So, I have slowly been rebuilding my work wardrobe. The problem is that I am in this weird, in-between size. I've lost enough weight that my roommate yelled at me the other day for wearing pants that were too baggy and made me "look 50 lbs heavier." But, I am having trouble finding pants that do fit. I found some ok fitting one at Kohl's today, and I may go back and get another pair, especially considering that I have $20 in Kohl's cash.

Also, now I need winter stuff.

Good news is I need new shoes! I do like shoe shopping.

And, right now, I have nothing to say. Well, I have a lot to say, actually, but I can't say it right now. I'll try and get some coherent thoughts together tomorrow.

Yea, so I missed yesterday. I have failed in NaBoPoMo. I had to go visit a client 2 hours away; I was away from "home" from 7AM to 7PM. When I got home, I had to do a load of laundry and pack before I could go to sleep. And I was tired. So, no post.

But today is Friday. And I got to come home, to Richmond. I took the long way, which is mostly 2-lane roads, so if you get stuck behind a farm truck or something, it can really slow you down. But, I had no time crunch, and it's a prettier drive. Today I got lucky and the trip went smoothly.

Now I am sitting, waiting for PB to get here, because he had to travel to Virginia Beach today for work. We're supposed to go to a party tonight, but that depends on how he's feeling. Tomorrow is date night at my favorite restaurant. And I am looking forward to it.

Last night, my roommate and I went out to Old Navy. I had a 30% off coupon. I bought jeans, pajama pants, and a sweater. The total seemed low, so I checked my receipt before I walked away. The casier had failed to ring up the sweater. Which I pointed out to him. He rang it up and I paid.

My roommate was, by this point, waiting outside by the car. When I told her what had happened she said, "I would have just walked out with it. His fault. And he was slow." I'd be lying if I said that thought hadn't crossed my mind, but then it would always be the tainted sweater. I just couldn't do that.

Should I have done that? Would you?

My room in Lynchburg? Cold. I sleep under a down comforter, an electric throw, and two knit afghans. Hopefully I'll be getting a heated mattress pad from a friend this week. Prior to having the multiple covers, I was getting up in the middle of the night and putting more clothes on.

My roommate likes to sleep cold and she has a heated mattress pad. She doesn't understand why I'm so cold. I need to get a thermometer.

PB and I have been dating for nearly 2 years. We talk about getting married, we talk about having kids, we talk about buying a house.

We do not talk about when he's actually going to ask me to marry him. I'm not sure what he's waiting on. I don't know what it is he doesn't know yet. In your 20s, 2 years isn't that long. We, however, are in our mid to late 30s, which, to me, means that you know yourself better and are therefore in a better position to make that decision in a shorter amount of time.

Yes, we did just buy a mattress together. To him, that symbolizes a higher level of commitment than just living together. Me, I am still frustrated with all the marriage/kids talk that is mostly hypothetical at this point. It makes me want to scream at times. Patience has never been my best thing, but there's also the part where we'd like to have kids, and I'll be 36 in just about a month. So, it's not like we have tons of time to waste. And I don't really relish the idea of getting married and immediately popping out a kid, but at the rate he's going, I probably should consider being pregnant at the wedding.

I might be keeping my fingers crossed for twins.

PB runs a fantasy football pick 'em league. The only reason I even participate is because he runs it. I pretty much randomly guess each week when I make my picks. So far, I have won three weeks and am in the lead this week

Today, PB and I decided to go for a walk. Where? At one of the many battlefields around Richmond. (There was a big war with a lot of battles fought near here. You may have heard of it). Richmond National Battlefield Park has 13 different sites; until this point I had visited 3 of them.

Now I've been to 4. We went out to Malvern Hill, which was where the last battle of the Seven Days' Battles were fought. And we took a leisurely 1.5 mile walk around the battlefield.

While listening to the podcast.

And we thoroughly enjoyed it.

I am sitting back in my living room now. Jasper was happy to see me, but is now mad that I won't feed him. (Note: it is not time for him to be fed.) I love coming home, but I hate knowing that it's for a short time. We try to squeeze so much into our weekends sometimes that they can be exhausting.

But this weekend, we aren't doing that. We don't have many plans. Tonight we're going to a cider tasting and to dinner, but otherwise, I think we're just going to hang out. Well, and I'm going to go shopping for the food bank drive/contest at work.

Oh! And I'm meeting my book club for brunch on Sunday. I haven't seen them in a while, so it will be good to get together.

Thursdays I pack to go back to Richmond, but I don't leave until Friday around noon. So, it means I have one more night in Lynchburg, and by Thursday I really am ready to go home.

Friday mornings are usually good though.

I had been noticing that I slept better in Lynchburg then in Richmond. There, I tossed and turned and woke up with a sore back. Every weekend. Not fun. Yay, I get to go home and see my boyfriend and my cat! But I'd like to come back to the bed that's two hours away!

(Sidenote: PB wasn't sleeping well either.)

However, we didn't necessarily want to buy a new mattress. We'd like a king sized bed, and it would fit in our current place, but our plan is to move in the somewhat near future, and we didn't want to have to rule out places based upon whether or not our bed would fit.

I decided that a memory foam topper could be the answer. I decided to order a 3" one from Costco, partially because it got good reviews and partially because they have a fabulous return policy should it not work out.

It was delivered to PB's work on a Wednesday. That Friday he brought it home, we took it out of the packaging and put it on the bed.

It smelled like mint.

We decided that would probably go away eventually. We made the bed and went to cook dinner.

When we went to bed that night, it still smelled like mint. We also discovered that rolling over was work. Serious work.

And rather than helping with support, it was crazy soft. And kind of warm. After about an hour, I went and slept on the couch. I returned to bed around 3AM to find that PB had ripped the pad off of the bed. Pulled it out from under the sheet. We both slept much better after that.

We returned it to Costco the next morning. PB suggested we go to Bed, Bath, and Beyond (which I always hear as if Buzz Lightyear is saying it) and look at other toppers. We did, but I was reluctant to buy one, no longer convinced one would help.

After we walked out, PB said, "Want to run into the mattress store (which was just next door) and just get an idea of what we could get?" So we did. The saleswoman asked us what we were looking for, and we explained that the issue is that he likes a soft mattress, and I need a firm one. She showed us the newest one they had, a firm mattress with a not too soft pillowtop. We both liked it, but after she told us that it was nearly $2000 after $1000 off, we moved on. I was a bit confused that she said that the sale placed the mattress into a guest bed price range, because who spends that much on a bed that hardly gets used.

We didn't like any of the other mattresses as well. She took us into the back to show us floor models. We found one that was OK. She said, "This one is only $30 less than the first one you tried."

We had misunderstood the price. So we went back and looked at the first one again. We went to the Cheeburger Cheeburger next door to talk about it over a milkshake. (The saleswoman was wonderful. Patient, non-pressuring, knowledgeable. I would recommend her to anyone in the area looking for a mattress. So, all one of my local readers, let me know if you need a mattress!) We needed to talk it over. We haven't made any purchases that large together, so it was a step. Ultimately we decided to use some of the money left over from our vacation fund and make what we decided was a worthwhile investment. Good sleep is important.

It was delivered two days later (also an excellent experience!). We are both sleeping much better now.

Now I miss my Richmond bed.

Every year since I've moved to Richmond, my sister has brought the boy(s) over on her way to meet up with friends to go trick or treating. I was very disappointed that I would miss it this year. So, Sunday night, she dressed them up and brought them over to our house to trick or treat.

Monkey was Billy the Exterminator. He wanted TRgirl to dress Spiderman up as a skunk. The costumes came out great. What I didn't see? At Monkey's behest, Randy dressed up as Big Bill, and my sister dressed up as Ricky.

Those pictures were awesome.

So, I've just signed up for NaBloPoMo. Because, as you know, I've kinda stopped posting. And the more I don't post, the harder it gets for me to come back. I mean, there are episodes of The Big Bang Theory I haven't seen. Important stuff.

Anyway, I'm not going to write much today, but expect to hear about

• How PB and I bought a mattress together


• How it's really not quite enough


• Fun with doctors!


• Working out of town
10:40 AM - Comments (1)

Orion is not breathing hard, but he's still mostly laying around. He hasn't been greeting me at the door, hasn't been joining me in the shower, and is in no hurry to get me out of bed in the morning. Most strangely, I can empty the garbage without fear of an escape. When I touch him, he whines, but he wants to be held.

I'm at a loss.

When I got home tonight, Orion was breathing quite heavily. He was still very lethargic and showed no interest in food. I told all of this to the vet, who listened to his lungs and said that he heard air moving, but he wanted to take a chest X-ray anyway.

The X-rays showed some fluid build up and a "valentine" heart. He thinks it's Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The prognosis is not good. Dr. Sullivan told me that sudden death was a possibility. (Sidenote: One of the reasons I like my vet is that he doesn't hesitate to give you the truth, even when it's not good. I appreciate that.) We need to do a ultrasound and an EKG to confirm the diagnosis. There's not much they can do besides make him comfortable.

As he told me this, I found myself tearing up. I apologized, but he understood. He's given him medicine to reduce the fluid buildup and to calm him down.

Let's hope my boy doesn't worsen overnight.

Ri did not shower this morning. Nor has he eaten dinner tonight.

Luckily, we have a vet appointment tomorrow.

But I could have.

moar funny pictures

In response to Michelle's comment on my last post, for the PharmD program at UNC, I need to take three classes. Anatomy and Physiology, Statistics, and Microbiology. It looks like I'll be taking Anatomy and Physiology online from ECU, and hopefully the other two at Wake Tech.

This weekend I spent a good deal of time talking to Peg and Steffy about my potential career change. What it comes down to is this: I can't imagine spending the next 30 years doing what I am doing now. So, put that way, the choice seems simple.

But, I've still got to get those pesky prereq's out of the way.

Hi! So, it turns out I am a lair liar. Peg does have high-speed internet. Who knew? (Answer: Not me.) I still didn't post yesterday, because I was too busy driving around the VA Piedmont with Steffy. We went here, again, and were given a tour. Also, we got to try some wine right out of the barrel. Unfortunately, they were out of my favorite of their wines, so I'll have to wait. Afterwards we drove to this vineyard. I took her home, headed back to Peg's, and we ate leftovers. Then Steffy picked me up and we went to see Enchanted, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Now I'm home, hanging with the boys.

I have a secret. I'm scheduling this post. Why? Because on Friday I'll be at Peg's, also known as the land of dial-up. I KNOW!

Which means I'm most likely sitting on the couch reading about right now. We'll have leftovers for dinner.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving, surrounded by family and friends eating until they are in a food coma. I also hope the Jets beat the Cowboys.

Well, I've gotten everything done except for picking up the pies. I'll do that on the way to VA.

The grocery shopping proved difficult. First, I forgot the cat food, which I realized on my way out the door. So, I went back in a bought a can of food. When I got home, I realized I had forgotten the strawberries. I planned to get them on the way home from the Jaycee meeting. Completely forgot. I stopped at the grocery store on my way into work this morning.

Always troublesome, strawberries.

Here are the things I must do between today and tomorrow.

Today:

1. go to the grocery store and pick up frozen strawberries, cream cheese, sour cream, jello, french fried onions, green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and canned cat food (one of those is not for Thanksgiving dinner).
   
2. bring in garbage can
   
3. swing by Turkey Shoot and pick up 3 turkeys.
   
4. drop off box of #6 targets at Turkey Shoot
   
5. Jaycee meeting
   
6. laundry
   
7. pack for Peg's
   
8. burn cd of new iTunes song
   

Tomorrow:

1. check air in tires
   
2. work
   
3. pick up pies
   
4. drive to Peg's
   

So, the other day when I was all, "Yay, fall!" I spoke too early. It's in the 70s this week. The 70s.

Which brings me to another point. Two of the radio stations down here are already playing Christmas music. One is playing Christmas music non-stop and has been doing it since the day after Halloween. The other one seems to be playing it at lunch and during the evening rush hour.

Stop. Seriously. No Christmas music yet. Not until December, preferably not until after my birthday.

I read this article in today's Parade with interest. I've made several friends through blogging; I've only met one in real life. I am hoping to meet some of the others in the Spring, because I seriously need to get back to Boston.

To me, that's the thing that blogging has brought me, and it's why I keep doing it. I think the people who have met me from my writing see a different part of me than others. I'm glad that I have Michelle to commiserate with about our OCD tendencies. Janet makes me laugh and amazes me with her photography. Jenna gives me a kick in the pants when I need it. All are people I never would have met otherwise. I'm glad that the internet has made the world a smaller place.

When a Percheron/Thoroughbred cross steps on your foot? It hurts. A lot.

It finally is fall down here in North Cackalacky. The trees are changing color and the air is crisp.

It's about damn time.

Guess what? Tomorrow I'm having lunch with Cool Boss and Little Matty! Yay!

Also, I'll be working from home in the afternoon.

Then, we're having Geeky Girls' Night. Don't be jealous.

P.S. Got to level twelve.

• No trivia tonight. Something about Aquamama having kids or something. Whatev.
• This game is awesome. Love! Someday I'll make it to level 12.
• Work is so much better when there is actual work to do.
• Boys are strange.

Yesterday, I e-mailed Mom that I thought I had tonsillitis and was trying to decide if I needed to see the doctor. I get it occasionally, and it usually goes away on its own. This time it was getting worse, not better.

Her response? "You had your tonsils out." Nope, not me. I've had my adenoids out, but not my tonsils. I assumed she had gotten me confused with one of my siblings, but I think they all have their tonsils too. TR girl is missing one of her original ACLs (left, I think) and Goose has no appendix, but as far as I know those are the only body parts we're missing. Bud seems to have managed to keep all of his. So, it was clearly one of her other children.

I did go to the doctor, I do have tonsillitis (not strep!) and am on antibiotics. Also, I'm tired, so I'm heading to bed as soon as the dryer finishes. Because I also got new books today.

Ever since the Turkey Shoot, my house has been a disaster. I've just not had the time to clean. Not even clean so much as pick up. The clutter and mess were really getting to me, and keeping me from things I needed to do. (I can't concentrate in the mess. All I can see is mess.) So, I've spent the last two days getting things cleaned up. I'm feeling much better.

The odd thing is, 2 years ago, my house was never messy. Since my BP diagnosis and the tinkering with the meds, I seem to have lost my obsessive need for clean. Which, although it means a messy house, also means that I am no longer turning down social invitations because I need to vacuum.

Over lunch.

Watergirl: Oh, so that episode of Modern Marvels you were DVR-ing last night? It's not going to be airing anytime soon, so I have to come over and watch it.
R: I'll save it. I've got food leftover from the party. You can come over and watch!

Maybe it explains why we're both single...

So, I went speed dating again last night. (I know I said I wasn't sure I'd do it again, but this time it was at my favorite bar, so...) The guys were better than last time, but I didn't talk with any of them afterwards. Instead, I spent quite a bit of time talking to the guy who runs pub quiz there and one of the guys who usually plays. Which, probably not the best tactic, but whatever.

I've not heard if I had any "matches" yet. We'll see.

So, I just got the information I requested from MCPHS. Cost per year? Roughly $36K. Cost for UNC? About $15K. I may only have a math minor, but it seems that one is a clearly better value. So now I need to decide, should I take the Psychology class anyway? I think maybe I'll look into getting a part-time pharmacy job first.

1. Who lead MLB with 54 home runs this year?
2. Name the top three oil producing (not exporting) countries.
3. Who is the current NC insurance commissioner?
4. Of the following four countries, which has the highest per capita consumption of beer: Ireland, the United Kingdom, Germany, or Australia?
5. What is the most recycled material in the U.S., by weight?

I can register for classes tomorrow. Unfortunately, the three classes I need to get into UNC's program are either full or not offered. However, Aquamama and I were searching the web this morning, and we found this program. It's shorter than UNC's program, and also in New England. So, for that one, I need a psychology course. So, guess what I'm taking next semester?

So, cooler temperatures have finally come to NC, and with them the discovery that at some point last year I cleaned out my closets/drawers and got rid of nearly all of my long sleeved shirts. I have short sleeved shirts and I have sweaters, but long sleeved midweight shirts? I have one.

Saturday night I went out with friends of mine. Goal: to drink girly drinks. Place: Rum Runners. (Fun fact: there's a scene in the Nickelback video for "Rockstar" where that building is seen in the background.) So, we're there having a good time, much to the amusement of the woman sitting near us, there to celebrate her 7th wedding anniversary. In fact, at one point they played some beach music, and she grabbed my hand and we shagged. (Do click the link. It's not what you think.) Or she did. I have no idea how to shag. Although I was told I did a reasonable impression of one.

Anyway, Hi Joy!

Those of you who have been following along know that I did not get a job that I had been hoping to get. The job was in Chicago and would have been a more technically oriented position. It would have been an answer to two of the current issues I am dealing with.

1. I am tired of Raleigh.
   
2. I'm not particularly fond of my job.
   

As far as my job goes, I am not getting the kind of work I would like at my current employer. If you'll recall, it took me eight months to find that job, and I've interviewed with most of the major players in the area. So, I'm kind of stuck there. My supervisor and I are working on getting me more of the type of work I want, but it's a slow, frustrating process.

I'm actually considering going back to school for Pharmacy. Why Pharmacy? Well, it's heavy on the math and science (my strengths) and it's a field that is in demand. I'm still in the discovery stage, but I will be taking one of the three prerequisites I still need this spring at the community college. Both my psychiatrist and Peg think this is a good field for me. So, still exploring.

I guess the point here is that maybe I want to move, but maybe I want to change careers instead. So, probably at this point staying put is the wisest course of action.

Every year, the High School in my town has a band competition. Part of the "Band Day" is a parade through downtown. The bands line up in front of my house. Last year they surprised me and I was almost late for a volunteer thing. This year I was ready and got to watch. The boys watched too. At one point, I took Orion outside to watch, and he growled at the bands as they walked by. Other pictures can be found here.

After I got home last night, Bud called. He'd seen that I'd lost the job, and said, "Well, I'm the brother, I have to cheer you up." He's good like that. He's sensitive and oddly protective of me (oddly because I'm almost 6 years older). But he does always make me laugh, and has become the first person I call when things are bad. Don't get me wrong, we still have our moments, and he is also the person I've hung up on the most. (Usually he calls me back, saying, "I dropped your call." (I haven't ever told him this before.)) But, at the end of the day, I know that he will always be there for me. Like I will for him.

Oh, but he still hasn't come to see my house. Come back tomorrow to find out why he'd better hurry.

Last night I decided to join NaBloPoMo. The idea is that I am to post every day. I joined because I've gotten away from blogging, and this may be the kick in the pants I need. Also, it may give me to chance to do a few essay-type entries, rather than "You know what's weird?"

Of course, I don't mean today. Today I am anxiously awaiting a phone call. It's for a job that I applied for, in another city, with my current company. I want to get it. I feel like I've been in Raleigh long enough. I'd like to go somewhere else. Anyway, keep your fingers crossed for me. I think I have a reasonable chance of getting it.