I rested all day today. Yesterday my gums were sore and inflamed, my glands were swollen, my throat was scratchy and I had a cold sore on my tongue. (That's hot, right?) 

We've got Jana & Jay's wedding all day today (wedding @ 2:30, reception immediately following) and unless I want to collapse due to exhaustion and illness at 7 pm, I needed to sleep in, hydrate, and make sure I'm feeling well enough to stick it out for the duration tonight. 

No long run/walk today with Trudy. Went to bed last night at 9 PM and slept til 9 AM today. That's 12 hours, suckas. I feel 95% better. My mouth issues have calmed down, my throat is no longer scratchy and there's no sign of a fever. 

See what I mean, though? I feel like I'm constantly on the verge of getting sick... My immune system usually pulls through... but when it doesn't... I really get nailed with the schmutz. People are sick all around me, so I'm just trying to be smart and keep myself rested and hydrated. 

Next weekend is March Madness. I'm going to run/walk it with Trudy. I'd like to be mostly healthy for that, as well. 

10:09 AM: Dinner turned out pretty well last night. The key to this dish is this... IGNORE THE COOKING TIMES THEY GIVE YOU. Completely. I think it says in the recipe to simmer for "a minute" and the whole thing should take only 20 minutes or something. This is a complete fallacy. When you add the chicken broth to the ginger/onion/garlic/asparagus combo, you've still got a good 10-15 minutes to go. I have no idea what sort of super sonic jet flame they were cooking this dish on in their test kitchens, but my average American kitchen was able to wrap up this meal in about 40 minutes. About DOUBLE what they say in the recipe.

ALSO, you may wish to use thicker asparagus. Or, maybe, don't put the asparagus in when they say... maybe put the asparagus in LATE in the process, since it's essentially boiling in chicken stock while the whole deal reduces. Remember to keep the heat on HIGH and the chicken stock/ginger/garlic/onion combo will reduce... but it's not instantaneous. Be patient, and watch for soggy asparagus.

It's a tasty meal, but like I said, the preparation/cooking of it is nothing like the explanation given in the recipe. I think that's why it was such a FAIL the first couple of times I tried it. Well, that and the flaming pan. But, that couldn't be the problem, could it? 

PHOTO FLIPPER:

Well here's one from the archives. This was in the girls locker room, after gym class. We were just finishing getting ourselves reassembled and ready after our mandatory hour of exercise. Not a single one of us was overweight. We had MANDATORY exercise every single day, and our activities were varied every two weeks. Soccer, Badminton, Track, Basketball, younameit. Even gymnastics! I sucked at all of them, (sucked especially hard at gymnastics, except for cartwheels) but hey, every single day we worked up a sweat of some sort for an entire hour.

I'd like to say that we all had airtight diets too... but the reality is we dipped french fries in chocolate shakes for lunch. We had a vending machine in the hallway, and we drank pop. (Also out of the vending machines). We knew when to stop, though, I think. Or maybe we just didn't have enough change for more than one can of pop.

The vending machines have been pulled from high schools... as have many of the physical education programs. They've either been pulled, or sissified. Have too many lawsuits made it impossible for High Schools to properly insure themselves against the inevitible injuries from physical activity? What's going on? Does "gym class" even exist anymore? Why do we, as a society, need a program (with a handbook) entitled "NO CHILD LEFT INSIDE?" What kid wants to stay inside and sit around? It frightens me. Do we actually wonder why our children are obese?

(Turns out I misunderstood the NO CHILD LEFT INSIDE PROGRAM... It wasn't fully explained to me and I thought it had to do with exercise... but as I understand it now, it has more to do with ecological issues and conservation... nature and whatnot....) So maybe we *do* need something like that. AS WELL AS an exercise plan for our chubby youngsters! 

1:26 PM: I have spent all day today working on one file. All day long. ALL. DAY. LONG. My eyes hurt.

In other news, however, it's absolutely gorgeous weather outside! A bit windy, but I'll take it. 70 degrees! YaaaaHooooo! Working from home tomorrow, and hoping I can leave the windows open as I do! Air! How I've missed you!

Oh Look! It's WEDDING WEDNESDAY ... AGAIN!

Where are the weeks going? 

For the record, my wedding dress is still not in. I may wind up with nothing at all to wear on 4/15/2012. I suppose since it's a beach deal I could always go all Pam Anderson and wear a white bikini. For some reason, though, I'm not sure my pasty body in a white bikini would have the same "PAM ANDERSON effect." It would have a "LAURA WARINGO effect" which is not nearly as... well... effective.

At any rate...today we've got my Mom and Dad's wedding. 2/12/1955. I have to say, I really really like my Mom's dress. She was as tiny as munchkins come, and my sister and I used to wear her dresses for "dress up" up dresses when we were in single digit ages. *sigh*.

Cutting the cake! 

My Mom feeding the cake to my Dad. That's my Aunt sitting there looking all angelic and innocent. 

Raise your glass! That's my uncle George and my Dad and Mom. 

A couple more photos from this weekend... then tomorrow we're on to WEDDING WEDNESDAY!!

DUCK FACE and Agnes. Not sure why I was making the duck face, honestly. Maybe I just ate a lime.

10:09 AM: I'm starting to feel normal again... 2 days after the party. I suppose it WAS my "sending off" party, and I was sent off in grand fashion. I was sent so far off that I don't think I will be sending off like that again. Ever. It was expensive. It was loud. It was drunk and disorderly. There was makeup, girdles, fake tanning products and terribly impractical footwear. My feet and liver are both still screaming. I feel as though my body has been REALLY SLOW to process the alcohol... leaving me still intoxicated until mid afternoon yesterday... and still hungover today! But I'm at work and I'm working, improving hourly. Drinking plenty of water and some NUUN.

Got some of the photos uploaded into my Aperture program, where I'm fixing the red-eyes on everyone. I got a couple of Agnes' photos off of FB... I'll cut and paste them here...

The girlz from work. Me, Agnes, Chrissy and Kathy.

Me and Agnes. I'll upload the rest of my pictures tonight.

Kathy and I were the only ones that made it out past 1 AM. I felt the need to justify my piles of makeup and my $98 dress. 

And there it is. An alcohol soaked "Bon Voyage" to my partying days.  It's time now to prep the body for babymaking and the like. I'm thinking some healthy eating, continued exercise, and a reasonable sleep schedule until the wedding and subsequent party. The wagon. I'm on it.