Remember last month when I was bemoaning my limited options for meeting new friends in this post?
Well, like 11 days later, this billboard was put up right here in the Bible Belt Buckle by a group called Secular Life. How awesome is that?
It seems to have infuriated some of the local kooks (see HERE), but I, for one, am excited that such a community exists and happy that they decided to advertise. I am intrigued, to say the least, and definitely intend to take a closer look at this group.
11.19.2009
11.18.2009
Just Happy To Be Here
Seems my endless bouts with various illnesses are over - knock on wood - and I'm just happy to be here. Things are good. I feel almost guilty in my happiness. Ya know, sorta like survivor guilt? Life is less hectic than it has been in a long time, and honestly, I can't think of one single thing that has me stressed.
Work is fulfilling right now. My hospital project in Myrtle Beach got funded and is being bid and I started another project, an E.D. expansion and renovation, which is small enough to be fun and manageable, but large enough to keep me busy. I've finally got a handle on my IDP process and it's exciting to be moving in the right direction professionally. Our ACE team this year consists of 15 high school students who, so far, are all bright and enthusiastic, and a group of dedicated mentors who make me proud to be their team leader.
Daniel's work, while not terribly challenging for him, is at least stable (which counts for a lot in this unstable economic environment). To help combat the unstimulating nature of his job and help further his career, he is going to be taking some classes towards his masters degree in economics, which is very exciting.
Our house and our neighborhood feel like home. Everytime I pull into our driveway, I get a warm fuzzy feeling. Even the ugly peach color doesn't dampen the joy. And while we're still working on the house, we are doing it in a more leisurely fashion. There's none of the sense of urgency felt with the earlier improvements. There's no deadlines to be met. So, we remove wallpaper, and patch walls, and paint, but not to the exclusion of everything else in our lives.
On the weekend, we'll walk down the street to Mitchell's for breakfast and Sip for coffee and the air is crisp. And the trees are bare. Our neighbors are outside too. And we're grinning like idiots because we're just happy to be here. Even the mundane chores in life - raking the leaves, taking out the trash, going through the mail, cleaning the bathroom - seem tinged with delightfulness lately. I can't explain it.
I feel very fortunate and I'm incredibly grateful (to the point of feeling guilty, as I may have mentioned). Is everything perfect? Of course not. There's lots of little speed bumps in the road. Last week our basement was invaded with wasps and we had to call the Orkin man. But we had the means to be able to call someone to deal with the wasp infestation, and that is a very, very comforting feeling.
Contentment is maybe what I'm experiencing. But there's also an energized undercurrent of excitement. And...well...plain and simple, Happiness.
I have to remind myself not to continually question feelings of happiness, as if I didn't deserve them. Or by not questioning, I am somehow being ungrateful. I'm the type of person who is always sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop, which keeps me from enjoying the shoes. And I do enjoy shoes. We should all enjoy the shoes that we have while we have them. And that didn't really make any sense, but do you know what I mean?
Anyway, I'm just happy to be here, and I'm going to enjoy it.
Work is fulfilling right now. My hospital project in Myrtle Beach got funded and is being bid and I started another project, an E.D. expansion and renovation, which is small enough to be fun and manageable, but large enough to keep me busy. I've finally got a handle on my IDP process and it's exciting to be moving in the right direction professionally. Our ACE team this year consists of 15 high school students who, so far, are all bright and enthusiastic, and a group of dedicated mentors who make me proud to be their team leader.
Daniel's work, while not terribly challenging for him, is at least stable (which counts for a lot in this unstable economic environment). To help combat the unstimulating nature of his job and help further his career, he is going to be taking some classes towards his masters degree in economics, which is very exciting.
Our house and our neighborhood feel like home. Everytime I pull into our driveway, I get a warm fuzzy feeling. Even the ugly peach color doesn't dampen the joy. And while we're still working on the house, we are doing it in a more leisurely fashion. There's none of the sense of urgency felt with the earlier improvements. There's no deadlines to be met. So, we remove wallpaper, and patch walls, and paint, but not to the exclusion of everything else in our lives.
On the weekend, we'll walk down the street to Mitchell's for breakfast and Sip for coffee and the air is crisp. And the trees are bare. Our neighbors are outside too. And we're grinning like idiots because we're just happy to be here. Even the mundane chores in life - raking the leaves, taking out the trash, going through the mail, cleaning the bathroom - seem tinged with delightfulness lately. I can't explain it.
I feel very fortunate and I'm incredibly grateful (to the point of feeling guilty, as I may have mentioned). Is everything perfect? Of course not. There's lots of little speed bumps in the road. Last week our basement was invaded with wasps and we had to call the Orkin man. But we had the means to be able to call someone to deal with the wasp infestation, and that is a very, very comforting feeling.
Contentment is maybe what I'm experiencing. But there's also an energized undercurrent of excitement. And...well...plain and simple, Happiness.
I have to remind myself not to continually question feelings of happiness, as if I didn't deserve them. Or by not questioning, I am somehow being ungrateful. I'm the type of person who is always sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop, which keeps me from enjoying the shoes. And I do enjoy shoes. We should all enjoy the shoes that we have while we have them. And that didn't really make any sense, but do you know what I mean?
Anyway, I'm just happy to be here, and I'm going to enjoy it.
Labels:
happiness
11.10.2009
Illin' - Again
So, the sore throat/irritating cough featured in my previous post, turned into pneumonia last Wednesday. Peumonia. Jesus-tap-dancing-christ!
At the insistent behest of my husband and sister, I went to the doctor Wednesday morning after a restless night of wheezing/coughing/not-breathing. I seriously thought it was just a bad cold and almost skipped the doctor in favor of the pharmacist (I despise going to the doctor, remember?)
As it turned out, I had a pretty high fever. Who knew!? And after multiple swabs and chest x-rays, I was given a steroid shot, a really cool nebulizer treatment which made me feel like I was smoking a hookah, some serious drugs, and an order to GO HOME. Apparently pneumonia can become quite serious. Who knew?!
Anyway, not feeling quite myself yet, but definitely can detect visible health improvements. So, yay.
I'm blaming Egypt (yes, the entire Egyptian nation) for the various ailments that have plagued me since the end of September. If I hadn't gotten that stomach parasite in Egypt which caused all sustenance to be be immediately evacuated upon ingestion, my immune system wouldn't have been weakened. And if my immune system hadn't been weakened, I wouldn't have caught the flu on the flight home. And if I hadn't caught the flu on the flight home, then I wouldn't have had...well, the flu. And if I hadn't had the flu then my body wouldn't have been as susceptible to other germs. And if I'd had reasonable defenses against other germs, I wouldn't have gotten pneumonia. Egypt is to blame. Clearly.
At the insistent behest of my husband and sister, I went to the doctor Wednesday morning after a restless night of wheezing/coughing/not-breathing. I seriously thought it was just a bad cold and almost skipped the doctor in favor of the pharmacist (I despise going to the doctor, remember?)
As it turned out, I had a pretty high fever. Who knew!? And after multiple swabs and chest x-rays, I was given a steroid shot, a really cool nebulizer treatment which made me feel like I was smoking a hookah, some serious drugs, and an order to GO HOME. Apparently pneumonia can become quite serious. Who knew?!
Anyway, not feeling quite myself yet, but definitely can detect visible health improvements. So, yay.
I'm blaming Egypt (yes, the entire Egyptian nation) for the various ailments that have plagued me since the end of September. If I hadn't gotten that stomach parasite in Egypt which caused all sustenance to be be immediately evacuated upon ingestion, my immune system wouldn't have been weakened. And if my immune system hadn't been weakened, I wouldn't have caught the flu on the flight home. And if I hadn't caught the flu on the flight home, then I wouldn't have had...well, the flu. And if I hadn't had the flu then my body wouldn't have been as susceptible to other germs. And if I'd had reasonable defenses against other germs, I wouldn't have gotten pneumonia. Egypt is to blame. Clearly.
Labels:
pneumonia
11.03.2009
Whiny Review
If just when you think you are 100% healthy and completely over the flu-like illness that's been plaguing you since you returned from your trip to the Middle East, you suddenly develop a scratchy, tickly, raw, drippy throat and subsequent cough, DO NOT purchase this product with the hopes that it will soothe your misery in the least.
Yes, I was lured in by the clever marketing ploy of declaring this substance to be "Max Sore Throat Relief (plus Coating Protection!)"
Pure snake oil, my friends.
IF you can manage to spray this stuff directly onto the part of your throat (you know, the part that is sort of located up and way the hell to the back, right where the nastiness from your nose drips down making you cough until you feel like you're going to throw up) that is causing your discomfort, you may get a few seconds of minimal relief. And the liklihood of actually hitting that general vicinity is slim despite the encouraging looking spray nozzle.
"#1 Pharmacist Recommended", my ASS!
So far, I've found that a constant intake of either, A.) ice cold water, B.) hot green tea, or C.) room temperature orange juice provides much longer lasting results. Although the downside to this method is the frequent pee breaks.
Yes, I was lured in by the clever marketing ploy of declaring this substance to be "Max Sore Throat Relief (plus Coating Protection!)"
Pure snake oil, my friends.
IF you can manage to spray this stuff directly onto the part of your throat (you know, the part that is sort of located up and way the hell to the back, right where the nastiness from your nose drips down making you cough until you feel like you're going to throw up) that is causing your discomfort, you may get a few seconds of minimal relief. And the liklihood of actually hitting that general vicinity is slim despite the encouraging looking spray nozzle.
"#1 Pharmacist Recommended", my ASS!
So far, I've found that a constant intake of either, A.) ice cold water, B.) hot green tea, or C.) room temperature orange juice provides much longer lasting results. Although the downside to this method is the frequent pee breaks.
Labels:
sore throat
10.30.2009
Random Friday Questions
Why oh Why has Christopher not been sent back to his basement lair in Shakopee Minnesota? I mean, seriously, his designs are heinous, he is consistently in the bottom 2 and none of the judges ever like anything he does. I don't get it. Do the producers of Project Runway have some secret agenda that involves promoting young talentless designers with bad facial hair who live in their parents' basements?
Why do I always think carving a pumpkin for our office Pumpkin Carving Contest is going to be a fun, creative project that will be relatively effortless? You'd think by year #4, I'd have gotten a clue that coming up with an imaginative pumpkin design and actually executing that design with some degree of skill, takes more than 2 hours the night before the contest. But, no.
How did I completely luck out and find the best husband in the whole world who consistently affirms I am the most beautiful woman he's ever laid eyes on, even when I'm crusty and gross, and shows up at my office with a hot pumpkin spice latte when I'm having a bad morning? By no means am I complaining, but how the hell did that happen?!
I hereby request that everyone stop using the terms "prego" and "preggers" when refering to pregnancy or a pregnant woman. I'm sorry, I know these are widely used terms, but I just can't handle it. And with so many pregnant women in and around my life, it's becoming a bone of contention with me. So, could we all agree to just stop saying these words - at least in my presence?
What's the point of raking leaves? No. Seriously. Do the fallen leaves, like, kill the grass or something? What will happen if I refuse the rake up the blanket of leaves in my yard?
That is all. Happy Friday.
Why do I always think carving a pumpkin for our office Pumpkin Carving Contest is going to be a fun, creative project that will be relatively effortless? You'd think by year #4, I'd have gotten a clue that coming up with an imaginative pumpkin design and actually executing that design with some degree of skill, takes more than 2 hours the night before the contest. But, no.
How did I completely luck out and find the best husband in the whole world who consistently affirms I am the most beautiful woman he's ever laid eyes on, even when I'm crusty and gross, and shows up at my office with a hot pumpkin spice latte when I'm having a bad morning? By no means am I complaining, but how the hell did that happen?!
I hereby request that everyone stop using the terms "prego" and "preggers" when refering to pregnancy or a pregnant woman. I'm sorry, I know these are widely used terms, but I just can't handle it. And with so many pregnant women in and around my life, it's becoming a bone of contention with me. So, could we all agree to just stop saying these words - at least in my presence?
What's the point of raking leaves? No. Seriously. Do the fallen leaves, like, kill the grass or something? What will happen if I refuse the rake up the blanket of leaves in my yard?
That is all. Happy Friday.
Labels:
random crap
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