Sunday, November 29, 2009

My weekend in review

I was sick. Worst head cold I've had in years. Floored me. I was literally shaking with chills on Thursday night and Friday (oh yeah, Thursday. Otherwise known as Thanksgiving.).

I don't know why I put so much stock into these long holiday weekends. Anytime I seem to really look forward to a solid block of time off is exactly when the fates laugh hysterically and I/Jane/Greg get super-sick. I was the worst one by far this time. So far Greg has managed to escape it. We didn't do much in the way of fun. Did a LOT of feeling sorry for myself.

So now I head into a ridiculously busy work week, still feeling awful and completely unprepared.

I certainly hope your holiday was much better.

PS I know I sound like an idiotic whiner.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

thankful

I would love to write a deep and meaningful post about the things I am grateful for. There are many, and like so many people, I try to bring gratitude to the forefront of my mind, especially when things aren't going so well. I'm not saying I am good at it, but I do try.

However, I am completely exhausted so I will just bulletpoint a few very superficial things I am grateful for at the moment:

1) That I have the next four days off of work. I think I squeezed five days worth of work into three days this week, and I am excited about the break! I just came down with a cold today (I caught the nasty one Jane has) so at least I don't have to work on top of feeling crappy.

2) All that deelicious food I will cram down my throat tomorrow. I love that free food pass that Thanksgiving offers (you know, how you get to eat everything in sight without feeling bad about it.) (Because, hello, that's the point of the holiday!) (Well, that and being thankful.).

3) The fact that, as I type this, Greg is handling the steam with Jane right now. Because she has such a bad cold, we have to spend at LEAST 20 minutes a night in a super-steamy bathroom with her before bed. It sucks so hard. It's hot and sweaty and awful. She doesn't really seem to mind it; in fact, she looks forward to it, but I HATE it. The bad thing though, is that her cough is so bad right now that I will probably have to do more steam with her later tonight. I know I should bring her to the doctor, but I think it's just a cold, albeit a bad one. Maybe Friday though. What better way to spend a day off than in a pediatrician's office?

4) My DVR has some good stuff on it. Tonight's features will include "The Biggest Loser" from last night and "FlashForward" from last week. Remember how the night before Thanksgiving used to be the night you would drink yourself into a stupor with your hometown friends? I suspect I will be in bed by 9:30 tonight.

I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday, November 20, 2009

weekend.update.

Wow, this week has chewed me up and spit me out. Super busy at work and in life, with a bunch of family drama thrown in, and I am now a shadow of my former self. Well, that may be a bit dramatic, but geez. How is it that everything is stuffed in the span of one week? Anyway, it's the weekend!

Friday: I am off today. It's Amanda Day. Which basically means I am going to try NOT to do chores today. I always end up using my days off for chores, which is stupid, because I should be using the day to recharge and fuel up for the upcoming insanity of the next several weeks. Am thinking of getting a pedicure, will probably hit the bookstore, am currently catching up on some DVR'ed shows. Big day!

Saturday: I have to work for a chunk of the morning and afternoon. Not looking forward to this AT ALL because it will involve thousands of children who will be no doubt coated in swine flu and MRSA. UGH. Saturday night I may be going out to celebrate my friend's newly-single status. My guess is I'll go, but just for a little while. Too many late nights lately, and Jane gets up at 6 (or before) no matter how late I stay out. No respect!

Sunday: I have a production meeting for a Christmas show I'm working on, and then I'm sure we'll end up at my mom's.

So that's about it! Sidenote: I saw two shows this week - Next to Normal and August: Osage County. Both really good shows - both shows that are still haunting me. I think, for now, I need to see shows about puppies and kittens. : )

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

I'll sleep when I'm dead

I am so tired.

How often do I say this? At least 10 times a day. Sometimes I say it without even realizing I'm saying it. But the fact is, I am really half-zombie most days.

I used to be a champion sleeper. I used to sleep until 11 a.m. no problem. Not that this is an option now, but when I was younger, the concept of getting 8-10 hours of sleep a night, straight through, was no big whoop. It happened all the time.

Now? Not even. I would say my sleeping issues cropped up when my father died - I believe that created an underlying thread of anxiety that remains with me today. That's about when I started waking up several times throughout the night. And woah, after having a baby that needed to be fed every couple of hours, a baby that seriously would sometimes only allow me ONE HOUR of sleep a night, well, that's when I learned the true meaning of sleep deprivation.

Now, I'm a mess. I can fall asleep no problem, but I still wake up several times a night, and now I just start thinking about something I'm worried I've forgotten at work, or I'm worried that Jane will start coughing (yes, this is truly sucky - not actually being woken up by a coughing/crying child, but waking up because you're AFRAID you're going to be woken up by a coughing/crying child. This blows incredibly hard, but it is my reality quite often.).

I don't want to take sleeping pills, because I know I'll be super-zonked for the following day as well. I don't respond well to that kind of drug. But what do I do? Any suggestions? And I don't want to drink warm milk because that just means I'll have to get up to pee. : )

How do you get to sleep? And, more importantly, stay asleep?

Friday, November 13, 2009

weekend. update.

Oh lordy, I just came home from two days in Charlotte, NC. I was there for work and it was all very whirlwindy and busy and featured two flights in hurricane-like weather. Fun! Plus I'm sick with like three different things and ugh, I am so wrecked.

BUT! It's the weekend. So here we go:

Saturday: Jane has a haircut in the a.m., and thank God for it, because she's a scraggly looking monkey right now. After that I have to go shop for snacks for my book club meeting tomorrow night. Since I picked the book (The Know-It-All by AJ Jacobs) I decided to choose snacks that supposedly boost your brain power. So we'll have dark chocolate, almonds, berries, veggies, WINE, Smartfood popcorn (because that's funny) and other, more typical snacks (DIP). Anywho, I'm hosting the meeting tomorrow night. And I'm going to need to kick everyone out at a reasonable hour because....

Sunday: I am going to see the musical Next to Normal on Broadway with TODD (shout out!) and maybe Alan, who won't go see the show because he hates musicals but maybe he'll come for the ride and the eating and the New York-visiting parts. Anyway, I'm really excited to see this show because three separate people have told me I NEED to see it (I assume because it's about a mentally-unstable mother).

Have a good weekend!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

happy birthday to Maddie

I have posted about the one and only Maddie Spohr before - she is the little girl who was born prematurely and so sadly passed away at 17 months earlier this year. I have been following her mom's blog - The Spohrs Are Multiplying - on a daily basis. Heather Spohr writes almost every day about processing the grief of her daughter Maddie's passing and celebrating the ridiculous amounts of joy the sparkling Maddie brought during her all-too-brief life. Heather's writing makes me want to be a better parent - and to certainly really APPRECIATE every single moment we get on this earth with our families and children. Heather and her husband Mike are expecting another child early next year, but of course, nothing ever could, or ever would, replace the great Maddie Spohr.

So today, in honor of Maddie's second birthday, I sponsored a NICU support pack for $25 (link is to the right) - these support packs help the families whose children spend a long-term amount of time in the NICU after they are born. The Spohrs established Friends of Maddie to educate and help families with critically ill babies, all in honor of their special girl.

So please think of the Spohrs today, and send some happy birthday wishes to Maddie. And donate if you can.

Monday, November 09, 2009

the glam factor

In case you were wondering what the glamour factor is here at the homestead lately, this will give you an idea:

Each night, Greg and I trade off two chores that we have to do each and every night these days.

1) Sit with Jane in the steamy bathroom, super-hot shower water running, for 15 minutes with the hope that this will help prevent her from coughing throughout the night. It really does help, which makes the hellfire heat and icky sweaty steaminess a little easier to bear. Although it's frustratating to read her books when I can't see a blasted thing through my steamed up glasses. Coolness!

2) Clean out Jimmy's disgusting yeasty ears and give him medicine.

So yeah! Jealous? I thought so.

Friday, November 06, 2009

weekend. update.

Hey! I have a blog! I think I remember something about that now....

I decided to give you a break from my boring rambling for a few days, but now I'm back with another thrilling weekend update. I woke up this morning feeling like general crap, and then some other crappy things happened today that I won't get into here, so yay? Friday? It's the weekend. I mean - Yay! Friday! It's the weekend!

Saturday: We are going to a friend's kid's birthday party. This is assuming I feel OK enough to go. Apparently a bunch of the guests have canceled due to the flu. How festive!

Sunday: They say it's going to be in the 60s, which is obviously awesome and probably one of our last nice weekend days before the true cold sets in. Hopefully everyone will be healthy enough to get outside.

So, yeah! That's the plan. As you can see, it's jam-packed with fun. But honestly, I've got an insanely busy week next week, including a short work-related trip to North Carolina and then to New York next weekend, so basically I just want to feel better and ready to to face the upcoming craziness.

Have a great weekend!