carried away

I nearly forgot to blog tonight, so busy was I reading a book and searching online for a lamp replacement for our projection TV. OK, so I hadn't planned on reading a book. I really wanted to hunker down on this brutally cold evening with an afghan and a few cats to watch a movie or two. But the burnt out bulb in the TV ended that pipe dream (although I did still have afghan and cats while reading).

We ignored the "replace lamp" warning for a couple weeks. The picture started getting a little darker and a little less clear. When it exploded last night, we could ignore it no longer. Ted searched around town today, and was stunned to find out that this bulb, uh, I mean lamp assembly costs about the same as a Toshiba 26" flat panel LCD TV with a built-it DVD player. But a mere couple feet can't replace the 10' behemoth that we call television. So, I shopped around online, found a more reasonably priced lamp assembly, and it will arrive early next week. Until then, we go without. Or we finally get around to setting up the little TV in the bedroom. I vote for [A] because I really like having a television-free bedroom.

Time for bed. Need to see if I can get the blast furnace to actually shut off for a little while. It's so windy and cold that it's been running all evening. Gmail's got it wrong again, by the way. It may be clear, but at 11:30pm at night, it's just not sunny.

found

I went looking for a picture to use in tonight's otherwise brief blog entry. Instead of simply plucking the one I liked best and inserting it here, I found myself fascinated by the site from whence it came. I direct your attention to Words Are Art. Lovely and fascinating. The one I found at first was a beautiful, stark tree blown by the wind. But wander and see if the houses, moons, or bunnies strike your fancy.

filler

The settings on my Gmail account are configured to display a background reflecting current weather conditions in my area. I've always thought this was cute, if not wholly necessary, and it makes the interface a little less drab. Lately, though, it's been wrong a lot. Despite two nearly solid days of sunshine, blue skies, and precipitation-free weather, the Gmail page has shown driving rain, wind, and now, snow. I just looked out my window. No snow. I checked Weather.com. No forecast of snow for at least 24 hours. Is it showing snow to indicate that the temperature has dropped? Is it referencing another zip code for some mysterious reason? Who knows.

Nothing else to talk about. Good night.

a reason

I went to the doctor last week because I was sick. This may not sound like a big deal: people go to doctors all the time. But generally speaking, I have to experience a significant amount of distress before deciding to seek medical attention. It was a good thing I went because it turns out I have both a bacterial sinus infection and a viral upper respiratory infection. The antibiotics have done a fine job of getting the sinus issue under control. I can both breathe and swallow now, which is pretty damned exciting when you think about it.

Today, after the sudden and dramatic worsening of a symptom, I went back to the doctor. After a long time in an exam room (literally hours) and a series of blood tests, it's apparent that the viral infection is much worse than originally thought. Unfortunately, there is no nifty treatment like antibiotics for viruses. So, it becomes a matter of attempting to suppress it long enough for my body to recover from the damage it's caused.

So, I've been sick. And I've been tired. And I'm trying to catch up at work after missing about five full days of it. And sometimes there's not enough energy or motivation or sheer will that allows me to be as productive as I want to (or should) be. So forgive me for past "peep"-type entries, and any in the future that may appear. I'm working on a new balancing act.

sorry

can't be done.

word of the day

Via Dictionary.com

frangible \FRAN-juh-buhl\, adjective; Capable of being broken; brittle; fragile; easily broken.

'night 'night

In the last seven days, I have gone to work on one day and worked a total of a bit over four hours. I'm so sick that I'll need to have a doctor's note to prove that it's OK for me to return to the office. Ted, too, has been sick this whole time. Not quite as dramatically so, but with a couple miserable days and still -- right now in his sleep -- coughing.

In that same seven days, Ted has gone to work on seven days and worked a total of around 93 hours. And tomorrow, he does his usual open-to-close shift. That's 15 hours in one day. He'll finish around 9:00pm, come home, do a quick nighttime routine, go to bed, and be up again at 3:00am to start Monday with a weekday-standard 12-14 hour day.

Despite his own illness and ridiculous work schedule, he came home today with a box of tea for me. He thought it might help me sleep (something that's been a problem this week) without adding to the pile of medications. He brings me hot compresses, bottles of water, new boxes of tissues (Puffs with lotion, which he went out and got mid-week), hot cups of water with honey that's impossible to squeeze out of a stupid bear bottle, and anything else I need while I sit swaddled in pajamas, afghans, cats, and the couch. Anytime he moves from one place to another, he asks if he can do anything for me.

Ever wonder why the line "in sickness and in health" exists in the marriage vows? I am so lucky.

perspective

I missed a day. In my defense, it was the day I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with a viral infection, a bacterial infection, and a fever. In all, I worked about 4 hours this week -- and I'm still not well. At least I have an understanding of what's going on and medication to treat it.

I've whined a lot this week. These dual infections have kicked my butt. But, as my friend, Chris, pointed out yesterday, things could be worse. She writes, "Amidst all the political commentary, I read today that amputations are being carried out in Haiti using only Motrin in place of anesthesia. Certainly puts my life into perspective." Motrin is one of the drugs I'm taking -- for respiratory and sinus infections. Perspective, indeed.

I started watching the "Hope for Haiti Now" benefit tonight. Let's just say that crying doesn't help when your head is full of infected mucus. Time to do something for someone else.

sleeping on the sofa

To prevent drowning. Thought I was going to die in bed last night. Tomorrow it's either work or the doctor.

day 2

Miserable. Nothing to post. No energy to even go find a stupid picture. Afraid to go to bed without a plastic drop-cloth for my faucet-nose. Wah.

out sick

No revelations in the world of sanguinary blue blogging today. I have a cold that's made me fairly miserable all day. And my old emachine finally bit it today. The only reason I can post this pathetic entry is that I'm using our store computer.

By the way, both Ted (who also has a cold) and I are using up the Kleenex tissues like they're going out of style. Unfortunately, our noses are both now in need of Puffs. And despite a current inventory of 27 boxes of tissues in the house, none of them are Puffs. Drat.

not even a choir

Not many people see this blog. Precious few, really. So, why have I made such a concerted effort to write here every day? I suppose it has less to do with finding an audience and more to do with getting back in the groove of writing. So, why write here? If I wrote every day in my journals, I wouldn't be faced with the limitations that potential readership brings. Perhaps the pressure to write something that's actually interesting is greater because of the potential readership.

Well, whatever the case, I'm too distracted to explore it more thoroughly today. My "to do" list is lengthy, and the morning is half over. Contemplation will have to continue some other day.