Off to Boston

I’m heading off to Boston for the Six Years of Science with Chandra meeting. Andrew is coming up to join me for the banquet on Thursday, and then we’re going to play in Boston over the weekend. I’m not sure what my internet connection will be like (I’ll have my laptop, but it doesn’t seem to be picking up wireless signals very well). That means I may not be around to approve comments. Have a great week, everyone!

Halloween Pics

I hope everyone had a great Halloween. We had a good one. There were about 67 trick-or-treaters at our house. This year I had 43 books to give out, and they were a big hit. I had 6 left over (unlike last year, when I ran out by 7:30 PM), so I now know that next year I should keep it to about 35 books (though it’s not a problem to have left-overs…I’ll just save them for next year).

Surprisingly I only remember one Darth Vader this year. I think the best costume I saw was early in the evening, a little girl was dressed as a pirate, complete with hat and boots. Her baby brother was also in a pirate outfit.

Here are the pumpkins I carved this year:
   

And I gussied up the house a little:
   

Felicia and Patrick watched the trick-or-treaters:

Me? I dressed up as a saloon girl:

Tags: halloween

House of Halloween

Have I mentioned that I love Halloween? Yes? Well, I’m going to say it again. I LOVE Halloween!!

Everyone in the house gets into it — that’s Felicia and Patrick. Felicia has a witch costume, and after Patrick saw it, he wanted to get into the act, so I gave him my cat ears so he could be her familiar.

And I carved my pumpkins today – I’ll post pictures tomorrow with the candles burning.

Tags: build-a-bear, halloween

Happy Halloween Weekend!

I love Halloween, so I thought I’d dress up the place a little. (If you’re reading through an aggregator, you’ll need to come to the site and see what I’m talking about.)

Tags: admin, halloween

Am I awake this time?

Last night I dreamed that my aunt and uncle were moving to Hawaii, and I needed to drive out with some of their things (yes, drive). Hawaii, as it turns out, was somewhere near Texas, not way out in the Pacific, and the first island was not too far from the coast. I met my aunt and uncle at a hotel, where we were going to hang out for the night before finding their new place. Before we got very far, though, I woke up.

After waking up, I told Andrew about the dream, and we had a good laugh about me driving to Hawaii in my dream. As we were talking, Andrew was getting his lunch together. He poured out some potato chips into a Tupperware, and then poured out some cereal into a bowl. When I looked at him next, he was pouring milk into the potato-chip Tupperware. I asked what he was doing, and he started getting defensive about it, telling me that he meant to do it. Just to prove his point, he started eating the milk-sogged chips. Ick. And then I woke up, again.

Once again I told Andrew about my dream, and we laughed about me driving to Hawaii and the fact that it was near Texas. We started getting our lunches together, and when he took out the chips, I started laughing uncontrollably. He wanted to know what I was laughing about, but I couldn’t because every time I tried to tell him, I was overtaken by more giggles. And finally I woke up.

No, really, I woke up for real that time.

Tags: dreams

Yum!

I had a great day yesterday, despite the cold and rainy weather. JD and Lorna took me out to lunch at Chevy’s, and Goddard had its semi-annual craft sale yesterday, so I bought a bunch of stuff (no Christmas presents, as I’d hoped to do, but a few presents for myself…hey, it was my birthday so I was allowed!). In the evening Andrew and I went to see In Her Shoes (an excellent movie) and had dinner at The Woodlands (a vegetarian Indian restaurant nearby). When we got home, we had cake and I got to open my presents from Andrew. The day would have only been more perfect if I had actually recorded Gilmore Girls instead of the wrong channel.

Tags: birthday

Happy Birthday to me!

Your Birthdate: October 25

Your birth on the 25th day of the month (7 energy) modifies your life path by giving you some special interest in technical, scientific, or other complex and often hard to understand subjects. You may become something of a perfectionist and a stickler for details. Your thinking is logical and intuitive, rational and responsible. Your feelings may run deep, but you are not very likely to let them show. This birthday makes you a more private person, more introspective and perhaps more inflexible. In friendships you are very cautious and reserved. You are probably inventive, and given to unique approaches and solutions.

Tags: birthday, dumb fun

Huh??

Why am I the first site returned when searching Ask Jeeves for “does sperm whiten teeth”?!?!

Tags: oddness

Most expensive onion rings ever

Have I mentioned acid reflux? I promise that this isn’t going to turn into a constantly-bitching-about-my-health blog, because I really only have a couple health problems, but when they rear their ugly heads, it’s bad.

Friday night, Andrew and I decided to order in from a place that does pasta, pizza, subs, and yummy sides. I suggested that we get fries, since I’ve had a hankering for them for a week or so. Then I remembered that they also had onion rings, so I suggested that we get both and split them. So we did.

Now, my acid reflux is generally under control with high-dose Zantac everyday. That is, unless I eat something that my stomach really, really doesn’t like…such as onions or fried food. So, you can imagine what fried onions might do. Yup. I woke up Saturday morning at about 3:30 AM with a lead balloon in my stomach. I took some Gas-X, and kicked Andrew over to the guest bed so I could make a pile of pillows to elevate my head and neck from my stomach (this is supposed to help keep the acid in the stomach from rising into the esophagus). I can’t remember much more of yesterday – I got up several times to watch TV and try to eat something, but my stomach hurt too much to stay up for very long. Finally, this morning, I feel back to normal.

The worst part? Andrew and I had planned on going to Baltimore yesterday and spending the night. We had made reservations on hotels.com for a hotel near the Inner Harbor, and that reservation was non-refundable. Those onion rings, besides costing me an entire day of my life, also cost about $200 of lost-hotel-room. Sigh.

So, if you’re ever out with me, and I suggest onion rings or french fries, just smack me upside the head. Please.

Tags: health

The Green Pill

I did it. I went to the doctor for my winter depression, and now I’m on Prozac. For years I’ve considered getting help for my winter depression. Two years ago, I tried light therapy using GE’s Reveal lightbulbs – it worked for the year, but last year they did nothing for me. So this year I’m using drugs. I’m not sure how I feel about it, though. I’ve resisted over the years because I just don’t like the idea of taking drugs to alter my brain. I have this general feeling that the drugs will “turn me into someone else”. What I haven’t realize, though, is that the depression really does turn me into someone else – someone I don’t like – and perhaps the Prozac can turn me back into the person I like.

I didn’t heed the caution about drowsiness yesterday, and found myself driving on the beltway with an overwhelming urge to close my eyes for just a second. I resisted (or I wouldn’t be here now), and this morning I’m waiting until I’m at work, with breakfast in my stomach, before taking the pill.

It’s only been a couple days, and it’s supposed to take 3-4 weeks for the drug to take full effect, but I’ve already noticed some changes. Yesterday I felt just a bit out of sorts – a bit more talky than normal, and just…um…off (hard to put into words). But, this morning I did not wake up with the weight I’d been feeling the last couple weeks. I did not want to assume the fetal position and cry. Maybe it’s just psychological at this point, but just maybe this little green pill is going to make winter bearable.

Tags: health