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

Owning It.

I already bragged a bit on Facebook, but I felt like getting into more detail here. What I've done today:

[o] Got up at 7:30 (against my will, but still)
[o] Had a real breakfast
[o] Found proof that I paid for my January clinic visit and the Not A Bill But You Owe Money piece of mail is BS
[o] Went back to Kate's Garden and took 280 shots, almost all of them useable
[o] Filled up my gas tank
[o] Had a real lunch
[o] Uploaded said shots
[o] Took some more shots, of myself, for the 30 Day Creativity Challenge, and edited and posted one to start Day One
[o] Put away the dishes

It's barely past noon, and I have eight hours of my day job, wherein I will earn money and be a good barista. Today is definitely a success, and it's only begun!

Happy Birthday To Me, Happy Birthday To Me...

My day:
[o] wake up very slowly, feeling slightly...off from the birthday dinner turned bar crawl that had me home at 3 AM :D
[o] head to Starbucks with Ryan, to get hugs and birthday wishes from lovely friends :D
[o] Aurelie gave me a mirror from Ten Thousand Villages, a small chain featuring art and jewelry and wonders from all over the world. The mirror is from Bangladesh, made from recycled chip and snack bags. Even better than the mirror (which is really cool and colorful) was the card, telling me that she's glad I moved to Indiana and she met me and we can be awesomely awkward together. :D
[o] Ben stopped by to show off one of his kittens, who looked like a ball of lint with the teeniest eyes and teeniest mouth and even teenier little mew. I got to hold him, he was ADORABLE.
[o] Wanted to go to pet store, Ryan said no. I've no idea why...
[o] Got shoes for Kitty and Alex's wedding (two weeks!!)
[o] Came home, checked mail to find card and present--rainbow piano key socks!!!--from Mom. :D Forgot to call and thank her because I'm a bad kid.
[o] Puttered around online while Ryan made a cake in the kitchen.
[o] While cake cooled, went out to get photo paper and dinner. Came back home with dinner, watched Goldmember while eating (sometimes, you just need a big dose of silly), then I read a bit while Ryan decorated aforementioned cake.
[o] Was presented with cake, complete with 26 lit candles and Ryan singing Happy Birthday. He had even spent a good amount of time trying to tint the cake frosting just the right shade of purple. <3
[o] Ate cake, then went to our computers, where I finally what I've been plotting and working on for three months, speeding up this past week...

I present to you...Ruthenium Photography, on Etsy!

:D

I feel extremely nervous and a little anxious and I can't shake that old feeling from school where I'm SURE that everyone can see all the mistakes I'm making even if I fix them...but THERE! I'm out there! I'm doing it! SCARED BUT DOING IT ANYWAY! WOO!

I also have a Facebook Page and Twitter for it, for the purposes of spreading the word (and business!) as much as possible. Whee!

Tomorrow is back to work, but I'm NOT going to think about that right now. Right now, I'm going to get all comfy and watch some Bones with Ryan and then read some Game of Thrones and then go to bed.

It was a good birthday. I think I'll do it again next year! :)

19,320! WOO!

Not only did I get my word count back to Wednesday night's count, but I went right past it. I am currently at 19,320. I "should" be at 20,004, but hey, I managed almost 3,000 words today, so I ain't complainin'!

...that's really all I got. The rest of the day was alternately lazing and running errands, so...yeah.

The next two days are work, and then another day off. Hopefully I won't be speeding to make up 4,000 words...