No Good Single

Scott has been gone for 10 days and will be gone for another 14.

I am discovering that I do not function well as a single person in my house. The animals are getting food and water, and Buster gets let out to do his duties, but I have been slack about pretty much everything else.

If it can't be done from the couch or the bed, I probably haven't done it. The bills are paid (online), but I haven't put the garbage out, done laundry, cleaned the catbox, skunk or hamster cage, and only done one round of dishes because I was out of silverware.

I'm so unmotivated with him gone that I'm barely eating. I don't want to cook for just me, that's depressing, but it's equally depressing to go out to eat by myself.

I've gone to Denny's when I can convince Steph and Nick to go, and I manage to eat while I'm at work because there are other people there.

The plants have lived only because it has rained every other day since I've been back.

Stinkerbell misses snuggling her Daddy on the couch and Minx won't even sleep on the bed since he's been gone.

Today Nick and Steph dragged me to the beach (I was still in bed when they came and pounded on the front door). We went off Geiger Key and had a bit of an adventure walk to get to where we were going. Ideally we wanted to do a bit of snorkeling, but the water is so churned up from Gustav going past that it looks like someone dumped a tanker full of Yoo-Hoo off shore.

Here's some beautiful stuff I saw today - please pardon the smudge on the lens that I didn't realize was there until I uploaded this evening...

This is the front of a house of sorts that has been constructed from driftwood and other treasures washed ashore.

A side door leading on down the beach...


A view of some of the "inside"...

One of hundreds of crabs that scurried out of our way as we approached...

We had to traverse several interesting bits of moving water and finally a downed power pole...

But the views were well worth it!

We found lots of baby sea urchins...


snails...some washed-up sponges...

one of which another small crab was using as his private swimming hole...

My trip...

This is going to be mostly pictures, at least at first... with a bit of narration in between.

Friday I left Key West around 4:30pm. This was the plane I took to Fort Myers.

I got to sit next to the pilot.


The views were amazing.

After a quick connection in Houston, I arrived into Portland around 11pm and after being picked up, was immediately dropped off to join Chelsea's bachelorette party.

They had already completed three events and were now salsa dancing and doing karaoke.

I closed out the night with Billy Joel's Piano Man and Monica and I went back to her house and everyone crashed.

Saturday morning I was supposed to be at the dressmaker's house at 9am, and once Monica and I made a quick trip to Starbucks and wandered around the long way, we arrived. The dress fit fine, and she measured the hem.

Then we proceeded with the days' events - church, lunch, a wedding in Salem. Through the course of the day I managed to down about four times my usual caffeine quota and had no nap. This lead to my anxiety attack Sunday morning around 1:30am that lasted until around 6am... I finally got to sleep around 7:30am and slept until 10am, when I got up and had to go and fetch my bridesmaid dress.

The wedding on Sunday was at Bridal Veil Lakes, a beautiful location a bit outside of Portland up the Columbia Gorge. The wedding theme was 70's...and the guests were also requested to dress in theme.
It was quite a large turnout and the whole afternoon was a riot. I disintegrated into a walking heap of sleep around 6:30pm (the wedding started at 3pm) and Mom and Lou took me back home where I crawled into my bed on the couch and didn't get up until 10am on Monday.

Monday was Monica's birthday, so we started off the day with breakfast with another friend and one of Monica's sisters-in-law at Biscuits Cafe in Clackamas. We enjoyed fabulous omelettes that come with pancakes AND hashbrowns.
After a day of shopping, 30 of us gathered at Claim Jumper in Clackamas to celebrate her birthday, then I went back to Mom's, packed, tried to nap, and was dropped off at the airport at about 11:15pm. I checked in and my flight left just after midnight.

This trip was way too quick. I barely had time to breathe.

Hate It, Hate It, Hate It!

It is 4:09am PST, and I am up. Of course.

Throwing up and diarrhea.

Not enough sleep last night, no nap today, not enough fluids today, too much rich food, too much caffeine...

When will I learn? This body just isn't 23 anymore.

Prayers, please.

Insomnia Strikes Again...

...Although I gave it every opportunity.

Since my boss gave me today AND tomorrow off (I fly out tomorrow afternoon), I slept in today until about 4pm before getting up and running a few errands.

Steph and I had breakfast/dinner at Denny's after I spent about 45 minutes at my optometrist's office getting my one remaining pair of glasses fixed.

Once my hunger was satiated, I went too a Bealls Outlet store (we don't have these in the northwest - it's a bit like a Ross, which we also have here) to score some jewelry to wear for the wedding I am in on Sunday, which is themed The 70's.

Since I came home I've been mostly vegging on the couch while sometimes processing laundry and packing my suitcase.

I couldn't find the cord to hook my ipod up to my laptop, so I took a quick trip to Walgreens and then Albertsons (both in vain) to try and find one. I may have to take a trip to Radio Shack in the morning, but if they are more than about $10 I'm not interested in spending the money on something we have four of somewhere in the house.

The animals all seem to be confused as to why I'm up at this hour, two of the cats are alternately sleeping on my laptop case and the dog is staying close - he is already missing Scott (who left for his business trip this morning).

I'm watching Iron Chef which is VERY interesting, probably the most interesting episode (to me) so far. The secret ingredient is melons, and they have to have the majority of the offerings have a frozen component.

There are several very interesting bits of technology: and "anti-griddle" which is a super-cold freeze plate, a "blast freezer", and of course, several ice-cream machines.

I will probably go to bed soon, even though I still have a lot to do - my brain and it's habit of wanting to be asleep at this hour are starting to kick in.

Last Check-in of the Day...

We are watching The Godfather, which I have never seen before and Scott has been trying to get me to watch with him since we met.

The animals are all safe and fed, and we are planning to go back to work as scheduled tomorrow.

My nephew (ok, if you want me to be genealogically factual, he's my first cousin once removed) called us this evening from Walla Walla when he heard about the storm to make sure we are safe.

Very sweet of him.

I sent out a cursory email to friends and family to assure them that things are fine... we haven't even lost power.

Big Bunch of Nothing.

I took a nap this afternoon... and the worst of the storm seems to have done the same - at least here in the Lower Keys.

The Middle Keys received the worst... Our street didn't even flood.

Local Weather

For family and friends that want weather updates from people that do this weather thing for a living... here is our local news website.

Day 48: Hurricane Sneezin' 2008

It's really not bad...

Wind and rain, but nothing horrifying yet. It actually rained harder in October last year on the first night of Fantasy Fest.

We're ready, though. We closed the store at noon and I made a Taco Bell run before coming home.

I'll update as long as I have internet...

Don't Worry!

Yes, there is a Tropical Storm headed my way.

Right now the worst of it is 80% likely to hit The Keys and at the most become a Category 1 Hurricane.

We're not really afraid of Fay.


My bosses are being careful, we put up the metal storm shutters over all the windows and the front door of the store, although we are planning to be open in the morning tomorrow until we have a better idea of what time the storm will hit.

The news is on right now and of course the top story is the storm... right now even talking about the Keys and showing a map of Key West.

Local schools have decided to delay their first day of school until at least Wednesday.

Key West is supposed to get the worst of it (lovely). Right now the storm is turning northwest and is scheduled to become a Category 1 right over the Lower Keys. Supposedly we had wind gusts up to 41mph here in Key West today.

At home, we've stocked up on food, and Scott ran pitchers of tap water through our Brita and then dumped them into one of the vats we used for the East Coast Wedding Reception... we certainly won't be lacking for drinking water.

Last night I dyed my roots with a home kit because I can't afford to get my hair done at my salon of choice when I go home next week. I figured that since I'm going to be in a wedding I'll likely be in a few pictures and might as well do my best not to look like a hobo. Okay, most hobos' main concern is not the color of their roots, but I've been spoiled over the last few years.



Tonight once I got home from work I drained the turtle tank and brought it inside, then refilled it to a low level and rigged a lamp over the tank to give Zim a little heat since our AC keeps the house quite a bit cooler than he is used to.

I also wrestled with one of the awnings and managed to bring it down, tomorrow I need to find a bolt to bolt it to the side of the house. I'd like to fold down the other awning in the back, and the two in the front although Scott thinks it is overkill. In any case I'm going to convince him to haul the herbs and tomatoes and peppers into the shed (if we bring them in the house Minx will eat them) tomorrow morning.


After I made my few outside preparations, there was nothing to do but microwave some leftover chinese take-out,



snuggle on the couch,

start a new crochet project

and take cute pictures of our animals.

I'm expecting the power will go out for most of tomorrow afternoon and evening, possibly into Thursday, so we're gathering our candles and flashlights and books.

When You're Poor...

You eat everything in the house.

I have started to make my way through the freezer and cupboards to see how fabulous I can be with what we've got.

I'm going on a west-coast trip and Scott is going on a three-week business trip, so I'm not really wanting to stock up on groceries until after we are back.



I googled "Sour Cream and Blueberry muffins" and took a look at the options... I decided to go with the first one that came up, I transcribed in onto some nice paper (in case it is worthy of keeping).

I don't have fresh blueberries, so I just left the bag of frozen blueberries out on the counter for about an hour while I waited for the butter to soften and did some dishes.



I think this is my first time making muffins (at least since I was a child and made them with my Grandma) and I think they look pretty good!



I'll let you know how they taste in a minute.

Nom nom nom.

They're really good.

Food.

You may have figured out by now that I'm a bit of a foodie.

When Jenny and I go to restaurants we take pictures of our food. When we cook, we take pictures of our food.

I love eating, cooking, reading cookbooks, looking at pictures of food, watching The Food Network...

There are several amazing restaurants in and near Key West.

The best ON the island is The Rooftop Cafe, closely followed by The Cafe. On Cudjoe Key is the Square Grouper, and in Tavernier is Chad's Deli.

Tonight I made home-made tacos. For some reason this is one of my favorite meals in any circumstance. I don't know if it's the fried shells (corn or flour), or the combination of fresh chopped white onion, sour cream and a little salt.

The mix of flavors and textures is just perfect.

I ate myself silly.

One of My Addictions:

I will admit it. I am a daily visitor to http://icanhascheezburger.com/. Usually I keep it to myself but some are just to cute to not share and further bung up the interwebs.



more cat pictures

All About Poop

As I sit on the couch on yet another sleepless night, you may well wonder what it is this time. Too many beings in my bed? Drugs? Not enough drugs?

Nope, I have to poop. Only I don't.

It's in there, patiently waiting, but not giving me the remotest suggestion that it is at all interested in coming OUT.

I've been eating salads for days and drinking massive amounts of water, tea, coffee, coke, and tonight took two Dulcolax and a hot shower.

Granted, if you are still reading, you have not been scared away...so continue at your own risk. It won't be too graphic, just a short history into my bowels.

During Christmas break of 1994, I was engaged (ridiculous! I was 18!) and my fiance and I drove from our college town to my hometown to his hometown and back to the college town. Since it was the holidays, we also ate a lot of garbage and did a lot of sitting around.

Soon, I realized that it had been about two weeks since I had, erm, emptied. True, most people grow up going once a day or so (at least), but I didn't ever have anyone pull me aside in kindergarten and say "One plus one is two, I poop daily, so should you!"

Two weeks was then three and I was obviously eating less, and getting a bit sluggish. I tried store-bought enemas (couldn't figure them out, frankly) and drank a heap of prune juice, and nothing helped.

Soon I was unable to stand up straight and in constant pain, finally my cousins drove me to the hospital for a "real" enema, which I only accepted because they called and got my mom on the phone, she being the only one that could convince me it was for the best.

For those of you fortunate enough to have never HAD a hospital-inflicted enema, IT IS HELL. I have managed to survive to adulthood despite being quite accident-prone, and despite all the hard objects I managed to meet with my skull, surviving a bunch of hot water up the bum surpasses them all.

And they tell you it's "warm water." They are LYING. It may be warm to them, but when it hits your 98.6 insides that water is enough to make you clench everything up even more. Furthermore they instruct you to "hold in" the ticking time bomb as long as possible.

As long as possible was about the time it took me to get from the gurney to the bathroom, and I was done.

They wanted to subject me to an encore and I politely declined. I was taken back home and put to bed and slept for about 14 hours.

Two days later I started to regain an appetite, which was good since I was down to about 105 lbs (at my height of 5'8"). I joined a friend at her grandparents house for lunch on a saturday afternoon and the only thing I recall that was on the menu was garbanzo beans. Oh, I know there were other things to eat, and I ate them, but the chickpeas are what burned into my memory.

That night I started feeling nauseous. And a bit, ah, "rumbly in the tumbly." I spent the next two hours on the toilet with my head in a trash can emptying out everything that was left in my poor body.

Back to the ER I went, a mere two days since my other issue, and was given a needle about 8 inches long into my buttock with drugs that were supposed to stop both problems.

By the end of that experience I was down to 98 lbs.

In the 14 years since, I have no pride when it comes to poop. I can and will poop anytime, anywhere. I try to not bring it up at dinner, or say, a wedding, but if I gotta go, I will excuse myself from the festivities and take care of business.

So yeah, a few paragraphs about poop.

I was inspired when I cleaned up after Stinkerbell this morning. If only my guts would be so inspired...

Dinner Plans 1, Husband 2, My Own Laziness 2

So here was the plan:
Tuesday - Veggie BLTs on rye, with Morningstar Farms fake bacon strips, swiss and avocado along with the "L" and "T".
Wednesday - Burritos (to use up the last of the home-made chili from the birthday party)
Thursday - Ravioli Lasagna based on a Rachael Ray recipe, but with what I have already in my cupboards, and a Romaine hearts salad with a vinaigrette based on another RR recipe.
Friday - Stuffed Bell Peppers. RR has a recipe for a stuffed pepper and I have one from a family friend, I'll probably combine them and twist it up a bit.
Saturday - Egg Noodles with Mushrooms (another RR recipe) and some sliced fresh fruit.


What ACTUALLY happened...
Tuesday: Scott made chili dogs for friends that came over for a work pow-wow.

Wednesday: I came home and went straight to bed, getting up at 1:30am to check on something at the store and Scott and I went ahead and went to McDonald's and got fries and burgers (mine without any meat).

Thursday: I made the Ravioli lasagna... although with marinara I had in the fridge and sauteed mushrooms instead of spinach. I also made a variation on the vinaigrette, although with lime juice instead of lemon curd, and I added fresh basil in addition to the chives. It was quite tasty.

Friday: I stayed at work until 10:20pm (having gone in at 11:20am) and then went to Denny's by myself and had a large salad and a small grilled cheese sandwich.


Tonight: I haven't decided. I'm spending the evening catching up on my week of Y&R since Scott went downtown to watch the UFC fights with some friends. I'm considering being selfish and enjoying the last box of pierogies in the freezer...

Steroids

I finally went to the doctor today for the abomination on my face.

I told the doctor the long sordid story and all the details about when this started and what I've been using on it.

She thinks it is likely fungal (isn't that lovely) and prescribed me a cream that is anti-fungal and has a mild amount of steroid. She also prescribed Prednisone and okay'd my using the Burts Bees night eye cream.

If things haven't made significant progress within a week then we'll try something else and see a dermatologist.

Up All Night...Sleep All Day!

It's not my intention to be up and blogging at 3am on a regular basis. Not remotely.

Most nights I attempt to go to bed between 10:30pm and midnight, which you would think would give me plenty of time to go to sleep and get a good solid eight or nine hours before I get up and have time to do whatever before being at work at noon.

Not so. For some reason I can't fall fully asleep until Scott is in the bed. Of course, this means that once he is asleep, he is also snoring.

About twice a week the dog is allowed on the bed at night, and if we get him situated before any of us fall asleep it works out ok, otherwise he lays perpendicular to the humans, smack in the middle. It's even harder to sleep when a Boxer is sticking his feet into your ribs and farting, and your husband is snoring.

The cats like to sleep where my feet wish they could be, so I either have to kick the cats out of the way, or twist my limbs around them... not that comfy.

On top of these various complications is the fact that I have had trouble sleeping for at least the last ten years, possibly before.

I do recall in elementary school days that I always had a tough time going to bed at night and would often read until very late, then be most difficult to rouse and get to school anywhere near "on time." I don't remember what it was like to try and fall asleep that long ago, but in recent years it is often because I cannot get my brain to SHUT THE HECK UP.

A Psychologist I saw for awhile thinks that I am likely ADD, which can add to my anxiety issues if I'm not careful. My mind takes in too much stimulation at once (mostly because it CAN focus on multiple things, to an extent) and then overloads and my body says "get rid of it" and gets rid of the only thing it can - whatever I've eaten.

No, I'm not having an anxiety attack (aka puke/poopfest) tonight... just waiting for the Rozerem I took about a half hour ago to make me drowsy enough that my brain will slow down so I can fall asleep.

On a side note: as I was searching google for "sleep clip art", many of the images that it gave me had very little to do with sleep, and as I followed one picture to a website and then a link from that website, I came across a blog that has "hamster of the day" posts that are pretty cute. Also an apropos thing to run across while the only sound in the room besides my typing is Princess Tempura Buttfluff on her wheel...

Dinner Plans 0, Husband 1

Originally tonight was Veggie BLT night. I was going to put some leaves of fresh basil in them as I didn't go to the store on the way home.

However, one of our friends (that is Scott's coworker) had some stuff she wanted to run by "the guys", so Scott prepared stuff for hot-dogs, even grilling some onions and mushrooms.

I'm ok with the deviation from the plan because he didn't buy anything to put this together, AND even used up some leftovers.

De Plan, De Plan!

In the hopes of saving money and becoming a bit less slovenly, I'm going to attempt weekly menu planning for our dinners (we usually do leftovers for lunch and neither of us really eat breakfast).

I'd like to do the shopping and some of the prep work for the week on Sundays, but since it's Monday I decided to plan today and shop/prep tomorrow after work.

Here's the plan for this week:

Tuesday - Veggie BLTs on rye, with Morningstar Farms fake bacon strips, swiss and avocado along with the "L" and "T".
Wednesday - Burritos (to use up the last of the home-made chili from the birthday party)
Thursday - Ravioli Lasagna based on a Rachael Ray recipe, but with what I have already in my cupboards, and a Romaine hearts salad with a vinaigrette based on another RR recipe.
Friday - Stuffed Bell Peppers. RR has a recipe for a stuffed pepper and I have one from a family friend, I'll probably combine them and twist it up a bit.
Saturday - Egg Noodles with Mushrooms (another RR recipe) and some sliced fresh fruit.

With the staples I have and what I bought today, I only need to pick up a few additional basics to cover all these meals (romaine, shallots, avocado, tortillas, egg noodles, and whatever I decide to stuff the peppers with).

Of course we're hoping that a by-product of this experiment is also healthier eating, but we'll see how it goes!

Never Big Enough

In theory, I should be sleeping right now.

It's 2:20am and I went to bed originally around 12:30am. I took half a benadryl (for my eyes and sinuses) and then finished reading Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals 2.

And I waited.

And shifted, and turned, waited some more, pet the cat, pet another cat, waited...

Grabbed my lavender-filled eye mask, re-arranged the pillows...

waited...

Gah.

Finally Stinkerbell made her appearance in the bedroom, looking for trouble, so I got up and captured her, put the baby gate up in the hallway and sat down with my laptop (and the skunk) on the couch.

We have a King-sized bed, but sometimes it might as well be a twin.




And yes, I could kick the animals out, but then I feel like a terrible mother.

Don't Be Afraid To Try Something Old.

As a kid, I did NOT like pancakes. Perhaps all the pancakes I tried at the time were a bit undercooked, but I always felt that pancakes were doughy and gross, and I much preferred waffles.

In the last year, I have been trying things that I have strongly disliked in the past, and even things that I never had the guts to try, ever.

This morning (okay, afternoon) I decided that I wanted to eat at IHOP. Once we arrived I decided that I was craving pancakes. How can I have a craving for something that I always disliked? Strange.

I ordered an omelet (which I always want to spell omelette) and for once didn't request hashbrowns instead of pancakes, in fact, I asked for both!

When served, my three buttermilk pancakes had a lovely dollop of whipped butter on top, which I spread evenly on all three layers. Then I tested three of the four syrups available (I skipped the strawberry) and found that the perfect combo is Butter Pecan and Old Fashioned.

Scott laughed at me marveling over the goodness that was my breakfast, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.


_______________________________________________________________
In firing employees news: An employee that was supposed to work today called the owner at 8am and said she was on her way to Miami because her grandfather was dying of a heart attack, complete with tears. Turns out she was LYING and has been at home laying on the couch after shopping at Radio Shack (where she ran into the other owner).

Instead of firing her, we are cutting her pay for a month.

What is wrong with these people?

The Fire Rages On...

I'm going to fire another employee this week.

It was not my decision nor did I have any say in hiring him, and when I told the boss my reasoning in wanting to get rid of him, she agreed with me.

This employee has only been here about a week and a half, and in the first TWO days he asked every other employee where he can get marijuana (he just moved to town). The SECOND day he asked an employee where he can get Coke... and not -a Cola.

To me this says that drugs are obviously more important to this individual than
A) what his new coworkers think of him, and
B) his job.

I'm not interested in having this employee anywhere in my work environment.