Monday, January 19, 2009



I was just checking out the gym schedule. I have today off and I have to get to the gym. I went to a really early spinning class yesterday and the proceeded to sit around on my sofa the entire day. (That's not entirely true. For a couple of hours I was lying on my sofa, not sitting.)

As a result of this inactivity, my back is killing me. Maybe it sounds strange, but my back hurts more when I am totally sedentary than it does when I'm up and moving around.

So, normally I go to the gym at 5:30 on Monday nights, but if I have the day off (as is the case today) I try to get my workout in earlier. I checked the schedule at all three gyms, and the one that looks most promising is the "Forza" class in Back Bay. Forza is apparently some kind of Japanese samaurai (spelling?) sword workout. I have seen the baskets of wooden sword thingees sitting there a million times and never quite knew what they were for. Well..I guess I'm about to find out.

If I can still move after the class (because I think it might be pretty freakin' hard), I'll let you know how things worked out.

In other news, I am SICK AS HELL OF SNOW. It has been falling non stop in Boston for the entire month of January. Actually, it started back in September. There have been a couple of mild days where the snow on the ground would finally melt away. This would occur, of course, just in time for the next deep freeze and snow storm to move in and take up long term residence. There is snow on the ground that I'm convinced is going to stay there until April. Actually, since April has turned to full-on winter here in New England, it might just sit there until May.

What the hell?

It is really hard to sit here in this arctic freeze and contemplate the concept of global warming. I'm not a denier at all. I'm just saying that it's hard to sit here watching Noah Wylie cry about the polar bears losing their natural habitat in the north pole. Hell....just send 'em down to Boston. They'll be fine.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Guilty as Charged



I got a jury duty summons yesterday. My service date is April 2nd. The last time I was called to serve on a Jury was a few years ago. My service date was set for August. I requested a postponement because I figured it would be better to take the day off of school rather than serve on my own time in the summer. LOL. The funny thing was that instead of getting a new date, I got a letter basically telling me that they would not need me after all.

The last time I went to jury duty, I sat on a trial for almost two weeks. My courtroom was directly one floor above the Louise Woodward trial. The media frenzy was fun and kind of exciting. (Remember Louise...the British Nanny who killed the baby in her care?)

This time I'll be serving in Boston. Last time I was in Cambridge. Hopefully I won't get seated and I'll be dismissed early enough to enjoy a lovely day of shopping at nearby Faneuil Hall.

Can you believe that I was able to confirm my juror service online? Man...what can't we do online these days?

In other news, I went to my thyroid doctor today. He said I look much better than the last time I saw him, when, to use his own words, I was "an absolute mess." He asked if people have told me I look better. Ah...not so much.

It turns out I might actually now be hypothyroid (the original problem was hyperthyroidism). Sometimes the medication can overtreat the hyperthyroidism. The doctor explained that the thyroid is a pretty temperamental gland that is difficult to property regulate. The dosage of medication has to be tweaked a bunch before things calm down. The telltale signs of the hyperthyroidism were apparently my warm hands, bulging eyes, shaky hands, and edginess. This time the doctor remarked that my extremities seem colder, that the shakes are gone, and that my heart rate was really slow. This, he asserts, could be the result of my regular exercise, so he's not sure. But I'm kinda hoping it is hypo because I have packed on a little bit of weight on this stupid medication. Oh well..it is what it is. I'll find out Monday.

Hmm..what else. Nothing I guess.

Stephen is playing some inane war video game on his new laptop. All these guns are firing and people are calling out in shock and pain. Yeah, he's 41.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Latest Musings

I don't blog enough, that's for sure. When I think about blogging, I get all overwhelmed because I always let so much time elapse between posts. Then I wonder if I have to go back and update all of you on everything that's transpired in my life. Because that's such a daunting thought, I opt out of blogging.

But just today a couple of thoughts have occurred to me.

1. Not that much actually happens in my life, so I'm hardly buried under interesting stories that must be conveyed in painstaking detail.

2. Even if I were drowning in wondrous stories of misadventure and mayhem, it would be awfully presumptuous of me to feel as if you were all out there awaiting my detailed retelling of every last detail. To believe that would be to labor (falsely, of course) under the delusion that all of you are in such dire need of a life as to necessitate your holding your collective breath waiting for my next missive. How arrogant of me.

3. It is completely OK for me to check in periodically and just rant on about whatever happens to be on my mind at any particular time. So what if I don't talk about everything that's transpired in my life since my last entry. Because...after all, as I've concluded in thought number 2, you guys probably don't give a crap anyway!

How liberating. So, I'll blog when I can. No more guilt about letting too much time elapse. No more cowering under the girth of all that has been left unreported on or unsaid. Just pure, unadulterated joy of self-expression when the mood hits.

Ahhh.....

(That was a sigh of relief.)

Anyway, I got myself a new phone. Very cute. It is the LG En V. I was thinking about going on the iPhone, but I decided to stick with Verizon Wireless. I know a lot of people have reported having horrendous service, but I have always had stellar, exemplary service from Verizon, so I'm going to stick there. Also, the phone was cheaper than the iPhone, which made me happy.



This thing is cute, cute, cute. It is blood red, which makes me feel fun, yet more grown up than my pink Motorolla RazR. (I grew pretty tired of that thing). The thing I like best about my phone is that it goes online! Yippie. I can bypass the firewalls at school and play around on Facebook on my prep periods! LOL. Now I can keep up to speed with all the silly online antics of my friends and family members throughout the day. No need to wait until I go home. I can engage in that silly, intellectually empty activity on the clock. I LOVE it! I also like that the plan I'm on is relatively reasonably priced (around 65 dollars a month, I think) for unlimited texting to any network, unlimited data usage, and all kinds of other little bells and whistles! I'm very happy with my new little gadget. I'm not much of a gadget freak, and this phone is hardly cutting edge to any hardcore electronic freak, but it does the trick for me. Case in point, during our mindless, pointless, boring, and idiotic staff meeting today at work, I was all over the web. It was great. Money well spent!

Switching topics...

In my ongoing addiction to TV shows I had never seen before getting our cable package expanded beyond our previous ghetto package, I've started watching House.



It's an interesting show. I love House's acerbic wit. He's great. Cheeky, obnoxious, self-centered, dark, and brooding. He's my type of guy. And he's just a little bit gorgeous, isn't he? Must be the blue eyes. OK...enough about that. The show has other merits. I encourage you to watch it to discover them on your own.

I've also become quite the addict of "No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain."



Maybe I have a thing for snarky older guys. Or maybe it's just that I like entertaining TV shows. Who can say for sure?

OK...I think I'm done. I'm hungry and I'm off to make some dinner.

I have tomorrow off. I called in sick so that I can go see my thyroid doctor. I think I need a medication dosage adjustment. Christ...what an annoyance.

Oh..and one last thing. Today the city for which I work had an "Employee Perks Fair" at city hall. The problem is the we teachers are required to stay in school until 2:45. Today we had meetings at other schools at 2:45 until 4:14. The employee perk fair went from 11-4. So, when were we supposed to get there?

You tell me.

Stupid.