swimming pools and movie stars

i haven't done anything in like 3 weeks. i go to work (on days when i CAN make it to work), then come home and sleep. i'm still always extremely exhausted, and haven't noticed any difference since i've been taking the iron. the bf and i used to go out to dinner or meetup with friends for drinks at least a week. now, we lay around and watch a lot of movies. i thought about going to lay by the pool over the weekend, figuring that would still involve lying around, but i was just too tired to walk down there.

i had an echocardiogram this week. basically, an echo is like an ultrasound of your heart. you can see the ventricles and atriums and the blood flowing in and out on a little tv screen. i felt like i was watching a tv show starring my heart. and if i may so, my heart is quite the thespian.



out.
- L

iron (wo)man

my blood tests came back showing i have iron deficiency anemia. from what i've been told, normal iron numbers for women my age are between 150-250. my number? three. yes, three. so, i have to take iron pills for the next 6 months or so. they make me kinda sick, so i'm not looking forward to that.

more later.

outdoor festivals and ambulance rides

i had tickets to the citybeat beer festival yesterday in north park. although i was a little tired and jetlagged from having just returned from d.c. on saturday, i didn't want to waste my ticket and figured beer would be the perfect pick me up.



at the festival, i was standing in line waiting for the ladies room. and by ladies room, i of course mean one of those nasty port a potties. i had only had 5 or 6 of the little beer tasters at that point (probably the equivalent of a beer and a half) when i started to feel really nauseous. then i got tunnel vision for a few seconds. next thing i knew, people were shaking me awake on the street. apparently i had fainted. everyone kept asking if my head was okay, as i apparently had fallen on it. someone called the paramedics and they checked my vitals. my pulse was racing and i was extremely dizzy. my face felt very tingly and i was slightly disoriented and confused. so, they called an ambulance. at the ER, the doctors ran a bunch of tests, mostly to make sure i didn't have any internal bleeding from my fall.



everything came back okay, so they told me i could go home, finally after 6 hours. the bf took me home and stayed by my side all night to make sure i was okay.

so, now i need to make a doctor's appointment to find out what the hell happened. i've never fainted before. it was extremely scary waking up on the street having no idea what happened. don't want to do that again.

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- L

district o' columbia

i was in washington d.c. last week for six days for a conference. i had not been to d.c. in almost 10 years, so i was pretty excited to go. i enjoy visiting the city because there is so much to do there and the public transportation system makes it so easy to get around and see everything.

i had a little bit of time to do some sightseeing and saw the typical attractions: the white house, capitol, supreme court, smithsonian museums, washington monument, lincoln memorial, vietnam veterans memorial and the korean war memorial. i also saw the world war ii memorial, which had not yet been built the last time i was in d.c. i thought this memorial was very well done and was happy i had the opportunity to see it.





the boyfriend also joined me for the trip, so after i was finished at the conference each day we went out and explored the different neighborhoods of d.c., particularly the adams-morgan area (near our hotel), dupont circle, and union station. we would have liked to explore the georgetown area, as we heard it was a good area for people our age, but unfortunately we ran out of time.

all in all, it was a great trip. we look forward to going back in about another decade :)

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- L

i'm a fan of the wired:gadget lab feeds. occasionally, they have something so entertaining/interesting/unbelievable that i like to share it with people i know. you can check out wired by clicking on the link below which will take you to the article for the product featured below.

Smoking Gun Gigarette Holder: Wrong in So Many Ways






like the author of the wired article, i used to be a regular smoking. i gave it up about 8 years ago because i was having heart problems. but a fancy cigarette holder that would make me feel as if i'm inhaling the smoke after a gun discharges its load is almost reason enough to take it up again.

i appreciate the sarcasm of shooting yourself in the mouth everytime you take a drag. there aren't nearly enough cigarette holders with (not so) subtle sardonic undertones.

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- L

happy easter.....

while i was searching for some cute easter graphics, even though i don't celebrate easter, i came across this cookie cutter.



in case you can't tell from that picture, it is a cookie cutter of christ on the cross. it's from a bakery in germany and goes for approximately $20 USD.

i admit that, even with four years of catholic school training that my religious etiquette is, well.....somewhat lacking. would it be appropriate for me to bake a dozen of these soft and scrumptious J.C. cookies for the crazy religious lady i work with? and if so, do i make them chocolate or vanilla?

this all seems too potentially controversial to me. instead, i like to go with images i know are safe. so.......



happy easter.

out.
- L

thursday night thing...

although i've lived here for over five years, i had never been to the museum of contemporary art downtown. a few months ago a friend started telling me about the "thursday night thing" (TNT) at the museum once a month. it's only $3 to get in and includes entrance to the exhibits and usually some musical/artistic performance and activities.





last night, we went to check out TNT since we had heard this would be the last one until november, due to the economy. the theme was "yoga:, so throughout the museum there were yoga professionals contantly changing poses. there were also a few bands playing decent music and fortune cookies as appetizers.

one of the activities available was making origami fortune tellers. mine looked kind of sorry, but at least it was a fun feeling like i was in sixth grade again.

overall, TNT was a good time. i wish i would have discovered it sooner before it takes seven month hiatus.

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- L