Chronic

19 February 2010, 9:41 am by Giggles
Categories: Health

One thing to consider when having a financial reserve is the types of expenses you have. One source suggested that if you have a chronic health problem you should have a bigger reserve than if you don’t. As Brett and I have talked about our finances, this idea came up. I asked him if I had a chronic health problem and he, without pausing, said yes.

Just to clarify, I do not have a chronic health problem. I just chronically have health problems. Slight difference in semantics, but very meaningful.

Well, here we go again. The latest, my hip. Never had a hip problem before. This leaves my elbows as the only thing left I haven’t gone to a doctor for yet.

The doctor is calling it “Trochanteric Bursitis.” The bursa on my hip is agitated and irritated and basically not happy. Bursa are the pockets of fluid that keep your joints lubricated between the muscles and ligaments and tendons and bones. The trochanteric bursa is on the outer side of the hip. When you lay on your side, you squish it. Mine doesn’t like to be squished right now. It doesn’t really like a whole lot right now actually.

I start physical therapy next week.

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Blogging milestones

18 February 2010, 2:12 pm by Giggles
Categories: Proclamations, Random, Science & Tech

I totally missed my blog’s fourth birthday last month (January 15th).

Happy Birthday Blog!

And today I reached 1,000 comments!! Yeah! I’ve been wondering who the 1,000th commenter would be. Now I know. (He knew I was getting real close, so he had an advantage in being the lucky one.)

I hereby proclaim today Random Blogging Day! You can participate by randomly blogging (either on a blog, in a comment, or just writing on paper), something today. (If you participate on your blog, let me know.)

Let the bloggy celebrations commence!

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An organization report card

18 February 2010, 10:58 am by Giggles
Categories: Family, Life

Over the last 2+ months I have been updating my address and name at various organizations. After a few frustrating experiences I decided I would like a place to share my experiences, and basically give each place a grade. I’m going to grade them on how easy it was to make the updates as well as how long it took.

Federal Government: A+
Say what you want about the federal government, this one was easy. I walked in with our wedding license and didn’t even have time to read one paragraph of the homework I’d brought with me before I was up at the counter. Two weeks later I had my new Social Security card in the mail. Super easy.

State Government: C-
Anyone who couldn’t take the federal government’s word that my name was different lost points. It took more than my newly printed Social Security card with them. It also took two trips because they didn’t list the license on their list of requirements when I looked it up on-line. And then they listed my name wrong. And when I pointed it out to them, they said it wouldn’t make a difference. Except it does. The state is going to have me alphabetized wrong. But they don’t seem to care. Which annoys me quite a bit.

University: C
First, they wouldn’t even take the form for the first two weeks of this semester. Which is weird. And means I don’t know what name my professors have me as this semester. But they did manage to get it changed. I had to email a few database people places to alert them to the fact that their database was changed. And then it took three emails to get them to realize that the fact that I’d provided a wedding license to alert them to my updated name meant they needed to update my marital status too.

Verizon: A
Super easy. Super nice.

Banks: B+
Credit card was easier than bank accounts. But I had to do them separately.

Qwest: F
This grade is interesting. I had Qwest internet at my apartment. So I wasn’t updating my name or address with them, just canceling the account. Which took more phone calls than I can remember, all of them with incompetent customer “service” people. If I talk about it too much my blood pressure is going to rise to deadly levels. Hopefully it’s only going to take a few more phone calls before it’s finally cleared up.

I still need to do my passport and a few other small things, but these have been the big ones.

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Olympic comments & thoughts

17 February 2010, 8:47 pm by Giggles
Categories: Olympics

Here are some of our comments and thoughts from the last few nights watching the Olympics.

Lugers – The difference between third place and fourth was so close to nothing it was crazy. I don’t even go 88 miles an hour in my car! The winner is 40. I told Brett I’m not letting him do that in 6 years. He laughed and said now he knows not to ask.

Moguls – I had Brett come in and watch a mogul because watching their knees bounce up and down makes me knees feel sore. I saw nude guys!! Well, half nude. They had their shirts off in the audience with GO USA written on their chests. Those chairs they have the mogul guys sit on while they are the top three look comfy. The mogul guy just macked a girl. I hope he knows her. Right at the end of his interview she runs up and it’s a BIG kiss.

Pairs Figure Skating (short program) – Brett’s not going to try doing a lift with me. 🙁 Watching the pairs and I said he should lift me over his head like that. “The international judging system does not change how you watch skating.”

Canada – The Today Show did a story about “eh.” Apparently it goes back to Shakespeare.

Women’s 10k Pursuit Biathalon – The leader missed one on her last shooting and now it’s in the air. If she’d gotten clean, she would’ve won it. “Do you find yourself getting tense about events you wouldn’t care about any other time of year?” from Amanda. I said, “ALL THE TIME!” And that’s how the biathalon was for me. No clue who these people are. Barely know what countries they are skiing for (northern ones). But I’m so excited! And then at the finish, “Yeah!! Someone won!! Go her!” Still couldn’t tell you who she was, but I was excited for her. And the woman who came in fourth, GO HER! She wasn’t going to get a medal, but she still pushed as hard as she could to get a personal best and collapsed at the end. It was inspiring!

Snowboard Cross (one of my new favorite sports) – Favorite comment from a news guy – “Snowboard cross involves a lot of things you’d see on a regular day on the mountain, except maybe on steroids.” Brett’s studying in the other room while I watch but he hears me cheer or say “oh no!” (or variations of it) and calls in that something bad just happened and what was it.

Speed Skating (long track) – Brett thinks speed skaters look like Frozone in The Incredibles. He’s been quoting this part whenever long track is on.

Men’s Figure Skating (short program) – Loved the Swiss guy’s foot work and spins! He did it to the music of dadadadaddd dadadadd dadadadd daaaa dadd. William Tell Overture according to Brett. How else would you type that? Like the Jimmy Hendrix of the Japanese guy. Scott Hamilton made a comment of, “Cool shirt,” for one of them. They wouldn’t have worn a shirt like that back in the Paleozoic age.

Curling – They aren’t showing it on broadcast television! I’m not going to get to watch it. That’s so not fair. I was really looking forward to it.

4 Shared thoughts

Me, as a penguin

16 February 2010, 9:12 pm by Giggles
Categories: Happy Things, Life, Quilting/Sewing/Knitting/Crafting

Back in August, we went with my family to the St. Louis Zoo after my brother’s wedding. The penguin house was very cold and I told Brett I’d make a bad penguin. He said, “You would make a beautiful penguin sweetheart.” He also said he’d keep me warm if I was a penguin. :penguin:   :heart:

This is me as a penguin, from our wedding. The white is scraps from my dress. The black is scraps from my coat. And the scarf is leftover yarn from my scarf.

Well, now we know.

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Happy Chinese, Happy Valentine’s

14 February 2010, 7:23 pm by Giggles
Categories: Relationships

Today is Valentine’s Day and the Chinese New Year. Happy! I made some fabric Valentine fortune cookies that turned out just perfect.

Now, I know there are people who hate this holiday (Valentine’s Day, not Chinese New Year). They mourn the fact that nobody loves them and they’re single on this day or that the day is all commercialized and that we shouldn’t need a special day to tell people we love them. Well, I have an answer for all of that. I’ll answer them backwards.

No, we don’t need a special day to tell people we love them, we should tell the people we love that we do every day, and more than say it, we should show it (“More Diligent and Concerned at Home” by Elder Bednar, General Conference, October 2009). But why not take another day out of the year to especially remember it? And yes, I said “another day” because I don’t know of anyone who only celebrates love on one day of the year. There’s birthdays and anniversaries that we remember people on. But you don’t hear people complaining that we shouldn’t need anniversaries to make us tell people we love them.

What isn’t commercialized these days? But does that mean someone is forcing you to buy stuff? Nope. Nobody is (although stores are going to try as hard as legally possible to make you do what they want). It is a holiday celebrating love, not a holiday celebrating the color red and other associated colors. I don’t know about you, but my relationships aren’t commercialized either. They are individual and personal. So how I celebrate Valentine’s day and the love I have for people is also individual and personal.

Now, to all the people who say that Valentine’s Day is only for people in mushy romantic relationships and if they don’t have one of those then it’s a day to wallow in self pity, wear all black, and thumb noses at happy people. Bah! Bah I say! Valentine’s Day, just like every other day, is exactly what you make of it. Make it miserable and you will be. Make it an opportunity to celebrate love in all of it’s forms (Greek has at least three types, why not pick one of those?) and you’ll find it full of love. Nobody is completely alone. Nobody is completely unloved. There are friends, family, all sorts of love in the world. There’s love that ranges from giving someone a cute paper valentine from a box of 30 to giving someone a kidney. (There’s the type of love for people who leave comments too.) Why ignore all the love around you just because you think you’re missing a single type of love?

So, Happy Valentine’s Day! I love you! :love:   :heart:

And have a great year of the Tiger!

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Notes, flowers, and candy

13 February 2010, 1:26 pm by Giggles
Categories: Relationships

At our wedding, the sealer gave us some advice to keep our marriage strong. He told us to keep doing the things that made us fall in love in the first place. Brett should write me notes, and buy me flowers and candy.42D

Well, since our relationship started on-line over many hundred miles, the notes thing was built into our relationship. We’ve been writing notes since the beginning. We still email each other while we’re at work. We’ve got that one covered.

Brett brought me flowers the night he proposed and another night just because he loves me.

But up till that time, he’d never brought me candy.

I leaned over to him at that moment and pointed out that he’d never bought me candy. He wisely decided that would not be a good time to tell me that in fact he had, that morning, and I’d get the box of chocolates that night. That was probably a wise decision on his part. He’d also bought me flowers again that day.

So with Valentine’s Day coming, I told him he could partially ignore that advice this weekend. They jack up the price on flowers at least double in some places leading up to Valentine’s Day. So I told him he doesn’t have to buy me flowers this weekend.

I’ve also enjoyed making fun of all the commercials that indicate guys are supposed to buy women jewelry. I mean, a 13 letter phrase for a marriage proposal? What guy gets down on one knee and says, “I went to Jared’s”?

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