Useful Insomnia?

It's been a while since I've had a full blown case of active & persistent insomnia. Sure I've had the zombie, can't sleep but not really awake insomnia. I've had the "maybe I should try reading a book" insomnia. I've even had the "racing thoughts, can't think, distract myself with simple games" insomnia. (I must have more problems with insomnia than I thought.)

But this brand of insomnia is different. This brand of insomnia is a full burst of energy right at bedtime or shortly after, if I'm even tired at bedtime at all. I am a bundle of energy, and when most days I drudge along, a bundle of energy is awesome. Sure not quite so awesome at 12am, but hey whatever helps get the house cleaned right?

But while I'm bursting with energy, I'm also wondering if by being active I'm perpetuating being awake. Ugh. Thankfully I had little scheduled to do today, so I did try to take advantage of the energy while it lasted, but I was still torn as I didn't want to end up sleeping all day today.

So between doing things last night, and catching up on some projects that I'd been putting off due to lack of energy or time, I tried to sit down and rest to see if I got sleepy. No luck on that.

I finally did get sleepy at 7am this morning, and at 7:30 hit the bed and was out. (An extremely rare occurrence).

Rarer still, I woke up after barely over 5 hours of sleep, wide awake and in a relatively good mood.

Sounds great huh? It was. But as usual with my body and allergic reaction symptoms (which all of this is just part of the cycle of allergic reactions), every good is followed by an equally great negative.

As I type this, I'm pretending to not notice the little blips of negative & paranoid-esque thoughts slowly increasing in number in my head.

But the upside I guess, is that I did manage to get some laundry and dishes done.. and still hope to get a little bit of baking done before the down gets into full swing. Wish me luck! :)

My Love-Hate Relationship

I used to love going Clothes shopping, especially if I had money to buy some clothes. I could spend hours in a store trying everything on, and seeing all the latest styles.

And Now?

I hate clothes shopping! No, I love it. I hate it. I love it.

UGH!

I have been putting off going clothes shopping for months now. The occasional order from OldNavy.com or the occasional picking up an item at Costco not included, I haven't really been clothes shopping for anything since May? maybe longer.

I used to go once or twice every two weeks.

Well the coupon I had for Lane Bryant was nearly expiring so I couldn't put it off much longer, so yesterday I went clothes shopping.

Ooooo Pretty Clothes.. MUST TRY ON!! Ooo More Pretty Clothes! Oooo Pretty Clearance Clothes!

It was a shopping fiesta! Ooo I love shopping!

It didn't hit me right away, thank goodness for the benadryl I took before I went in, so I got a few happy moments possibly an hour of happy shopping before it started to hit me.

Then I looked in the mirror.. My eyes were bloodshot. Sniff.. Yep and my nose was stuffy. Deep breath check.. Cough.. yep gunna have trouble breathing soon.

So I finished up, checked out. I did good.. 4 shirts, 3 shorts, 2 capris for less than $80. (its still shorts weather here btw) So financially I did awesome!

But then I came home, and my eyes itched, my lungs hurt, and I felt like crapola. Ugh, I hate shopping!

So I took a shower, and crawled into some sweat pants and a sweat shirt, and played dead the rest of the night while I popped benadryl every 4 hours.

I'm better today, nearly back to what I was before I went shopping.. except that I gained 2 lbs (corn allergy bloating/swelling) which I somehow have to figure out how to lose them now. Yippee!!

I hate shopping.

My Newest Fast Food

It's funny to me. Ironic. That I got the idea for this latest fast
food fixing from a 60 year old cookbook.

I am a cookbook-aholic. I admit it, but until recently hadn't looked
into finding old cookbooks. I had a few already from my grandparents,
so I thought I was set.

I have cookbooks from The Silver Spoon, to Culinary Institute, to
Williams-Sonoma that I have found extremely useful in corn-free
cooking and baking. From the simple ideas in my older cookbooks (and
their complete lack of pictures) I really didn't think that older
cookbooks would be very fascinating.

I was at Half-Price Books (local used bookstore) and was looking for a
different book, Persepolis, when I got turned around and ended up
looking in their old & rare book collection. There before me was an
old (& obviously once loved) cookbook. So I picked it up not thinking
to find anything really useful, but curious anyway.

The first place it opened was to the recipe where I got this idea.
Fascinated, I leafed through more of the book and was amazed. There
were pages and pages of ideas of things to do with quick breads,
biscuits, pancakes, and so many varieties of each that I clutched the
book to my chest and didn't let it out of my sight until it was safely
purchased and put in my car.

There are a ton of recipes in this cookbook. Far more than any current
cookbook would dare contain, and the directions are simple and to the
point which I'm sure helped them squeeze so much into so little of a
book.

The book is "The Settlement Cookbook" published in 1949. If you ever
see one, I highly recommend picking it up.

Now to the recipe...

It's honestly extremely simple. Make biscuits, however you make them
with whatever limitations you have. Roll them thin (1/2 inch or less)
and cut with biscuit cutter. In between the cutouts place an already
cooked similarly sized very thin burger or sausage or you could put
chopped meat. Then bake till biscuit is done. Voilà mini-burgers!

I've found these freeze extremely well & do fine reheated in the
micro. Great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

Fed-Up with Politics

For the record, I have a love/hate relationship with Politics. I do love a good discussion and talking politics can sometimes provide that. I also like playing devils advocate, and talking politics can be an awesome venue for that.

Unfortunately, politics also seems to be extremely personal for some people and thus many political discussions devolve into "Yeah, well so is your mother!".. which is one of the things I hate most about politics.

I honestly cannot comprehend why people take politics so personally. Taking them seriously, I get that. But taking someone's disagreement with your point of view as a personal attack.. that I don't understand.

Maybe if someone said "We shouldn't have laws or legislation that helps protect the rights of the food allergic, as they should just die and get out of the gene pool." I might take that personally, maybe. Maybe not. It would probably cross my mind to deck them, and I might even revel in the thought of doing it, but whether I'd act on that urge or take it as a personal attack.. I'm not sure, it would really depend on the situation.

Anyway, what prompted this post, was a series of emails I received with an Anti-McCain/Palin standpoint, from a stanch Obama supporter.

These weren't the normal "my guy believes this, the other guy believes that" type emails. These were dirty, twisted, and in some cases hateful emails. None of the messages were hate directed at me, but hate directed at McCain/Palin as if they were evil incarnate. This person doesn't know McCain/Palin personally, and in the emails there is nothing of real substance, just hateful attacks as if they personally stole this person's lover, ran over their dog, or some other personal evil affront.

That kind of personal hate, I just cannot understand when it comes to politics.

If a person is for something that you're against, of course discuss it, and if needed duke it out. But in politics, if you want peace (and anyone at least half-way mentally stable would) wouldn't you at least try to understand where the other side is coming from, and present to them where you're coming from, before you start in on "You disagree with me, thus you are evil".

One of the big things against Palin, for me & most other women, is that she's against choice in any situation.

But I guess I understand that stance enough to know that she's not anti-people, she's not an evil overlord trying to force herself upon us all.

To people who believe that conception is the start of life, abortion is comparable to executing a 5 yr. old child.

Sure that seems like an overkill comparison, but in truth that is how many who believe that life starts at conception view abortion. Would you not try to put yourself in between an axe and a small child?

That said, unborn babies are just that.. unborn. They need an incubator to live, and that incubator has thoughts, feelings, and rights too.

So no matter how black and white people like to paint things, there will always be a little gray.

Luckily, we have these documents we call the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Which tell us that every single one of us has the right to pursue our own happiness and our own religion.

That means, as much as I want the right to believe the way I do and think others should believe what I believe, I don't have the right to make my beliefs law if those beliefs negate someone else's right to their own belief.

So as much as I may not like some peoples choices, they have the right to make them and stand by them. It doesn't make them any more evil than I am. (well unless their choice is to become a serial killer, torture, or something else obviously "wrong" to innocent people - but that goes against our laws anyway).

As it nears election time, and more and more people pick sides, and more lines are drawn in the sand, for me it always boils down to one thing:

Which candidate is true?

I could care less about their religion, their personal beliefs, their family. They could be pro-life, pro-death, pro-whatever.. doesn't matter to me. What does matter is, are they fair? do they have a backbone? are they all talk? are they themselves or just a puppet? do they hold their own strings? if not, who does?

I tend to vote for whomever is constant. If you know where they're going, you know you can fight them on the things you disagree with. If they flit everywhere and are unpredictable, you'll never know what they're doing or what they're planning.. thus you can never arm yourself for battle and will find yourself screwed.

I may just write in Ron Paul.

Bangkok Naptime

Just an FYI for those wanting to see the film "Bangkok Dangerous".

Do not waste your money! If someone else is paying then maybe.

Plot: assassin grows conscience.

This is mostly action. Some martial arts. Little of anything really to
remark on. Yawn.

Nicolas Cage... If you happen to read this. Never let them style you
hair like that again in a film, unless you're playing a drug addict or
severe social reject. Oh and we all know you can act (at least those
of us who can remember that far back) but can you at least attempt a
film soon which requires it?

If I was handing out stars, I'd say 1. That includes subtracting a
point for Cage looking like an outstanding buffoon during the entire
film which made the dating scenes between him & the smart, educated,
pretty Asian girl unbelievable. She's deaf, not blind.

Sent from my iPhone

Who needs a Rooster?

My dog lately has been nutty. Aggrivatingly so.

Yesterday was a constant battle in which she acted like the sky was
falling (aka constantly under my feet) to the point of trying to get
us to evacuate the house (literally trying to get me in the car to
drive away). The weather is sunny and we are no where near the
hurricaine weather.

Today she seems to be all ok except one thing. She woke me up.

I absolutely hate being woke up. Partly due to a long history of
people thinking they know better than I do when I've slept "enough",
partly due to the fact that if I don't get a minimum of sleep I'm
sickish all day, and partly due to my tendancy of not being able to
get back to sleep once woken. If emergency, fine wake me. If she
needs to go potty, sure wake me.

But this morning there was no reason to wake me other than she thought
I needed to wake up. M was up (and not left for work yet) and able to
put her out if needed or to get her food, or anything else her little
doggie heart desired.

Unfortunately the one thing her little doggie heart desired was to
wake me up. I never did get back to sleep, and thus feel like zombie
woman this morning.

As for doggie, she's just fine and extremely happy that I resemble
awake. I don't have to get up or let her out. She's perfectly happy
with me sitting in bed reading or typing away on my phone. (though if
I look like I'm dozing off she gets pissy)

She's completely crazy.

-V
Out & About. Sent from my phone.

The Holy Spirit Debacle

I've been having a debate the last few days with someone online who
insisted that the Holy Spirit is confined only to human bodies. She
claims that the Holy Spirit can only exist inside (live inside)
people. That any external spirit must be of the devil.

Since I'd never heard of such limitations on the Holy Spirit & know of
absolutely no Biblical evidence of this I started a debate (which
turned to an arguement).

This person has of course "left the Internet" due to evil influences
on the net. So I won't be getting any proof of these txts coming my
way (despite great illogical efffort she failed to provide proof), but
I figured she had to have gotten this idea some where.

So if anyone knows where it says these limitations for the Holy Spirit
or the Spirit of God, please feel free to let me know in the comments
here.

-V
Out & About. Sent from my phone.

Wife and children were kept prisoner for three years

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article4528487.ece

Sometimes when I haven't heard any stories like this I find myself
wavering a little on the death pentalty.

But how can you possibly read a story like this and not think, "Kill
the bastard!"

There are some things for which there is no excuse.

-V
Out & About. Sent from my phone.

Murphy Got Me Again

Today started fantastic. That should have been my first clue. I got up feeling fairly good. I had tons of prepared food in the fridge, so I could snack at leisure. And I decided to try to make some headway on the Corn-Free Foods List.

Just as I finished answering emails, I got a call from a new friend asking me to come over for a lazy afternoon of movies. I thought to myself, "YEAH!!" of course knowing full well that this would mean putting off The List for another day.(Whats one more day in the face of like 6 months?) This is also the first time this lady's invited me over, so yeah I was going to go! She also wanted me to bring my dog for a doggie playdate.

So I start getting showered, and I see my dog shaking violently shaking her head as if she's trying to throw water out of her ears. CRAP! I'm fairly certain its mites, but I couldn't see any, so I set up a vet appt tomorrow just to make sure.

Then I called my friend to tell her that I wasn't bringing my dog because I was afraid my dog would give her dogs something. She sounded disappointed, but hey I was still coming.

So I go out to my car. Throw in the drinks I'm bringing with me (I don't go anywhere without safe water), and my jacket, sit down, and put in the key.. turn.. Nothing! A few lights came on, but the engine did nothing. Of course, now I'm cussing!

Now it was going to be too late to go by the time I got my car fixed, so I called my friend and canceled. She was pretty disappointed, and I'm not sure if she thought I was just making up excuses not to go, or if I really had car trouble.

But Honestly, I can't make this stuff up.

So just as I hang up with her, I get an email from M, which I reply telling him that now I'm not going to my friend's house, cuz the car won't start.

He comes home and gives me a jump.

So I keep the car running and head to my normal Hyundai Service Station. As an afterthought, I give them a call .. a sort of "heads up" if you will. A lady answers the phone, and I say "I need to get my Hyundai in for service." She replies with "We don't service Hyundai anymore" WTF?? At this point, I have to use all my power not to cuss her out, and instead end the call.

Now where to go? Luckily I have my handy dandy iPhone, and pull over (car running) to search for there nearest Hyundai service center. Both are in BFE from me. One way freaking north, and one way freaking south. North is faster to get to, so I call them and ask if they can squeeze me in. Sure, on THURSDAY!!

By this time I'm frustrated beyond words and no longer care if my car drops dead on the side of the road. Sure I like my car, but this is so NOT what I wanted to do today and the attack of Murphy's Law isn't helping me any.

So I remember this one fix-it station that I used to take my old car to a long long time ago. Its close to my house, so I decide "screw it" and drive there. They are of course wall-to-wall working on cars with hardly an empty space in their lot, but by this time I'm not going anywhere else. If my car is going to die, its going to die here. Tough!

So I turn off my car.

Wait a few minutes. (While the service men are looking at me like "Who is the idiot sitting in her hot car?")

Then I turn it on again. She started right up! No problems at all! SURE! The final icing on the cake of today. Nothing wrong with the car at all, just enough mess to make you want to crawl back into bed or hit something very hard with a bat.

Grrrrrrr

I've since turned it on. Off. On. Off. On. Off. Works like a charm.

Somebody somewhere doesn't want me to make friends today.

AAA - Antihistamine Addicts Anonymous

It's been 5 days, 8 hours, and 36 minutes since my last dose of
compounded benadryl. (Well 5-6 days give or take.) I'm going crazy.

Crazy might seem like a strong word, bit there is no other word for
it, unless you feel like delving into obsessed, neurotic, and lunacy.

Since I have to be off antihistamines for a doctor appt, I've had to
take things careful. That means only leaving the when absolutely
necessary, and only going places where I'm relatively certain not to
get corn-poisoned.

Unfortunately I had to go out last thurs, reacted to something. So I
had to manage it cold turkey, and spent the next two days "under the
weather" detoxing from the allergic reaction which included a lovely
bout of "chicken little" obsessive doomsday depression.

By Monday I was myself again, though some nagging nasal drip &
sneezing remained, I had finally regained my energy! (not to mention
optimism)

Of course that was just in time for me to go to my next "leave the
house" obligation at an establishment with a popcorn popper onsite!
Yeah!

So after 3 days of chest congestion, an extremely vile & persistant
runny nose, watery eyes, and in all other ways feeling like a huge
ball of phlegm, I had one good day before plummeting back into it.

I will say that this detox is much much better than last Friday, but I
still want my meds. I want them now.

Currently I'm in the lovely tired insomniac stage, thus the dark
picture of my bathroom & my lazy posting from bed on my iPhone.

Sleep has to come soon surely. Until then, I'll be sniffling and hoping.