TGIF

Happy Weekend!

It's been a fairly busy week at work, but I hope I can make it through the weekend with a minimal amount of "free" work. Things are only going to get crazier in the next couple of weeks, so I have no idea how I'm going to handle everything, but I guess I'll just take it one day at a time.

In other news, Mercy's tooth is still pink. Totally forgot to give her her meds yesterday (bad mommy!), but we're back on track today. One day this week, I saw something shiny in the back yard and went to investigate. It seems that SOMEHOW my neighbors managed to get a Bud Light can in my yard, which the dogs attempted to devour. Ooh whee! This chick was not happy. First of all, Mercy already struggles with alcoholism. Second of all, do you know how sharp a chewed up aluminum can is? Apparently they didn't swallow any of it since they're still alive and all.

In other other news, I finally broke down and took my good migraine meds today after having a whole week worth of headaches and can I just say that after being in pain for that many days straight and forgetting what normal feels like...normal feels almost euphoric. It has not been a good month for headaches around here for sure. I was really hoping that I was seeing a trend (for the better), but this is just as bad as before I started preventative meds. It's probably stress and I'm not sure anything's going to fix that right now. Headaches really put a damper on zombie killing.

Mercy's Not the Only One with TMJ

I don't know if dogs can get TMJ, but if they can, Mercy has it. Her jaws pop so loudly when she yawns...and then I have to massage her widdle face for her. And then she looks at me all crazy.

But anyway, I asked my dentist if I might have TMJ that might be contributing to my headaches and he did a few tests on me and thinks I do. So I have to go back next month for a consultation on what to do about it. I'll tell you what I won't be doing: Getting my jaws wired shut. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to eat Girl Scout cookies with your jaw wired shut? I just don't want to find out about that. Even though it would clearly be a good weight loss plan for me.

I've apparently been thrown into the deep end with my work responsibilities, because all hell has broken loose this week. It's not any of the stuff I've assigned, but it is screwing up my process and making things difficult. Tonight is going to be a long night of delegating stuff and interrupting peoples'free time. I've even combined those two things once already tonight by delegating someone to call someone else and interrupt his free time. That, my friends is multitasking at its finest.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a few Girl Scout cookies to eat.

Invention Submission

You know that commercial that comes on TV with the caveman inventing the wheel? They're trying to get people to submit their inventions...probably so they can totally screw you over and take your idea without giving you credit for it, but I don't know. Anyway, I need to invent a vacuum attachment that works on lungs. I think it would have to be for a wet/dry vac though and I've never seen any specialty attachments for those. I obviously don't have all of the details worked out yet.

Anyway, pardon me if I hack up a lung. I'm not contagious.

Yesterday was just chock full of excitement. There was a gas leak near my workplace, so in their infinite wisdom, they instructed all of us to evacuate...which meant a thousand cars starting up and idling for 30 minutes trying to get out of the parking lot. And several people who didn't feel like jumping in their cars and sitting in traffic, so they just stood outside and smoked. During a gas leak evacuation.

Needless to say, we all survived unscathed. Sadly, the campus was opened back up for business today, so we had to go back. I actually had to evacuate just minutes before a conference call, so I called my boss and asked him to call in to the conference and let the customer know what was going on and see if we could reschedule. He said OK.

Did he do that? Judging from the e-mail I got from my customer, um...no. But the customer rescheduled for an hour later and I had JUST walked in my door and logged in when it was time to call in. It's so convenient to be able to work from home.

(See what I did there? I'm counting my blessings.)

In other news, the free library audio book download thing is working out splendidly. As a surprising twist, I actually remembered where I had stowed my MP3 player for safe keeping, and after that, it was all gravy. It makes my workday so much better when I listen to books as I work. I have briefly considered trying to listen to a book while reading a different book, but then I realized that was a crazy thought and ditched it. I think there's something wrong with me. If I'm listening to something, my eyes need to be busy too. As Frankie said, maybe I should just RELAX.

I'd Remove my own Sinuses if it Wouldn't Result in Bigger Sinuses

Since I've gotten home from work tonight, I've had terrible sinus drainage. It's a pity that this coincided with choir rehearsal, but I fought through it.

Anyway, the other day, a friend told me about the free sample page on the Wal-Mart website and I clicked on over and requested a sample of Zyrtec. How timely that it should arrive in my mailbox today! I'll have to remember to check the site periodically to see if they've got anything I'm interested in.

Now I will commence with the downing of allergy medicine, the spraying of the sore throat spray, and the revival of the neti pot. It is a geriatric-ish evening, for sure.

Let's hope I can knock this out before it turns into bronchitis this time. I'm still wheezing from the last time.

Having My Head Examined

Today I get to go to the neurologist to see if he can put me on some kind of plan to get rid of these pesky headaches. I would also like for him to tell me why my neck feels out of whack (of course after a straight week of it being all crazy, I've almost got it popped back in place now...just in time for him to say, "I can't see what you're talking about.") I think the two things are somewhat related, but maybe he can do an x-ray and see it or something. I can't feel the knot anymore by touch.

I am almost completely off my other "preventative" (not so much, really) medicine, so we can try something new. Maybe something that doesn't make me so stupid. That would be a great bonus. A mind is a terrible thing to lose. Especially now that I've finally got some work to do and I actually need my mind a little bit.

Now I have to go give myself a pedicure. If I remember the last time I went to the neurologist correctly, he ran some kind of thing under my foot to test my nerves. I should have told him that people touching my feet gets on my nerves, but that's probably not what he was looking for. At any rate, nobody is so much as gazing upon these puppies until they have a fresh coat of toenail polish. There's no sense in waltzing up in there like some kind of troll.

Treximet, Treximet, Ooh lala...

Why is it that every time I think of my new migraine medicine, I get the Tresseme jingle stuck in my head? It's not right.

Also, every time I type Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, I accidentally type Snow Flower and the Secret Flan first. That would be a totally different story. What would it be about? A Chinese girl who moves to Mexico (or Spain?) and carries on a secret love affair with a strangely textured dessert item? I don't know. But it's all beside the point anyway.

Anyway, I took my first Treximet today. I'm always a little hesitant to start a new triptan. I don't know why. Maybe it's the way I can feel it messing with the blood vessels in my head. Or the commercials that talk about how you could die from taking them. Or the way I feel after I've taken them.

They are miracle drugs though. If Relpax was a person, I'd make out with it. I'm just sayin'. Anyway, I was skeptical about the Treximet because it's basically Imitrex (which sucks -- if Imitrex was a person, I would punch it in the face) plus naproxen sodium, but something about the combination of the two drugs is supposed to make it work better. My verdict so far is that it knocked the headache out fairly quickly, but instead of actually making me pain free, it has made my shoulders and arms hurt so much. Migraine meds always do that to me, but this seems especially bad. Does that happen to other people? I feel like I've been carrying a load of bricks all day.

Various Updates

1. The puppy is alive. My sister decided that she couldn't bring herself to put her down just yet. She consulted with the vet and they are going to try her on crate rest and pain medication for 6 weeks to give her more time to heal. She'll be using a sling to help her walk when she takes her out for potty breaks. This dog is 9 months old and over 60 pounds, so...

2. My mom went to a diagnostic clinic this week to talk to someone about a tremor she's got and about some other issues she's been having. She called me today to tell me that the doctor told her she's got Parkinson's in stage 2. She seemed very upset about it, which I kind of get except she had already been diagnosed with Parkinson's before, so I guess I missed something. That's what happens when your family doesn't correspond/interact/etc. with you for weeks on end?

Anyway, the conversation went a little something like this:

Her: Well, they said I've got Parkinson's.
Me: Oh, OK, well at least you know what you're dealing with and hopefully they have some good ideas on how to treat it.
Her: You better just watch out because you're going to get it too. It runs in families and you already shake, so you've got it to look forward to and your life is going to be hell.
Me: OK...well, I guess I'll add that to the list. Did you tell your doctor that you worked around pesticides for a long time?
Her: Yeah, you inherited your momma's big butt and now this! Oh I showed her my work history and everything.

And you know what's funny? It totally didn't register that I had just been insulted until later in the day. I think this is due in part to my Topamax regimen (brain fog has set in BIG time) and in part to this kind of thing being commonplace. Usually she hits my sisters with it more than me maybe because I'm more apt to snap back without even batting an eye, but she totally slipped one in on me today. Score one for mom!

Such is life in Crazyville.

3. Did I mention the brain fog? Yeah. To the extent that I pick up the phone to call someone and if I don't get them and hang up the phone I can't remember if I've called them or if I've left them a message or if I've just thought about calling them. It's like Groundhog Day all day long in my head. And I just had an 8 day long headache in spite of it all. I'm still not up to the full dosage strength, but I'm going to tough it out until after I see my doctor again on the 10th. Up until the 8 day long headache, things were going swimmingly. Maybe now that I've broken out of that, things will go back to normal.

Also, if you try to have a conversation with me and I can't hold one, I'm sorry. I can think the words, but something gets lost between the thinking and the saying sometimes if I can't give the conversation my full concentration. I'm really smarter than I look. Or at least I used to be. :)

4. Because I never post pictures, here's a funny one. We decorated a coworker's cube for her birthday. Here is a picture of me with her new boyfriend. (Please note that he is NOT anatomically correct! He is not that kind of guy. What do you take him for?!) We did dress him later, but I didn't take a picture with him after I dressed him, so this is the best I could do.

Medicated and (Un)Motivated

I've been fighting sinus junk for over a week and after I coughed myself sick in the middle of the night last night, I decided to break down and go to the doctor.

Sinus infection and bronchitis, you know, the usual. (Are there people in the world who actually just get colds and get better? Or is that a myth?) I'm glad I'm not contagious, (I knew I wasn't b/c like I said, this is the usual.) but must my respiratory system fail me?

So I've procured some antibiotics and some Mucinex-D (Hate the stuff! Can't sleep when I'm on it.) I also asked about doing something different about my migraines. I take prescription stuff when I get one and it usually works pretty well, but it's about $25 per pill (ask me if I love my health insurance) and when you have migraines several times a week....let's just say it's not a great option.

So she put me on Topamax to try to prevent migraines. Anybody tried it? Thoughts about it? I'll start it tonight. I've got to work up to a maintenance dose, so I'll start out slow and get to the dosage she wants me on in about a month.

One of the side effects is weight loss. And this is a problem...how, exactly?! Sign me up for a double dose!

Just a Few Happy Things

1. Gummi-vitamins are not just for kids anymore! Jesus loves me, this I know! I can tell because he made some people invent gummi-vitamins for grownups. And they taste good! Squee! I will not eat the whole bottle in one sitting...I will not eat the whole bottle in one sitting. *Ahem* Now I can feel good about not eating vegetables. Not that I felt bad about it to begin with...

2. I am almost finished with Outlander. Just 150ish pages left. It's starting to be a little intense and it's stressing me out. Not really in a bad way, but sometimes I have to put it down for a few minutes so I can relax a little. I should be reading it right now, but instead I am here entertaining my publics. You're welcome (or I'm sorry).

3. Remember the dogs that I found abandoned not too long ago? Three or four part blog post, you read until your eyes glazed over and then you clicked elsewhere? Well, here's the update.

We continued to go out for awhile and try to catch "the one that got away." Shortly after we rescued the other dogs, David and Jennifer went out to feed him and discovered that he had found FOUR MORE stray friends. Let's do the math...that brought us to a total of 9 stray dogs. I think we all kind of went into "You've got to be kidding me" mode, but we talked to the good people at All About Labs and they said they could make arrangements for the additional dogs.

We tried again to capture the original dog and his new friends. His friends weren't any problem, but unfortunately Mr. Skittish eluded us again. It was heartbreaking to have to leave him there by himself AGAIN. The look on his face as we drove off with his friends was terrible, but we just couldn't get our hands on him.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the other dogs have been hanging out together and trying to keep cool in this heat. They've all been neutered,micro-chipped, vaccinated, and heartworm tested. Out of the eight dogs we brought in, only one was heartworm positive! Since heartworm treatment can be very hard on dogs, it was necessary for him to go into a foster home situation where he can be kept indoors where it's cool and he can be kept contained so he's not over-exerting himself. David and Jennifer took him home with them and he's settling in. I went to visit him today and he's so funny. He just lies on the floor sleeping mostly and occasionally paws at someone to get them to pet him. We hope his personality will come out as he gets adjusted to his new surroundings.

As an aside, I think David and Jennifer might have gotten hooked on animal rescue. Jennifer took another dog to the ranch just last week that someone had found abandoned. AND Russ (the heartworm positive dog) has a tag on his collar that says "Foster Dog 1"...big things could be afoot for their family. :) They are going to take great care of him while he's in their home (at least two months). You can see additional pictures and updates on their blogs (linked above).

The Goldenish female that was with the original group of dogs has recently been listed for adoption. You can see how beautiful she is now that she's all cleaned up here.

Could've at Least Bought Me Dinner

Today I hit that pivotal milestone in a woman's life. I had my first mammogram (someone cue Pomp and Circumstance). True, I'm "only" 30, but since my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, my doctor wanted to err on the side of caution and get me checked out early.

I am pleased to announce that my boobs did not "get stuck that way" which was a very vivid fear for me as they were flattened into nothingness. It's hard enough to find the right bra on a good day, but I imagined that it would be much more difficult if they were suddenly mashed into a permanent shark fin shape. Seriously, I feared something would rupture in there. Ouch!

I should have refreshed myself on Chelle's Tips for Enjoying Your Annual Mammogram. That Chelle is a smart woman.

I also got the joy of getting an ultrasound or two after the Mammogram, because when you're young, mammograms aren't always clear and they wanted to be super sure that everything was ok. I appreciate their thoroughness, but I might have to sell a kidney to pay my deductible ($1500, before my traditional health care coverage kicks in thankyouverymuch).

The good news is, all is well. The bad news is, I have to start going annually. Even so, getting felt up by total strangers and having one's boobs flattened into oblivion is a small price to pay for good health and peace of mind.

PetSmart Ramblings

Interaction witnessed in the fish department of PetSmart (imagine the most country accent you can think of for all participants):

10 Year Old Little Boy: Papaw! Is that a fish?
Papaw: Naw, that's a snail.
5 Year Old Little Girl: Can I hold one of them fish?
Pawpaw: Naw, we cain't hold the fish.

_____________

Funny. Anyway, this weekend we went to PetSmart to buy some new fish for Kevin's tank. Unbeknownst to me, the second Skeletor fish died at some point (after living with Kevin for about a year-nobody tells me anything!), so it was time for some new additions. We got two new guppy boys (Sparky and Jerry) and one guppy girl (Frieda) who we got for free because she was a semi-grown fry. She's a little shy, but the others have made themselves at home. We also got a new Black Mystery Snail (as of yet nameless) to try to help control the algae situation. And when I say situation, I mean SITUATION!

In other news, I got a haircut and my head feels 5 pounds lighter. I got probably 3 inches cut off, and I got the layers freshened up, so it doesn't feel so flat and heavy. I like it so far. I think it will dry faster now. Maybe I can abandon my "I'm running late for work and don't have time to finish blow drying, so I'll just turn the heat on in the car and use the vents to dry my hair" practice. We shall see!

The One in Which I Gross You Out

I think I have a condition called Trigger Finger. My pinky finger on one of my hands does not bend and unbend easily (especially when I'm asleep or just waking up), and when it does unbend, it does so with a snap...much like the videos at this link (but not quite as severe).

Trigger Finger Info

Am I secretly 85 and nobody bothered to tell me?

Donate to Breast Cancer Research by Commenting

Cass at Just Curious has announced that for each comment she gets on this post, she will donate $3 toward finding a cure for breast cancer. On top of that, her mother has said she will match the amount that Cass donates. But wait! There's more! Cass' husband's company is donating $3 per comment on top of what Cass and her mother are donating. How cool is that?! You can raise $9 for breast cancer research just by commenting on Cass' blog post. Go check it out!

Why I Avoid Going to the Doctor

So I broke down and went to the doctor today since I'm still not feeling well. I do not particularly like my doctor, but it's easier to get in to see a doctor that you have a history with on short notice. So I continue to see him.

Him: How are you doing?
Me: Well...if I were doing great, I wouldn't be here.
Him: *grabs tongue depressor*
Me: You can go ahead and put that away.
Him: Oh...alright. *realizes that I can flatten my tongue down so he can see if it means he's not going to put a tongue depressor in my mouth*
Him: OK. Have you had any fever?
Me: Yes...
Him: What's your temperature been running?
Me: Well, it's been -- *is cut off by doctor*
Him: Where are you feeling sinus pressure? blah blah blah *starts writing prescription*
Me: I haven't slept a whole night in a week. Is there any kind of cough syrup or something that you can give me that will help me sleep while it's making me better?
Him: No. Really the best thing for you to do would be to get some Mucinex D. It will relieve the sinus pressure and that will help you sleep.
Me: I've been taking that for a week and it really hasn't done anything for me.
Him: I mean take it in combination with this antibiotic I'm prescribing. Sudafed (the equivalent of one of the ingredients in Mucinex D) doesn't keep you awake does it?
Me: Well, I don't know, but I haven't slept a full night since I started taking it.
Him: OK, well just go get you some Mucinex D and take it along with this antibiotic.

Crack head! Someone remind me to go to a different doctor the next time I get sick.

Also, why did he prescribe me Augmentin ($40-something) when he could have prescribed me Amoxicillin like he has in the past ($4)? I appreciate that I only have to take Augmentin twice a day, but why would someone manufacture a pill that people with sore throats are likely to take and make it the size of a human head? Do you think I'm kidding? I'll take a picture...

OK. I did take a picture, but apparently even my phone camera gagged on those pills because it won't e-mail them to me. Anyway, they're 1 inch long and probably 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch wide. Disgusting! Anyway, this partially written post has been lingering in my drafts since Monday, so I'm finally posting it!

She Lives!

It was touch and go for awhile, but I think I'm going to make it.

If you ever have a horrendously sore throat (and of course you're not allergic to benzocaine), give Cepacol Sore Throat Spray a try. It says you only need one spray of it, but I used about 5 (one spray wouldn't cover my whole throat and I was in pain). Anyway, it helped me tremendously and the mint flavor isn't bad at all. I still have some sinus pressure, but maybe that will get better in the next day or two.

I took today off work and I must say that I could get used to being awakened from a nap by TheBoy delivering lunch to me.

A Fond Farewell

Aarrrrrrrrg! My throat is killing me, so I figured I'd bid you all adieu in case it actually really does literally (like that redundancy?) kill me. You have been good publics to me and when I'm reclining on my cloud and strumming my harp, I will remember you fondly.

In the meantime, I plan to live off of fruit popsicles, various painkillers, echinacea drops, orange juice, my neti pot, and some kind of throat "numbing" spray (I have my doubts...the chloroseptic I already had didn't do the trick!)

While we're on the subject of popsicles, why can't all popsicle sticks be made out of plastic. I cannot stand the wooden ones (they make me want to gag), so I'm actually eating my popsicle out of a bowl.

Share your home remedies for sore throat and sinus issues.

Too bad I didn't take my mom up on one of her many (MANY) offers of Darvocet (sp?) this weekend. She must have a mighty stash of those puppies because she offers everyone and their dog one anytime I'm around her and I know she wouldn't be giving them out if she didn't have plenty for herself stashed away. For those of you who don't know, my mom is the RX drug QUEEN. This weekend, Kevin and I actually brainstormed about a new drinking game wherein any time my mom mentions a medication by name, everyone has to take a shot. It would probably be over too quickly to be any fun though.

I am exhausted and feverish, so I must go make use of the neti pot and take some kind of fever-reducer.

Because I've Been Chastised

I know I've turned into a horrible blogger. I'm disappointed in myself, but life has been hectic.

1. Internet lockdown at work.
2. Absolute crazy brain-taxing busyness at work
3. Complete exhaustion by the time I get home from work
4. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ by 9:00pm...well, not always, but I could easily pass out wherever I happen to be at about 9 every night. I'm just tired through and through.

In fact, I have several things that I need to do in preparation for leaving town tomorrow and the idea of doing the simplest thing like loading the dishwasher right now makes me want to claw my insides out.

In other news, I went to the eye doctor for my 6 mo. post-op checkup, and he said everything looks good. He did offer to put some plugs in the little parts of the eye that drain liquid off of them (to keep them from being so dry all the time), but I am going to try some other stuff before I resort to that. One such "other stuff" is this ointment that's mineral oil and petroleum jelly. It's basically the consistency of Neosporin and I'm to pull down my lower eyelid and put a little dab of it in each eye before I go to sleep at night. Whee! Sleeping with Vaseline in one's eye is messy business. It doesn't stay in the eye, so by the time I wake up, it's all over my face. As if (apparently) not sleeping with my eyes all the way closed wasn't undignified enough, now there's this. Hold yourselves back, gentlemen -- I'm taken!

On a completely unrelated note, tomorrow is my great-nephew's first birthday. I can't believe he's been here a year already. He's walking, talking, mimicking animal noises and car noises...but he hasn't learned to say my name yet. Hopefully he will master that this weekend when I go see him. I'm bribing him with birthday gifts...maybe that will encourage him.

Quick Recap

Since I've been away:

1. I've attended one high school graduation.

2. I held a bunch of puppies.

3. I ran a mile in south Arkansas humidity and nearly threw up.

4. I put together a bed with no major injuries.

5. I endured some kind of crazy wind storm. Trees are down all over town.

6. I have consumed my body weight in sweet tea. Curiously enough, my body weight seems directly proportional to the amount of sweet tea I drink. I'll have to think about that.

7. I've gotten good news about my sister -- they got clear margins when they did her surgery, so she doesn't have to have any more surgery. Just radiation.

8. I've been swatted at by an evil cat.

9. Also, I've been foiled by the stinkin' "you have to dial the area code for in-town calls" thing one too many times. I do not like it, Sam I Am. I have already prank called at least 3 people on accident. One of those three people sounded like the devil when their voicemail urged me to "leave a message" so they could "steal my soul". No joke.

Tomorrow I am going fishing and I'm going to catch more fish than any of you, so nana nana boo boo. Also, my sister will be coming into town tomorrow night for graduation #2 and there will be a graduation party and some merriment.

I have still not seen the special baby in my life. He's out of town, so hopefully he will be back tomorrow night and we can work on him saying my name. Even if I have to encourage him to do so by singing some Destiny's Child to him. I'm not leaving here until it happens.

P.S. -- Litter boxes stink. I hate litter boxes. It's a little like crapping and peeing in a box and just letting it accumulate and sit around inside. Oh wait, that's exactly what it is! Can a person die from ammonia fumes?

Anyway, it's late and I should go to bed. The neighbors are getting a new roof and the roofers were outside my window at 7 this morning. I'm sure they'll be back in time to wake me up again tomorrow.

Slight Overpronation

I like shoes. Especially if they're cute. I went today to buy some new running shoes at the local specialty running shop. The lady watched me walk and figured out what kind of shoe I needed. Cuteness was not a priority of hers. I ended up with these puppies. They're not altogether beautiful, but the only other color she had in this type of shoe was this white/gold/python number. (No snakes were harmed in the making of that shoe!)

It sucks to spend that much money on a shoe that isn't fabulous. Maybe at least they will make me run fabulously. She also sold me some kind of crazy expensive blister cover things. Hopefully those will improve my quality of life.

The Day I Lost My Mind

I know, I know. Many of you are wondering how I could have possibly pinned down one specific day when I lost my mind. Others of you are wondering if I ever even had a mind, it's been gone for so long.

But I know that today I have officially lost my mind because I just signed up for a 5K. That in and of itself isn't that bad, but it's for this weekend. And I'm already signed up for a different one next weekend. It's as if I'm trying to off myself or something. I'm blaming it all on Hayden. Maybe the T-shirts will at least be cute. Maybe I can be buried in one if things go south.