Driving While Dilated - Dumb Things I've Done Category

I'll chalk today's excursion home from the eye doctor to one of the more stupid things I've done in life.  They dilated my eyes and instead of sitting in the doctor's office for 30 minutes to an hour like a normal person, I decided I wanted to be home and got in my car.  THAT was a nerve-wracking 30-minute drive.  For whatever reason, my right eye was operating better than my left, so I drove home with my left eye scrunched shut and my left hand on my forehead, shading my eyes the entire time.  My guardian angel must have been with me today to get me home without injuring myself or anyone else on the road.

I couldn't do much when I got home--everything on the computer was blurry as were books and TV, so I laid down for an hour to let the effect wear off.  I dozed off and had dreams about driving against traffic, flying over speed bumps, and getting lost.

I am pretty much going to be out of commission for the rest of the week.  I'm in GSO all day tomorrow (Literally.  I'll leave the house at 8 AM and get home about 9:30 PM) and then I fly out at 8 AM on Thursday for my NSA University conference in Tucson. I spent the afternoon packing. I'm taking 6 pairs of shoes for a 3-day conference.  Plus, it's 75 degrees in Tucson, but we're in an air-conditioned building, and it drops to 40 degrees at night.  Therefore, I've shoved everything from tank tops to turtlenecks in my bag and have decided to play it by ear. 

Right now, I'm hoping the kink in the left side of my neck works itself out by flight time on Thursday.  I must have slept on it wrong last night and now it pinches every time I move my head to the left. (I know...so don't move my head to the left. )  I'm going to go hop in a hot shower and see if that does anything to alleviate the pain.  Since I didn't exercise this morning, I forced myself onto the treadmill this evening.  My deal is I have to do 3 miles--walk, crawl, or jog.  I hate wasting time so I jog it, just to get it over with.  It's important to know what motivates you in your exercise program.

BTW, I'm looking for some new, fast-tempo music to jog to, if anyone would like to offer suggestions.  I listen to a lot of Aerosmith, Meatloaf, with some side roads into "Veronica," "by Elvis Costello, "Holding Out for a Hero" by Bonnie Tyler, "Knock on Wood" by some knockoff artist, and a few country songs.  Please let me know if you have any suggestions.

Decorating Diaries - Bathroom Update

A few of you have been kind enough (cruel enough?) to ask how the renovations to the master bath are coming along.  In short, the answer is "they're not."

For those just tuning in to The Decorating Diaries, please feel free to flip back to the OCTOBER entries when we started this whole, miserable project.  I thought I had achieved a sort of Zen-attitude about the whole thing, but I don't think the Buddha had urges to dropkick any and all contractors on sight, so I guess I still have a little spiritual work to do on the matter.

When last we left the Harris' (this would be...what...November?), they'd had the wiring installed on the heated floor.  FINALLY, last week, we got the skim coat laid over the wires.  It was a two-part process.  The guy came out to lay the skim coat (which is just like a coat of mud) on a Tuesday but ran out of material. 

"I'll be back 5-6pm tomorrow night to finish, if that's okay," he said.

"No problem," I said.  "I'll be here."

And I was here.  At 5pm, 5:30, 6pm, 6:30, 7, 7:15...  There are only so many times I can say it. Is it so friggin' difficult for these contractors to learn how to use a phone?  I called the next morning and was told his job from the night before ran later than expected.  Fine.  I understand.  But CALL ME to tell me you won't be here so I don't sit around waiting for you to show up.  I swear to God, there must be millions waiting to be made for anyone willing to open a school and show plumbers, heating and air techs, and contractors how to dial.

Anyway, he came back the following night and finished the job.  So the next day, the heated floor guys came out to test the floor. 

"Why isn't there a skim coat over the wiring in the shower area?" they asked.

"Because the guy said the liner would go there and the skim coat wasn't needed."

The heated floor guys frowned.  "The instructions are pretty clear all wires need a skim coat to conduct the heat."

So the heated floor guys left with the promise to contact the skim coat guy and decide among them if the tub area needs a skim coat or not.  I left a message this morning with skim coat guy to follow up, just in case.

And that's where we are.  3 months, and I have wires encased in mud.  Almost. 

I need to go practice thinking zen thoughts before I hurt someone.

My Unproductivity is Everyone Else's Fault

I can't be blamed.  I tried to have a productive day.  Okay, I can be blamed for being a doofus and forgetting everything is closed and locked down today, the first Monday of the New Year.  But if not for that, I would have had a super productive day. 

• I took my car to be inspected - closed
• Went to the Post Office - closed
• Went to deposit a check - bank closed (hmmm...I started to clue in...)

On the bright side, my eye doctor was open so I was able to make an appointment.  Need to update the 'ol eyeglasses prescription.  The only time they could take me is 10 AM tomorrow morning. I have to have my eyes dilated so I can ALSO blame tomorrow's lack of productivity on others, as well. 

And it hasn't been an unproductive day.  I worked my 2 hours on Millicent this morning and have spent the afternoon prepping my NSA University materials.  There was about a 12-minute period of intense rage when I couldn't get the scanner to work, but I've moved on.

My office looks like a bomb blew up in it.  Papers everywhere.  Lucy was nesting earlier in some papers on the floor until I realized they were handouts for my NSA talk and screeched at her to get her hairy butt off them.  Haven't seen much of her since.

It's a chilly, pouring-down rain kind of day--very good for staying inside and working. So I guess I'll get back to it.

New Beginnings

I love the fresh start of a new year, with its implications of a clean slate for you to write a new chapter of your life.  Even the fact that I have gotten off to a slow start this morning can't damper my enthusiasm.

We didn't get to bed until almost 2 last night, so we slept in until 7:30. Then up to read the paper and all dieting considerations went out the window as I heated up a slice of my friend Pam's coconut-walnut bundt cake to go with my morning coffee.  Maybe not calorie free, but an excellent first meal for the new year.

After the paper I crawled back into bed until almost 11 while Blair was a whirlwind of activity, doing laundry, cleaning house and making lunch.  He scooted out the door around 1 to go to work.  A bit of a let down that he has to go in today, but he's probably not thrilled about it either so I tried not to gripe.

As for me, I'm doing my own laundry and catching up on a bit of work so I can hit the ground running tomorrow.  This is a short week for me as I leave for Tucson on Thursday to teach for 3 days at NSA University.  Much of this week will be spent finalizing parts of my talk.

But I will find time to take a long walk today.  It's sunny and near 60 with a light, crisp wind.  Way too pretty to stay locked inside the house all day.  Then the Panthers play today and I'll catch the last half of the game as I am under strict instructions to call Blair at work and let him know who won.

And I'm excited about working on my second Millicent book.  I'll blog more about this in the future, but through networking, a friend recommended me to an editor at Random House who has agreed to read the first few chapters of my middle-grade novel, along with a synopsis.  I decided I wasn't happy with the book I had and decided to devote my efforts to a new book.  I've spent the last 3 weeks worrying out plot details, but I'm close to having a working outline in place to write from.   One of my New Year's resolutions I am most adamant about keeping is doing 2 hours of creative writing time each morning before hitting e-mail or regular assignments.

Today is a sweatpants and t-shirt, no makeup day.  Just a relaxing day of taking care of small details interspersed with fun activities such as reading, napping, petting cats, and listening to music. A perfect--if somewhat slow--start to the New Year.