Monday, Monday .....it so lovely when you get to sleep in!

So, I am off from work today and tomorrow because Chris' mom is coming to stay with us tonight...and well, it was a great excuse to take a couple of days off. I am feeling quite relaxed. We had the house cleaners come on Friday and now I am just completing some touch ups: flowers in the bedroom, chocolate on the pillow, some magazines by the bed and of course a yummy smelling candle. She is only staying for one night but I like people to feel comfortable and welcome in our home.

I am feeling a lot better than I was in my last post. Work is still work and thus it is a constant stream of change. I had a slight melt down on Tuesday when some additional changes were made right after we settled into our move and I settled into my fish bowl that people call a place to sit. The melt down turned into a good thing. I clearly needed to shed some salty rivers because when I came home I slept for about 10 hours. I have felt a lot lighter since. I could have done without the puffy eyes and streaks of mascara shooting down the sides of my nose, but hey we can't all be beauty queens 100% of the time....although I don't know if I wear enough kabuki face paint to be considered one any of the time. It was a good release and it has enabled me to see opportunity again versus opposition.

So, on Saturday I went for a 2 hour bike ride. Something I am not supposed to do because of my neck and shoulder, but man it felt it good. I decided I would see if I could ride to work and how long it would take. Apparently riding at high noon with no hat in the sunshine is not really good for people like me who are prone to heat strokes. But, it felt really good! It took me 2 hours when it could have taken 1 hour but I felt better because I am so unhappy with my muffin top. I may even ride to work one day this week....we shall see.

Well, back to my touch ups! Hope everyone is having a Bobby McFerrin Don't Worry Be Happy Day ;)

No siento bien!

Man, this week...well, it sucked. I got a migraine on Monday night that lasted through this morning (it is now Friday) and I also have the flu. Not kewl! Not kewl! In fact, life seems oddly cruel right now. Excuse me whilst I lapse into a pity party for one:
Our office moving to another suite because we laid off 170 people and I am being placed into a cubicle that is about 1/4 of the size that I was in before. What the heck? No more windows so I can stare at the traffic on the freeway. No more seats for my staff to come into my office and vent about the customer they are having to manage. And, no place to put my personnel files. I am about as happy as dog with a flea on his butt. They are moving us to an area where they do not have enough supervisor cubes. My question is this: why not put me in an office then? There are plenty of those! UGH! Or put someone with more seniority in an office and put me in a supervisor cube. The politics of corporate America are just infuriating sometimes. Not to mention when my boss asked me if I was ok with my seating assignment and I said no, he walked away. Big WHATEVA! It's times like these when I would like to pull out my wand and give him a little Legilimency (for you non-Harry Potter fans this means magical skill of extracting feelings and memories from another person's mind) to see why he would ask me that question in the first place. It's much better than using the Darth Vader techniques for punishing admirals.

Ok, but I am more spiritually advanced than this petty squabbling that I am expressing...right? Well, not always. While I try to have a positive attitude and an Oprah "look for the meaning in all experiences" sometimes I have to pull out my kleenex (even when I do not have the flu) and just say WAAAAAAHHHHHH! I had a looooooong migraine this week with a sprinkle of the flu. I do not feel good.

p.s. speaking of Sprinkle...have you ever had a Sprinkles cupcake??? OH MY!!! It's good. best cupcake I have ever had! I highly recommend all of them.

WEGO Health Interview

Yup! I have been interviewed. Check it out:

http://community.wegohealth.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2028394%3ABlogPost%3A26447

Let me know what you think :)

Proud

I am not someone who believes one should not speak about politics and religion. If you don't talk about it with people who may disagree with you, then why talk about it? Why spend your time only speaking with people who have the same mindset as you? What if you are wrong on something? How will you advance? I don't ever propose that I am right on these topics, but I do propose this: as long as both of us walk away thinking about what the other person said, it was a successful conversation. And, if either of us walk away feeling like we lost then it seems to be one of us or both us needs to do some homework on our positions. Discussing uncomfortable topics with people who disagree with you helps both of you understand why you feel that way in the first place. If ya can't back it up, don't assert your opinion until you can.

Anywho, this blog is about the Democratic National Convention and not my battle with migraines (although sometimes watching politics play out can certainly give me a headache). Whether you like Obama or not, you have to assert that this man is a great speaker and he moves people. We are witnessing history here folks. In case you missed last week, allow me to fill you in....the speeches were moving, inspiring and phenomenal. I cried through all of them. I yelped "YES!" and "That is what I am talking about" and "Finally someone said it." I am not a Democrat and I am not a Republican but I am an American. Like most Americans I am not easily defined by a label. I am liberal on some issues and conservative on others.

When Obama took the stage on Thursday night and said "I accept the Democratic nomination" I cried. I just wept. I was sitting there and watching history. I was watching history with my partner and thinking: wow, we are watching this in our lifetime. His speech was powerful and hard hitting. He said was a lot of people have been waiting to hear for almost 8 years: we are not an America who leave their veterans homeless on the streets, children in poverty, and its citizens without sufficient health care.

Obama is not great because he is African American. He is not great because he is a fantastic orator. He is not great because of his civil record. He is great because of all of these experiences and his life experience in general You cannot isolate one thing about him and say well this is it. He is the real deal. He knows that he cannot do this alone and that it is time the citizens stepped up and took their country back.

Whoever you decide to vote for, is not what I am trying to persuade you from here. What I am trying to point out is that WE are witnessing history here for many reasons. Keep paying attention because this is exciting and it is not often that the news is actually exciting.

Absence makes the heart grow

Yikes! Sorry for the absence. I have been feeling rather unmotivated with very little to say. Know what I mean? Sometimes you just gotta give yourself some space to vedge and space out a little. But, I do thank you for the inquiries....gives me the warm and fuzzies!

I am happy to report that Indiana was migraine free. I was very careful to take a break from any activities and take my meds when any tension started in my head, neck or shoulders (naproxen and muscle relaxer at night). I had one mild headache, but one little bottled vanilla frapaccino took it away. It is really amazing how when you don't drink coffee everyday, it can help with your headaches! Amaz-ga-ning! I have taken my precautious medicating home with me and so far I am doing pretty good. I also took an additional 4 days off work when we got back so I could wind down. It was niiiiiicceee!

Indianapolis is much different than California....and in a good way. Downtown was beautiful. Lots of old building (old for the U.S.), brick houses, churches with copper steeples, water fountains downtown....it was very lovely. Some of the statues were not what I would call politically correct (one statue was of a guy in nifty booties who conquered the Indian's...code for kicked them off their land and then killed em!) which were somewhat disturbing at times. I was not sure why they were paying tribute to some of the people, but I don't pretend to know Indiana history. Anywho, there were lots of trees. I loved it! Tree lined highways reminded me of home in Northern California. The people were very friendly and Chris' family could not have been any more welcoming. I felt like part of the family right away! So, I would say the trip was a success and it was really wonderful to see Chris around his family. I was not convinced I could love his grandma anymore than I did before, but I stand corrected. The woman is all love and she lets you feel it with each embrace.

So, now I have been back to work for almost 2 weeks and the stress is the same as when I left for vacation. I am still looking for stress relievers. A friend of mine wants me to go on a Candida Diet because I am tired all of the time. I started looking into to it and it seems I need to get my adrenal glands checked out first. They say if you are really tired after working out (which I am...I never feel energized anymore), then you should get them checked out. So, I am currently procrastinating calling for an appointment.

I do hope everyone has been well....and free of pain!

Off to the Races!

I am off to Indiana, but not to see the races. We are headed off to spend some time with Chris' family. I am actually excited because I love his grandmother and she is one of the main reasons we are going.

So, wish me luck on remaining headache free!

p.s. still off caffeine and drinking this fabulous green and cranberry tea. It's from Trader Joes and it is fabulous!! I highly recommend it.

Caffeine breakup

Well, I did it. I quit caffeine. I promised myself I would do it with my next migraine since I would be doped up and thus unable to feel a coffee headache. I have been wanting to do this for a few reasons: 1) my neuro wanted me to; 2) I have been really tired lately and I hate relying on something to get me going and 3) I dislike being dependant on anything.

So, now I drink green tea and herbal tea. Yes, green tea has a little caffeine but not like my beloved java. And I do love coffee. I love the process of making it, the taste of it, the energy behind my eyes from it and I love the smell of it. But, it is for all these reasons why I must let it go. Lucky for me I found a new fruffy green tea that is so yummy I actually look forward to it. It gives me no jolt and no effects of coffee whatsoever, but it tastes good and basically I am drinking flavored water. This is a good thing because I need to drink more water.

I am basically no fun anymore and this is in part because of migraines. No alcohol. No caffeine. I can't stay out late. I have to get 7-8 hours of sleep. No fun. If I do not monitor these things, I am susceptible to a migraine. For example, I had a 17 hour day on Friday. I was up at 4:30am and did not get home until 9:30pm. I was exhausted by 2pm but I had to keep going because I had flown 2 hours for an all day meeting. The next day I had a headache and my neck was very sore. These are signs of a migraine to come. So, I veged all day and took my meds at night like a good patient. My boyfriend/partner thankfully had to work all day; otherwise he would have had to spend the day solo. I was no fun.

Coffee at least gave me the excuse of meeting up at a local coffee house. I was the one last thing I was holding on to as a means for socializing. Ok, so maybe I am being a tad dramatic here because mostly I drank coffee only in the morning and by myself anyways. But, I could have met up with people for coffee! Alas, coffee and I have broken up. We are friends but not nearly as close as we used to be.