Author Archives: Jen

About Jen

Jen isn't quite sure when she lost her mind, but it is probably documented here on Meditatio. She blogs because the world needs her snark at all hours of the night... and she probably can't sleep anyway.

The Past Few Days

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Jon and I just got back from Sioux Falls. We left Sunday after seeing Jon’s dad off to a conference at St. Olaf and got into town about 6:30. We had a lovely dinner at Olive Garden and then went to Barnes and Noble. (For those who don’t know, I’m an ex-BN slave.) It was seriously like being a kid in a candy store and having “pyramided” books while completely bored at cashwrap when I worked there to support my academic $tarbuck$ habit, I was having to fight off the urge to fix the displays. (Yes, I know I’m a freak.) I *did* buy two books: Girl Meets God by Lauren Winner and Boundaries by Cloud and Townsend. I crashed into bed that night, having had a crazybusy day with church and all that.

The next morning, I woke up and looked at the alarm clock and saw that it was 10:00. Dope! I had hoped to grab breakfast in the lobby but no luck. Since my “allergies” were causing me to cough up loads of yellowish-green gunk, I filled the script that my wonderful P.A. (to whom I promised to give chocolate if he would somehow get the script to me before I left on Sunday) wrote for me and dropped it at Walgreens. We then headed to the local branch of our bank, came back, got the prescription, and headed to $tarbuck$ to get something for me to drink. After I washed down my meds with a mint mocha chip frappucino, we headed to a discount shoe store where I found some summer sandals that fit (I have a really high arch so I have to get shoes that are wider than normal) and then headed to the Empire Mall. I found some underwear at Victoria’s Secret (nothing all that interesting — just some plain cotton underwear) and looked at Foot Locker to see if they had the running shoes I’ve been looking for. They didn’t, so I’m going to go online and find out the style and all that to give to the Watertown store when I go there for therapy in a couple weeks. (I put some of my birthday money onto a gift card for Foot Locker so that I’d have the money for running shoes when mine finally wore out.) We had lunch there and then headed back to the motel. I spent the afternoon reading, resting, riding 10 miles on the recumbent bike in the fitness room (and got some pretty good bruises from banging my knees on the machine because the seat couldn’t be adjusted well), and chilled that evening after getting food at Wendy’s. (Yes, I’ve honestly been watching my fat and I haven’t had any problems with stomach pain.)

This morning, we got up early, checked out, and headed up to Watertown where we had lunch, went grocery shopping, and then headed back to Minnesota.

Our “Little” Storm

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We had some really intense storms last night that spawned tornadoes in South Dakota before crossing the border into Minnesota and hitting us. I ended up with all four kitties under the covers with me.

Freya: nestled into my left armpit
Edda: nestled into my right armpit
Cullen: at my feet
Finian: on my belly with his elephant paws pressing on my gallbladder(!!!!!)

Jon slept through it (as Ambien is a VERY cool thing) but I was awake as it started just as I was falling asleep. It’s one of the worst storms I’ve been through in my life — I fully expected tornado sirens to go off. Freya was actually in my study on the filing cabinet when it started and I think she actually saw the evergreen tree snap because she started freaking out and running all over the house. I caught her and stuffed her under the covers (thus beginning my undercover cat collection) and she shivered until it was over (as did the others). Our power was out for awhile and I had to light candles in several rooms to be able to see enough to get to the bathroom. (Not that the lightning flashes weren’t bright enough…)

The evergreen in our front yard
The evergreen in our front yard

A branch dangling in the backyard
A branch dangling in the backyard

Our neighbor's tree
Our neighbor’s tree

A tree in town
A tree in town

Clothing Joys

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I got a Lands’ End gift certificate from my brother for my birthday and ordered some clothes. I got them yesterday and had to send them back. Why, praytell?

BECAUSE THEY WERE A SIZE TOO LARGE!!!!!

Apparently, I’ve dropped from a Large to a Medium. Happy Jen!!!!

Things I’ve Learned In The Last Few Days

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[+] Soy cheese does not work with a diseased gallbladder.
[+] Communion wafers/bread work wonders to calm nausea. (I was the altar guild person this morning, so I was consuming some of the leftovers.)
[+] Walking is good for the soul and also for working off the myriad of popsicles from the last few weeks.
[+] There is nothing better than a grilled chicken sandwich with tomatoes, onions, and pickles and a big bottle of Sundrop when eating for the first time after being nauseous for 24 hours.
[+] Minnesota mosquitoes are more vicious than black mambas and their bites are much more unpleasant.
[+] Rain is nice… for a few days. After that, one prays to move to a desert.
[+] Crocheting is the greatest stress release if walking isn’t available.
[+] Boldly-striped tabby cats are the best bed companions when one is fighting a gallstone attack.
[+] Because my body is broken and I am a sinful being, I crave those things (like cheese, pizza, bacon, grease, curry, burgers, etc) that cause me illness and pain.