Can Taste Buds Dream?

I texted Ryan on my break, whining talking about my vaguely crappy shift. He texted back with "I'll fix it."

[o] Came to visit me at work
[o] Got me a sourdough roll from Panera (I tried to get one on my break since I was hungry, but couldn't due to lack of cashier) AND a chocolate chip cookie for after dinner...
[o] ...which was...unbelievable. The order was: bottom bun, secret sauce (mayo, ketchup, garlic), hamburger patty (seasoned with Montreal steak seasoning and kosher salt), sauteed red peppers, garlic and jalapeno, Jarlsberg Swiss cheese, barbecue sauce, top bun. Also on the plate: steak fries and steamed corn on the cob.

I usually don't like Swiss, ever, and the barbecue sauce we have is usually a little too sweet for me, and I've never been a fan of the steak seasoning we have, and and and, blah blah blah...

IT WAS FREAKING AMAZING.

I will always stand by Ryan's cooking, he's seriously good, and he's made some of my favorite meals ever...and this may have been his best. It still vies with the chicken-pepper-white-wine-linguine dish, but c'mon, I'm a die hard pasta lover.

Oh man. I will have dreams about this meal. Nom. Nom nom. MAN.

Plans Are Made For Changing.

Yesterday was supposed to go thusly:

[o] Get up "early" and get groceries with Ryan
[o] Settle somewhere and write until 6 or 6:30
[o] Meet up with Aurelie for dinner at Taste of Asia
[o] Go see Crazy, Stupid Love
[o] Go home, eat some ramen, and relax

What happened yesterday:
[o] Got up "early" but Ryan was tired, and Aurelie sent a text saying her plans before our plans got canceled, so could we do an earlier showing after she got off work at 4?
[o] Slept another hour
[o] Get up, called insurance to ensure (hur hur) that the new coverage year for lenses had ticked over. It had indeed, so we decided to hit up Eye Site before groceries and order him some lenses with transition goodness
[o] On the way, get more texts from Aurelie: she's actually going with her roommate (Allie) to get a tattoo, original timeline is back on.
[o] Long story short, Eye Site took quite a long time. But for good reason.
[o] So long that we scrapped grocery shopping and just grabbed lunch and went home.
[o] Met with Aurelie and Allie for Taste of Asia and Starbucks, time to leave for movie came and went.
[o] Hung out at Starbucks for a couple of hours, just shootin' the shit and talkin' nerd, before heading over to a place called Madison's Oyster Bar around 9:30.
[o] After Aurelie helped me park my car (and by help me I mean she parallel parked it for me :D), met Allie inside where she was already sitting with her friend Sarah.
[o] Were soon joined by LeAnna (it was her birfday!) and her boyfriend Brandon, then Sarah's friends Steve and Liza. Drinking and laughter and some fry-eating ensued for the next, oh, four hours.

Long story short, what was supposed to be a short day of errands, writing, and a movie turned into a long day and night ending in awesomefuntimes with people I don't see often enough.

:D

Today is laundry (with shower and photoediting during the wait), then a teensy bit of writing before work at 4:30. It's my Monday. Woo.

Saving Lives And Taking Names.

*does a little dance*

*falls over*

I've had a fear of needles ever since my first senior year of high school, when I got dizzy spells no one could explain despite a zillion blood tests. I've also wanted a tattoo for a very long time, and for a while I thought that getting one would be an awesome way to conquer my fear of needles.

Today certainly helped me get past that fear a bit, but I didn't get a tattoo. (Mom, Dad, you can breathe now). Instead, Ryan and I went down to the South Bend Medical Foundation and donated blood.

I. Donated. Blood.

I never thought I'd say that.

Ryan took a little while to get all set up, since his finger stick refused to go in the vial and his vein didn't want to give it up, but eventually they got him going and he filled his bag in, oh, 4 minutes. Up and moving around and everything.

Me...yeah. My finger stick was fine, I got set up just fine, my blood was cooperating...then the nurse asked me how I was doing, apparently because my lips were losing a little color. I was a little dizzy and weak, so I told her, and the next thing I knew they were telling me to take deep breaths and tilting my seat back and putting wet clothes on my wrists and neck and forehead. Aheh.

That helped a lot, and my blood finished up just fine. I was feeling better, so they had me get up and stand next to the seat. That was fine...until it wasn't, and I lay back down and they elevated my feet again and gave me some juice. Then I felt better again, and Ryan made me drink some more juice and eat some snacks before he finally let me leave.

Honestly, all told, it was a great experience. The worst part of it was feeling shitty, and that was my own damn fault for donating without a REAL meal beforehand. Second worst was the embarrassment, which was unnecessary since the nurses were really nice, and told me that it wasn't uncommon. Third worst was the anticipation, because, c'mon, who's better at psyching me out than me? And hell, FOURTH worst was the finger stick they did to make sure I wasn't, I dunno, diseased or something, and I HATE finger sticks.

The needle part? Barely made the top 5 worst things about the experience, and is totally ruled out by knowing that I helped. I kept telling myself that as I was waiting to donate--"You're scared of a needle? People are dying. GET OVER IT."

Everything else on the list can be easily avoided next time by simply getting a good meal beforehand. And trust me, I will. Steak dinner. Gallon of orange juice. Bucket of chicken. TONS OF CALORIES AND LIQUIDS, DUDE.

Well, I won't be able to avoid the finger stick. But that's okay.

SO, the rest of the day is going to be spent on the couch, drinking lots and eating some and generally resting up. Tomorrow looks to be strenuous...writing at Starbucks and a dollar movie. I don't know how I'll manage.

OH. Best moment of the day. As I was sitting with my juice, chatting with the nurse and waiting to not be light-headed:

Me: (To Ryan) You could carry me out to the car.
Ryan: I'm not supposed to be do any strenuous activity.
Me: ARE YOU CALLING ME FAT.
Nurse: OH! She got you good, man. You walked right into that one.
Ryan: I'm leaving you here.

:D

Work Work Work.

Monday was pretty decent, I got out of work at 6:30 and spent the evening at 933, writin' away.

Yesterday, Tuesday, Ryan and I spent the time before I went in to work cleaning up the apartment. Then work was pretty good, I got out early and spent the evening reading and hangin' around.

Today I work with my four favorite people, and it's my Friday! Woo!

Off I go to dress and prepare!

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT'S FOOD!

I MADE DINNER.

I flattened the chicken and cut up the chicken and seasoned the chicken and cooked the chicken AND IT'S STILL CHICKEN. And it was delicious. :D

Ryan taught and supervised and now I can make one his favorite creations, cajun terikyaki chicken, usually served mixed up in a bowl with rice and green beans. We're out of green beans, but we ALWAYS have rice (starch fanatic :D), and it soaks up the spices and soy sauce and YUM.

Ryan is currently waiting for the peanut butter & butter mixture to cool so he can finish up these delicious-looking cookies. We(Ry & Sam & I)'re also waiting for BJ to get home from work so we can watch True Blood.

Hee. :)

Um. Yeah. Work is stupid, but I don't wanna talk about it. I've been thinking about picking cross-stitching back up, or maybe even hitting up Hobby Lobby and try to make a necklace or something. Ryan thinks I'm just frustrated since my photography and writing productivity are a little stunted lately due to work and depression and stuff. We'll see.

....That's all for now! :D

This Is Why I Shouldn't Make Promises.

Still alive!

Wednesday was a long day at work with good people that was nonetheless exhausting.

Thursday was my day off!...but it took several hours (and four loads of laundry, one load of dishes, and a trip to the bank) before I finally got out of the house and to 933 to write, and as usual it took forever to finally get myself into a good writing flow. Then I had to go home to comfort and feed Ryan, who was tired and stressed and hungry and headachey. Getting dinner took way longer than it should have, and by the time that was all settled it was midnight. BUH.

Today is also my day off, and soon I leave for Goshen, to study/write with Aurelie. There may be hanging out with her friends and roommate as well, but we'll see how the day goes.

Sleep still sucks, mood is still working it's way up fairly well, still have lots of moving details wrestling in my head, still wishing I had a way of fitting extra hours in the day so I could call people before Late O'Clock. I know they/you are all late owls, for the most part, but still.

Off I go!

Must Turn Positive, Must Turn Positive...

Sooo I just called out of work. I've slept pretty shittily the past few days, and today it finally caught up. Despite it being a six-hour closing shift, the idea of keeping up with all the prep and dealing with the urns and rushing around...doing all that with mild nausea, dizziness, and feeling generally unsteady scares me just a bit. I'm glad it was Awesome Shift tonight...he'll pull it together, and he didn't give me any guilt for it. I shall bake him cookies.

Otherwise, I'm pretty okay. I guess. At the moment I'm focused on being comfortable and not moving a whole lot, which will soon lead to me settling back into bed with a book, so trying to find an emotional barometer reading...not so much.

But yeah. That's me today: forced rest so I can work my eight hour shift tomorrow, with some relaxing thrown in for good measure. I think it may be good for me on a few different levels. Let's hope, anyway.