Alien Spouse

Spicy, Delicious and Invigorating.

Today I took the day off because I'd had, oh about 3 hours of sleep last, thanks to my sinuses. I was exhausted and weepy this morning, so I would have been neither use nor ornament in the office.

Nothing seemed to be helping, until I tried covering my lunch in hot sauce. After that I could breathe again! Oh, Hot Sauce - you are a special new friend!

Doc C is cooking pasta for dinner, I hope he doesn't take offence when I cover mine in Tabasco.

House of Half Recovered.

Mum called today to check how we were because I hadn't updated the blog, sorry about that! I wasn't trying to leave you on a cliff-hanger there!

Anyway, Doc C went to hospital yesterday afternoon, after going white as a sheet and generally scaring the hell out of me. He'd already been given some tramadol, so he could still feel the pain but he just didn't really mind that much. This apparently was what stopped him from screaming, so I'm really quite grateful to the urgent care doctor he saw on Friday.

At the hospital he had a whole bunch of tests, and they eventually decided he must have already passed the stone, so he came home. Woot!

Meanwhile, I stayed at home, because my sinuses are still swollen and I'm breathing through my mouth, so it seemed like a bad idea to expose me to more germs. This meant I spent the afternoon watching a reality TV show marathon, because all the episodes blend into one after a while and it feels like you've only been on the sofa for an hour instead of four or five. Don't worry though, I kept it classy; it was about a tattoo parlor in NYC, no bickering over-privileged "housewives" for me thanks! (I'm a reality snob, but I'm very idiosyncratic in my prejudices - Jersey Shore = under no circumstances; Bethany Getting Married = hell yeah, despite her former housewife status)

Oh, by the way, I'm having ridiculously complicated nightmares (teeth falling out, exams I've forgotten to revise for, horrible murders etc etc) whilst I'm ill, whereas Doc C's painkillers are an opiate so he's been having lovely dreams. Apparently for the past two nights in a row now he's had the same dream, where he is professing his undying love to me. How sweet is he?

House of Sickness.

Oh, today SUCKS!

My head cold has moved up to my sinuses, and settled in. I went to see my doctor this morning and, whilst it's probably not strep throat (which I think translates to tonsillitis, but I'm not sure), she is having some tests run on a throat swab; on the other hand my sinuses are very inflamed, so I'm feeling pretty sorry for myself.

Doc C had been getting some twinges in his back, which really started to centralise around his kidney today. He went to see his doctor this afternoon (whilst I was at back in bed with lots of water and my loyal cat nurses), and they found blood in his urine. This means he has another damn kidney stone. He was given a long lasting pain killer injection whilst he was there, and a prescription for some more in pill form. All he can do now is drink a LOT of water, and hope it passes without being too excruciating. So basically we are just hoping he doesn't end up curled upon the floor in the fetal position in the next few days. Yay.

So last weekend we were living it up in Vegas, and this weekend we are probably going to be housebound in a make-shift cottage hospital monitoring each others' symptoms. sigh.

Stuffy.

I think I'm getting a head cold. Gah.

Hydration.

Clearly whilst on the flight back from Las Vegas I didn't drink enough water, which you would have thought would hit me yesterday but it was actually this morning I woke up with a headache and a raging thirst, so clearly I had dropped below acceptable water levels. Doc C got up to feed the cats, then he brought me a bottle of Perrier water and the iPad, so I could e-mail in to work as de-hydrated.

I stayed in bed until about ten, and got to work at eleven thirty (a mere three and a half hours late). I brought with me a large coffee (Don't tell me the coffee is a diuretic, I know that, I still needed the caffeine), a litre of water and half a litre of Gatorade which Doc made me to make sure I got my electrolytes.

With all of that, I should have been able to swim home.

Las Vegas Recap.

As you can see Edith felt very strongly that she should be coming to Las Vegas with us, and attempted to pack herself in to my suitcase on Thursday evening. She would make a fabulous show girl actually, with that plumey tail and gorgeous figure (it's hard to believe she's had kittens).

I didn't really take many photos over the weekend, because all the suff I'd want to have a picture of was either something I was prohibited from photographing (for example Doc C intentally scrutinising our crime scene at the CSI Experience) or something I didn't think would photograph well without some professional level lighting equipment (for example the jellyfish display at the Mandalay Bay Shark Reef Aquarium).

It was obviously imperative to take a photo of our hotel at night, because it was a quite ridiculous fake castle with turrets and other such nonsense.

It was annoying that I couldn't get a shot of both The Excalibur and New York, New York's Faux Liberty without the walkway's guard rail in it, but I think you get the point. Ridiculousness.

Home Safely - Yay!

At the start of the flight we thought we'd never take off, because we were delayed by returning back to our gate to fet medical attention for a passenger (I have no idea what was wrong, or how serious it was, or if he's ok - So it's kind of hard to be sincerely sympathetic if I'm totally honest. It was a pain in the backside for everyone else on the flight frankly!). At the end of the flight we thought we'd never land, because we were already delayed and then we got caught in fog. I am so glad to be off that plane and home in my own bed.

Leaving Las Vegas (Which, OMG, is a depressing film)

Last breakfast at Krispy Kreme before we catch the flight back to Charlotte. We're both pretty tired this morning, but Doc made $450 at the MGM poker table last night, so he's talking about upgrading to first class on the way home!

Viva Las Vegas! (Unoriginal But Apt)

Vegas is pretty much what you might expect it to be, you can find anything you want at any time of day or night - except free Wi-Fi. Fortunately Krispy Kreme has come to our rescue! Oh our tasty delicious dougnutty friends! I shall update thoroughly when I get home, promise!

Las Vegas! This is the view from our window; The Luxor is our nightlight!

Las Vegas! This is the view from our window; The Luxor is our nightlight!

Work Clothes.

At work today I wore a scoop neck black t-shirt, a black cardigan and grey tweed trousers. I accessorised with a pair of black converse, my new glasses and a double strand of oversized pink pearls.

If I'd worked at Sterling Cooper, I'd probably have worn the same outfit - just swapping out the trousers and chucks for a skirt and heels.

The only constants in my work outfit are my rings, watch, silver bangle and, first thing in the morning, a cup of coffee in a travel cup.

Internet Black Out.

Edith does not approve of SOPA.

First Day of Classes: Spring 2012.

Let us never speak of this day again.

Well, except to note there was no blood shed, which I believe illustrates an almost super-human forbearance and mercy on my part.

I did say "No!" several times though. Crickey.

To Do List.

I had planned to do some stuff to do this weekend, and I did absolutely none of it. We fly out for a 5th anniversary weekend away on Friday morning, so I have to squish everything in to the next four days.

Monday: Laundry!
Tuesday: Clean the downstairs bathroom!
Wednesday: Re-Load all my CDs back onto my iPod! (I had to re-sync and lost 2/3 of my tunes. sigh.)
Thursday: Pack for Vegas, Baby!

Spring Hope.

The origami cherry blossoms are to decorate the branches on display in the living room. There are three different patterns of pink and white in play here, and I like the slight contrast that gives.

I've strung a handful of blossoms onto fishing line and hung the strands one to a twig. So far I've only made these three but you get the idea I think.

Blossoming Paper.

It's snowing quite hard, and my office is practically empty (Doc says we should leave at lunchtime) - So, naturally, I'm sitting at my desk learning how to make origami cherry blossom.

Light Bruises.

This morning I had laser treatment on the scars from my mole removals this summer, the worst part about it was having to get to the dermatologist's office for 7 in the morning - The treatment itself took about five minutes and wasn't too painful. The doctor described it as being flicked with a rubber band repeatedly, and that's fairly accurate. Apparently the scars will be darker for about a week, because the laser bruises the area but then, once the bruising goes down, the scars should be less visible and less sensitive. Yay!

Afterwards Doc C asked what colour the laser was, and I said red; Doc said "Oh no!", because this must mean that my dermatologist is a Sith Lord. Once again I am reminded that I married an intelligent and articulate man who, none the less, remains totally unable to pass up an opportunity for a Star Wars reference.

Face Off.

I have to go to a dermatologists appointment at 7 o'clock tomorrow morning, so naturally Doc and I are unable to stop watching a TV show we happened to TiVo amarathon of.

"Face Off" is a reality contest for special effects make-up artists. It is impossible to stop watching this marathon! SyFy is evil! Evil genius!

Oh! There's Just One More Thing.

Today I finally buckled down to the really super boring job of re-organising the contents of five filing cabinets. Ugh. I hate filing. On the other hand I really hate poorly organised data, and so it needs to be done. Double ugh.

As a reward for suffering through getting paper cuts from manilla foldes, I'm relaxing at home with Doc C, Edith Cavell-Cat and a very early episode of "Columbo". I really love Columbo.

Rose-Coloured Spectacles.

I have been most remiss in sharing my new specs with you - Mainly because I haven't worn any make-up in the past couple of weeks, and these do look particularly good with a nice bit of eyeliner. Today I decided to just snap a photo and then edit the hell out of it in Picnik; which is why the frames are pin-sharp and the rest of the image is super soft-focus! Pores? My skin doesn't have pores!

As you can see the new glasses are slightly cat's eye, which Doc C thinks brings out my cheekbones (love that man), and they have a tiger grey exterior with a clear pink interior. That sounds like a car, but you see what I mean right? The outside of the frame is one colour (well, it's sort of marbled really) whilst the inside is another; so there are hints of that inside colour as I move my head and the angle changes.

As you can see here:

Again with the Picnik soft-focus, which I am especially grateful for here. It took me forever to get the angle right on this one, so you could see more of the edge of the glasses and less of the bags under my eyes - I didn't sleep very well last night.

Please feel free to reassure me that these are stylishly fun, without being wacky. I'm still a touch self-conscious about them.

First Friday of 2012.

Doc C was sure that today was Thursday, he was quite surprised when I said I was Friday. In fact he almost convinced me that I was wrong, but I stuck to my convictions and you can all thank me for insisting we have a weekend now.

For dinner I made Macaroni Peas from the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Veg book. It's a very simple recipe, just peas, parmesan, macaroni, butter and garlic, so I'm not convinced it really requires two sauce pans, a fryin pan and a blender to make. I feel sure there are some tweaks to be made to reduce the washing up.

Thursday Summary.

It's really annoying when you have news to tell someone, so you e-mail them to say "There is gossip to dish" and then they call you and say "Is it blah?" No hello or anything, just right in there with the correctly guessing your fresh intell. Humph!

Work continues to be very quiet I was pretty much alone all day but David did need to come in so he brought his dog Buster with him and that was a rare treat. I think more people should bring dogs to work with them, preferably those that are hypoallergenic (Not that I'm allergic to dogs myself, but I know that's an issue to be aware of when bringing animals to the office)and like to shake paws. I love shaking paws.

One particularly great thing about being alone at work is sigining into our netflix account and streaming movies that Doc C has no interest in, whilst I also get all sorts of housekeeping tasks done before the spring semester kicks off. Today I sorted the evaluations to be processed whilst watching cheesy 80's horror, it was a productive and entertaining day.

Working Hard for the Money.

It's still a ghost town in my office ate moment; which is great because I have things to do. Mostly these are boring things, but they're fiddly and require some concentration.

To keep things interesting I've been listing to vintage radio plays on Relic Radio dot com. Personally I'm a big fan of Strange Tales, which usually have a ridiculous plot and an imaginative sound effects guy.

Work. Sleep. Sixties Television.

First day back at work was fine, but tiring - I went upstairs at 5:15 for a nap intending to be awake by 6:30. Three hours later...
On the positive side, the cats thought it was entirely for their benefit and very much appreciated me staying still for so long.

Now I'm watching "Mission Impossible" on Netflix streaming. I loved the series as a kid, but Doc's never seen it so we're kicking off from episode one. I was shocked to find that everyone in the team was in place - except for Peter Graves. It's weird to see some other bloke as team leader, but the presence of Greg Morris is reassuring.

On the Last Day of Christmas.

It's the last day of my Christmas holiday, and I'll be back in the office at 8am tomorrow. Brutal, isn't it?

Still I got some things done today ( doctor's appointment, flu shot, picked up my old shades with new prescription lenses), before coming home and totally vegging out in front of a "CSI: Miami" marathon. It remains my very least favourite CSI, but, just sometimes, it fits the bill perfectly.

2012.

Happy New Year!

We spent yesterday evening at Randy and Laura's house with a small grop of friends. It was a very nice way to end 2011, and start 2012.

Today I slept late; finished playing "Arkham Asylum"; got half-way through "Genius Wars" and had a most satisfactory afternoon nap.

Doc started playing "Arkham City" (Catwoman! Squee!); made vegetable stock form the HF-W cookbook; looked on-line at houses for sale and has now settled in for a "Star Wars" marathon.

2012 is off to a cracking start!