10/29/09 Stayed home

Stayed home from work today because I started feeling bad yesterday afternoon. Thank God it's not the flu, though. It's a head cold or something like that. Headache, eye ache, body aches. No fever and no stomach problems, so I'm confident it's not the flu. I only have to work a half day tomorrow so will stay home again...

Slept all day long which is an unbelievable luxury.


Chicago Reality TV Examiner--Survivor Samoa: Is Shambo just one of the guys?

4/1 Not an April Fool's joke

I still don't feel well so I canceled my class at QU tonight.


Children who have autism have teacher who celebrates their gains

Please click. My numbers have been down lately. Thanks. Love you.

2/2 Yuck

Still sick with the plague and bad back so going to bed early.

Tonight's article is Autism: CNN reports on a family in chaos. Thanks for clicking, and sometimes reading. Love to all.

1/31 Sick?

I'm still sick but Gussie isn't. But he peed on the newly shampooed carpet. That's my boy.


New article this morning. You don't have to be kid to have a play date.

1/29/09 Achooo!

I'm thinking my sinus infection has returned. Boo hiss.

Another boo hiss. The carpet cleaners were here today. The carpet was beautiful. Then Gussie threw up.

And the sad thing is he's been throwing up since this morning. I'll have to take him to the vets if this doesn't stop by tomorrow morning. Poor Gussie.


Tonight's article is about Bumper sticker 6.

12/8/08 Travel

Drove to St. Louis today. Will begin a CPI recertification class tomorrow. It will be weird. I worked for the company for 10 years, until 10/06 and I taught this class since 1984 where I worked, so it will be odd to have a "young whippersnapper" teach me. :)

And I'm so grateful my back is good. I'm getting off the pain pills, so I have to be careful of what I do, but that's okay. I'm in a real good mood about my back.

Went to my doc yesterday because I have a sinus infection. What a horrible time to be away from home, huh? But the hotel offers me sleep without having to take care of my animals, or without laundry, dishes, etc. So it's kind of nice being somewhere where people take care of you (for a price). Room service guy, Willie, brought me soup and grilled cheese, but threw in tea and lemon at no charge. What a sweetie!

Time for the shower, and then to training.

Oh, what I discovered about my column on examiner.com? If you don't post every day your ratings don't stay high. So I hurried up and posted last night. We have to post four times a week, but I'm going to try for more. I want to earn a little bit of money.

12/7 Trying to get things done

Am on my last two loads of laundry. I finally put some ornaments on my Christmas tree. Can't put the angel on without help however. Am trying to get some things done since I leave tomorrow for five days. Have to pack tonight and have to grade papers. But what I really need to do is just lay down and try to get better. I didn't sleep much last night, but did doze today a bit.

Gussie and Allie have been friendly and fun today. Bozie is kind of hiding out. I think she's a little jealous. But at least she isn't as guarded with the new one as she was yesterday. It will just take a while I guess.

Will stop at my doc's office on the way to work and see if I can get fit in. Sure hope so. This thing won't go away.

As a side note, I'm in the playoffs on my fantasy football team (am #1 in our league). Am playing the 8th guy and he's tied with me right now. Sure hope I catch up. I've done well all season. Would hate to lose in the first playoff game.

12/7 Lots of things

First of all, happy birthday to my brother John. You're really old!

Secondly, Bozie REALLY hates Allie. Hope that changes soon.

Thirdly, my email is screwy.

And lastly I cannot breathe. Just thought I'd get it in there. I'll have to stop by the doc's tomorrow because I leave tomorrow night for St. Louis.

Omigod, Cindy, I forgot to ask you to come over once during the week to check on the cat(s). Allie likes people, not shy like Bozie. But maybe Bozie's bad habits will rub off on her. Who knows? I'll call you today.

Not a smart time to get a cat, I know, since I'm leaving. But she attacked me with love as I got close to her cage. She's three months younger than the dog and cat--four months versus seven months. I'll celebrate their birthdays together.

I have lots of work to do today--laundry, cleaning up, decorating tree, writing and posting a column, reading and grading 10 papers (each 5-7 pages long). What I really want to do is get a cup of tea and then go to bed. Or else play Wii. I think that would be a good antidote to a sinus infection.

Okay, I'm rambling. Sorry.

12/5 A Wii night

I finally had some energy tonight and put together my Wii console and games. It was difficult because the TV in the living room is so big and I had to plug things in in the back, but I was able to rotate the TV on the table without doing any lifting. I was very proud of myself.

Created two avatars--Jer and Jerilyn. The first one is blonde, the second one gray. The blonde ended up with age 70 on the fitness test and the gray one was 45. Made me laugh. It was sure fun playing, but it will be more fun when people join me.

I have bronchitis again. Am coughing up wondrous things. And the grossest thing of all (don't read if you have a weak stomach)--at the end of the work day I was doing family therapy and trying not to cough. My eye itched and when I pulled my hand away from my eye--it was full of the same gunk I've been coughing up and blowing out. It was the grossest thing I've ever seen. Guess that means I must have a sinus infection or something, so should go to the doctor. Probably will.

Also guess this means I'll have to cancel my invitation for family to come over on Sunday to play games. Maybe my two nurse sisters, brave souls both of them, will still come and play games with me. Although I'm gross, I feel fine.

10/2 Don't bother reading....

it's just more about sickness.

Doc listened to my lungs and said, "We need to get an xray." I didn't even ask why, since I know several people who started with bronchitis and ended up with pneumonia. Don't know if I have it or not, guess I'll find out in a few days.

I have a nebulizer now and am using that four times a day. And doc told me I couldn't work for a few days. He even wrote it out. In order to be able to take off tomorrow, I worked until 7 pm tonight. Am pretty tired.

Because my back hurts so much worse I have an appointment tomorrow morning for physical therapy and then with the new pain doctor.

Have some different meds. Just hope I feel better by Saturday. At least bronchitis isn't contagious, so that's good news. :) Love to all.

9/29 Talked to my bro

It was wonderful. He sounds like himself. (Thanks, God.)

Tomorrow the carpet cleaners come and my car gets detailed. I feel so exquisitely CLEAN.

Have been having a really rough several days with my back. Don't know what to complain about--the back or the bronchitis. Since I can't decide, guess I won't complain about either one. :)

Time for dinner. And then time to play with sweet Gussie. I can't take him for a walk again today, which makes me feel guilty, but at least I can play with him. And tomorrow he'll go to doggy day care, where he'll get plenty of exercise, leaving me guilt free.

9/27 Wonderful news

The news that outshines everything else this week is that my brother is home from the hospital and doing well. We are all so incredibly grateful.

As for me...my cold is bronchitis and I'm on tons of meds so should feel fine soon. As long as I'm well by next Saturday when company comes, I'll be fine.

9/22 Another busy day

Work was extremely busy and topped off by going to the adolescent psych ward to consult with some admissions. Then bought dog food, cat food, cat litter--such excitement, can you bear it?

Luckily Jan stopped by to put some boxes in the shed so she was able to get the 20 pound kitty litter out of the car. It also felt good to have company. I've been kind of a leper since Thursday night. But I feel so much better today and of course I'm thrilled about it.

Sending lots of love to someone who's having surgery tomorrow. You're in my prayers. Love to all.

9/21 Walked

Yep, Gus and I just walked a mile--and I didn't take a walking stick. After about a half block I realized I should have it because my back hurt and I was feeling unbalanced. But I chose something straight ahead of me to focus on and it helped.

As far as my cold--it's a lot better today. I'm still going between sweating and freezing, but that will pass. Need a nap now because the walk took it out of me. :) Lazy butt--but I can't help it. This cold is just plain stupid. It not only makes me cough and snort, it makes me tired.

I'll be better by tomorrow, and that's a guarantee. One more day of rest and fluids should do the trick. (Gus is already asleep from the walk.) :)

9/20 Not much new

Still sick. But I'm getting better I'm sure--I now have antibiotics and a fierce cough medicine (thanks, Jane and Jan). Slept most of yesterday and a lot of today, so that's got to be doing something good for me. Took Gus for our usual Saturday morning Starbucks excursion, and instead of going in to work, came home and slept again.

My nephew Cody took Gussie for a walk this afternoon. That's about all the exercise the dog's gotten for a few days--he and the cat have been sleeping with me all day. They sure are sweet.

In about an hour or so the entire family will meet for my sister-in-law Paulette's 60th birthday party. I know they'll have a wonderful time, even if the life of the party can't attend. :) Sure wish I could go, but Typhoid Mary needs to stay home.

I should start feeling normal by tomorrow (whatever normal is).

Oh, found out last night that my daughter-in-law Beata has pneumonia. I feel so bad for her, but glad it's getting taken care of now. They're coming to visit in two weeks so she should be all better by then. I can't wait to have a full house--with Rob, Beata, Jill, Kayla, and Hunter. It's going to be great.

9/19 Score: Cold 1, Jer 0

Finally gave in and am staying home from work today. I hate hate hate missing work but since I ran a temperature yesterday I don't want to make anyone else sick.

And unless a miracle happens this also means that I have to miss a big family gathering tomorrow. That REALLY upsets me.

But the GREAT news is that my brain MRI showed that I have one and that there are no signs of tumors or potential aneurysms. I'm very grateful. What did show was that I'm a compassionate, brilliant, talented, and humble human being.

Actually it showed the changes that come with age. And since we know I'm old, that came as no surprise.

Guess it's my meds causing the balance problems, which is what I was hoping for all along. Love to all...

9/16 Just call me snot-faced

Or drippy-nose, or sneezy-head, or Dopey. Wait, not the last one.

I'm kind of scared I'll start sneezing during the MRI tomorrow. That would really be awful.

Today has just not been a good day. But Gus is happy. He was at Doggy Day Care and is passed out already. "A tired dog is a happy dog."

It'll sure be an early night for me-I'll go to sleep right after Biggest Loser.

Oh, and my pre-approval expired. About two days before I got the down payment money. Amazing. But the GREAT news is that the percentage went down from 6.7% to 6.0% Can't complain about that. My new approval will be done ASAP.