Often Completely Deranged

Coughing is Cardio

2010-01-08T15:26:00.002-05:00

I've been down with a nasty case of bronchitis complicated by asthma for the past week. I've been stuck at home during the entire week, which has led to massive cabin fever. Well, the silver lining is that I've lost more than 6 pounds this past week as a result of being sick. Appetite was just non-existent for most of the week though I drank water like the oceans were disappearing.

So yay for the upside of being sick!

My baby

2010-01-06T23:07:00.005-05:00

When I went to Texas for Christmas break, I had to leave my 17-year-old kitty Megan in the dependable hands of friends since she takes meds 2X a day. In all the years I've had her, I've never taken her to someone else's house to be watched, never mind a house with a large dog. Here is what happens when you place a small 5-pound kitty in front of a big black Lab.

That's my girl!

Setting Goals

2010-01-05T23:11:00.003-05:00

I've decided to set some personal and professional goals for 2010. On this list are the usual: lose weight, be a better person, make it to the end of the school year without getting injured by a student. This year, however, I'm adding: get certified to teach in Texas, get a job teaching in the DFW area of Texas, and moving to Texas this summer. The big goal is to finally grow up a bit more and become more financially responsible. Let's face it - that's long overdue. One of the reasons I want to move back to Texas is so I can actually save money while still enjoying life, two things that are mutually exclusive here in New England on my salary. I could always get another job, but after 2 1/2 years of working up to 5 PT jobs at a time without any benefits, I kind of like only having one job with benefits right now.

To help me with these goals, I've already spent (in my mind anyway) part of my tax refund on the $177 fee to get the State of Texas just to review my current teaching credentials and say "yes, you qualify for a certificate here too!" That's a lot of money to look over a few papers to see if you meet some criteria. I think $50 would be reasonable - $177 is just plain robbery. But those are the rules.

Holiday Travels

2010-01-03T18:32:00.002-05:00

Yea, I know. It's been months. I'm going to try this again. I figured a post about my often notorious travels would be just the thing to kickstart this thing. Again.

I have had odd experiences when it comes to travel, including both planes and trains. It seems like everytime I take the night train back from NYC, something happens. And, the last couple of times I've travelled through DFW airport, something happens. This time, it happened on Christmas Eve.

When I flew into DFW on Christmas Eve day, it was snowing outside. Right away I knew there would be a problem. Snow in Texas, even northern Texas, is never a good thing for travel. They simply aren't prepared for it. They cancelled my first flight out then kept delaying the next flight on which I was booked. I made friends with others in the waiting room and we contemplated taking a chance on driving. Airline employees kept telling me they didn't have anything to tell me. Finally I asked the pilot his personal opinion, not the official company line. He said he would get the hell out and drive. 'Nuff said.

So, myself and 4 1/2 strangers (one was 5 months pregnant) set out in a rented SUV on the slippery roads of the Dallas area. Very Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. I was very lucky to get stuck with people with personalities as we laughed about our predicament. It was either the road or a cot in the airport, as they finally cancelled our flight about an hour after we left and more than 2 hours after we should have flown out. We even hit a drive-thru liquor store (welcome to Texas!) but we only got soda. I finally made it to my destination at 12:30 a.m. Christmas, only 9 hours after I was scheduled.

It could have been worse. Trust me, it has been worse. At least I have a cool story to tell.

Commercials

2009-09-05T19:11:00.002-04:00

Sometimes you love commercials and sometimes, well, they just annoy the hell out of you. I have one in particular in mind.

The "rollover minutes" commercials - all of them! Just take away the damn phone!!! If the boy can't stoop so low to use rollover minutes he didn't pay for in the first place then take the phone away from the ungrateful bastard!

OK. I feel better now.

Attractive and unintelligent woman

2009-08-26T20:59:00.004-04:00

I was driving home today from the gym and was lucky enough to get behind this bad boy. It actually is a truck for Bimbo Bakeries, which includes many familiar brands. It got me wondering, "This company must be really old to have a name like that when its meaning is nothing even closely related to bread." Nope, it was founded as an umbrella corporation in the 1980s! Seriously, what were they thinking?

Nothing says respect like Bimbo.

Color me Shandy

2009-08-25T16:41:00.002-04:00

I had a small party/get-together this past weekend. It was all good and fun, until I noticed someone committed a major party foul. Without asking, a party guest drank my roommate's Shandy without asking who it belonged to or if she could drink it or not.

For those who don't know what that is - I didn't until three days ago - Shandy is beer mixed with lime juice, or ginger beer, or a variety of other flavors. It's from the islands. Being the good roommate that I am, I set out to replace the six-pack to make up for my guest's indiscretion.

It took three days and treks to Rhode Island and Hartford, both of which are an 1+ hours away, to finally get the goods. I got it in a lovely neighborhood in north Hartford, where I stood out like a Q-Tip. The liquor store was the kind where everything was behind plexiglass. At least the store workers were cool. They thought my story was hilarious, especially the part about driving halfway across the state for a six-pack.

I sometimes wonder if I'm too nice. But then wicked thoughts creep into my head and I feel normal once again.

OCD is not me

2009-08-16T15:29:00.000-04:00

I've come to realize that there are two things that are absolute in my life: 1) I am one of the klutziest people on the planet, and 2) The weirdest things happen around me.

I was tempted to classify No. 2 as "not having the best luck" but I realized that would diminish the good-luck things that do actually happen. It's just the weird, bad-luck kinda things tend to overshadow the good sometimes. Also, weird things happen around me - I refuse to play the victim and let them happen to me.

Why am I bothering to explain my absolute truths? Because that will be the main focus of this project, or dare I say, online therapy. Enjoy my triumphs and travails. Both can be quite amusing.