2/21 - Thursday Thirteen - Come On Get Happy

Hi folks,

 Sometimes I feel like a blog, sometimes I don't.......but its been a ying and yang week - stressful at the office - or should I say with my officemate - but lots of good things happening in the rest of my life....so I thought that might make a good theme for a Thursday Thirteen.

1.   Foam earplugs at work have been a lifesafer.  First off, they quiet down the din from my officemate who must be hard of hearing because he's LOUD on the phone.  Combine that with Fox News blaring from his computer and it really was (and still is) difficult for me to carry on a conversation in my half of the room.  Next, they keep me from hearing all the chatter going on up and down the halls and in the offices around me (the acoustics are pretty bad around here) and what I don't hear doesn't frustrate me.  Maybe I'm just very sensitive to sound, but its much easier for me to concentrate in a quiet place.

2.  Guitar Hero.  I have a PS 2 (I know I know) but its totally adequate for my gaming needs which is really just various rockband/guitar hero games....I have the whole set, drums and all, but I generally just play guitar.  I hadn't played in a long time, but once i got my basement floor in and started really working on finishing it - I set the game up and reintroduced myself to how both challenging and relaxing I found it. 

3.  New (to me) game and wired guitar for #2).  I happened across a Guitar Hero II game with guitar on Ebay and got it for 22 bucks including shipping.  I'd wanted a second wired guitar because there's just easier for me.....and they are hard to find and very expensive - so I scored :)

4.  Losing weight.  Not a big deal by any means, but I'm actually managing to track properly on Weight Watchers and this week I'm down a pound and a half with three days to go :).  Sadly, both bread and booze seem to hold me back from losing - so I'm compromising and only drinking every other day.  Not that I'm a lush, but I really do like to have a drink to relax - and it always ends up being two or maybe even three which is almost half of my daily point allowance, lol.

5.  My knee is feeling good. It still objects to high impact aerobics, but it isn't nearly so stiff in the mornings and after I've been sitting for a while.  I am nowhere ready to try skiing again, but maybe next winter....who knows.

6.  The furkids are doing well.  Yes, Jez is on insulin twice a day, but I'm feeling more and more comfortable both with injections and blood testing - even if she objects (and she often does) she quickly forgives me.  And other than the annoyance, she seems to be her usual lovable self and Batcat has been more loving than usual - I guess a little bit of jealousy can be helpful in a relationshop.

7.  Weather - yes, its been cold on and off - but we haven't had the snow of our neighbors to the west and the north.  Its been a mild winter and I'm grateful.

8.  Money - short version is a friend had a check sent to me to pay for a favor I'd done.  It was great of her because I wasn't expecting her to offer to send me anything....but then I turned around and lost the check :(.  Bless her heart, she went back to her folks, asked them to send another check - and it showed up yesterday. 

9.  Depositing checks via Smartphone.....A great invention that ensured that this time the money got into my account safely - no chance of me misplacing the thing again.

10.  The Big Bang Theory is on and it made me laugh out loud  (and distracted me for a bit, sorry).

11.  I decided I needed some stronger reading glasses because its hard to see the measurements on the insulin syringes - happend to stop by Ross and found two pairs for seven bucks - more magnification than the others I have which is really helpful with tiny print. 

12.  I also stopped at the grocery store because I was going to make penne with meat sauce for dinner - happened across italian turkey sausage marked down for quick sale - just perfect for what I was planning and my favorite salad dressing was on sale as well.

13.  My basement wall is coming along well.  I decided to go with wood planks like Carol has in her basement, only I'm putting my up horizontally (across the framing I already did).  I think its going to look great and only cost me a bit more than a hundred dollars for the whole thing.

So, all is right at Chez Em.....I'm going to head downstairs shortly - play a bit of Guitar Hero and finish up with a nice soak in the hot tub.  Just one more day of work and then time to relax and have fun......