The Joys of being sick...

Let's think of all the good things that come of being sick:
- Utter laziness: you can stay in bed all day and who is going to judge you for it??
- Catching up on day-time TV and shows you missed earlier in the week online: not like I was going to actually do anything productive
- No primping: like you really need to shower, blow dry, pick out clothes, put on makeup. you just stay in what you slept in and worry about the mess of hair on your head tomorrow
- Calling in favors: though I failed miserably in claiming those favors, convincing others I'd be fine, when in all actuality I really really did want that gatorade, but how pathetic do you feel when you weren't sure if you would actually be able/willing/wanting to get out of bed to go down and unlock the door.... rough
- Weight loss!! Don't eat anything for, lets see, we're going on 36 hours now, and threw up 6 times in 12 hours. not bad
- Feeling the love from work: not going into work for a day and still getting phone calls and emails asking how to do this, where is this, what do I do with this. "Dude, this goes in the... wait a minute, I have to throw up, excuse me". Do not call me when I say I have the stomach bug. But I suppose I should also learn I can screen those calls too.

As you can imagine, yesterday was ROUGH. Ever since I had my gall bladder taken out fall of 2006 (it was a major surprise, ER, massive infection, no prior problems, I was a mess), my immune system has been utter crap. I pick up everything at work. Good thing I work in a Kindergarten classroom. This school year alone I have had strep throat, a chest cold and horrid cough (the ripping your throat apart kind), PNEUMONIA (yea, that was fun = No Thanksgiving, spent the day in bed, alone), this stomach bug (twice), and too many other head colds and coughs to mention. I genuinely feel, that as soon as I am completely better from one ailment, another gets me. Let me tell you about my daily vitamins, my extra vitamin C, my love of orange juice, veggies, milk, my occasional excercise habits. I should not be a sickly person, but that is exactly what I feel like. So, as I am still lying here in bed, contemplating whether to take another whole day or just the morning off (maybe this is why I always get sick, I just can't stay away), I plan on researching immune system boosters. Is there such a thing? Or maybe just certain foods, etc that are shown to improve your immune system? I mean, I have long been out of sick days. Only my second year into the system, I don't think I have had more than 2 sick days left at a time. I mean, having major surgery a month into the job didn't really let me start off with much either.

Have you had gall bladder surgery and did it affect you a lot afterwards? I was a wreck immediately following; couldn't have dairy or anything with significant fat content. It's gotten better now, but I can't be surprised anymore when I eat something and need to stay near a bathroom for the next 20 minutes. OH and the knots of pain some foods give me. The newest one, and I went back to test it, too: cherry coke. I had a day off last week and met up with some boys at '5 Guys ' in North Hills. I ordered my little cheeseburger with all my favorite toppings, Jim and I were gonna split fries because you get an exorbidant amount, and I skipped over to the fountain drink machine. OHHHH how excited I was to see Cherry Coke for I couldn't tell you the last time I had it (little warning flag #1). Just the right amount of ice and topped that bad boy off. I was about halfway done with my first cup when our food was ready (what, I was parched). Ran up to get my food and filled up my cup again. When I sat down I began to notice that my stomach felt a little funny (well, not my stomach, my insides), but I didnt think much of it, thinking I was just really hungry and my insides were angry it was so late and it was just now getting food. So I inhaled my cheeseburger (SO GOOD), and ate as many fries as I could possibly cram down my throat and we still had some leftover. When I realized, nope, wasn't going to make it home. I sweetly said excuse me and all but ran to the bathroom. Now, I didnt immediately blame the cherry coke. I mean, hello cheeseburger. The next day however, while working at Tookie's toys, my coworker was going to run to the Eckerds (it will never be a RiteAid to me), and I asked her to pick up a cherry coke for me. You may ask why I wanted a cherry coke after my experience at 5 Guys. Well, at this point, I still thought it was the cheeseburger, and really just wanted a cherry coke. Needless to say, since I'm writing all about it, I didnt make it halfway through the bottle before I had to excuse myself to the back of the store to the bathroom. I mean, CHERRY COKE????

What These Tulips Say About You
You are very popular and universally admired.You are often hopelessly in love, and you connect to other people easily.You are a naturally cheerful and upbeat person. You have an amazing smile.

Not that I want to toot my own horn, but I have been told I have a great smile. The thing is though, I more love my smile because of what makes me do it. My friends when they are crazy and goofy and yelling thier Char-Grill orders out the backseat window of the Envoy. Gunner, when he is 'talking' to me and I'm desperately trying to figure out what he's talking about - and then remember he's just a dog. My kiddos, when I have teacher moments and one of my lowest kids sounds out a new word all by themselves, and through my smile I'm trying to fight back tears. So when I do find myself in a rut, just floating through days, I break out my journal and I keep track, not of what I ate that day, how much I way, what things need to get done, but what has made me smile. Try it... you'll like it :)

A last call of the day...

Something is to be said for living alone. If you get up in the middle of the night and your bathroom is in the hallway, it really doesn't matter what you have on; just go. Along those same lines: if you need a glass of water from the kitchen; just go. If you want to sit down in front of the tv and just flip between channels all night long; who is to stop you? You can play your music as loud as you want, you can have people over and not feel like you're taking over the house, you know if there is a dish in the sink, YOU put it there, YOU clean it up. It's freedom, its personal space, it's me time. On top of it all, I never would have said I was actually friends with my roommate. She is the daughter of a fellow teacher (makes dropping of rent checks very easy). She is maybe 2 years younger (see, I don't even know), still in college, and OCD as hell. I did not realize until about a month ago that this wasn't me ranting and raving about how annoying my roommate can be, but an actual medical condition she takes medication for. Don't you think that should've been something I was made aware of BEFORE moving in? NOT a week after she goes to study abroad for 6 months. YEP, 6 whole months of having a 2 bedroom apartment all to myself for the same price. No wait; that's not right. She was so paranoid that I or someone else would go in her room while she was gone, her parents came and put a new lock on the door and took the keys. So I do reside in a 2 bedroom apartment, but 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom are behind a locked door. HOW ANNOYING IS THAT?! I teach Kindergarten, I work at a toy store on the weekends, my freinds are preppy as hell who work as interior designers, financial planners, pharmacy techs, insurance salesmen, sailors, and other teachers that work with her mother!!!!! How sketchy could I or my friends be? Not like I had just moved in, we'd been living together for 6 months. Obviously, I'm not actually over it. I might even be moved out before she even comes home, so I shouldn't be holding on to anything. Just makes me feel like I'm someone they shouldn't trust, and that's very offensive to me. But I'm over it.. I mean, I'm working on it....

So, the real point of this post. Since I have no roommate I was feeling a little lonely. Like I said, not like we were friends or we ever really hung out, but the smple idea that someone was coming home. That someone else was around, they would help clean, they'd sit there and watch tv with you. At the end of the day at school, I am sometimes so desperate to talk to a NON-school oriented person or 5 year old, that anyone will do. Coming home to noone and nothing; just plain depressing at times. So though my contract clearly states NO PETS, NO DOGS, ONLY FISH ALLOWED, I offered to dog sit for a friend of mine (one of the sailors I know: http://www.lundycharters.com/) while he was sailing in the BVI as captain for some spring break trips. They left at the end of February and actually get back tomorrow. Gunner, the husky-german shepherd mix that has been my roommate these past weeks, is very excited about his dad coming home; but I am very very sad. The feeling of coming home at the end of a long day, opening the door, and having someone right there literally bouncing of the walls and talking to you because he is so excited (to be going outside). Someone to talk to while you're cooking dinner (for yourself). Someone to sit next to while watching tv. Someone to go do stuff with after school. I feel like I'd fallen into a rut: get home from school, drop bags, sit on ass for the rest of the night. Now, I come home, drop bags, grab leash and dog and go out to the park (which is my backyard, be jealous). One day we were out there for 2.5 hours. Granted, there were a few reasons for that: gorgeous weather, and new HOT HOT (married) puppy owner. Then we came in and made spaghetti and garlic bread and sat down to an evening of American Idol, followed by a short walk around the neighborhood, then bed. A lovely evening if I don't say so myself. One of the best thigns about having someone, even if they are a dog, is having someone to say goodnight to. I don't know if this makes me a loser, desperate, pathetic. But after having a dog, even just for this very short while, living alone is great, but I've realized I'm past the point where I want to be young and single and carefree.... I'm ready for something more, someone to be my last call of the day......

isn't he just too cute for words :) no no, THE DOG

B&N and Old Navy were visited....

As a reward for getting through a Monday at school, a co-worker and I went to Barnes and Noble for a coffee and home improvement and wedding magazine browsing. I was excited when I remembered Old Navy was right next door. The last time I went in was in January and was sorely disapointed. But let me tell you what, I was in love:

No more words needed.. just read

Entry from March 4th, I hate that this almost made me cry.......

In love, I am......

The Window Shopper

Random Gentle Love Dreamer (RGLD)

Loving, hopeful, open. Likely to carry on an romance from afar. You are The Window Shopper.
You take love as opportunities come, which can lead to a high-anxiety, but high-flying romantic life. You're a genuinely sweet person, not saccharine at all, so it's likely that the relationships you have had and will have will be happy ones. You've had a fair amount of love experience for your age, and there'll be much more to come.
Part of why we know this is that, of all female types, you are the most prone to sudden, ferocious crushes. Your results indicate that you're especially capable of obsessing over a guy you just met. Obviously, passion like this makes for an intense existence. It can also make for soul-destroying letdowns.
Your ideal match is someone who'll love you back with equal fire, and someone you've grown to love slowly. A self-involved or pessimistic man is especially bad. Though you're drawn to them, avoid artists at all costs.

WHAT THE HELL??? Is this me??

I want this...

How cute is this from The Container Store!!! Can you tell I love pink and green :)

And I want to have another Ladies' Night, but make it preppy and make these but with watermelon (pinkish, using grapefruit rind) and lime (green, using honeydew or lime rind)

Jello Slices