Monday, March 24, 2008

update

Hi, everyone.
Thanks for your comments about my health situation. I hate being that person who is complaining about health, especially because I am normally really healthy. I guess that makes it even more confusing for a person whose body is normally under her control, when everything is out of it.
I'm responding to some of your comments here, because they relate to a few things that the ReadyCare doctor told me when I went in on Saturday.
SECP: Goodness, it is crazy that you say that about vitamins. When I told the doctor about my stomach, he said I might be getting too much iron. Combine this with the fact that my favorite cereal right now, Strawberry Frosted Mini-Wheats, has 90 % of my day's iron already, and....well, that just seems extremely plausible. So you're totally right! Last time I was in the store, I seriously considered getting some of those gummy vitamins they have now, or Flintstones, and I felt like I shouldn't. Now, I think I will, and I thank you for that advice. Honestly, if I take Triaminic instead of "grown-up" cold medicine, you'd think I would have no problem with kids' vitamins!
Can you imagine what would happen if Poe came to live with me? Poor cat. And poor me, while you're at it (For those who don't know, Poe hates me. As in, he once attacked my mother thinking it was me.). Has he been a problem lately, I wonder?
Carrie, et al.,
I'm not familiar with Airborne, but I do superdose the vitamin C and take my allergy medicine for my nose when I think I'm getting sick. Several medical people seem to feel that my allergies could in fact be playing a large role. They say that if your allergies are constantly piqued, then your immune system is shot. The doctor I saw Saturday also suggested I get allergy testing again in case I need shots like I had when I was a kid, and he said absolutely when I asked if I should be using my asthma inhaler more often, not just in the summer when I run. So at least that gave me a few ideas (even including a CT scan to see if there is anything wrong with my sinuses), and I plan to coordinate with my doctor/nurse practitioner and see if they think I should see an allergist or other specialist. It could be that all of this is just a blip, but if it's systemic I want to know.

In sum, I had a fever spike to 101.9 this weekend, but I think I'm more normal now. It just feels like a cold at this point. And I have the hiccups.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Now tell me how you really feel

I'm depressed.
There, I said it.
I feel like I've hit a wall, with almost everything I can conceivably think of.
This is kind of coming to a head right now because I'm getting sick again. For the fifth time since New Year's, fifth time in three and a half months. I don't know if I can handle this again. Nevertheless, I went to bed with a scratchy throat last night and woke up feeling worse, with a 99.1 degree temp. And as I sit here in my very warm office, wearing a turtleneck sweater, I am feeling chills in that completely irrational way that tells you something is wrong. And I really need to close my eyes for a few minutes before I try to go home. It's like I'm functional, but this could go any way and I'm really hoping it won't be bad, that this is a blip.
I feel like I'd been doing everything right; I was drinking more juice and easing up on the soda a little. I was eating balanced meals and, while my lunch is always highly variable, I've been eating 100-calorie snacks and sandwiches. For a time, I was taking daily vitamins along with my allergy medication, but I had stomachache so I quit doing that, but I am very mindful of my vitamin C in particular. I've even tried to reduce my stress at least partly by letting some things go and getting more rest. I haven't been going out, and only on St. Pat's Day did I spend a little bit of time with some friends. I've even been washing my dishes more regularly.
What is happening to me? Why is my body so incapable of being well? It's so exhausting, and I haven't been able to do things I want to do because I always feel like I should be sleeping if I don't have work to do. And this last time I was really hopeful because the thing went away, it honestly did, for a few days, just a little drippy here and there, but I felt so much better. Why? Why? Why?
I don't even feel like I can make plans, which is very upsetting. I want to see my niece and I want to meet my goddaughter, but you can't go see a baby when you are unhealthy. I wasn't even sure I'd make it home during spring break because my folks were headed to see their granddaughter, and I didn't want to make them sick or carry what I had.
I'm tired, and it's so hard to find things to be happy about when so much doesn't seem to be going well. I'm tired and sick and sad and I just want so badly to be healthy and ready for the warm sunshine when it comes.
I guess what I am saying is that I'm not feeling well again, I don't know what's wrong with me, and I would appreciate your thoughts and prayers to get me properly healed.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Oh my gosh, people, I'm sorry I've been absent forever. I'm only just now catching up on a week's worth of blogs I usually read daily, let alone writing my own.
In a way, I haven't felt lately like I have anything valuable to say. I've sort of hit a wall and am looking ahead at consecutive weeks of workworkwork and I haven't had much energy.
On the good side of things, though, my goddaughter was born, and I finally bought a Lite Brite. And I received some pretty sweet pictures of my niece, who has all kinds of personality.
This weekend, I'm going to finish up essays and then work on a quilt. Especially since it snowed again today, I'm feeling a little lazy. Conversely, I also have felt like going out dancing. See? Nothing quite makes sense.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

PR: The Finale

A few of my students asked me, "Weren't you so excited that Christian won?"
Regular readers of this blog will already know that my answer was no.
I am in agreement with Tim Gunn that any of the designers could have won. They all had distinctive ideas and directions, and they all have sets of knowledge that would likely do well in the industry--that will likely do well, since I am sure Rami and Jillian will have plenty of offers.
But I'm just not that in to Christian. I did have a moment when my heart softened toward him, when he was suffering a lapse in his confidence, and recognized the brilliance of his peers. It is good to see designers respecting each other's work, and it makes me think of theirs more kindly, as long as they aren't whining. But as I have noted before, I'm bored with silhouette, and with his colors. I liked the merlot in his collection and would have liked a bit more of that...more merlot, and one or two different things besides the skinny pant look, and I would have been more on his side. It was just too much of the same thing. They always complain about designers dressing themselves, yet I don't remember them saying that about Christian...even though it's clear to me that's what he's doing. Also, as a general issue, I can't stand skinny pants. Thus, what was there for me?
I loved the weaving in Rami's garments. I also did not mind the color choices; Tim called them dour in his blog, and I totally disagree. Rami has a very sophisticated color sense, I think, and he's been criticized for it over the course of the show for something that probably comes down to culture. He was born in Jerusalem, and I think those olives and golds and mulberries mesh really well with that. They're a heck of a lot better than that horrid lime/chartreuse and orange that keep popping up in designers' work. I loveloveloved that look with the lace. I was not crazy about the shapes of some of his short dresses. In any case, I think Rami is going to get a lot of business.
I want the short blue dress in Jillian's collection. I want it now! Overall, I liked Jillian's collection the best. There were one or two pieces I didn't like (like the gold babydoll dress), but I thought her collection was the most wearable and it spoke to me the most. There were a lot of different things in it, but you had the sense they could all come out of the same closet for a woman with a lot of different things to do. I also didn't mind the slender leggings look in Jillian's collection because it was offest by boots, which is much more palatable for me, and it was balanced by different silhouettes. The coat Lauren wore was really exciting, and I, like everyone else, loved those knits. I almost wish she'd won just for the knits! I wanted Jillian to win.

So that's my take. Top Chef starts tonight, and I'm not sure how excited I am about it. Not very, actually. I get a little tired of pretention after a while, I guess, and every time I watch Top Chef I think about starving children. It's not the best match ever. I'll probably end up watching it, though; it is right after Ghosthunters.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

I will be doing a Project Runway write-up eventually, I promise. I'm sure you can all guess how I feel about it anyway. I have just been concentrating on not going to the office during break (I'm at the town library right now) and also not formulating thoughts in the afternoon.
So, just as a quickie update, my cold is slowly going away (pleasepleaseplease). BG won on Friday and lost on Saturday, necessitating a game 3 of the playoffs tonight. I miss my niece a lot. I'm starting to cut out pieces for a quilt today, which is very nervous-making, especially since there are a lot of fabrics this time to pick from. I just finally watched Pirates of the Caribbean 3 all the way to the snippet after the credits. I'm going to eat a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. I've worn my bathrobe at least 4 hours a day over break.

See what I mean about thoughts?