I tell ya, March is TOTALLY kicking my butt. Pray I survive it!
This headache has not left me yet. Not totally.
I have a list of to-dos so long. . . hoooo boy.
I know, I've fallen off the face of the planet blogwise. I hates that. I'm running here and there and everywhere.
But we had two really nice weather days. And it's St. Patrick's Day! One of my favorite holidays. Although the extent of my celebrating this year was a green sweater, green amber jewelry, and green eyeshadow.
And now, I must commence collapsing.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Migraine Girl
A year ago this month, my life completely changed. I was laid off. I was just a few mere months from my wedding. I'd like to write my thoughts about One Year Later in a coming post.
But one other thing happened that month. I got my first migraine.
It was a silent migraine, which means it was a migraine with no pain, but with blurred peripheral vision and sparkly spots, like someone had just taken my photo. I also had trouble seeing my computer screen. It happened a time or two, then seemed to pass. Over the year, I had a couple more big headaches, a ten-day headache, and most of them approaching migraine-level pain. Then nothing for a long time.
Last night, I had a real migraine. Knocked me on my ass. I felt completely fine until about 8:45. Then, it occrured to me that I was starting to have a headache. No big. I walked into the the bathroom to get some Advil and then--BANG--hit by a bus.
I could barely even blink my eyes. It felt like the insides of my eyelids were glued on with sandpaper. My head felt like it was about to split in half and birth an alien baby. I could hear my pulse in my ears. I couldn't look at anything, as my vision started to halo everything, and then blurred. After about 15 minutes, I crawled into my pajamas, trying to hold my skull together at the same time. Then I crawled under the covers. My pillow hurt, my sheets hurt, the sound of my blankets hurt. Did you know blankets made sounds? They do. At least when you have a migraine.
Today I feel much better, but I still have a dull ache across the back of my head, shoulders and down my jawline. it's controllable with Advil, though.
In any case, I really hate that blurry vision thing. It's weird and scary.
And that's about all from this frozen, frozen land. I tried firing March, but March did not listen.
Jerk.
But one other thing happened that month. I got my first migraine.
It was a silent migraine, which means it was a migraine with no pain, but with blurred peripheral vision and sparkly spots, like someone had just taken my photo. I also had trouble seeing my computer screen. It happened a time or two, then seemed to pass. Over the year, I had a couple more big headaches, a ten-day headache, and most of them approaching migraine-level pain. Then nothing for a long time.
Last night, I had a real migraine. Knocked me on my ass. I felt completely fine until about 8:45. Then, it occrured to me that I was starting to have a headache. No big. I walked into the the bathroom to get some Advil and then--BANG--hit by a bus.
I could barely even blink my eyes. It felt like the insides of my eyelids were glued on with sandpaper. My head felt like it was about to split in half and birth an alien baby. I could hear my pulse in my ears. I couldn't look at anything, as my vision started to halo everything, and then blurred. After about 15 minutes, I crawled into my pajamas, trying to hold my skull together at the same time. Then I crawled under the covers. My pillow hurt, my sheets hurt, the sound of my blankets hurt. Did you know blankets made sounds? They do. At least when you have a migraine.
Today I feel much better, but I still have a dull ache across the back of my head, shoulders and down my jawline. it's controllable with Advil, though.
In any case, I really hate that blurry vision thing. It's weird and scary.
And that's about all from this frozen, frozen land. I tried firing March, but March did not listen.
Jerk.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Gotta love them redheads.
I dyed my hair red. Finally. I did it! It's already faded quite a bit since the appointment a couple of weeks ago, but here's a photo, taken last weekend.
And here's another, with the sun more on my hair so you can see the color perhaps a little better:
My face looks a little bloated in that one. Oh well.
I am wearing my awesomely awesome swing/trapeze coat with three-quarter sleeves. Very '60s. I have a pair of elbow-length leather gloves that William got me for my birthday, and I wear them with the coat. It makes me feel glam. And a couple people think I bear a passing resemblance to Kate Walsh.
Whatever. I can fool myself. Let me have my dream.
And here's another, with the sun more on my hair so you can see the color perhaps a little better:
My face looks a little bloated in that one. Oh well.
I am wearing my awesomely awesome swing/trapeze coat with three-quarter sleeves. Very '60s. I have a pair of elbow-length leather gloves that William got me for my birthday, and I wear them with the coat. It makes me feel glam. And a couple people think I bear a passing resemblance to Kate Walsh.
Whatever. I can fool myself. Let me have my dream.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Orange you glad I made dinner?
So my Smalls had a rough day today so I thought I would try and make a modified version of her favorite Thai meal, papaya salad. We did not have the right ingredients so some pretty big modifications had to take place.
What we had:
Fresh Ginger
Oranges (fresh orange juice and zest)
Garlic
Boneless Ribs
Honey
Chili Sauce
Soy Sauce
Olive Oil
Honey Mustard
Spinach
Peas
Red Pepper
Carrots
Goat Cheese
I have no real understanding or methodology towards cooking. (Besides my love of watching Alton Brown.) I just see ingredients and add a little of that, a pinch of this, why not a splash of that, and hope that everything comes together in the end.
Looking at what we had I knew I didn't have the time to cook ribs as I would normally want to, so I cut them into very fine slices and set them aside in a little olive oil, salt and pepper until they came to room temperature. I then cooked them over high heat to get a good sear on each side.
I then squeezed two oranges and took the zest from half of one orange. To that I added the honey, honey mustard, minced garlic and ginger, soy sauce, and chili sauce. I added this mixture to the pan and brought it to a simmer with the seared beef. While the glaze was thickening I julienned the red pepper and carrots and placed them over a bed of spinach, along with the fresh peas. Once the orange juice and ginger mixture reduced to a sticky glaze I poured it over the lettuce.
Katie took this dish to the next level with the idea of adding crumbled goat cheese on top. The rich texture of the cheese rounded out the orange/ginger glaze.
The meal turned out fabulous and it put a smile on my Smalls' face--it was a nice end to the day to have a tasty dinner together. We both felt this was my best dinner creation ever. Not bad from pulling a bunch of random ingredients together in a half-hour.
What we had:
Fresh Ginger
Oranges (fresh orange juice and zest)
Garlic
Boneless Ribs
Honey
Chili Sauce
Soy Sauce
Olive Oil
Honey Mustard
Spinach
Peas
Red Pepper
Carrots
Goat Cheese
I have no real understanding or methodology towards cooking. (Besides my love of watching Alton Brown.) I just see ingredients and add a little of that, a pinch of this, why not a splash of that, and hope that everything comes together in the end.
Looking at what we had I knew I didn't have the time to cook ribs as I would normally want to, so I cut them into very fine slices and set them aside in a little olive oil, salt and pepper until they came to room temperature. I then cooked them over high heat to get a good sear on each side.
I then squeezed two oranges and took the zest from half of one orange. To that I added the honey, honey mustard, minced garlic and ginger, soy sauce, and chili sauce. I added this mixture to the pan and brought it to a simmer with the seared beef. While the glaze was thickening I julienned the red pepper and carrots and placed them over a bed of spinach, along with the fresh peas. Once the orange juice and ginger mixture reduced to a sticky glaze I poured it over the lettuce.
Katie took this dish to the next level with the idea of adding crumbled goat cheese on top. The rich texture of the cheese rounded out the orange/ginger glaze.
The meal turned out fabulous and it put a smile on my Smalls' face--it was a nice end to the day to have a tasty dinner together. We both felt this was my best dinner creation ever. Not bad from pulling a bunch of random ingredients together in a half-hour.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Because I am tired and wishing for another weekend and have been working so I am not too interesting
Here's a quick list of what I've been up to:
Working late
Working some more
Trying to keep up with staying neat and tidy
Tackling my year-long to-do list
feeling like I'm on the verge of a cold
Dying my hair red (photos to come)
Hoping Molly's cousin, Maggie, pulls through her weird, unexplainable episodes
Watching Milk with my husband Friday night at the theater, then the documentary about him on Hulu today
Cheering on the Gophers' hockey team at Mariucci with Wm, Fatty, and Cindy--we got to chant a lot! They won!
Had dinner at Big 10, thanks to Fatty, revisiting my college days.
Sleeping later today
Taking a nap
Dance class
Grocery shopping (mmmm, more Molokai coffee, people I am ADDICTED, it is so good)
It's a lot of daily grind, but this week had some fun little activities this week. Feeling like I need a couple more days to myself to get life straightened out. I'm tired.
Whirlwind weeks like that just don't allow for much time to be blogging, and I miss it. Hopefully things get calmer soon.
Working late
Working some more
Trying to keep up with staying neat and tidy
Tackling my year-long to-do list
feeling like I'm on the verge of a cold
Dying my hair red (photos to come)
Hoping Molly's cousin, Maggie, pulls through her weird, unexplainable episodes
Watching Milk with my husband Friday night at the theater, then the documentary about him on Hulu today
Cheering on the Gophers' hockey team at Mariucci with Wm, Fatty, and Cindy--we got to chant a lot! They won!
Had dinner at Big 10, thanks to Fatty, revisiting my college days.
Sleeping later today
Taking a nap
Dance class
Grocery shopping (mmmm, more Molokai coffee, people I am ADDICTED, it is so good)
It's a lot of daily grind, but this week had some fun little activities this week. Feeling like I need a couple more days to myself to get life straightened out. I'm tired.
Whirlwind weeks like that just don't allow for much time to be blogging, and I miss it. Hopefully things get calmer soon.
Monday, February 23, 2009
U Can't Touch This
Today has been a very surreal day.
It started out with my honey emailing me to tell me three of his photos have been chosen for a biannual art magazine—including the COVER.
Sweet. Good day. Good success. Happy happy joy joy!!! That's huge. William's been working hard on his Etsy shop and to get a break like that is pretty amazing. Not to mention the happiness I feel for my husband when someone notices his talents. We like to dream that someday we'd own our own random firm of photography, writing, architecture, and crafty stuff. In a cool old brick building, living above/working below, with a rooftop deck. Ahhh . . . can you picture it?
I was busy today, so I hadn't processed my thoughts about the situation much past that. It was about to get much, much funnier, cooler, and stranger.
A couple of hours later, I get another email from William, and this time it says that someone on Etsy contacted him to let him know that—stop, Hammertime!—MC HAMMER tweeted about an item William had posted to his Etsy store this weekend:
So what did Hammer rap about it?
"I like it!!! I'm biased? OK, OK..." with a LINK to the item!
FAQ:
1. Yes, it appears to be the REAL Hammer. It links to his websites, and the tweets don't appear to be about anything that would be "off-brand" like some fake-celeb-Twitter accounts are.
2. He also has about 112,000 followers. I don't think FakeSarahPalin had that many.
3. It has been the latest twitter for 11 hours. William's gotten a very large amount of hits to his store today . . .
4. Yes, we have been singing 2 Legit 2 Quit all day.
So, now not only has William added cover credits to his rez in like an SIXTEENTH the time I got mine, he's also got a better celeb following than I probably do. Though supposedly Fran Drescher and Ryan Adams are following me, they haven't TWEETED about me.
SRSLY. What a day!
It started out with my honey emailing me to tell me three of his photos have been chosen for a biannual art magazine—including the COVER.
Sweet. Good day. Good success. Happy happy joy joy!!! That's huge. William's been working hard on his Etsy shop and to get a break like that is pretty amazing. Not to mention the happiness I feel for my husband when someone notices his talents. We like to dream that someday we'd own our own random firm of photography, writing, architecture, and crafty stuff. In a cool old brick building, living above/working below, with a rooftop deck. Ahhh . . . can you picture it?
I was busy today, so I hadn't processed my thoughts about the situation much past that. It was about to get much, much funnier, cooler, and stranger.
A couple of hours later, I get another email from William, and this time it says that someone on Etsy contacted him to let him know that—stop, Hammertime!—MC HAMMER tweeted about an item William had posted to his Etsy store this weekend:
So what did Hammer rap about it?"I like it!!! I'm biased? OK, OK..." with a LINK to the item!
FAQ:
1. Yes, it appears to be the REAL Hammer. It links to his websites, and the tweets don't appear to be about anything that would be "off-brand" like some fake-celeb-Twitter accounts are.
2. He also has about 112,000 followers. I don't think FakeSarahPalin had that many.
3. It has been the latest twitter for 11 hours. William's gotten a very large amount of hits to his store today . . .
4. Yes, we have been singing 2 Legit 2 Quit all day.
So, now not only has William added cover credits to his rez in like an SIXTEENTH the time I got mine, he's also got a better celeb following than I probably do. Though supposedly Fran Drescher and Ryan Adams are following me, they haven't TWEETED about me.SRSLY. What a day!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Overslept into a parallel universe
This morning, our pattern was all out of whack.
William got up early, extra early, to go to work. His alarm went off instead of mine. When he got in the shower, I thought, Oh hell, why do I have this stupid alarm on? I'll be up the second he gets out of the shower....and that was the last thought I had. He came out and got dressed and ready for the day, and left. And I was OUT COLD. People, I sleep hard. It actually kind of freaks me out. I mean, our DOOR OPENED AND CLOSED. Nada. I bet I didn't even move.
Next thing I know, Molly is clawing my hand and snorting, making a fuss, because she wants up on the bed for a snuggle (wood floors+furry paws=she wants a lift). Thank GOD! Because otherwise, I don't know how long I would have slept. Out of the bed I fly, to find a note on the mirror. "Don't forget to move your car by 8. Loves."
Shit! Yes, move the car, move the car. Fly outside in my PJs, whip the car into a different parking spot.
Normally, William and I get together every morning, talking about news on the Today show, pouring OJ, trading spaces at the sink to brush our teeth. I'm used to our routine. This morning, it was like a parallel universe, and I had come totally undone.
With that.
What are your middle names? Ann and George
How long have you been together? nearly four years
How long did you know each other before you started dating? depends on how you look at it. We have known who each other was for....about 15 years. (Whoa, we're getting old.) But we never spoke a WORD to each other until about four years ago. Yep.
Who asked who out? William asked me. Well, rather, he told me. He said "And when you get back from your parents' cabin, we'll go out to dinner." I think it's safe to say I was completely flabbergasted.
How old were each of you when you met? 24ish
How old are each of you now? We're both 28
How tall are each of you? I'm 5'6"ish and he's 6'2"ish
Do you have any children together? Nope. But we fight over names of children fairly often, for a couple who has no plans for children in the near future.
What about pets? Momo the wonderpoo
Did you go to the same school? Yep, both high school (where our lockers were FIVE lockers apart) and college.
Are you from the same hometown? Just a few blocks apart.
Who is the most sensitive? I think we're both sensitive people. I'm probably more sensitive though.
Where do you eat out most as a couple? We're more the take-in type. Taste of Thailand. Mmmm.
Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Hawaii. Did you know it's like the place on Earth that is the farthest from any other inhabitable place on Earth? Whoa.
Who has the worst temper? William. I'm no angel, either.
Who does/did the cooking? We split. William's a better imaginative cook. I need a recipe.
Who is more social? Me
Who is the neat-freak? William
Who hogs the bed? That is a huge point of contention. Best not to bring it up.
Who wakes up earlier? We get up pretty much at the same time.
Who has the bigger family? William!
Do you have little pet names for each other? William calls me Smalls a lot. I call him honey or darling, usually.
How long did it take to get serious? Not long. A couple months? We moved in together after six months, so it moved fast. I knew on the first date that I was in love.
Who eats more? I can definitely hold my own, but when push comes to shove, Wm eats more. I can eat more cheese!
Who sings better? Probably me but I don't have any kind of voice to boast about.
Who’s older? William, by 20 days.
Who does the dishes? we take turns
Who snores? I do sometimes. I caught Wm snoring once or twice.
Who’s better with the computer? William
Who drives when you are together? We switch off. Depends on where we're going.
Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? I usually want to make the peace, but neither of us likes admitting we're wrong. I think, actually, Wm is probably better at that.
Who has more tattoos? We have imaginary tattoos.
Who eats more sweets? We both have our weaknesses.
I promise that I will do some honest-to-God writing soon. If I don't, I might go crazy.
William got up early, extra early, to go to work. His alarm went off instead of mine. When he got in the shower, I thought, Oh hell, why do I have this stupid alarm on? I'll be up the second he gets out of the shower....and that was the last thought I had. He came out and got dressed and ready for the day, and left. And I was OUT COLD. People, I sleep hard. It actually kind of freaks me out. I mean, our DOOR OPENED AND CLOSED. Nada. I bet I didn't even move.
Next thing I know, Molly is clawing my hand and snorting, making a fuss, because she wants up on the bed for a snuggle (wood floors+furry paws=she wants a lift). Thank GOD! Because otherwise, I don't know how long I would have slept. Out of the bed I fly, to find a note on the mirror. "Don't forget to move your car by 8. Loves."
Shit! Yes, move the car, move the car. Fly outside in my PJs, whip the car into a different parking spot.
Normally, William and I get together every morning, talking about news on the Today show, pouring OJ, trading spaces at the sink to brush our teeth. I'm used to our routine. This morning, it was like a parallel universe, and I had come totally undone.
With that.
What are your middle names? Ann and George
How long have you been together? nearly four years
How long did you know each other before you started dating? depends on how you look at it. We have known who each other was for....about 15 years. (Whoa, we're getting old.) But we never spoke a WORD to each other until about four years ago. Yep.
Who asked who out? William asked me. Well, rather, he told me. He said "And when you get back from your parents' cabin, we'll go out to dinner." I think it's safe to say I was completely flabbergasted.
How old were each of you when you met? 24ish
How old are each of you now? We're both 28
How tall are each of you? I'm 5'6"ish and he's 6'2"ish
Do you have any children together? Nope. But we fight over names of children fairly often, for a couple who has no plans for children in the near future.
What about pets? Momo the wonderpoo
Did you go to the same school? Yep, both high school (where our lockers were FIVE lockers apart) and college.
Are you from the same hometown? Just a few blocks apart.
Who is the most sensitive? I think we're both sensitive people. I'm probably more sensitive though.
Where do you eat out most as a couple? We're more the take-in type. Taste of Thailand. Mmmm.
Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Hawaii. Did you know it's like the place on Earth that is the farthest from any other inhabitable place on Earth? Whoa.
Who has the worst temper? William. I'm no angel, either.
Who does/did the cooking? We split. William's a better imaginative cook. I need a recipe.
Who is more social? Me
Who is the neat-freak? William
Who hogs the bed? That is a huge point of contention. Best not to bring it up.
Who wakes up earlier? We get up pretty much at the same time.
Who has the bigger family? William!
Do you have little pet names for each other? William calls me Smalls a lot. I call him honey or darling, usually.
How long did it take to get serious? Not long. A couple months? We moved in together after six months, so it moved fast. I knew on the first date that I was in love.
Who eats more? I can definitely hold my own, but when push comes to shove, Wm eats more. I can eat more cheese!
Who sings better? Probably me but I don't have any kind of voice to boast about.
Who’s older? William, by 20 days.
Who does the dishes? we take turns
Who snores? I do sometimes. I caught Wm snoring once or twice.
Who’s better with the computer? William
Who drives when you are together? We switch off. Depends on where we're going.
Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? I usually want to make the peace, but neither of us likes admitting we're wrong. I think, actually, Wm is probably better at that.
Who has more tattoos? We have imaginary tattoos.
Who eats more sweets? We both have our weaknesses.
I promise that I will do some honest-to-God writing soon. If I don't, I might go crazy.
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