I’ve been thinking, (I do that sometimes), and I have come to the conclusion that I need to start looking into my continued education. An associates degree just doesn’t cut it these days, so I need to think bigger. I would love to eventually get a masters degree, but that’s getting a little ahead of myself, I think. For now, if I get a bachelors degree from a good college of arts & sciences, it would greatly improve my chances of getting the kind of job I’d really like to have. Plus, I’d be darn proud of it!

I know some people my age think it’s too late for them to get a degree, but that’s just crazy talk! It’s never too late to better yourself. And there are many ways to get money to go to school, but that is another blog post. Just know that simply because you’re a little older doesn’t mean you stop learning and growing. Education is for people of all ages, it does not discriminate.

When I was a little girl, I aspired to become a teacher. My sister, Lisa and I used to play “school” quite frequently. Of course, I was always the teacher and she was always the student. Perhaps I taught her something, who knows? Hehe! Later, I decided it was history I wanted to teach, so I started my work toward that dream. Eventually, my life took a sharp turn, so I never quite finished what I started. That has always really bothered me, and the only thing to do is get back to school! So for the next few months, this will be one of my biggest priorities.

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It’s that time again, (summertime), when I start looking around for some cool shades. Usually, I search out the biggest ones I can find – you know the ones – those that make me look like a movie star. But I think I’ve come to the point in my life where I may have outgrown that kind of thing. One reason is I’m in serious need of my prescription eyeglasses to be able to read road signs when I’m driving – I’m terribly near-sighted – so I think it’s time I found some cool prescription sunglasses for this season.

What kind of sunglasses do you usually wear? Have you already bought a pair this year? Do you buy the designer shades or the cheapest ones you can find? I’m curious! Please leave your answers below in the comment section.

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As I get older, I find that I am thinking more and more about life insurance, especially since Charlie and I got married. If one of us dies, (and unfortunately, that is inevitable), I wonder how the other will pay for the funeral costs, let alone the other bills that we are now paying monthly. It absolutely takes both of our incomes to pay the bills we have right now. If one of them was no longer coming in, how in the world will those bills get paid without life insurance?

These days, it costs an arm and a leg to pay for a funeral. When my grandmother passed away in 2008, it cost over $6000 for the funeral and burial. My poor uncle was left with the bill, as he was the only one in the family with good enough credit to get a loan for what her small funeral insurance policy didn’t cover. I can tell you right now, neither Charlie nor I have the resources to come up with that kind of money, so we have to seriously start thinking about getting some life insurance.

Fortunately, finding the right policy at the right price isn’t as difficult as it was before the internet came along. Today, one can compare life insurance quotes online with just a few clicks of a mouse.

If you don’t have a life insurance policy, I strongly urge you to consider getting one, because you never know what could happen tomorrow, or even tonight. Just having the peace of mind it brings will be worth the price of the policy.

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I thought seriously about writing a retrospective post about 2009 like Charlie did , but I decided, instead, to find out how my readers/friends plan to bring in the new year. I’m always curious about the social habits of others, so please, if you will, comment below and tell us what your New Year’s Eve plans are.

As for me and Charlie, we will be home watching movies, reading, or surfing the net for some interesting tidbit of information. That is what we do for fun. Yeah, I know…you may call it boring, but we find these daily (or nightly) activities very stimulating, even if it’s New Year’s Eve.

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

AND PLEASE , if you plan to partake in the “spirits” tonight, HAVE A DESIGNATED DRIVER!

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For the first time in weeks, I slept until the afternoon. When I awoke, I had a moderate headache, but I figured the gas heat had dried out my sinuses again, and the pain would subside shortly. But oh, how wrong I was!

A few hours after waking, my head began to pound so violently that I seriously thought of screaming, but didn’t, because it would just make the pain worse. It was at this point that I started to feel nausea.

I looked around the house for pain reliever, and found none. So I knew that I would have to venture out in the rain to get something, and just the thought of it made my head hurt worse. It seriously felt as if my head would explode, and very soon.

I got dressed, went out to the van and cranked it up. The nausea was getting worse and it was very difficult to focus my eyes. The local Dollar General store is less than a mile from home, but I began to wonder if I would make it back home before I vomited. I decided to attempt it anyway, so I put the van in gear.

This is the usual route to the Dollar General Store. Google Maps says it's 0.8 mile.

The drive to Dollar General was nothing short of a nightmare. Waves of nausea overtook me several times on the way there. When I pulled into the parking lot, I began to feel anxious about going inside, fearing I would puke all over the place before I could get out. I told myself over and over, “…mind over matter, Kelly…mind over matter,” and it seemed to have worked for just long enough for me to go in the store, grab a bottle of ibuprofen, a bag of catfood for the kitties, (’cause they were out), and a gallon of the best tea in the whole wide world, (because we had nothing to drink in the house).

Ah, but once I returned to the van, I felt another wave of nausea and this time, it wasn’t playing around. I quickly threw my newly bought items into the van and jumped in, cranked her up and put her in gear. As I pulled out of the parking lot, my vision became very distorted and I was really starting to wonder if I should even be driving, but it was a very short drive to the apartment, and I had to press on. I began to wager in my mind whether or not I would make it home and to the bathroom, before my stomach valves reversed. In my mind, the drive seemed to take forever, but in reality it was probably less than a minute. The moment I turned onto my street is when I came to the realization that I’d never make it to the driveway, let alone the bathroom, but I was damn sure gonna try.

I was probably about 20 feet from my driveway when the flood gates opened. I hit the brakes and hurriedly threw the door open – but not hurriedly enough – I threw up all over the door panel, but most of it went onto the street. At this point, I did not give a rat’s ass which of my neighbors might be watching me. When you’re in the middle of vomiting, you don’t care much about anything that might be going on around you.

This is the Google Street View of where I was when I had to stop and puke. You can see my car there in the driveway in front of my house. This is how close I was to making it home!

In a moment or two, I was finally able to gain enough composure to pull into my driveway, jump out and run into the house and finish the job in the bathroom, (what little was left in my stomach by then).

The vomiting only compounded the headache and it began to throb even more violently than before. After splashing my face with water, I lay down on the bed, clutching my head and watching the room spin for a few minutes. Slowly, the pain started to subside. In an hour’s time, I felt about 75% better. I had a slight nagging headache the rest of the day, but no more nausea, thank the gods!

NOTE: In the Google Street View above, my car is not wrecked, and as you can see, it is summertime. This is an old street view, because my car has been wrecked since February 2009. It must have been taken in the summer of 2008, huh? Interesting.

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