Sleepay

So. Tired.

Today in summary:

I didn't sleep too well, but got up and got gasoline para mi coche and an iced mocha latte before work (Starbucks).

When I got to work, I began by cleaning off my desk. I have no idea why I would do that, other than trying to get motivated. I had a huge stack of random papers on my desk and now they're gone. Awesome. Then, being that it's the biggest mass email day of the month, I was surprised to find that our mass email tool was down. For several hours. Soooo, that brought my work for the day to a screeching halt.

During the time in which I was trying to maintain my sanity, tomorrow night's emcee called me to see if I had plans for tomorrow (Friday) night. Hoping this was going somewhere good, I said I didn't and got asked if I would like to be in the show tomorrow night. I giddily said yes and literally galloped around the office for a few moments. I'm a combination of nervous and psyched, but mostly psyched! It will be fun getting to perform with the mainstagers! I bet I will learn a lot.

I then went and ate steak nachos at Willy's.

The system was up and running for me when I got back, so I got as much done as I could. I didn't get everything accomplished that was on the agenda today, but I made a great effort given the circumstances.

Then I headed to Midtown for tonight's show. I had so much fun tonight, and literally used every ounce of energy I had! I played ABC Buzzer, Repeat Scene Styles (Gladiator, Soap Opera, High School Musical), Helping Hands Oscar (handless), Script in Hand (off-book), and Sounds Like a Song/Rap. Man, it was a lot of fun! [INTERRUPTION: DONATION ALERT!] My parents and a few friends came, including my faaaaaavorite nurse ever. I looooooooooove Script in Hand; it is in my top games!

That donation was the perfect segue to say that Drew's Crew is at $9,777. I hope to hit $10,000 by the end of the week. Have I already mentioned that? I feel like I've already said that. Okay, I'm teasing with you - I had this conversation with myself last night, but I meant it last night. I forgot to look back and see if I'd really said it the day before.

So, how about I go to sleep?! I've got to do some resting so I am energized for tomorrow night!

Givin' Lip

I'll go ahead and say that the title of this post has nothing to do with actually giving lip... I am wearing a shirt that someone gave me because it was too small, and it is a white tank top with the words "Givin' Lip" in pink writing. I actually kind of love it because it's worthless.

Well, I just got home from rehearsal. I guess you can't really call it rehearsal because we actually went hanging up posters around Midtown - at least that's the group my area tackled. [Side bar: I just noticed after posting that I said "group my area tackled" instead of "area my group tackled." I have been doing backwards things like this for a few days, so I'm leaving it as-is for a trip down memory lane.] It was a fun change of pace, but we walked around a lot and I'm feeling kinda worn out. I guess that's good since I should be heading to sleep soon!

Umm, Drew's Crew is at $9,602!!!!! I really, really hope to hit $10,000 by the week's end. Did I say that yesterday? Or say it in my mind? Either way, it's still the truth! I think I did say it. (Can you tell I'm delirious?)

What elsssssssse? I went to the fitness center for a little chunk during lunchtime today. I got in a pretty good workout. I ran for a little on the treadmill, then hopped on the elliptical, then did some sprints on the treadmill, and topped it off with walking at an incline. I didn't feel like I could exert myself in the way that I do when I'm feeling my best, but I was able to do moderately intense things for a decent length of time, so that was good!

I am kinda at a loss of things to say, which is surprising.

I better take advantage of this 'being tired' thing while it's still accurate.

Oh, my boss is going to have a baby any day now. I don't know why it is nerveracking for me! I'm not the one giving birth, but I am just anxiously waiting...in a neutral way. The actual due date is April 22, so I am trying to be prepared, but I don't think I will be. I will miss her while she's on maternity leave.

Okay. Done.

Dodging a bullet

Well, y'aaaaaaaaalllllllllll........ My doctor's appointment went surprisingly well today! I'll start at the beginning. I got to Emory right at 10:00 a.m. to start my glucose tolerance test. When they finally drew (DREW!) my blood at about 10:30 a.m., I felt like I was going to faint. I survived the blood draws and then drank the special orange drink, which actually tastes pretty decent when you're starved beyond rational thinking. I then headed over for my DEXA bone density scan. After that, I headed back to the lab and had to wait until 12:30 p.m. for my post-orange DRANK stick. The worker was so helpful and, given how weak I was feeling she packed me a baggie with two 4-packs of Oreos and two apple juices, which I thought was really sweet. I want to write her boss and commend her work, but every time I plan to do that it's difficult to follow through...

From there, I headed up to the real doozie - the CF appointment. I didn't have to wait too exceptionally long before completing my PFTs. Believe it or not, my numbers had IMPROVED from the study visit, but were still down a little bit from my baseline. I couldn't believe that I would have improved considering the fact that I didn't feel so great, but I did...so I'll take it! My bloodwork from the morning looked great, with my glucose tolerance test showing that I was normal.

Interestingly, though, the doctor did notice that a particular liver enzyme was elevated. It didn't worry her too much, but she did take note of it since some CFers end up with liver disease for a variety of reasons. Then, we got to talking about the pain that I'd had (the ER-inspiring pain), and she was convinced that the pain was in my gall bladder/liver area. She said that lungs don't really have pain censors, with the exception of when the lining is inflamed, but my pain didn't seem to be affected by my breathing. So, with the combination of the pain and the elevated enzymes, she wants to do an ultrasound of my gall bladder/liver if the pain returns. Hopefully it was just an odd occurrence, and I'm optimistic since I've been painkiller- and pain-free for a week.

Needless to say, after all of that news, I don't have to go to the hospital and I don't have to return for a follow-up until June 1. YAAAAAY! The doctor also mentioned trying to get me back in the study, so I'm hopeful for that. I let that fall to the back-burner temporarily because obviously my current health is the most pressing, but lately I'd been thinking how I really hope to get to participate in the study even though my initial screening indicated otherwise. I'll keep you posted on that.

I don't really have too much to say, as the doctor's appointment was the bulk of my day. Drew's Crew is at $9,367. I'm excited! I think my next endeavor is to encourage friends to email everyone they know. We've come a long way, but we're still only halfway to my aspirational goal!
Thank you to everyone who sent well wishes my way; they helped!

what a day

At least the Braves didn't lose 17 to 2. Oh wait, they did. Darn.

I'd say the Braves score is indicative of my overall day. I know that's kind of melodramatic, but oh well. Today was one of those days where it was hard to snap out of it. ARGGGGH! At least it's about over...

Surprisingly, I was able to sleep through the night like I hadn't taken 6 hours of naps immediately before laying down for bed. I'm just amazed that I could sleep from almost 3:00 p.m. until 6:22 a.m. That's quite the accomplishment. Sadly, it's probably the biggest success of the day.

I did get up and exercise this morning, although it was extremely difficult to wake up this morning. I did about 32 minutes of varying activities in the fitness center, experiencing some of the same exercise ADD that I had yesterday. I then headed off to work where I kicked off my day with a lovely 1.5-hour meeting that we have once a month. I went out to eat for lunch (Mexican), so that was a highlight.

I went to Starbucks on the way to rehearsal because I figured I needed some kind of fake enthusiasm in order to do a good job. It's getting increasingly difficult to go to rehearsal with an open mind on Mondays after work. Mmm, maybe if I anticipate it on Mondays from here on out, it won't take me by surprise. Anyway, rehearsal was a lot of fun. We played ABC Buzzer and Blind Scene, and the fact that I hadn't had a good day didn't cross my mind once!

Well, tomorrow's the big day at the doctor. I have to do a two-hour glucose tolerance test, which means I am beginning to fast. BLAH! I will never be as hungry as I will be tomorrow morning. Anyway, I need to get my blood drawn at 10:00 a.m., then I'll drink the orange drank and get blood drawn again at noon. I need to get a DEXA bone density scan somewhere in that time, too, so that the doctors can tell me I have osteopenia. Then, I have my pulmonary function tests (PFTs) at 12:30 p.m. and my actual appointment at 1:00 p.m. Yeaaaaaaaah, it's gonna be a pretty long day. While the optimist in me wants to say that it will go well, the pragmatist in me doesn't have very high hopes. Whatever happens, I will handle it with grace... and probably IV antibiotics.

Umm, what else? That's all. No money raised online for Drew's Crew today, but one of the crew members should have made his first push tonight, so I'm hoping I'll see an increase when I check the total in the morning. Unless you beat him to it....

Have a good night. I will report on judgment day tomorrow.

Snoozer

At what point does a nap no longer classify as a nap? Does it depend on what time it starts or its duration? Either way, I basically slept from 3:00 to 10:00 p.m. this afternoon, with the exception of one or two little stints of waking up for 30 minutes. I mean, that's incredible. I'm afraid it could be difficult to sleep tonight, which is why I'm going to be quick-like. Gotta keep this napping momentum going!

Today I got up and hit the gym first thing. I experienced the worst cast of gym ADD that I've ever had. I would get on one machine for a few minutes, feel like changing to something else, then repeat that again. All in all, I did a little over 30 minutes of stuff, but it was really hard to stay focused. I have no idea why!

Then, I got picked up to go eat an early lunch at El Azteca (Peachtree). I was graced by my two female apprenti, which was fun. We chit-chatted and had a few margaritas before heading to WWIT for the monthly teen performance. It was a lot of fun to watch! I was also excited because I knew that a fellow CFer was in the show (small world, I know), so I got to talk to his mom. CFers just have this inherent bond.

That reminds me that I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday. I'm not exactly worried about it, but I'm definitely feeling some hesitance. I just don't know if it will go well. I haven't felt GREAT in a while.

Speaking of not feeling great, the Braves are kinda sucking. I mean, they could be doing worse, but they have 3 wins and 3 losses right now. I'm kinda thankful that I fell asleep for most of today's game. I started off with a feeling that this season was gonna be different, and it's starting to dwindle. COME ON!

Well, there's more I could drone on about, but I really didn't have a productive weekend. It was just kinda there. I tried to write and had no success. I just kind of piddled around, but I guess I'm entitled to that considering how busy I've been lately.

I'm hoping for a good week of fundraising. Drew's Crew is at $8592. I hope we can pick up some momentum this week and hit maybe $11 or $12K. We'll hit the one-month-out mark on Wednesday, so we've gotta get it going!

Good night, y'aaaaallllllllllllll!

Do you hear what I heaaaaar?

A child, a child. That title was inspired by a blog I just read. (Yes, you.) I misread the title and started singing that song.

It seems like it's been forever, but I know it hasn't. I'm just being overly dramatic.

Well, Thursday was a pretty good day! However, it started off a bit dicey (that's a pun, but you don't know it yet). I stopped by my sister's place on the way to work to pick up a shirt she was handing down to me. On the way out of her door, the storm door (the technical term - one of those glass doors outside of the front door) attacked my ankle. I wish I could convey the extent of the pain in words, but I don't know that I can. I was afraid to look at it because it was hurting so bad, but surprisingly the actual wound doesn't do it justice. Neither does this picture because it's one of those awkward injuries where it breaks the skin in a way that stings and what not. It kind of skipped a chunk and then actually bled on the back of my heel. It's so sore! Hey - Look at my lil vest machine down there! Aren't my sheets cute with the asterisks? That's a hard word to say.


It's about three inches of ouch. The jaggedness should illustrate PAIN.

Also on Thursday, my mom and I went out to lunch at my favorite Mexican place of all time (I think) - Monterrey on LaVista. Man, it was incredible! I had two grilled steak quesadillas. That's the first time I've ever broken my improv show tradition of having Willy's for lunch. It was so good and I didn't notice it affecting my performance.

That's the perfect segue to mention Thursday's show! I played Sounds Like a Song, ABC Buzzer, Narration Switch (started off-stage), and Confessions (as Barbara Buchanan). The show was a lot of fun and the audience was very participatory, which is awesome! I had fun with all of the games, especially ABC Buzzer. That's always been a favorite of mine! It's fun having to blurt out a new word in a split-second, and we got to do it many times! I could have been much better at Confessions, but I thought it went well for a game I'd never played. I had a good ol' time, and had some friends and family come check it out!

Today was pretty low-key. I worked from home, and then grabbed dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with my neighbor before heading to my crew shift. I was doing suggestions tonight. Although I've enjoyed my weekends off from volunteering, it was fun to be back and see a show! And guess what .... DRUMROLL ............

I saw my first proposal tonight! A guy had coordinated with the emcee to incorporate their proposal into the show. Man, I felt so special all night for knowing the secret, even though all of us did. On the last scene of the night, the emcee got volunteers and they came up on stage. The guy was so nervous and his voice was shaking and he asked his girlfriend to marry him. It was really sweet! I'd slap anyone in the face who did that to me, but hopefully he knows her well enough to know that she'd like that... Well, she said yes!

That's about all. I just read an AJC article about Roethlisberger being innocent in an assault accusation and it referred to him as a 'pro-bowler.' I was like, 'No he's not; he's a pro football player.' Then I realized there's something called the pro bowl...

I'm WAY excited about tomorrow. I have no plans in any form or fashion! And I am NOT setting an alarm!!!!

Drew's Crew is at $8,532 online!

Pollination transformation

I'm gonna attempt to make this quick-like since it's past my bedtime already...

Today was a somewhat successful day. I worked from home, which brought great relief to a week that hadn't started out as I'd hoped. I decided to sit outside on my patio and work for a while. I knew I was taking a risk given the pollen count, but it seemed to have been a risk worth taking. When pollen has really irritated me before, it's almost instantaneous, so I think I may have dodged a bullet. Knock on wizzooood.

Instead of going anywhere to pick up lunch, I decided to exercise for part of my lunch hour and put some of last night's groceries to good use. Well, exercising was a bit tough, but I outdid myself and did 3.4 miles today. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to how much time I spent running versus walking, but I did the 3.4 in 36 minutes, so that's averaging about 6.0 mph at all times. So, I considered that a win. I am pretty pleased with myself AND my dedication. I'd like to work out in the morning, but it's getting pretty unlikely if I'm going to get sufficient sleep.

Well, I am in tomorrow night's improv show, so that should be fun. I was between a rock and a hard place because I really, really wanted to see a Braves game in their first home stand of the season, but my only off-day was their only off-day. As it got closer and closer to showtime and I didn't have a Braves plan yet, I didn't want to end up with no show and no game. So, given the rain in the forecast for tomorrow, plus the fact that it would be difficult to throw that together last-minute, I'm glad I won't be able to attend the game for a solid, legitimate, also fun reason. I'm excited because one of my old bosses is coming! Congrats on being 2-0, Bravos!

I think that's about it. Drew's Crew kept it pretty low-key today, but we're looking at $8317 today. I'm excited because I am at $4000 on the nose. That's 40 percent of my goal, which is a little AHHH since I am not keeping a steady pace, but it's AWESOME! Shameless plug.

Umm, yeah. Going to BED!

loooooove

First things first, let me announce the newest online total of $8259. This makes me so happy for Drew's Crew. This is such an important time of year for me, and it's awesome people who make it possible for me to be so successful. Sometimes I feel like a 'thank you' isn't enough for the support and the love I get from the people in my life. Seems cliche, but I mean it. It's amazing to think about how excited my mom and I used to be when we broke $1000, but as I meet more and more incredible people, it becomes that much simpler to do.

Well, today was a success. I didn't sleep very well, but I did get up early to exercise. I ended up exercising for 34 minutes and, of those minutes, I only walked for about 8. That was a pleasant surprise! In total, my distance was about 3.2 miles, so it was an awesome way to start the day. I haven't accomplished anything physical like that in quite a while. I hope to do something similar tomorrow because I felt so fulfilled when I finished.

I've spent the last two days at work catching up on some tasks I have been putting off left and right - some low-priority things. It feels good to get some of that out of the way so it's not staring me in the face anymore. Tomorrow, when I work from home, I'll get to spend my time building next week's mass emails to ATL and NYC. Oooh, how exciting! It'll be nice to take care of it distraction-free for a change. Speaking of, I wore a sundress today bracing myself for the 80+ degree temperatures in the office, and then it ended up being pretty chilly. I was relieved it was fixed, though, because it made for an easier day.

I had El Torero for lunch. It was fun!

Tonight I ended up going out to El Azteca for dinner, and then getting some groceries. Yeah, I planned on staying home and relaxing tonight, but El Azteca was too tempting and I kind of wanted to go out and do something instead of sitting around in a funk like I've been doing a bit too much lately. So, off I went, and I'm really glad I did!

I think that's about it. The Braves didn't play today, so I didn't get to enjoy that on my 'off' night... They're back at it tomorrow, though, so I'm looking forward to it!

Gooooo Bravooooooooos

Well, I was really sad to miss the Braves home opener today. It's the first time I've missed in several years. I missed for a few reasons - 1) Since I was home from work last week, I didn't want to take another day off, 2) I had improv, and 3) The pollen is ridiculous. The Braves beat the Cubs 16 to 5, so it would have been a fun game to see. Oh well... I know I'll get to one sooner than later!

Today was a rough day. As I mentioned last night, it had been a while since I'd been in the office, and it was tough to be back. I didn't sleep well last night, so I was already a little perturbed. Then the day didn't improve a whole lot from there. Moodwise, at least. I was in a bit of a funk all day, but I surprisingly felt better when I walked into the theatre. I was worried I wouldn't be able to shake it, but I did; I didn't even think one time about how bad my day had been.

I think part of that is because, as I was walking into the theatre, one of my friends gave me a $250 donation from his dad! That made me smile BIG TIME! Then, when I was getting out of improv, I looked at my phone and my mom had texted me to tell me about a $500 donation from my old boss. All in all, today was an awesome fundraising day, with a total of $850 raised! Now Drew's Crew's online total is $7662! SOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!

What else? I got over to the Emory area a little early today, so I stopped by Kroger and got some granola bars and cashews. I ate a granola bar for breakfast. Is anyone in particular who is reading this proud of me for eating breakfast????????????????? I had steak nachos for lunch at Willy's, which was a ray of sunshine on this bleak Monday.

Oh yeah, I ended up not working out today. I think I have a really good explanation, though. It took me a long time to get to sleep, so it was really hard to get up this morning. I decided to sleep in a little later and use my exercise hour at work today to hop on the elliptical before improv. However, the AC was broken at work today, so my office was 83 degrees, with some neighboring offices getting up to 87. That being said, the exercise room was like a sauna and it wouldn't fare well with my heading-straight-to-improv-after-a-sink-shower plan that I was hoping to accomplish. So, I'm getting up and doing it tomorrow. No excuses. Man, it's already late. I better get on this sleeping thing!

Cheers to a better Tuesday!

Back to work

It's hard to imagine that I haven't been to work in almost a week. Yeah, I was telecommuting, but it will be nice to see everyone's faces when I'm back in the office tomorrow. I kind of wish I was feeling 100 percent, but I'm not sure when I will be given the weather, etc.

I haven't had any of the same pain that I had on Friday. However, I've also been taking the prescription Motrin pretty regularly, so I don't know if I'd be pain-free without it. I was experiencing some shortness of breath (again) Saturday and today, but I do think I'm on the road to recovery. Fatigue has been trying to hold me back, so I'm hoping tomorrow won't be too difficult at work.

Guess what! Today I went to the gym for the first time in what felt like forever. I haven't tried to run in at least two weeks, but probably more like three. As I mentioned recently, I was starting to feel like I needed to work out - just that my body was withering away or something. The gym was tough, but I walked for three minutes, ran for five, walked for two, ran for five, then walked for three again. I then did twelve minutes on the elliptical, and finished with a ten-minute walk. It felt a little measly compared to how I usually push myself, but it was the most I felt like I could do. I have high hopes of getting up and going over there again in the morning to start my week off on a positive note.

Yesterday we went for a get-together at my aunts' house, and today we had a gathering at my grandmother's house. It was fun to get to see everyone on my dad's side of the family; it seemed like it had been a while. I enjoyed today, but everything was set up to eat outside and I knew it probably wasn't the best idea for me. Last year I got very, very sick from allergies on Easter Sunday and missed a week of work. Geeee, sounds sort of familiar, but I'll say this year has been nothing in comparison to last year (knock on wood). Anyway, I ended up sitting inside and one of my cousins joined me so I wasn't all alone. :-)

I know it seems like all I've been talking about lately is my health, but whatever - I'm more cognizant of it now than I usually am. That reminds me that I have only a few days left on this oral antibiotic, and a doctor's appointment next Tuesday. We'll see how all of that unfolds...

Although I am all talk regarding my book, I've been thinking about it a lot over these last couple days. I think that the revelation I had at the end of the year is gonna get tossed by the wayside and I should take a slightly different approach. Sometimes I wish I was better at acting rather than talking my way through things. I'm getting annoyed with myself by how badly I've been procrastinating. However, to go easy on myself, I haven't had much free time on my hands and, when I've found it, I've ended up using it for life's essentials - i.e. sleeping and eating.

Speaking of sleeping, I'm just finishing up a round of vesting so I can get a good night's sleep to start my week off... and so I'll get up to exercise!

GOOOOOOD Friday

Hi y'all!

I write you tonight with a smiling heart. Today has been such a great day, primarily due to the major advancements made by Drew's Crew! I, as an individual, raised $577 today - through a mere four donations! A really great friend left me in complete and utter shock with her generous donation, and it's like that positive energy carried into other people as well. It seemed like every time I logged onto Facebook, someone new was posting my link, which means a lot to me. Drew's Crew's up-to-date online total is $6,762!!! While it's not officially official yet, there is approximately $1,000 in checks that haven't been posted online yet. DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE MAGNITUDE OF HOW HAPPY I AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today I stopped by my mom's school to meet her kindergarten students. I haven't been able to go there in quite a while (pretty much since I finished college), so it was super-exciting to get to see all of the children. The kids were participating in an egg hunt today, and immediately upon entering the classroom, a student asked me if I was the Easter bunny. Man, that cracks me up. I've considered teaching and seeing those little kids today pulled at my heartstrings. I typically have a problem with children, but they were sooooooooo adorable.

I'll throw one tiny little twinge of negativity in here, more for informational purposes than anything. I have been doing really great pain-wise in the lungs since Tuesday, but today I got some more dagger-like pains. It's tough to imagine pain like this not being caused by something of concern, but they stopped shortly after taking the prescription Motrin. I had one 30-minute episode of being short-of-breath, too, so I guess I'm still monitoring this... That headache is lingering, too. I wonder if it has to do with a lack of oxygen or something.

ANYWAY! I'll end on a positive note. Tonight I got a post on my Facebook from a father of a CFer who said that my posting has motivated him to start fundraising again. That makes me very happy, so a shout-out to him!

As you go to sleep tonight, send some positive thoughts to a blog friend of mine who ought to be in the throes of a double-lung transplant right now. Someone's about to be breathing easy!

Foggy

Tonight's show was fun. It was a pretty quiet crowd, but I'm getting better at accepting the fact that a non-reactive crowd doesn't mean a displeased crowd. I had several friends and family members there, so that made me happy. I also had a surprise appearance by one of the CF doctors! One of my friends went to see him today (Hi E!) and I asked her to pass the info along to him. I didn't see him during the show, but was so excited when he was out in the cafe afterwards.

I was in the following games tonight: Emo Speed Date (changer), Buzzer Game Show (as Barbara Buchanan), Helping Hands Oscar (sitting on the lap), Foreign-Dubbed Soap Opera (as a translator), and Repeat Scene Musical Styles. I had a lot of fun with all of the games, even though my head was really foggy tonight. I think it was a combination of how lethargic I was all week, plus the prescription pain medicine. I have never found myself blanking as much as I did tonight, like completely forgetting what the last person just said, etc. I had this faint headache throughout the show - a dehydrated-like feeling. I'll say my biggest accomplishment for the night was Repeat Scene Musical Styles. I tend to lurk in the background in musical games because singing isn't my forte, but I really gave it my all tonight. We did R&B, Opera, and Rap. It was the perfect scene to end the night!

Right now I am in my childhood room.

OH! Before I forget... Yesterday I was at Starbucks and was talking to the worker as my drink was made. He commented on how nice the weather was, and I told him that it was beautiful and that I have bad allergies, so it would be a few weeks until I could actually go out and enjoy it. He was like, "I'm lucky I don't have that problem, but now I will just appreciate it more. I will breathe easy for you, my friend." Honestly it about stopped me dead in my tracks because of the words 'breathe easy.' Now, I realize they aren't the most uncommon words in the world, but I don't often hear them in reference to something other than CF. Two of my best friends have gotten those words tattooed on them in honor of me, so those words are really special to me. It was a really interesting word choice on his part and it made me shudder. In a good way.

Today I was thinking about how I really need to get back into an exercise routine. I know it's only been a few weeks and my slacking has been for mostly legitimate purposes, but I feel kind of useless lately. Not in an oh-how-depressing kind of way, but I just don't feel very strong lately. I just feel kind of 'there' and lacking some substance. I hope the way I'm describing this makes sense to someone somewhere.

Well, my car has a check-up in the morning, so I better get to sleep. I'll probably work on my laptop using wireless Internet at Nissan as it happens. This week has been weird since I haven't been at work, but I have gotten just as much accomplished telecommuting each day. So I am worn out.

Invisible

Today was a much better day, fans!! Thank you all for the support and the encouragement; I think I am on the right track to feeling better. I was feeling very sore today, but didn't have even half of the lung pain or breathing difficulty today. Woohooo! I can't tell you how relieved I am to have had a day where I felt better than worse. Forward progress is GREAT!

Speaking of progress, Drew's Crew is only $60 shy of $6K online right now, so that makes me smile! I know that we have at least $500 in checks, too, so we are probably 1/3 of the way to my big ol' goal. I got one donation and two new walkers today, so I'm excited about all of that.

My boss suggested that I stay home from work tomorrow if it will help me get back where I need to be, and I haven't yet decided whether or not to take her up on that offer. I'd kind of like to be up and about for the first day this week, buuuut my body is also radiating from the soreness right now, so we'll see how I sleep tonight. I think I remember exactly how I had the three pillows situated last night in order to minimize the pain as much as possible. Geez, I sound pitiful!

Today I had some yogurt at a place called Yogli Mogli. I got strawberry and raspberry yogurt topped with gummy bears, strawberries, kiwi, mango and pineapple. It was pretty fun, but they really ought to invest in some better quality gummy bears. For me, Drew Dotson, to throw out a gummy bear, something is horrendously wrong. The green gummy bears were absolutely awful. It got me thinking about how great Haribo gummy bears are. I learned the other day that the green Haribo bears are actually strawberry-flavored. All gummy bear companies should look into doing something like that because green is notoriously bad when it comes to candy.

Well, I guess I better get ready for bed. I mean, I've been in bed for much of the day, but I guess I better proceed as though I'll be sleeping soon. Tomorrow is going to be a big day for me whether I go to work or not - surviving an improv show when I didn't think my body would survive the week.

I am glad you are reading this.

FIGHT

Well, I ended up staying home from work today because the sleeping thing didn't work out too well last night. I was also short-of-breath, so I thought it would be best to work from home today. I was feeling decent the first few hours after waking, but my health started to gradually decline over the afternoon, and now I'm feeling probably the worst I've felt all day. I just took my second dose of the antibiotic, though, so I think it's too early to make a judgment on whether or not that's working.

One of the doctors checked in today and would like me to get admitted Friday if I'm not feeling any better. I am confident that I'll start feeling better, but I must say that my body has surprised me a bit over these last few days. Usually I feel kind of in control even when I'm out of control, but not so much in recent days. I am scheduled to be in the improv show on Thursday, so my goal is to at least hang in there for that. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but surprisingly I tend to check my health problems at the door when I walk in there. Sooo, I'm not concerned.

Today I made my squares for this CF quilt that is being auctioned off. They look kinda decent, but they also look a little child-like. The fabric markers I got this weekend were bleeding a bit on the fabric, but I think they turned out okay. I had one for Love, Peace, Beauty and Smile. I know those words don't necessarily go together, but I had to keep it to basics when I realized how the markers were working out on the fabric. Oh well... it's for charity. The paper said I could write the person's name and age and I almost put something like 'Mary, 4' to save a little face, but whatever! I don't imagine any of the other participants having much luck with the type of material we had.

I got a few donations today, so those made me smile. I think I'll have some luck in the coming days since it's almost a new month... The best thing that could come out of being hospitalized is more awareness. That'd be the light at the end of that tunnel. I really, really think I can shake this without IVs. I might try walking on the treadmill tomorrow if it seems at all feasible.

Mmm, I am looking forward to a much better day tomorrow. I think I just realized I haven't even laughed today, which is so not like me. There's a chance I laughed during a quick phone call earlier, but I remember wondering if I sounded as out-of-breath as I felt. Oh, Drewdle. Get it together.

Send any extra positive energy my way. NO! HOSPITAL! FOR! DREW!

Trial and error

Well, today was a big ol' waste of time.

As you know, I emailed the doctor in the middle of the night to try to get some sort of answer for the unusual pain I was having in my chest/lungs. Well, I got a return phone call right as I walked into an 11:00 a.m. appointment at work, so I made a quick exit. The nurse recommended that I go to the ER because the pain in my lungs was concerning and the doctor didn't have clinic hours until Thursday. Sooooooo, one of my coworkers and I headed over to the ER. Mind you, I hate the ER, so I hope that illustrates the desperation I was facing.

Upon arriving, we had to wait practically forever to check in, even though I marked chest pain and shortness-of-breath as symptoms (two of the top things to acknowledge according to the signs all over the walls). When they finally took me back to check out my vitals, my blood pressure was by far the highest it's ever been - 154/96. That's absolutely unheard of for me, but they didn't seem too concerned.

After a while, they opted to do some bloodwork and a chest x-ray. The bloodwork came back showing elevated white blood cell counts, and the chest x-ray came back looking really good. Soooo, thinking the x-ray would be the tell-tale sign of what was causing the lung pain, we were left with really no indications. However, we got one of my doctors on the phone who highly encouraged that I be admitted to the hospital, but I wasn't quite buying the argument since there aren't any symptoms that are typical of when I have a lung infection that requires IV antibiotics.

So, after spending six hours in different holding areas of the ER, I walked out with a prescription for a different, higher-dose oral antibiotic, as well as prescription pain medicine. I promptly went to Target and got my prescriptions filled and enjoyed a medicine cocktail for dinner. I'm not even sure what to think of today's colossal waste of time, but I guess it's relieving to know that they didn't see pneumonia or a collapsed lung or anything. I was honestly terrified after the way last night went.

Well, I am just ready to try to sleep. I haven't yet decided what I'll do workwise tomorrow, but I guess it will depend on if I feel well-rested after tonight. I'm happy to report that nothing seems to be overly concerning...just the usual shenanigans.

Thanks to everyone who was looking out for me today. :o) If I didn't get back to you, that's where I was - between the guy with the sliced-open hand and the perforated-bowel dude.

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said

no more monkeys jumpin' on the bed.

Well, it's Monday. Wooooooooooo. It seems like the weekend was never even here - probably because I spent a good portion of it sleeping or sitting around in bed.

I didn't have a good end to my weekend. I started to get some pretty serious chest pain yesterday afternoon, and it hasn't let up much since. It's basically right below my breastbone, but it also radiates into my right lung. I'm not sure exactly what could be causing it, but it doesn't seem digestive-related because of the time it started and the fact that it's still continuing. I ended up emailing the doctor at about 4:00 a.m. because I was up off and on throughout the night. I asked the soonest that I can be seen, so hopefully I'll be hearing something earlyish today. I can't remember if/when they have clinic hours on Mondays, but I better not put it off any longer.

My ceiling got a little work done on it yesterday and it isn't looking too far from normal, which is relieving. It's nice for there to be no more hole! Now it's a matter of sanding it down and painting it lighter to match the rest of the ceiling. It looks worlds better and makes me happy. I'm a lucky little chicken.

I've been in the midst of a donation slump, but I also realize expenses are usually tight at the end of the month. Soooo, I'm hopeful that I'll see a jump this week. When I got up during one of my middle-of-the-night shenanigans, I checked my email and saw that I had gotten a donation, so that was the shining light! I'm about 27 percent to my goal right now (online). Go, Drew, go!

Well, I hope I'll be feeling good enough to make it to rehearsal tonight. I am hopeful that, as I get going for the day, the pain will just kind of fall by the wayside and I'll be able to proceed with my day. Also, I am supposed to go to the doctor two weeks from tomorrow for a routine check-up anyway, so maybe if I can get in today, we'll call it even.

Anyway, I know I haven't said much of anything uplifting lately, but hopefully I'll have great things to say once my body decides to cooperate.

Oh, and I think I am going to PUERTO RICO!

Not myself

I've gotta say... I don't know if it's a combination of the medicines, if it's my body, if it's the allergies, or what, but I don't feel like myself at all. I am feeling extremely run-down when I haven't even done much. I'm just not keeping up with my daily activities like I was a few weeks ago. I don't know what's causing it, but I might need to make a guest appearance at the doctor soon if something doesn't improve. I'm feeling short-of-breath a lot, and I've been having some pain in my lungs when I breathe. I tried to take a nap because it was the only thing I could think of to make me forget about it, but I couldn't even fall asleep. I'm starting to feel very tired now, though, so maybe it will enable me to get a great night's sleep.

Friday was a pretty good day. My back started hurting me from the 'roided up activities I did during the improv show. I stopped at Chick-fil-A to pick something up on the way into work. I was only at work for a few hours, but I was feeling like I'd been there for days by the time I got in my car to head home. Not in an I-don't-want-to-be-here kind of way, but in an I'm-not-feeling-well kind of way. I went out to eat with my friend for dinner, and we enjoyed ourselves at Cheeseburger in Paradise. It was nice and tropical. Made me want to get to warm weather by skipping the brunt of the allergy season.

I slept for close to 11 hours last night. My mom came and got me and we went to my grandmother's house for a while. The three of us ended up going out to eat at El Toro for a sort of late lunch. My mom and I went to the mall after we finished at Gran's house, hoping to find another pair of the very inexpensive jeans that fit me pretty well, but didn't have such luck. Oh well!

When I got home, I sat around for a while reading and doing things online. Then I decided to treat myself to a bubble bath, in which I couldn't make the drain on my bathtub close for some reason. Sooo, that plan got canceled pretty quickly. I finished reading this book called Beyond Breathing a few minutes ago, and I'll probably go to sleep very soon. I'm literally running on empty. This is weird for me.

Drew's Crew is doing pretty awesome. We are at almost $5,400 online, with another $400 or so in checks. I know some truly incredible people. I also learned of a CFer that died today, so it makes me want that $20K goal so much more. Gotta keep fighting the good fight.

'Roid rage. ROOOOAAAAAR!

Hey y'all!

As you can probably assume from the title of this post, I got started on steroids today. I am really relieved because I think this is exactly what I need to get my breathing under control right now. I'm on a certain dose for five days, and then will wean off of it over 10 days if it works over the five days. I truly already feel better. I am also pretty hyperactive, but I'm tired at the same time, so I'm not sure how that works. I do wish I could have this energy all of the time.

Tonight's show was a lot of fun. The audience wasn't the biggest its ever been, but they were enthusiastic and seemed to have a good time. I had many wonderful friends and family members supporting me, so it felt awesome. Because it's my post-show ritual, I will recount the games I played... Tonight I was in Touch Collaborative Monologue (New!), Emo Interview (changer), Helping Hands Oscar (New!), Buzzer Talk Show (New!) and Musical Styles. Thanks to these 'roids, I was high-energy throughout the whole thing, which is usually the toughest part for me. Everyone was just really positive and went out there and had fun!

I decided to do a new character tonight - Barbara Buchanan. I figured there wasn't any night better than a night where I felt invincible due to medication; I was glad I went out on the limb. It was fun to try a character that was completely outrageous for a change. I tend to create characters that are 'me' with a twist. It was fun to step way outside of the box.

This morning I had set my alarm as though I was going to exercise before work. However, I ended up oversleeping by nearly an hour and a half. I was going to get up at quarter til 6:00 a.m. so that I could exercise before work. However, I heard a car honk outside and was like, "Who is honking at this hour?" Then, I looked at my phone and saw that it was 7:02 a.m. and I was supposed to leave in 40 minutes. Soooo, it was a quick morning and I threw show stuff together without rhyme or reason. Oh well, perhaps tomorrow I'll make it to the gym. And 'roid rage!

Tomorrow I'll be going into work in the afternoon because I need to be there for an appointment. I'm going to work from home probably up until lunchtime and then head over to gear up for a 3:00 p.m. meeting. After that's done, I'll probably head back to try to beat traffic on a Friday afternoon. Plus, I'm meeting a friend for dinner!

My team almost hit $5K today, so I'm pretty pumped! I got a new walker, too!

Well, Steroid Magee is headed to bed. NIGHT!

This is the most interesting part of this post

Words are seriously escaping me right now. I just hit this wall of exhaustion. I will highlight the day in bullet form...

• Drew's Crew jumped over the $4K mark today, and I smiled
• I had Chipotle for lunch (no, you've probably never read that from me...)
• I had Steak and Shake for dinner (needed onion rings)
• Tomorrow I'll be working from home, and that makes me smile again
• I will be performing on Thursday night
• Part of my ceiling got fixed today from the Great Flood 2K10
• I was short-of-breath for a lot of the day (High allergy count...correlation? Yes.)
• Sudoku is the bomb

It's time to sleep like a log.

GREAT DAY!

Today was an amazing day. I haven't felt as loved as I have in a long time as I felt today... As you all know, I've really kicked off the fundraising for the Great Strides Walk over the last few days. With the finalization of my awesome video, I felt geared up to tackle this thing, but even more so than in years past because I thought people might be more inspired than before. As a team, our total jumped nearly $1,500 today, which is incredible.

I garnered four new walkers that I'm really excited about, and just had such an outpouring of support from people - some being people I interact with regularly, others being folks I haven't seen in years. It feels really great to watch people come to the forefront to help a cause so important to me. A team that went into last weekend with about $1,300 now has at least $3,760, assuming that there's no money that hasn't yet been posted. What an awesome feeling!!! I have also appreciated everyone so much who has offered to spread the word. There is no humility in fundraising, so start your spreading! www.cff.org/great_strides/drewdotson5267

In other news (but similar, nonetheless), I was short of breath for most of the day. Today has been crazy in that, when I left for work, it was snowing. The high was seriously near 70 on Saturday, and today it's snowing? Crazy talk. I'm not sure what's up, but I woke up coughing a lot last night. It made for a difficult night's sleep, but I was able to stay energized all day anyway because each donation is like a new adrenaline rush. Kinda dorky, I know, but I love it!

Today was also great because I found out I was approved for a second telecommute day each week, so starting NOW, I'll be working from home on Wednesdays and Fridays of each week. I really think this will make a world of difference to me. As I make pretty evident, there's so much I want to do, but maintaining my health is very important as well, so this enables me to spend some more time focusing on my health, which in turns buys time back into the day. Woooooo!

Finally, I'll just end on rehearsal, which was fun. I was glad to have the early rehearsal or I'd still be there now. I was a little concerned going into it because I haven't been facing the short-of-breath issue much in my improv career, and it makes it very difficult to stay out of your head when you're conscious of your breathing. Amazingly, though, I was able to forget about it for the duration of rehearsal.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand, on that note, I'll go to sleep. I may pull an early shift tomorrow at work so that I can get home and get a lot of rest to help with this...issue.

Run, Dora, Ruuuun

Right now my sister should be finishing the ING half-marathon on Team 65 Roses. She raised over $1,000! I haven't been awake for long, but it looks like the rain might have held off so far, so my fingers are crossed. Claire's going to text me when she knows what time they'll be at breakfast because I'm going to meet them. I tried to find the place's menu online like the dork that I am, but I can't find it. I guess I'll have to be surprised and select from the menu like normal people do.

Yesterday was a pretty nice and relaxing day. The weather was beautiful, but unfortunately for me that means to stay inside at this time of year. My allergies have been killing me this weekend - keeping me short of breath more often than not. I'm hoping that this rain that starts AFTER the half-marathon will wash some of it away.

I met my old boss (most recent one!) at Starbucks yesterday, and it was great to catch up with her. She's moving to Philly on Thursday, so we wanted one last rendezvous before she left. I'm sure we'll keep in touch as much as we have here, but it's weird knowing she'll be so far away.

Well, yesterday was an awesome day fundraising-wise. My aunt and one of my cousins signed up to join Drew's Crew, so that makes me happy. We raised about $400 yesterday. I just calculated that, to make my $20,000 goal, we need to raise about $327 every day up until the day of the walk. When I look at it that way, it's a little scary, but WE WILL DO OUR BEST! Actually, when I divide that between the team members, it's not that much. Goooooo Drew's Crew! For those of you walking in late, visit www.drewdotson.com/p/walk-for-cf.html.

Yesterday evening I went to Publix in my reindeer pajama pants because I was feeling very thirsty. I mean, I didn't wear the reindeer pants because I was thirsty; I went because I was thirsty. I got an 8-pack of Gatorade and a gallon of milk. I know I looked like a nut, but hopefully people thought I must not be feeling well or something.

It's been quite a while since I accomplished anything bookwise, but I think about it often. It's the thought that counts... Maybe that will be my goal for the day when I return from eating my yet-to-be-determined breakfast.

It's raining men

So, last night's improv show was fun AND sold out. My parents came, and were in the front row, so no pressure there... I was in Emo Date as the changer, Sounds Like A Song (first time), Buzzer and Oscar Musical. I was slightly concerned during download when I found out I'd be in two singing games considering the hoarseness and what not, but it's subsided a lot and I'm feeling almost back to normal. I didn't notice it in the first singing game, but I definitely did in the second because I was Musicaled right after I was Oscared, so my throat was RAW!

When I walked into my empty house after the show, I heard a weird sound; it sounded almost like crackling. I flipped on the light, terrified that something was on fire. I headed toward the corner of the living room where I heard the sound, then felt the water drip on me. I looked up and water was dripping from several areas of the ceiling, mainly in the shape of a rectangle. I ran upstairs and my bathroom was flooded. The water was all the way out onto the carpet in my bedroom. I mean, it was a LOT of water.

I majorly started freaking out and putting towels down, getting containers to put on the floor downstairs, etc. I ended up spending almost two hours moving furniture, soaking up water, etc. And, to top it all off, I got a blood-drawing papercut. I unplugged something from an outlet and it had one of those plasticy-paper tags warning you about electricity and as I pulled the plug out from the wall, I papercut the palm of my hand, right above the thumb crease. Perhaps they should add that to the warning tag. The cut seriously consumed enough of my attention that I lost focus on the fact that the ceiling was about to fall down.

Today I woke up and wasn't as upset. I went downstairs and, while part of the ceiling will need replacing, it looked much better today. There haven't been any drips all day. My resident handyman came over and tore some of the drywall down - about an eight square foot area. Now there's just a gaping hole in the living room ceiling, but at least the wood is drying out. I love being a homeowner!

Well, I'm really tired because I was up until 3:00 a.m. I got up and worked for a while this morning and then had to take the afternoon off to tend to the house. I'm really relieved that it seems like it's going to be minor, or at least people are good at lying to me to make me feel better.

I have already gotten several donations for the CF walk, so I'm really excited.

Cheers to a lazy weekend!

Because you're an insider...

First, I want to say one thing that I forgot to say last night when recounting the choking-of-the-baby story that left me up in arms...

Yesterday morning when I was walking back from the gym, I stopped by my mailbox per a friend's gentle request. There was a little envelope from a good friend and inside was a Starbucks gift card! She said it was a little "just because" after seeing me talk about it so much in my blog. How sweet is that?! It started my day off right, and I'm still excited about it! If I can get ready fast enough, it might get a swipe today!

Now, drumroll, the moment we've all been waiting for...

Since you've probably been following this CF video journey since its beginning, it's time for the unveiling of the 98%-completed video. I'm not crazy about the way it's sitting on the page, but I didn't want to make you patient souls wait a moment longer!

ARE YOU READY TO SEE THIS?!

It takes a village

Today I went out to eat at El Azteca and was watching a boy (about 8-10 years old) hold a baby sitting at a nearby table. The table was very chaotic and had multiple families, several young children, etc. I was very surprised the parents were letting him hold the baby because he was NOT doing a good job. Watching it was extremely anxiety-provoking because it looked like he was going to drop the baby. He then started shaking the baby, and the parents asked him to stop, but let him continue to hold the baby. Then, I looked over and he was putting the stick of his lollipop into the baby's ear, which made me cringe, but he took it out almost immediately.

This whole time I couldn't take my eyes off the boy and the baby - like I was watching a trainwreck. I noticed the boys hands were around the baby's neck and the baby looked to be straining and her face started turning red. Although this is not my typical behavior, I had to get up and go over to the table at this point. I told one of the men at the table that I really didn't think the boy should be holding the baby because I had been watching and saw him put his hands around the baby's neck. The man actually said to me that he was just playing with her, so I told him that the boy also stuck a lollipop stick into the baby's ear. The man was slightly rude, and I said that I was watching and would not have gotten up if I was not very concerned with what I saw, especially when the baby's face turned red with the boy's hands around the baby's neck.

I sat down feeling kind of embarrassed because I didn't mean to step on anybody's toes, but it was awful to see. It turned out that the man I was telling was not the father of either child, but the father was across from him and heard me voicing concern. The father then went and took the baby away from the boy. A little while later, a lady from the group came up to me and thanked me. I thanked her for letting me know because I wasn't trying to upset anyone. She told me that it takes a village, and that she was glad that I came over to say something. I turned maroon, but I was glad she said something because I was feeling like maybe I had crossed a line.

ANYWAY!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I forgot to wear green. I had my first improv show a year ago today. Awwww....

Speaking of, I am in the show tomorrow night, so I'm looking forward to that, even though it's been a long week. I wouldn't mind if my character, Rebecca Miller, made her first appearance in a show, especially with her newly acquired Goodwill outfit.

It's past my bedtime, so I'm going to sleep. The video is getting uploaded TONIGHT, and I'm not even yanking your chain one bit!

Change=on the horizon

Woooooooooooooooo! It's Tuesday!

Well, I am not very excited to be awake and getting ready for work, for no other reason than I'm tired as all get out. I had a difficult time sleeping last night, and laid down for bed late after a late rehearsal anyway. I got maybe six hours of sleep, but they weren't uninterrupted. And I did have a dream involving some female friends trying to kill each other with their bare hands, one stabbing people with needles with an unknown liquid in the syringe. YAY! Things must be all warm and fuzzy inside for me!

I had a ton of fun on Sunday. I got to catch up with two people I hadn't seen in a long time - one being a close friend from childhood, and the other being a friend I knew from a previous workplace. It was a lot of fun just chatting about life (little life and big life) and enjoying some delicious food. Ahhh, if only every day could be spent yapping with good people!

Yesterday was pretty good for a Monday! I mean, I don't remember much about it, so that had to have been good. I'm still hoarse, but I'm not in pain in any way. I don't know yet if these antibiotics are working. They've been upsetting my stomach a bit, but well-tolerated overall. It's about time I pop one of those suckers off.

Rehearsal was... different. I practiced dialects for the first time, which was quite the experience. I think it helped that I was pretty tired before I arrived because I think that lowered my inhibitions and acknowledgement of the discomfort I probably felt. Anyway, it was a pretty good exercise and it was a big step for me considering it's not something that has ever made me excited.

Well, I'm gonna hurry to get ready so I can treat myself to Starbucks. I'm bummed because I have a late meeting at work today, so I didn't get to do my usual early Tuesday. Maybe it's a blessing since I didn't sleep well, but it'd be nice to get home before 7-something. That'll all be irrelevant when I get my hands on that Dark Cherry Mocha!

Have a swell day.

Get outta my dreams

Well, good morning. Let us all give a moment of silence to the hour of sleep we lost last night. ARGH!

Mm, so I am writing because a particular dream has me feeling a little jarred this morning. You know when there are certain things in your waking life you really don't want to think about, and then they find a way of making you think about them anyway by subconsciously inserting themselves into your dreams? Yep, that's the story of my most recent dream.

This dream was honestly just weird. I basically dreamt that I got home and a lot of familiar people were in my house. I walked into the kitchen and the refrigerator was gone and there was some significant structural damage to the walls, but no parts of the fridge anywhere. I asked someone where the refrigerator went and the person explained to me that it exploded because of something involving pressure, jargon, blah blah blah. It was just odd because, even though the fridge had vanished into thin air, we were happy to see each other and it was kind of sweet for a short minute. The end.

Somehow in this same string of dreams, a colleague had been planning things on the wrong dates because she was looking at a calendar for 2011.

And, while I'm on the topic of dreams, let me mention the one from Thursday night, I believe. I had a dream that I traded my car in to get a beat up, old, red SUV, which would not have been a smart choice because I didn't get any money in return. Then, though, I was at my parents' house and noticed that someone had parked my car literally up against (side-by-side) another car, where there would probably be no way to move the car without damaging it much more. Somehow I go do something else and come back, find that the car is gone, and my mom tells me she's sorry, but the car was totaled and they did away with it. I was crying, talking about how I couldn't get anywhere, and my mom showed no remorse. I woke up as I was bawling, trying to figure out how I would get to work and improv without a car. Weird.

So, off of dreams and onto reality...

The Dark Cherry Mocha was a good choice. I won't act like it was the best thing I've ever had a taste of or anything, but it was good and fun. It was a nice change of pace with a fun kick to it. It must have helped me get through the night because I don't recall ever thinking about how tired I was.

I started losing my voice yesterday afternoon and, by nighttime, it was practically gone. I haven't spoken yet today to see if it's still messed up, but I just said 'hello' to myself and it's definitely not at its full potential. I also lost my voice on Wednesday, so I tried to look at my dorky pollen alerts to see if there was something in common that might have triggered it. Then I saw that I didn't get one on Wednesday because the pollen level wasn't high enough, so I got confused and gave up.

OH! Yesterday I went to the gym for the first time in a week after the allergy shenanigans. I ran two miles and then walked a third, which was pretty good. I didn't know how I'd handle it with the allergies, the antibiotic making me groggy, etc. But I trucked on through!

I better shut up and get dressed because I have a friend coming over at 12:30 p.m. Then, at 5:00 p.m. I am meeting another friend to discuss health history for a study she's doing. Here I come, Sunday!

This post is me psyching myself up

Woooooooooo! Wooooooohooooooooooooo! I am so energized!

I have to be in Midtown in about an hour, and I'm extremely tired, but at the end of this post, I will be ENERGYFIED!

On the way, I plan to go to Starbucks and try the newest thing that caught my fancy - the Dark Cherry Mocha. I tried to get it a week or so ago, but they said they didn't have it yet. I am excited to try it because I think it's exactly the potion I need.

Tonight's gonna be a long one at the theatre... I start at 6:30 and will probably get to leave around 1:00 or 1:30 a.m., which will kinda be 2:00 or 2:30 a.m. given the time change. DON'T FORGET TO CHANGE YOUR CLOCKS! We're so inundated with technology that most clocks will just change for us, but in case you're confused...

I think that's about all I have to say. There's definitely more I could say, but the longer I type, the more hectic it will be trying to make it to the theatre on time, and we all know I can't sacrifice that Dark Cherry Mocha I just swooned over.

ENERGY! ENERGY! ENERGY!

Revolution's not easy

Man, I know I should be sleeping, but I am feeling so energized right now. I spent the last several hours dictating (ha!) changes to my fundraising video, and I am really excited to share it with everyone. There are still a few things to make it absolutely perfect, but I am rowdy! Gosh, it is awesome! I sure hope the anticipation is building...

So, I am really excited about reading Eat, Pray, Love, but I haven't gotten around to it today. I'll definitely spend some time reading this weekend. Last night I started reading it to help wind down for bed, but I ended up feeling rejuvenated instead. When I turned off the lights, I kept thinking about how I wanted to read some more. That being said, I can't wait to have some free time to read this weekend.

Well, I finally talked to the nurse today... at about 4:30 p.m., so I was getting pretty impatient. The doctor decided to put me on a 21-day course of Bactrim (oral antibiotic) two times a day. That's definitely better than being in the hospital, but I will stand by my case that we are overreacting. However, if this potentially gets me into the study sooner when I get my lung function numbers back up, then that's what I'll do. I popped my first pill this evening and nothing too weird happened, so hopefully I'll be side effect free! I think the recent onslaught of rain has also helped alleviate some of my sinus issues.

I did awesome at the dentist this morning, but I've always been pretty good at getting good reports at the dentist. The guy wasn't playing around with those pokey things, but I got nothing short of compliments on my grill. I'm going back September 16. I am writing it here for when I start wondering when my next appointment is...

What else? I emailed more than 52,000 people at work today, so I hope somebody found something useful. If not, oh well. I feel accomplished.

Tomorrow evening I am meeting my most recent boss to catch up before she moves to Philadelphia. Sad day, but I'm happy for her.

Saturday night I am pulling a DOUBLE at the theatre. As much as I've enjoyed having some time off this week, I'm definitely eager to get back there.

It's probably time for bed. I really want to read some, but I don't want to get even more hyper than I already am.

Eat, Pray, Love

Well, I have a dentist's appointment this morning. I am not really looking forward to it, but I'm not exactly dreading it either. The dentist is something I could take or leave and I wouldn't care much either way.

Yesterday was an interesting day. Around 2:30 p.m., I got an email from the study guy to get me up-to-speed. He basically told me that, while he doesn't think that Tuesday's shenanigans will necessarily exclude me from the study, he did talk to my doctor and she wants to 'treat' me. Mind you I never saw my regular doctor on Tuesday. The study guy told me that the doctor or physician's assistant would call me to get me started. However, that didn't happen yesterday. By the end of the day, I decided to give them a call, but did not succeed. I'm not sure if 'treating' me involves a course of antibiotics, whether those would be oral or IV, etc. I guess I shall find out today.

I was coughing kind of a lot, but it was a dry, hacky cough - the kind that results in almost losing your voice. By the end of the day, my voice was really scratchy, which is completely different from the kinds of symptoms I get when it's a CF-related problem. Anyway, I will take what the doctor says into consideration, but we don't need to get all out-of-hand here; this happens to me every year as the weather starts to change.

Despite how I was feeling, I ended up meeting a friend for dinner at Tin Drum. Let me tell you that this was a great decision. I got this sweet and sour stir-fry, and will be enjoying the leftovers for lunch. Anyway, I saw my friend Karen that I hadn't seen since 2008, and it was really nice to see her again. We talked about everything under the sun, and that's why I like about her most. We have a connection... not in a romantic way. (HA!) She told me I should really read "Eat, Pray, Love."

After we finished eating, I knew it was time for me to head home and get to bed, but I instead went to Target to get the book. I am working on being quick-to-action (not in a rash way - in a non-procrastination way). I ended up getting the book, a cute t-shirt, a black zip-up sweater type thing, and a prescription. I consider it successful.

I gotta hurry and get ready so I can go 'get my tooth' on at the dentist.

Not. My. Day.

Well, as indicated by the title of this blog, I'm not in the best mood I've ever experienced.

First off, I can't believe I posted this morning; that seems like it was three days ago, but I guess time drags when you're NOT having fun. Welcome melodrama.

So, this morning started off fine. I went to work and what not, per usual. Well, I had meetings that began at 9:00 a.m. and lasted until I needed to leave for the doctor, which wasn't exactly the ideal way to spend the half-day I had in the office. Granted, the meetings had to happen, but I would have loved to have spent the four hours doing solid work.

I then went to the CF center to begin the screen for the drug study. Within 30 minutes of my arrival, I was pretty disappointed. I don't know if I went into much depth on my last doctor's appointment blog post, but at my appointment in January, I recorded the highest lung function numbers I've gotten in quite some time. Well, today was a stark contrast.

Honestly, when the numbers first appeared on the computer screen, I was thinking something must be horribly wrong. I mean, these were worse than hospital numbers. By the time I completed the tests with enough consistency to be accepted, I was only down about 6 percent, but that's a lot in the CF world - especially when it means .2 liters of air.

Then, when it came time for the physical exam, the doctor looked at my lung function numbers and was surprised at the decline. She then completed the rest of the exam and looked at my nose, at which point she was impressed by the significance of the inflammation. She then started inquiring about my last sinus surgery, which wasn't exactly something I was imagining to hear at this study screening visit.

At the end of it all - after the lung function tests, bloodwork, ECGs (two), sweat tests, etc. - I don't even know if I'll qualify. With my lung numbers being as low as they are right now, the doctors definitely wouldn't consider me to be at a 'stable' point as far as my lung health. I've got my fingers crossed that we can wait it out until the end of allergy season and that I won't have gotten disqualified for my out-of-the-ordinary numbers today. If I don't get to participate, I will be very, very disappointed. I have been following this particular drug since 2006. Plus, regardless of whether I get the real drug or the placebo, study participants get to enroll in an extension study, in which I would be eligible to take the drug until it gets approved and marketed by the FDA. PLEASE! LET ME BE INCLUDED!

Anyway, talking about it isn't going to change what happened today, so I should probably just sleep it off. I went to eat Mexican at El Azteca in order to boost my mood, and it definitely helped. It's time to sleep again. My aching face just can't get enough sleep these days.

Alllllllergies

So, this allergy thing isn't faring too well for me yet this year. I have literally limited my outside time to running to and from the car, and haven't had any luck yet. Sunday night I had to forego a theatre-related opportunity because it was taking place outside, which didn't sound like a good use of time. I ended up trying to go to bed pretty early, but had a difficult time going to sleep because laying down was making me cough more.

Yesterday I got up and went into work early, knowing that, with allergies like this, they tend to elevate as the day continues... I was in the building by 7:30 a.m. and got started on the million mass emails I need to get done this week. Supposedly there was a middle-aged man stranger roaming the building carrying a big duffle bag. It's weird because, at the time, it was only me and a lady from another department in the building. I doubt it was anything to be concerned about and I didn't see the man myself, but the cops came and what not. These are the kinds of bad things that happen when I get to work early.

I went to Willy's for lunch, hoping that eating would help rid me of some of my allergy-in-the-face pain, but it didn't quite work as planned. By about 1:30 p.m., I couldn't take it anymore and headed home to work the remainder of the day from bed. I swung by the post office to pick up a piece of certified mail from my incompetent homeowners association, telling me that my doorknobs were brass. As much as I wanted to send the nastiest email known to man, I kindly emailed the property manager and said, as you know, this issue was corrected on December 6. Please do not mail me anything else. Or I will slap you silly.

After I finished up working, I dozed off just before 5:00 p.m. for what turned into a three-hour nap. I'm not sure at which point a nap becomes sleeping, but it sure was a doozie. I got up for about an hour and a half or two and then went back to sleep. I am a sleeping machine.

Today I go for the screen for my research study. I'm not exactly sure what it will entail, but I imagine I'll do a pulmonary function test and some other random test. It's supposed to take several hours, so I took the afternoon off. I hope my allergy issues don't jack this up.

HAPPY TUESDAY.

Oh my face

My face tells me that it's allergy season. I have been fearing this time since last year's shenanigans. It's funny (not 'haha' funny) that allergies paralyzed me more than this silly disease of mine ever has. Oh man. It's scary to even think about when I got taken to the ER and missed almost an entire week of work. My face has been aching and I have slept more than should even be humanly possible. The counts are telling me to stay indoors.

Yesterday I took four - yes, you read it right - FOUR naps. They totaled about six hours, which is just ridiculous in its own right. Last night, I went to bed before midnight and woke up in the middle of the night feeling like I was burning alive. I ended up sleeping another 10 hours last night, and truly only got up because of all of the stuff I have to do today. I am finishing up my breathing treatments right now.

As you might have been able to infer from the uncanny amount I've been sleeping, this weekend hasn't been very productive. I've tried to write on a few different occasions, but it's hard to feel inspired in the few hours that it fits into my calendar. Any of you artsy people out there know what I mean. I wish I could just be inspired when it works with my schedule, but that's not how it works... back to the drawing board.

I'm excited because a friend and I are in the midst of planning a vacation for this summer. Her aunt has a timeshare that she's not going to use, so I truly can't pass up the opportunity. I have been on short weekend excursions here and there, but the last REAL trip I went on was the family cruise we took in July 2008. I mean, that was the last trip where I truly got to be away for an entire workweek. I plan on doing it up big this summer because I feel like my mind's going to explode.

Umm, I just forgot what I was going to say. I don't know why I'm commentating now.

Oh yeah! It's nearing time for the CF walk. I'm not quite ready to launch the fundraising campaign since my video is in its final stages. I'm hoping the video will be inspiring and that it will be best to really get my raise on when I have that as a visual aid. We'll see! I have a reaaaaaally good feeling about this year.

Time to go see what kinds of sinus medicine I have up in here. I pray that I'm done with sinus surgeries.

Bite me

I have had some weeeeeird dreams lately - some good, some bad. I usually don't have bad dreams, but I've had several over the last few weeks. I had a dream a week or two ago that a penguin was biting my arm. It literally would not let go of my arm and I was yelling and trying to shake it off. It was a very tiny penguin, by the way. Then it kind of reminded me that I've had several dreams about my arm getting bitten in the last sixth months. The penguin dream caused me to remember the others.

I looked up what it means to be bitten: To dream that you are being bitten represents your vulnerability regarding some unresolved issues or emotions. You may be pestered by a problem or obstacle. The dream may also be a metaphor indicating that you have bitten off more than you can chew. Perhaps you have too much to handle.

Story of my life = burning the candle from both ends.

Then I looked up what a penguin means: To see a penguin in your dream signifies that your problems are not as serious as you may think. It serves as a reminder for you to keep your cool and remain level-headed. Alternatively, a penguin seen in your dream suggests that you are being weighed down by your emotions or by a negative situation. You need to find some balance and inner harmony.

So, individually, I think biting off more than I can chew is an accurate assessment. And, I think I need to find some balance and inner harmony. I'm not exactly sure how the two combine to make sense and my mind can't even begin to comprehend, but they make sense separately.

While that's an unusual dream, it's not nearly as bad as the dream I had Wednesday night. I was driving to work on roads that were unfamiliar. A few cop cars whipped out of nowhere, cops got old, and signaled for me to get down - that a gunman was on the loose. I stopped my car in the middle of an intersection and balled myself up down at the foot of the driver's side to hide. The gunman came up to my window and we made eye contact. He pointed the gun at me. However, he decided instead that he would somehow put a match to the gas tank and start the car. I woke up right as he was doing this and before the car exploded with me inside of it.

At least that's not disturbing... Oh, wait. I'm not sure what it all means, but it definitely implies that there are some negative things floating around inside.

Lunch was fun today. We got to talk about my favorite things: LIFE and PHILOSOPHY. WOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!

Today I found out that next Thursday's improv show is a private mainstage show. Needless to say, I was a little bummed because I was hoping to be in the show next week since I was on crew this week. The bright side of it, though, is that we don't have rehearsal on Monday, and Wednesday is canceled, too, due to another private show. As much as a part of me is disappointed because I love improv, I am relieved to have bought some time back into my week. After all, that's what I've been battling lately. Time and penguins.

Two things that I recently discovered I love: Haribo Happy Colas and Tostitos Hint of Lime chips.

Oh, and the title 'Bite me' was in reference to the dreams, although it developed a second meaning. When I went to post this, there was some kind of error and I lost everything but the first paragraph, so I've tried to remember what I said (which is hard when it's worthless babble). If this doesn't post, someone from Blogger is getting hurt.

I. Am. Robot.

Welcome to the busiest week I've had in forever.

Staying up late on Tuesday was a poor choice, but sometimes it's hard to get home from improv and feel tired. Needless to say, I've been super-exhausted for most of the week.

Wednesday was an okay day. I am finally in the midst of accepting that what used to be a 40-minute commute has turned into a 60-minute commute over the last two weeks. I can't even explain how frustrating that is because it's time that I didn't feel like I had to spare in the first place, but...oh well. Complaining about it isn't going to change the fact that Atlanta's traffic is ridiculous. It feels good to whine, though.

The highlight of my day Wednesday was that I went to Chick-fil-A before improv. I got an 8-pack of chicken nuggets and a chocolate milkshake. Guess what! They accidentally gave me 10 nuggets, one of which was gigantic, so I count it as 11. It's a little sad to say that this was the best thing that happened to me, but it's true. That milkshake was the bomb, too.

Improv was fun on Wednesday because, for the first time since I became apprentified, we got to practice on our own with only the other apprentices. It takes some of the pressure off and makes it a bit more 'free.' Anyway, we worked on some fun stuff, my favorite of which is Script in Hand. I can't wait to perform that game sometime. I thought it gave us a little bit of bonding time, too.

Thursday was no different from the other days this week...LONG! I got up and worked out for 32 minutes before work - a combination of running, Stairmastering, and sprinting. I stopped by Starbucks on my way to work because I felt like I deserved something to start off my day. I saw a sign for this dark cherry chocolate latte or something and decided I would try something new. However, when I tried to order it, they said it wouldn't be available until Tuesday, so it looks like I'll have to make another trip. I ended up with a vanilla latte, which was a nice perk to the last weekday in the office of the longest week known to man. That isn't very readable, but whatever.

Work was a blur, but we did go to lunch for a colleague's going-away. Today is her last day, but several of us are home on Fridays, so we planned it for yesterday. We went to a bakery in the Highlands and it was pretty good. I got a vanilla cheesecake lolli as an afternoon treat. I've got to admit...it wasn't all that great, but it was still worth having.

I ended up getting a ton done at work before I headed downtown to work my second of three volunteer shifts of the month. Woooooo! I was on camera/suggestions and was supposed to be training someone, but apparently he forgot to come, so that ended up being a blessing in disguise considering I was in no mood to speak to people. Anyway, I got kinda Monsterfied before the show and then tried to get suggestions from the cocktail party of accountants, which didn't fare too well. Then I worked the camera for the show. It was fun to be an audience member, even though I had limited responsibilities. I just can't imagine having performed after this week's craziness. Anyway, the show was a lot of fun and it was the first five-person cast I've seen since we've been apprentices, so that looked fun, but exhausting. Everyone was on stage the whole time, or so it seemed. I enjoyed watching!

Today I am home, which I've needed now more than ever. I don't know how I could have gone into work today. Everything just seems so exhausting, and the lack of sleep has got me feeling a little blah physically. I'm glad because I'm meeting my old boss for lunch today, and we haven't seen each other since right before the holidays. I always love catching up with him because he's so insightful.

Finally, one last thing for me to complain about - I was excited because, after having run myself into the ground all week, I was ready for a weekend of doing NOTHING. I decided to make one plan, which was to catch up with my neighborhood friend over dinner on Saturday. Then, though, I forgot I'd said I could do this theatre-related gig on Sunday. It hadn't been confirmed yet, but then we got an email telling us the specifics, so I was kind of disappointed. Then, I found out about a family get-together on Sunday afternoon and, as much as I don't mind going to those, my weekend sort of vanished in a matter of moments. I've still got tonight and most of tomorrow, but Sundays are always the most critical in getting off to a good start for the week. Ahh, what a whiner.

Oh, and I have confirmed the first portion of my research study pre-screen for Tuesday. Let my body go to science.

How low can you go?

First things first, let me say that my right Shift key is driving me crazy. It has been acting NUTTY for quite a while now. I mean, I have to backspace more than ever before. It's almost like the key's timing is off, so I will try to capitalize a letter and, even though I hit the key at the proper time, it's like it doesn't register until later. Then, randomly, I will capitalize a word and the next four letters will be capitalized. I honestly am not sure what to do about this silly laptop - it's like I'll be waiting for the words I typed to show up sometimes. I took the Shift key off and put it back on last night, which was quite the challenge. Anyway, if any computer gurus are reading this and have any advice, send it on over. I think it might be about time to get a new computer.

I really need to be asleep right now. Perhaps I shouldn't have had caffeine tonight when I was at the theatre. I hadn't thought a lot about that until now, but I bet that's the culprit for why I haven't conked out yet. This is WAY past my bedtime.

Well, I worked at the graduation show tonight, which was nice because I got one of my volunteer shifts for the month out of the way. Plus, the show was fun and I planned to go anyway, so I killed two birds with one stone. Thursday, I will do my second volunteer shift of the month, meaning I'll literally only have one shift left for the entire month! That's pretty exciting because it means there will be three weekends without any shifts this month. I'm most excited about that because it's really time to hunker down on my book. I know I've been blabbering about it for so long, but I'm feeling pretty ready to accomplish things.

Today I accomplished a lot and it felt good. Within an eight-minute period, I got a lot done. I made a dentist appointment that I've put off for more than eight months. I also ordered refills for two of my medications. I sent a few emails to follow-up on some things (prompted by a friend's checking in to get updates, so thank you!), which resulted in working to schedule my pre-screen appointment for the PTC124 drug study I excitedly mentioned at the end of January. I mean, let me just say that in that short amount of time, I moved mountains. It's so nice not to have some of those things looming overhead anymore.

There are tons of other things I want to say, probably because I am hopped up on caffeine. Anyway, it snowed again today (this is so atypical), so I was really hoping for some kind of cancellation tomorrow. It's not looking very probable since there wasn't much water on the roads tonight, but I can still hope. The schools in my county are delayed, so that should make for an easier start to my commute regardless.

Well, I'm gonna try to go to sleep because a little wave of tired-eye just came over me...

Dreeeeeeeeeeeams

I am really writing to say that I'm too tired to write anything, but felt like saying hi anyway. I just got home from my double-shift at the theatre and find myself soooo exhausted that it's unreal! The most exciting part is that I am about to conk out. Wooo!

Today was NOT a productive day. I slept until after 11:00 a.m. Then, I got up and sat around for quite a while. I ended up opening a Word document and writing whatever I felt like writing. Ya know how I mentioned my book and how I wanted to work on it this weekend? Well, I decided to try this new thing called 'start over.' I know that's a ridiculous thing to consider when I'm at 200ish pages of the book, but it's revamping with a clean slate in mind. As I get inspired to tell stories that I know I've already written about, I'll retrieve them from the old document. Who knows... I'm basically just rambling at this point. I've just been feeling kind of empty lately, but I know I'm not empty.

I didn't work out Friday or today, but whatever.

I went to the library today to return several books and browse and see what tickled my fancy. For the first time since I got my library card, I did not check out a book. I was just feeling kind of unattached to anything I picked up. Plus, I know that reading will inhibit my writing. Soooooo, I am library bookless for the first time in as long as I can remember.

Finally, before I headed downtown, I met my sister for El Toro. It was gooooooooooood. On that note, it's bedtime.

Negative Nizzancy

Guess who is in hypercritical mode?! Meeeeeeee. I'm not wild about tonight's show (I guess officially last night's) in any form or fashion. Tonight I put on a tutorial for what happens when you get inside your head during an improv show. I was having a hard time getting psyched before the show and it was evident in my first scene. From there, it was like a snowball effect and starting pouring into every aspect of my performance. I kept thinking about how many people were there to support me and how it wasn't going like I wanted it to, so it just wasn't a good approach for me to have. Oh well - I live and I learn.

On the positive side, I ended up getting at least 27 people there, which was just awesome. I am really appreciative to feel so loved, especially when I'm feeling down on myself. For my own improv scrapbook, tonight I was in Emo Spot (as the straight guy - a therapist), Buzzer Interview (as my character Piper Pennington), Narration Switch (started on-stage), and ABC Buzzer Craft Show. I'd actually never played any of those games in a show and had never played three of the renditions before, so it was cool to get to try some new stuff... even if I didn't execute it like I wanted. I live and I learn. Again.

Aside from the show, today was... okay. I stayed up later than I intended last night because I was watching Douglasville win a bronze medal in the women's bobsled in the Olympics. That was pretty cool, but I didn't get as much sleep as I wanted. I got up and exercised this morning (DAY FIVE!) with hopes that it would help keep me energized throughout the day. Then, although it usually takes four minutes to get on 400, it took me 20, so I ended up being pretty late to work.

That being said, getting my steak nachos from Willy's was probably the highlight of my day. I learned today that the steak nachos do not make me as invincible as I thought. They were delicious, nonetheless.

I was coughing a lot today, but I hope it was just a weird day. My voice was starting to get hoarse as the day went on, so it's probably good that I wasn't in any singing games... although my voice is so horrible that being hoarse might be an enhancement! Did I ever mention that I signed up for these pollen alert emails the other day? Dorky, I know, but I am trying to avoid landing myself in the ER like I did last spring. Today's pollen count was one of the highest it has been all week. Wonder if there's any correlation - note to self.

This weekend I think I'll work on my book. I haven't mentioned it in a while because, well, my mind's totally been elsewhere. It would probably be beneficial to delve back into that a bit, especially since I'm sure my perspective's slightly different than it was several weeks ago. I have to work two shows at the theatre on Saturday, but other than that, I should have plenty of time.

Off to bed. It's really late. I'm working from home tomorrow and meeting an old friend at Maggiano's for lunch. I'm excited!

Hit me off

Man, tonight at improv I was reminded of the singing group New Edition and got excited. Perhaps that CD will have to journey with me in the car tomorrow...

Speaking of tomorrow: SHOWTIME! I am actually getting really excited for tomorrow's performance. My favorite thing about improv is that it is constantly challenging; there are always so many different areas in which I can improve. There really is no limit, which is pretty cool. It keeps it lively! I have a lot of awesome people coming to support me tomorrow, so I'm really pumped! I'm looking forward to an AWESOME show.

I got up this morning and went to the gym. Boy, I am quite the overachiever! I have exercised four consecutive days - I think it's been quite a while since I've done that. Don't stop counting now, though, because I'm going to make it five tomorrow morning. This morning I ran a mile, then did sprints for a mile, then hopped on the Stairmaster for a few minutes. I cut it a little shorter than usual since I was a little slow to get up. The best thing about exercising in the morning is that I already feel accomplished before the day has really begun...

I'm surprised at how exhausted I feel right now, but it's awesome. I know I'm going to be asleep within minutes of putting my head on the pillow. I love that feeling; tossing and turning is LAME!

Well, I better get on that before I have a second wind. I need to find some cohorts tomorrow morning to help me fulfill Operation: Nachostitious. Everyone knows I need Willy's steak nachos on show days.