little whinging, ohio

i am in that obnoxious phase of sick that nothing feels right, tastes good or feels good, but i crave to be comforted. like i want comfort food like chicken noodle soup or macaroni and cheese or other carb-based, non-plant foods, but when i go to eat them, they taste like unrefined metal. and i want to sleep, but my body is too achy to relax and i can't get comfortable. and i want to do stuff--like walk or run or read or crochet or knit or write or anything to stop feeling like a blob--but i'm just too damned tired. i don't have a fever; i'm just tired and achy and nasal and coughing occasionally and i have recurring headaches--probably from not eating what i should be eating.


everyone in the house is sleepy. sam just went down for his third nap of the day. syd is napping on the couch, having fallen asleep in front of the disney channel. marc tried to lie down unsuccessfully. my dad says it's the constant weather change that makes us all sick, but i would attribute this illness to a cold marc gave me that i really didn't want and tried hard not to get. no mind, no matter. whatever. i'm just tired and bored, and cranky and hot, and what is up with hot flashes at 33? please don't tell me it's early menopause cause i just can't handle that. but the hormones seem to be all whacked out, ever since i had sam. i should probably talk to someone about it, like my ob/gyn, but my next appointment isn't for a couple of months yet.

i hate the pressure of having to keep the house clean, or worry about keeping the house clean. three showings this week, and no offers. no second showings, no decent feedback--only that the house is "too small." it's 2000 square feet, which is average for this neighborhood--on the large side of average, but what do i know? the realtor wants to have an open house next sunday. oh joy. can't wait. cleaning and cleaning for three people to walk through and decide it's not for them.

i took some sudafed and it's not helping.

it was a rough week all around, with a late afternoon trip to dayton to cart syd to and from ballet, and feed her and sam and get them to bed while marc had a board meeting. that set me off, and i've never been the same. i think i'm feeling the physical effects of stress (or, as cymbalta commercials would tell me, the physical and emotional effects of depression. whatever).

i'm meant to be atoning, and meant to be finished by monday, when i will fast to empty my earthly vessel of sin and be cleansed and hopefully inscribed into the book of life for yet another year. so if i've wronged any of you in cyber space and i haven't apologized, i'm sorry. please forgive me my transgression and i'll try not to do it again.

sam just woke up and he's upset. only one of us can be upset at the same time, so i'll have to let my major annoyance with the physical world go for the moment and see to his needs.

happy weekend, everyone. i'll try to be more positive next time.

Support your favorite non profit!

Last night at Women Writing for (a) Change, I learned about this search engine that donates a penny a search to the non-profit organization of your choice. While I am tempted to start my own non-profit entitled "Allyson Jacob's vacation fund," until I clear the 501(c)3 paperwork, I will be searching so that WWf(a)C can benefit. I would encourage any and all readers out there to do the same, so that we can make some progress on this capital campaign.

The process is easy. Go to the search engine, and in the box that says search for your group, type "women writing." That should bring up WWf(a)C. You only have to do it once (or, I guess, as often as you clear your cookies), and your pennies can come our way.

Apparently, we are 1/4 of the way to our goal of raising $1 million to buy our building, make improvements, and fund scholarships.

Thanks for your time, as always!

$76??? Who are they kidding?

Short post today, as work beckons. At least I have work to beckon. I found this in CityBeat's cool issue (let's not talk about the title):

Humorist author David Sedaris presents his spoken word show at Procter & Gamble Hall. 7:30 p.m. $76-$125. Aronoff Center, 650 Walnut St., Downtown. 513-721-3344.

I would love, love, love to hear and see David Sedaris in person. I am sure that there are many, many others like me in the area who would. But who can afford this ticket price? I know Annie Proulx, when she hit the tri-state, was (is? can't remember if that speaking engagement has happened yet) $125 a ticket, but it was a benefit for the mercantile library.

I'm sure some of this is Ticketmaster and other corporate management charges, but if Sedaris really caters to his demo, how many of us can afford this ticket price???

Sigh. I will just re-read Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim with a cuppa and wish for more work. :)

steam

back on home soil, thanks to God and lots of airport screening. we were sent through agriculture screening upon arrival, presumably because of sam and the baby food, and the invisible sign above my forehead that says "harass me. harass me now." lots of loading and unloading of suitcases multiple times through multiple checkpoints, then carry on screening in which i was allowed to take milk through but not water. go figure that one out. it was a very long day and i am very pleased it is finished. hopefully i will not have to repeat the rigamarole for two years.

my beef this early morning (thanks to jet lag) is not with airlines but with the post office. short version: we requested our post office to resume delivery on our mail yesterday. they didn't. longer version: after receiving five pieces of mail along with a cryptic note that said "RAIN. Mail tomorrow." from the carrier (and to my knowledge, there was no rain in the sky yesterday afternoon), i called the national p.o. (hmmm initials are the same as pissed off. interesting that!) and got the number of our local branch and spoke to a woman there. i explained the note and asked if i could come up to pick up the mail. she said of course. loaded snorty sam in the car and drove to post office, only to be told that the mail was still with the carrier on the truck, and that the young woman with whom i spoke on the phone didn't understand the carrier's note to me. well there's a surprise. the employees all shrugged and half-laughed and said "yes, that's jan." i guess so, if she can see rain that's not there and deem it okay for me to wait another day for my mail.

i sound crotchety, i know. jet lag. sorry. and it's not like there's loads of exciting prospects in the post, except for some work docs i'm waiting for. but i had to release the steam.

sam and i have to leave for the hospital in 45 min so he can get his tubes. wish us loads of luck and lots of prayers. everyone keeps telling me it will be fine. i hope so.

i've been following the rosie/barbara/the view/blog conversation that's been bandied about by people online and other sources. it's interesting to me that barbara has the power to tell rosie not to blog, and not to blog about the show. in some way, i can understand not blogging about the show (that can be put in a contract of sorts, i guess), but not blogging? that seems a little of an infringement on 1st amendment and a little too big brother. thoughts?

i also read dude, where's my country by Michael Moore on the plane. very interesting, except when he advocates Oprah for President. i particularly like chapter 10.