Trekking

Well, it’s late Sunday afternoon and I am just coming out of a two-and-a-half day, verge-of-a-migraine headache.

I don’t know why I can’t have the one day garden variety migraine and get it over with.

However I managed to push it into the background Saturday afternoon whilst H, Southern Cousin and I went to see Star Trek in R-town.

Oh what fun!

J. J. Abrams did not mess it up one bit. The actors did a fine job portraying all the characters — Spock and Bones, especially.

H had a charity function to attend in the evening, so that left Southern Cousin and me to make our way to Culvers to finish out the day over a couple turtle sundaes.

Still a bit fuzzy to be posting…

It’s over, Part 2

I should not be blogging — I have a splitting headache.

If it were a migraine, I’d be down and out, but this one is a garden-variety-likely-caused-by-a-change-in-barometric-pressure type.

Tylenol either does nothing or is just taking the edge off it.

Wah!!!

Anyway, I still have a job. My week furlough now seems like a dream. I likely have another coming up in the near future.

…better end this before I get any more incoherent.

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NP: Star Trek TNG…some of these earlier episodes have been…shhh!…silly. There. I said it.

Where’s Sophie? Here in the living room, chewing the dickens out of her Kong. Just can’t get the rest of that treat out. I hope it keeps her entertained for another hour or so…

Waiting for: Fringe to come on and then bedtime.

Pat on the back to: DH, who went out to get us some fried chicken for supper.

Yay for me…!

It’s my birthday holiday tomorrow — which means no going in to work for me!

So my plans are as follows:

• Make appointment for Sophie to have her nails done.
• Go to said appointment.
• Put gas in the car.
• Maybe…just maybe…make those Elvis cookies to take to work on Friday. It has been a tough week for everyone and the treat would be, well, nice.

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NP: The local newscast…waiting for Lost to come on.

Where’s Sophie? Freshly freed from her latest stint in the “too bad” jail, she is here in the living room chewing the living daylights out of her Kong. I think it has a treat stuck in it…

Why I am sweating: Just finished thirty minutes of a boot camp exercise DVD.

And what do I think of the new episodes of Battlestar Galactica and Fringe? I am totally blown away.

How about 24? Haven’t been able to watch any episode completely through yet. Thank goodness for hulu.com!

Slow recovery

Okay, so now I can breathe but in exchange I can have coughing fits.

This virus has enabled me in so many ways…

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Must find tougher toys for Sophie.

She’s not known as the Sophinator for nothing.

Only two toys are relatively unscathed from mighty jaws: Her Kong and a goofy looking sheep that she has managed to only eat the ears off.

Her Christmas present – a mallard duck with authentic squeaker – is now minus two feet and two wings. I’ve stitched the poor thing up so many times, but now Soph is able to work those threads loose.

Even her Nylabone needs replacing.

I think she is having a terrible bout of cabin fever, and thanks to the ice on the ground and our next snow event coming tomorrow, I don’t see that being cured any time soon.

Been playing a modified tug of war with her, “park it whilst mumsy hides the treat in the living room”, and toss the Kong.

She still has energy to burn.

So she jumps – without warning – into DH’s lap as he’s reading in the recliner, bites at the book, then balances herself on the…what is it?…the footrest.

Then, in an a la Carney move, she will cross the bridge I make with my legs and come onto my lap on the couch.

Sophie is on her way to being a mountain goat.

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A fellow e-mailed me indicating that he is interested in my Cook family genealogy — he’s doing some research for an acquaintance who is very likely related to me.  Whee!

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I am going to get birthday’d at work tomorrow.

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To turn back the ravages of time (see above) I bought a couple work out DVDs from a gal at work who also teaches total body workouts at our local rec center.

They are quite good.

She makes it looks so easy.

Now if I can just get out of this chair…

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NP: Smallville. Ugh.

Where’s Sophie? That’s a good question. Oh yeah. Humph. I had to give her a “too bad” timeout. She jumped on the couch to get to Dad-dee’s chocolate push’em… Next time Dad-dee gets the “too bad” timeout.

What am I waiting for? Well, the new seasons of 24, Fringe, Lost, Battlestar Galactica (has that started yet?), Burn Notice (hurry up already!!!)

Next in my Netflix queue: Indiana Jones/Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I Dotta Bad Toad

…but at least I can breathe now — somewhat.

The past weekend was apparently NOT meant for breathing — and lack of breathing sends me into near panic attacks.

I hate it when my head is sooo clogged up~!

This happened last January. I told DH it was all those southern Illinois germs I encountered during our Christmas visit to his family, so I wouldn’t be going there any more.

I am only half-kidding.

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Of course I was sufficiently recovered to go in to work today, toting in my lotioned Kleenex and honey/lemon cough drops.

Go figure.

Oh, that’s right – I don’t have sick days, so I go in sick. Or take a vacation day. Waaaay too early to start whittling away at those.

Part of my “other duties as assigned” is to give out change from the money box.  I usually make the hapless folks bringing me their twenty-dollar bills stand there and listen to my daily prattle whilst I count out their tens, fives and ones. Today’s prattle included warnings to disinfect the money I handed over to them at their favorite money-laundering joint…

And honestly — they come back for more. I have my regulars. And no one has paid me yet to be quiet…

…seems quite a few people went to southern Illinois over the holidays, considering the number of sick and “dying”…

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In other news, the company let another fellow go. I am so hoping he can find a better job closer to his home.

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There is absolutely nothing on television tonight. So after finishing this up, I’ll be picking up The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant to read. It was a Christmas gift and I started on it a couple weeks ago. Grant is an amazing writer.

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NP: Antiques Roadshow for background noise — oh, and the space heater

Where’s Sophie? In the kitchen…getting into trouble, I think. She’s already had a “too bad” timeout for getting on the couch and growling at dad-dee.

What was for supper? Spaghetti and Schwan’s Meditteranean vegetables. Garlic toast. Chocolate cake in a mug.

Saturday To-Do’s

In no special order:

1. Go to Ace for those bookshelves and storage bins.
2. Figure out music for church and work on slideshows.
3. Put away Christmas decor and replace with who-knows-what.
4. Go back to Ace because I forgot to look for new doormats.
5. Laundry.
6. Work on 2009 budget, read it and weep.
7. Buy more kleenex…yes, folks, I now have a cold.
8. Help DH haul the water softener salt and ice melt stuff out of the Grand Am — all two hundred pounds of it. Bet that was good on the old gas mileage…
9. Watch another episode of Bramwell.
10. Go back to bed.

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NP: The humidifier. (11. Go back to Ace again because you need a new filter for it.)

Where’s Sophie? In the living room, chewing on her Kong. (12. Get Soph another Kong just for treats. 13. Buy more Ziggys.)

14. Pull out my Cook genealogy for that fellow who might be interested.

Happy New Year~

I started 2009 with a migraine.

Now wasn’t that just wonderful.

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NP: WGN News at Nine

Where’s Sophie? Beddie-bye time for Sopher.

Sophie Update: She has been very careful not to piddle on the carpet anymore. “See me Mumsy? See me? I’m going where I’m supposed to!” No, really…that’s what her face says! Now if she’d just quit crawling all the way under DH’s recliner. She loves the dust bunnies — but she’s gonna get squished!

What happens to you when you were planning something else

Yesterday’s migraine was still hanging around this morning so I called into work and switched my Friday vacation day to today.

Sigh… I had so much planned to do on Friday.

Much to the chagrin of Sopher, who thought Mumsy was taking a day off to play with her, I slept most of the day away. As Time Goes By was in the DVD player so I watched a bit of that while dozing.

Around 4 PM this afternoon I felt like I could once again rejoin the human race. The migraine seemed to be fading a bit — mostly on its own, since I took the last of the Tylenol this morning.

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NP: A whole host of emergency vehicles are zooming by, headed north… we are getting freezing rain. (DH just called and he will be awhile getting home from work.)

No broken glass involved — really

The company I work for is encouraging good health habits for its employees — pretty much of a fledgling effort, but hey — it’s a good idea.

So along with Tangerine, we have been encouraged to climb aboard the “Ten Thousand Steps” bandwagon — but maybe we’d better just walk ‘long that bandwagon instead of riding.

Staff from a local hospital came by and explained the program, handed out some brochures and our Very Own Pedometers.

I have always wanted a pedometer.

It was lime green. The display was too hard to read. The modes were too hard to set. The fasten-to-your-belt/waistband design was awful.

But it was mine.

I wore it three days — walking over the noon hour with Southern Cousin — chattering away and stepping onward to our healthier selves, faithfully recording our steps for the entire day, marveling over our progress.

Last Thursday it fell off twice at work. Seemed to knock itself senseless, and while I lost the step count each time, I put it back on and counted them steps.

Instead of putting it in my pocket on the way home that evening, I left it on, got out of the car, and cringed when I heard it hit the concrete.

Hmmm… well, there goes all my steps again…drat!

I brought it into the dining room, looked it over, put it on…walked several steps.

“One,” it said.

Uh, one?!

I shook its limey greenness and it rattled. Uh-oh.

I can’t have anything.

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Well nevernomind the lack of pedometer — I walked nearly every noon hour with Southern Cousin this week — cuz as we all know even if I can’t count the steps, I need the exercise.

Besides, I knew I had a shiny new Omron pedometer coming to my mailbox via Amazon.com.

NP: Walking On Broken Glass –Annie Lennox

Something weird is happening

…so I am participating in my company’s weight-loss program, and while I’ve lost a bit of poundage — not nearly enough, though — I am becoming more aware of what I am eating and the calorie counts of each item.

Even with cutting out all junk food, I am surprised at how quickly the healthy food calories add up. There is no room for the junk — it’s no wonder I ended up where I am, what with all the stuff I was eating before.

I miss my crispy cheese snacks…

But I have kept away from the box of chocolates sitting in the cube across for me. Not that I didn’t look…but for once, I didn’t mindlessly pop a chocolate truffle or two in my mouth — no, not at the same time!

To get to the weird part — I am eating celery again. And, well, liking it.

I hated celery.

I don’t know what it is about it now… was it because a bunch was going for 79 cents at the store? Am I getting tired of carrots? Is there a rift in the space-time continuum?

Did I just want something crunchy and less calorie-filled?

Something is going on here.