Snickers to the Rescue!

I've had a not so great year health-wise and neither has Jason.  First he has Gall Stones so he's on a low-fat diet.  Hopefully they will opt not to remove his gall bladder.  Then Jason injured his knee while running at work.  He fractured the tibia in the knee, has major contusions on the tibia, and sprained his ACL and other ligaments.  Yet he continued working.  He doesn't run anymore but he can't use crutches at work so he just uses them as soon as he's done his shift.  He pushed through the pain until an MRI showed the extent of the damage.  Then he kept pushing.  I think his boss is impressed by him.  He only missed one day of work because he was in crippling pain.

As for me, I came down with diverticulitis.  A very painful infection of the diverticuli in the colon.  I'm mostly better now but this weekend I had an accident and needed 6 stitches in my arm.  Yikes.

I was feeling pretty down and then we went to the pet store to get hay.  There she was.  The little multi-colored Abyssinian Guinea Pig.  Jason got her for me as a present for taking such good care of him with his knee and for my troubles too.  I named her Snickers and she is the cutest sweetest little girl.  She is in quarantine from the other guinea pigs until they are recovered from their upper and lower respiratory infections.  Snickers lives in the little cage we have all by her lonesome for two weeks.  Then the vet said we can introduce her to the others and soon they'll all be living together as one big happy family.

Thank goodness for Snickers!  She cheers me up when I need it, just like the other piggies.

The Glass is Half Full

I've been doing a lot of thinking and I've decided to try and change my outlook.  I think of myself as a slightly pessimistic person who dreams for the stars.  Well everyone is tired of the pessimistic part of me so I have decided to work on seeing the glass half full.  This all became clearer as of late when an acquaintance of mine had her baby nephew admitted to Children's Hospital, I think for a congenital Heart Defect.  I may have good days and I may have bad days.  But I'm not struggling for my life.  I don't have cancer, I'm in relatively good help and it's time I appreciated each day knowing that I am lucky to be alive.

My piggies are all sick,  Amy and Penny have Bronchitis and Oreo and Bernie have Upper Respiratory Infections.  Penny and Bernie will take their medicine by Amy and Oreo flip over backwards and act like I'm trying to kill them.  I love them to death but this is going to be a long two weeks.  Still, it's completely worth it if they feel better afterwards.

Jason's knee is on the mend.  It turns out he doesn't need surgery, it's a very bad bone bruise.  Praise the Lord!  He's been in so much pain for a month now and it's nice to finally see him moving around without being in excruciating pain.

I didn't get the two jobs I interviewed for earlier in the month.  It is so hard to get a job.  I've got to just keep plugging away and hope that I meet the right job soon.

Job Search and a Gala

I've been looking for a job for some time now but I've really been applying to everything starting about a month ago. I've gone on a number of interviews, some really promising and some not so promising.  I went on two earlier this week and I was really confident and myself in those interviews.  It's too early to have heard back yet but I kind of wish I heard something yesterday as it was my birthday.  What a birthday present that would have been!  Anyway, I'm hoping to hear back from one in the next week and the other in the next two weeks.  I'm hoping I get a job offer but we'll see.

Bernadette is still sick.  Now she's on two anti-biotics and she really hates the second one.  I don't blame her, it's green!  I hope she gets better soon.

Jason started his new job and he absolutely loves it!  All the people are so friendly and he enjoys driving the cars around.  Tonight was his company's company Holiday Gala, held at the John F Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum.  Jason wore his suit, he looked so handsome! I wore contacts and makeup, did my hair, and wore one of my fancier dresses.  It was a blast.  We met some really nice new people and saw some of Jason's new friends.  Dinner was fabulous.  Short Rib that melted in your mouth and crab cakes.  There was an entire array of h'ordeuves.  Yummy.  We were in the downstairs reception area where there was a band and upstairs was the DJ and dancing.  It was fabulous!

I have a new favorite thing.  I make Video Status Updates while holding one of my wee guinea pigs.  If you're friends with me you've probably seen them.  I also post them to YouTube and my Google + account. I just have so much fun with my video recorder.  We got it on sale as an open box buy and to upload videoa I just pop out the SD card and plug it into my computer.  Easy as 1, 2, 3.

Bernadette is sick.  Her Upper Respiratory Infection is back and we can't afford to take her to the vet.  I've asked the vet if we can just buy the antibiotics without a visit so we'll see if she goes for that.

Our snakes are doing well.  Jason insulated their enclosures with insulation boards, so they're nice and toasty warm.  Peanut is still not really eating which is worrisome.  Hopefully he eats tonight.

It's almost New Year's Eve.  I can't wait for next year.  This year hasn't been bad per say.  I'm just looking forward to a new year.  Finding jobs, turning 33, having a clean apartment, moving.  It's all coming up, and I am excited.  The Mayan Apocalypse came and went and we're still here.  It's time for a renewal.  And boy could we use it.  We have to start taking better care of our planet.  It doesn't have to be too late.

Here's a sample of one of my status update videos:

Season's Greetings

Dear Blog,

That's right, I'm starting with "Dear Blog" because frankly that's what I feel like doing.  It's the holiday season and I'm bored as hell.  I'm sitting here listening to my Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit soundtracks playlist, and thinking.  I'm thinking about how happy I am for my cousins, Bruce and Emily, who are both engaged to be married to wonderful people.  I'm thinking about how it's not fair that their mother won't be there to attend their weddings and how I still, even after something like six months, can't believe she's really gone.  I miss you Diane.

I'm thinking about finding work both for me and for my husband.  It seems like no one wants to hire someone who has been out of work for five years.  But I'm applying none the less.  Jason may have a job.  He was sent to do a drug test for the position, which he did, and now we're waiting for an offer.  I'm convinced there's a job out there just waiting for me to fill it, I just have to find it.

I held 3 out of 4 of my guinea pigs tonight.  They were cute and playful as always, chattering away in a language I don't understand.  One of my friends told me the other night that guniea pigs are a delicacy in Peru.  Ew.  I would never eat a guinea pig.  I love them too much.  I suppose that's why my grandmother won't eat birds.  She loves them too much.  It's the principle of the thing.

It's the holiday season and I just can't seem to get into the spirit.  I have no plans for New Year's Eve, so Jason and I will just stay at home and watch TV, probably in separate rooms just like last year.  He'll watch the Three Stooges Marathon and I'll watch the Times Square coverage.  We lead boring lives.  Though I should be cleaning.  I have exactly two weeks to get the apartment clean for my birthday.  It's my present to myself.  Not to mention I'll be hosting my closest friends to celebrate.  This year I'll be 33.  I feel old now. I know that's silly, 33 isn't that old.  Yet there's still so much I want to do and I feel like there's less time to do it.

I saw the Hobbit last night, courtesy of my brother and sister-in-law. It was really good and I'm looking forward to the next two parts.  I have a new celebrity crush on Richard Armitage, the man who plays Thorin Oakenshield.  Something about his dreamy blue eyes...sigh.  Jason's not jealous.  He knows my celebrity crushes are silly.

I suppose that's all for now.  Happy New Year everyone!

Anniversary At Foxwoods Part 1 - I Don't Gamble

Hello there.  I am celebrating my 2 year anniversary with my husband at Foxwoods Casino and Resort.  It's this huge complex on a Native American Reservation in Connecticut.  Here's the thing.  I don't gamble and neither does my husband.  We came here to see Craig Ferguson live doing his stand up comedy routine.  It's the closest he's coming to Boston this tour and with the little extra money we had, we couldn't resist.  It started out as a day trip, but soon had progressed to two nights with a spa visit.

The spa visit we had this morning, and OMG is all I can say.  And I hate the phrase "OMG".  We had the "Couples package" which consisted of a 50 minute massage, a parrifin (Spelling?) foot wax, and champagne and chocolate covered strawberries.  It was worth every cent/  Neither my husband or I have ever had a massage before and it was quite the experience.  I just lay there in heaven.  And usually I am not one to enjoy being touched by strangers but this was not stressful at all.  It was so relaxing.

We arrived yesterday afternoon.  Perhaps I should have started here but I'm hardly one to follow chronological conformity.  We checked in early and rose to the 14th floor where our room was located.  The view was spectacular.  We were facing West out over a wooded area.  I can't wait to watch the sunset tonight.  After watching a movie to relax (we watched Larry Crowne), we ventured out to the casino.  Walking to the opposite side of the huge complex, we had a nice dinner of burgers at the Hard Rock Cafe Foxwoods.  Jason was thrilled to request a song to be played in music video form while we waited to eat.  Each of us had a burger which really hit the spot.  Then we walked back along the shops to our hotel room where I plunged into a restless few hours of cold illness.  That's right, my cold culminated at that moment into an unbearable mess of sinuses.  I located the cold/flu medicine in the gift shop and found some relief after a few hours hours.  We spent the rest of the night in our room.

This morning we began with our massage package.  After we changed, we returned to the spa and went swimming for an hour followed by a nice relaxing time in the Jacuzzi.  The key word for this post is relaxing.  I then showered and we went out seeking lunch.  Fuddruckers satisfied our appetites and our wallets as we were running low on funds at this point.  Then we hit the shops.  Without buying anything we quickly viisted all the shops we wanted to.  And it occurred to me, what do people do while they're here?  It dawned on me immediately.  That thing people do that Jason and I just don't do.  Gamble.  Originally I was going to pump five dolloars worth of quarters into a slot machine but even that seemed grossly intimidating.  We did cut through a casino to return to our room which is where we are now, awaiting the whole purpose of our trip.  The big show starring Craig Ferguson.  And yet I wonder.  How do people gamble.  The concept eludes me still.

I will write again once I return home tomorrow.

It's been a long time...

Hello Blog Followers.  It's been 3/4 of a year since I last posted and so much has happened.

The Family Has Expanded -
For my birthday last January, my husband bought me two guinea pigs.  Penny and Bernadette, both female, were the cutest things I'd seen in a very long time.  Penny is black with a little copper coloring on her butt, and a white spot on her nose.  Bernadette is white, tan, and black.  Little did I know but guinea pigs are addictive.  I had two of the female cast members of the Big Bang Theory, now I needed an Amy.  We found Amy a few weeks later.  She is mostly white with tan and black splotches near her eyes.  Then we couldn't have an odd number of guinea pigs, that just wouldn't do!  So in comes Oreo, a black and white female who is very meek.  I love to cuddle with them and listen to them purr and coo.  Penny is the loudest and the most adventurous.  Amy runs like mad to avoid being picked up, but once you have her she sits quite still and behaves herself.  Bernie and Oreo are the easiest to pick up.  They don't seem to mind too much.  I love them all.

Well my husband decided he wanted some pets of his own.  He really wanted a Ball Python, but I initially vetoed it because once fully grown it could eat my piggies for dinner.  So our first snake was a corn snake.  He's an Albino Corn Snake, really beautiful, named Rusty.  We bought him nearly 3 months ago and already he's grown quite a bit.  He's now almost 3 feet long!  But my husband still really wanted a Ball Python, so I gave in and got him one.  His name is Monty, as in Monty Python.  He has shed twice now and is growing at a good rate.  We'll just have to keep him separate from my piggies.

A Death In The Family -
My Aunt Diane passed away very suddenly a few weeks ago.  It was so hard to deal with.  She was a great aunt, always full of smiles.  Even though I saw her rarely, as she lived in Canada, I still felt close to her.  She always made me feel important.  I went to the funeral with my brother, his wife, and my sister.  My husband couldn't go because he didn't have a passport.  It was a very sad weekend with a beautiful service filled with music, just as Diane would have wanted.  Then we went back to her family's house and I talked to members of my family I rarely get to see.  As the bugs came out we moved indoors and sat around their dining room table drinking tea and telling hilarious stories.  It was nice to feel close to my cousins, I hardly ever see them. However through the magic of Facebook, we stay in touch.

Even now I find a grief in my heart at thinking that my mother's youngest sister is really gone.  She was only 53 and it makes me think about mortality.  All my aunts and uncles are now going to be checked out to make sure they don't have the same hidden condition.  I know Diane wouldn't want me to linger over her death.  She will always be with me in  my heart and in spirit.