Never even got one second glance

MRI/headaches: I should hear back today, hopefully, about my MRI appt date. There were some issues that’ve been fixed since, so there shouldn’t be any more hold up on getting that scheduled. I was doing okay for a while, only mild baby headaches every day. But the past few days, I’ve had bigger ones threatening. Not quite migraine level, but ones that are bad enough to be annoying as all hell.

Room: I bought new curtains. It’s amusing how much more “grown up” new curtains can make you feel. Granted, that’s likely because I was still a kid when I bought the old ones – and these are just beautiful. I found the curtains on JCPenney’s website, but oddly – the colors I bought are not listed. Since my room is going to be a sandy color, with reddish accents, I decided I wanted the curtains in the red as well, to help break up all the lightness. So, I went with the Kyoto panels in Red. They’re a truer red than the Claret shown on the site, and also slightly sheerer. Also, the images on the site depict the curtains hung by clips. They do have rod pockets as well, and that’s how I have them hung.

I’m not a fan of the scarf-type valances, so I opted for a different brand/style when it came to that. I went with the ascot valances of the Midnight Mist collection in Antique. Again, the color I bought isn’t shown on the site. Antique is somewhere between the Celadon and Natural colors they show online. Currently I have 5 of those valances and 3 Kyoto panels. I need to buy another panel, but I’ve got to wait until I get my pet sitting money first. 😉 I was going to take pictures of how it looks so far, but I kind of misplaced the cord to get the pictures off my camera. Oops.

Tuesday, I took one each of the valances and panels to Home Depot with me to color match them. That was how I discovered I’d accidentally bought 1 panel in claret, and the other 2 in red. That got exchanged yesterday to red, so now they’re all the same color. The color that came up as a match for the valance was Winter Garden. Amusingly, that’s the color I’d already 90% decided on using for the trim in my room (it was one of the colors in the paint kit I got last month.) While I was at it, I also bought a quart of the Seaside Sand paint to test out on my walls. I was highly disappointed in it. You could barely tell the difference between the Sand and the white primer. I know there’s always a variance between what shows on the paint sample and the actual color – but the paint on the wall isn’t even remotely close to the sample in terms of color depth. Oh well. Back to the drawing board while I try to find another paint. I still have to cover the rest of the walls in the primer anyway, so I’ve got a little time before I’m ready for the final color.

I’ve been doing a little shopping online for new curtain hardware and I found these curtain tie backs & matching curtain rod. Think I might just have to save up and buy those. Haha. I find it a little amusing, I’m not really a fan of the gold, but I’m really starting to like it as an accent in my room.

Diet: I’ve decided to start on a proper diet. I had just been “eating less” but that wasn’t working. Saturday I ran out of the last of my caffeine-free Pepsi. I had bought a Sam’s card the day before, so we went and bought a case of bottled water. So now I have officially completely given up soda, for the second time. Haha. But switching from soda to water will cut out a large number of empty calories, plus it’s better in me so many other ways. On Monday, I started drinking SlimFast shakes for breakfast and lunch, and a granola bar for lunch. I haven’t worked too hard yet on figuring out a “proper” dinner menu. Right now I’m just trying to clear out the rest of what’s in the pantry, then when it comes time to restock; better choices will be made there. Not to mention, I’m also struggling at the moment to make sure I’m getting at least the minimum number of calories recommended per day. So some nights I’ve been scrambling to find something else to eat to make sure I’ve had enough. That’s not something I’m used to. Haha. :-$

I’m also going to buy a mini fridge for my office here at work (the public ones are disgusting), and that will let me save some money by bringing my own water and SlimFast, as well as some fruit to snack on. I think in the end, my diet will be some kind of combo of SlimFast and South Beach. I’m not going to completely eliminate carbs, but I do eat too many of them, so I need to scale that back and make sure I get more protein. (I also need to pay close attention to my cholesterol, too.) I’ve been tracking all my food over at Fitday.com this week while I’m just starting out. I haven’t been on a scale since last week at the doctor’s office. I’m not going to yet, either. First I want to get my diet plan organized and properly underway. I’m supposed to go back to the doc in a month for med follow-up, and they’ll do my weight again then. That’s when I’ll start weighing myself at home on a regular basis.

100 Facts: Coming later. 😉 Haha. And yes, I do have one for today. As long as I can get it typed up before the oppressing heat gets to me. :-$

I could’ve sworn there was going to be something else to this entry… but I guess I was wrong. Oh well. If I remember it, I’ll write it up later.

ETA: Oh yes! I’ve got a music meme I’m supposed to be doing! Oops. :-$ That’s what the other thing is! I’ll have to get to that later, after I do today’s fact.

I want a new drug, one that won’t hurt my head

I had a doctor’s appointment about my migraines this afternoon. This was the reschedule of the one from 2 weeks ago, when my car wouldn’t start. Everything went pretty much as I figured it would. They’re going to schedule me for a MRI to see if anything shows up. I should find out sometime tomorrow my MRI appointment time. They also gave me a prescription to help prevent them, instead of just treating them after they start. We’ll see how well that works. I’m on the meds for a month before going back to see how I’m doing.

After my appointment, I had to head home and pick up my cat, Mali, for her doctor visit. She will yowl like crazy as soon as she’s put in her crate, all the way until she gets to the vet’s office. But, oddly, once she’s there, her personality shifts. The yowling stops, she allows strangers to pet/touch her, and doesn’t try to hide. If we were at home, she wouldn’t let a stranger get within 5 feet of her. But, that is beside the point. For the past 10 months or so, Mali has been chewing off her own fur. It started with a small patch on her stomach, and has grown. Her entire lower abdomen, the underside of her tail, and the inside of her hind legs are all nearly bald. She added two new stripes down the outside of her back legs while I was out of town this weekend.

She’s had a couple of vet visits about this before. The first time around, she was on allergy medication for a month. That didn’t help much at all. Second round, she had a steroid shot. It only slightly helped, but the behavior didn’t go away. The vet has diagnosed her with psychogenic neurodermatitis (very similiar to psychogenic alopecia) – a behavior done out of anxiety/stress. Just our luck, Siamese and other Oriental breeds are more prone to this condition. Our next course of action is to give her an anti-anxiety medication (amitriptyline) twice a day for at least a month. If that helps, then she’ll stay on the meds, I think. If not, we’re on to potentially painful testing to try and figure out what’s going on. I really don’t want to put her through any of that, so I’m hoping the meds work.

Can’t win for losing

A friend invited me to Chicago with her next weekend. I declined because I’m a little on the broke side right now — I just had to pay that $350 in car repairs, plus I’ve got balances I owe on doctor’s bill that the insurance didn’t cover. Plus, every spare cent I have is going into my “Visit Emily” fund, so I wasn’t about to take out a big chunk of the tiny savings I have for that trip already. It would’ve been fun, I haven’t traveled with her in quite a while, but my finances just wouldn’t allow it.

I had a doctor’s appointment this morning, to try and find out what’s going on with these chronic migraines I’ve been having. Sure, the meds I’m on work, but @ $90 a month for meds JUST for migraines is a little too much. I’d rather find out what’s causing them and treat that, instead of treating just the migraines. So. I came into work this morning, and my car acted slightly funny when I started it, but after that it was fine. About 20 minutes ago, I got in the car to leave for my doctor’s appointment. Car won’t start. Won’t even attempt to turn over. Nada zip zilch nothing.

I’m PRAYING it has something to do with the new stereo that my brother installed; maybe it was wired wrong and drained the battery. With my luck, though, it’ll be the alternator. I can’t afford more damn car repairs. :-\

ETA: I called a local Autozone by my house to find out if there was a charge for testing the battery. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Hi, I’d like to know if you charge to test batteries for bad cells?
Clerk: Yes
Me: How much is it?
Clerk: It’s free. We test them for free.
Me: (surpressing giggles) Okay, thank you!