Final countdown

Here I am, on the last day of 2012 with a final entry (hopefully).  I wish that I could say that my life was simply too busy to write, but the truth is that every time I sit down to do it, nothing comes out.

Before you start to worry, it is not because I am in a bad place with my life or have suffered some major setback.  True, my house sale is still in what feels like a perpetual "pending" status, but hopefully that period is soon to come to a conclusion.  Due to a stipulation of the short sale, I had to wait another month before getting a final answer from the lender, so with any luck within a week I should be able to have a closing date.  Of course, nothing is ever really a sure thing in life, so I say that with slight hesitation.

After much back and forth by way of housing, it sounds like the plan will be for me to remain at my parents' house until such time as I am either able to purchase a house of my own or come up with a new plan.  At this point, I am happy to stay put in this location and to enjoy the freedom of not being tied to a mortgage for the first time in more than eight years.

While many people wait until the New Year period to set resolutions for life and health, I opted to do this a little early.  In October, I joined Weight Watchers.  If you are just a casual passerby reader, you would not know that I had gotten to a point that was unhealthy with my weight and health.  I could blame it on many things, but mostly I just did not care to think about it.  With so many other things in my life that took up my time, emotion and attention, I simply could not be bothered to worry about things like exercise and healthier eating habits.

As of today, I am proud to say that I have lost over 20 pounds and am on track to lose even more.  It may sound cheesy, but it really does make a difference in how I feel about life.  Not to say that I have become Susie Sunshine overnight, but I think that momentum in the right direction is a really great motivator.


So this may not be a very long, informative or even entertaining entry, but getting something in before 2013 starts is important to me.  I hope that everyone who reads this has a fun, safe and enjoyable New Year celebration tonight. 

Of all the times to write!

Just a quick little December morning blog entry.  I broke with my newly established routine and did not work out on the elliptical this morning, but I have a good semi-decent lame excuse.  The dogs. 

My parents are out at the farm working on some updates for a couple of days.  If it were for a longer stint, my mom would have taken her dogs because she gets a little lonesome for them, but for such a short trip, it was easier on all that they stay at home.

This means, as you may have guessed, that they all sleep with me.  With a few years experience in this department, it actually goes off just fine.  Everyone settles into their usual comfortable spot and waits until the alarm goes off to start jumping around.  They even seem to have mastered the idea of a snooze button in that the temporary sound of the alarm rouses them but they will resume their positions when I hit the button.

These mornings require a little more attention from me, but they are quite simple.  Actually, it is sort of fun for the dogs (I think) because with only one human in the house, they can bark as loud as they want as early as they see fit without consideration for those who may still be sleeping.  Not that they care either way.

Last night I went over to a friend's house for dinner and to hang out with her and her new baby girl.  It was fun and helpful as I am quite skittish with small babies and it is nice to be around a mom who can calmly offer advice as to how to hold them.  I think it comes from the fact that I was quite young when my brothers were born.  Adults must be quite firm with children when it comes to handling babies for obvious reasons.  I distinctly remember being told to be very careful of the heads of babies.

You know, the "soft spot" issue.  Oh, and the floppy neck thing.  Oddly enough, these are two of my biggest worries when I hold small babies.  It should therefore come as no surprise that I claim to "prefer" to hold babies when they are at least a few months old.  Three to six months, actually.  This may be about the time they start to really "see" things and can interact on a personal level by laughing at or imitating adults. 

The good news is that all the babies of my friends are growing and will soon be in that phase.  From that point onwards, I think I have it covered.  I am great at reading books and singing songs.  I am also pretty awesome at playing dolls and dress-up.  If necessary, I can even play with trains, cars and action figures. 

Anyway, enough morning chit-chat; I have to finish getting ready for work.  Have a great day!

-Megan and the Party Animals

The Remains of the Vacation

Now that I am on the tail end of my mini-vacation, I should be ready to write.  Actually, more than anything I am ready to get back to work.  Weird, I know.  It's not that there is a really pressing and exciting project.  I just miss the routine.  Sad, huh?

Lucky for me, I have several more weeks before I get another extra day off and over a month until I have anything like a vacation day to utilize.  But that is just fine with me. 

You see, if things go to "plan" I should have a very busy month ahead of me.  Not to jinx anything, but I will hopefully hear within the next week as to whether or not my house can be sold before the end of the year.  It is a little hard to wait, but I have absolutely no control over the progress of the approval, so all I can do is sit back and hope for the best.

If and when the news comes back in my favor, things will really get moving.  Literally.  I will have to arrange to have my entire home packed up and moved to temporary storage within a matter of a few weeks.  It sounds daunting, but now that I have been nudged in the direction of hiring professional packers and movers, it really shouldn't take more than a day or so.  It's not like I live in a palace.

Then, and only then, can I start the real search for a new domicile.  There are truly many options, but I need to consider the all important budget along with the restraints of location and the fact that my household includes a dog.  Oh, and I would also like for it to include space for a small grand piano.  Long story.

This leads me to the distinct possibility that my future rental space may be more house-like than apartment-like.  Which is fine by me, but may require a little extra finesse by way of the search.  But don't worry; I have watched many hundreds of hours of HGTV and I have just a slight idea of what to expect.

Thanksgiving was nice this year, despite the fact that my brother and his girlfriend were not with us.  My youngest cousin and I engaged in our traditional contest of video game dancing and I was successful in moderating my consumption of edibles and drinkables.  The proof will be at this week's weigh-in, but I think I did alright.

It really is hard to believe that I have been living here with my parents for almost five months.  Truthfully, it has passed quickly, but I think we will all be happy when this situation is done and we can all plan our next moves to other locations.  You see, I am not the only member of my family facing major upheaval in the coming months. 

My parents are facing the likely possibility that they will uproot for what will hopefully be the last time and move into the family farmhouse.  It will be an interesting and possibly difficult transition, but I think that it has the possibility to lead to some good for both of them. 

Then there is my brother.  Where do I even start with this one?  The boy/man/creature has been in school for what seems like his entire life.  On one hand, this sounds great.  He is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and will soon have his Master's of Public Health.  The next big challenge is the obvious:  he needs to foray that expensive education into a career.  I know he can do it, but the process is far from simple and far from over.

There is also the issue which I am not allowed to name which relates to my brother and his "living situation."  He knows what I mean.  He knows my thoughts on the subject.  I leave it to him to resolve this one in a proper and timely manner. 

So you see, it is not just me who is facing future uncertainties.  Who knows, maybe in a year we will have made our decisions and I will be writing to you about completely different problems.  Or maybe I will have retreated to the woods and unplugged from modern technology.  We shall see.

Thanks-a-Million!

I just completed a lovely mid-day walk with Lena and have another 45 minutes before I am obligated to do anything, so I decided that I should go for the gusto and write on the old blogoboard.  I believe my last post was pre-election, so by now some of the uncertainties and tensions have subsided.  Whether or not you were pleased with the outcome, I do not honestly care.  As in all election years, my life continues on its own trajectory regardless of who is in the hot seat.

Quite honestly, I am just thrilled that we can now go another couple of years without having to watch political ads. 

Today officially marks the first time I have been able to take fully approved vacation time at work.  After starting my new job in July, I entered into a three month probation period during which I was ineligible for paid vacation time.  Technically I was ineligible for unpaid vacation time as well, but thankfully did have some sick time available for the great Cold of October 2012.

As it is the day before Thanksgiving, my original plan was to get out of work, grab my dog and head out to the farm.  But then I realized that my car was overdue for an oil change.  So to address that situation, I made an appointment for mid-afternoon.  After that is done I will grab my dog and head out to the farm.

Unfortunately, I am now dealing with the Mystery Cough-Related Illness of November 2012.  I blame the jerk who sits in the cubicle row next to mine who has spent the last two weeks irresponsibly coughing out into the universe without covering his face.  Now I have the pleasure of multiple coughing fits during that day that bring me to a full face of tears and snot.  Beautiful, I assure you.

In news that is not related to me, baby season is officially over.  I think that I am safe to say it here because here is not Facebook, but today I received a text that my last pregnant friend had her baby yesterday.  She was a few weeks early, so I was not expecting this message, but everything appears to have gone well, so I am thrilled. 

Turns out, most of my friends have had girls.  I don't know if this is normal, but it sure makes my shopping a lot easier.  I get a little giddy when I think of all the awesome stuff I can buy.  It does make me feel a little guilty that I have not seen or given my gifts to my friend with the sole male child, but I am sure that by the time I meet him I will be able to get some really awesome boy toys. 

Not to be too sentimental, but I would like to say that this Thanksgiving I am thankful that all my pregnant friends had their babies safely and that everyone can now start their new roles as mothers and fathers.  I am thrilled for them all, and on a slightly lesser note I am thrilled that it is them and not me, as I sleep peacefully through the night.  (Heh heh.)

Time appears to be getting away from me and I still have the task of packing ahead of me so that I can follow through with my plan to come home from the oil change, grab the dog and go.  It isn't a difficult task to pack for the farm, but it does require that I think about it or I will end up leaving behind something important, like socks.

For those of you out there traveling to be with friends or family this week, I wish you safety.  Eat, drink and be merry.  Do the drinking on my behalf, because now that I am on Weight Watchers, I am off the sauce.  Did you like how I dropped that WW bomb on you with no explanation?  Perhaps I can share more about that later, depending on how my post-Thanksgiving weigh-in turns out.  

Armageddon cometh? I think not.

Well, it has been an eventful week.  In my own personal life, it probably measures up to be more eventful than the week to come with the election that will not die. 

First and happiest of all, my best friend had her baby.  It was a little earlier than I expected, but everything went well and I got to hold a less-than-24-hour-old baby for the first time in probably 25 years. 

The less happy part of my week was finally getting a decision from the lender on my short sale.  Unfortunately, due to the slight rise in housing values over the past few months, the appraised value of my property is higher than the offer I have had in place since August.  In normal circumstances, this is not a problem.  But in a short sale, it means that the lender figures that they could get more money from a sale and will not accept a lower offer.  So my deal has essentially fallen through and I am back to square one.

It is frustrating to be sure and more than a little disappointing.  It puts all of my future financial plans on hold and means that I will likely have to continue to drive up and maintain my property throughout the lovely winter months. 

Based on what I have observed in the media and through Facebook, a lot of people in my situation would attempt to blame this problem on the government.  They would even go so far as to try and blame the president.  But I am not that stupid.  I am well aware that I bought my house at the height of the inflated housing market (in 2004) and that within two years, I was already starting to notice a decline in value.

This brings me to a topic that I have felt like avoiding, but I sense that I cannot and probably should not ignore.  The election.

I am certain that no matter what side of the fence you fall, you are more than ready for this whole "season" to be over.  It truly brings out the worst in people.  The more I see, the more I truly believe that we are living in a warped reality.  Politicians and their employees, along with the media on ALL sides of the argument throw such ludicrous and inaccurate "information" around that we are all becoming actively dumber by the second. 

Have problems in your life?  Don't worry about taking personal ownership of them, just blame it on the president, Congress, rich people, poor people, or just the "government."  Don't stop for reflection, don't consider the forces at work that are truly beyond the control of any one person or entity.  But it is always most certainly the fault of somebody else.  Heaven forbid you ever made a poor choice in your life.

There is so much finger-pointing and character bashing that by the time Election Day actually rolls around, we are exhausted by the toll that the bombardment of negativity brings to our daily lives.  We are encouraged to blame someone, and the advertisements would have us believe that it should be directed at the person that they want their candidate to beat. 

As a trained but not practicing librarian, I am a strong supporter of fact-checking.  When someone makes a claim that involves statistics, verify it.  If they haven't cited a source, be suspicious.  The information could be misleading, imaginary or at the very least out-of-date.  No opponent will willingly point out anything positive about the other.

In the end, I have to say that American politics has become a bit like professional sports.  It devolves into "teams" and an "us against them" mentality.  Most people do not stop to consider the distinction between entertainment and reality.  Whoever wins the game improves their record or simply wins a title.  Whoever wins an election is then called upon to serve their constituency.   

NOTE:  Not just the people who voted for them; SERVE their ENTIRE CONSTITUENCY.  SERVE.  As in they are to work for US.  That includes you, but it also includes me.  And that weird person next door.  And the people living in the mansions.  And the people living in the street.  Both gay and straight people.  All religions and races.  All genders.  All ages.

So when you get wrapped up and worked up about who you do and don't like, take a minute to step back and think about what is really important.  Not just to you, but to everyone else who lives here as well.  Are your opinions based in reality, or have you become a cog in the media-machine?  Is your anger righteous or self-centered?  Are you throwing your own religious beliefs out to govern those who do not share them?  What would you think if something like that happened to you?

I will step away from my podium now and end with an exhortation to exercise your right to vote.  And no matter who "wins" on Tuesday, remember that we are all in this together.  This country belongs to all of us and we all have a right to be heard.  We do not have to agree, but we need to understand that we are the sum of all of our diverse parts.

Travels

It has been a whirlwind weekend of travel and fighting infection in pursuit of a good time. 

If you did not read my last entry, I have a cold.  At least I am now on what is hopefully the tail-end of said illness, so I can survive without drugs.  This does not mean that my life is mucus and phlegm-free.  Au contraire, mes cheris!  

I shall spare you the play-by-play of my various bodily fluid issues of the weekend, for which I expect your gratitude.  But after several weeks of staying home with the dogs while my parents work at the farm or play in Grand Marais, I decided to venture out.  I thought of it as a practice run for next weekend, but more on that later.

This weekend was the fundraiser/fall dance at the Brooten Pavilion.  Many people showed up and a good time was had by all.  I did partake in a small amount of alcohol, but it was all in moderation and I had no ill after effects.  Actually, it was a very brief trip.  Due to this cold along with another complicating female issue, I opted to drive out solo with Lena on Saturday afternoon.  This kept my total trip time to approximately 24 hours. 

While the dance was certainly the highlight of the visit, I was also able to enjoy one of the great benefits that come with autumn in Minnesota.  You see, in summer, the woods become quite overgrown with plant life, and venturing out can be hazardous at best.  Once fall arrives and undergrowth begins to die off, woodland walking becomes far more feasible.

As a child growing up in the more rural areas of the state, I was given a lot of free range to wander in fields and forests as a child.  Normally I did this with friends or siblings, but I did enjoy a peaceful exploration on my own every once in a while.  So today I revisited that experience.

While my parents were in town having breakfast with friends, I left the dogs in the house, donned my work books and hoodie before setting forth into the woods.  In a moment of caution, I left a note for my parents indicating my intention in case they returned before I did.

I started off going straight into the woods, but eventually found myself on the edge of one of the corn fields.  My uncle has not yet combined all of his corn, so there is still quite a bit of tall, golden and dry stalks surrounding the woods.  I followed the edge of the corn until I reached the edge of the pasture as marked by the electric fence. 

No cattle were waiting for me, but I did not feel like risking their hasty arrival seeking food if they were nearby and took notice of me.  I am not an idiot; I know the aggression level of cattle when they expect to be fed.  So I waited a moment and headed back to find my parents arriving home. 

Next weekend I am returning to the farm with the three dogs, but without my parents.  There is a church auction to attend and a friend and her new baby daughter to meet.  Hopefully I will be able to see my grandfather and properly water the lawn for my father.   Maybe I will take another solo trip into the woods.  Who knows, maybe I will find something more interesting than dead trees and giant Labrador retriever droppings. 

Boogers and mucus and phlegm, oh MY!

If I make any errors in this entry, I cannot be held accountable.  15 minutes ago, I took an adult dose of Tylenol Cold night edition.  As you can infer, I have a cold.  In terms of nastiness, I do not think it is any better or any worse than any other cold I or anyone else may have had in my life.  But when I cannot remember the date of my last official head cold, I fear that it could lead to misguided expectations.

If I had to estimate, I would say that my last official cold took place in 2008, at least judging by the expiration dates on my old medicines.  Thankfully, my mother preceding me in this present ailment, so a new and unexpired batch was purchased and was used tonight.  The effects are already apparent in my sinuses and should shortly be felt in my alertness level.

Unfortunately, when one has a head cold, one must deal with a good deal of phlegm and mucus.  It is just part of the process.  This is not such a problem when one can hide in the safety of a house or bedroom, but when one should be strolling the aisles of an office building and sitting in an open cubicle surrounded by other humans, it is a bit more disturbing. 

What is also disturbing is being told by two of one's coworkers that one should go home because one "looks awful."  So after three hours of constant nose blowing, hand washing and mind clouding, I gave in and went home.  I feel like a bit of a wimp using valuable sick time on something as trivial as a cold, but when I consider that a full day of exposure could render some of my coworkers vulnerable, I am happy to be relieved of their potential blame. 

Sadly, this illness also led to my absence from Norwegian class last night and the cancellation of pedicures with my friend tonight.  I should probably add that the Norwegian class meets in close quarters and my friend is 8 months pregnant.  It makes my lack of attendance seem a bit noble.  Or so I will tell myself.

Before I succumb to the drugs, I would like to take a moment to issue a drug-related warning.  Back in the day when I had colds on a yearly basis, I developed a "go-to" cadre of medications.  First there was Nyquil and Sudafed.  Which led to night hallucinations and racing heartbeats, so I moved on to Tylenol Cold in both day and night formulas.  Eventually I discovered Theraflu, a powdered mix that one heats with water and drinks before bed.  It was highly effective most of the time.

So when I discovered that I still had some packets, I eagerly prepared a cup for myself last night at bedtime.  My normal time frame for effectiveness ran about 30 minutes from ingestion.  Imagine my dismay to find that 90 minutes later my sinuses were completely closed and I could not breathe.  Always one to take drug warnings seriously, I lamented that I could not avail myself of any other medications due to acetaminophen overdose possibilities.  Yikes, right?

But late at night when one is getting up for work in the morning, one gets a bit frantic.  Desperate, even.  So I arose and made a bold decision to take Sinex, a sinus medication around midnight.  It was effective in clearing my nasal passages to allow breathing to occur and sleep to arrive.  Unfortunately, around the 4 hour expiration time, I awoke with frenetic thoughts and crazy dreams.  I was able to finally fall back to sleep until my alarm went off, but it was not a restful sleep.

So tonight it is my hope that my lack of mixing will lead to a better and more solid sleep.  I really need my rest for work in the morning and I also need to build up my stamina for the Brooten Pavilion Fundraiser Dance on Saturday night.  One can simply not attend with wads of tissue up one's nose.  It is just not done.

Now that 28 minutes have elapsed sine I took my nightly meds, I think it is safe to attempt bedtime.  Thank you for reading through my drug induced ramblings, and I hope that you all have a safe and healthy Friday.