Sunny Day in Careyworld

Welcome Back, it's been a long time.

I've been considering blogging for awhile, but now I think I'll get down to brass tacks.

So all in all, in the scenario of "it's the little things," life is pretty damned good.

I had a sliver yesterday which was buried pretty deep, and got my whole thumb sore even though it was not much thicker than a hair. After about 2-1/2 hours of digging with a needle, clipping with a fingernail clipper, icing, ointmenting and cursing, I got that sucker out. Now it's healing nice and pie, and just slightly tender.

I think I'm starting to grasp calculus. I have been taking time to review some basic algebra in my book, which I find actually goes all the way up to pre-calc; glad I got that back from my friend. I have also been using my pre-calc book, and taking advantage of YouTube. It's fantastic. I'm going to have to keep putting in the hours and going painstakingly over things like exponential functions, the fact that the square root of x = x^1/2, and things like that that make differentiating polynomials much easier. :) There may be a light at the end of this tunnel after all.

When I came to work this morning, Adam had filled my candy jar with European Chocolate. I love it when he does that. They are Swiss, I believe; yup! Caillei of Switzerland. There are dark chocolate ones, white chocolate, hazelnut, "Chocmel" (no idea, I just wanted to type that). It's good.

I'm signed up for another Trail Maintenance Party on November 28th. The good thing is that we don't have to leave til 7:30, being as how it's only out I-90. The place is called Taylor Mountain, and it has a creek named Carey Creek running through it!!! It's fate, I tellya.

My printer, which has been slightly wonky for quite some time, is now fixed. My bypass tray was incapable of taking 1 sheet at a time, and my regular tray keep slipping out of place. Now it has new parts and is shiny and happy and like new. Nothing can stop me now! Really. It's a good day in Careyworld.

I feel like my life is kind of starting anew. Fresh. I'm on this kind of un-cluttering kick, which has its ups and downs but when I keep on track it's very rewarding. It seems to me at the heart of it to be about setting a schedule. And now that I'm starting to make one, it seems like it's just that structure I need. I've started making it to work on time, thanks to a chatty student on the bus. Her love of morning chats has driven me to get up earlier, cause I REALLY don't like chatting in the morning. And that is starting to kick in pretty well and be comfortable and I actually had a little extra time this morning to futz around. It was good.

OK well that's a long, lengthy, boring start to what will probably be a long, boring blog, but hey, what can you say.

Back?

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted. It's been a crazy summer, with record breaking temperatures, dismally low-rainfall, fires, armed robberies in the U-District and elsewhere, murders....

We are on the road to fall quarter;13 days til it starts. I'm busy as a little bee, working on orientation, scheduling one class for my boss, updating new student information, etc. I was sick as a dog with some kind of weird virus that is apparently spreading around the campus and hitting like a mac truck; I've been sick for 3 weeks and have heard stories about people actually being OUT of their OFFICES for 2 weeks, and sick for 4 and 5 weeks. I guess I should consider myself lucky. I got sick on the 25th, so it's just a little over 3.

Right before I got sick I started going back to the gym, and was really on a roll; I managed to go 7 out of 9 days before I was struck down. I have chosen this week to go back, and have been easing myself into it; still doing a long workout, but not going as fast on the cardio, and not lifting my normal amount of weight. So far, so good, I haven't relapsed, and that's the way I'd like to keep it.

I won tickets to see a fantastic London band called Fanfarlo. They played at Chop Suey in Capitol Hill on Monday. I went with my cousin and it was fantastic. I was completey blissed out.
The opening band was a group called Weinland. They were from Portland and they pretty much rocked the house as well. It was a great night.











I got a message from KeXp on Facebook for another contest to win tickets for Ben Folds playing at the Benaroya. And what do you know, I won THAT one! :) So I will be Benaroya bound on October 20th. Should be fun. He's playing with the Seattle Symphony! How exciting. Don't know if I'll be able to take pix there, though. I'm sure it will be fun.

OK that's enough for today. I may try to start a regular blog again, I'm not sure.

Long Time No Write

Yes, I realize I've been away for awhile, but I think I'm ready to come back. It is August, I am 40 and starting a new chapter of my life. I feel a little reflective and oddly empowered, like now I am entitled to enact the positive changes I was working on in my 30's. Let's see what happens. :)

I have all my Mondays in August off, so my August goals are

a) get my bedroom to the point where it is tranquil and smells good and is a place I like to kick back

b) have at least one good adventure. I still have to suss out what that is, but I'm thinking a day on the bus going somewhere I haven't been before. Perhaps #1 cuz can help me with that one.

Today is banking, a little light grocery shopping, and then back home to work on the bedroom.

Here's to freedom. :)

Ah, a little break....

Well hallelujah, I am finally done with Spring Quarter. That was a tough one for some reason, man, really really tough. I'm trying to figure out why; I mean, it's not like I had SUPER hard classes; stats was a relative breeze, German was complicated and a little frustrating but not hard like science-hard. I think part of it was the fact that it was my last 3/4 time quarter at NSCC. And maybe some of it is frustration with the fact that I SHOULD have been done this quarter; if I had passed Calculus, I would have my AS

right now. Oh well, I need to stop rehashing THAT one and just DEAL with it. Anyway as you can see from these pix, I devoted my Sunday to my deck. I am getting things arranged into an aesthetically pleasing form, and I swept and threw things away and pulled out cobwebs and it's just NICE out there. A place I actually WANT to sit and enjoy, listen to music, read a book in.


Anyway, that's my story for now. I am going to go back to work now. Someone is lurking and demanding my attention. Sigh.

Another quarter draws to an end

So here it is, 8 days til the end of Spring quarter, and I am completely overwhelmed. I have so much work to do that I don't know how I will POSSIBLY get it done...only that I must, so I shall soldier on. No fun outdoor activities for ME this weekend. :(

BUT. I have a tune-up (therapy appointment) on Monday, and a massage on the 22nd. So those are things to look forward to. Plus I rejoined the Mountaineers, meaning I can lead hikes or sign up for anything I want to this summer. AND after a minor glitch (in which they told me I owed $735, but it wound up I had a $109 credit) I got re-instated at Miekos and can now work on whittling away some of this fat ass. Hooray for me! Now if I can just figure out my i-Pod clip I'll be in good shape.

On a down-but-somewhat-plus note, it looks like Calculus is already closed for Summer, but I will attend the first couple of classes anyway and see if I can get in as a State Employee. It would really suck to have to wait, or have to take it in fall with the same crappy teacher. The plus side of it is that if I can't get in, or find another class, I will have my first free summer in many, many years, and that would just be neat. I could work full-time, earn a good wage, pay more shit off...

So on that note, I will go ahead and try to pass my freakin' classes. Wish me luck, say a prayer for me, and I'll see you in 9 days!!!!

Exams done!

Whew! What a week. Stats exam on Monday, German exam on Thursday, I am one beat birdie. But it's Friday, the sun is out, I kicked ass on Stats, and didn't do too bad at German, I'm sure, and I am headed into a lovely weekend. Tomorrow's plan is a bit of volunteering with the Mountaineers, then I'm supposed to go dancing at the JUICE event at the Lo-Fi. Kinda nervous about that, haven't been out and about in the danco-sphere in many a yar. But it will be fun.

Planning some monetary strategy that should be ravingly successful if all goes according to plan.

I think I want to make some tandoori chicken this weekend. Something to put on the cooking blog. :)



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Sun

Day 1 of the Weather Tracker.

Sun. 47 degrees.

Just got back from Finn McCool's where I got a crispy chicken sandwich which was delectable. I had to unzip my coat because I got a little warm.

Well it's been a pretty amazing few weeks recently. Let's see....we had snow. We had rain. We had frosty windows. I thought we were living in Narnia and started looking for the White Witch. BUT, just in the nick of time, spring has sprung. We get 2 warm days, loads of cherry blossoms, and sunshine before the weather turns back to normal Seattle weather.

In other news, I had oral surgery and had a rotten, infected tooth removed from my head. They gave me FIVE valium because I'm such a dental-phobe. I still cried. Hell, I cried when she poured the valium out into my hand! I cried when I got the shot. When all was said and done, I was all sore and tired and I could hardly move my legs cause I was so cracked out on valium. But my friend Kim escorted me to the pharmacy for some vicodin, then watched over me while I slept and recovered from the valium to make sure I didn't swallow my tongue or something. LOL! Oh the drama. Now that that sucker is out I feel better than I have in ages.

In other news, my friend found a job, finally, and she found one IN TOWN. She's working here at the UW, which means I have someone I can go get coffee with, or have lunch with, or go swimming with. It's FANTASTIC. Last weekend I was able to just hang out with her and another friend and go out to eat, and go to Skye Nursery, with no time constraints, no obligations, no nothing. Free time.

Now school is starting back up. I have my old pre-Calc teacher for Stats, and a whole bunch of people from other classes, so that is too fun. One guy from my Biology class last year, a guy from my PreCalc class, and the Polish sisters from my German Class. It's old home week! And with that, we launch a new quarter, a new season, and...um....well, I guess that's about it. ;)

Staying Home

I pulled a typical "Carey" yesterday. I felt so good that I stayed 2 extra hours at work to make up some of my snow time. Today I felt like warmed over crap so I'm staying at home. And actually I guess that's all I have to say.

There's a hole in my head that can only be filled by you.....

OK so I'm thinking a lot of my malaise of late can be attributed to a severely infected tooth. Today I had it out and am really looking forward to life without it. It came out in 3 separate sections; the failed crown, and each part of the root separately, and covered in infectious goo. One actually had a HOLE in it, and I guess he rooted out even more infection. I had this done at 9:45 this morning and now at 4:04 p.m. and the anesthetic is finally wearing off. I have had creamy spinach soup, double vanilla ice cream, ginger tea, hydrocodone, and cheesy mashed potatoes. :) I think I need to take some more hydrocod and take a nap. Happy Tooth Extraction Day.

I realize I have not posted in quite awhile. Partly because of stress; I am failing calculus! So I finally made the decision to drop it. I'll drop, and then retake at a later time. I can still proceed with Statistics in the spring, this will just put my grand scheme behind a couple of quarters, but what's 6 months in the grand scheme of life, right? I mean really.

OK I have to go to a meeting in Health Sciences. Maybe I'll post more over the long weekend.

I Believe

I was listening to my little i-Pod this morning and Don Williams' "I Believe in Love" came on, and I just thing it's the neatest little song.

I don't believe in superstars,
Organic food and foreign cars.
I don't believe the price of gold;
The certainty of growing old.
That right is right and left is wrong,
That north and south can't get along.
That east is east and west is west.
And being first is always best.

But I believe in love.
I believe in music.
I believe in magic.
And I believe in you.

I just love that. So this weekend promised to be quite the social weekend, with a snowshoeing trip, and various engagements. Until the calc teacher sprung an exam on us. So hooray, no snowshoeing for me, just areas and volumes. Sigh. This school business really cuts into your social life.

Nutrition Tip of the Day

Reduced fat sour cream is ok. It still tastes like sour cream. Reduced fat cream cheese is not ok. It tastes like sugar.

Oh CRAP

Against my better judgment, I am watching the YouTube video of Barack and Michelle's first inaugural dance, to "At Last," a song which has long made me cry because of it's simple beauty.

So yes. I am crying. Damn those Obamas and their happy loviness that is just too sweet for words. :) How often do you see that much love in the faces of a married couple? It's just Too Much. sigh

I'm going to go get my glasses now.

Fog and Goals

Gestern Morgen war viel Grauschlier, und war es sehr kalt. Here is a foggy image of the old 522, Lake City Way, facing North. I mean, REALLY. I wanted to get some shots of campus as well, but I got distracted and by the time I remembered it was all burned off.

So I'm on about day 8 of some rather nasty version of the Bubonic Plague that's going around, and I must say that this soupy fog resembles what it feels like inside my head/brain.

I have been thinking about my goal setting. I got stuck, for some reason, but I think I'm back on track. Really my main goal is to take better care of myself, in a conscious, caring way, and all the rest of the things fall under that. Individual steps, I guess. So today I came up with

• Get more sleep - I have been accomplishing this, with physician approval, by taking OTC sleep aids so that I fall asleep at a reasonable hour instead of midnight or 1, and then being completely exhausted the next day. I have made a point the past few nights of taking them by 10:15 or 10:30, even if I feel panicky about homework. This way, I have no choice but to go to bed by 11:30. NONE. :) I'm hoping that as I continue and my body adjusts to this, my little circadian rhythm will be reset to "normal" bedtime instead of "oh shit, is it really that late????" bedtime.
  results so far: despite being sick as a dirty dog, I have more of a sense of well-being in general, feel more rested (although I'm tired from leukocyte wars), and am fighting a little less against getting up in the morning.
  
• Take my vitamins and medicine every day - I have been pretty lackadaisical about this lately. In fact I didn't take vitamins at all for many months, and it was hit or miss with my BP medicine. So I recently acquired a little pill-keeper like little old people use. I got it included in a "freebies" water bottle from Walgreens (of which Bonetti got one too). So it is very very red, with white letters on top, and every Sunday I load it up and leave it in a conspicuous place. So far I have missed one day since 1/10. Incidentally it was the day that I bragged to Bonetti "I took my vitamins EVERY DAY THIS WEEK!" ha ha!
  results so far: well, I am having success, but I can't say that I feel any different. I guess the knowledge that I'm doing something positive for my body will have to do.
• Volunteer! - Something that has always been a big part of my life is volunteering. It started back in 1985 when my mom had me go with her and volunteer at a Seattle Urban League event. It's been in my blood ever since! It's a great way to get outside or involved with something you really enjoy, a great way to meet new people, and sometimes you get free shit. And you never feel badly about volunteering. So with that, I am going to check out Sakya Monastery (I don't know why but I feel inexplicably drawn to that place) Seattle Works and WTA, and my goal is to find a volunteer project for February, and I will find and select my project no later than 1/31.
  results so far: I feel good that I've made this decision, and didn't really realize how much I miss volunteering. I figure that if I plan it right, I can make volunteering a regular part of my life again; at least that is the goal.

And those are my goal-setting attempts for today. I feel very good about them.

Healthful Lunch and Homework.

OK so Bonetti is putting me to shame by being all healthful and holistic up there in Juneau. Not to be outdone, I decided to go with a healthful lunch of cod cooked in a smidge of butter with garlic salt and dill, and a whole yellow squash tossed with a little olive oil, garlic salt, pepper and steak seasoning (the miracle seasoning in my opinion), the cooked over medium heat for about 2-1/2 minutes and finished off with a sprinkle of parm. I must say, it's very tasty. I must also point out that I resisted having tartar with it, even though I love tartar on my fish, so I'm feeling a bit virtuous there, too.

Happy MLK Jr. Day. The day dawned crisp and beautiful, with bright sunshine and thick, thick frost on everything. I know this because I woke at 6 a.m. and tried to cough my lungs out. It didn't work, so I took some Tylenol Cough Syrup which, though exceedingly vile, (and because it's vile you have to take 2 Tblsp which might as well be a gallon), is extremely effective. I have found my miracle symptom masker, only next time I will get the "chesty cough" formula, which amuses me because while it IS a good description, I am somewhat of a chesty gal, so it's doubly apropros! HA!

Anyway I must study my Deutsch. I have to do my Projekt, study my vocab, and do a couple of assignments. This chaper is called "Alltagsleben," which means every day life, and I feel like my whole communication ability is opening up as I learn how to say things like to like, to want, to leave, to arrive...it's fantastic.

Then I have 2 more sections of calculus to finish by Wed for the Exam, and I will be learning the substitution rule (which I already know the basics of) and actually that's it! Hooray! I am ALL over it. :) And here's a MLK quote to leave you with:

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Three Day Weekends!

Happy three day weekend to you and yours. It is 10:29 a.m., and I am flitting between chores and homework and loading my i-Pod. I went and got a buttload of CDs from the library yesterday and am now listening to Le Savy Fav to see if I like them....the jury is still out but I think I might.

I have come down with a mild version of the Plague in honor of my 3-day weekend, so I am sequestered indoors in my flannel pj's, surrounded by various types of beverages; tea, water, sparkling water, grapefruit juice, and soup, which isn't technically a beverage but since I'm not really inclined to eat solid food for some reason (which is really weird if you ask me), I'm drinking tomato soup and chicken broth like there's no tomorrow. The best part though, is my Vick's impregnated Puffs. It's seriously like nose porn!!! Soooooo good. I'm glad I got myself a box.

Kim-Chee took me out shopping yesterday to Sam's Club and the Cash and Carry to buy heavy things in bulk. I learned on my trip to Sam's club that baking soda comes in twelve pound frickin bags!!!! TWELVE POUNDS!!! Isn't that fabulous? Now I don't have to keep buying those little boxes and running out all the time. I'm just pleased as punch.

Anyway the trip was a success, I was able to renew my membership, get some veggies, broth and tomatoes, and some other things that I've been wanting for quite awhile AND I stuck within $5 of my alotted budget, which made me proud. I'm reminded that I need to slice up a cucumber for snacking on today. Oh and make more soup. ACHOO!!!!

So today I am working on definite integrals. They're a LITTLE confusing in spots, but for the most part, pretty manageable. This is what I'm figuring out right now. It's just a matter of making sure you integrate and then put everything in the right spot. So I ask; what's all the fuss about?

If f is a continuous real-valued function defined on a closed interval [a, b], then, once an antiderivative F of f is known, the definite integral of f over that interval is given by

And with that, I really must get back to it. Song 2 on the Le Savy Fav CD was frighteningly raucous, but this 3rd track is more my speed.

HALLELUJAH

HALLELUJAH, IT'S BUSH'S LAST HURRAH!!!! GOODBYE GEORGE!!!! DON'T LET THE DOOR HITCHA WHERE THE GOOD LORD SPLITCHA!!!!

It's the little things

A prospective student just came in, and I advised her as best I could, and we chitted and chatted and compared school notes, since she needs a prereq and wanted to know if she could take it at NSCC. She said she majored in physiology because when things got too small they stopped making sense. I said I loved the why of things, and then she mentioned something about the size of the orgasm; then caught herself and corrected herself to "organism," and turned a lovely, lovely shade of red! Hee hee! I said "see, isn't science exciting!"

Ahhhh...lifes little hilarities.

Goal Setting

OK So we are easing into 2009, and not much too catastrophic has happened yet. I know a lot of people are into New Year's resolutions, but I see a resolution as a set-up for failure. I prefer goal-setting and plan-making/implementing.

So given that, one of my major goals is to take better care of Carey. And this is broken into categories, which I will have to figure out as I go.

I'm starting out fairly well with a little self-indulgence. This weekend JC Penny had BOGO on bath towels, so I indulged and bought $18 "hotel" towels. They are brilliant white, textured, and sooooooooooooooo incredibly soft. And of course, it was $18 for 2, so I didn't have to feel too guilty about the purchase. Well screw that. I will NOT feel guilty. My old towels are just about ready for the rag bag, I've had them for years, and I Deserve Nice Things. Within reason. So needless to say, my post-shower dryoff this morning was absolute heaven. I didn't realize what a difference a quality towel could make in my life! :) So this fits into the subcategory of "Quality vs. Quantity." I've recently become mindful of the fact that when it comes to Carey, she gets the lowest quality product. When making purchases for others, they get high quality; when it comes to her, she purchases low quality, which sometimes winds up costing more in the end when things have to be replaced. So I asked myself; what is it about Carey that makes her less deserving of Good Things than her friends and family? And do you know, I could not come up with one thing! So. No more crap unless it REALLY doesn't matter.

Another goal is to have my goal list finalized by the end of January. I will add/subtract/fine tune as needed, and then compose a pretty document, put it in a sheet protector, and mount it where I can see it. Maybe I'll make 3, and put a copy in each of my school notebooks.

And I think that's it for today. I have more but I'm going to set them in my Palm or something.

Tuesday

Well, here it is, the 2nd day of the quarter. I was a little freaked out when I realized my tuition still hasn't been paid, and I called the Financial Aid Office and they didn't know what the hell I was talking about, and said they couldn't hold my registration, and blah, blah blah. Then at the last minute I remembered going straight to the director last year so to her I went and she was all 'no problem, I'll fix it for you' and voila! I'm all set. :) Happy Days. Now I am registering for an additional credit of "Math Workshop," which will REQUIRE me to spend at least 1 hour/week in the Math Learning Center. Can only do me good, right? Watch me kick calculus ASS this quarter. :)

First Dinner

Here it is, my first dinner of 2009. Very Donna Reed. For some reason, I am taking an odd amount of delight in the fact that I am having peas. I don't usually have them hot, buttered and on a plate. I put them in green salad, or make pea salad, or have split pea soup, but not just Hot Peas. They are tasty. I put garlic salt on them though, which I don't think I'll do again. Just salt and butter.

So anyway, happy 2009. I have survived (barely) yet another holiday season, and the relief I feel on this day is tantamount to having the weight of the world off my shoulders. I started the day with a good sob, but I think that was the last of the holiday tension leaving. I did manage to stay blue for a good portion of the day, being crabby not only with the Bloody Trombonist but also with the OMA. Then I checked out for awhile and my mood is steadily improving and I'm getting back to my normal self. My house is an absolute disaster though, and I really need to work on it.

My sleepy feline is having a nice little nap on the couch. Last night we played fetch with her favorite new ribbon. She can go on playing fetch for quite awhile, like a little doggie. Anyway, here are the pictures to prove it. Now I'm going to go clean my hovel.

Bringing me the ribbon, and then waiting for me to toss it back out (she stares at it while she waits).