I know I haven’t been around a lot lately, but I’ve been sick. Still am, in fact. What started out as a runny nose and sneezes turned into a massive sore throat and cough that WILL. NOT. STOP.
I haven’t been this sick in YEARS.
The past four nights have been spent sleeping on my husband’s recliner. Not only because he says my coughing is keeping him up, but because that’s the only way I seem to be able to get ANY sleep.
I’ve read that a cough can linger for up to eighteen days. I’m hope that isn’t the case here, but if it is, I still have eleven more days left. *groans*
Enough whining. I’m off to take a nap. Have a fun and healthy day!
While I was cleaning a room today at the hospital today, I glanced out the window. The view isn’t grand or inspiring, just the Visitors Parking Lot and the city of Omaha stretching out beyond. But today something caught my attention.
There was a man and a woman on the top level heading toward their car. Nothing unusual about that. But then the woman stretched out her arms like a child playing airplane. And then she skipped the rest of the way to their car.
This stayed with me throughout the rest of the day for some reason.
When was the last time I was so excited or energetic that I SKIPPED anywhere? I couldn’t tell you. And that’s kind of sad when you stop and think about it.
I couldn’t skip anyway considering the shape of my right knee and heel these days. But wouldn’t it be nice to experience the same happiness and enthusiasm we did when we were young?
When I got out of bed this morning and made my way to the kitchen, I glanced out the porch door. I was surprised to see that it had snowed late last night while I slept.
I shouldn’t have been surprised because the weather man had said that snow was a possibility. I guess you could say that I was surprised that he was right.
Yesterday our high temperature was in the low 60’s. This was around noon. But then the north winds started blowing and that high tumbled rapidly into the 30’s. And that’s not including the wind chill.
If today was picture day, what would you wear and what prop would you bring to be in the photo with you?
If it were picture day, I’d wear my pumpkin orange three-fourth sleeve blouse – the one with the V-neck with the shirring. I always felt confident in that blouse because orange is a color that works well with my natural coloring.
I’d also wear my chocolate brown jeans. I’ve always had to wear either navy or black slacks to work. So brown is my ‘free time’ color choice. And, like orange, it is a color that suits my autumn coloring.
As for a prop? Well, that’s easy! I’d bring either a large, bright and cheerful sunflower, or my favorite mouse puppet, Chu-ko. I am, after all, a puppeteer. And the best photographs reflect your personality and interests.
I wanted to work on some more designs for my Zazzle store yesterday. So, I opened up my ArtRage program and started a new painting. Or so that was what I intended to do.
Once the program started, I tried to lay down a base layer of color and nothing happened. For almost five minutes. I wiggled the mouse and nothing. Tried to shut down the program. NOTHING.
I felt my irritation levels skyrocketing.
Taking a deep breath, I hit CTRL/ALT/DELETE. And waited some more.
Finally, I was able to shut down the program using Task Manager.
After a brief cooling off period, I tried again. And again. And again.
I was never able to start working on my new project or any of the old ones, either. Frustrating beyond belief!
I don’t know if it’s the program or my computer. And I wouldn’t know what to do in any case so I guess it doesn’t matter. I’m tempted to try again. But first I’m going to think nice, calm, peaceful thoughts.
I love my computer. I love my computer. I love my computer.
I discovered a new blog today while searching for writing prompts. It’s called the One-Minute Writer. You can find it on Blogger . I actually have a Blogger account but I seldom if ever use it. I prefer LiveJournal and WordPress for some reason.
You may have noticed that a lot of what I post is inspired by writing prompts. Why?
Well, my personal life is not very interesting for starters. And I’m not always comfortable sharing details of my day to day existence with strangers. Most of those sort of posts are on LiveJournal where I can control exactly who can and cannot read them. Or I can keep them private, which I do more often than not these days.
If you’re a writer looking for inspiration or trying to break out of the dreaded writer’s block, check them out.
Today was Six Word Saturday and you can find the post and my response below:
The other day I finally finished listening to “The Cursing Mommy’s Book of Days” by Ian Frazier. Cynthia Nixion narrated the story.
Why finally, you may ask? Well, for starters, they weren’t joking when they called it the Cursing Mommy. This woman swears like a sailor. My husband got an earful one afternoon and announced that he didn’t want to hear that sort of language in the house.
I’m no prude, but I have to agree that the language was a bit excessive.
The story follows along for a year in a blogger’s life. This particular blogger addresses herself as the “Cursing Mommy.”
I can’t say that I enjoyed this book. Yes, there were some hilarious moments. But I often found myself shaking my head at the main character’s vulgarity.
I often thought, “This woman needs a bottle of dish soap to wash her mouth out, a course in anger management, and some AA meetings.”
I could overlook the cursing (not gonna lie, I’ve done a fair bit myself). However, some of the situations seemed unrealistic and over the top, especially when it came to the kids’ schools and their insurance company. I know it was tongue-in-cheek, but it just didn’t work for me.
Another thing I didn’t like was the fact that I didn’t feel that they story WENT anywhere. There was no sense of resolution. I know it’ supposed to be a blog, but the story needed some wrapping up. Some sort of closure. A sense of satisfaction at a story well told.
I didn’t get any of those feelings.
I would like to leave this review on a high note, though. Cynthia Nixon did a fantastic job narrating this story. She was emphatic and emotional. No dull monotone here! She was the best part of this story and I want to thank her for doing such a wonderful job. I couldn’t have gotten through it without her.
This book wasn’t my cup of tea, but that doesn’t mean you might not enjoy it. I’ve included an excerpt below. It was funny, if not exactly safe for work. Beware; the Cursing Mommy does just that and more.
Tsu (pronounced SUE) is a new social media site that’s a lot like Facebook in setup. One main difference between the two sites is that at Tsu it is possible to make money with your original content.
I heard about this site last week while browsing through random Bubbles. The idea was intriguing. Who wouldn’t want to earn money doing things they already do online for free?
Another difference between Facebook and Tsu is that you can only join Tsu by invitation or if you use another member’s short code. Once you join, you receive your own short code that you can use to invite your own friends or acquaintances.
Before joining Bubblews, I used to spend a lot of time on Facebook to keep in touch with family. I didn’t go around friending strangers like I’ve done here on Bubblews. The idea may sound weird, but how are you going to meet and learn about other people if you don’t interact with them?
I think Tsu may be helpful in that regards. It is interesting to read about other peoples ideas and opinions. Maybe it will help me to break out of this self-contained bubble I’ve found myself in (no pun intended).
It could happen.
I’d love to meet more Bubblews people on Tsu. Or WordPress or LiveJournal, or any of the other sites that I spend time on. The more the merrier, as they say.
Today was my day off, but it was far from relaxing.
It is Insurance Enrollment / Re-Enrollment time at my work. And, guess what? Our premiums are going up AGAIN. Thank you, Obama.
You must complete all forms online, either at work or accessing the site from home. The deadline is November 7th. If you miss the deadline, you are out of luck until the next enrollment period. Isn’t that just grand?
I don’t know why we can’t do things via paper like we used to. I believe I may have mentioned that I get frustrated (read VERY ANGRY) when trying to work on unfamiliar computer stuff. Add insurance nonsense to the equation and I suffer from a hefty dose of Irrational Rage.
Today was no exception.
It didn’t help at all that we were having some sort of ‘Compatibility’ issues. What was showing up on sections of the screen was a bunch of numbers and letters which made NO sense. Needless to say, I surged from zero to RAGE in six seconds flat.
Thank goodness for my husband. He is a calm, rational man. It was his idea to call the help number listed on the instruction sheet I had gotten from work earlier this week.
He placed the call, and once he got through to an operator, he handed the phone to me. After explaining the problem, the operator immediately put me on hold for a ridiculous amount of time.
Finally, we were able to clear up the problem. I finished filling out our insurance forms without another hitch. And I won’t have to worry about doing this for another year.
I read about this in a post yesterday and thought it was an excellent idea. Simply type in your favorite color into Pixaby and select one of the photos presented.
My favorite color is yellow, especially golden yellow. Weak, pastel yellows are okay, but are by no means my favorite. Let’s not even mention neon. NO THANKS. Golden yellow is a bright, bold yellow. It’s a color that stands up and demands attention.
The photo I selected depicts golden leaves against an October blue sky. Gorgeous isn’t it? While autumn is not my favorite season, I do admire its color schemes. Reds, yellows, oranges are colors which are warm, bold, and eye catching. Everything I’d like to be but am not.
I’ve noticed that while yellow is my favorite color, I don’t own a single article of clothing that is yellow. Except the hat and scarf I knitted last year, of course. I know that if I could have found a yellow I liked in the stores – a strong, bold GOLDEN yellow – no pastel or neon, please – I’d have more.
Slow and Steady 