Friday, March 30, 2007

A Small Rant

I am tired.

I am tired of worrying about my husband being sick. It's been 19 months of almost constant pain & worry. I want the doctors to understand the urgency & importance of how long this has been going on & figure out what is wrong. I'm not asking for a miracle cure; I know they don't exist. But is it too much to ask to know what is wrong after 19 months, 4 neurologists, 1 pain specialist & 1 neurosurgeon? Really is that too much?

I am tired of people treating me like I can not do anything at work. And yet I am the one they turn to when they have questions. If I am not good enough to do anything, why am I relied on to explain?

I am tired of being told that anyone can do my job. Or that they can learn to do any job there is. This is simply not true. Yes, you can learn how to use the programs I use. You can learn how to communicate changes with a factory. You can even learn how to sew & might even be able to learn how to make a pattern. But unless you are good at visualizing how a flat pattern shape is sewn together to make a garment. And can make it so that it fits. Then you can not do my job as well as I can. This is not a skill that you learn but part of my personality. It is just something I am able to do.

I am smart enough I could be a lawyer; I even took a PLR class & found it interesting. But I am not good at being able to stand up in front of people & speaking off the top of my head. So I wouldn't be a good lawyer. No one is good at everything. You may be good at everything you try, but you are not good at everything. So don't insult people by telling them you can do any job.

I am tired of working to make everyone's life easier, but not having the courtesy paid back to me. What's the point? I work harder to make your life easier, but what do you do for me?

So it isn't a small rant, more like a medium one. You is not directed at anyone in particular. So please do not take offense in reading.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Good Wines

So I have developed this habit of keeping the wine bottles of the wines that I really liked so that I can get them again. My collection has grown a little big so I thought that I would start a list & thought that this might be a good place to store it. Hopefully you will find it ineresting or helpful if you ever need to buy a bottle of wine.

See list to the left.

Monday, March 26, 2007

A good weekend

Since we got Ben back on the indomethicin we were able to have a good weekend for the first time in awhile.

He had been on indomethicin for a month with great results; no headaches as long as he took it on time, every time. But because it can cause stomach bleeding & kidney problems, the doctor wanted to try to take him off of it. Even though it was working & he had virtually no side effects.

So we introduced a new drug, propranolol. Pretty much from the time he started taking the propranolol, the headaches started coming back & he couldn't sleep because of really weird, bad dreams. It got so bad that Ben went home from work sick & saw the doctor that day. It couldn't have been the newly introduced drug, propranolol, that was causing the headache to return. No it was the one drug we have found that worked that supposedly is causing the headache to return.

But we listened to the doctor & stopped taking indomethicin. And started taking predinsone & depakote. Neither one was helping & after being in bed for 4 days with an excrusiating headache, he called the doctor's office to see if he could start taking the indomethicin until he could see the doctor again. Luckily they said yes.

And again it was a miraculous drug. Within 48 hours of taking it, his head stopped hurting. And 5 days after he was so sick he couldn't do anything we were able to have a great weekend.

And now the whole point of this post, our good weekend:
Saturday we were planning on running out to get breakfast & go to Target then come home to clean. While at Target we decided to go to Applejack since I couldn't find any wine I wanted at Target. It is the country's largest liquor store. I love it! They have a HUGE selection of wine & people who are good at recommending new wines for you. I purchased 8 bottles, which my loving husband commented should be enough to last me a week. :) Really it will last me 2 1/2 weeks since it takes me 2 days to finish a bottle and that is if I drink wine every night. And Ben got himself a six-pack of some copper ale that he thought was good (I didn't like it), an 18 pk of CL's and whiskey to add to the bar since we are constantly asked for it.

Then we went & helped my dad pick up the new chairs he purchased, went to the self-dog wash & had lunch. The self dog was turned out to be the best $10 ever; they have a tub at standing height that was tall enough that Lily could not jump out of & a hair dryer so we could dry her. The guy even clipped her nails for us for free! It was fabulous, I would definietly recommend it! So much easier than the tub at home. After that we went home and cleaned. We had a wonderful dinner of crab legs, steak, asparagus & salad. Then we went over to Lane & Tamara's to hang out for awhile.

Sunday we went to breakfast as usual, went to Home Depot for lopping shears, fixed our garage door (from when I backed into it), fixed Lily's outside pen (so she can be outside while we are at work again), trimmed the front bush so it no longer hangs over the sidewalk, finished putting together Ben's tool chest, and did the spring trimming of the front rose bushes. (I am hoping I did it all correctly & did not kill them. We will have to see; there was new growth already so I am hopeful...)

I am sure to some of you this does not sound like a fun weekend. We basically did errands & chores all weekend. But that is the point, we were able to do all of this in one weekend. Normally we would be lucky to get the house clean & run a couple of errands over the entire weekend. But because Ben is back on the indomethicin, we were able to ALL of that stuff in 2 days. AND Ben even managed to squeeze in a nap each day.

Here's hoping we can convince the doctor to keep him on the indomethicin & have many more weekends like this!

Friday, March 23, 2007

More stuff I designed

So we finally go the cd with all of our wedding pictures on it. (Only took almost 4 months, but we have it now, so it is all good.)

I thought that it might be nice if I posted some of the pictures of the dresses I designed since this is supposed to be about me designing. Instead of designing my wedding dress & making it myself, I chose to design & make the bridesmaids' and flower girls' dresses. I figured that it would be less stress & less work in the end. (Which it probably was, but didn't seem like it at the time.)

So here are a few pictures.






Mindbender....

15 percent of women and 20 percent of men do this on a business trip....

Amazingly enough, I don't do this. See comments for answer.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

The Man in the Glass

Found this today & thought that I would share it:

THE MAN IN THE GLASS


(Author Unknown)

When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to a mirror and look at yourself
And see what THAT man has to say.
For it isn't your father or mother or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass,
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.
Some people might think you're a straight-shootin' chum
And call you a wonderful guy.
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
If you can't look him straight in the eye.
He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,
For he's with you clear to the end,
And you've passed your most dangerous test
If the guy in the glass is your friend.
You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you've cheated the man in the glass.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Post Secret

So I found this website last week when reading The Awful Truth. (No comments on the trashy, stupid celebrity gossip I read. I know it rots my brain & I should be reading something more intellegent, but I need mindless gossip sometimes.)

The website is postsecret. com. (Note: do not click on if you are at work; there is some nudity this week.) I'm sure that I am late to the game on this one but found that it was a very interesting concept. People mail in homemade postcards with secrets they have never shared before. It is an interesting way to create a community art project that actually has a statement that most people can understand intead of the crazy wierd art that most people dont get. Th concpet seems to bt to spread compasion & tolerance through art; that we are all not so different when it comes right down to it; which is always cool.

Monday, March 19, 2007

The dangers of Easy Bake ovens....

When I got into the car to drive to work this morning, Dom & Jane (the radio dj's I listen to) were talking about the recall of 1 million Easy Bake ovens because 5 children were burned by them. It was too funny so I had to go find the entire clip at lunch to listen to.

Click here to listen.

Friday, March 9, 2007

Not a job I would want

I think I would rather stick with the dusty, gray cubeland I currently work than apply for this job. But who knows, some days it might be better....

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Gift ideas needed!!!



So we found out yesterday that our nephew, Simon, needs to have surgery. He has a Chiari malformation but luckily he has a VERY observant mommy & they caught it very early.

Since they live in New Jersey, we can not do much to help out. It's tough when your family is so far away. But we want to send him a care package so that he knows we love him. The problem is, I can not come up with any good ideas.

So I need help in figuring out what to send him. He is in kindergarten & knows how to read. And as you probably guessed from the picture, he is quite energetic. I want to send things that will keep him busy until he can run around like a monkey again.

So please, if you can think of anything that I can include in the package, I would greatly appreciate the suggestions.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

etsy.com

I finally got a chance to look at etsy.com last night. Beth had recommended it in one of her comments. It does not work with Safari (my work internet program) so I had to remember to do it at home.

It is the coolest website ever! You can buy & sell handmade goods. You get your own page to showcase your goods & the fees are extremely low. It looks like it is a better deal the eBay & way easier to use as a seller with a shop.

You should definitely check it out. And hopefully soon you will be able to check out some of my stuff on there.