Unfinished post Found!: "Weddings, Flu Shots, and Head Colds, Oh my!"

I found this whilst paroosing the long unopened file "Jill's stuff" on the desktop of our computer while the laundry is processing. Yes; that's right. My life has become thus; I only have time to mearly paroooose my PAST musings while I wait for the laundry to cycle and the baby to wake up. ANYWHO - an unfinished taste of how once upon a time I could (and did) write:

Lilacs? Roses? No, I can't smell anything right now ...


I blame the flu shot. I never get a flu shot. Mostly because I don't think that vaccines should be taken every year. Also, for the last four years I've been operating under the umbrella of NO health insurance and would rather spend $1.50 on a box of Kleenex and soda crackers than $15.00 on a flu shot. And in the years preceding that if I had the flu I probably mistook it for a really bad hangover and dealt with it accordingly and moved on with my life.

But this year, thanks to the new job, I not only have health insurance but the company actually brought in a nurse to sick us with the dead virus carcasses, and on top of that gave us incentive to do it; grown up peer pressure, I discovered, means you'll do anything for a chance to win a free PTO day.

So I venture into the big cold conference room, and wander down to the far end of the long table where the little old nurse is sitting with her needle kit. I unbutton my cuff and try to force the sleeve high enough up my arm to expose my shoulder and before I know it I'm in the drawing for that PTO day!

Two days later, I don't have a free PTO day but I'm starting to get little head aches and am waking up with a stuffed up nose and a sore throat.

The weekend hits and just an FYI for anyone reading this; sushi, a box of wine, and staying up until 3:00am will not do you any favors in your battle against an encroaching virus. Needless to say by the time Sunday comes and I'm in less than great condition. Monday comes and all my co-workers start calling me snot-ball and I go home early. Now, because I didn't win that PTO day and I was scheduled to take Friday off because I'm in a wedding on Saturday, I go into work on Tuesday. The snot-ball remarks continue, but the co-workers get defensive in the name of their own immune systems and lobby for me to work from home the rest of the day.

I muddled through the rest of the week with limited productivity, unless you count astounding people with the massive amounts of goo I could produce with just my nose five minutes after clearing it an accomplishment. But thanks to Nighttime Wal-phed I at least managed to get some sleep...

Now this was written some time around October 13th or 14th of 2010 (that's right Debbie - that's your wedding I was referencing). For those not in the loop of my rediculious year to follow I will sum up:
1 month later - Neal buys a VERY pretty ring (shhhh - I wasn't supposed to know that)
1 month after that - Jill and Neal agree on a price for a house far far away; Jill still has no ring - but suspects it's precence somewhere in the apartment ...
1 month after that - Neal FINALLY gives Jill the ring! YAY :)We are engaged and scheduled to move into our new home the end of February! Everything is going according to plan :)
2 weeks after that (and 2 days LATE): All plans change; guess what - We're gonna have a baby.
 
That's only the first half - we are not even out of January at this point! But just listing it out makes me relive it all over again and I think I need to go cry a little bit and then take a nap. Next up I'll revisit the rest of the last year and will attempt to capture the emotional magnatude it present(ed/s).

Landmines: Sleep deprivation and the Men that cause it.

Think of total relaxation. Your body is floating along in a dream your subconscious has been planning out all week. It's filled with all the issues you pushed down into your stomach and it has waited for this sleep - the sleep of Friday night/ Saturday morning - because there is nothing to wake up for. Nothing to concern yourself over. Finally, the weeks worth of crap will work itself out and Saturday morning you start anew.


BOOM! "Jill, I have to get up and go to paint ball."

Damn it! I was so comfortable, my eyes were glued shut to perfection, never mind, I'll just ignore him getting up for his early morning paintball session. Where was I - oh yeah, Tina Fey and I were discussing Cancerous Cells (I'm not sure why, but I think it has something to do with reading Entertainment Weekly and those infernal HPV commercials that are on every 10 minutes) ... Yes, welcome back that gentle sway of relaxation ....

BOOM! "Jill, where is my towel?" Seriously?

Maybe if I grumble to him he will stop pestering me - "I don't know, just get a new one."

Now, who was I just talking to about old wells?

BOOM!

Big mistake, now he thinks I'm awake. I should have ignored him and pretend to be asleep.

"Get up and have breakfast with me."

"I'm sleeping."

"No your not."(insert snuggle here - which would normally be relaxing but is now doing quite the opposite)

"Neal, I painted all day yesterday and the day before that, and the day before that. I'm very tired, please let me sleep."

.... Now, I love him very much, and he is one of the best people I know - but sometimes he says stuff like this, "You don't need to sleep, you've had plenty of sleep." and...

BOOM - No, not hungry - very annoyed ... I don't even remember ever being asleep at this point.

That was 6:30 this morning. Now he's gone paintballing and I'm awake and yawning like crazy - to the point that tears are rolling down my face.

I know what you're thinking - just go back to sleep, well, I had already tried that 3 times earlier today and it didn't work. Not only that, but the extra hour and a half I had planned on sleeping in for was used up asking him why he incessantly wakes me up when he doesn't have too, and why can't he understand that my job is more physically taxing than his which means I might need a little more down time. Now I have to get ready to go to Yoga and after that, clean the apartments that pay our rent - while he is off playing paintball.

I know, I can take a nap. But the point is, I hadn't planned on taking a nap, I had planned on sleeping until 8:00 or 8:30 and wouldn't need a nap. Now I have been disturbed, I have been annoyed, and gotten into a tiff with my boyfriend and it's not even 9:00am yet. Great. Looks like the issues start early this week.

Landmines: My misadventures in the land of parental divorce and computers...

The same week my mother is unceremoniously served less than courteous divorce papers from my father -  on St. Patty's Day no less! Totally ruined my favorite drinking holiday. However, Easter is coming up so I'll just make up for it then.
           
                "He is risen!"
                                        "He is risen indeed!"

Now, if he could only make everyone SANE again, that would be great.

Anyway, in that same week of extreme emotional turmoil my horrid HP laptop dies. We've never really gotten along very well, and in it's final moments it spites me one last time by taking all the contents I never should have trusted it with along for the final boat ride. Grrrr... when it rains, it shit storms.

Isn't that how the saying goes? Well, if it isn't then perhaps it should. I will take the initiative in starting the trend.

I was then told by a professional "geek" that the cost for retrieving all lost files would begin at $250.00. Begin. Meaning, it will actually end up costing me a lot more to retrieve files from the dead hard drive.

Here's the Lilac part of all this. I'm a stickler when it comes to backing things up. Well, important things anyway. Some very funny party photos are going to be sacrificed to the hard drive graveyard. But all my buisness files and creative writings are safe.

Also, three years ago I abandoned my dying Toshiba during it's time of need and bought the lying cantankerous HP. Apparently three years of down time was all it needed to heal, and for me to come crawling back for forgiveness. I'm quite happy to be reunited with my Toshiba. I was very sad when it stopped working. I have so much fun writing on it, something in the way the keys click ... it's musical ...

Anyway, for now the computer situation has worked itself out, as these things often do. And I'm sure the parental situation will work out in the end. However, the casualties sacfrificed to someone's midlife crisis may be more significant than what was left behind on a silly hard drive.

Lilacs: A glorious day for short films and grilling…

Sunday March 14 was a beautiful day filled with sunshine, art, and good food. Let’s start with a short recap of the Walker Institute of Art’s Women With Vision: Short Film Showcase. (http://calendar.walkerart.org/event.wac?id=5541)


Some of the films were entertaining, some illuminating, and others left me scratching my head wondering “huh?” I’ll only reminisce on a few choice films that really stuck with me.

Abandon ME; written and directed by Sayer Frey, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

This one is one of my favorites (and not just because I have a personal investment or because my name is in the credits (my 2.3 seconds of fame!)). It truly is a wonderful film. Potent with symbolism and metaphor, it really dives into the heart of its subject matter without giving it away. I’ve seen it many times at multiple stages of its development and the ending still gives me goose bumps! Look for it on the circuit, it’s going places.

Ana’s Playground; Jillian Nodland, Minnesota.

If you haven’t heard of this short film, you will. It’s an amazing film shot right here in downtown Minneapolis at the famous Riverside Apartments. Ana’s Playground begins with quote by Plato; “The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things.” Then shows you a war torn city in some far off foreign land, and the children are playing soccer in a garbage filled alley as gunshots and bombs sound all around them. The film is designed to show the audience how children are affected by war. An especially important message for Americans, because war always seems to be in some far off land; Ana’s Playground really brings it home. If you have an opportunity to see this film you should jump on it.

Abbie Cancelled; Jessica Burstein, Brooklyn, New York

I still don’t know how I feel about this one as “art”, but it was certainly entertaining. It has already run most of the short film circuit and has won a few competitions. You know you are in for a ride when the first piece of dialogue you hear is, “Fuck! Abbie cancelled.”

There were nine films total, and all were good in their own way, and had a few choice lines that will serve as great inside jokes for those of us that were there. As for the rest of you… well, you’re out of luck, because I’m done writing about this.

Have I mentioned that the temperature reached 65 degrees on Sunday? It was sunny and warm all day long and after the film festival, my brother, his girlfriend, Neal and I were feeling very alive, and perhaps a little appreciative of where we where and what we have. So, we popped over to the grocery store, bought a few grill-able items, dug our grill out of storage, and set up on the soggy ground of Como Park and had a picnic. This is the earliest I’ve ever gilled: March 14, 2010. One for the record books people, enjoy it!

p.s. You can become a “Fan” of all the above films on Facebook, which will help you get the inside scoop of when and where they will be showing next!