The doctor couldn't decide between allergies and virus, but either way he didn't want to give me antibiotics, which is a good thing. I was sent home with another prescription for Flonase, a nasal allergy spray. Well, I was SUPPOSED to be sent home with a prescription, but I didn't realize until halfway home that they didn't actually give one to me. They did give me 2 free samples so that will tide me over until I can get the prescription in.
Our prescription plan is a real blessing with just a slight curse. I shouldn't complain--but, well, I'm going to briefly, if you'll indulge me. We are allowed to have a regular pharmacy fill 1 month's worth of a prescription but then it has to go through a mail order pharmacy. The mail order sends 3 months at a time for 1 co-pay, which is the really cool part. The bummer is that it's a real pain to get the prescriptions to them, and to my shame, for me to remember to re-order them when I'm getting low. So anyway, in this case, I was not given a paper prescription so I'm going to have to call the doctor. I magically procured the mail order pharmacy fax number (I had to be very sneaky to get it) so I'll just call and have it done. But it's one more thing to do.
Anyway, the bank would not change my PIN for me. Instead they're going to mail it to me in 2-3 business days. Considering I'm leaving Thursday afternoon for 11 days, that doesn't help me a whole lot should I need to get emergency cash. Luckily I can still use the debit card as a credit card, and I have my real credit card too. I should be okay but I always get a little nervous when I don't have easy access to cash. Boy, what did we ever do in the pre-ATM era?
It's very, very windy here. It was windy yesterday, but it's even windier today. Our next door neighbor's fence blew down and we're hoping they didn't have their little dog in the yard. I wonder if ours is going to go too, since it looks very much like Randy's and was probably built at the same time (when the houses were moved 10 years ago). We're monitoring the dogs when they go outside in case of a fence breach, but they're not too keen on going outside anyway, as it's so windy their little floppy ears blow around (which is actually pretty cute). Poor Digory is going nuts. Our windows are original wood and they are banging around a bit. Digory keeps thinking someone's at the door so he barks. He was a bit anxious but now he's snuggled under the covers fast asleep.
Today I'm off to the bank, then to the doctor, then to Target perhaps to do some shopping for SOMEBODY'S birthday (I won't name any names but he'll be at the Adobe Tech Summit on the actual day, which buys me some time). I have a few things in mind but plan on being inspired as the day draws near. I'm also off to the post office. Good times!
Totally forgotten. I used to have a razor-sharp memory but one of my heart medicines, a beta blocker, interferes with short term memory. Actually there's an interesting usage of beta blockers with trauma victims. It apparently reduces the likelihood of PTSD. Of course, this is bad news for people who actually WANT to remember things. It's really not as bad as it sounds, it just gets frustrating sometimes.
So I got some cash for Christmas (as in real cash, not just a check or something) and I've been doing all of my spending from that, so I haven't needed to visit the ATM in a month. This is bad news because now I have completely forgotten my PIN (note I did not say "PIN Number," because that's inherently redundant). I've forgotten it once before but magically remembered it a little while later. This time, it's not coming back. It's like "Oh, I think there was an X. Or a multiple of X? Or was it Y? Or a multiple of Y?" GAH! No clue!
So I tried 2 different combinations at the ATM and quit while I was ahead. I think they only give you like 3 or 4 tries before it eats your card, and I didn't want to stand there blindly guessing and have to go retrieve my card later. I checked on the net about getting a new PIN and they said I could either call or go into a branch office. I'm assuming if I call they'll have to mail it to me and that will take another week or so, and I'll be cashless (as well as debit cardless) and that makes me supremely nervous. So I will have to go in on Monday and see if they're able to change it for me right there. What a pain!
In other news, my iPod Mini, Wolfie, died an unexpected death. All of a sudden my computer wasn't recognizing the USB device. I couldn't get any response out of Wolfie and I assumed her battery was dead. This was very disconcerting. I finally called tech support (read: Kevin) and he futzed around a bit and then reset the iPod and all is now well. As it happens every once in a while, there's a software update, so I set off to download it. It's taking forever. DSL ShmeeSL, it's going to take a full 20+ minutes at the rate it's going now. Hey, good time to blog!
Four Jobs You’ve Had
1. Babysitter
2. Camp Counselor
3. Freshman Composition Instructor
4. Technical Writer
Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over
1. The Princess Bride
2. Airplane
3. Best in Show
4. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Four Places You’ve Lived
1. West Lafayette, Indiana
2. Albion, Michigan
3. Springfield, Missouri
4. Anaheim, California
Four TV Shows You Love To Watch
1. Arrested Development
2. Six Feet Under
3. We don't watch TV...
4. ...so I don't have a 3 & 4
Four of Your Favorite Books
1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
2. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
3. His Dark Materials (series) by Philip Pullman
4. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Four Places You’ve Been On Vacation
1. The Netherlands
2. England
3. Ireland
4. Spain
Four Websites You Visit Daily
1. www.gmail.com
2. www.ICDSupportGroup.com
3. Yahoo news
4. All of the blogs on my blogroll --->
Four of Your Favorite Foods
1. Pizza
2. Cheese
3. Steak
4. Buffalo Wings
Four Places You Would Rather Be Right Now
1. I'm
2. Really
3. Quite
4. Happy
(I don't tag)
Compliments of Staz at Burlap Soul.
Poor Hedgehog. He's been disemboweled, or more accurately, trepanned. A little impromptu surgery seems to have effected a temporary fix, but we'll see how long this lasts. Upon return of the toy, Digory immediately went for the site of the original injury.
In other news, both dogs got a bath today. Scout went first and handles it rather stoically, but Digory goes kicking and screaming--well, kicking and whining--the whole way. He was extremely agitated while Scout was getting her bath, sticking so close by me I practically tripped over him. When Kevin emerged, Digory fixed me with a pleading look--"SAVE ME!" He survived, however, and now smells like wet dog.
I got a bloody nose this morning. Not a bad one, but still, a full blown one. Yeeeeeeeuuuuuuucccchhhhh! I haven't gotten a bloody nose since I worked at Girl Scout Camp in the mountains above Palm Desert, and that was 11 years ago. I've had a bit of congestion lately--I've got a dr's appointment on Monday--but this kinda came out of the blue, considering I really never get bloody noses. Oh well, at least it didn't happen at night!
Okay, enough about my nasal problems. Carry on...
Kevin updated our blogging software to the latest version, and it's taking a little bit of an adjustment to adjust to the new interface. However, I do have some quick formatting buttons! I can bold, italicize and underline without having to hand-code. I can also link http://www.happybeagle.com/kevin/blog/ and add an email field.
And I can quote.
Yesterday was Day 2 of my Basic Design class. I'm not sure how the 8 am thing is working out. I was fine until 8:30 but then the teacher did a combination of lecture and videos and I, along with a large part of the class, nearly fell asleep. The teacher did admit that he squeezed an entire semester of Art History into one lecture, which I appreciated. After this it looks like most of our days will be hands-on. We already have homework that, as far as I can tell, basically amounts to doodling. Doodling to music, actually. I'm feeling confident that I can do that. My paralyzing art phobia may be chipped away slowly.
Parking was much better. Well, not much better (like my easy use of boldface there?), but better than Day 1. I think it will get better as we go along. Particularly because the class is so early.
We have a quiz on Tuesday. He announced it, then wrote the quiz on the board so we could study ahead of time. Hunh? Is this a community college thing--giving the quiz questions before the quiz? That wasn't how I taught as a TA/Per course instructor. Take-home exams, yes, but giving away the quiz before it happens? Seemed a little strange to me.
Oh, and on a side note, I finally looked up my grade from Stained Glass and got a B! Hooray!
Today I started a new art class. I loved our stained glass window class, but I have a pathological fear of anything that requires me to draw or create real art. Crafts I'm good at. I'm very creative and can do very well on crafts. But actual art? Scares me to death. Seriously. I've practically had anxiety attacks over having to produce art.
So my awesome stained glass instructor recommended another art teacher at Fullerton College--the community college where we took our class and where Kevin's currently sitting in a German class. My teacher strongly recommended "Basic Design" as a place to start in getting over my art-phobia, and she also highly recommended a particular teacher who, rumor has, is planning to retire after this semester.
The problem, really, is that the class meets at 8 am on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I made it okay today. But we'll see what happens. The class is 3 hours long. For the rest of this month you don't need a parking permit to park at the school. Believe me, this is the world's biggest pain in the ass. I literally drove around for 1/2 an hour this morning looking for a spot. I cruised every single student lot there was and all of the side streets as well. It was insane. I finally had to turn around and go home to have Kevin drive me back and drop me off. Luckily we live only a couple of miles away, but that still put me 45 minutes late for class. I was mortified.
But anyway, the class looks interesting. I'm not sure I grasp exactly what we're going to be doing in the class this semester, but I do think I'll be learning a lot. Still, I'm working myself up again about that not-being-able-to-draw thing. *sigh* Hopefully this class will help!
I'm still grieving Allison's death, hence no posting. Her service is Sunday. The church seats 200. They're expecting around 700. That's how much she was loved.
We found out today that Allison D., the daughter of one of our closest family friends, died this morning after a car accident. Allison was a freshman at Loyola Marymount University and was simply one of the most beautiful, wonderful, loving young women you could ever meet. Words cannot express our profound sorrow. Your prayers and good thoughts for Allison's family and all of us who loved her would be very much appreciated.
Last night we finally went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. But first, it was an adventure getting there. We wanted to ride the new Monsters, Inc. ride in Disney's California Adventure, but first I had to return something at the World of Disney in Downtown Disney. So I did that and we power-walked over to CA Adventure only to find that the line was 45 minutes long. It was 6:15 and the movie started at 7:00 (the movie theater is in Downtown Disney). So we decided to skip that and go visit my friend Jamie who was working in Disneyland in Tomorrowland. Of course, as soon as we walked into Disneyland we saw this crowd of people lined up on the sidewalk and curb. Parade. So we fought our way through the crowd (the parade hadn't started yet) and by 6:40 we hadn't made it to the end of Main Street. There was no way we were going to make it to Tomorrowland and back, so we turned around. We stopped by the Sephora store in Downtown Disney to use up a gift card I had, and then we stopped by the Lego Store because I had forgotten what Kevin wanted for his birthday in there. Lo and behold, not only was it there, it was on sale, so Kevin got his dream Lego clock.
Following that we headed to the movie. The nice thing about the Downtown Disney theater (it's an AMC) is that we get an annual pass discount. Two dollars off each ticket! That's certainly nothing to sneeze at.
As for the movie--I thought it was good. The effects were, of course, well done. The story...well...it suffered from the same problem that the next 3 are going to suffer from. The book has so many storylines (and a bunch of superfluous tangents) that it's hard to boil down an actual story to tell onscreen. There were a few things I could have done with a little bit less (the dragon fighting scene, for example), but there were some very important plot points that just barely got glossed over even though they were vital to the movie (the Polyjuice potion, to be exact). All in all, they're just going to have to cut things out to keep the movies manageable. However, overall I liked it.
Our New Year's Eve party went fabulously! Everyone had a good time and it was a small enough crowd that you could really talk to people instead of running around like the proverbial chicken making sure everyone was having a good time.
Now though--ugh. We've still got some cleaning up to do and have a ton of extra wine (I was a leeeeeeetle hungover Sunday morning so I won't be drinking for a little while). And then I'm not looking forward to taking down the Christmas tree. It's always so depressing. And the lights? Well, we've got some time left on that yet. It's pouring rain here. This morning it was raining sideways, which is extremely unusual for Southern California. The sun has come out now, giving us a respite, but I don't think we're done with it yet.
Anyway, happy 2006 to everyone! Heh, I almost wrote happy 1996. I can't wait until I start writing checks with the wrong date.