Hey there

Life this week (following a family party on Sunday)  has consisted of medical stuff, errands, present wrapping, and lots of time home alone.  I was ready for the break to be over by the end of the day on Monday.  That’s how long I lasted.

Tomorrow, I’ll see my primary care doctor to get kidney ultrasound results and also discuss the heartburn that has grown into a huge problem this week (so uncomfortable — likely caused by my thyroid meds, but it’s not like I can just stop the thyroid stuff, so…).  After that, my focus will shift to the worship and family time that will be the joy of my week!

Hope all of you are having a good week and ready for Christmas!  May your days be merry and bright.

Will she break?

I’m on break now from teaching.  For three weeks.  THREE WEEKS!

I’m pretty sure that I’ve never had a three week break from working (other than due to medical circumstances).  And given that I thought the five-day weekend over Thanksgiving was too long of a break, I’m not sure how I’ll manage three weeks without a schedule and still be sane!

I know, I know, cry me a river.

I am putting together some activities — besides medical appointments, I am getting together with some friends (to visit, to go to a movie — Princess Frog!) and, of course, we have family plans on Christmas Eve and Day.  I also have a list of work that I want to do to get ahead for winter semester.  What I need though is a huge project, like scanning every photograph that I’ve ever taken or something!  Or interviewing everyone in my family for a tell-all book.  *laughs*

So, we’ll see.  If I’m insane come January, well, I told you so.

Accessories

Inquiring minds (and you know who you are!) want to know… what will I wear with my dress for the Ball?

Ummmm, how about hightop sneakers and a cowboy hat?  JUST KIDDING!

Shoes… I have patent leather shoes (which will hardly be visible with that long dress).  They are comfortable for dancing!

Jewelry… This is a challenge.  The necklace I wear every day isn’t going to work with that dress (the chain is too long, and it just doesn’t look right with the dress anyway).  What would probably look good are diamonds or pearls, neither of which I have.  If I go without a necklace, I will probably wear gold hoop earrings.  But then…I have to wear my medic alert bracelet which is stainless steel.  Sigh… Let’s change the subject… *laughs*

Hair things… My aunt is treating me to a hairstylist appointment.  I have really pretty hair combs that are black with lots of sparkles, and they looked fabulous in my hair on the only other occasion I’ve had my hair done this century.  So those are a possibility.

Purse… There will be no cute little clutch purse because I have to bring my electrolyte drink, so I may just carry my usual bag (with the water bottle holder) and stick it under the table. 

Make-up… Yeah right, like I even know how to put on make-up!  If my aunt wants to try to make me up, more power to her.

Am I missing anything? 

Oh, Camera… That’s my most important accessory!  I will bring at least one of my digital cameras to the event, to be sure to capture the fancyness!

Zooplankton

I am running out of steam for NaBloPoMo *huff, puff* which further proves to me that my blogging days are numbered.  But I have a very important question:

Do you think I’m qualified to identify crustacean zooplankton?

LOL!

Do dah do dah do, Inspector Gadget

My mission this weekend, should I choose to accept it (and I really have no choice), is to get my apartment ready for the city inspector coming on Tuesday.  *runs away and hides!*

I know they aren’t coming to inspect my housekeeping abilities, but given that I’ve been sick for 7 of the last 9 weeks, my apartment is a little, umm, … disheveled.  I would honestly be embarrassed to have a stranger see it at this point.  And I have a couple of small city code violations, including a cable cord strung across a room (which is a tripping hazard) and cardboard boxes right up against walls in my closet (which I suspect are a violation because of mold risk??).  Mostly, I’m using the inspection as a good reason to get things cleaned up around here and put away summer stuff, etc., etc.  It will be good to have this done before the holidays!

I will carefully select five high energy and cheerful CDs to put in my CD player today, and I’ll clean, clean, clean.  I’m hoping to get the bathroom, bedroom, and walk-in closet done today.  Tomorrow and Monday, I’ll tackle the living space and kitchen.

With any luck, I’ll have a sparkling clean apartment on Monday!  And I’ll be smiling from listening to great music all weekend!   What is it that I always say?  Music is the very best part of cleaning! 

Modern wonders

I’m at the university right now, doing some work on my laptop.  When I got here, I remembered that I didn’t take the West Wing DVD, which I had been watching last night, out of my laptop DVD drive.  And it occurred to me that I could watch West Wing on my computer while I ate lunch!  That seemed like such an entirely novel thing to me!

Think about that in relation to what would have been possible 30 years ago.  No laptop, no way to record things off TV (well, maybe some early VCRs by that point but still…).  And now I can watch a TV show without a TV, years after it was actually on TV, and on a computer that isn’t even hooked up to electricity at this moment.

Maybe I’m just in a mood to be awed today, but I just find that really remarkable what a change has occurred in my lifetime.

11.10.9

Earlier this year, on some random Tuesday (maybe in March?), I was inundated with greetings from people wishing me…umm…Happy Prime Number Day!  Or something like that.  I don’t even remember anymore.  It was apparently announced on both national and local radio that it was a special day for some math related reason.  I just remember thinking that someone just made that up.  Unlike Pi Day (3.14), which is a real holiday.  *giggles*

So, in response to someone else’s made up holiday, I’m declaring today as Countdown Day!  11.10.9.  We’ll celebrate it next year on 12.11.10 too, and then we won’t be able to celebrate it again until 2101.

So there!

A trio of delights

1.  It’s going to be 64 degrees here today!  That’s a perfect temperature.  Sum-sum-summertime!  :-)

2.  Hillary is also participating in NaBloPoMo.  I thought I was going to be the only one, but not so!  Hooray!

3.  Google has made me smile the last several days with their Sesame Street themed logos (in honor of Sesame Street’s 40th anniversary).  Today is Oscar the Grouch, but the best was Thursday’s Cookie Monster (if you missed it, you need to time travel back to Thursday — so worth it!)

Thirty-six

Yesterday, a guy who I tutor found it was my birthday today and said, “39 again?”

I reacted very automatically and with such horror, “THIRTY NINE??????”

He laughed and said he was just kidding, really.

I said, “I haven’t even been 39 once, how could I be 39 again?!?!?!”

He reiterated that he really was just kidding (and now probably starting to question my stability!).

I just sat there shaking my head, no, no, no, I am not 39.  I am NOT 39.

I am, however, 36.  As of 8:28 this morning.

Cop Stop!

I had a long day today, and I was dead tired by the time I was finished with teaching this evening.  I pulled out of the parking lot, drove down the road a ways, and a cop car was behind me with its lights on.  I pulled to the side of the road to let them go by, and they stopped behind me!  Imagine my surprise!

I figured out right away that they were stopping me because of something with my license plate.  With an October birthday, my plates expire soon.  So I pulled my registration and proof of insurance out of the glove compartment, and got my driver’s license out of my wallet.  The policeman came up to my window and said, “When does that plate expire?”  I said Friday.  He looked at my registration and said, “Uh oh, I think we just mis-read the plate… Give me a minute.”

So he went back to the car, ran my plates, and ran my driver’s license.  And he came back to my window and said, “I’m so sorry, it was my fault, we did misread your plate.”  I said, “No problem.”  I thought it was kind of funny, and as tired as I was, I couldn’t muster up much energy to have any other emotion!

And it makes a good blog story.