denise

Daily Dose of Health – Sinus Soothers

Health and Wellness /

I woke up this morning with a stuffy head and achey sinuses. I know you needed to know this, didn’t you? It’s not really an uncommon thing for me but this morning I was dreading the day ahead (3 back to back phone calls) and doing some whining about it all while driving TW to work. TW’s response was “I’m sorry, but maybe you can take a shower.” Huh? is what I thought but I just figured it was some weird TW train of thought and I was totally not into going there at the time.

Fast forward 10 hours…

We’re home, the work day is officially over but I’m on the laptop in bed trying to catch up on my boards after 3 1/2 hours straight of phone calls. Wondering how I’m going to catch up. Wondering if Michelle did any school work, besides the Spanish oral exam (I know she took because the phone rang at the start of phone call number two and it was Sra. Johnson) and the blogging she did today. Wondering why I can’t take those special red pills of death like normal people because my sinuses are still yukky. While I was doing all of that wondering and trying to work and laughing at a coworker on AIM when what I really wanted to do was scream, the UPS truck showed up. I went out and grabbed the boxes and brought them into the bedroom. “I believe these are RJ’s birthday gifts.”

TW got up and opened the boxes and started to laugh…

“Didn’t you say you got your present yesterday and liked it?”

“Yes, I said that.”

“Well what exactly did you get?”

“What do you mean, what did I get? You’re the one who ordered it!?!” (At this point I’m thinking TW is totally nuts and trying to drive me nuts so maybe she can dump me in a long term care facility, steal my kids and move in with that new barrista she has a crush on…or maybe the gay guy at work that needs her help so badly)

“I got those little travel speakers for the iRiver, duh!”

TW laughs again, “That isn’t yours, that is RJ’s! This is yours!”

Prod_sudacare_shwr_lg

“Well no wonder this morning you looked at me like I was an idiot when I said you could take a shower!”

No wonder is right, lol. Man, when did my life get so complicated?

Now about these little SudaCare Shower Soother tablets… I saw them advertised on the TLC channel when we were in Charleston doing our Clean Sweep/Trading Spaces/Property Ladder/What not to Wear marathon and commented on them quite a bit. We even searched the commmissary and the BX on the Air Base for them with no luck. This is the sort of thing TW does… you comment on something, you half heartedly look for it because it’s interesting and before you know it, you’ve got a carton of them. Luckily, I only got one box this time… at least I think it’s only one box…

The instructions say “For best results, place directly under water stream and face the tablet.” Well we have a tiny shower. In order to do both of those, I’d have to stand directly against one of the end walls and then I’m not under the dog gone shower stream which is totally unacceptable for me. If I’m taking a shower, I expect to get wet for goodness sakes.

Luckily though, we do have a small shower so that part about facing the tablet wasn’t really necessary. The thing was pretty much right under me and while it did give off a lot of that mentholy eucalyptusy vapor it didn’t give off so much that it burned the ummm sensitive areas (just a little tip here, do not get Vicks Vapor Rub in those areas… it’s not pleasant and it does nothing for congestion or sinuses… learn from previous accidents, that’s why we have those little accidents, to save you folks pain and discomfort!).

Anyway, back to the shower… as I said, it does give off a lot of that mentholy eucalyptusy vapor and my sinuses did feel a bit better BUT the scent reminded me of when I was a kid and my dad use to bath the dogs in MY bathtub with some special mentholy smelling medicated shampoo. So, it smelled like wet dog in the shower. I don’t know if that means I smelled like a wet dog or if the tablet itself smells like wet dog. Either way, it bugged me and I’m not sure I can actually bring myself to shower with those tablets again. Can you blame me?

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Daily Dose of PRIDE – Coming Out Day

Community Chest, GLBT /

Comeout
Once upon a time (5 years ago), in a land that no longer exists (women.com), I had the pleasure (not) of moderating a message board called “Coming Out”. What a joke that was. Looked good on paper, I suppose, but whoever decided a “Coming Out” board would be a good idea in an only marginally lesbian/bi friendly women’s community didn’t ask any real lesbians.

It was rare for anyone to use that board to tell their coming out story. It was rare for anyone to ask for advice about coming out. And when people did post their stories or ask for advice, it was like talking to an empty room. Nobody (except me) was really listening. And, to put it bluntly, I’m not all that “Coming Out Friendly”. I tend to advise on the side of caution, especially when listening to a 16 year old girl who lives with homophobic parents or a married woman of 35 who THINKS she has a great husband who will understand. These are not the best living conditions in which to decide to “Come Out”.

I also am not hugely fond of making “Coming Out” a huge production. Why make people you care about feel any more uncomfortable than they need to feel right off the bat? You’re about to spring some pretty rough information on people, why not keep it low key in the beginning? What’s the real benefit to you to make a production? I understand not wanting to lie or pretend. I understand the whole “If they don’t support me then I don’t need them” feeling. I understand the need to be really loud in order to hide your own fear and discomfort at such a pronouncement. But really folks, low key has always worked pretty well for me. There’s time later for celebration and NOISE.

Regardless of how you came out, regardless of how you might still come out, celebrate the day. Regardless of how you have reacted to a coming out or how you might react to a coming out, celebrate the day. It isn’t easy, no matter how it’s done.

There are some interesting coming out stories on the HRC National Coming Out Day site. Check those out and don’t miss Tom – he has interesting advice to share.

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Zipporah

2005, Books in Bed, Fiction, Religion /

Zipporah

OK, it’s not The Red Tent. Let’s get that straight right up front. Zipporah is also not as good as whatever the other book I read at some point in the last two years about Moses & Zipporah. (It was really about Moses but the Zipporah character was better written than in this book). Now if I could only remember what the name of that book was… maybe it will come to me at some point in the next few days.

I did enjoy it. TW seems to have liked it more than I did because when I said “It’s ok.” She got sort of bent out of shape and said “I liked it more than just ok.” I also have to say that of all of the Marek Halter books we’ve read, this has been my least favorite. The story of Moses and Zipporah is an interesting one and I found myself skimming an awful lot. That pretty much says it all, doesn’t it?

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Ghost Town

1 Comment / 2005, Books in Bed, Fiction, short stories /

Somehow I found myself reading three books at once, I never do that and it was pretty troubling to find myself in that position. I settled down and finished About My Sisters and then finished Ghost Town, a book of short stories about NYC.

Three short stories that were just long enough that I couldn’t finish a complete story during a 15 minute work break. HMPH. I prefer my short stories a little shorter. The stories were, uh, weird. To put it mildly. The first set in the revolutionary war period, the second about the time of the civil war and the third – you guessed it, 9/11. Weird stuff.

I thought they were going to be “ghost stories” but they weren’t. They were stories about weirdness, bad things happening, people just a little short of a full deck. Weird stuff, did I mention that? Now, back to Zipporah…no weirdness there at all, lol.

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Daily Dose of Birthday – Clean Sweep

Holidays, Kid Talk, Sights & Sounds /

October_001

I mentioned in my Random 10 post that it was my birthday and I was cleaning my office and I mentioned pictures. Well here’s one… I got too busy cleaning to remember to take more, darn it.

I got a lot done, even though I was distracted by taking TW to work, picking her up, little kid madness, email and AIM. I’m not finished but after five hours of it today, another hour tomorrow should do it.

TW came home from work midday, it’s Gator Homecoming – whoppeeee … Go Missisisippi! 😉 And as soon as we walked in the door, she left to “run a birthday errand”. She came back just as I was about to feed the little kids their lunch. No birthday gift in hand. Hmmm.

The little kids finished their lunch and then TW rounded them up to take them out “birthday shopping” again. Uh oh. TW and 3 small kids unaccompanied on a shopping trip is dangerous. I stayed focused on cleaning the office and doing laundry and within a couple of hours they were home. RJ came in carrying an orchid. Hmmm, nice but odd. TW handed me an envelope. I open it. Gift certificate? Hmmm odd. I look more closely, wondering why TW got me a gift certificate. I do not really like to shop. Ha, a gift certificate for a tanning salon. Hahaha! I often say I wish we could move into the new townhouses that have tanning salons free for use in the exercise room.

Weird that she took the kids out for two hours and came back with just a gift certificate and an orchid. Oh, craft project is about to begin. Uh oh. TW and 3 small kids doing a project is even more frightening then the shopping trip.

I stayed focused on cleaning the office and late in the day took the second bag of trash out to the can and found 3 odd things in the yard. 3 paper pots with plaster hardening and a metal stake sticking out of each one. TW appeared at the door, sure I would know what creation they were making. I was clueless. It wasn’t flamingos again, thank goodness.

The afternoon passed. The girls were in the living room working on part of the project and I did not peek as I passed in and out of there. J was “busy” working on his part in his room for hours and hours. Hmmmm.

Jenn called after she got off work and asked if I was doing something special for my birthday. I told her I spent 5 hours cleaning the office. She said “ohhhh did you do the tarp thing?” (Some of you may not know that TW and I have a TLC thing. Everytime we go on a trip, we spend hours in hotel beds watching Clean Sweep, Trading Spaces, What Not to Wear and Property Ladder. We were just in Charleston last week and had such a marathon) I laughed and said “No, I was mostly by myself and couldn’t take everything outside alone, not to mention it rained most of the day.” She laughed and suggested I should have held off and just done the Clean Sweep thing because there was surely more to get rid of than the 2 bags I took out. Hmph.

After dinner, TW and the little kids went outside for a few minutes. There was a lot of giggling outside of my bedroom window. Super Glue was mentioned, as was bamboo. Hmmmm. TW yelled, “OK, go into the living room.” I did, held the evil dog so he didn’t get out and watched the little kids parade into the house with these umm pots with some signs sticking up on them. Hmmmm

October_005
I looked closely at E’s. It had a big 42 on it, gee thanks kid. And the word keep spelled front ways and backways in nice neat handwriting and lots of the beanie baby stickers I had found in my desk this morning all over it. I told her it was cute as I was laughing and asked why it said “keep, peek” on it. She said, “You’ll find that out later.” Hmmmm.

October_003
I look at RJ’s and it had the beanie baby stickers on it and the word Sell. Ha, it hit me.

October_004
I started to laugh, looked at J and said “TRASH, You’re TRASH!!!!” hahhaha. A large bag of tarps was presented by TW. A Clean Sweep Birthday, woohooo!

October_006
The small children are not thrilled with the idea that we may Clean Sweep their room. E in particular is worried about her beanies. She should have realized by the signs that no beanies are every trashed, they’re either kept or sold and I don’t think anyone would want hers, they’re well loved. I, on the other hand, have a good 100 well cared for, clean in acrylic cages, beanies that should definitely wind up on the sale tarp soon.

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Daily Dose of Music – Random 10

Sights & Sounds /

Happy Birthday to me! Here are the last 10 songs that have played while I sorted through the madness that is my office… would you like pictures too?

* Young at Heart – Joss Stone
* You Make Me High – Sophie B Hawkins
* Calamine Lotion – Abi Tapia
* Pennyroyal Tea – Nirvana
* Undertow – Suzanne Buirgy
* Redheaded Woman – Bruce Springsteen
* Who Knows Why – Melissa Ferrick
* Me and Bobby Magee – Janis Joplin
* I was Hoping – Alanis Morisette
* Ophelia – Natalie Merchant

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Sisters

1 Comment / 2005, Books in Bed, Non-Fiction /

I finally finished a book, yea me! About My Sisters by Debra Ginsberg and it was a pleasure to read, as I suspected. What an odd family. I’d like to see them in action at a family gathering.

I only have one sister and when I was a teenager I spent an awful lot of time taking care of her, like Debra and Deja, but we definitely don’t have the type of relationship that the two of them have. Maybe we would have if I hadn’t moved so darn far away and stayed away for all of those years? Who knows but it was interesting to think about.

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I Need Penguins

Favorites, Reading Lists /

TW and I spent some time daydreaming about the complete set of Penguin Classics but as of yet, we haven’t won the lottery so the 25 boxes that they are shipped in (and take 12 hours to unpack) aren’t clogging up ur already clogged office. (not that 77 linear feet would fit in this office…but that would motivate me to clean it) I am afraid that ownership of these will always be an unfulfilled dream, just like having my very own library. Sigh.

Penguinpock
But this little set is totally doable, don’t you think??? Free delivery in the UK. I don’t live in the UK. What do you think delivery would be to the US????

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Daily Dose of Health – Lupus Awareness Month

Health and Wellness /

Survivinglupusribbon

I know most bloggers are talking about Breast Cancer Awareness Month but I like to be different so I’m going to blog about the often overlooked Lupus Awareness Month instead.

1 in 200 Americans suffer from Lupus and 9 out of 10 of those are women. Lupus is an auto-immune disease and symptoms can vary widely. Everything from chronic fatigue to joint pain and mouth sores to severe nervous system problems.

People with Lupus often don’t look sick and I’ve heard many a story about family members, friends and coworkers who refused to believe Lupus was a real illness. If you’ve got questions about Lupus, there is a great Support Group on WebMD where you can find answers.

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