My C-P id, ready to turn in.

Later, I prop my iPHone on the edge of the sink as I wash my hands. My elbow bumps the phone into the sink. It falls into the sink and the display promptly winks out. Ugh.

Friday I dealt with the sadness of my last day. Except it really wasn’t all that sad. I had an amazing cake with Mickey Mouse on it, and I got a Toy Story going away card and a $100 Visa gift card. I managed to muddle through my goodbye speech without completely losing my marbles. And I left at 11am, with everyone waving and cheering as I walked out the door for the last time. Again, I thought I’d lose it when I heard the door click behind me, but…it was time. I loved my years at the C-P but the job (d)evolved into something that I’d never apply for if I saw it in the paper. I will miss my coworkers, though.

The $100 gift card went with me from the C-P to the Apple Store at the Cherry Hill Mall, where I bought the iPhone 4S in white. I stop at the post office. I come home. I faceplant into the sofa. Later that night I wake up and have a cough and a 102 degree fever.

This morning, I wake up at 7am (!!) with a cough, a heavy wheeze and a 101.5 degree fever. I make a doctor appointment for 9:10 and hey, it snowed! So WM decides to drive me there, since I’m practically speaking in tongues because of the fever. I don’t do fevers well.

Diagnosis: Bronchitis, which could have turned into walking pneumonia if I didn’t nip it in the bud early (which I really had to because OMG I START A NEW JOB ON MONDAY AND I NEED TO NOT BABBLE!) The doc gave me a nebulizer treatment while I was there. Never had one before, and I’d like not to have one again.

Now I’m on an inhaler, cough medicine, a Z-pac, and an anti-inflammation steroid. My fever is slowly breaking (down to 99.5) and I feel human again for the first time in over 24 hours.

But at least struggling to breathe kept me from worrying about sucking at the new job. Yay perspective!

I don’t need to be at 100% health on Monday — but I need to be well enough to fake it. (I would like to feel better enough to go to Target tomorrow, though. Because I’d like a new notebook and some new pens to bring to the NEW JOB AND I REALLY HOPE I DON’T SUCK AT IT AND THE PEOPLE LIKE ME!)

Unfortunately, having a bento box sized apartment, we don’t have a lot of space for puzzles. But oh how I yearned to feel that familiar soft thuddy click of a puzzle piece sliding into place. So last weekend we bought a cheap card table and one folding chair at Target.

And a puzzle. Yes, shut up, a Disney puzzle. But what I really like about this one is that the characters are roughly placed in the geographic locations where their stories took place. So Mowgli is in India and Tiana’s in the US Southeast and the rest of the Princesses are taking part in #occupyEurope.

Naturally, the puzzle we chose is too darn long for the card table, so we’re doing it in halves. When we’re done we’re going to glue it together and forget about it in a closet put it on the wall somewhere.

And then we’ll go and get ANOTHER puzzle!

**
And hey, tomorrow around 9:15am EST, could you send me some positive “knock-em-dead, champ” vibes? Maybe hum the awesome beginning measures of “Welcome to the Jungle.” Dun-nuh-nuh-nuh! Dun-nuh-nuh-nuh! Dun-nuh-nuh-Dun-nuh-nuh-Duh-nuhnuhnuhnuhnuhnuhn. Thanks, all!

In any case, it looks lovely…

These are ornaments, but they make a nice tableau on their own.

Our stockings.

I never thought I'd have a 'theme tree.' But it just happened that way.

Desktop wallpaper by wdwlive.com

It might be holding plans for something we haven’t done in a long, long time.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Kill me now. KILL ME NOW!

And you know how I feel about Disney.

So when I first saw this adorable Mickey Mouse hand wash featured as part of a sponsored post series by Method, I nearly died from the unexpected Disney sighting and the cuteness. I wanted to order it immediately, but hemmed and hawed.

Then I saw the second post, featuring the adorable Olive. I discussed ordering the hand wash with WM. But I stopped short, because I thought paying shipping for soap was a bit over the top.

When I saw the final post, which included a giveaway, I was bouncing around in my chair like a nutcase, ready to enter. But I stopped short, because if I’m going to win ONE giveaway in my life, it’s not going to be for soap.

And then I ordered the damn soap myself. I ordered two Mickey Mouses.

And look what’s printed in tiny font on the back!

AAAA! Whistle while you wash! Can you HANDLE that cute? (smacks self in the face)

This is the part where I tell you that Method sponsored this post, except they didn’t. I just liked the design of the soap containers and bought them with my very own money. In fact, once the soap runs out, I’m going to keep reusing the dispensers with whatever hand wash is on sale at the time. So there. Hmpf.

After two years of Cute Overload calendars, I am officially burned out on cute animal photos. And that’s a sad sad thing. You could show me a picture of a wee baby bunny munching on a buttercup while wearing a sailor hat and I’d say, “meh.” That’s not good. I have to recharge.

The Urban Dictionary calendar I had last year was great fun and I would have bought it again, but I couldn’t find it at the mall’s calendar kiosk. So in addition to my beloved Page-a-Day notepad and a monthly desktop wallpaper from Smashing Magazine, I added this calendar to my workplace desk:

True or False for our jaded society.

WM and I are keeping track of how well we do. So far he has more correct.

At home, we’re using the World of Warcraft Trivia Calendar and a Mickey Mouse wall calendar in the kitchen.

Even with all of this, if you ask me what today’s date is, I will still hem and haw. But at least I’ll be able to tell you about Johnny Carson’s joke that caused a toilet paper panic!

*And Christmas cards. And Christmas wrapping paper.

I checked you tonight to see about the newest stupid winter crapslush storm that’s headed our way and what do you do to me? THIS.

This is NOT nice!

Firstly, as all of the Disney snobs will say, it’s “Walt Disney World.” The one in California is Disneyland. Florida is Walt Disney World. Get it straight.

Secondly, what a douchebaggy thing to do! You know I yearn for warm weather and palm trees and I haven’t been to my MousekeMecca lately. And you just rub that in my face by suggesting I check the weather there? (75 and partly sunny tomorrow) instead of the weather here? (42 with rain/freezing rain/wind)

You stink.

I’ve always liked the giraffes. They’re tall and elegant and seem so gentle. Okay, maybe not. And they have purple tongues! They’re not noisy like the monkeys or have pokey bits like the rhinos or flesh-ripping teeth like lions.

2. What’s your favorite circus act?
The trapeze artists. When I was a child, I wanted to fly like Peter pan and friends. I still want to fly, but I have a better understaning of gravity and physics now. So watching people on the trapeze is the closest I can get to seeing people fly.

3. When did you last attend (or participate in) a parade?
Can we count the parades at Walt Disney World? If so, we were there in May, 2009. The only parade I’ve participated in was…yes, Virginia, a Disney parade with Mom back in 2007. Good ol’ 2007, the year of the 3 Disney trips which resulted in high credit card balances that I’m STILL paying off and will be for years to come. I was dumb in 2007. But I had fun in 2007.

4. When did you last attend a sporting event?
We went to the Camden Riversharks game back in June. It was fun! I wish I could go to more big-league events, but I feel like the new and swanky stadiums and sporting complexes have priced normal people out of going. The cheapest real seats at the Phillies’ Citizens Bank park (I don’t count the rooftop bleachers) are $20 per person. And they’re not even great. Add in parking, food and bridge toll and you have a really pricey night.

5. What unique festivals does your area feature in celebration of some kind of food?
I know when you think of New Jersey, you don’t think of farms, but we’re not nicknamed the Garden State for nothing! We have strawberry festivals, peach festivals, blueberry festivals, tomato festivals and probably corn festivals. If you can grow it, there’s a festival.

***
As this gets posted (yay for scheduling posts!) I’m on my way to the mall to replace my ill iPhone 1st-gen with the iphone …. (drumroll)…. 3GS. No, it’s not the 4, but at $99 it’s a steal! Plus, I hold my phone wrong so I think this’ll be a good fit for now.

1. Oh my goodness! You have to run out the door right now and you haven’t eaten! Before dashing out, what do you grab to wolf down on your way?

Because I cherish my morning sleep, I do this every day & have breakfast with my coffee at my work desk. So I’m always sure to have a bunch of yogurts, fiber bars, or bagels ready to grab and go.

2. What’s a popular breakfast you dislike?

Around these parts, scrapple is huge. It’s a block of scrap meat. I’ve tasted some before and while it’s not as horrible as it looks/smells, it’s not my thing.

And it has the word “scrap” in it. (shudder)

3. You’re going out for breakfast anywhere you want, and someone else is treating! Where do you go and what do you order?

Thanks for the offer! You’re taking me to Walt Disney World, where I will have a Mickey Waffle at any restaurant that’s open for breakfast. No, it’s not high-end, but in this case it’s about atmosphere more than the contents of the waffle batter. What? We can stay a week? YAY!!!

4. What do you have when you need a simple, healthy (or healthy-ish, for those of you who just don’t do healthy!)
breakfast?

Oatmeal. WM introduced me to Irish Oatmeal and I love it. I call it “magic oats” because after eating it I can seriously feel a rise in energy. It’s filling, high in fiber and low in calories.

5. You’ve been invited to a breakfast potluck. What are you most likely to bring?

Two gallons of milk and a bunch of those wee cereal boxes you see at buffets. They are adorable and always make me think of hotel breakfasts and vacations!