New Obsession

So, during the Cardinals game, I got a little bored... but they won!!!

Back to the story... my thought was "How do people just randomly find funny/great/cool vids on YouTube??" And then proceeded to YouTube.com to randomly find a funny/great/cool vid. And I happened upon a regular video blogger, William Sledd.

He now also has an "Ask the Gay Man" fashion and hair series. I think I watched every video of his tonight. I'm so obsessed. It's sick. It's wrong, but I'm loving his humor, his advice, his Fun Underwear Day. I'm so having Fun Underwear Day tomorrow. OK, on second thought, maybe not... can't tell you why, but I can't. Maybe next week....

So, if you're bored, or even just want a really good laugh, go watch William Sledd's video blogs. He's great. He's from Paducah, KY. How can you not be great if you're from Paducah. Everyone that I know from Paducah rocks. Just because I only know two people from Paducah doesn't mean a thing. They're both great. So it must be true.

Now I'm just babbling. It's late, I'm tired. Gotta go... nighty-night!!

New fun page to play

Here is a page to play at when bored at work or home...

South Park Character Page

This page allows you to make a South Park version of yourself. It's awesome.

This is the Jennie I designed with the April cruise in mind:

Two Out of Three...

OK, earlier this year, I got the full time teaching position I was looking for. With all the fabulous benefits of:
1) No Daily Lesson Planning
2) Being creative in many areas
3) Educational Interaction with middle school age students
4) Getting rid of said students in two hours (only a benefit if they are really difficult to work with)
Oh, and the best benefit...
5) Making more than your typical first year non-Masters-degree-holding-teacher

Now, Ben and I are taking on hunting. No, not deer or animal hunting, but house hunting. We sent an e-mail to my sister's realtor this weekend. BTW, Jessica and Craig bought a GORGEOUS new home last week... see it here.

After talking with Jessica and my parents, we are looking at one story, ranch style homes with at least partially finished basements. Two reasons for the one story stipulation; first, you are taxed on livable above ground space; second, you don't have to pay to heat/cool the second floor. With us only looking at one story homes, that means that the basement is a MUST. As is the "at least partially finished" part. What use is a completely unfinished basement? None to me... since I have absolutely no carpentry skills, it is much less likely that the basement would get finished in any timely manner.

So, I will keep you apprised of the housing situation. We're not in any huge hurry, but I'd really like to be done with buying /moving in before Thanksgiving or at least Christmas.

Employee of the Month

Yup, that's me. OK, not really. Maybe. Anyway, that's the movie we all saw Friday night. Totally hilarious. It was your typical romantic comedy, but Dane Cook and Andy Dick were really funny. I'd highly recommend seeing it.

The rest of my weekend was pretty good. Worked a half day on Saturday, and then went to my nephew's birthday party. He's 9 years old now (this is the little guy who was the ringer bearer at my wedding). I can't believe it. He's a funny little dude. At this party were a couple who are friends with Brad's parents. I'll call them Pete and Wi-Fan. Wi-Fan is from Vietnam. She's very nice, but very difficult for me to understand her. She has a very heavy accent. Just check with Jessica, she'll tell you that I can't understand anyone from an Asian country. Jessi is my translater when we go for manicures at a local shop. The person doing my nails will ask a question, and I'll look at them and smile like a complete retard because I have no idea that they have just spoken to me in English and that they expect an answer. Jessi will sigh and repeat what they've said and I'll tell them what I want.

So to make this story even more interesting, I find out that Wi-Fan also speaks French. She finds out that I am somewhat fluent, and she decides to try to speak with me that way. Yeah, like that's gonna work. I can barely understand you in my own language, let alone a second language?! You gotta be crazy lady!

I seriously believe that I have an auditory processing disorder. I can hear what people are saying, it just takes me a minute to figure out what it is that they've said. Anyone who has spent any amount of time with me may notice that I ask them to repeat seemingly simple sentences, only to have me understand what they said the first time half way through their second time saying it. It's not an attention issue. My focus can be completely on someone and the conversation that I am having with them, but I will still miss what they say sometimes. I have learned to read lips, though, and that helps.

Now on to the exciting stuff. The Rams are now 4 and 1!!!! More importantly, the Cardinals are going on the National Laegue Championship Series!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo hoo! Go Cards! So now begins my obsessive blogging out the Cardinals every day/night of a game. I apologize now if you get sick of reading about it. It'll all be over soon.

Earl and Xavier

I totally needed a night like tonight. First, we ate dinner at my mom and dad's with my two sisters so we could help Jessi move my dad's computer desk. That gave me a chance to give Jessi her Thank You gift for watching my house while we went to Botcon. (Botcon was on Attack of the Show on G4 tv today!!)

When Ben and I got home from dinner and moving, we watched ER. Awesome show. Then we watched My Name Is Earl. If you are not watching MNIS, you SHOULD BE. It's seriously the funniest show. Ever. Don't believe me? I dare you to watch one show and not belly laugh to the point of snorts. OK, so, I'm probably the only person who snorts while laughing on a fairly regular basis, but you know what I mean. Anyway...

Well, watching Earl put me in a goofy mood (I'm sure the Ambien probably had more to do with the goofiness that is about to ensue...). We're watching the news after Earl is over, and an ad for Governor Rod Blagojevich comes on. He's running for re-election in IL. He's not such a bad guy for a Democrat, but I have digressed. I realized during his ad that he looks like a Cabbage Patch that grew up. Pinch his nose just a little bit, and he's a grown-up Xavier Cabbage Patch kid. Check out his pic:

Botcon funnyisms

I'm in beautiful downtown Lexington, KY, home of Transylvania University. And Botcon 2006. You know, the Transformers convention. Ben is super excited, though the convention hasn't technically started yet. Today was a tour of a Toyota plant and a Kentucky Bourbon distillery.

On to the funnyisms....

While waiting in line for lunch at Buffalo Trace distillery, I overheard two Botcon attendees debating whether or not one of them should have painted a model Ford GT with pink fingernail polish so it would look like RC, a female Transformer who is actually pink. Yup, feminists unite. Anyway, they seriously went back and forth on this for about 10 minutes. "Dude, how could you paint a Ford pink?" says the dork incredulously. Other dork replies with, "well, if Hasbro won't release an RC Alternator, then I just have to settle for a model. And model companies don't make Fords pink."

So, still in line, I imagine this young man standing in the nail polish aisle of Walgreens trying to pick out the right shade of pink for RC. So what happens... I begin to giggle. Incessently. At least I didn't burst out laughing the way I did when my baby sister mentioned something about the importance of graduating.

Other funnyism: while standing in line waiting patiently for Ben to purchase some TF (Transformers) souvenirs, they actually started to play the Star Wars theme. The funny part: some dudes actually started to rock out to it. Imaginary lightsabers and all.


The most amazing thing to me... I've been to a few conventions with Ben & Friends (affectionately called "The Street Geeks"). Usually, it's a bunch of stinky uber-dorks who the Queer Eye gang couldn't make attractive after a whole week of help, let alone a day's worth. Anyway, there are actually a few attractive gentlemen here. A few scary guys thrown in the mix, but it's not all unattractive.

Shennie's New Age

On Sunday morning, Jessica and Aunt Sher (now called "Shennie" because she's part Sher, part Jennie) decided that Aunt Sher is no longer in her mid-50's, she must be in her mid-40's.

This whole conversation started with Aunt Sher saying that she had celebrated her kidney's 29th birthday on Sept. 8th (my birthday). Jessi told Sher that since part of her now is 29, that must bring down her average age, because statiscally speaking, one outlier will bring down an entire mean. so one body part aged at 29 will bring down the average age of a mid-50 year old body. But we're only counting major body parts, you know, like heart, lungs, intestinal tract, liver, minor ear bones. OK, not the ear bones.

So, Happy New Age to Aunt Shennie! Love you!

P.S. There was another kidney donor at Sarah's wedding. Unfortunately, his recipient rejected the kidney and he's now on dialysis. So prayers for the little boy in the Hawai'ian shirt at Sarah's wedding would be appropriate.

My Cousin's Wedding

On Saturday, Jessica, Katie and I flew into Connecticut with our parents. We landed shortly before 1 p.m. Eastern time, and promptly headed off to get our rental car. We got a cute little Hyundai Accent. I kinda wish I had taken a picture of it, oh well. Jessi drives down to Cromwell, CT, to our hotel. It was in a shadier part of Cromwell, but not horrible. The hotel sufficed. It was within 25 minutes of anywhere we needed to be in CT. My grandfather was west of us, my grandmother was south of us, the wedding was due east of us, and the airport was due north. Not bad planning there, Pops! I'd stay there again.

Yesterday was my cousin's wedding. The church was very pretty. It was an old style, Pilgrim built church. Wooden pews (I think one of the Congregationalists had made some pads for it), rafters, an old organ. Her flowers were very pretty. My father's whole family was there. She even invited my aunt's ex-husband. That made for a slightly awkward social tension. But it was nice to see him again. I hadn't seen him since I was in 7th grade. I'm 29 now.

The wedding was great, Sarah and Doug seem like they'll be a happy couple.

Murphy Hates Me

You know, Murphy... the guy from Murphy's Law. He hates me. Ever since I've been in charge at the CLC, stuff has been going wrong left and right. And there's nothing I can do about it. None of it was my fault.

Let me count the ways that Murphy hates me:

1) Storm in July knocks out the power around St. Louis, forcing me to...

2) Cancel a whole week of summer camp. That ended up losing our facility about $3,300.

3) A large school district did not show up for their two missions and two Discovery classrooms today. Come to find out, their science coordinator (who was in charge of telling the teachers when to come to our Center and she was in charge of getting us paid) had resigned a month earlier and noone contacted us. She was our only contact in the district, and her voicemail did not indicate that she had left her position (We called her twice last week to find out whywe hadn't been paid yet). Oh yeah, this large school district was signed up for 15 missions and 15 Discovery classrooms over the next two weeks. Cost: over $8,000.

These are just the major things that have happened... I'm not counting all the little stuff that has happened over the past three months. I swear, if one more thing happens while Tasmyn is gone (only TWO MORE WEEKS!), I will cry. I will sit at my desk and weep like a frickin' baby.

Just so I don't end on a downer, Ben said the funniest thing at dinner tonight. He says, "Honey, in the future, would you mind not talking to me about major life decisions as we're laying in bed about to fall asleep? The other night, you bring up the baby talk* after you're already on Ambien... then blah, blah, blah, baby, SNORE!"

*baby talk = when do you want to start thinking about having a baby? Not let's have a baby now... no house, no baby.

Football

Well, the Rams buggered this game up. The offense just doesn't seem to be in sync. Marc Bulger looks uncomfortable on the field, and I think it's because he doesn't have much faith in his line. They aren't giving him much time, and when they manage to give him a few extra milliseconds, he can't complete a pass to save his life. He overthrew his receivers like mad today. Thank God Torry got that touchdown. I can't imagine what these guys would be feeling if they lost AND they hadn't scored a touchdown yet this season.

My Cowboys rocked the hizzy though!! They played like I wish the Rams would. They were hitting hard on defense, not just sitting back and waiting for the other team to come to them. The offense did well, too.

Man, I love me some football...

Loads goin' on....

Today, Ben and I each cleaned out our office areas, and I am actually typing this blog from my desk. I haven't been able to type from this computer for almost a year. Check out my newly clean area!!

Our new staff at the CLC are trained on the Mars mission. The new Lead Flight Director is a fast learner and is now doing the parts of her job, which are now leaving me time to do my job (and my boss' for another two weeks).

Last weekend was my 29th birthday, and I had a nice weekend. I went in to work on Saturday morning to get a project completed, watched the shuttle launch (OF COURSE...), and then went out to lunch with friends, went to the Science Center with them, saw an Omnimax movie (Adrenaline Rush), and finished the night off at Dave and Buster's.

Next weekend, I'll be in CT with my parents and sisters for my cousin's wedding. I'll try and publish photos from that trip next Monday night.

Well, Rams are about to start playing, and the Cowboys are on after that. I am so happy the football season is up and running again. Sundays are so nice now!

Long Time No See!!

Sorry that I haven't blogged in such a while, but as I've said before, work has been pretty rough, but things are improving (I think...). And, last week I was in Houston for the National Challenger Learning Center for Space Science Education Conference. The week was pretty good. Monday was AWESOME! For those of us who got there a day early, we got an up close and personal tour of Johnson Space Center. I was in the Mission Control Room where the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and first shuttle missions were run. For a space geek like me, that was like being in Jerusalem or Mecca for a Jew or Muslim, respectively. I saw the Neutral Buoyancy Lab (otherwise known as the largest pool in the world where astronauts train underwater in their 185 lb spacesuits), Building 9 (one full size shuttle mock-up, two cockpit mock-ups, one International Space Station mock-up, etc.) and Mission Control. I got to meet four astronauts last week. Barbara Morgan, Scott Paraczynski (sp?), Bill McArthur, and Rick Mastracchio. Rick and Barbara are training together for their June 2007 mission (STS-118). They were both incredibly nice and Rick was really great for talking with Mellisa and me for two hours. We were able to pick his brain about living in space, training to be an astronaut, going through the application process, etc. I also talked with him a little about Waterbury, CT (his hometown, where my mom and Aunt Shennie grew up).

This week also began training for our new staff. Day One went well, tomorrow we get our interim receptionist. So yay! I don't have to learn another job. I'm down to 2 and a half jobs rather than three (Kim's still training, so I'm still doing half her job for at least another two to three weeks...)

I'll make up a flickr account or something for my Houston pics. I'll post the link once I've got the hookup.

Fantastic Time Waster

On the news this morning, Art and Jennifer (Channel 5 in St. Louis) announced that Missouri is the number one state in wasting time while at work. Apparently, Missourians waste an average of 3.1 hours per day, number two state wastes only 2.1 hours per day. IL workers waste only 2.0 hours per day.

So this got me to thinking, what is it that I do when I need a brief break from work, while at work? I check my e-mail during coffee in the morning and during snack time in the afternoon. I check if my sister has updated her blog. Today, I decided to take a 15 minute break after addressing packets to go to every elementary school and middle school in the 5 counties in IL that are close to St. Louis. During said break, I happened upon Barney's Blog. Barney is the best character off the hit show "How I Met Your Mother" on CBS. He's a mysogynistic, horny bastard who is funny as hell. He's played by Neil Patrick Harris. The blog is to die for hilarious, especially if you've seen the show and know the character well. I've linked the blog entry about how to dump someone. If you don't read the whole blog, you at least have to read this entry; it's the best I've read (so far).

Well, Mom, Dad and Jessi should be calling soon from the airport and I need to be ready to go get them.

I can't wait for October

Seriously, I'm going nuts here people! We haven't had any missions at work this week, so my whole week has been stuck behind the desk (except the day I went home sick). Today, I took some of my work into the classroom just for a change of scenery! Then, after I got bored working in there, I went and did some of my work at the receptionist's desk (she's not in on Thursdays).

I don't know how people work eight hours a day, five days a week at the same desk. I would go insane.

Surgery Update

My friend Bob got out of surgery today and is doing very well. The doctors did not remove as much of his bowel as they thought they might have to, and so they sent him home today. He's at his parents' house, under the care of his mother. Despite all this good news, we will have to wait until next week to get the results of the tests that they are now doing on the removed parts. So keep those prayers, good thoughts, and positive karma headed his way, please.

USS Bill Clinton

Got this humorous e-mail minus the picture (that I would so love to photoshop, if I knew how). So went out googling the net for the whole e-mail and it's accompanying pic.

Here is the link to the announcement of the USS Bill Clinton.

Did you click in it? If not... do so now. You need to see the picture before I tell you what I would photoshop in...

First of all, I would add a cigar boat (haha) as the life boat.

Then, I'd place a cheap looking fake palm tree near the jet. Christmas lights would string from the tree's branches to the open cockpit (haha) of the plane. The seat of the jet would have one of those tacky seat covers that teens are putting on their driver and passenger seats. You know, the one with the silhouette of the naked woman.

Finally, I'd photoshop a bevy of Monica Lewinskys, Paula Jones and Gennifer Flowers look alikes on board.

Nope, wait, the final touch would be for the people who look very closely at the Captain of the USS Bill Clinton. She's in the boathouse, holding onto the wheel... Hillary Clinton.

Prayers are needed

My friend Bob will be undergoing abdominal surgery to remove parts of his bowel that may or may not be cancerous. Regardless of the outcome, abdominal surgery is rough to recover from, as was evident after my laparoscopic abdominal surgery. I have read scientific studies that people who have been prayed for (whether or not they knew they were being prayed for) had faster, less complicated recovery times. This is what I want for my friend. Goodness knows how long I would have been out of commission if I hadn't had all the prayers and good karma out there for me! Best of Luck, Bob. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

Really, When It Rains...

Now I'm not talking about work or bad things, I'm talking about the fact that:

1) I've been blogging like a mad woman the past few days

2) I'm putting pictures on my blog now...

3) Here's even more pictures, but now they are of my beautiful new piece of furniture. OK, so it's considered an accessory, but it's the first piece of furniture I've bought all by myself. I got it at Ashley Furniture Store (thanks for the heads-up Jessi and Craig). It's black wood and leather, with gorgeous detailing. Enjoy!





The reason I bought the screen, though, is the funny part. Take a look at what's behind it...

When It Rains...

As many of you know, I'm working my tail off at work trying to keep the Center up and running while I bide my time until my boss comes back to take this responsibility off my shoulders. Well, my poor husband is not only having to deal with his uber-tired wife, but it seems like everything is breaking down on him.

His new car needs brake work; the rotors appear to be uneven. (OK, so how long did you believe that I actually know what the heck that means?!)

His Xbox 360 (less than a year old) broke down this week. Won't even start up sometimes. Won't run a game from the CD/DVD.

I know there is something else he told me about that broke... but I can't think of it right now.

He's also having to do a lot at work. But he told me the other day that he's really loving what he's doing. I can't even tell you how happy that makes me. I've been hoping for the last two years that he would like what he's doing at this job. I know that he likes the people at work (he's related by marriage to many of them, so he has little choice about liking them...).

More Mike party pics (on Mike's ACTUAL birthday)

Happy happy happy

Happy Anniversary Mike and Morgan!!! Aug 1

Happy Birthday Morgan!!!Aug 6

Happy Birthday Mike!!!Aug 9

I love you both! Enjoy the rest of you month!!

Scar

The picture in which I am wearing the yellow tank, is the "before" pic. The picture in which I am wearing purple pants is the "after" pic. Back then, the scars were so red, they itched, and they looked awful. Now, they have lost the red, they are more pink. The almost never itch, but from time to time they do. I bet overtime, it might get to be that people might not notice them.

Looking at the scars now, I wonder how they will be affected during any of my future pregnancies....

So what do you all think about these??

Pic from Mike's party

Feel free to take, use, adjust picture , as long as you are a Truman group friend. I don't want someone taking it photoshopping it and make my friend Mike to look bad.

DVD list

Alright, for many years now I have been talking about taking some time and watching movies from our collection. Many of the movies are ones that I have not seen before, but purchased because I strongly felt that I would like the movie. Others fall under the category of I've-seen-it-and-really-want-to-see-it-again. So, here begins the list. In alphabetical order, since that is how we organize our movies.

Amadues
An americna Werewolf in Paris
Anger Management
Because of Winn-Dixie
Blow Dry
Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason
Bulletproof
Chasing Amy
Closer
The Count of Monte Cristo
Disney's Halloween Treat
Dogma
Failure to Launch
Gone with the Wind
Grosse Point Blank
Gunner Palace
Hardvard Man
Heart and Souls
High Fidelity
Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy
How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days
In Good Company
Just Married
Kingdom of Heaven
KINSEY
Labryinth
Life Without Dick (it's not porn)
Mary Poppins
Mona Lisa Smile
Muppets Wizard of Oz
Animal House
The Natural
The Notebook
Phantom of the Opera
Princess Bride
REnt
Runaway Jury
Saint
Saw
Saw II
Say Anything
Serenity
Sideways
Singles
Under the Tuscan Sun
UnderWorld
Wnderworld; Evolution
Untouchables
Waking the Dead

IMpressive list. Like I'll get through it anytime soon though. But at least I've put it out there. I'll check them off as I get them watched.

Columbia and CLC

This past weekend, Ben, Bob and Karl and I traveled to Columbia, MO, for our friend Mike's surprise 30th birthday party. Mike is the husband (and good friend of mine from college) of the marvelous and thoughtful Morgan. He's the first of our group (from college) to hit the big 30. Hell, I'm next, and I'll only be 29. So anway, on the way there, Ben asks me if Mike knows about the party, or even if he has an inkling. Right off the bat, I say "no, he doesn't have a clue." Ben then proceeds to push the issue, saying that maybe Mike knows. Again, I say nope. Morgan kicks butt at keeping good secrets like this, it won't even occur to Mike that she would have a big blow out like this for him.

Later that afternoon, we all arrive at the restaurant and we're waiting for Mike and Morgan to arrive. He shows up, on the phone with someone who is at the restaurant waiting for him! When Mike turns the corner and sees us all, his expression is PRICELESS. The look on his face was complete and utter confusion. I got a picture of it, but Ben has to offload it from the camera and put it on the server for me. I'll load it to the blog for everyone.

During the party, Mike begins talking about how he had no idea that this was going to happen. So I elbow Ben and give him an "I told you so" look. Mike catches it and wants to know what that was, so I tell him about the discussion in the car. Unfortunately, I worded it badly when telling him about it and it sounded like I thought he was stupid or clueless (WHICH he is NOT), I merely meant that he would not think of her doing something this big. I have mad respect for the intelligence that Mike possesses (Hello, he married Morgan didn't he?!).

On to the job front...

I'm EXHAUSTED these days. Doing my job, my boss' job (out on maternity leave) and my co-worker's job until the position starts in September is quite tiring. And unfortunately, our receptionist is transferring to another school in the district, and there's a really good chance that we won't be able to get a new one hired and trained until Oct (when my boss gets back anyway). I'm sure not going to learn the receptionist position. I barely have time to get any part of my job/boss job/coworker job stuff done.

The past two days, I've gotten home from work, sat down and passed out. I'm mentally and physically worn out. And I've still got two months to go. Then I'm taking major vacation and comp days. Plus I get a full two weeks off at Christmas. Yay! I'm sure as hell going to need that time.

San Antonio

So, Tuesday night I flew to San Antonio, TX, for a business trip. First of all, I saw more military people in the 24 hours of my trip than I see in a month around O'Fallon and Fairview Heights. At Lambert, before I even boarded my plane I sat and talked with three Army guys. They were coming home from Iraq for some time off. I thanked them for their service and told them about my dad being retired Air Force and my brother being Army. They seemed to appreciate the fact that I may not have lived "the life," but that I had an understanding of it. They were really nice guys.

Then, the gal sitting in front of me on the plane (I'll get to THAT in a minute) was on her way to San Antonio for AF Basic Training. She is straight out of high school, trying to get money to pay for college. She'll be training for Security Forces. I got the impression that she believes she'll be headed to Iraq/Afghanistan soon after her training is complete. She was a very sweet girl. I tried to give her my US Weekly for her to read during Basic, but she said she wasn't allowed to have stuff like that.

Now, onto the plane. This plane could have been Ben's left shoe. It was freaking tiny! I was in seat 2A for both flights. Just to give you an idea of how little room I had, I made a trek to the onboard bathroom on both flights just so I had some room to stretch out!! Other than that, though, both flights were fairly uneventful. On the flight home, I got to see some thunderstorms southwest of St. Louis. Most people would be freaked out seeing lightning while flying, but it was far enough away that I just enjoyed the beauty of nature.

My trip itself was good. The staff at the San Antonio Challenger Learning Center were very nice. I truly enjoyed their presentations and program. They were very kind and gave me all kinds of stuff (a patch with their logo and a CD of space music and parodies made by one of their more creative staff members). They also shared a lot of cool lessons that I can (and will) use in the future here at our Center.

Well, back to work I go. I've got a lot of prep work to do for Monday. Laters!

3 Things

So my sister did this on her blog a couple of weeks ago (and me being the procrastinator that I am), I am just now doing this on my blog. So here it goes:

(By the way, my answers are in no particular order)

3 things that scare me:
Losing Ben
Losing my parents
Not being able to have kids some day

3 people that make me laugh:
My sister, Jessica
My Best Friend Morgan
My husband and our friends

3 things that I love:
Ben
going on cruises
hanging out with friends

3 things I don’t understand:
stupid people
calculus based physics
one eyed one horned giant purple people eaters

3 things on my desk:
pic of Ben and me on our honeymoon
lightup mini glitter lamp from Boeing
cool rolling magnetic paper clip holder

3 things I’m doing right now:
Watching America's Got Talent
filling in this blog
sitting under a blanket despite the fact that it's 90+ degrees outside

3 things I want to do before I die:
Have kids and grandkids
travel Europe (mostly France, Ireland, Scotland, and Sweden)
go on a hot air balloon ride

3 things I can do:
Talk (a lot)
educate others
type really fast

3 things that describe my personality:
Outgoing
Entertaining
Giving

3 things I can’t do:
be an astronaut (having donated a kidney probably precludes me from going into space)
play the piano with both hands at the same time
tie a cherry stem in my mouth

3 things I think that I should listen to:
my friends
my husband
my family

3 things I should NEVER listen to:
I don't know... I guess I never really listen to telemarketers (I rarely answer the phone when they call, and hang up on them when I do)

3 of my ABSOLUTE favorite foods:
My grandmother's cooking (especially her pies)
LOBSTER
Chocolate

3 things that I ‘d like to learn:
Sign Language
Spanish
Celtic

3 beverages that I drink regularly:
water
wine
juice

3 shows I watched as a kid:
Star Search (the ORIGINAL America's Got Talent)
Sesame Street
She-Ra

Totally Random

Jessi and Craig (my sister and bro-in-law) are on their merry little way to Omaha, their newest place of residence (at least for the next year). They weren't able to make the move without any drama, though. As if it isn't enough to be moving halfway across the country, it turns out the people who run their apartment complex in Louisville, KY, are greedy bastards and nobody ever gets their deposits back. Jessi and Craig scrubbed that place from ceiling to floor and according to the apartment people "It's not clean enough, we'll have to dock you some." Are you flipping kidding me?! If Jessi can't get a place looking sparklin' new, then Mr. Clean ain't gonna do it either!!! Greedy buttfaces. Then, yesterday as Craig is packing up his car getting ready to drive away, he falls down the last couple of steps and hurts his ankle. It looks awful. I feel badly for him, it's gotta hurt. (Check out Jessi's blog for pics.) So Craig's Mom and Dad were kind enough to drive him up yesterday, because he hurt his driving ankle.

Now the mini-drama in my life. I got a speeding ticket. In O'Fallon. But according to the officer, if I show up in court on the appointed date, I'll get three months court supervision and if I don't get another traffic citation, I'm off the hook, and insurance will never be the wiser. For giving me a ticket, this guy was seriously nice. But up until he was getting ready to walk away, he thought that he had pulled over an astronaut!! I had my flight suit in the back of my car and I was wearing my NASA tee-shirt "I Need My Space" with the NASA logo on the front. I told him that, no, I'm not an astronaut yet, but that I would be applying in the next round for Educator Astronaut. Now, I don't think that I would ever be accepted to be an astronaut. I have a feeling that my missing kidney pretty much precludes me from them taking a risk with my life. But I seriously would like to apply next year when apps will be accepted again. I'm still younger than the average astronaut. Most don't get accepted until they are in their mid-30's. So, we'll see.

Finally, I'm going to see my boss and her newest member of the family, Owen Zachary. I'll post a pic as soon as I have one. I hope I can figure out how to do that...

Serious...

I have a horrible new addiction and it is called NASA TV. I have the TV set to the channel all the time now. When I'm on the computer, I've got NASA TV streaming live. It's sick. It's obsessive. I LOVE it!

This just tells me how right my boss was for hiring me. How many other people so love the subject of their profession that they continue to obsess about it long after they've gone home for the day? I've been off this week, which has been GREAT. It's allowed me to watch and keep up with what's going on in space this week.

I'm a total space geek. Yay!!!!

Scrubbed Again

So now launch is postponed until July 4th, 2:38 p.m. Eastern time.

Keep track of NASA's launch plans by reading the Launch Blog

Boy, I hope the launch goes off on the 4th. If it doesn't, I'm probably going to be asked questions about launch (which I have some knowledge about, but I'm studying mission objectives and re-entry like the show producer asked me to).

We'll see how it goes, though.

Not to worry...

OK, so Discovery didn't launch yesterday. That's OK. I just hope it gets to launch today.

How cool would it be to be an American astronaut in space over the USA at night on July 4th? I bet they'd be able to see all those colorful flashes of light everywhere. Man, really makes you want to be an astronaut, doesn't it?

Don't forget, I'll be on Channel 5 way freaking early on July 5th! Set your Tivo to record between 6 and 7 am. Otherwise, check www.ksdk.com that day for video of the interview.

Space News

Camp last week was great, but then again, I had middle schoolers.

Today is the Discovery shuttle launch, and I have to watch it because I'll be interviewed live on Today in St. Louis (channel 5) on Wednesday July 5th. I'll probably be on between 6:30 and 6:45 a.m. They are supposed to interview me as a local shuttle and re-entry "expert." So I'm brushing up like mad to make sure I can answer those questions. There are probably people more knowledgeable, but I bet they aren't as cute or able to get the point across as well as I can since I'm a teacher. For those of you who are not from St. Louis, I bet they'll put my interview online at www.ksdk.com. Feel free to check the site later that day for video feed of me! :)

Only a few minutes until Launch. God, I'm excited.

One Day Left

I technically only had to be with my campers for half of today, I went and gave a presentation to over 200 Girl Scouts. That was easier for me than dealing with third and fourth graders. I'd rather do public speaking than work with elementary kids. Thank God we focus on middle schoolers at CLC.

I gues I've been a little negative about camp this week. The kids aren't bad, they just take A LOT of energy and patience. I thought I was patient until this week. Altough, I guess there are people who might have actually snapped at these kids. As far as I can tell, they don't even know how hard working with them is on me. When I came back this afternoon, I got hugs all around. And they all seem pretty happy to see me each day. I just wish we didn't have to do a young kids camp. Doing the camps for the older kids is hard enough.

One day left.

Sad Day

I'm sorry to announce the passing of Craig's grandma, Nana, today. She was a great lady whom was well loved by all who knew her.

The Lotz's are in our thoughts and prayers.

Random bear

So this has been a tough week. The morning camp is not only a large group of third and fourth graders, but they are a less mature group of kids than my afternoon group. So when I got home and checked my e-mail to find this HILARIOUS nugget in my Inbox, I felt better. Ben is the best.

USB drive

I haven't laughed this hard in a while. The photo of that teddy bear sticking out of the front of the computer was awesome. It's like someone got mad at the bear or the computer (or both) and just shoved it in there.

Great stuff.

P.S. If you see me on the news in the next two days, it's either because I have poked a child's eyes out because I've gotten sick of "Two Fingers Up" (a method of getting kids to be quiet), or I've attempted to launch one of them on the model rockets we'll be launching on Friday. Just so you know.

Thank God for Elementary teachers

So, today was the first day of Young Astronauts Camp. It's all third and fourth graders. Elementary school teachers are God's gift to the world. Anyone who can put up with 20+ of those kids for 6 hours a day are freaking Angels on Earth. Seriously. It's only been one day, and I'm counting down the days until I'm not dealing with kids this young on a daily basis.

Sorry this is short and raggy, but I've got to give Ben a break from me bitchin' about these kids.

Nugget

It’s insane how many calls we are getting at CLC for missions, mini-missions, parties, etc. for this summer! On one hand I’m happy that we’re getting loads of business, but at the same time, we still only have three people who know how to run a mission!!!! So there will be a lot of days where I will have to leave the camp to others so I can go run a mission or off site program.

I did have one really cool thing happen at work today, though. I’ve been researching the materials that make up the space suits used by NASA, and I found a company that sells rolls of Kevlar fabric. I don’t want a whole roll, just a sample that I can use in a show-and-tell type setting, so the company was nice enough to donate a small swatch for our educational purposes. Yay! So if anyone out there ever needs ballistics grade Kevlar to make something, I recommend Armor Co. of Ohio.

On to lighter stuff. Now that the TV seasons are pretty much over, many summer shows are gearing up. One of them that Ben and I are ecstatic about returning is Last Comic Standing. We missed the first season, watched the second season (LOVED the winner, John Heffron). We also watched season three, a battle between seasons one and two. Two totally wiped the floor with season one’s comics. Only one guy was really up to par with season two’s comics, and he’s the one who lasted the longest before NBC prematurely pulled the plug. As much as we love John Heffron, we really are digging Josh Blue, a comic living with cerebral palsy. He’s freaking hilarious. He makes fun of the parts of his disabilities that are obvious and parts that others may not recognize as being issues. Ben and I have seen him before on our favorite comic show, “Mind of Mencia.” Apparently, Josh is friends with Carlos Mencia, who also happens to look like a Mexican version of my brother-in-law, Patrick. I’ll try and get a picture of Pat at the next family gathering for online comparison.

So I guess what I’m trying say with that last paragraph about Last Comic Standing is that if you’re not watching it, YOU SHOULD BE. Tuesday nights on NBC. http://www.nbc.com/Last_Comic_Standing/

Check out the website to vote for comics who haven’t yet made it to the finals. They have videos of them. Enjoy. That is my nugget for you this day.

Jessi

So Jessi wrote a really funny blog. But she doesn't have the guts to post it. So if you want to read it, e-mail her or me and I'll send it. It's freaking hilarious. I laughed so hard I cried. My stomach muscles hurt. My cheeks hurt.

Cardinals Game

Last night Ben and I got some tickets to the Cards/Reds game. We took our friends, Justin and Cheryl. We lost the game, which sucked, but something Cheryl said at the end of the night made it TOTALLY worth going.

So after the game, the four of us are waiting to leave the ballpark while the rest of the crowd clears out. We are at the top of the stadium. THE TOP. So I'm looking down on the crowd walking below us on the walkway. And I mention to Ben, jokingly of course, "Hey, honey, you can look down girls shirts from here!" So Ben, Justin and Cheryl all look down on the walkway. A few seconds later, an older woman with a MAJOR boob job walks below us wearing a tank top. Cheryl yells out "NICE RACK!" It was hilarious!!

It really helps if you know Cheryl to see how funny that is, but I bet it's at least crackin' a smile on your face... huh huh, I said crack.

New Job

So I've been in the new full time job at the Challenger Learning Center for over three weeks now. I'm loving it. I'm busy, but not too busy now that Space Day is over. Summer camp is coming up, but it's not so close that I'm freaking out. I'm able to be creative and my co-workers are pretty great. My boss has recognized my work already, and she complimented me. The gal whom I have succeeded did a spectacular job keeping everything organized and it's been pretty easy to catch up with everything that is a part of the job description (which is A LOT, I don't know how she did it from scratch, what a tough job that must have been). My boss and co-worker took over my position's duties before I started (while I was off donating a kidney).

The drive isn't too terribly bad, it's better in the morning than the afternoon, when traffic gets worse. I take that time to listen to the Dave Glover show on 97.1 Talk FM (he's friggin' hilarious), plan dinner and decompress from work. Poor Ben has such a short drive home that he doesn't get that time to let go of work stuff (and I'm not being sarcastic, I actually feel for him being this close to work).

Well, long story short, I LOVE my job.

Just got this forward

Hey y'all, just after I post that highway blog, I get this forward from someone in Paducah, Kentucky! I don't know who wrote this originally, but it is SO FREAKING TRUE!!

Enjoy:

Driving in St. Louis...

If you live in St. Louis, you'll understand this. If you've ever visited St. Louis, you'll understand this. If you've never been to St. Louis, consider this your Visitor's Guide to Driving in St. Louis.

1. There are 75 "official neighborhoods" in the City of St. Louis (not to be confused with the County of St. Louis of which it is not a part). In fact, the City of St. Louis not located in any county. It is much like Washington D. C. - in a world all of its own. St. Louisans commonly give directions to strangers (primarily to restauran ts) based on these neighborhoods which are not marked on any map that is handed out by the tourist board, AAA or even available on Mapquest.

2. There are 54 school districts in metro St. Louis on the Missouri side alone. (We prefer not to recognize East St. Louis, IL as being a part of the metro area just as Israelis prefer not to recognize Palestine.) Each of these districts has their own school bus system and scheduled times to block traffic.

3. There are 91 official municipalities in St. Louis County. Each has its own rules, regulations, courts, and often their own police and fire departments. [Calling 911 for help in an emergency can be a very interesting experience... especially if you don't know in which municipality you're located when someone plows into your car, you have a heart attack, or have been mugged.]

4. More importantly, most municipalities have their own snow removal contracts so it's not uncommon to drive down a road in w inter and have one block plowed, the next salted, the next piled with snow and the last partially cleared by residents wanting to get out of their driveways.

5. Snow plowing is never a problem in the City of St. Louis. They plow nothing, and if the forecast calls for snow, they close everything except on "The Hill" (please refer to #1 above) where each homeowner goes out into the street and shovels out one car-sized rectangle and then stands watch over it. Pull in at your own risk!

6. Any car parked longer than 4 hours in the City of St. Louis is considered a "You Wrench It" parts store.

7. The City of Ballwin actually proposed that drivers use connecting strip mall parking lots to get from place to place rather than to drive on Manchester Road to cut the traffic on Manchester. Younger St. Louisans consider turning left onto or off of Manchester Road in traffic an extreme sport.

8. Laclede Station Road mysteriously changes names as you cross intersections. The same goes for McCausland, Lindbergh, Watson, Reavis Barracks, Fee Fee, McKnight, Airport Road, Midland, Olive and Clarkson. Gravois Road can only be pronounced correctly by a native St. Louisan - not all mind you, but a few. Ditto for Spoede and Chouteau.

9. A St. Louisan from South County has never been to North County and visa versa. West County has everything delivered.

10. No native St. Louisan knows that Lindbergh runs from South County to North County! And, if you tell them, they will not believe you.

11. Lindbergh Boulevard (named after Charles, AKA: "Lucky Lindy") belongs to every neighborhood except in the city of Kirkwood, where they had the nerve to change the name to "Kirkwood Road". (The artsy St. Louisans who reside there are known there for their creativity.)

12. There are 2 interchanges to exit from Highway 40 onto Clayton Road and 2 for Big Bend. Stay alert, people!

1 3. If you need directions to O'Fallon, make sure to specify Illinois or Missouri. This is also true for Troy, Maryville, St. Charles, Springfield, Columbia and. well, need I really go on?

14. The Page Avenue extension and the Airport expansion projects took over 20 years to get approved and St. Louisans lost track of how many political figures claimed them as their own idea.

15. St. Louisans were aghast when the federal government required them to redo the highway signs to indicate that our federal highways actually went to cities in other states instead of our local municipalities.

16. Many drivers are starting to cut their OWN license plates rather than go through the Missouri Department of Motor Vehicles to get their tags. St. Louisans can also purchase tags from "dealers" behind most QuiKShops in the City. They are a lot cheaper, their clerks are more pleasant than DMV employees, and the service is a lot faster. Cash only. You may want to pack heat.

17. Lambert Field and St. Louis International Airport really are the same place. The East Terminal, however, is a different place.

18. Highway 270 is our daily version of the NASCAR circuit. The same thing goes for Highway 70. You can go all four directions on Highway 270: North and South in West County, East and West in South County, and East and West in North County. Confused? So are most drivers in St. Louis.

19. The outer belt is Highway 270, which turns into Highway 255 in South County. The inner belt is Highway 170. Highway 370 is a sorta-kinda outer-outer belt. Highway 40 is the same as Interstate 64 (but only through the middle part of St. Louis).

20. The morning rush hour is from 6:30 to 9:00 a.m. The evening rush hour is from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. unless the Blue's or Card's are playing - then its 3:30 to 8:00 and again from 9:45 to whenever. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning. Never ever try to cross a bridge over the northward flowing Missouri River or the southward flowing Mississippi River in St. Louis during rush hour unless you have a sack lunch and a pee-pee port-a-potty in the car.

21. YIELD signs are for decoration only. No native St. Louisan will ever grasp the concept. And at 4-way stop intersections controlled by stop signs, forget about the idea of taking turns. Cars go through two or three at a time. It takes some getting used to.

22. If someone in St. Louis actually has his or her turn signal on, it is probably a factory defect or has been on for the last 17 miles.

23. Construction on Highways 40, 64, 70, 255, 270, 44, 55 and 170 is a way of life and a permanent form of entertainment.


24. U.S. Highway 61 mysteriously disappears as it enters West County and suddenly reappears as it exits South County. Even MO-DOT can't figure this one out. Many think if they ever find it, they'll also find Jimmy Hoffa and Iraq's WMD's.

25. Any blue-haired babe in a Cadillac driving on Olive west of the inner belt (see #19) always has the right of way. But if the Caddie has fins, this territorial limitation does not apply so pay attention. It's dangerous out there!

St. Louis Highway Personalities

Starting my full time job at the Challenger Center has introduced me to the fact that each highway in St. Louis has drivers of certain personalities. For most of my tenure in St. Louis, I have driven highway 64/40. But now the CLC job has me driving highway 70 to and from work. I have now realized that drivers on 64/40 are fairly decent human beings with the occassional jerky driver while highway 70 is filled with selfish assholes! Prime example (though far from being unusual on 70):

While getting onto 70 on my home from work the other day, I was trying to merge onto the entrance ramp for 70. There was a brand new, fire engine red Mustang to my left and slightly behind. There was just enough room for me to turn on my blinker to nicely let her know that's where I wanted to go. So what does this driver do? SPEEDS UP and doesn't let me in. I HAVE to merge otherwise I'll end up exiting onto another road that I don't need to be on. So I let her get far enough up so I can pull behind her (where there is a whole line of cars BTW). As I pull in behind her, I beeped at her to let her know that I didn't appreciate her actions. She not only sped up to prevent me from merging, but she then, get this, sticks her hand out the sun roof and flips me the bird. I was pissed. Later that day, I thought about it and realized that if someone told me about that story I'd laugh my ass off, so I laughed it off and let it go. That's when it hit me that all my bad highway experiences have happened either on 70 or on the Poplar Street Bridge (which incidentally carries I-70 drivers over to Illinois).

FYI, I-270 is St. Louis' version of NASCAR. The speed limit hovers around 85 or 90, with people whipping around each other like they are Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt, Jr. This includes little old ladies in their ginormous Cadillacs and hoosiers in their jacked up F-250's (you know, the ones that have Confederate flags and decals of Calvin peeing on Osama).

I have yet to drive I-370. Although, there have been a couple of wrong way driving accidents on that highway, so my guess is that 370 drivers are morons. Not certain of that yet, it's just a theory.

Please let me know about highways 44 and 55, as I don't drive them enough to know.

Quick update

Went to see the doctor about the not sleeping because of twitchy, restless legs, and he believes it is "Restless Legs Syndrome" brought on by the trauma of the surgery and the stress from the new job. Prescribed Ambien, my new best friend. Ambien is not the typical treatment for restless legs, but I tried it the night before I saw the doc, it worked so he wrote me a script for more. I now use it in fear of staying awake or being awoken by those restless legs.

Started the new job at Challenger Learning Center and I LOVE it. I'm busy every second of the day, but that's good because the hours just fly by. My job has many many aspects to it, and right now we are running on a skeleton crew for missions, so I don't have much time to work on non-mission related duties. (huh-huh, I said "duty") On my second day, my boss and co-worker (yes, there are only three of us in the office on a dialy basis) took me out to lunch. That day I found out that not only is my boss pregnant, but so is my co-worker. So I kind of feel left out like that, BUT I am SO NOT ready for a baby right now. Between the recuperating, new job and restless legs, I could not handle a baby.

Not sleeping is for the birds

OK, so what the hell is wrong with me lately?! I have not been sleeping right. The other morning I was up at 4:30 a.m., and now I can't get to sleep. This is so messed up.

Anyway, so all those plans of things I wanted to get done while recuperating at home?? None of them done. I'm so darn tired every day, just the smallest things wear me out. After a shower I have to rest for a few minutes before I can finish getting ready. Going out and running an errand almost requires a nap when I get home. But my energy levels are slowly getting better.

Part of this not sleeping thing is that my legs feels weird, like I need to move. So I get up, walk a couple rounds around my home interior, then sit down because I'm tired. Then my legs want to walk again, so I'm off like a race horse, walking around and around until I'm tired again. Or until the cat finally pisses me off enough that I have to sit down so she'll quit attacking my legs while I walk. It's like she knows something isn't right. She is probably thinking, "why the hell is Mommy up? She never comes back out into the living room this fast after she's gone to bed... what's wrong with her?"

OK, I'm thinking like I'm the cat. I really need sleep.

Screw the rooster, I was up before him!

Yeah, so I woke up at 4:30 this morning. No alarm, no major storm, just woke up. Totally awake. So I got out of bed so I wouldn't toss and turn and wake up my hubby. When I got out to the living room, I decided to check my e-mail and various blogs. While looking through Jessi's blog, I remembered that she had a link to get a copy of my credit report. So I figured it might be good to look through my credit stuff and see how it all looked. While on the site, I went ahead and purchased my credit score to get a full picture of what it all meant. My score kicks butt!!! I'm only like 40 points lower than my parents' score, which is above 800 (a VERY GOOD score). This is awesome. I'm so looking forward to finding out what Ben's score is. I bet it's close to mine since they are now linked. I'm just so stoked. I hope this means that we'll get a good loan when we go to buy a house later this year/early next year.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you thought I was geeky before...

I have surpassed my own geekiness today. This morning I actually got bored playing Bejeweled and Jewel Quest, so I started playing Ben's Role-Playing-Game, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I thought at first, "Oh, I'll just make up a character and see how close I can get to having her look like me..."

That took all of 10 minutes. I still wasn't ready to go back and play an Arcade game... so I thought, "Well, let's see how long I last until I get my ass kicked by something in the game, then I'll quit."

About 2 hours later, I saved my game and called Ben. He must have been busy because I had to leave him a voicemail. In said voicemail, I told him this..."Honey, I just wanted you to know that I am now addicted to Oblivion." When he came home for lunch, he was so proud of me. And I CONTINUED to play until 3 p.m.!! At that point, I decided that I should at least put some laundry in the washer and get cleaned up.

I can't believe that I am now an official gamer. Not just a girly arcade player, but an official gamer. Now I have to go back on and try to kill some Demons from Oblivion (the game's version of Hell). They were really the reason I stopped playing earlier. Those bastards must have killed me about 5 times before I gave up. Maybe I'll wait til Ben gets home and have him be my Guide Master. Oh my God, I'm a dork.

P.S. Jessi and Craig are probably laughing their butts off right now... that's OK. I think it's totally funny too. Let me know what you think in my comments section!!

Pet Therapy

So if you read my kidney blog, you know about the pet therapy, if not, go read it and come back. I'll wait.

Welcome back! Anyway, so now I think Ben is closer to getting a doggie!!! Between seeing sweet Simon and Heidi, he's starting to like the idea of a smaller dog. YES! Shoot, he's gonna read this and say no. Not that I want a doggie right now... but after we buy a house..... a small dog that won't make our kittie feel intimidated. She should not feel like she's being replaced. I just think she'd like it better if the dog we get is small so she won't feel pushed around. Imagine it... kittie in one lap and doggie in the other lap. How CUTE!!!!

Out of the hospital

I'm out of the hospital now. I was discharged this morning. I took a shower this morning before I left and it was AWESOME. Ben had to help me, I couldn't get both hands up to wash my hair, or stay steady on my feet, so I sat on a shower stool and he bascally washed me. I'm a very independent person most of the time, so asking him to help me for such basic things like showering has been hard, but he's but so sweet and great about helping me out. I've got a good one here, ladies....

My back is really sore, my neck gets pains due to the CO2 in my body from the surgery. So the heating pad has become my best friend. I am trying to be mobile as often as possible, but it's so hard! It totally feels like my guts are going to spill out when I walk around. My abdominal muscles have been cut into, so they aren't as tight as they used to be, hence the feeling like things are going to come out. I walk like a little old lady. Walking through the hotel today, I had littel old ladies passing me!! Not really, but they probably could have.

It also hurts to laugh, which is hard because most of you know how funny my parents and husband can be. Example one: Dad and Mom came home from shopping for me today, and Dad pulls out this package of black licorice. His response: "I know it's past St. Patrick's Day, but I felt this might be fun anyway!" OK, here's the explanation for those of you who don't eat black licorice. If you eat a lot of black licorice, it makes your poop green. I do eat black licorice, I knew this, so I found it hilarious. Example two: Ben and I are watching soaps today while Mom and Dad are gone, and a preview for My Name is Earl comes on. I've seen this preview a few times before, I've been watching NBC nonstop for three days! Anyway, in the scene, Randy (Earl's intelligence challenged brother) is sitting and talking to a robotic toy dog when it gets hit by a ball. As it falls off the table, Randy screams like a girl. It is really, really, really funny. But I've been able to keep from laughing because I know it will hurt. Well Ben just about falls off the bedd laughing from this little scene, and he's laughing in the high-pitched laugh that he does when something is absolutely hilarious. So I had to kick him out of the room until he got the giggles out. I could still hear him the living room of the hotel suite, laughing and saying "screamed like a girl... *chuckle, giggle* he screamed like a girl......"

But I am doing well. All of the prayers that are out there for me and my aunt are helping, keep them coming. I can't wait to get home and see you all.

A year... it's been a year

I can't believe that today is the one year anniversary of my Granma's death. It doesn't feel like that long ago. I've been surprisingly calm today. I thought about today being the anniversary a few days ago, and I thought that I might be a wreck, but I've been OK.

Life without Granma hasn't been too terribly different, unfortunately. Since I haven't lived near her in 20 years, I'm used to her not being around. It only seems to hit me when I visit Grampa's apartment. When I see her chair, her scooter, just sitting there. I know the scooter gets used by Grampa when he has to walk a long distance, but it doesn't get used all that often.

Grampa is toying with the idea of moving to a one bedroom apartment in his retirement community. He doesn't need the space of a two bedroom. We all don't visit that often, and when we do, we can stay in the guest quarters, hotel or Gramma Mc's. But I think that he is having trouble letting go of the last home of Gramma. Not only did they share this apartment, but he would have to get rid of the bed they have shared for DECADES. The one bedroom is small, and would require him to use a twin bed rather than the queen size he has now. I can't even imagine how hard it must be for him to think about not having the things he shared with Gramma around.

One year. Wow.

"Granma, be with me on Monday. I would love to know that you are watching over me."

Set in Stone

So now the surgery is scheduled. March 20th is the big day. I don't know yet what time my surgery will begin, but I do understand that Sheryn will be under for less time than me. For what I can tell, my surgery will take about 3 to 4 hours (maybe even more). Since the transplant will be done laparoscopically on me, it will take more time than the previous "open" surgeries took (3 hours).

I think that I will set up a separate blog that will just be about the kidney transplant. That way people can be kept up to date on both Sheryn and me.

Today, I informed Ladue that I would be leaving them in the near future. They were upset that I will be leaving them, but they understand. I really have loved working there. It's a good school with an amazing staff. And my students are the best (OF COURSE!). I wrote them thank you notes that I'll give them before I go. They are really great kids, and I know that they'll each go very far in life. I will miss them a lot. The kids were heartbroken when I told them that I got the new job. I think that the eighth graders were almost relieved that I'm leaving. But they didn't let on. :) Hah hah. I think they know that I make them follow the rules because I care about them and want them to know how important it is to live by the rules. They do serve a purpose.

Good, Better, Best

Good: Had a good day back at the job today. Teachers were all glad to have me back, and my kids missed me. They were so cute when I came back.

Better: Great job interview today.

Best: Got offered the job! Accepted and will be starting mid-April after recovery from the kidney surgery.

I'm now the new Education Coordinator for the St. Louis Challenger Learning Center. My job will entail coming up with curriculum for our Discovery Classroom, our scout programs, teacher trainings, and corporate training workshops. Oh yeah, and planning for our summer camps this summer. No daily lesson plans. No grading assignments! When I go home at night, I can truly relax.

Good Ole Leftie has a new home

So my surgeon had decided to take my left kidney for my aunt. He explained the whole procedure to me. It is fascinating. Oh yeah, he doesn't look like Ah-nold. Maybe his lips are Ah-nold-like. He's taller than Schwartzenegger is (apparently, I am too...). He was super nice. It took me a little bit to get used to his Italian accent, but I understood him perfectly by the end of the appointment.

Last Saturday night, I didn't end up watching "Tombstone," I ended up looking at old family photos and getting more family history from my Gramma. She let me keep a picture of me as a toddler, as well as some pictures of Grandma and Grandpa Carew, Aunt Sher and Jessica with Cousin Sarah. I'll be making copies and sending them all over the country to family. Then, on Sunday, I helped her figure out her new Swedish geneaological programs. So I got to learn a lot about my Swedish history. Magnus will be a perfect name for a Bellinger son......

Grampa is doing well, too. He looks great, and he seems to be in good spirits. He's typical Grampa, but I'm getting better at handling him now.

I got to meet Sheryn's friend, George. He's great. He's my new best friend, too. He brought us fresh shrimp. I mean, they were frozen, but they weren't crappy shrimp that you get in the MidWest. And they were HUGE. I've only seen shrimp this big on cooking shows! I loved them. Now George wants some steaks from the MidWest. Anybody know of a St. Louis place that ships steaks? I want him to have some great local beef. E-mail me and let me know if you happen to know of a St. Louis place that does that.

I'm so excited to be going home this afternoon! I get to see my husband, my kitty and sleep in my own bed. I'm through the roof happy. Less than 12 hours and I'll be home. Damn, I know that I just jinxed myself. I'm going through Atlanta, which is notorious for delayed flights... Great.

P.S. Jessica's husband, Craig, matched with Boystown, USA in Omaha, Nebraska. I lived at Omaha when I was a kid. I can't wait to go visit them and show Ben one of my childhood homes. Too bad my Dad doesn't still own it.

Gramma's history lesson

So last week was focus on the Carews and Mitchells, this weekend has been focus on the McCarthy's, Emmanuelson's, Magnuson's, etc. I have learned so much this weekend with Gramma. Ben and I have been talking (more like joking about) naming our future son "Magnus," but now it's really growing on me. It's a family name (on my Swedish side), and it's unusual enough that our son wouldn't be one of a million Magnus' at his school.

Kevin and his girlfriend, Robin, as well as her son, Paul, have been here also. I've had fun talking with Robin, playing with Paul and movie watching with all of them. Last night's feature film was "Wyatt Earp." Tonight will probably be "Tombstone." Apparently, "Tombstone" is a favorite of Kevin and Robin's. Ben likes that one a lot too.

Tomorrow, I'm off to Wallingford, CT, to visit Grampa Carew. I'll have to make sure to take pictures for Mom. She'll want to see everyone. :)

I can't wait to be home. I miss Ben. I miss my bed. I miss being regular (don't ask if you really don't want to know).

P.S. I got a second interview, scheduled next week (Thursday)!! YAY!!!! This could mean a new house.... then travel..... then baby.... Yah!

Life in Southboro, Mass

There are trains every 20 to 30 minutes behind my aunt's house. It's actually not bad, it reminds me of being at Mom and Dad's house (they're a little farther from the tracks though). I'm making meals or helping Sher make meals on most days. For example, I'm eating my homemade chicken salad on a pita, and I'm LOVING it!

Tests have gone well for thekindey testing. All my appointments are complete except for my surgeon appt. on Tuesday. That should go well. I hear he looks like Ah-nold. Thank God I'm doing this surgery laparoscopically!!

I met Grace Corrigan yesterday. She is Christa McAuliffe's mom. I was in the house that Crhista grew up in. I was in awe. Grace was SO nice. I had tea with Grace Corrigan. She's a superhero in my book. She has not only learned to live with her daughter's tragic death, but she is out in schools ACROSS THE NATION promoting space science. What a gal. I'll post a pic when I have the film processed.

This weekend, I'll rent a car and drive down to see my Grandpa again, and then stay with my Gramma. My Grandpa is my mom's dad, and my Gramma is my dad's mom. I love them both dearly. Grandpa is getting a little codgety in his old age, but he's a good guy, he's just trying to make sure I'm a good little lady before he's gone. Gramma, she's awesome. She just needs to quit cooking everything under the sun for me. Aunt Sher and I went there last Saturday for lunch. Gramma made a whole thanksgiving like dinner!!! For lunch!!! She loves you with food, that one.

Also, I had a phone interview today for the education coordinator position at the St. Louis Challenger Learning Center. I feel really good about it. I hope I make it to the next round of interviews. I'll find out later today.

I'm trying to check my e-mail as often as possible, but I don't want to tie up my aunt's phone line. Yup, I'm using dial-up. (dun-dun-DUN!) I'll survive. :)

Boston Trip

I've been in Boston for a few days now. Everything is going well. Aunt Sher looks good, she just gets tired very easily. It's been fun hanging out with her. She's been giving me family history lessons and knitting tips.

My CT scan was on Friday. Boy, that was an experience that I don't want to do ever again. The scan itself wasn't bad, it was the contrast that they inject into your arm during the scan. It burned going in, and then gave me hot flashes, and it felt like I went to the bathroom on the table. Your whole torso gets warm, but it's mostly on the back half of your body. Then, the pain and warmth is suddenly gone. It's weird.

Today I met with the social worker. That went well. She was just making sure that I knew what I was getting into, as well as address any non-medical concerns that I had. She realized quickly that I'm normal and know what I am doing.

Then I met with my anesthesiologist this afternoon. She's British. She was really nice, and I feel really good about her or anyone else she might hand pick for me.

Unfortunately, I found out today that I still have to stay until the 28th/1st. The transplant coordinator made a typo, and she cleared that up for me this morning. Oh well, it's just more time to spend with my family here in town.

Well, e-mail me if you want. I'd love to hear from any and.or all of you!! :)

P.S. I got Dunkin' Donuts yesterday!!! And tomorrow, I get LOBSTER!!!!!!! Yeah, baby!

Valentine's Day

I have the best husband ever. Just so you know. I got roses and chocolate at work today!!! It was awesome.

For him, I bought the Wallace and Gromit DVD. I also made us dinner (Chicken Parmesan, garlic herb biscuits and Caeser salad). We had wine and chocolate, too. Candles, roses. We also had good conversation.

What a great day!!!

Now we're watching the Olympics. We're so dorky.

More plans

Man, it seems like every time I turn around, I think of (or am politely reminded of) another thing I want to do while recuperating.

*clean my room (yup, just like an 8 year-old would)
*clear off my dresser
*help Bob with his house
*practice my sign language

So much to do, and I'm not sure how much of it will really get done.... Oh well, as long as I really try to do most of it. I'm sure that Ben would appreciate me at least clearing out my side of the room so it looks decent.

I could probably also donate some clothing. I'm sure there are clothes in my closet (and/or dresser) now that have not been worn in a year. That's pretty much my rule these days. If I can't remember wearing it in the last year, it's gone, baby.

Plans

While I'm home recovering from the surgery, I hope to get a lot of things done. Some of these are jobs around the house, and others are related to finding a full time job WITH BENEFITS for next year.

-get desk organized
-go through old bills and mail
-put together resume packets for sending out
-knit scarves
-learn to knit simple hats

Getting my desk organized will hopefully not take long. Going through old bills and mail could take years.

The resume packets are a lot of work. I swear, schools now want to know SO much about the people who are applying. First off, they ask for a cover letter, resume, letters of recommendation, transcripts, your shoe size, etc. It's such a pain. And not every district wants all the same stuff. Some districts ask for a copy of your teaching certifcation, some ask for your scores on the certification test. some require original transcripts, most are OK with a copy during the application process.

I have gotten a lot of compliments on the scarf that I most recently completed, so I've started new ones using the same yarn (Chenille). I'm hoping to maybe sell them to friends and family who might like the colors, designs, and/or feel. I love mine, it's SUPER warm.

Finally, I want to learn to knit a hat (to go with the scarf from above). I have some left over yarn and I don't want to waste it. There's not enough for another scarf, but there might be enough for a hat. I bought some double pointed needles, cuz I know you need those to make a hat. I've had one offer from a friendon how to knit a hat... I just hope it's simple knitting, I have no interest in purling or sewing it together or anything like that.

So much going on.....

On Thursday, I'll be flying to Boston for a CT. This is one of the final tests before the surgery (which won't be happening until mid to late March). The CT scan will help the surgeon decide which kidney to remove for donation. While in New England, I'm going to visit my grandparents and other relatives. I'm also planning on having some lobster; fresh, cheaper lobster. Darnit, if I'm going to be traveling and donating, I'd much rather have something to look forward to, like my visit with my family, my grandmother's cooking and lobster. I'll probably gain weight while back east, but that's to be expected. At least it will be less weight gain than if I were staying with Gramma Mc.

I'll fly back on March 1 or 2. The transplant coordinator is shooting for the surgery to be Mar 20. I'll have one last blood draw to insure that my aunt and I are still a match. Apparently, from time to time (only 3 times in Marti's 20 years), the recipient's antigens change based on their exposure to certain illnesses. This change causes the recipient to no longer match with the donor. So prayers that sher and I are still a match would be appreciated.

Also, I'm starting to worry about the job front for next year. I have two job prospects on the table now, and I'm hoping that they don't diminish during my recovery time from surgery. It will probably be pretty hard for me to get around and interview during my recovery time. But I have to believe that God will put me where I'm meant to be. Hopefully, that will mean teaching at the school I'm currently employed with or with the Challenger Learning Center. I like the idea of getting to teach gifted students in science and communication arts (LMS). I also like the idea of not having to lesson plan on a daily basis and no grading (CLC). I'll get to do some traveling with the CLC job. But at LMS I would get the benefit of working with the same kids on a day to day basis. That allows for relationships to be built, allowing me to make more of a difference in a student's life.

Something funny

Perhaps this next thing is only funny if you were there, or after a couple of beers, but I went out for drinks with some coworkers of mine tonight. We all got to talking about gender relations, and one guy told us his theory of how you could really mess with a girl's head. Tell her she has manly shoulders. Seriously, that's his thought. What's so funny is the fact that he's probably right. There is nothing that a woman could do to have less manly shoulders. No Nip/Tuck will ever fix that. Everytime she wears a tank top, she'll always wonder "do my shoulders look big? are they getting bigger?"

For some reason, I found this funny enough to laugh myself to the point of tears. It might have been that I was one beer down, and getting ready to order another, or the fact that I could tell that he was holding back from telling that to a gal at the table that he didn't like. He is a fairly nice guy, and decided not to hurt a coworker, but I know she gets on his nerves. She's very stand-offish, and I have trouble reading her. She can be very friendly at times, but other times, she doesn't want to work and she complains about it. I know that there are worse people that I could work with, so I'm not terribly upset. I rarely have to really spend any real time with her, so it's all good.

"She's got manly shoulders." Say that to a chick who has pissed you off.

So now it's getting more real...

OK, so I am days away from scheduling my trip to Boston. My renal ultrasound came back good, so things are really progressing. All I have left is a CT scan, and that has to happen in Boston. My plan is to schedule the scan and then schedule the surgery for a few days after that. I really don't feel like paying to fly there for a scan, fly back to St. Louis and then fly back to Boston for the surgery a fews days later. My aunt needs this as soon as possible. I don't think that she's on dialysis yet, and I don't want her to hold off on that for much longer.

The whole thing still doesn't feel quite real yet. Surreal is very much how this situation feels. I know that it's going to happen soon, but it feels so far away. Like February is not starting next week. Weird.

Anyway, so that is what's going through my head now. Not funny, not thoroughly entertaining, but like I said, few of my blogs will probably be super funny.

Kidney stuff

So I had a renal ultrasound today. The tech said that both kidneys look good and healthy. She added her little fine print, "Of course it's all going to true and final after the doc looks at it." I'm cool with taking her word for it, because I'm sure that she's done a ton of renal ultrasounds, so she's probably familiar with what is healthy and what is not.

I think that the surgery is going to be in early to mid Feb. Which isn't all that far off, but it all doesn't seem quite real yet. I know in my head that it's going to happen, but it's just too far distant a concept for me to really believe it. I know that my aunt is still not quite banking on this yet. I think she's afraid to get her hopes up. But I know this is going to go through. I just hope and pray that my kidney takes and that her body doesn't reject it. I think that all this will feel more real once I get to Boston.

Please keep my aunt and me in your thoughts and prayers.

the prettiest scarf ever

now if only I knew how to knit a matching hat....

I just finished knitting a gorgeous scarf (if I do say so myself), and now I'm looking to find out how to knit a hat. I don't want to have to purl, just knit. I know that my friend Cheryl knits hats for babies using four needles at a time... maybe I'll ask her to teach me. Of course, I want to knit a hat bigger than a baby head.... Jennie's got a big ol' head. With this much hair, I have a large hat size for a girl.

Back to the scarf... Seriously.... I need to take a picture and include it with this blog... maybe the next one, I'm too tired and lazy now. But the scarf is totally awesome. Not just awesome, but awesome, awesome (nods to Craig, Jessi and Ben). "You all know what I mean."

Skiing for the first time

I went skiing for the first time on January 13. It was awesome. First off, I got to go for free. All I paid for was my dinner that night (p.s. $7 for a hot dog, chips and a bottled water). I didn't pay for rentals, lessons or lift fee. That rocked. So the lessons went well, apparently, I'm not a half bad skier. I went down the practice slope once, then moved on up to the bunny slope for a few tries. I befriended my supervisors daughter (who was also a ski newbie) and we decided to ski together and watch out for one another. That went well until I was going down the tow rope slope the first time. I was trying to ski side-to-side as the kids were supposed to, but every time I turned, I'd gain speed. I tried to make a breaking wedge, but it didn't seem to slow me down. I did alright though. Only one fall the whole evening.

During my final descent (which I didn't know was my final), I noticed that there was an emergency snowmobile at the base of the slope I was skiing. When I got to the bottom, I realized that it was one of our students (did I mention that I was on a school sponsored trip?) and there were no other school staff around. I radioed that we had an injured student and that I would meet another adult at the ski patrol office. I wanted to stay with the student because she's deaf and I didn't want her to get scared. I know that she can communicate fine with strangers, she reads lips perfectly, people just have to remember to look at her while talking. I also know sign language alphabet, so I decided to stay with her just in case. Plus I was tired, and my legs and back were starting to yell at me.

The rest of the night was spent in the lodge talking with other staff members and students who were done for the night. I had a great trip back to school that night, and slept pretty well, too. I woke up sore as hell, though. Boy, I never realized how many muscles are used during skiing.

New favorite show...

OK, everyone should be watching "Mind of Mencia" on Comedy Central. Carlos Mencia is the funniest comic I've ever seen. I don't think I've ever laughed this much at one comedian. He says what I think but I'm too afraid to say thanks to all the PC assholes out there. I especially like when he tells his audience that he's not slowing down the comedy bus for the "dee dee dee" who fell off the back because he's too stupid to understand a joke. That's so great. I love intelligent comedy. Plus the guy has celebrities on all the time. He's great... so you should start tivo'ing/recording (for all you dee dee dee's who haven't jumped on the DVR/Tivo bandwagon) "Mind of Mencia." He's freaking funny, your life will be better for watching him on a regular basis. Laughter is good for you. Do it!!!!!!

First day back

Today was the first day back from winter break, and it was a good day for the most part. I found out that the husband of one of our secretaries had multiple strokes over the holiday break, so I felt really bad for her, she had it rough. And she's a really good person, too. I love working with Edie.

The good thing was that about 10% of the students didn't show to school. I don't know if they were still out of town on break, or if their parents just let them stay home from school (totally possible in this district), or if parents just weren't aware that we were back in school. From what one of secretaries said, many of the parents that were called trying to find out where the kids were mentioned that it was a federal holiday so they just assumed...which makes perfect sense, I guess the parents aren't really that far off target, but if you're not sure, shouldn't you check with the district website? or call? Aren't there parents out there who keep the school calendar up on the fridge the way my mom used to? I just don't get parents these days. And to think I'll be one someday.

Anyway, so back to my day. I totally freaked out one of the other TA's today. He mentioned that he had in a "rockin' CD for psyching up for Notre Dame games" that includes "Come on Eileen." My response was "Shouldn't you ask her first?" Tim's eyes got really big, and you could just see on his face that he was thinking, "Did she just say what I thought she said???!" It was totally funny. Then I told him my motto, "I don't 'go there,' I LIVE 'there' and my friend Morgan is my landlord!"

And I got wings for dinner. It was a good day.

Tonight, I've been reading "Peter and the Starcatchers" and looking at houses online. It looks like I will SO have to get a job for next year and save like mad to get the dream house for Ben and myself. To keep our payments under a $1000 per month (and I don't think that mortgage calculator puts in PMI, either), at a $10,000 down payment, we can't afford more than a $169,900 house. But our dream house is more like a $200,000 to $215,000, so we will need WAY more in savings for down and for furniture. Now, I could totally handle the 169,900 house, but I think Ben wants bigger rooms than I need, so I guess since he's willing to wait to afford one.....

Well, off to more reading... looking at houses online just makes me want to buy one even more. So Job hunting I go this weekend. I'll be printing resumes like mad. Wish me luck (first interview on Sat. with Parkway, where I did my student teaching).

Happy New Year!

SO I'm down in Kentucky, and New Year's was fun. We didn't get as drunk as I thought would happen, especially with all the liquor that was purchased/brought over state lines (apparently illegally). We drank a lot after dinner during poker. Then we watched the rest of "American Pie: Band Camp." Totally a soft core porn movie with a moral (sort of). And finally we watched the countdown with stroke-stricken Dick Clark and stripper-wannabe Mariah Carey. Then Jessi served homemade Dutch apple pie and I opened gifts. Jessi and Craig also had gifts from home (IL).

Well, off to bed. Happy New Year. What's your resolution??? I'm still trying to figure out mine.

The wierdness that was Sunday night

Alright, one more thing to talk about before bed. Sunday night my brother was to fly home for the first time since he left for boot camp back in May. So my whole family gets together, and we drive to the airport to pick him up. We've got flags and signs all ready to go. We get there a little early, so we all get some Starbucks to tide us over until dinner. Then Mom mentions to me to keep my eye out for someone whom she says is coming to meet David, too. This is the first I've heard of this person. Apparently, he met her through some friends from high school. What friends from high school?? He knew like three people, and none of them are super duper people that I would want to hook my brother up. Anyway, so she's supposed to meet him there too. So now, we're not just looking for him to come around the security corner, but we've also got our eye open for anyone who might look like they are there to meet him, too. NO DESCRIPTION given except that she's his "special friend." What the hell does that mean??

Well, then he shows up. We all give him our hugs and handshakes welcoming him home. We're all also looking around for someone to come up and say hello to him too. Nothing doing. So we head down to the baggage claim and he heads off like a straight shot towards someone I've never seen before. He gives her a hug like he's know her for years. It's really creepy. We all get introduced, but then my sister, brother-in-law, other sister, my husband and I all stand around trying to figure the situation out. First, I decide the girl was smart enough to bring a friend in case he was a serial killer/rapist. Then, I begin to realize this is SO like him. To invite someone we've never even met or know anything about to his homecoming. He'll be home for like two weeks. Couldn't he wait until the next day to meet her in person for the first time??? Oh well.

So it turns out that the girl is Ok. She smokes, and that is a big strike against her. But she does have a job, and she is in school, and she's legal. So these are all good things. Sad when you have to check if your brother's new girl is legal. Says a lot about his previous choices in women. His last girlfriend was a good one, but things didn't work out.

I bet my sister Jessi has already blogged about this topic, and hers is probably way funnier, but that's ok. www.craigandjessica.com/blog

Oprah has been contacted

Well, I went to Oprah's page and submitted my idea for a show. I guess if I have tests before they contact me, I'll just videotape them and let them use that footage for the show. It would be way cool to have a show following the donation process. I'll wait to hear from Oprah's people, and if they want to do the show, I'll try and talk my aunt into doing it. Boy nothing like a million people watching to help you get your aunt to quit smoking so she won't die from lung cancer after you give her your kidney. And Oprah can be mighty influential herself!

I guess I should take some cough medicine and get to bed....

And it's a MATCH!!

So on Friday, Dec 16, I found out that I'm a match to donate a kidney to my aunt. As long as all my testing to make sure that I am healthy enough to donate goes well, I'll be a kidney donor sometime early next year.

I'm so excited that I can help her out. She's my godmother, and she's a great lady. I was so happy to tell her that I am a match. What is so fantastic is that I'm a better match than her own sister. Pretty cool. But I've just had this feeling since I found out she needed a kidney that I would be the one. So I am now doing all I can to insure that I'll be able to donate. I've cut soda out of my diet. I'm only drinking water, coffee, tea and hot chocolate. I'm watching what I'm eating and I'll start exercising when my sore throat is gone.

It's so funny that everyone keeps saying what a great person I am for doing this when my motives are completely selfish. All I want is for my aunt to live happily ever after with a kidney that works. I can do that for her. It means that I get to have her around a lot longer than if she didn't get the kidney.

I wonder if I should contact the Oprah show. Wouldn't it be cool to be able to show what it is like to be a donor?? Maybe more people would be willing to do it when they hear about someone they know who needs help. Yeah, all the testing might be a pain in the butt, and the surgery won't be any picnic, but I'll sleep through that, right?! :) Anyway, I know that Oprah did a show on the Steven Cujokaro guy who got a kidney donated. It might be a good follow-up piece. And hey, if I get to meet Oprah out of it, all the more worth it!!!!! Hmmm.........

Being sick during break sucks!

So, my break started on Saturday. As of Sunday, my throat started feeling a little sore. Then Monday, my throat was super sore. By the end of Monday, I couldn't even talk. Today I was on ibuprofen and acetemetaphin all day to keep the swelling and pain away. I just hate that when you finally get time to relax, you get sick. It sucks. Oh well.

So the reason I'm up so damn late is because I'm coughing and I don't want to keep Ben up. He's working super early this week to cover for a guy at work who usually does the early morning computer server stuff to keep their office running smoothly. I also hate that when I'm sick, I usually end up being up late at night, when I know I should be sleeping but I can't sleep for whatever reason. It's awful.

OK... no more bitching... moving on to happier things.