I might fall down, but I'll get back up

Hi kids!

Long time no meaningful blog, eh? Let's see if I can summarize the last couple weeks:

• I was on vacation from December 24 to January 2
• I hung out with Mack Daddy Smooth
• I took control over the remote control and what Queen S and I watched on television, which prompted her to say, "Whose TV is this again?" (Duh! Mine!)
• I partied with some Michfest friends for New Year's Eve, which resulted in:

(a) wearing too much makeup

(b) drinking a lot

(c) giving a lot of money to drag queens but if you'd seen the one queen's performance to Tina Turner's "Simply the Best" you would've been coming up off the cash too;

(d) repeatedly poking my friend's boobies that were spilling forth from her corset;

(e) desperately trying (and succeeding, thankfully) to stay awake while I drove across Ohio and back to River City after not getting much sleep for three days;

(f) giving in and sleeping at a rest stop on the way home on one of the coldest days of the year (or THE coldest, considering it was January 1), which meant I covered up with my coat and a towel I keep in the backseat for water aerobics.

I believe that Christmas is finally and officially over. Our company's holiday lunch was on Friday the 4th after being postponed for a couple weeks, and I met Serena for Thai food yesterday afternoon, during which we exchanged presents. Note to spice weenies: If you order Thai fried rice and order it too hot for your delicate palate, get a side of plain white rice and some sweet chili sauce and mix things up. Result: Delicious, less-hot rice (read: no more flames shooting out of mouth) that can be eaten without pausing for a sip of overly sweet tea after every bite.

After lunch yesterday, Serena and I embarked on a two-hour "Ooh! Ahh!" mission through a local fabric store, during which I decided I need to look into this newfangled concept of quilting. My GODDESS, there's some pretty fabric in the world. I bought some sheen-y black fabric with stars and moons all over it to make a tarot card bag (despite the fact that I fear sewing machines) and some pretty sparkly orange fabric that I plan to use as an altar cloth. I also got several packages of Sculpey and made clay flowers and such while enjoying the rest of my Sunday at home.

I was glad when our time together was cut short by Serena's need to do laundry. I ran out of Effexor a couple days ago and when I called in my refill, found out there's some mess going on with the insurance company and get pre-authorization for payment. So I've been off my meds (ha, I just love saying that) for several days and am dealing with being lightheaded 24/7, which really isn't fun, especially when one is trying not to weave through the aisles of a certain fabric store. As one gentleman on the Internet stated, "...within a day of ceasing Effexor, I felt light-headed, disoriented, lethargic, and generally unwell." Yeah, that pretty much describes it. I felt and looked like crap on Friday and the lightheaded feeling is really only getting worse. No worries, though: I have a call in to the doctor and hopefully all of this mess will be taken care of promptly. I'd much rather be off medication entirely but going cold turkey is clearly not the way to go about things.

I'm still considering applying for that communications job at my high school. Applications are due Friday.

A Michfest friend came through town on Friday on her way back to grad school and life in Florida. She and her three cats stayed with me overnight, during which time George let me know, when I tried to pet her and get her to stop making that nonstop, threatened, throaty growl, Just How Sharp Her Nails Are. Gizmo is anthropophobic and I eventually found her in the basement, hiding behind a door, long after my pal and her merry band of felines had departed. Gizmo was stiff as a board and I brought her upstairs where she and George sniffed out the entire house and finally believed me when I said they were once again the only cats in the apartment. I knew Giz would hide, but having to track her down in the basement surprised me. Of course, as I crept down the basement stairs to the creepy-ass unfinished cellar -- where I am certain both Fortunato AND the victims of the Blair Witch reside -- I hoped the serial killer who surely lives in one of the darker, cobwebier corners, was taking a break or out stalking someone.

After Serena and I parted ways, I dropped in on Target and bought a DVD player for less than $40. I hooked it up all! by! myself! and was on the verge of very frustrated tears when I finally started messing around with the remote and found I needed to be on AV-1, whatever that is, instead of the simple channel three or four of my youth. Oh, happy day -- a screening of A River Runs Through It, a DVD that Mack Daddy Smooth got me for Christmas, took place shortly thereafter. I had never seen it before and enjoyed it quite a lot. On the docket tonight: La Bamba and/or Sense and Sensibility (the other DVDs that MDS got me).

* * * * * * * * * *

Get me out of here: Have been thinking again about moving out of state. Fairly simultaneously, have been thinking again about buying a house here. I'm interested, as I mentioned some time ago, in painting the walls of my apartment and stripping the weird almond-colored paint from the wood and brickwork in my living room, but a part of me wonders why I want to put so much energy into renovating a place where the upstairs neighbors are from hell. Case in point: The upstairs guy's relatives stayed with him and his girlfriend for close to 10 days. The staircase, upon which footsteps cause torturous echoes, was used as part of an apparent obstacle course, which also included Living Room Body-Slamming and the Midnight Boulder Toss. Let's just say I was happy to get out of town when I did on the 30th.

Being lightheaded is bullshit: I feel very much like shit. Luckily, nothing hurts, aside from a very mild headache I'm dealing with, but the stand-up-and-swoon thing is vastly uncool. I called the doctor's office to see about getting a temporary prescription, an adventure which can only be described as FAIL. I was told about five times that my prescription wasn't ready. Right. I understand. I have a rudimentary grasp on the English language. What I'm clearly not succeeding in communicating is, "Yes, I understand that, but is there a temporary solution to this problem?" I was told that "the nurse will call me" which I know is code for "I don't work in this department." Fine. I'll just be in the corner, holding onto anything solid and wood in appearance until the drugstore calls. I don't suppose a watched cell phone rings any faster, hmm?

Oh yeah... goals: I thought of a few goals for 2008, but now can't remember what they were. The only one I remember is that I would like to lose 50 pounds by the end of the year, which means that (a) I need to continue my moratorium against eating at McDonald's, which is now six or seven weeks strong.

Trying new things: I participated in a line dance at the bar where I was celebrating NYE with my Michfest friends. We'd been at the bar the night before for someone's birthday party and I'd heard several songs I liked but didn't get up to dance to because I had the motion, but did not have the moves. I remedied that fact by joining in on a dance very much like the Electric Slide and had a good time. It only took a minute or so to figure out the pattern. Sadly, though, I had to give up on the dance a few minutes later because the song was apparently never going to end and I was tired of turning in endless squares. That or I sat down when I couldn't get my legs to work anymore. Or maybe I was drunk. I don't entirely remember. It was dark, there was music, and lots of flash photography. I was, uh, disoriented. I never slept with that woman. What's happening?

I know there's more to mention but I can't think of most of it right now. Here's hoping your holidays rocked, fun was had, and that you aren't still hungover from any of the festivities. But if you are, let's walk weave around together. C'mon, it'll be fun!