Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Yes, it's me!


okay - several friends have asked to post a current picture because unfortunately I haven't seen them in waaayyyy too long. I really need to be better about calling everyone!

Monday, January 29, 2007

It's Monday

It's Monday. It's cold. It's January. Enough said. I guess it isn't going to get warmer anytime soon.

Extended Forecast 7-day Forecast Summaries »

24°F | 12°F Wednesday

24°F | 16°F Thursday

29°F | 18°F Friday

30°F | 13°F Saturday

16°F | 7°F Sunday

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Retro stuff





I was just browsing around on Ebay (yes P is still working down in Alabamy and didn't make it home) before I started painting our hallway. There is everything on Ebay! I started looking for all the toys I had as a kid. So much fun. I found - the original 1978 lite brite (I remember the box), this crazy sesame street radio where Bert and Ernie had actual mini wigs, the little people castle set (my very, very favorite, magic shot shooting gallery, the huge, heavy, very cool talking viewmaster my mum got at a garage sale (yes, these were all orginally purchased for G and became hand me downs for me. Such is the curse of the 2nd child). I also found all the Strawberry Shortcake dolls I had and loved, Fozzie the Bear puppet, the Snorks stuff, Nerf Ping Pong (very difficult to play), and the more obscure toys like Dolly Pops and baby kiss a lot. I considered buying some stuff but what in the world would I do with it? Put it on a shelf?

It was fun looking for everything though.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Monday, Monday......

It seems like a lot of things made me angry today!

Case #1:
I eat two meals a day at work. I bring a lot of food from home and attempt to eat healthy. Due to a constant theft problem in our kitchen, I share a small fridge with my colleague. However, sometimes I leave things very clearly marked with my name in the community fridge. In the past I have had stolen:

Coffee creamer (used day after day until gone, they just kept siphoning it off)
half a container of skim milk
a frozen ice cream bar (which I had taken a bite out of)
a container of cinnamon
an open container of egg beaters
an entire two Liter unopened (that I brought for a party)
a slice of bread in a sandiwch bag
a three day old half sandwich from a conference

The cinnamon is the newest thing. It just angers me to no end. We are all professional people. I left the cinnamon in the fridge (for my oatmeal) clearly marked with my name. I came back two weeks later and only some brown dust remains. What the hell? I left a note demanding a replacement taped to the fridge which the manager asked me to take down because "I took a risk leaving my items there". BS! This is an ongoing problem and thank goodness I have my own fridge now.

Case #2:
I go to the local rec center around 4 times a week. I am friendly with a bunch of older guys that use the Cybex Arc Trainers at the same time I do. Today they somehow started discussing age. They guessed my age at 48. Apparently they were serious. I was so pleased. Guess I won't be wasting any time chatting with them again. I told them I was 30 and that they were a bunch of bastards.

Case #3:
Pfizer, which is a major employer in the Ann Arbor area is closing. That stinks in a major way. Guess we'll be getting lots of resumes for our open positions.

Friday, January 19, 2007

It's Friday!

This week has been a bit trying, but what week hasn't really? I have had a horrific cough (no fever, no sore throat, no aches), but a dry hacking, hacking cough. My co-workers in fact have started calling me 'the hacker'. It is worse at night and in the evening and I just cough and cough, especially when lying down. It is a good think P is working down in Alabamy for a while (he is coming home tonight - haven't seen him in two weeks!) and is spared the torture of me coughing all night. Monday I finally got in at the MD (they say the UK has bad healthcare, but I could always ring up my surgery and get in the same day there .. sorry tangent) and they gave me the much coveted cough syrup with codeine. Did it help? Nope. Yesterday I called in for assitance and they gave me cough syrup with morphine as well as an antibiotic. Did this do the trick? Why yes, yes it did. I am feeling much better but I think the antibiotic helped (would have helped more if they prescribed in the first place. I used to be in Microbiology. I'm not going to ask for an antibiotic unless I think I need it). Anyway, enough about me, but I was starting to worry I had the consumption or something.

It is snowing out! Made for a lousy drive home from work today, but it is pretty out. I shoveled (pushed an inch of fluffy snow) off the driveway. If we get any sort of accumulation, I will post a photo tomorrow for all you friends that aren't in the area and will find it exciting instead of evil.

The bad thing about opoids, and antibiotics is no Friday night gin and tonic.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Happy New Year!

Well technically it is only two weeks past the New Year. I meant to get a Christmas letter out with my cards and even began writing it. However in the cookie-making, present-buying, gift-wrapping, tree-decorating frenzy that is December, I never finished it.

Just to update the major things going on (I will number so that I do not forget any):

1. Been living here in Michigan for almost 3.5 years. Can't believe time has gone by so so quickly. Other than the traffic, which I despise, it isn't too bad living here. I have around a 25 minute commute to work, P a 15 minute, I like my gym/rec center, I've met a bunch of people to do things socially with through Newcomers, and the winter isn't as bad down 'south' here as up North. I entertain moving somewhere new as the economy is not great around here with the Auto industry which we are dependent on for over half our income. Eventually we will have to move I believe.

2. I do like my job and got a promotion last year so I am in charge of some other research sites. I find the work very intellectually stimulating and I learn something new all the time. I've been working a great deal more hours than previously and am juggling a lot of stuff. It's nice to be a job I like however. It makes spending 50 hours a week there much less horrible.

3. My health has been a little iffy last year. What can I expect with the genetics I got? However, I am not even one iota as sick as any of many patients. Praise God that I do not require a bone marrow transplant. Last year was definately a year of procedures. Several infertility procedures, an upper GI scope, a lower GI scope, bone scan, x-rays, Ugh. That is all the details I will supply. Thank goodness I got twilight sedation for the majority of them and can recall very little. There has been a great deal of disappointment with the course my fertility issues have taken. We have had many discussions among ourselves as well as with physicians to try and determine the best course of action. Emotional, physicial, as well as financial issues all play a part. Physcially things weren't as bad as I anticipated, but emotionally much worse. Please keep us in your prayers.

4. We did do some travelling this year. In Februrary I sent to Hawaii for a convention which was fantastic (yes I let P come with me!). He had a splendid time as well and was useful to have along on the long flight back when I slept on him for over five hours. We had our customary week up North in a cottage in August. In September I got sent to Arizona for work and we (yes, P came along again!) spent some very luxurious time in Phoenix which we really needed and enjoyed. We didn't travel as much as we wanted to because we spent the entire summer remodeling our kitchen. P did all the work himself and it looks fantastic! We got new flooring, cabinets, countertops, lighting, microwave, sink, faucet.

That's all for now! I hope you all have a healthy and happy new year.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Welcome to my new blog! I just felt like the blog I was using on 'MYSPACE' wasn't cutting it. This way any of my friends can read my new blog without needing to have a MYSPACE account. I hope to Blog regularly and update you all about my (not so) exciting life.