It's official!

Dave successfully defended his dissertation this morning! Woo-hoo! Time to start planning the par-tay!

Holy shitballs!*

Group shot
Originally uploaded by Dani H..

*used with permission from Nadia

That was Nadia's reaction when I told her that Dave had finished his dissertation, and I think it sums up what everyone else probably thought. So yeah, it's done, and he defends it on June 15. Then, assuming that no one has shit in their oatmeal that morning and takes it out on Dave and doesn't pass him, he'll graduate in August. And no, I don't have to call him Dr. Haus after that, but the rest of you do.

In other news, we married off Dave's sister, Amy, over Memorial Day weekend. It was a fucking hot day -- OK, let's be honest, the whole week we were there was a fucking hot week -- but the wedding was nice and everyone had a good time. Pictures from the reception (and, finally, from Carmen's party) are up at Flickr.

Actually, I should say both weddings were nice. Yes, both weddings. One in the Catholic church on Saturday and one at the horticultural center in Philadelphia on Sunday. Long story short: priest not allowed to do a wedding at the center per the diocese, they "had" to get married in the church, ergo two weddings.

Which is why I say Catholics, they are crazy. Sure, I married one. Some of my best friends are Catholic. But that religion is full of a whole lot of crap.

Moving on, we went to wedding in *gasp* Michigan over the weekend. Dave's friend Matt got married, and there are a few (blurry) picture from that one, too.

Gots to go refill my coffe cup, so I'm outta here.

Long day

But a good day. Time with Mom & Dad, then par-tay with Carmen, Frost & Bailey. Too sleepy to write more now. Pictures later.

Sad news

April was a sucky month, so I'm glad it's over. Dave's best friend, Ed, died on April 21. We went out to PA for the services, and Dave was a pallbearer, and it all just sucked. Ed was a super nice guy and should have been around for a lot longer than 39 years.

The one where I ramble

I had a list in my head of things to include in this post, and wouldn't you know, I forgot to remember what was on the list.

I know that my running into Jason who was in Iraq was on the list. Medium story short: saw him at BW3 in BG last month, much hugging and happiness, now have his cell number and know where he's living. Hooray! Also have the other Jason's cell number. Another hooray!

Went to a bead show in the Cleveland area with Joy last weekend. Well, it was more of a gem show, which we weren't expecting, but we did manage to find some things to buy. Had lunch in Berea before hitting the fairgrounds, which we don't get to do much anymore, so that was nice. Also had ourselves in hysterics on the way there telling fart stories. I admit it - gas makes me laugh.

I put a bunch of pictures on Flickr - old pictures! Like, from age 4 or so on up. Tons more to scan and upload, but knowing me, that won't happen any time soon. Now that I've said that though, I'm eyeing the scanner (buried under a big stack of Dave's papers) and thinking how it looks like it wants to work. Maybe.

I've got to find someone to alter my bridesmaids dresses ASAP. I've got a month and a half before Amy's, but I need to find someone with a quick turnaround time. I'll still be dieting and losing for Joy's wedding in August, so I don't really want to have it altered like a month before.

Speaking of the diet, I've lost 17 pounds, which is the most I've ever lost in one dieting stretch. I had to go buy new work pants and a pair of jeans b/c all the others were either too big or still a bit too small yet. A third hooray! When I hit the -25 mark, as a reward I'm going to color my hair. I don't know what color though. Maybe darker with some red in it. Dunno. Any suggestions?

OK, off to take in some more nice weather before the sun goes down. Let's just hope the neighbors leave us alone.

All quiet now, except for that music

Kim & Charles' wedding day
Originally uploaded by Dani H..

Hmm, it's been over a month. So many things to tell.

As you can see, my sister got married on March 9; they didn't tell anyone they were doing this, so I had a brother-in-law for two days and didn't know it. Do you think she'll still let me drag her to a bridal shop to try on gowns?

My grandpa had knee surgery on March 6, which should have been a simple thing, but then some bad things were going on with his stomach, so he was in the hospital for a week. Bad times for everyone, especiall him, obviously, but he's home now.

I have two bridesmaids dresses hanging up downstairs, and guess what? Neither fits right. But it was planned that way, kind of, because I'm dieting to make them fit. No, it's not stupid to do that - I've lost 11.5 pounds so shut up! They'll have to be altered anyway because I'm too short and, well, when you diet the boobs are the first place you lose, so the tops are too big. But I foresee things working out splendidly. And I bought my shoes for both yesterday (1 pair for both, thank you ladies!) and they're pretty cute. So, hooray!

On the grouchier side, work's been a serious pain in my ass and there are certain people that I'd really like to punch, but they frown on that, you know. Especially the ones who float along and don't have a clue what they're doing and then get praise piled on them for something I helped create. Nice.

But you know what? I'll get over it. I bust my ass regardless of whether it gets noticed, and I know it, and that's what matters.

Last night we went to the DAV with Joy and Rodney and caught up. We were going to play pool, but never got around to it, we were so busy babbling. Which reminds me, Dave is in their wedding too, which is in Vegas! Yay Vegas!

The other wedding is my sister-in-law's wedding, have I mentioned that before? I can't remember. So we'll head to Philly in May and Vegas in August. Much traveling for us.

And now, after spending hours uploading (downloading? which way would that go?) songs, I'm listening to Gary Allan on my new iPod nano. Before that it was Dean Martin. I wasn't sure about this little thing yesterday, but now I'm seeing how great it will be.

Garth in my ear while I'm doing dishes!

Frank in my ear while I'm doing laundry!

Jon in my ear while I'm working!

That's Brooks, Sinatra and Bon Jovi for the confused among us.

OH! Long Day - Matchbox Twenty - makes me think of BGSU. I'm a weenie, so I'm outta here.

Thinking back

Pyramid
Originally uploaded by Dani H..

I've pretty much had only one thing on my mind for, well, not quite a month. A girl I graduated from high school with, Christina (Fricke) Irvin, was in a very bad car accident on Jan. 12, and she died on Jan. 27.

We weren't in touch anymore, but we were friends in middle and high school, so it's just so weird to think that she's gone. Especially since I saw her and Brett at the reunion in August. My brain just doesn't want to fully get it.

But I don't want to sit here and get upset. Thinking about Chris prompted me to haul out the photo albums, and I was happy to find that I have more photos of her, and several of my old friends, than I realized. And even though seeing the photos made me a little sad, it also made me happy to think waaaaaaaaaay back to our days at Olentangy High School and the fun that was had.

It's killing me

The weather, that is. If I could scoop my sinuses out with a spoon, I totally would. It's nice to have 50-degree days in January and all, but the huge changes in temperature make me want to pop my eyes out with the aforementioned spoon.

In other illness news, Dave thinks he may have bronchitis, so he's going to the doctor tomorrow. Let's just hope it's a regular old nasty chest cold, because either way, you know I'm going to get it too. Especially since Dave tends to be a human blanket while sleeping so he probably breathed a bunch of germs on me last night.

Let's see, what's been going on around here? Oh, that's right, nothing. We are boring. We did go down to my parents' house Saturday for the Pammer's birthday, which was fun. Kim & Charles were there too, which was nice.

On Sunday we went to a cat show in Toledo, which also was fun. So many pretty kitties and I couldn't pet any of them. But I did get to see a Scottish fold up close, which was awesome! They are so adorable I almost can't bear it! When it's time to add a new kitty to the flock, that's what I want, and it's all because of this guy.

That's about it, really. We have a new editor starting on Monday, so hopefully the stress will abate in the near future.

My coffee's cold, so I'm outta here.

Happy new year, indeed

Very quickly, because I have to get in the shower to get ready to go get drunk with Nadia:

CARMEN IS HOME!

I can't even tell you how thrilled I am!

Channel 13 out of Toledo talked to him briefly, and you can see the video here: http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=local&id=3768044

So, Hooray! And happy new year!

Midnight show

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: BEST ONE YET.

That is all.

Purse meme

Bottomless pit
Originally uploaded by Dani H..

MB did this ages ago, but I'm just getting around to it. Here's what was in my lovely floral soccer-mom purse, which still has the admittance tag from a bead show over the summer:

Large pink comb with rubberband, headband, wallet full of papers and photos, contact solution and eye drops, loose change (85 cents, I think), gum given out at the county fair, warm vanilla sugar hand sanitizer, coconut lime verbena lotion, cell phone, band aids (from a bowling alley in Akron), physical therapy appointment card, Excedrin migrain, Pamprin bottle with Aleve also in it, two Aleve cold & sinus pills, pack of gum & IHOP mints, receipts, another appointment card and some random papers, Kleenex, stuff from the Titanic exhibit at COSI in Columbus, gift cards, coffee shop stamp card with license, debit card & insurance card hidden underneath, matches, mints & pens taken from hotels, a thank you card from the former intern at work, too many lip things, Burt's Bees lemon butter cuticle cream, a notepad, oil-absorbing sheets, and two fortune cookies.

I bought a new purse a week ago, and no, not everything here was transferred - but most of it was.

On a roll

I was concerned that my three-day streak of wanting to sit in the bathroom and bawl my eyes out would end Wednesday, but I really shouldn't have been concerned. I was ready to do that after being at work maybe two hours, which really isn't a very good thing.

I don't even want to talk about it, it disgusts me and upsets me so much, and I'm pretty sure that not many people would get it. I'm sure I'd just be pegged as being overly dramatic and having "poor me" syndrome.

It's almost like a conspiracy to drive me completely over the edge. It's almost like an extension of home. Yeah, chew on that for a while and see if you can figure it out. I bet some of you can.

Our new sixth editor that I absolutely adored (and still do of course, but:) left us and we've been four days without her and it already sucks even more than I remember it sucking before she was here. So Sarah, if you happen to read this, please, please please come back!

But, you know, it's not just work that feeds the need for the fetal position.

Editor's note: This was written last night, and while I'm still stressed out, I'm off today and feel a bit better. I'm going to do the purse meme in a bit to cheer myself up.

Finally

ANGRYMOJO
Originally uploaded by Dani H..

I finally got around to doing the photo thing, but now there are lots of fun pictures for you to look at. Most of them are of, yes, the animals, but they're cute, I promise!

All this figuring out of Flickr has made me hungry. Night!

The new Dani, now cast-free!

Yes, I've been cast-free for just over a week now, and it's so wonderful! I've never looked forward to washing my face and hair as much as I did the day after it came off. And no, the arm wasn't stinky, but there sure was a lot of nasty, flaky dry skin in there. But I got to wash the arm and hand there in the room right after the cast came off, which was very nice.

I don't have full range of motion, and it hurts if the wrist gets forced too far back, forward, or to the side, but it's getting better.

So, here's how it happened: My parents had been up that day and we all went to the county fair and had a lovely time. When they left, I took Rusty out since he'd been cooped up all day. It was about 8 p.m. and the 'rents hadn't even been gone 10 minutes.

Rusty was all crazed because my parents had been here, so he was running around like a lunatic. I was standing at the end of the sidewalk, and I was going to hop over his chain as he ran past so it wouldn't burn my ankles for the second time that day.

I didn't time it right.

The chain yanked my feet out from under me, and the next thing I knew I was sprawled face-down in the yard with a very painful nose and left wrist.

And of course, since I was laying on the ground, I wanted to play with Rusty, who was all over me. Obscene things were shouted, Dave came running over from the garage, and then my nose started bleeding so we went inside.

The great debate over going to the hospital began after the bleeding stopped, and I REALLY didn't want to go, so we decided to ice it and see what happened. (I was hoping for just a sprain)

Well, around midnight I decided maybe we should take a trip to the ER. I got to tell the story of the evil beast many, many times, got x-rays taken, found out it was fractured, got a splint and some percoset, and went home very unhappy. I took the percoset, it made me nauseous and didn't help the pain, so I went to bed even more unhappy.

Of course it was a holiday weekend, so I couldn't go see the orthopedist until Tuesday, but I eventually got the lovely cast, and the next six weeks pretty much sucked ass. Now I have to go to physical therapy (but probably not for very long) and do "exercises" at home, which includes playing with a big wad of neon red silly putty-type stuff. And I have a little brace to wear in case I decide to do any lifting, which I can assure will not happen. I wear it to bed though, because I'm paranoid I'll do something bad to it in my sleep.

The end.

Not really worth the wait, was it?

Still here

Still broken, and still without the VR program, so maybe this weekend I'll light a fire under Dave to help me with that. Sorry, but that's all. It takes too fucking long to type anything, and I ramble, so no more at the moment.

Fractured

My wrist, that is. Luckily it's the left one, so I can still write and use the mouse. We have a voice recognition program, so when we get me set up with that, I'll tell the story. Big surprise, the dog is involved.

One-handed typing is for the birds.

What a weirdo

Jen tagged me almost a month ago, so here you go:

Idiosyncrasy: A structural or behavioral characteristic peculiar to an individual or group. I'm supposed to list five of mine.

1. I have to count stairs when going up or coming down.

2. I have to check the alarm clock at least two times.

3. I have to check to make sure the doors are locked at least two times. (Sometimes 2 and three make me get out of bed.)

4. I go through phases of hobbies/activities. Sometimes all I want to do is read, sometimes it's sewing, sometimes it's crosswords, sometimes it's making jewelry, sometimes it's playing computer games. Sadly, it's never cleaning.

5. I have to be doing something when I'm watching TV, like playing gameboy or doing a crossword. I generally can't just sit and watch TV.

Maybe next time I'll get around to the reunion recap.

No time for love, Dr. Jones

As usual, the promises to myself to be better about posting have not worked, but you know what, I just don't care ... so there! But MB told me to make with the blog, and I happened to have e-mailed a post to myself from work Tuesday night, so I'll stop being lazy and post it.

I promised the story of Rusty's last trip to the vet almost a month ago, and here it is.

Rusty had puked every day for almost a week, and he was doing this weird fake leg-lifting on the tree but not peeing thing (he wasn't not peeing all the time so I didn't know what to make of it), and he needed a new kennel cough vaccination, so we drove up to BG for a visit with Dr. Jones.

Well, eventually we went back to the examining room (there's always a bit of a wait), and Dr. Jones asked me what exactly was going on, and I told him the "symptoms" and also that Dave was out of town and that Rusty hadn't been eating as much as usual. Blah blah blah. Next thing I know, Dr. Jones has a rubber glove on and is getting out some gel and then, AND THEN, he stuck his finger up my dog's ass!

Rusty did not take too kindly to this, and it took two assistants to hold him while Dr. Jones finished checking him out. And then, AND THEN, Rusty squatted and took a shit right there in the examining room. I was mortified! I said, "Oh Rusty" in an embarrassed voice, and Dr. Jones said, "Oh, that's to be expected. I stimulated him."

Well, if you're OK with it, I guess I am too. But please don't ever talk about stimulating my dog again, OK?

So, he says Rusty's prostate is slightly enlarged, which is odd since he's not even 2 years old, and that I should keep an eye on him, see if he gets better after Dave gets back, and go from there. Then it's time for the vaccination, which gets sprayed up the nose. Dr. Jones starts heading for Rusty, who is leaning against my leg. As Dr. Jones gets closer, Rusty starts scooting his butt around behind me so Dr. Jones can't get at it again. If I hadn't felt so bad for him, I would have laughed my fool head off. But I laughed and laughed later, so don't think I'm all nice and shit!

So he got his vaccine, we got some anti-nausea pills for him, paid and headed home. It was a very long day for both of us.

Next time: The 10-Year High School Reunion.

This is why I didn't promise

Because all week I've had the computer to myself and this is only my second entry. You know why? 'Cause I'm freakin' tired, that's why! Oh, and lazy.

The new editor started on Monday, and she's very nice, and she likes country music, so I think we should keep her. Plus she's somewhat familiar with our system, so that should be good too.

I got up early to take Rusty to the vet today, so I'm extra tired so I'm going to cut this very short. I'll tell the vet story next time, and I would bet Rusty's cookies that you'll laugh.

Breathing water

That's what it's like every time I step outside, and IT SUCKS! I'm sick of it! Stupid weather. This is going to be quick, because the computer is upstairs and it's too blasted hot to be up here right now - the window AC needs to work a bit harder, I think.

I've been quite productive in tracking down classmates, and it's been kind of trippy calling all these random people out of the blue, but I've kind of enjoyed it. And it makes me feel helpful.

I'm on my own this week, so I don't have to fight Dave for the computer so maybe I'll post more than usual ... but I won't make any promises.