1998 Archive
1998 Archive – 1,705 words. More to be added as soon as I transcribe the hand-written notes.
January 2 1998
WS woke up feeling like his got a cold. I think he’s just overloaded on dairy. E’s eaten cheese pizza, blue cheese salad dressing, banana and cherry shakes and button on veggies and potatoes, not mention dairy-laden bread with butter. He doesn’t think so. He thinks it’s a cold. We’ll see.
I figured I’d start taking down outside Christmas lights today, but WS decided to help and within an hour and a half, we had ALL the lights and power cords taken down and put away, in the quickest time ever.
January 3 1998
WS definitely has a cold, although I think he is overloaded on dairy too, which will make a cold worse. He didn’t go to the hockey game tonight and instead of going alone, I asked someone else to go in his place. It was this person’s first hockey game ever and Dan, the announcer, gave him a hockey puck. I think this person liked it (even those the team played poorly and couldn’t get more than two good bounces of the puck all evening) but I don’t know if this person will ever go again. This person leaves for school again in Pullman (Washington State) next Wednesday. It sounds like this person had a full Christmas vacation.
WS took an initiative and began wiping down all the household surfaces with bleach water as a precaution against his cold germs. That pretty much amazed me. I know when I’m ill, the last thing I want to do is clean up after my own germs. He also doesn’t think he’ll be going to work Monday or Tuesday because of his cold. That will work out well with me. Monday, I have a doctor’s appointment for a pap smear and I have to get my allergy shot. Tuesday, one of our pets has it’s vet appointment.
I still haven’t fixed my sleep schedule and even now, it’s 3:15 a.m. Sunday morning and here I am writing after playing three hours of Quake 2 (and doing quite well at it, I might add). I’ll really kick myself Monday morning when I have to be at the doctor’s office at 9 a.m. Stupid fool I am. I must find disciple.
Day 2 of no-dairy consumption now complete.
January 4 1998
WS still sounds terrible with his cold. He slept on the couch for the second night in a row, but I didn’t hear him snore at all last night.
We’re watching the Wallace and Grommit cartoon videos that WS’s relative loaned us. I don’t know what to say about them. They are crap, boring, safe and generally, sleep inducing. Supposedly, these animations are the joy of the British empire. No wonder they’re stuffy and boring. Tiresome. That probably describes them best (the cartoons, not the British…or maybe them too). And obsessed with cheese. Like I need to see people eating cheese.
It’s supposed to snow today. We’ll see.
Why is it when WS gets a cold or the flu, he’s totally incapacitated. It’s like, he lets it get to him. He did wipe down stuff yesterday but today, it’s like he’s on his death bed. It smells terrible in the house. Like seriously bad breath. He doesn’t open the blinds. I have to do it, everyday. The whole couch will have to be disinfected as well as the floor washed. It’s actually sticky around the couch.
I wanted to eat an apple yesterday, but after feeling the floor under my socks, I thought better of it.
Four days without dairy consumption. I’ll be doing great if I don’t catch something nasty at doctor’s tomorrow.
January 5 1998
It didn’t snow yesterday. Friday, or last night either. Naturally. This morning, the roads were just plain wet. No ice whatsoever. And the temperature is over 40 degrees. So much for that winter storm.
I’m at my doctor’s appointment right now. The desk clerk informed me that my appointment is now at 9:30 a.m., not 9 a.m. I wish someone would have told me. Personally, I think they made the appointment with me, THEN made the appointment with the doctor. She is notorious for being late. Hopefully, I won’t be here still by 10:30 waiting for her to get here, like I have so many times in the past.
I’ve been stressing over this appointment. A pap smear. Only the most fun in the known galaxy. A doctor, usually male, lubes up this metal spreader with enough K-Y jelly to allow a bull elephant to have anal sex with a gnat. the spreader just taken out of rubbing alcohol kept at just above the freezing level. I hate these things.
Surprise! They called me at 9:10. Unfortunately, I sat in there until 9:50. The doctor did the whole exam herself, which made me feel that much better. Plus, she listens to me and took tons of notes on my way of eating to avoid my food allergies. Plus, she said my lung spots does indeed look like old Valley Fever spots like I discovered information about on the Internet. I have to go back for my second ever mammogram on the 15th of January. That ought to be interesting after having reduction surgery fourteen months ago.
Now, I’m sitting after my allergy shot (I had a tetnus shot earlier) figuring, I’m due for staying the required 1/2 hour ater receiving the shots. I hate staying. I have things I could be doing, but I haven’t had a break all morning. Still, I’m looking forward to getting home to WS who is home sick with his cold.
January 6 1998
WS is staying home again today. I feel like our relationship has changed somehow. He has slept on the couch for three nights with this cold and last night, I think I kind of liked it because for the first time in a long time, I wasn’t sleeping in a cramped position because of him or the pets, hogging the bed or covers. This is terrible. I don’t want to feel this way.
WS sounds worse today than yesterday.
It’s been raining steady all day. I have to take one of our pets to the vet for its yearly exam in about a half an hour. It’s not going to like the cold weather. I’ve got too much stuff ot do today, I feel like. Actually, after I get back from the bet, I should go pick up the storage box and then go to the grocery store for laundry soap and bleach but rush hour traffic will be set in then and I won’t feel like going back out. I’m going to have to, at least, pick up bleach and soap. Don’t want WS re-infecting everything with his coughing.
Couldn’t find one of those flap-top plastic boxes that we usually use for Christmas storage today anywhere. Target and HomeBase both are completely out of them as well as most of their storage container stock. I’ll have to wait until someone has them again before taking down the last two garlands from Christmas. I don’t want the ribbons to crush and wrinkle like last year. It was too much work to iron and smooth them out. And I nearly quit a few times.
It is 7 p.m. now and WS finally went to bed. I hope he gets over this soon before I catch it, which means he’ll catch it again.
January 7 1998
WS didn’t go back to work today. He sounds much better. I’m trying to get my sleep schedule back on track and I think WS is too. Tonight, if I get tired, and actually go to bed at a reasonable time, will be the first time we’ve slept in the same bed since January 2nd.
We had a late lunch of shredded meat burritos and so, put off having the Cornish game hens until tomorrow.
WS is still hyped about the money market thing and today, made a spread sheet that shows the interest on $25,000 (what we have in retirement now) at different interest rates through to the year 2020. At 3 1/2 percent interest, we’ll have a million dollars, but we think we can make it sooner. I worry about taxes eating us alive when we hit the first million. So far, I’m doing good getting into the correct financial frame of mind.
January 8 1998
Well, for feeling like I got things done today, I didn’t do a single thing on my list. Good thing I didn’t have anything pre-scheduled for tomorrow.
Weather channels are predicting snow in the area for Saturday night through Monday morning. Once again, not holding my breath. We’ll see.
Tonight, the main computer locked up on me and wouldn’t restart. WS can’t get it to restart correctly either and isn’t too happy about it. He’s had a bad evening and still doesn’t feel well.
I had two cups of coffee yesterday morning. Today I had none (although I wanted some). Tonight, I have what feels like a caffeine headache. I wonder if I’ve become allergic to caffeine. This would suck.
Tomorrow night marks one week without consuming dairy products. So easy it is this time. Had my first cravings for chocolate anything or cheese today, although I think these were period related.
Still feel good about our financial situation. I have to come up with parking money for hockey games Saturday night and next week, but we’re ready up to the 9th and we still have food in the house.
January 9 1998
I’m really fighting to do any work today. I had to take Midol for the early stages of cramps and I had some caffeinated tea, but I’m still tired and could probably sleep if I wanted to bad enough. But that would screw up my sleep schedule and I’m just getting it back on track.
Well, cramps and chills set in finally around 5 p.m. I had three Midols in me and two a few hours before but it was doing little to dull the pain of menstrual cramps. Plus, I just can’t get warm. I’m worried about using too much electricity to heat the house. I need a good hot shower.
