Picture from the race. Not me. Just the shirt.
Trust me, you’d rather just see the shirt and not me in it!
Thank you 2 dimes on the ground!
As stupid as that seems. And as stupid as it is that an entire MONTH has gone by, again, and I can’t find time to come here and bore all you faithful fans with my one track life!
So here is some more about school, in case you were wondering and worried!
We had our first cardiac test yesterday at school. The semester is winding down. Everyone is hoping to graduate in May and they crank up the curriculum to put us all at ease. NO. Last four weeks, deep into the heart and kidneys of mankind! NOT easy content. Not for the faint of heart (pun intended) or weak willed. Cardiac moves like a rollercoaster. Lots of stuff inside that fist sized muscle that runs your body non-stop (hopefully), 24/7, for every waking and sleeping moment of your entire time on Earth. It even runs your body BEFORE you set down into the actual atmosphere. It starts pumping your teeny tiny, unformed, tadpole body 4 weeks into fetus hood. But we all don’t need an anatomy lesson.
The point is, when I pulled up to the school at 7:30 am to start classes, I got out of my car, looked down, and there were two, shiny dimes right at my feet! Of course I picked them up (street money people! Even tho I have been horrendously bad at logging in all the money I have found for about the, oh, last YEAR or so….I WILL catch it up! I promise. I HAVE alot that I have found…really.) Anyhoo…2 dimes…20 cents…20 questions. I was hoping that was a good sign to indicate that I will be getting all 20 questions correct.
Well I guess it worked…superstitious! 100% on the test! Very happy. I am attempting to get that A again. I am fighting an uphill battle because I did so bad on that first damn test. So now it’s all trying to get the points back. It is still possible numerically and what a pain! Too much pressure and really, all I need to do is pass the dang things! Whatever…we all need something to keep us moving forward right?
So that’s all. I have so much to do today, per the BF, and here I am writing about found money. So I know you will see this and YES, I am wasting some time here, BUT, my care plan is done. (Was done by 8:30) and I did two loads of laundry already. Cardiac is sitting here next to me waiting for me to wind this up. My people need to know these things!
I also have to update on my 10K….Successful! Finished! And on my own power! BEFORE the time allotted! Mostly because of my sister, who not only beat my time, but because she just trained and pushed us and kicked butt and made me finish! So props to you and congrats to us!! FYI—it was soooooo cold that day too. YUK! We were running just to stay warm. Chicago ya know. It was 40 degrees and threatening to rain when we ran at 7am, and 70 degrees and sunny by the afternoon when I was driving home. What a crock! I wasn’t gonna actually comment right now about it, I was saving it for later, but oh well, now it’s done, so we’ll do it again next year and I’ll talk more then!
Alright, alright, I am getting off now. Need to do more homework and laundry, before the kids get here. We need to go bowl out and shop for a few more things and pack them up to go for the weekend with their dad. They get to go to Kentucky and fish and swim for 4 days while I freeze and read about heart attacks! I think there’s a holiday in there somewhere too….but it’s not one that I do anything for so I will try and keep this posted and updated. Love you honey….all will be well. End.
Running!….is NOT what I am doing…
Plodding. Staggering. Hobbling. Half-stepping. Walking. Limping. Collapsing. Crawling…to a shaded area and sitting. Pretending to remove phantom rocks from my shoes. So sad.
I started on Monday like the original plan dictated, but I just now have recovered the strength to type about it.
Well, not really…but close. At this very moment I am trying to cool down and lose the sweatiness from my legs so I can put pants on to go to the store. And that is no lie. I forgot a few things yesterday for our “health plan” and I want to go get them before the kids get back from school. I have shorts but my legs are a bit too white and stubbly and I have long workout/sweat pant/joggy things that I would never wear outside to a public store-like place. I need some cute capri-type casual slip on pants of a comfortable material that is flattering yet stylish. Hmm. I was at Target yesterday too (the store of everything) but focused on my daughter and groceries. Maybe tomorrow. I can’t walk thru there again so soon. Plus I have to go to Jewel, the actual grocery store. Sometimes you just have to. Sorry Target.
Anyway, I am still serious. Let me run it down for you. Monday. Kids to school…drove to the outdoor trail. Nice and early. 9 am. Crowded, which is good because then you have less chance of being assaulted or injured. Not that it’s dangerous, it’s lots of seniors and workout people and even a Forest Preserve Police presence, but it’s ALWAYS dangerous for women alone in woodsy settings. Plus if you fall or heatstroke out or something, lots of people to call 911 for you! Back to this gripping tale…it’s still hot here in Chicago, like summer hot, in the 80’s to 90’s every stinking day now, it’s really ridiculous actually because it’s no joke what they say about our area here; it was literally like 40 degrees one day and 90 the next. I’m not sure how it keeps happening and why we are never prepared and I have lived here my whole life…anyway, so it’s hot, but I figured it’s also 9am, so it won’t be THAT hot. WRONG. It felt like the fires of Hell were chasing me around that trail and I could not get out of its path for nothing. I managed to stagger around the trail, in shade and out, for a grand total of 1 and ¼ miles before I gave up and walked/ran for the rest of the 3.6 miles. I am not proud or happy about it, but I could not pull up enough strength to keep “running”. I could not even do a jog. My legs felt like the leadiest lead in the world and it was SO hot!! I also never used to have a problem with heat either, I was the last hold out for air conditioning and I was sincere. It really never used to bother me, but now I can barely stand in front of the oven without complaining. So needless to say, I was sweating, and I never sweat like all that, and I wanted to sit down so bad in the grass, and there was goose poo and deer poo and snakes and ducks and who knows what else kind of poo all over that trail. But I really didn’t care. The only thing that stopped me was the fact that I was on the part of the trail that follows to major roads, so there is no tree cover on the street side and the sun is blazing right in your direction, into the tree line so, basically there is no shade until you get back into the woody area. From about the 2 mile mark until the 3 mile mark I was out there, roasting, baking, shriveling and dying in the sun like a juiceless raisin. Ugh. My worst workout ever. I am so pathetic that I tried to stay next to the trees even though there was no shade, but I felt that just being closer to them might make me feel cooler. Not so. But I did keep going. I walked and sipped my water which was warm at this point but still watery, and just willed myself to keep moving forward, try not to look like you are actually weaving on the trail, and take deep breaths and let that heart rate go down, let that body cool off, just make it to the car, and hope you can drive without passing out. It felt kind of like being drunk but without the fun of alcohol or throwing up thank goodness! I never wanted to puke so I consider it a win! I ended up finishing in about 50 minutes so looking back it wasn’t that desperate, but it did feel like slow motion death.
When I got home, I took a shower and tried to remove leg stubble but I think I caused a rash with the chemicals and the heat skin I inflicted on myself. So whatever…White and hairy it is for another week. Luckily Tuesday my daughter Stevie (hey girl! cutie! with the free arm!!) had to go to the doc to get that cast off her arm! She was happy, and I was happy because we got to spend the whole day doing the opposite of exercise. After two hours of removing the cast, x-rays, and returning to the doc to get the all clear, she is good to go for now, no more cast but no kind of activity that would cause a fall or a chance to land on the arm again and potentially break it all over for 4 weeks when we go back to check it one last time! Hooray, now we can go have LUNCH! We love the Mexican food, El Famous Burrito, I think they are in lots of places…really good if you like this kind of food. We particularly like the Chicken Quesadillas. The best, hands down, you may have had anywhere. They’re not on the menu you just have to ask…so worth it. Then the usual guac, salsa, beans (all made on site–so always delicious and always just a little different) We go to one in particular, so I can’t speak for all, but if you like it or try it…let me know! I’d love to hear from other fans.
Anyfood…back to the story…we eat and hit the Target. Stevie wants some capri’s she saw and needs a shirt for the WW2 Veterans Honor Assembly she is part of and has been practicing for the last month. I am so proud that she is so part of her school and all its activities. These are meaningful things and I like when the kids know it and understand that the world is so much bigger than just them and their lives. But let’s not get all teary eyed now…stay focused on my detailed list of MTW…ok still Tuesday…at the Target. Successful shopping. Alot of money is spent. Besides not having food in the house…I have kind of let it get to the point where we have literally just those things I listed yesterday. Like, nothing. You have to eat a hot dog bun with Ranch dressing, seriously. Hot lunch at school and take out dinner. NOT healthy, not good, not cheap. Thank goodness my kids eat minimal breakfast. Fruit Loops out of the box is usually good enough. Besides not having food in the house, we need to have “healthy” food in the house. It is not cheap, and it requires more steps to eat. Like cooking, peeling, combining….it’s such a hassle and that’s why I can’t manage it during school. One day…they say it takes 6 weeks to keep to a routine before it becomes a natural part of life, and 3 months for it to stick permanent…I hope so…that’s just about how much time I have to make it work this time. So, food is bought. Put away. Made dinner. I grilled. Used the grill. I have a crazy fear of it for some reason. Fire and all that…but I managed to do it, and I will continue to do it now. The kids like it way better than the oven and it keeps the heat outside. So blah blah, watched tv, went to bed. Big finish there. Sorry.
Now it’s Wednesday, and I really do have to get my butt to the store. Time is ticking and I want to be back before the kids. It’s still hot. I know, no one can probably believe this. But it’s true. I sent the boy to the bus, and walked Stevie (her idea) and a good one, because it loosened up my legs just enough so that I didn’t look like a complete handicap trying to “run” around the trail. It was not pretty. And I did not complete the circuit. Again. I hate my out-of-shape self. It also doesn’t help when you have some Marine guy running around the track, looking all buff and Marine-y, passing you twice going in the other direction! And he wasn’t even from around here. He’s driving around in his big, red, truck with out-of-state license plates. Marines. Showing up in Illinois and exercising just to make us look bad! Plus, I have the pressure of the Warrior Dash on the 19 th of June. It’s looking like a Warrior Dud. I am going, but it will not be mighty. As for today, I started off strong, said to myself, slow and steady. Slow and easy. Just casually go around the track. No rush. Just run it nice and easy. Nice and easy. Nice and easy. And it worked! I made it all the way to the 2½ mile mark! That is right in the middle of the sun spot. No cover. Someone kindly repainted the mile markers in bright red numbers. Nice and big and correctly I assume. They are not in the same places as the previous markers painted in yellow. Turns out each quarter mile is just a little bit farther than they were on Monday. But I really did make it to the 2½ spot and I tried for more, but I couldn’t do it. I half-jogged it every few paces but I was pretty much done for. At the 3½ mark I kicked it up for that .10 mile and brought it home. Too bad I had to park my car near the entrance today, so I had to walk even more just to collapse out of sight of the more athletic types who were just dashing around looking all happy and fit. Next week. Next week.
Again, not happy. But it is pretty funny and it makes a good story. Isn’t it better than, “Oh today, Monday, ran 4 miles. Tuesday, ran 4 miles. Wednesday, ran 6 miles and did an obstacle course…blah blah…” My version has that gritty-real-life-down-in-the-streets kind of attitude. (Because I am gritty, from being, literally, down in the street, weak and tired).
Also, in my defense, I am on the pre-week of my “cycle”, notoriously makes me exhausted and hungry and not able to do alot of energy requiring things. I hate when it coincides with my plans for higher living, and race events like the Dash or the 5-Mile. Next week though will be different. I tend to be a heavy “exit-er” (if you catch my drift without me being too graphic on the technical details part) but I get my energy back and I’m not hungry. So I should just be flying around that trail with no trouble at all!
On a happy note, I have maintained my weight for one whole week despite the period problem. So that’s really good. Course it does help that every time you step outside lately the sun and heat suck away all the moisture you have in, on, or near your body.
So I am all cooled down and my pants will probably slip on now…I had eaten a sammy (healthy bread, turkey, lettuce, tomato, onion–love the onion–not good for the breath tho) and a banana, felt like vomiting…for real. I held it in. And I think I’m good to go there too. I would have been so mad. I haven’t made an actual sandwich for myself, like that kind with stuff on it, for a long long time and I would have been super-mad if I just threw it all up. But I am better now.
It’s one p.m. in the city. I will be back later with some coins and cars and pictures. I’ll probably throw something on top of this…but I don’t know what yet. It will be a surprise for all of us!
Enjoy the sun, apparently it’s here to stay! Toodles.
Hot in the City….
It is Sunday, May 23, in Chicago. It’s a blazing 90 degrees and I have been drinking margarita’s all afternoon. This is my first post, post-nursing, first year. I am done for the summer! Passed successfully the course, the final and the final-final for the past year of material. I will be enjoying this afternoon and evening and start reading some more stuff on Monday. It’s recommended. But, no pressure so its really more for fun. Haha.
Anyway, let me rewind the week, but fast-forward the boring parts (zip it Amanda…some people do not think this is ALL boring like you…har har) anyhoo…let’s see…oh yes…my sister (Amanda) squeezed out yet ANOTHER child into this world…good job! Welcome Everet Jase! Congrats to the family!
I passed my classes, I registered for fall, I paid for fall (lots of money I don’t actually have…and don’t even qualify for using student aid…but hoping for good luck with some working scholarship money, and I bought some lottery tickets also as a back up plan.
Saturday, myself and the family (kids and bf), babysat for the new bean so my sister could go to a wedding and try to wear sexy clothes and drink for the first time in 9 months. She looked cute but the alcohol didn’t take. She tried her best but we are thinking that the bartender thought she was still a pregnant lady and gave her non-alcohol drinks! We have to get that baby weight off! Which leads me to our next big thing…Warrior Dash! It is coming fast and neither of us is ready and I don’t have a baby as an excuse for my chub…only fast food and laziness. So that means you get to follow along on the progress all summer! I may have pictures…they are guaranteed to be funnier this year because they have that same wall for me to not be able to climb over again AND a new net-wall-army-thing that I will probably never get my big booty up on. So you’ll definitely want to stay tuned.
After the babysitting, 3 am, yikes, and an hour drive home, we get to bed at 4. Kids leave at 11 ish to go to an other-family-thing with their dad, and I get the idea to go for a nice bike ride with the bf, you know, get a jump start on the massive diet and exercise program that begins tomorrow for this entire household. The “Summer of Slim”, the “Focus on Fat”, the “Abolishment of Adipose”…we need a catchy slogan for my program, especially since we will all be crying by Tuesday about how hungry and tired we are of this horrible plan…and how we’d rather just stay fat…no no, not this year. My goal is my son. Slim by seventh…that’s good too…hmmmm….anyway, it’s happening and I will be unliked for some time this summer.
Back to the bike ride…we decided on a modest 9 miles (thank goodness the bf doesn’t listen to me, because I first suggested the 19 mile loop we were doing last year, which we would still be doing right now). So, to the trail, on the bikes, riding, riding, riding, sweating, hills, 90 degrees, more hills, sweating, still riding…9 miles is really long, even on a bike, if you haven’t done it in a year, finally down to 2.8 left, I was like, what???, man I thought we were done, but we made it back to the car and even went past and back to make it a nice even 10 miles. Felt good. Felt sexy, in that sweaty, I-just-exercised-don’t-I-glisten-in-the-sun kind of way! And then driving home we go right past this Mexican restaurant with awesome margarita’s and I said that’s what we should do…have margarita’s for the rest of the day. So we change, drive back, drink margarita’s, eat guacamole and enchilada’s with green sauce, and watch the Hawks win it for the city! But the fun doesn’t end there….we need home margarita ingredients!
To the liquor store…got it all, Tequila, mixer, salt, limes….and more heat. It’s still like 80 something outside, no air conditioning inside, wouldn’t put it on anyway because it’s only May, and it’s 8 o’clock pm. I’m on, like my third glass, but it’s hard to tell because it’s never really an empty-fill thing, it’s more like a continual addition to what is already in the glass thing. At any rate, it’s lovely, and it’s getting hard to type or see, because dusk is upon us here in the Midwest. My kids should be home soon. Dirty and sweaty from their day and needing showers for school in the a.m. Well, shower for one anyway…the girl broke her arm again and is limited to baths with her cast sticking out…I have pictures!
I have lots and lots and lots more stuff to tell and write and show and post, I have missed so much since Easter because of school, but I shall have the whole summer to amuse my loyal fan base!
I also have pictures but cannot post any because I am not typing this on my computer where the pictures are. My computer is trying to get reconfigured for better speed and quality of content. So this will have to be good for now.
I have money to post! I have found alot of spare change in the last few months. I have saved it all for you in one location so I can total it up and be very dramatic about it. And I have Cool Words galore thanks to my girl…she has been saving them and is anxious to start helping me. I have Warrior Dash training, and PF 5-Mile training, and get-my-son-slim-by end-of-summer training and healthy cooking (?) attempting, and music! Music music…I have been so slacked…playlists and inspiration….you do not want to miss any of it!!
Also I want to thank my followers, particularly the one who sent me the notice about the creator of my favorite coffee cup…the New York Coffee Cup….we are happy to serve you…blue with gold trim….passing away recently. I have the Time magazine write-up abut it and him and the iconic piece of history he left behind. Thank you for keeping me informed when I cannot! If you want to see more about the cup, click here, NYCC, and if you just want more, I will be back soon with all the good stuff…hopefully late late tonight or tomorrow once the computer is fixed, the kids hit school and I hit the gym (training starts NOW), I also need some healthy food items in the house…we are down to coffee, 4 slices of bread, almond and rice milk, and eggs…which I am going to go boil right now for tomorrow.
Until then, have another drink, maybe one more for tonight, and enjoy the heat wherever you are. It’s good to be back! Cheers.
What is going on?? Why am I so popular??
I am NOT complaining, but I sure needed a day like today! BIG GIANT THANKS to whoever (any and all) out there, generating some traffic to this site! I think it’s cool and hopefully you will too! Don’t be fooled by that long standing Christmas Tree…I am updating I swear!!! See?!? Right this minute! Fresh material!
This was the first school related day that I have had to have in about a week and a half…holidays and all…I even had to dress up! Well, black pants, black top, tall shoes (not boots–the weather is a bit crapola around these parts and supposed to get worse in the next 24–not big news to those east of here (Chicago) but crap for us just the same–last report puts us at 6-10 inches of snow! Joy!) off track…business casual dress, second semester orientation (nursing), pictures will be taken for the Illinois Education Foundation that helps me achieve my goals! It’s all good.
So, I had to get up early anyway because the kids are back in school this week. So fine. The weather is a sunny 2° (TWO degrees). Whatever. With the wind chill it’s a brisk -15 or something. I drive to the school and there is literally, NO ONE, in the parking lot. At least not the one I park in. It’s the far one. The one that usually has less people than the front so I can park closer…to the back of the school (Ha. It is actually farther, but I hate the regular lot—too much traffic and you need a permit and blah blah blah) ok back to the story…walk from the lot to the school, climb FOUR flights of stairs to the class, enjoy some speech, sign some papers, go buy the syllabus, get my I.D. updated/punched, walk back to the car, drive home. (Are you still reading? Sorry about that…turned into kind of list thing…)
Open syllabus. Get school papers/books/highlighters/reading…reading…skill…reading…reading…skill…reading…reading…endless reading/complicated (?) skills/scary clinical stuff (?)/ on and on and on…realize that I haven’t eaten from the nervousness (I don’t know why–fear of failure makes me overly crazy and unduly paranoid) then realize right after that I might actually vomit from the whole afternoon. My crazy is just like an adverse side effect: unpredictable, unavoidable, and undesired. (Studying for the day: Done! And we all learned sumthing!)
So anyway, I basically marked everything I need to read, gathered my materials for said reading, collected the necessary objects that I will be lugging back and forth to school with me in two weeks, steth, BP cuff, pens, pencils, spirals, binder, scissors, tape, stapler, books, books, books (one book weighs NINE pounds!! as usual I have them all weighed and measured for your enjoyment—to be posted later) and in order to carry all this around I had to break out the…GASP!…Rolling. Book. Bag. Horror! It’s not even a book bag really…it’s more like luggage. I hate it. But I hate breaking my shoulder and spine worse, and I am not even entertaining the “backpack” route so just leave it alone. If you knew me—like all close and personal and all—I am hardly the backpack wearing type. I’m more like the make everything as hard as possible before giving in to any idea that is even remotely smart and sensible type—but that’s another webpage.
Where was I?? After my panic episode I decided it was time to, 1., eat something before I passed out, 2., turn up the heat–I was freezing at 60 degrees in the house, making me feel worse, and 3., sit on the couch and stare at the wall until my son came home from school. You will be happy to know that I did indeed do all these things.
And now I am here.
My kids are here too and that is making this extra difficult because they can’t seem to do simple math and vocab without asking me every 2 seconds what something is. For instance: What is the past tense of thrive? And what is another common multiple of 11 and 4? Why did you have kids mom?? (Ha ha ha, I threw that one in from my own brain…I was thinking it in my head… But still, why?)
Meltdowns are occurring so I must wrap this up for now. Plus I need to make dinner. I am the controller of food at the moment since we are all on intake-reduction, exercise and all around better health. Learn new stuff and everyone around you must suffer for it. They’ll thank me when they are old and can get up from a chair without the help of a hydraulic system on their furniture or a robot-servant or whatever they’ll have in the future to assist with the decrepit. I’ll be dead so I’ll have to watch from…heaven?? We’ll save theology for a later date, I gotta go.
To sum up:
School is almost rolling.
I am panicking.
Kids are trying to incite me to murder.
I have books and icicle and food and nature pictures to share.
I have the final Street Money Update for 2009 (I know! Can you believe I waited all the way until now to reveal this hot info???)
I have a new year, 2010, Street Money tally to roll out—already found some!!
I have more Weird Sh*t You Find Around the House! (I’ve been saving some! Dedicated to my new friend Merianne–shout out! “Hey!! I hope I spelled your name right!!”)
I have a new movie clip with the New York Coffee Cup. Mmmmm…
I have movies to talk about! I saw some over the holiday break! Some were even new(-er)!!
I have words and quotes and all the fab random riff raff that people, like you, hopefully, like to waste even a minute of their time with, with ME! (Thanks again! I am feeling the love. Or the boredom. But I’m feeling something!)
Check back later. It’s going to be an early bed time for the kiddies—they are throwing broken pencil pieces at each other so I better get the tweezers and the alcohol (I use the vodka–tastes great, steadies my hand and dulls their cries of pain) and close this thing. In the words of my favorite ex-husband:
“Roger that.”
“Over and Out.”
“Dork.”
Here’s a picture. For continuity.
It's a snow-dirt snowman that my son made with the first of the snow we got way back when. Look for a larger more exciting snowman in the near future!
Early Christmas Eve…
8 am Chicago time. It’s about 32 degrees and drizzling the best icy rain you can get anywhere in the midwest. I know all around us gets snow but we get rain that freezes everything in its place. It looks pretty, covering all in a transparent shell, but it is hell to walk or drive on. Still, it’s peaceful. I’m inside though. In a few hours the two day blitz starts and for my kids this year they have three days of travel…it just worked that way. They are ready. We stayed up late making food for the days to come, mock chicken legs (its a polack thing–so delicious–always tweaking the formula trying to get them to taste just like my dads–they never do), pierogis, apple slices, cookies, the usual, just like you!…so I am enjoying the silence for a few more minutes. Drinking some coffee, of course, just thinking about…how nice it all is. To be mostly healthy, mostly happy and able to enjoy the small things, not just today, but everyday. I’m not really religious or spiritual much, but I wish the same for you. Have a safe journey if you are traveling around, or a nice warm drink for me if you’re not!, and thanks for spending a few minutes with me and mine today!
Yes, it's a white tree. Hello...Polish....we like it. And it fits in our limited space! It's pretty when its lit up which you will see later today. We keep the lights on all night tonight....
Just so we’re clear: Spilling a load on the highway is NOT a good thing??
For those of you who live and work in Chicago, that may or may not be funnier, than to some others. No one was hurt so I can joke a little. Please see the following news article:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1738200,bracket-interstate-80-082709.article
I have to add it because I didn’t write it. But here is a sample from it if you are too lazy to click, as I often am…It is from the Sun-Times, internet news source/wire…something…I really don’t know how it works, but I am just sharing info here, not claiming it as my own. See if you can spot my favorite part! Below.
Cars damaged after bracket load spills on I-80
A dozen vehicles were damaged Thursday morning and the eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 were closed after a semi-truck spilled metal brackets onto the road.
Truck driver Douglas Jordan of Houston was cited with spilling a load onto the highway east of the Des Plaines River bridge, said Illinois State Trooper Mark Dorencz. (HINT!! It’s right in this sentence!!)
A cardboard box holding the brackets became soaked from the rain and tore open, Dorencz said. Eastbound I-80 was closed about 7 a.m. for 15 minutes.
OK, back to me now. I’m thinking the guy (or girl–don’t want to assume anything) who wrote the article was being funny. Your job is to write small news items on the internet everyday and you don’t know if anyone actually reads them, or at least beyond the first few lines, so you want to spice it up a bit! Flex the language skills. Make that degree earn its money. I would. There’s nothing really inaccurate about the article, but I love the phrasing. I’m a big word buff. A lover of big words or a big fan of actual English words…See?? I love the way words sound and look and string together to mean a million different things just by moving one around or altering a punctuation mark. (I find myself to be annoying too most of the time, don’t worry, and I write WAY too much crap)
Anyway, I thought it was clever and humorous. And I am wasting time so I don’t have to study. No excuses. The BF is on his way home! The kids will be here shortly. We have a very quick birthday pop-in to do for the kids’ friend (Happy B-day Devin!) and then it’s Open House for Mason. We have to see the school and chat up the teachers. It’s perfect timing too, because Mason is already going to miss a day of school on Friday and I get to tell the teachers personally. Make sure he doesn’t have any homework like he said! Then dinner, bedtime, playtime, and I think I am getting back up. I am bone-ass tired from this week. My adrenaline level is too high and I can’t sleep, and coffee builds up in the blood, but I have to get the required things for school done and out of my mind. I like to believe that I can study at any time, but I work best late at night, if, I don’t get on here. My peeps. I need to stay connected to my peeps. Look here! A whole paragraph dedicated to nothing, just so I don’t have to study. Terrible. I should do another playlist. I should go on I-Tunes. I joined FaceBook and that is a whole other connection I have to wire up. And then fight the urge to scope it out. There are too many people in this world that you never knew you knew and then more you forgot you knew. But they are all out there waiting…and your name is about to drop back into their stratosphere. Now how will you get on?
As a disclaimer, I know FaceBook is not new. But I have been avoiding it for those very reasons. This site is hard enough to maintain in an even slightly interesting way, but you get my point. There is no sum up. Just a finish. I’m out of words.
Alright, here’s another picture. It’s the city!
When last you heard from me, I was on my way to school…
…with high hopes for the rest of the evening. When suddenly…Tequila! (And that was TWO days ago.)
I did go to school. I got the “pre-heads-up” to the actual “heads-up” classes I have next week. Signed some paperwork. Got some questions answered. Payed for classes. Bought more books. Drove home excited as hell, but unaware of the complicated nature of what I am about to embark upon.
I have three books and a syllabus right now, and I have three more books to buy. Definitely the most I have needed so far. When I trained for EMT I was on an adrenaline rush for hours after every single class, for like 4-6 months. It was crazy. And I have that same crazy feeling just looking at these books. Two years and god knows how many hours are about to go into this program, but I am ready. I’m not sure my body can take the intensity. I had trouble sleeping before, but I guess that will just help me on the job! I talked so much on the phone to the BF just driving home from a pre-class class, that I, “low-battery-powered-off”, the cell phone. The damn thing drained out good. First time I talked to the cut-off. Even after I plugged it back in it wouldn’t turn on for a little while.
So I take a closer look at this new book. Calculating With Confidence. Drug calculations, measurements, math conversions…OMG, it looks hard. Drug labels, syringes, pills, liquids, fractions, decimals, cc. mL. mg. oz. You need: Aspirin gr 10 p.o. q4h p.r.n. for pain. You have: Drug label, that suddenly makes no sense whatsoever. And tell me how much, with how much diluent, time of day, route of administration, but don’t forget who you are giving it to, how much they weigh, what else they are taking; now mark it on the drawing, and don’t “F” it up because you could kill someone…. I’m paraphrasing…but that’s the idea. Once you take off the plastic shrink wrap, the front cover has a skull and crossbones on it. They don’t want you to see that until it’s too late. And you thought that the nurse handing you two Tylenol in the hospital after dinner didn’t require any skill. HA!
The amazing thing is, that in 2 months, that book is going to make perfect sense, and I’ll be calculating in my sleep (not literally), but for now…we better go to Pepe’s and think about the future.
So the guy that has been working there since he was a child, really, (I know, because we as a family, collectively have been going there for his whole life basically, I even remember a time when he was out in the parking lot trying to drive off in his older brothers car…he got in trouble for that…) anypepestoryway…this kid/adult now (Ricky? The name would not come to me, don’t judge, I’m approaching 40, but Mason and Stevie both agree, yes, on the name) made me a killer, and I mean KILLER margarita. I took 4 drinks and I was feeling the heat. By one third gone, I was TWO thirds gone. I wish I could say I was joking, because I was getting “altered” and fast. (My teeth were numb and I tried to walk out of the clear glass panel NEXT to the door, when I left the restaurant) I ate some chips and salsa and some shrimp cocktail on crackers and a tamale and a chili rellano but food was failing me fast, so I concentrated on finishing the medium margarita that, based on my morning calculations of how-long-it-takes-my-body-to-filter-out-the-alcohol (years of research have perfected this system) there must have been at least, 5 shots of tequila in my drink. I can say that with confidence because I was still slightly drunk at 7:30 in the morning. And I even tried to move the alcohol along with activity and oxygen before I fell into dreamy-drunky sleep the night before but sometimes you can’t keep a good buzz down, or up, or whatever. End of story.
I dragged myself up, took out the garbage, diluted my remaining blood level of tequila with coffee, and watched Regis & Kelly with Pat Tomasulo subbing for Regis (!!) I wrote it on the calendar! Busy schedule, yeah yeah, I’ll be working soon enough and you’ll miss these long, rambling posts. (More Pat Stuff)
The Pat Down. For your enjoyment. And since this is Chicago, we have 2 newspapers…here’s the Trib version. Ok, I think I’m done now.
Then I really pushed the limit with a five mile run. Five point one something something, to be exact. I ran the water bill to the Village Hall, which maps out at 5+ miles. MapMy Run.com. 30 minutes there. 34 minutes back. One hour, four minutes. I will take it. I ran on the sidewalks. Concrete, hard on the shins with lots of hills, (dang Park Forest doesn’t have a completely flat spot 10 steps in a row), and chock full of tripping hazards. Broken cement, uneven, crooked, weeds, rocks…I’m not sure what the village is doing all the time. It seems like they dig holes in random spots all around town just so there’s something for the kids to fall into. At any rate. I was done for the day. Kids got home about 3 ish and we ate ice cream and talked about all they did last week. Stevie made cupcakes! First time on her own and no crunchy ones from egg shells! (So far) So proud. Then dinner and a movie. (Burgers on the grill and Smokey and the Bandit from Netflix) unpack the bags, go to bed and poof! Here we are. Today.
I’m going to skip the run today, maybe go take a walk at the nature trail if I can get the kids out there. Mason has grass to finish and we are open. I have the pictures you have been waiting for…I didn’t forget, it’s just time and energy and getting them off the cell phone. I even have video! The kids wanted to play in the water, but we don’t have a pool. We have a hose. So they filled up larger, plastic, Tupperware bowls and put their faces in them or dumped them over their heads. They would swim in a wet sponge if they could. Then they played water-hose-jump-rope, which is actually pretty funny. So that’s coming too! And all that other stuff I said I had…Remember my theme: Everything is always two days ago!
Cupcakes!
Half with sprinkles, half without! Tasty!
just shy of pretty 