Ok, so I've never had any allergies that I've been aware of.
All I can say now is that if this is what I've been 'missing'- I have a whole new sense of sympathy for allergy sufferers.

Yesterday morning I woke up with a bit of a scratchy throat and stuffy nose. No big deal. Took some aleve, made some theraflu, took a nap after work. And Airborne. (which is hocus pocus to me, but people swear by that stuff, so I figure it can't hurt.)
Felt decent this AM, a little sniffly.
So at 6am before work I took:
Airborne
1000mg tylenol
10mg claritin
240mg sudafed.
4 sprays Afrin

Got to work.
Eyes itching. Nose not stuffy, but dripping like a faucet. Coughing, sneezing. WTF!!!
This was probably 2h after taking that pharmacopeia at home.- and these meds are all supposed to last 12-24h.

But it was intolerable.
So I went to the pharmacy downstairs.
Took:
10mg zyrtec
more afrin

No relief.

Got home, took 25mg benadryl.
Still no change.

WTF!
I feel fine- except that my poor nose is about to fall off from kleenex overdose. No fever, no sore throat, no congestion. just itchy, runny nose and eyes, plus sneezing and some itchy cough.

From what I know, these are allergy symptoms. But i've never had them before. And the only places I've been are home and work- nothing new there. Yeah it's a little warmer out- but no flowers or pollen or anything.

If this is not better by tomorrow I don't know what I'll do.

Any chronic allergy people out there know any magic cures?!

So, last night I had a really vivid dream about my old house in New Orleans. So today I googled it.
And I found a pdf of some glossy report about katrina funding- showing that my house was denied.

Then I found a pdf of the minutes of some new orleans historical preservation society- from 2009.
And in the last section of the minutes, "demolition for neglect"- I found my house.

Yet google maps still shows it in all its glory... bougainvillea (sp?) in bloom... looking great. But, it says 2009 in the corner.

I am amazingly sad.

In fact, I am surprised by how sad this news makes me.

Goodbye, old friend.

:(

So... I just got back from vacation. And it sucks that we couldn't stay longer- BUT, it's really nice to still have the whole weekend.

So friday night we went to my parents' as a little surprise for my mom's 60th bday. My sis/BIL/niece came in saturday, but they got in too late and we missed them. But, still I think mom was really touched/surprised that we came home.

Then sunday went down to Palm Beach. BF's parents have a condo down there, and it was great. Too bad the weather kind of sucked. It hit 70 on monday and we got to spend about 2h at the beach before it got too windy. Then the cold came in, and it didn't get over about 62 the rest of the time. Which is warmer than here- but still, I was REALLY hoping for some beach time, and a tan. Ah well.

Wed we drove to Orlando to meet BF's BFF who he hasn't seen in a couple years. So we drove 2.5 hr to see him for 2h then drove back. But it was nice to meet him, and a great lunch.

Did some shopping, or rather, browsing, since we can't afford anything, in some of the ritzy shops in palm beach.

Oh and we saw The Wolfman. Which was good- but not as super-rad as I wanted it to be.

Then today had to come home. :(

I got a text from orbitz saying my flight was on time... soon after got a text from my dad asking if it was cancelled. Which made me nervous, so I looked online- usair.com said it was on time.

So I go to check in and the kiosk tells me my flight has been cancelled.WTF. So I go stand in line foreeeeever while they try to help some lady who apparently was flying internationally with an infant and they were making her buy another ticket (or something).

But so I get to the front of the line, and she told me that yes, my flight was cancelled, but I'd already been rebooked on a different flight. Which was better times, and even better- was the flight BF was on. (we were supposed to be on different flights).

What?! My flight got cancelled and i got an EVEN BETTER one instead? That DOES NOT happen in my world.

Then tonight made some super delicious zucchini pasta for dinner, since I am still on vacation for the weekend. my diet starts back up on monday, and I am NOT looking forward to getting on that scale- I ate like a pig all week. It's going to be bad.

Oh well. Just need to get back on the horse. That's all.

So, here are some pix. (btw, I tried mobl-posting some mobl-pix, but it didn't work.)


Mom's birthday present. We commissioned a local artist (a HS classmate of my sister's) to do this painting for her. This is a crappy phone pic, but it's gorgeous. And the scene is right near our house. And it's an original. Super cool.


Me and BF and his BFF in Orlando.


Sunset over the golf course




Trying on uber-preppy clothes in Palm Beach. hehehe.


View from the condo. (It's right on the 14th hole of some golf course. Which means nothing to be, but I guess is semi-big deal. I just know it was pretty...)


Our all-too-brief stint at the beach


This super-cool-dood then appeared at the beach, replete with skinny jeans, socks, sneakers, cigarettes, and mardi gras beads. Oh and the awesome shades. :/ And then he was bossing all the other kids around, and they let him, because clearly the worship him. GOD I am glad I am not a teenager anymore.

And here are some other randoms that were in my phone...


My favorite Valentine.


The best thing I saw in MoMA. This chick was staring at that BLACK CANVAS for like 20 minutes. And you can see- it's roped off. That, and Starry Night (like, THE Starry Night) are about the only pieces roped off in the whole museum. Seriously? that stupid black canvas? Clearly I am just not a connoisseur of fine art, i guess.
But anyway- I think that picture of the girl staring at it is much cooler than the 'art' itself.


Last week the whole freaking state practically shut down, because snow was forecast. I am not lying when I say just about every school in the state was closed. UConn was closed. The whole freaking university! Because there MIGHT be snow.
This is what it looked like at work around 2.
It *did* eventually snow. We got about an inch. Seriously?! It was like mass hysteria.




I dunno, I just thought this equipment in the hallway in the OR looked like it was dressed up for halloween. ;)

Good night peeps!

So, we went to NYC this weekend. It was great. But freezing.
I just wish I could afford it a little better and not be angry about how expensive everything is.

But we took the train in friday and then saved on cab fare and walked to the hotel. BRRRRRR. Got to our super-sweet priceline deal hotel around 9, and then went to the Carnegie Deli for dinner. It's probably not the best deli in NY (as they claim), but we did it "for the experience".
BF got a "reuben". I decided to try to go a little "lighter" and ordered the turkey sandwich.

This is what we got:


reuben


turkey

yeah. Not so light.
It's just ridiculous though. The sandwiches cost $25 each. TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS. And there's no way in hell anyone can (or should) eat that.
Why not just give a reasonable portion, and charge half as much?
Oh right, because then you wouldn't get written up in all the tourist books.
So, I probably let about $17 worth of sandwich go to waste. Ah well. Better for my waist, if not my wallet.

Then on saturday we went to MoMA, which was awesome- and infuriating. Cool to see Starry Night and the Warhol soup cans and all sorts of other famous pieces up close and in person. But then the "art" like bricks laid on the floor in a square, or a piece of rope hanging from the ceiling, or a plain black canvas, just make me nuts.
There was also a big Tim Burton exhibit, which I would have LOVED to go to- but we didn't have time. Also hit the MoMA store- which I think was just as good as the museum. ;)

Then went to an old college friend's baby shower. Great to see her, and her awesome view! Saw a bunch of people I haven't seen in years.

Then found a lovely little hole in the wall italian place for dinner... awesome homemade pasta, and reasonably priced.

Then off to a party for a friend who just got back from 2 years in Australia. She was my neighbor growing up, but I haven't seen her in years. And then her brother was there too, and another friend from my DC days, who I haven't seen in 12 years. Fun, fun, fun. Stayed out til 2, which is the latest I've been up in a long time, which made me feel good- maybe I'm not TOTALLY a boring old lady yet.

Then sunday morning met up with yet another friend I haven't seen in years- from when I was in Chicago. And met her fiance. We had breakfast at a place they'd been dying to try. And don't get me wrong- it was delicous. But (with tip) it came to $200 for the four of us. For freaking breakfast. Pancakes were $22. And the best of all- when the bill came, we saw that coffee was $7 per person. I mean really?! New York is expensive, I know that, but this was absurd. And yes, it was delicious, but not $50 each delicious. Ah well... I just had to take a deep breath and remind myself it was a mini vacation and to stop being a scrooge....

Then caught the train back, and on the way got a call from my sister- a power plant in Middletown CT blew up yesterday, and so far 5 are dead and maybe 100 injured. People in towns ten miles away felt the explosion and thought it was an earthquake. Yikes. My hospital was on alert for 'mass casualties'- but nothing trickled down to me.

then a super bowl party, where I swore I was going to eat only veggies and fat-free dip to make up for the weekend- but instead I ate chips and cookies and lasagna and garlic bread and....
Oops.

And now, it's back to the grind.

But six days til florida!!!!!! can not WAIT to get out of the cold for a bit!!!

xoxo
-J

p.s. WTF is the big deal about the Tim Tebow commercial during the super bowl? After it aired everyone was like "that was it?" I of course had had no clue a) who tim tebow is b) that he was in a commercial c) that it was controversial.
But in said commercial his mom talks about him and says "there were so many times i almost lost him" and holds up a baby picture... then she blabs some more, and he comes and tackles her, and she calls him Timmy. That's it. if anything I thought it was an ad for the March of Dimes or something.

But that was it. That was the big controversial ad.
whoop de effing do.

I guess it was supposed to be a pro-life ad, though i don't know how you were supposed to know that. and it was paid for by Focus on the Family or something like that... some right wing pro-life group. and I guess THAT is the big deal. that the network let something 'political' be shown.

Ok, and one last comment.
Who picks the halftime acts? The Who? Really? I mean, yeah sure I like Pinball Wizard... but couldn't they pick someone a little more current/relevant/popular? They looked like a bunch of old men dragged out of the retirement home.

Ok, enough blabbing.
Later peeps!

Ok, so I'm a little embarrassed that I'm actually going to be that sappy giddy girl that makes you want to puke, but.... this is so freaking cute I have to share.

So, yesterday was our 6 month anniversary. Not a HUGE deal, I suppose, but kind of a big deal I guess...

But so I wasn't even sure if he'd remember. And sure, I'd love to get flowers and presents and all sorts of romantic stuff. I was secretly HOPING he'd do something- but I wasn't expecting it.

So, I made dinner reservations at a nice place, and didn't tell him, so it could be a surprise. They're actually for tonight, since the place is closed on mondays. And then I figured that's good- b/c on the off chance he planned something, I could cancel mine.

So, yesterday came, and he totally remembered and said happy anniversary. Then I was at work really late and he had stuff to do, so I didn't see him til way later.

So, once it was pretty clear we weren't going to do anything, I told him we have reservations for tonight. Not to rub it in- but just to make sure he didn't have any plans or anything.

And all of the sudden he looked all sad and started apologizing that he hadn't done more.

And then I felt like an ass for making him feel bad.

And then he walked over and picked something up off my desk. It was a card, and he had left it there so I'd find it in the morning.

So, I opened it. And it's super adorable. And perfect, b/c it's from the heart, and he did it without me nagging or anything.

Please pardon the iphone picture quality.

Cute joke I got from my dad-

Language Lesson
================
A linguistics professor was lecturing to his class one day.

"In English," he said, "A double negative forms a positive. In some languages, though, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative. However, there is no language wherein a double positive can form a negative."

A voice from the back of the room piped up, "Yeah, right."

---

In other news... eh, not much. Got a little snow yesterday. Was pleasantly surprised to learn at 2pm that the guy I am scheduled to work with today is going to be in Vegas, so I get the day off. Of course, would be nicer to know about 3day weekends in advance, but still. Not complaining.

Going to NYC next weekend for a baby shower and another friend's "welcome back after 2 years in australia" party. Should be fun.

Got my W-2 from work here, and it looks like I might get a refund, for the first time in like 6 years. I am sooooo excited! I know a lot of people plan on their refund and have practically spent it before they get it- but since I never get one, this is just like totally unexpected extra bonus money. Of course, I haven't gotten my W-2 from UB yet, so there's still a chance that will fuck it all up and I'll get nothing.

What else...

Monday is our 6mo anniversary.... (awwwww)
Wondering if he'll remember. ;)

Then to Florida- leaving on Valentine's day. Can not WAIT to get a little sun on this pasty skin.

Apparently it's "celebrity doppelganger week" on facebook- people are posting pictures of celebrities they've been told they resemble. I've heard I look like Andie McDowell before, so I found a smoking hot picture of her and put it up. Most of my girlfriends were like "omg yeah! i can see it!" And yes, I know I don't look like a movie star. But still, little white lies from girlfriends brighten my day a little. Until one stupid douchey ex just added "yeah, in your dreams".

Thanks, asshole.

Bleh.

Ok, time to be productive with this day. Have a good one peeps!

So, I haven't checked in in a few days, but I was SURE this place was going to be full of ranting about the election last night.

But really?
No one?

Fine with me, I don't relish talking politics- I just thought people would be all fired up.

In other news, we managed to find some shady internet car rental deal, but... we have an official confirmation number from Budget, so fingers crossed it will all work out....

Now just to make it through the three weeks until then.

Including a presentation I have to give tomorrow on Tennis Elbow that I haven't started yet, blehhhhhh.

And, I reeeeeaaaallly need to start job hunting. I buffed up my CV this weekend, I guess that's the first step. Now just to find places to send it to... :/

Ok, so we finally figured out the plane ticket situation.

(cut a day off the trip, used his parents' miles for one, and will split the price of the other. And, thanks to farecast, we locked in a good price today.)

But now...

RENTAL CARS ARE $115?????!!!!

Per DAY????!!!!!

$500/week is the best I've found.

Ho-ly shit!

I wish I had a private jet.

I wish I had a friend with a private jet.

In fact I *do* have a friend with a private jet, but I couldn't actually ask him to fly me places. (and I'm not sure how to get him to volunteer. ;) )

I have a week off work mid-feb.
We have a place to stay in West Palm Beach, for free, for that week.

All I need is to get myself there.

Plane tickets have gone from $300 to $700 in the last 3 days. I'm hoping it's just a blip and they'll come back down some, but at that rate, i can't afford to go. :(

I found one flight for like $200- but it's leaving from/getting in to airports that are like 1-2 hours from home/ the place in florida. And get in at like midnight on monday, and leave at like 6am thurs. So I'd get 2 days there? Not worth it.

Fucking airlines. I really hate them these days.

And, I just checked the weather: all i can say is WTF?! Snow forecasted for florida, but not here???