Yesterday, this area of Utah got dumped on with a huge snow storm. It didn't quit snowing all day and well into the night. When I left the house at 4:30am there was already about 4 inches and the further South I got, there was about 6 inches. Hill AFB and Salt Lake always seem to get more snow and rain due to the "Lake Effect" from the Great Salt Lake. Driving to work was nerve racking, but I made it and really glad I got there when I did because the people coming in after me had worse conditions. I finally left work about 11:00am because I had a strong feeling that if I didn't go home then, I wouldn't make it home. Maybe it was just nerves, but I've learned not to ignore those 'feelings' because they usually are right on. Anyway, I got home safe and sound. The freeway wasn't bad but the side roads were a mess. I got home and stayed here. I decided to get part of my cleaning done and get the Christmas decorations up. Nice snowy day for such an activity... I could think of something 'better' to do, but that sexy man J is too far away! So, I got all my decorations up and they've got me more in the Christmas mood. I do really enjoy the holidays, if I can get the majority if my shopping done before hand so I'm not stressing out. I have done quite a bit so far. My Mom usually depends on me to help her get things ready for our big Christmas Eve family party so I'll get my stuff done well in advance. Last night after I turned my lights out, I could see a warm glow coming from my window well. I knew Dad had turned the Christmas lights on. So, I put my sweats on and went outside to see the beautiful lights in the snow. It was sooo beautiful. One of my favorite things about Christmas are the lights! Todays plans are getting the rest of my cleaning done, then to run some errands... if I can get out of my neighborhood that is. Its still snowing in the mountains, but can't tell if its snowing down in the valley yet - too dark yet. I can't remember having a storm like this in years, especially in November!! Where ever the storm is headed next, people beware.

I'm home sick today and bored out of my mind. Couldn't stay in bed for one more minute. I've got a sore throat, nothing that's killing me or anything, but I thought it best to stay home. Only a slight fever and don't feel like complete shit so I'm sure its not strep, although I have those cute little white spots. I can feel my glands snap and rub every time I swallow. I'm drinking lots of hot Tang and its soothing my throat. I may get some hot lemonade later. Old family remedies that work well. I wish I could have a shot of whiskey but can't do that cuz of my RA meds. Bummer... I could really start feeling great. ;-) Dad always says "You've got to sweat it out!" Which is really true I think, because once you really get sweating, your fever usually breaks and it helps get all the poisons out of your system. My cat is keeping me company - she's such a loyal companion. Especially when I'm sick, she's extra cudley. She even tries to follow me into the bathroom, which she does from time to time, but not like this. I leaver her on my bed thinking she's totally zonked and next thing I know, she's scratching and meowing at the bathroom door.

The weatherman finally made a correct prediction about snow... so far we've gotten about 2 inches and the storm doesn't look like its done with us. The mountains look like they're getting dumped on. Winter is finally here, although it didn't even feel like we had much of a fall since its been so warm and dry. The colors were beautiful but not quite as brilliant as they usually are... but still doesn't compare to back east from what I hear and the pictures I've seen. I just noticed that my post from last night has disappeared! I don't remember what I wrote, but know I DID write something.

Thanksgiving was pretty good. Mom and I prepared most of the meal together, then my sister S came over about an hour before to help finish things. Sister K sat on her ass the entire day, didn't lift one finger. I would have liked to lift a finger in her direction when she announced to everyone that she helped out by 'staying out of the way'. But I remained calm and just started clearing the table. Her husband E didn't join us for dinner, I suppose he wanted to stay in their dreary apartment and enjoy the solitude. I told K that we all would enjoy some solitude around here, but I don't think she caught my meaning. She kept trying to stir up trouble all day long, whispering little jabs about someone in the family in who ever's ear was close (except Mom and Dad's, of course). The rest of the family came over in the early evening for pie. They all stayed for a couple of hours and visited, which was nice, but I was soooooooo happy when everyone left. Don't get me wrong, I love my family just not all at once in a small space. My niece H was being her typical self... come to think of it, she and K have a lot in common in trying to stir up trouble. She's 12 going on 20. UGH. Today I didn't go shopping!! So not in the mood. I did work on my shopping... it kept getting longer and longer... it started to depress me so I stopped. I do have the majority of the Christmas shopping done, I have picked things up all year long. I'll have quite a bit of baking to do, but that will have to wait until closer to Christmas. I could start making cookies and freezing them, but I don't trust K not to eat them while she's living here. I'll have to wait until Dec 6 to start. Yes, I am soooo looking forward to that day! More than Christmas itself at this point!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!

My Mom told me that she was planning a trip to Salt Lake on Friday to visit with my Aunt J that is there from California (who is staying with my cousin). She said she'd like my sister K, baby E and myself to go along... hmmmm... lemme think... I don't get along with this Aunt very well, she's always telling me 'what I need to be doing' and she and K are sooooo much alike (that explains a lot of the apprehension right there) so they get along famously. If I went, I'd be miserable but... if I stayed home, then for sure K would be completely out of the house. Hmmm... what shall I do?! I know!! I'll stay home!! What a fab idea!! Well, Thanksgiving is almost upon us. I got home from work early this morning, and got a few things done. I even managed to get a nappy in! Ahhh... nice afternoon. I think I slept for about 2 hours! Tomorrow Mom and I will have the last minute things to do. I'll have to finish my frog eye salad, yes the name sounds digusting but its quite good. Its made with pasta (tiny penne (sp??) pasta) that has to sit in a pineapple juice, egg and sugar mixture over night. Tomorrow I'll add pineapple, mandarin oranges, marshmallows and whipped cream. We'll do the turkey breast, potatoes, gravy, relish tray and warm up the banana squash, yams, and stuffing. Voila! Dinner will be served. My sister S is bringing the ham. Oh, the ham! She bought a honey glazed spiral ham. Pure heaven. I get the fun of setting the table. I always enjoy it, really I do. We'll use my Mom's beautiful red dishes (that will be MINE when she passes on) and gold flatware. I don't go to the extreme of making turkeys out of napkins though... that's where I draw the line. ;-) There will be plenty of turkeys at the table already.

Picked up the new Creed CD today at lunch, then listened to it most of the afternoon. I must say that I like it, like it a lot. It bothered my cube mate so its definitely a hot CD! The single My Sacrafice is such a great song. OOO! 4.25 hours left to the work week.. ahhhh!! The first "Official" shopping day for Christmas starts on Friday. Do I want to get up and fight the crowds? Hmmm... no, I think not. As E reminded me I said the same thing last year and went out shopping. I didn't go 'early' so the crowds weren't horrid and picked up a few good deals. So lets say that I'm not planning on going out this year, BUT can change my mind. Mom may drag me out or sister K will DRIVE me out of the house. Shopping would be the lesser of the two evils there. She is being better and leaving me alone this week... I think she had a 'talking' to about keeping her butt upstairs.

Mom is feeling lost. We got the news that the two brothers and their families won't be joining us for dinner on Thanksgiving. One brother, due to his wife's brother passing away recently and her mother needing her there. The other brother, because of his little shit son T who has to go to his other grandparent's house because the next 2 Thanksgivings since he'll be on a mission. BFD. You see, we're the 'unfavorite' side of this brother's family... which is OK with me considering what an ungrateful little shit T is - I'll be able to enjoy the day much more without him. Ah well... there will still be 6 people for dinner and everyone else will be coming for pie! Mom was feeling really sorry for herself when she said "Well, maybe I won't even make pie." That shows you the extent of her hurt and dismay. But I think she'll get over it and will be making too many pies as usual. Not having so many guests for dinner is a huge relief for me - since I'm the #2 cook. We'll make just enough for ourselves and then to have lots of leftovers. Its tradition. :-) Tuesday is Pie Day at work. I'll be making a cherry cheesecake pie. Yummy!

Finally saw Shrek! It was sooo funny - loved it. Highly recommend it.

Having a pretty relaxing weekend despite the fact that my sister and her baby are back staying upstairs... they were gone for 2 days. Despite the excuse that K is scared (totally paranoid) that her land lady will do physical harm to her or the baby, now they are here because the baby picked up a virus and the doctor told K not to take her home to a damp basement apartment. Which could possibly be true since the virus is causing little E to have raspy breathing. Oh well... they have been quiet so far. I've just stayed down here and not let them bother me. I'm putting some foam rubber in the heat vents to block out more of the noise coming from upstairs. I've got the heat vents covered with cardboard anyway since it gets too hot down here in the winter. I'd rather have it a bit chilly then dive into a nice warm snuggly bed with lots and lots of blankets. Still no *major* RA flare ups - woohoo!! I'm still achy as hell in the mornings and my hands and feet hurt throughout the day, but not bad enough to take pain pills. Relaxing and stretching seem to be helping keep it under control. I've also discovered wrapping my hand when the knuckles are swollen helps a lot too - to keep it slightly immobile. This week will be Week #6 with the new medication - 2 - 6 more to go before we know if its working or not as far as modifying the disease to prevent joint damage. I actually won't know for certain until Jan 2 when I go see my Rheumatologist. My company dumped my current health insurance for 2002. At first I was really freaking out - wondering how it would effect the doctors I see, etc. I'm hoping that things will work out OK. Pre-existing conditions don't play as a factor which I'm grateful for.

I went to see the movie "Shallow Hal" today. The story line was good, I think but a lot of the exaggeration about "fat" people was bad. They had one chair break and one booth in a restaurant fall apart when the "fat" girl was sitting in them. Like that ever happens. They also had her eating all the time. I saw the making of the movie on a HBO special one night and they made this movie sound very sympathetic and realistic towards heavy or "not so good looking" people and how the world treats them. This movie really didn't. It wasn't sympathetic at all, if anything it made fun of them. The part I did like about the movie is how the inner beauty of the people was showed. I don't think I'll see this movie again. All in all it was a good day though. L and I (and her niece came along) went to lunch and had a chance to do a bit of shopping. I went into one of my favorite stores, Bath & Body Works to get some of my favorite Tranquil Sleep body mousse and lotion. Much to my surprise and dismay, their whole line of aromatherapies changed. They now have Vanilla and Lavender Sleep products, which are basically the same as Tranquil Sleep, but the smell isn't quite the same. I'm bummed. I still bought some and hope I'll learn to love it just as much as their old stuff. I wish they'd just leave some products the same!! Why fix something when its not broke, as they say?!

I'm much calmer tonight about the whole K thing. She was actually gone today - off celebrating her husban'd b-day so things are nice and quiet. YAY! But, she'll be back tomorrow. The whole thing with her staying here is she's scared of her land lady. She's being totally paranoid but there's nothing I can do. My parents told me tonight that they're tired of her being here so much too, but she's their daughter and they want to help her. So, I'll just stay down here in my safe haven and try and ignore the fact that she's here. If I can just hang on until Dec 6 then I'll have it made. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I'm going out to lunch and a movie with my friend L. We haven't been out to play for ages and this will be nice and relaxing I think - just what I need right now, a day out to play. :-) I stopped off to get my brother-in-law a gift card from the local video/music store and found a couple of CDs for me - to make myself feel better I suppose! I bought the Default CD Fallout (they sing "Wasting My Time") and all their songs are produced by Nickelback so the CD should be good. I also bought an old Cult CD Sonic Temple with "FireWoman" and "Sweet Soul Sister" on it. Have to give them a listen while I'm cleaning tomorrow morning.

I need to rant and rave a bit about my favorite sister K. She is so bugging the shit out of me I can just scream. She's taking such advantage of my parents and their good hearts. She and her husband moved out (after living here for 9 months), K had her baby and they were out this house for about 2-3 weeks. All of the sudden, they start having problems with their land lady - or one thing or another so K and the baby start staying here at night (while her husband works graveyards) and pretty much here all day too. (Note: I live in the basement of my parent's home - pathetic I know, but I pay rent and help out around the house, etc and I'm poor) The Baby waking up all hours of the night, crying, you know, the usual baby things. But of course, K is sooo tired so Mom and Dad get up with the baby. Free babysitters 24 x 7. Tonight I get home, and was fixing myself something to eat - some leftovers. She came into the kitchen and this is how the conversation went: K: Oh, what's for dinner? Are you fixing that for me? Me: No - this is for me. K: I wish you would make some sloppy joes, I'm really craving them! Me: You can cook (thinking "What the F*CK are you telling me this for? I've been at work for 11 hrs and the last thing I want to do is cook something for YOU who's been sitting on her ass all day long!!"). K: Oh, but you're such a good cook and I don't remember how to make them. Me: I tell her how to make them. (thinking "What a snow job" but it is true! I'm a much better cook than she is because I do know how to cook and she's too lazy to). I leave and come downstairs to my safe haven. No sooner than I sit down here at my computer does she come downstairs to get into the food storage room. She starts asking me "Is this all you guys have is this and that..." I couldn't bring myself to answer. She was making fun of the variety of macaroni that Mom has in there. I so wanted to say "Excuse me, but you are eating HER food - what the hell are you complaining about?" Free room and board and she has the nerve to bitch?! I thought I just better keep my mouth shut or it would mean World War III. She's got a wicked temper and if I did say anything, she'd play the "MOM!! Karen just said..." shit and make me out to be the bad guy. No thanks. She also told me that they're moving out of their apartment on Nov 30 but can't move into their new apartment until Dec 6. Guess what that means? UGH. They'll all be living here! SCREAM!!!!!. Xanax is going to be my friend that week!! I hope I don't suffer any permanent damage or don't injur one of them. Gotta keep my stress under control. GRRR! Mom and Dad are so sympathetic toward K and she is really taking advantage of them in all sorts of ways. They're not helping her, they're enabling her. She needs to get off her ass and get a job now that the baby is over 2 months old. She always comes up with some excuse.

MUCH happier today. Had to work, but that's OK. I got a lot done and stayed pretty busy. I got a call from a friend who did have the day off, and we went to lunch to my favorite Mexican restaurant. Cha, cha, cha. LOVE those cheese enchiladas. :-) Had the best day in a long time as far as my Rheumatoid Arthritis. I'm enjoying every minute! Ahhhh!

I'm grouchy, therefore, I will not blog! Trust me, you'll thank me.

Watched the movie Cats and Dogs. Cute movie and pretty funny. I didn't like the way the cats were portrayed as the 'evil' ones though. The discussions of Thanksgiving Dinner are starting. What are we going to do, where are we going to have it, what are we going to eat, etc. Every-other year we have dinner at my brother's house and that was last year... so, hello people! Its the year for the parent's house. Not a hard decision. As for what we're having? The usual?? Turkey and stuffing, ham, potatoes and gravy, yams (yuck), veggies, salads, homemade rolls and pies, plenty of pickles, olives, etc. Don't get me wrong, I like Thanksgiving. We always have WAY too much food and all that preparation for a dinner that is over in a matter of 45 minutes. After dinner the usual tradition of everyone getting up from the table, claiming pure misery and disappearing to the basement or some other corner of the house, leaving my Mom, sister S, sis-in-law P and I to clean up. As soon as we get everything cleaned up, the others mysteriously start re-appearing as quickly as they disappeared earlier, and hungry for pie. Its almost like they have radar. This will be the first year in probably 15 years that all siblings will be under the same roof for Thanksgiving and Christmas. My sister K has been out of the state for years and didn't ever come home for the holidays. I think Mom and Dad are really excited about everyone being home. With Thanksgiving comes the ceremonial house cleaning with my Mom. Which includes cleaning carpets. I usually am the one to clean them for her, but it looks like this year is out because of the RA. I don't want to see Mom clean the carpets though, its too hard on her too, as well as Dad. But if I know Mom, she won't be satisfied unless the carpets are clean.

All right, Gaekwad we need to talk! What's the deal with quitting your blog?? I'm so bummed!!!

I had a cleaning frenzy this morning. Since I haven't been able to clean *really* good the past few weeks, I went nuts today. It was driving me nuts... it feels so good to have it done, such a feeling of accomplishment! But I'm paying for it tonight. I'm sore as hell... but relaxing and will behave the rest of the night. Its been 7 whole days without a major RA flare up. YAY!! :-) Although some of my joints are swelling, they're not painful enough to take a pain pill - hate the way my mind goes fuzzy with them ... yes, fuzzier than normal, and that IS possible. Even though I haven't had any major flare ups this week, I've still been a bitch from hell at times - achy and soooooo tired/exhausted. Also frustrated that my body is doing things its not supposed to and not cooperating with my mind. You know its bad when I can't stand being around myself. Fortunately I've got great friends and family that put up with me. I rented some movies - which seems to be the only way to keep myself entertained these days on the weekends. Blockbuster loves me. Bridget Jones Diary: so funny! Saw it in the theatre and loved it so had to see it again... I shall have to buy it... Angle Eyes: very good movie, I really enjoyed it. More of a love story than I got the impression of from the previews, but that was OK. Bit of a tear jerker, but ended good. So E, if it comes out in the UK, rent it! Legally Blonde: cute movie. Wasn't a laugh-a-thon but funny. Shows that blondes can be brilliant - I liked that! Cats and Dogs: haven't watched it yet... review to follow...

Yesterday at work, all access to the internet as well as outside e-mail was knocked out for over 5 hours by an auto accident that occured off the base. Sure makes it easy for someone to purposefully sabatoge the communications. Major security breach in my opinion! Not a good idea to have a single point of failure, but this is how the AF wants it. The communications sector wants total and complete control. So when something like this happens, not just one building goes down, but ALL buildings go down.

Ever had one of those days when the piddliest thing can set you off? Well, having one of those days. I came sooooo close to telling several people where they could shove it today. I kept silent, finished work, drove home and now I'm going to lock myself away from the world for the night. I HATE being this grouchy! I'm exhausted, so that's probably all it is. To bed I go!

I heard about this website RA-Access for Rheumatoid Arthritis on TV. Not much information on the website itself, but you can request more information and newsletters - its free!

In the past two days, 12 different searches on both Yahoo and Google have brought people to my blog for the term "pooped panties"!! Who the hell is looking for this type of shit (no pun intended)?? I thought MY life was pathetic... ;-) So if you're one of these people MOVE ON no pooped panties here... NOT sorry to disappoint you.

Ho, hum... busy couple of days. I worked most of the day today to make up for being sick on Monday. Really cuts into my weekend. I've got all my errands done though, so all I have to do is get my ass out of bed tomorrow and do my cleaning. My Dad vacuumed for me... which was very sweet. I think he has no clue *how* to vacuum anything other than the middle of the floor. He didn't even go around my cat's litter boxes, can't even tell he did anything. So tomorrow of course I'll have to do it. I sound like I'm ungrateful... I'm not really! I suppose I'm one of those people that if I want something done right I must do it myself! My cat is quite messy and tracks the litter and dumps it out the sides, no matter how many times I've asked her to be careful! and despite the neat little walking boards that I purchased at Petsmart. Sigh. Work was nice and quiet today. I caught up on lots of little things. I was so excited to hear that neither my boss or my cube mate were coming in due to meetings. Then all of the sudden, the cube mate walks in! UGH!! He changed his mind and decided to come in to the office before his meetings. Crap. So he was there for 2 hours then left... not too bad I suppose. He'll be gone most of the week of Nov 12 - YIPPEEE! I don't mind my boss being there actually, he's pretty cool and is a different cubical so he's not always breathing down my neck. Ahhh... so glad its the weekend!! :-)