Celebrating and Kvetching

Kvetch - So I finished writing a 10 page outline for my novel today, only to realize as I did it that, even worse than having the problem of the dreaded "sagging middle", I had the "middle, what middle?" problem. : (

Celebration - My muse or my overactive imagination is now popping ideas into my head, so I should have at least some of a middle by the time November starts. : )

The good ended happily and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means - Oscar Wilde

2009: Swan's Wing

Kvetch -- I can't get a bleeping job!

Celebration -- This may sound small, but I planted a lilac bush today. It was a replacement bush for one that went belly up last spring. This one is four feet tall, still has its leaves, and has some big fat buds for next spring. I do hope it makes it.

Celebration -- MileHiCon, the Denver area sf convention, begins in a week. I'm looking forward to that.

2005 In Back of the North Wind WINNER!
2006 Leopard's Paw WINNER!
2007 The Old Straight Track (finished) WINNER!
2008 The Other Side of the Wall (finished) WINNER!
2009 Dark Inheritance

Zookeeper,

Have a blast at MileHiCon!

The good ended happily and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means - Oscar Wilde

2009: Swan's Wing

Celebration: You created this delightful thread! I got to stay home and rest today and work with the cockatiels. I fixed things (I hope) with two people I'd inadvertently insulted. I did a little housecleaning. My husband reconnected with an old friend, the one who bought his beloved '67 Camaro way back when. Betty and I are going to the flea market in a couple of weeks.

Kvetch: It's cold. I have no energy. I cancelled my class today and will have to attend another Saturday when it'll probably be even colder. I inadvertently insulted two people who are big in my life. I can't think of a theme to write about that arouses passion. So far all I can come up with is: ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A GIRL AND SHE WAS TIRED. SHE COULDN'T GET TO SLEEP BECAUSE SHE WAS TOO WIRED. FINALLY SHE GOT SOME SLEEP. THE END.

Hmmm. Not a bad story, maybe, if I flesh it out some.

Celebrating: Finished my daughter's !@#$ Halloween costume and stuck in the mail! Now I can concentrate on my story ideas and outline at last!

Kvetch: Stupid dog STILL clueless about what housebreaking means and just peed all of the rug right in front of me. Grrr. Good thing she's cute...This is why I can't write at home! It's like having a timebomb walking around all the time! ;-)

Celebrating:

♥ Wonderful children & "volunteer children" & AMAZING grandchildren, FIVE of 'em. ALL boys. ALL under 7. O_o

♥ Good friends who love me no matter what--who hurt my hurts, laugh my joys & who are always there, snugged up close to my heart

♥ DAMN good story & an amazing writing partner (who doubles here & in the "Good Friends" up there ↑.

♥ It's official, I'm going Rebel this year--so now the pressure to back-burner this AMAZING story in order to write just-any-old-thing-for-NaNo is gone with the wind! WHEW!

♥ It is the last weekend of the Renaissance Faire that I am part of (six weekends) & so after tomorrow, my weekends are mine again!!

♥ I have A job.

Kvetching:

Ø The faire is over & I'm gonna miss it & long for it & dream about it & plan for it all year long.

Ø I have THIS job. ('nuff said)

Ø H1N1 caught me in September & I still don't have my mojo back--even the things I love to do kick my butt--no energy. UGH

'kay.....this felt good. Thanks for the great thread! Nice how things balance out, huh?

~Mer
ML-Modesto Region, CA
Co-moderator: NaNo Rebels thread
"I'm Gonna Wave my nerd Flag High"
"Put 'em up! Put 'em uuuup!!"

Kvetch -- why why why do people seem to think it's a great idea for me to take a minimum wage job and then work my way up in another field to get to my present level in 20 years? That actually makes sense to them! If no one's going to hire me for the field in which I have 20 years of experience, then certainly no one's going to hire me to work in a field where I have 0 years experience. Besides, minimum wage won't pay my bills.

2005 In Back of the North Wind WINNER!
2006 Leopard's Paw WINNER!
2007 The Old Straight Track (finished) WINNER!
2008 The Other Side of the Wall (finished) WINNER!
2009 Dark Inheritance

Regarding your kvetch, I noticed that you put "job hunting" in your profile. Would I be too nosy to ask what kind of work you're normally in? The job market is terrible now. I wish you luck; it's got to be ongoing torture having to deal with this.

Our hours have been cut at work, and I simply don't have the energy to get a second job. I'm a nurse so there is work available, but I don't have the legs for a lot of it any more. I hear that many people are going into healthcare just for the paycheck such that the motivation is not what it used to be when people went into it because they cared. I do some nursing student mentoring because students come to our facilty, and I hate to say that this might be true.

Celebrating:
- a lot of absolutely wonderful friends
- many great interests
- being able to do what I want, when I want
- early retirement
- a good pension
- health insurance
- my favourite season of the year

Kvetching:
- less than stellar health
- insomnia

Celebrating:
- I am truly blessed because I can't think of another kvetch (little things are of no consequence)

Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.

Kvetch: Being laid off.
Wishing people who are fighting against health care reform would just back off. Those of us who didn't work for major corporations have been made into second class citizens by the insurance industry, and we didn't elect them or this system. We all need to be treated (and billed) as equals. This includes the federal government, who picks up 2/3 of the tab for COBRA payments, but nothing for insurance payments of the unemployed who buy our own flawed insurance.
It's been rainy forever.

Celebration: Being laid off.
I don't have to work with my assistant manager, who rather than being my assistant, kept trying to work around me. I watched her make stupid decisions, implemented on my days off, for which we would both bear the consequences. Except that I won't. Good riddance.
Good health. Especially good since I can't afford to get sick. But even if I could, I'd rather be healthy.
Beautiful woods, a great family and a cool dog.
The sun is finally out!

Winner 2005: The Tribe of Palmetto Bay
Winner 2006: The Blue Light
Winner 2007: Fido
Winner 2008: Disappearance
Winner 2009: Comp Psi

http://cookingback2reality.blogspot.com/

Kvetch - It snowed in Boston this afternoon and it's not even November! WTH?

And, to balance it out:

Celebration - A friend invited me to a performance of two radio plays followed by a Halloween party at MOBA (the Museum of Bad Art). Should be fun!

The good ended happily and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means - Oscar Wilde

2009: Swan's Wing

Kvetch: I broke the lock on the back door (glass storm door), so I can't open it to let my dogs out into the back yard. (now I have to put on their leashes, go out the front door, and let them into the back yard from the gate! LOL)

Celebration: My daughter is healed up from her recent surgery; I'm as healthy as an older horse (LOL); and I'm excited about participating in NaNoWriMo again (after dropping out in 2008... got bored with what I was writing).

2004: Daniel In The Lion's Den (mystery/suspense)
2005: Two Women And A Girl: EGG, MAT, and MSG (mystery/suspense)
2007: Finding Emma Jane (fictionalized memoir)
2009: Foreplay (mystery/suspense)

You all are gonna think I'm the most negative person in the world. And maybe I am.

Kvetch...I keep having these panic attacks at night when I think I shouldn't do NaNo cause who really cares and it is a lot of work. I hate my job (and I know some of you are without right now, and I'm sorry. But I can't help hating my job). I'm lonely. I don't know where my daughter is or her 4 kids and my son is in another state. I'm divorced and alone.

Celebration....I have these forums to kvetch in.

Chowchowgrl, the field I'm been in for the past 20 years is editing and writing, and the market is pretty crappy for that right now. And the employers have upped the ante. Before they were happy to get computer/tech-savvy writers. Now they want IT grads who can write. The jobs, for the most part, still pay well, but they require a lot of software knowledge that I don't have. Sometimes it's software that they don't even use, but they still demand it and, I guess, can get it.

I've been unemployed for two years exactly on Nov. 1. I have another month of UI benefits, then I'm in free fall. I don't know what to do, and it has really had an effect on my mental state. Has anyone been watching Stargate Universe? That's kind of where I feel I am. All alone, running out of food, water, and air, and about to slam into a star.

I guess the above was my kvetch.

Celebration -- I got the H1N1 flu in August. Why is this a celebration? Because I got it, was awfully sick, got over it, and now it's off my list of worries.

Celebration -- I got a new cat a month ago. I rescued a stray from my back yard that I'd been feeding all summer. This is also kind of a kvetch because he's bitey and doesn't get along that well with some of the other cats.

2005 In Back of the North Wind WINNER!
2006 Leopard's Paw WINNER!
2007 The Old Straight Track (finished) WINNER!
2008 The Other Side of the Wall (finished) WINNER!
2009 Dark Inheritance

Zookeeper, thank you for sharing. It must be irritating, at the very least, to see younger IT grads get what you should be able to have. Have you done any freelance writing just to keep a little money coming in? I'm so sorry for your situation. One month is not very long. We can't get sugar daddies or sugar mommas at our age, either! :-)

I work with people in their 80s and 90s, most with some dementia. One lady started talking to me out of the blue one day about what her dad did during the Depression, what he had in the basement to keep the family going:
1. He made sweaters because, as he said, "People still get cold!"
2. He did carpentry and machine-fixing and stuff.
3. He raised guinea pigs for the government for labs.
I don't know what you have in your basement -- note that I'm not making any WHAT'SINYOURWALLET? jokes -- but I'm finding Depression stories increasingly interesting in this economy. I wish you luck.

Can I start with the celebrations?

1. I learnt a new word. Kvetch, never heard or seen it before it appeared here.

2. The other celebration... I'm gonna live a while longer :-) I don't have neurological damage, I don't have a malignancy and I don't have to face surgery. I also got to keep my driving licence, but my hair is in the balance.

Kvetch

I start 6 weeks of (almost) daily radiotherapy tomorrow to treat/stop a benign tumour that's fallen in love with my optic nerve and wrapped itself around it. Oh, that my husband could be that passionate!

Could've been worse, this type usually grows on the lining of the brain :-/ My hair might fall out, I'm gonna be tired but there'll be no pressure to do housework or other similarly nasty stuff so I can give NaNo 100%. Silver linings, eh?

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon!

I think just having a Museum of Bad Art is worth a celebration.

My only kvetch is that I didn't know about it when I was in Boston 1 1/2 years ago. Not planning a trip there any time in the near future.

Cass, kvetch is a Yiddush word. Sorry to hear about your health problems. I'm glad they sound fixable, if very trying in the process. If there was a way to send you a virtual really cool hat, I'd do it.

Winner 2005: The Tribe of Palmetto Bay
Winner 2006: The Blue Light
Winner 2007: Fido
Winner 2008: Disappearance
Winner 2009: Comp Psi

http://cookingback2reality.blogspot.com/

Cassandra,

You are the Queen of Understatement! Does this mean that your vision will be okay too? Hopefully?

Awwwww, honey--what a time you've been through! That span between discovering that the growth/tumor/mass (so many terms for these damned invaders of our bodies!) is benign can feel like a lifetime! (Been there) Today, I will celebrate with you that you will live longer, that you do so driving & without neuro damage!!! LOL..... I'm a huge seeker of silver linings too!

Thank you for sharing this. It is one of those stories of hope that fuel my spirit!

~Mer
ML-Modesto Region, CA
Co-moderator: NaNo Rebels thread
"I'm Gonna Wave my nerd Flag High"
"Put 'em up! Put 'em uuuup!!"

Thanks Mer :-)

The odds are good that my sight won't get any worse in the affected eye and anyway, I'll still have one good one. Glad yours was benign as well :-)

I don't know about you but this has made me appreciate the need to get on with life a bit more. Everything at NaNo pace from now on!

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon!

Cassandra,

Best wishes for the treatment - glad to here it's for a benign growth. I'll be thinking good thoughts your way.

Tree,

For those not in the Boston area, MOBA has kindly provided a look at some of their collection online at www.museumofbadart.org

They have also recently released a coffee table book.

The good ended happily and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means - Oscar Wilde

2009: Swan's Wing

patrmcma, LOLOLOLOLOLOLLLLLLLLOL, thank you so much for posting the link to the Museum of Bad Art!!!! It's wonderful!!! For those among you who need a lift, go click on the link and browse the collections and you'll laugh till your mouth hurts!!!! It's wonderful!

Every single day has a high point, some special moment that makes the day especially unique and pleasurable, and I just had it now!

Kvetch Kvetch KVETCH..........

The second week of September I came home from a wonderful two week cruise to Alaska & promptly got sick. We were still disembarking when I realized--Awwww geeez--I feel sick. My health-care provider (Kaiser Permenente) said it was the dread H1N1--I took Tamiflu (over-rated for relieving/shortening symptoms) & toughed it out. (Boss was NOT happy about the extra week away from my job.)

Last night, I began getting sick again--this time MUCH worse than the first one...my fever isSTILL spiking even with alternate Tylenol & Naproxin (per Advice Nurse) & there is not one square inch of me that does not ACHE. Even my eyelashes hurt. UGH

'kay, I know I'm supposed to balance out the negatives with the positives, but right now, I feel too awful to find any.

Oy vey...... ( ╤_╤)

~Mer
ML-Modesto Region, CA
Co-moderator: NaNo Rebels thread
"I'm Gonna Wave my nerd Flag High"
"Put 'em up! Put 'em uuuup!!"

mermaid girl, the thing to celebrate is that you will get through this. If you don't mind me going nursey on you -- I don't have kids so that means that everybody becomes my kid if my buttons get pushed, so that means YOU -- here are some pointers to help you recover:

1. Do what your doctor says, first and foremost. Call the office if you have questions and conflicting info.
2. Fever is the body's response to a problem, and it actually creates an environment that helps keep bacteria and viruses from multiplying so fast. Therefore, unless your fever gets high (over 101ish) or unless you're really uncomfortable, ride out the fever rather than try to make it go away. It's one of your body's defenses. Eradicating the fever does not eradicate the infection.
3. Drink lots of fluids so the fever won't dehydrate you. Your blood will flow better.
4. Sleep all you can.
5. Don't let appetite govern what you eat. Unless your doctor says otherwise or unless you're vomiting, you need the extra nutrition, so eat nutritious food with lots of vitamin C, etc. Take a multivitamin/mineral supplement daily but understand that it is a supplement, not a substitute.
6. Do things to raise your endorphin level because that will strengthen your immune system. That means to do what makes you happy! Watch a funny movie that makes you laugh, go on the internet, eat chocolate, play Mafia Wars or Farmville or whatever, anything that makes you feel good.
7. Avoid people that bring you down; maintain contact with people that buoy you up.
8. Go on NaNo forums.

Sorry to be presumptuous and bossy, but hopefully I've given you something that might help.

You were neither, R.---Bless you for the solid advice & for being concerned enough to post it.... I am glad/relieved to see that most of what you suggest is what I was told by Kaiser........But I have to confess that heaving is more than I can take right now (sorry for TMI, guys--the squeamish should turn away now, or skip this altogether.) When I tried to eat earlier, it just came right back up! UGH..... I will try some clear chicken broth later......

I also believe in letting the body fight the good fight without interference (even though fever is SO stinkin' miserable!) but once it went past 101° & just kept going, I waited about six hours before trying to get it to lower.The advice nurse told me that as long as I'm still chilling, it means my temp could be trying to rise (?) and that once I begin to sweat, it means it's on the go-down.

Again, thank you for such good advice (((((chowchowgrl)))))---

~Mer
ML-Modesto Region, CA
Co-moderator: NaNo Rebels thread
"I'm Gonna Wave my nerd Flag High"
"Put 'em up! Put 'em uuuup!!"

Mer, is this newest bout H1N1 again? Or did it go dormant and then come back? I feel for you. What she said, above. Take care of yourself. When I was sick, I couldn't keep anything down. Even Pepto-Bismol would come right back up.

2005 In Back of the North Wind WINNER!
2006 Leopard's Paw WINNER!
2007 The Old Straight Track (finished) WINNER!
2008 The Other Side of the Wall (finished) WINNER!
2009 Dark Inheritance

Nausea is horrible. Google "nausea cures" and you might find some help. I can offer a few suggestions:

Avoid caffeine in all forms, coffee, cola, YES, EVEN CHOCOLATE. It irritates the stomach.

No alcohol.

Avoid strong smells. Some things such as lemon, eucalyptus, and mint might help.

Avoid grease, lard, fat.

Avoid acid, as found in tomatoes, orange juice, anything with bite.

Take small amounts of or smell FRESH ginger root.

In the hospital, where anesthesia often makes people nauseated, they titrate you back to normal eating by having you let your stomach rest first, then graduating you to ice chips. After that, clear liquids. Cold bubbly things like 7-Up are good. Take small sips and let time pass between swallows. Jello counts as a clear liquid. Then pureed and bland things like cereal, pudding, rice, toast.

Make sure the rest of your body is comfortable. Wear loose clothing, comfy footwear, minimal jewelry, etc.

Fresh cold air is good. A fan is good.

Distraction is good.

Death is good if all else fails.

Ah, so this is where the Jello and 7-up thing comes from.

In college one year, I had a very country roommate who was student teaching. She caught a horrible cold, which is apparently common when adults first enter the elementary school environment. She stayed in bed, and tried to subsist on 7-up and Jello. Her family believed that these were healthy foods, since they gave them to you in the hospital.

I was mortified. It was the silliest piece of logic I had ever heard. After a few days of this nonsense, I fixed her a nutritious meal, and her boyfriend got her walking around.

You all have convinced me to get the H1N1 vaccine, when the shot version comes out. The mist is available to the general public here, but at 50, I miss eligibility by one year.

Winner 2005: The Tribe of Palmetto Bay
Winner 2006: The Blue Light
Winner 2007: Fido
Winner 2008: Disappearance
Winner 2009: Comp Psi

http://cookingback2reality.blogspot.com/

Thanks, Zoo--you know, I'm thinking it is an H1N1 relapse (or perhaps it never went away ALL the way & this is a mutant strain)--but damn! This time around, the symptoms have really intensified--chest congestion/cough, sore throat, body aches--even the fever is going higher than the first time. UGH. I can't remember when I've felt this sick. Keeping down/in tea, honey & lemon, & popsicles so far this morning--so very grateful for THAT. Did you get this newest flu too/yet?

~Mer
ML-Modesto Region, CA
Co-moderator: NaNo Rebels thread
"I'm Gonna Wave my nerd Flag High"
"Put 'em up! Put 'em uuuup!!"

R. thanks for the first genuine laugh I've had for way too long!

I've had migraines since my 30's (though they've decreased the last two years) & I get what I call "pukers"---hours of dry-heaving accompanying the pain. YUCK. For that kind of scenario (is there anything worse than DRY-heaving??? My rib cage always felt like I'd been kicked by a mule!) another nurse once gave me the best anti-nausea "recipe" I've found--but it sounds too horrible for words.

Take a can of cola--any cola--put it in a saucepan over low heat & let it simmer for awhile until it's about half volume & kinda thick (the idea is like a sauce reduction) cool, then take a teaspoon every 15-20 minutes or so until heaving stops. I don't have ANY idea why it works, but it does. Once upon a time, before the age of Big-Box drugstores, you could find Cola SYRUP in the pharmacy & it was specifically for nausea--I haven't been able to find it forever, but this works well too.

For me, the kind of nausea that's come with this flu only happens when I eat. Come to think of it, THAT symptom has stayed with me all month since the first go-round in September......ugh.

And Nina, I highly recommend getting the shot when it's available in your area--this stuff is as bad as my dim memories of a horrible flu back in the early 50's (Asian?) that landed me in the hospital. I worry so much about my five lil' guys--my grandsons--they range in age from 3- 7½ & two of them are seriously immune-challenged. Those two can't take the nasal spray & must get the shots.......

Okay, my fever is creeping up again, I'm gonna lay down. Thanks again, y'all, for the good suggestions & especially for the concern.

~Mer
ML-Modesto Region, CA
Co-moderator: NaNo Rebels thread
"I'm Gonna Wave my nerd Flag High"
"Put 'em up! Put 'em uuuup!!"

Hope you feel better soon, Mer. Get lots of rest and take care of yourself. Your clamshells will be waiting when you feel better.

The good ended happily and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means - Oscar Wilde

2009: Swan's Wing