Allergies @ MindSay

So fire season is officially in full-swing. With the lightning storms yesterday, we have a couple fires burning within our county, and the air is just awful. It's like pine-blooming time all over again, except these particles burn when you breathe them. I'm having worse allergies than I did then--and overnight. The one thing I don't like about living in Northern California is fire season. And it's only going to get worse. It's only June. We still have 4 more months before we get any real rain. I think today is an indoor day. Maybe I'll get that second chapter read and torn apart. ;)

It's worth noting that, amidst the cool rain and breeziness, this is the first day in a while where I've felt really good - about health, energy, and life in general.  A lot of the time I'm stressing about unemployment, or sneezing my brains out with allergies, or groggy from allergy pills.  Add to that general boredom and worry about life and a lot of the time I don't know where my head's at.  But today has felt good and the forecast looks good (well, the forecast looks like rain - again - but in my head it's pretty good.  It's a metaphorical forecast.  A metaphorcast.)

I've been keeping up my creative energy by devoting a lot of time to my occasional Webcomic project, Regular Guy.  It's a sort of real-world fantasy adventure series featuring a dry, average dude as the hero.  Hopefully you'll check it out and find it amusing.

Keep on rockin'
-Scott

PS - "arrousingly good time" is one of those awesome random tag suggestions that seem to come up from time to time and have nothing to do with the actual content of the post.  Next time I'm having a really good time (as in, probably drunk) I'm definitely going to describe it out loud as "arrousingly good" and marvel as people fail to understand the reference.  And then I'll watch as people walk away while I try to explain it.  Ah, life.  KOR.

Things here are getting better. Had Hannah’s 3 year check up. She’s in the 75th percentile for height and 50th for weight (having been off PediaSure for 3-4 months).

Also had Clara’s 15/18 month checkup. Technically we missed the 15th and she’s a month shy of the 18th, so she had the one shot from the 15 month checkup and the one shot from the 18 month checkup, and we don’t go back til she’s 2 except for illness. Clara is in the 90th percentile for height and 60th for weight. And their weight difference is 4 pounds.

The girls are still sick, mainly Clara with the breathing. She's been on antibiotics, has a day or two left. The pediatrician thinks it’s bronchiolitus caused by allergies and weather. I've been giving her 2 breathing treatments a day, so the doctor said to up it to every 4 hours she's awake and at night, give her one if she wakes and is coughing. If she’s not improving with more breathing treatments and finishing the antibiotics, then she wants her to take some prednisone. If that still doesn’t work, then back we go for another visit.

I have been resting...Not getting a lot else done, but I feel 100x better just from getting adequate sleep.

So, my birthday went pretty well over all until the party was crashed by our house guest's early return from Nashville. Oh well, before she showed up it was glorious. Although Donna and Perry had to cancel coming because Donna was sick, and Wyatt forgot it was that day and, well, dabbled in the recreational hooha and wasn't in any state to leave the house. Not exactly surprising, but indeed a bit disappointing.
Anyway, Greg got me some rad stuff. A diamond-tip scribe for printmaking (the diamond tip is supposed to get fine lines and never dull), a 4 pack of various sketchbooks, and a bar of exfoliating oatmeal soap. Lovely. Paula got me "Paris, Je T'aime" (DVD - quite good, I might add), "Let It Die" by Feist (absolutely fabulous; absolutely addictive), a multi pack of glow-stick bracelets (quite fun), and a book on Van Gogh. Kyle got me a Barnes and Noble and a Best Buy gift card, and Laken got me two books - 99 Ways to Cut, Sew, Tie & Rock Your Scarf, and 99 Ways to Cut, Sew, Trim, and Tie Your T-Shirt into Something Special.
Also, Greg said that the dress I was wearing would, "make men like a biscuit in your hands." Hah, how he kills me. I love him.
If you want to see a few bday pics (alas, we failed to take one of me. Imagine that), let me know and I'll share the album link with you.

Tuesday Ariel came down and spent the night. We (she, myself, and Laken) stayed up late talking, looking at photos, books, etc. All very fun. The next day we went to JC and had japanese at Moto then over to campus where we ran into Donna and spent 4 HOURS talking. Wooow. Hopefully the 4 of us (Donna, Laken, Mama, and myself) can get together for lunch sometime next week.

Thursday we kicked Suzanna (house guest) out. The plan had been for her to live with us over the summer, free of rent and utility charges, in exchange for help around the house, contribution to food bills, and of course with the expectation that she would get a job in Gville for the summer. After one month we found ourselves with money even tighter than usual, our house guest spending her days sleeping 'til noon then lying around the house chowing down on our food while watching tv, and without a job at that. And so, because she failed to live up to her end of the bargain (and seemed to think we were her maids, cooks, providers-of-food, and taxi service--without an offer for gas money, at that!), we terminated ours. Ever since she's left we've all been able to breathe so much easier.

Today I went to the doctor after developing a dry cough and discolored mucus in addition to my preexisting allergies. Apparently what I suffer from is allergic rhinitis (Hay fever). In addition to this, I have developed a touch of bronchitis. So, a shot of steroid in the hip, a dose of 4-day prescription z-pack, and a dose of Clarinex (same as Claritin) later and my nose is still retarded but my eyes are no longer begging me to claw them out. So, there are some minor improvements. Anyway, Dr. whats-his-name informed me that the best approach to hay fever is Claritin once and day along with a daily snort of Nasonex (something he also gave me a sample of). I'm a bit apprehensive about the Nasonex...just because things of that sort have been found addictive. So, I may try to forgo it if I can stand to. But anyway, hopefully the Claritin will prove to be a better medication than Benedryl, which caused me to sleep more than I was awake.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, we've a new girl at work. Well, two new ones, actually...though one has been there slightly longer. The latter is Kayla, a bleach-blond highschooler with as much intelligence as a handful of dust. Her work ethic leaves something to desire as well. The only reason she still has a job after days of work-less work is because she's related to the manager. Gotta love Subway politics, eh? Anyway, the second (newer) girl is Ashley, a dark-framed glasses wearing, impressively intelligent-for-her-age highschooler who, after 2 days, proves to have a pleasing work ethic and a personality, to boot. Also, she bears a slight resemblance to Ingrid Michaelson, though her hair is not redish and her eyes are blue, not brown.

Anyway, I'll leave you for the night with some lyrics off of the Let It Die album (something you really ought to check out if [1] you've not yet done so, [2] you like good lyrics, and/or [3] songs with a 1970'esque beat are in any way appealing to your musical tastes):


P.S. There's something rather attractive about John Steed of the 1961 – 1969 show, The Avengers. Yes, I realize he (at the time) would have been more than twice my age and he's not what most would consider "hot," but he's got an excellent persona on the show...and that bowler hat and english accent come close to giving the "lesser" Wilson a run for his money.

So, work's been crazy. This week I worked Fri, Sat, & Sun, and I'm scheduled to work on Tues next week. Apparently last week Josh quit, Melody was fired, and Kim put in her two weeks notice. Bad for Subway but good for me (because now I'll hopefully be given hours!).
Anyway, major moron came in with his family on Friday night and tried to stay past 10pm (when we close). He came in at like, 9:55pm, ordered, THEN sat down and started eating. Seriously. So, I had to ask him to leave (explaining that we get in trouble when customers are in the lobby after hours) and he got all huffy and was like "Well you could've told me before I started eating," and "Well that's why I asked you when I was ordering" (Dumbass, I was in the back cleaning. I didn't even serve you...my sister did. Get your head out of your ass), etc. The second time he said "I'd have thought you'd have told me," was like so annoyed I was like "Well I would have thought you'd have read our hours that are listed on the door!" Moron. Seriously people, it's not that hard.
Saturday I got the weirdest guy when I came onto my shift. He got to talking about age and what not and wanted to know how old I was and how old I thought he was (apparently he's 22 *shrug*) etc. Anyway, when we got down to the register I was like "Do you need any cutlery?" (he'd gotten a wrap and it was uber messy). Cutlery? What's that? Knives, forks, etc. Oh, no I'm good. When you said 'cutlery' all I could think about was what I've got at home *Raises eyebrows and nods head...mmkay...*I collect swords. Oh cool, my brother collects guns. Swords are so much better than guns. Guns are too quick and easy. With swords you can disarm the person then torture them later. Oooh. Yeah. Okay, have a nice day.
Weeeeerrrrrriiiidooooooo. I'm sorry, are your sadist tendencies supposed to be an attraction for me or something? Also, collects swords my ass. I'm sure there's an actual term for swords that has nothing to do with the word "cutlery."

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So, I actually intend to do something for my birthday this year (May 23rd). Yay! I've decided to round up some peeps and go to Cootie B.'s for dinner and then hopefully go see the 2nd Narnia movie with whoever wants to come along after dinner. Here's a list of people who've been invited:
Mama - yes
Laken - yes
Ariel - yes
Paula - yes
Wyatt (& Jesse) - yes
Greg (& Jeff) - yes
Donna & Perry - undecided.
Anyways, it should be pretty fun. I hope Donna and Perry can make it...they're tons of fun. Also, I'm uber glad that Wyatt's coming!
I've been trying to decide what to wear....I know I want to wear one of my dresses...I just can't decide between my red halter or my black one with flowers on it. They both look cool, damn it.

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Other updates include:
*My allergies suck. I'm taking Benadryl (?) right now but it's not doing that much good. I'm going to try upping my dose to two pills at a time tomorrow, but that may not work. I have to be careful with it because it apparently affect(ed)s my grandmother and mom negatively and would make them really emotional and unstable. *shrug* Oh well.
*The comic strip is coming along slowly. I've only come up with one idea for one strip so far. I'm lame, I know.
*If you don't know her already, Ingrid Michaelson is friggin awesome. Laken, Mama, and I are going to try to get tickets to her show in SC this summer. I cannot wait!
*My stomach keeps hurting. And my back and legs are killing me right now (damn my intolerance for being on my feet for 8 hours straight, 3 days in a row!).
*Suzanna's driving everyone crazy. She's amazingly spoiled which has come as a shock to all of us. She's really selfish and she whines a lot. She's also insanely clingy. Which sucks...since she'll be living with us all summer long....oi. She's going to Nashville for a week on Wednesday, though, so we'll get a mini break from her at least.
*Iiiiiiii waaaaaaant sleeeeeeeep. Good night!