Apron Strings for Emily

01 December 2008

A Quickie

No … not that kind. And not the “Afternoon Delight” kind either.

Nope … just wanted to post a quick one to say … Woo-frickin’-hoo!!! I finished 30 posts in 30 days!

Okay. So really, I wrote a post a day for 34 days in a row. But really, who’s counting? Oh yeah … me!!

And speaking of counting … today is officially my 200th post. Who’d a thunk I’d make it this far?!

But seriously, writing this past month has been very therapeutic. It has totally helped me get through one of the busiest and exciting months I’ve had in quite a while. And having done so, it has helped me put my priorities in order and my thoughts into action.

So … with that said, I hope to continue to write consistently. Maybe not every single day (otherwise Hubby would seriously take my lappie away and hide her permanently), but often enough to keep my life a little more sane. Besides, with all the changes happening in the near future, perhaps this is the one steady activity I’ll be having in my life until things settle down.

Thanks for reading my rambling and for all your comments. You guys just simply ROCK!!

29 November 2008

Show and Tell: Little Piggies

I decided to post my Show and Tell post today instead of tomorrow; mainly because I knew that I’d be seriously busy this weekend. We’re in Chicago again this weekend, which means yet another week of not having done laundry.

Yeah, I know. I suck. I just haven’t been feeling so hot lately. Tired, really. But I digress. Getting back to Show and Tell …

Since this past weekend was the “Stuff your face” type of holiday, where it’s expected that you eat tons of food, I thought I’d share with you a picture of the pigs I had as pets growing up. Ha ha … get it? Pigs?! (Okay I’m trying not to be lame …)

Except they’re not those kind of pigs. They were the guinea pig variety. And they were so adorable!!

Meet Flaffy and Fluffy. The short-haired American Guinea pigs that Dr. Bro and I got when we were about 8 and 10 years old.

You see, Flaffy and Fluffy were the family pets that were supposed to take the place of the dog that Dr. Bro and I always wanted. We were constantly reminded by our Dad that he was allergic to dogs, so we could never have one.

Flaffy, the predominantly white one, was mine. While Fluffy, the brown one was Dr. Bro’s. And yes, they were as cute as they look in the picture. And amazingly very cuddly, too. They loved to just sit on our laps, while munching on some fresh lettuce.

Sadly, Flaffy and Fluffy met an untimely death about two years later. A story that I’ll probably share in another post. Let’s just say that shortly after their passing and subsequent funeral in our backyard, our family dog, Muffin came into our lives.

So that’s my Show and Tell story for the week. Make sure you check out all the other Show and Tell blogs here!

28 November 200803 May 2010

Trip-Toe-Fan

That’s it. I’m officially on a Tryptophan trip. I’ve eaten enough turkey last night to hibernate for the rest of winter.

The turkey we had at my in-laws house last night was delish. I think what made it more tasty was the fact that the Thanksgiving lunch we had didn’t exactly have “freshly carved” turkey. But the company at the restaurant was worth any time spent there.

My 18-year old cousin, the one that recently had her cotillion, was there along with my parents and our other aunt’s (by marriage) mother. Unfortunately, my cousin’s mom and our shared uncle and his wife (said aunt previously mentioned) weren’t able to make it as they were all working.

Let me tell you. The fact that both my aunts still work as nurses in the “trenches” (read: bedside nursing) after more than thirty years is f*cking amazing and I’m so proud that they still do it. Because I sure as h*ll couldn’t do it anymore. But I digress …

It was just a great time, eating and talking, and watching the Lions lose (no shock there) at the restaurant. Which was then followed by going over my parents house to look at some of their recent pictures from their vacation in Greece and Turkey. Believe me, the irony that we were looking at pictures of Turkey on Turkey Day was not lost on all … well, at least me anyway.

Sandwiched in a "manly" iPhotoBooth — Being sandwiched in a "manly" iPhotoBooth pic

After that, it was a quick drive to our house, to pick up our Wii and other fun things and then it was off to the in-laws where we devoured that delicious turkey, watched the second Hulk movie with the boys (which included Hubby’s four younger cousins and our nephew), and finally played Rock Band and Wii Sports for the rest of the night.

Overall it was a wonderful day. The best moments of which were:

Sleeping in this morning and subsequently snuzzling next to Hubby.
Taking silly pictures and playing iTouch Air Hockey and Hangman with my cousin on the couch at my childhood house.
Sitting in my nephew’s room surrounded by all boys; three of which decided at one time or the other to snuggle up next to me.

Those moments … those snippets in time … they’re the ones that make the holidays memorable.

25 November 2008

Two Cokes …

… after 10:00 pm is never a good idea. And I know that, yet I still drank them. Grrr.

Last night, Hubby & I had the pleasure of dining at one of our favorite bars/restaurants with one of our good friends. And because it had already been a long day, I needed a little caffeine boost. Not to mention that it helped that tickle in the back of my throat.

When getting home, I knew that I would crash easily. What I didn’t expect was to wake up at 4:45-ish and toss and turn.

Of course, it really could be that I have a lot on my mind right now. Especially with the new job starting in (OMG!!!) about 6 weeks.

Or it could just be that I’m still not feeling as great as I could be. But at least now I’m being properly behind-the-counter medicated (read: prescription antibiotic and expectorant).

Instant Human Oh yeah … so the good news from El Doc is that it’s not pneumonia. (Whew!) But if I don’t get that gunk out of my upper chest and sinuses … it could quickly turn into it. (Crap!)

So yeah. It’s official. I do indeed have snot for brains (and apparently for lungs as well) … !

Now if you excuse me, I must find my next caffeine buzz.

And so the vicious caffeine cycle begins …

24 November 2008

Short Week

Well … after three days of not leaving the house (and changing out of my pajamas only so I can answer the front door when the pizza delivery guy came), it’s time for me to go back to work.

I’m still not feeling a 100% better, but at least I can stay upright and not be short of breath for more than 15 minutes at a time. I am still planning on heading to my primary doc’s office today (if I can get an appointment), just to make sure that I don’t need antibiotics or something. What sucks the most is that my diaphragm and abdominal muscles hurt so d*mn much from coughing … and I still don’t feel as if I’ve been able to get the gunky stuff out from my lungs. So I guess worse case scenario is that I’ve got reaallly bad bronchitis or early pneumonia. Let’s hope it’s not the latter.

The good thing about this week is that it’s a short work week. And that’s meant both in number of days worked and number of hours. We get Thanksgiving and the day after off (woo-hoo!) as paid company holidays. And since I my normal work week consists of four 10-hour work days, on paid holiday weeks we’re only required to work 8-hr days so the pay equals out. It kinda reminds me of having half-day school days just before the beginning of (in this case) Thanksgiving break. But without the science project or History report that’s due the following Monday after break. (Thank goodness!)

And seeing that next Monday will be December 1st (yeah, I know … can you believe it?!), I will be extra happy. Because this means I would have survived NaBloPoMo!

One more week. One more week … {mutters Emily, under her breath}