Still Sick

I see that I haven't blogged since Monday, but I have a good reason for it. I've been super sick for the past 2 weeks. The last time I was this sick was in 2001 when we went to Ireland. Only difference is that then I only got about 5 hours of sleep a night and now I've been sleeping about 11 or 12 hours. I've been taking cold drugs and vitamin C, but my nose keeps running and my cough just seems to be getting worse every day. Vic thinks my lack of Vitamin C intake may lead to scurvy, so maybe I don't have a cold after all...maybe I've been scurvied! Hopefully I'll begin recovering this weekend because it's suppose to be nice out and it really sucks to be sick when the weather is nice.

Feast Eighty-Seven

Appetizer
Name 3 things that you think are strange.
My dog licking the carpet
My neighbor 2 houses down (he's more of a perv than strange)
Those VW commercials with the guy from "Fargo" ("pancakes house")

Soup
What was the last ceremony you attended?
Shawn's graduation from UWF.

Salad
What is one lesson you have learned in the past year?
No matter how well you plan, the trip is always going to cost more than you thought.

Main Course
Tell us about one of your childhood memories.
I got separated from my mom in Higbee's when I was about 5 or 6. Higbee's was a major department store in downtown Cleveland and the same store that Ralphie saw the Red Rider BB Gun in the window of.

Dessert
If you could extend any of the four seasons to be twice as long as normal, which season would you want to lengthen?
Without a doubt, Autumn. I love being able to wear sweatshirts and sweaters and looking at the beautiful colors on the leaves. It's one of the main reasons we moved back up North!

Wings Weekend

This was a really good weekend! Saturday Vic & I attended our first major league hockey game! Normally all the Red Wings games are sold-out or the only tickets left are nosebleed seats going for $60, but we really lucked out this past weekend. There's a business owner in Hazel Park that has season tickets to the Wings, Lions and Tigers games and whenever he doesn't use them he gives them to one of the cops to use. Luckily I was there when Johnny (the cop) was looking for somebody to give the tickets to. Vic & I got 7th row seats right near the goal for free! Yea for us! We saw the Columubus Blue Jackets.

In our haste to get to the game, we forgot our camera, but I've taken a lovely picture of my souvenir puck and our game tickets!

If we get the opportunityto go again, I won't forget the camera! The game was great, but unfortunately the Red Wings lost in an overtime shootout. After the game we hung around for a while to let the crowd kind've thin out and then we had no problem exiting the parking structure or getting right onto the freeway. Afterward, we dined at the lovely 24 hour Coney Island by our house. It was really a great experience. Live hockey is a lot of fun and I definitely recommend it to everyone!

Because we stayed up so late on Saturday, we both slept in on Sunday. We spent the day doing a little light grocery shopping and we ate mexicans at Don Pablo. Finally we found a Mexican restaurant we both like ~ and it only took 9 months! Now we need to find a good Chinese place. The rest of the day was spent just hanging around the house playing with Shannon. I'm still sick, but feeling a lot better. It seems to be the worst when I'm laying down; my nose gets all clogged up & I go into coughing fits, but at least I can talk again. I'm sure everyone's just delighted about that.

Wings

Yesterday was the first time I've ever lost my voice and it was kind've a weird feeling. I've been sick all week, but yesterday afternoon when I woke up I was feeling a little better. I tried to say something to Shannon and nothing came out! As the day wore on, I was able to squeak a few sentences and managed to call out sick (they laughed at me on the phone), but my voice never really got any better. I didn't like the idea of not being able to communicate freely. I'm sure it was a welcome change for Vic, but I didn't like it one bit! Today I sound like crap, but at least I can talk again. And I've got to go into work tonight. I'm picking up some Red Wings tickets from one of the guys. Vic & I are going to our first Red Wings game Saturday night and we're both really looking forward to it. Being able to attend major sporting events was one of the reasons we wanted to move back up north!

Feast Eighty-Six

Appetizer
How would you describe your personal comfort zone?
My personal comfort zone would probably be in my living room, plopped on the puzo (my recliner) and watching a good movie that I've seen before, while cross-stitching.

Soup
What is your favorite tree?
Maple. My grandma's street used to be lined with them & seeing them always reminds me of that time period.

Salad
List 3 foods you'd like to include in your dinner plans for tonight.
Pizza, fettucine alfredo, nachos. I'm planning on just having pizza, though.

Main Course
What is the best advice you've ever been given, but didn't heed?
Don't get out of the Air Force.

Dessert
On a scale of 1-10 (10 being highest), how much attention do you feel comfortable receiving from others?
10, unless I'm in trouble, then -10.

Spring, I Implore You

Tigers Tickets
Originally uploaded by wahoo1265.

Spring, Spring, oh where art thou, Spring?
I'm tired of snow & wind & other cold thing(s).

I'm ready for baseball & flowers & walks in the park.
And for staying outside way after dark (when it's not so cold).

I just now today received tickets to my 2nd ever Tigers game!
So Winter, go away! Hang your snowy head in shame!

Leave us now to make room for Spring, you big bully!
I mean it! Go away! I'm not fooly(ing)!

Feeling Better

I caught a terrible cold or flu or something. I woke up yesterday morning with a scratchy throat, runny nose and feeling like I got hit with a baseball bat about a hundred times. I was so exhuasted the whole day that I finally called out sick; I knew I would sound like shit on the phone and radio and I didn't think I'd be able to stay awake, even though I spent most of the day in bed or napping on the recliner. Today I feel much better; my nose and throat are about the same, but I don't feel as run down as I did yesterday. I ventured out this afternoon to get my hair cut. It's been way too long since the last cutting, so it really needed it. After I take a quick nap, I'll take out the garbage and iron my clothes for work tonight. Not very exciting, but at least I have the energy to do stuff today. Yesterday really sucked.

Weekend Update

Friday
This was Shawn's last day in the 313, so we celebrated by attending some St. Paddy's Day festivities. We saw a great band called Blackthorn at O'Mara's Irish restaurant. The music was great and the place was packed with a ton of partying people. We all had a wonderful time. After I took Shawn back to his hotel and Vickie back to the house, I had to go to work. I really didn't mind, though. I figured I'd be up all night anyway, so I might as well be making some money at the same time.

Feast Eighty-Five
Appetizer
What job would you definitely not want to have?
Telemarketer or any kind of commision-type job.

Soup
Oprah calls and wants you to appear on her show. What would that day's show be about?
Me and all things me. And everyone would get great surprise gifts, including me. She would treat me to a day of doing all the things I've always wanted to do, but still haven't gotten around to yet. Stuff like, skydiving, flying a plane, performing on stage at Carnegie Hall, etc.

Salad
Name 3 vegetables that you eat on a regular basis.
Pizza, Steak-Ums, broccoli & cheese.

MainCourse
If you were commissioned to rename your hometown, what would you call it?
Caseyville and all the street signs would have little shamrocks on them.

Dessert
If you had a personal assistant, what kind of tasks would you have them to do?
Pay all the bills, clean the litter boxes, dust, cook, buy fresh flowers daily for the house, organize the craft room, bathe Shannon, cut my food for me.


Saturday
I was really looking forward to just sitting around cross-stitching all night, but I didn't pick it up even once! We did some running around in the afternoon and then an old friend of Vic's came over that evening. I did manage to get the shelves for my craft room closet that I've been whining about for the last week. I wanted to put them up today, but I woke up this afternoon with a sore throat, runny nose and an achey feeling all over, so chances are pretty good that I'll be spending most of the evening curled up on the couch until I have to leave for work.

Sunday
On our way to Vic's mom's house, Vic's Jeep broke. We had it towed to the mechanic's place and then hung out with Mom for a while. It was something having to do with a belt and a pulley thing under the hood. I'm not exactly sure, but thankfully they've fixed it and it's ready to be picked up. So it looks like my evening of couch-curling-upon will be delayed until after I take Vic to her refurbished Jeep. It was actually a pretty full weekend and we spent a lot of time driving all over town to get little things accomplished. Other than the Jeep pooping out, this past weekend wasn't bad at all.

Beware the Ides of March

Happy Ides! I had a little list of things I wanted to get done around the house today and ended up oversleeping 3.5 hours. Needless to say, I got nothing done. I guess there's always tomorrow, but I hate when a plan goes awry! Shawn & I enjoyed a lovely evening last night cross-stitching/knitting and watching the new "Pride & Prejudice" movie. It was okay, but Shawn had a good point...the BBC version with Colin Firth was 6 hours long and this movie was only 2, so how can you expect to cram 6 hours into 2 and get the same movie? The Colin Firth version was sweepingly majestic in all it's gloriou wonderment ~ the new one had Donald Sutherland with a lisp. Still, it was Jane Austen so you can't really go that wrong. And I got some work done on my picture.

The yellow splotches on the photo aren't actually on the fabric, I think they are the reflection from the light overhead.

I've also included a recent shot of Shannon, post-attack days. This picture was actually taken shortly after she got done rolling around in the muddy backyard. Her expression doesn't show the euphoria she's experiencing after having just muddied up the living room carpet AGAIN. We haven't walked since the incident, but that's mainly due to the weather ~ it's been very windy the last couple of days and we've had a few flurries, as well. We'll be back out there soon, though. And with pepper spray this time.

Shannon Update

Shannon's doing great ~ she acts like nothing even happened. She got extra chewies yesterday and Vickie bought her a new baby, so I think she's over the whole "bad dog" event of yesterday. I checked at work about getting some pepper spray, but I can't use the stuff the cops use because it's industrial strength and "For Law Enforcement Use Only." Well what the heck good is it working for the police if I can't even get lethal shit?

It's really windy today ~ gale force winds, the weather guy says. I'm going to go pick up Shawn in a few hours and we are going to spend a lovely night crafting in front of a roaring log. Hopefully the snow flurries they are predicting will hold off until after midnight when I'm off the road and securely tucked in at work.

Pissed

Shannon & I were attacked by a dog today while out walking. First, we're both fine ~ very muddy, but fine. Second, I'm really pissed about the whole situation. I'm pissed that the dog's owner didn't really seem to give a shit and I'm really pissed that now I don't feel safe walking my dog thru my own neighborhood. I hate that now I feel compelled to carry pepper spray with us whenever we leave the yard. This Boxer just came out of nowhere and latched onto my Shannon. I didn't have anything to beat this dog with, but I kicked it whith everything I had and managed to get it off just as it's person came outside. It's fat bitch of a person, that is. I've never sworn so much at one person face-to-face than I did just a few hours ago. And had this unconcerned twit of a person not fled back into her house, this also would've probably been the first time in my life I actually hit someone. Oh she tried to outswear me as she made her hasty retreat, but she couldn't even come close. I was definitely fired up. Shannon seemed okay for the rest of the walk home and seems okay now that we've been home for a while, but we'll have to keep an eye on her for the next couple of days to make sure she's not in any pain or anything. The bad dog really had a hold of her, but because Shannon is black, it's hard to tell if she's bruised or bleeding. The very nice lady at Animal Control said that the've been out to this dog's address before for several things (she couldn't tell me what, tho), but that since she didn't actually see the attack, that she could only give them a warning this time. I figured that's what she would say, but I know what it's like when people call me and say "this happened 2 weeks ago" or "this is the 3rd time this has happened" and my response is always the same..."Why didn't you report it when it happened??" So, hopefully this won't happen again, but if it does, Animal Control will have a record of this dog. And I'm also comforted by knowing that this piece of shit dog will probably have a bruise about the size of my shoe for at least a couple of days.

Upcoming Weekend

It's been unseasonably hot here the last couple of days. Hot and rainy. It would be nice if it would stay this way (hot, not rainy), but I know we'll probably have at least one more snow before the season is over.

The upcoming weekend will include a visit from an insurance guy (yuck) and a visit from Shawn (yea). Hopefully we'll have some nice weather while Shawn is here so we can show him around a little, but what I'm most looking forward to is him coming over one night so we can watch "Pride & Prejudice" together. He'll knit and I'll cross-stitch and we'll compare the Colin Firth version to the Keira Knightly version over pizza. It should be a glorious evening!


Friday, March 10, 2006
Feast Eighty-Four

Appetizer
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how intuitive do you think you are?
Probably about somewhere in the middle, although I do have a tendency to not believe anybody. Comes with the job, I guess.

Soup
What is your favorite kind of gum?
Anything sugarless.

Salad
Name a CD you own that you would never get rid of.
If I could only choose one I guess it would have to be an indigo girls cd ~ maybe "Retrospective" or a live one.

Main Course
When was the last time you said something you didn't mean?
I say stuff I don't mean every day at work. Sometimes you've gotta tell the citizens what they want to hear, not what you're going to actually do for them.

Dessert
What is the sum of the numbers in your birthdate? (Example: 3 + 2 + 1 + 9 + 7 + 9 = 31)
1+2+1+2+1+9+6+5=27

Sick, Lottery, Friends

Last night I stayed home sick from work. I just wasn't feeling well and didn't want to spend the whole night at work in the bathroom, so I took a sick day. (I'm feeling much better today.) Even though I spent part of the night whining and groaning, it was still better than a night at work. If anyone was destined to win the lottery it's definitely me ~ I just hate working. I wish I could stay home every day. Even on rainy days, like today.

Saturday an insurance agent is coming to the house to talk to us about life insurance. We both have policies thru our jobs, but we need something that would cover paying off the house. When I win the lottery, I'm going to have someone handle stuff like this. I just don't want to be bothered with comparing policies and sitting thru long, boring presentations. It's all just so dumb.

Sunday, Shawn, of the Savannah Shawns, is coming for a visit. Well, it's actually a work-related training thing, but I'm sure we'll visit at least a couple of days while he's in town and Vic and I are really looking forward to his visit. In the 8 months that we've lived in MI, Shawn will make the second person who has come to see us ~ we didn't get this many visitors the entire time we lived in Pensacola! The last 8 months have been really hectic with changing jobs, organizing the house and familiarizing ourselves with the area that we haven't really made any new friends. We're friendly with our neighbors, but we haven't really met anybody that we can hang out and do stuff with. Part of the reason, I'm sure, is that Vic and I work opposite shifts so we can't get together to do stuff during the week, like join a bowling league or something. I still plan on starting to run once the weather clears up, so maybe we'll meet people at the races or when we go bike riding on the weekends. If not, more of our friends are going to have schedule trips to visit!

Another Un-Interesting Day

Things I have at least a dozen of:
* kitties
* pairs of socks
* baseball hats
* finished cross-stitch projects
* colored pens
* dog-slimed tennis balls
* frozen pizza rolls

Things I operate daily:
* shower radio
* the telephone (I turn it off when I go to bed)
* hair dryer
* fax machine at work
* touch-lamp on the computer desk
* garage door opener
* shredder

Things I play with on a regular basis:
* cross-stitch stuff
* scrapbook stuff
* sudoku puzzles
* Bear
* Shannon
* Caleb
* Vickie

Boring Day at Casey's House

Things around my house that are blue:
* the kleenex box
* the numbers on my clock radio
* my underwear
* the picture frame w/Shannon's photo in it
* part of my computer's mouse pad
* sweatpants
* sweater I wore to work last night

Things around my house that are green:
* both of the shirts I'm wearing right now
* the shamrock stickers on the calendar
* leaves on the plants in the bedroom
* other part of the computer's mouse pad
* Larry the cucumber (on the computer monitor)
* a post-it note on the corkboard by the computer
* the heavy curtain I use to block sunlight so I can sleep during the day

Things around my house that are brown:
* the little basket that I keep small pieces of writing paper in
* the bedroom walls
* computer desk
* bookshelves
* the sweater I will probably wear to work tonight
* two pairs of my shoes
* one of the quilts on our quilt rack

Things around my house that are red:
* the shorts I'm going to sleep in tomorrow morning
* some flowers in a picture hanging on the bedroom wall
* Bob the tomato (on the computer monitor)
* my glasses case by the bedside
* the pen I use for writing important stuff on the calenar
* a push pin on the corkboard by the computer
* the little scarf w/the sheep on it that I use to tie back the bedroom curtain

The Weekend

Saturday
This past Saturday was much like almost every other Saturday ~ I slept in and then Vic & I got a bite to eat and we spent the night just relaxing. However, this week we rented some movies and spent all night watching them. I must've cross-stitched for about 8 straight hours! It was wonderful! Above is my "Fleurs & Plantes" picture, so far. The flower shop is going to be a heck 0f a lot easier to do than the flowers that are actually on the shop. But so far, I'm really enjoying stitching it. I always like the beginnings of new projects. Back to the movies...we watched "Flightplan", which was okay and better than I thought it would be; "Crash", which turned out to be pretty good and also better than I thought it would be; and finally "Walk the Line", which was definitely the best of the three. It was one of the most entertaining movies I've watched in a long, long time. If you haven't seen it, see it! Everything about the picture was very good.

Sunday
Our Saturday night spilled into Sunday morning ~ the sun was just coming up as we got into bed! I woke up about noonish and still accomplished quite a bit around the house. I really wanted to tackle that craft room and I made a huge dent in it that afterno0n. I'm now about a third of the way done with it. I need Vic to make me a few shelves and I need to go thru a few of the hundred or so knick knack boxes we have and I'll be all set. We watched the Oscars Sunday night. I'm not a big awards show kind of person, but there wasn't really anything else on worth watching. And remember how in an earlier posting I mentioned how I wanted to start watching less TV? Well, the "Sopranos" starts next Sunday, so Vic ordered HBO this weekend. And not just HBO because HBO by itself was more expensive than the HBO/Showtime package, so now we have both HBO and Showtime! So tonight I will have to flip thru an additional 25 channels on the onscreen TV guide before I finally settle on the Monday night "Friends" marathon on TBS. I may never get outside again.

Kitchen Tulips

This past October Vic & I planted some Tulips outside and have been looking forward to their "springing" ever since. We had a few bulbs left over and Vic threw them in a pot and put them in front of our East-facing kitchen window to see what would happen. Well about a week ago we found little green shoots popping out of the soil and now we have a little mini garden!

Our first little tulip



The mad bluebird who guards her against kitty prey

She'll have more friends soon

Needless to say, we are both very excited about our new little indoor garden and can't wait for the outside one now! Although it's been cold, it's also been sunny during the day which is great for our little in-the-ground tulips. I'm really looking forward to Spring!


Friday, March 03, 2006
Feast Eighty-Three

Appetizer
How many pillows and blankets do you sleep with?
I sleep with 2 pillows, 3 blankets and 2-4 kitties (usually on my feet).

Soup
What are you currently "addicted" to?
Since I can't spend as much time outside as I'd like, I've been watching a lot of TV. Other than a few prime time shows, most of my viewing is reruns and documentaries. And I absolutely love our DVR. It's like Tivo from the cable company and it's a wonderful tool to record movies & stuff on to watch later (cuz you're busy watching reruns and documentaries).

Salad
If you could make a small change to your current routine or schedule that would make you just a little bit happier, what would it be?
To watch less TV and spend more time outside. I can't wait for Spring.

Main Course
Which adjective do you find yourself using often?
"Most-bestest" as in "Shannon you're the most-bestest dog in the whole wide world!"

Dessert
Have you ever picked up a hitchhiker?
No no no no no. Absolutely never ever.

Oscar Failings

Due to today's snow, the Celebrity Fit Club will be meeting indoors and will probably not do much of anything at all.

Every year I try to see the five movies nominated for Best Picture...and I usually fail. This year will be no exception, although I did rent "Crash" and will probably watch it Saturday night with the girlfriend. We also got "Walk the Line" for which Joaquin and Reese are both nominated, so perhaps we can count that one as part of the five, too. I'd really like to see the others, but I either don't have the money or the time and they're all going to be out on DVD this month anyway, so why kill myself. Chances are I'll probably just watch snippets of the ceremony, so I'm not really stressed out about the whole situation.

The Detroit city council finally came to a decision regarding the zoo and it looks like the zoo avoided the chopping block. I don't know what agreement they came to or with whom; I'm just so disgusted with the whole deal. But I am really glad that we'll be able to visit the animals this Spring. I'm really looking forward to that.

*Personal note to Shawn: Don't forget to get your mom a birthday card!

Cross-Stitch & Poop

I finished the cross-stitch picture last night and here is what it looks like:

We, in Michigan (at least my part of Michigan) haven't had that much snow at all. Everyone keeps saying that there's plenty of Winter left and we'll get some hellacious snow, but I'd like to think they're all wrong. Today, as a matter of fact, is a beautiful sunny day ~ the perfect day to run to the store and go for a walk, which is what I believe I shall do. It is not, however, the perfect day to work on craft rooms, so I shant be doing that. Actually, I opened the door to the craft room and discovered several boxes of Vickie's stuff in there, so that gives me the perfect excuse to wait to tackle it until she is around. Tonight I think I'll relax in front of a movie with pizza and my new cross-stitch (Fleurs & Plantes) and enjoy the time before I need to leave for work.

Speaking of work, the millage vote was yesterday and surprisingly it passed. Yea! What this means is that my job is secure for the time being. I guess I should keep my options open, though, in case something else pops up. There's been very little popping, though. I like my job, but sometimes it just doesn't seem all that secure. But it's definitely interesting. Last night we arrested a guy for DUI that was so drunk that first he threw up all over himself and then later in his cell he pooped all over the floor and laid in it. Now if that's not entertainment I don't know what is.