Welcome to Fall...

I *hate* fall.
I hate it because every year since, I believe, the 8th grade I've gotten a sinus infection.
Every year.

I'm trying to do a better job of listening to my body, noticing the small signals it gives me and trying to cut this crap off before it starts. It's just... hard. I'll feel fine one minute and the next I'm dizzy because sinus pressure has just exploded in my head. The headaches are back. Fierce headaches too. I know it's directly related to the sinus pressure. I can press on my check bone and I feel like vomiting. I just don't want to go through my annual allergy/sinus drug binge again. I've been trying to rinse my sinuses out using my netti pot but it feels like just minutes after that the pressure comes back. It's frustrating.

On the flip-side...

I've gone into jittery, jumpy cleaning-mode. I don't do spring cleaning, I apparently do fall cleaning. I started cleaning out/re-organizing the bathroom a week ago... It remains an on-going project. I have a lot of things on my to-do list but finding the time/energy is a problem. Perhaps I'll be more motivated when Husband start work on replacing the bedroom floor. That remains to be seen.

For now I just wish it would stop being in the upper 80s/90s in the day and then plummeting into the upper 40s/low 50s at night. My immune system just can't handle it.

My iPOD is in control of this blog. You have been warned.

-You Look So Fine - Garbage
--I adored Shirley Manson back in the day. I remember wanting to be her. I remember singing Stupid Girl at the top of my lungs when I thought nobody was listening. Now she's on the Sarah Conner Chronicles and I'm not entirely sure if time has been *that* cruel to her or her character is supposed to look like that... either way, ew. It's disappointing really. Go back to your grunge girl ways, please?

-Gimmie! Gimmie! Gimmie! - A*Teens
--I was in Finland the summer they came out. They were, it seemed, a huge success. At least as far as I could tell from watching Mtv Europe. Then I came back to the states and nobody had a clue who they were. Sad really. I liked their take on classic Abba songs, kinda techno-rific but fun either way. Husband is embarassed I still listen to the CD, but it reminds me of that summer and I like to remember that part of my life.

-True - Ryan Cabrera
--This is one of those horribly sappy love songs that makes me think of Husband. I love love songs. I'm a sucker. I still believe in fairy tales even if my Prince Charming still thinks farting is hysterical at the rip age of 27. Although I will confess that at one point Ryan Cabrera's hair scared me but I still like him better then Pete Wentz. (And I'm almost embarassed to admit that this CD was in my car for well over 3 months on constant replay...)

-My Happy Ending - Avril Lavigne
--For the most part I hate her. Honest. (Sum 41 also lost some of respect when Deryck married her but that's another blog...) But there's just something about this song. I think it makes me think of every ex-boyfriend I had and appreciate the fact that I finally found my happy ending so much more.

-Angel (acoustic) - Better Than Ezra
--*love*love*love* I remember when we saw them in concert at OSU and the school paper actually referred to them as One Hit Wonders... I still get offended about that, and that was 6 years ago... I just think they are horribly under-appreciated. Besides any band that can make their acoustic sets sound better then their digitally enhanced stuff... well let's just say I'm a lifetime groupie.

-Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen
--I now have the overwhelming urge to trap Husband in the car and blare Queen and The Beatles. He *will* be converted. Even if it kills me.

-I Love The Way You Love Me - John Michael Montgomery
--Again I'm a love song sucker. But I also am a country lover in disguise. I was in love with Garth Brooks for the longest time when I was younger... until I found out he was balding. There is a good chance though that I would sell a kidney to see him in concert.

-Untitled - Better Than Ezra
--I bought books. I bought a lot of books. I have extreme guilt now. I haven't made the hugest dent in my unread pile but it's totally B&N's fault. Plus Husband wasn't exactly helpful either. Our membership was going to expire and they offered me 3 15% off coupons for renewing. What's a girl to do? We made two online orders and one in store purchase. But in my defense I'm only up to purchasing 4 books since I banned myself from buying anymore. A phenomenal achievment if you really know me. (I have no self-control) (and yes I realize this has nothing to do with this song but I had to confess)

-Wild One - Faith Hill
--I swear at some point a family member compared me to the girl in this song. Although I'm not terribly sure how "wild" I am. I called my parents the night before I pierced my eyebrow asking if they would disown me for doing it. I was 18 but deathly afraid they would be disappointed with me. It took me over a year to finally confess that I had gotten a tattoo, even though everyone already knew apparently.

-Cruel To Be Kind - Letters to Cleo
--What happened to this band? I adored them. I love that Husband will sing along to their songs. This song always makes me think of 10 Things I Hate About You. And makes me laugh that millions of teenagers secretly watched a movie based on a Shakespearian play and had no idea. mwahaha

I have other things I want to blog about but... you know how that goes.

When Husbands Attack...

Setting: The Kitchen
Characters: Husband and myself:
Time: Dinner

So there we are cooking a lovely dinner. Chatting about our respective days. The next thing I know hot oil is flying and my hand feels like it's on fire.

When Husband went to put a new piece of meat in the oil (which I was manning) he wasn't exactly careful and in turn sloshed hot oil out of the pan and onto my hand.

I in-turn scream bloody murder and rush to shove my hand under some cold tap water. He apologizes profusely and at some point I burst into tears. 3 ibuprofen and a crap load of aloe vera later and I sort of feel better.

I now have a huge red splotch right about my wrist, a red splotch around my pinkie finger as well as a small blister. Hot water still makes me scream in agony but I think I might survive.

I just won't cook dinner again anytime soon...

teehee

To like someone..

The following conversation took place at work yesterday:

S: "Karen... I really like you"
Me: "Um, why?" (was totally caught off guard)
S: "When you first started I wasn't sure how it work out because we're so different... but I really like working with you."
Me: *laugh* "Thanks, I like you too."

This got me thinking. I've never really paid attention to my friends political or religious views because to me they are a non-issue. I really and honestly believe life would be boring (or really insane) if everyone was like me. I like to think I subscribe to the "live and let live" philosophy. The girl S is an extremely conservative/republican/religious girl and I think that's cool. It's interesting to pick her brain. But when you cut away all that we actually have tons in common... we both have in-law drama, we love stuffed animals, we both desperately want silly tattoos (frog for me, unicorn for her) and we love Queen and The Beatles passionately.

In fact my best friend is the complete opposite from me when it comes to almost anything political/religious and/or environmental. I can't imagine the gaping hole that would be in life if we couldn't put all that aside and be friends. I guess it's different when you're 18... I think it's sad though because I almost missed out on what is turning out to be a great friendship...

Is it ingrained in our very being that as we age we begin to define ourselves by our political/religious identities instead of our likes and dislikes? I remember in elementary school picking my friends based on if they liked the X-men or Little Ponies. In high school, your extracurricular activities by default defined your friendships. In college it was your major. In grown-up life? I haven't quite figured that out.

I guess just chalk this up to another mystery of being a grown-up that I don't get...

(p.s. I only offer up my political/religious identity to people as a way to warn them about what might be coming out of my mouth... I have a tendency to speak and then think... lol)

Million and one...

I feel like there have been a million+ thoughts, ideas, emotions, etc running through already frantic brain these past few weeks. It has left me feeling emotional, clingy and very bitchy. Not exactly blog worthy material I should say. Nevertheless I present the highlights:

-Work. I have been less then professionally satisfied with work lately. Personally I am getting along/finding my niche better with my co-workers. One of the vets shares my sarcastic personality and I swear she can read my mind sometimes. She is currently trying to help me solve the "itchy butt" dog problem which I will be eternally thankful for, but... she did give me the nickname of Eeyore because I sigh a lot which is totally uncool. The Wicked Witch continues to be just so... wicked. I did attend an informal game night last night with my fellow co-workers. I had a really good time, mostly because I found someone who is worse at Guitar Hero then me. At least in the coming weeks my schedule will have more variety and hopefully help with the professionally unsatisfying feeling...

-I watched Brokeback Mountain yesterday. It was lame at best. Now I know why I subconciously avoided watching it for over a week.

-A co-worker burned me a Queen CD (which she promptly wrote "Republicans Rule" on... lol) and I forced Husband to listen to a half dozen times in the car. I think he might divorce me if I sing Fat Bottom Girls one more time...

-I went to Big Splash last weekend. It was awful. I had a panic attack and subsequently burst into tears when Husband tried to drag me on a water slide. (I'm terrified of them) Then I nearly drowned when my inner tube turned over at the end of another water slide (at least it wasn't high and terrifying). Not to mention the crowds... ugh. I may or may not have sworn at several small children who slammed into me on different occassions. Oh wait... did I mention I can't swim? Yea...

-I'm bursting with excitment over the return of Heroes later this month.

-I tried to pick up the livingroom today... You can no longer see my coffee table. This is why I don't clean. I'm completely incapable. If I try to clean a million "projects" suddenly present themselves and before I can stop myself the place is more of a mess then when I started. Ugh.

So there you have it. I was supposed to go to the grocery store and get supplies for dinner instead I made a huge mess in the livingroom, defragmented the laptop, watched Focus Earth, and imported CDs into iTunes. I'm sure Husband will be proud when he gets home... lol