AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yup, that about sums it up, I want to scream. My newest rant about recent crap going on...does this fun never end? This is what's been going on the past 2 weeks....

Last Monday I got a call from Loverboy as I'm in the drive thru at Taco Hell trying to get some nourishment...cough cough...prior to attending physical therapy (people, pray that Halloween will be my last day of physical therapy EVER). I don't really hear him correctly cause the drive thru guy is asking me if I want Dragon sauce with my order...I'm thinking Loverboy said that Diesel, one of our ginormous lap dogs, is throwing up blood...crap, what did he eat now. No...it was Loverboy's Dad, in the ER, because apparently he had passed a lot of blood in the bathroom. HOLY CRAP! I told him I was on my way home, called therapy telling them I was going to have to cancel that days therapy session, and zipped on home! No one knew what was going on, except the fact that Father Loverboy (that's what I'll call him) had gone to the bathroom, passed blood, then hit the floor as soon as he got out of the bathroom. It took this man 2 hours to get to a phone because he couldn't get up, and he literally lives 5 minutes away from the nearest hospital! No shit! The paramedics arrive, take him to the ER, and start him on morphine and units of blood...4 units to be exact (yeah, he was more than a quart low).

Loverboy and I got out there slicker n' snot, and got to visit Father Loverboy one at a time (Gram was there when he had been admitted, but she had already gone home). We each got to talk to him while he was in and out of consciousness, and I got to asking him some questions...what have you been eating, drinking, medications...blah blah. The research coordinator in me was out in rare form. Apparently he was taking Excedrin for his arthritis...major arthritis...and a couple of pills just about every hour. His whole upper body is lacking muscle mass due to the arthritis, and it's traveling downwards through his body. No wonder the man looks like he's lost quite a bit of weight in the past 3 months. So okay, he's overdoing the aspirin. Now because of this overzealous abundance of aspirin, he gets heartburn...so what does he do? He downs flavored Tums/antacids like candy. Not good. I told Loverboy when we were doing a changing of the guard that I thought it sounded like a massive ulcer based off what Father Loverboy had told me. Turns out I was almost right. Found out the next day after they'd had a tube down his throat that it wasn't a massive ulcer, it was MULTIPLE ulcers! Yup, he's just about blown out his stomach. So we're relieved that it could have been majorly worse, those kinds of ulcers can be easily treated. However, he has been having other problems, and hasn't been to the doc's in years. He'll find out what else is going on sometime next week when he has his follow up visit and sees a gastroenterologist.

So the day after that I get a call from Gram with news on what's going on. Apparently Father Loverboy (who has insurance) was called by someone from the hospital that he had to put down $500 while he was in the hospital for his stay. The woman said if he didn't have the money, that he should call family to get it. Excuse me? Um, first, you do NOT call a patient while they are in the ER and say that you need to pay $500 for your stay...that's what bills in the mail are for. Next, I wouldn't do anything without documentation...besides, I'm not a fan of the hospital he was staying at, I'd have taken him elsewhere had I knows anything was going on. Then he's being working on by a doc who says he can leave the day after he was admitted. Now mind you he's still on morphine, dizzy, still bleeding, and not being monitored with his bathroom usage. He asks a nurse if its normal to still be bleeding (nurse had no idea), and that he wanted to talk to another doctor. Then he finds out that he shouldn't still be on the morphine, and they switch him to Tylenol. So he talks to the doctor on call and finds out the previous doctor was a STUDENT. Yeah, that would've been medical malpractice for sure. So she says that he needs to stay another night, gives him information about how he's going to need to change his diet (which the other doc hadn't given him), she gives him a script for ulcer medication, and he's released the next day.

So Father Loverboy (FL) owns 2 apartment buildings, 3 units per building, and a tennant had previously moved out. Loverboy went over to get whatever he could done so that a new tennant could come in and the place wouldn't be sitting. Okay, fair enough. So we're back on the schedule where I don't see him until late anymore due to him going over there after work. I ended up going out there that Friday with some info from the internet on dietary and recovery needs for FL, and made him a bunch of food that he could eat throughout the weekend that wouldn't cause him any pain: french vanilla pudding, stuff to make hot oatmeal, portioned baked chicken with stuffing, mashed sweet potatoes, and steamed carrots, and tuna noodle casserole. Just about all of that was gone by the time I went back on Sunday. Good, he's eating. I told Loverboy that I'd have his Dad a good 20 pounds heavier by Christmas if I kept feeding him like that.

So Sunday I started making a bunch of stuff at home not only for Loverboy, but to bring over to his Dad's for the week. Here's where stuff gets weird. About 2 weeks prior I'd met a girl on the train, she was 19 and 6'5". Yeah, tall girl. We started talking, she was funny, a little crude, but nice enough. We hung out the Saturday before at a flea market in Indiana, and rode the train during the week last Monday and Wednesday. She also wanted to know if I had any single friends...okay, we'll see what's going on with this. I tell her about my friend Danny Boy, nice guy, funny, and fun to be around...she wants him to text her because she doesn't talk much on the phone...um, huh? So she calls me on Sunday when I'm making all this stuff and asks to come over an use our computer for homework since the libraries are closed. Um, no, because a)I don't really know you, b)Loverboy and I are both going to be in and out throughout the day, and I'm not leaving you alone in my house, and c)don't you have someone that you know that has one you can use? Then she wants to know what I'm doing, if she can go with me over to FL's house when I bring him food, and asks me about Danny Boy (this being off the market, I have few single male friends who aren't gay these days)...is he cute, where does he live, does he wear ugly shoes...huh? Okay, he's got your number, he'll call you. But she's adamant about doing something, whether I tell her I'm busy or not. She wants me to go with her to meet up with Danny Boy, um...I've got stuff I need to do, if you meet with him sometime after today, I'm more than happy to go, but I've got stuff that needs to be done right now...I'm sorry you're bored, it's not my problem...but he's my friend, she doesn't want to meet him alone...then don't meet up with him, but I've got stuff to do. She tells me to breath...asks what's with the attitude, asks to breath with me and to stop being a crab ass...EXCUSE ME!??!?!

Yeah, that's when the ball dropped. I lost it. I've been doing laundry the past 4 hours since we had to put in a sump pump because the PVC pipe from the washer was broken and the water was going underneath the house instead of the dry well and that was the first day we were able to hook it back up, I'm cooking like Julia Child on crack so people have something to eat, I'm trying to get the living room cleaned to a state where Loverboy can rip up the floor to pour the slab, and I'm trying to figure out how to plan the wedding/cruise/reception and where we're going to have it...I asked her if she was really going to play that card with me when I had a ton of stuff on my plate. If you know me, you know that my days are pretty crazy, and that I'm not going to drop everything because you're a spoiled teenager who's bored. Not gonna happen unless it's an emergency, which this definately was not. Family and friends come first, laundry is a close second, and people met on the train are down the line around 125, or something. I hung up, and didn't answer the phone the rest of the night. She'd called twice when I was on the way to FL's with all the food I'd made, no messages. Monday I saw her when I was walking to the train. She asked me if I was still being a crab ass... "Don't talk to me." That was all it took, and she hasn't tried to call me back. I'm not her mother, her babysitter, her buddy...I don't need people like that in my life.

Which brings me to today. Last night Loverbody was over at FL's finishing up work on the one apartment. Apparently his right foot had gone in a hole at the bottom of the stairs outside the apartment, and he went down on his knee (yes, it was the one he just had surgery on in March), and his foot twisted. He had come home hobbeling, I sent him to the shower for a soak, told him to take 2 Tylenol, and to elevate his foot when he went to bed to help with the swelling. Just called him this morning, he's home, and was waiting to go see a doctor. CRAP! He thinks he cracked something in the top of his foot. The ankle is fine, there's no real swelling, but he's having a hard time walking. I pray that it's a sprain and not a break...if its a break, then he'll be in a cast for 6+ weeks, and I'll be crying as I cancel our Honeymoon cruise in Jan...I've got till November to cancel it for a full refund. I'm not doing a cruise if Loverboy won't be able to enjoy it, let alone be able to walk and scuba dive.

So that's what's going on. I'm going to see about getting a part time job this weekend to help pick up some of the slack of the bills, but we still need to get the concrete footing under the house before the end of the year, and it was a chilly 37 degrees this morning when I woke up. It's only going to get colder, I can tell you that. Anyone know of someone who clones humans? I need a few dozen to help out with my schedule...

New countdown till dum...dum...da...dummmmm....

Whelp, it's booked. Loverboy and I have FINALLY figured out what were doing to get hitched, not quite what we expected, but we both are absolutely lacking in the fundage department and have decided to elope rather than having a wedding extravaganza of tulle and pearls. We're going to go to the Western Carribean in mid-Jan...just us, though my Mom was trying to persuade me to give her the details in case she "accidentally" showed up with my Dad. Yeah right, in my 30+ years of existence, my folks have NEVER gone on a cruise, let alone any vacation that didn't involve fishing, an outhouse, or Wisconsin...that's another story. Hey, we're not getting any help with this wedding, so we're doing it OUR way...you'll get to see pics at the reception.

Details...I got a 7 day cruise for under $2100 (thanks to Linds-Hairwrecker for suggesting www.vacationstogo.com) with a $50 cabin credit and a free bottle of wine. Now I'm working on airfare and hotel for a day and a half pre-boarding. As for the marriage via ships captain, well, that is kaputz...the packages that the cruise line offered with getting married in the port pre-shoving off was $1550...almost as much as the cruise. The rates go up even higher if you want to get married at sea, or let alone get married on an island where you have to do a blood test and become a citizen if you're doing the actual wedding itself.

Okay, yeah, we'll pass on that. So we're going to do it the easy way...we're going to get married in a courthouse, which is around $35 for a marriage license, and THEN go on the cruise. So yeah, the actual wedding date is not yet finalized, but it'll be around when we actually leave (maybe the morning before we fly out?). I figure we can bring our fancy clothes (um...me in a sundress, him in khakis and a white shirt?) and get pics taken on the beach and the cruise. Turn that into a slideshow, and you've got something to watch at the reception, which will be in turn planned for May. Date yet unknown, I can only do so much since we just started working on this hardcore about 5 days ago (and my we, I mean I...I just made him stare at the screen and say yes or no to where we wanted to go).

Now in the process of looking for first class seating. Not a necessity, but I'd like not to get squished on my honeymoon...plus since we're skimping on the actual ceremony itself, and I got a good deal on the actual cruise, we can splurge for comfort rather than take a flight where we're sardined together. Now Loverboy and I sardined together is one thing, being squished next to a linebacker while I've got linebacker shoulders myself is a whole other ballgame. I'm a chick, I bite, remove your appendage from the arm rest...

Well, I've been slacking off enough for now, gotta get back to work. Anyone with tips on finding good/cheap flights, please send some info my way, my brain is wracked with where we're doing the reception...

Thanks!

I've been memed....huh?

Okay, so I've been memed from Lindsey over at the True Tales of a Hairwrecker (and trust me, I've been there with the hair scenarios too...ask her about my "Crow" moment, and don't get me started when I looked like a firecracker). Not quite sure what a meme is, I'm new to doing anything other than spewing stuff that pisses me off or makes me laugh so hard I pee. So here goes:

Five things about yourself that are great. Maybe this is a good thing to give me some actual light to my life...
So here's my list:

1. I have a twisted/adaptive sense of humor. I can be raunchy, conservative, dry, or whatever the moment needs. I don't know how I can seem to make so many people laugh...my parents aren't funny, now when we siblings get together it's insane, so that must be where I got it from. Plus get me some drinky's and I even surprise myself. If you can't laugh at yourself, who will? I'm GREAT at laughing at myself, plus being a major klutz helps the cause even more.

2. I love trying to sound intelligent, whether I'm right is another story. I do it really well, plus I have all this useless information in my head from a)watching the Discovery Channel...the animal and medical shows, b)I surf the net WAY too much, c)I actually like reading, not only fiction, but nonfiction too...comes in handy with dead or dying conversation. Who else can stop the silence from talking about gardens, honeybees losing their stinger when they sting you, don't wear shiny jewelry when you're swiming in the ocean since they can be mistaken for fish scales by predatory fish, or how Dubai is making their own islands to look like the globe? Or just start telling dirty jokes, that ALWAYS gets people going, no matter what age.

3. I LOVE being in the kitchen! And I think I'm a pretty darned good cook! Mind you I like baking and making sweets more, but still, when I cook, no one in my house will go hungry...and they get to bring home leftovers! I miss working at Al's Cafe (Linds, I can't find that honey mustard chicken at Sam's Club anymore, sob). I'd love to work again in a little diner or get my own catering gig going.

4. I'm thrilled that I chose to go back to school, finally, to pursue nursing! I'm already a certified CNA, now I just need to get a job doing that in one of the local hospitals (still dealing with insurance with the therapy, so nothing's going on till that and the doc visits are done so I can leave this Godforsaken job in the city). I was thinking about branching off and taking some classes to become a physical therapist (especially since I've had so much first hand experience in my life) and it'd be nice to have to do on the side to make extra money. I actually want to work in a medical facility rather than the spa setting, I really enjoy seeing some of the other patients around me getting better with the therapy, plus there's going to be SO many physical therapy jobs coming in the near future due to the nursing shortage. The more you learn, the better off you are to be that much more diversified (oh...I used a $5 word!!!).

5. Linds said she's creative, I can't touch that with a 10 foot pole, but I like to be creative in my own way. From making lavendar eye pillows (others seem to like them too, I've got a 16 pillow order coming in from a woman who ordered some other ones last year), to crocheting scarves and afghans, to making jewelry, to seeing something and making something else out of it (turning plates and bowls into bird feeders and water dishes), making paper, drying flowers and herbs, etc. I'm also very good at gift giving, and finding fart or poop cards for my family (a tradition I started about 7 years ago...EVERYONE now gives fart cards at the holidays, doesn't matter who it is, they try to find that extra special card that lets you know how they feel). I'd like to get back into ceramics (Linds, I still have that small green jar you made, I use it everyday), and I'd love to learn how to make stained glass or work with metal and solder (actually, Loverboy taught me to solder copper piping for the plumbing on the house last year...it's a start).

Wow, I actually feel a bit better after reading what I wrote. It's about time I'm not verbally barfing on this page. Maybe it'll be a change from now on? As for tagging others, I don't think I know enough of you on here to actually pick others to do this. If you do, I'd love to see what you put down, so feel free to put a comment to check out your meme.