Can't Shake The Crud

I've had this cruddy stuff...sore throat, stuffy nose, feeling run down...and its been going on for a couple of weeks now. Sometimes it "almost" goes away and I feel ok. Then it will set in again and I start to feel sick. The past couple of days has been some of the cruddy sick days. I don't get it. I guess it could just be allergies. Colds set in and then just go away, don't they? I am just trying to live through it because the idea of taking antibiotics does NOT make me happy anymore. Not with the whole bout of dangerous C-diff Bruce got from taking amoxicillin. So what in the world do you do to shake the crud? This crud has worn out its welcome and the way I feel tonight, it has no plans to vacate the premises anytime soon. Good Lord, I am tired of it. I take Zyrtec every day, but that doesn't seem to be helping with this stuff. Blah!!!

We stayed in and watched a movie last night, especially since I was feeling pretty yucky (Stephen was too). We got rid of Netflix by mail when they got all crazy and started raising prices, but we kept the "Netflix instant view" because you can find so much stuff on there. We ended up watching some off the wall Korean film, complete with subtitles called "I'm a Cyborg and that's Ok". Its about a mentally ill young woman who thinks she is a cyborg and that ends her up in a mental hospital. There are some crazy characters in there, of course...and I found it weirdly entertaining. Bruce thought it was 2 hours of his life that he will never get back. LOL. It also starred "Rain", the Korean singer that had a singing battle with Stephen Colbert on his show (if you watch that....everybody watches The Colbert Report....right?). Anyway, it was strange fun. We think that it might make more sense if you were familiar with Korean cultural references, because I think alot of that kind of thing went right over our heads.

Anyway, I have a few errands to run, mainly grocery shopping. I need to sit down and figure out a Thanksgiving menu. But I am also going to be taking it easy, taking my vitamin C, and hoping that this crud decides its had enough of me. Maybe I will pick up some Airborne at the grocery store. Some people swear by that stuff.
Oh, and we did drive all the way to New Bern yesterday to look at a truck. Bruce halfway wanted it, but that genetic predisposition to spending money kicked in and he decided he needs more to time to think about it. I really liked the truck, but since this is something he will drive much more than I will, he is the one who has to love it more.

We bought a truck....

We set out to buy a truck yesterday. We came home with this. Stephen saw it and said, "Well, Mom, I have to say that your new truck has very limited hauling ability!". LOL. Yeah it does. But we had also thrown around the idea of buying a new family car as well, and had decided that we would probably go with another Impala since our older 2001 model has been so solid and dependable. And still is. We kept that one too. When you find something that works well, why mess with it?

I know red is Lori's favorite color, and I do like red. I just never owned a red car. Its sportier than I usually go for. Our car colors are usually a bit more conservative (white, dark blue, etc). And we did drive a silver Impala yesterday that we were tempted to buy. I almost didn't consider the red one until we drove it. It was something about the sunroof, I think. The way it opens makes it feel almost like a convertible but without the ripping your hair to shreds part. Anyway, we both liked it better, so we got the red one. We still need a truck, and we will still probably get one. There is a used Chevy Colorado at one of the dealerships we visited yesterday that we really liked. The guy made a good offer on it too. I just don't know if Bruce will be able to bring himself to buy 2 vehicles in 1 week. He has a certain gene in his genetic structure that prohibits him from spending money too freely. Which overall has been a good thing for us seeing as how I don't have that. But considering that our truck was purchased the same day that I found out I was pregnant with Erica (now 28), and considering the fact that although he has kept the thing running, it now runs like a lame 100 year old dog and parts are no longer easy to find (special order...yikes), and considering that it has no speedometer and is so scary to drive that I won't drive it unless the situation is dire, it might be time to replace it. Although we don't have to haul stuff too often, there are always occasions where having a truck is just really nice. Maybe he should shop for the truck alone, so he won't come home with something else he had no intentions of buying. LOL. Just saying.

Speaking of cars, I checked out the new Chevy Volt while we were out. It has gotten a lot of rave reviews online, so I wanted to see one for myself. I liked it alot, but it isn't practical for us at this time. Our cars need to have the ability to be used for mail delivery in case our work cars break down (always gotta have a back up). This one wouldn't do at all. Plus Chevy requires dealerships to have the expensive equipment to service these things before they can be licensed to sell them....so finding places in case of a breakdown would be tricky still. One dealership we visited had one (and just one!), the other Chevy dealer in our area did not. Eventually I think it will catch on, but not right now. There was also the matter of the sticker price which was just shy of $50,000. The salesman explained how it works though and the concept was pretty cool. The gas only powers a generator to charge the electric batteries. It has really decent pick up and speed, and if you were going to use it only to go back and forth to work and run errands around town, it would run entirely on about 80 cents of electric current a day and could presumably be used without a drop of gas ever. That is as long as you plugged it in at night.

Sherry's Birthday

We (meaning Val, Donna and myself) took our friend Sherry out for her birthday last night. It never fails...the minute we make plans to go out, work starts being a royal pain. It didn't fail to follow tradition yesterday either. I guess because today is a holiday, it was decided that every single scrap of mail, every package, every bulk rate junk mail catalog MUST go out that very day. It was late and I was exhausted when I finally left work, but I made it to the party on time. I was so glad I did.

We haven't been out, just us girls, in a while now. Donna has been battling thyroid cancer, and part of the treatment required a special diet (no iodine). She got the fantastic news on Wed. that her last scan showed no more signs of cancer, so honestly it was a double celebration last night.

Anyway, we had a wonderful time and were so happy to finally be able to have a Girl's Nite Out again. And while I think that ALL my friends are special, each in their own way, Sherry is truly one of a kind. I have never met anybody so quick to be the first in line to give or to help anybody in need. I trust her implicitly to keep any confidence that I might tell her. I was thinking how each of the 4 of us has such different personalities and yet we fit so well together. Val is the voice of reason and honesty. She is always "keeping it real". Donna is more the strong, silent type. A pillar of strength no matter how bad things get. Sherry, of course, is the compassionate, generous soul. And I??? I am the funny one with enough tinges of crazy to keep them all laughing. Sometimes, I feel like I don't have as many gifts or talents to bring to the table as the rest of them. I am not fond of reality like Val, crumple to the ground at the slightest hint of adversity, unlike Donna, and sometimes become way to self-involved to be attuned to the needs of others. Still, they all somehow seem to love me anyway. They appreciate my way of keeping them laughing, so maybe....maybe the gift of humor is worthy after all.....?

Darkness

As usual, the time change has thrown me off a little. I loved getting an extra hour of sleep. And I fully appreciate seeing daylight when I wake up in the mornings. It is so much easier to get out of bed with light coming in through the windows. But my body has not adjusted and I really don't love having things get dark by 5:30 in the afternoon. Oh well, Daylight Savings time will roll around again. It always does.

We are in a countdown for Erica's move to England. Things are coming together. She managed to sign over the lease for her apartment today, and will be leaving Charlottesville for the last time in about a week. She will be in NYC this weekend with her friends. I am planning to do up Thanksgiving in a big way to send her off with a celebration. I am NOT going to be sad. Really....Ok, so I am going to TRY not to be sad. LOL. I will be visiting her, and I am excited about that. It makes me unhappy that she is not going to be home for Christmas, but I have been preparing myself for the fact that the kids can't be home for every holiday now that they are grown and have their own lives and stuff.

Speaking of Christmas, Stephen and Hannia are most likely going to be with her parents in San Antonio, TX. Bruce and I are inviting some friends for dinner just to keep any sadness at bay. It will be ok. But we are thinking about heading to Asheville for New Years. We need to visit Greg and Lori, and I have always wanted to see Biltmore decorated for the holidays. We are in the process of trying to figure it out with our work schedules.

Anyway, I hope everybody is having a nice week. Its a long weekend for us, as we are off this Friday. Yay!

Well, it works

I was setting up blogger to work on my phone so I can publish a blog using text messaging. It works, but it has no way of publishing a Title that way. I guess if I can live without titles then it will be fine.

Anyway, I hope everybody managed to sneak in that extra hour of sleep last night. I think its wonderful, and I am excited to be able to wake up to daylight in the mornings again. Still, the drawback is always going to be how early it gets dark in the evenings. I think it really doesn't matter all that much when its cold outside. And it just gives me something to look forward to again in the spring when its warm and the days last so much longer. Its funny how 7 or 8 pm feels so much different...if its light outside, I have the feeling of having plenty of time to still get things done. When its dark, its like, "Oh! Its time to get ready for bed." LOL.

So, we went to UVA for Erica's defense. I was so mesmerized by her presentation. I didn't understand it really, but she seemed so poised and knowledgeable that my joy was in the presenting, not the information. There was champagne and cake afterwards (and lots of cookies), and I got the chance to meet her mentor Joanna, and some of her friends. Then there was dinner at Zocalo's, which was delicious. I wish I could say that we partied all night long....but after getting up early, making that drive, having champagne and then a heavy dinner....we were all so tired that we gave up and went to bed fairly early. Still, it was a day that I wouldn't have exchanged for anything else in the world.

Testing...
Trying to set up blogger on my phone to blog via text message. Sorry this is not more exciting! LOL