Merry F*@#$n Christmas

It is now the season that I both love and loathe. I was just reading my friends blog, and his latest topic, about what he is getting his family for Christmas, started me thinking about what I am going to get my family this year. If only buying for my family was as easy as it seems to be for radar omalley...

I have a mother who is never happy with anything that I give her - and she always tells me in a lovely backhanded way. "Oh Banana, I really like this sweater. I only wish I could wear it. You see this one thread touches my scar and it's just not comfortable." My mother has two joys in life - sitting at Jones Beach in the summer baking in the sun and reading. For anyone else, books would be a great choice, but my mom is very much like me, if she buys and reads every book that peaks her interest. So that leaves the beach - too bad you can't gift wrap Field 6. Feel free to throw suggestions my way...

Next is my younger brother Morgan. He just turned 17. He just got his drivers license. What does he want for his combined birthday/Christmas present? Parts for his 1988 Honda Civic Hatckback. He is basically rebuilding this car. When I spoke to him today he mentioned that he needs speakers for said car. But as soon as he tells me this, he says don't worry about it, it's too expensive. Four speakers for his car would run approximately $600. I am glad he realized that they are too expensive since my rent is only slightly more than that a month. So he is going to send me some links to other things that I can get for his car. The car that was already broken into once. By the same guy who stole my sister Meaghan's car. Got to love Long Island!!

That brings me to Meaghan and her 5 year old son Angel. Angel will be easy - IF my sister will ever let me know what size clothes he wears and what toys he's into this year. He may actually be fun to shop for. But Meaghan is a pain to buy for. She just quit her job and will not be getting gifts for anyone - not like that makes a difference as she has never gotten anyone a gift. Someone needs to explain to her that "Tis better to give than to recieve" doesn't apply to everyone in the world BUT her. I'll probably just send her the DVD of Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealers that I picked up for her earlier this year and never sent out. (Mainly because I want to watch it before I give it up...)

My grandmother is fairly easy - I get her what she always needs. Clothes. I have to say that my grandmother is probably one of the people who I really enjoy giving gifts to. She truly appreciates it - and of course she always yells at me for spending too much money. (Which is great when the past few years I have given her sweatsuits from Target - it cost me more to ship it than it did to buy it.)

My dad and my stepmom are difficult too. Anything they want or need they have already purchased for themselves. I am just happy that they are done this year. Since I saw them for Thanksgiving I brought presents with me. I bought my stepmom a bracelet which made her cry. (Every year I get her to cry usually with the card - it's gotten to the point that I fold up a tissue in every card I send her.) As for my dad, I just picked up a cool coffee table book on custom motorcycles and a history of the Marines written in part by his favorite author Tom Clancy.

Crap - I just remembered I need to get gifts for my stepsisters 3 kids. Thats okay I will just be the nerdy aunt and get them all books. This might be the right time for Alexis to start reading The Chronicles of Narnia.

After writing this I really don't want to go Christmas shopping. But I have no choice - I have to get it done soon so I can make sure everything is shipped back east in time.

My secret...

Direct from the NY Yankee web site:
11/18/05 Added RHPs T.J. Beam, Matt DeSalvo and Jeffrey Karstens, LHP Matt Smith and OF Kevin Thompson to the 40-man roster.
If you will remember back a few months I mentioned that my friend Matt was moved from the Trenton Thunder to the Columbus Clippers. Rumors had started flying during Arizona Fall League that there was potential for him to be placed on the 40 man roster for the Yankees. What I didn't expect was that he would be on the active roster. Not that I really now what that means, but it does sound good! Good for you Matt!

Interesting

You can probably tell that I am a.) bored and b.) procrastinating. I was reading a blog and the girl was saying how it was her 100th post. Well hah I have her beat. This is #124. 124 posts in 6 1/2 months. Wow. It's like on any given day you have a 64% chance of getting a new post. (That is if my math is correct - and I really don't have it in me to think it through so I will assume that I am right.)

Also, my asthma has been kicking my ass lately. I never had asthma as a child. Never had any symptoms. Nothing. So last October I came down with bronchitis - first time for bronchitis. I was VERY sick. I ended up going back to the doctor because I thought I was having an allergic reaction to the cough medicine (with codeine) that he gave me - every time I layed down I felt like I was drowning. So they brought me in, gave me a breathing treatment, did a chest x-ray, and gave me prescriptions for a steroid and an inhaler. Well it turns out that my bronchitis was so bad last year that my lungs were damager. (I have no idea whether this is permanent or not.) So on Sunday evening I was having a hard time breathing, so I grabbed my inhaler. I have been very good about trying not to use the inhaler - I hate crutches of any form. So I took one puff. No change. I took another. (The recommended dose is 2 puffs every 4 hours as needed.) Still nothing. I layed down in bed hoping that I could mentally get my breathing under control. Eventually I did. I slept, but not very well. Monday I went to the doctor. I am scheduled to fly to see my dad on Friday and wanted to be sure I had anything that I would need in case I had a similar attack. The doctor basically told me that I have "reactive airways disease."

I have come to find out that this diagnosis means nothing. Its a lazy way for a doctor, who has not done any concrete testing, to be lazy and refill an inhaler prescription. The quick care doctor I saw basically gave me a new prescription for my inhaler, an antibiotic that he said I should fill when (or if) I start to feel sick, and then he gave me this funky thing called Asmanex. It is basically a device that gives you an inhaled steroid. The drug is administered in much the same way as an inhaler works, but instead of pumping out a vapor, you twist to release a powder that you inhale. All I know is that when I get back from my trip I need to see a pulmonologist. I need to be tested and figure out what is going on and get on the correct course of treatment.

Back to Bedlam

James Blunt's CD Back to Bedlam is amazing. You should definitely listen to it. The song You're Beautiful makes me cry, the lyrics are so sad. Worth picking up...

You're Beautiful

My life is brilliant.
My love is pure.
I saw an angel.
Of that I'm sure.
She smiled at me on the subway.
She was with another man.
But I won't lose no sleep on that,
'Cause I've got a plan.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw you face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.

Yeah, she caught my eye,
As we walked on by.
She could see from my face that I was,
Fucking high,
And I don't think that I'll see her again,
But we shared a moment that will last till the end.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw you face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.

You're beautiful.
You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
There must be an angel with a smile on her face,
When she thought up that I should be with you.
But it's time to face the truth,
I will never be with you.

Damn you Dragonfly!

I have a secret but I can't tell anyone until the 18th... This is going to drive me insane. But, I will be good, especially since Dragonfly made me swear not to say anything. Look for a post on the 18th with details... I have to keep a secret for 8 days! This is not going to be fun. Oh and if you are wondering, it is really really really good news.

I feel better now

It had been so long since I posted anything. Now I feel like I am not a complete slacker. Lets see if I can keep it up in the days and weeks to come...

Only 7 months to go

On June 24th 2006 I will be celebrating my 10 year high school reunion. I am not sure yet if it is something I should look forward to or not. Granted there are some people that I look forward to seeing, others that I never want to see again, and some that I just want to confirm that they failed in life so far. Is that mean? Actually, you know what, I don't care if it is mean. It's the truth and the truth hurts some times.

This is the crazy part - my little brother has his high school graduation the day after my reunion. I still can't believe that he is old enough to graduate from high school. He just took his SATs, his 17th birthday is on Friday, and on Monday he takes his road test. Wow. I still think of him as being my baby brother sometimes. Unlike the rest of my siblings, I have vivid memories of his entire life due to our age difference. I remember the night he was born. It was a Friday evening. I was home alone with my mom, while my sister went with my dad to pick up our typical Friday night dinner of pizza. My mom went to take a shower while I set the table.

She got out of the shower and went upstairs to get dressed. I heard her call my name, since I had been her helper for most of her pregnancy, I went to see what she needed. Her words scared the crap out of me, "Shannon, I am not feeling very well. I need you to go get some clean sheets and towels, boil water, and get the scissors. And as soon as your dad gets home tell him that I need him." I was ten but I was not stupid. I could barely think while I raced down the stairs. As soon as I got to the kitchen I heard my dad pull into the driveway. I flew out the door and started yelling for him. I told him what was going on and he ran upstairs. Next thing I know my mom is being ushered out the door to the hospital. My baby brother was born less than an hour later. Funny thing was my dad got mad at my brother, sister and I because we ate all the pizza. He was starved by the time he got home.

Happy early birthday bro - I am so happy that you came into our lives. Lubya!!!

How's this for crazy

Well I decided yesterday that I was going to be very proactive. So I stopped at the supermarket, picked up some stuff for dinner and headed home. I went home and made myself a nice healthy salad while I prepared a steak and some vegetables. While I did that I also did some long overdue cleaning in my kitchen.

I ate my wonderful dinner, loaded the dishwasher, and decided to step out onto my patio for some fresh air before doing some laundry. I turned on the outside light, and went to step out, when I noticed that my patio had a VERY large puddle. Knowing that rain was in the forecast, my first thought was that we had a quick downpour (very likely in LV) and that I just didn't notice. This didn't make me happy since I had just had my car washed on Sunday. So I looked out at the street below and some of the cars in the parking lot - lo and behold, they were all bone dry.

None of that made sense so I opened the door to the storage closet on the patio. Sure enough there was a steady stream of water coming from my water heater. CRAP!! So I called the apartment complex's main office and told them what was going on. With in ten minutes I had a maintenance guy at my apartment. He turned off the gas to the heater and he turned off the water and told me that the water heater needed to be replaced. Of course this couldn't be done until the morning. After he left I realized that all the things that I planned to do - laundry, run the dishwasher, etc. - now had to be postponed.

So I immediately email my office and let them know that I won't be in the office until it has been fixed. (No hot water = no shower). So I wake up bright and early this morning expecting maintenance to show up by 9:30 or 10 at the latest. And of course, even though I am not going into the office, I will still need to work from home. The guys didn't show up until about 11:30. They drained my old water heater, pulled it out, and installed another one. They finished up at about 1. They told me it would be about an hour before I had hot water. So by the time I got to the office it was 2:3o. And of course once I got into the office I was paged to the executive offices. But that is a story for another time.

I am just glad that the week is half over. I also learned two lessons. First, Mondays suck. (I kind of knew that already but this experience just drove it home.) Second, thank god I don't own my own home - then I would have had to pay to fix the damn water heater. I like when someone else has to maintain everything.