1. I got a cold.
2. It's pretty bad.
3. sneeze

1. Finally over the food poisoning from last week. It took days, but I'm back to normal.

2. The "yay, new year! let's get organized" feeling is here - I love the organizing part of things.

3. Safely got my mom and her stuff on the train and to the airport for her trip to Texas - this was a huge effort, and there were no major meltdowns from her on this end. Keeping fingers crossed that the rest of the flight and pick up goes well.

1. Mental ick is starting to finally lift. Sometimes I wish I could just hibernate at this time of year and not have to go to work or do anything except stay in bed and read and watch TV. However, I am still battling a cold. My cough drops have little pep talk sayings on them.

2. I see the pdoc this Friday and I am thinking about talking to him about decreasing my trazodone dosage (currently 300mg, which is a lot, according to my nurse friend) because I've been having a hard time staying awake in the morning. However, I'm not sure if that's been due to the mental ick+having a cold and since I've been unstable, he's probably not going to want to change anything. And the sleepiness does seem to be abating a bit.

3. I need to finish writing my new years LJ post and finalize what I want my resolutions to be this year.

1. Things are really picking up at work. This seems to be the "real" first week of the year.

2. I am back in the exercise swing. This makes me feel zestful and energetic.

3. AND thanks to mygothlaundry I found the problem with my efforts to post photos in our best of 2012 thread -- one missing space!! just one missing space!! -- and they are up. After spending nearly two frustrated hours trying to figure out what the problem was this past weekend, I feel a ridiculous sense of satisfaction now.

1. I'm so sick of the dark mornings and afternoons. The sun doesn't rise until after 8am and sets at 4pm and I know we're on the way to spring but I'm so fed up with dark, dark, dark.

2. I'm on a very restrictive diet, in an attempt to get my psoriasis under control. No dairy, no red meat, no citrus, no wheat. Mostly vegetables and fish or chicken. Luckily I love vegetables, even just plain steamed, and I've made some lovely soup (roast pepper). Supplements too - cod liver oil and milk thistle.

3. I'm ramping up the running again, after the almost continuous rain of the last couple of months seems finally to have eased. I don't mind (in fact I enjoy) running in the cold, but not the rain, and I need to get back to where I was a year ago.

Senyar, if the restrictive diet is for the foreseeable future, have you checked out drfuhrman.com? Almost all the recipes meet your criteria, and they are indeed delicious.

1. I've been invited to attend a Walk for Life in Boca Raton, FL; the bone marrow foundation I donated with is running it and they are going to "reunite" me with my bone marrow recipient for the 1st time! Very excited to make the trip, and that my family will be able to attend (since they're in the area). I was hoping I'd get to do an in-person reunion at one of their events and to do it in FL as their guest is a dream.

2. Hired a lawyer to help us get out of our lease due to noise and the property manager is blowing her off like crazy- via e-mail! It's all written down! Something tells me he's going to regret that. Mwa ha ha ha ha.

3. Asked in the neighborhood Moms' FB group if someone was selling an exersaucer since Oliver is getting big enough to want to sit up and play, and someone is giving me one for free! Picking it up after work. It's PINK, too! Awesome!

1. Unrelenting pain and nausea seem to finally be on the wane or I have just become that adapted to it, so I may actually be able to enjoy a little of the possible unstructured free time I may have for a few weeks.

2. While there is not a thing I can mention that is not attached to some ridiculously convoluted tale of "excuse me, what the what?" that's pretty much the norm. It's always either three words or three pages with me. A writer writes. An editor edits. Everybody poops, hopefully. Tangentially, some bully cop who use to harass my friends and all the teenagers when I was in high school is giving me online props for work there is no easily rational way he could have access to or ascribe to me. What the what what. Why is it a single day cannot go by without some new "eh?" unless I am unconscious, and then it's just sitting there waiting for me.

3. Had this idea with the card exchange. First, I want to apologize to the people who sent me cards or who I usually sent cards to who I didn't get to send cards to this year. Circumstances befuddled my grand plans so I only had time and means to send out my obligatory stash, but the original plan involve a possible collaborative project in which card recipients scanned or took pictures of the cards to put them all together online to form a complete comic or mini-comic. I'm still toying with this idea, but rather than using the helpless victims of the card list, I thought I'd ask for volunteers. While this only slightly cuts down on the number of people who will invariably flake on you [who else is seriously expecting blank to ever show up in the mail, etc.], I'm still throwing the idea around. Maybe I should finally make a post about it or maybe actual interested parties could just email me their assent, info or interest. Even though it would take such minimal effort on the part of the recipient, having to factor in flakes means having to do things in different enough ways that may make the concept moot. But, hey, maybe there are people would actually spend 2-5 whole minutes of their precious time to be part of something, help out, get credit-- or not.

1. Woke up with a sinus cold. Wife had a fever and cough that is ending so I assume I will go through those stages.

2. This is really sweet (IMO). I have been taking wife's temp with a digital oral thermometer. One time, she goes and gets it herself to take her temp and the first thing she does is try to shake it down. If you know my wife, she is SO analog in most things that it is cute. She did not like me laughing, though.

3. At work, going home to bed right now (1pm). I had to show up for work in order to facilitate the annual safety training that we give all our custodians. Over 100 of them. Since this is my last one, they gave me a silver-painted hardhat with "Dangerous Dan, the Safety Man," stenciled on it. At some point I acquired that nickname. I was touched, and would have liked it more without a sinus infection.

Thanks, bearwife, I'll check that out.

1. I need to get myself in bed earlier.

2. I really really failed my damn glucose test *sigh* In my defense, I have 4 of 6 risk factors and 3 of them are things out of my control (age, ethnicity, and close family members with diabetes). So tomorrow I met with a dietitian to talk about the low carb diet thing and the 4x daily finger prick torture. Bleh. At least it's only for 10 weeks.

3. I'm helping my bff plan my baby shower. I gave her a list of shower games I'd be okay playing and we'll talk menu this weekend to make sure there's something I allowed to eat. Probably bad etiquette wise but it makes for a happier bluesapphires.

Worked today (usually my one day off) so I will not get a day off till Friday. ,.... when I leave pre-dawn to go to my nephew's wedding.

Which means laundry tonight after I gulp down my lean cuisine pizza. (First one I've had and by gosh they're not bad....how do they incorporate so much bread in so few calorie?) It's my last dash effort to make sure I fit in the dress I'll wear.

Met a friend for lunch to celebrate her bday one month late. I always eat lunch at my desk while working so it was a nice treat. She turned 60 and I hope I'm as vibrant if I get there.

1. Successfully thwarted Bad Son's party last night by the simple expedient of just going on down to his room (it's kind of a basement apartment; there's a lot of backstory here with Bad Son, don't ask, he's 21, ey yi yi) and walking in with a happy smile and two trash bags. "Hi!" I said, "I'm here to help you clean up! And you can't have a party in my house without inviting me now can you? Hey, does anyone need a ride home? I'd be happy to give any of y'all a ride home. Honey, was that you coughing? That sounds AWFUL. Would you like a nice cup of tea? I'll make you one!" And lo, the late teen & early 20 something crowd evaporated like . . um, something that evaporates fast. Plus they were nice. The last time this happened I went with shouting and threats; didn't work and made everyone unhappy. This was way better.

2. Passed my nonfiction test at the bookstore today. This means that finally - FINALLY - I am a full fledged able to do anything in the shop employee. Plus I should get a tiny raise.

3. Everything else pretty much sucks and is really horrifically bad, terrifyingly awful, seriously dramatically atrocious like usual but at least there are those two kinda bright spots.

lfr, I get that dream too! I hate it!

1. Been fighting some mystery cold where I don't cough or sneeze much, but have a low fever and sleep 16 hours a day. I think I'm down to 12 hours a day now.

2. Dreading work. Things are bad. HR is involved. It's like a war zone. But I intend to stand my ground.

3. I have a crush, it is a big and stupid crush. I need to tell this guy, but how?

Senyar, I was going to recommend the Snake Oil Scalp Bar by Lush, but it doesn't seem to be listed on the UK website. I don't know where your psoriasis is located, but I'm sure it works anywhere. It did wonders for my scalp. I'm not sure how, and it might not work for everyone, but it might be worth a shot if they carry it by you.

Lfr, I had an orchid that thrived in my guest bathroom: steam, light and a bit of orchid food every so often.

Add me to the ranks of sinus issues that have dragged on for weeks.

For some reason, the condo board is finally taking seriously the incompentence of one of the doormen in my building.

In DC, made a day trip up to Harpers Ferry.

1. This is my second post here, hello. I am new. Been on MeFi under various names since 2007 or thereabouts...tallyho is not one of those names.
2. I'm 25 weeks pregnant and just getting to the point where I am large enough to be uncomfortable. I was sort of teensy to begin with (so not much room to expand other than outward) so this was bound to happen pretty early, but I'm still annoyed that I have 15ish weeks left and I already feel so unwieldy.
3. This is the week of daycare tours. I hate daycare tours so much. My mom stayed home with us so I have very little sense of what makes a daycare good or bad. All of these caretakers look like they know a whole heck of a lot more about how to take care of kids than I do, but that's to be expected at this point.

bluesapphires, bummer about the GD :( I guess you are about a month ahead of me? I think I'm supposed to do the glucose test sometime pretty soon, in any case...not looking forward to it.

1. Work is ramping up, will probably be crazy until June. Overtime starting soon, which is nice because I need the money, but tiring. I applied and interviewed for a promotion, which if I got it would involve doing the same job, the exact same job, I've done for the last 13 years, only for more money. I am not optimistic about it -- the competition is formidable -- but there has been no further word yet so there is still hope.

2. Been reading a lot -- two new-to-me novels in the last month (Lucky Jim and The Remains of the Day) and working on a third (The Vicar of Bullhampton). This is most unusual for me; I usually just read the same things over and over.

3. House is a little too quiet after the departure of my house guest.

welcome tallyho! Yes, just about a month ahead (30 weeks). I stressed about the test itself but it was fine. If they ask you what flavor, get the orange and refrigerate it. It tasted like flat orange soda but not as sweet (which was odd). Good luck with the daycare tours. I'm in the same boat as my mom also stayed home with us. I did tours last month and picked a larger center where I felt most comfortable with the layout and the feel of the place. Plus I figured the more adults running around, the less likely something will happen.

1. As of a few minutes ago I've lost 18 pounds since August doing the Weightwatchers thing. Yay, me.

2. Started a project at work that was supposed to be two of us but it's just me since the other guy is stuck in a death march project. Neither of us are very happy about this, especially as it was his proposal in the first place.

3. Starting a very early job search, hoping that the above project will really help out my resume. Looking to jump sometime in the summer, really just not happy with where our director is taking the group. And he just got promoted so, the upper management is obviously happy with him.

I stressed about the test itself but it was fine. If they ask you what flavor, get the orange and refrigerate it. It tasted like flat orange soda but not as sweet (which was odd).

Agreed! It's no big deal. I was kind of shocked during my pregnancy at how drama queen-y some of the ladies were on the pregnancy message boards I went on. From the way they talked, you would have thought that you were going to be asked to drink nuclear waste. (Also, because this was another big drama complaint on my message board, just fyi the Group B strep test is a big nothing, too.)

1. I've lost 4 pounds now using the Lose It! app. It's slow going but I am so excited to finally see the numbers move on the scale after months of just plateauing after my initial post partum weight loss.

2. Now that I'm back at work, on the nights my husband has off the following day and I have to work, the deal is that he gets up with the baby. But he doesn't EVER hear him cry, so I have to wake him up then he gives me an attitude for waking him up because he's half asleep and I guess that's his default half asleep reaction. It's making me really resentful, especially since he's just taking the baby to day care in the morning and then he has the day off to do what he wants. I will never get days like that with my schedule. We talked about it this morning and hopefully things will get better. It's all an adjustment, I know, but sleep deprivation and PMS are taking their toll today.

3. I apparently probably have a stress fracture in my foot, but my jerky insurance company won't authorize an MRI to confirm. So the podiatrist is just going to go with that diagnosis for now and put me in the boot to see if it works. She offered to fight with the insurance company, but said that she would probably be putting me in the boot no matter what anyway.

Aren't there effective psoriasis medications now? Or am I just confused by being buffeted with endless commercials for them on hulu? Also I remember a thing about treating it with special doctor fish evolved in special springs in the Mideast. Spa vacation?

Son is now Bad Son and 21?? Jeez, I swear last I heard mention of him he was like 16, furtively losing his virginity, and making lots of paninis.

I use to have this dream of hurtling through jungles in a short bus before I learned how to drive, pretty directly created from my impending license. Disappear right after I got behind the wheel. Ah, when life was simple and just a lot of paninis.

But it's a good thing I do not have a panini press with me. Another toll of inactivity seems to be the return of PMS, when regular exercise and sleep had slayed that beast but good. Yeah, I need to figure out a way to get more exercise, but everything has proven that that deathly rigid discipline thing for that long was completely unnecessary.

/stealing that virginity::panini rhyme

Oh, and I'm calling danf Danger Man Dan from now on. Makes me miss safetyfork.

Ha, you need lyrics? We should talk. But right now I gotta make myself eat something.

Also, because this was another big drama complaint on my message board, just fyi the Group B strep test is a big nothing, too. = Agreed! No idea why everyone was freakin' out so much over that one.

1. Went to a conference last week that had me presenting through the weekend and I haven't had a break. Tired and irritable! Plus my boss was on vacation and now he is back so he wants to get back up to speed and I can't rest.

2. Gotta go to the market and get out of the house more. I'm feeling down and I know staying in all day and night doesn't help. On the plus side, Joe Schmoe is starting tonight and I am looking forward to watching it! (For those who don't know/remember, it's a reality show in which everyone is an actor who is in on the game except for 1 dude.) This time it is about becoming a professional bounty hunter, and Lorenzo Lamas (from Renegade, my fave show in high school) is on it, which is extra hilarious. Anyone else going to watch?

3. I got my many test results back from the doctor and nothing is really wrong with me! This is good, but I was hoping there would be an easy fix. I was worried it was my thyroid but that and my iron and other things are fine. The one thing is that I have a mild vitamin D deficiency (extra sad, because you get that from the sun which I never see), but my doctor said it wasn't a big deal.
So, back to the drawing board. I know I should try getting more exercise, but I haven't figured out a way to do that which doesn't sound terrible.

4. I got engaged! I forgot to tell you guys, but it happened a little while ago when e came with me on a business trip and he popped the question while we were hiking. We are going to get married in July at a place about an hour north of the city in a state park with cabins. I am hoping the wedding will be fun and low key and easy for our friends to get to. So far being engaged has been pretty much business as usual, with a little bit of "oh wow we should plan this."

MAZEL TOV, rmless2!!!

Also, drastic suggestion for perking you up: try the Eat to Live approach. You may want to check out the book or drfuhrman.com I swear eating this way is making me burst with energy.

Congrats, rmless2!

Congrats, rmless2! Did you get the ring we talked about that time?

4. Still sick. Came down with a fever on Monday afternoon and still have it, plus coughing my head off. Will go to Dr. tomorrow if not improved.

5. I am finishing The Hobbit, though. I am not sure that I had read it. Thought I had but I don't remember a lot of it.

Thanks guys! We ended up designing a ring together around my great grandmothers stone using art deco motifs that I liked. I will write a blog post about it for anyone who cares!