It's March already!

I haven't written much lately, have I? Guess there hasn't been that much to write about. Life's been pretty boring!

Actually I've spent this past week home - ill. I haven't been this sick in a long time. I've had a day or two here and there when my meds have upset me or had a bad headache but nothing like what I've experienced this week.

Last Thursday (2/24) I had a meeting in Des Moines with my Planner's group. I'm currently the co-chair. Wednesday (2/23) I had a meeting with our Program Review group at work so that was a long day plus getting up early on Thursday to get to Des Moines in a timely manner. I had already made plans to stay over with Barb and spend some time with her and Jim and his family. I got to the meeting with no problems. In fact, it was a very informative meeting. Lots of things going on with the government trying to decide if they're going to keep running or not. Whatever decision is made is going to have an impact on community action. A lot of the agencies are already making plans to cut personnel and try and continue with all services with less employees. New View hasn't really made any decisions regarding this.

After the meeting I headed out to Barb's. Actually the meeting is about 10 minutes away from her house. Really easy to get there and back. We meet at the county supervisors' offices. It's Polk County's public works building. Nice place to meet. The majority of the planners do not like going downtown (I'm one of them) so it's been working out quite well to meet there.

I was settled in for the afternoon taking a nap, when the garage door opened. It was Jim coming for lunch. His offices have moved to Ankeny and some days he picks up lunch (or raids Barb's frig) and eats at her house. He ate, I watched and we had a nice visit. Barb was making supper for all of us that evening. We had tacos! They were very good and the evening visit was as well. Charlotte is talking up a storm. I don't always understand everything she says, but it's interesting talking to her and interacting with her. She's so darn cute!! How can one person be so lucky as to have such a darling granddaughter!

Barb was losing her voice. She said she was fine just the voice thingy. It's Friday as I write this and she still hasn't completely recovered. Hopefully she will soon feel up to par!

I slept in on Friday (of course). Took a shower, checked my bank account and prepared to do some shopping. It was payday and I had to make sure that my check was in the right place. It was! I did some shopping in Ankeny. I had a great time. I picked up a new toy for Charlotte (a little musical CD player) that she had a great time with. Found some clothes for her. Jim had already got the one shirt that matched some pants so Mandy was going to take that back and find another top to match the pants. Picked up some stuff for other members of my family. Bought a few things for Barb's guest closet. I use a lot of that and noticed some things I use at home were gone or missing so re-supplied it. It's the least I can do.

Came home and took another nap. I really wanted to go to Memory Bound (my all-time favorite scrapbooking store), but I was really tired so missed it this trip. It really is an outstanding scrapbook store. I do want to get back at some scrapping. The Shoppe at Kennedy Mall has closed. I still have a couple of bags in my trunk. I think I can turn the majority of them into books for my family and friends. Going to try anyway.

Friday night was stuffed shells night at the Davis Family manor. They were great. Mandy always comes up with something that is so tasty. And I did enjoy being around Charlotte. I wished on more occasions than one that I lived closer so that I could spend more time with Charlotte as well as Barb, Jim and Mandy. I miss them all.

Petey just loves me! Or at least that's the way it always seems when I go to their house. Mandy told me she thought he intimidated me (I think maybe he does too). He's so big and friendly! I don't think he'd ever hurt any of us, but he's just BIG!! Both dogs and Boomer got all excited when we got into the house on Friday. Petey got so excited that he lost his balance and ended up with all fours going all over the place. He is a big puppy! Jim got everybody settled down and our evening began. Jim & family were heading out for Omaha the next morning. Bob was taking all the children and grandchildren to the circus the next afternoon. Check out Mandy's blog for a great picture. Sounds like they all had a great time.

Slept in again on Saturday morning. Barb made bacon and eggs for breakfast. We headed out to the fairgrounds to a big craft fair. It was snowing (what else is new) The show was great. Found all kinds of things I would have liked to buy and did buy some. The show will be in Dubuque on April 2. Talked to a couple that will be there and they are sending me tickets to the show. They said they didn't know anyone in this area so . . . I'm getting admission tickets from them. Nice. Barb wanted to do some other shopping too, so we headed to Valley West Mall. I like that mall. We left there to go to Famous Footwear (she was looking for some shoes). Decided we should have visited Younkers when we were there so headed back. One nice thing about shopping for shoes, there's always a place to sit. By this time I was getting tired. She also found some great looking shoes!

After a great day of shopping we decided Olive Garden in Ankeny sounded good for supper. It was around 5:00 p.m. so we figured it wouldn't be too busy - so what do we know. I went in and put our names in on the list. It was an hour wait! We, along with a lot of other people, waited. We found a couple of stools at the bar and had a nice drink. It didn't take an hour to get a table but seemed like it. The meal was great. They now have a steak entree that I ordered and enjoyed very much. I'd order that again. We also had a great waitress. Headed home to watch some TV and go to bed early.

I had a date with the StudMuffin in Farmersburg for lunch! It was Tristan's first birthday party. I had called Glee the day before to let her know what the weather was like in the Des Moines area. And told her I'd let them know Sunday. I left Ankeny around 10:00 a.m. The roads were great and I figured I could get to Farmersburg for the gift opening. I didn't feel real good on Saturday night but figured it was because I was just tired. The closer I got to Dubuque the worse I felt. Finally decided I best just go home. I did take the time to wash my car (red shows the dirt a whole lot more than tan). Picked up some food and came home. I drug up some of the stuff I bought and basically crashed. I called Beth and apologized for not getting there. I wasn't sure what I had but thought it best for all of us that I not bring it into their home. We've decided to get together as soon as I'm able. I'm going to bring a pizza and the gifts. Beth will provide the house. Can't wait to see the boys!!

Monday morning came and I really felt awful. I called Tom and told him what was going on. I had a doctor's appointment at 2:00 p.m. Thought about going in before the appointment but didn't really feel well enough to do that. Our dog track grant was due by 5:00 p.m. that day. I don't know why we always wait until the last minute but that seems to be the MO of the majority of the agency. Got to the doctor and they checked a number of things out and gave me the verdict that I have Influnaza A. Wonderful! Picked up some medication that cost $90 for 10 tablets. Was told the usual - lots of fluids, lots of sleep, etc. Was not to go back to work until I was fever free. I'm still waiting for that! My boss has some problems with me being sick so I have to have a note from the doctor for everyday I'm not in the office. That extra hassle really doesn't help much when you don't feel well. My doctor is great. They faxed the information Tom needed so I could stay home and get well.

I walked an associate through the grant and we were able to get it off 3 minutes to 5. They have accepted the grant and now we wait to see if we'll be awarded anything. The awards don't come out until May.

I can't seem to get rid of this awful virus. I have coughing fits (for lack of better words). They last up to 15 minutes. My throat is very sore. I've lost my lunch (or whatever meal) more than once since this all began. I did call Tom this morning and told him I didn't feel it was good for any of us (my co-workers as well as myself) to show up at the office. I think we'll get through this. I told him where to find everything and I'm sure he can find someone to retrieve the info from my computer. I may not have a job on Monday but the damn board packet will go out. At the present I don't care - I will on Monday. I'm just tired and sick. I want to get well. I want to be able to go up and down my stairs and finish bringing my stuff up from last weekend, get groceries, do laundry and anything other than sit in this damn chair and feel crappy! Things must get better!!! Enough on that. Maybe my life isn't boring - yes it is!

My weekend is going to consist of trying to get stronger, get rid of this awful cough and get ready for another week at work! I do a little at a time and then get tired. I haven't had a full meal since getting sick. The Olive Garden was great! Eggs, toast and last night I made lasagna. What I had of it was good and it did stay in my tummy! Thank goodness!

Enjoy this post! I just re-read this and it's really not that exciting. But my life at the present.

I'm going to try and do some scrapping this weekend. It's also girls state basketball weekend. I enjoy watching the games on TV. Exciting!