I survived Migraine '10

So, thirty minutes before I left for work I started to get a headache.  "Weird," I thought, but I kept getting ready for work and popped a couple of headache relievers.  Well, flash forward to my car and driving to work and suddenly there is a streak mark in my right field of vision.  What ensued was a tearful call to work, mass panic, and having to turn the car around before I completely wouldn't be able to drive anymore.

I haven't had a migraine that bad since I was 22, possibly 23, years old.  Let me tell you, if you suffer from migraines, you remember the ones that are really bad, always.  The last one like the one yesterday was when Aaron and I were dating.  I was at his house.  I had no medicine to fight it, which is what happened yesterday.  If you don't catch them right at the beginning, you can forget it.  I remember laying in a fetal position on his bed and crying and crying.  He was so sweet.  He didn't know what to do, but he laid with me and rubbed my back and I finally fell asleep.

People who don't get them don't really understand and the people that call their headaches "migraines" would drop to their knees if they really had one.  It's without a doubt the most pain I've ever experienced at one time.  I cannot even describe how bad it really is or how it feels.  All I know is the hangover after the migraine is gone still feels like a pretty awful headache.  My head and eyes are still sore from yesterday.  I slept from around 1:30 until 7:39.  I did the only thing that I knew to do was to drug (Benadryl) myself so that I could sleep through it.  I still felt like crap all last night until I went to bed.

I'm feeling much better today, but I swear I deserve a t-shirt that states, "I survived Migraine '10."  It was that bad.  I will not forget it.  I'm praying I don't have another one for a really, really long time.  I swear, I almost called Aaron to come take me to the ER for drugs. Heck, they offered to come get me from work and bring me in so that I could get medicine.  Of course, they were hoping that I could come in, I'm sure, but that was still very nice.  Aaron and I decided that we could do without the ER copay of $50, plus whatever else they charge you. 

Headaches are no joke, but I survived, just barely.

What I'm falling for

A room with a view

I had B send me the link to our cabin.  Here are some pictures.  I think we're going to have a pretty good time!

Get in my belly

I made the most delicious sandwich for lunch.  I thought I would share, so you all could experience the scrumptiousness. 

A Delicious Sandwich

-bread of your choosing

 (I used sandwich thins..I think Arnold's, which ever ones don't have high fructose corn syrup in them)

-sharp cheddar

(I used block cheese and thinly sliced it)

-two slices of cooked turkey bacon

-avocado dip (recipe to follow)

I baked the bread, turkey bacon, and cheese in the oven at 350 until desired doneness.  I spread the avocado dip on one of the slices of bread.  Then I enjoyed it!

Now the avocado dip recipe is one I got from Ingrid Hoffman on the Food Network.  On a side note, I cannot stand her show.  She is so annoying, but she can cook.  I own one of her cookbooks.  Girl knows how to make some sweet potato fries!  The avocado dip is used as a side to her sweet potato fries, which I made two nights ago, which is why I have leftover dip.  We usually use it on sandwiches or as a dip for other things, because the dip outlasts the fries.  Here's a link to the recipe.

My one suggestion to make the sweet potato fries crispier is to soak them for an hour or two in water before you bake them or add the seasoning.  It really does work.  Just dry them off before you add the oil and seasoning.  I'm still working on perfecting them.  I find them still a bit limp for our liking.  I'm going to try them on my pizza pan or stone to see if that helps add crispiness. 

Pumpkin Carving Party

Oh yeah, we're having a Pumpkin Carving Party this month.  I've been planning out a menu.  I've had a lot of people say they were coming, but who haven't RSVP'd yet, so I may scale the menu back some, if less people are coming. 

Here's what I've come up with so far.  What do you think?

Main Course

Chili

Sweet Potato and Hominy Soup

Breads

Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins

Jalapeno Cornbread

Drinks

Spiced Apple Cider

Sodas

Water

Possibly an alcoholic drink (I told everyone to bring their own, but I may buy pumpkin ale or something along those lines)

Sweet Treats

This is where I haven't completely made up my mind yet

Spicy Oatmeal Cookies

Pumpkin Whoopies

Caramels & assorted Halloween candy

Pumpkin cupcakes with maple frosting

Mini apple pies

I bought black little gift bags for the guests to take some of the desserts home with them.  I know I don't need to eat all of them myself!  I need input.  Sound good?

I plan on cooking every bit of it (well, maybe not the apple pies) the day/night before, so that the chili and soup will taste even better and I can just focus on cleaning the day of the party.  I hope that it works out.  I have a doctor's appointment that day, so that may take several hours out of the day.  Plus, I'm actually eating lunch with my husband that day.  I know, crazy! 

I haven't really focused on decorations right now, but I have an idea of what I'm going to do.  So far, I've bought a small, glittery black skeleton.  I do like him.  I'm sure it'll all come together.  I've been thinking about making a Halloween wreath too.  I know, who is this person?  I was thinking the other day that I need a hot glue gun.  Pretty soon, you'll see my in very own handmade bedazzled kitten sweatshirts.  Don't be jealous.

Tired eyes and news reports

Seems like someone is slipping in the blog department lately.  I can blame on it a lot of things, but I'll spare you.  I guess I should do a little catching up.

Our yard sale this past weekend went okay.  I mean, we did make enough money to cover our cabin in Gatlinburg (more on this later!).  We ended up making just shy of $200.  Most people would think that is great for a yard sale, but we've had times where the grand total of the yard sale (with four different people providing things) was $1200.  My sister-in-law and my mom had things in it too.  The grand total for the whole thing was like $460.  This actually was our (mine and Aaron's total) second lowest profit.  This past Spring we had a yard sale and we hardly had anything in it and still made $170.  I'm still really happy with having enough to cover our room.  I don't want to have another yard sale for a while though.  They are so much work!  I think I'm still tired from only sleeping 4 hours the night before the sale.

We're going to Gatlinburg with B & D and another couple over Halloween weekend.  I'm supposed to work on Halloween, but I'm working on getting out of that.  I'm hoping I can sweet talk one of the guys at work to switch with me.  I have a good feeling that he will. 

I wanted to post pictures of where we are staying (the view is amazing), but I can't find the email that B sent me.  We're planning on doing the zip line through the trees and lots of other fun things.  It should be really fun.  It's the second trip of the year.  I like it!

The next few weeks are full of friends and lunches.  Yes, Beaz, I know we need to have lunch.  I have to leave at least one day off to clean my house or it'll get worse than it already is right now.  Tomorrow, I'm cleaning the mess that is my house.  That is, if I can muster enough energy.  Someone needs their Ovaltine!

Other than these things, I've been making a lot of soup, taking naps, enjoying the cooler weather, and spending many a night with Mr. O.  October has been splendid, so far. 

We're closing the week with a weenie roast at B and D's house.  I think that's the perfect thing to do on an October night.  Like always, October is proving to be the busiest month of the year.  Of course, the next two months will probably be just as busy.  We're quickly approaching my favorite holidays!

One more hour and can rest my weary head.  I'm glad I have tomorrow off! 

My treasures!

So, a little over due, but here is the post of all the things from the flea market.  I took pictures right after I made the other post, but have been too lazy (and working too much) to download them. 

The deerish animal head bookend.  Awesome, right!?

Ah, the turtle necklace. Be still my heart.

An upclose of mr. turtle

One of the two owl trivets.  They look exactly the same.

The apron.  I love it.  I washed it and it is now hanging with the others.

Here's the dresser.  It is majorly dirty.  Notice, Esther, it is not dark green.  I don't know what Mr. O was thinking when he said.  It's just a really dirty black.  The mirror is laying on top.  I did not put it together, since I would just have to take it apart to move it inside later after we clean it up. 

The secret skelton key drawer.  It dawned on me to just take the drawer out beside it and push it open.  Obviously, there was nothing inside, but this tray that can be pushed to the back.

All the drawers are lined with the craft paper that can come out.  They are the exact colors of the dividers that are in this drawer.  There are no flaws inside the drawers, probably because the paper is there. 

So, what do you think?  The dresser really is so pretty all put together.  I can't wait to clean all that dust and dirt off of it.  I couldn't show a picture of B's Christmas present.  Though she doesn't show up as a follower, she reads it and follows me on Google reader. I'm sure she was hoping that I would slip up!  

Happiness in September

Here's a monthly round up of things that made my heart happy in September:

.  amazing flea market finds  .

.  steaming cups of (a variety of) teas  .

.  quality time with my mom  .

.  dinner with the Rices  .

.  hanging with the Eddys  .

.  5 day long stretches off work  .

.  being told I get to work one less Sunday a month  .

.  sunshiney fall days  .

.  opening our windows up for days  .

.  breaking out one of my hoodies  .

.  cozy days, curled up in owl pajamas  .

.  journaling (yes, every day for like 3 weeks)  .

.  James and the Giant Peach (I'm currently reading it again)  .

.  spicy oatmeal cookies  .

.  Supernatural marathons  .

.  being home to catch a leak, just in the nick of time  .

.  a freshly cleaned house  .

.  unfortunate date nights that are great just because of the company  .

.  homemade pot roast  .

.  Lucky magazine  .

.  celebrating 8 (craziness!) years of marriage  .

.  Mr. O starting school  .

.  breaking out the boots .

.  going through my closet..it was beginning to feel suffocating in there  .

.  plans for a yard sale next month .

.  going to lunch with my nephew  .

.  phone conversations with my sister and brother  .

.  promises of new things to come  .

.  strawberry dream cake at Nana Rosa's in Hendersonville  .

.  Mondo on Project Runway (I.love.him.) .

.  first day of fall  .

.  the return of Oprah, House, and all the good shows  .

.  plaid shirts  .

.  my hot husband  .

. surviving Labor Day weekend at work  .

.  lunches with friends  .

. listening to my celebrity boyfriend (Chevelle)  .

.  my sister having a seizure while she was NOT driving.  I'm so glad that they pulled her license, even though she is less than thrilled about it  .

.  late evening walks with Mr. O  .

.  having a little toddler boy on one of our walks say, "Hi, neighbor."  So cute.  .

.  adorable little patients  .

.  bowling and doing it well  .

.  an unexpected dinner with my most amazing (former roommate) sister-in-law  .

.  getting some long over due home projects started/completed  .

.  free days at the Science Museum, though I didn't get to go  .

.  Kat Von D eyeliner (I don't like her, but girl can make some makeup..and wear every one of her products at the same time)  .

.  a pregnancy for a girl on a blog I read (she has PCOS too, so it makes things very hopeful for me!)  .

.  Make that multiple pregnancies and births on the blogs I follow  .

.  the return of my winter/cooler weather scent, Euphoria by Calvin Klein  .

.  living, breathing, and smiling every single day  .

September did live up to August.  It even said, "Watch how I do this."  Have I mentioned I love fall!?!