I’m all better… the swine flu has been conquered, life goes on and today I got to go back to work. Being away reminds me of how much I love my job and how thankful I am that I get to do really interesting work, and I get to work with people that feel like an extension of my family. My boss came by just to tell me that I’ve been missed (and to mock me a little for my plague/flu bug). My coworkers sent me emails telling me they were happy
Author / Bethe
Deleted Scenes
These need no explanation.
Look at me being all STREET
I’m doing some research to come up with a new name for my Sunday School class, and because I’m “hip” and “street” (word) I somehow stumbled across www.urbandictionary.com. This may be my new favorite site.
adj.
when a person wears a scary amount of mascara
Oh. my. awesomeness.
Say it ain’t so
I think I had the Swine Flu. Err, I mean the H1N1 virus. After all, one must be politically correct and not accidentally offend the pig population.
It’s ironic since I’m the girl who had the pet pig in junior high. Daisy the Vietnamese Potbelly Pig was the cutest little thing ever and made for great entertainment in our otherwise normal suburban upbringing. Okay, so there wasn’t a lot of normal in my upbringing, my parents also bought us a Chinese Goose named Casey… it was like the United Nations of farm animals at my house growing up. If only we had had a gold fish from North Korea, our collection would have been complete.
So back to the swine flu. I got sick Tuesday, finally went to the doctor on Thursday, and the whole time was convinced that it was merely a sinus infection. Maybe bronchitis. I had a fever, but it wasn’t high, and it hadn’t been around long. I told him I was convinced it wasn’t the flu, so we didn’t even test for it. He gave me my decongestant drugs, along with some asthma medicine, and sent me on my merry way to heal at home.
But now I’m almost convinced that it was indeed the flu. I had a fever that lingered for several days. My throat hurt, I developed a cough. I got severe body aches. Minor chills/sweats. Extreme fatigue. Repeated asthma attacks. It was just like last year’s flu, only about half the intensity. Last year’s flu lasted almost two weeks, this time I’ve been sick about six days. Last year I ran a high fever for 9 days, this year it never got over 99.5 and lasted about four days. Last year I could barely crawl off my couch to get a glass of water, this year I have been up and around a good bit, but tire easily. If this was indeed the swine flu, and I guess I’ll never really know for sure, I can assure you that it was a heck of a lot better than the regular old seasonal flu that just about wiped me out.
I realize we should all be vigilant and wash our hands, stay away from sick people, etc. But I can also assure you that this flu bug was more of an extreme annoyance than anything else. It wasn’t worth shutting down a school over. It wasn’t worth mass hysteria. It just required a few days of popping Advil and watching hours of mindless television while lying on my couch.
But I’m almost better. I have defeated the swine, and I will live to see another day. I think I should make a shirt that says, “I conquered the Swine Flu!”
But first, I must go lay back down on my couch and watch some more mindless TV. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be back to normal.
Governor puts foot in mouth once again
I have always been a die-hard republican. I was a ditto-head before Rush Limbaugh was cool. I used to have lofty goals of working in politics and changing my world for the better, one well-crafted speech at a time.
But our governor drives me absolutely batty. I see him as a biased secessionist good old boy who needs a reality check. Apparently he’s been too busy refusing stimulus funds to notice that we’re in a recession. That Texas’ unemployment rate is the highest it has been in 22 years, up 3% since last summer.
Hole in One
Okay, I’ve won some pretty cool things in my life… $1,000, a 36-inch television, a giant inflatable cow. But this one trumps all of that.
Not quite
Okay, I lied… no fabulous blogs from me today. You see, I just discovered this great new invention. It’s called Movies on Demand on my cable. I can rent movies without ever having to leave my house! I don’t have to worry about returning them (because we all know that I never can remember to return my movies), and there are hundreds to choose from!
I was like a kid at Christmas… a sick, wheezy, tired and highly medicated kid who just so happened to get to watch any movie she wants on Christmas. Or something like that.
Breathing is ideal
Just a quick update… I’m sure there will be at least one blog coming today, and if I get bored enough, several. I’m home sick from work with some pretty hefty asthma issues. It’s so annoying, I woke up with it three days ago and haven’t been able to take a deep breath since. I have become good friends with my nebulizer, which looks suspiciously like a peace pipe. Every time I use it, I think of Alice in Wonderland. That albuterol also makes me high as a kite… another eery similarity.
I’m off to go see what the doctor says and hoping he can give me something (steroid) that will make me feel better (steroid) because I have big plans for tomorrow night (steroid).
Hodge Podge Blog
Just a few random updates…
1. My car has been in the shop for 24 days and $2400. Today my dad came and picked her up, and we were scheduled to trade cars back tonight… but she broke again. The mechanic had said, “Be sure to watch for such-and-such, if that happens, it’s a very bad sign.” Well, as luck would have it, such-and-such happened. So back she goes to the mechanic tomorrow, and I will cross my fingers that the next fix doesn’t cost too much more. I’m trying to maintain my sense of humor, but it’s definitely a challenge.
In the meantime, I’m swearing off pedicures until I save for a new car. I hope you will continue to be my friend even if I have horrible hobbit feet.
2. I’m sick again. My allergies have been absolutely horrible. So have Harley the Wonder Schnoodle’s. As I’ve said before, we’re allergic to the same thing, and both of us are teetering on the edge of allergy misery this week. No time to be sick, so we’re going to continue to dope up on allergy meds and hope for the best. Makes the head a bit cloudy though.
Luckily the cloudy head keeps me from focusing on my car.
3. My professor decided to double the length of my paper due next week, on a whim. Hate is a strong word for this situation. But incredible frustration, extreme annoyance, and flabbergastedness (if it were a word) might suffice. There goes my weekend plans. Oh wait, I have to work Saturday anyway. And read three books in the next week or so. No big deal.
4. I have the blog of all blogs floating in my head… you may have seen the pictures from Facebook of my little country adventure, but it’s definitely a story that deserves its own blog. I mean, we caught armadillos on a ranch in the middle of the night while I pranced through a cow pasture in my red high heels and a cocktail dress. My joyride in that ’71 lime green convertible was one of my most memorable nights in years.
But these allergy meds are clouding my head, which greatly diminishes my ability to be witty. So the lime green convertible story will have to wait until the pollen count drops a little.
My newest hobby
Last year I ran a half marathon. My goal was to finish without dying or puking, and somehow I managed to avoid both. Just when I thought I was a weak and lazy whimp, I somehow trained to run 13 miles. It wasn’t pretty, but I did it. Go me.
But that was sooo 2008. This year I need a new challenge, so I’ve chosen a different sport–one that I am equally as clueless about, but one that I think will take me far in life.
I’m learning to salsa.
Two friends and I are taking weekly salsa lessons at a local dance studio. Every Monday night you’ll find me in my strappy high heels, jeans, and a tank top (a la Dancing With the Stars), shaking my tushy to the reggae flavor of the month. It looks like I’ll soon be hanging out at the local salsa club on the weekends, dancing it up with my new-found friends. Maybe I’ll find myself a latin lover, learn a little Spanish, and and kiss the single life goodbye… all because of this new salsa class.
Nah, probably not. But it’s still excellent exercise and provides endless amounts of entertainment. And it’s the only workout I’ve found that I can do while wearing cute shoes.
In our first class, I learned the highly-choreographed sexy hair-comb move. Seriously, we practiced it for 15 minutes. I’m not sure if mine is sexy, or just awkward. I plan to practice it constantly over the next week… I’ll be doing the sexy hair-comb while stopped at stoplights, while standing in line at the grocery store, while checking my mail… that’s not weird, is it?
This highly-choreographed sexy hair-comb move might just be my ticket to stardom.