Wait, js, don't I know you from somewhere else?!

#1. I still have a droopy feeling eye from the shingles and a slight headache, but otherwise except for a possible oncoming cold, I am feeling really good.

#2. I am walking again, which probably is leading to #1.

#3. I am also regularly playing my guitar and keyboards again. I thought I had a handle on things in December, but I was still feeling a bit too yucky.

You sure do! I'm bellebelle on twitter. Glad to hear you're feeling better, ardiril!

1. If you've been following me on Twitter, you've noticed as I have that my blood pressure is going down with the help of medicine that I'm actually taking. Now, I need to purchase a keychain pill case so that I can have my meds with me on days when I'm not at home in the morning.

2. My landlord is not too subtly putting pressure on me to clean my apartment so that we can ensure that we don't have any additional mice hiding anywhere. To that end, New!Guy is coming over on Sunday and is going to help me tidy up a bit in exchange for me cooking dinner.
2a. No lie, first time I cooked for him, he expressed glee that I could actually cook. Score one for me!

3. Anyone in NYC know of someone who needs an executive assistant? Would putting a resume up on Jobs@MeFi help?

1. I got picked for jury duty, and I'm super-excited. I may or may not have made myself a t-shirt that says "Juror #2."

2. Had an awesome first date last night. Would really like this to go somewhere.

3. Everything is oddly good right now, so of course, I'm filled with suspicion. Something somewhere must be headed for disaster, and I don't know what it is.

1. Feeling blah. Nothing specific, just blah.

2. Very busy at work. Training a new person. She's okay but a bit slow on the uptake, so it's tiring.

3. Exercising a lot but don't see or feel much in the way of results.

1. This week is going much better than last week at work. Last week, every day I answered my messages, went to meetings, and put stuff on my to-do list, and by the time I'd done all that, it was the end of the day. This week I'm actually doing a bit of useful work.

2. I took a short break from working out over the holidays, and now I'm really having trouble getting motivated to start up again. Ironically, the reason I don't feel like working out is probably because I feel run down from lack of exercise. I need to break this inactivity feedback loop somehow.

3. My cell phone is really, really clean now. The only drawback is it doesn't work at all any more. I deviated slightly from my normal routine yesterday and ended up leaving it in my pants pocket, which resulted in it going through a full cycle in the washing machine and a minute or so in the dryer. I know sometimes these things will start working again after a few days of drying out. So now it's a product durability experiment, and possibly a message from the universe to get a new phone. It is an ancient Nokia thing that only does AMPS, TDMA, and CDMA so it's probably time to get something a little more modern anyway.

1. Going through a really bad time with my mom's health right now. She's been in the hospital for three weeks, with no clear end in sight. She's doing "okay" at the moment, but her long-term prognosis isn't good. She's awake and lucid and able to make her own decisions, though, which is something I don't take for granted.

2. Because of #1, I've been living away from home (at my mom's house, actually) since Dec. 29 so that I'm near the hospital, and that's a whole separate strain on top of worry about my mom. I can commute to work from there, and I'm going home on Saturdays to see my partner, get my mail, etc, but ugh.

3. Being away from home (and internet access) at night means I'm catching up on movies. Last night I finished the Red Riding Trilogy, which was completely amazing, though incredibly dark. Highly recommended (and if you ever want to see it, don't read too much about it on IMDB because there's a ton of spoilers on there).

1. Excited because a college friend might be visiting NYC in a few months. She's lived in India for the past few years, and although we've kept in touch, I haven't seen her in person since... New Year's Eve 1999.

2. Aforementioned college friend has a kid the same age as mine, and then accidentally got knocked up about 4 months after her kid was born. Then found out she was having twins. So she had 3 kids under the age of 14 months or so. She's also a lawyer for a big computer company. She's some sort of kick-ass superwoman.

3. No plans this weekend, which makes me happy.

1. Hi js! I'm happy for you!

2. BoringPostcards that sounsd so very very stressful. Please take care of yourself.

3. Renovation/additon in the last push to completion. I am quite ready to have it done, but this also means that I now have to do actual labor, like painting, which I do not enjoy. My lack of fine motor skills and hand eye coordination carries over into the construction arts. I can't roll paint much better than I can sew. The only thing I'm good for and sort of don't mind is carrying stuff. Moving. That sort of thing. If you need help toting boxes and hefting furniture, I'm your person. Please don't ask me to paint or shingle or any other crazy stuff that requires skills.

1. Work life is hectic right now, as I'm trying to simultaneously keep this job and line up another for when this one ends. So instead I'm trying to focus on social life.

2. Social life is good. Been dating a little bit, with mixed results. Not used to the whole "casual" thing. I've come to realize I never dated anyone I didn't already know/wasn't already friends with. Trying to learn in my early thirties, better late than never. Or later.

3. Also to distract myself, been thinking about warmer weather and meetups. I'm thinking about proposing a High Line meetup for early spring. I also want to have another picnic in Central Park (especially if a certain UK bunny comes here for her birthday again). I love outdoor meetups, because it's so much easier to mingle than in a crowded and noisy bar. And I love all the friends I've made at NYC meetups!

1. I love outdoor meetups, too, Eideteker! We'll have to do another Coney Island baseball meetup this summer, that was so fun. I'm probably going to organize my church to take a group, too, I just LOVE me some Cyclones!
2. Home sick today, with a variety of minor ailments that add up to one not-so-hot girl. I told my boss this morning I would be in for the afternoon (because I always feel guilty taking sick days), but after some more sleep, I still don't feel well enough to schlep all the way there.
3. Doing Mexican Chicken in the slow cooker- it's just chicken breasts with a jar of salsa over. Whoever invented the bags of frozen, individually wrapped chicken breasts was a genius. So convenient for my life.

1. I have done very little in terms of actual work this week. This is slightly problematic since I overheard the boss discussing the fact that the main office thinks we might be overstaffed with one of my co-workers. (I will pitch a fit if they try to drop us from 4 people because we're open 7 days a week. Unless they plan on closing us down for a day or something, which is just going to royally piss off our patrons...)

2. Tuesday was the first day that I haven't felt actively like shit in the longest time. Of course, by Wednesday morning, I was back to my usual shitty feeling self. Awesome. That's exactly what I need. Maybe I'll perk up a bit after going to the gym this afternoon after work but before therapy but I doubt it. I've got an appointment with the pdoc on Friday so maybe she'll tweak my meds more because as far as I can tell--they're doing dickall. I feel like I'm just around the corner from some serious badness and it's starting to worry me.

3. I've finished 2 more papers to publish (not including the one I'm working with a professor on who has yet to email me back regarding my second revision) but I'm afraid to submit them because I lied to my boss about having submitted the first paper because I think I may have violated some unspoken office thing about having him review it first before sending it out. But it's already sent (I sent it before the holidays) and I haven't heard anything back so I'm hoping that's a good sign.

1. Wrenched back again. This is getting really, really old.

2. Taking my new-to-me spinning wheel to the shop tonight to see what parts it's missing, so that I can start using it. :)

3. Eide--I still haven't learned how to casual date, and don't know if I ever will. For me, I just can't enjoy a date without at least knowing the person a little bit beforehand. The pressure is too great, or something. Good luck!! (Traitor.)

3a. Now I'm thinking that it's been too long since I've visited NYC, and really want to visit the tenement museum there. Hmmm.

BoringPostcards, are you accepting whuffles and hugs? "Cause I have some here for you if you want 'em.

1. I had lots of home-stuff planned out for this week: rearrange the living room to accommodate the new chair and ottoman, finish up more sewing and upholstery projects, prep and freeze lots of dishes for The Fella's all day birthday extravaganza. But none of those things will get done because...

2. ... I chowdered up my hand with a kitchen knife and ended up in the ER at 1 a.m., explaining to the nurse and doctor how I managed to sustain an apparent stab wound RIGHT THROUGH my non-dominant index finger.

3. For the first 24 hours, I could use the other fingers of that hand a little, but now that the tetanus booster has swollen up my arm, I'm operating one-handed for a coupla days at least. I'm grateful it wasn't worse, but GRAR I am so bored. (And sleepy: I usually sleep on my right side, but the arm is too sensitive for that.)

Thanks, Elsa- also, OUCH. Hope yr hand is better soon!

1. House is totally torn up by the electricians, there are holes in all the wall, floors and ceilings and despite their good efforts in controlling it, there's dust everywhere. Wife had to pull a cat from inside the floor in the bedroom last night. All our furniture is pushed into the middle of rooms with tarps over them. But when they're done, we won't lose sleep worrying about the house catching fire due to 110 year old wires.

2. Got interviewed by the local business newspaper as a technology worker who lives in the city and walks to work. They want to take my picture too so I'm going to have to get a haircut since it's been three or four months.

3. The boy left home last weekend for college. Packed up his Scion and headed east. We'd be enjoying our empty nest status more if we weren't camping about in a house under construction.

I'm not trying to win any awards for crappiest week, BUT
*deep breath*
1. My ticker is a piece of crap. More tests today confirm my ticker is a piece of crap.
2. Visited dying friend in the hospital today, she is doing quite poorly. She is pissed and confused and in no way at peace. That's not how I wanted to say goodbye. I wrote her a note, I hope someone reads it to her later when she's calmer and in less pain. I don't think I will see her again. :(
3. Driving to DC tomorrow to say goodbye to another friend dying of cancer. I'm not sure he will even know we are there. :( Added bonus clusterfuck: driving in DC.
I just want to crawl into my bed and not come out.

oh, msali, I have extra whuffles for you, too. That DOES sound like the crappiest week, and I'm so sorry.

Let's all build a blanket fort and crawl inside.

Yes, Elsa. Let's! I am actually not feeling overwhelmed and intensely sad, my overarching desire is to be extremely still and quiet and not make a sound.

First off, a big, big hug to msali and Boring Postcards. I am so sorry. All of us bunnies are thinking of both of you.

Elsa, so sorry about the mishap! Strangely you made me feel better about my Bear, who is away this week and hasn't emailed me. Perhaps because he stabbed his index finger with a very sharp knife Sunday AM, resulting in a quick trip to the ER with me and sutures and shots. Maybe he is experiencing some swelling. (More likely, absorbed with his work conference and some slot machine gambling as he is in Las Vegas until Friday.)

1. Bear is away until Friday . . . miss him.

2. Started guitar lessons (with a great guy suggested to me via a MeFi) on Saturday, have been dutifully practicing since. Haven't experienced callouses on left fingertips for a long, long time . . . feels good.

3. The new kitty and beloved dog standoff continues . . . my dog is an imp who is convinced that cats are a form of dog toy. The message that rewards come only from remaining calm and away from new kitty is sinking in more slowly than usual.

bearwife, i'm surprised how much my typing is impeded, so that could be part of the reason you haven't heard from him.

IN theory, I can use nine fingers --- the doc urged me not to get my index finger wet or to bend it, but I should be able to use the rest of that hand. But in practice, the whole hand is sensitive (but not infected, WHOOO!), partly because of the injury and partyl because of the tetanus shot. (But I've always had an unusually strong reaction to tetanus boosters: it usually puts the whole arm pretty much out of commission for a couple of days.)

Big squishy hugs to BP, sperose and msali!

1. I've been on new happy drug for a week and I seem to be better. Placebo affect or not, I'm just glad I feel better.

2. Finally reading Jane Austen (Sense & Sensibility, but I have all of them in one book) and really enjoying it.

3. There is no number 3.

bearwife: cats are a form of dog toy, at least Kaylee would tell you as much. She loves to wrassle with Fanty and Mingo and they seem to enjoy it as well. Once in a while Kaylee will yipe if a cat has had enough, but I hear them purring quite loudly while she is gnawing on them or dragging one of them down the hallway. I must film them one of these days while they're going at it.

1) Having a rough week. Pain. So much that I can barely stay awake; sleep is when I don't hurt, also sleep is not very refreshing because pain keeps waking me. I have pain meds for pain and sleep meds to keep me asleep at night and it's not enough.

2) I hope I wasn't supposed to be doing anything important this week.

Oh dear. Sending some healing thoughts to BP, Elsa, msali, and all you MeChazens in need.

1. Work continues to mostly suck, but I don't care as much. Is that progress?

2. Started seeing a therapist, who seems to be helping.

3. Snow is pretty, but driving in it is not so much fun.

Hope all you guys feel better
1. Work is crazy and irritating and I thought I would have had a break by now. I have only taken 1 day off since May and I need a vacation like no other.

2. BF is away for the week and to make matters worse I have to take care of his cats (sorry, internet, I will never like cats). I am keeping them company for a while in his apt now and then I get to go home to my bunny and eat some dinner.

3. I am trying to plan a trip to Singapore in Feb with my dad and I want to get excited about it but I am making myself not think about it because I might not be able to go if work continues to suck at this pace.

Would bad things please stop happening to the bunnies, Universe. Thank you.

*hugs to all who need them*

1. On the last leg of my W/CNY trip; leaving for Albany tomorrow. Buffalo was much nicer than I expected, but I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to get in touch with kellydamnit. Anyone hear from her lately?
2.Went to the Oneida Community Mansion house today.
3.Still trying to get the hang of the Droid. I hope a large, typable screen I can fold up and put in my pocket is invented soon.