Arrr, ye scurvy dogs!

My Thanksgiving was kind of depressing. What with the funeral on Sunday and my grandma telling me in detail all about the wreck that killed my grandfather and all the discussion of my aunt Rachel's terminal illness. Although I learned that my grandma has a ridiculously good memory. Not just about terrible things in recent years, but also things from her own childhood. It's pretty impressive.

The trip to Pensacola was long. We decided not to stop Saturday night, so we got there about 2:30 am. And the we got back to BG about 1:00 am last night. I overslept a bit this morning and I have the beginnings of a migraine. I went home at lunch and Shannon told me our refrigerator was broken. Apparently instead of blowing cold air, it now blows hot air on our food. Awesome. Add to that our washer refusing to drain so that it has some really gross water in it now that smells like butt. Our landlord has to fix the refrigerator, but it's not his washer, so it's not his problem.

Enough whining for today. An awesome thing happened on the trip. Before I left, I was at my parents' house because they wanted me to come help them decorate for Christmas. My mom asked me if I had any cash for the trip, which, no. I don't generally carry cash other than a few dollars in quarters. My dad gave me a few gold dollar coins to take because they thought I should have dollars. We stopped to eat along the way and I handed the cashier five dollar coins. He looked at me and said, "You're kidding, right?" I was like, no, those are totally real money. And then my friends were like, don't you see, she's a pirate and so she's paying with gold doubloons (I happened to be wearing a t-shirt with a Jolly Roger on it)! The kid behind the counter was not as amused as we were. And then he kept wandering around eavesdropping on us while we ate. Apparently we were exceedingly entertaining. I'm a pirate!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My computer at work was acting weird Monday, so our computer dude came and took it away. Turns out my harddrive was shot. So I got another new used computer Tuesday afternoon. At least he updated my Office so I can use all the applications on our bookkeeping program. Yay.

So the thing is, I love buying people presents and I get all excited about the holidays, but spending so much time with my family gives me migraines. I have been having a lot of trouble with them lately. And I love my family, but they stress me out. I went to Birmingham with my parents over the weekend because, hey, free ride. My dad doesn't like the way music sounds on the speakers in his van, so we listened to talk radio. And I discovered that although I may be very conservative compared to some of my friends, I am extremely liberal compared to all the people in my family over 40. I can't win.

Some things I am thankful for-

A gas stove. I had never used one before, but they heat your food up so quickly.

A floor unit heater. I discovered the best part about this last week when it was actually cold outside and I wore a sweater dress to work (I also really love that dress). I went home and let the dog out and then stood over the grate for a minute and it warmed up my legs immediately.

Tights. I love cold weather because then you get to wear tights. I love tights.

DVR. The most incredible device ever. Except I saw this thing on GMA that is kind of like an ipod, but for books. That seemed really awesome. I have spent every trip I've taken since I could read dragging tons of books around with me on trips. That thing seems so much more efficient. But I digress.

My family and friends, of course. I found out just how great most of them are when I was sick.

Being able to eat regular food again! I feel much, much better. I was even going to go to the gym yesterday, but then Shannon and I both got sidetracked.

The worst part about holidays (other than the migraines) is all the traveling. It won't be so bad this year because we're just going to Owensboro after work today and then leaving there for Louisville Friday and coming home Friday night. But I think I am going to Pensacola Saturday. I think we're going to stop at the halfway point in Birmingham on Saturday night because we're not leaving until about 5 since one girl has to work Saturday. And then we will get up and head on to Pensacola, go to a funeral and then come straight home because most of us have to work Monday morning. My friend Kristine's mom died on Sunday and the funeral is this Sunday afternoon. Please pray for Kristine and her family.

Random

Rules:

1- Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

2- Share 7 random and or weird things about yourself.

3- Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

4- Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.



1. I keep crying when I read about the writers strike. It's just so awesome how much support they are getting from their showrunners and actors and higher-ups. Conversely, the way they are being treated by the AMPTP is egregious.

2. I am really excited to be living with Shannon again because she is the only close friend I've ever had who wears the same size shoe as I do. And she has some really cute shoes.

3. I went to Europe for two weeks when I was sixteen.

4. I love to read and will read pretty much anything anyone gives to me. Except Cold Mountain-I've started that book three times because it was supposed ot be good. But each time I was so incredibly bored that I couldn't even get into it.

5. The sheets I want really badly are $160, so I won't be getting them anytime soon.

6. I prefer dogs that don't try to lick people all the time. That's the part about dogs that makes me wash my hands frequently when I'm around them.

7. You wouldn't know it from the way I write here, because I suck at writing, but I kicked both my brothers' butts as far as vocaulary levels on the Free Rice thing.



Tagging: I'm not going to tag anyone, because anyone I might've tagged has already done this or wouldn't do it anyway. Except I could tag Christina. Whatever.

Word Nerd

I've been doing this thing called Free Rice for like 10 minutes now and I can't stop. Which, as far as addictions go, is fairly benign. It's charitable and sort of educational. Like, why do I know the word nadir? Where did I learn it and why do I never use it? It's reminding me of all sorts of words that I don't use. No wonder I feel like I'm losing my words sometimes. I probably am. Also, is this just me, or does anyone else associate bloviating with blogs? And I mean in a free association kind of way, not like I think that's what it means. Cause I know it doesn't. I guess people often bloviate on blogs. I might be leaning toward bloviating right now. My bad. Anyway, you should do the free rice vocab game. It's fun if you're a huge nerd like me. Just don't cheat. That's no fun. And I'll punch you in the neck if you cheat. Also, some of the words are medically related, so you would probably be awesome at it, Rachel.

name that film!

Whilst on my lunch break, I was watching TV and several questions occurred to me. How hard would it be to load a shotgun while driving a semi? I know nothing about guns, except for cap and bb guns. It seems like it would be difficult. If you are standing behind a car and people on the other side of said car start shooting at you, why would you not duck behind the car? Wouldn't it be extremely difficult to hold on to the top of a speeding car as it ran off the road? Not to mention how prohibitively difficult it would be to jump from a speeding car onto a speeding semi and then not fall off the semi. Also, how likely is it that you could drive straight while taking over both the pedals and the wheel while speeding? And if you can guess what movie I was watching on TV from these questions, then you too watch terrible movies. What is even worse it that I had even seen this movie before, so I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was a bad movie. And I watched the last hour of it anyway. What does that say about me?

Anyway, other than refusing to suspend my disbelief to enjoy the magic of movies, I am doing pretty well. I feel so much better. Yesterday I felt so much better that I finally made my bed at the Paneled Palace and started staying there. I even managed to sleep reasonably well. I had not been sleeping well because I could only lay on my back and I do not generally sleep on my back. Last night I managed to sleep for a while on one side. Fabulous! Now I can lie on my side! Drinks all around! I swear I am not taking any medication. Just excited about that development.

This is something I never thought I would say, but I am getting seriously tired of eating chicken and spaghetti. Not together. My diet is seriously limited right now and apparently both my parents (who've been feeding me all week) and myself can think of nothing else that's very low fat that I can eat. Strangely, you are not supposed to eat leafy greens or fresh fruit when you have gallbladder issues. So I've been eating a lot of jello. Last time I ate this much jello, I had just had my tonsils out. Fortunately, I feel better now than I did when that happened. Anyway, I am wishing that I could think of something good to eat. Also, I am wishing that I had taken a picture of my left arm earlier this week when it was totally purple in the crook of my elbow. And also a perfectly round spot on my mid forearm. They took my blood five times between noon Friday and 5 o'clock Saturday morning. It was really pretty. I also have this strange, yellow bruise creeping in from where my IV was on my right (mid) forearm all the way to my elbow. That elbow is still tender and sore when I move it. So, really looking forward to Monday, when I get a new IV. Anyway, then I would be able to gross you out.

I need a thesaurus...anon!

Not to make this a love letter to all the awesome people I know, but I know a lot of awesome people! I'm having my gallbladder out on Monday and I should be fine within a few days. Hopefully I will not have any issues this time. I had to stay in the hospital overnight Friday after the ERCP because I was having severe pain when I woke up. It was less than fun, but I'm fine and hopefully nothing unexpected will happen with the laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Today was my first day back at work since last Wednesday. I have to say, it wasn't bad, but I am exhausted. Work has been really nice and they all keep offering to help and seeing if I'm ok. Which, yay, I am. Just tired.

Shannon and Jack and Shannon's family awesomely moved all of my belongings to the new place over the weekend. We moved my felines over Monday night. They are still kind of freaked out, but adjusting to the paneled palace and to Kazoo (Shannon's dog). Now I just need to unpack. Rachel (and Dave) sent me some really pretty pink flowers and my mom doesn't want me to leave before the last Stargazer lily blooms. I'm going to stay with them again for a day or two after surgery, but I plan to unpack this weekend so I can really stay at the paneled palace. Does that need capitalization? I feel like maybe it does. I shall ruminate on this. Paneled Palace or paneled palace? Choose your own adventure, mateys. I will post pictures after I unpack my room. The main rooms are unpacked and Shannon's mom is making us curtains. Lots of curtains. We have many, many windows. Including one in the shower, which needs a curtain posthaste. It is not one of those weird windows you can't actually see out of that my grandparents have in their bathrooms. It's a real window. Anyway, all you awesome people out there know who you are. You are still awesome.