Don't believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding, find out what you already know, and you'll see the way to fly.


Sunday, September 6, 2009

37 - Completion Sunday

Yes, getting and then getting over the stomach flu was a real bear, but it's gone. Still low on energy, so today was time to catch up on a couple of TV show completions. Of course, they left their viewers with cliff hangers.

True Blood - What happened to the "Queen" before Bill arrived? Can the town be saved from Maryanne?

Nurse Jackie - Did she totally blow it by abandoning almost everyone in that last episode? Will she be caught high on the floor of that room (or caught because she took the drugs under her own logon)?

But what is truly positive is the latest from our "Miracle Man". JSG and EJG were in Disneyland this weekend. (Yes Floridians - Disneyland, as in California.) They both participated in races, and back in January, ran the Disneyworld Half Marathon in Orlando. If they completed the Half Marathon at Disneyland in California, they would receive a special medal and "mad bragging rights" (to quote JSG's blog). I know that in January, they never dreamed what an accomplishment it would be to do the Disneyland race. EJG hasn't been cleared to run, but they walked it, and FINISHED!!!! I love the T-shirts they made for the race, and I'm sure they won't mind me posting their graphic here. (Hers on top; his on the bottom.)

One more note on EGJ ... when they return tomorrow, he'll head for rehearsal. He was cast in the concert version of "Oklahoma" with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. How freaking cool is that!!!!


TTFN!



Real Words of Wisdom

My Friend, SC, posted this on FB. It is worth the re-posting.

- More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.

- Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

- I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?

- Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

- That's enough, Nickelback.

- I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

- I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

- Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know" feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?

- Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

- There is a great need for sarcasm font.

- Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the f was going on when I first saw it.

- I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.

- How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?- I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

- I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.- The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.

- A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.

- Was learning cursive really necessary?

- Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".

- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

- Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

- My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you, and you hate us." Classy, bro.

- Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

- I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a dick from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

- Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"

- What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?

- While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood..

- I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

- Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

- I would like to officially coin the phrase 'catching the swine flu' to be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an overweight woman. Example: "Dave caught the swine flu last night."

- I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

- Bad decisions make good stories

- Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!

- Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?

- If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

- Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....

- You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

- Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.

- There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

- I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

- "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

- I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

- I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste..

- When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

- I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

- Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...

- Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

- It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

- I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

- Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.

- Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I’d bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...

- My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

- It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.

- I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

- I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

- I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

- The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard before dinner.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

36 - Publix Is Exhausting

Managed to clean out the fridge this morning. With the exception of drinks, EVERYTHING was thrown out. Cheap insurance, in my opinion. Later decided it was time to venture to Publix so I could eat something more than rice and soup. (Thank you DC for the rice and soup - life savers they were!) Never knew a trip to Publix could be so exhausting. Half way through the store, leaning on the cart, I was trying to remember where the nearest place was that I could sit down, other than in the middle of the isle between the pasta and the mexican food. Ah, too far to make the walk.

Stomach is fine. Guess it will take a while to get my strength back. Bless naps and good health.

TTFN!

35 - There's Light

... at the end of the tunnel! Went to the docs, and he didn't know. Said I was doing everything right; gave me the vials and stuff for lab work (but I'm not going to do it); said the worst seemed past. Don't get me wrong - Dr. Z didn't blow this off. He's very good, sometimes a little over cautious though. I will 2nd guess him, like with the lab work. The bug or whatever it was is finally over, so I don't see the need to put myself through lab work.

Around 2pm on Friday, I actually took a nap. Hallelujah!!!! I felt like a new person when I woke up. That last about 45 minutes before my energy ran out. Damn it all if it wasn't still close to midnight before I fell asleep again. That said, this morning is much, much, MUCH better. I've had 2 glasses of cranberry juice and a lean pocket. Everything feels fine.

Positives in all of this ... yes, there are some.
It all did stop. I'm well on my way to being well again. With a dear friend recovering from a serious motorcycle accident and a cousin-in-law needing a kidney, this was a small, if painful, disruption of my life.
No, I didn't get to go to TN, but maybe that's because there's some reason I need to be here or maybe something even worse would have happened had I made the trip.
While it's a hell of a way to do it - I'm no longer addicted to caffeine. Now, the real chore will be to stay that way. Off the Dew.

Time to wake Oliver up and give him his meds, praying that there's no adverse affects to missing the 2 doses I did while I was sick. Diva's ready to go out back and play. I want to put the hammock back up and relax out in the fresh air. (The pic is Diva taking back her couch.)

My family and buddies in TN ... have a wonderful time. I want to see lots of pictures!

TTFN!

34 - Purgatory?

Day 2 of being on the couch or in bed. Managed to eat another 1/2 sandwich, but at 4pm, the vomiting came back. WTF??? Called the doc and they can't see me until 11:30 tomorrow. Am drinking water and Gatorade, as much as I can tolerate. Absolutely no energy. The tv is on, but I can't follow whatever is going on there - just listening to the noise in the back ground. Know I need sleep, good solid sleep, but that is alluding me too. Can't even nap - what's up with that?

Diva and Oliver have been good. Following me into the bedroom when I want to lie down there; then back to the couch. I think I forgot to feed Diva once, and I know I missed at least one dose of Oliver's meds. That's the worst part of this - I still have to take care of them when I don't have the energy to take care of myself.


Docs tomorrow ... hopefully a good night's sleep tonight.


TTFN.



Bloggers note - last "catch up" blog.

33 - 10 Hours of Hell

Food poisoning? Stomach virus? I don't know. All I do know is that Tuesday night / Wednesday morning were 10 hours of absolute hell. After coming back from T & D's where we loaded the bike, I started getting everything else ready. The kids stuff was in different piles in the kitchen to be packed; bin of riding gear sitting there ready to be taped down; clothes in different piles in the bedroom. But, my stomach felt horrible. For about an hour, every time I got up to do something, everything in my tummy went very, very rumbly. Around 8pm everything erupted. When I had a break from the vomiting, I called TC. She said it very well could have been food poisoning, but she'd do some research and call me back. Return call - could be about anything, but fits the timeline of food poisoning. Nothing to do but ride it out; hospital won't do anything until so many hours have passed. She'd keep her phone by the bed if I needed her anytime during the night.

Somewhere between midnight and 1am, I was ready to call her and beg her to take me to the hospital. I was in the bathroom longer and more often than I was in bed. There was no hugging the porcelain throne - it was being on the throne and hugging a plastic waste basket. Somewhere around 2am, the episodes became less frequent, and there were no more after 6am. 10 hours of pure hell. I know I must have been this sick before, but I can't remember it.


The rest of the day was spent still dealing with GI issues, but at least the vomiting had stopped. Managed to get 1/2 a sandwich down. Didn't sleep at all. At 8pm on Wed night, I took two Advil PM. After 38 hours awake, I was in desperate need of sleep. It was still midnight before I fell asleep, and sleep wasn't long or deep.


Tomorrow has to be better. Maybe I can still make it to Tennessee?


Blogger's note - posted once I was well enough to post.

32 - Locked and Loaded

With planning to leave for TN tomorrow morning, TC, DC and I had to get the "baby bike" loaded into the back of my truck. For whatever reason, loading bikes into pickup trucks scares me; guess I'm always afraid the bike is going to come off the ramp or something and someone will get hurt. Well, having a 4x4 makes the tailgate higher, thus makes my anxiety higher. Tonight's load, however, was perfect.



Back the truck down the drive so the rear wheels drop into the little rain gutter, thus dropping the tail gate. Walk beside the bike, feathering the clutch until the back wheel is over the hump in the ramp. Kill the engine and get into the bed of the truck, with TC and DC holding the bike on either side. Now it's an easy push the rest of the way in. Yea!!


Now, this little blue bike is going to follow me all over the place! :-)


TTFN!

Bloggers note: Project 46-365 is a year long project; I didn't quit after a month. However, shortly after I intended to post the above, I became very ill. I'm going to catch the blogs up with what I would have written. 4 days later, I'm just now able to sit at the desk to blog.