Back to work

Do you know what the crappy part about being off work for three days is...you have to go back. I'm sure that a pile of work awaits my arrival tomorrow morning. Fortunately, I have access to email, so I've managed to clean that up over the past few days. I'm already counting down the days until I'm off for Christmas. I'll be off for a week and two days then so going back after the New Year is going to be tough. I've spent the last five days doing a lot of eating and a lot of drinking. I drink when I'm off work because I get bored and I know I don't have to get up at 6:00 in the morning. I hadn't planned on drinking last night, but Cody took me to eat sushi. Sorry, I can't eat sushi and not drink wine.

My wrist is starting to hurt. I hope that feeling goes away because I recently took a break from yoga and I don't want to take another one so soon. I'm thinking that maybe it's because I've been typing on my "normal" keyboard at home for the past few days and not my ergonomic one at the office. That's what I'm telling myself in hopes that it will be the truth.

I can't be insightful in this blog. I'm not sure why, but it's just not coming to me so I'm going to sign off.

New Money

The good news is that I'm finally feeling better. It took almost two full weeks for that to happen, but I've seen the light at the end of the sickness tunnel and it's shining bright. I've only practiced 7 times in the last 14 days, which I guess isn't too bad, but I haven't done any cardio, much less gone for a run. I plan to start that back up today. I lost about ten pounds last spring before a trip to the beach and I've since gained it all back. I hate it. I take pretty good care of myself, but I really need to get those ten pounds back off because I felt so much better.

Moving on...I work with a catering company on the weekends sometimes and on Saturday night I worked an event that has blown my mind on so many levels. It was at this new golf/housing development community on Lake Travis out by Paleface Ranch. The developer throws these lavish parties every now and then for residents, potential residents, and anyone who is important enough to get invited. There were about 500 people there and more food than you could possibly imagine. The wine was top of the line and the bar was always crowded. Apparently, they spent $45,000 on the flowers and the only thing the catering staff could do was talk about how ugly the arrangements were.

The crowd consisted of a bunch of middle-aged, rich, white folks, who came from what I like to call "new money". You can always tell the difference between new and old money. The men were drunk and called the female staff things like, "Sweetie" and "Sugar". The women were "made" and covered in tacky, over-the-top jewelry. People of old money wouldn't be caught dead buying a brand new construction home in a golf development, especially in Austin. Those people live in Travis Heights.

The whole event was just absurd. And then I go to church Sunday morning and listen to a sermon about how we can all help end poverty and world hunger no matter how much money we have. It made me angry at the man who threw the party and it made me angry that I was part of the ridiculous event the night before. After a while, I realized that being angry at someone else for the problems of the world only makes things worse--plus, it takes the pressure off of me for not doing everything I could to help others. That's pretty crappy of me. The reality is that even if we can't give a lot of money, we can give other things, like our time and our hearts, which is probably more important anyway. It's certainly time for me to step up and I have a great avenue to do that because I attend the greatest church in the world. My church and its leaders have such great vision. The people there really inspire me and I've never felt like that at any church, and I've been going to church my whole life. What I need to start doing is taking that inspiration and acting on it. Wouldn't this world be a better place if we all acted like those who inspire us? Certainly, the answer is yes.

Being sick really sucks

This is day #3 that I've been home from work because I'm sick. I went to the doctor yesterday and paid a $25 copay only for her to tell me to take Mucinex D. I just wanted to rule out the possibility of strep throat, which I did. But I'm getting bored. For the past 3 days, I've stayed in my pajamas, taken a shower around 6:00 pm, and then changed into another pair of pajamas. I feel a lot better today and am going to work tomorrow regardless. I have so much work to do that I'm nervous about going back. Fortunately, I've been able to do some from home, but I don't have access to as much information here so I'm sure it's been piling up.

Election day is finally over! I was so incredibly sick of seeing Rick Perry's (Adios Mo' Fo'!) commercials with him in a ski jacket standing at the Texas/Mexico border with an officer. Even though he was reelected, I was happy about the national elections...and that Donald Rumsfeld resigned. I hope that our president takes these elections for what they are...a message that the American public is tired of what's going on in Iraq. I can tell I'm not feeling well because I'm trying to think of something halfway eloquent to say after that line, but nothing's coming to mind, so I'll leave it at that.

Good news!

As of last night, Camille's platelet count was up to 104,000! I can't imagine the amount of relief Nicki and Brett are feeling. They still have to keep her there for another week, which sucks so bad, but in the long run it's for the best I'm sure. So, here she is...Camille Grace Chapel.