Houston, Prepare for EWO Arrival

I received a call from EWO's friend in Mexico. She is the one making all the hospital plans in Houston for EWO.

It looks like I'll be heading to Houston around the 9th of November. Why EWO couldn't call and tell me herself, I don't know. I am quite used to getting the obscure phone call from someone I've never met who knows my mother and is passing on a message from her.

*eye roll*

I've decided to take MiniWarrior with me. I just have gut feeling that I should. That he should see EWO. With the state of her heart and her age (83)...it could be the last time he gets to see her--or at least the last time she will get to see him before he becomes a full blown teenager.

I talked with him about it and how he would have to be a mini adult during the trip. No whining, no complaining during long doctor visits--plus the 6 hour plane ride to Houston.

He thought about it and was a little scared that he'd be massively bored...but you know what made his final decision to go? The fact that he would be with me for an entire week instead of a half that he usually spends at his Dad's house and then mine.

I think he is the reason for global warming. He can melt the coldest icecap with his sweetness.

I love my Mini Man.

Daily *Snort*

The horked out mouse is so me in less then 2 hours!

Come'on Weekend...COME'ON!!

Holy Crapola I'm Bored!

This is me, tugging frantically at my work leash.

*tug tug tug*

*hack* *wheeze*

*tug tug tug*

*sigh*

I'm so freakin' bored and I have an hour and a half of work left.

I think it's 'cuz I took a long walk at lunch, enjoying the brisk Fall air.

It makes coming back to work feel so confining, know what I'm sayin?

Let's see. What news do I have? Ah yes...

Lord V and I have been watching the show WEEDS. Have you all seen that show?

We are coming into it really late. I guess it's in its 5th Season now?

I've hooked my laptop up to our big screen and we've been watching the first season through Netflix-Play Now. We finished the first season last night and I'm anxious to get to watchin' Season 2 tonight!

Oh! I totally forgot to blog about something really cool that happened to Lord V and I on our way to dinner with friends about a month ago.

We saw a rainbow on the way to their house and I was just commenting on how I was going to start referring to these particular friends of ours as the "rainbow people" because we seem to always see a rainbow on the way to their place...

When we drove up a hill and were just rounding a corner in the road and there it was...

The end of the rainbow right on the road in front of us!!

I have never seen the end of a rainbow. I thought it was a myth! Nope. No myth, my Peeps. We saw its end. All the colors of the stripes in the rainbow touched down onto the pavement and we drove right into it!

No pot of gold though. Freakin' cheap ass leprechauns.

No skittles either.

It was fantabulously cool though! :)

Weekend Update

I'm thrilled to be feeling normal once again.

Yes...yes I know--pictures of GabbyAbby dressed in multiple costumes does not speak well of the state of my "normalness" I know...

*eye roll*

I speak purely of my physical state.

Speaking of health...

We had a scary bit of news this weekend. One of my girlfriends from my chick group was hospitalized with the Swine flu!!

She is back home now but we all hung on the phone for updates (thanks, Jerry!)during her hospitalization as we were gravely concerned.

On other news. I took MiniWarrior to our local pet store to get more crickets for his frog, Jabba when MiniWarrior called me over to look at cats in the adoption section of the store.

"Mom! Mom you have to see this!" He called out to me. "This cat looks just like Guido!"

I peered down and there...there was a tiny image of my Guido. Same face, same color. I felt my heart squeeze painfully.

MiniWarrior and I sat outside the cage for a bit, just gazing at Guido's twin. God we miss our Guido. It was nice to see a live version of him if only for a tiny bit.

After I dropped MiniWarrior at his Dad's house for the rest of the weekend, I dragged Lord V to the pet store so he could see the tiny Guido.

Speaking of Lord V...he has expressed an interest in doing a guest blog post here so keep an eyeball out for more insanity!

*grin*


This Friday we plan on taking MiniWarrior along with our friends to a haunted house that some other friends of ours puts on every year.

I hate haunted houses...but MiniWarrior is very excited so I shall squinch my eyes tightly closed, cling to the back of Lord V and MiniWarrior while sandwiched in with friends (sort of like side air bags to prevent grabbage of evil things on me)...and "endure" the haunted freakishness.

Feel the love...

GabbyAbby: Queen of the High Seas!

Wanna see more?

go HERE!

AbbyGabby 1. Devil Horn Costume: 0

What the...




Oh hell no!



Git it off...git it off...git it OFF!



Die foul demon. DIE!



Grrrrrrrr...

By God, Jim... She's Alive!

The flu bug has left my pudgy carcass, my Peeps.

It stopped and cleaned out my cubboards and took all my energy bars as it slithered out the door...but nothing remains of the bug except the sludge trails glistening on my lungs floor.

Huzzah!

breathe the glorious air of freedom!

*ssssssssssssssniff*

*cough cough hack hack wheeze*

Oh yeah. It's good to be alive!

Somebody Punch Mr. Flu Bug in the Snout!

Later yesterday afternoon I crawled off the sofa and had enough energy to toss a load of towels in the laundry and to de-crappify the coffee table of all that had gathered since my sofa-sick-nest time over the past 3 days.

This accomplished, I figured I was well enough to drag my pale carcass to work this morning.

I lasted 4 hours. My coworkers and Boss seemed quite relieved to see me and my plague ridden body vacate my cubicle and depart for home where my germs could be contained and not communally shared.

*sigh*

I do feel better.

Just apparently not so "better" that I can join the regular population.

I do know one thing. I've never gotten a flu shot before. Never really believed in them as the people I've seen get them, always got the flu-anyways.

But this year?

Bring your pointy needle poison juice and shoot it into me and my loved ones.

'Cuz if this month is representative of how this Winter sickie season is gonna be? We're going to need all the help we can get.

Inevitable

It is, of course, inevitable that I should fall sick after 3 days caring for my sick MiniWarrior.

I felt a tickle in my throat and chest late Saturday night and woke up with a stronger tickle on Sunday when I headed for work--but I kept pouring tea and airborne into my system hoping to avoid the inevitable.

Suddenly around 10am, yesterday, I was hit with a bout of full body shakes that would not dissipate even while huddled in front of my space heater.

I had brought a packet of theraflu to work with me, but that did not even touch the shakes.

At 11am, I could not fight it anymore, called my boss at home and gave in to the inevitableness of being sick.

*sigh*

Once home, I threw a bunch of blankets on the sofa and fell upon them with a groan of relief. I was home and Lord V would take care of me.

Which he did, wonderfully.

My boss text me a link to the government site that had Swine flu info. I started reading it and then panicked over how MiniWarrior was doing.

I called his Step Mom. MiniWarrior was doing fine--but now his step siblings were sick with it. She had taken her daughter to the doctor because of the 103 temp. Doc told her it was not swine flu, and to treat her with a full dose of Motrin and a full dose of Tylenol at that same time.

I took that advice, drank down a packet of Theraflu which has the ingredient of Tylenol in it and chased it down with 2 Ibuprofen.

I crashed for another couple of hours, woke up and the fever was broken.

Huzzah!

I slept the entire day and night away and awoke this morning with a cough and extreme light headedness...but I think I shall live.

So, my peeps. If you should contract this dreaded flu? Remember, take ibuprofen along with Tylenol at the same time. It really works!

I must away to the sofa now.

MiniWarrior Sickies and Ultimate Cat Block Move!

I went and hung out with my gang at the hotel, Friday evening.

Unfortunately, I sent a text to Lord V around 9 when we were just sitting down for a late dinner at the Cheesecake Factory to check in on MiniWarrior (as he had not been feeling well).

Lord V text back: "102.7 fever..."

I spoke to my little guy on the phone. He sounded miserable so I hugged my chicks goodbye, packed up my dinner and headed back home.

His fever dropped down to 101 by the time I got home. I sat up with him for a bit then went to sleep.

He slept until 10 in the morning and felt much better. Big relief on my old heart!!

With all this craziness going on about the dangers of Swine Flu, etc. I was a little stressed!

I babied him for the rest of the day, sitting in the family room, playing WoW and keeping an eagle Mom eye on MiniWarrior--making sure he stayed resting and hydrated, (even though he said he "felt much better").

Gabby Abby grew tired of my Warcrafting and pulled the ultimate Cat Block move on me!

See?


LOL! Dang cat :)

Later that evening, we dropped MiniWarrior at his dad's house then headed out to a Halloween party with friends.It was nice to finally be able to relax after a weekend of stressful sickies!

Girls Night Out!

It's that time again.

The wonderful time when my favorite chicks and I gather together and spend a night out on the town.

I never had girlfriends growing up. Only guy friends. But I have found a treasure trove of female friends these past years.

Each one is different in personality but we blend in perfect girlie harmony.

It has been a stressful week at work (I snarled at my Boss several times) and a bit of a stressful time at home as MiniWarrior suddenly came down with the flu Thursday morning--but the work week is over and MiniWarrior appears to be on the mend--so tonight?

Tonight I shall frolic and immerse myself in a glorious chickfest :)

Attack of the Giant GRAPE!

Yesterday Lord V and I went to the Word Market (a grocery store) in Portland so I could pick up some more fruit.

I was putting around sniffing the hind ends of pears and peaches (to check for ripeness) when I turned the corner and saw...

THIS!!

EEH! EEH! EEH! EEH! (scary psycho knife wielding music)

These grapes are freakin' HUGE!



I took a pic of them next to regular size grapes so you can see just how large they are.

*crunch*



mmmm...

Fantabulous! :D

Princess Gabby Abby!

I went to the dollar store today while waiting for new tires to be put on my truck.
Guess what they had?

Pet Halloween Costumes!




I picked up all three of the styles they had.




A Cowboy. A Princess and a Devil.

Gabby Abby says she prefers the princess one!

Your Daily Geek *SNORT*

Thank you, Jadey! This is freakin' hilarious and scaryily representative!

I Have Achieved, Geekdom!

To amuse myself while working out on my treadmill in our garage, I have been watching old VHS tapes I have of the Highlander Series.

Mmm...sword wielding Adrian Paul...purrr purrr...



So...the other evening after getting pumped up with adrenaline lifting weights, sweating on my treadmill while watching Adrian Paul lop some baddies head off on the garage TV, I swaggered into the kitchen and bellowed, "I am Duncan McLeod from the clan McLeod..." In my best Scottish accent...then flexed my girl guns at Lord V (who was watching TV in the family room), plunked down and logged onto WoW on my laptop.

As the opening music of my game wafted out from my laptops speakers...I had a sudden epiphany, My Peeps.

I am: "Geek"

Gotta Love Fall

Lunch time walkies today was awesome.

The City was ablaze with beginning Fall colors.

I shall no longer mourn Summers end and shall embrace Fall!

Have You Tried The New Instant Coffee From Starbucks?

My boss came to work today with packets of Starbucks VIA ready brew. (yay boss!)

It's the new thing Starbucks is trying to push: Instant Starbucks coffee you can carry in your pocket for emergency caffine hits.

My verdict?

Meh--it's not bad. It's sort of like higher end Hotel room coffee that you brew in their 2 cup coffee pots.

Proactive Kat

I think I might have finally grown up this past year.

Many medical situations of those close to me has awakened a proactive maturity cell inside me this past year.

Usually I treat my body sort of like how I (usually) treat the vehicles I drive.

Find the cheapest fuel and if I have time and it isn't too inconvenient, drag it over for an oil change.

*dust hands--good to go*

Seeing the age ticker click over to 44 has caused something inside me to finally wake up.

Well that and the 6 needles my rheumatologist jammed into my knees to try and help alleviate the fluid build up that mysteriously flared up when I was 29 and has never stopped reoccurring.

There is truth to the saying, "Reward does not change behavior--Pain does"

I have heard since I was 9 and was first diagnosed with a rare condition that attacks my vocal chords area--that my immune system is low.

Through all the tests the Knee Doc has been doing on my joints, they only diagnosis they can give me is, "you immune system is low".

Hmm.

Is this just Doc speak for "We don't know what the hell is wrong with you so we're blaming it on the immune system" or is it a pattern that shows both my throat issue and my joint issues are linked?

I have long thought my throat issue is related to allergies...as every Spring and Fall it gets worse and it seems I'm in those times for surgery.

I thought the allergies were things in the air--which to some degree I do believe--however, I've noticed another thing.

When I went on the low carb, high protein diet last year where I pretty much eliminated breads, pasta's, rice, potatoes..etc and just ate fruit, meats and salads--that:
1. I had tons of energy and
2. My joints had much less flare ups.

Hmmmm. Interesting.

So, I decided to grow up and start taking charge of what goes into my body to see if there is a link.

15lb loss later, I not only notice a remarkable difference in energy (that's a given with weight loss) but I've noticed the disappearance of joint pain.

Not just in my knees which would be obvious with less weight on them--but my shoulders, elbows, wrists...etc. Places that are not weight bearing joints.

Pain that had begun waking me up at night is---gone.

I'm now in the process to see if this will make a difference on my throat issues.

With the miracle of technology--I no longer am required to be knocked out and spend a day in surgery for my throat issue. I can go to the doctor and have it done right in the clinic with a 10-15 minute surgery.

No drugs. Nothing but numbing spray misted into my throat.

I drive myself home with a sore throat but zero drug after affects.

Awesome. Miraculous, really.

So, I've made a charge to myself that I would endure these treatments as often as I could so that I could (hopefully) be on top of this disease that has run amok in my body for so many years and start showing it who's really in charge.

Will I win? I don't know. I do know that taking a proactive stance can't hurt, right?

And the added benefit of watching the pile of too-large-clothing build up on my closet floor ain't a bad side effect of my take-charge experiment, either. ;)