Her Life In A Nutshell

RLS : Really Lousy Syndrome

2008-06-24T17:43:00.002-04:00

Well, RLS really stands for Restless Leg Syndrome, but hey, it is Really Lousy as well. I'm almost into my 2nd week of trying Sinemet to help it. If there's any medication that I would suggest NOT looking at the side effects unless you have them, it's Sinemet! The list is insanely long. I looked at it only because after a day or two of taking just half the dose, my dreams were super vivid. Of course, that's on the list of side effects. I'd rather have that than any of the others! I think that it's helping so far, and I don't think I'm waking up nearly as often as I used to. My SO hasn't given me a hard time about having kicked him or whacked him in the face in the past week, so that's a good thing! :-)
The headache docs think that once we get my sleeping under control, it's possible that it will help my headaches level out even more. I'm obviously super skeptical at this point, but it's fine. I'm also going to attempt to make an appointment with the sleep doc who read my sleep study this past winter (which, of COURSE, was perfectly fine!?!). Only time will tell...

I Forgot that Allergies Bring Headaches...

2008-04-30T15:08:00.002-04:00

... so my "regular" headaches plus these spring allergy headaches are BOATLOADS of fun! Ughhh. The only good thing about my allergies this year is that they didn't start up as early as they have in the past, so that was a good thing. Last week, I started feeling a little itchiness in the eye area and stuffiness in the schnozzz area, so I figured, "time to hit up the drug store for some Claritin!" I probably didn't say it with an exclamation point... especially since allergy meds are basically $1.00 per pill these days. Luckily, I had some Claritin tabs leftover from last year, so I started off with those. I was not getting any relief, of COURSE. I asked the pharmacist what she'd recommend, and she said to try Zyrtec... and YAY it works!
The only downside I'm experiencing, however, is the drowsiness... because, of course, it's not like I'm not already having enough drowsiness from my headache meds to cause me to take a "stay awake!!!" medication. I even took 2 pills worth of my "stay awake!!!" med yesterday and I was still exhausted.
Anyways, is anyone else out there in Headacheland that is experiencing worsened headaches during allergytime??

Unconscious Mutterings

2008-04-07T19:37:00.002-04:00

Nutritious :: anddelicious
Graduate :: degree
Tonight! :: Fun!
Located :: map
Weapon :: danger
Jumper :: Australia
Collectibles :: crystal animal
Dennis :: The Menace
Hostile :: environment
Vivid :: imagery

Dear Senator...

2008-04-04T10:12:00.001-04:00

Please Email Your Senator Today!

Dear Dr. Robert:
Our efforts last month to urge members of the US House of Representatives to support increases in NIH funding for research on headache disorders were highly successful. Twelve Representatives signed the Obey/Walsh letter. This is an outstanding result for the first mobilization of our numbers, and we are optimistic that it will be enough to have our message appended to the House appropriations bill.
It is now time to contact your US Senators for the same purpose. Unfortunately our window of opportunity is only narrowly open. The letter with Senators' signatures must be submitted by today, April 4th.

1.. Please take just 5 minutes RIGHT NOW to go directly to http://capwiz.com/headacheadvocacy/issues/alert/?alertid=11231066&PROCESS=Take+Action and send your message to your two US Senators

2.. Please forward this email right away to anyone else concerned about the inadequate state of care for patients with headache disorders.

Only with increased research will new effective treatments for headache disorders become available. And only with your help will such research activities increase to levels appropriate to the huge scale of this problem. The larger our voice, the greater will be our impact.

Thanks again for your efforts.
Robert Shapiro, MD, PhD> William Young, MD,> Teri Robert, PhD> Brad Klein, MD, MBA

[How cool is it that my docs are part of the Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy, the group that wrote this letter? Yay!]

new job, and hating RLS

2008-03-26T22:19:00.004-04:00

After all of the shenanigans with my work injury, I made the difficult decision to leave. It just has taken so much longer for me to get my back back to normal (heh, back, back, clever, yes, moving on...), and it has gotten frustrating. While working with aggressive students with autism had never been a plan of mine, I am so thankful that I had that opportunity - especially while still dealing with NDPH. I'll be continuing to do my physical therapy exercises on my own, and hopefully I'll keep feeling better.
I already have a job offer from a local public high school to be a special education teaching asst, and I am excited about starting something new. I like change :-) I was so lucky that while I was at my previous job, my headaches didn't flare too badly. If the pain started to rise, I was usually too busy to be able to go take a rescue med, or only took 1-2 over the 6 month period.
I'm still having the same feelings that I used to - I waver between periods of really wanting to take rescue meds when I need them and periods of not wanting to take anything. Some nights when I'm supposed to take my regular headache meds (that is a bit oxymoronic?), I feel like I am not even sure if the meds are even helping. I guess they are... but I am too afraid to go completely off them for fear that I will really spiral back downward to when I couldn't get off the couch (before I went to the new docs/had my hospital stay)...
Restless Leg Syndrome is still being Super Obnoxious Syndrome, and makes me need to get up and move around when I should be sleeping, etc. The headache docs don't think it's bad enough to need/want to put me on RLS meds, however...

I'm bad about this... which may also be a good thing.

2008-02-21T23:22:00.003-05:00

So I keep being bad about updating this here blog. I just realized, however, that the reason for this may be because my head has been pretty decent to me during the past few weeks (!!!). This is especially a relief because of my current back injury/sprain/whatever they are calling it... if my head was also really being a jerk and causing me pain, I would really lose it. Lose what, I am not sure. It would certainly be lost, though.

Yesterday, I had an MRI for my back injury to see what the heck is goin' on in there... physical therapy and "taking it easy while still kinda working" hasn't been doing it, so I just kinda said, "okay, let's do this." When the technicians were asking me if I had ever had an MRI before, I laughed. Like, out loud. Like, LOL. Oh dear. Anyways, I told them that I had my share of MRIs and MRAs and CT-Scans and all that jazz for my headaches, so I was what one may call "an old pro." I then joked that since it had been a while since my last MRI of the head, maybe I could just slide into the MRI tube further once they were done looking at my back just so we could check out my head, just for kicks. I don't think that the technicians really realized I was joking, because they didn't laugh. Oops. I thought it was funny.

I also just had another headache doctor visit, which meant I had to sit on the train for 3.5-4ish hours back and forth... my back wasn't a huge fan of sitting for that long, but I survived. I just felt like my 93 year old great-aunt when I tried to stand up, was all. My doctor was really excited about my headache progress, and we're going to try a little medication tweaking. Hopefully that won't throw me off. Oh, and we talked about my sleep study results! I was expecting some kind of crazy results, but basically it just seems like I snored a little bit and didn't reach a very deep REM sleep. I already could predict the snoring - my boyfriend told me the night before that doctor visit that "Thomas the Tank engine came through during the night." Oops!! If the snoring wakes me/bothers me I can go back to the sleep study people to talk about options to fix it, but it doesn't affect me at all during the night... only poor boyfriend! Poor guy. I did sweetly remind him that we have a futon in the next room if he ever is bothered by the train... hehehe. I mean, I'm sorry sweetheart. My bad.

P.S. Had my first IKEA experience over the weekend... I needed a desk very badly, and neither of us had ever been. Boyfriend kept referring to IKEA as "lego land" because of the blue and yellow outside and the general box-y-ness (yeah, that's not a word!) of the building. I kept cracking up about the way we were all following the arrows on the floor so that people didn't walk into each other, and also about the random food that was offered in the cafeteria... a shrimp and egg sandwich for basically $2.99? Very interesting. My desk's name is Jonas, our shoerack's name is Fran, and the bookshelf that is giving us trouble which will probably have to be returned/exchanged is Flarke . I've been pestering Boyfriend and referring to those items by their Swedish product names; "Can you put my laptop back on Jonas when you're done? Thanks!"
P.P.S. "My Name is Jonas" is a song by Weezer, and is even one of the songs in Guitar Hero, which I also have a love for...

Unconscious Mutterings

2008-02-02T19:04:00.000-05:00

1. Booze :: bottle
2. Counter :: kitchen
3. Action :: reaction
4. Trial :: court
5. Wheelchair :: ramp
6. 1-800 :: flowers
7. Chop :: onions
8. Relatives :: dinner
9. Bed sheets :: comfy
10. Funnel :: beer

haha, starts and ends with alcohol... and to think, I'm gonna have some drinks in a little while with friends... go figure!

P.S. Physical Therapy is kicking my tush, but helping slowly each day... yay!

Whistle While You Work / 4 year "headacheaversary"

2008-01-22T08:47:00.000-05:00

Moving along on the "light duty" front at work as I am now able to be on a semi-regular schedule at the residence, and am only working with certain residents. I'm still doing the physical therapy thing 2-3 times a week, and it's still kicking my tush. Of course, physical therapy is doing a great thing for my back so far and I'm thankful for that. I still have a LOT of unpacking to do here in the apartment (clothes clothes and more clothes) but the rest of the apartment is just about done! We're really settling in quite well, and I'm very happy with it.

I haven't had to take of my "rescue" headache meds in a few weeks, which is incredible. I am so thankful for the headache doctors that I have working with me right now... it sure took a long road to get to these specialists, that's for sure. I got poked and prodded enough times to compete with a pincushion over these 4 years! To even say that I've had this headache issue for 4 years is surreal. It's surreal, it's scary, it's funny, it's sad, it's hilarious, it's sick... but it's something that has just grown to be a part of me that I have just had to accept that is not going anywhere right now, and it's something I have to "suck up and deal with". It has made me a different person, but it has made me a stronger person.

Oops, a little behind on the postings! Happy almost 2008!

2007-12-29T19:32:00.000-05:00

Sorry, faithful readers (all... 3? of you? whatever!), for I have let you down during the past month. Lots has been going on, and I have sadly neglected to make any postings here on my lonely blog.[SIDEBAR: I had to explain what a blog was the other day to a family friend... that was a good time.]Anyways, I really do hope that everyone has been able to enjoy themselves during this snowy season - if it happens to snow where you live. Otherwise, I hope you have had good weather and been in good health. Now I'm sounding like one of the old ladies that I met at the hair salon the other day when I was down in Florida.

YES, I was lucky enough to be able to take a trip to Boca Raton, Florida, home of the "early-bird special" and crazy drivers. My mom treated my boyfriend and I to a few days down there, which was MUCH needed due to the craziness that he and I have experienced lately - not between us, but in all other aspects of life!

Of course work had been keeping me busy and from updating on this here bloggy blog, but then almost 2 weeks ago, I had a physical incident with one of my residents and have been on worker's comp. Everything/everyone was okay, and I bonked my head a few times and thought that my back was just a little sore from the stress of the situation. I was checked out by a doctor and sent home to rest, but when I returned to work and after a longgggg day on duty, I could tell that my back was actually worse than I had realized. Basically, I am going to be starting physical therapy on Jan. 2nd which I am looking forward to but at the same time am dreading!! I will hopefully be back on "light duty" which is just desk work soon, as it's hard to not be there.

At the same time as all of this (YES, and still having headaches - but they have been very mild, KNOCK ON WOOD/PLASTIC/HEAD/ETC.), we are in the process of moving. YEAH! I couldn't be more excited to get out of the building we're in right now. Too many issues (as noted in an entry from the summer where I had to CRY ACTUAL TEARS to get the carpet and linoleum replaced) and whatnot that I will not miss. My boyfriend got a new job, and we will be moving closer to his job and my commute won't be so bad anymore either. Of course though, packing with "back sprain/spasms" is not quite as easy as one may predict it could be, so I have been doing a lot of directing and list-writing and whatnot. My parents are being super nice and coming up with me tomorrow to help me pack the kitchen stuff and my stuff from the bedroom.

So, I feel badly that I haven't been catching up with all of my headache pals, but I really do hope that if you have been celebrating any holiday this month, I hope it was enjoyable. I also wish you a happy and healthy and headache-free/manageable new year!

Google Analytics = Hilarious...

2007-11-25T13:50:00.000-05:00

Starting today, I am officially on vacation for a week. Am I going somewhere? Nope. That is totally fine with me! I need a break from work, for real. Love it, but need a few good days off! I will update about my headache doc appointment in a day or so, but I just had to post this:

I just happened to remember about the lovely Google Analytics site where you can track visitors, trends, and (my favorite part) keywords people use to find your blog. Since I've been writing about my pals in The Last Goodnight and the tour that they're on (and I will also be posting photos from the recent show I went to), that is something that is bringing people to my page:
"the last goodnight" and friend and joanna"
"kurtis john" and girlfriend"

Pretty funny, I have to admit. I don't know who the people are who have done these searches, but I obviously am not dating Kurt, but it's pretty hilarious nonetheless. I think I will have to share this with him, in case he wants to get into the tabloids and needs a good story... "Rocker Steals Girlfriend". hahaha

Update soon, I promise! Enjoy the end of the weekend...

Floating along, pretty much

2007-11-12T11:45:00.000-05:00

Still working an insane amount, and still having a pretty low-level headache overall. I have to keep knocking on wood for good luck because I am kinda just waiting for my luck to turn. I'm not used to having so many weeks in a row of pretty decent headache weeks, where I don't have to take more than 1 rescue medication in 1 week (if at all, yay!).
My big issue is basically my sleeping. The fact that I CAN'T sleep through the night in one sure shot, to be exact. December 30 was the earliest I could get for a sleep study, which my headache docs prescribed. I wake up halfway through the night, and then all of a sudden I feel that I can't stay in bed. I apparently even have my small bit of Restless Leg Syndrome while I sleep, which I never knew. My boyfriend is always telling me in the morning that it looked like I was in a race or being chased by something. Oops. For the past few weeks, I've been getting out of bed halfway through the night and coming out into the living room so that I can try to fall back to sleep while having the TV on. Thankfully, I haven't been too tired while at work, but still, it's not great. December 30th can't come soon enough. I will have to call them back and see if there are any cancellations yet...
Still working with my adults with autism, which is a whole lot of hours each week, but definitely learning so much and experiencing so much. Ups and downs all week but we really do manage to have some good laughs along the way, which obviously helps.
I'm hoping that everyone is feeling okay lately! I know that the temperature changes can be hard for lots of people - I even learned that lots of individuals with autism have a really hard time dealing with seasonal changes (behaviorally speaking). We've been having some issues with that some of our residents, and even though that's never fun, at least I understand the reason for it.
I wish I had more time to update more often and that I had more things to talk about... it feels as if I spend more time at work than here at the apartment! On a brighter side for me though, I have been doing a little dieting (which my boyfriend started doing and I decided to do it along with him), and I've been losing a little bit each week! Hooray for pants fitting a bit better :-)
Enjoy your week :-)

Unconscious Mutterings

2007-11-04T16:26:00.000-05:00

Assets :: bank
Concern :: medical
Over the top :: embellishment
Supplies :: paint brushe
Mustache :: scratchy
Doug :: Funny (from nickelodeon back in the day)
Coach :: job coach
Bleachers :: football game
Stripes :: zebra
Assortment :: flavors

Holy to the Moly.

2007-10-25T21:45:00.001-04:00

So basically, this whole "new busy job" is actually pretty busy. My headache has been treating me pretty decently, but this morning it was creeping up a bit. I was to be at work at 9, and with all the wonderful traffic that there is on the route to work at that time in the morning, I have to leave at 8ish. I knew that I'd be working until 5, so I figured that I'd pop a "rescue med" pill right before I got out of the car when I arrived at my autistic adults' residence.
Of course, being me, I forgot to take the medication. That's just what I do. You get to work, and all the things that are going to take place that day start running through your head. Of all the days, however, for me to NOT take my medication when I needed it, today was NOT the day!! We definitely had an intense morning behavior-wise. It was my first time dealing with an intense behavioral issue, but I feel like my coworker and I really handled it well.
I'm thankful for the fact that despite the NDPH and everything that comes with it, I am able to prove to myself that I can keep my cool during a tense and sort of scary situation. I am able to stand up and do my job and do it to the best of my ability. I had been really nervous about taking a 40 hr/week job (and sometimes overtime, since we have been low-staffed lately), especially one that requires me to help care for severely autistic individuals. So far, so good. Even with today's worse-than-normal-at-work head pain, I was able to really handle a tough situation and stick through until 5pm.
Of course, at 4:58, I grabbed a chocolate pudding from the fridge, and enjoyed it while laughing and smiling with one of my residents. That made the day better :-)
I hope that everyone is feeling alright! Sorry if I'm not commenting as much as I normally do...
p.s. GO RED SOX :-)

Unconscious Mutterings

2007-10-14T14:28:00.000-04:00

Illicit :: drugs
Go :: home
Jacket :: zip up
Blow :: pops
Coach :: Carter
Effort :: trying
Leadership :: Power
Snore :: Loud
Fearless :: hero
Network :: executive

2007-10-14T13:27:00.000-04:00

Well, things have been pretty decent on the headache front. I just have been bad when it comes to remembering to refill my prescriptions within enough time so that I have what I need. Like today, I have to go out today to refill one of my headache prescriptions because when it came time to take it last night, I only had 2 of the 3 pills worth that I needed to take. Oops.

I worked 43 hours this week. 43. That is kinda a lot of hours. Yesterday was a 12 hour shift but surprisingly, as I spend more time at work, the time is starting to pass a bit more quickly. I'm learning so much about autism and applied behavioral analysis (ABA)... it really has proven to be such a successful method of helping individuals with autism to become successful. The role of the environment is important, repetition of breaking down tasks and practicing them with reinforcements, etc. It's really interesting to be involved with and watch individuals that you work with improve, even if it is something as simple as washing ones hands the proper way. I think that I'm also so thankful that I have been feeling pretty decent while at work. I'm hoping that I remain on this "feeling decent" trend for a while! I shall keep my fingers and toes and anything else I can cross, crossed.

I still have to get the whole sleeping issue figured out... I apparently have some nights when I have been compared to a sleeping dog who is having a bad dream! I couldn't believe that D was making that comparison at first, but he told me that sometimes I will wake him up in the middle of the night because I am kicking him and it looks like I'm in a race or being chased or something, like some peoples' dogs do. Haha. The bit of Restless Leg Syndrome that the headache docs said I have is probably the culprit for my restless sleep and the reason why I have been feeling like I have to move rooms and fall asleep to the tv. Who knows.

Unconscious Mutterings

2007-10-08T10:04:00.000-04:00

Cluster :: healthy cereal
Announcement :: memo
Respect :: r-e-s-p-e-c-t
Incident :: critical incident report (what I have to fill out at work a lot)
Accordion :: old timers
Drunk :: tipsy
If :: I Had A Million Dollars
Dexter :: my boyfriend's old coworker
Wedding :: bridesmaid
Gambling :: Mohegan Sun

Try any of these "rescue meds" and call me in the morning.

2007-10-07T15:58:00.000-04:00

At my recent headache doc appointment, he gave me three samples of medications I can try when my pain gets bad. However, they are all migraine meds. I don't have migraines. Hmm. Not too surprisingly, the Relpax I took about 2 hours ago didn't touch my pain. It did, however, put me to sleep. I took a nice nap and still feel like taking another one. I don't think I'll be calling my doctor to fax in a prescription for me anytime soon.

Work has been busy but great at the same time. I'm learning so much about autism, seizures, ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis), etc. I also am finishing up my overall training, so that I can "officially" be regular staff and all that good stuff. 12 hours there yesterday - oy! I was in charge of preparing lunch AND dinner, which sure was interesting. When you have 4 individuals coming into the kitchen randomly when you're cooking and they keep telling you that they want to have different things for their meal, but you remind them that they had all decided on a menu for the week, and they still try to sweet-talk you anyways, you can't help but laugh. My coworkers are great, too. It's all working out so far :-)
Hope everyone had a [at least semi-] pain-free weekend :-)

Unconscious Mutterings

2007-09-30T19:01:00.000-04:00

Crook :: Thief
Career :: educating children /anyone
Freckles :: sunshine
Scramble :: Scrabble
Mistake :: Oopsies
Telephone :: caller ID
Thank you :: Thank you very muuuuuch
Obstruction :: of justice
24/7 :: live tv
SciFi :: not totally interested

Unconscious Mutterings

2007-09-28T11:54:00.000-04:00

Rita :: Rudner
Comedy :: Stand-Up
Polar:: Bears
Idiots:: Jerks
Perception:: View
Infected:: Sick
Fake:: Tan
Relating:: Communicating
Distraction:: Facebook
Gamble:: Mohegan Sun

Whew!

2007-09-28T10:41:00.000-04:00

Wow, the past week has certainly been quite a busy one again. Last weekend was our friends' wedding that we (boyfriend and I) were in, and it was certainly a lot of preparation to help them get to their special day, but it was all worth it in the end. We all had a great time, and I even got my boyfriend to dance! Like, really move his feet around :-) I kept teasing him about it but he was great. I'll put a few pictures up on my photoblog page (link at the top).
This week was another week of training for my new job. I have been (knock on LOTS of wood!!) feeling pretty decent, and since upping my dose of Zonegran last week, I haven't experienced any sharp spikes of pain at all. My sleeping hasn't been great at all, however. I don't know if it's a matter of me being anxious about the job or not, since I figure I would have already gotten over that. Part of my training is working with the autistic adults on my "team" in addition to sitting through presentations/taking quizzes about fire and disaster plans, reinforcement plans, and (my personal favorite) medication side effects.
What's really interesting is that so many seizure medications that children and adults with autism take are used for headache patients. I recognized so many names of medications that I have either tried in the past or just have discussed with my doctors, so I figure that it's only going to help me to recognize side effects that any of them may have.
I have to schedule an appointment for a sleep study - my headache doc suggested I do it, and especially after the past week or so, I agree. The level of medication that I am on seems to really be doing a good job, but I'm not sure if its really what's causing my sleep interruptions or not. I just keep tossing and turning and waking up so early. I do have to get up early for work usually as it is, but still. When I have the chance, I'd like to just sleep ;-)

whoops, haven't updated in a while...

2007-09-20T07:05:00.000-04:00

So, I started my new job training on Monday! It's definitely a lot to learn, that's for sure (working with young adults with autism with a lot of communication skills, social skills and vocational skills). There are 4 of them, and so far, things seem to be going well, and they are taking to me. Of course, I'm nervous about my headache and how I will be with the new/kinda crazy schedule... only time will tell. I'm just glad that I was so willing to take the job - the past 2 weeks or so haven't been so bad, pain-wise, so I think that's probably part of the reason why I didn't hesitate too much to accept the job.
Yesterday, I had to miss a day of training to take my trip down to the headache docs... it was actually a 2-day affair, since my appointment was so early in the morning, there wasn't going to be a train that would get me there early enough in the morning. The train was delayed a bit that evening before, so I got in basically at midnight, ugh. My friend was so great and picked me up from the train station and I crashed with her - she's in med school, so I really felt badly that I kept her up late! Then, of course, my train coming back home was again delayed. Just my luck, OY. Oh well, I'm up early for another day of training/observation of my "team".
Something really sweet: When I was leaving work on Tuesday to go to the train station, one of the students bent down to touch my shoe, and then touched my back. Apparently, he does this when someone is leaving on a trip, and he was giving me a blessing to be safe (he's non-verbal, and didn't have his communication book in his hands, so he couldn't just tell me to be safe). It made me feel really good, because I've only just started working, and have already made a good connection. I hadn't even realized that he had heard me telling a coworker about my trip on the train to the doctor, so it was really sweet.
Oh yeah - I also just increased my Zonegran last night... hopefully today will be a "good headache day".

Unconscious Mutterings

2007-09-10T20:20:00.000-04:00

Dork :: Silly
Refurbished :: Couch
Basket :: Flowery bike
Mousse :: Hair
Studio :: Salon
8 ball :: Pool
Masking tape :: Art project
Love :: is real
Wilder :: crazier
Lindsey :: lohan is crazy

Headache Reading

2007-09-10T09:19:00.001-04:00

I have been reading Paula Kamen's All In My Head, and with each page, I keep finding myself nodding my head and practically talking out loud to her. "I did that too! I felt that too!" She really covers every aspect of her own headache journey and talks about all the treatments that she tried and whatnot. Her style of writing is so real and she has a great sense of humor, which we really need to have, I believe, to deal with it.
The next book I'll be reading is one about autism, to help me prepare more for my new job...

Hello, 1:45 am, we haven't seen each other in a while, my name is Joanna.

2007-09-07T01:46:00.000-04:00

Yeah, so I should definitely be in bed by now... not that I have to get up for anything specific, but going by my typical "not on a work/school schedule" schedule, I'm extremely rarely ever up this late. Especially since Day 1 of Headache. For some reason, I just can't fall asleep. I was in bed for over an hour, with the TV on, TV off. TV on again. Crossword puzzle. I am probably just anxious to go observe at my job tomorrow - I will get to see where the students I will be working with live, and see what they are like, what their abilities are, their temperaments... etc (these are the Autistic students, and they are about 20-22 years old... so basically I'm not really any older than they are, which is a little strange).

Usually, if I'm up "past my bedtime" my head will start to bother me, which it kinda is right now, but it's not a big enough deal to have to take anything. I am tired, but I guess my brain is just still running too much to shut down. Shut down, I say!!

Well, since I'm up, I will try out a little "meme" I found on Terri's blog : share three unknown things about me, according to the letters of my middle name. I am Joanna Beth, so here goes.

B is for Band-crazed. Yeah, once I find a new band that I really like, I can tend to get a little crazy about them. Listening to them non-stop, talking about them, visiting their website, whatever. That's been happening even more lately with The Last Goodnight, as you may have noticed - I have multiple banners on my page, and have talked about them, and have photos of them on my photo page. They're just such nice guys, and we knew them "before". That's just a cool thing to me, when someone breaks out into being more famous and they're still nice. They still remember your name. It just makes the music that much better. I'm seeing them Saturday back in CT for a little in-store cd-signing, so I'm excited for that.

E is for eating peanut butter.Peanut butter is basically my favorite food. If I'm really in a bad mood, or not feeling well, a spoonful of peanut butter "makes the medicine go down" for me.

T is for touchy-feely. I love hugs. I love getting them and I love giving them. As long as you're not creepy, obviously. Haha.

H is for...well, I would normally put Headaches, but this is my Headache Blog. So that won't really cut it here. So,
H is for html and other computer stuff. I tend to be the resident computer dork when I'm at home, because even though my dad is the one who picks out the family computer, or the printer, or whatever, no one else in the house uses the internet to any kind of capacity like I do. I can't create a website from scratch or anything, don't get me wrong -- but, I have learned a lot about the ins and outs of computers over the years and can sometimes troubleshoot problems my parents are having. However, compared to my boyfriend or some of our friends, I am computer illiterate - they can do so many cool things that I have no concept of.

So, now that it's 2:07 am, I shall try to go back into my comfy bed where no doubt Dave is asleep already... I better fall asleep this try!

My fish is impressive. Sad, but impressive.

2007-09-04T13:22:00.000-04:00

I was just about done with changing the water in the fishtank. All I had left to do was put the fish back in the tank. They (there are 3 of them) were just hangin' out in a bowl on the counter in front of the tank. It wasn't the first time I've done this, nor was it the first time they have been through this process.

However, one fish in particular, GusGus, must have decided that today would be a great day to end his little fish life or play hide-and-seek. Or else, he is just really dumb. Probably the latter.

This is the fish:
This is where I just had them, and the orange arrow and X marks where Gus ended up.
:
He didnt just "jump and happen to land in front of where he jumped." No no. He performed some sort of "Gigantic Olympic Leap To the Side." I'm not even sure how long he was out of the water for. I looked into the bowl and there were only 2 swimmers. I froze, and finally, a few seconds later, heard a rustling. I think if he hadn't landed on a plastic bag I may not have found him as quickly.
I'm laughing and in shock at the same time. We've had Gus since January, and the other 2 since April. We've never had any jumpers. Too funny. I don't think he remembers that he was down and out for a few... he is pretty content right now, re-exploring the tank. Gotta love the fish. If only I could cuddle with these pets. That will have to wait until we are able to get a dog... :-)