Back from the Body Shop.

Today after work I stopped by our local body shop to see how much it would cost to buff out the scuff marks on the rear bumper. I was surprised when the guy said "Oh...20 bucks." I asked him if he thought the marks would come out with the buffing and he said there was a good chance of it. He checked the crush bumper underneath the bumper cover and it was OK. We have to drop the car off Thursday and they are going to fix it Friday.

Tonight Needles if fixin spaghetti. Mmmmmm pasta. Pasta is like a dessert since I had to go almost a year and a half with it limited strictly in my diet. Now that we found Barilla it is now back into the regular round up and as Yin would say "I lub it."

I find myself wishing it was Friday. My parents are planning to come up and this will be their first trip up here in several months.

We are currently getting some storms and it is knocking out the TV reception. Oh well I have seen all of the ST: Voyager series anyway.

What a day.

Today Needles and I went to the BIG city to celebrate her upcoming B'day. We went to Roger's to get her ring it's 6 month inspection and cleaning. We also went to Joann's so Needles could pick up a few buttons for some sweater projects she was needing to "button up." After Joann's we 2 stepped next door to Lone Star for brunch as we didn't have breakfast. After we got our bellies filled we decided to do some shopping for our upcoming vacation. After a few fruitless stops we were driving through the parking lot to decide where next to go when we were rear ended by a guy in a Jeep Cherokee. We pulled up and I got out to survey the damage. We got a little scuffed paint in the shape of a license plate frame on the rear bumper but he got busted bumper plastic and a broken license plate holder. It could have been a lot worse. We got information and are wondering if we should turn it in. It's not that noticeable but we have only had the car a month and it just goes to show you can't have anything nice without some dumb ass messing it up. I may take the car to a local body shop and see what they can do and what the price will be to maybe buff it out. After this incident we were a bit upset but we decided to stop at a couple more stores and then made our way home. Lets just say that I am in no hurry to go to E'ville anytime soon.

Movie Time.

How many of the Netflicks Top 100 movies have you seen?

Needles and I have seen 55 of them. There were about 10 we have no intention of watching and about 20 thats a maybe. The others might get watched if they are on T.V. and nothing else is on.

I have learned something about our movie selections. If the movie has Mandy Moore, Hillary Duff, Lindsey Lohan or Hugh Grant in them they are an automatic pass.

Trying Day.

Today started out to be a nice day. Things ran smoothly and it seemed like we were all running like a well oiled machine. That is until the afternoon when a office that regularly sends us orders decide to start omitting information that is required and needed to do the testing ordered. This has happened occasionally over the last few months but we went out of our way to correct the omission and continue on like nothing has happened. Today I receive 2 orders that way. The first didn't have a name so I called them to find out the name, wrote it down and go on my happy way. The second order was missing the diagnosis. I again called the office and informed them of their missing information. The person on the line acted like I had just asked her to do her job or some crazy thing like that, so I informed them in a firm but kind way that this is a legal document and that it must have 4 items of information. 1) patients name. 2) exam to be done. 3) proper diagnosis for exam. 4) Doctors signature. Dear sweet baby jebus I just wish that people would do their expletive job. I am tired of picking up after people like they are children and going out of my way to allow someone else to be lazy. I have a co worker that thinks she is special and doesn't have to do the "crap jobs" the rest of us have to do. It's getting old and I think she is in need of a attitude adjustment. We will see what tomorrow brings because you know what they say about pay back.

PS. 36 days until vacation.

39

39 Days until Vacation.

Happy Easter!

Out and about.

Today Needles and I decide to go do a little shopping for vacation. We are both in desperate need of some new clothes as most of our recent clothing purchases were well over a year ago. I was needing some new summer shirts that are nice and not the faded, stained t-shirts that seem to make up about 90% of my shirts. I found 3 shirts at JC Pennys and Needles found a shirt. Other than a few odds and ends I think my shopping is done. Tomorrow we are going down to visit Needles family for Easter dinner. Needles is cooking a ham for the occasion. Happy Easter everyone.

Friday night out and back by 6:30.

This evening after work I came home and told Needles get your dress up clothes on cause were going out. We went to town and ate at a place that has been open a couple of years but we haven't even step foot in the place. Recently I have been hearing them advertise their BBQ ribs and pulled pork sandwiches. I was intrigued to say the least, being a BBQ rib fanatic. We arrived and I ordered the 1/2 rack platter with fries and baked beans. Needles had the pulled pork with a salad and smoked potato. They were both very good and on a scale of 1 to 10 I would have to give their ribs about a 9. The smoke flavor was good but almost a little too much at times. The BBQ sauce is on the table so you can add as much or as little as you like which is a plus. The amount of food is very good for the price and it is cheaper than the Trace Inn. After filling our bellies we went to the grocery store for our monthly grocery getting. We buy in bulk to keep us from having to do this too often. We both hate grocery shopping. We came home unloaded the car and now are relaxing on the couch wondering if there is anything good on T.V. I think this is a free weekend of HBO and Skinamax on DirecTV. Joy!

PS. 42 days.

Giggle

44

44 days until vacation. I think the waiting is almost like torture. I am so in need of a break from work, life and everything in between. Here is a list of the things my "work family" and I have been dealing with over the last few weeks.

1. Family member diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.
2. Family member receives botched spinal surgery with complications.
3. Death in the family.
4. Family member fell and broke hip.
5. Family member loosing blood and diagnosed with tumor in stomach possibly cancerous.
6. Flu all around in office. Several days of missed work and grumpy co-workers.
7. To top it all off a family member was murdered in cold blood while holding her 16 month old son and her child laid in his mothers bloody arms all night until they found them the next day.

This has all been within the last 4 or 5 weeks. Enough is enough.

45

45 Days until Vacation.

Rain, Rain, Rain Rain Rain!

It has rained all last night and today. Town was flooded this morning and it has rained all day on top of that. The back patio hasn't been under water since I cut a ditch to divert the water away. That is until this morning, the water was about 1/2 inch over the patio and now it's more than that. Tomorrow is more of the same. I just wish this stuff would move on to Georgia to one of those southern states that is still in a deficit for water. Rain rain go away don't come again some other day.

Back from the weekend.

Last Friday Needles and I headed South for the weekend. We arrived at my parents around 7pm and upon walking in the door, supper was ready. I love my Moms cooking and in short order I was enjoying green beans, corn, real mashed potatoes, fish fillets and home made hush puppies. YUM! We then retired to the living room to catch up on things and enjoy each others company. We stayed up late, finally going to bed around 1:30am. The next morning we stayed close to home until noon when Needles and I visited my cousin at his shop. When we got home Mom and Dad drove us around to see the tornado damage that ripped though the area a few weeks ago. It was amazing to see the destruction up close that blazed a trail through the area. We then drove by the trailer court where the 3 people had been killed in the storm. All that was left of the trailer was bits of metal stuck in and around the trees at the end of the lot. Several garages were just gone and the same with roof tops and some that were patched back together as best they could with blue tarps. We would see one house with the windows intact and the one next door with every window blown out. One house was completely destroyed and the trailer right beside it was unscathed. Hundreds of trees were twisted off mid trunk and a lot of evergreens were bent over from the several inches of ice and snow that just hit the area just a week before but has now melted away. That evening my Aunt brought homemade vegetable soup and we got to talk and catch up. Sunday we went to the hospital to visit my great aunt that had fallen just a few days before and broke her hip. She had surgery and is now in a sheltered care center. We got to spend some time with her but with the medications they have her on she was slipping in and out of consciousness so we decided to leave her to her nap and go back to my parents house and prepare to make the trip back home. We left around 2:15pm and arrived home at 5pm. Last night I got laundry caught up and we watched our Netflicks movie that arrived while we were gone. We had a good trip but it was too short. I am counting down the days until vacation.

Water...It'll Cure What Ails You.

Yep just this morning I was wondering what I could have done to shorten the duration of the flu. Then I read about medicine being in tap water and Shezam, the cure was at the facet the whole time. As soon as I hear about all the medication properties of our tap water I bellied up to the bar and down about 6 tall glasses of the liquidy goodness. Later on in the day I noticed that my breasts seemed a little larger and my hot flashes stopped. Must be the hormones. I noticed that Mr. Willy seemed more at attention today. Maybe it's the Viagra? Oh and I think my acne has cleared right up. I did notice that the rash on my backside seems to be drying up and their is a few less warts in that area today. Next thing you know the kids will be drinking water, not to be healthy, to get high. They'll be trying to smoke it and shooting it up their veins. This upsets me so much I need a glass of water to relax. :P

Back to work.

It's Sunday and tomorrow it will be back to work. I won't say that I am 100 % back to normal but I think 90% would be a safe assumption. Today Needles and I went down to "L's" house and had lunch. We visited with Needles family until 3pm and returned home. When we got home we carried a few items out to the garage that we have been meaning to put out there but the weather wasn't making it convenient. We got that taken care of and now we are getting laundry caught up for the work week ahead. In a way I will be glad to get back to work. I just hope the first couple of days this week won't be crazy.

It's Over.

Last night around 9:30 my fever finally broke. I am feeling much better but a little weak and dizzy at times. My ears still feel a little off and some head and chest congestion. Will still be monitoring my temp today to make sure but I think the worst is definitely behind me. My only concern now is that no one else gets it. I know I have never in my life been that sick for so long. Over the weekend I am hoping to get back to 100%. Have a good weekend everyone.

Day 5: PM edition.

I thought I was on the upswing but around just after I posted this morning my temp began to rise again. I think it only hit 100.9 today so maybe a little improvement. I noticed that I broke into a sweat a lot today. Maybe this mean that I am making some progress. My temp finally dipped below 100 this evening and I think my body is adjusting to this constant fever because 99.9 doesn't feel too bad. 101 sucks and 102 give me a gun and let me end it. Its amazing what 1 degree or 2 will do. Needles prepared me some chicken noodle soup this evening and I could believe how good it tasted. It was the first time I had eaten anything substantial for almost 30 hours. I would like to think I am going to work tomorrow but I am not going to kid myself. If it works anything like today I should just accept that Monday I should be back to work. I have heard that the flu going around this year was an especially rough one and with first hand knowledge I can say that this one kicked my ass every way it wanted. I have had the 24 hour type flu but this 5 day to a week crap is rough. We will see what tomorrow brings. Thanks for all the well wishes and Cynical you might need to get those genitals looked at.

Day 5: Tis the season

Yep, Home again but I feel I am on the up swing. My fever has dropped to a comfortable 99.3 again. I think I can almost tell my temperature without the thermometer. Yesterday evening was by far the worst of this. I layed on the couch under 3 blankets all evening with chills and temp spiked last night just before bed at 102. This morning the fever is down to low grade but my body still aches. If my fever goes away today I may try work tomorrow. My boss suggested I go to the doctor but I think it's just got to run its course. I think taking the cold medicine might have delayed my body killing off the flu. Your temperature raises to keep the flu from procreating inside your body. I think the cold meds kept my fever to low grade and allowed it to get a deeper hold on me. I have done some research on the flu and I have all the syptoms and things has progressed like it said it would. I am happy that this hasn't settled into my chest any worse than it has.

How to tell the difference between cold and flu:

.........................................flu..................cold
Was your onset of illness ….....sudden?.................slow?
Does you have a …..................high fever?......no (or mild) fever?
Is your exhaustion level …......severe?..................mild?
Is your head ….......................achy?............headache-free?
Is your appetite …..................decreased?............normal?
Are your muscles …....................achy?....................fine?
Do you have .....….....................chills?.................no chills?

Sent home.

Today I woke up and got ready to go to work. Even though I felt like crap I thought I could tough it out. Today is day 4 of this illness and I am more than tired of it. I worked just fine with the occasional cough and running nose up until about 10:30am and then the chills hit. I am usually hot at work but today I wore my coat and was still shivering. I went to the E.R. and checked my temp. 98.6 I'm fine must be in my head. Then the dizziness hit again and one of my co workers said she was going to check it again. 99.5. It was then that my boss approached me and told me to go home. On the way home I felt waves of heat roll over me and my lips felt chapped like I was dehydrated. When I got home I checked my temp again and it was 101.7. I now think I have the flu. It isn't the stomach bug but the upper respiratory kind. I am thinking I am probably going to be home the rest of the week. I can't seem to shake this fever. My temp has been bouncing around 100.3 to 101 and I feel wiped out. I hate this.

Coughs, sneezing and all sorts of loveliness.

Today I was hoping that I would start to feel better. I guess this is what I get for hoping. I have been coughing a lot more than I was yesterday, so much that Needles and I broke out to the store to get medication. I was going to suffer though it but after a couple of hours of what felt like constant coughing I had to get some relief. I have been taking a cold medication that is supposed to last 4 hours. Wrong, it barely lasted 3 so for the last hour I was hacking my head off and now that I waited the prescribed time to take the next does of medication I have to wait 45 minutes or so for it to get into my system. I am sick of this and I am sure I will have a couple more days of lingering symptoms. I did however get something fun and neat today. It is a Garmin C330 Street Pilot. I thought it might come in handy when we go on our vacation in roughly 2 months. I have pre programmed it with the sites we know we want to visit and am sure we will find a few more things to do when we get there. We tested it out when we went to the store and I think it will be helpful in our westward journey. If you would excuse me I need to go rent a jack hammer to open up my sinuses.

Laughter the best medicine.

Cold: Day 3

I slept well last night to wake up to the 3rd day of the same headache. Still coughing and sinuses are congested. I checked my temp and it was 98.3 so I got ready for work. While getting ready I felt exhausted and the old familiar fever feeling was there. I checked it again just before I was getting ready to walk out the door and it was 99.3. It is hard to talk or go more than a few minutes without coughing. I think for all concerned I need to call it a no go. My cough is worse and my head feels like it's filled with concrete. With the weather we are supposed to get today it seemed everything was telling me to stay home. So here I set on the couch hoping today will be the last of this mess.

Working sick.

Yes, I know as a health care professional I should know better, but my boss was off today and I knew if I stayed home there would be hell to pay tomorrow. My co workers usually give me flack about taking time off but when I'm sick I am usually really sick. It seems like 3 of the 4 people in our dept. was coughing a sniffling today. Needles and I went to bed last night at 11pm and I fell right to sleep only to wake up at 2:30am and lay in bed wide away the rest of the night doing the same routine. Covers on, get hot, remove covers, get chilled, repeat. All night long. I got up this morning and checked my temperature. 99.5 Hmmm do I go or stay home. The bed really wasn't all that inviting after tossing and turning all night so I thought I might as well go to work. At first it was a little rough, chills then sweats but as the day went on the dull ache in my head and my occasional cough seemed to get better. On the way home my headache returned and I still have a slight fever. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

It's Offical.

I am sick. Checked temp at about 6pm and I am running a temp of 100.3. I think Needles has it too. Her temp is at around 99. Lovely.

PS. My movie number is 164. Almost double no life.

Gorgeous Sunday.

Today the temperature was perfect although we had a little wind mixed in. The sun shined and it was a gorgeous day. We had to do a little cache maintenance so while we were there we stopped by a friends house to visit and catch up. I seemed to have developed a cough last night and it has continued today. I have noticed that I seem to be a little dizzy at times so I wonder if it might be inner ear. Needles gave me a Emergen C to hopefully nip it in the bud and I took a 3 hour nap which is very unusual for me. Time will tell.

Momma, what does Vacation mean?

Vacation's when you go somewhere... and you don't ever come back. Needles has made our reservations for Vacation... There's no turning back now! Can't wait...

P.S. This is my 500th post.

Quick Day Trip.

Today around 9 am Needles and I ventured South to the "weird magnet". We had skipped b'fast and instead stopped by The Gemini for lattes until our appointment time. We were taking the car the dealerships to get a front license plate bracket installed and to replace a driving light that was out when we bought it. While we waited on the work to be done Needles Mom "L" stopped by and took us to brunch. After we got our car back we parted ways with "L" since she had an appointment in Olney. We thought about going to Wally World but remembered what day of the month it is. All the crazies are out with their government checks so we decided to go home instead. Needles and I were astonished that you can make a trip of 100 miles and still have 7/8th of a tank of gas left. With our other vehicles it would have taken 1/4 a tank or more for the same trip. Needles is making reservations for our May vacation. It will be here before we know it. Have a great weekend.