Monday, January 28, 2013

Items in my purse today

My friend Karen does this on Facebook once in awhile, and I think it's fun. And in my quest to blog more, this could potentially be called "filler."

So here are the contents of my purse, which currently is a big-ass canvas bag from the Gap, with leopard print on it, as of right now:
  1. 1 size 4 Huggies diaper (unused).
  2. The January/February issue of "The Atlantic." I bought it on Saturday, and just started reading it today. I read a fun little article about how there are whole counties in West Virginia where folks live on streets without names, while I ate my lunch. Very light, nicely done. Good writing.
  3. A 2 oz. bottle of Burt's Bees hand sanitizer. I have to be honest: I always forget this is in there.
  4. A receipt for the books I bought for Jules that his Grandma Palma gave him for his birthday. Buying books on someone else's dime is so much fun.
  5. My little red Coach bag that holds my Bare Minerals makeup, brushes, and some eyeliner and an eyeliner sharpener, all of which I remember to apply about once a week. I try, but it's hard to find the time some mornings, and I hate doing it at my desk like some of my coworkers. My old boss Stacey bought the bag for me for Christmas one year; it's the perfect size.
  6. My little red LeSportsac square bag that holds my portable Wifi device and its battery. I guess I like little red bags. This stuff fits perfectly in this little bag.
  7. A Happy Tot organic superfood pouch (Spinach, Mango and Pear flavor). Jules loves these, and they're great to have when we're out. Patrick and I always refer to these as "squeezers," as in, "Jules, do you want a squeezer?" In the refrigerator, we keep them on the door where he can reach them and grab one when the door is opened, if he's interested. They don't really need to be refrigerated if they're not opened but he seems to like the cold ones (though he'll eat a room temperature one, too).
  8. A blue, pink, and green sippy cup, half full (half empty?) of water.
  9. Not in the makeup bag: Burt's Bees Natural Lip Gloss, in "Sweet Pink." All my lip gloss is pretty plain. I don't like bright colors on my lips.
  10. My old Burberry eyeglass case, which holds my (non-Burberry!) prescription red Ray Ban sunglasses. I liked those Burberry eyeglass frames, but JP broke them irretrievably when he was about six months old. The Ray Bans are cool but the case was too darn big. Because of my eyeglass prescription, I'm limited on the style of sunglasses I can get, which kind of sucks. I was glad to see these Ray Bans.
  11. Not in the makeup bag: a tube of Smith's Rosebud Salve. Not just for lips, it can be used on dry skin anywhere or even minor burns (or diaper rash, but I've never tried it on Jules). Made in France (ooh la la)!  I usually buy this in the little tin, but because I have a bad habit of leaving my purse on the floor of my car overnight, that stuff gets messy. The tube is nicer. I love this stuff. A guy working box office one night a few years ago at City Garage tried it once and didn't like it, though. He said, "I hope you're not planning on getting kissed tonight," after he saw me put some on my lips. All I can say is, I haven't had any complaints! Also of note: I've forgotten this guy's name.
  12. A 1.75 oz. tube of Aquaphor. I love this stuff. As someone with eczema, occasional psoriasis, and chronic chapped lips, Aquaphor comes in handy for all sorts of things. It's a pretty big tube; I've had it a long time. 
  13. A little package of tissues I bought at Walgreens. Their store brand is called "Nice!" The package design is light blue with white doggies on it. It's cute.
  14. My black with white polka dots coin purse. Full of pennies, I think. And some Forever stamps.
  15. Not in the makeup bag: Yes to Carrots C Me Shine Lip Gloss, in "Carrot Kiss." A co-worker recommended the Yes to Carrots line to me, but I don't like the skin care products. Too scented! However, the lip gloss is nice. I tend to lose lip gloss, so I have a lot of it on hand... all over the place. I almost never use it up, instead I lose it before I can use it. Kind of a waste of money, I guess, but what can I say? I need lip gloss.
  16. A whole bunch of Subway coupons that expire on 2/15. I used to go to Subway almost every day, until my co-worker reminded me of Dave's Deli, which is just around the corner from Subway. Now I'm addicted to their roast beef with avocado sandwich. Seriously good.
  17. A certificate for a free car wash at Norm Reeve's Honda. I had my car serviced last week, and the car wash was broken. The guy in the blue shirt gave me a freebie. When I'll have a chance to go back just for a car wash... well, I don't know, either.
  18. Not in the makeup bag (whew!):  a little tube of Hot Lips Glossy Lip Balm by Zoya in "Purr." This one is a little darker than my usual choices, therefore, I don't wear it very much. Zoya was recommended to me, but it's a little stickier than I like my lip gloss.
  19. The little square charger for my iPhone, but not the cable. I always misplace that damn cable. I think it's plugged into my laptop but I'm not positive.
  20. A sample of novAurora's (new?) Peppermint Organic Lip Balm. Man, I am overflowing with lip balm. This stuff was sent with my last order, and I love it. It's a little thicker than usual lip balm, and kind of has an exfoliating (?) texture, but once it's on, it disappears, supplies a ton of long lasting moisture, and tastes great. I only see it as part of the "Winter Moisturizing" set but I would buy it on it's own. I love novAurora skincare, I use it everyday, and it's gentle on my weird skin but effective. And it's organic. Really nice stuff. These products and the company are lovely. I highly recommend.
  21. A free-floating dime. Get in the coin purse, you rascal!
  22. My keys, which have the two mini drumsticks I got when I met Stewart Copeland at the Guitar Center in Hollywood a few years ago. Ah. Memories...
  23. My wallet, which right now contains zero cash, but instead, a couple of free passes to the Long Beach Aquarium, and a $50 gift card to Souplantation.
Well, okay, that's all. I have a shitload of lip gloss. That's the only conclusion I can make at this time.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

A spider story, 1-10, I Am Not Your Secretary, and other news

It's been awhile since I posted. I have no excuse except maybe to say that Facebook has supplied me with a more easily accessible outlet for my rambly ramblings.

So, yesterday, I got up a little late. I had to go to South El Monte to take another exam (oh, you may not have known that I took an exam last week. That one was for a promotion, and I was nervous about it. I think I did well, but who knows). This one is not for a promotion, it's a secretarial position for which I am possibly overqualified (I stopped being a secretary about three years ago, and while I really don't care, some people consider my current position a "glorified secretary." The truth is, I enjoyed being a secretary, was good at it, and have no issue with it all, except that should I desire to become one again - and I passed my exam - it would probably come with a reduction in pay, about which I am not thrilled. My goal in taking this exam, though, was to open myself up for more employment opportunities closer to home. I'm getting tired of my long days, my long commute, and everything that entails. I've been lucky enough to have three day weekends, but with that comes an inability to see my kid for more than a half hour in the morning (during which I'm scrambling to get showered and dressed, and to get him dressed) and about 2 hours at night before we all crash. Patrick drops him off and picks him up at daycare because his work can be more flexible about his start and stop times. So, we don't eat dinner together as a family. Now, Patrick and I never really sat down and ate dinner together anyway (unless we went out) but now that we have our son, it seems to be something that's more important to me than I realized. Anyway, I'm just in "wait and see" mode right now. I like my job and it would have to be the perfect position, within biking distance (almost an exaggeration) of my home. I'm not sure I'll get that lucky. But you never know unless you try, right?

Anyway. Where the hell was I? Oh, so I got up yesterday a little late. My handy dandy iPhone GPS app, Waze (which I love and totally recommend) told me that it would take less time to get to my exam than to my work, so I was a little more relaxed. And, Monday night, Jules was exceptionally hungry and wanted "mama" so I didn't get all that much sleep. After I got out of the shower, I was drying myself off when... I felt a spider on my shoulder.

Man, where do the bathroom spiders come from? It's not the first one I've seen. And what the heck, ON ME? Anyway, it woke me up from my post-shower daze, and I squeaked. Loud. Patrick, who was making the coffee in the kitchen, heard me and came running. "Spider!" I yelled, finally. By this time, the little spider (neither hairy nor scary) was on the floor, running away. It was the kind of spider I don't mind in theory, but when it's 8 legs are intimately acquainted with my bare skin, well, I don't like that all that much.

Patrick said he thought Jules was yelling, and said that when he went through the living room, where Jules was hanging out, watching his favorite cartoon, "Charlie and Lola" (the cutest show about a brother and sister, both blond, both with adorable English accents), he checked on JP, who said "Mama!" (I should re-write this but you know what I mean, right?)

I love that. "Mama!" I like to think that he was pointing towards the bathroom, wide-eyed and concerned, but I get he was just sitting there, eating his English muffin, fascinated by Charlie and Lola.

The other day we were sitting on the floor playing with blocks, and Jules surprised me by chiming in while I was counting them. He started at 4, and went to 10! I was totally floored (no pun intended). He repeated it too, though he hasn't done it for anyone else yet. He also prefers to pronounce "7" as "seben."

Totally adorable, my son.

In other news, my mastitis is gone, and I am a happy camper once again. More sleep would be great, but I'm trying not to whine about it.

Anyway, that's all I have for now. Keep checking in, I'm going to try to work harder on my blog, and I apologize for any lapse in postings. See you soon!

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

So, I, as it turns out, have a bit of an infection. I spent New Year's Eve in bed with a fever (not a euphemism), and I felt like total, ran over by a dump truck, crap.

If I had stopped and thought about it, I'd been feeling totally rundown for a couple of weeks. And then I had a little soreness on my left breast that was getting worse (which I was treating by ignoring it). And, well, that's how this mastitis shit works.

So I spent New Year's Day mostly in bed. My mom and sister came over to help us with Jules. I did my best but nursing on that side was, and still is, really painful. And that's the other thing about mastitis: you can't stop nursing. Or it will get even WORSE.

I had some pretty low points yesterday. My temperature was around 100.3 most of the time, but at 3 am (and one other time, earlier in the day), it was 101.7. I'd been taking Advil and drinking lots of water, but I was having serious body aches, and my head hurt, and my boob hurt, and Jules wanted milk. There was a bit of crying going on, because I forced myself to do it. It really, really hurts. This is major pain, here.

Anyway, today I got in to see my doctor, who prescribed an antibiotic and better ibuprofen. He also suggested I stop nursing but I know that's not how it works. You can't stop. I can't stop. I can whine about it, I can get emotional, but this is my job. I need more sleep: I need to fix that, yes, but weaning Jules isn't going to make him sleep all night. I have to figure it out, as his mama, and deal with it.

For now, I'm feeling a little better. I don't think I have a temperature but I haven't checked… I'd do it now but I can't find the thermometer.

So I had a little time to rest today, and I'm going to do that again tomorrow. Somebody suggested I take a nice bath, and I almost always take this person's advice… that's the only thing on tomorrow's agenda. Oh, and to not feel like crap. That too.

Good night.