Number 4: (day twenty-one) Dose

I'm not entirely sure I should still be referring to these photos as part of number four on my list...I was uninspired by a few of the prompts, took only out of focus photos for a day or two (I'll blame it on the camera - I desperately need to take it in to have the sensor cleaned - but in reality I'm sure I'm as much to blame), and then was way-laid by some medical problems for a few days so the last two days were shots from my phone....and this one definitely has nothing to do with the daily prompts! I'll keep picking up the camera for the rest of the month, and maybe I'll try again to actually get a full month of photos in the spring.

This is the dose of meds I'm taking every six hours for the next three days. The little one is for nausea, because the eight big ones are for bleeding and have historically made me sick to my stomach. Luckily, that little one is holding it's own...small but mighty!

Referring to medical problems and showing you photos of this many pills make it seem much more serious than it was (and is), but it turns out I had some polyps on my colon that needed removing. Unfortunately, the way you find out you have polyps on your colon is via hemorrhaging in your GI tract...and I have a bleeding disorder, so I bleed about three times more than the average person. Something that for normal folks is nothing but a doctors appointment and a follow-up out patient procedure was three and a half days in the hospital for me, hooked up to a heart monitor and with no fewer than four blood draws each day so that they could monitor my blood levels. You don't mess with bleeding when someone has a blood disorder, so there is a lot of overly cautious medicating and checking and monitoring. Fun times! I honestly have very little to complain about - I have great friends and family who kept me well cared for and entertained (even from afar!), and I had amazing care from all of the nurses and doctors that I dealt with. I couldn't have been happier with every single person I dealt with through the entire weekend.

Number 4: (day twenty) Itsy-Bitsy

I was so excited to eat my first real meal since Thursday night, and then it showed up and the serving was itsy-bitsy. :( You better believe I loved it though! You don't go 84 hours without a legit meal and not appreciate one - regardless of serving size.

*More on my weekend here.

Number 4: (day nineteen) Workspace

This isn't the view from my work space, it's the view from my window at Club MGH* over dinner - the sun setting over Cambridge and the Charles River. Not bad, hey? All of the nurses and doctors told me I had the best view on the floor. I'm pretty sure that this view would make any work day a little bit better.

*About why I was there.

Number 4: (day thirteen) Makes You Laugh

Barley, when he is not being an outright jerk, is a very sweet clown. When I'm working from home, there is usually a point in the afternoon where he insists on being in my lap, despite the fact that there isn't much room for him there. If I deny him, this is what happens. Well, first, he'll stand on his hind legs with his front paws on the arm of the chair or on my thigh, begging me to let him up. Then when I ignore him, he settles into this stink eye.

It's a really good think he's so cute (and also warm).

Number 4: (day twelve) A Shadow

I was all comfy and warm on the living room cough, listening to WBUR, when Pete got home from the grocery store. I told him that he could turn off the radio and listen to/watch whatever he wanted, and he chased me out of the room by choosing to watch an Ozzy Osbourne concert DVD. I sat down at the desk in the office to transfer, edit, and upload photos from the weekend, and then looked up and saw this. I grabbed the camera, took two quick shots, and then sat down and transferred them to the computer. Before the photos had even finished transferring, these shadows were gone.

Number 4: (day eleven) Something Red

We went to the Harpoon Brewery with a few friends today to try and catch one of the last tours and tastings. Unfortunately the tours had sold out by 1:30, and we were out of luck. At least we bought a growler of beer, and there was plenty of "something red"s for me to take pictures of!

Some quick smart phone sleuthing told us that the Blue Hills Brewery was still open for tastings, so off we went to make sure we still got in our fair share of beer tastings. (Well, not me. I don't drink beer because it's gross.) We bought more beer there, too.

Pete is distraught that I didn't want to buy a t-shirt, because I was also handcrafted in Canton, Mass. "These are your people! You should support them!" he kept saying.

You can see a few other photos from both the Harpoon Brewery and Blue Hills Brewery here.

Number 4: (day eight) Hands

Entirely uninspired...my hands, working away. Pale and almost scaly - someone needs to start keeping hand lotion in the office so it's handy.

Thank you, I'm here all week folks!

But seriously - here's another one from today that has nothing to do with today's prompt, but is way cuter.

Number 4: (day six) Looking Up

The view as I was walking outside my office at lunchtime today...blue skies and sunny, but don't be fooled, it was chilly! There are some really beautiful buildings in the financial district near work, and a great mix of architectural styles. Some days I really love being able to look out form the tenth floor and see the detail at the top of our neighboring buildings - it's nice to think that when the buildings were being designed, people were thinking about the view from neighboring buildings and not just the ground!

More importantly, what this photo taught me was that I desperately need to clean my lenses and take my camera in to have the sensor cleaned ASAP...there was a lot of dust speck removal in Photoshop today!

Number 4: (day five) 10am / Words

Me and Champ, snuggling and reading (The Golden Compass) in bed. That's where I was at 10am, where were you?

Number 4: (day three) Passion

Barley is seriously passionate about getting his snuggles. He follows me around the house when I get home from work, sometimes weaving in between my legs, until I finally sit down, and then he is instantly in my lap. And usually headbutting me until I pet him, too.

Of course, not long after this I was petting him after he was (apparently) done with that, and he tried to bite me.

Number 4: (day two) My View

I was working from home today, and this is the view from my desk chair when I look out the window that's to my left. It used to be straight in front of me when I was sitting at the desk, but I may have rearranged the furniture in the office/guest room twice this week, so now it's to my left. It's not the prettiest of views (especially when it's an overcast, grey, winter day), but I love having it.

Random tidbits about this view (and our neighborhood):
- I'm pretty sure that we are the only people in our neighborhood that walk on the sidewalk. Everyone else walks down the middle of the street. Quincy's sidewalks are in horrible shape, but they are certainly not so bad that I would choose to walk in the street instead of using them. I'm talking everyone - families with babies in strollers, women with infants in carriers, the can and bottle collectors with their stolen shopping carts. It's one of the first things I noticed about the neighborhood when we first moved here, and it has driven me bonkers ever since.
- We belong to a local running club (I may or may not have over-thrown the guy who started it and taken charge myself), and recently met one of our neighbors through it! You would think that living on an all residential block we would have met our neighbors being out in the neighborhood, but it's urban enough that people just don't work like that. We are friendly with our downstairs neighbor Dave who moved in a few months ago, and we have both met our immediate next door neighbor Mr. Matchlight (whose stairs you can see in the photo - not his real name), but otherwise we have never spoken with any neighbors. Until one of them showed up at a running club event, and it was discovered that she lives in the building on the left in the photo above. In fact, if I had taken the photo at a different angle, you would be able to see her windows.
- Our neighborhood is primarily Asian. At one end of the block is the Greater Boston Chinese Community Center and at the other end is the Chinese Baptist Church of Greater Boston. When we first moved here, it felt very, very different than our previous neighborhoods (most recently a predominantly black neighborhood with a smattering of Vietnamese and prior to that a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood) but we have come to love having an abundance of amazing Asian restaurants near us...even if I do miss being able to get a great burger within walking distance.
- At least once a day when I'm working from home, I overhear someone having a screaming argument. Sometimes it is two people walking down the (middle of the) street, and sometimes it is one person on the phone, but it always happens.
- My favorite sight to see out the window is the children from the daycare around the corner out for a walk, all holding onto the loops on their rope...do you know what I'm talking about? It's like a little parade of adorableness, just for me to enjoy from my window! It's hilarious to watch all the toddlers looking and pointing and pulling in a different direction while their teachers walk along at what must be a painfully slow pace and try to keep them in line. I should add here that these are the only other people who walk on the sidewalk, so don't call DSS on them.

Number 4: (the start) Take One Photo A Day

I've seen two different sets of prompts for a February Photo A Day - here and here. A nice coincidence when taking one photo every day for a month is on my winter to do list! I put both prompts on my calendar for each day this month so that I'm not 100% responsible for coming up with a photo idea by myself each day. This should be fun.

Today I went with prompt number two - you. Soooo....this is me. At work. On a call* (can you spot my headset?). Do you ever see a picture of yourself and think "Oh! That's what I look like?!" That's what happened when I looked at this one. I'm not sure what it is, but even after spending a few minutes editing the photo and uploading it and then putting it here, I still feel a little surprised every time I look at it.

A few other quick tidbits:
- Another woman that sits on my floor was wearing this same sweater today. We ran into each other twice, even though we usually only run into each other twice a week...probably because our sweaters recognized each other as kinfolk and wanted to say hello.
- I'm growing my hair out a bit and because I'm in between cuts it looks much better wavy or curly than it does straight, which is how I've been wearing it most of the time lately. Today I used a product that's meant to "enhance" curls, and apparently it works because I got at least half a dozen compliments on my curls. I guess people prefer curly hair!
- I have spent the last 4 years working on very virtual teams. Until six months ago, my manager and I were the only two people on our team that are located in Boston. I spend a lot of time on calls and I rarely ever meet the people I work closely with face to face. I was super excited today to find out that a woman who I worked very closely with for a year and a half is in Boston for the next week and a half, and we went out for dinner tonight. I can't tell you how awesome it is to finally get to put a face with a name and a voice and a personality! It's always weird to explain to people that I have never met 90% of the people I've worked with for the last six years.
- I'm kind of excited for this photo a day...I hope that feeling lasts!


* I swear I was paying attention, you can totally prop your camera up on a stack of books and take self-timer shots and still be hearing everything discussed on the call.