That's all they really waaaaaaaant

It's Tuuuuueeeeeesday.

Well, I had my eye doctor appointment yesterday and it went pretty well. My prescription was unchanged from last year, so that's good news, even though it doesn't answer any headache questions. I did get scheduled for a visual field exam test and a follow-up appointment with the eye doctor, so we'll see if that provides any answers what-so-ever. Yesterday was really rough headache-wise, so I pretty much had to sleep for the entire afternoon.

I met up with a friend (AP) for dinner yesterday, too. We used to work together at Wolf Camera, so it was fun to catch up.

Today was surprisingly good, though! I got up and noticed my head wasn't hurting, so I went to the gym. I did about 30 minutes on the elliptical, and my head didn't bother me at all. AWESOME! The rest of the day was pretty much pain-free, so I'm knocking on wood here... I did get unusually tired today, so I did some napping.

Anything else? I met MV and her son for lunch at Chick-fil-A, so that was fun. He is almost a year old and is absolutely precious. I'm usually not a baby person, but he makes it easy to make an exception.

I've got kind of a long day tomorrow, so I better get a good night's sleep to make it through the day. I can't wait to sleep!!!

ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAR

I'm at one of those points again where the world just feels like it's spinning out of control. I literally feel like I blogged yesterday, but apparently it's been four days. In some respects that makes me glad because I know I'm out and about accomplishing things. In other ways, though, it's discouraging because I know I'm not stopping to smell the roses, which is kinda stressing me out.

Well, I will vomit if I talk about the Braves game on Wednesday. My record has dropped to 6 and 4. BLAH BLAH BLAH. The Braves and I are not on great terms right now, but I was happy for a win tonight.

My surgery is officially on the books for October 11. I'm not sure yet what the plan is as far as getting admitted, going on IV antibiotics, taking off from work, etc. Honestly I'm still processing the fact that it's scheduled, so I'll give it a few days to start finalizing those details. I feel a sense of relief, but I'm also overwhelmed.

I was in the show last night and it was fun! It was one of the new apprentices' (AF) first shows, so that was cool. He and I were in every scene together, too! I played Remote Control Styles, Musical Styles (80s love ballad, 90s boy band, R&B, rap), Repeat Scene Stereotypes (drag queens, drunk drug dealers, rednecks), and Oscar Musical Funeral (as Barbara Buchanan). Yeeehaw!

Today I met my siblings (and my brother's girlfriend) for lunch at Chick-fil-A. Then, for dinner, I went to Los Bravos with KW. I needed to get out and do something because today was kinda 'mleh.' I had a great time. We watched a documentary called Dear Zachary and it was really interesting. Although today had its ups and downs, I'm thankful to be ending on an 'up.'

Sleeping sounds so awesome right now! I am really excited to sleep and feel new in the morning!

Until you're back here, baby...

Mlaaaah, mlaaaaaaaaah. Before I forget, I want to say that I was super thankful last Thursday. I went to Willy's (me??? Willy's???) and the owner was like, "You come here all the time." I was like, "What up." Then he gave me half-off. What a wonderful man he is.

The Braves just pulled out a mega-win in the 9th inning. It was a miracle after last night's debacle. Thankfully, though, I didn't have the TV on to witness what happened last night. I had a difficult time getting to sleep last night. I think it's this whole not-feeling-well thing.

Today was an odd day. I had a ton of meetings on my calendar, but I didn't end up making it to two of them. The first one included biscuits from Chick-fil-A! The second one was with my team at work. The meeting went well, but then I got into a conversation about possibly going into the hospital and the day steadily went downhill beginning at that moment. I ended up heading home because I didn't feel well mentally or physically, so I've been home since about 4:00 p.m.

I have nothing to say. I am going to read a bit before I head to bed. I was supposed to go to a meeting at the hospital tomorrow followed by some bloodwork (me??? bloodwork???), but I'm gonna stay home.

<3

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.

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.

Best Invisible Design Award

So, I didn't win the Bah Humbug category in the door-decorating contest at work, but my boss and I won the Best Invisible Design Award. I must say I'm pretty pleased. The door we envisioned was definitely awesome, so I'm glad we were recognized accordingly.

Our holiday party and work was fun, and I ate entirely too much. We had one of my all-time favorites, which are cheese straws. Good grief, those are awesome. I also had a variety of other things... little sandwiches, dip, quiche, cake, etc. I could have eaten myself into a coma, but I stopped when I was reasonably stuffed, so that was a good exercise of self-control on my part.

After the holiday party, I broke my personal rule and went to the library. I'm not supposed to be reading until I finish writing my book, but I had to turn in a few books and figured I'd go ahead and get some others. I've already started reading one of them and I really enjoy it so far. I need to work out some kind of compromise with myself so that I can continue to read, but also continue to make forward progress on my book.

Yesterday was a nice day to work from home. It was cold out, so I stayed comfortably in bed and worked on my laptop. As has become Friday tradition, I had lunch at El Toro, so that was the perfect mid-day break. Last night, Claire and I watched some television, ate some Chick-fil-A, and played some Jenga. Wild night!

Well, today I got up and exercised. My back has been bothering me lately, so I walked on the treadmill on an incline. I would have liked to have done something vigorous, but it was a good workout anyway... plus, I got to read a good chunk of the book I shouldn't be reading.

I'm about to head to Taco Mac to meet two work people before going to a concert tonight. The concert is this male a capella group, and it's supposed to be good. I'm excited to see what it's all about! I think they do singing as well as skits, so I look forward to being entertained.

I'm tired, so I hope a second wind is about to kick in.... WOOOHOOOO!

Freaky Friday

Geez, the week flew by! I was so sleep-deprived this week because, after Monday's physical therapy session, I found myself in a lot of pain. I had trouble sleeping all week because every position was uncomfortable and caused pain. I am feeling better after going yesterday. We tried a different approach to getting the rib where it should be, and that seems to be helping. Now I have costochondritis, which is the irritation of the cartilage where the ribs connect to the sternum. I'm telling you - I am a piece of work! I feel pretty good today, though. This is the least pain I've been in all week. WOOHOOO!

I went to Chick-fil-A tonight because I was craving a milkshake. I didn't really realize it was Cow Appreciation Day until I got there. There were several patrons dressed in cow costumes to receive a free meal. I hope those cow costumes were from something else because there's no way I'd buy a $30 cow costume to get a $5 meal. Anyways, when I was walking out with my milkshake, nuggets, and buffalo sauce, I saw another strange occurrence. There was a guy in a motorized wheelchair in the drive-through. I mean, literally between two cars as if he were a car. He had on a white undershirt with spots drawn on it as his attempted cow costume. I don't say any of this to criticize; I am just still confused.

Anything else interesting happen this week? Umm, oh yeah. I won an award at work called the Spirit of Swoop Award. It is a quarterly award given to someone who is 'contributing' within the workplace and outside. I was recognized for my revamping of our email communications as well as the SUCCESS I had fundraising for the CF walk. It was a pleasant surprise and a good beginning to the week (Tuesday).

Otherwise my week was pretty low-key, but good!