I am woefully behind with updates this week. It is not for lack of trying, it is simply that me, myself and I are woefully tired. It has been a bit crazy again at work, and that coupled with my new work-out schedule has left me worn. We have also stopped the mid-week drinking, so I could be suffering from early-stage withdrawal symptoms. Alas, I am not shaking or having mood swings, so I am afraid I can't blame it on that.
And it is gray and raining today. So anti-LA. I actually wish it would stay like this over the weekend so that I could have an excuse to curl up on the couch in my PJ's and read books and just hibernate. This weekend is planning to be nice and sunny and warm, so there goes that master plan.
The other evening Michael and I were walking up to the Y and chatting about all the things we are involved with. He said something about wishing everything could be a hobby, and nothing a long-term responsibility. Even though he is a man of routine, he does get bored with the monotony of things. He wants to do them a lot for a short period of time, and then move on to other things. We would be a fabulous consultant...if he actually enjoyed traveling for work. Which he doesn't...at all. So he would be a terrible consultant.
Of course I inquired about his ability to stay married to me for almost 15 years, if he got disinterested so quickly. "Oh that's easy", he said. "You change all the time! You get bored faster than me, so I have no choice but to change. Everyday it is different!"
There you have it. The secret to marriage. Just keep moving in circles faster than your spouse. My whirlwind just keeps him in a state of dizzy bliss.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
From Texas to Little Rock
Saturday was our year anniversary of landing in North Carolina. Oh my, what has happened to us these past twelve months? Here I am running around the park at 6a in the morning and then running home again at night after walking Michael to the Y. I am doing these things while pushing a corgi around in a buggy. A corgi with a big bald neck.
In the meantime, Michael is having the Big Gay-Off in garages with other men and running around the city in dresses. For clarification, the former was a precaution after he and a couple other guys had ticks rain down on them while running. They ducked into a garage, stripped to their underwear, and did the buddy check. I guess no one else wants Michael's mountain fever.
Well, we certainly didn't get here in two days, so I should accurately represent the journey from LA to NC. Last week I chronicled days one and two...and so here are the others.
Day 3 - Amarillo, TX to Little Rock, AR
We were all too excited to leave the awful La Quinta in Amarillo and get back on the road. It is rather ironic that we traveled through such a small part of Texas, when you consider how grand that state really is. In my blackberry I noted that Texas had the best stretch of I-40 pavement, the most cops, (I had to use cruise control), and lots of crosses.
Oklahoma on the other hand had the best, and I mean best wayside. All the states try and win you over with the rest stop that is just across the state border. It usually has the visitor's center, nice facilities, and even dog runs. They tend to deteriorate once you get further along in the state, but not those of OK. They took great pride in their waysides and Iona and I made sure to stop at every one of them. She too is looking more than a little disheveled at this point.
Little Rock was our stop for the night and proved a little tricky. Both our GPS systems got confused going into the city with the new road construction and Michael had the added challenge of of navigating the downtown parking structure with his truck and trailer. This was our only hotel that wasn't direct;y off the 40. This La Quinta was fantastic though. The staff was delightful and helpful and the room was new and huge. Two humans, a dog and two cats all got to have their space. Of course, sometimes things aren't that different from home.
Little Rock was the only night we actually ate a nice meal. The hotel shuttled us down to the restaurant row and we found a great place with a good wine selection and tableclothes that were not made of plastic. We both felt that we could now go on with the journey. 1675 miles down, and 890 to go.
In the meantime, Michael is having the Big Gay-Off in garages with other men and running around the city in dresses. For clarification, the former was a precaution after he and a couple other guys had ticks rain down on them while running. They ducked into a garage, stripped to their underwear, and did the buddy check. I guess no one else wants Michael's mountain fever.
Well, we certainly didn't get here in two days, so I should accurately represent the journey from LA to NC. Last week I chronicled days one and two...and so here are the others.
Day 3 - Amarillo, TX to Little Rock, AR
We were all too excited to leave the awful La Quinta in Amarillo and get back on the road. It is rather ironic that we traveled through such a small part of Texas, when you consider how grand that state really is. In my blackberry I noted that Texas had the best stretch of I-40 pavement, the most cops, (I had to use cruise control), and lots of crosses.
Oklahoma on the other hand had the best, and I mean best wayside. All the states try and win you over with the rest stop that is just across the state border. It usually has the visitor's center, nice facilities, and even dog runs. They tend to deteriorate once you get further along in the state, but not those of OK. They took great pride in their waysides and Iona and I made sure to stop at every one of them. She too is looking more than a little disheveled at this point.
Little Rock was our stop for the night and proved a little tricky. Both our GPS systems got confused going into the city with the new road construction and Michael had the added challenge of of navigating the downtown parking structure with his truck and trailer. This was our only hotel that wasn't direct;y off the 40. This La Quinta was fantastic though. The staff was delightful and helpful and the room was new and huge. Two humans, a dog and two cats all got to have their space. Of course, sometimes things aren't that different from home.
Little Rock was the only night we actually ate a nice meal. The hotel shuttled us down to the restaurant row and we found a great place with a good wine selection and tableclothes that were not made of plastic. We both felt that we could now go on with the journey. 1675 miles down, and 890 to go.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Tick-Tack
Michael is trying really hard to compete with Elizabeth on who has the most obscure disease/health condition. I am not sure why he wouldn't choose to vie with other people for say...who can earn more money, have the biggest house, or even the strangest pet or biggest pants. But no, he is choosing strange ailments.
It would be impossible to list out all the things that Elizabeth has acquired in her meager 26 years, but if it is something that only old people get or that basically went extinct 100 years ago...she's had it. Scarlet fever? Check. Shingles? Check. I expect that she'll be diagnosed with the Black Plague any day now.
So then we have my dear husband Michael. If you were not part of our LA clan, then you may not be aware of his Bell's Palsy scare a few years back. Bell's is a temporary paralysis of the facial nerve and comes on very fast. He lost control of one side of his face in a matter of hours. It was horrible as I was in the Philippines and terrified that my husband had somehow suffered a stroke. Nope, just the palsy. Although scary, he recovered and his face won't make you snicker any longer.
Then last week he came down with a fever. It was bad for about a day and then just seemed to settle in. For days he battled a low-grade temperature and awful aches and pains. We brushed it off as his body attempting to adjust to the running and intense workouts he recently started. But we both knew he was consuming too many ibuprofen in a day, and it is really rare for him to be woken up by pain in the middle of the night. On Friday morning things escalated and he woke up with a bright red rash. Going to the doctor was no longer an option.
When he got there and they heard his symptoms, they immediately put a mask on him. Michael said he was the only person in the waiting room wearing a bright blue mask. The man was marked. After his doctor asked a bunch of symptom questions, drew a ton of blood, and grilled him on his activities, they determined that Michael probably has Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. The answer that tipped it? "Yes, I have been around a lot of ticks lately." Michael's new found love of trail running/hashing has exposed him to a ton of ticks. And now he has the Mountain Fever. Although his preliminary test results won't be back until Monday, he was immediately put on Doxycycline. Apparently if they waited until tomorrow for confirmation, he would either have kicked the infection or be in the hospital and seriously sick. Let's throw caution to the wind and start the meds.
He is feeling better, although his body starts screaming when he hasn't taken the pain pills fast enough. I would say that his joints need to start screaming louder, because he is actually out hashing as I type this. One tick, two tick, three ticks not enough. Let's see what fun thing he comes home with next. The Black Plague, anyone?
It would be impossible to list out all the things that Elizabeth has acquired in her meager 26 years, but if it is something that only old people get or that basically went extinct 100 years ago...she's had it. Scarlet fever? Check. Shingles? Check. I expect that she'll be diagnosed with the Black Plague any day now.
So then we have my dear husband Michael. If you were not part of our LA clan, then you may not be aware of his Bell's Palsy scare a few years back. Bell's is a temporary paralysis of the facial nerve and comes on very fast. He lost control of one side of his face in a matter of hours. It was horrible as I was in the Philippines and terrified that my husband had somehow suffered a stroke. Nope, just the palsy. Although scary, he recovered and his face won't make you snicker any longer.
Then last week he came down with a fever. It was bad for about a day and then just seemed to settle in. For days he battled a low-grade temperature and awful aches and pains. We brushed it off as his body attempting to adjust to the running and intense workouts he recently started. But we both knew he was consuming too many ibuprofen in a day, and it is really rare for him to be woken up by pain in the middle of the night. On Friday morning things escalated and he woke up with a bright red rash. Going to the doctor was no longer an option.When he got there and they heard his symptoms, they immediately put a mask on him. Michael said he was the only person in the waiting room wearing a bright blue mask. The man was marked. After his doctor asked a bunch of symptom questions, drew a ton of blood, and grilled him on his activities, they determined that Michael probably has Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. The answer that tipped it? "Yes, I have been around a lot of ticks lately." Michael's new found love of trail running/hashing has exposed him to a ton of ticks. And now he has the Mountain Fever. Although his preliminary test results won't be back until Monday, he was immediately put on Doxycycline. Apparently if they waited until tomorrow for confirmation, he would either have kicked the infection or be in the hospital and seriously sick. Let's throw caution to the wind and start the meds.
He is feeling better, although his body starts screaming when he hasn't taken the pain pills fast enough. I would say that his joints need to start screaming louder, because he is actually out hashing as I type this. One tick, two tick, three ticks not enough. Let's see what fun thing he comes home with next. The Black Plague, anyone?
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