Monday Musings

Poor Mimi...she just got over a week and a half long cold that she refused to take medicine for, and just a few days later, she's got another one. This time, I tricked her by dissolving a Triaminic thin strip in a tablespoon of diet coke, and Austin and I made a big production of drinking this excellent diet coke in front of her. Naturally, she wanted some too, so I added another tablespoon or two to the cup with the medicine in it, topped it off with a straw, an gave it to her. Of course she drank it, so now maybe she won't have a face full of snot, coughing all night.

I just got back from Florida on Friday night, so Mimi has been super clingy, sitting on my lap constantly and getting all romantic, hugging me and stuff. So here it is, 6:30 pm and I'm hiding in the bedroom, behind a locked door. See, Mimi thrives on routine, and she won't do certain things if I'm around, like....go to bed. So when she is in the bath, I have to sneak away and hide until she goes to sleep, kind of like I'm not here. Right now, I can hear Austin and Mimi laughing up a storm, and I wish I could be there with them....but what's more important is that she goes to sleep at her normal time. On Saturday, I gave Austin a break, and he went to see a movie that started right around her bedtime. I planned on having her sleep with me, and due to the change in schedule, she didn't go to sleep until 11:00pm, screaming and throwing herself around on the bed when i tried to lay her down.

Moving on....I bought a bike a few weeks ago, and it was delivered right before I left for Florida. And here it is! No, that isn't MY bike, but that is the bike I bought, same color and everything. I lovelovelove it. Since we live so close to my office, I bought it so I could ride to work. Today was the first day. I was worried about the little hill I would have to ride up, since the bike has a single gear, but I only had to stop and gasp for breath once, which I disguised by pretending I needed a drink from my bottle of water in my backpack. Okay, we live 1.87 miles (according to mapquest) from my office, but I haven't been on a bike in years and my legs still feel like jello. But it was fun...I was smiling like a moron while I was riding home today. And then I rang my bell repeatedly at all the dogs that barked at me, and they paused, silent, acknowledging that I am the alpha. Okay, they were just surprised.

Random Whining Tidbits

Okay, just a few things:

#1 The other day, while I was walking to the hotel elevator with my coworker, Bonnie, some guy approached us and said to me: "I saw you down here today, didn't I?" I was baffled. I had no idea if I'd seen this guy. He was unremarkable in appearance: Short, 50-ish, unattractive, creepy. I'm one of the most unobservant persons I know. I routinely am introduced to people, am will immediately forget their name once it leaves their lips because I am distracted by other things, like remembering to breathe, a twisted sock on my foot, grocery list, etc. Now, I know I had never seen this guy before, and he certainly hadn't seen me in the hotel that day because there was nobody in the hallways or lobby when I left for work earlier that morning. But let's stop for a second. SO WHAT if he saw me? Why feel the need to bring it up? Am I going to be impressed that he has seen me before? So, I said, "Um, no." Then he offered to carry my shopping bags. I declined. He offered again, a bit forcefully again. I declined again, so he wandered off to the nearby vending machines. Bonnie and I exchange "weirdo alert" looks, and I am freaking out a bit, so I blurt out: "My boyfriend's coming over tonight!" Bonnie, bless her heart, because this woman is like my damn brain twin, says, "Oh, good!" Then I say, "Yeah, he's down at the gym. He's lifting weights." I was trying to find a way to say that my (imaginary) boyfriend was a police officer or something when the elevator arrived. We got in, and since I didn't want the guy to know what floor I got off on, or to be able to get on the elevator immediately after it returned to the lobby, I pressed all of the floor buttons. And then she made sure I got to my room safe, where I called up Austin and he calmed me down. And I haven't seen him again. And so there is nothing else to report about that, but I am in the mood to post pictures, so here is a picture of Bonnie. It will embarrass her but I think she will secretly like it. Can you believe she is a grandmother of TEN?

#2 I was at Old Navy today, buying a pair of pants, and as I walked to my rental car, I had this weird feeling come over me. I felt like I couldn't breathe, and I started to get the shakes like when I haven't eaten recently. I get to my car and call Austin and manage to blurt out that I'm having a panic attack. At least I think that's what it was. So Austin calms me down. And then the moment passed. What is weird is that I've only had one other episode like this before....and it happened at the Old Navy in Wausau, WI. Weird.

#3 I have had a cold/sinus-y thing for about 10 days. Amelia and I caught it from a little girl on the playground. Amelia is pretty much back to 100%, but I cannot, CANNOT shake this thing. I am coughing and blowing out enormous quantities of snot out of my nose. I mean, I am on my 3rd box of Kleenex in 10 days. The girls in the office I'm working at joked that they will have to decontaminate the desk after I leave. So yesterday I go to the VA clinic near the base, figuring that at least I won't have to pay any co-pays for any prescriptions. So the Dr. says I have bronchitis, and gives me cough syrup, amoxicillin, and motrin. And I'm taking it, but I cannot stop this cough. I cough so hard that I gag. I am coughing so hard that I am getting worn out.

So that's all. No more whining (today at least).

a big jumble of pictures

Okay, so FINALLY, here are a bunch of pictures. Sorry, I'm too lazy to separate them out into multiple posts. These were taken the first week in our new house. Enjoy!

Taken from our backyard, looking right.
Taken from the backyard, looking left.

The back of the house. (I just realized I don't have any pics of the front)

Mimi and Daddy in the backyard.

Taken from the back of the yard, towards the street.

Our photogenic Mimi

Mimi's room

Mimi's room. I got the blue cube-y storage thing and

the table and chairs for $4 total on base.

The view from Amelia's window.

Having a playground in her backyard is her dream come true.

Mimi and His Hotness in her room.

I love this picture!

A rare moment wearing clothes, but if you look carefully,

she is trying to take her shirt off.

Look! Shirt, jeans, and boots.

It's a rare moment that Mimi wears clothes indoors.

Updates to come...

Hi, sorry it's been a while since I've updated. We were busy moving into the new house and all that good stuff. Then, Amelia met a little girl on the playground and hugged her and the little girl gave her a smooch and also her cold....so we were all sick ALL last week. Oh, and this week, too. Amelia and I spent all last week hacking and coughing and sneezing and whining. We're starting to get over it. Amelia refused to take any medicine so she was recovering the hard way. Me? I will take anything, anywhere, if it has a smidgen of a chance of making me feel better.

Austin had been having a lot of allergy problems since we moved in to the new house, which was surprising because it has wood and tile floors, and was really clean, so he went to an allergist and was tested on the standard panel of 40 or so allergens. Turns out he had a reaction to pretty much all of them, including cats, dogs, all grasses, weeds, even foods like nuts, beef, chicken, whole grains, eggs, etc. He also showed a strong reaction to pecan tree pollen, which wouldn't be much of an issue except we have a huge mature pecan tree right in our front yard. Anyway, the Dr got him on a bunch of medicines and he's doing a lot better.

I flew to Florida yesterday, and I'll be here for 2 weeks, so I will have plenty of time to post some new pictures...just be patient...I've been having problems with my ears since the flight and I am feeling sorry for myself.

Check back in a few days!