Going Anglican

As I’m in the Great White North and there are actually Anglican (Episcopal) churches to be found up here, I went Anglican today and enjoyed it. Everything was done well and the people were very friendly. The sermon was an 8.5 out of 10 (9 is reserved for those who can keep my attention for the whole thing and 10 is reserved for Dr. Paul Harms) and the preacher mentioned Neil Young and compared him to Bob Dylan in terms of who was the worse singer. He stuck to the text (Matt 3:13-17) and he also did a lovely job in performing the two baptisms during the service. Talking to him afterwards was lovely though he seemed shocked that I could tell that he was from mainland BC. (He has the BC accent with lots of “eh’s” — I experienced that accent every summer growing up so I can tell it apart quite easily.)

The only bad part was the three kids messing around two rows in front of me while their father ignored them or told them half-heartedly to knock it off. (Eventually, the elderly gentleman in front of me took it upon himself to sternly tell the kids to knock it off and get back in their pew. They thankfully listened to him.)

For those who were interested, the church I attended was St. Augustine’s in Lethbridge. I would definitely return there if I was back here on a Sunday morning.

Kind of Strange

Given the circles I hang out in, I’ve been amazed that nobody has posted on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.Â? She was definitely a figure to be reckoned with if one was interested in women in politics (especially as she made Hilary Clinton look like an uneducated hillbilly) and the Pakistani government’s explanation of her death (head injury from hitting the sunroof lever) is pretty suspect.

Any thoughts, y’all?

In Canada and Smug Pollution

Yes… I’m in Canada for a couple days of R&R, being by myself, and finishing some personal projects.Â? (Sorry for not getting in touch with you Dave — it was kind of a last minute thing.)Â? Jon met me at work last night and we headed for the border.Â? Customs was a breeze and we were in Lethbridge PDQ.

At Christmas, a couple of us were talking about the obnoxious smugness that goes along with “being green” and we were going to come up with a board game for next year about it.Â? Any thoughts, tales, whatever on the subject?

(For those who are wondering why this is a problem,Â? there are some people who act like they are just so perfect for buying hybrid vehicles, having those cloth bags at the grocery store, and getting their power from green sources.Â? I’m not implying that any of those things are bad — it just gets tiresome when people talk about the evil people who don’t carpool or recycle which includes me because one can’t do either of those things easily when one lives in rural Montana.)

Christmas Redux

OK… in usual form:

The Good
-getting to see my parents and extended family again
-my grandma’s cat being a love instead of a calico curmudgeon
-getting to meet my dad’s cousin Eloise
-getting to see my cousins Kristin and Sarah again
-getting to see other family again
-Midnight Mass at my grandparents’ church with my mom
-being in Washington
-awesome presents
-my grandma being in good health

The Bad
-my flights getting in at crappy hours
-flying through Denver.Â? Enough said.
-getting home at 2 am on the 26th and having to be at work 8 hours later

We’re headed up to Lethbridge for a couple days of rest and relaxation.Â? Monday is a holiday for my company so I don’t have to be there.Â? (Happy Jen.)

Update on the Head

Well… Monday night was partially spent spewing the contents of my stomach thanks to the lovely painkillers over the last week that tore it up and Tuesday was spent in bed with the exception of the 90 minutes I spent WAITING for a doctor and the 5 minutes he saw me before telling me that my PCP (who is only in the office tomorrow and has a b*tchy nurse) had to deal with the side effect problem and then having his (quite awesome) nurse give me a shot of Zofran in (where else?) my hip.Â? At least he and his nurse put a massive note for my doctor and her nurse so something MIGHT get done about it tomorrow.

Other than that, the pain is gone and the muscle weakness is too as well as the fatigue.Â? (The fatigue was probably remedied by sleeping for 18 hours on Tuesday.)

Bad News/Good News

The Bad News: I woke up with a headache this morning that prevented me from going to church.

The Good News:Â? I’m pretty sure I know why I’m getting these freaking headaches — it’s a side effect of Zetia, which my doctor put me on about 2 weeks ago.Â? About 2 days after starting it, I started to get hit with headaches that felt like migraines.

So… I’m stopping the Zetia until Friday when I can see her and we’ll see if the headaches go away.

Maybe Stuff Will Get Done If I Post On It!!!

I’ve had migraine/tension/neck problems this week that caused me to miss work on Tuesday in favor of spending an hour and a half in one of my doctor’s exam rooms while we waited to see if the Imitrex would work and if I would have an adverse reaction. (No dice on both counts and the stuff burned like Hades when they injected it. The follow-up shots of painkiller and anti-nausea meds in my hips were also no picnic. Oh… did I mention that I hate needles?) I’ve spent the other evenings drooling on the couch while doped on Toradol and muscle relaxers so… I now have a boatload of stuff to do. Posting about it will keep me accountable… in theory.

-print out labels for the “winter holiday of choice” cards
-write cool notes in said cards
-mail said cards
-mail the packages that need to get to Seattle and two places in southern California by the 24th (which is now a federal holiday, at least for Customs)
-figure out what I want to take to Seattle with me
-burn CD’s of Christmas/Hannukah music from the most awesomest mix diva that I got last year so I have tunes to listen to on my insane plane rides both ways
-make cookies to give to coworkers as Christmas presents
-pack for Seattle