Idiosyncrasies

As I've been tagged by my husband, here's my list of idiosyncrasies...

1. If a drawer or cabinet door is ajar, I have to close it.

2. I always put on my right sock first, then my left sock. If for some reason I do it backwards, it feels weird.

3. When I traveled more, I would quadruple check that my plane or train ticket was in my purse. I'm not sure where I expected it to GO, after making sure it was there the first time, but I would continue to check multiple times. I have the same OCD trait when it comes to checking other things multiple times.

4. If someone has a new magazine and s/he hasn't looked at it yet, I don't want to look at it until its "owner" has read it first.

5. I refuse to touch an already-opened jar of mayonnaise, on the off-chance there's some on the outside of the container and it gets on me. I will grudgingly touch an unopened jar.

6. I usually have at least three books in rotation. It's rare that I focus on reading one particular book, although it does happen.

7. I sort my email so the newest email is at the bottom of the list/page, rather than at the top.

8. I won't walk under ladders and I try to avoid stepping on cracks.

9. I won't cut my toenails if it's evening. [My grandmother - I think it was her - told me that someone will die if you cut your toenails in the evening. I know that's insane...but better safe than sorry.]

10. When I'm watching TV or listening to the radio and someone uses improper grammar, I correct him/her out loud.

IV: When It's Not Just a Roman Numeral

If you read my husband's blog, you'll know that everyone in the house has been stricken with a horrible, insidious little norovirus that basically liquifies everything inside your body and sends it packing - quickly and with much vigor - out whatever orifice seems to be handy at the moment.

My husband had the worst of it on Sunday. Come Monday, I was feeling tired but otherwise seemed to be doing okay. Until around 1 a.m. on Tuesday.

First came the stomach pain.

Then came the four-times-an-hour trips to the bathroom.

I don't know about you, but I get a little concerned when the stuff coming out of you sounds and feels like urine...but it ain't. Not to be gross, but diarrhea should have at least a little substance to it, shouldn't it? Not this stuff. It was as watery as...well...water.

About four hours after this wonderfulness started, the northern orifice got into the act. I could feel it sitting right at the back of my throat, and I knew I'd feel better if it would just come up already!! So I stuck my finger back there and gave things a little nudge. While it was happening, it was very uncool, but I did feel a little better once it was over.

I haven't been eating - have absolutely no appetite - and drinking anything seemed to make my stomach unhappy so I haven't really been drinking much either.

This is not a good combination, especially when you're losing copious amounts of fluids.

I wound up at urgent care this afternoon. I knew there was nothing they could do to heal the virus but I have to have a note for my job when I miss three consecutive days.

They did some testing on my blood pressure - apparently that can determine dehydration - and then sent me off to the ER for rehydration.

Which means an IV. *eep*

I've never had an IV before. I've had blood taken, but never had an IV. The thought of having a needle stuck in my arm for an extended period of time makes me uneasy and nauseated. I am a baby, but that's just the way I am.

They ran a urine test - fortunately, I had enough urine to provide a viable sample. My ketones were high, and that's apparently the sign of dehydration, so in came the nurse with needles and stuff.

To be honest, I couldn't tell you what she did because I wasn't watching any of it. But she was very good - I'm sure it's hard finding a good vein when your subject is dehydrated and all her veins are being sucked away from the surface of the flesh. I felt a little prick, no worse than a blood draw, and then I was being hooked up to a large bag of fluid.

Fortunately, the rooms in the ER are equipped with TVs so while the fluid was dripping into my body, I could watch people spending a gods-awful amount of money to renovate their kitchen into something even uglier than what they already had.

Every now and again, my eyes would drift back to the bag and I'd watch the drops collecting in the smaller tube. It's actually pretty amazing, if you think about it. I was like, there's no way that entire bag is going to infuse. But, after about an hour, the machine beeped and its little screen said "Infusion Complete."

So here I am, home again with instructions to not eat anything for another 24 hours (it's been 48 hours already since I've had anything to eat, not counting the five - count 'em - five pretzels I had between yesterday and today). I can have water, clear juices, broth, and jello. I'm impatiently waiting for the jello to set up so I can at least feel like I'm eating something.

At least I can take comfort in the fact that I had a new experience today. Yeehaw.

Tagged

My best friend hath commanded me, via her blog, to share 16 things about myself. So here we go...

1. I could eat beef jerky every day for the rest of my life. I love the stuff. Seriously. If someone attempted to take jerky from me, I would totally punch him/her in the throat.

2. I am a supertaster (have more than the usual number of taste buds on my tongue).

3. I received a standing ovation in high school for a saxophone solo.

4. I have never seen The Wizard of Oz or It's a Wonderful Life.

5. If I had lived in Ancient Egypt, I would've been a priestess of Bast.

6. I was going to be named John, after my father, had I been a boy.

7. I've had messages on my answering machine from Luke Perry and Jennie Garth.

8. A poem I wrote about the MN North Star hockey team was read on the air by the North Star's play-by-play announcer during the broadcast of a game.

9. I wish I could've met Joseph Campbell before he died.

10. I am phobic about deep water.

11. I've had sunfish nibble on me, more than once.

12. If I became a professional vocalist, I would sing torch songs.

13. I'm addicted to magazines.

14. I handled samples of sputum, blood, urine, and semen during my employment at a hospital - as a secretary.

15. I still have my tonsils and my wisdom teeth.

16. I never walk beneath ladders and I always toss salt over my shoulder if I spill it.

New Year, New Life?

I've been thinking about sitting down to write a post for a while now and each time, I'd feel itchy and find something else with which to occupy my time. Which is a good indication that I need to be writing.

I'm making some changes this year. For months, I've been thinking, "Once I get a new job, everything else will be better." While that might be the case, it's not helping me now, and the now is more important than the then. I can't live for what Might Be In The Future. Well, I can, but that robs me of today, robs me of this moment. And that's pretty foolish, if you think about it.

I've fallen away from the idea of making New Year's resolutions - for whatever reason, those don't seem to stick. I always have good intentions but after a couple weeks, the resolutions are forgotten. However, I did create some goals for myself because I finally got it through my thick head that things won't change unless I actually start doing something.

There haven't been all that many new employment opportunities popping up - I've applied for the few I've seen and have gotten absolutely no response. I get the impression the Universe is telling me to GET THE HELL OUT OF YOUR CURRENT OCCUPATION. Which makes sense. I have the feeling I'll just keep jumping from dead-end job to dead-end job if I stay with secretarial work, so it's time for a change.

I'm currently looking into going back to school. I've got feelers out to a couple local colleges, laying it on the line - I'm 41 years old, sick of dead-end jobs, have adult responsibilities (mortgage, utilities, etc.), but want to go back to school and need to know if that's a possibility for me.

My husband and I signed up for a yoga class through Community Education, because I know I need to start getting active (I should've started getting active 20+ years ago, but I guess it's never too late). Our first class was to have been this past week but with the frigid temperatures, schools were closed and Community Ed courses were cancelled.

I've got an application for volunteering at the local library. I love books and appreciate all the services provided by the library, and I want to start giving something back.

I feel like Something's Coming this year. I feel like there's something inside me just waiting to burst out. What it's waiting for, what will trigger its birth, I haven't figured out yet.

Truth in Advertising?

I walked into Great Clips the other day to get my hair cut. The lady who greeted me had a very thick accent (Russian? Slovak? I couldn't quite place it), and I had to ask her to repeat something she had said as I didn't understand her.

I sat down to wait my turn and was idly looking around the waiting area. They have advertising posters for Great Clips on the wall and one, more than the rest, caught my eye.

It said "Great Clips: We have stylists who speak your language."

Umm..not so much.

Who are You? (Part 2)

Since I wrote about who I am currently, I thought it might be a good idea to write about who I want to be. I'm an impatient sort who hates the thought of taking baby steps toward a goal; however, trying to span the chasm in one giant leap doesn't seem to be working, so I'll try a different tact.

I want to be (a): bookstore/pagan shop owner, wildlife educator, child-like, living in an eco-house designed by my husband and me, founder of a no-kill animal shelter, hopeful, publisher of a magazine/newsletter about animals or nature/ecology, best-selling author, founder of a pet cemetery, eco-crusader, unafraid, playful, world healer...

It's hard not to be discouraged. I feel like some of those things are such lofty goals that I'll never reach them. I'm not sure where to start, how to start. I hate feeling defeated before I even begin - that negates the purpose of even trying. Optimism would probably help right now, but I'm not feeling it. I don't know why being true to oneself has to be so hard.

Who are You?

Over the past few months, I've been trying to determine who I am. I've been reading books and taking tests and still, I'm left with little clarity. Eventually, I understand there will have to be a time when I stop reading about doing stuff and actually start doing stuff- you can only prepare for a test so long before it's time to actually sit down and take the damned thing.

When I sit and try to think of my passions and what I'd like my life to be, I start to feel stymied and stonewalled and restless and defeated. I did a couple online tarot readings, just to psychically test the proverbial waters, and both were disastrous - malicious intent, legal problems, failure. For the reading I did this morning, my outcome card was the Devil reversed. I can't imagine getting a worse card in the outcome spot. This cannot bode well, and I admit that it made me a bit edgy.

Fortunately, I put more stock (not that I base my entire life on what's revealed during divination, but it does have its value) in the gentler readings I get from my Animal Medicine cards. I did a reading a couple weeks ago where I asked for guidance as I was feeling suffocated and stymied. The basic gist of the reading was teach others what I've learned, be still and open myself to messages coming from all around, let go of baggage, and stop being afraid. Okay, that's a lot more hopeful than the destruction and carnage promised in those online readings.

As I attempt to discover my passion in life, I thought it might be helpful to write down who I am so I can get a clearer picture of where I am right now and where I need to go. You pretty much need to determine a starting point before you can plot how to best arrive at your destination.

So here goes...

I am (a): Virgo, daughter, wife, friend, cat caretaker, secretary, water phobic, passionate about animals and the environment, Amazonian (at least in spirit), good Witch, critical, realistic/pessimistic, humanist, hateful of hypocrisy/dishonesty/injustice, lover of medieval stuff (garb, speech), voracious reader, lover of unusual words, mythology and ancient Egypt buff, out of shape, healer, teacher, meat eater, good driver, hockey fan, Scanner, musically inclined, sentimental, wary of change, organized...

That's all I've got for now. Hopefully there'll be more to follow.