Apropos

I usually call my episode the Migraine Monkey, so how appropriate that I find this picture on the Internets. I have had one since Saturday morning. I told myself "Get moving, Peruby. You have company coming in at 4. You have birthday balloons and the big cookie to pick up. You have a big family get together at seven."

Nothing. My personal favorite expression is:  "I felt like a limp dish cloth."  My Mom always liked the thin dish cloths when we washed dishes. You could fit them into glasses, etc. I washed many dishes in my day and when finished I wrung out the dish cloth and set it on the sink to dry. It looked rather pathetic all wet and skimpy.

That is pretty much how I feel when I have a migraine. No strength whatsoever. Totally washed out.

The medicine worked enough to get me through the events of the week-end. By yesterday afternoon I was down. Sitting and could not do much. My company left (they are family and my sister is so wonderful, she tries to wait on me hand and foot).

I went to bed late. I notice when I have a migraine I put things off as long as I can. You would thing falling into bed is easy, but I have a lot of prep work. So I went to bed later than I should have. Not good. Dogs have to be taken out. My daughter was wonderful and massaged my head for me, the pain abated; but as soon as I stepped outside in the frosty air - bang. That headache hit me like a semi. Son of a bitch! I should have taken more medicine but I was stubborn. I went to bed. Each time I woke up, yep -still there. This morning I knew. I needed more Imitrex.

I took an imitrex, two advil and posted at work that I would be in late today. I rested my eyes. It is bearable now, but I can never think straight or move very quickly. I must take things slow. It affects my balance, my thinking. Friends would laugh at me when I talked during a migraine. They called it my verbal dyslexia. Words come out all wrong.

One thing I notice when I am "getting" a migraine is what I call "running away from it."  I move very quickly. I rush and do things so fast. It is so I do not focus on what is coming. You can feel a migraine coming sometimes a mile away and when  I get the feeling I am scrambling around. It is a symptom of migraine, yet but I always consider it my "running away" from it. Trying to avoid the inevitable.

The medicine is working. My limbs are weak. I will take a very hot shower. That helps the medicine. Move slow. Breathe. Take it easy. Work will wait. Sip coffee. So relieved the nausea is gone.

Countdown

Yesterday she posted on her facebook - 14 days ♥. Wah! Somebody's keeping a countdown and it is not me. I want the time to stop, slow down. Sigh. All little birdies must leave the nest. My daughter is taking steps to an adventure. I encourge her to go. I had wanderlust when I was twenty. I want her to experience the world, to do things - go places. See how other people live. Learn, see, watch, grow. My stomach hurts.

Settled Down

I was never a BIG fan of Hank,Jr. Even less so after I saw him make an ass of himself when he berated his crew in concert. One song phrase does pass through my mind quite often. "All my rowdy friends have settled down."  How lonely one must be out there in the bar trying to get loud and drunk with the younger set. Leave it to the younger set. I have settled down. I despise the bar scene. The lights, the noise. Back then (the smoke). I do not miss it one iota.

The photo above is from a set my nephews did. One nephew sings, the other controls the audio mix. They get a gig every once in a while. The singing nephew is mixing it up with two different bands these days. They don't practice much. They just get out there and howl. I have not heard them. Photo courtesy of nephew 1977.

I can still remember the day I first heard my nephew sing. (not with a band, just himself). I almost fell off of my chair. I just wish he would sing words one could understand instead of the screaming and howling. But that is what they want these days I guess.

Watched "Immortals" with the daughter. Her choice of movie, not mine. I fell asleep during the movie. I am thinking I need more sleep. Seems like I am falling asleep during a lot of movies. You cannot tell much in the movie but Cavill is one handsome dude. From what I read, somebody wanted him to act the Edward role in the Twilight series. (I am NOT a Twilight fan). The thought of watching the series makes me cringe. I am not certain if it is the vampire thing or the fact I think it is insipid.

I scoffed at the Immortals movie when I pointed out to my daughter that I did not feel they should have such nice, feathered (or razored) haircuts - the men. The movie is fantasy/fiction I know but some of the other men had horrible, ugly hair. I do not think anybody or anything can make Rourke uglier than he is. He is the epitome of ugly - but he does it very well.

Close call

Well, the picture probably tells it all, eh? Along with the title of the post tells you I was close but I did not get a spray. Neither did my dogs - thank God! Throughout the month of February I have experienced the very strong odor of skunk spray when I take the dogs out. Ugh, is always my reaction. My reaction to the smell, for sure; but mostly my fear of my dogs getting it.

While out this morning, the boxer became tangled around a bush. It was dark out. I sighed and said "Oh, Slade!" I unbuckled the leash and he pranced up to me a couple of times but when he realized I was not going to re-buckle him he danced off into the little empty lot where I take he and Sable to do their business.

I stand in the alley near some bushes (I do not want neighbors to think for one second that I may be a lurker). I tend to stare at the stars or watch my dogs wander through the little lot. I can only imagine somebody looking out their window at 4 or 5 a.m. and see me standing in the alley with no dog. 

Anyway, while standing there I heard a rustle off to my left. My first thought was that the neighbor had let their dog out (fenced in yard). She always runs up to me to the corner of her yard hoping for a treat that I sometimes carry for her. No dog.

I saw a movement and I immediately backed up two steps. I saw the flash of white on black. Skunk! My movement startled him/her and he retreated back into the high weeds in  a flash. I was in the alley and the fenced in  yard was between me and the critter, but now my dogs would have to walk past that same spot to get to me.

I called them (not loud because it IS pre-dawn). Whistle, call, call. The boxer came galloping to me. Just before he got to me he pivoted when he caught a scent of something. "NO!" I hissed. He stopped in his tracks and came right to me and I quickly buckled his leash.

Sable is another matter. I love that dog. I give her medicine daily for her arthritic joints. I called and called her in my best whisper panic voice. She knew it was urgent and she waddled to me as fast as she could. She did not hesitate. We beat a hasty retreat back to the house to safety.

Whew. My range to walk my dogs is gettting smaller and smaller. Pretty soon I won't even be able to go off my back porch. Skunks. Ew!

Licking his chops

Chong wants to know - what's for dinner?

Love. Sigh.

Cool, tall, dark, rich, full-bodied, sweet...I think I am in love with this wine.  :)

Going here today

IX Center.

Can you repeat that, please?

True Story.

At my job, most of you know I work with keeping p0rn0gr@phy out of the schools.

One day I was working at a school far, far away with their Network guy, a co-worker of mine and a technician on the telephone who represented the filter company.

We had to make changes and then test the filter over and over again.

Each time we would make a change, we tested to ensure the filter was still blocking properly.

Since we know that p0rn is an absolute no-no, the filter company devised two test pages that come back blocked with the reason being p0rn0gr@phy so that schools can test without actually attempting to go to an unsavory sight - and get a nasty surprise.

Well, we used the first test page and all worked okay - the filter was working.

We made another change and tested the filter using the 2nd test page. Still good.

We made another change and instead of going in and clearing out the browser's cache which can be time consuming, the tech on the phone suggested I type in p!ayb0y.com.  I did and it came up blocked. The filter was still working.

We made another change, and to test the filter I chose p!aygir!.com.  You know, being a girl and all. It came up blocked - filter was still working.

We made another change, and the network guy at the school suggested we test with $ex.com. Still blocked.

We made another change and my co-worker said to test with hust!er.com.  Still blocked. All was good.

We made another change and there was a pause. The tech on the telephone said "I'm all out of suggestions."

Nobody else said anything and I recalled a site a friend had asked me to look into. She had caught her step son on a p0rn page and wanted me to look and see how much he could see before the site made him use a credit card. The answer was plenty.

Anyway, I blurted out the site's name - pinkp0rn!

There was an awkward silence. The tech on the telephone said "What?"

I got uncomfortable. Did I look and sound like some kind of pervert?  Had I said too much?

Before I could say anything in my defense, the tech on the telephone asked "Pig p0rn?"

Yeah. We didn't get much done after that.

Rescue Team

I mentioned a few weeks back that I was stuck in traffic on the Interstate for over an hour. That was the morning that I had not eaten anything and drank way too much coffee and wondered what the heck I was going to do if I had to wait very much longer. When I heard the firetruck coming up, I had my phone camera ready to snap a shot.

The ambulance a few minutes before this one was being driven by my S-I-L. Of course she did not know I was in traffic until I texted my brother.

Reel Time:

A movie I watched a couple of months ago: "A Lonely Place to Die".  I had not heard of any of the actors. It has some startling scenes in it that just make you jump right out of your chair. It does have some blood - mostly suspense.

A group of mountain climbers stumble upon a girl that is buried underground. A pipe had been inserted for her to breath and they heard her cries for help. She was foreign and they could not communicate with her. They felt that they needed to get her back to safety - a town that was quite a ways off. They quickly realized that whoever buried the girl there was keeping her for a ransom or something and they wanted the girl back and they were prepared to kill each and every one of the climbers to do it.

A lot of outdoor scenery and shots. A lot of action in the outdoors. A ton of surprise and suspense.

Okay in my book. Not fantastic but I'd watch it again. As long as I could remember where the startling places were so that I did not jump out of my skin all over again.

I talk to socks and I pet pillows

Okay. This photo was lifted off the Internets. I "googled" socks and pillows and found this. Not at all related to my post but the picture made me go "What the heck?"  The story behind this picture is about a lady who liked to bury her feet in her pillows to keep them warm. So, she just found a way to put socks into a pillow. Ooooo-kay!

Now, on to my post. I DO talk to socks. I DO pet pillows. Not out of sheer insanity. When you have as many pets as I do and you are a migraine sufferer - you may find yourself doing this too. I do not turn many lights on in the wee hours of the morning because of photo sensitivity. It hurts. It causes headaches. Most of the time I find my way through the house in the dark.

As I pass by a cat sleeping on the arm of a chair, I will reach out and give it a soft pet as I go by. Well, sometimes in the wee hours of the morning (or even in the evening) I will reach out to give a soft pet to....yep. A pillow. Rats!

The other day I left my bedroom door open and as I walked in to do something, I saw (what I thought was) a cat's tail peeking out behind my door, and snapped "Get OUT of my room!"  The black sock did not budge. It just looked up at me and seemed to say "Make me."

Yep. There you have it. A snapshot for you of life in my zoo.

Oops

I was supposed to pick my daughter up at the airport last night. She called and said that the person who booked the flight did not realize it was for Tuesday the 14th. She was already at the airport, had gone through security, her ride had left.

Yep. It has been THAT kind of a week.

Repercussion

We've all done it I suppose. Come to a point where you are so fed up you let someone have it with both barrels. I did this at work. Not to a co-worker. An application I work with and the company that manufactures it. Sigh. I was totally fed up.

Now, come the repercussions. They are falling over themselves trying to fix something - anything. I have to work with an engineer today from their organization. He will try to "fix" things for me. Whatever. I was so angry on Friday I was spitting nails.

Today the anger has dissipated. Today I am just numb. I will try to get my dander back up so that my mind is sharp and I can work with him to resolve the issue. It takes so much darn energy!

A Moose

Once in a while when I sit in my TV chair to watch a show or a movie, a cat will sit up by my head on the back of the chair. Usually there is one on the right arm of the chair and another on the left arm. 

When Moose sits up on the back of my chair, she smacks me in the head with her tail. Constantly. Besides being a heavy tail and the "whack" feeling, she creates a pretty cold breeze with her fluffy tail.

Not really sure if she is mad, perturbed or just trying to get my goat. One thing is for certain. She makes her presence known.

Do you have any pets that "talk" to you?

Where bananas come from

Big bananas have little bananas, see?