Blogging 1.0

Is it weird to be nostalgic about the old-school blogs? I've been blogging practically since it was invented. I had a Xanga site (lost a friend over a post on there), and I was a devoted MySpace blogger, some of my funniest, most profound posts, if I do say so.

I feel like with the popularity of Facebook and Twitter on the rise (or peaking as it were) that the old fashioned blogs are disappearing. I realize that as I type this I'm making a post on "Blogger" BUT I've really had to force myself to write here consistently. It's so much easier to just post my 140 characters about a particular whim or emotion (or food) and be done with it. These sites are really taking away the core creativity that has driven my writing for so many years. I have fallen into the "Instant Gratification" generation without even realizing it!!

My witty repartee has become idiotic posts about "I'm feeling down today." What has happened to me?! I used to write these epic drafts about emotion, or a nagging thought, or a funny story, wrought with detail and forethought. I feel almost like a failure, but I realize that I'm just another Facebook and Twitter addict.

I'm thinking I should challenge myself to disappear from social networking sites completely. I'll have to start slowly, like someone using the nicotine patch....wean myself off for just a few days....then for a week....then a month.... Maybe I could start using again.....maybe....but moderation is the key to anything...just one time wont hurt, right? RIGHT!?

Spring has sprung

It's been quite a while since I updated my blog...I've been a bad blogger. Oh well, there hasn't been much to write about to be honest. Work has gotten busy again, and it's beginning to get warmer outside. Yesterday was fabulous weather-wise!

We went out into the back yard to survey our property for the first time since moving in and one of our neighbors was cooking something that smelled delicious! Oh how I wish I could cook...! I've noted several times that I am challenged domestically, and this includes cooking. I'm inept around a stove. I can cook up boxed meals, but when it comes to anything remotely fresh, I'm an under-educated idiot! My mom blames herself for my lack of domesticity...I can't blame her wholly, because I never asked to learn!

I realize that I throw around the word "domestic" a lot. Please don't misunderstand my use of that term. I'm not wanting to be Mrs. Happy-Homemaker-Stay-At-Home-Wife, quite to the contrary, I'm a very independent professional woman, but I also realize that the way that I eat is not exactly conducive to a healthy lifestyle! Processed foods are the bane of the "American Life" and have contributed greatly to the obesity that this country (and now much of the world) is facing. Believe it or not, I was much healthier when my mom would make hamburgers and fried potatoes for dinner several nights a week. Much healthier than I am now with my Lean Cuisine lunch and frozen "Bertolli" dinner.

Anyway, I want to cook, but I've had so many disasters in the kitchen that it almost seems not worth wasting the groceries! I remember the Crock Pot Chicken Curry incident of 2008...not good. Or the Pot Luck Lasagna incident of 2009....I took all but the spoonful that I ate home, and let it get moldy in the fridge.

I need to just get over my fear and get back on the proverbial horse (or cast iron skillet....as it were).

Things are looking up

So it's day 5 since I started taking my meds for the hypothyroidism. I have talked to a lot of people about it, and it turns out that quite a few people in my life also have this condition. Many within my immediate family. I had no idea that there was a family history of this. I would have helped to know, but at least I found out now rather than years from now with much worse symptoms!

I can already feel the affect in my energy level. I actually feel awake right now, I don't feel like all I want to do is go to sleep. It's sad to say that it's strange to feel good. All three days this week I've woken up before my alarm and not cursed at the clock. It feels good not to wish for more sleep all the time. I still have trouble staying awake in the evenings. I've been slowly working back up my tolerance. Last week my bedtime was 7:30pm (yes, that is sad), but last night I stayed awake until almost 9:30pm, quite a difference.

I'm excited for the next several months to see what else lies ahead.

Tales of an Under-Active Thyroid

Two days ago I went to the doctor for a weird heart palpitation. After doing an EKG, and finding nothing weird, he decided to run a series of blood tests to rule out other causes. I got the results back yesterday, and apparently I have hypothyroidism.

Being me, I jumped on the internet and started doing my research, I found a list of symptoms that made me want to cry with relief. Everything I've been feeling for the past 2-3 years (really more like 5, but I can't totally prove that) all makes sense suddenly: the extreme fatigue, irritability, depression, lack of concentration, weight gain (or in my case, weight gain then difficulty getting it off), feeling constantly cold....it's all there, described by this one little thing. Amazing!

But, as with most good things, there's a catch. The catch for me: I'll be on meds for the rest of my life. It's kind of weird to think that at the age of 27 (which I don't feel is very old at all), that I'm already joining the ranks of those who have to have those pill cases that they carry around with them everywhere. This catch is where, despite feeling relief that there really IS something wrong with me, I start to freak out a little. It's a lifelong commitment now. Now I have to go to the doctor regularly to get blood work done, where before I'd only go in for anything out of the ordinary, like a toe nail infection or an ear ache.

Yes, it's annoying, but I'm still happy to have answers. I'll be sure to keep updated how it all works out. I'm hoping in a couple of months I'll start feeling a little better!

NaNo Fail and a New Beginning

Yeah, so NaNoWriMo '09 was a huge fail on my part. I dropped the ball again, and did awful. I can use any number of my ready-made excuses, but I refuse to, I will own my failed attempt this year, as part of a character flaw that I have always had: I don't finish things that I start.

BUT! Wino and I are the proud owners of shiny new home! We've been in for just over a month. As I type that, I'm amazed because it really feels like we've been in longer than just 35 days. At the same time, though, it still feels weird coming and going from this place. Everytime we leave, we sigh and say "we own this place..." in disbelief.

It's been a busy month though, the move went smoothly, and we've unpacked most of the boxes. Only a few things got lost (and are still unaccounted for).

El Diablo and I squared off again this weekend. I threatened to throw him out of the window. The thread kept bunching up in the bobbin and, being unskilled at domestic things, I could not figure out how to keep it from doing that. After my threat though (and a good shouting match), he recognized defeat and on we went sewing. I'm nearly done with the top of the quilt for my oldest niece (which was meant to be a gift for this Christmas, but will actually be for next). The best laid plans....right?! When I started the quilt, buying a house had not even occured to me or Wino, so once we moved to the intirim place my sewing supplies got misplaced. All for the better, I suppose, it'll give me a year to get it finished (and I WILL finish!).

Day Three

Oof! I got a decent head start on Sunday, and I wrote as much as I could yesterday during lunch, but when I got home, I collapsed on the couch and fell asleep almost immediatly. NaNoWriMo falls in the worst possible month for me stress-wise. I'm an academic advisor at a university and November is when we advise students for the spring semester. I've only been doing this job over a year and this is the first time I've had to deal with seniors about to get their degrees, so I'm encountering tons of unique problems and they are (quite frankly) stressing me out!

But enough wah, wahing: I did write some yesterday (about 1000 words) and I managed to eek out around 800 words today when I found a spare moment. My intent is to go home (after going to an insurance appointment after work--yay! we found a company to go with!) and eat a quick dinner, then disappear into my "writing room."

I put that in quotes because I'm writing at Salt's old desk that she left at the house after she and Pepper moved out into their new house (gotta love living in the "interim house"), which is surrounded by mountains of mine and Wino's boxes (the "kitchen" boxes bump me in the elbow as I type, no kidding). It's not the most ideal situation, but it has to do for this year.

Next year though...oh next year. I will have my lovely tech center in the hall with a recessed light and a window out to the porch. I will be surounded by our wonderful new home and have an actual place to write that is mine alone. *Sigh* The countdown is 41 days until we get the keys, and I'm soooo ready!

Day One

I had a rough start at midnight, but with help from the FresNoWriMo write-in this afternoon I managed to get over 3500 words logged today! Here's hoping that I keep up this momentum!