Mexico and new Years

So, my sister (and some of her friends) is going to Mexico to celebrate New Years and wants me to go with her. They'll be going to Tulum on the Yucatan Peninsula. They'll be there from Dec. 28 thru Jan. 5th. They have a place that sleeps four for $130 per night, so it would be pretty cheap. Mexico is cheap in general, so I think it would be a fun yet inexpensive way to travel and celebrate the New Year. I haven't decided for sure if I'll go, yet. But it could be cool. Anyone been to Mexico? I haven't ever been.

Insomnia Woes

So, I'm about the worst sleeper on the planet, I'd say. Anything going on in my life is directly reflected in how I sleep. If I'm doing well, I sleep just fine. But if there is any extra stress in my life, I can fully expect that my quality of sleep is going to be disrupted. And it totally sucks because how well one sleeps affects how well one "wakes."

Right now I'm dealing with some hard-core insomnia. It started out innocent enough....I wasn't sleeping as well because my poison ivy was itchy. But now my good friend Megan is staying at my place temporarily (she just finished grad school and is sleeping on my couch for a few weeks while she job searches) and that has made my resteless nights transition into sleepless nights. Not because of Megan.....just any disruption in my routine upsets the extraordinarily delicate internal balance and then I'm screwed. And it doesn't help that my place is big enough for one, but teensy for two with hard-wood floors that creak more than any creaky floors I've ever heard.

So, needless to say, I'm feeling not so great at the moment. I've had only a few hours of crappy sleep the last three nights and it's making my days foggy, floaty, and irritating. I'll try hard to stay positive, though.

I love bugs (except chiggers, of course)

As in insects, not the car. I just love to look at bugs and admire them. They are so cool. Any other bug-lovers out there? I have this fat spider (I know, spiders aren't insects, they are arachnids...but I still lump them together with the others anyway) living on my porch that has built this massive fortress of webs. It's just amazing. And yesterday there was a praying mantis sitting on the outside part of the glass of my office window. Too cool.....praying mantis' are so interesting.

Chiggers Suck...

One of the cons of being an outdoorsy girl is being more susceptible to bug bites and other things that make one itch. I have about 20 or more chigger bites on the backs of my legs and.....well, other places. Let me tell you, mosquito bites are NOTHING compared to chigger bites. These things itch like hell....and they don't ever stop itching. Last night I woke up with my legs on fire and had to take an antihistamine in order to get the bites to calm down enough for me to fall asleep. It was pretty horrible. Oh, and I think I have a patch of poison ivy on my arm. So, basically I'm an itchy mess.

Lazy Summer Evening with a Little Barf on the Side

Yesterday at work was uber-hectic. I came home to relax after work, but just wasn't feeling TV so I decided to take a walk to the little park down the street from me and swing on the swings. It's one one of those "sprayground" parks....any of you seen one of those before? There's this cemented area in the park with these metal tubes sticking up in the air that spray out water intermittently. Water also sprays up from out of the ground.....kind of like a big, elaborate water fountain except the water goes down this big drain rather than fill up any sort of basin. It's so awesome to run through (Terralyn can attest to that...she and I got soaking wet one day while running around in it).

Anyway, it was SO cute because there was this big black lab that was playing in it just like a little kid. When a spray of water would come out from the ground he would jump through it. He kept running all over, trying to bite the water, etc. It was the best entertainment ever. After playing for about 30 minutes, he laid down next to his owner looking really happy and then poceeded to yak up all the water. Of course, there was a little extra dog food in there for good measure. He then yaked again. It was pretty funny. By the way, is that how you spell the past tense of yak?

Girls Gone Kayaking!

A group of my female friends went kayaking in Columbus, Indiana all day Saturday. It was tons of fun! We floated lazily down the river, watching nature, chatting and laughing. We stopped several times to chill out or eat snacks along the way. We also ended up swimming a couple of times despite the chilly water. I wanted to take my camera with me on the actual kayaking portion of the trip, but on my last trip I tipped over three times and I hear that submerging cameras under water isn't good for them. So here's a picture of us before our departure down the river. Outdoorsy girls ROCK! :)

The Buffet Show

The show last night was, of course, a success. We got there around 4:00 to eat, drink and be merry. I had several margaritas, but was a lightweight compared to everyone else at the show. The show started at 8:00 and went on until 11:00. We hung out by our cars until the traffic was gone before leaving. I didn't end up getting home until 1AM, which sucks when you have to go to work the next day. But oh well....sometimes you gotta do stuff like that.

This picture is of Jen and I when we were tailgating prior to the show. I was wearing shorts under the grass skirt, I promise.

Jimmy Buffet again!

Wow....I can't believe that it's been a year now that I've been blogging. I have a post from last year about the Jimmy Buffet concert that I went to. Here it is again, that Jimmy Buffet time of year. I'll be going to the concert tonight and will have pictures to post tomorrow. And this year I have a grass skirt and other props for the event. Yeah!!

Sick as a dog, AGAIN...

Man, this getting sick during summer thing is really a drag. First I get sick and have to cancel my 30th b-day party and now I get so sick that I can't drive to Columbus Ohio for a high-school buddy reunion. What suckage is that???! What can I say, I have the strength of an ape and the immune system of a 3-year-old. Seriously, though....it was just a super-bad-ass cold. I couldn't breathe for shit, had a sore throat and a 100 degree fever for about 4 days. I even missed work yesterday and part of today. I'm going to the doctor this afternoon, although I think I'm finally on the upswing of this bastard. Sorry I missed the party and I hope you all had a good time!!