Friday, June 27, 2008

Can't I get a break?

I want to cry. I mean REALLY cry. More than I was last night...

So yesterday was my insane day of doing everything under the sun and then some. The only thing I didn't get to was going to the recycling center to drop off the mountain of recyclable stuff that's been infesting the front closet. I went for lunch with my friend Bobo, then went to my doc appt., stopped off at my folks house to drop off some Disney pictures for the kids, went to the wake (and yes, Linds, it was S's Dad), and actually made a pit stop off at a friends house because she couldn't give her cat an injection. Miss K has a kitty who's 16 years old and is suffering from kidney failure, so they give her an injection with fluid so she doesn't dehydrate. Well, Miss K and her future sis in law, Miss A, tried giving kitty the injection. Kitty meowed really loud, instinct made Miss K take out needle. They tried again, couldn't do it. Miss A called me asking if I could come over and help, not sure why since I'd never dealt giving others needles before, but maybe it's because I'm going into the nursing field? So went over, helped out, all was okay. Now normally Miss K doesn't do this, but her parents (owners of kitty) are in some fabulous island adventure going to a niece's wedding, and Miss K was in charge of kitty duty. I don't know what I'd have done if I wasn't able to go over there and help and kitty apparently had some problems before Miss K's parents came home on Sunday. I'm going over again on Sat morning for another liquid injection for kitty.


So speaking of medical field, here's what this doctor did without an MRI, but LOOKING at the previous MRI from doctor #2, and doing stretches on both shoulders to compare and see what was going on. Verdict? I've got 2 torn labrums in my left shoulder. Yup! I'm not nuts like the other 2 docs though. This one told me that a) I shouldn't have been sent to therapy since it wasn't shoulder impingement (weakness) like both previous doctors had diagnosed and it could be aggravating the shoulder, b) I should never have been given cortisone shots, and yes, I had 2 in a 6 month time period, c) an open MRI is basic crap, you can't tell anything since there's light that can interfere in the actual interpretation of the data, and d) I'm going to need surgery to repair the 2 tears, be in a sling for 6 weeks, and have physical therapy up to 4 months, and no driving during the 6 weeks (yeah, well, I wasn't supposed to be driving with a cast on my foot when I broke it during the Turkey Bowl of 2003, but that didn't stop me either).

So that means that I need surgery. Yup, fun fun, but at least I'll be out of work for 6 weeks (and bring on the short term disability!!!). Sucky thing is...no nursing program this year. ARGGGGG!!!! OMG, I cried so much last night, I thought Loverboy would have to build a dam in the kitchen to keep me from flooding out the house. This means that I won't be eligible until next August for the nursing program, and I'm not necesarily guaranteed to be in the program. Plus I've paid for all the classes, the nursing fees, got my uniform, paid for my background check, fought tooth and nail to be accepted, and now I can't do it. What gets me even more was if doc #1 had caught this, I'd be done with physical therapy by now and ready to go (the spring semester was just Microbiology, I wasn't doing clinicals, and didn't need to lift stuff!). How do these doctors get paid so much when they treat patients like a fast food drive through?
"I'll take a double labrum tear with a side of fries and cortisone shot, no ketchup please."
How is one supposed to react to that? I kick myself that I didn't go to the 3rd doctor first! And they're ALL orthopaedic doctors, they were all found based off referrals, and I'm paying them for what, to shoo me out of their office saying that I'm fine, just do some exercises, get an injection, and we'll see you in a couple of months? So I've got 2 docs that I paid for crap. Aren't you supposed to get a reimbursement if they do a shoddy job? Like if you go to McD's and get a chicken wing that's got feathers in it, you can either get your money back, or another back that doesn't have feathers (this actually happened to me...and the second set had pinfeathers too...I never ordered the wings again). That just gets me started even more...must...calm...rage...

Other things I can't do...quit my job. Bring on the Pain (in the words of my girl Linds). I wanted to be done with this place prior to my friends wedding...now looks like I'll be here through Thanksgiving. At least I'll be gaining vacation time, 401K, and holiday pay. Hopefully I can get the surgery done right after the wedding, and still make it by taking another class to gain more points for school for the program. Sometime within the next year I do have to get a job as a CNA or else I'll loose my place on the state registry, which I'm not taking the CNA class again if I don't have too (more money, more punching myself in the head for not keeping up with things).

So here's what's going on within the next couple of days, whether this all goes through or not.
1. drop off all stuff at recycle place
2. burn all the rest of the wood from the back deck (whoo-hoo, my passion)
3. tend to said garden (and take updated pics)
4. clean out the fridge...somethings smelling gamey and I plan to find out what it is
5. clean the kitchen counters/stove/table/etc...
6. cry
7. dishes
8. clean off computer desk so it's actually functional (I bought some containers to hold some things, but they became overstocked with crap)
9. I've called Prairie State about having to drop from the program, now I need to see if I can find a class to replace it with this coming semester, and see how much I'm going to be out by not being able to be in it ($100 deposit for program, and background $40 check)
10. cry some more
11. try to make some stuff to sell on etsy for my operation (whoo hoo, that's going to be pricey)
12. laundry
13. exercise on the XL glider until I pass out
14. see how the bridesmaid dress fits (if I need a bigger size, I'm doing 2 water days a week until the wedding, about 5 weeks away)
15. have to plan a bachelorette party for the bride with the bitch of honor (her words, not mine)
16. take more stuff to the thrift store/post on Freecycle
17. cry again, check to see if dam has ruptured
18. call nursing program friends and say that I won't be in class with them this fall
19. mow and weedwack the yard
20. put up more birdfeeders and shepherd hooks (watch for dive bombing hummingbirds)
21. get stuff out of living room (couches, TV, etc) so Loverboy and grunt buddies can start ripping out the living room ceiling
22. bills
23. de-cobwebbing the house (this usually just needs to be done on a monthly basis...usually)
24. clean out the Blazer...it's smelling like mold, I don't know why
25. ask Loverboy why Blazer smells like mold
26. cry a little bit more
27. make lists of everything needed for vacation in less than 2 weeks (first vacation in 2 years)
28. I have no idea where sleep is going to fit in all this
29. brush the diva because the house is starting to look like a barber shop gone wild
30. I have no idea what to put in here...I just wanted everything to come out on an even number

So that's on the agenda at the moment. I think grocery shopping is ok, so that's one less thing I have to worry about. This is what I get to get done within the next 4 days (Friday through Monday), then next week will be a whole other ballgame. I'm going to hide in my office and hope no one needs help today...I've got enough to worry about.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

What a day...

Well, it's only 10:30am, and it's already become "One of those days".

I woke up at 5am to the "brown eye" once again (it's becoming a habit this week) since his food bowl was empty and he felt the need to wake me up to let me know.

I stepped on one of the retards digestive pyrotechnical hairballs on my way to get my clothes from the front closet. No socks. Ewwww!!!!

Got into work and found out that an important meeting is being postponned till Friday at 1:30pm...eh, that's not so much a bad thing, that gives me extra time to review all the paperwork a little more (or should I say at all...I've been slacking since it hasn't been finalized).

Just found out that a friend's (actually my ex) father died and I never received the email! There were actually 2 emails sent from him to a group of us, one saying he found out his Dad had throat cancer about 6 weeks ago and would be starting chemo last Friday, and the second to say that he had passed away on Monday night. The wake is tomorrow night, so at least I was able to find out about it before then. Just got off the phone with him and talked, it's been a while since we've talked (I think my birthday when everyone was buying me Long Islands and wine coolers, not a good mix). It was nice, and I hadn't realized some things that I hadn't known before. It sad to say, but this is a serious wake up call for him to quit smoking, and he's going to get his fiance to quit too which is even better. Now if I can just get Loverboy to quit...

Speaking of...here's the update on the no smoking, minus the 5 times I cheated due to stress:

My Stats: Your Quit Date is: 1/9/2008
Time Smoke-Free: 168 days, 12 hours, 22 minutes and 8 seconds
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 4213
Lifetime Saved: 1 month, 2 days, 4 hours
Money Saved: $1,176.00
thanks to http://www.quitnet.net/

Whoo-hoo!!! No WONDER I can pay my bills again!!! Last time I cheated was back in April when I was in the car accident. I definately feel better, I can smell better, my clothes doesn't smell (unless Loverboy is around me when I'm folding laundry), and I've gained an extra month of life from this! I'm sending that link to the ex. Maybe it'll give him some extra perspective. I also told him about Chantix, and about this quit smoking book Bobo had me read...well, partially read. I only got into about 4 chapters before I couldn't do it anymore.

Tomorrow I've got a doc appt with a NEW doc to look at my shoulder. If this guy doesn't know what's wrong, then I'm going to wait until my shoulder falls off until I go to another doc. At least I got to take the day off of work since the doc is all the way out by my folks (about an hour away). Bonus is that I get to have lunch with my Bobo (oh how I miss being so far from him and the boys)!!!

So it turned out to be an ice cream for breakfast morning. On the way to work, I KNEW there was somthing about today, I picked up some orange juice, a chocolate muffin for a snack later on, and a Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream bar...cherry ice cream with sweet, dark cherries AND a dark chocolate coating...yup, definately an ice cream for breakfast day. I'm glad I'm an adult and can do this, my Mom would NEVER have allowed us to just eat ice cream for breakfast (now waffles with ice cream is a totally different scenario). So here's what actually took place AFTER getting my tasty treat...

So now it's off to finish up the mound of paperwork on my desk, wait for the 30 page fax of stuff that needs to be answered, phone calls (or rather leaving messages...), faxing over documentation and try to get this one guy to give me his doctor's name and number so I can get surgery details. When I get out of here, I get to go home to drop off a funnel cake kit to a lady from Freecycle (this woman seems weird...she can't come by to pick it up because I think they have one car, and when I ask for directions to her house, her husband needs to give me directions cause she doesn't know how to get to her own house from the K-Mart down the street) before taking the pups back to the vet for their booster shots...and THEN I get to go over the paperwork that I was supposed to review last night, but I've got tomorrow to do that too...tee hee. MAN, I'm such a slacker....

What else...OH, I wanna work on some stuff for ETSY (http://www.etsy.com/, you can check out my barren shop at http://www.abyiss13.etsy.com/ ) , weed the garden, get all the recycle stuff ready to dump off tomorrow morning so I don't have to wake up early on Saturday (oh, sweetness of sleep), get some stuff packed to take to my Mom's tomorrow after the doc's appt and before the wake...haha...but tonight I get to BURN stuff!!!

Yes, I'm a mighty pyro that may do more harm than good. I've almost (well, multiple times almost) lit a gas can on fire by pouring gas into a "not starting so good" fire...imagine someone running and shaking the tip of a gas can that's got a train of fire from the fire barrel to the gas can...priceless I can tell ya. Since we're tearing up the back deck, rather than buying a dumpster and putting TONS of wood (okay, maybe not TONS, but a lot) of wood into a landfill, we burn it, then just throw out the ashes and nails. Easy peasy, not even a 10th of what would have gone in the local landfill. And I get my kicks for burnin stuff...except for the fact that I smell like a bonfire the next morning when I go to work, no matter how much I scrub in the shower.

Hairballs, morning "brown eye", ice cream, paperwork galore, death, doc appts...I think I've covered more than enough bases for one day. Time for a nap!!!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Newest addition!!!

So, you've met the moose, the diva, the freaky cat we call Goofy, now here's the newest addition to our family!!! Meet Mr. Max (not my choice of names, but we just call him Max).

The fluffiest, fire tipped Siamese I've ever met (and the only fire tipped Siamese I've ever met). He looks big, but he's all fur. He weighs something like 7 pounds, as opposed to fat ass who's 16 (and fat ass being the other cat in the house). Actually we don't really call him Max, we call him retard. He's a great cat, laid back, head butts you for attention, begs with the dogs...but he'll be sleeping on the couch, then fall off backwards. He rubs up against the dogs then runs away. He licks the carpet, then wonders why he throws up hair balls all the time (and they're not pretty). He and Goofy get in an all out brawl, Goofy will pin him on his back, lick him in the head, and run as if to say "You've been beaten, yon retard, now feel the wrath of my kitty lick". Cracks me up every time. He pretty much sleeps most of the time, and you can't hear him purring, but you can feel it. He's got a meow that sounds like he's got emphysema...it's a light partial meow, another of the many things that cracks me up about this cat.

Now Max was actually my Loverboy's Mom's cat, but she couldn't bring him with her when she moved, so I suggested that he stay with us since he got along well with the demon cat (Goofy) last time she stayed with us. Loverboy added that if we were going to claim him, get him declawed and get his shots, he was going to become ours and that she could visit, but he was staying put. I thought it was a great idea, now the pups are teamed up against the cats...and I think the felines have the upper hand.
If you forgot who Goofy was, he got out today when Loverboy, aka Bob Villa, was trying to figure out what was going to happen with the deck that we're ripping apart from the back of the house.


And here's freak boy himself, trying to make a run for it after eating grass like it was going out of style. This is where I get the brown eye in the morning...disgusting little cretin.

So I had some fun with these two after stopping off at the local supermarket club (Sam's Club) and picked up some giant cans of tuna to make a tuna casserole. It's just so much easier to open one big can and find out what you're going to do with the rest rather than opening 5 or 6 cans just for one meal. That's just plain wasteful, and a pain in the keister to drain all that tuna (yup, if you haven't guessed by now, I'm a bit lazy). I put the can on the floor to see if Max and Goofy would go for it, and got the most hilarious pics!


Goofy looks like his head is getting swallow up by this huge can!!! If you look at Goofy's face in the third pic, it looks like he's yelling at Max to hurry up, it's HIS turn. Ah....brotherly love, and it's all for a can of tuna greater than the size of their heads.

And finally, Goofy letting us know that this was delish with his little pink tongue working it's magic. I'd love to find a can of tuna the size of my head.
Better yet, a bottle of sangria twice the size of my head...I'd dig that!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Laugh of the day

The pastor asked if anyone in the congregation would like to express praise for answered prayers.

A lady stood and walked to the podium.

She said, 'I have praise. Two months ago, my husband, Jim, had a terrible bicycle wreck and his scrotum was completely crushed. The pain was excruciating and the doctors didn't know if they could help him' you could hear an audible gasp from the men in the congregation as they imagined the pain that poor Jim experienced.

She continued, 'Jim was unable to hold me or the children and every move caused him terrible pain. We prayed as the doctors performed a delicate operation. They were able to piece together the crushed remnants of Jim's scrotum and wrap wire around it to hold it in.' Again, the men in the congregation squirmed uncomfortably as they imagined the horrible surgery performed on Jim.

She continued, 'Now, Jim is out of the hospital and the doctors say, with time, his scrotum should recover completely.' All the men sighed with relief.

The pastor rose and tentatively asked if anyone else had anything to say.

A man rose and walked to the podium. He said, 'I'm Jim and I just want to tell my wife, the word is "sternum."
I am such a fan of ThermaCare heat wraps, and NOT a fan of deviled eggs made by our local grocery store chain, Jewel. I don't think vinegar belongs in eggs!!! EWWW, I seriously almost upchucked after one bite!!!

But enough about the devilish eggs, ThermaCare heat wraps, how you are the only thing keeping me at work today! How you warm my shoulders to the point where I don't feel like my back has become another entity, the hardness or consistency of The Thing from the Fantastic Four (though my feet feel that way right now...where's my PedEgg..sorry, TMI) Another thing to be thankful for, the PedEgg...now back to the ThermaCare...why must my thoughts ramble just as much if not more than my mouth?

I have had this problem for as long as humanly possible. I'll start off talking about something, for example, then change the conversation on a dime to something, such as jockey shorts, and end up discussing muffin tops. No actual direction of conversation, it's almost like I feel the need to spew everything that's on my mind in the matter of conversation for fear that I won't be able to speak tomorrow. Well, my writing is just as bad!

But again, back to ThermaCare (I'm trying to be better here, bare with me). The best product ever created! What do you suppose is in this product to help keep it warm for up to 8 hours? I dunno, but it's money baby! My back has been mucho messed up the past couple of days, to the point where it hurts to move, hurts to lie down, hurts to do dishes and laundry (I'm serious!)...and a massage from my lovely friend Ang did the trick...for that day. I'm guessing it has to do with the nerves in my neck again being pressed on my neck bones...yup, looks like I'll be going back to the chiropractor real soon (and I've gone almost a year without going to him except to pick up a new jar of China Gel...Ben-Gay is crap compared to that stuff). So I sit here, content at the moment, writing to you of this lovely item. I should buy stock, looks like I'll be using this stuff for a while, or at least until I can get to the chiro...a girl can only hope...

Now moving on to the PedEgg. Again, a wonderful product! Bought it on a whim (and a Bed Bath and Beyond giftcard while out doing bridal gift shopping) and used it that night while watching "The Last of the Mohicans". Mind you, NOTHING can tear my eyes away from how saucy Hawkeye (Daniel Day Lewis), or yummy Uncas...but I was using this, and seriously was amazed at how well it worked! Now my feet are like leather, I hate shoes and will walk barefoot anywhere I can, but after using this, and rewinding the movie, I loved how my feet felt after that! Thank you PedEgg for an awesome product! If you've got feet, then this is the product for you (if you don't, I appologize for my insensitivity and just scroll down).

So two items that are plus in my book. Just thought I'd share, and it became another rambling post of total crap. Oh well, whatcha gonna do...

Saturday, June 14, 2008

why women are single

So I've been running around like a mad woman all day and come home to 45 emails. Most of them of crap, but still, I felt email love today. I got this from my future Mother in law, who has a sense of humor almost as twisted as mine.

So this is a video on why women are single, and after seeing this, who would blame us? Make sure you have your volume on to get the full effect.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Finally, pics...



Sorry I hadn't posted these pics sooner, things have been insane the last couple of weeks with work, trying to socialize, working on my Mom's bathroom, finally putting in my garden (that's another post), and dealing with all the rain and storms we've been getting the past couple of days. We were lucky and didn't get hit by the tornados, but Richton Park wasn't. There was a lot of damage done by where I actually get on the train to go to work, a transformer was torn out of the ground, there was a car wash that had it's doors pushed open, houses had their roofs ripped off, power was out over a substantial area...and this happened RIGHT around the time I'd left my friend Melinda's for her daughters 8th grade graduation. Everyone wall calling me to tell me that a tornado had been on and off the ground for over an hour and was headed east bound towards my home. Matt was home, I was not. I called him, told him what everyone was calling me about, and then I left the party to go home.

On my way home, the clouds were swirling everywhere!!! I had actually seen a twister start to form when I was going eastbound on Lincoln Highway in Olympia Fields. It was really cool, but where it was forming wasn't too far from my house. I guess it didn't have enough energy to fully form because I never saw it reach towards the ground again. Got home, it started pouring for about an hour on and off. Then nothing. It sprinkled on and off again, but again, we'd gotten missed by the major parts of the storm. Today again there were flood and tornado warnings. The backyard is a giant slop fest, it would have been the perfect conditions for a mud mosh pit for those at Woodstock. But yet we still kept ourselves busy. Matt's putting up a post in the edge of the yard for the satelite dish since the trees are growing too much, and I'm finally putting in my garden (a month late).

It's a muddy day, but no rest for the weary. But again, this was supposed to be an email about the bruises. Both bruises ended up turning dark purple, almost black in color. I have tissue damage by my right elbow, you can feel the lumps under the skin (it feels weird, but doesn't hurt). So the bruise under my left armpit is completely gone, and the one on my right elbow is just about gone, there's only a little discoloration still on the inside. So now I can say I fell through a floor, and all I got were these stinkin bruises, but I will always be thankful that I didn't do anything more than get some wonderful skin coloring.