The Sick Day MI:5

I kept seeing these 'MI:5' memes over at Amy's place. Being the curious sort, I asked her what this was all about & was informed that the memes are filled out by a group of bloggers every weeks (Hi everyone!). Each week, someone's tagged with coming up with some themed questions, sends them out to the others & tags someone else to take the next week. (That last part may be a little tricky for me, as I only know of Amy...hmm). Anyway, that long-winded intro was my way of saying "Here's my first entry in the MI:5 thing-a-ma-bob."

Enjoy!

1. When was the last time you were sick? What was wrong? [Earlier this month I had a bout of bronchitis. I don't get colds anymore; I get bronchitis]

2. Have you ever been in the hospital? Why? [When I was about 7 years old I had to have an operation on a hernia. The thing that sucked the most? When I was finally able to eat food again, the nurse gave me a menu for breakfast the next day. And, of course, I was discharged the next morning - before breakfast]

3. What is the one food that almost always makes you feel better when you are feeling ill? [It depends on the illness. With a cold, I can't get enough of anything to eat. With a stomach bug, I can't even look at food]

4. When was the last time you had a headache? [About three minutes ago. But now that my boss has left the office, I feel much better]

5. Do you have any alternative remedies you try when you are feeling under the weather? [Mega-doses of Vitamin C (I don't care what the 'experts' say - it works) & Ny-Quil. Lots & lots of Ny-quil]

V-Day

It's Valentine's Day once again.

Yay.

As I've been going about the past few days, trying to ignore the barrage of signs & commercials telling me that I just have to go spend a bundle to show my wife how much I love her (which is something that I should do, & I do, all year long) with expensive jewelry & flowers & whatnot, I think back to my school days. Ah yes, spending the night before cranking out valentines to everyone in the class until your hand cramped up. The gross glue on the teeny little envelopes. The myriad paper cuts. Nasty little chalk-like candies.

Yes, I am a Valentine's Grinch. And darn proud of it.

I remember, early on, when everyone exchanged cards with everyone else. Then, at around 5th grade or so, people started getting a little more selective. Some still gave cards to everyone in the class, but the amount of kids who were a bit more picky with their valentine dispersal caused a noticeable decline in the card count. You could always count on getting one from the one kid that smelled like old milk & whose signature looked like he signed his cards with his feet. And your best friend, which was a little weird, looking back now. Of course, if your best friend happened to be the smelly kid, well, you were out one card.

Now that I think about it, if your best friend happened to be the smelly kid, that was probably the only card you'd be getting. *sigh*

Anyway, I can remember the last year that most of the class exchanged cards, which was 6th grade. This was the point in my young life when I started to become a wee bit girl-crazy. Oh, I'd loved the ladies well before then; now, though, it was more acceptable around the guys to notice a cute girl, albeit still in hushed tones in the far reaches of the playground.

Before, you'd look at the cards &, if they had a puzzle or maze on them, run through them & move on to the big haul - the ones with suckers & candy taped to them. Now, you scrutinized the cards a bit more, looking for subtle hints imbedded in the message on the front of the valentine. You took every "Bee Mine" featuring a bee sitting on a heart or "You drive me wild, Valentine" with a picture of two teddy bears driving an old, flower covered Model T with heart shaped exhaust coming out of the tailpipe as a potential secret message, indicating that the girl had finally, finally come to her senses & seen what your mother had told you all along: that you were the most handsome boy in the whole school & worthy of the girl's undying love, devotion & attention.

More often than not, though, we boys ended up reading too far into the message, not unlike Ralph Wiggum with the pity card that Lisa Simpson gave to him. Apparently, some of the girls knew how stupid we were & decided to help us out. One of these girls - Joan - took great pains to make sure I understood her true feelings, in no uncertain terms.

Joan had given me a valentine with a cartoon goldfish in a bowl, talking on the phone. The card said "Drop me a line, Valentine." On the other side, underneath the obligatory "To:" & "From:" was a note -

"I don't really mean what the front of the card says."

And thus began my hatred of Valentine's Day.

Just Because...

Just because, Beautiful.

I love you.

Sometimes it amazes me
How strong the power of love can be
Sometimes you just take my breath away

You watch my love grow like a child
Sometimes gentle and sometimes wild
Sometimes you just take my breath away

And it's too good to slip by
Too good to lose
Too good to be there
Just to use
I'm gonna stand on a mountain top
And tell the news
That you take my breath away

Sometimes it amazes me
How strong the power of love can be
Sometimes you just take my breath away

Your beauty is there in all I see
And when I feel your eyes on me
Oh don't you know you just take my breath away

And it's too good to slip by
Too good to lose
Too good to be there
Just to use
I'm gonna stand on a mountain top
And tell the news
That you take my breath away

And it's too good to slip by
Too good to lose
Too good to be there
Just to use
I'm gonna stand on a mountain top
And tell the news
That you take my breath away

You Take My Breath Away ~ Eva Cassidy

Heroes, Week Twelve

OMYGOSHWASTHATNOTTHECOOLESTSHOWEVER?ICAN'TBELIEVETHATCLAIRE'SDADISREALLY -

*ahem*

Yes, it was quite entertaining. Please excuse me while I go clean the geek drool off my face.