I just submitted my final exam work for my Photoshop class, effectively bring spring semester to a close. Lest anyone think that Photoshop was an easy class, well… you can just bite me. :)  It was a hell of a lot of work every week, and sometimes the directions just weren’t that clear.

I have to say, though, that I actually enjoyed taking the final. Turns out I learned more than I thought I did. I’ll be taking the intermediate class next spring, since I have a couple other classes to knock out in the meantime.

More moving took place across the street today. The chairs on the front porch are gone, and it looks like the curtains in one of the upstairs windows have been taken down. I joked at work today that when they’re officially gone, I’ll be heading over to the neighbor who lives next door to them with a bottle of champagne and glasses. I know it sounds harsh, but if you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I’m not the one who started the war. There’s such a thing as common courtesy and T doesn’t know the definition.

I think that S has respect for other people, but I think when T is around, everything gets tossed out the window. Everything seems to be about him and what he wants. Hence the big screen TV and the motorcycle instead of the mortgage and homeowner insurance payments. And oh yeah, the property taxes. The smartest thing that woman could do for herself would be to get rid of him. The house was never in HIS name, but now her credit is absolutely shot.

The scary part now? Who will buy the house next? Or worse, how long will it remain empty and will the bank take care of it in the meantime?

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Unless they were contributing stuff to a garage sale, it certainly looks as though the asshat neighbors were loading moving boxes and assorted household items into the back of their truck today.

I won’t truly relax until I see furniture being carried out.

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I’ve been excessively whiny the past few days. The bulk of it comes from needing sleep, with the frustration of having limited use of my hand. I always thought I was somewhat ambidextrous until I *had* to stop using my left hand for most things. Turns out that about the only things I can do well with my right hand are:

1. Using a mouse
2. Operating a 10-key adding machine
3. Drinking
4. Throwing things in frustration over all the things I can’t do with my right hand

In an effort to avoid #4, I may have to soon engage in #3. Excessively.
I had a huge fight with JL last night. A very aggravating, repeat topic fight. And I started composing a blog post about all of the emotions that I was feeling; all the things I’d love to be able to say to him; all the reasons it upsets me that he just doesn’t get it.

But then I started to cry as I was typing, and it was really hard crying, and jeez… it just depressed the hell out of me. Life sucks sometimes and 2008 hasn’t been all that great so far. Bad things have happened to other people. One of my favorite bloggers lost her father earlier this year, for example. Last year, her cat lost a leg. I lost my cat this year, but I still have my dad (although he did lose a nipple).

My point is, I’ve been through worse. Others have been through worse. Still others are going through far worse. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. Suffering builds character. All that jazz.

And yet, I still whine. I’m still cranky. I need sleep. A bona fide full night’s sleep. Anyone know where I can get one?

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(Could have sworn I posted this last night, but apparently I just saved it. *shrug*)

Tendinitis.

I’m to rest it. Which will be no easy feat, considering it’s my left hand. And I’m left-handed.

I’m on an anti-inflammatory patch. Ok, actually, the patch is on me. And wrapped with an ace bandage, but I can use the brace my stepmom gave me if it works. Which it does sometimes, but then I end up yanking it off because it drives me crazy. So far, I’ve successfully left the ace wrap on all day. I might try the brace tomorrow, now that I know it’s not doing more harm than good.

The best part? No dishes! Doctor’s orders. My children and The Boyfriend will have to cater to my every whim. Gee, darn. But I’m not restricted from computer use, so that’s a plus. Hehe…

Oh, and I have to go back in a month.

Completely unrelated, but still important… if a particular someone out there is reading this and that certain someone rarely spells out his whole name when signing emails, after I left the doctor’s office, I turned on the radio to hear a certain song by the Goo Goo Dolls. And no, it was not immediately followed by Tal Bachman.

And that is all for now.

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I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow afternoon about pain in my left hand/wrist/forearm. It started in January, with a sensation much like I needed to crack my wrist. I was turning it from side to side and then OH MY GOD THE PAIN and I didn’t do that anymore.

And then, it was ok, but sometimes, for example, if my arm was resting on a table and I went to move it, I would damn near scream from the excruciating pain. I scared the hell out of TOTO and Princess one day at lunch doing just that.

Lately, the pain is more in my pinky and ring fingers. Today, I was lifting a chip to my mouth with my left hand and just before it got there, there was a spasm of pain and completely out of my control, my hand shot to the right of my mouth and grazed my cheek. It reminded me of Ted Striker’s drinking problem in Airplane! And all I can say is it’s a damn good thing I wasn’t having soup for lunch.

I called the doctor more than a week ago, but they couldn’t get me in until tomorrow. And it hurts. I have no idea what it is but based on what I’ve read, it’s not likely to be carpal tunnel. Which is good. I guess. Unless it’s really something worse. But worst of all will be if the doc has no idea and nothing can be done. Because like I said, it hurts. And it’s getting worse.

So, yeah. Wish me luck. My next door neighbor at work, Trouble, is getting tired of hearing me say “Ouch” every five minutes. Even if it does make her laugh…

What can I say? I work amongst evil people. That’s one of the reasons I fit right in.

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Well, it’s official. I will NOT be able to attend BlogHer ‘08. I can’t justify the expense. I’m ok with it, and yet I’m not.

I’m not ok with it because there are people speaking that I wanted to see. I can’t even bear to look at what the schedule is because I don’t want to kick myself for missing certain sessions.

On the other hand, this wouldn’t be my first year, and yet… I didn’t really bond with anyone. I made a couple of friends, yes, but not to the extent that others seem to have. It’s totally my issue. I don’t do well in large crowds like that. I’m usually not comfortable at parties, preferring instead to socialize with good friends in smaller groups.

I do plan on hitting up one or more of the Reach sessions later in the fall, though. Armed with my Kimmer, I know it’ll be a good time. It’s always easier for me to be my charming, witty self when I’m accompanied by someone I adore who is even more charming and witty. Now, if we could just get Kat blogging…

Last week, I had a great conversation with my aunt who has been researching my dad’s side of the family tree for years. I told her about the problems I’ve been encountering trying to find my elusive great great grandmother and she said, “You’ve encountered what we call a brick wall.” And she gave me a couple of suggestions and told me to forward her some information and she’d see if she could dig anything up. The suggestions included a couple of books which will no doubt point me in the right direction of the records I need. I’ve already requested them from OhioLink. I also found a source of newspapers from the area during that time and I’ve been painstakingly going through them one by one to see if any mention is made of her death. My aunt thinks I’m probably correct in my assumption that she died in childbirth.

She made me feel better about what I’ve felt is a rather late blooming interest in genealogy. I only have one grandparent left (on my dad’s side) and she has Alzheimer’s. My aunt pointed out that I developed my interest 15 years ahead of hers and that she had no grandparents living when she started researching. Furthermore, my grandmother who is still living? Her father died when she was four. So, my aunt started off with pretty much the same lack of information. And she has learned a LOT.

Since I was feeling all empowered, I got the nerve up to make a phone call to my mom’s cousin. Her mother took care of my great grandmother (Emma) before she died and I made the call hoping that perhaps the cousin would know the name of Emma’s elusive mother. She doesn’t offhand, but she does have a bunch of papers and photos that she’s going to dig up for me. Apparently, someone has done some research on that line before and she has the information. Potential gold mine of knowledge? I am crossing my fingers!

In any event, the cousin was so friendly and so genuinely happy to hear from me that it doesn’t matter. I’ve made contact with a family member that I never knew and with whom my mom and uncles have lost touch. Reconnecting is one of the reasons I started this project in the first place.

It’s going to be an interesting summer!

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Dude! Both of my projects were done by Saturday night! I could have gone out and gotten stinkin’ drunk and spent all of Sunday hung over and feeling like crap.

Instead, I chose to spend most of Sunday with a sinus headache and cramps… and feeling like crap. I feel cheated somehow; robbed of the good time that could have caused the feeling like crap part. Damn it all.

This semester is almost over. I can’t state enough how happy that thought makes me. It’s not just me feeling this way, either. Ask anyone who is taking classes, teaching classes or living/dating/related to someone who is taking classes or teaching classes. Go ahead, take a moment to ask. I’ll wait.

*whistles to self while looking at the red dot on the ceiling tile above cubicle*

See? What’d I tell you? We’re all sick of it.

So, yeah… thank goodness it’s almost over. Thank goodness my worst week is now behind me. Three assignments, one quiz, one three page paper and one final. I think I can handle it.

Especially since that’s WAAAAAAAY shorter than the “To Do” list I have running in my head for the house. *sigh*

It’s always something…

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Completed:

• Two assignments for Photoshop class, due on April 14
• One professional project for Photoshop class, also due on April 14
• Two Cubs games, one win, one loss
• Two Tigers games, one loss, one win

Currently working on:

• One six-page website for Dreamweaver class, due on April 14 (Completed)

On today’s TV agenda if they’re not rained out:

• One Tigers game against the Chicago White Sox (hoping for win #3) (Nope. Another dismal loss)
• One Cubs game against the Philadelphia Phillies (hoping to start new winning streak) (Bottom of 8th, it’s not looking good.)

That’s all for now.

*** New *** As I logged into WebCT to upload the site I finished (and I have to say… it looks DAMN good), I was feeling pretty good about the fact that I can now relax for the rest of this evening and still have tomorrow to do laundry and run errands, etc. And then I noticed that my Photoshop instructor has already uploaded next week’s assignments.

*sigh*

She couldn’t even let me have ONE DAY to enjoy having nothing due….

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Oh, the things I wish I could blog about right now. The neighbors across the street… the student worker who pissed me off this afternoon… the gorgeous spring weather…

But I don’t have time. I just dropped in to say that this promises to be the busiest week of my semester. I have too many things due one week from today (I really wasn’t counting on an additional two assignments in my Photoshop class) and not a lot of time to work on them in the interim.

So, if you don’t see me, if I don’t respond to your email, never fear. I’ll be back as soon as I’ve finished up the mess I’ve created for myself!

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Friday night, I came home and promptly started working on this week’s Photoshop assignment. A half hour later, I was cleaning my kitchen in frustration. I just could not figure out how to complete a particular step in the assignment, no matter how many times I tried to start over. But man, my kitchen looked great!

Saturday morning, I tried again. It still didn’t work. I finally posted a message on the class discussion board pleading for help. The Boyfriend had plans to go to a Tigers game; a game he wanted me to attend with him, but there was no way. He left and I gave the assignment a few more futile attempts before starting to watch the Cubs game.

They won. Which is more than I can say for the Tigers.

Somewhere in there, my dad returned a call to me. The bathroom faucet has, in the past couple weeks, dramatically decreased in water pressure. Without my dad to tell me, I would have just replaced the whole faucet (which needs to be done, eventually) instead of pulling out the aerator and cleaning it out. Voila! Instant water pressure!

Nothing says empowerment like solving a plumbing issue for free.

I checked the discussion board and some lovely person named Teresa had responded. She’d had the same problem and she detailed what she did. It worked like a charm! Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked for a couple of the others who have posted since then, and our professor has yet to weigh in with any advice.

Today, I decided I wasn’t doing any homework, even though I have two major projects due on the 15th. The Boyfriend’s car died on him last night in Maumee. Unfortunately for him, it was on a street with “No parking this side of street” signs. Guess which side he was on? I called Maumee Police to let them know we’d get it out of there in the morning by noon today. Even though I have Triple A, we were hoping we wouldn’t have to have it towed. It started right up, though, which was good because halfway there we realized that neither of us had our cell phones. We are BRILLIANT!

So, today during my no homework day, what did I do? Changed up my blogroll and added a contact form. You know, for the LEGIONS of people who have been wanting to get in touch with me on this site but are too afraid to leave me a comment.

And then I went back into the bathroom to measure the bathtub for a shower surround. And pulled the funky fake tile looking wallboard away from the plaster to see what was underneath, because I want to yank it all down and just paint.

But you know that’s not how it works, right? It’s never that easy. I’m not going to tell you what I found, because truthfully at the moment I’m not quite sure. All I can tell you is that it’s going to require a lot more work than I was hoping. And this is why people should not make cheap ass repairs to their house, because someday… someone is going to want to change it up, and the cheap bastards make it that much more expensive in both time and money to fix it.

I just really hope that somehow this comes back to bite those previous owners in their asses…

** ETA - I’m more than a little annoyed at the professor in this Photoshop class. She was apparently able to log into our course to upload the assignments for next week, and was able to send us all an email to remind us that our projects are due a week from tomorrow, but unable to post to the discussion board regarding any of the issues that students have been experiencing. Nice feedback.

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