie, caviar, and other treats, in front of the fire, opening and giving gifts with J and the kittens....

:)This time of year always makes me smile!

It's about time!

I feel like it's been forever since I've written and have a ton to tell - I'll likely break it into several small posts throughout the day....

First, an update on the kittens! The tension has eased immensely. They still fight and it can get a bit vicious -we often find Molasses with Murphy fur in his claws or teeth - but not so bad that the attitude/ lifestyle of either is cramped in any way. Most of the craziness happens as I get ready for work and right before bed. They're good guys and I think my family really took to them on Christmas (that's the next post). I'll post pics later, too....

Murphy is very intrepid. As I was putting lights on the Christmas tree about eye level, the tree shook a bit and suddenly there was a ball of orange fuzz at that very spot! He's not scared by much... Molasses is a super sweetie who's determined not to let his little brother out kitten him....

It's interesting, we're learning quite a bit from them - things that get us thinking about how we might parent. I also see strong echoes of childhood past - where siblings, despite more than a dozen "favorite" toys laying about, have to play with the exact same one at the same time, for example.

Detente

We brought Molasses home last night. The extremely mellow, quiet guy J had met showed his true "I'm still a kitten" stripes - we had a pony romping around the house and meowing constantly for attention. Sweet, crazy little Murphy kitten was not his usual self - very cautious, on guard - even though it looked like he had the spunk to take Molasses down, despite size.

Mom had said they'd fight.
Given our mushy hearts, though, we stressed. That we might have lost the Murphy we had just gotten to know. That Molasses wouldn't bond with us. That the two would never get along and we'd be stuck monitoring 2 nervous wrecks with claws from here on out.

I slept on the loveseat to keep Molasses company downstairs. J got the bed and Murphy upstairs.

True, this morning the chase was more playful, less evil and they spent more time setting, only slightly on edge, in the same room. I keep telling myself to give it a bit of time before stressing, but I also see it breaking J's heart.

Here's hoping we can draw up a treaty tonight.

Who did I get mad?

The evening was going well. It was a long insane day, but I felt good as I picked up a few things at the grocery store. Then it all changed.
I rang up my basket - $30. I had $15 in cash, but couldn't find my credit card. Thinking it might have gotten loose in my work bag, I headed back to the car.
There, I went through my bag several times, no card. It had been left out at home after trying to buy something online.
So, I head back into the store to cut my order back within what I could pay in cash. That settled, I can finally get home for the evening.
At my car, my keys are safely locked inside, as is my cell.
I trudge back to the store (oh, yeah, it's about 20 degrees out) and suddenly have to throw out my hands against the hood of a minivan that's intending to pull through ME to park.
She apologizes. I ask if she has a cell, but no. I contiue on.
She finds me in the store trying to figure out how to find the number for AAA and offers me a ride home to get the spare key. Round trip made, car breached, home for the night, everything's finally OK.

This morning, I head downstairs for breakfast while J showers. My slippers slide and I fall down a good portion of the main stair on my butt/back. Good morning!
J dallies, but is always 2 minutes from the shower, so I can't get in until way late. Shower and then can't find the clothes I'd planned to wear. Every combo I can find looks horrible and I end up leaving 5 minutes before my first meeting of the day still not pleased with my outfit. I have two other wardrobe "incidents" before I even get to my desk.

So, the question is, who did I tick off and how can I fix it?