Getting a cold during the summer is still one of life's greatest mysteries. I blame it on the rain because, well, it's raining right now (again) and I'm sick of looking out my window to see black clouds looming over the Masonic temple every night.

It didn't rain this weekend, which figures since I was sick and couldn't really take advantage. On Saturday I felt semi-human so I went to the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian with my friend Mike (we met through a mutual friend and he's JUST a friend). Afterward, we went to his apartment near Catholic University and I got to see the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. I loved the architecture on this church-- beautiful blue-tiled, domed roofs that reminded me of a church I saw in Zaragosa, Spain last summer.

Anyway, we got to his place and after his yellow lab/German shepherd puppy showered me in slobber, we plopped down and used my handy Washington D.C. guidebook to map out our night so we could try new places.

On the list:

• Rice, a Thai restaurant on 14th St. Fantastic food, reasonable prices (for food, not drinks), quick service, quiet atmosphere, dim lighting for an intimate setting, and modern decor
• Lauriol Plaza, a Mexican restaurant on 18th St. Well, by the time we got here, it was pretty much closed. We wanted to check out the rooftop area and have some margaritas, but this is not a place to head to after 11pm. We'll try again soon because the food and drinks looked delicious.
  
• The Fox and the Hound For $4.95 you get a glass of liquor and a tiny bottle of mixer to add as you please-- not bad. A domestic beer is $4.25, so if you're not a liquor drinker you'll just get pissed off at your friends who are and can get drunk way cheaper than you can.
  
• Reef, Adams Morgan I had never been to Adams Morgan before, but I really liked what I saw-- cheeky (I use this to mean cool names) bars with lots of young people. We got there really late so most of the places had long lines and expensive covers. Reef, however, NEVER has a cover and has a cool outdoor bar and a lower level with fish tanks. I spent a lot of my time finding Nemo and talking to some Australian guys who liked the dress I was wearing, saying it looked very "un-American." I think it was supposed to be a compliment.
  

That was the summary of my night. I started to feel nasally and congested again, so I left my friends at the bar and took the metro back home. I spent Sunday reading this outstanding memoir of a mother and daughter called Come Back by Claire and Mia Fontaine. It's one of the most poignant, heartbreaking pieces of writing I've ever read, and I encourage all of you to read it. Forget self-help books, this tale about two women's ability to overcome sexual abuse, drug addiction, and severe depression has everything you need to learn to love the life (and parents) you have.

Rating: 5 stars, hands-down.

I went out WAYY too many times this week (think four nights out) and as a result, I'm tired and suffering from lack of sleep. And my roommate decides the AC needs to be on HIGH ALL the time, so I'm starting to catch a cold. Boo. I've decided today that I'm tired of living in the desert, it's just HOT (105 in Las Vegas today!) and I know I have no reason to whine, but I've just been living in the ass crack of the world for too long. Maybe if the AC in my car worked I would be a little happier, maybe.

I saw my Aussie boy on Tuesday, he called me and I got to see him for a bit - I'm still in awe at how any of that worked out, but whatever. Lucky me. :)

The rest of my today will be spent on homework (the class is coming to a close, just not soon enough), potentially a group meeting, maybe dinner tonight, and bed early. Love you and miss you all! And if you want a postcard, facebook me your address.

Well there's Andy doing some last minute touches on the van, on our loading ramp. It sucks that we have to freight our van a good month in advance to make sure it passes customs and what not and is ready for the time of the rally. This was actually the next morning after the photoshoot for Hope Interntational, if you couldn't tell by the picture Joel was soaked to the bone and got sick. The reason? He was out making sure we were ready to go the next day, so he stayed at the yard until 1am.

Anyway, we've done all we can to modify our rally vehicle, let's hope for the best. Until launch day 7/19.

*Objects in comic may be larger (or smaller) than they appear in real life

*Objects have been cartooned up in a happy fun way to make this more enjoyable for the artist

*Artist will be annoyed when confronted with "you don't look like how you draw yourself in your strip" after having posted this "strip".  Artist will not engage in a silly debate but will simply point the complainer to this "strip"...Rabid Lamb #132. 

For further documentation, here is a cartoon rendering of a more accurate version of the current me:

And here is a cartoon rendering of how I FEEL these days: 

Finally, in closing, please note that the artist reserves the right to change her mind at anytime and to begin drawing in whatever style she feels like on any given day...

Okay, with all the technical jargon out of our way.  Anyone have good plans for the weekend?  I had dreams of catching up on my writing and drawing, but I got a terrible sore throat last night and am now suffering severe head congestion as well as the sore throat, so basically, I'm just hoping to make it through the day at this point... 

I used to joke that the swallows figured out that the press would be there, so they delay their return a day or two, but send out a recon mission to make the people happy.

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Today is also the 5th anniversary of the start of the "War on Terror". In those 5 years, over 4,000 troops have been killed and many thousands more have been injured and/or affected some way by their service there.

Thanks, Dubya. :P

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I'm running around getting stuff done, cleaning things up at the house, getting ready for Easter, etc. Jeff's birthday is a week from Sunday, and I have no idea what he wants as a gift. I'll probably just get him a gift card from Barnes and Noble or Hobby Lobby or something.

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I was not very nice to the telemarketer who called me at (get this) 7am this morning. I had only been asleep for a couple of hours after spending most of the night throwing up (I ate something that had gone bad, but didn't taste or smell like it). So when this foreign sounding man came on the phone and started his speil, I told him rather curtly that it was 7am where I was and that my cell phone number was on the do not call list. He kept going like I hadn't said anything. Finally, I told him to please shut up for a second and repeated what I had just said. Again he just kept going. I told him that I was hanging up and reporting his company to the FTC. Then he said, "Why? I'm just doing my job."

"I don't know where you're calling from, but it's too early to be calling anyone in my area code. This number is also on the Do Not Call list. Surely you've heard of that?"

"It is 9am here," he said.

"Where are you calling from?"

"Atlanta, Georgia"

"No you're not," I said. "Atlanta is an hour ahead of me, and it's not 9am there yet."

-click-

He hung up. He was probably, based on his accent, calling from India, where I can assure you it was NOT 9am.

Outsourcing is why I no longer work in call centers. I can't find work doing customer service work because most companies are outsourcing to places like Mexico and India.

If I could telecommute part time, I'd go back to work for the call center in Virginia that I worked in for nine years. Their main offices are in Pennsylvania, though. I liked working for them. I wonder if I could telecommute with them...

Hmmmm....

That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

Look I have food allergies, if I come into contact with the juice of a fresh apple, A TRACE AMOUNT, I will have an allergic reaction. That being said what about those people who are allergic to those TRACE AMOUNTS of these meds? Do we all have to carry epi pens with us in our back pockets now?

Once again we are faced with the dilemma, do we believe them, when they say that the water is safe? What about those trace amounts accumulating in our bodies and then building up. Well scientists are concerned about that, and if they are concerned, let me tell you, so am I. As my friend was filling up her babies bottle with water for her formula, I was thinking to myself, they always ask you at the medical office how much you weigh in order to prescribe you the dose you need, I am hard pressed to believe that those trace amounts that may have no effect on 150 lb adult would have the same "no effect" on those 7 lb newborn babies who cannot be breast fed!

It is appauling that restrictions were never put in place for the disposal of medication down our sewer pipes. At the very least, if they were enforced somehow, a mass majority of people would have thought twice about flushing them. Albeit some would go ahead and flush them anyway.

It is sickening that this is happening, to begin with, but to say "IT HAS NO EFFECT", that's just a flat out lie. We entrust our community politicians to help us in so many ways, rightfully or wrongfully so, BUT it is up to us the consumer, once again to be vigilant in our own education to prevent ourselves and our families from becoming sick. You would think that with all medical advances and technology advances our country has, it has not come up with one to protect our water. Forget the terrorists, we can just poison ourselves...slowly.

One good thing that came out of this illness was my loss of appetite. Because I was eating very little, I ended up losing 5 pounds in two days!!! Now, I know what you're thinking...oh you just got dehydrated, that was just water, when you start eating and drinking again, you'll gain that right back. Nope...I don't want to hear it. That maybe true...but I don't want to hear it. For the next day or two, I will be relishing the fact that my scale says I'm 178 lbs. when I'm on it. Woo hoo!

Yeah. Questions? Comments? Knock yourselves out...I'll just be lying over here dead...

I know, it doesn't really make sense, but I guess I thought when I got my head together, the rest would follow.  Now, arguably my head is not together just because I've been in therapy for a year, but it's better.  Actually, I'm not really sure it's better...no fault of the therapist, or me really, 2007 was just a really hard year, and you can't expect to get better or "together" when all you're doing is surviving.  Regardless, I continue to hold on to the possibly erroneous belief that getting my head together will be the first step to making the body come along in the direction I want it to.  It would be great if it could start coming along before I go to Hawaii in July...how about that body?  C'mon! 

Sidenote: I think I'm getting sick (again).  Adam has been sick since Saturday night and I've been taking care of him.  I thought I dodged it with clever handwashing and taking vitamins and such, but my throat hurts this morning, so all that damn hand washing may have been for naught.  Anyway, I've already got a comic scanned and ready for tomorrow, but I haven't done Friday's yet, so we may have the first ever Rabid Lamb Comic interruption if I get hit with this thing.  Maybe it would be best if you all mentally prepare yourselves now...I know your day just won't be right without a morning comic from Rabid Lamb...  :)

Shoutout:  A special shoutout/thank you to Josh, who has been helping both Adam and I whore out our blogs.  The line of widgets you see on the bottom of some of these posts is my blatant attempt to get more traffic...and it's all thanks to Josh.  Thanks Josh!

• let you know how temping went - it turned around and was really nice.
• let you know how the interview went!
• Let you know if I honked on myself.

I think that whatever the chick who sneezed all over me at Dior had is now creeping into my soul.

I seem to have contracted some bug from the germ factories that are my children, and for the past 2 days have had a fever and a raging, maybe I should say ginormous, grimace inducing, headache. I think the only thing worse than a headache is a toothache. Having throbbing pain in your head is the hardest thing to not just sit and focus on. gah.

I have to go back to Pittsburgh next week for another ultrasound. My bilirubin count has been going up a bit, so they want to get me in so they can have a peek around. It isn't anything to worry about, so's I have been told - so naturally I am at least marginally concerned. We'll see next Wednesday I guess.

Nothing else has changed though, I am still negative for CMV, and my energy level isn't getting any worse or better; so really I can't complain. Actually, yeah... yeah I can.

This time of years just blows. It's dark when I get and go to work, and it's damn near dark when I leave to go home. It's starting to snow now, and there's actually a little bit on the ground. It's not even like I hate the winter and/or snow - it's just really hard going from summer to winter. I'm not a huge fan of being cold, so it takes a bit for me to get back into the swing of winter again.

meh. I must go regain my spot in front of the TV now.....

Hope everyone out there is having a better October than I am!