Day 4

Detox is going well. I'm actually feeling less tired which I think has more to do with the nearly constant grazing on food (I don't find veggies quite as filling as a solid steak sandwich...) and lighter meals.

The return season of I Forgive Catriona Rowntree is doing well. Two shows down and only three more to go. We've had good audiences both nights so far and we're expecting a pretty good audience tonight too! It's kind of exciting because I've known someone in the audience both nights.

Sadly my cold seems to be doing a return season of its own so I'm on to round two of antibiotics (no drinkies for me on Cup Day anyway because of detox). My hayfever has definitely come back and I'm now on the good ol' antihistamines as well. I'm beginning to be grateful for my healthier diet at present because I feel so medicated!

Despite the fact I should be saving money (especially after my dental bills) I treated myself to a glass nail file (it's the girl in me trying to get out). It's really cool. It's white-ish with a purple handle and files soooooooo nicely. Got to put it to good use today when I broke my nail while balancing the petty cash at work (don't ask).

Okay, time to change into my blacks and head off to the theatre. The great thing about working at the Storeroom is it takes less than 10 minutes to get there at a leisurely pace on my bike.

Day 1

Today is the first day of my 10 day Detox (yes, I'm on that band wagon in the small hope that this will avoid future gastric complications). It's actually been pretty good today. I am fully aware that I'm still rather early in this new experience, but I'm quietly optimistic about the whole thing.

I was up early this morning to make lunch - Thai chicken red curry with brown rice - and to pack snacks for the day. I ended up not snacking at work but drinking lots of water instead. So far the only distasteful thing I've encountered has been the "digestive bitters" which honestly don't taste so good even if it is meant to help with my digestion. I had my first breakfast in several months - fruit & vegie juice, I didn't get around to making anything more substantial than that - before heading off to the orthodontist.

Thanks for the health insurance advise there Nomi, I've actually got that whole life time limit thing happening but was happy to discover that I could still claim a just under fifty percent of my claim today (I should have looked for a Members Choice provider, but I was lazy). It feels really weird not having the plate in any more. There's a slight gap between my back teeth where the plate used to be and my gum's actually grown into the shape of the plate behind my lower teeth so it almost feels like the wire's still in there. I figured that while I was fixing up my teeth I should go all out and listen to the orthodontist's advice... So tomorrow afternoon before I head to my show call I'm going to see the dental hygenist for a full clean and inspection. I'm also in need of some fillings (yay) but that's going to wait for another visit *sigh*. Oh but I am excited because today is the first trip to the dentist that they haven't given me a brushing/flossing lesson so I must be getting better at it... I also learnt that a "dental calculus" is just their way of saying "tartar". I was somewhat concerned when I saw on the quote (oh yeah it's not going to be cheap) something about a removal of calculus and had a minor panic attack. I know I need to get two wisdom teeth out but I was hoping not to do that quite yet... happily I now know that they'll just be doing the good ol' scraping of my teeth.

It's funny how you retain knowledge of products and industries that you've left behind... I actually checked to see if the dental practice had HICAPS (and they did, they had the black ICE terminal in case you care John). Not that it would have mattered greatly to me even when I was at HICAPS because I wasn't in sales... but I still look. I'm glad I learnt about health insurance and know what to look for now too. Besides, I'm making the most of my claiming of stuff. I'm going for a massage as soon as I remember to find a registered masseur nearby.

Work was good today, I caught up on some work from last week when I was away. Tomorrow's an early start though... I get to take minutes for a meeting so I really should make sure I get a good breakfast so that I'm awake! Well, that and I'm driving into work tomorrow... so I should probably be awake for that too.

I caught up with Tracee at the Storeroom where she's doing a return season of her sellout Fringe show, "I Forgive Catriona Rowntree". I'm really looking forward to working with her again. It really is a great show and I think she tells her stories really well.

Mmmm I can smell the roast turkey that we're having for dinner tonight... I think I might go and take a peek at it... mmm hungry....

Hazy and Lazy

Good grief! Is that blue sky I see through the window? It was bucketing down last night when I was leaving work (read the pub where we had great paella). I almost have the urge to rush out and do some washing, but that would be too much effort ;)
(someone's going to have to teach me how to add emoticons some day)

Well the antibiotics are still doing their thing - making me better by making me feel completely zonked so that I sleep plenty. The only problem is my concentration levels are at an all time low. I can barely remember five minutes ago.

Last night I was on the hunt for an orthodontist that opened late. Not surprisingly I couldn't find one. I've got a plate on my lower teeth that I was meant to get removed almost five years ago. (I had the appointment card in my wallet that got stolen and I never got around to arranging another appointment, slack huh?) Anyhoo, the plate snapped last night after getting slightly stuck on my cough lozenge and I now have a rather irritating piece of wire poking into my tongue. I was hoping to see an orthodontist today but the earliest I can get in is Monday morning. I'm dreading the bill really. Hope I've still got some annual limit left on my health insurance. *sigh*

I just had a look at the weather report on The Age's weather page and it's meant to be raining but it doesn't look like it's rained so far... Best not to risk it though. Murphy's Law will take over the instant I think I can finally get stuck into the washing again.

I'm thinking of picking up my knitting again. I'm a little bored and feeling rather unproductive as of late.

Started reading again last night and it's really not grabbing me as much as the first book did. Oh well. I'm still hoping my other two books arrive at the bookstore soon too. I'm dying to read the next installment of Abarat.

Things are starting to pick up again which is great. I look forward to a more cheerful week ahead!

A spoonful of sugar

There's a kind of hush all over the world tonight, but it's probably due to the fact it's past midnight and I'm still awake. Usually the anti-biotics make me sleepy but I think the sudafed that I had to stop my nose from running may be keeping me slightly awake.

Today I had a great chat with two of my friends, Lisa and Matt. Good friends seem to have this uncanny ability to know when you'd really appreciate a call even if you haven't spoken to them in quite some time. Girly moments, cute boys and hours of theatre talk later, I'm not physically feeling 100%, I'm certainly feeling a damn sight more cheerful.

I even got a call from my boss at work this evening, just calling to see how I was feeling. Man it's great to be in a work environment like that. I'm definitely going to work tomorrow even if it's just a partial day. I really love being there and I feel kinda sad not being there.

Being home and unwell makes me feel isolated really, but today's conversations with people who I care about was a ray of sunshine that made me feel better than any anti-biotic ever could.

Sniffle sniffle

Today's trip to the doctor was rather quick but hopefully should see me better in the next week. I've got a double course of antibiotics and some ear drops (turns out I have an ear infection too). It was definitely one of my shortest visits to the doctor. I'm fairly sure I asked more questions than he did... and I was out of his office in less than five minutes.

On a more exciting note, I received my info from Plan today about the child I'm sponsoring. He's almost 10 and from Zambia. The kit included info about his family and his culture which I think is great. As soon as I'm feeling a little healthier I'm going to get pictures to send across like they suggest in the booklet. I'm really looking forward to having someone to send letters to occasionally.

Not much else to report really. Still sniffling and waiting for the antibiotics to do their thing. Might get something to stop my nose from constantly running and then I'll feel a fair sight better. The cough is gradually getting better but that's from the lack of talking I think. I love to talk.

Well my nose is hinting that it's time to take my medicine again (ie. I'm going to need to buy more tissues tomorrow). Bed time it is.

Victorian Have A Crap Day

I think I've finally had to admit to myself that it's not just my hayfever playing up but my stupid throat infection is most definitely back. I was trying to tell myself that this most definitely wasn't the case, despite having flirted with the idea yesterday. However I spent most of last night napping in between coughing fits.

A few people at work asked if I was dying over at my desk and I may have coughed out "I'm apparently giving it a red hot shot". It's hard to remember. The cough medicine isn't working. I've tried the Chinese random black syrupy stuff and the pharmacy's cough syrup. I'm still coughing and now I'm grumpy. It hurts to cough. Stupid dry coughs. For once I'm trying to be mature about it. I'm actually going to see the doctor tomorrow. Admittedly tomorrow afternoon so that I can still attend all my meetings during the morning and early afternoon, but still... at least I'm going.

It's a pity I'm feeling grumpy and unwell. The weather was lovely today and it's set to change tomorrow night if the weather bureau is accurate.

Based on Naomi's post and some of the people at work it would seem that I wasn't the only one who was feeling grumpy though, hence the title of this post.

On a geekier note... Today I went to Officeworks with a couple of guys from work and they had this great USB keypad that works as a calculator on its own. VERY COOL! As someone who touch-types and does data entry, it's the only thing that my laptop is missing.

Gene called to say that he's bought food to make dinner but he's gone to the pub to welcome home one of his best friends who's just returned from a trip to Europe. He wanted me to come down and meet them I think but I don't really want to cough all over everyone - like I did at work... I think I'll just make some food, shower and probably head to bed. I can't believe I'm thinking of going to bed at 19:05... I haven't done that since I was working at the call centre... Stupid cough.

Human Again

Can you tell I'm slowly getting my life back into balance again? I'm almost back to daily posting!

Still feeling bad about having not made it out this weekend, but feeling slightly better in the knowledge that my stupid cough probably would have been worse had I gone out. I can feel my old friend (my recurring throat infection) coming to say hi again and I'm not really looking forward to it. On the bright side, I think we get the Melbourne Cup holiday at work so at least I'll have a good rest then.

Work was good today although it was really embarrassing to have to keep leaving meetings in coughing fits. Particularly when I have to get people to let me back into the room. Oh well. It's not like it's on purpose.

I caught up with John tonight for coffee which was great. Wish I was a little more coherant than I was. I guess the full day of work and lack of grazing at work today took its toll on me.

I've since spent the rest of my evening attending to my personal grooming and pampering. A nice foot spa, touching up the blue bits in my hair... facial. I'm feeling almost presentable for the first time in nearly two months!

Balancing my sudden urge to look after myself is my shopping at the supermarket tonight. I bought a litre of milk (and dammit I'm going to get through it this week!), two packets of belgian waffles, some chocolate dairy desserts and two boxes of mini sticky date puddings. I think I'm craving comfort food... All I need to do is remember to cook pasta and rice for dinners and life should be great.

Oooh.. time to turn the shower recess blue!

Laughter may be the best medicine...

... but sleep-ins must come a pretty close second! There's something wonderful about sleeping to the late hours of 08:56 before you open your eyes to greet the world. There's something even more soothing to the soul which involves rolling over and dozing for another hour after that before finally waking up and leisurely checking your email and booking a three day holiday.

To say that I've had a good day today would be fairly accurate if understated!

I woke up and checked my email. Responded to a email questionaire thingy and then booked a three day holiday to Launceston for Gene and I to enjoy mid-November. Having started to spend money a mere hour after I'd woken up, I discovered the urge to spend more money. Can you tell pay day was recent? Gene and I boldly (or stupidly) brave the new DFO complex that opened a just two days ago. We went, we shopped, we left a bag of shopping - paid for - at the shops. So guess where we're going tomorrow morning?

Having spent some money on clothes (mainly black tech clothes) I arrived home and felt a little bad about the shopping spree but decided to keep spending and fulfil a promise that I made to myself after Wednesday's induction at work of sponsoring a child. I figure that the $1.30 a day it works out to will be better spent on child sponsorship than me buying junk to snack on at the vending machine round the corner from my desk. Plan is the Commonwealth Games Goodwill Partner and it's how I heard of them. They mainly focus on kids and, most importantly for me, have no political or religious affiliations. Definitely check out their site, even if you're not interested in sponsoring a child. It's a great website and lots of fun to play in.

I'm just hanging about the house now, passing time... spending less money... Dad's coming over with Mum for dinner tonight and to drop off our new business cards which is very exciting. I love business cards. Especially after so many people asked for them during Fringe.

I would be heading out to Naomi's housewarming but our car's lights have decided to play funny buggers and I don't really want to drive without lights... Gene's at a bucks night as well so maybe if he's up for taxiing out there later... but who knows! For the record I'd like to say that I'm very sorry about the whole piking thing but know deep down that Naomi would prefer us to be alive than squished in the car.

On that note I'm going to try and call her again to let her know what's happening - or not happening.

Yay for sleep!

A Nutshell

Wow did I fall off the writing band wagon or what?! This is definitely not boding well for NaNoWriMo... oh well, if you never try then you'll never know right? It's less than a month away now and still no inspiration for any story let alone a novel... I figure it'll probably be a terrible novel, but it will be MY terrible novel and that's what matters. Well, to me any how. It doesn't matter if it sits on my laptop as an invisible file that shall never be seen or heard of at the end of Novemeber. That it gets written is the aim of the exercise. Yes.

Fringe if finally over and a huge hurrah for Naomi who made it to three shows in one night. I'm glad you saw Waiting for Compo because I don't think enough people did. It was a great Fringe season for me this year. I got my own venue to call home for three weeks and it was gorgeous. The Meeting Room at the North Melbourne Town Hall is a great little venue that just transforms in a matter of days from an empty room to a 65 seat theatre. I was also fortunate to have some wonderful shows like Basic Training and Tickets to Ourselves along with Waiting for Compo in my room. All a pleasure to work with and my pet shows over the couple of weeks. I was also lucky enough to have an additional late show I Forgive Catriona Rowntree in my room after a sellout season in the Supper Room (also at the town hall). I'm sad that it's all over but certainly have come away with a whole new bunch of people to be nerdy with (one of the techs described the Hub crew as uber-nerds).

So now life's focussing more on the Comm Games (hereafter known as the CG because I'm lazy). I've only been there a week and a half and my head is already spinning at the scale of the event. It's really exciting to be working on it and even though I'm struggling with my sleep habits (having become nocturnal during Fringe) it's proving to be a fantastic experience.

Aside from that I'm crawling through Anansi Boys at the rate of a chapter per night. It's a great read and totally hilarious. It's strange that I don't hear my "book reading" inner voice when I read it but I hear Neil Gaiman reading it. I'm fairly sure it's because he read two chapters of it to us at Continuum. After that I'm hoping that the books I've ordered will have arrived (Dan Simmons' Olympos and Clive Barker's Days of Magic, Nights of War.

In a nutshell that's where I'm at really. I wish there was more to add but there's not! It's been a wonderfully busy few weeks and I look forward to it escallating to sheer madness in the months to come :)

Oh I'm also looking forward to a holiday in November with Gene but that's still being confirmed. :)

Also looking forward to seeing my friends again...

Add sleep to the list of things I'm looking forward to...

Speaking of which....

Bzzzzz

It feels like years since I've been online and posted and I love it. Not the lack of posting - that's just slackness on my part I'm sure - but I love how busy I've been lately. I'm thinking that I can only get busier.

I've started my new job and I'm still at the Fringe for one more week (hint hint to all who said they'd come and didn't). So sleep is a luxury being facilitated by my taking public transport to work again and hitching a lift home with other techs.

We went pretty hard last week. I can't even remember what I posted last. Just felt like giving a bit of a wave to the few people who read this because I miss them. So I guess the update will have to wait until Sunday when we're all Fringe partied out and recovering from an enormous Saturday.