Inspiration Alley

Dropping off the face of the earth

It always seems that I drift away from blogging at the end of the month.  I get crazy busy at work, and am just exhausted when I get home and just plain old don't feel like opening up my computer.  Since I'm on the computer almost all day long, it's the last thing I want to do.

To catch up ... all is well here and I am feeling almost 100%.  Here's a self portrait from when I was taking my nebulizer treatments.  Not very glamorous.   I didn't upload the full size print, but in it you can even see my watery/glassy eyes.

Now that the end of the month, quarter, and year are done here at work, I can take a little breather and catch back up with blogging.  I've got lots to update, still some pictures of the projects I completed at Winter Retreat, plus car shows and other projects I've been working on.

Can't wait

for tomorrow!

I get Good Friday off and I am going to enjoy it.  I have a dentist appointment at 7:40A, so I know I'll be up and won't sleep the day away, but after that I think I'm going to do some shopping.  I have gift cards, and I know how to use them.

Shopping is one of my coping mechanisms (eating is the other), so the best way to shop is to shop using gift cards so you don't spend money and get further into debt.  Up until a few years ago we didn't get the day off, but when we merged with one of the other companies we gained Good Friday off because they didn't want to take holidays away from the other company.  Works for me.

As for Easter, I don't think I'll be able to go to the Keys and visit my mom.  She is still doing her Chemo treatments and I since her immune system is compromised because of the Chemo I don't want to visit with the terrific cold I have.  I'll miss the visit though.  I wish we lived closer so I could see her more often.  She's got two more months of Chemo to go and hopefully that will be all.  Although with this course of chemo she is not losing her hair, she is having other problems with red and blistery hands and feet and gum sensitivity.  She is in great spirits though and is doing all she can to just get the treatments over with (if the reactions are too great they can reduce the dosage and lengthen the treatments which is what she is trying to avoid).

Still Sick

and now hubby has joined in my pain. 

Friday at work, I was having some difficulty getting air in and out of my lungs. It's hard to explain the feelings, but if you've had asthma you know what I mean.  I was at work and my chest was getting tighter and tighter, and I was wheezing and beginning to panic.  Panic doesn't help ... in fact it makes it worse.  So I did what any 47 year old adult does and I called mommy.

She didn't even recognize my voice.  After she figured out who was calling, I listened to her tell me about her chemo issues for about the first 10 minutes of the conversation but it didn't matter - I just wanted to hear her voice.  There is no greater comfort than a mom. 

We reviewed my options and decided that I would need to go to an ER or clinic for a bronchodilator.   Hubby and I  skipped the car show and went home and I ended up finding some nebulizer treatments from the last time I was sick (2 yrs ago).  OK, the meds were expired but I figured at most they'd be weaker but they should help.  It was just what I needed.  It opened up my lungs, made me able to breathe easier, and able to have a productive cough.

I wish I could find a doctor that actually has appointments available when I'm sick.  I'm so tired of calling the office and being told that the first appointment is several days away - then you get there and the doctor barely spends time with you.  My doctor died in a car accident in 2005 - he was a great diagnostician, took time to listen to your history and complaints, and was conservative in his treatments plus was well loved by the community.  I have not been able to replace him.  I keep looking but it's hard to find a doctor with all these characteristics.

I took today off work and I think I'm finally starting to feel a little better.   I'll be happy when things get back to normal

Tax stuff to the Accountant Finally

Finally sent my tax stuff to the accountant.  I'm usually done mid-Feb, but this year for some reason I am sort of "off" in a lot of respects.  Every time I sort of get my life in some sort of order, something (like travel or sickness) knocks it of kilter.

So anyhoo ... my tax man will get it back to me quickly usually less than a week.  Then I can get it off in the mail to the IRS.  I really hope I don't owe this year.  I guess we'll know soon enough.  My accountant used to live here in Miami, but moved to the West Coast of FL a couple of years ago, one of these days I'm going to arrange to drive my taxes over just to check in with him.  Mailing it is just not the same. 

Tagged By Mary and Jackie and Ginni

A- Attached or single: Attached

B- Best Friend: Hubby

C- Cake or Pie: Key Lime Pie

D- Day of Choice: Friday

E- Essential Item(s): Laptop, Camera, Something to read

F- Favorite type of music: Classic Rock and Country

G- Gummy Bears or Worms: neither -is there a difference between them?

H- Hometown: Miami

I- Indulgence(s): Chocolate, Scrap & Stamp Supplies

J- January or July:  January - cool weather and fresh starts

K- Kids: just fur babies

L- Last movie: The Simpsons Movie

M- Marriage Date: April 18th

N- Number of Siblings: 4 - 3 sisters, 1 brother

O- Oranges or Apples: Apples esp. Pink Lady apples

P- Phobias or Fears:  hate emery boards

Q- Quote(s): If it is to be, it's up to me.

R- Reason To Smile: Family and Friends

S- Season: Summer

T- Tag Four: I don't think there are 4 people who read my blog LOL

U- Unknown Fact About Me:  I don't keep house very well.

V- vegetarian or meat eater: Meat Eater

W- Worst Habit(s): disorganization and procrastination, not knowing how to say NO!

X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: I want a full body scan - that would be cool.

Y- Your Favorite Food: Chocolate (plain milk chocolate) - then buffalo shrimp or wild west shrimp at Longhorn

Z- Zodiac: Virgo

Why is it that ....

the more you do the more you are expected to do.

This goes way beyond work because I've noticed it in home/family/friends life too.  The more you do the more you are expected to do, and then you usually can't get rid of what you do because you do it so well.  And then ... there are those that don't do as much but really know how to pat themselves on the back so they do less and get praise for it ... or there are those people who get excuses made for them as to why they shouldn't have to do a particular thing.

If you read the above and "get it" then you know and I don't need to explain further.  If you don't get it then I'm probably talking about your kind - or maybe it's time to get off the meds - LOL

I've been feeling put upon lately and its compounded because being sick my defenses are down.

Ol' Reliable

You go into a store these days and the cough and cold aisle has literally hundreds of options.  Your head is so conjested that just thinking about reading the package active ingredients makes it start to pound.  Even if you could read the packages for say more than 5 minutes they all start to sound alike.

So you rely on your old friends.  Regular Robitussin and Vicks VapoRub.  Really ... who needs anything else except, maybe Tylenol but you probably already have that.

They have served me well over my 47 years and take me back to my childhood.  I loved the taste/flavor of Robitussin (the regular kind) and still do.  It's one of the first cold remedies I buy.  And there is something soothing about the warming feeling of the vicks.  Now ... if only they could package up mom and transport her to me when I'm sick - yeah I'd pay double for that.

Well ... things are improving a bit at least I can breathe a little better and my tolerance level is improving - a little less scarey at work - hubby's been helping by not staying too too late as well.  Hopefully I'll continue to improve and get this gone.

Colonoscopy

So as we age it's a fact of life that doctors want you to get a Colonoscopy done.  Mine wanted me to get one last year about this time, and it has taken me quite awhile to come to terms with it.  For me, it's not so much the procedure as the having to be knocked out (I have control issues).  So I've put it off, and put it off, and listened to my mother with every phone call ask me when are you going to get it scheduled, when, when, when.

So Friday, I got up the appropriate amount of nerve and called to schedule the appointment.  Wouldn't you know that the prescription expired two days prior and they couldn't enter me until I called the doctors office and had them reorder it.  I'm proud to say that I did just that and the office called in the order so I didn't have to actually go to the doctor needlessly.  I should be able to get it all scheduled up this week.  I didn't want to schedule it until my cold is gone (good excuse right?)

Still not all that crazy about the idea, but I guess it's time I grow up some, and deal with some of these big girl issues - LOL.

GoodReads.com

Found a new site for keeping track of the books I've read - it's GoodReads.  You enter which books you've read, and can even add reviews on them.  I've entered all the books I read last year, and have started to enter what I've read this year, then I'll go back and enter books I've read previous to 07.  You can read others reviews and see recomendations based on your read list.  It looks cool, so I'm going to play around with it some more.

I've linked to my list on goodreads in the left sidebar just under about me.  If you're interested you can see what I read.

Sick as a Dog

I'm not sure how that phrase originated, but I'm going to use it.  I started feeling sick last night at the car show, with some sneezing we left early and I went to bed.  Today I woke up stuffed up, with itchy watery eyes and sneezing, etc.  I've been taking vitamin c, drinking lots of fluids, and just laying low in general.  I didn't even go to the car show today.

I've been napping off and on hoping for a speedy recovery.  I don't mind as much that I have a head cold, but I am trying to keep it from my lungs.  We'll see how it goes.