I’m in love.  Or rather, I’m in LUST, since the object of my affections is a bit out of my reach.

See the ring in the picture?  It’s a Chatham created blue sapphire and diamond ring in 14k white gold.

Normally, I don’t care for white gold.  If I’m buying a ring, I’d much rather have it be in yellow gold.  But sapphires stand out so much better in white gold.

The design of the ring is fabulous.  I love it in more ways than I can count.  The stone, the setting…everything about it is just gorgeous.

I was searching for pearl jewelry…I’m in need of a pearl necklace…when I stumbled across that beautiful sapphire ring.  Needless to say, the ring went straight onto my wishlist…along with an AMAZING strand of  multicolor dyed chocolate freshwater pearls!

As much as I adore that ring, though…I think I want that strand of pearls for my birthday!

I spoke to my Mom earlier today…she’s all done her first round of chemotherapy treatments.  Yesterday, she got measured and scanned and scoped in preparation for her radiation treatments, so she had to call and tell me all about it.  Thankfully, she’s pretty upbeat about the whole thing, even though she also just found out that one woman who was going to the chemo place for Mesothelioma treatment at the same time that she was going for her chemo passed away yesterday.  When she told me that, my heart jumped into my throat, because I really expected her to be down about it.

Luckily, she wasn’t, and I was quickly able to steer the conversation away to something else.  She proceeded to tell me that she was SO HOT in the room where they were measuring her for the radiation treatments that she told the one nurse to just “pull her damn hair off!”

I about fell to the sidewalk laughing.

She’s even named one of her wigs and then told me, “When you come up this weekend, you can help me come up with names for the other ones!”

My Mom, she cracks me up.  I can only hope that if I ever have to go through anything as life-altering as what she’s going through that I can keep my wits about me like she does!

This is the only way I can explain my absence…

“And that’s when my brain broke. It packed itself up, leaked out my ears, and took off for a permanent vacation on a nice, quiet beach somewhere.”

(Stolen from this article on The Consumerist.  Best. Description. EVAR.)

I’ve been struggling with things lately.  Work, home, pool, family, computer…you name it, and it’s probably kicked my ass once or twice or twelve times in the last two weeks.

I decided this weekend to take control of things, so I sent out an S.O.S. to my brain that it was needed and it responded.

It responded, that is, until my electronic brain (my computer) decided that it wanted its turn at my ass.  There’s a tropical drink umbrella sticking out of my ear, and my brain is now looking for citizenship on a tropical island somewhere far, FAR away.  It’s sent out party invitations to its friends, made up a pitcher of margaritas, and is ready to party WITHOUT ME.

Yeah, I’ve gone off the deep end.  Thankfully, I have a wonderful husband that helps to keep me grounded.

Usually.

I had a lovely weekend with the husband.  We spent a lot of quality time together and had a nice, relaxing weekend.

Then Monday hit, and all hell broke loose.

I walked into work in a very good mood on Monday morning, thanks to the weekend.  I figured that since we were probably going to be slow, I’d ask the boss if I could take a half-day, as hubby and I wanted to go out to dinner.  I had a raging headache, but I took some Excedrin as soon as I sat down at my desk.

By 11 o’clock, I was ready to throttle the boss and the next poor sod that walked through our door.  Between 9 and 10:30, I got absolutely NOTHING done, thanks to the ringing phone and a boss who couldn’t figure out which end was up.  Our POS systems kept going down. The computers were acting up.  Jobs were coming in left and right at the speed of light.  I had everything under control…until the boss decided he wanted to stick his nose into things.

*boom* went my head, and I had to go outside for a smoke break before I broke something.  I went back into the office, gulped down some more Excedrins and cried, “UNCLE!”

I finally gave up a little after 3 o’clock and kicked the boss’s ass out of the office for the rest of the day.  By the time I got home, my head was throbbing yet again and my whole body was killing me.

Hubby, the wonderful man that he is, managed to soothe the raging tiger and got me to calm down, and we spent a quiet evening at home.

Today?  A repeat of yesterday, with a few other horrendous things thrown into the mix.  To cap everything off, I hurt.  Badly.  I feel like my stomach’s being ripped open with a dull ice pick.

Yay.  Tomorrow’s going to be so much fun…if I manage to crawl out of bed in the morning, that is!

Good heavens, time is just blowing by lately.  My weekend with my parents went by in the blink of an eye…granted, it didn’t help that Mom and I spent most of it shopping and driving all over God’s green earth!  We had a blast, though.  Unfortunately, I’ve come to the realization that I’m a lot more depressed than I let on, as I spent way too much money over the course of the weekend.  Spending HALF of my paycheck on bits and bobs isn’t good…and since I shop when I’m depressed…

Whoo doggie.  I spent $170 at Kmart alone.  IN KMART, PEOPLE.  How do you spend that much money in Kmart, for chrissakes?!

Just like I did, I suppose.  Heh.

I also blew a huge wad of cash at Bath & Body Works (so much for my self-imposed no buy!) and A.C. Moore.  At least some of the stuff I bought at A.C. Moore I can deduct on my taxes next year…if I ever get my Etsy store up and running and I actually sell things!

It’s nice to dream.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Work just suddenly got very, VERY busy, thankfully.  I got into the shop this morning, and after I got done clearing my work email inbox of all of the “best diet pills” and “make your love muscle BIGGER!!!’ spam, the boss and I sat down for our daily start-of-the-day chat.

Turns out one of our big customers called in before I walked into the shop and placed an order for 1,000 manuals.  We’ve been doing these manuals for almost a year now, and this is by far the largest order we’ve ever had for them.  It’s a nice influx of work, and for the month of June, it’s VERY welcome!

It would be really nice to get more than one eight hour workday in a week.  These five and six hour days…although getting out of here early is nice…are killing my paycheck!

I wonder if there’s any sort of “drug rehab” type thing for shoppers. Mom and I have a serious shopping addiction…shopping is like crack to us.  She and I went out today and spent a ton of money.  I spent a ton of money at Kmart (shush) and Bath & Body Works.  I also bought a few things at Yankee Candle and the grocery store.

Oh, and some beer and coconut tequila at the liquor store.  Banana bread beer.  I figured I’d be a nice daughter and buy my Dad a bottle to try out.  He sure ain’t gettin’ my tequila!

At least I can say that my Mom seems to be doing well, despite the fact that she’s bald from her chemotherapy treatments that’s she’s having to endure due to her endometrial cancer.  She and I have been joking pretty hard-core…about her bald head, her wig flying off out the sunroof….you name it, it’s been said.  I’m so glad that she’s able to laugh like this, because going through chemo?  Well, it’s hell, and I’m pretty sure she’s going through hell, no matter what sort of face she puts on.

Thankfully, she’s a strong old bird. 

My friend K. sent me the funniest email this morning. Needless to say, I ended up with water all over my keyboard and my monitor!

Ten Thoughts to Ponder for 2009:

Number 10:
Life is sexually transmitted.

Number 9:
Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

Number 8:
Men have two emotions: Hungry and Horny. If you see him without an erection, make him a sandwich.

Number 7:
Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day, teach a person to use the internet and they won’t bother you for weeks.

Number 6:
Some people are like a Slinky…not really good for anything, but you still can’t help but smile when you shove them down the stairs.

Number 5:
Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.

Number 4:
All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.

Number 3:
Why does a slight tax increase cost you $200.00 and a substantial tax cut saves you $30.00?

Number 2:
In the 60’s, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

The Number 1 Thought For 2009:
Maybe we should put the Department of Agriculture in charge of Immigration? We know exactly where one cow with mad-cow disease is located among billions of cows in America but we haven’t got a clue as to where 12 million of illegal aliens and terrorists are located.

Life is like a jar of jalapeno peppers…what you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow!

*snicker*

While I was at work today, I had to place an order for a new cartridge for my laser printer. Somehow, the drum got a mark around the middle of it, and every printout was coming out with a black line down the center. Yay. $109 for a freakin’ toner cartridge…the one in my printer was barely used to begin with!

I also ordered a wrist rest while I was at it. I figured it was about time…my wrist/hand is getting better, albeit slowly. Time to start thinking ergonomically, eh?

~*~*~*~*~*~

Hubby’s parents are contemplating buying a vacation home on a sweet little piece of Wilmington NC real estate.  Works for me.  It would give us someplace different to go for vacation!

~*~*~*~*~*~

Speaking of hubby’s family, things are getting VERY WEIRD on that front.  The week before Memorial Day, hubby’s uncle was found wandering about the neighborhood late at night.  His aunt is a nutcase to begin with, and this latest episode with the uncle is just making things worse.  Hubby wants to have a meeting with his mom about it, in reference to his inheritance and whatnot.  It’s a long, complicated story, but what I can tell you is it’s something that hubby’s really not looking forward to, as he and his mom don’t get along very well.

I’m hoping everything works out fine, and if it does, it means hubby’s inheritance will be insured and that things might look all rosy for us in the far-off future!

Sometimes, I feel like I’m a hamster going full-speed in its wheel. Or maybe someone jogging to nowhere on a treadmill…you know how you just keep going and going and going, and you never really get anywhere?

Yeah, I’ve been feeling that way quite a lot lately.

Depression has hit me hard lately.  I’m constantly worrying about everything…my Mom, my Dad, my husband, my job, my car, the finances…you name it, and I’m probably worried about it.  It’s just been one thing after another lately, and I have a feeling that’s why I ended up sleeping in way too late today.  I didn’t roll out of bed until after 2 o’clock this afternoon.  I think my body finally went and said, “Enough!  You’ve had enough!  You need rest!”

As if my sleep schedule wasn’t already screwed up enough.

I think my depression meds have stopped working.  I can feel myself spiraling downwards again.  My energy is gone, and I’m just not finding any enjoyment in the things I usually do.

Even the interwebs are boring me.  That tells you something right there.

I’m not the person I used to be.  Sometimes, I don’t mind.  Other times, it scares the living shit out of me.