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Lest I leave you for the weekend thinking I am totally boy-crazy, I will attempt to talk about something unrelated.
…………….thinking…………….
I’m going to a youth ministry training event tomorrow. Its kinda strange, getting trained for something I won’t be doing so much of soon. But I’m not really leaving ministry forever – I’m just better as a volunteer, and will pursue that after an appropriate time of rest and recovery. Well, tomorrow’s event is all about “Reclaiming America’s Teenagers.” I had hoped for many of my volunteers to be going, but it is only one of them. Alas. It should be a generally good time, though, with the exception of needing to be there at 8:30 am.
I’m running errands tonight after work – Fields (they’re having a sale and I want a new outfit!) and Target (must stock up on ibuprofen). Then it’s 3 hours of fabulous TV! Enterprise (third to last episode), JAG (series finale), and Numbers (it’s just a good show, not spectacular, but worth watching). Happy.
The bus is always a great place for fashion police sightings, but none are really worth repeating. This morning, though, I saw something that I can’t help but share.
A woman got on the bus – she was older than  (so late 50s early 60s) but her age wore on her – she looked like my grandmother (either one). She was a rather big-boned woman, not delicate or frail in the least. She had big blond hair, an interesting choice for a woman clearly not “youthful.” Her toenails were painted pink, and she had cute shoes (though probably higher heels than someone of her age should have worn). I couldn’t tell you what kind of a top she was wearing; I was so taken back by her skirt. It was white and black floral, not a bad choice, one of those flowy ones – not pleated, not pencil, but fluid, the kind you have to be careful about wearing on a windy day lest you want everyone to see your undies. First of all, it was about six inches too short – just below mid-calf, and she didn’t have great legs to show off. Secondly, and here’s the kicker, she decided it was OK to go bare-legged, to not wear nylons. We’re talking about 60-year-old legs. Veins, liver spots, cellulite, the whole nine yards. It was incredibly unattractive. She probably could have pulled off the short skirt if she had worn some nice, controlling nylons. But no.
I may have to start going to the gym, just to avoid looking like that in 30 years. Of course, the women in my family have great legs, so maybe I don’t have much to worry about.
I tried posting yesterday afternoon, but I lost my post and couldn’t recover it. But the computer I was working on at  is older than dirt. Well, it runs Windows 97. Close enough.
So last night, we told the kids that I’m leaving. Everyone took it really well, didn’t have too many questions and weren’t overly emotional, but were appropriately sad still. I feel really good about it. I was a wreck most of the day, in anticipation, but am so glad its over.
 bought me coffee after youth group. She’d had a really bad day as well. I was feeling great by this time, though. As said, like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
I know I’ve said this a couple of times to a couple of people, so if you’ve heard it already, my apologies. I’ve been living for May since January, and now that it’s almost here, it’s… surreal. I don’t think that’s the right word. Let me check.
sur·re·al ([suh-ree-uh l, -reel])
adj.
- Having qualities attributed to or associated with surrealism: “Even with most facilities shut down… a few mavericks managed to slip into the park to sample the almost surreal emptiness before the shutdown ended.” (Peter H. King).
- Having an oddly dreamlike quality.
Yes, I’ll say that qualifies.
Tuesday night in my staff meeting, we decided that my last Sunday would be May 22, not the 29th. And then the 25th, our End of Year Picnic, would be my last thing. So, 27 days. Four weeks (and some change).
Unreal.
Here’s what I stare at everyday:
 Purse, breakfast, filing...  Computer etc
I’m surprised – the pictures turned out pretty good. But pretty boring. Especially if you take into account that when I took the picture I was sitting at the “far” side of my cube.
However, today when I came in, there was a lovely vision on my desk:
 Can you tell what it is? Click on it for more detail.
One of my bosses got me a bouquet of cookies. It’s Administrative Professionals’ week (or whatever florally name we’re calling it these days). They’re pretty. And yummy. And while they’ll probably all be eaten long before flowers would die, I like them better anyway.
- Detachment:: is eminent
- Regard:: for fellow man
- Community:: thrift store
- Strike three:: and you’re out!
- Congregation:: get me away from mine
- Generous:: benevolence
- Pretention:: is not attractive
- Pregnant:: not me
- Drinking:: to your health
- Brilliance:: aren’t I always?
My elbow now moves enough that I can type with both hands. Yay!
Backtrack…
At Wednesday’s doctor appointment I was diagnosed with tendinitis, which sounds pretty wimpy (tennis elbow anyone?), but since it had the ability to make me cry and lose sleep, it’s not really. I was told to take 600 mg of ibuprofen, ice it for 10 minutes several times a day, and given this band/wrap thing that is supposed to remove some of the pressure and/or support the injured tendon.
Yesterday I felt better but didn’t use the arm. Today I feel much better and, depending on the direction, have about 90* of movement. Great progress. It means I can type with both hands (hence no blogging yesterday, since typing with just the right one is annoying – doable, but annoying). Oh, and my weight at the doctor’s office was 138, which is spectacular! I’m happy with that number – often they think I’m 145 or more, and it’s just not true. As long as it’s under 140 I’m happy. More than that and I start looking… we’ll go with “unhealthy.”
In more good news, our shower was fixed, and the “revocation of our license of occupancy” notice that was on our door when I got home from work on Wednesday was apparently nothing to worry about (an overzealous fire inspector and a boiler that needs to be checked). Have I mentioned how glorious showers are? We hadn’t had a working one since the weekend, so I am deliriously happy (as my roommates are) about the change in that situation. It’s better than it has ever been before, both pressure and volume. Wonderful!
and I helped out  last night for the non-profit she works for. They had a benefit thing. I helped last year, and many of the same people were there this year, so I felt like I knew a bunch of the people. Also got to talk to ‘s friend Alyssa (who I could call my friend but I don’t have her phone number and don’t really know her well enough to go there, and acquaintance sounds so impersonal) – she was a big influence on the whole changing jobs / leaving the church thing, and she had heard that I was leaving and wanted to talk about it. That was fun.
My roommate  is doing better, as well as can be expected. Tuesday she found out that a friend from high school (though they’ve known each other since first grade) died. Horrible situation, really. She was the one who made a lot of the phone calls to notify people. He’d been to our place a few times, so I’ve met him. Very tragic, the whole thing. The wake is 4-7 tonight and the funeral is tomorrow.
I’ve been fairly busy at work, too. They finally hired a new director for our department (since our old one retired in December), and she starts May 2nd.  had been working on preparing a booklet of information for her (since she is his boss), which really means he decides what information to put in and I do all the real work. It’s good to be busy.
Elbow. I can’t move it. At all. It’s the left one. I have a doctor appointment today at 2. It hurts so bad I couldn’t sleep last night, and that was after the Excedrin (which hasn’t lasted the full 6 hours but without it I just want to cry). I have no range of motion. Well, sometimes up to 30*, depending on when I last took pain meds and how its rotated.
I didn’t do anything that spurred this, that’s the thing. I did find (finally!) the swollen area, but it doesn’t hurt to touch it. My hand has swollen as well – I can’t get my ring off.
Do you know how inconvenient it is to not be able to bend your elbow? Think about getting dressed (you can’t clasp a bra with just one hand!), washing your face, oh, and washing my hair in the kitchen sink because our shower still doesn’t work (though I finally got a hold of someone about that).
There will be no guitar playing today at church. I will not be playing with the kids. And the doctor better give me some good pain meds. After that we can work on finding out what’s wrong. I need to sleep tonight.
Wah.
I got what I needed to make an omelet and hash browns, and headed back as soon as I found them all. She was playing the piano as I returned. Now if there’s anything as sexy as a girl playing a guitar, it’s a girl playing the piano. And she was good at it.
-Dating Dummy
Who knew? Granted, he doesn’t speak for all guys, but it’s good to know it’s not just me (except for guys). I know lots of girls find guys who play guitar sexy. I personally think that guys who play the piano are on par with that, or, depending on the guy and his attitude etc, its sometimes sexier when they play the piano. I also know there are guys out there who think a girl playing the guitar is sexy as all get out – I’ve never been able to find out why, maybe its just intrinsic in the nature of the act. But the piano? Makes me want to find one and play for a while.
You’re feeling a bit confused — and you’re so frustrated, you’ve just about had it with everyone. Don’t let that attitude ruin your evening. Keep your plans. They’ll definitely cheer you up.
OK, that could be my fortune every day. Seriously. “You’re so frustrated, you’ve just about had it with everyone.” That only describes days that end in “y.”
Here’s tomorrow’s:
Between your siblings and neighbors and friends, you’re going to be a very, very busy person for the next couple of days. You’ll be doing quite a bit of chatting on the phone, too. Talk about popular.
Uh-huh. Popular – never has that word been used to describe me (well, maybe in jest, but never for real). And my plans for the rest of the week, let’s see… Tonight CSI:Miami is on and I have some laundry to do. Tuesday: Navy NCIS, Veronica Mars and L&O:SVU, and a mailing at work that has to go out. Wednesday: Church, including getting to restring my guitar, dropping off my schedule of communicating my departure to different parties, and L&O. Thursday: OK, there are actually plans. Helping out with a work benefit function thingy. Friday: Enterprise and JAG, and staying home for the first Friday in at least three weeks. Saturday: Sleep, let cats outside if the weather is nice and it hasn’t rained too much.
Someone needs to talk to the astrologist who thought I was going to be popular. First of all, I have no designs or desire of ever being popular. I’m content with a few friends, a handful more I can call on the phone, and if it’s not too much to ask, a cute boy to sit on the couch with while I watch bad TV. Secondly, this fortune, very very wrong. ‘Nuff said.
I finally figured out who that woman on Revelations is. She looked so familiar, but I couldn’t figure out what I’d seen her in last.
She was the love interest of Jim Carrey in The Truman Show.
Now I can sleep tonight.
On an unrelated note, someone has just called me three times and hung up. I Googled their number. I know who you are. Yes, you’re calling a wrong number. Stop trying. You didn’t misdial. Leave me alone. Or at least have the courtesy to say something before loudly hanging up in my ear.
kinda sucked. Now, it was filled with cool stuff, and I did have fun, but once you get the overall view, I think you’ll see where I’m coming from.
side note: I bought a new purse this weekend. Isn’t it cute? [Link removed] (Two small problems: no inner pockets, and it smells STRONGLY of plastic. I’m hoping the latter will go away.)
Friday night, I went to Pepito’s with and . The food was great, the margaritas were strong, and the atmosphere fun. I was a little buzzed. Went back to ‘s, watched a little TV, and then drove home because I wasn’t sleepy anymore.
Minor problem: Woke up, exhausted, at 2:30 am, thinking that all would be better if I just ralphed and fell back asleep. In the dark, without leaving bed (I was too tired for that), I attempted to find both water and Pepto. Finding both and self-medicating, I was finally able to fall back asleep. I did not ruin my 20-year no-vomiting streak, but those 20 minutes were awful.
reported on Saturday that she also did not feel well. We haven’t been able to discuss this with yet, so we’re not sure if it was the food or the drinks or the combination or just freak coincidence.
So Saturday I slept in. Actually woke up around eight (Scooby Doo was on TV, so I fell back asleep immediately), and then again at 10:30. Turned the TV back on, found something to watch, fed the cats, and lounged in bed. Around 11 I decided that I was still a little tired, so I laid back down with my head next to my yin-yang cats (they like to sleep arranged so that their bellies face in and they create a perfect circle).  stretched out a paw and placed it on my nose. Later it was replaced by one of  ‘s paws on my cheek, and then later by again. Apparently we were feeling affectionate.
Finally got out of bed around 12:30. Attempted to take a shower, but water pressure has again been cut in half (as well as volume) and there was no way I could get the shower to actually… shower. (If this doesn’t get fixed soon, I will be hairy and smelly.) Got dressed, found my coupons, and went shopping (Target and Cub). It had been over a month since I’d done real grocery shopping, so it took a while. Got back in time to unload and meet at the Science Museum for Omnifest (which is now over). We watched Amazing Caves, Kilimanjaro, Stomp’s World Beat, and Antartica. They were all very good. Only downside is that I get motion sick easily, so I spent most of the time sick to my stomach. At least after the first one we moved up to the center back, which helped a lot. It didn’t help that I was very hungry, having not eaten lunch (we were there from 4-9 pm).
Luckily, however, our favorite restaurant was open until 10, and just down the street. After giving wrong directions to get gas (accidentally, of course), she met me there. We had wonderful food and enjoyed ourselves. Back at home, I knew I wouldn’t be able to go to sleep for a while (large dinner including appetizers and desert at 10pm?), so I tooled around, did some reading, watched some TV. Finally fell asleep around 2-ish.
Woke up at 6:30 on Sunday with a fierce headache. I thought it might be the lack of sleep, but am still not sure. Wanted to shower it away, but was unable, again, to get a shower. No, wait, that’s not right. I did shower, but it was very unsatisfying – I spent most of the time with my knees bent trying to get my head under the water (my house, though it has 12-foot ceilings, was apparently built for midgets). Shower didn’t make the headache go away, so I took Excedrin. Got ready for church, made it there by 8 to practice for the special music. Headache faded, but not by much. Went to Sunday School over at Einstein Bros Bagels and grabbed a large Va-Vanilla (or va-va-vanilla, as I seem to be unable to drop that one syllable) in another attempt to make the pain go away. No such luck.
I would have gone home at this point to sleep off what felt like an impending migraine. But I had to stay for second service for special music. I lived through the service, and even my trip to Target and the Guitar Center afterwards (yes, I’m a Target junkie – knows to call Starbucks and Target before contacting police if I’m missing). I really don’t like going to Guitar Center, but it’s the only place around really to get new strings. I just couldn’t get my guitar in tune yesterday, and figured it was time for a change. I also bought a new tuner, which I have been without since mine was stolen from my office at a year and a half ago.
Back at home, I opened the windows and got a nice cross-breeze going. The light wasn’t bothering me and the pain had subsided some more, so perhaps I beat the migraine away, or at least downgraded it to a wicked headache. Ah, the joys of caffeine. I still had some nice shooting pains in my brain every time I stood up, so I spent most of the day lying in bed, watching TV and reading. I got up a few times to switch laundry over (got the towels done and a load of dress pants so I don’t have to wear skirts to work), but basically that was it. Around 8 I tried to eat my leftovers from Pepito’s, but only got about halfway through before losing my appetite. Was it the 2:30 am memory, general nausea, or bad food? Who knows.
Needless to say, the headache, while minor by the end of the day, was still with me when I went to sleep. This is usually a surefire way for me to wake up with a headache the next day. Thankfully, this morning I woke up feeling fine, even after being short on sleep and food. Still no shower, but if you read my last post, apparently it doesn’t matter. I don’t smell yet.
So, judge for yourself. Good weekend? Bad weekend? For me, it’s all overshadowed by the headache yesterday.
I knew I looked good today when I got on the elevator to go up to the 5th floor. I held it for a guy walking behind me (as the man in front of me had done for me – the elevators go from the first floor to the 17th, and it’s just polite to hold it for someone since they’ll have to wait a while for another one to come along), who smiled and said thank you as he got on. This was one of those guys (using the term relatively, of course, because he was probably a few years older than me which would make him… 30 ) who I was surrounded by but never would have had a chance with in college (hence I never really crushed on any of them – too remote a possibility, I suppose). Cargo shorts (khaki) to his knees, polo shirt, short hair, tall, with a general… presence. They never thought twice about me, I’m sure. I wasn’t enough… something. Never figured out exactly what it was I was missing (which is why I don’t have one of those today).
It’s always nice to be able to feel confident and beautiful and be able to smile to yourself – what a great way to start a Monday.
…Minnesota. People here (myself included – I’ve lived here long enough to pick up certain… idiosyncrasies) act as if there are only two seasons: winter, and summer. When we get the slightest hint that winter has released us from its icy grip, when temperatures rise above freezing and snow is nowhere to be found, it is summer. People put on shorts and tank tops, ride their bikes or go running or walk the dog, go over to the lake, even if it’s just to look at it without its ice-tarp.
Today it’s supposed to reach 80* in some parts of the state, parts that I am near, parts that if I seriously didn’t have to wash more laundry (including bed sheets – got some nasty bug bites last night and it grosses me out) I would drive to. I was just outside – it’s gorgeous. Not only is the sun shining and it’s warm outside, but the warmth of the sun on my skin was almost tangible, almost something I could touch, something with physical presence.
Nothing but shorts and capri pants and tank tops and short-sleeved shirts, and sandals, everywhere I look. If it gets any warmer, guys are going to start taking off their shirts. Calm down, everyone – it’s Minnesota. Many of you pasty white guys really shouldn’t take your shirts off in public, at least until you’ve had time to … get some sun in the privacy of your own backyard. (And yes, I can say this because I too am pasty white, which is one of the reasons I don’t go parading around in short shorts or miniskirts; the other being general modesty and the thighs I inherited from  ‘s family.)
- Great escape:: the
- Cluster:: nut
- Wrong place, wrong time::
- Guided:: missiles
- Forensics:: CSI
- Pros:: cons
- Safety deposit box:: unnecessary
- Quadrant:: fire hydrant
- Precisely:: what I was looking for
- Who are you?:: the cow said moo
Proverbs 19:8
“To acquire wisdom is to love oneself; people who cherish understanding will prosper.”
Proverbs 24:14
“In the same way, wisdom is sweet to your soul. If you find it, you will have a bright future, and your hopes will not be cut short.”
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thankful
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