Category: Health


Dear Co-Worker:

As you know I have the job of cleaning the refrigerator every Friday, that means I throw out leftovers and spoiled food. I find it hilarious that this is my responsibility, my refrigerator at home has beer, energy drinks, pitcher of water and a carton of milk in it. Even more hilarious is despite being a single girl living alone in Manhattan whose idea of ‘gourmet’ cooking is stirring a spoonful of hot sauce into her boxed macaroni and cheese, I apparently know more about food storage than you do.

For instance, I know that if you leave strawberries in the refrigerator for three weeks they get all this nice gray fuzz on them. Except its not nice, IT’S DISGUSTING!

It is probably a good thing I don’t know who you are, since you would probably have found moldy strawberries in your desk on Monday. So to keep things nice it would be better if you didn’t come to my desk and complain about the fact that I threw out your berries. We really don’t want to find out if I actually took my Workplace Violence training to heart.

Love, ME

This October has quite frankly, been awful. What with a friend’s cancer coming back (after 10+ years cancer-free), another friend going to visit her mother who has Alzheimer’s (and sending me text messages “My mom’s really not doing well.”), the episode on the Evil Green Train that I wrote about before, and another one that I didn’t write about but resulted in me missing a day from work, to my allergies and asthma flaring up (that resulted in $100 pharmacy bill) and my rosacea and eczema coming back (another $90), I want a do-over please. Oh did I mention, the Yankees got swept by the Tigers in the ALCS and THERE WAS A MOUSE UNDER MY STOVE!

Upstate

I spent Saturday night at my old place. I used to rage against people who said I lived upstate, “I don’t live upstate, I live in the Hudson Valley.” Saturday when Em was in the city and the Greenpeace guy was asking us for money, the first question they always ask is “Where are you from?” Em answers, “Upstate.” So ….

I slept in my old bedroom, except it wasn’t my old bedroom. The bed was where my sewing machine used to be, they actually turned the two rooms into one, so there is a sleeping area and a sitting area, so Sarah can have a friend over. Em got corn and roasted it on the grill. It was so good, but I was sick, I am still sick. Blech.

Yankees lost on Sunday, CC went on the DL, I told Alex, “The Yankees are doomed, that means no more half-price Papa John’s.” His reply was they better start winning again because he wants his pizza!

So my head is going to explode anytime now. I should post the rest of my pictures before that happens.

More postcards

~ or ~

More proof that I have completely lost my mind.

Dear hair,

Could you please, when you fall out of my head, not twist and tie up into little tangles that look like spiders?

You scare me.

Love, Me

Dear little gold hoop with the butterfly,

Please come out of hiding. Your twin misses you.

I thought when I took out of the box and put you in my ear you would understand that meant I liked you and wanted to show you off. I did not want you to jump out and hide.

If you don’t come out of hiding soon, I will be forced to go to the Diamond District and sell your twin. Yes I will.

Love (for now), ME

Dear Netti pot,

I love you, and I hate you.

That is all.

Love (and Hate) ME

Time for a treat

So I headed to SoHo to partake of tea and scones at Harney and Sons.
Someone had told me that a friend of her’s was going to do her nails, 4 nails one color and the ring finger another color. Then I saw it in a blog or online, I’m not sure where, being that I am only a little adventurous, I just had Esther put glitter polish over the color, can you see it?

Last time, I hope

Wednesday I had a doctor’s appointment, a followup on my treatment for the warts on my feet. I was sure my right foot was completely free of warts and the doctor agreed with me. However the one on my left foot is being stubborn so the doctor froze it again. Of course I am a big baby so I am whining about it.

The doctor’s office is in the Flatiron area of the city so after my appointment I went down to get my ear checked. My last piercing is hurting and oozing so I wanted Ashley to look at it. She wasn’t there but the other piercer looked at it and put a longer post on. Hopefully with a little room the swelling will go down. He also loosened the blue diamond earring because that one was being a little ‘cranky’ as well. Then of course I had to get tea and scones.

Coming home was the real problem, the subway stopped at 86th. I wanted to get home so I got off and walked home from there. My foot didn’t appreciate that and complained the whole way home. It’s still complaining, I may have to take some Aleve.

Now it is way past my bedtime. If I don’t sleep soon, I won’t make it to work tomorrow.

New Year’s Resolutions

This is the time of year that many people make resolutions. I do not make New Year’s Resolutions. They usually involve bettering yourself or being a better person and I think that is something one should do all the time, not just resolve to do it on New Year’s Day.

However, if I was going to make New Year’s Resolutions, here are two I would make.

  1. Be on time for work. Or rather, try harder to be on time for work. I know that if I say ‘be on time’ and I’m not, I will just give up. This is something that is a life long problem for me. And it is cyclical. To be on time I have to get up earlier, to get up earlier I have to go to bed earlier, I have to remember to shower the night before. Which means getting off the computer before it is 1 or 2 in the morning.
  2. Lose weight. Which I have been trying to do for a while, I am on Weight Watchers (for the third time) and I know what I have to do, I just have to DO IT.

Even though I didn’t make a resolution, these are two things I am working on this year.

This was an acoustic show. Meaning no band, just him and two friends with guitars. The proceeds from this concert benefited his charity “Sidewalk Angels“. Mari even came on stage to tell a little about it and thank everyone for, in effect, donating. This is also not the first time I have seen Rob Thomas, and the reason this is not on the review blog is because I am not reviewing his show.

Instead I am writing about the experience. I went up to Em’s on Friday and we drove out to the concert. I had a migraine starting Wednesday and was still feeling it Friday even after I stayed home Thursday (I had originally planned to go to work on Thursday). Despite this I made it to the train I wanted to catch, I was even early and very proud of myself. The only thing was, since I was getting on at 125th, and I never know which direction is which, I mean I had an idea but I wasn’t sure, so I got on the front of the train instead of the back and so got off in Beacon on the wrong end of the train. Not really a problem, just confused Tigger who was waiting for me and didn’t see me come out with the rest of the people.

Fast forward to the concert, which we got lost driving to (a couple of times), and as we were sitting there Em told me that a co-worker made her feel old by saying Billy Joel is washed up, or a has been or something like that. After I scoffed at that I was looking around the arena and saw a banner hanging up, “Billy Joel” with a big 10 under his name, and under that “sold out shows in a row. A New England record. Or it was at the time. I pointed it out to Em, she read the dates “from May to July 2008”, well that was 3 years ago she remarked with a smirk. He broke a record set in 1987. Washed up my a__.

In the Spring of 2008, Billy Joel performed 10 sold-out shows at Mohegan Sun, and set several attendance records.

On the entertainment side, the biggest thing in the casino business, for this property and for me, was Billy Joel. It was the biggest deal I have ever been involved in. Dennis Arfa (Joel’s booking agent since 1976) and I go back years. I would always approach Dennis–from when I was in Atlantic City until I came up to New England—and ask, “How can I get Billy Joel to do a casino?” It never happened. One day, Dennis and I were having a friendly lunch and, of course, I brought the subject up again. The idea of breaking a (casino) record intrigued Billy and it intrigued us as well. We did 10 sold-out shows in a row. He sold out every show instantly. That, to me, is one of the great casino entertainment stories.

The concert was nice, Rob making his little comments, forgetting the words to a song (not his own, “Save the Last Dance”) and getting them from someone’s iPhone, then tossing it back to them (OOPS).

Then we drove home, only getting turned around once this time. The next morning I went home and that was an adventure.

First was getting to the train station, first thing was, since it was New Year’s Eve day, I wanted to get home as soon as possible, before everyone and his brother started going down to the city. I was up to late for Tigger, D wanted to get the car looked at, Em convinced him to wait for me to eat breakfast. I caught the 10:57 out of Beacon.

When I got to 125th Street I had to pee but the bathroom door was locked. Since I was going home I decided to just wait till I got there and hiked down to the #6 train. I swiped my card, and went nowhere. A 30 day MetroCard is just that, 30 days not a month. So I had to go get a new MetroCard, then I went down, I was determined to not get on the express like the last time but I hesitated on the first platform, “Uptown and the Bronx”. If I was at GCT that is the train I would take, but I was in Harlem, I ran down to the next platform as the doors were closing on the train. So I had to wait and I had to pee, not a good combination. I hate running in my apartment when I have to pee, that’s usually when I forget to lock my door and then I’m in the bathroom wondering if I locked the door or not.

The issue with the MetroCard meant I didn’t go shopping. That turned out to be good because by waiting until today the dress I wanted was 50% off.

Worse then the disease

We’ve all heard the saying, the cure is worse than the disease. It most cases it is. I’m not a medical person, but I would say that since to be sick you just have to be exposed, and to get cured you have to actively do something to heal yourself, that would make the cure worse than the disease. Of course in most cases (unless the cure is going to kill or maim you horribly) it is worth it to suffer with the cure.

There was this bump on my foot, a couple of them actually, that for a long time I thought (told myself) were callouses. They were not. When I started to get more and they were not going away even though I changed my shoes, I knew I had to see the doctor. Diagnosis: plantar warts (Plantar warts: can develop on any part of the foot. Sometimes dark specks are visible beneath the surface of the wart. When pressure from standing or walking pushes a plantar wart beneath the skin’s surface, a layer of thick, tough skin similar to a callus develops over it. As the callus and wart get larger, walking can become painful, much like walking with a pebble in your shoe. Multiple plantar warts can form in a large, flat cluster known as a “mosaic wart.”). The first doctor I went to didn’t want to treat them. He didn’t even give me anything to put on them at home just referred me to the podiatrist.

This is the back of my foot now, it looks worse then when ;The most common way of treating warts, as I understand it. Is the way my doctor did it. She scrapped the wart off, then sprayed liquid nitrogen on the spots, this is Cryotherapy. Very little risk of scarring, but very painful. The website didn’t say very painful, it says, can be painful. I am here to tell you VERY PAINFUL. I’ve also been told I am a wimpy little baby.

The doctor was most concerned with these, since they are on the back of the heel where the skin is very thin and there is risk of more pain and infection. Did I tell you ‘very painful’? She also gave me a prescription for wart medicine, told me to buy duct tape and spray my shoes with Lysol®. I passed the instructions on to Em, since she was coming down the next day to ‘take care of me’. She bought me purple duct tape.

My left foot

Yes I know that is the title of a book or movie or both. I’m not trying to steal it or anything.

Whenever I get new shoes, any type of shoes, if I’m going to have any sort of problem with the shoes, blisters, rubbing, hurting, you get the idea. The worst of it will be on my left foot. Always.

My left foot hates shoes.