Happy Birthday to my dear, dear friend Rachel. I've had the pleasure of her friendship for nearly 10 years now, and she has redefined the word "friend" for me. She is the epitome of loyalty, grace, beauty, intelligence, & understanding....to name just a few of her attributes. She's a tower of strength when I need her. She's hip & wears killer clothes/shoes/boots. There is no way that I could name all the "gifts" that she has given me. A few examples: thanks to her, I know the joy of hearing Blossom Deary sing, I discovered a new spiritual path perfect for me, I learned what a "url" was and learned how to navigate the web long before it became so mainstream, and I learned to make good coffee.

She's the best, and I love her dearly.

****PMS Alert****

I am so tired. I feel like all I've been doing lately is running around. I can't remember the last time that I could truly relax and rejuvenate. Let's see how far back that I can remember what I did:

Last night, Wed: I went straight from work to have dinner with two dear girlfriends. Then, we shopped. I bought some great new sandals at Kohl's, and at World Market, I bought some purple bindi, wooden Hindu prayer hands, & two neat-o Banjara keychains. I got home around 9:15.

Tuesday: I flew home from work to water & feed Nikki, clean her box, pack a bag, and go to Andrew's. On the way, I stopped by Eckerd's to pick up some pictures that I had developed. The mysterious throw-away camera turned out to be the one that I used at a childhood friend's wedding almost 2 years ago!!! We did laundry for which I am eternally grateful, but that last trip up from the laundry room just about killed me. Stupid thyroid.

Monday: I went straight from work to the hospital to visit my grandmother who had knee replacement surgery last Friday. She looked great! I saw her 7 inches of staples. Unbelievable!! Her roommate turned out to be a lady that worked in the same building with Grandma when they both worked for the state. Small world.

Sunday: Andrew & I went to look at apartments after doing some research online. We ended up at the complex that we had visited several months ago to look at 1 bedrooms when he was looking to move at the end of his lease. They were really nice apartments, but he decided to go month-to-month where he is. Anyway, Sunday, we returned to see the 2 bedrooms. Amazing. My gut feeling kicked in before we even entered the office. I already knew we'd decide to live there. Monday at lunch, I returned to the office to submit our applications. With the 2 months' free special plus $500 off the first months' rent special plus the security deposit & admin fee waived because my employer is "preferred", I feel like we're robbing them. Depending on which unit becomes available, our rent will roughly be ~$800 which included washer/dryer rental and pet rent. We're on a waiting list for now, but moving day will be ~June 30.

After apartment hunting, I raced to a pal's house for our first ever troupe practice. Three girls from my original belly dancing class & I have decided to just get together on a regular basis and dance, share our belly dancing cd/music, etc, and just enjoy the company of other dancers. We had a blast! Leaving there about 7:30, I went on an hour long quest for 15v fuses for my apartment. I live in an old building so I don't have circuit breakers. I have old style fuses that screw in like a light bulb. Well, unfortunately, at 7:30/8ish pm on a Sunday night, the hardware store folks have all gone home. I went home fuseless and moved the other wall socket fuse to the empty outlet so I could log on and, then, moved it back before I went to bed. (My dad's words of wisdom? "Whatever you do, don't stick a penny in the hole. You run the risk of burning the house down." Never occurred to me to do that. Oh, and his other advice gem? "Don't stick your finger in the hole." Ok. Thanks, Dad.

Saturday: I woke up at my house, made a yummy pot of coffee with some Indiana brew my old roommie brought me last time that she was here and laid around with Nikki. In the earlier afternoon, I went to a FANTASTIC belly dancing workshop given by a local area troupe. I learned a lot (floreo, camel, ghawahzee, half moon, reach & sit, and a different take on several moves that I already knew. Then, the troupe performed 3 numbers for us. All this for just $20. It was so worth it. I went home, packed, and went to Andrew's. We went to the new mall for dinner and a little shopping. I bought a new cd by Miriam "Mother Africa" Makeba. I had never heard of her before, but the sound of her voice made me cry in the middle of Barnes & Noble. If you don't know who she is, find out.

Friday: I went straight to the hospital after work to see my grandmother who had had knee surgery that day. My mom & dad were there plus Mom's 7 brothers & sisters plus two brothers' wives. How many is that? 1...2....3..... TWELVE!!!! We had 12 people in a hospital room. Hee.

Typing this has helped me understand why I'm so tired. I should get off this stupid computer and go to bed early. I had to miss a dear friend's jewelry party tonight because I was having a PMS freakout. I was so looking forward to going so I could lay my eyes on several friends that I don't see that often these days, and that fact upsets me greatly. There just aren't enough hours in the day lately.

So if you're reading this and you are one of my friends (guy or gal), I miss you. Truly, I do, and I hope to see you soon....................

Well, I did it......finally.....on the *last* day.

Did what?....you're probably thinking.

I called 1-800-962-9862. Do you know what that number is? It's the number to call to reach WUNC 91.5 to pledge my support during their Spring fundraiser.

I love National Public Radio. I never thought I'd be so interested in the news and talk radio, in general, as I have become in the past few months. I was a die-hard Bob & Madison listener for ~6 years when Andrew came along. He wakes up to NPR, listens to it almost exclusively in the car, etc. Basically, being with him meant that I couldn't avoid NPR.

I had my chance to get on the NPR bandwagon much sooner actually. My dear friend Rachel listens to them religiously, and it is she that actually introduced me to it ~10 years ago. 10 years. I could have been listening for 10 years, instead of ~4 months. Silly me.

Thanks to NPR, I can now say that I know what is going on in the world. I've learned a lot in the past few months that I, too, have been an NPR junkie. For example, I can now actually say that I understand what is going on in Israel & Palestine. However, I've also learned about Southern dialects, an endangered woodpecker species, & the history of salt. I've benefited from the information that I got from People's Pharmacy. I've laughed my butt off at those crack-smokin' Car Talk guys and zany Michael Feldman & his silly show. And, I finally know what the heck all the hullabaloo was about when the book Lake Wobegon Days came out ~15 years ago when I was working at Ladds'. Lastly, I've fallen in love with David Brower, Carl Castle, Ann Taylor, Corey Flintoff, Leoneda Inge, Sylvia Pajolie, etc. (please, pardon my spellings.) and find that the sound of their voices is like the sound of a trusted friend.

So....thank you, NPR, for great programming. Here's my pledge. Now, give me my T-shirt.

My kitty Nikki are saddened tonight by the news that a dear friend's kitty, Meow Meow, passed over on Monday. I only got to see Meow Meow on 4 or 5 occasions, but she was an amazing 18 year old cat. She was a gentle soul, and I always so enjoyed seeing her when I visited my pal. It was comforting to see a geriatric cat be so spry.

As I sit looking down at my ageing, (few days shy of) 15 year old furball, I am sad for my friend but happy for Meow Meow that she had my friend to care for her. Lucky cat.

Good luck in your travels, Meow Meow. =^..^=

Gees. The past few days sure haven't been fun. Good news though. I went to work today and, by about 3pm, felt about 70% ok. It was nice to be back among the land of the living. Tonight, I feel nearly 100%, but I'm so stupid that I'm up late. Should be catching up on sleep.

Andrew & I are looking forward to this weekend. We're co-chairs for the ferret club's booth at the ren faire. We'd be there anyway, you know?

Tonight, we watched Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket" which is Andrew's favorite war movie....well, it was until we saw "We Were Soldiers" a few weeks ago. Anyway, in "FMJ", when Mathew Modine's character holds his dying friend, I swear I could feel his pain. Isn't that stupid?? How the heck should my non-veteran butt know ANYTHING about what a soldier feels when his buddy dies in his arms? I don't really have an answer for that. I just know that I feel a deep agony. It is no longer a movie to me. Suddenly, I feel the pain of all the soldiers in all the wars who were all so far from home and who became close to those they were fighting along side of, and then, had to hold their buddy in their arms as the life faded frrom his or her body.

Who do I think I am? Deanna Troy?

War sux.

Someone please shoot me. Sick Day #3 is not my get-better day. My temp hit an all time high of 101.2 earlier. Andrew has gone to get Nikki.

Sick Day #3:

Andrew has gone to work, and I am still at his house sick as a dog. He's promised me that we'll go get my cat if I'm too sick to go home today. I last saw her Sunday night around 9pm when I ran to my house to get my thermometer. (Andrew was burning up, and he didn't own a thermometer.) I know that Nikki is probably fine at home sleeping, but I never leave her for more than a day.

When I went by Sunday night, she was sitting in the front window sill and was so happy to see me. I sat with her a little while and, then,I topped off her food bowl, cleaned her litter box, and freshened her water. I hated leaving her again.......

Nikki's birthday is next week, and she'll be 15. I know that she's old, and her time to cross over is probably approaching, and I don't know what I'll do without her. It's really sad though that I'm so worried about losing her when she's still here, but I guess it's just that I don't want to know life without her.

She's the best, and if I can't stop feeling so groggy, I'm going home. Dammit.

(tried desparately to post this last night around 9:30pm, but Blogger was down.)

Wow.

Andrew & I just watched my dear friend get married on the internet in a Las Vegas chapel. Isn't technology grand? Congratulations, Chris & Kim!!!

In other news, I totally forgot to post that I was hired for the A/R Coordinator position with the company I've been temping with. I start April 15th which is really cool cuz the temp assignment ends April 12. The money is $3000 better than Hellhole, Inc paid me, and the benefits start right away.

Yippee!!!!

Excuse me. I'm going to go blow my nose for the 100th time today.

Comments? Write me at snadolicious@yahoo.com....

Being sick sux.

Funny quotes from SickFest 2002:

1) Andrew, picks up our ferret Max, holds him in the air and sings to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot":

"I'm a little ferret. My name is Max. This is my arm, and this is my other arm."

2) Andrew: "Do you want a cup of tea?"

Pathetic me: "No, I want my kit-ty."

Sorry---these might be you-had-to-be-there jokes.

Yesterday was his big day to be sick. Today is mine. I don't have much temp (99.4), but that's the highest that it's been, and I feel like crap.