End of 2009.....

I've suffered through months of illness. Not bad illness. But just enough to be very annoying and keep me from being a decent multi-tasker. Heck, I'm not even a very good mono-tasker lately.

FYI: I haven't moved. I'm still in the same unpleasant place. (I'm trying to be nice, it's difficult, there aren't many redeeming qualities once you stomp upstairs to tell your neighbor to turn the tv down at 2am, or stop doing laundry at 3 am.... I'm so picky!) Even though I'm stuck here, my gut says that it's ok. I'm continuing to look. I want to love where I live. It doesn't have to be, and most likely won't be, the one place I live for the rest of my life. It just needs to be home for a few years. Or a happy 2 years. Shhhh...don't tell anyone, but I do actually pray about it.


Not too much to report...
Pictures are from First Saturday at the Walker. The Walker has a great exhibit right now Dan Graham:Beyond, this month's free Saturday was tied into that. We got to rock out to the Suicide Commandos, and make and view art. Afterward, we went to a new restaurant and then to a vintage store where we learned some fun and gross new information.


Were you aware that women would save the hair from their comb or brush in fancy boxes on their dressing tables? I bet you've seen the boxes at antique stores, I have. They look like you should put cotton balls in them (usually octagonal with a round hole in the top). Then they'd use that hair to put back on their head in hairstyles? Can you say eeeeew?! (however I suppose it's better than some other person's hair) I think they were called rat boxes? Funny, since the old hair looked like a dead matted rodent.


On that note, yet another Dr. appointment this week and an ultrasound, then hopefully some meds that will help me feel like I have a memory and a brain. I decided that I'm going to use my insanely expensive healthcare. Since I pay $300+ a month for it.

A~'s completed puzzle piece was added to the large community sculpture

Ok, something positive....Ummm. This week's weather has been so amazing! I love the smell of fall, especially late fall.

Ooh! and I'll have to add in a post about Halloween. M~ came to visit!! :D

Illness!! Take your vitamins! and get some sleep!

I wrote the last post so optimistically, didn't I?... three days later, just in time for all that fun time off with A~, I got sick. He talked me into going to the state fair. Since I had promised him for months we were going, I hopped myself up on cold meds, packed 3 pocket packs of Kleenex and off we went. For 9 hours!

It was just a blast. I was so distracted by all the stuff and how fun A~ was that I ended up having more fun at the fair than I've had in years! We danced, we rode rides, we ate, we looked at art, animals, fireworks, and people, and won stuffed animals at the midway.

Best fair ever.

I took 10 million pictures while we were in the butterfly house. If you've never gone you should go. Best $3 spent at the fair.

Since then I've been sick every couple weeks, needing to take time off work. I've used up nearly all of my PTO because of it. We did go to a great family celebration at the Transportation museum in St. Paul. What a cool place! Never even heard of it. It's a little creepy, I like creepy. They have old trains and buses.

The Chef in the fancy first class train car. (scared the crap out of me at first)

My great uncle owns a bus company, he and his wife were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, which is also the 50th anniversary of the company he started. They are very sweet people, who run a great company. They are also the ones who do the big family reunions I've gone to.

In honor of the big 5-0 they had the celebration and then took everyone who wanted to go, to a Twins game where my very talented cousin sang the national anthem. I was sick, so couldn't go to that. I heard she was amazing.

Totally unintentional reflection, when I saw this for the first time on the computer I laughed my head off!

Personally I kind of think this illness stuff is all the stress catching up to me physically. I did take an exercise boot camp for 3 weeks during all of it, and this either made things better or worse, not sure. My butt looks better. ;) The last week of it I was just exhausted. This past week, I went home early from work 2 days in a row, each day I went to take a short nap and 'boom' out like a light zonked for 4-6 hours straight. At 11 am!

Our last beautiful fall day outing, skipping stones at lake Harriet.

and taking pictures in the garden...

I went to the Dr. today thinking both A~ and I had h1n1, he probably did, but they aren't testing either of us for it (which I totally don't understand!). I may have had it, they took blood to run other tests and I clearly have been fighting off a virus "for some time". So, could have been mono, h1n1, or even strep.

Stress.

I'll find out in a week, guess some of the tests are only done at the Mayo and once a week. Not sure why that's beneficial, I suppose it's because mono and strep can take months to go away if untreated?

So take your vitamins, wash your hands, bring hand sanitizer, and get your flu shot!

Now pictures of snow! I still want Autumn back, I'm just saying this years fall was a total gip.

A snow capped fall

The snow on the fallen leaves reminded me of popcorn puffs

Snow covered cherries(?)

I'm so lucky there was no avalanche!