Went on the walk, met some very nice ladies. Things to remember:

New sneakers. I'm not saying my feet hurt, but my legs do.

Lightweight mittens. It took a while for my hands to warm up in the chilly weather.

Baseball cap/sunscreen. I can feel a slight burn, even on a chilly November morning.

Tissues. Cold weather + exercise = runny nose.

ID packet to go around my neck. I can always stuff my keys in my bra, but I draw the line at "boobie money".

Water bottle? Something at least...

So, six of us showed up. Three women are married with kids. One is divorced with children and the fifth...I never found out. Two of them are educators, one is studying to be a therapist, another has a job in communications. Again, the fifth, I never found out what she does. Topics of discussion ranged from getting a special teacher's certificate (something like a masters in the field), going to school part time, kids, dogs (we might be seeing some dogs on future walks ;-) ), First Fridays in Philly, and of course, the Park itself. At this time of year, it's gorgeous.

The last part of the walk was a bit of a challenge for me, because it was uphill. I managed to slog through it, though and I'm proud of that.

So, Josh and I took Mom and Dad out yesterday to a museum and dinner.

The Jim Henson exhibit was small, but informative and for the kids...awesome. A large corner of it was taken up with a playhouse and tables with activities for them. There were some cases with various muppets, such as Bert and Ernie, two characters from Cinderella!, a dress for the female character in Dark Crystal (so tiny!), Gobo and another character from Fraggle Rock, Rolf, and a couple of misc. from his commercials.

I didn't know that Jim Henson's early career was mostly commercials. They showed some and they were pretty funny. He also made several movies, one of which seems to actually been a mindf*ck flick. I would not have seen that coming...

Unfortunately, the museum gift shop was sorely lacking in Henson memorabilia. They had a couple of figurines from Labyrinth and Dark Crystal, some books, and kiddie stuff like balloons and hand puppets, but it was a limited selection and nothing with Kermit the Frog. I was disappointed, because I wanted to get something for C., who loves frogs. However, I got her a very lovely peacock colored journal, because she likes to write her thoughts down. It'll be a nice X-Mas present, especially if I can find a nice pen to go with it.

We had an early reservation at NuBrasa, which was good, because I was hungry by three thirty. The Brazilian steakhouse was a bit on the pricey side for me, but the food was rich, the service was excellent and we got to sample the different meats. My father actually had two lamb chops! Mom and I agreed that if we went back, next time we would adjust what we took from the salad bar to make it easier on our digestion. ;-)

Mom hadn't slept the night before, and I thought she'd want to go to bed when we got back to their house, but she stayed up or dozed off when Josh put on the Dr Who Christmas Special (from last year apparently). The first hour was Dr. Who at the Proms, which is basically a live orchestra and video display, but it also featured two of the actresses who portray his companions as the MC's and various Cybermen, Daleks, and other aliens showed up. It was funny to see the kiddies react, some with fear and some with awesome glee.

The next hour was the actual special, where the Doctor lands in 19th century London on Christmas Eve, meets his "next" self, and defeats the Cybermen.

As I said, Mom dozed off during much of the movie. She woke up after Josh and Dad went upstairs to do computer stuff, and she and I talked about a bunch of stuff. I didn't get to leave until after ten...which was a good forty five minutes later than I meant to leave!

Well, I was having trouble sleeping, but I feel better now. And I'm glad I did come on here, because I got an e-mail from Meetup about a walk in the park tomorrow morning at 8.30 am...

OK, so I had a decent day at work. I even found out that one of the women at work likes to try new foods and I would have never expected it of her. So she ordered with us at Wasabi Sushi. :-)

I also found out that we're getting 24 inch monitors. I'm like, ho sh- I mean, YESSSSSSS

After work, I got my hair and nails done. It's been months since I took care of my hair and the varnish on my nails had already started flaking off. Not a pleasant sight for taking my parents out to dinner tomorrow.

Oh, yes. Tomorrow my brother and I are taking them to the James A Michner Musem, then to NaBrasa Brazilian Steakhouse in Doylestown. We could only get a four thirty reservation for dinner, but it could be worse. The only other reservation was for eight thirty...

I'm listening to a clip of some sort of jazzed up version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". It's pretty cool. By The Bad Plus? Yeah, them... Hey, they're on YouTube, too. But I always did like offbeat covers like that.

The only thing bothering me now is that I'm coughing and feeling a bit congested in the chest. Considering all the bugs flying around at work (sick manager with NO leave to take off sick, another co-worker who was diagnosed with H1N1 the week before and came in mostly recovered this week, and two others who called out sick...) I think I just may be screwed. We'll see over the weekend.

I was expecting the guy to come out today after three, but he never showed up. However, my internet was restored around five, so I'm wondering if he'd been around the building anyway.

Cross fingers, but I'm doing ok at work. I'm not thinking about work stuff at home and despite a couple of irritants, I'm not obsessing about 'em. I still want to try to get my old seat back, but it's a matter of my manager actually coming in to work. Poor woman, she's got a blood condition, she's depressed, still is recovering from some micro-strokes, etc and this week, she's got a fever.

It's like, I look at her and but for the grace of G-d...

Tomorrow, I go in for my blood work. At least I get to sleep in a bit, since it's at seven thirty.

My brother and I will take our parents to the James A Michener Museum in Doylestown. There is an exhibit of Jim Henson's work there. I am relieved we are finally doing something...cultural.

Now to find a place to eat for after!

Original Character Meme (stolen from alephz who stole it from quizzicalsphinx, who stole it from vyrdaeom, who stole it from someone else.)



Rules:
~ If you don't have at least 8 OCs I wouldn't recommend this meme.
~ Add on questions to this meme! It will make it bigger!

Done!

I just spent most of my afternoon with a Lexmark tech trying to figure out why I can't save my scanned images. He/She ended up having to "drive" my comp and install/re-install stuff. Argh

But it's working now. I'm scanning stuff I've had since '93...

Before I forget...

I dreamt that C. gave me a ride into work and we parked on her side of the building.  To get to my area, I had to walk through hers.  There were a lot of people that I knew and they were asking me where I'd been and stuff like that.  A red headed guy (kinda geeky looking and with a hair style that looked like Gary Oldman's from The Fifth Element) handed me flyers about an upcoming dance/entertainment.  It was nerdy though, with hand-drawn images of the X-Men on it and the theme was Tokens.  It was kinda embarassing...

When I got to my area, I discovered that it was full of new hires and our desks were school desks, not cubicles.  I chatted with the new people, but was looking for my co-workers, when some of the people I did know came by telling me that the Red-Head was spreading rumors that I was gay, because I'd come into work with C..  Naturally, I told them that even if I was gay, C. was not my girlfriend and when Red came around, I pointed out that I'd been friends with C. for more than 10 years...

Walking away, I looked for my unit.  I never did find them, though I found an empty classroom in a mall.  Later, I had a strange encounter with a pregnant Indian/Pakistani woman and we dueled with rolled up umbrellas.  It ended with a draw.

Eventually, I made it home, which turned out to be my parent's house.  I found that my bedroom was empty and my parents and their cats tied up in their bedroom.  I untied them and called the cops.  When I made to go back downstairs, I found their attackers on the landing, and grabbing ...something electrical and heavy...attacked. 

It wasn't an even fight, but I won.  I'd been hurt though, and before I could be taken care of, the Red-Head came back and proposed to me.

...

And that's around when I woke up, with a headache from my sinuses. 

Whew.  That dream wore me out!

Jim was just here.  I'd been getting static again and of course, the internet dropping off.

He found the actual junction box for the phone on my floor and discovered that the wire was about to snap off in the connection and fixed it.  It was funny, but he'd actually knew about the high open condition, having dealt with it just last week with another customer.

So now my service is to par. 

Also called C. and she wants a girl's day of getting our hands and feet done.  I'm cool with that.

Now I gotta go and mail out my scrips for the drugs...

*Update:

Mailed scrip.  Ran into Staples to buy more ink for my printer, which is only printing in pink now.  Go new ink!  Also briefly discussed computer issue with tech support guy and decided to heck with it, I'm going to have to restore my computer to factory settings, because I can't download and AVG is not working at all.

So, now my computer is loading all the Windows updates and installing AVG.  Thank goodness this time I remembered the code for my wireless so I didn't have to reinstall the Verizon and D-Link software.    It's kinda a slog though.

Oh and yeah.  I took a walk around the apartment complex, while waiting.  I am so out of shape, it's disgusting...

Big pictures from the convention after the cut:

( Hello! )

Saw the doctor today.  She's very concerned about my sugar and has prescribed an additional drug for it, Jenuvia.  She gave me a scrip for more Ativan, but is putting me on Paxil as more of a long-term solution.  She thinks this will help me with the anxiety and get me motivated to move around more.  She really wants me to lose the weight and I feel sluggish and crap so I do, too.

I went to Assi afterwards to do some grocery shopping.  I plan on emptying my fridge of stuff I haven't used in months (and the freezer of frozen meat/fish) and just try to shop more often like the Europeans do, for fresh food.  I did get seasoned pork, chicken, and beef, but it's fresh and not a lot.

Afterwards, I had lunch at Minado's.  When I left, I was full and sleepy and was happy to finally get home and nap.  Unfortunately, C. called me and woke me up, but I was in no condition to talk to her.  I'll have to call her back after I eat dinner.

I made my appointment next week for the blood work and hope to get a copy to take to work so I can join the gym there.

Now I'm working on the Prowl toy (I think they made the doorwings wrong).  Tomorrow, the Verizon guy is coming over and I'll need to tidy up...

I don't know how much milage I incurred, but yesterday and today, I drove out to King of Prussia using the back roads instead of taking the turnpike. 

I'd decided I wanted to go to Sugarloaf Craft Festival at Greater Philadelphia Convention Center, but got lost.  Somehow, I got around to King of Prussia Mall and realized that Jessi B was at the convention there.  But I got there too late to get a pass and I was pretty tired, so I didn't bother to go in and page her.  I did stop of at Minado's, a Japanese buffet, on the way home.  Oh, so tasty and filling. 

BTW, Google Map and Mapquest SUCK.  It had me taking Bethlehem Pike to 309 to 202, which basically meant that I was doubling back and taking me half an hour out of my way...

I decided to try again today, but leave much earlier.  On the way, I stopped off at the Pretzel Factory, for a taste of Philly, ya know, and picked up a dozen pretzels and bottle of spicey brown mustard.  Driving was much easier today, because I had a better idea of where I was going.

I made it to the Convention center without incident and surprised Jessi and Matt, who were in Artists Ally.  They're a very nice couple and Jessi was fun to talk to and she loved the pretzels :-)  .  I got one of her prints (a boy daydreaming) and we sat and talked for a while.  It's been a while since I've paid attention to anime, but it was fun to be able to recognize the cosplays.  There was one Transformer cosplay (Blaster) I took a picture of, but kinda ghetto and I'm still not sure about the gray ear thingys on the girl's head.  She made a cat pose, so maybe she was a Kittyformer? 

I got a couple of pictures of me and Jessi and a girl dressed as Waldo with Jessi.

I also got two TF Universe toys, Prowl and Sunstreaker.  :-)

Around one, I had to move on to the next convention, Sugarloaf, so I made my goodbyes.  Jessi, Matt, it was very cool to meet you both!

I did pretty good getting to the Convention Center, even though the last two steps on Google Map/directions were incorrect.  I ended up making a U-turn and asking a gas station clerk for help and he pointed me in the right direction.

I spent about an hour and a half at Sugarloaf.  At Lois's, I tried on a bunch of frames, but didn't really care for any of them.  Actually, there wasn't anything there that said BUY ME, except for a couple of pictures...but I wasn't ready to drop three, six hundred dollars on artwork...

Oh, and C. called as I just got the ticket for Sugarloaf.  She wanted to know if I wanted to run errands with her and have an early supper.  I had to turn her down, but since I left at three something, I tried to call her back to let her know I was on my way back.  But I guess she's somewhere where there wasn't service, because she didn't pick up...

Anyway, I'm home and trying to figure out if I want to go back out for dinner.  I have to be careful though, because lately, my sugar has been on the high side.  I blame it on stress and craving for sweets for comfort food.

Tomorrow, I have off, but I'll be going to see my doctor.  It's not going to be pretty and again...I have to drive.  But I'll be able to go home and take a nap...

SEPTA decided to go on strike, calling it at three AM this morning.  Thank goodness I heard it before I took my shower and was able to call S. (the new girl in my unit). We'd arranged that if there was a strike, I'd pick her up at the train station before work.  It was too late for her by then  to catch the earliest train, so I went into work, then left to go pick her up around six something.  Tomorrow, she'll be getting the early train.

But if I hadn't caught her when I did, she'd probably would have been out on the corner waiting for the bus...

I laughingly told her that she's gotta listen to KYW in the mornings now.

On the way home from dropping her off, I was glad to see that there was a small eatery/bar across from the train station, so I can eat there on my way home.

Mmmm, I fussed around with the phone some, so now my internet is working again.  I'm not too happy about it though...

Damnit  cat, can't you tell I don't want you snuggling up to ...arrgghh

Now I've got an inch long gash on one of my fingers from him leaping off the bed using my hand as a springboard.

And joy, I've got static on the phone line and my internets is down again...

Most of today at work, I was running a mild fever.  The past couple of hours, I felt as if a headache was coming on.  So I took out the Neti pot to rinse out my sinuses and am drinking tea.  This promises to be a quiet week at work and I don't care to miss it, since I have to possibility of taking three days off next week... Monday for my morning appointment with the doctor, a "sick" day on Tuesday, and of course, the holiday on Wednesday...making it in effect a five day weekend.  Besides, I promised I'd be in on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  I told my manager that I'd bring in the movies, she can bring in the popcorn.

The cats are not taking the time change well, not understanding why I am not refilling their hungry bellies at the "proper" time. Le sigh.

And going through this one girl's DA faves.  Holy crap there's more than 80 pages of stuff!

I also uploaded a bunch of my von Doom fanwriting to Google Docs.  Now I can read the stuff I wrote, which the computer inconsiderately saved for me as XML or WPS crap that I can't open now.

My annual visit to this website:

Afterlife|The Four Seasons of Streatham Cemetery

Enjoy!

Lamebook.

Lovely example:



Do people even THINK before posting?

I called out sick today because I still felt unsteady and feverish.  It's a good thing, because the Verizon guy came out earlier than I was told. 

Actually, two of 'em came out.  The first guy diagnosed my problem as the jack itself.  He pointed out that the opening was too large and that the connectors weren't aligned properly because of that.  I didn't tell him that I'd replaced the jack myself with one from Lowes, but he didn't care.  Fortunately, he had new ones with him and installed one.  He was a little surprised when I explained that I had to make phone calls to myself to get the DSL running, but was interested enough to take the print-out I'd made of the condition.  He was also surprised that none of the earlier techs actually went and just replaced the unit like he did...

The second guy came out a couple of hours later, as I was getting ready to take a nap.  I was surprised...but I guess this was the guy I was scheduled to have?  Anyway, he'd been told I still have some static on the line, so went to the boxes to check out the connecting points.  I haven't heard any static, but I'm glad he checked anyway.

Anyway, I have service and I'm happy.  Unwell, but happy.

I am just g-ddamn lucky to be a woman... I occasionally experience painful ovulation and today I'm getting those damn twinges. 

Oh AND I've got a fever and had to leave work early.  When I went back out for lunch...well, I'm glad I got home on time. 

Today was quieter at work, though, which was a blessing.  I have to leave work early tomorrow anyway, I'm debating not coming in at all...

I need to drink some tea, get fluids back into me...