The Mold Saga Continues

Over the weekend I discovered mold growing on my ivy plant. Yes, the very plant I brought into my home to help eliminate the mold (in the air at least) started growing mold on it. Perhaps that’s why after the first few days in our apartment it started to droop and die. It’s now out on our balcony where I’m hoping it will perk back up. I removed all the dead and moldy leaves and removed the top part of the soil that had the mold on it. With any luck, it will start growing again soon. If not, i think I may need to throw the poor thing away. I’d love to start over with another ivy, or another type of plant altogether, but I’m guessing that if a plant that’s supposed to reduce mold starts growing mold on it, others will too. My future houseplants might just have to wait until the mold in our apartment is removed. 

On top of that, yesterday I discovered mold on my hair brush. I don’t even know what to do about that. I can buy a new hair brush, but it will inevitably grow mold too until the problem is fixed. And poor Copper gets worse and worse every day. She’s scratching at her eyes, which are red and swollen, constantly and she’s licking/chewing on her paws. Chris and I don’t feel much better. I think we both have had sore throats, headaches, and sinus congestion, and I get itchy/watery eyes and have a rash that won’t go away (it’s probably not food-related). 

It has been tough to not bite each other’s heads off lately. We’re both sick and exhausted with all of this. While our landlord/property manager has been pretty great about getting people to our apartment to fix other things very quickly (I put in a maintenance request this morning because we suddenly have very low water pressure in our shower, and someone will be out tomorrow to fix it), they have been extremely slow with the mold problem. Initially, they sent someone out right away. I think now that they’re realizing it’s going to take a lot more work (and money) than they first thought, they’re much slower to respond. I sent an email last week that was answered but my response to their email was not. I sent another this morning. Still waiting for a response on that one. I was told they have contacted several companies for quotes for the ductwork, but that’s it so far. They have yet to reply to my response that “I understand that there is more work to be done, but I’m concerned as to what will be done about the existing mold…doing the ductwork and installing exhaust fans is only going to prevent future mold from growing. It does nothing for what’s already there. Meanwhile my family and I continue to be sick from it.” 

Today’s email was a request for an update on the status of this problem and an inquiry as to when the renovations on the apartment across the hall will be completed because if it’s mold-free and has the proper ventilation and exhaust fans, we would be interested in moving. Still waiting for a response on that one.  

February Recap

Copper and I walked 125-ish miles this month! That’s 20-ish more than January! (Remember, my app isn’t 100% accurate, so it might be more.) I can’t believe how much we walked! And March is off to a good start as well (thanks mostly to the nice weather). 

As far as my goals for the year go, I’ve been slacking a bit. We haven’t made any progress toward budgeting/paying off our debts because I still don’t have a full-time job. (You can read about my frustration with job hunting here.) I do have a part-time, work-from-home job that I started recently, but I’m still training and not getting regular projects yet. Hopefully once I really get started with that we’ll have some extra money to start tackling our debt. I’m also hoping to start a retail position soon, which would also be part time, to earn some extra money while I’m still looking for a full-time job. I do have a potential freelance client in the works as well, so that will be helpful too! I created an online resume/portfolio in the hopes that it will help me land a great job. Check it out and let me know what you think! Any feedback is appreciated! 

I’ve finished reading two books so far this year, but have made zero progress on writing my own book, so that’s a bummer. I need to ramp up my writing this month. We are trying to be better about eating at home more, both to save money and eat healthier. We’re not doing as great as I would like for us to do on that front, but I think after we realized just how much we spent eating out last week, we will make more of an effort to eat at home! 

For those of you following along with our Mold Saga, our problems continue. They were supposed to install exhaust fans in the bathrooms on Monday, but the electrician said there was some duct work that needed to be done prior to the installation, so he said he would let them know and then left. I haven’t heard anything since. So today I put in another work order asking about the status of the duct work/exhaust fans and also asking what will be done to remove the existing mold (because exhaust fans are only going to prevent new mold from growing). I am allergic to mold and feel like I’ve been sick since shortly after we moved here. My asthma has gotten worse, my sinuses are constantly congested, my eyes get itchy and watery, and my throat hurts almost daily. Chris has started showing similar symptoms as well (although I think he’s slightly better off since he isn’t home all day, every day like I am), and Copper licks and chews on her paws constantly, which may or may not be related to the mold. So it’s becoming a serious health issue for all of us, which I made sure to include in my work order request. 

Unfortunately, my thumb isn't as green as I had hoped and my poor English Ivy plant doesn’t look like it’s going to make it. It got really droopy in our bedroom and I thought it wasn’t getting enough light, so I moved it out to the kitchen where there’s a lot more light throughout most of the day, but it just keeps getting droopier. I also thought I was overwatering it, so I’ve lightened up on that quite a bit, but it’s still not perking back up. 

When I first potted the plant and put it in our bedroom, I noticed a big difference in how I felt almost immediately. That only lasted for a few days though. Once it started drooping, I went back to feeling crappy. I’ve tried to look online for solutions to get it to perk back up and save it, but nothing has worked, and I’m constantly reading conflicting opinions. Some articles I read seem to think ivy does better in shade or indirect light, while others say they need more sunlight. Most have said not to over-water, so I’m trying to let the soil dry out more in between waterings, but that hasn’t helped. If anyone has any experience with indoor ivy plants and has any suggestions for saving this poor guy (and me!), let me know! 

Here’s to hoping March is full of good things, like a full-time job, an offer on our house (we recently lowered the price!), and no more mold!  

January Recap: 100 Miles and Beyond

Copper and I surpassed 100 miles walked last Saturday! In total, we probably walked closer to 105, and probably surpassed it before Saturday since my app never seems to be accurate. Either way, 100 miles in one month is probably the most I've ever walked and it felt great to accomplish that!

In regards to some of my other goals that I set for myself this year, some have been going well, others have not. I've been doing a pretty good job of turning off the TV and putting my phone away at least a half hour to an hour before bed and then making myself a cup of tea and reading a book. I finally finished reading Anna Karenina on Sunday night (actually, it was Monday morning thanks to my newfound insomnia). I have been reading that book on and off since September, so it felt really good to finally put that monster to bed.

Unfortunately, all the tea and reading and relaxing before bed hasn't seemed to help me sleep--it's just helping me get books read. Still searching for things to help me actually sleep. I've tried a white noise app which didn't help at all. I've tried calming music which helps me relax, but doesn't seem to help me fall asleep. I used ear plugs the past two nights. The first night, I slept great. Last night, not so much. I tossed and turned all night and I assume I slept some, but it was not very restful. So sleeping in our new Dallas apartment is still a work-in-progress for me (Chris seems to be able to sleep anywhere and any time after 7pm).

We've been doing okay about unplugging in general (i.e. during meals), but not great. We are cooking at home almost 5 days a week now and are making small attempts to make those meals healthier (sometimes they're really healthy, sometimes we make a frozen pizza). I feel that I'm doing a pretty good job on keeping up with family and friends and having better relationships, but there's definitely room for improvement there.

I did very little writing in January, but I've got some ideas floating around that I need to get on paper this month. I also did not submit anything in an attempt to get published. So I will try to remedy that this month as well. And as far as finding a job I love, well I have an interview tomorrow, so please send prayers, good thoughts/vibes, etc. my way!

Because I'm still unemployed, we haven't made much progress on budgeting and reducing our debt. It's hard to really add extra money to debt payments when we're living on one income and unfortunately don't have any savings. My hope is that once I have a job, we can really buckle down and focus on not only paying off our debts, but building up our savings, so that we're prepared for any future emergencies (medical, auto, etc.), or for any future unemployment (although I hope that never happens again!).

I was sick for most of last week, so I skipped yoga Wednesday-Friday. I finally went back on Saturday for a sound mediation class. Then I skipped again this past Monday since I only got a couple hours of sleep the night before. Unfortunately, that means I'm out of the yoga challenge I was attempting to complete, but I needed to take care of myself. Getting back on the mat yesterday, I was definitely stiff, but I felt so much better after class.

Overall, January was a pretty good month, in spite of the goals I made zero progress on. Luckily, I've got my Passion Planner to keep me on track!

Wish me luck on my interview tomorrow! :)

On Taking Sick Days

I was reminded of this after reading an article on NPR the other day. The article was about how people working in the food industry often come to work sick and don’t take sick days because they typically don’t get paid sick days. And if they can afford to take a day without pay (which most can’t), they’re often quickly replaced. The issue of people not getting paid sick days in the first place is one that I’m not going to tackle today. I did comment on the article though, saying that people coming to work while sick is an issue in almost every industry, even those that do provide paid sick leave. I also commented that I had a manager earlier this year who was baffled that I left the office because I wasn’t feeling well. She made a comment to a coworker that she was once “throwing up at her desk and managed to make it through the day”.

Not too long ago, a woman retired from her job at the bank I work at. Aside from taking maternity leave, she only ever took 2 sick days in the many, many years she worked there. She was proud of this fact, and several people praised her for it, hinting that younger generations are more prone to taking sick days and should try harder to follow her example instead. 

I used to think perfect attendance was important. I often put schoolwork and other priorities way before my physical or mental health. After years of struggling through school or work while sick (I’ve taken finals with a concussion, with a freshly torn-off toenail, etc.), I finally started making my health a priority.

I take sick days now. Sometimes even when I'm not physically ill. Because I [now] believe in taking care of myself. After 26 years, I know my limits. I know when I'm sick enough to need a day or two to rest completely. I'm also courteous enough to stay home when I'm contagious to prevent coworkers and others from getting sick as well. And I appreciate when coworkers do the same. 

Sometimes I'm not physically ill. Sometimes I'm just exhausted and burnt out. Sometimes I need a break to recharge. Because when I burn myself out, I give far less than 100%. And my employer, coworkers, and customers deserve 100%. And I deserve to be capable of giving it. So yes, I've taken a day off here and there to sleep or watch Netflix all day. Because sometimes even the weekends are so busy that I don't ever really get to truly rest. And, as with my current job at the bank, I work some weekends, and that plays a big role in burnout. 

Sure, having a great attendance record is important. Getting all of your work done and meeting deadlines is important. But physical and mental health should come first. And if that means taking a sick day every now and then, so be it.  

IBS is a Crap Diagnosis

Whole30 pro tip: Mindlessly eating healthy food in front of the tv will make you feel as bad as mindlessly eating junk food in front of the tv. Lesson learned. Always be mindful of what you're putting in your body (and how much of it).

Today is day 31 of my Whole30: Project Wedding and I have to admit, I'm feeling pretty discouraged. This is my fourth or fifth Whole30 over the last year. That's almost half a year of eating paleo. And for the most part, when I'm not Whole30-ing, I eat fairly healthy. I definitely notice a difference in how I feel when I'm not eating paleo/Whole30 though. I'm more tired, I constantly feel bloated, my clothes just don't fit right, I'm always uncomfortable, my eczema comes back, and I get a lot more pimples. One thing doesn't ever seem to change, no matter how healthy I eat, and that's my stomach/digestive issues.

I've been dealing with this since roughly my senior year of high school (which was EIGHT years ago). Back then and during college, I attributed those problems to all the junk food I ate back then, especially during college. Over the last year and a half, I've cleaned up my diet. In fact, the Whole30 helped me discover food allergies I had no idea I had. The hives that I had broken out in numerous times prior to that and during my first Whole30 completely stopped once I cut out beef and pork. To my disappointment, none of those food allergies were the cause of my stomach issues.

I had an extremely hard week a few months back and ended up at the doctor's office. I had to do tests and give samples (you don't even want to know how gross that is...and for those of you who do know, I'm sorry). The doctor's diagnosis? That particular bad week was probably food poisoning. But overall, I probably just have IBS. She gave me a muscle relaxer to help with the pain and cramping I experience and told me to "just take Immodium whenever I need it."

I accepted that for a few days. Then I decided that I'm an otherwise healthy 26 year old woman and I don't want to take copius amounts of muscle relaxers and Immodium pretty much every day for who knows how long. IBS is a crap diagnosis, in my opinion. And after our wedding and honeymoon is over, I will be going to see a specialist to get more/better answers. I will not accept that someone who is young, healthy, eats paleo at least 90% of the time, and exercises regularly has to take medication daily for potentially the rest of my life.

Frankly, it's just not fair. I started the Whole30 way back when to try to eliminate the problems I was having so that I'd be 100% healthy for our wedding and honeymoon. No one wants to feel like this on their wedding day, in a white dress of all things. And yet, here I am, less than a month before the wedding, and my situation has not gotten better. Sure, I now know a few things that definitely exacerbate my problems, like coffee (which I avoid most days, but sometimes, the need for caffeine is more important). But I can't seem to further pinpoint exactly which foods are giving me problems--if any.

I can't help but feel frustrated and disappointed. There are a lot of things I wanted to do before the wedding that aren't happening now (and really just aren't important), like getting my teeth whitened. But I just wanted to feel perfectly healthy on my wedding day. I didn't want to have to worry about how my stomach would feel that day. But here I am, worried about how my dress will fit. Will I be bloated? What if I have to go once my dress is already on? What if I eat the wrong thing at some point throughout the day? What if the alcohol I drink makes me sick?

Everyone keeps saying everything will be fine. And almost everything will be fine. But the likelihood that I will feel like literal crap on my wedding day is very high because that area of my life seems to be completely out of my control.

Weekend Recap

New glasses! :)

I went to pick up my new glasses and contacts last Friday. It's so nice to be able to wear contacts again (and sunglasses!) and glasses that are nice and light. 

We had a couple events in St. Louis on Friday for our newest book: 

We had a great turnout for both events. I love getting the opportunity to meet the authors and hear them tell their stories. Unfortunately we didn't sell quite as much as we had hoped due to time constraints at the second event, but we sold a decent amount of books. While everyone else went out to a fancy dinner that night after the second event (which was at the STL Public Library and that building is so cool!), I went home to eat pizza with Chris and then sleep.

I've been so exhausted lately. And that's making me cranky. It's really bumming me out that I just don't have the energy to go out and do stuff. I got my oil changed Saturday, we took Copper, our horribly behaved dog, for a walk on Sunday, and had dinner with my parents later that night. And that's really about all I did. I didn't clean or do any of the other things I should have.

Probably the best thing to happen all weekend was that I was asked to send in my resume for a possible job! I really hope something works out with that one because it would be an amazing organization to work for. Fingers crossed!!

Who's ready for Thanksgiving? On the one hand I'm totally excited to only have to drive in to work 2 days next week, but on the other hand, it means Christmas is too close for comfort. I have gifts to buy (with money I don't have) and places to go, etc, etc. I'm looking forward to the family time and stuff, but I'm also really hoping for some time to just rest next week. I need it. Badly.

I'm starting to feel sick, even though I've been taking Vitamin-C regularly, drinking a lot of water, eating fruits and veggies, etc. I'm hoping it's just allergies and nothing worse. I don't think I can handle getting sick and needing more medicine.

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

Can't Catch a Break

I've been kinda down lately for a lot of little reasons, none of which should affect my mood this much, but they just keep piling on top of each other and I could just really use a break.

I was on antibiotics a couple weeks ago for an infection. Took the meds, felt better, finished the meds, everything was fine.
A week later, I have a UTI. There was no reason for me to possibly get a UTI other than the first antibiotic I was on. So now I'm on more antibiotics. (None of my doctors have ever told me that antibiotics could cause--or make me vulnerable--to other infections.)
This new antibiotic says I can't have caffeine while I'm on it. I didn't realize just how much I really depend on those 1-2 cups of coffee every day. I'm irritable, exhausted (barely making it to 9pm the past two nights before I go to bed when I normally stay up until 10pm), and getting headaches.

On top of that, either a hubcap fell off of my car or it was stolen. So I'm down to 2 hubcaps on my car now. It looks awesome. Plus I need an oil change. And this stupid-cold weather makes the low tire pressure light come on, even though I check and check and there's always plenty of air.

Did I mention this ridiculously cold weather? Yeah, I'm over it.

Then there's all the stuff that keeps going wrong at the house (where I only get to spend about 8 hours a day during the week, none of which is in daylight). Our storm door is broken (thanks wind), our garage door is broken (or the motor is dead or something, I don't know), and one of the drain pipes is broken.

And this whole job-hunt thing is exhausting and discouraging. I've sent my resume and applications in to a lot of different places and I either haven't heard anything yet or got emails saying they went with other candidates. I haven't even gotten any kind of interview yet. It's extremely frustrating and worrying. I struggle daily to be calm about it and stay positive. What if I don't find a job? What if we can't pay our bills? It's terrifying to think that I could leave my current job in January (which is less than two months away!!) and not have another job to go to.

I'm sorry for the rant and all the negativity today. I just needed to get all that out. Poor Chris has to listen to me complain about a lot of these things on a pretty regular basis. I'm trying to be positive, but it's like everything is working against me right now and that makes it really hard.

If any of you have any job-hunting tips in general, or know of a place in St. Louis that's looking to hire a writer and/or editor and/or communications specialist, please let me know!

Grad School: Year 2 Starts Today!

My "last weekend of summer" was pretty good. Spent time with my family, went to the Cards game Sunday (which they lost...), and went to see our new house (which isn't quite ready yet). 

Before I show you pictures of the house, here's a couple of the coffee table Chris made:

Copper wouldn't get out of the picture. 

We also got a brown slip cover for our futon, since we can't
buy a new couch just yet thanks to the dog! 

And now for the house! It's being inspected this week (I think), so hopefully we'll be able to move in a couple weeks. 

Front of the house. Adorable :)

Itty-bitty, teeny-tiny kitchen--with no dishwasher! But it's
so cute :)

Front door/living room

Bathroom (yes, those walls are purple, lol)

Dining room

Copper's big back yard :)

Back of the house: on the right side is the garage, and the
doorway in the middle is the breezeway/mudroom. 

I can't wait to move!! Hopefully we find out this week a set date so we can start planning and packing! 

In other news, I'm on day 8 or 9 of my 30-day squat challenge. It's going pretty well so far. We'll see how I do once school is in full-gear. 

Speaking of which, I have my first class of the semester today. I'm so glad it's not my night class because I didn't get much sleep last night. I woke up around 2am sneezing and coughing. Finally I just got up around 4:30am. Not fun :( So my Tuesday/Thursday afternoon class is Contemporary American Poetry and my Wednesday night class is Advanced Literary Publishing. I'm excited for both classes. I think this is going to be a pretty great (although probably exhausting) semester! 

And just for fun, here are a couple pics of Copper and Cocoa :)

Left this laundry basket out for her all weekend
while we were gone. Both of her toy mice were
in it when we got back lol

Copper had to sit at my feet on our way back
on Sunday. Luckily, she behaved most of the way.
She did not behave herself most of the weekend though :(

Long One

Brace yourselves, this is gonna be a long one. 

The short version is I got sick. 

The long version:

I skipped my workout Wednesday to meet a deadline. I knew if I worked out at my usual time, I wouldn't get the project done in time, so I decided I'd go once I got the project finished. Well, by the time I got it finished, I was exhausted and my throat was hurting. So I decided to just give it a rest and I'd get back in the gym on Thursday. 

I got through my class that night okay. My throat still hurt, but nothing terrible. I got home, had dinner with Chris (eggs, asparagus, and sausage) and then went to bed. 

By the time I woke up Thursday morning I felt terrible. If it weren't for my class that night, I probably would have stayed home that day. But I went to work and progressively got worse. I did however make time to stop by My Daddy's Cheesecake to get some cookies to bring to class. 

I'm assuming they were good since there were only
a couple left by the end of class. 

By the time my class started that night I was miserable. Sneezing, sore throat, body aches, chills, etc. And of course, not only did the class go the full time, but it went over. My friend Angi let me borrow her sweatshirt to use as a blanket, and everyone just kept giving me these pitiful looks all night. Not fun. 

I finally got home and went straight to bed. And felt terrible for not eating the dinner Chris had cooked for us. Unfortunately, I didn't have the option of staying home all day on Friday. I did get to leave around 1:30 though. I stopped at Walgreens to buy some Nyquil and then I went home and straight to bed. Chris came home later and brought me a Sprite and a York Peppermint Patty to make me feel better :)

Saturday morning we got up early to get ready for my friend's wedding. I would have taken some pictures, but I felt like crap. It was a small wedding and the reception was almost immediately after (pretty early in the afternoon). We stopped at the Schnuck's next door and found a nice little Gluten-free corner. So I bought myself some bread to try. Probably should have bought more, but oh well. 

I was only able to eat the salad at the reception, but it was pretty darn good. And everyone else's food looked good lol. After the reception we went back to my parents' house to pick up the puppy and head home. 

We ended up staying for dinner (I had another salad while everyone else had pizza--luckily I don't really like the pizza they got, so it wasn't torture or anything to watch them eat it). And we stayed until the end of the Blues game (which of course went to overtime). I'm glad we stayed though. Even though I felt like crap, I had a good time--and we got a free dinner out of it ;)

And Copper tried really hard to make friends with my kitty Cocoa: 

You can't really see her, but Cocoa is under the chair.
They stared each other down for a good ten minutes.
It was hilarious. 

I woke up Sunday morning from my Nyquil-coma to the smell of bacon. We had bacon and gluten-free bread/toast for breakfast. Super healthy :)

After that we headed out in the stupid rain to go do our grocery shopping. Thanks to Chris, we actually found some gluten-free stuff, like the Quaker rice cakes/snacks and stuff. (I swear those did not exist last week when I was there!) It was a pretty successful shopping trip. I got some new gluten-free snacks to try, and we bought corn flour tortillas for our tacos that night. 

The corn flour tortillas were interesting. They don't taste too bad, but they fell apart pretty easily. That could also be because we were trying to stuff too much into them ;) 

I went to bed Sunday night feeling a little bit better. We had done some laundry and watched a couple movies and I took a nap. At some point in the middle of the night that all changed. I woke up the next morning feeling terrible. I got up, fed the dog, and then texted my boss to tell her I wouldn't be in. 

Once Chris got up around 7, I took some more Nyquil and went back to bed...and didn't wake up until almost 5. After I got up though, I felt significantly better. I showered, watched some tv, and then made dinner. I made spaghetti squash with ground beef and tomato/alfredo sauce, and a side of asparagus baked in the oven with a little olive oil and parmesan cheese. It all turned out really good. 

After dinner we caught up on some shows and watched Bates Motel--not bad so far although kind of confusing since it's the prequel to Psycho, but it's set in modern-day. And then we went to bed. 

I woke up feeling quite a bit better this morning. Not great, but a pretty big improvement over the past few days. I spent most of today catching up at work and I'll spend the rest of my week at work and then at home doing homework. Lame way to spend Spring Break. 

One Year Anniversary

A year ago today, I started my new big-girl job as Administrative and Editorial Assistant for Southeast Missouri State University Press. 

I can't believe it's been a year. What did I do on my first day a year ago? Left for Chicago for the AWP Conference. I had very little money--had to ask my parents for money to pay for my food while I was there--but I bought as many books as possible and got several signed by the authors. I still haven't read all of them yet, but I'm working on it.

It was my first time in Chicago--I loved it and hated it all at once. It was freaking February. It rained. It snowed. It was sunny and warm one day so we walked all the way to Navy Pier. It was painfully windy. And somewhere along the way, I lost my coat--go figure.

We got to see the premier of Being Flynn, which is based on the memoir Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn (if you haven't read it, you should--it's fantastic...and how can you not want to read it with a title like that?!). I couldn't get my book signed by him because I had loaned it to a friend :( Getting to meet and talk with so many authors and other small presses was pretty awesome though.

A week later I was back in my apartment in Cape and learning my new job. I feel like it took a really long time to understand everything. And it took even longer to get things cleaned up and organized (the lady who worked here before me was not super organized, and by that, I mean not at all).

A year later and I still feel like there's a ton I don't know or understand and still have a lot to learn (which I guess is good in a way). And my office is not currently all that organized. Like most other "spaces" in my life, my office is an organized mess. Everything isn't neat and perfect, but I know where to find things (most of the time).

I started grad school last fall--being a full-time employee means I only have to pay for 30% of my tuition (as long as I pass). I was nervous last semester--worried about having enough time for work and classes and homework, etc. Last semester went pretty smoothly though.

This semester? Not so much. My research class is quite possibly the worst I've ever taken. I'm quite thankful that I only have one other class this semester (although only taking 2 classes a semester kind of kills me inside when I think about how much longer it will take to get my degree). I will be one of the happiest people in the world after finals are over in May (the other happiest people will be the other 15-20 people in my class).

Overall, it's been a good year. So much has changed since I started here. I moved twice. I went to Chicago twice. I bought a new car (all by myself the way grown-ups are supposed to). I've gotten to proof/edit several of our magazines and books. I had to take 4 sick days (which feels like a lot, but considering how much I used to get sick, that's a major improvement). I was kind of excited Monday morning because I felt good and realistically thought I could make it to today without getting sick, which would mean I would have only used 2 sick days (back in the fall when I had that awful UTI).

My stomach had other plans. You can read the full sick post here, but I was really, really upset when my boss sent me home. Partially because I had just thrown up and I'm a big baby and partially because I knew this meant at least 3 sick days in the year (which turned into my 4 total). And being sick means getting behind on work (she wouldn't let me take anything home to work on), behind on homework, behind on chores at home, etc.

I'm excited for this next year. We've got some really great books coming out this year (one that's almost ready to go to the printer!), I'll officially be finished with my first year of grad school (assuming I survive my research class), I'll be taking my first vacation in July, etc. Here's to another year!

The Worst Feeling in the World

Warning: Things are about to get gross. If you can't handle it, I completely understand if you choose not to read today's post.

So I got sick on Monday. At work. Like, throw-up sick. First of all, I think throwing up is by far one of the worst feelings in the world (including the minutes/seconds leading up to it). Safe to say I will never be bulimic.

I started feeling light-headed and nauseous. I went into the bathroom and sat down for a few minutes. I felt a little better, so I got back to work. Probably less than five minutes later I was making a mad dash for the bathroom. I seriously almost didn't make it. In case you forgot, this was at work. And of course it couldn't have happened first thing in the morning when no one else was around to hear. Nope. Interns were there. My boss was there. I was mortified.

I tend to break out in a cold sweat minutes before I have to puke. That's how I know to make my way to the bathroom asap. I didn't have quite as much time to do that as I normally do. So after I finally finished puking up my breakfast and whatever else, I washed my hands, tried to rinse the taste of vomit out of my mouth, and tried to wipe off the mascara running down my face (yes, I was crying--vomiting turns me into a gigantic baby).

I timidly walked into my boss's office and she just looks at me and tells me "You need to go home. And take some plastic bags with you in case you need them." I packed up my stuff, grabbed a couple plastic bags just in case, and then left, praying I wouldn't throw up on my drive home.

I made it home without getting sick again--barely. On the plus side, I was looking forward to cuddling with Copper and just laying around all day. Copper would have none of it. She wanted to play and go outside and then back in and play some more and bark at me for no reason. What a pain in the ass.

I took Tuesday off as well. I had stopped throwing up, but still didn't feel great, and I wanted to make sure that whatever I had wouldn't get anyone else sick. I laid around and watched a day-long Law and Order: SVU marathon. And continued to let Copper in and out and throw toys at her and whatever else to keep her somewhat entertained. I got no sleep.

So I came back to work today. I have now gone 6-ish days without working out. I just didn't have the energy today to do any sort of workout today. I'm going to try and do something tomorrow though.

Unfortunately, I missed the study group for my class last night, so I'm way behind on my homework and have no idea how I'm going to get it done before class tomorrow night. We have twice as much to get through this week because class was canceled last week, so I'm really hoping we just don't have time to get to it and I have an extra week to get it done.

I hope you're all having a better week than me! And here's a picture of that pain in the ass:

She likes to pretend she's all cute and innocent.
Lies. All lies.