I Read a Book!

A whole book. In less than 8 hours.

I haven't read a book in almost a year.

Also:

A- in Vocabulary Design.

I now know that I do not want to be an indexer, not that I ever thought I'd want to be one in the first place.

However, I really did enjoy the class.

I'm still bitter that a 96 is an A-. My overall GPA? 3.73.

I might be smart.

Wait...What?

What the crap are we doing at work today? I've already exhausted my regular internet haunts and it's 10am.

It's going to be a loooong week.

But I got XM SATELLITE RADIO for Christmas!!

Woot!

Annnnd...the diagnosis.

I don't have terrible chronic condition - the doctor is pretty sure of that.

Just a lot of bacteria that hasn't gone away yet.

So, for Christmas I got a big bottle of Bactrim. To take when needed to prevent an infection before it starts. Which really? Is all I've ever wanted.

Thanks, Dr. Edwards, for bringing coffee and booze back into my holiday celebration.

Today's MySpace Discovery

People in my hometown sure like to have babies.

THIS is Why I Avoid New York.

From Dooce.

Is That All I've Got?

I can't believe I blogged about my bank account. Buh? But right now, it's either that or this recurrent infection. Which yes, thank you, is still in residence, I think, although the worst is over and the symptoms seem to be subsiding. My heating pad has become my best friend - the dog has some strange fascination with it too - she buried in the yard when I brought it home. Don't ask, I have no idea. I will be begging my new urologist to fix this on Friday.

Begging.

I have become some kind of toxic freak of nature.

I am just tired of the whole thing. I don't have time to dick around, because having an infection every two weeks is really cutting into my productivity. My poor husband, who is working from 9-8 all week, had to make dinner the other night because I was flat on the couch when he got home, having used up all the energy I had wrapping his Christmas presents. And I have to have this fixed before school starts again, because being prostrate on the couch is no way to learn cataloging or records management.

Do I really miss coffee and booze? The coffee I can take or leave - I just like something hot in the morning and there's now a special place in my heart for African red bush tea. I miss being able to have a drink when the mood strikes me, but nowhere near as much as I thought I might. It's just the fact that I don't have the option that bothers me.

I like options.

I also like champagne. And that? Is what I truly miss during the holiday season.

The Checking Account - She Bleeds.

GAH. Good thing I have overdraft protection...although I wasn't overdrawn it still kicked in, which was interesting. Of course, when you expect your direct deposit to go through on Tuesday and it doesn't hit until Wednesday it can mess with your account. Good thing the savings account is healthy.

Christmas is expensive. I'm glad I don't have children.

Metadata is Easy.

Ha!

A-.

Take that, PBCore and DCIM and DIG35 and ofness and aboutness AND YOU TOO, findability.

Somehow, though, earning a 96 makes me feel like I should've had an A+. I really hate our grading scale.

But still - A-!!

Enough Already.

Or, an open letter to my bladder...

Dear bladder,
I have no idea what you're up to, but you'd better just knock it off. Yes, I know I've not treated you as well as I could have over the last 29 years. However, I've been nothing but good to you of late and you have rewarded me with possibly the third infection in under a month. All from eating hot wings? Please.

I know we have a history of issues, but this is ridiculous. And now I fear you've turned something that used to be simple into something more serious and chronic. So I'm taking you to the urologist because I'm freaking tired of your games. And the constant peeing. All. Damn. Day.

Also, the anxiety is making me miserable. And this is not the time of year for misery.

If I could remove you, I would, you piece of crap. Because you make me just want to curl up on the couch and cry.

Love,
The Rest of Me - especially my sanity

*For the record, I'm hoping that it's just that the infection hasn't been cleared up by my 5-minute Urgent Care consultations that resulted in 3-day cycles of antibiotics. If it isn't, then I have a chronic condition that requires ongoing care.

I miss booze. And coffee.

I Have Some Questions.

I also have nothing better to do.

#1. Why does double noodle chicken soup have carrots? Regular chicken noodle soup doesn't, and I want the extra noodles without the carrots.

#2. Why did DHL not leave a package at my house yesterday because it "required" a signature (no signature release), but left it today without a signature OR a release?

#3. How did the laze turn into melancholy so quickly?

The Laze.

I have come down with a case of what I like to call the laze. I have little to no interest in doing anything that isn't completely necessary to survival. I came out of it for a couple hours last night to make Christmas cards - I had decided to buy them, but one disappointing trip to the store later I decided I could do better myself.

And I was right.

I did re-shelve books today. Then I read two issues of Us Weekly and volunteered to make a delivery just so I could get out of the office for an hour. Now I'm just waiting to go home so I can lie on the couch with the dog and watch TV.

I have, however, cooked dinner every day since Sunday. It's the beauty of winter break and my copious amounts of spare time. Is it better for the waistline? Hopefully. Of course, the cheesecake in the fridge that I have to eat by myself as my dessert buddy is in Jordan isn't helping that at all.

I hope I get lots of pajamas for Christmas, because elastic waist pants are the only pants that are going to fit soon.

Too Much Time on My Hands.

Speaking of time - what time is it really? Unless you have an atomic clock, isn't it just an approximation? Every clock I have says a different time, so I have no idea what the "real" time is, but I guess I'm pretty close since I'm never late.

Sometimes, I have too little to think about and this is what happens. It is also what happens when I'm driving back from LAX alone with only Blondie for company and it's almost rush hour. As a responsible driver, I was not on the phone, although I might have liked to talk to someone who was not myself.

Because I could have asked them what time they had.

A hobby. I need a hobby.

That isn't thinking.

One of My Favorite Spams...

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So I'm Thinking...

If you got something last year in a party gift exchange - well, two things to be exact, and they're good presents...people would like them - and you haven't opened them - is it wrong to re-gift them at the same party?

Because I think it would be hilarious.

And That's That.

Another semester done.

And suddenly I have nothing to do during the day except make Christmas cards and presents and shop online.

Oh - and read trashy magazines. Us Weekly, how I've missed you.

Dear Wells Fargo:

Please stop upping my credit limit. It only encourages me to spend more.

Sincerely,

Me

That Uneasy Feeling.

Would you send someone to Beirut right now?

Do you listen to the state department, or just trust that everything will be okay for another week and nothing more will happen?

Because the state department says no non-essential travel.

How do you decide what that means?

Shouldn't I be Doing SOMETHING?!

Because really, it's strange to have timeto do anything other than read or index or create metadata. Like lots of time, not just an hour or so to visit my regular haunts.

???

It's been 15 weeks. 15 VERY LONG WEEKS. But I avoided a major meltdown this semester, which is an event especially since I've been pretty busy at work for the last couple months. I have no idea what I'd do if I couldn't do my homework in the office...because as much as I dream of quitting, the realities of life do not allow me to do so.

I also realized that I've been in school for 40 weeks since the end of January.

I need the next 6 weeks.

But I need to finish the last project first.

Quote of the Day

Can you tell I'm actually DONE with a project? I'd still be considering pushing the "submit" button had my husband not goaded me into doing it.

Anyway. One down, one to go. One which is kinda crabbing me out due to lack of instructor input.

Regardless, I'm really posting from this:

What you absolutely must do to get yourself ready for the holidays is watch Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee. She's on The Food Network and if you don't get this channel, remind Santa how very damn good you've been this year and treat yourself.
Unlike Martha, who makes you feel inferior for living in a jerkwater town that doesn't contain half the ingredients for her recipes, Sandra uses the dusty crap buried in the back of your pantry you bought and forgot about. Just add a little vanilla or champagne extract, a touch of booze, and you've got a FAN-tastic dish that's SO YUMmy, they'll think it's homemade!

Really, this show is a classic. While slaving away the other morning (SUNDAY!) on a project I had it on for company. She took a store-bought angel food cake, stuffed some marshmallows in the hole, and slapped some blue icing on it. Hanukkah cake complete with a pearl Star of David! The next one was Christmas themed - green icing and a bag of shredded coconut. Voila! Done!

I wept.

But the cheesecake lollipops? BRILLIANT!

Picture of the Day

Beirut, Lebanon-




What struck me was the two women in the photo, protesting side by side.

This about sums it up.

Now back to indexing and metadata.