Saturday, November 27, 2004

(Evil?) Twins and Happy Holidays

When we lived in Sweden, I often ran into doppelgangers of random people from back home. To me, that suggested Scandinavian heritage.

Now it's started in Germany. On several occasions, I've seen my dead grandmother. Even L.H. has spotted her and remarked on the resemblance. It's not surprising since my GM was 2nd or 3rd generation German-American.

Just yesterday I saw my MIL's young adult self. It turns out she's in 2 of my classes. She looks just like photos of my MIL in her early 20s. I would chalk up the resemblance to MIL's German heritage, except this girl is in German as a Foreign Language classes, so she can't be German. Weird!

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Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

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According to my recent blood-work, I'm severely anemic. Signs of anemia include: "fatigue, shortness of breath, pale skin colour, irritability, weakness, sore tongue, brittle nails, frontal headaches, low blood pressure, and decreased appetite". So when I get caught up on my iron, I'll be a whole new person!

I am a bit worried about losing my edge if the symptom "irritability" clears up, but don't expect me to be Little Susie Sunshine, in any case. I think bitchiness is more of a habit--a state of mind, if you will--for me, and it will take more than 6 iron pills a day to change that.

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

A Trip to the Doctor

[composed ~2 this afternoon]

To anyone of my acquaintence who has had a bladder or kidney infection, I offer my sincere apologies if I ever secretly thought you were being a wuss.

I woke up this morning with the urgent need to pee, which is nothing new, except that the feeling didn't go away and was later joined by a constant, cramp-like feeling on the left front side. By 10, I was on the phone to L.H., crying, because I was in quite a lot of pain (that had moved to the back) and couldn't find the doctor's phone number. (Normally I only cry in jags and over stupid stuff like L.H. stealing my blanket. Sensible crying is totally outside my realm of experience.) Once again earning the "lovely" in his moniker, L.H. biked home and accompanied me to the doctor's office.

I was impressed with the service. We didn't have to wait too long, and as soon as the doctor heard me say "back pain" and "frequent urination", she hurried to draw blood before the lab tech left the building. Then I got a sonogram; I'm still gooped up from that.

The two doctors who took turns on the sonogram think it's a kidney infection, plus muscle spasms that are squeezing the kidney. Fun, eh? So I get to spend today and tomorrow at home in bed, hopped up on muscle relaxants and antibiotics. I thought I'd get some reading in, but I haven't been able to stay awake that long. D.D. went to a friend's house after school, so after I woke up I put in my favorite kid-less, sick-day movie: The South Park Movie. Delightfully irreverent. I always end up humming the Terrance and Philip song for days afterwards.

Monday, November 22, 2004

Brownian motion in my brain

I hate having a bony butt. Don't get me wrong, my butt is big, but the bones hidden within are enormous, and pointy. After sitting on a wooden chair for 4 hours straight (2 back-to-back class), my ass is killing me. Luckily, I have a 10-minute walk to my third class, but then it's another 1-1/2 hours on yet another wooden chair. I think I'm developing a bruise on my right side.

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There's a girl in one of my classes who could give Courtney Love a run for her money, make-up wise. Yes, I know it's hard to believe, but either this girl is under the mistaken impression that C.L. is pretty (shudder), or she has some kind of degenerative eye disease and has to apply more and brighter make-up just to be able to see it. That or a stroke would explain the outside-the-lines lipstick.

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Poor D.D. still had a fat lip this morning. It looks like she cut the inside of it up near the gums when she bonked heads with her friend yesterday.

At least she had a little fun today. She got a big kick out of the holiday advertising scheme at the restaurant where we had dinner tonight. Every few minutes, she'd laugh and say, "Merry Fishmas!" Maybe you had to be there.

Sunday, November 21, 2004

'Tis the Season to be Greedy

Poor D.D. got her lip and nose smashed during a birthday party this afternoon and was brought home by the birthday mom. D.D.'s upper lip now makes her look a bit like Cindy Lou Who. We have our fingers crossed that she doesn't end up with a black eye, but we'll see in the morning.

Now that I've manage to segue into xmas via the Grinch: D.D. has declard that she is sick of wearing pink, and she wants no more pink clothes. Just a heads up for anyone considering the gift of clothes this year.

As for myself, I am still bereft after using up the very last bit of my Burt's Bees carrot lotion, which I got for xmas last year from my lovely MIL. Even L.H. likes the scent of it. Hint, hint.

L.H. has put up an amazon wish list here. He had accidentally put it on the UK site, so it has been a bit hard to find up to now.

That's all the pre-xmas wish-list-making I can manage for now without my head exploding. I might add more later.