now that i’m actually getting out of the house, i’m finding things to write about–imagine that!

at my daily morning trip to the local Starbucks, i was surprised to see a line since it was 10:30ish.  but whatever.  only one person was behind the counter–the manager, a fellow Buckeye.

the woman in front of me, dressed in a pastel yellow tank top and pastel orange capris with yellow trim to match, bleached blonde and ratted hair, and a face and voice that hinted she had done some hard living, croaked, "are you the only one working?  i’m late."

Starbuckeye smiled and graciously said she just sent someone on break, and then poked her head in back to get the other barista.

"thank you," Lady Cryptkeeper croaked again.

as she left, i watched her get into her hearse sedan, which was parked in a not-a-spot (you know, the ones with the diagonally painted lines inside it)–never mind that there were plenty of empty real spots.

i remarked, "it seems to me that if you’re late, you don’t have time to be stopping at Starbucks."  this elicited a smirk from the woman behind me.  "you are so nice," i told Starbuckeye.

"it’s part of the job," she replied.

i almost didn’t make it to my pdoc appointment today because i was so sleepy. for the past two weeks now, i’ve been struggling against this overwhelming, inexplicable sleepiness. i’m getting plenty of sleep, the Tegretol drowsiness side effect has worn off, yet by 11:00 a.m. i’m yawning. but i rallied, and downed a can of Red Bull.

because i usually have trouble going to sleep at night, i avoid napping. a few times last week i was so tired that i couldn’t not lie down, and ended up napping for an hour. i’m trying to wean myself from caffeine, so i don’t want to drink coffee all day, either.

after discussing this with the pdoc, we both suspect that it could be my sinus trouble again. before my last surgery, i remember feeling sleepy all the time no matter how much coffee i drank. maybe something to do with not getting enough oxygen? anyway, when i got home i was supposed to make an appointment for that CT scan, which i still haven’t done, but i forgot. gives me something to do tomorrow.

i haven’t been to martial arts in two weeks, either, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that i’m just not awake enough to go. and when i have gone, i’ve found myself yawning in class! the physical activity can’t even shake it off. because of the heat and all, the pdoc thinks i should wait a while before going back. so much for getting the gold belt in July. then again, i’d rather not pass out and throw up like i nearly did that one time.

my weigh-in indicated that i’m down to 139 lbs. i’ve lost 4 lbs. since i last saw him, about four weeks ago. and here i’d been thinking that i gained weight because i’ve been eating an awful lot of junk food, so it seems, anyway. the strange thing is that i don’t really have a taste for anything, even when i feel hungry. who cares? i just want to get back to my normal weight. this has been on my mind a lot lately.

along with that recovery from my Lamictal-side-effect blues, my skin is really clearing up. i haven’t been taking good care of it, either. i often end up falling asleep on the couch while reading, so i don’t end up washing my face at night. i’ve been more vigilant this past week, though, and i’m telling you–this dermalogica stuff the esthetician has me using may be expensive, but the shit works. i had a “deep cleansing facial” on Friday. so not relaxing, but i love my esthetician. i mean, how many people would admit out loud that they love popping zits? according to a sign on the reception desk, she also happens to be the Brow Queen of Chicago.

haven’t had too much trouble getting out, but with this horrid weather, i don’t want to go out. omg–i absolutely hate summer. hate it. the low 80s is about all i can handle. there’s just something really wrong with Chicago summers when people die from the heat. i mean, this isn’t like, the Kalahari or whatever.

i edited the category titles and they’re now right there in the sidebar.  how about that?

not only is my header image gone, but so is my title.  i knew i shouldn’t have touched it.

all of you cat haters (and i know you’re reading this, anyway) will be so happy to know that all of the cat-o-bloggo ,(dead link, 12/17/05) posts have been imported to this blog.  now i have to rework the categories–none of Brian’s bad  puns intended.