What, no Clooney?

I've had quite a week. I've been in the ER twice and all I can figure is I'm just suffering from stress. I'd been having pains in my chest and back and left arm. This isn't unusual. I get "heart attack symptoms" 50 times a month. But this was a little more consistant than I'd like and Blaine just had a friend die of a heart attack so he insisted on taking me Monday. I knew better than to object. Having insurance this time made the decision not to argue easier, too. They did an EKG and chest x-rays and couldn't find anything wrong with me.

I was feeling better afterward, but not perfect. Then yesterday I was really really lightheaded, dizzy, semi-nauseous, and even colder than usual. This isn't something I've ever experienced before. Plus I was still having random chest/arm pains. I tried to make an appointment with my doctor, but they told me to go to the ER. So I called Blaine and off we were.

I was shaking really badly because I was so cold. I really think I had a decent fever. They sent me right from triage to a room and flagged me "urgent" which was a little disconcerting. This was my 4th trip to the ER and this had never happened before. Well, they took my blood and then my father-in-law came and gave me a blessing with Blaine. I was starting to get the feeling I wasn't dying of a heart attack because once I was in the room I wasn't sensing any real urgency. We waited for the doctor who said aside from me being dehydrated I was in perfect health. I'm very sad to report the doctor wasn't Clooney. Wasn't even Braff. I guess I should be lucky it wasn't House.

One of my favorite things was that they had the office lady come see me to get my insurance info and she came back to notify me my co-pay is $75. Would I want to pay that now or when I check out? They had a hard time getting blood because I was dehydrated. I had an empty IV in my right arm and a huge band aid on my left, plus another on my right forearm. I could barely use my arms, but there they were with their mobile payment machine. They wanted to make sure they got my scratch before I went unconscious or worse. So I had to try to sign the thing without bending my arms.

This weekend I'm on husband-imposed bedrest. I'm feeling better. No more dizzy. I'm still having odd pains, but I guess that's just how I am. I've always been hyper-sensitive about these things.

One more funny thing was that I was watching King of the Hill in my room and Bobby was suffering from anxiety so his parents were trying to calm him down. I was also figuring I was in the ER from kind of the same thing. I hearkened back to one of my co-workers telling me about the time her dad was in the ER with severe bowel problems and it was in the waiting room that she saw her one and only King of the Hill episode. It was the one where Hank gets a colonoscopy. It was a little something for her to laugh at because her dad had been suffering with colon problems for some time so they were pretty used to it all.

Long story short, I guess I'm gonna live. Go me. Maybe I've been pushing myself too hard. I'm not sleeping well and I'm working out like a mad woman. I've lost about 6 pounds. I've been walking to work. I just need a weekend off.

Am I a Hipster?

I was listening to my favorite radio show, This American Life, when they were doing a show about TV. Apparently there was this show the kids were all into called The O.C. or The OC. I've never seen it. But they mentioned TAL. This boy on the show says he's listening to TAL and his girlfriend says, "This American Life? Is that that show by those hipster know-it-alls who talk about how fascinating ordinary people are?"

Now, grant you I'm not Ira Glass and I don't work on the show, but I do listen to Death Cab and now this. Hmmmm.... I never thought of myself as such. I've never been hip-anything ever.

iRack

This just looks like a bad idea. Call me crazy.

Happy Early Easter

I thought of this commercial for the first time in 20 years a year or so ago. Now thanks to the joys of the internet, I've found it. All I really remembered was the end. "Thank you, Easter Bunny! Bwak Bwak!"

Pretty New Furniture

new furniture 001
Originally uploaded by areageek.

Some time ago my office-mate and I got new furniture. I chronicled just a bit of our trials as we sat up here at work all day one Saturday bored out of our minds. Well, I'm here again on a Saturday doing a few odds & ends so I thought while it was quiet I'd share my new look.

My New Late Nite Thing

I haven't been sleeping well lately, which is nothing new. I'll wake up and "just check my email" which leads to all sorts of trouble. I'm having a renewed love affair with one of the greatest websites ever, good ol' X-E.

X-E isn't what it could sound like. It's just a wickedly cool nostalgia web site blog type thing written by a dude named Matt (which is one of two names that makes you automatically cool, along with James). I used to live and breathe the site back in 2000-ish and spent many a night in the chat room back in the day along with my husband. Matt used to update it frequently, but then he somehow got a life of sorts and didn't keep it up and I kind of got away from it. But alas, I've put it back in heavy rotation and have spent the last few nights reading Kool-Aid reviews. Yes, the dude collects Kool-Aid, *vintage* Kool-Aid, makes it, drinks it, and writes about it. Some of this stuff is 20+ years old.

So anyway, I thought I'd pimp this site as it's given me so many laughs over the years. This was the first big thing on there that got my attention. It's the Green Bamboo Peanut. It's the stuff of legend. Fans of the site fought over the few that were attainable to us and somehow I ended up with two. I'm kind of kicking myself for giving them to Goodwill. I'll never ever in a million years ever get my hands on one again. But enough of that, read all about it here.

Another classic article was about Monopoly and all the fighting it causes. And lastly, my two recent late nite things to read - Cereal prizes. And

My Mom

I have to give props to my mom. She's having a special birthday today. She makes the most awesome cookies. She always used the same wooden spoon and giant yellow Tupperware bowl. A few years ago she had some health problems that happened around the holidays. As sick as she was, she still made her famous Christmas cookies. It really dawned on me at that time that when the time comes that she's no longer around I'll miss having her around and talking to her and all that. But one thing that will really upset me is not having her cookies anymore. I can't make pre-made cookie dough. I'm positively terrible at it. Ever since that Christmas her cookies have been extra tastey to me.

A couple of years ago she sent me a package at work and one of the things in it was THE wooden spoon. The handle is curved and bent from years of use and it's worn down so that it's not much of a spoon any more. When I saw that I started bawling. I had told her that if she ever wasn't going to use it any more she wasn't allowed to throw it away. I wanted it. It means so much to me because of all the countless batches of chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodles, sour cream cookies, sugar cookies, etc. she's made with that spoon. It's truly one of my most treasured possessions.

Now she uses a fancy plastic "wooden" spoon. She likes it better and that's good and all, but it's not THE spoon.

Happy Birthday, Mom. I love you.

My Pretty Time Machine

I recently busted out my old REM cd, Automatic for the People. Listening to it, I'm suddenly transported to the good ol' mid-nineties. Takes me back to working at Steketee's and countless nights at Aquinas. I remember people I haven't seen in ages like Matthew, Stacey, and Jon. It's funny how music can do that to you. It's like listening to The Monkees reminds me of Denise and Sarah and Christmas at Showbiz Pizza.

I'm too nostalgic for my own good.

It's Getting Hot In Here: Scranton Style

Again, in honor of Thursday. Can't wait for new episodes.