What a weekend

Man, Saturday was probably the weirdest day I've ever seen, weather-wise. There were thunderstorms in the morning, with a tornado reported in the county to the east of us. Lightning struck a house in the town where I work, and also a utility pole at a restaraunt, toppling it over onto someone's car!

When I left for work around 1 p.m., it was raining at home. I got about halfway to town (where the weather always mysteriously changes) and hit ice. Within a few miles, I was on the scariest drive I've ever had -- the roads were covered with icy slush, and I almost slid off the road about three times in just a few miles. And I was going only about 30 mph.

When I got to work, my boss was standing in the doorway having a smoke, and he told me all this had started just about 45 minutes before I arrived. It looked like it had been snowing all morning! There wasn't a lot snow (in fact, most of it has melted off now), but it came down hard and it was windy, so it was pretty hazardous to be out for awhile. After work, I ended up crashing at a co-worker's house. But by the time I headed home Sunday morning, the highway was clean and dry. There were three cars that had slid off the road, though, so I'm glad I stayed in town. As tired as I was, I probably wouldn't have made it home OK.

I've had kind of an upset stomach and headache since yesterday afternoon, so I haven't gotten much done. But usually my Sundays after working a Saturday are kind of a waste because I'm pretty tired. So today is laundry day, and then probably a walk with the dog this afternoon, and that will probably be about it.

Blech

Haven't done much this weekend. I came down with a cold Friday, felt miserable at work, and have slept most of the time since then. I thought I was feeling better today, but early this afternoon started feeling like I was going to throw up, so I've spent the rest of the afternoon in bed. I did take poor Nipper out just a bit ago, since it's a pretty nice day. We wandered down by the creek for about 20 minutes, but it's kind of windy, so that's about all I could take. I did take a few minutes to look for signs of spring, and dang if there aren't about 10 or so daffodils coming up -- six that I planted on the hill and another four in the bed behind the garage. It's supposed to be in the 50s all week, so I'll bet there'll be more.

Yay for bacteria!

Just heard from the doctor's office ... it's just an infection!

Exhausted

That's how I feel after the last couple of days. Yesterday, I went in for a checkup on the kidney stone I had in December 2005. I had an X-ray first, and then about an hour later met with the urologist. He said there was no sign of any more stones, but I did have some blood in my urine (not enough to see), and since I'd never had any in previous samples, he did have some concern. So what I hoped would be just a "everything's fine, hope we don't have to see you again" type visit ends up with me disrobing and getting my kidneys viewed (don't aks for details).

He said there was an area that looked a bit inflamed, and I might just have a minor infeciton. But he wanted a couple more exams done just to make sure it's not something more serious. So he ordered a sonogram of my kidneys and an IVP (intravenous pyelogram, if you're into medical terms). That meant I had to "clean out" my intestines so they could get a good view. And by "cleaning out" the intestines, I mean "CLEANING OUT" the intestines. My water bill will probably be a good $15 higher just from Wednesday night. I also couldn't eat anything but clear liquids. So the only solid food I had all day was the banana I had at breakfast.

They did want me to have a full bladder for the IVP, so on the way to the hospital, I drank about a quart of water. In hindsight, that was probably too much. That was the second exam I had, and it took about an hour. By the time they were done, I felt like I was ready to burst. When the X-ray tech came back from showing the pics to a radiologist, she said "I bet you really have to go to the bathroom. You're bladder was really big!" Basicallly, the IVP is a series of X-rays tracking the progress of a dye through your renal system.

I had origianlly planned that after the exams, I'd head home and get ready for work. But by the time we got home, I had such a headache from not eating, not having my caffeine fix Wednesday, probably being a bit dehydrated, that I thought I'd take a short nap and try to get rid of it. I woke up about three hours later. Oops. I e-mailed my co-worker (who's sort of my supervisor) and explained why I wasn't there and said I'd be in for the afternoon. When he got back from lunch, I went up to him to apologize, and he told me "next time just give us a call when you get home and let us know." Uh, OK, so next time I ACCIDENTALLY oversleep I'm supposed to call beforehand and let you know? Genius.

Anyway, I'm feeling better tonight. I'm a little anxious about the results, but it's probably going to be nothing. Check back in a couple days and I'll probably know something.

Holy crap!

(Click for a larger image)

Mass relief

Tonight was my breast cancer support group. It's amazing how much of a stress reliever this is, even when it's not cancer that's got me stressed out.

It wasn't a great day at work today. I was a bit angry about the fact the guy who's my supervisor for some reason hasn't been having me read his pages (I do still have "copy editor" in my job tile as far as I know), and when I asked him about it, not only did I get a lame excuse, but he wouldn't even look me in the eye when I was trying to talk to him about it (I'm not the only person he does that to). How are you supposed to solve problems with someone like that?

Anyway, I wasn't in a great mood because of that today, but after I got to the meeting, it didn't take long for me to forget that. It's always great to just sit with these other women who have experienced the same kind of things I have ... and not even talk abou that common thing sometimes. I was in a much better mood when I got home.

Mom wasn't though. Whenever either one of is not home by a certain time, my dog, Nipper, gets anxious. I guess he was driving her a bit crazy tonight. Poor guy also has had a yeast infection in his ear for awhile now. I keep trying to keep it cleaned, but I don't always do a great job. Tonight, I tried a remedy found on the Internet -- vinegar and water -- and he must have some breaks in the skin inside his ear, because that just seemed to make it worse. He was constantly flapping and scratching at his ear for awhile. Guess I won't try that again.

Pizza Man!

I know it's too late for Sundance, and it will probably get lost in the end-of-the-year Oscars buzz, but here is my directorial debut:

Things are getting better

I've been pretty busy at work, but am feeling more comfortable with the new system we're on now. There's still a lot of frustration, though.

I think I might be trying to fight off the cold or flu or whatever Mom came down with. I haven't had a good night's sleep for several days, and feel pretty tired when I get home after work, so I haven't done much other than lay around on the couch.

Speaking of Mom, she got her own iBook this week. So I've done my part to convert a PC user to Mac. Ha! We will rule! It will just take a looooong time.

I did finally get a new bookshelf for my bedroom. It kind of matches the curio cabinet I got a couple years ago at Christmas from my family, so it's kind of nice. Frees up some floor space, now that I have my old desk out of the room, and it looks a bit neater. I'm not sure I'll need another cabinet, though. I got a 5-shelf cabinet and had planned on getting a 3-shelf one eventually, but I'm not sure I'd have stuff to put in it.

Not much else going on. It's cold. But then, it IS winter. Guess we got spoiled from the mild winters we've had the last couple years. That's about it, for now.