Having one of these kind of days, except amending my original time period from 6 months to 3 years.

– Too busy.

– Lots of work.

– Knee hurts.

– Not enough sleep.

– Exercise is making me cough.

Enough bitching.  That is all.

Do you ever get the sense that you are re-living the same pieces of your life over and over?  Sometimes I do.  Time to shake it up a bit.

NYU has been renovating a building on Washington Square North for quite some time now.  It has been a fairly major overhaul, including inserting windows into concrete walls where there previously were none.  Why do I know this?  Because the construction wakes me up.  All the time.  I can't really complain, because it's around the time I should be getting up anyway (except for Saturdays — why are they working on Saturdays?!?).  That said, they leave all the lights on in the building every single night and the light shines right through the brand new windows directly into mine, which is rather irritating.  I walked over this morning to see if there was actually some sort of practical reason that they left the lights on — as far as I'm concerned, by shutting them off, they're probably saving NYU money and improving their relationship with their neighbors, namely me.  The dude I spoke to said he'd pass along my message to the right person. We shall see — hoping for a no-lights-in-my-window kind of night tonight.

*Name that tune, anyone?

I was supposed to go to a hockey game last night.  Since I woke up yesterday morning with a low grade fever (which I've had on and off since Sunday), I decided not to go so that I could lay low and get better.  This has been a hell of a cold — started with a tickle in my throat which led to an annoying cough, the aforementioned fever, and then the congestion started yesterday.  I took a sick day on Monday and half the day Tuesday, but once I went to the office on Tuesday (after sleeping for 13 1/2 hours), I made the mistake of behaving like I was fine, even going out on Tuesday night.  I had a headache for most of the day Wednesday, but just attributed it to being part of the cold.  But this headache had a life of its own.  By about 3 pm it had proved itself to be completely resistant to Advil, and was bothering me so much that I went home to rest before my 5pm conference call.  By the time of the call, I was lying on my couch with my eyes covered, pressing into my temple to try to get some relief.  It felt like the entire left side of my head was stuck in a vise.  When the call was over, I started to worry — I had never had a headache this painful, or limited to one side of my head.  I took some more Advil, worried some more, and called my doctor.  She asked me a few questions, then suggested I head to the emergency room.  Now, I'm sure she was being cautious, and had I called during office hours, she likely would have had me come in to her office, but off I went to St. Vincent's.  Long story short, I waited around in the "Fast Track" waiting room with my eyes covered to block out the light, my head still caught in that vise, and ultimately was seen and examined.  The doctor declared happily that I didn't have meningitis (huh — hadn't thought of that one) gave me some super high-dose Tylenol, and left me to rest in the dark until it kicked in.  Which it ultimately did, thankfully.  I was free to go. 

Certainly not the best way to spend an evening, but at least the headache went away.  Today, I'm off to Philly with my Puffs Plus in tow.  And some extra Tylenol — just in case.

A very close friend of the family passed away this week.  She was a model of patience, calm, and generosity, and infused our family with her warmth, quiet wisdom, and subdued humor during the 25 plus years she was a part of our lives.  When I went up to Maine this past September, Jennie was visiting us as she did each year since she retired.  I feel so lucky and fortunate that I was able to spend time with her and, in effect, say goodbye and let her know how much we all love her.  I was given the same opportunity when my Grandma Mae passed away several years ago.  Having not had that opportunity in the past when others I loved passed away, I am eternally grateful for it. 

We will miss you Jennie.  Thank you for being part of our family.

I know this because I wore boots for the first time last night  Time to bust out the sweaters, I suppose.  I'm looking forward to it, actually — dreaming of soups, stews, short ribs, brisk bike rides, and hikes.  And of course, the slow cooker.

I think mine's broken.  Or at least on another time zone.  I really wish I was one of those get-up-and-go morning types, but I am very much not.  I am a night owl, and no matter how tired I am, I can't really get to sleep before midnight.  I'm also the kind of person who needs a good amount of sleep — I can't function well without at least six hours, preferably eight.  If left to my own devices, my work/life schedule would look very different.  I'd probably sleep till about 9:30 or 10, slowly make my way to the gym, come home for breakfast and a shower, then work on and off till about 8 or so, taking a nap somewhere along the way.  If a had plans, I'd meet friends and have dinner at about 9, and then maybe do some more work or read/watch TV or a movie, going to bed at 1 or 2.  Sort of like law school.

I know my dad is going to tell me to just go to bed earlier.  I wish I could, but when I try, I can't sleep.  I can read, but I end up staying awake until midnight anyway.  Any other suggestions?