One of those days

Today was one of those days. You know the type. Most of us refer to them as "bad" though "crappy" runs a close second.

It wasn't a bad/bad day, but it was definitely a not good one with strong bad tendencies.

1. My car was covered with ice this morning. I've had worse but remember, this is Phoenix. I have no earthly idea where my ice scraper is, so I got to sit in the cold care waiting for the defrosters to work.

2. Mailing the scarves to Mom cost more then I thought it would. I was also returning some books and I don't believe you should have to pay to ship books so I always block out the fact I'm going to have to.

3. I got an email back from a professor I had asked to write a reference letter for me. She had "to decline this invitation with regret. A person serving as a reference should be able to say they know you and be able to speak of your work/abilities in some detail. I do not feel I can be a good reference for you due to the fact that I don't know you well enough professionally." Maybe because I'm a student! Who isn't working professionally in the field! 3,000 miles away so it's not like I can pop in and chat about the LC Classification system. (to be fair, I did ask if she would do it and gave her an out, but I've never had anyone refused to be a reference before. Especially a prof. I'm a bit dumsquzzeled. And slightly offended. I did have two classes with her, one containing only 8 people.)

4. The turkey I was having for lunch got dumped into the tray of mashed potatoes by the server. This caused a flurry of replacement lunch activity and a too-long wait in line in the hospital cafeteria.

5. I repeatedly dropped a stomach and accidentally disassembled a set of lungs. They were plastic models in library, but still.

6. I stopped at Changing Hands to buy the new Christopher Moore book (he's having a reading/signing there soon) and they were either out or haven't received any copies yet. In either case, I didn't get it.

7. When I finally got home, my phone was all static-y and the Internet wouldn't connect. This happens when it rains sometimes because my phone-lines run along the ground and are apparently made of irrigation system cable. Obviously, the problem has resolved to some extent (since I'm online now), but it will probably happen again soon and the process has, once again, been started to repair the line and, once again, I will try to convince the complex that irrigation cable is a poor substitute for phone cables but I'm expecting the usual response. Nada.

8. The illness I've had since mid-October was diagnosed via blood work today as walking pneumonia (apparently I has spontaneously started getting over it, even though I still couldn't breath). The good news: it wasn't Valley Fever and my immune system hasn't crapped out completely. The bad news: I just finished a week of high-potency, side-effect-inducing antibiotics and I'm still getting short-of-breath which means I'll probably get another round of them.

9. I'm still getting short-of-breath. Saturday and yesterday I was feeling much better. Walked the dog and did laundry with no panting. Today, I'm back to SOB. I'm supposed to rest. Do you think they'll let me nap in my cube?

10. All the phone drama (many phone calls, tears) and the diagnosis/probably treatment drama (more tears) and the hurried cleaning-of-the-apartment-in-case-the-phone-people-need-to-come-inside-tomorrow (what can I say, I've been resting for 3 months, it's gotten messy) have caused me to become SOB and completely removed my desire to do schoolwork tonight. I'm going to go sit on the couch and try not to stab myself in the eye with knitting.

To end on a more positive note: at least I didn't arrive home to this

or this



These are two examples of Lucy's latest month-long rampage: an empty, mangled tin of Altoids and approximately 10 pounds of change that were in close proximity to a Hershey Kiss.

But today, no scattered currency or dogs with intestinal distress. So, yay me