Sick Days

Two Friday’s ago, I decided to give myself a day of rest, so naturally I called in sick. Sick days are funny; I never use them when I’m actually sick. I’d rather save them for a long weekend or a day when I wake up and I just don’t feel like going into the office.

I had been planning to take that Friday off for a while, and almost decided against it, until that Friday morning when my alarm went off for the sixth time and I said, the hell with it, I’m staying in bed. I slept in, and read in bed for the majority of the day. Not once did I even check work e-mail. It was exactly what I needed.

Of course this past Tuesday, I woke up with a sore throat, and I just thought, great, now I’m going to get sick. Wednesday I woke up with still a sore throat and the beginning of the sniffles. By Thursday, I started coughing and my nose was constantly running. I went and got some medicine, hoping to stop it.

No such luck. I didn’t want to use another sick day, so I forced myself to go to work. Once I had gotten there, I knew I should’ve just stayed home. I made it till lunchtime before I had enough and got the hell out of there. I was hacking up a lung and felt miserable and did not want to spread the germs to my coworkers.

I came home and crawled back into bed to sleep this off. Because while I have a whooping cough and a slight case of the sniffles, I’m really not that sick, I’m more under the weather. According to my Mother, you have to have a fever to be considered sick, at least sick enough to stay home from school or work. Its funny how her philosophy has stuck in my head.

I wasn’t sick by my Mother’s standard, I didn’t even feel worn down or achy. I was more annoyed by the fact that karma decided to play a joke on me. I am still coughing and waking up in the middle of the night cause I am having a coughing fit. If karma is going to pay me back, and least make me fever sick so that it’s worth it. Let me be fever sick so that my Mother will shine some sympathy on me and make me a bowl of tomato soup with some grilled cheese. Instead I had to make my own, but I didn’t burn the grilled cheese this time!

Happy Mom's Day!

This weekend is Mother’s Day. And while I firmly believe that Mother’s Day has become another commercialized holiday, I will not gripe over celebrating it. I love my Mother very much and appreciate everything that she has ever done for me. I will gladly give her a day to celebrate her being my Mom and all the hard work that goes into it. I just hate feeling obligated to do something because Hallmark tells me to. Unlike my Mother, I hate giving unpractical gifts. I like them to have meaning, but also I like for the person to be able to use them in some way. She is notorious for collecting useless junk. And I really hate to add to her collection. I usually only add to her junk collection during Christmas since we give each other multiple gifts.

This year for Mom’s Day, I got my mother 2 sets of placemats. In typical Mom fashion, she can’t just have ordinary placemats, she wants fancy ones. The placemats that she wants have a hard finish with some type of artwork on the top and a cork bottom. The ones she currently has are old and getting worn out.


And of course I couldn’t find these placemats anywhere. I looked in all the standard department stores, but all they had were cloth placemats. I even looked on-line at places like Pier 1 and Crate and Barrel and still no luck. I was really banking on getting her them too because I couldn’t think of anything else that she wanted/needed.

Finally inspiration struck and I remembered there is this store called English Trading Company in Tysons that sells English stuff. For some reason, I believe these placemats are English, and viola I was correct! So the store had the placemats that I was looking for. A set of 4 placemats cost $40 bones, which is a bit redic if you ask me. Stupid import rate. The lady better put them to good use and not complain about her gift.

But in all seriousness; thank you Mom for being such a great mother and for doing such a great job raising me. I know that I have not made it easy on you at times and we have had numerous battles to the death. Through all the fights, I know how much you love me and am so glad that you are my Mother. I love you Mom.

Adventures in Babysitting pt 2

This weekend I will be out of town and unfortunately for Weasley, his Grandparents will be taking care of him. No one else could do it, and I was desperate. So just like when I doggy-sat for my parents, I gave them a detailed list on how to care for Mr. Weasley. Here is my e-mail to my Mom and Dad:

Hi Mom and Dad,

Thanks for taking care of Mr. Weasley this weekend. I just need you to come over on Saturday and Sunday to take care of him.

Feeding Him:

• He eats 1/2 cup of dry cat food. The dry cat food is in my pantry, on the third shelf. I will leave the 1/2 cup next to it.
• He also eats half a can of wet food. There may be already a can open, and it will be on the counter next to the stove, wrapped in a sandwhich bag. He doesn't really like the current flavor he's eating, but give it to him anyways. Whatever he doesn't eat, just throw away. If there is not a can already open, then look on the floor in the computer room and you will find the cans.
• SUNDAY ONLY: Please give him a cup of dry food since I'm not sure what time I will be home on Monday, and don't want him to be hungry all day.

His Water:

• He doesn't like to drink from his fountain, so he may jump on the sink for a drink. If he does, just turn the faucet on low and let him drink.

His Litter Box:

• Please clean that when you come over. His litter box is in my old room. Put allof his pee (big clumps) and poop in a sandwhich bag (found in the third drawer in the kitchen). His scooper will be right next to the litter box.

For the Frog:

• His pellet food will be below his tank. Give him 4 pellets a day.

If you use the bathroom, please close the lid afterwards. Weasley likes to drink from there, and I don't want him too.

And Dad, when you go outside to smoke, please make sure that Weasley does not get out. Also when leaving, make sure Weasley doesn't try to run out.

He'll be happy to see you, so play with him for a bit. He loves his new toy with the feather/tail thing on it, and he loves his ball of yarn. Also if you want, you can brush him cause he likes that too.

I think that covers everything. Thanks for taking care of my little guy!

My Mom's response to my e-mail:

Just a small cat but lots of instructions I think Pepper and Bear easy to take care than wisss-leyy. Don't worry I will call you if I can not find anything.

Poor Weasley. This should be fun.

My Mother's Gifts

My Mother has this great ability for giving me completely useless gifts. Now before you all say that I’m greedy and it’s the thought and generosity behind the gifts, I will agree with you all. Every gift my Mom gives me is a sweet and kind gesture and she places a lot of love behind it. I do appreciate it and love her for thinking about me when she buys me presents. But man, she sure has some crappy taste or just buys me things I just don’t need or will never use.

As I’ve gotten older, I truly value gifts that are practical, gifts that I can use on a regular basis. I don’t collect things and I hate clutter (ignore the fact that my apartment is always a mess). My Mother and I are the exact opposite. She loves to collect things and her house is full of clutter from her candlestick holder phase, to her chicken infatuation (she was born in the year of the rooster and loves anything that has a rooster on it. In her living room alone there are 13 items with roosters on it!), from her Swarovski crystals, to her newest phase of collecting pretty coffee mugs; my mother is a veritable pack rat. I have become more like my father in the sense that I don’t care/need sentimental gifts. And the worse part is I can’t really throw away the gifts or return/exchange them because my Mom will get offended. So instead, I have to keep them and put them on display in my apartment.

My Mother got me this little calendar thingy for my desk at work, but it’s really meant for the kitchen. So that is where I have placed it, besides it would’ve taken too much room on my desk. I never change the days like I’m supposed to. The last time it was changed was on Christmas and that’s because my Mom came over and saw that it wasn’t up-to-date, so she changed it herself. Its not really ugly, but I have no need for it.


This fish thing, she got for me while she was in Oakland visiting my brother. It’s horrendous and I have it sitting next to the TV. She said the fish reminded her of me because it was making a kissing face and has a margarita on the side. I think she was implying that I’m an alcoholic of some sorts.

This butterfly candle, she got for me when I first moved into my apartment. It currently lives on top of my bookshelf. She thought it would be pretty in my new place. While I love candle gifts and do use the candles she gets me, this is just plain gaudy. It reminds me of something you’d have in your dorm room, but alas, I now have it.


And for this year’s Valentine’s Day, she got me these two stuffed animals. I admit I have two stuffed animals on my bed currently, but that’s it! I stopped collecting stuffed animals when I was in high school. I feel like every year she gets me a stuffed animal and most years, I tell her that she can have it, and they end up scattered around her house. I think she thinks I’m still 12.

I hate to sound unappreciative, cause I know that she loves me and is buying me these things because she does love me. I just wish she would realize that I don’t need these things and perhaps buy me something more useful. Or better yet, just don’t buy me anything at all and make me a nice yummy dinner instead. When did I start hating random presents? Or when did my Mother start losing her art of buying me presents?