Lilac Colored Glasses

A few days ago it had come to my attention that many of the talented and entertaining bloggers I read were complaining of misery, illness and a general over abundance of mucus either in themselves, their children, or both. It crossed my mind to comment on this strange blogger plague and find a way to blame it all on an overuse of the mystical “blogger gland” in every faithful blogger’s brain as a result of, you got it, the infamous NaBloPoMo. I thought to post this and then hesitated. Maybe it was just a coincidence that about 35% of the people on my Google Reader were all simultaneously reporting illness. Maybe I was just focusing on the wrong details, concentrating on complaints rather than insights.

That was before my throat started feeling dry and itchy on Wednesday evening. When CB woke me up early Thursday morning I was swallowing razorblades. My face was hot, I had a headache and I was choking every time I swallowed. I slept off and on throughout the day and finally in the late afternoon my throat and head felt okay enough to enjoy Thanksgiving. Today was more of the same, only I had the wonderful idea of going shopping at 4 in the morning with my mother at the local mall. The good news was that we got all the Hannukah shopping done by 9 a.m. The bad news was I was basically comatose for the rest of the day. Breathing tore up my throat and I spent a lot of the day half asleep in front of the computer.

This is not a coincidence.

NaBloPoMo is slowly conquering the immune systems of the world’s bloggers. Next year’s website ought to come with a disclaimer: Warning: Blogging every day for a month may cause a breakdown in mental and physical health. Proceed with caution.

Greetings friends and followers. Here is my list of things I am thankful for on this, my 26th Thanksgiving Day:

1. My mother and father, who have graciously allowed their adult (heh, yeah I know, I doubt it sometimes too) daughter to lodge with them for the past several months in order to pay off her debts before she leaves the country. Thank you mom and dad for basically everything. You’ve done more than any parent should ever have to when it comes to children. You have given and sacrificed for us in so many ways and I will always be grateful (translation: no nursing home for either of you ever! Hooray, you’ve won the Game of Life!).

2. My brother, for just being him. Sometimes I forget what an adult he has grown into. I have a ton of fun on the rare and random times we do get to hang out. I don’t know if anyone can make me laugh as much as Scooter. He would give someone the shirt off his back if he saw they were in need, or even if they just really liked the color. I’m glad we’re able to be close siblings.

3. The rest of my family for being loving and supportive and close knit. My family is a huge part of my identity. You have all contributed to making me who I am today (no really, that’s a compliment).

4. My friends, both old and new, from IUP and YPP and anyone else who I have connected with in the past few years. I know I don’t keep in touch enough with some of you, but I appreciate you and think of you very often. You might not hear from me all the time, but you are always in my heart.

5. I am thankful for the joy I have found in working with children and the patience my employers have had with me. It has allowed me to grow professionally. There are so many things that I enjoy doing, but working with kids really gives me a feeling of satisfaction.

6. I am thankful for having my health, a roof over my head (see #1), food in my stomach (ok, too much, I still have a loong way to go on the path to an acceptable weight), a sweet cat who brings smiles to my household, and love in my heart.

7. I think most of all I am thankful this year for my boyfriend. And see, this year I can call him my boyfriend, woohoo! It took almost a year for things to finally come together and another half year of planning, but we’re almost there. I think I tell him pretty often how thankful I am that he is in my life, but it can’t hurt to say it again now. I would list all of his wonderful qualities here but his ego would swell and you’d all be jealous so I won’t. But suffice it to say that I’ve never felt this way about another human being and I have faith in something now. I haven’t had that in a very long time. Thank you for that, love. It’s making this whole thing worthwhile.

So, with that said, y’all can go dry your eyes and stuff your guts. Best wishes to all you football fans, may your teams reign victorious (unless you’re playing against the Steelers and then I hope you LOSE).

Be safe, be healthy, be all that you can be.

Peace out.

Dear Mom,
Last night you told me that today is just another day. Well, like any good daughter, I must do my childly duty in telling you that you are wrong. Today is not just another day. Today marks the 55th anniversary of your existence, and to those of us who know you, that is a truly good reason to celebrate.
You do so many things for so many people. You are daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt, co-worker and friend. You never give yourself enough credit for the important roles you play in the lives of everyone around you. Maybe we don’t tell you enough exactly how much you mean.

Without you I would be devoid of so many thing. You have always given me unconditional love, and believe me, I know there were plenty of times I didn’t deserve it. You have offered support financially, morally and emotionally; when times are hard you are the one I look to for guidance and a kind word or a hug. For as long as I can remember you have been there when my world comes crashing down around my ears, and every time I fall your hands have been the first to pick me back up.

I tell you everything; my heartaches, my successes, my failures, my fears, my hopes, plans, ideas and you always listen to everything, even when I’m rambling on or repeating myself. You’re not just my mother, you are one of my best and dearest friends, and I just want to say thank you for being such an important part of my life.

Happy Birthday Mom.

Okay, so it seems I have developed some crazy chronic pee problem. I know y’all really want to hear about this (consider it punishment for lack of comments…what can I say, I’m becoming a bit of a traffic slut and I like comments). In the past two hours I have peed at least 6 times, and I’m not talking leisurely trips that result in a sprinkle or two; oh no, I mean this is a thundering torrent that is battering the floodgates before I even realize what is happening. Every time. And what have I had to drink in the past two hours? About 12 ounces of Diet Dew. That’s it. For weeks now I’ve been drinking 2.5 litres of water a day every day and at the most I have to pee like, 5 times from 8 am until I fall asleep around midnight. I’m kinda worried here. It’s not the frequency so much, although that is quite annoying and not even close to convenient. It’s the amount.

I’m producing a shit-load of urine… erm, a piss-load of urine? And I’m not even drinking as much as usual this evening. I looked up OAB, Overactive Bladder (don’t you love how everything has a fun “buzz abbreviation” now? RLS, OCD, ADD, GERD, ED… the list goes on and on. I long for the simple days of twitchy, crazy, hyper, gassy and limpdick) on Wrongdiagnosis.com and got a fun list of tons of things that could be wrong. I’m not sure if I have frequent urination or excessive urination. Really, it’s both, although it says that excessive urination causes frequent bathroom trips, but it’s apparently not the same thing. Either way, I’m peeing frequently and peeing a lot, oh and the urinary urgency, I have that too but apparently that is caused by frequent or excessive urination. So I think I’m looking at a bladder infection or a UTI (formerly known as contaminated pee tube).

Why can’t I just get the flu like everyone else?