Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Happy Giftmas!

Giftmas is only 2 days away!   Giftmas occurs on the fourth Saturday of December, except if that date is the 25th, in which case Giftmas defaults to the third Saturday of December.  A palm tree is decorated and brightly colored lights are hung around the house.  On Giftmas morning presents are exchanged between family members while tropical music plays in the back ground, leis are worn (along with Hawaiian patterned shirts), and fruity drinks are enjoyed with little umbrellas (alcohol optional, but encouraged!).


Giftmas decorations!

The Giftmas Palm Tree lit up!


HAPPY GIFTMAS EVERYONE!!
And Happy Holidays to those who celebrate something else!


Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Mmmm drugs are good, prescription that is....

I've never been one to like drugs, prescription, over the counter, or "other"....but I must confess that the prescriptions I'm on now are fantastic.  No headaches for a week now and I'm feeling less stressed and clearheaded. 
I still haven't managed to get up when the alarm goes off, the first time, and I feel quite defeated by this challenge.  It's probably the easiest thing on my 30 list and it has yet to be crossed off.  But this is what happens every morning, regardless of when I set my alarm:





And it doesn't matter if it's on vibrate, a crappy song, an annoying beep, or a kick ass song....every morning my sleepy personality trumps my motivation personality.  I've even tried cheating on the weekends and setting it for 9...but still the snooze button gets hit.  Why not get rid of the snooze button you ask?  Well, I've tried that.  I used to have it set up to where I didn't have a snooze option and I had to solve 2 math problems to turn the damn thing off.  And what did my sleepy personality, who I will now refer to as Sleepy Sandy, do?  Wakes up enough to solve the math problems, dismiss the alarm, and reset the alarm for a later time....SERIOUSLY.  I have to boot Sleepy Sandy out of my bed.  I blame her for me not getting up early enough to work out.  She's the reason I'm always in a rush to do everything in the morning, and barely have time to log on to facebook before going to work.  Sometimes Sleepy Sandy makes me go to bed early before I shower and she tells me that "Oh yea we will get up early and take a shower in the morning"....and then the morning comes and Sleepy Sandy hits the Snooze and then I have to rush through my shower and then I have to miss out on reading people's posts on facebook about going to bed or getting up.  Damn you Sleepy Sandy.  Damn you. 

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Headaches....life is Amazing without them

Last week I had a headache.  No big deal right?  Pop some pills, drink some water, go about your day.  But this particular headache started on Monday, November 21st and lasted until Monday, November 28th.  Seven days of head throbbing, pill popping, laying in bed pain. By Wednesday night I was in tears yelling at my pillow to please give me relief.  But that damn pillow didn't do ANYTHING.  Nor did the numerous amount of times I took various headache medicine.  Nothing touched it.  On Thanksgiving I'm not sure what pill I took but it gave me a little relief and I was able to make it through family dinner. 

What should a normal person do when they have a headache for several days?  Go to the doctor is probably your answer.  On Wednesday morning when the husband suggested I go to the doctor my first thought was that it would probably cost $6,000 with that amazing insurance we have.....I was ready to go to the doctor by Wednesday night but my doctor isn't open on Thanksgiving, nor the day after (we should really just make Thanksgiving a 2 day holiday and be done with it).  So my plan was to suffer through the weekend and call on Monday.  So suffer through the weekend I did.  Sleeping mainly.  I took a bath on Sunday night and put my head under water which helped.  On Monday morning I called the doctor and got in for a same day appointment (apparently they were concerned about a week long headache as well).  The doctor had me do some coordination tests (I imagine to make sure I didn't have a tumor [my doctor is very high tech]) and squeezed my head a few times and checked my eyeballs and ears and blood pressure.  He said he thinks I have a tension headache and then gave me two prescriptions and told me to get the hell out of there (OK so maybe he didn't say it exactly like that but you get the idea)

So after the doc I went to Walgreen's to get my scripts (that's street lingo for prescriptions).  One pill is for me to take every 6 hours "to break the headache cycle" (doctor quote) and then the other is an anti depressant to take before bed (apparently I'm mentally unbalanced and have been for some time which explains SO much). 

I thought the one I took right away would be magical and the horrible headache would disappear.....so I went back to work (like a dumb ass).  In the 3 hours that remained of my day at work I believe I was able to scan 3 documents and place 1 order.  It was not good.  I left to pick up the child and then went home and laid down and awaited my untimely death.  But death did not come.  I woke up and fell asleep throughout the evening, getting up to use the bathroom and eat something.  I asked the husband to make the pain stop, but he didn't know how.  I took my bedtime pills and went to bed. 


GLORIOUS TUESDAY MORNING  

What a beautiful morning Tuesday was!  I woke up without the dreaded headache.  I felt like I could do anything!  I should have tried juggling or running a marathon or juggling while running a marathon!  I went to work and accomplished things!  My mind was clear and I could once again alphabetize and balance my checkbook.  And this is when I had my epiphany.  Before the headache week I felt very blah and non-motivated to do stuff.  I went through my days mostly on auto-pilot putting in the necessary time at work, making dinner without any thought, half-ass cleaning the house....But now, with a clear head and the knowledge of how difficult it is to do simple things with a week long headache, I am changing. 

So the next time you don't feel like doing some mundane task pretend someone is punching you in the head repeatedly while you try to do it. 

3 days without the headache have come and gone and tomorrow I vow to cross an item off the 30 list....GET UP WHEN THE ALARM GOES OFF, THE FIRST TIME.  I know what you're thinking- it's been over a month and you haven't DONE THAT?  Geez.  See, auto-pilot.  But that list is about to become my bitch.