Hello, Lover.

Mama went and splurged on a present for herself.   You know. From Santa.



Ok...well...semi-splurge. I had a 30% off coupon and gift card for Kohl's.



I've been drooling over these for.ev.er.  And I'm in love.  It is hands-down the best home brewed cup of coffee I've ever had in my life.





So if you're ever looking for something to get me, you know, since I know you're all dying to get me something...I'll take k-cups.  Or gift cards to Kohl's or Amazon.

Photo Scavenger Hunt Day! Or...Mommy's First Day Alone.

Well hello.

Long time no rambleaboutrandomuselessthings...so I'll just jump right in.

Tomorrow, I am taking part in my first ever photo scavenger hunt around Milwaukee with a bunch of friends.  I honestly don't really know what this entails or what is going to happen but I do know that I am probably going to have a lot of fun.

What else is tomorrow?  Well...tomorrow will be my first day out away from Sophie.  My first day that is - for lack of a better term - mine.  Yes...she is almost 7 month sold.  Up until now, I've been lucky to get an hour to myself...also known as naptime.  There have been 3 doctor appointments that I've been on my own for too, but is that time really mine?  If it was mine, I sure as hell wouldn't be spending it in the stirrups. 

I'm nervous though.  I'll be an hour and a half away because Corey is taking her to his mom's in Madison.  What if she decides she hates the bottle again?  What if the breastmilk I bring for her is bad from that excessive lipase thing again and she won't drink it? What if she won't nap?  You know and I know that the answer to these questions should probably be something along the lines of "not your problem to deal with - enjoy your day out!" but I just can't help myself.  I don't want my baby to be all unhappy and stuff. 

Between Corey and my mother-in-law I'm sure it will be fine.  If anyone gets frustrated they can hand her off to the other...but I have a feeling my mother-in-law is going to get the bulk of it.  Regardless, they are my heroes tomorrow.  In some ways I haven't thought that of it as a very big deal that I haven't had a day to myself or a date night with Corey, yet I look around at my friends with kids and feel like a freak and that it is WAY overdue.  To each their own, I guess.

Is it wrong I'm more excited about this than I would be if it were a date night instead?  Don't get me wrong - I love my husband and my baby so much it makes my heart stop sometimes, but no matter how much you love someone it's not good to be in each other's face 24/7.  If I'm going to keep being "me", I need some time to myself. 

Anywhoo...back to the scavenger hunt.  Except I forgot what I was going to say about it.  Other than Tara and I are going to dominate. Woot!

So much for a nice relaxing bath.

I've been having some massive sciatica on my left side.  I've had it on my right side for years - ever since my car accident in 2005.  It would flare up sometimes and be painful and annoying, and then be done.  All of my usual athletic trainer stretches and treatments would help it just fine.

Then on Saturday my left side reared it's ugly head.  My right side is now my left side's biitch.  Right has NOTHING on my left. 

Anyway, I was having some problems with it tonight and am a little annoyed about something, so I decided a nice warm bubble bath was in order.  I filled up the tub, got in and loved how great it felt.

Then I laid down.

Then the water level got too high and started draining.

Within a minute or two I was laying in about 3 inches of water, wet and cold.  Ginormous belly rising out of the tub like Everest.

RELAXATION FAIL.

I'm going to bed.  Blah. 

FYI: The Ugli Fruit

...was freaking delicious.  It took 3 of us to eat it, but I would definitely buy more.

About that road trip we took. Part 1

It's that time of the month again.

The time where I remember I have this blog that I used to be pretty good about and figure I should post something.  Today that something is going to be our road trip that we took for our first anniversary.  Our first anniversary that was in JULY.  TWO MONTHS AGO.

Sigh.

I'm so behind here.

So maybe taking a road trip isn't everyone's romantic cup o' tea to celebrate an anniversary,  neither is camping for your honeymoon...but it's ours.  We're just like that.  Plus, we don't have a lot of money, and probably never will.  It's a good thing we're easily amused!

Anyway...our road trip's major destinations were Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone National Park.  From Milwaukee.

Yeah, it's a long drive.

Which is why we did it in one smokin' hot rental car.

So what kinds of things does one amuse oneself with when on the road for 14 or so hours at a time?

A normal passenger would probably sleep or read.  Kids might play that game where you try to get through the alphabet by finding the letters on license plates while blasting The Ramones on their walkman.  Or, at least that's what kids used to do back in the 70's, 80's...early 90's.

Before backseat DVD players and PSP's and wtf-ever else brats are toting around these days.  Those things that I totally plan on having for my kids so they might not ask if we're there yet 800 times.

At least I'm honest.

And ummm...the kid blasting The Ramones on the road trip...not me, I swear.  Way too cool for that.

Ok, I'm lying.

What was my point?  I probably didn't have one.

Oh.  Yeah.  Armed with a camera and eleventy hours of road in front of us, I give you this masterpiece.

What is that?  It is license plates from all but 13 states.  Even half of Canada is represented, eh.  AND! I even managed to find Alaska and Hawaii.  Impressive, no?  

And how the F did I miss WISCONSIN?  Of all plates?

I'm also missing Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Vermont.  I'm not surprised about New Hampshire or Rhode Island since only like 3 people live in each state.  Hi Renee!  Connecticut went unspotted as well, but I KNOW I saw the rest.  Bummer.  I need to be a little quicker on the draw I guess. 

I got a lot of strange looks from strange people while taking up this temporary hobby.  I think that is what made me keep doing it.

Anyway, mark this post down as the most pointless vacation post ever.  Just trying to weed out the weak blog readers.  The ones who weren't sure if I was a total waste of their precious google reader time or not ;) 

Tornadoes

Growing up in Oregon and California, tornadoes and threats of tornados are not something that I ever had to worry about or prepare for growing up.  They were something I saw on The Wizard of Oz, but otherwise didn't think twice about.  Ever.

Then I moved to Wisconsin, where torndaoes happen.  I have no fear of them - although I probably should.  I don't think of them very often either.

So...why do I dream about them all the time?  Even more so in the last few months?

Obviously I did what every sane and logical person does when they wonder something.

I consulted the interwebs.

I believe that dreams we have can be mundane and meaningless, but I also believe they can symbolize things and try to give us a hint or wake-up call about something going on somewhere in our lives if we choose to listen to them.


None of the  results for "tornado" are very good. (shocking!).  Let's have a look:

Tornados

• To see a tornado in your dream, suggests that you are experiencing some extreme emotional outbursts and temper tantrums. Is there a situation or relationship in your life that may be potentially destructive? 
• To dream that you are in a tornado, signifies that you are feeling overwhelmed and out of control. You will be met with a series of disappointments for the next week or so. Your plans will be filled with complications.
• To see several tornadoes in your dream, represent people around you who are prone to violent outbursts and shifting mood swings. It may also symbolize a volatile situation or relationship.

 
Tornado
If you dream that you are caught up in a tornado, or see other people in one, or you are in danger from a tornado, then you will find all your well laid business plans come to naught and failure will dog your footsteps until you do something to change your chances of success; more education, better training or so forth.

Tornado
Tornadoes are wild out of control storms that represent that the dreamer feels like their life in in a whirlwind. The stresses and problems in the waking world can be represented in a dream in the form of a tornado coming after you, your house or loved one. A dream about a tornado represents some sort of turmoil in your life. Do you feel like your life is spinning out of control? 

Yikes.

That was creepy.

I wonder how a person gets the job of making up the descriptions/interpretations for dreams.  I'm sure that many of the people writing things like that have little to no factual basis for what they write and are just very creative people that have a complete mastery of symbolism.

(PS...you like how I did that?  Completely avoided discussing the rest of the topic?  Yeah.  Me too.)

About my (first so far) interview last week

It's that time.  Time to be stressed the hell out and hoping that someone, ANYONE, will want to interview me so I can wow them with my stunning personality (to make up for my lack of most skills unrelated to athletic training).

I'm not going to say where the interview was, or for what position, but you will probably get the general idea.  I'm pasting this from a post I wrote on a message board to some of my friends because I'm feeling generally down and lazy today.  Or most days.

So anyway.

It went...ok I guess. It was a performance based interview which was pretty much The Suck. I did ok. I had huge brain block on a couple questions and on the others I think my examples were pretty weak. I felt bad giving a bunch of examples from athletic training but that has been my life for so long that that is what I know. Of course, after the interview was over I thought of 8 million better answers to each question that would have highlighted my skills a little better. Oh well. C'est la vie.

It was a fairly laid-back interview at least, and I acted pretty natural and exuded some confidence (even though I had none) and drew a few laughs/smiles when called for.

I was only expecting one or two people interviewing me. No. There were FIVE.
3 Social Workers, 1 psychologist/suicide prevention program coordinator, and the admin support supervisor. They were all women, very nice, and not stuffy at all. It also took an hour. I'm very glad that the one thing I decided to focus on in my small amount of prep time for this was the questions for them at the end.

A few of the positive highlights:

* They looked VERY surprised when I said that yes, I did in fact have questions for them. My questions also inspired about a 15 or so minute discussion amongst/with the interviewers about what they find rewarding and fulfilling in their respective jobs and how they got into what they are doing now. As it was winding down, one of them said something like "Wow...that was almost a therapeutic discussion. Not sure that's ever happened in an interview before."

* The admin support lady walked me to the elevators and told me I answered well, which I found surprising. Not sure if she was listening to the same things coming out of my mouth and saying that to be nice or not but whatever. It was nice of her to say.

* Another one of the interviewers followed us out and said "Hold on! I want to give you something from the deleted health fair!" and ran to her office to give me a little package with a mug and a nice pen.

So...in the span of an hour I managed to initiate therapy (to therapists) and left with a gift.

Also, before I left the house, I found a broken belt loop in my new shirt, so I safety pinned it. But a few minutes later when I got to my car, I looked down and realized my left pant leg was halfway unhemmed, so I had to sacrifice the belt loop in order to safety pin the pants. I am a mess. At least the broken belt loop from the shirt was covered by my cute black cardigan that I stole from my mom.

It would be a good job.  Normal  hours, good benefits, holidays and weekends off.  I'd like it, I think.

For about 3 months.

Then I would miss the blood.  The injuries.  The people.  The sports.

But I don't really have a lot of choice in the matter.  And I would be stupid not to take it if offered.

How about some Tuesday TMI?

Disclaimer: The topic is birth control and periods and me.

I'm telling you right now, if you can't handle it, exit this page. I've mentioned that very little embarrasses me and I don't keep a lot of stuff to myself.

So for the first time in 16 years I am not on any form of birth control. I was put on birth control before I ever had sex because I used to have horribly wicked cramps. At least that's how I remember it. Mom?

Anyway, I was on the pill forever, then I tried Depo Provera (the shot) and that was a horrible experience. Then I went back to the pill for awhile but for some idiotic reason decided to give Depo a chance again. That was dumb and 10x worse than the first chance I gave it. Back to the pill...then...then I found love. I found the Mirena IUD.

It was amazing. Sure, it hurt like hell going in, and sure, I bled for a couple weeks after that, but then I lived a very blissful period-free 4+ years.

I...well...WE (I guess this is a good time to use "we" though, isn't it?) decided that now is a good time to sing a little Que Sera Sera and let whatever "be". So we aren't really "trying"...we just aren't avoiding, either.

You can only plan so much, and when is there ever the "right" time? There are bad times for it, and better times for it, but no "right" time, no instruction manual, and no amount of mental preparation is really enough...so what else can you do?

So here we are.

Also...today I found out how long it takes for your period to return after a 4+ year IUD induced absence.

8 days.

And those 14 year old girl cramps? Suddenly I remember them as though it were yesterday. Awesome!

Chop chop.

I got my hair cut last weekend and I wanted to post pictures sooner, but I am STILL laptop-less (which angers me) so I didn't really have a good way to do it. I knew it wasn't impossible - just a pain in the ass. Anyway, here are some very un-flattering before and after pictures:

Before - self portrait in the truck

Some other before shots with Hoover. I have quite a bit of natural curl.




I'm putting this here just to show you how much was cut off. And to gross you out.

After: Very layered and auburn/brown with highlights

And a self portrait outside the next day at Olbrich Gardens:

I love it! Thanks Barbie.

Oh, hey!

I'm still alive, just busier than hell and laptopless.

Heheheh.  I said "topless".

And I'm easily amused.

Anyway, that thing I call Hell (grad school) started back up.  In just over 3 months I will be done, but there is a LOT of stuff to finish up in those last 3 months, so my posts may be scarce on top of the other reasons.  I also started working at the PT clinic again last week so I'm working another 15 hours or so a week on top of my normal 30-ish at my regular job.  My classes are largely in-person instead of online this semester so that tacks a bunch more time onto my disappearing act. 

So not only is there all of that, I have also been sans laptop for a little over a week and likely have another week to go.  My internal wireless card crapped out, not to mention some abnormal wear on my mouse pad thing that I'd been putting off asking about.   Anyway, my laptop had a 2 year warranty with a little time left on it so if I wanted it fixed for free, I had to part with it for 10-14 days.  The timing sucks with school, but at the same time, I have been phenomenal at keeping up with my school work while it has been gone.  Those interwebz sure are distracting.

I'm looking forward to this weekend.  We are heading to Madison to hang out with the in-laws and Corey is going to go ice-fishing with some work friends.  I will be getting my hair cut and colored by my friend Barbie.  I'm craving a change. 

So yeah, that is about all I have to talk about that isn't a time consuming or picture-heavy post.  Hope you're all doing well.

200th Post

I just realized 2 things.  1) My next post (this one) would be my 200th, and 2) Not mentioning ANYTHING about the inauguration yesterday just wouldn't be right.

So here we are.

I like this picture of them.  I like them.  I think the inauguration yesterday was fantastic.  There aren't even words for it.

Although...I could have done without that weird poetry reading and Aretha's hat, but hey - you can't please all the people all the time.

Since the day I first started paying attention to politics, I've considered myself a republican.  I was even the secretary of the College Republicans club on campus at Fresno State for a little while.  The more time has gone on, the less I feel like I really align with the views the republican party.  But...I don't really identify with the democratic party either.  I agree with a little of this and a little of that on each side, but I think they are both a little whacky.  Or a lot whacky.

Anyway, I had a hard time deciding who to vote for.  I'm not going to lie...Sarah Palin helped sway me a little.   To grossly over-simplify things...I don't (didn't) like the direction this country was going and I believe we needed something completely different than what we've had.  I think we need to come together as a country again, and I think Obama has the personality and the vision and the optimism to help that happen.  I am afraid that people's expectations for this one man are much too high, but hey, who knows.  Maybe great things will come out of this.   Maybe they won't.  I guess we'll see.  And if we don't like it, 4 years will be here before we know it. 

Good luck, Barack Obama - you're going to need it!

Would it be wrong...? Yes, of course it would.

As I think I've mentioned before, we live across the street from a Catholic church and school, and two doors down from a Lutheran church and school.  There is this car - an employee of one of those churches - that parks in front of our house every. single. day.  Now...we aren't the closest house or closest available parking to either church.  I see parking spaces from here. 

This wouldn't be a big deal if we didn't have FIVE cars in our driveway that have to be shifted around every morning.  Our schedules (Corey and I and the 2 guys upstairs) are never the same every day and we get  home at all different times, so predicting an order to park in at night is not much of an option.  I'm not a big fan of walking outside and not knowing where one of the guys parked my car, or having to park one of theirs down the street somewhere.  If there was no other place for that car to park, I would understand...but that is NOT the case.

I really want to walk out there one morning and introduce myself or leave a note saying "Come the F on!  The house to our left doesn't even have a car, and the one to the right is WIDE OPEN and CLOSER.  PARK THERE!" but I don't think Jesus would approve.  Sigh.

Pointless...but fun

I was tagged to do a "10 honest and things about me thing" by AM at A Funny Thing Happened On the Way Home... except I don't think I can think of 10 things that I haven't already discussed at some point here.  I tried to think of stuff to write, and bookmarked it and everything.  The price one pays for being too open on your blog, I guess.   I've seen this one on a few of my friends blogs and thought it looked entertaining, so here it goes.

Things you’ve done: bold
Things you want to do: italics
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to do: plain

1. started your own blog (duh)

2. slept under the stars

3. played in a band (does middle school count?)

4. visited hawaii

5. watched a meteor shower

6. given more than you can afford to charity

7. been to disneyland/world

8. climbed a mountain (sorta)

9. held a praying mantis

10. sang a solo

11. bungee jumped

12. visited paris

13. watched a lightning storm at sea (on a cruise!)

14. taught yourself an art from scratch (cross stitch!)

15. adopted a child (I would do this but I'm not seeking it out just yet)

16. had food poisoning

17. walked to the top of the statue of liberty

18. grown your own vegetables

19. seen the mona lisa in france

20. slept on an overnight train

21. had a pillow fight

22. hitch hiked

23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. built a snow fort

25. held a lamb

26. gone skinny dipping

27. run a marathon

28. ridden a gondola in venice

29. seen a total eclipse

30. watched a sunrise or sunset

31. hit a home run

32. been on a cruise

33. seen niagara falls in person

34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. seen an amish community

36. taught yourself a new language

37. had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. seen the leaning tower of pisa in person

39. gone rock climbing

40. seen michaelangelo’s david in person

41. sung karaoke

42. seen old faithful geyser erupt

43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant

44. visited africa

45. walked on a beach by moonlight

46. been transported in an ambulance

47. had your portrait painted

48. gone deep sea fishing

49. seen the sistene chapel in person

50. been to the top of the eiffel tower in paris

51. gone scuba diving or snorkelling

52. kissed in the rain

53. played in the mud

54. gone to a drive-in movie

55. been in a movie

56. visited the great wall of china

57. started a business

58. taken a martial arts class
59. visited russia

60. served at a soup kitchen

61. sold girl scout cookies

62. gone whale watching

63. gotten flowers for no reason

64. donated blood

65. gone sky diving

66. visited a nazi concentration camp

67. bounced a check

68. flown in a helicopter (a few times)

69. saved a favorite childhood toy

70. visited the lincoln memorial

71. eaten caviar

72. pieced a quilt

73. stood in times square

74. toured the everglades

75. been fired from a job

76. seen the changing of the guard in london

77. broken a bone

78. been on a speeding motorcycle

79. seen the grand canyon in person (I worked there for an entire summer!)

80. published a book

81. visited the vatican

82. bought a brand new car

83. walked in jerusalem

84. had your picture in the newspaper

85. read the entire bible

86. visited the white house

87. killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. had chickenpox
89. saved someone’s life (not blatantly, but in some ways...plus "prevention" is a huge part of my job)

90. sat on a jury (was the foreman even!)

91. met someone famous

92. joined a book club

93. lost a loved one

94. had a baby

95. seen the alamo in person

96. swum in the great salt lake

97. been involved in a lawsuit

98. owned a cell phone (what year was this written?)

99. been stung by a bee

Good times at PDX

For those of you not in the know, we headed to the Milwaukee airport a little over 48 hours ago, San Diego bound.

Where did we end up Saturday night?  Portland, Oregon. 

Where are we now - 2 days later? Portland, Oregon.

Where is my luggage? Good question.  I'll let you know when I find out. 

As most of you who read this blog know, I was born and raised in Portland until age 16.  98% of my family lives here, including my dad.  In the span of about 36 hours in this town, I have some awesome stories.  Holiday travel nightmares and my dad's side of the family never disappoint.

For now I just thought I'd check in.  The stories are going to have to come later, either one-by-one or in a massive wall of words (complete with photographic evidence!).

Our current flight was set to take off at 10:45.  Then 12:00.  Then 12:50.  Now they tell us 1:33.  If are REALLY bored (or a deranged psycho stalker), go to Alaska Air's flight status and enter flight number 574.

In the last 2 hours I've had 2 dogs and 2 babies barf on the carpet within 5 feet of me.

Think of all the fun stuff that could be lingering on this floor.

I have the good seat on the floor next to the window.  I'm sure I'm catching the syph as we speak (write, whatever).

Anyway.

Cross your fingers that we (and my luggage) get to San Diego sometime today.  I could really use some fresh chonies.

Jessica just offered to email me some of these.  Best Christmas evah!

Bitching with bullet points

• I REALLY wanted...I'll even say NEEDED a snow day today.  It was looking so promising.  WTF?
• I've had my final "exam" open to me for 2.5 weeks now and I haven't done it.  Hence the NEED for a snow day.
• Last wednesday was supposed to be the last time my systematic review group was meeting for the semester.  Now we are "voluntarily" meeting tomorrow.  WHY?  Can we please cancel this? 
• Old Navy performance fleece stuff is only like $8 right now and I want about 10 of everything.  This is not financially possible.
• I still haven't started the laundry that I planned on doing Sunday.
• The laundry I did 2 weekends ago is still sitting here on the couch.  Folded.
• I am lazy.
• I need another cup of coffee.
• I just wanted to bitch and moan with bullet points.
• kthxbai.

Life begins at 30?

I guess we'll find out!

I spent my birthday at work at girl's basketball and just got home at about 10pm and now I'm home working on homework for my class in the morning. Happy birthday to me!

I got some great cards, a gift certificate for LobsterGram (mmm!) and Melissa sent me a beautiful bouquet of tulips. I will take a picture of them tomorrow when they've had some time to drink and open up. Corey and I will go out to dinner this weekend for a belated celebration since we both have a bunch of busy days this week.

Sorry for my extended absences - I've got a couple things to finish up this semester and then I'm all yours. I've got some fun things coming my way in the next couple weeks...going to San Diego for Christmas, a new camera coming soon, new blog address, and a few other random things. I've also got some pictures to show off from the last couple months because I've been such a huge slacker.
Before I go, here is a little "me" throughout the first 30 years. I have been a lot of places, done a lot of things, and met some AWESOME people along the way!

(Sorry I look extra weird in some of them...I had a hard time resizing them to the right proportions!)



















With grandma in Astoria, OR:



Many years of volleyball:



Senior beach day with Melissa:



Senior photos:



With my little sisters when they were VERY little:



At the top of the Space Needle - Seattle, WA:



Yakima, Washington:



Fort Lewis, Washington:



Hanging with the German army:



On the beaches of Normandy, France:



Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany:





Costa Brava, Spain:



Monaco:





Vilseck, Germany:





Paris, France:



Reno, Nevada with April:



Rockin' out with Guitar Hero and April:



Graduation from Fresno State:



First Wisconsin Winter:





Our wedding - The Best Day Ever:



And some great new friends, courtesy of the interwebz!











I've even stood under srpro's magical veil (long story, for those of you who don't know it - don't ask)

Cheers to the next 30!

Sweet contest!

I learned about this contest to win a Wii Fit through a friend's blog. I've wanted a Wii for a long time now but Corey doesn't see the point because he has a PS3. The key word there is "HE" has a PS3. Not to mention that PS3 DOESN'T HAVE WII FIT! I would love to win this more than I can describe. I can't just "work out". I won't stick to it. I can't commit to any certain times/days of the week for a class for a recreational team because of my job.

Right now I am back up to a weight that is less than 10lbs under the weight I was at my heaviest. I know I'm not obese, but I'm definitely overweight and more out of shape than I've ever been. I'm about to turn 30. I wake up every day feeling like a got hit by a car/bus/train (that is my pain scale these days) with fibromyalgia crap and exercise and yoga are supposed to help that too.

Plus, I REALLY need to lose some weight and gain some better habits. I'd like to do this before we have kids, too. The weight itself is just a number, I know...but it's a number I'm so scared to see again. I remember how I felt at that weight. I remember how low my self esteem was and the stress and depression surrounding it too. So even though I don't look terrible, I associate that weight with a terrible time in my life. One I don't want to see and feel again. Ever. I envy those people who are overweight and know it and still exude so much confidence. I had that once too...but it was when I was in shape. It's different for everyone I suppose.

Woooo...sorry that got a little Debbie Downer-ish.

Therapy Thursday

I am starting to feel like I'm on the brink of crazyflakes.

Who the F hits the snooze button every 5 minutes for TWO AND A HALF HOURS?!?! Especially after about 9 hours of sleep. This is an almost daily occurrence now. On a good day it's 1.5 hours of snooze. Today was a new record.

Why do I talk/think about all kinds of stuff that I'm going to get done and plan to be really productive the next day and then can never bring myself to do any of it?

Is any medication going to help my insomnia? I'm not laying there stressing about anything in particular. I'm just...laying there. The stuff I'm taking now seems to be helping with my quality of sleep and a little with the fibromyalgia (I wake up feeling like I only got hit by a mini-cooper instead of a bus), but making the insomnia worse.

I don't feel anxious. I don't feel depressed. I'm actually less stressed than normal these days.

So what the hell?

...and then I went all vasovagal 'n shit...

So yeah...

I had to go to the doctor this morning for to get my blood drawn to check my cholesterol and thyroid. Walked in, felt fine yadda yadda. I was just telling the nurse that my veins are kind of difficult but she seemed confident. So she goes for my right arm...it rolls and she misses...digs around, can't get it. Switches arms, finds a good one...WHOOPS...there it goes...starts digging...finally gets it. I still felt fine this whole time. I open my hand and relax my arm while she's taking the blood out and I start feeling kind of hot and only a little light headed.

She's done, I ask if I can sit there for a minute...(sure! do you want some juice? sure!)...she leaves and I start feeling a little worse. I drink the juice, still don't feel too bad. She tells me she'll be back in a second because she has to grab something in the next room. I start feeling suddenly REALLY dizzy and sick. I remember deciding that I needed to go lay down on the table 2 feet away from me.

Next thing I know, I'm on the floor and there are people saying my name and asking if I'm ok. I was halfway under the counter that I was sitting next to and my head hurt. Apparently when I passed out I hit my head on the counter on my way down.

A doctor came in and checked me out and my head was sore and my neck was getting really tight and sore. He made me go get a neck x-ray and drink a soda.

X-ray was fine. I feel a lot better but have a headache and my neck kills. Diagnosis: another vasovagal reaction. This is my 5th now - but it's been a looong time.

Oh! And also when the nurse was leaving the room to grab whatever she forgot, I was reading a text message from a friend asking if I was pregnant. I was closing my phone as I was about to go over to the table but passed out instead.

Goodtimes.

And no, I'm not pregnant.

Luckily I am off of work today so I am hanging out on the couch. I did still feel the need to go wander around Menards to buy a rake on my way home though.

I was supposed to give blood at my friend's blood drive tomorrow, but that is not a good idea for me (or anyone involved, probably) now.

So before you freak out about having blood drawn or donating blood (PLEASE GO DONATE BLOOD! IT'S IMPORTANT!) or anything like that, let me tell you the circumstances of my other 4 vasovagal episodes.

First time: Age 17, I went to give blood for the first time, they pricked my finger and I passed out.

Second time: Age 21, wisdom tooth removed...was sitting there 10-20 minutes after it was done. I was fine, laughing and talking with the nurse, then (according to her) I turned about 6 different colors and passed out.

Third time: Age 22, on a field exercise in the army staying in a building in the woods. I was sitting on the stoop outside talking to Corey and a friend of mine. Got up to go inside, felt dizzy suddenly and told myself I'd make it to my bunk. Instead I passed out and hit the fire extinguisher bracket on the wall, the fire extinguisher on the floor and then landed on the concrete floor with blood gushing from my head. I got a helicopter ride out of that one. no real explaination for it other than *maybe* due to medication I'd only been on for a few days. It would have been much cooler if that German hospital would have given me a room instead of kept me in the hallway for 3 days. That experience is only balanced out by the fact that the German paramedic in the back of the helicopter with me was HOT.

Fourth time: Dentist office, wasn't numb enough (my mom and I both take a TON of novocaine to numb up) and started freaking out. The dentist stopped and let me sit up for a second to wipe my eyes while he got some more novocaine - passed out.

This time: Also *might* have something to do with new medication that I've been on for 2 days. Or the digging around for my sheisty veins with a needle. Or both.

I've donated blood probably 6 or 7 times, had numerous blood draws, and have 3 tattoos and have been fine (or mostly ok) for all of them. I also see and wipe up a lot of blood and open wounds in my line of work. No big deal - actually I'm kind of fascinated by it (which you might find disturbing - sorry!).

New names, new games.

I've been thinking.

I know what you are thinking...you just said "Uh oh..." to yourself didn't you? Yeah. Thought so.

Anyway...I started this blog in June 2007 when we first moved from Fresno, CA to our old apartment in Milwaukee, WI (2191.99 miles apart according to mapquest).

It's been almost a year and a half now. We're not new here anymore, we have a new address, I even have a new name. Suddenly the mileage doesn't seem so fitting.

Since I currently lack creativity, does anyone have any ideas?

The web address would stay the same, but the title at the top would change. Help!



In other news...the fall sports season is finally over at work. I only worked an hour and a half today, have Tuesday through Thursday off, and don't have to show up again until Friday night at 5:30! An awesome and welcome break after this extra-busy and crazy-as-hell football/volleyball/boy's soccer/girl's swim/cross country season. Next up: boy's & girl's basketball/hockey/boy's swim/wrestling. It's all downhill from here.

In even bigger and better news... Tomorrow this God forsaken election will be over and I can not wait. I'm so tired of this crap. How can it be so exciting and so annoying at the same time?