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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

It's raining, it's pouring...

Hello, Whiners!

I am back in SouthernState, where the semester started yesterday, and I am feeling whiny (I am also feeling a little ashamed of the whininess, so trying to remember the Anti-Whines too):

W: It's raining!
(AW: but at least it is not a zillion degrees).

W: Classes started up again on Monday.
(AW: but I am not teaching or taking classes this time around).

W: This is my tenth (1oth!) year in a row as a full-time college student, and it's getting more than a little old....
(AW: but, this should be my last year).

W: And, sadly, all my best friends, family members, and the boyfriend are at least four states away!
(There is no sufficient anti-whine for this).

I hope the beginning of school is either going well or not on your radar, that your weather is behaving, and that all is well. But, sometimes reality wins, which is why we are here. Let the whining begin!

32 comments:

kathy a. said...

oh, redzils! 10 years, 4 states, AND rain? that's just not right.

kathy a. said...

AW: lovely weather!

bitty W: school opened locally; there are 2 schools about 2 blocks from home, so lots more traffic.

medium W: so naturally, this is a good time for major road work on the only cross-street we cul-de-sacians have, the one running by those schools.

fat W: and also two more public projects -- [1] we have chainsaws and woodchippers taking out a nice 5' aesthetic barrier of small trees and bushes between the end of our block and a wide electrical right-of-way, and the result is ugleeeee; and [2] trucks and bulldozers clearing stuff in the open "nature area" behind us, the prelude to taking out huge trees behind the neighbor's house (next house to the left). like, 20 feet from my window.

AW: some days, pizza makes all the difference.

KLee said...

Ah. I got stuck working with someone this year who has no motivation and has complained almost every second we've been together since 8:30 am yesterday.

The custodial staff failed to move my desk to my new classroom, despite having been asked multiple times by multiple people. I finally stole a dolly yesterday afternoon and moved the damn thing myself.

I'm second-guessing all my personal relationships with a lot of people I *thought* were my friends. Too long to explain why, but I do have good reason. Makes me feel lower than worm excrement, though.

kathy a. said...

((( klee ))) i say, good for you getting the desk moved despite them. but the rest totally sucks in every way.

The History Enthusiast said...

W: This is the first full week of classes, and already I have students driving me up the wall. I am happy to answer students' questions during lecture, don't get me wrong, but the student who raised her hand multiple times (including to ask me what "agriculture" meant) is too much to handle. I'm sorry, but if you don't know what "agriculture" means, then perhaps you aren't ready for college. That sounds harsh, but it's the truth. Also, she didn't know what lecture meant. She said, "In the syllabus you say that lecture will always be on Mondays. What does that mean?" I said, "well, that means that our lecture will always be on Mondays, except for Labor Day, when classes are canceled." I won't bore you with the rest of the story, but needless to say, she still didn't understand.

AW: The weather is quite lovely now, which is not the norm for August. Usually it is unbearably humid and hot.

Klee: I hope your situation with your "friends" works out without too much pain.

Anonymous said...

Road construction is generally evil. Kathy, I hope you find a way around it all.

KLee, ingenious to move your own desk--hope it stays put. And good luck on a resolution that makes you happier toward the people you *thought* were friends.

I must say I am a bit jealous of the people who have had school start already--but hugs for dealing with bad students already, the History Enthusiast. One more week. I will survive and all that jazz.

Minor whine: I don't really fit in my pants anymore. But I am officially one month to baby time, so no new clothes.

Anti-whine: 1 month to go.

Major whine: My brother got married this summer. And he is concerned his new wife is cheating on him and/or will leave him. She's done some dumb things (going out all night with a guy she won't introduce to my brother--really we're just friends) She is questioning her life and their marriage. He is depressed and suspicious. They need counseling and communication and yadda yadda. I think this sucks for my brother. But my petty whine is that he calls my mom multiple times day to update her on his outrage. My mom lives with me. She has started refusing to answer the phone. And at 5 am, she is right. And I know entirely too many ooey-gooey details about this. My mom knows more and it is too many for her. Please let the calls stop. Or Christmas is going to be really awkward for me.

Anti-whine: I've never really thought my brother would be a great godparent for any of my kids. He is the only uncle they see and I don't want one to feel more special than the others. There was grandparent pressure to pick him and his wife as #3's godparents, but at the present time, I am getting much less slack for resisting.

Unknown said...

Early to the ball this week.

W: While I am happy having a job at long last, and it's not all that taxing, and my coworkers are mostly very nice and helpful...the guy that owns the company is an asshat. I total micromanager who threatens me every freaking day with "If you do this, it may not work out". I'm gonna ignore him as much as I can, but if I don't respond IMMEDIATELY to his IMs, he does the "communitcation is key and if you don't answer me immediately, it may not work out". Plus, he drops it on me that he's not paying me for training. I am SO not liking him.

Whine of major proportions: my landlady sent me a Notice to Quit letter if I don't come up with the back rent. Um... anyone wanna rob a bank for me? I still own her $1500 and I just do not have it.

Whine: Washing machine broke. The switch on the lid died, and the machine would not drain. For days. With a load of clothing in it. The stench! But I had it fixed today and we're rewashing the clothing with lots of bleach.

AW: My daughter got a job. At Panera! This is very good news. It's walkable, she's making more $ than I am, and our finances will be a lot better when her expenses are not MY expenses.

AW: Pepper the kitten continues to be the cutest thing alive and the best entertainment ever. And she loves me. :-)

Teeny Whine: Kid's 16th b'day was on Sunday and they both left me and spent it with their friends. I'm so Chopped Liver these days.

Whine: Cleaning person did not come this week, so I now live in a pit of dispair and filth. Just how does my house get so disgusting so fast.

AW: Kitten and Ringo the Worthless Pet are getting along. They sort of even play. It's so adorable.

Whine: Neither of my kids have done their summer reading. Son is reading Farenheit 451, which is required of all students at the high school. Daughter refuses to even attempt it. This does not bode well for the start of school, but I can't force her to read.

Whine: Trolls are still invading my blog looking for new fodder, but alas, nothing much to come up with. So now they're pawing through my archives. Sad that they can't find something better to do, eh?

And that's the week, all wrapped up!

esperanza said...

The whines are off to a good start!
Pixies, I am whiny too.

We found an EXCELLENT place for the Sweet Baboo to get some treatment she needs. Like I can't say how excellent. But it's 6 hours away, and we have to go every 3-4 weeks. Sigh.

On this last trip, she got to meet her new cousin. But new cousin had a sniffly nose. No big deal, mom says, it's just allergies. Uh, nope. Now the Sweet Baboo has a sniffly nose, only worse. So of course we're constantly listening to her breathe, the specter of the oxygen tank hanging over us. We've been doing breathing treatments, which is a nice option to have at home. But. (there are lots of buts in my whines today). The medicine in the treatments is apparently the equivalent of six cups of coffee. She is so AWAKE. For SEVEN hours straight yesterday.
Is she tired? nope. Mama is wiped out, however. Because I also have to suck snot multiple times per hour, which is torture for both of us. I believe "wailing" would be the correct term.

Expect to see more snot-related whines throughout the day from me.

esperanza said...

Oh, I forgot. To top it all off, I have *several* plugged ducts. It's a recurring problem for me, but why did it have to recur at the same time as the snot?

BrightBoy said...

I wonder if we're in the same Southern State? Ten years in school sounds rough--I'm only in my third and already thinking about how and when I'm going to get out.

amy said...

esperanza,
/begin unsolicited advice
i'll bet it's the stress causing the plugged ducts. if you haven't tried heat yet, try a warm, wet compress and maybe massage it as much as you can tolerate.

everyone says to pump more, but when i used to get them, pumping more just stressed me out more because it didn't work. the magic recipe for me was some tylenol, a nap (the kind where someone else is in charge of the baby so i could really sleep), compress, massage, then pump. have an extra container with you in case they all let loose at once.

/end unsolicited advice.

esperanza said...

amy, I'll take advice from an experienced pumper such as you. Your theory is as good as any. I know they make me stressed, but I hadn't thought of the other way around. You may be right. One let go in the middle of the night, for no discernable reason. The compresses and massage sometimes work. I don't pump more; Lord knows I spend enough hours doing that already, and I'm a little suspicious that the pump is part of the problem.

Off to nap now...maybe that will convince the others to depart.

Sue said...

Ouchie on the plugged ducts. I hurt just thinking about it.

Excellent news esperanza. Hooray for the sweet baboo!

HUGE Anti-whine: I'm not on day 9 of NO PAIN.

I was in Yet Another City Far Away From Here last week for an appointment with an anaesthatist who does Trigger Point Injection. Fifteen minutes of injections into the right trigger points and voila - zero pain!

It's amazing. At times confusing and too good to be true. A little disorienting, like finding my sea legs again. For three years I've experienced the world through a fog of pain and now the fog is gone.

It's not guaranteed to last permanently, but I always have the opportunity to go back to the same doc, or find a doc here to repeat the procedure.

I'm still processing it all.

I have zero whines this week. This is what I've wished for, all I've dared to hope for and dream about.

Liz Miller said...

SUE!!!!! YAY!!!!

kathy a. said...

woo hoo, sue!!

sarah, that situation with your brother just sounds awful. your poor mom.

margalit, hoping things get worked out w/landlady.

oh, esperanza -- several votes for you and the baboo. great about the good place for treatment! but i've done the "baby hyped on breathing meds" thing, and holy cow.

esperanza said...

I've rejoiced on Sue's blog, but I still want to do a happy dance here for her too. Yippee!!! Here's to many more whine-less Wednesdays for you, or at least Old Skool whines instead of Substantial, Award-Winning whines. Yippee!!

Uccellina said...

I whined quite enough on my own blog this week, so I'll just send hugs to all the pixies here. Esperanza, that blows, pun fully intended. And congratulations Sue!

Anonymous said...

Sue, that's fabulous! No pain is an anti-whine for us all.

KLee said...

Sue, that is the MOST fabulous news that you could have related. You sure are due for lots of pain free days!

I'm so happy for you!

Anonymous said...

SO AWESOME, SUE!!!!

So. I started my job. I am one of a few newbies. My job requires a fair amount of travel.

AW: My travel card arrived today so I can make travel arrangements for all the trips I need to take over the next two months.

W: Yet, I do not have the password needed to submit my time so I can, yanno, get paid.

AW: Lots of other new people to help distribute the ignorance.

W: One of them freeloads off my inquisitive nature. Oh, no, Supervisor, I understand completely. [supervisor walks off>]Miranda, OMG, what was s/he talking about? What is this? Why are you doing that? I don't understand this.

My response is not appropriate for a family blog.

Elizabeth said...

Yikes, I nearly missed Wednesday Whining.

Yay for Sue's lack of pain.

Whine: Tired, because I've been staying up too late watching convention stuff. And the foster cats woke up me up at 5 am this morning.

Antiwhine: Finally had a bloggy playdate with Liz and MM! A good time was had by all.

Whine: Darn cat pissed on the couch because we wouldn't let him go outside again after he disappeared overnight the first time we tried it.

Antiwhine: Phantom Scribbler's been posting again!

Whine: Terrified for the future of our country.

Antiwhine: D watched some of the convention with me and had some terrific questions about it.

Whine: I'm afraid I've made him terrified for the future of our country as well.

JenR said...

Sigh... I guess it's Thursday...

Sue! Yay!

Sarah... so sorry to hear about your brother. I hope things get straightened out soon. Or at least that you don't have to hear about it.

I could whine, but they are work whines, and I am going on vacation! All week next week, which will be wonderful and hopefully at least a little relaxing.

Ooh... but I do have one kind of backwards whine. We elected to take gobs of money out of our paychecks this year and put it in our FSA account because births tend to be expensive. Our formula was something like Insurance Max out of pocket + usual prescription costs = lots of $$$. But our insurance did weird math things that I don't understand, and paid nearly all of the hospital bills. So now we have nearly $1300 that we have to spend by the end of the year on medical expenses or it's gone forever. I predict a lot of bandaids in my future.

Liz Miller said...

jenr, get all the baseline things done like early mammograms/ekg/prostate check/yada yada yada.

Were you thinking about getting Lasik? That'll take a big chunk!

Any tattoos you want removed?

Elizabeth said...

Dental work? New glasses?

kathy a. said...

dental, definitely. any moles you should get looked at? scars you don't like?

Liz Miller said...

Prescription sunglasses?

Teeth whitening?

Earwax removal?

Theraputic massage?

Liz Miller said...

Full-time on-call lactation consultant?

JenR said...

tattoo removal, teeth whitening, massage, scar removal ... does not count

lactation consultant ... sadly not needed (therapy for dealing with stress from not being able to breastfeed would count though... if I did it 5 months ago)

eyes are good... and Hubby got his fill of glasses & contacts already.

Thanks for the suggestions though!

Liz Miller said...

Oops! Sorry! I remember that now.

Ummmm....

Gym membership (get a scrip from your doctor!)

Exercise equipment for house?

A year's supply of formula?

JenR said...

Wow, if formula counted, that would be awesome. Actually... I think it does if your baby has to have special formula.

Unknown said...

Buy the special formula and then sell it on Craigslist. :-)

Unknown said...

Stock up on all the OTC meds you'll need in the next 10 years. You know, Tums, Tylenol, Advil, etc. There is a LOT of that stuff to get. Plus, not only bandaids, but first aid kit. ONe for each car, one for the house... and plenty of knee braces and wrist braces and neck braces. What baby stuff can you get at the drug store?