Thursday, February 26, 2009

I am Still Alive!

Yes, I have neglected Miss Blog. Honestly, I'm too busy and stressed.

Friday was my last day of work. We have yet to get an official leave date.

My fridge has been on the fritz since saturday. Maintenance has "fixed" it 3 times, and we've gone through 3 gallons of milk thinking it will stay cold, and then the fridge dies in the night and the coldness mysteriously dissapears.

216.5 lbs this morning. As you can see, I'm not off the wagon - just not explaining it in full lately.

The upside? I've been wrestling with the hubby a lot. This is improving my strength, causing us to giggle together, and giving me something to take my frustration out on - although he is 100 times stronger and can just pin me down with one arm.

shhh... don't tell him I admitted that. I keep telling him I've been holding back for his sake *wink*

Monday, February 16, 2009

BRAIN GO KABOOM!!!

I had a hard weekend. A very exhausting, soul-wrenching weekend that has left me entering my workweek depleted of energy and just… exhausted. I was debating whether to explain everything that happened, and decided that I’m working to move past it and move forward, so I’m not going to make my heart and brain rehash it all. I have a busy couple weeks coming up, and I need all the energy I can get.

We’re leaving the first week of March. That leaves us with 2-3 weeks to get everything washed, packed or sorted, brought to Goodwill or tossed, etc. We have last minute appointments to see to, people to see one last time, bills to pay, accounts to close, etc. Amy’s brain is definitely on overdrive!!

Today I’m working a 10 hour day at the office, and then going home and doing some packing. We’re also going to file our taxes tonight, if we can access Husband’s online (it never came in the mail due to an address issue, and he’s locked out of his online account… because I put in the wrong password too many times!). Lucky us, we need to go get them done for an exhorbitant amount because we need our refund back within the next 1.5 weeks. So we’ll be throwing money away just to get it quick. Ah, the price of convenience.

Husband is done with his evening job, which means there will be a lot of together time. I’m hoping this will prove to be a good thing, as we get ready for the trip, and that it won’t cause more tension. We are both at the end of our rope, and just want to have everything here done so that we can leave. I can’t BELIEVE how much there is to DO when you leave the country!!

Also – after thinking on this awhile, I’ve decided that I am not going to post a link to our China blog on this website. This blog has some really personal, sensitive info that I don’t want all of my family and friends reading, so they mustn’t stumble across it. Also, I think I’d like to keep my public life public, and my secret chubby blog life secret. If blogspot is accessible in China, I will certainly still be updating with Chinese food, experiences, etc!

Of couse – there are a couple exceptions to that rule. I know of a couple people from here I’ll be giving it to. And if you’ve been faithfully lurking here since the beginning (I don’t think there ARE any of those… but who knows) and have just been DYING to read it, email me at amy_jo0122@yahoo.com. I might make an exception. But no promises *wink*

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Valentines Day

Today hasn't gone well. I don't want to expand on that. I'll leave only a quote I found when searching through my old blog I kept in 2004-2006. It's a quote from my Husband, then-boyfriend. My heart is broken these days; but reflecting back on when he said this, my heart still managed to flutter a little bit.

"I realized today that you are the luckiest girl in the world; not because of who loves you, but because of how much he loves you."

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Wick in my ear!

I haven’t blogged much in the past week…mostly because I’ve got a monstrous ear infection that has made me insanely crabby, and I haven’t wanted to subject anyone to it. But my selfessness has limits, and sometimes you just gotta vent!

My ear is huge. On Sunday, it started to hurt. Monday, it hurt like the dickens. I think I got about an hour of sleep that night. In the morning, I decided I needed a doctor. My doctor couldn’t fit me in until the next day, and I knew I couldn’t wait that long, so Husband brought me to the Urgent Care Center. They charged me a $55.00 copay, and I walked away with only a prescription for ear drops, and a diagnosis of “swimmers ear” (I don’t even swim!!).

My ear was so swollen that the drops wouldn’t even seep into my ear. The little that finally did made my ear WORSE! I went to work after the Urgent Care visit, and plowed my way through half a workday, then tried to sleep.

Wednesday, I woke up and burst out crying. Husband said I needed to see OUR doctor. I called, and managed to get an appointment in the morning. I was having shooting pains inside my ear, my whole right side of the face was sore, and I couldn’t close my jaw!! I tearfully called in to work AGAIN, apologizing since my last day was supposed to be Friday.

My doctor was angry that I couldn’t get an appointment with him Tuesday. He said that the doctor gave me the wrong prescription for ear drops, and it worsened my problems. He inserted a wick into my ear so that the drops he was going to give me would get in. I was sobbing as he did it, it hurt so bad! Nothing like crying to your doctor. I was quite embarrassed. Anyway, I got a prescription for antibiotic drops, oral antibiotics, and darvocet for the pain. So far, my ear doesn’t seem to be any better. But the darvocet is helping!! *hee hee*

I have to go back in today for followup. We’ll see…

Other bad news? Our departure date has been bumped back until the first week of March! My employer okayed me to work one more week, so at least we’ll get a little more money… but I’m just anxious to go. Husband is pretty down, and he’s having a hard time at work. I want to whisk him away.

Diet wise? I’m climbing back on the wagon – even IF I’m leaving for China. I had a rude awakening when I climbed on the scale at the doctor and it said 226 lbs. Yes, that was with shoes, clothes, and heavy winter coat on, but even so, I would imagine I was 223 lbs – that’s 9 pounds gained back! I thought I was maintaining… I thought wrong.

The diet will be easy for a couple days – I can’t chew. Cream of wheat for breakfast, Soup In Hand for lunch, probably a smoothie or Slimfast shake for dinner. I’m being forced into cutting back J

Some good news? How about some of that? Hm….

I was proud of the voting on the Biggest Loser! I’m glad they gave Dane and Blaine their wish J Also, I got some purty flowers for my birthday from my mommy. And a really cute asian photo album from Husband, for China pictures (we’re broke… and it was really sweet and thoughtful!). Also, I gave several bags of fat clothes to Goodwill. I’m going to be hear long enough to go out with my co-workers for TGI Friday’s night. We’ll have time to see all of our family before we go. Mom-in-law is going to lend us her laptop so that we have a computer in China.

So all in all, life is bad, life is good. Life is… life.

Monday, February 9, 2009

A Slightly Boring Weekend Update!

What a wonderful birthday I had!

I am now 24 – officially in my mid-twenties. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN??!!
Anyway, my weekend was full of family fun! With us leaving so soon, everyone is fighting over our time. Friday I had the day off work, and did a lot of cleaning and laundry. Friday night, husband and I went to see the movie New In Town. It was pretty funny, but I wish I’d picked a movie with a little more substance!

Saturday we slept in ridiculously late, then went to my mom’s for a birthday dinner. We had Italian beef sandwiches (which my dad brought from Chicago!) and chips. Yeah, I ate too much. And cheesecake. It was terrible/wonderful. My pants are getting tight. How do I change this mindset? I don’t have much motivation. I keep thinking “I’ll lose weight in China!”. Anyway, my mom, dad, sister, cousin, her boyfriend, and her daughter was there. Fun times were had. We watched a movie after dinner, then skidaddled when mom turned Nascar on. She’s a Nascar NUT. I, however, am not.

Sunday, we went to Husband’s parents’ house for a Planet Earth marathon with the in-laws, along with the brother-in-law and his fiancĂ©e. It’s a series that BBC did on nature. It is by far the most amazing nature show I’ve ever seen. I heart it. Except when the fox eats the baby duck. That’s pretty scarring.

I am entering my last week at my office. It’s so weird knowing that Friday I’m leaving, and I may never come back. I’ve never stayed at an employer this long before (yeah, I’m a youngun. But for a 24 year old, 3 years is a long time!). I’m going to miss a lot of people, but I won’t miss office work. I’m excited to move on and learn to teach!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Blackout!

The oral typhoid vaccine is simply evil.

It’s a series of 4 pills, taken every other day on an empty stomach. Yesterday, I took pill number 1 and jetted off to work. Within two hours, I was sick, throwing up, the works. I was told that 25% of people get severe nausea with it… and I’m one of the lucky fourth! I tried to call hubby all day, to no avail. I was sick, working, and worried about hubby, since he wasn’t home! Finally, I went home at 3:00… our power had been out all day! So rather than sit in the dark all day, hubby brought me to mommy’s house, where I laid on the couch with a pillow and blanket and watched the Biggest Loser while petting Smitty, her new three-legged cat. My 21 year old sister’s plea when she wanted to adopt him?
“But MOM, you KNOW I’ve always wanted a three legged cat!”
Apparently that’s a valid argument, because mom caved and now has two kitties in their apartment. I will admit, Smitty the three legged cat IS pretty cute. And cuddly. And a little bit cross-eyed.

Last night Husband picked me up and brought me home, and our power was (thank you LORD!) back on. I was not looking forward to having to “guesstimate” what time I had to get up based on my own internal clock… I was sure I’d lay awake all night worrying I’d be late for work! Husband tucked me in, gave me some medicine for my headache, and let me sleep the night away. And sleep I did… better than I have in weeks.

Today, I’m back at work with the after effects of terrible beginning-of-my-lady-time cramps, a pounding headache, and a seriously bad attitude. I am attempting to remedy all of this with a mix of blogging and coffee. We’ll see how this works out. The worst part? I have three more pills to take. I’m hoping my body will be a little more adjusted by tomorrow morning when I take my next one!

Today’s plan? I have to pack up stuff at home, do laundry, do my LAST lesson for my online TEFL course (HURRAH!) and hopefully take a nap. We’ll see how that all goes!

Monday, February 2, 2009

Lifeforms.. Lovely Little Lifeforms...

SUPERBOWL SUNDAY!!!!

How did Amy spend her day?

Sitting on her bed with hubby. Eating all sorts of terrible forbidden things (windmill cookies, ice cream, potato chip, macaroni and cheese) and watching a Star Trek movie marathon. Four of them… That’s about SEVEN HOURS worth of TV watching. I always avoided Star Trek. In an effort to connect with Husband’s interests, I decided to start watching them with him. Slowly, I became hooked on the original cast.

Spock is my homeboy.

Anyway, we just finished watching the first season of Next Generation (if you don’t understand this Star Trek jargon, you are not alone. I have but recently begun to understand such things). We decided it was time to watch all of the movies containing that cast. Long story short?

Data died. And I cried. Just a little. I most DEFINITELY hid that from Husband, because I would be teased mercilessly. The fact that I am that attached to an android on STAR TREK is something I never imagined in my wildest dreams. My, how things change.

Life update?
-China. In 18 days. It’s creeping up at lightning speed (full warp?)
-Diet? So terrible. I’ve adopted this “When I’m in China, I’ll eat healthy” mindset. Terrible, I know. But I have so much to focus on; and so many things to stress about. I just don’t wanna deal right now. Sue me. I still ate oatmeal for breakfast… that’s good, right? So much for a diet blog… this one is losing its diet mojo!
-Marriage – okay. I’m not deluding myself. But regardless of Husband’s feelings, I am truly feeling that I am moving forward. I love him. I’m enjoying him more, and he’s so INTERESTING! I’m beyond angry at the way I’ve treated him, and viewed him. I’m loving him so much… and its going to make it much harder if he stills wants a divorce next year after our stint in China. But I won’t regret it; I’d rather appreciate him, respect him, love him, and treat him the way he deserves, and lose him than lose him knowing that I could have been better. I could seriously go on forever on this subject, but I’ll spare you… for now.

Today we had an extremely overpriced counseling session in “travel medicine”. Basically, I got a stupid shot in my arm. The nurse stuck the needle in, injected HEP A miracle stuff into my arm, removed the needle, and then promptly placed a bandage carefully TWO INCHES ABOVE the needle hole. I think she missed the point. We got Typhoid pills to take over the next week or so… prescriptions for malaria meds… and lots of info on DEET and sunscreen and high elevation and traveler’s diarrhea.

Oh, hey, y’all, if you’re the praying type (which I definitely am), please add my aunt to your prayer list. She was just diagnosed with breast cancer. We’re not sure how far it’s progressed, but she’s pretty scared. I can’t imagine what she’s feeling right now; but she’s a believer, and is being as optimistic as she can.

Have a happy Monday!