good news & bad news

The GOOD news is that the dealership has driven my car for 120 miles (gah!) and the problem has not repeated. It's good news because it means I won't have to fork out a ton of money to fix something. The BAD news is that we have no idea what happened or why. *sigh* So I get to drive around in the right-hand lane in fear for a few weeks... fun. Can't I just keep the loaner car? It's soooo nice!

And snow tops it off

I've had a terrible week. In the grand scheme of life, it's not really that bad, but it's just been incredibly frustrating. On Tuesday, I had a business meeting in the middle of the day, and was on my way back to the office when... my car died. Thank god I was at a stop sign about to join traffic on a very busy main road, and I was able to wave cars around me and sit on this side-street. If it had happened 20 seconds later, I would have been much more panicked. Four hours later I was driving home from my dealership in a "loaner" car (and a very nice one at that! An Infinity G35). I managed to get the car to a service station, and drove in the tow truck to get it 23 miles away up to my dealership. The tow truck driver broke one of my headlights, but he was nice about it and they'll fix it for me (it was the last of my concerns at that point). It became clear that I was going to miss a big meeting at my office, so that was adding to my frustration. The driver was a neat guy -- he seemed a little "slow", but he was very talkative -- proceeded to tell me about his failed marriages and how his 1st wife arrested him for beating her (but of course it wasn't really his fault). Then he asked about my husband and my marriage... and where we live. Gah! I never actually felt threatened, but it was awkward, to say the least, especially since my mind was racing with so many bigger concerns. When we got to the dealership, they jokingly asked if I just wanted to buy a new car. Uhm, yeah, thanks... not really looking for humor right now!! And they offered me a lollypop, which was just CRUEL since I'm on day 10 of the South Beach Diet and cannot eat sugar. *sigh* That's a story for another day. So, it's been 2 days, and they have no idea what's wrong with my car... the problem has not repeated and the software records in the car show nothing of interest.

Yesterday my back started spasming and by the time I was driving home from work, I couldn't do it without groaning every few minutes... how pathetic is that?!?!

This morning we woke up to 20-degrees and snowing. It's pretty, but I'm not ready for it and it just seems like the world is laughing AT me right now. Hopefully today will be a better day...

(And to everyone who smokes, please joing the Great American Smokeout and STOP today!)

Mad at Fox

Okay, clearly there are a LOT of reasons to be mad at Fox TV... but politics aside, I'm currently very upset and sad about their decision to cancel the AWARD-WINNING show "Arrested Development". It's truly the funniest thing currently on network television -- inventive, creative, and not so damn cookie-cutter like 99% of sitcoms out there (the only exceptional ones being the new shows "My Name is Earl" and "The Office"). What I'd like to know is, how can they justify cutting "Arrested Development" but not cutting the stupidest show with terrible reviews, "The War At Home" (truly the lamest thing I've ever spent 4 minutes watching). It's so depressing to see the pathetic state of TV writing these days. And the ones that are truly original get axed.
I am looking forward to their final 5 episodes, set to begin airing on Dec. 5th. I may have to get the DVDs of this series -- the humor is priceless. I mean, one of the characters is a self-proclaimed "never-nude"!! And I love that Portia is Ellen's new love. Good for them.

I must have blinked

I must have blinked during all the tornado-leftovers wind we had last weekend... because I missed the Autumn season. Whiiiiiishhh and it's now it seems to be Winter. A few trees are still hanging onto their beautiful Fall leaves... here are some beauties in our front yard.

Wildcats downed by Buckeyes

For those of you who don't know, a Buckeye is a nut. It's also the mascot for Ohio State University, our local bohemoth of a school. They have over 60,000 undergrads and their famed football Stadium has over 110,000 seats. Yup, you read that right. It's insane. It's like going to the Super Bowl. And there are another 100,000 fans outside at tailgates. They get there and start drinking at 6am, for an 8pm game! Insanity. Well, they played my Northwestern Wildcats today and I really believed my team had a chance... but we lost... badly. Peter and I got free tickets to the game from his boss, though, and we had a GREAT time. The weather was gorgeous and the energy of the crowd was really fun. The loss was a bummer, but overall, we had a great day.

Peter and I enjoying the game - that scoreboard cost over $5 Million!

The award-winning OSU marching band welcomed NU... before clobbering us.

On the edge

Lately, I feel like I'm on the edge of something... the problem is I don't know exactly WHAT I'm on the edge of. And I'm not sure if it's good or bad. I feel like it's good... I keep wanting to call friends and talk and I feel like I have excitings stories to tell and news to report... but I don't actually HAVE anything new to tell. Is that strange? I have been feeling anxious lately and maybe that's part of it. I don't know what I can blame on my thyroid condition and what's just... "normal Anya crap". I keeping reading about all these people with thyroid issues that have major mood-swings, so maybe that's what's going on. *sigh* I can't believe it's been 6 months since my surgery. Apparently, I'm "normalized" now with my meds, which is a good thing. But then why don't I feel normal? Granted, it's hard to know what's normal at this point. Can you believe it's MID-NOVEMBER already??!

Did you know that the Thyroid is shaped like a butterfly?

All I have left is the left wing. The right wing is gone. Now isn't that ironic...

rants and votes

Okay, I realize I'm new to blogging, but why why why is Blogger not uploading my photos!!?? I keep getting an error message with no explanation as to WHY.... *sigh*

I voted this morning, though I almost didn't. I drove to the elementary school polling place and drove in slow circles around the parking lot (probably creeping out the teachers inside) to try to determine the voting entrance. There are 3 building and about 9 different entrances. I almost gave up and then I saw tiny little 8 inch flags stuck in the ground along one of the entrances. I followed the flags and did my patriotic duty. They expect turnout in Ohio to be around 47%. That actually seems high to me, for a non-presidential election. How sad is it that 47% in "THE" democracy of the world is considered a great turnout? Did YOU vote today??

Goodbye Roxy

After determining her days were filled with more pain than joy, my brother and his family decided to put Roxy down this morning. I know it was the right thing to do, and she's in doggy heaven now, romping with all the pets we've all loved over the years. You know, there was a moment this morning when I was leaving the house and I kissed my own dog and said "goodbye Roxy"... maybe that was the moment she left us.
I will miss her terribly.

Roxane "Roxy" Weisbrod

Remembering November 4, 2004

I don't think I really want to get into politics on my Blog, but I cannot let today go by without "mourning" this day last year. A year ago today I stood patiently in line for FOUR AND A HALF HOURS waiting to cast my vote in the presidential election. Here in Ohio, some people stood in line for NINE hours, with children, skipping their jobs, missing meals... Some people couldn't wait that long, couldn't miss their jobs and lose their daily paychecks, and their votes could never even be cast.

Columbus, Ohio 11/4/04

It was just days after I had suffered a terrible bout with food poisoning that landed me in the emergency room. I was weak and shaky, but I stood there for those four hours with so much HOPE in my heart... I stood there among all these other people that had the same sparks of hope in their eyes... that we were helping to change the world. That we would be preventing what would surely be a disaster.

I'm still in shock over it all. I'm still disappointed that it all came down to Ohio. I'm disappointed that there weren't more investigations into voter fraud and discrimination that DID happen here in Ohio and other states. My heart sank on November 5 and still hasn't recovered, especially since now we've seen just how far we've sunk in the past year.

But I can't help but still be hopeful that someday we'll pull ourselves back out of these messes. It's almost painful to imagine how very different things would be right now had the election ended differently. And it's scary to think how much worse things might get in the next three years. Here's hoping our fears do not become a reality. Here's hoping sanity and humanity win out...

I feel like I should be wearing a black armband today. *sigh*

My aching heart...

Ugghhhhh.... I just found out late last night that my brother's beautiful
black lab, Roxy, is very sick and will probably not make it more than a
few more weeks. She's lived 10 wonderful years, and yet it's gone by so
fast and my heart is just aching for her. I wish I could say goodbye and
give her kisses... she always knew me right away and would be so so
so soooo sad when she knew I was leaving again. She loves to play
with my socks and I'd always find them scattered around their house.
Roxy also likes pulling socks off a person's feet and I was always
amazed how she would pull them off BABIES (my neice and nephews)
sooooooo gently.... Such a sweet, wonderful, loyal dog. I hope she
goes peacefully... I hope she feels my love. Damn it, why is it that
sometimes animals seem to mean more to us than people?? And after
all the crying I did last night, how is it possible that more tears are
coming now?? I guess I should go drink some water...

I love you, Roxy!!

See more photos of Roxy, from 1996 through 2004 at:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=wk1y5pv.5agmr4xb&x=0&y=c5kjit