Back in Roanoke...

Hi y'all! I'm back in Roanoke from an awesome trip to Chesapeake with Adam. He's so good to me. I'd forgotten how nice it is to have car doors opened for me, doors held, little gifts for no reason. And his family is so amazing. They treat me just like I'm already in their family (probably because Adam's already told his parents that I'm the one he's gonna marry). His family really is amazingly good to me. It's kinda odd, but his mom reminds me so much of my mom. (Which I guess makes sense since he's a clone of his mom, I'm a clone of my mom, and Adam and I are clones of eachother.) :-P It's the weirdest little things, like I'll catch one of Debbie's mannerisms out of the corner of my eye and I'll swear it was mom. My family has been hesitant for me to visit them because my family thought that if they saw the full extent of my disabilities, then they'd change their minds about me and encourage Adam to dump me to find someone with less baggage. Adam's parents (Debbie and Bryan) never make me feel like I'm not good enough for their son. They call me on holidays to say that they love me and hope I have a great holiday, always keep me laughing, and are genuinely good people. They've just taken me under their wing and treated me like I'm one of their own, and I'll be forever grateful for their unconditional love. Y

Congratulations to Ryan and Amanda who got married this past weekend!! I wish you guys all the best. :-)

In case anyone isn't familiar with what's going on down in Blacksburg, I got a call from Adam this morning. He said he was on his way out the door to go to his first day of classes when he found out that the police have shut down the Virginia Tech campus and cancelled classes today. There's an escaped convict on the loose who has already killed 2 people and critically wounded a third person. The tough thing is that the ex-con is 24 years old and looks like your typical college kid, so they're having a hard time finding him in a college town. I told Adam to make SURE he stays in his apartment today.

Hmmmm... what else to talk about... gonna have to have a procedure done this Wednesday and then an outpatient surgery procedure next week. So not really lookin forward to that too much. But I've been going to physical therapy for the past 2 weeks, and it's SOOOOO nice to finally have a doctor who can make some kind of progress with me. The exerecises make me hurt like a champ and wear me out, but I can see that they are actually helping some. So that's a nice change from the norm of leaving the doctor's office with no improvement and no game plan. And my physical therapist is really nice. It also helps that she's a fellow Virginia Tech alumni and big Hokie football fan like me, so we have stuff to talk about while I'm there.

Not sure what else to talk about, so I'ma go get caught up on y'all's blogs since I fell off the radar there for a few days. Hope everyone is having a great Monday.

Something to make you smile...

WARNING: If you don't like corny jokes, then don't read this post. :-P

Q: How do you catch a unique rabbit?
A: Unique up on it.

Q: How do you catch a tame rabbit?
A: Tame way, unique up on it.

Q: How do crazy people go through the forest?
A: They take the psycho path.

Q: How do you get holy water?
A: You boil the hell out of it.

Q: What do fish say when they hit a concrete wall?
A: Dam!

Q: What to eskimos get from sitting on the ice too long?
A: Polaroids.

Q: What do you call a boomerang that doesn't work?
A: A stick.

Q: What do you call cheese that isn't yours?
A: Nacho Cheese.

Q: What do you call Santa's Helpers?
A: Subordinate Clauses.

Q: What do you call four bullfighters in quicksand?
A: Quatro sinko.

Q: What do you get from a pampered cow?
A: Spoiled milk.

Q: What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?
A: Frostbite.

Q: What the difference between roast beef and pea soup?
A: Anyone can roast beef.

Q: Where do you find a man with no legs?
A: Right where you left him.

Q: Why do gorillas have big nostrils?
A: Because they have big fingers.

Q: Why don't blind people like to skydive?
A: Because it scares the dog.

Q: What kind of coffee was served on the Titanic?
A: Sanka.

Q: What's the difference between a bad golfer and a bad skydiver?
A: A bad golfer goes, whack, dang! A bad skydiver goes dang! Whack.

Q: How are a Texas tornado and a Tennessee divorce the same?
A: Somebody's gonna lose a trailer.

Insomniac ramblings...

Let's see... what is there to talk about... I went dress shopping yesterday to get a dress for the upcoming wedding of Adam's cousin. I actually ended up finding an absolutely GORGEOUS dress that I can't wait to wear!!! Usually clothes shopping is kinda depressing, but that was actually the highlight of my week! Now I'm in the process of making earrings to match it. Not much else has been going on. Hmmmm. Man I wish I had some cinnamon rolls I could make right now. I've been having this constant craving for them. Man, now I'm making myself hungry. Narf. Oh well.

My dad sent me an email a while back entitled "You and Adam in 30 years." It shows you how well my dad knows us, cuz this comic is so true. (Actually, it's kinda already how we are.) :-P








I can't think of much else to write about, so I guess I'll sign off for the night. I hope everyone had a good weekend!

Putting faces to names part 2...

Apparently there's a limit to how many pics you can put in each post. (Hence the "part 2".)

I've also mentioned Brett a few times. He was the best friend I had down in Wilmington when I went to UNCW. Somehow our friendship has managed to survive the past 6 years solely because of instant messenger. We're trying to plan a reunion camping trip soon, so hopefully that will get to happen.


Here he is on a field trip for his geology class.

Here he is with his parents when he graduated from UNCW in 2003.

And here he is in his natural habitat: camping in the woods.








Hopefully that'll help for when I mention names in the future, so you'll know who I'm talking about. :-P

Putting faces to names...

I've mentioned my best friend Abbie on here a couple of times so I thought y'all might like a face to put to the name. (Abbie's been my best friend since before my boyfriend was born. Seriously.) She's one of those friends that you can call at any hour of the night even if you just need to vent. She's also the person who dropped everything she had planned for a week to drive up here to Virginia at the crack of dawn to support and take care of me when my medical stuff got much worse back in March. She just got married back in February and is in the process of sending me those pics, so I'll have some more recent pics to share in the next month or so.

This was us before our high school graduation 8 years ago.

Here's us on a beach trip to Isle of Palm, SC back in 1999.













And here's Abbie when Adam and I decided to take a random roadtrip down to Charleston back in 2004 so he could meet her. We roasted hotdogs and made s'mores out on a rock in the middle of a river. It was such a blast.

Random fact...

In the Everglades down in Florida, they actually throw marshmallows into the water to get the alligators to come within sight of the tourists. Who'da thunk alligators would like marshmallows?? Weeeeeird. Also kinda makes you wonder how they figured that out for the first time. :-P

Walgreens FINALLY got my Lortab prescription refilled!!!! So now I'm not crying from the pain anymore!! Woohoooooo! Downside: with the pain relief came the extra loopyness again. But the upside is that people seem to enjoy talking with me on the phone when I'm all medicated cuz apparently it makes for some "interesting" conversations. Haha.

Since I was back on my pain pills and not in excruciating pain last night for the first time in a few days, I slept for 13 hours last night. And all I gots to say is that it was some of the best sleep I've gotten in MONTHS. I guess my body just finally crashed.

Got to talk to one of my really good friends from UNC-Wilmington tonight. I really makes me feel good when a long-distance friendship manages to keep thriving after not seeing eachother for 6 years. (Thank goodness for instant messenger.) :-P

This is ending up being a babbling post. Hmmmm. What other randomness can I come up with?

How do you guys manage to get the smiley faces to actually show up as smilies and not the colon and parenthesis in y'alls posts?

There might be another post tonight. Not sure yet. Depends on if I can sleep tonight or not.

Oh yeah, here's a funny comic strip I came across today. I LOVE "Get Fuzzy"! (If you click on it, it'll show up large enough to be able to read.)








Hope it got a smile out of y'all. :-)

Natural highs... (this is gonna be a long one)

Wilmington
------------
~ Laughing.
~ Playing volleyball.
~ Driving south on the interstate.
~ Standing in the ocean, or at least seeing and hearing it.
~ Driving in a convertible with the top down.
~ White water rafting.
~ Walking barefoot in the grass.
~ Reading a good book.
~ Going mudrunning around campus at midnight with Brett and Will.
~ Gettin kicked out of Walmart with Brett. (Long story.) ;-)
~ Cheering up a friend.
~ Throwing a football further and with a tighter spiral than Brett.
~ Having someone win a stuffed animal for you at a fair.
~ Random roadtrips in the middle of the night.
~ Learning how to quickly jump the 12 foot tall fence around the baseball field to play football in the middle of the night.
~ Staying out all night on the Shell Island sandbags talking till the sun comes up.
~ Watching a good ball game.
~ Experiencing something new with someone.
~ Spending time with friends who almost know me better than I know myself.
~ Breaking into hot tubs/saunas with Brett on cold winter nights. (It's not as lurid/obscene as it sounds.)
~ Having a conversation that doesn't require words.
~ Competing in and finishing a marathon.
~ Feeling completely safe with someone.
~ Watching a good movie.
~ Going skinny dipping. (Shine, halo, shine!) ;-)
~ Getting a whiff of "Cool Water" cologne.
~ Sneaking into eachother's dorms to have movie marathons that last all night.
~ Lying on my back in a field and looking up at a clear sky.
--------------------------------------------

Fall 2003
----------
~ Being appreciated.
~ Taking a long bubble bath.
~ Having a group of friends of my own.
~ Toga parties.
~ Napping with my kitten.
~ Hearing Sapphire purr.
~ Giving or getting a really good backrub.
~ Painting.
~ Being missed.
~ The smell of homemade chocolate chip cookies.
~ Realizing there ARE still true gentlemen in the world.
~ Seeing the look of happiness on someone's face when you give them something that they appreciate.
~ Midnight margaritas with Abbie during girls' night in.
--------------------------------------------

Winter 2003-current
----------------------
~ IHOP trips at any hour of the night/morning with my fellow insomniac Chad.
~ Hearing a good song on the radio and singin along at the top of my lungs.
~ Looking in the mirror and seeing some things I actually like for a change.
~ Realizing I can survive damn near anything.
~ Seeing Sapphire play in the snow.
~ Snowtubing with Janet during a snowfall.
~ Snowdays!
~ Getting asked out by someone I like.
~ Cooking for someone who appreciates it.
~ Dancing.
~ Being sung to.
~ Waking up and feeling arms around me.
~ Going weak in the knees from seeing someone I like from a distance.
~ Getting kissed. Not an obligation kiss, but a passionate, no particular reason kiss.
~ Realizing you ARE supposed to feel something when you kiss someone.
~ Having a guy mess with my hair.
~ The smell of Adam's cologne.
~ Having a guy see me without makeup on and him not visibly cringing.
~ Being able to completely trust someone.
~ Adam's foot massages.
~ Seeing Adam playing with Sapphire and Emerald.
~ Spur of the moment road trips down to visit Abbie.
~ Roasting hotdogs and makin smores on rocks out in the river.
~ Hearing him say "I love you."
~ All night conversations on instant messenger.
~ Hearing Adam say words like "we" and "ours."
~ When Adam writes things for me and leaves 'em on my computer for me to find after he leaves.
~ Eating burned cinnamon rolls over the stove in the kitchen with Adam at 1am.
~ Seeing my Tarheels beat Duke in any sport. :-P
~ Hearing Adam refer to my kittens as our girls. ;-)
~ Getting a card out of the blue from a friend just to say hi.
~ Having a friend drop everything in her life for a week, and drive 7 hours at the crack of dawn to give me emotional support in person at a much-needed time. (*cough* ABBIE *cough*) ;-)
~ Hearing a song on the radio and stopping whatever I'm doing to dance along. (Dancing is a lil more limited lately cuz of the med stuff.)
~ Having the best Adopted-Mom a girl could ask for who manages to give unconditional love and help fill the void of my Mom who passed away, without feeling like my real Mom is trying to be replaced.
--------------------------------------------

If anyone has any of their own they'd like to add, lemmie know. I've been having an especially rough couple of days so I've been reading stuff like the above lists to try and cheer myself up.

Y'all can be honest, if you're getting sick of the lists, lemmie know. I've got a thick skin and I'd like to know if they're bugging anyone. I'm just not brave enough to post any of my personal writings yet. I lack the confidence of my Ad-Mom. :-P

Hope everyone is having a good week so far, and for those of you with weekday jobs, you've almost made it to the weekend!!

Take care, everybody.

Yes, I'm a dork...

I just noticed via my profile page that my zodiac year is the MONKEY!!! (For those of you who don't know, I collect monkeys. I just have a "thing" for 'em.) So now I know why! Cuz I AM one! :-P

Yes yes, the 16 remaining meds I'm on are starting to make me a lil goofy again. So I'm gonna sign off (again) before I say anything embarrassing or incriminating. (Shine, halo, shine!) ;-)

G'night y'all. Or g'morning if you're a normal person. :-P

Kinda hating Walgreens right now...

Walgreens goofed and STILL hasn't filled my lortab prescription (aka the medication that allows me to at least *sorta* function minimally day to day) so I'm in a world of pain right now. AND I get to go to the physical therapist for the first time tomorrow morning. On no pain pills. **YIPE!!!** Yeah, so I'm not really looking forward to that. Wish me luck. :-/

And on top of that I feel like a heel for not calling Ad-Mom today like I said I would. :-( I'm sorry I've been crappy about keeping in touch better. I just always seem to be sleeping when you're awake, and vice-versa but hopefully that will be changing soon.

It's been a rough day, so I think I'm gonna go try and get some sleep.

But to make sure this email isn't completely boring and negative, here's yet ANOTHER random list to hopefully get a smile or two out of y'all...

----------------------

20 THINGS YOU SHOULD HAVE LEARNED BY NOW

1. If you're too open-minded, your brains will fall out.
2. Don't worry about what people think; they don't do it very often.
3. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
4. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
5. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.
6. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.
7. It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.
8. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.
9. Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks.
10. A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so good.
11. Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.
12. Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.
13. No man has ever been shot while doing the dishes.
14. A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand. (hee hee)
15. Junk is something you've kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.
16. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.
17. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again. (how true)
18. By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.
19. Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.
20. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before.

Highlight of my day today: painting my nails pink... which is a pretty big accomplishment since my hands kinda shake a lil constantly. ;-)

I had to call my doc today to let him know that the current doses of meds weren't working... so of all the medications for him to adjust, he doubled the one prescription that's responsible for the majority of my goofiness, dizziness, inability to edit myself, and basically makes me feel like a drunk. So this should be interesting.

MAN I wish I could just get in my car and drive myself to the mall. I need to get a new dress for a wedding coming up in a lil over a week. My sister hates shopping, so she pressured me into buying one of the first dresses we saw at a weird non-mall store the other day so she could hurry up and drop me back off at home. Every time I look at the dress, the uglier it gets. Whenever my sis does take me anywhere, she rushes me cuz she wants to hurry up and get back home. It kinda feels like she's embarrassed to be seen with me in public. Wouldn't ya know that the main person who will take me out in public (after bribing and begging) HATES shopping and refuses to go anywhere near the mall. Hence the reason I REEEEEALLY wanna get in my car and go mozy around the mall for awhile. My poor lil blue car has just been sitting there in the driveway, pleading with me to drive it. *sigh* I just wish my sister would realize that the brief trips where I actually get out of the house are often the highlight of my week because they're few and far between, and I'd like to be able to take my time and enjoy the scenery while we're out. Oh well. I guess I'll take whatever I can get at this point. Sorry for the rant.

I can feel the meds kicking pretty hard so I think I'ma go watch some mindless TV until I hopefully nod off.

Ad-Mom ~ I'd like to apologize in advance for how goofy I'ma sound on the phone tomorrow when I give ya a call. :-P

Hope everyone has a wonderful Tuesday!


(Oh, btw, my friend Chad wrote a randomly funny thing on his blog titled "A Dirty Glass" so feel free to head on over to his blog if you wanna read it.)

Some food for thought... and look, it's colorful! :-P

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Why are people allowed to put naked statues outside but why can't we run outside naked?

Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here and drink what comes out"?

Isn't it funny how the word 'politics' is made up of the words 'poli' meaning 'many' in Latin, and 'tics' as in 'bloodsucking creatures’?

If ignorance is bliss, why aren’t more people happy?

If you mated a bull dog and a shitsu, would it be called a bullshit?

If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?

Why do most people put more effort into their wedding than their actual marriage?

Who was the first person to say, "See that chicken over there ... I'm gonna eat the first thing that comes out if its butt"?

Why is it that if something says, "do not eat" on the packaging it becomes extra tempting to eat?

Have you ever noticed that if you rearranged the letters in mother in law, they come out to Woman Hitler?

How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

How come we choose from just two people for President and fifty for Miss America?

If money is the root of all evil then how come churches ask for it?

Why do we feel blue? and what color does a smurf feel when they are down?

Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but people don't point to their crotch when they ask where the bathroom is?

If quizzes are quizzical then what are tests?

Why is it that when a person tells you there's over a million stars in the universe you believe them, but if someone tells you there's wet paint somewhere, you have to touch it to make sure?

There are 24 hours in a day, and 24 beers in a case. Coincidence?

Why are we afraid of falling? Shouldn't we be afraid of the sudden stop?

If Milli Vanilli fell in the woods, would someone else make a sound?

--------------------------------------

Hee Hee. Just wanted to try and get a smile or two out of y'all.

Perhaps the meds have me in an "over-sharing" mood...

First and foremost, I do not intend this post to be a "downer". I've just had a lot of things on my mind lately (probably part of the reason I can't sleep) and I realize how many issues there are out there that aren't getting the attention that they deserve. If any of you have my AIM screenname (ntk ocean) you've probably already seen these, but something inside of me feels the need to post 'em here, too. Currently I have no income so I cannot send donations to support these issues, and I cannot volunteer because of my medications and lack of transportation, so I'm doing the one thing I CAN do... educating others and passing the info along in the hope that they can do something... then maybe they'll tell someone else... and it would spread like a "phone tree" type of scenario. I realize there is a plethora of issues that need support, and I know it probably seems selfish of me to only list the ones that have directly affected me, but if anyone else would like me to include any other issues, please let me know.

---------------------------

- Breast Cancer Awareness ~ get involved/educated

I never even got to know my maternal aunt very well because of this disease, and my maternal cousin was taken from us far too soon when this disease spread to her bones.

---------------------------

-Colon Cancer Awareness ~ get involved/educated

My mother's life was cut painfully short due due to this disease, I lost a young maternal cousin to colon cancer, and it has also affected my health when the colon cancer gene was passed along to me.

---------------------------

-Fibromyalgia Awareness ~ get involved/educated
I knew absolutely nothing about this illness until a few months ago, and was forced to learn even more about it when my rheumatologist diagnosed me with it.

---------------------------
-Rheumatoid Arthritis Awareness ~ get involved/educated

I thought this only affected the elderly until I was diagnosed with it. It really can affect anyone at any age.
---------------------------

-Stopping Violence Against Women ~ get involved/educated

I have my own reason for including this one. But it's definitely an issue that needs more attention than it currently gets.

---------------------------

-Depression ~ get involved/educated

This has affected a couple of close friends, and family, as well as myself. It is a legitimate illness and there should not be such a negative stigma attached to people who suffer from depression.

---------------------------

Here's the website for the American Cancer Society if you want info on any of the additional types of cancer not already included in this post.

If you're a survivor or know anyone who has been affected by a serious illness, show your support. Here's a list of what each ribbon color represents.

I apologize if this post affected anyone in a negative way. I'm just trying to do the best I can given my limited resources to support some issues that are close to my heart.

I hope everyone has a blessed day.

Oh, and there's another new post right after this one.

Another top ten list ... and shamelessly showing off Adam ;-)

For those of you who don't know, I'm dating an aerospace engineering major. (If you're reading this Adam, sorry hun, but I had to post it cuz it's soooo true.)

------------------------------

You know you're an engineer if:

10. You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

9. You can type 90 words a minute, but can't read your own handwriting.

8. You introduce yourself at a party, tell them you're an engineer, and the response is..."Oh..."

7. Sadly, your computer costs more than your car.

6. You use a spreadsheet for the risk/benefit analysis of your dating relationship. (Hopefully Adam didn't do this.) ;-)

5. Dilbert is your hero.

4. Spring break is a metal fatigue failure. (I don't understand this one... Adam tried explaining it and I was still confused. Go me!) ;-)

3. You can remember PI to 25 digit accuracy, but frequently forget how to spell your name.

2. You have a nasty habit of destroying things just to see how it works. (This is soooo true from what I've seen!)

1. The glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

Hahahahaaa.

------------------------------

Don't hate me for this, but now here's where I unabashedly show off the man who has managed to put up with me and everything that comes with me for the past 2 and a half years. I've learned the hard way after losing my Mom that you should never take anyone for granted because you never know how much time you'll have with them. I don't take a single day with Adam for granted because I had to go through a reeeeeally damaging guy before I finally met my soulmate. Growing up, I was never the girl that got the guy she wanted, and now that I finally got him, I wanna show him off. So sue me. :-P



This pic was taken by Adam's roommate (Luke) before my first trip to Chesapeake to meet his family.



Here he is pretending to fight. I think this pic is one of the reasons I love him so much... cuz he's as much a goofball as I am. ;-)




For those of you who don't know, I collect monkeys. I dunno why, I just have a "thing" for 'em. Adam gave me a monkey beanie baby named "Swinger" for Christmas, and he was a good enough sport to let me pose this pic with he and Swinger.



Every year Virginia Tech has a Relay for Life all-night walk to benefit cancer research as well as honor and support those who have been afflicted with or affected by the disease. (That's us on the far right of the pic.) He was a trooper to support me through that cuz it was FREEZING.



This pic was taken before we went out for Halloween. (If you're not familiar with the Marcus Vick scandal, it might not make sense... in a nutshell, he got in big trouble for getting a promiscuous underage girl drunk/drugged.) Adam is Marcus Vick, I'm his 15-year-old ho, and Luke is dressed up as a cheap date. (Yes, that's a box of wine taped to the front of his shirt, a Big Mac box attached to his shoulder, and a McDonald's bag attached to his jeans.)



This pic was taken at a friend's wedding up in D.C. See? We actually clean up pretty well! ;-) That was SUCH a fun weekend.



And finally, this is probably one of my favorite pics because it includes two of my loves... Adam and the ocean. (It was taken at Virginia Beach.) I thought it was pretty good considering we took the pic ourselves. ;-)

------------------------------

Sorry for making everyone sit through that, but I'm so proud of my engineer, and I wanted to show him off. (If you're reading this hun, don't kill me for posting the pic of you and "Swinger".) ;-)

There'll probably be another post or two tonight cuz I'm trying a new method of fixing my sleeping... one of my friends sent me a link about how staying up for 24 hours straight will make it so that you can actually go to bed the next night at a regular bedtime. So I'ma give that a try. And there's a funny George Carlin special on, so I'm gonna get some giggles too.

What every woman should have and know...

I was going through some of my old papers and I came across something that my college roommate during my freshman year had posted on the wall of our dorm room.

-----------------------------------------

Every Woman Should Have...

...one old love she can imagine going back to... and one who reminds her how far she has come...

...enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own even if she never wants to or needs to...

...something perfect to wear if the employer or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

...a youth she's content to leave behind... and a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to
retelling it in her old age...

...a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...

...one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry...

...a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...

...eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal that will make her guests feel honored...

...a feeling of control over her destiny...

-----------------------------------------

Every Woman Should Know...

...how to fall in love without losing herself...

...how to quit a job, break up with a lover, and confront a friend without ruining the friendship...

...when to try harder... and when to walk away...

...that she can't change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents...

...that her childhood may not have been perfect... but it’s over...

...what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...

...how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...

...whom she can trust, whom she can't, and why she shouldn't take it personally...

...where to go... be it to her best friend's kitchen table, or a charming inn in the woods when her soul needs soothing...

...what she can and can't accomplish in a day... a month... and a year...

-----------------------------------------

Hope y'all enjoyed 'em. Sorry it doesn't really cater to the male visitors to the blog... you can always check out my weather pixie who seems to have mastered that "come hither" look from her experience working street corners. ;-) Enjoy!

Top ten signs you need to re-examine your sleep schedule...

One of the top ten lists I wrote when I was in college... sadly it still applies. ;-)

-----------------------------------

10. You don't even need caffeine to pull an all-nighter anymore.

9. You finish your IM conversations with g'mornin instead of g'night.

8. The staff that works the midnight to 7am shift at IHOP knows you by name (at least they DID when I was still in Blacksburg).

7. Whenever any of your friends can't sleep, they can rely on you to be awake and talk to them till the wimps finally nod off. ;-)

6. You talk to most of your friends while they're getting ready for work in the morning, as you're getting ready for bed.

5. You complain about the fact that the only tv programming past 2am is infomercials.

4. Your clock says 4:30 and you actually have to think about whether that's am or pm.

3. You've seen more sunrises than sunsets.

2. Your phone rings at noon and you get ticked at it for having the nerve to ring THAT early. ;-)

1. You write stuff like THIS in the middle of the night out of sheer boredom.

I was talking to my Ad-Mom this morning...

I was talking to my Ad-Mom this morning about how I've noticed that most people put their daily occurrences on their blogs, and how mundane mine would be if I did that. She said it would be a hoot to do it anyways, so here it goes... (for those of you who don't know, I'm basically bedridden because of an unfortunate (**enter obscenity of choice here**) combination of rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, anemia, possible ankylosing spondylitis, and a few other undiagnosed conditions, and I haven't even been able to drive myself anywhere since March. Which was FIVE months ago.) So let's see... here's my current daily life in a nutshell...

------------------------------

I woke up after miraculously actually being able to sleep for an hour or two, then I took my morning dose of meds.

After that I made myself eat breakfast.

Laid back in bed exhausted from the mere act of making breakfast.
Watched Bob Barker (who seriously must have daily infusions of formaldehyde cuz he's gotta be at least 150-years-old by now) host the Price is Right, learned how the Parthenon was built courtesy of the History Channel, along with a plethora of other semi-useless knowledge thanks to TLC, the History Channel, and the Discovery Channel.

Snuggled with Emmie (Emerald's nickname), and let Saph (Sapphire's nickname) use me as a scratching post.

Made myself eat lunch and took my lunchtime dose of meds. Got dizzy. Fell down. Got back up. Laid back in bed cuz the anemia and drugs have me constantly exhausted. Watched more mindless tv. Played with my adorable babies (Saph and Emmie).

Took my late afternoon dose of meds. Laid back in bed. Snuggled with the kitties some more. Realized how little there is on tv in the afternoons.

Made myself eat dinner. Threw it back up, sorry for the T.M.I. (stands for Too Much Information). Made myself eat more cuz that's what the docs say I have to do so I don't lose any more weight.

Took my evening dose of meds. Got dizzy. Passed out. Woke back up. Took a shower (which seemed pointless since I never even left the house). Got dizzy. Fell down. Got back up. Laid on an assortment of blankets and pillows that I have on the floor of my room to take a break from laying in bed.

Then came my nighttime dose of meds.

Got my nightly call from my boyfriend, got a pep talk from him (he's such a trooper).

Tried to sleep. Failed. Goofed off on the internet. Tried to sleep. Failed. Read more of my book. Tried to sleep. If I'm lucky I'll get a couple hours of sleep usually after the sun's come up.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

------------------------------

If you actually read all of that, I'm impressed. :-P That's why I tend to post random things on my blog instead of daily happenings, cuz my daily happenings don't tend to vary much and were even boring for me to type, so I can imagine how uninteresting it must've been for y'all. ;-)

On a more positive note, I may be getting internet access down in my room!!!! That would be freakin AWESOME so I could have a portal to the outside world down in my room and I wouldn't have to keep struggling up the steps everytime I wanna use the computer. **Fingers crossed it actually happens.**

I can see the sun starting to come up so I'ma go snuggle with my kitties in the hopes that I will fall asleep. I hope everyone has a great weekend!! :-)

Living my vacation vicariously through a friend... ;-)

My friend Chad has been lucky enough to get to spend 2 months in Chile. (Just a lil background about him, he's a spunky redhead that I met on the volleyball court during my first semester of grad school at Virginia Tech. He was one of the few other insomniacs in Blacksburg, so we spent many nights in IHOP talking about anything and everything until the sun came up. (Let's just say we knew the night shift waitresses by name and we were still there when they were changing shifts.) Chad's a good friend who was there for me during one of the rougher times in my life and helped pull me through it.) Anyways, the pics he's taken were so amazing that I thought I'd share them with y'all...

-------------------------------


















Oceanside cliffs in Chile.

-------------------------------


















Chad standing in front of some building he won't tell me the name of. ;-)

-------------------------------


















Chad and a cannon.

-------------------------------


















Me thinks he's considering jumping in. ;-)

-------------------------------

Now THAT'S my idea of a can of Coke!

-------------------------------


















I am soooooo insanely jealous of everything he's getting to see and experience in Chile.

-------------------------------

I guess that's all for now. Gonna try getting some sleep again. G'night. Or rather, G'mornin. ;-)

Airline funnies...

Occasionally, airline attendants make an effort to make the "in-flight safety lecture" and their other announcements a bit more entertaining. Here are some real examples that have been heard or reported:

As the plane landed and was coming to a stop at Washington National, a lone voice came over the loudspeaker: "Whoa, big fella. WHOA!"

Please take care when opening the overhead compartments because, after a landing like that, sure as hell everything has shifted.

To operate your seatbelt, insert the metal tab into the buckle, and pull tight. It works just like every other seatbelt, and if you don't know how to operate one, you probably shouldn't be out in public unsupervised. In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, margarine cups will descend from the ceiling. Stop screaming, grab the mask, and pull it over your face. If you have a small child traveling with you, secure your mask before assisting with theirs. If you are traveling with more than one small child... pick your favorite.

Should the cabin lose pressure, oxygen masks will drop from the overhead area. Please place the bag over your own mouth and nose before assisting children or other adults acting like children.

As you exit the plane, make sure to gather all of your belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses.

We are pleased to have some of the best flight attendants in the industry... unfortunately, none of them are on this flight...!

That was quite a bump and I know what y'all are thinking. I'm here to tell you it wasn't the airline's fault, it wasn't the pilot's fault, it wasn't the flight attendants' fault... it was the asphalt!

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Amarillo. Please remain in your seats with your seatbelts fastened while the Captain taxis what's left of our airplane to the gate!

We ask you to please remain seated as Captain Kangaroo bounces us to the terminal.

Conversation between an old lady and the pilot after a rough landing: "Sonny, mind if I ask you a question?" "Why no Ma'am," said the pilot, "what is it?" The little old lady said, "Did we land or were we shot down?"

Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain in your seats until Captain Crash and the Crew have brought the aircraft to a screeching halt against the gate. And, once the tire smoke has cleared and the warning bells are silenced, we'll open the door and you can pick your way through the wreckage to the terminal.

We'd like to thank you folks for flying with us today. And, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube, we hope you'll think of us here at US Airways.

Hope they got a laugh out of ya. Copy and pasting this from an email is about all I can handle today in the way of posts. I feel the drugs starting to kick again, so it's time for me to sign off.