Ta-dah! Now featuring the Paneled Palace!

These three are of the front room. Very exciting stuff, I know. This one has our non-functional fireplace in it. Fuzzy tail likes to use the bricks as a scratching post. I don't have a problem with this. Even though the actual scratching post is right next to it (pictured-scratching post with skinny tail sitting on it).

This is the living room. Where we watch tv and complain about things. I lead a thrilling life.

Here is our lovely bathroom. We like pink and purple, did you know?

Here is the door to the bathroom in our little hallway.
This is our hardworking floor unit. I couldn't get a picture of the flame in the middle without getting my shoes in the picture. Oh well.
This is Kazoo, wearing a sweater that is a little too big, so he wouldn't get up until we took it off of him. He's very particular.
This is fuzzy tail. She was walking by. Skinny tail was hiding under the table. No photos today, please.
And this is our brass monkey who lives on the stove. He is really made of brass. And makes me start singing that song.

Any questions, comments, snide remarks?

Family House

We got a new refrigerator whatever day the other one broke, but I'm a little sad because it's not Harvest Gold like our old one. I mean, it keeps our food cold, so yay. But it's just off-white. That just ruins the 70s theme we had going in the kitchen, what with the old refrigerator and my (Dave and Rachel's) kitchen table and chairs and Shannon's grandma's cookie jar that looks like a mushroom and the cool orange pitcher and glasses that we use only for decorative purposes. Ok, I just googled harvest gold appliances and could only come up with an old advertisement for a stove. That makes me sad that I didn't take a picture of the fridge so I could put it out there. And as far as 70s decor goes, who could forget the paneling once they've seen it? Oh, Rachel, you had posed the question-paneling or panelling. It is either or both. I hate words like that because then neither looks correct. Worshipping or worshiping? Traveling or travelling? Urgh. I like to deal in absolutes.
Anyway, I took some pictures of the main rooms. Shannon's mom and stepdad came last weekend and put up curtains for us. I forgot to take a picture of the kitchen. Maybe after we get curtains in there. I'm going to go somewhere later and load the pictures into a puter so I can post them in case you care. No pictures of my room though. It's very bland so far. I did take a picture of Kazoo wearing a silly sweater and whichever cat was wandering past me at the time. Shannon had me about ready to change their names to nice one and mean one, but then the mean one started being nice to Shannon again, so now she's skinny tail. And the other one is fuzzy tail. By the way, mean one/skinny tail was never mean to me. But fuzzy tail stopped coming out of my room earlier this week and I was getting worried. It seemed as though she was scared of something, but I don't have a clue what. She started coming out again yesterday, so I guess she got over it. It was just strange.

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.

I forgot how much I liked hydrocodone...

So, I've actually been using some of my two weeks of sick days this week. I am having an ERCP at 11:45 this morning. Supposedly there is a gallstone blocking my bile duct, which is why I've been having so much pain and why I am getting jaundiced. I ate last night for the first time since Tuesday. I've scheduled my gallbladder surgery for November 5th. Although I kind of wish it were sooner so I could just get it over with. But they said I should feel a lot better after this procedure. It's just really bad timing, since Shannon and I are moving Saturday. But she's been awesome and has been moving my boxes and stuff over to the new house this week. I don't know what I would do if she and Jack weren't so awesome. Other awesome people-Rachel, Dave, my parents, work. My dad booked it back from Scottsville the other day when Dr. G said I should go see a surgeon right now. He knew I was scared, so he met me there. In that he got there like 5 minutes after I did. Rachel and Dave have been checking on me a lot via phone and even offered to come help move me. Work has checked on me every day that I left early and yesterday when I just didn't go and they offered to drive me around and even to come help pack my stuff (it's been a slow week). And Rachel, proactive as she is, called the doctor for me the other day. Thanks dude, I couldn't think straight to remember what I wanted to say. I feel better now that I have hydrocodone and have eaten. But if my sedation is anything like my dad's was last year, I will mostly be sleeping the rest of today. I'm staying at my parents for a day or two since my place is all crazy right now. So to sum up, I am still sickly, just in a different way than I used to be. And every one of you is awesome. Thanks for everything and I'll probably blog again sometime this weekend.

pain

Perk of having the same GP for 15 years-they totally know that when you say you're having severe abdominal pain, you're not kidding. I called mine yesterday and told them this and while they didn't call me back until 6:30 at night, they said to come in at 7:50 this morning. So I went and tomorrow I am to go have an ultrasound. Dr. G. said my symptoms are textbook for gallbladder problems. I told my dad this and he said that's not like me at all, so it's probably something completely different. I like to think I can take a little pain (after all, I am prone to migraines), but it was very not fun. I got so flustered after I threw up that I couldn't decide what to do, so I tried to call Rachel, but she was at the hospital. Also, she totally told me it was probably my gallbladder when I was having pain the evening after Dad's party. I trust her, since she's a medical professional. Anyway, then I called my dad, who was like, uh, yes if you have pain so bad it makes you throw up, you should do something about it. What can I say? I'm not good in a crisis. But I figured it out enough to know that there was no way I was going to the emergency room, since it wouldn't really help me to sit in a waiting room for 3 hours while still being in pain. So I called Dr. G. and squirmed around on my couch. Work was really nice about it and sent me home again when I returned after taking a three hour lunch trying to wait it out. So I got to stay home and listen to it rain. I do love rain.
Also, Shannon and I got our keys on Sunday and started moving some of her stuff into the house. I really don't have time for a medical condition this week. Maybe next week, when we're finished moving.

good times

Christina just reminded me that I haven't posted in a while. Sorry about that. I know my legions of adoring fans have been sad. Anyway, the surprise birthday party we threw my dad went very well. I was worried, but about 50 people showed up. And he didn't know until we told him, which surprised me because he kept looking at me like I was up to something. We wound up having to tell him to get him there because of the UK game. But I think he was pleased and he felt the love.

Also, these gems from my awesome nieces-Addie, running away from where my dad and Zoe were removing pumpkin goop from the pumpkins he was carving, "Tha's nasty! Tha's a nasty punkin' patch!" Apparently she didn't realize pumpkins were stinky and goopy. Zoe, after listening to Rachel and I discuss how she thought the girls needed an easel, "Yeah, we need a weasel for Christmas, Mommy." And then we laughed at her. She took it well. And Addie can totally say my name with all the consonants that are on my birth certificate. I was excited. No more Anea or Aura. I can't believe how much they've changed every time I see them.

glee-inspiring

I think Shannon and I are going to get the place with all the paneling. As adorable as the other place is, the 70s porn dungeon makes more fiscal sense. Also it's funnier. It'll be fun and we'll have an interesting time working around the paneling. I think we might try to cover part with fabric. Or there is removable wallpaper or wall decals, but they are expensive. We'll see. We're meeting the guy at 6 tonight and I guess we'll give him some money. I don't think we can get anything a whole lot better for the price. Plus, his pet deposits are absurdly low. He wants $25 for the cats and $40 for Shannon's dog. Isn't that awesome? It should be an interesting place to live.

I have been laughing so much lately. I think I'm way too easily amused. I've also been talking to the AL Benzes a lot and that's always entertaining. Not to mention the fact that some of the homes Shannon and I looked at inspired laughter. Also, 30 Rock started again last night and it was good. And I am loving some of the new shows that started recently. Gossip Girl is awesomely trashy fun and Pushing Daisies was so bright and absurdly weird that it seemed cartoonish. Which is actually what they were going for, I think. And I am so thrilled that David Anders is on Heroes and back to being a fake European mastermind type. I did not like him at all when he was on Grey's Anatomy. Apparently he's only awesome when he is channeling Sark. Or at least Sark's accent. Speaking of Grey's Nads, I did watch the premiere, even though I said I wasn't going to. It wasn't great. And I've not watched last night's, but I've got it, so I may. You should all be really proud of me, because I am. No, really, because yesterday I hooked the DVD recorder up to the TV and the DVR so I could dump stuff from the DVR onto DVD. And it worked. I didn't need to make any calls or anything. Color me skilled.

Also, this website that I love, so I'm not sure why it's not on my links here, has been having a Donors Choose challenge and since it started at midnight on October 1st, the readers of Tomato Nation have raised more than $50,000. Now, I totally think you should be reading Tomato Nation, but now is not a very good time to start, for since the crazy awesome success of the challenge, the posts since Monday have been all congratulatory(click on leaderboards on the donors choose website to see more on why). One of the things that has been making me laugh is listening to the audio version of this in my car all week. I think the Girls' Bike Club stories probably make a little more sense if you start at the first one rather than the most recent. But they are freaking funny. And she does an advice column type thing where she advises people more like an actual friend would advise them, rather than the way Ann Landers would. And also just writes general stuff about odds and ends. So anyway, maybe later I will put a link up. Shut up, I am way too busy right now! Obviously! :-D

As promised...more on the living space search!

Last night Shannon and I looked at only one place, but we loved it. It is adorable and reasonably priced and there are no dragons on the walls. It even has a fenced in backyard, which is cool since Shannon has a dog. So now we just have to wait for the dude to call us back. I hope he does. If he doesn't, we'll be tempted to take the $350 a month attic. It is sooo cheap. And the guy who owns it called me yesterday and said he wants to rent it to us and asked what he could do to make that happen. So apparently we are awesome. Which, duh. Like, more than once he asked if there was anything he could change or fix to make us take it. And he said if we think of anything we should call and let him know. Which makes it tempting, but really, I think we are too old to be living in a crack den. We didn't even fill out an application, so he couldn't have checked up on us yet. I think he must like us simply because we are not crackheads. So pray that the guy with the adorable house calls us today.

Also, I just wanted to say that even though Shannon and I spent two days painting in my parents' not well ventilated family room, I did not get sick. Allergy shots and having my tonsils removed are totally the two best things to happen to me in my adult life. Other than maybe going to DisneyWorld those times with my people. I totally don't get sick much now. And last time I got sick was, I am fairly certain, simply because I kept crying. I think the crying made me get sick. It might not sound logical, but it's my theory, so suck it.

75% less whining, guaranteed

So I started to say this ealier, but I got sidetracked because I was talking to Rachel and Dave while I was typing. Yeah, whatever, I've been down lately, but the other day Shannon was driving us down Smallhouse Road to look at a place and I simply said, "Dude." She looked at me and went, "What? Oh, mailbox!" And we both started cracking up. Probably for a little too long, but when we were in high school and she would drive me home it always seemed like she was about to hit the mailboxes on Smallhouse because it's a narrow road and she was pretty far over. As of yet, she has never knocked one over, but I swear everyone who rode with her back then knows what I'm talking about. And I realized that despite feeling stupid and restless and lonely, I am lucky to have some really great friends. And even luckier to have some really great relatives who are friends. So thanks for being so awesome.

parade of janky homes

I guess I haven't had much to say lately. I got my hair cut-somewhere between two and three inches. I feel so much better without that weird layer left over from when it was short. Shannon and I painted my parents' family room. It's just lovely now. Or something. I've been down for a while now, feeling sad and kind of restless, like I should be doing something (not painting).

So Shannon and I are looking at apartments, because I would save so much money if I lived with her and also because it wuld be fun and she spends a lot of time at my apartment anyway. We lived together before and while it didn't end well, we decided our only problems were...extraneous. And we don't have those problems anymore, so we'll be fine. The first place we looked at was so awesomely funky. It was huge and it had a yard, but it was paneled. All but the bedrooms and bathroom. And it had one of those dungeon things and a floor unit for heat and three window units for air. So, not practical and also disturbing with all the paneling. But way cheap and really big for a rental house. Yesterday we saw this apartment that was only $350 a month and it really had two bedrooms, but it was...weird. Like it was an attic apartment so all the ceilings sloped and made it seem very small. And then we looked at one that had two bedrooms, but you had to go through one bedroom to get to the other one. That seemed less than ideal. But it had this awesome breakfast nook that was all windows. It was so cool. And there was a fabulous chandelier thing that had Mason jars over the bulbs. It might sound strnage but I really liked it. We tried to figure out if we could live with one of us sleeping in the living room and the other in the back bedroom and using the middle bedroom as a living room. But I don't know. Lest you think I am way too picky, the last two were leaning towards trashy. So we called a ton of places that had signs out front and hopefully someone will call us today and let us come look. We found one place that we both completely loved, but it was $750 a month. That would be the same as what I pay now. But it was an awesome house that had just been renovated. The bathroom and kitchen were awesome, but it had three bedrooms, and since we don't know anyone else we like enough to live with, it would be too much. More on the search later, I'm sure.

Arrr, mateys!

Avast, today is Talk Like A Pirate Day! Don't forget to confuse your friends and loved ones with some random pirate jargon! And, whenever possible, tell terrible pirate jokes. I have found that they are so cheesy, people almost always laugh.

1.Who was your first prom date? Peewee Herman (most of you know what I'm talking about) :-D

2. Who was your first roommate? Dave

3. What was your first alcoholic drink? Screwdriver

4. What was your first job? Babysitting

5. What was your first car? 1989 Honda Accord-I miss you, Snake Eyes...

6. Who was the first person you texted today? I haven't texted anyone yet today.

7. Who is the first person you thought of this morning? The people who beat me to work?

8. Who was your first grade teacher? Ms. Downey

9. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane? Boston

10. When you snuck out of your house for the first time, who was with you? I never really snuck out of the house. I went out my window once, but it was the middle of the day and I was just seeing if I could do it without breaking my legs. My window was pretty far off the ground.

11. Who was your first best friend and are you still friends with them? Kathi and not really. She e-mailed me when she got engaged.

12. Where was your first sleep over? Either Kathi's or Haley's

13. First Kiss? What about it?

14. Whose wedding were you in the first time? Mark's

15. What is the first thing you do in the morning? Pet Grace so she'll lay down and stop meowing in my face and let me sleep a few more minutes

16. What was the first concert you ever went to? Sharon, Lois, and Bram from the Elephant Show at Freedom Hall

17. First tattoo or piercing? Ears at 10 and I still have no tattoos

18. First foreign country you went to? Germany

19. First crush? Steve in the second grade.

20. When was your first detention? Freshman year of high school I got my only detention because Dave was always running late and my first period teacher sucked. I only went for 15 minutes and then I got to leave and I didn't have to come back to serve the rest.

21. What was the first state you lived in? Kentucky

22. Who was your first love? Marie. She was our only real pet.

23. Who was the first person to break your heart? Me

24. Who will be the first to repost this? No one. Even Christina got to it before me. Maybe Mark will do it and make a blog.

Awesome!

My weekend just got really busy because a dude from church called and asked me to do graphics for him on Sunday morning. And he was also supposed to be helping my dad out this weekend in Leitchfield, but he's going to be out of town all weekend. So I told him I would cover for him Saturday too. So there's that. But what is really awesome is that apparently at some point this week one of my remaining three hubcaps fell off, but I didn't notice because it was on the passenger side and I never wind up on that side of my car. Our UPS guy at work noticed and told me the other day and I was like, nuts. But then a few minutes ago, he brought it to me! Apparently it was by a road right near work that he also delivers on so he picked it up for me. That was really nice of him. I just put it back on and I figured out why they must be falling off. The little plastic pieces that attach the big plastic part to the metal ring around the inside are mostly broken. Or maybe that's just my theory. I put it back on and it seemed stuck on well, but we'll see. I have no idea what I could be doing to make them fall off.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Rachel! You are totally awesome and not old at all, busty.