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Since BJ has a new job, he won't have as much vacation time as me for a while (if ever), so I don't feel bad about taking a week off. I decided to do it while BJ is on a business trip so I can truly just do my own thing and keep to my own schedule. So far, it's been FABulous. I'd venture so far as to say pure bliss, even. Don't get me wrong, I love BJ and miss him when he's gone but..... being by myself for days on end is a real treat for me.

Yesterday I went to the garden center and bought some plants, then spent a few hours in my yard. It was actually sunny yesterday. Today? Not so much. I hope the sun comes back because I have barely touched the surface of what needs to get done. I think I've had six weekends in a row where I couldn't get to my garden because it was either raining or we were on a trip. Six weeks is a long time to let a garden do its own thing.

If it's raining tomorrow, I think I'll make the rounds in the blogosphere and see what y'all have been up to.

I went to the doctor today for something I'll share with you in a couple of weeks (NO! I'm not pregnant), and since I was in there I decided to ask her what this head pain I've been having is about. It seems weird that six months would go by before I'd start feeling pain where I bonked my head. It has been getting progressively more tender (not unbearable and not constant, thankfully), and now I get stabbing pains in that spot. Seems to get worse if I'm tilting my head downward (like to work in my garden, read a book, etc.), or if I've been on my feet for a long time.

She took a look and said that she couldn't see anything externally that might be causing the problem, then said that it sounds like maybe scar tissue might be pressing against a nerve in my head. Since I have an appointment in 2 weeks with my neurologist, she said to bring it up to see what her thoughts are. I said that the scar tissue theory didn't sound particularly scary, and she replied, "well- it's not scary, but if that's what it is, the only way to get rid of it is with surgery."

Good grief. This will have to get a lot worse (knock wood) before I'd even consider that option.

In other news.... I highly recommend my friend as a house guest. Normally I'm ready to have the house back to myself after just one overnight, but I honestly didn't feel that way with her. She was here Thursday through this morning and we had a great time. We went on three hikes on Saturday...

...OK, we started three hikes. We'd go a few dozen feet and then round a corner and find knee-deep snow. We ended up hiking at the outlet mall that day.

The next day, we went to the Japanese Gardens and a few other places. Sunday showed us much better success with the outdoor activities.

I introduced her to Lancelot Link, Secret Agent Chimp (of which I own every episode, thank you very much.). Finally! Someone who appreciates monkeys dressed in human clothes as much as I do.


BJ was truly frightened to learn that there are more people in the world that enjoy the same humor that I enjoy. Poor guy- it was a real eye opener for him.

I'm going to shut off my trusty laptop and enjoy some chick flicks. I'll be by tomorrow to visit my pals in the 'hood, if today's weather is any indication of tomorrow. In the meantime, I leave you with cuteness. Our new little fawn:

Over the last two weeks or so, the spot where I bonked my head in January has become REALLY tender. It never hurt in the past, so I'm wondering if all the sudden the nerves in that area are healing or something. I think it's strange that all the sudden my head would hurt six months after I hit it (the second time). I'm trying to not make something out of this other than what it is. The hypochondriac in me worries that this, coupled with being really tired and some of my old symptoms (wobbling when I'm standing, confusion, jaw clenching, feeling like I'm being pulled to the right when I'm walking, tingly hands and feet) getting worse add up to something bad. I refuse to call my doctor unless things get out of control. I don't feel that I'm at that point yet.

I have been taking Requip for a month now. At first, it helped with the jerking- but the effect seems to be wearing off. I have a follow-up appointment with my neurologist next month, so I'll bring that up to see if the medication needs to be increased. The jerking is most prominent when I've been sitting still for a long time, especially if I've engaged in any sort of strenuous activity. BJ has mentioned that I've been jerking pretty severely when I'm sleeping. Thank goodness the "drugs that would knock an elephant out" keep me sleeping through all of it. Maybe I should give some to BJ so he can sleep, poor guy.

We went to dinner with my long time friends (the Hospice club) on Sunday. We go WAY too long between get-togethers. It's been over a year since we've seen each other. Since that time, one had a recurrence of breast cancer (last time was 17 years ago) and had to have a mastectomy and chemo; I'd bonked my head twice; and one of them broke up with their long-time (over 10 years) partner. We've kept in touch via email, of course, so we all knew what was going on in everyone's lives. I didn't tell any of them about my bonked head in our email exchanges, but it came up at dinner.

I told them that this head-bonking stuff was actually a good lesson for me. I told them that my IQ was lost for a while and I learned what it was like... interrupted by all of them saying at the same time, "To be like everyone else".

That made me laugh. I really don't see myself as being THAT smart, but apparently I give off that impression.

Truly, I don't regret bonking my head. I don't enjoy it, but I know that there was a lesson in there for me. I've been able to figure out one or two of the things I was meant to learn from this experience, but I'm positive that there is more and that's why I'm not 'done' with the experience.

I know that sounds weird, but it's what I believe.

Again, I'm rambling. I haven't had time to really 'think' lately and I know I'm not going to have time for a few days, so I wanted to clear my head of a few things before they're lost for good.

Now I can hang my gone fishin' sign. Adios until Monday.

....at the Grinch.

I'm awfully happy that we don't really cross paths too much anymore, but when we do- it's usually not a pleasant experience. He is so nasty and negative.

Yesterday I gave a presentation to the managers and there he was, doing his usual thing; texting my manager with what I'm sure were very snippy messages based on the look on his face.

It's so darned disrespectful. He does it in EVERY meeting, no matter who is presenting. The look on his face says it all.... "Oh SNAP! I'm so funny with the way I cut down other people". Seriously, the look on his face looks down-right evil. I am not exaggerating.

I don't understand why he hasn't been called out for this. It's obvious what he's doing. Maybe I should have called him out while I was giving my presentation.

"Is there something you'd like to share with the rest of us, Grinch?"

Hindsight....

In other news, I'll be away from my blog (and yours) for a few days. One of my previous employees (and now friend) is coming into town and staying with me from tomorrow through Monday morning. I suspect we'll be having a few fun adventures. I plan to take her on the train to and from work on Friday. I just hope that we'll see some interesting people.

...speaking of interesting people. There's a guy that rides the 5:15 train (I'm usually on the 4:20) that gets on the train with his bike. He's REEKED of alcohol every single time I've seen him. He can be a few feet away and I still smell it. You can tell by looking at his face that he's been a friend to the bottle for a long time. Poor guy. I kinda feel sorry for him.

There's also this strange 'couple' that sits where I like to sit (good thing there are three seats, eh?). I sometimes listen into their conversations because they are clearly in that "I wonder if she/he likes me" phase and say all kinds of things to try to nudge some sort of "I like you" phrase out of the other. One of these days I'm going to say, "JUST SAY IT and quit wasting each other's time". Aside from that, the girl is clearly a little challenged in the social skills. Maybe I should give her a script or something. I don't think she's ever going to get this thing off the ground until she learns the fine art of conversation.

I think this post went all over the place. I'm clearly not very focused. I hope that improves as the day goes on, for my employer's sake.

Of course I am. Anybody surprised?

I *LOVED* teaching the third graders today. What I didn't know, was that they were the 'gifted' class. Evidently, they already knew the stuff I was there to teach them, so we quickly went through the lesson plan and took it in a different direction.

I told them what I do and asked them if they had any questions they wanted me to answer.

First question: "What do you do when robbers come into the bank?"

Feeling rather cheeky, I said, "Well, the tellers have a button that they can push when a robber comes in. When they push the button, a trap door opens and the robber falls into the basement."

They believed it! You should have seen the looks on their faces. I told them that I was joking, and at that point lost complete control of the classroom because they thought that was about the funniest thing that they've ever heard.

I had a great time talking to them about computer viruses and stuff. It felt completely natural for me to be up in front of a bunch of kids. I didn't even have a problem telling them to take their turn and to listen politely.

One of the boys in the class is from England and I just wanted to put him in my pocket and take him home with that cute little accent of his. Another little boy, who was very shy, came up to me as I was leaving and gave me a present he made for me while I was making my presentation. It was a little chain stitch of fuzzy yarn. He said he "crocheted" it for me and then showed me the little ball of yarn that he used.



Is that about the cutest thing or what? I'm going to save that and put it at my desk at work.

I think I might seriously consider looking into being a substitute teacher for elementary school after I retire (y'all can see when that is by looking at the bottom of this post) I keep tossing around ideas of what I want to do, but today really has me thinking along those lines.

Yup, it was a good day today.

Let's hope so...

The company I work for provides opportunities to volunteer in the classroom, and so tomorrow I'm going to teach third graders how to count change. It's been a while since I've had a third grader, so I'm not exactly sure what they know. Do they know that a quarter is 25 cents? Can they add quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies? The lesson book I was given assumes so, because it doesn't go over that stuff.

I've often thought about being an elementary school teacher after I retire. A substitute, not full time. I've always really liked little kids, so I think I'd have fun. This will give me a bit of a taste of what that might be like.

If I recall, third grade is the last of the 'cute little kid' grades and that kids start trying on their smarty pants for size at about fourth grade.

I'm not terribly concerned about misbehaving kids. I'll just bring my big wooden board and smack them around with it if they get out of line.