I need to check into Low news more often. Neglect their website for a couple of weeks and all kinds of stuff happens. Their new album, “Trust“, comes out in just a couple of weeks - yay! Heard one of the singles, “Canada”, on Radio K today. And Low (mostly Alan, and a little Zak) have also started their own weblog. Wacky. Everyone’s doing it. Anyhow, they’ll be playing here in November, as I’ve mentioned before. But they’re also playing their home town on a Saturday towards the end of this month. I’d love to drive up for the day, but I’m not sure how I’d pull it off. It would have to be without the little man, I’m afraid. Hmmm.

Now I’m thoroughly frustrated. The bloodmobile came down to my office today. For years I’ve been wanting to give blood. I know the need firsthand. Over the nine months my brother was hospitalized he had many, many blood and plasma transfusions. So I’ve long known I should donate. But one thing or another came up. For a while I was under the minimum weight requirement (no longer a problem). Then I had tattoos and/or piercings and there is a waiting period afterwards. Despite the body modifications, I have the typical dislike of other types of needles, which has given me pause. Then I was pregnant. Post-baby I’ve found myself frequently ill, picking up whatever bug goes around the daycare. But this time around I saw the blood drive notice and was like, yeah, I need to do that. So I scheduled a time. Followed the recommended guidelines. Went through all the paperwork. The blood draw itself went surprisingly well. But. There’s always a but. When my temp was taken it was 99.1. My temp is usually on the low side. I’d been thinking I was just suffering from my usual hayfever, but as the afternoon has worn on I think I may be ill. In which case I’ll have to call tomorrow to have them destroy my blood. And it will all have been a big waste. Of time, for one thing. The whole process took over an hour. But even more troublesome it could be a good deed gone bad. If my blood is infected with some viral bug and given to someone, it could make them even more ill. Ugh. At least I know now that I can go through with it, I guess. And hopefully I’ll be well next time the bloodmobile swings by.

Let me reiterate, Neil Gaiman’s weblog must be read regularly. He frequently points out amusing little gems. Like this one. Be sure to carefully read the descriptions/reviews. User comments like this one:
“I’m 32 and enjoy riding the broom as much as my 12 yr old and 7 year old. The vibrations, along with the swooshing sounds make for a very magical journey! It is a very durable toy, as well. My only complaint is, I wish the batteries didn’t run out quite so quickly!”
had me snickering at my screen.

Recently I’ve obtained several new toys. Each acquisition was more or less unplanned, considering the state of my finances. But somehow their time had come.
Toy #1: Over the years I’ve had a couple of cell phones. This past year I’d gone without, trying to save money. But recently I’d been getting too paranoid, noticing the number of bees at the playgrounds we frequent. If my son is stung he will go into anaphylactic shock. I do carry his epi-pen wherever we go, but still. We need a way to call 911 in a hurry. So to ease my mind I picked up this sweet little Motorola GSM phone, whose manual I haven’t had time to peruse.
Toy #2: Then my trusty digital camera died unexpectedly. It had done right by me for over four years, and I couldn’t bear going without. Even a couple of weeks was painful. So I replaced it as quickly as possible. Still playing with that purchase (it’s good fun) and reading the manual. I swear will have photos up shortly.
And just last night I acquired another toy to figure out.
Toy #3: Yes, I finally have a DVD player. But I didn’t buy it. It was an early birthday gift for the little man, from a certain someone. For years I’d been debating whether or not to, then meaning to get one. At first I was reluctant because the cost was still high, as my early adopter friends can attest to. And I could imagine myself blowing way too much money on either DVD purchases, or a Netflix account, or both. After a while the price of the players plummeted. But still. I hesitated. I toyed with the idea of getting a Playstation 2. It can play DVDs and Dance Dance Revolution. But then the peer pressure kicked in. I don’t respond well to it. I became even more reluctant. Especially when my co-workers started nagging me about it, in incredulous tones, “What? You don’t have one yet? But they’re only X dollars!”, which brought to mind many childhood memories best left forgotten. So I was prepared to go without a DVD player indefinitely. Like my lo-fi friends who insist music must be listened to on vinyl instead of CD. But that all changed last night. When a certain geek bearing a gift stopped by. And reminded me that “nothing says romance like consumer electronics”. Heh.

Fall is fast approaching. This is a good thing. It’s my favorite time of year here. And among the few reasons I haven’t moved away yet. Soon it will be sweater weather. It will be time to stow away the flip-flops and to be rid of mosquitoes and hayfever for another year. It’s going to be be all about hanging out at the playground, without having to worry about the heat advisory index. Time to celebrate the little man’s third birthday (I must be doing something right, heh). Followed by the BTVS season premiere. Which will be followed by our other favorite celebration, Hallowe’en. And hopefully we will manage to take numerous scenic drives on the way to the apple orchard. Ah, the trees. The trees will be even lovelier, decked out in their fantastic fall foliage.

I thank my lucky stars for the close friends I’ve got. Today one in particular, goddess that she is, gave me some practical advice that may seem obvious…but I was in such pain it never would have occurred to me. Here it is.
——————————————-
Okay:
#1: Eat something filling for lunch
#2: Go buy Excedrin Migraine
#3: Take said Excedrin
#4: Feel better
——————————————-
I’m generally reluctant to take any medication, even over the counter. And when I do it’s usually ibuprofen…which wasn’t doing the trick this time. But I followed my friend’s advice and it actually worked. To a certain degree, anyhow. I can now turn my head without feeling the hot pokers through my eyes. And the throbbing in my temple has stopped. I’m still queasy, but much improved. The other thing about this…I’d done some quick googling to find that Excedrin Extra Strength and Excedrin Migraine contain exactly the same ingredients, so the Migraine labelling is just a marketing ploy. Wacky. Luckily we had some of the former in the office.

Each time the question was posed to me this morning, I dismissed it with the polite “it was fine” or a non-commital “awright”. But how was my weekend? Really? Let me break it down.
The good: We had decent end-of-summer weather all weekend. I got acquainted with my new camera (photos coming soon). Had some quality time with the little man. Finished reading the Goblet of Fire. Finished re-reading the last two Earthsea books. Got in a bubble bath or two. Made some yummy french toast, with fresh strawberries. Watched some good movies. Met friends for brunch, one of whom was only in town for the weekend.
The bad: We arrived to said breakfast early, while our friends were a tad late. The little man refused to sit down, before and after we’d eaten, so we had to cut our visit short. On the way home the car’s “check engine” light came back on. On the way back from the playground the other day the neighbors accosted me (the branches of my beautiful black walnut trees hang over their driveway, covering three of their many cars with debris). The neighborhood coffee shop was closed all weekend. Sunday morning I resorted to instant coffee (my stomach is cramping up, just thinking of it). At one point we were lounging in my room. I was reading as the little man started poking around my stuff. Somehow he got a hold of a giant red permanent marker (I have no idea where that came from). I stopped him after he’d already marked up part of one wall. Doh. The other morning he also saw fit to dump the contents of my bag, including every scrap of paper from my wallet, while I was taking a bath. All weekend I neglected most household chores. Wanted to take the trash out, but had nowhere to put it. Last Thursday the waste removal folks came by. Instead of removing my trash, they dumped it on my boulevard and removed the container it had been in. Even though I had just paid my bill a few days prior to that. I’ve left messages and not received a response yet. But I was left with the fun of cleaning up my trash and sticking it in my backyard. My computer crashed any time I went near it. Last night there was a mouse (of the rodent variety) in my brand new bag of potato chips. Luckily it wasn’t at my house.
The ugly: This migraine. That I still have. That I’ve had since Saturday. That laughs in the face of ibuprofen. At times it’s been so intense that moving my head just a little causes that railroad-spike-through-the-skull sensation…and I nearly throw up. This problem was greatly exacerbated when the little man accidentally, but with great force, threw my bedroom door open…causing it to connect soundly with my head. Specifically my left temple. Just where the migraine is most concentrated.