Category Archives: life

Two Cars in One Day…

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Seriously???

Okay, it’s now 1:30 AM Friday and I just got home from both cars officially dying and getting left behind in West LA at a shop we know nothing about. Thing is, my personal car issues seemed to begin around 2:00PM Thursday. And that migraine that started brewing around 2:00PM today, yeah, you guessed it, it’s throbbing like a beast now.

So the short version of my day…I was doing laundry and running errands when my car’s check engine light came on. It appears that the car overheated (who knows how many times in the past couple of weeks) to the point that I was out of coolant.

I was lucky enough to finish the laundry and head home. The goal was to drop my car off at our regular car guy once the hubs got home. Well, the real goal of the day was to write up a Blogger Prom recap, but that never happened.

So I finally calm down, cool off and relax. I’m waiting on the hubs to get home and we were going to head out for sushi. He calls me on his way home and as he makes the turn off Sunset onto Bev Glen, he says his car just died.

He calls AAA and they estimate that to tow the car over the hill into the Valley to our car guy in Burbank, that it will cost about $80. The guys suggests a shop on Pico that a lot of the UCLA students use. So the hubs now needs me to take my car (you know the one that overheated earlier in the day) to pick him up in West LA.

Okay, I’ll be on freeway, it’s 9:00ish, so no traffic. I won’t overheat. I make it to the Pico exit and I see the smoke coming off my engine. We figure if we take it slow and avoid the hills, that we can make it home or at least closer to home so the tow won’t cost as much to get it to Burbank.

Nice try.

A friend came out and agreed to follow us home to make sure we were good. Well, we only made it 6.6 miles, stopping once to water down the radiator and top off the (now, non-existent) coolant. We figured we were now 6.6 miles closer to home, so again, a less expensive tow.

Again, nice try.

Turns out we were now 7 miles FURTHER from home than we were before, so the tow would cost more.

So back, to where this all got fun…the garage where the hubby’s car is sitting and waiting. So basically, four or so hours after the hubs called me to get him…and a (pre-tip) $88 cab ride, I’m home eating cold pizza and waiting for my migraine meds to kick in.

Seriously, both cars have challenges on the same day?!?! What the hell? I mean, I’m all for “everything happens for a reason” so I’m just chomping at the bit to figure out what this “reason” must be.

The good news…it all could have been so much worse. If I had driven to Blogger Prom last night, I’d have overheated while we were stuck in traffic on Laurel. If he had made it further on Beverly Glen, he would have been on a dark, curvy road with limited cell reception.

So here’s hoping both cars don’t cost too much. And better yet, will be even better than they were before. So please, send some well wishes to our cars if you don’t mind.

It’s officially Friday, can I start drinking yet? Whew.

PS – too tired to proof-read…sorry.

Photo: Will Spaetzel

And the Doctor Says…

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I had my appointment with the ear nose and throat doctor today. I have to say, it looks much better than I as originally led to believe.

Turns out I have cyst of some sort somewhere, but this is apparently common enough and not the cause of my chronic sinus infections. He seems to think that I just have some swelling that will need to be reduced (surgically, of course).

Luckily, I won’t have to have my sinus cavities scraped out. He’ll burn down the swelling and all will be good. This also means that the healing time is dramatically reduced. Yay!

So now I just need to get that insurance approval for the procedure and get things scheduled. So happy! Will be thrilled to not have to deal with this any longer.

Also seems that the “lump” in the back of my throat is some sort of bacterial growth on my tonsils or something. Totally gross and quite disgusting (he scraped some off and showed me). Seems that can be cleared up by simply washing my tonsils with peroxide and water (being shot directly at my tonsil using a child’s bulbous nasal sucker thingie).

Let me tell you, that’s the most painful and nasty thing I’ve ever had to do. And talk about a nasty aftertaste. But again, if it clears it up, then I’m all for it.

So if everything happens for a reason (even medical challenges), then I wonder what the reason for all this is. What’s been going on in my live that have I not been acknowledging for the past 5 or more years? I guess I’ll need to meditate on that for a while and see what comes up.

I Have a Love/Hate Relationship With My Air Conditioner

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It’s not uncommon for both homes and apartments in the greater Los Angeles area to not have central air. If you live closer to the shore, you don’t exactly need it; what with those ocean breezes and all the marine layer. If you live inland, or in the valleys in particular, you’re lost without it.

We’re not lucky enough to have central air. We have a window unit in the wall of the living room. Only in the living room. Which means only the living room gets cooled.

So as you can imagine, I have a love/hate relationship with our air conditioner.

Love

  • that we have air conditioning
  • that while sitting in the living room, it’s nice and chilly

Hate

  • that if you’re anywhere beyond the living room, the AC can’t even be felt
  • that if you’re in the living room, at the couch, it’s can be dare I say it…too cold
  • that even with the AC on all day, the apartment is never less than 5 degrees cooler than outside
  • that the AC doesn’t reach any other part of the house BUT the living room
  • that the mere act of boiling of water or washing a dish or two can leave you dripping in sweat
  • that I can’t because of the above, I can’t cook anything most of the summer
  • that once the heatwave hits (100+ days) the bedroom doesn’t that cooler than 80 or so at night and our landlord won’t let us put in a window unit – makes for a miserable night’s sleep
  • that each and every summer I spend far too much time complaining about the damn heat

I vow to limit my complaining about the heat and lack of air conditioning. So how’s the summer treating you so far?

And the Results Are In…

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My fabulous doctor called while I was out last night (yes, she truly is fabulous and I can’t recommend her enough and yes, that call was afterhours at 8:30PM!). She had the results from Monday’s CT scan.

Get this…no polyps, but I apparently have a sinus infection! Yes, you read that right…as sinus infection.

No, I don’t feel like I have a sinus infection. But I guess, kinda like I’ve been saying all along, that my head is still all congested and something is still going on in my sinuses. Guess that would explain why my ears always clog whenever I drive up any sort of incline.

So the next plan of action is to see an ear, nose and throat doctor. My doc mentioned something about “getting scraped” and well, that sounds kinda scary. I mean, I may be wrong here, but I don’t any sort of direct passage to my sinuses. And well, that just sounds a bit painful. I’ll learn more at my appointment next week.

I just know that I’ll be thrilled to not have to deal with all this damn congestion any more. I’m sure it will cut down on the sinus pressure-related headaches I seem to get as well. Woohoo!

And speaking of all this sinus crap…I do seem to be a bit fuzzy headed today and I think (after my successful teleseminar) that a nap is priority #1.

Caution: Mentalist at Work

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It sure was nice to take last week off from blogging (outside of the one Michael Jackson/Forrest Lawn photo post).  Better still to have taken the time off on all three blogs (and the contests).  Granted, it wasn’t something that I actually planned to do, but it still felt good.  I refused to let myself feel bad about it either.

I basically spent the week working on my upcoming teleseminars.  After having spent the week before recovering from yet another damn sinus infection, I needed to get focused pretty quickly.  I got a lot done, even if I made some mistakes here or there.  Or more to the point, I discovered some mistakes that I made with some of the stuff I was working on.  Either way, still feels good.

Now I need to just create some time to catch up on some friends’ blogs.  When I finished teaching in mid-June, I thought I’d have so much time to finally catch up with work, with blogs, with life and still have fun.  Well, as I seem to have learned (again and again) those damned sinus infections kick my butt physically and make it so challenging to even think straight.  And they seem to take just as long to recover from.  But trust me, you will see me posting comments on your blogs again!!  I promise.

And speaking of those damnable sinus infections, I finally had my CT scan today.  I think I honestly spent more time talking about the CT scan and researching what to expect, than it actually took to have the actual scan.  I honestly didn’t know that it would be quite so quick and painless.  I look forward to getting the results and figuring out what might be the reason I keep getting such nasty (and painful) infections.

As for now…well, now I think it’s time to get started on dinner.  Cooking in this high-90’s heat is always a challenge – whether I’m feeling 100% or not.  Wish me luck!

Every Gal Deserves a Night Alone From Time to Time

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Tonight the hubs is heading off to somewhere in the Inland Empire to connect with his youth.  He’s heading out to see the reunion show of the band he used to roadie for back in his long-haired, late 80’s.  As much as I’d love to meet the guys that played such an important part in his life, I’m still a bit under the weather to be up for a long and loud night (with music I most likely won’t enjoy…shhh!).  He’s heading out with one of his oldest friends instead.

In the meantime, I thought it would the perfect night to attend to some beauty rituals…touching up my roots; scrubbing for the self-tanner; hanging out touching nothing while wearing self-tanner; and trying out a new face mask (I love facials, but rarely get around to applying masks at home).  It should be a fun night.

If only I had something appropriately chickie to watch.  Or a good, non-business, chick-littie book to read *sigh*  No worries, I can watch Clueless, Valley Girl, the Sweetest Thing or Pracitical Magic…again!  They never get old.  They might get dated, but not old.  Classics I tell ya!

Now I’m craving fruity cocktails and decadent desserts…uh oh!

So what do you usually do when your signifigant other leaves you home alone for the night (sick or not)?

Looking for the Perfect Eye Shadow

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eye_shadowI’m on a quest.  Much like I was looking for the best drugstore mascara not all too long ago (found it…Maybelline Stiletto).  This time around, I’m looking for the perfect all over eyeshadow.  You know, that one shadow that you can wear daily that doesn’t necessarily look like you’re wearing shadow, but just kind of makes you look put togther.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve just used the same blush that I was wearing as my all over color.  Then I started to add a highlighter to my browbone.  Now that I’m working again (and networking and doing speaking gigs), I feel the need to look a bit more polished day to day.

I have two MAC colors that I picked up, but I’m not completley happy with either.  The one is goldish and well, has a bit of sparkle.  The other is pink and matte, but I think it’s just a tad too dark.

So I’m wondering, if you wear shadow and just use that one, all over kind of color, what do you use?  It can be drugstore or department store (since the shelf-life is so much longer than mascara I’m okay spending a bit more).  What works for you?

Whale Watching in Marina del Rey

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June Gloom finally lifted today. So having the first beautiful day of June, I demanded (no really, I did indeed demand) that we head out to Marina del Rey to visit the breached whale that’s visiting.

He’s on his way north to Alaska and has decided to take a bit of a break, call it a vacation, if you will here in LA. He’s been there for a couple weeks now, just hanging about. The authorities aren’t too worried as he appears to be in good health and is quite playful. Though they are concerned with just how close some of the boats have been getting.

I only took a few pictures because I realized early on that 1) I can’t see a damn thing on my screen in the bright sun so I don’t know what I’m even pointing at and more importantly, 2) whales aren’t easy to photograph – they move around, they’re always in a different spot and well, they’re not on the surface for too long. So only the bottom two photos actually caught the slightest glimpse of the little guy.

It was a fun day though. And once again, while I remembered to sunscreen my face and decolletage, I left my arms and neck untouched. And um, yeah…sunburn. Go figure.

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School is OUT for Summer!

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It’s official, school is over for the semester.  Can I get a Woot!Woot! in the blogosphere?

Well, kinda over.  I still plan to attend their “art show” on Friday (once I figure out where on campus it is – there’s a reason I sent to a small school, big campuses freak me out).  But after that it’s officially over.  Yay!

I was actually pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed working with this batch of kids.  Saying goodbye to them a day early was odd.  I’m sure next year it will be even more [insert word here] considering I’ll have the kids for both semesters.

And of course, this is all fabulous for so many reasons…in no particular order:

  • I can sleep late and not worry that I’m waking my crazy ass husband up after he’s only been asleep for two hours (what a freak!)
  • I can go back to blogging more regularly and having a bit more fun with it all.  You know, I went to a blogger party about a month ago and I STILL haven’t written it up yet.  To say nothing of the fact that I had a gazillion or so some tabs open the other day to write some biz blog posts about and the hubs closed them all down.  He’s kind of anti-multi-tabs and was trying to make a point or something.  Either way, with three blogs (and one more I’m crazy insanely seriously considering starting up) that’s a lot to get busy on.
  • I can actually sit down and READ blogs.  I don’t think I’ve been in my google reader (except to do a clearing “mark all read” in at least 2-3 months).  I feel so out of the loop.  It will be nice to catch up again.
  • I can clear off my desk…again…and maybe just create some positive flow here.  I finally filed both last year’s and this year’s backed up stacks of files over the weekend and I’m continually surprised at how much I can now SEE on my desk.  But we’re still not done here.
  • I can do something about the seemingly ever growing, life of its own, pile in the middle of the office here that seems to be claiming more and still more of my personal space.  And yes, yet another box of ConstantChatter giveaway stuff showed up on my doorstep today (which I’ve yet to find a moment to open – oh, didn’t I mention, I just woke up from my nap about an hour ago now).
  • I can get the bookkeeping filed and up to date AND get cracking doing our extended ’08 taxes.
  • I can hopefully, please dear God, hang those damn shelves in the bathroom already.  I mean it’s only been about two years now.  Wait, it HAS been two years since I bought them when my friend’s little guy was still teeny and she was still home on leave (and now she’s on leave with wee little #2).  Wow, that’s crazy.  I blame it on the fact that I have no idea where this saw my husband tells me we have is hiding.  Well, and that I’d really like to use a stud finder and I don’t know if I should buy one or borrow my brother-in-law’s.  To summarize…I’m scared shitless to hang shelves.
  • I can get cracking with work.  I have my first ebook to polish up.  I have an idea for a pre-quel (so to speak – think more basics) and I have two tele-workshops I’d like to finalize and get going (I outlined them over lunch yesterday).  Of course, the one needs to be DONE tomorrow since I’ll be pitching it on Thursday at my speaking gig.
  • I can finally get the next quarter’s batch of contests set and designed and ready to go and then start working on our new plan for the 4th quarter.
  • I also finally got my wall art in and I’ll need to get the one up in our bedroom and the other here in the office.  Can’t wait.

Whew!

Come to think of it, I think I need another nap.  That’s one helluva lot of shit to get to.

Wish me luck and I’ll be seeing more of you starting Monday!