I just got off the treadmill after walking for around 35-40 minutes. And then I got terribly nauseous and dizzy and frustrated and started to cry, half in anger (to tell the truth). Geez. No matter how hard I try to be more healthy, my own body is fighting me every step of the way.

Waah, waah. Poor me. What a 'Little Bitch' I am... Ignore that, please!

Okay, moving on now! It's 12:30 a.m. and I need to wash my hair so we can head to bed! Long day tomorrow. I'm meeting with Kris at the office for one thing.

I also really need to meet with Kate and Calisa about the website. And contact David at FISH about another website issue. (sigh)

My Fitbit appears to be broken. I can't believe I need yet another Fitbit!!! The way these are made, the cover tends to crack -- which is what happened to my last one. Seriously??? I was so burned I was going to miss steps coming upstairs to replace the battery. These things eat batteries, by the way. It's ridiculous! I love Fitbit, but certainly think they could make them better!

I did get my 4,000 steps for today -- plus 1,000 toward tomorrow. So that's good. Marilyn got 18,000 today!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I left a message for setting up my referral appointment today, but didn't hear back. Tomorrow I'll need to phone again and leave a different contact number and keep my fingers crossed, I guess.

I was very upset with Latoya, Leslie's assistant, today. She implied I was shouting at her. I would never do that! I hadn't even raised my voice. I can't understand where she was getting that. But, yes, I was disagreeing with her, I admit. You can disagree without raising your voice, though.

I leave a message for her to call me. I've told the front desk the entire message, but still want to tell her. It's that TWICE they have sent the wrong prescription for insulin to my pharmacy. I have two insulins. I don't use the second one. I certainly do use the first one. I'd like to get the first insulin in a pen -- and with my new insurance I'm pretty sure it's going to be covered. But they keep sending the second one to the pharmacy. It is covered, so that sounds like the first one will be, too.

So instead of sending the wrong prescription, please send the correct one. That's the crux of the matter.

When she finally phones me she doesn't want to do this. I ask if it's too much trouble and she basically says yes. She wants me to phone my prescription coverage provider and find out if it's covered or not. So after she has me terribly upset I agree to do that.

I call them. They check and say yes, it is covered. But they tell me I must get my health provider to send in a prescription. Wait. Is there an echo in here???

I call the front desk back and relay the message, telling the woman there is no way I'm going to speak to Latoya again after being upset by her. Yeah, there's no customer service anymore. And, sure, it didn't hurt me to make the call. But it's not my job -- it's Latoya's job. What the hell.

Anyway, assuming she ever does that, I should get my insulin in a pen finally -- which is wonderful!!! It will be so much less painful than injecting with a vial and syringe. I guess I'll find out soon whether she'll get it there for me or not...

I had to also replace the batteries on our Aria scale (it's a Fitbit-tied scale) today. I really like the scale and the fact it's tied to our device. Very nice!

The weather here is pouring nasty rain and cold, too. Just filthy weather! Ugh. And there's no end in sight. I only went out a couple of times all day and hated every second of it.

Took out garbage today and picked up around the house. Wrote some fiction (around 1,500 words, I think). I can knock off a thousand words easily, really, and love doing it...

Marilyn got home at a reasonable hour but very tired. Me, too (surprise). I'm constantly fatigued, but there are apparently a couple of decent reasons for it! Haha. We both had naps and lost track of time and she missed her massage therapy!

The bad thing: we hadn't taken our ballots in yet! And we missed the deadline. And our yes vote was badly needed. (sigh)

We are voters in this house! We rarely ever miss a vote...

Time to dash and do my hair. Sweet dreams, friends.

My friend Mark is going to help out at the parade tomorrow. And, of course, I'll have Christine and Zander, thank God!

Because as of this minute, I have NO VOICE to speak of. I have total laryngitis. I just can't believe it.

Sister Sue was very supportive in the morning when we talked. Of course she feels bad for me. But excited to be going to the parade.

Mark had to come by to pick up his credentials (and some pain meds) from me, so he took me to get a bottle of cognac from the liquor store and some meds at Freddies. Mark is such a pal.

Can you believe that cognac is considered a home remedy for laryngitis? Well, here's the deal: If I have to try home remedies, I might as well try ONE that will make me feel good. Hahaha.

Others included:
-Chamomile tea and stinging nettle tea (both have an anti-inflammatory effect, which should help the inflamed vocal cords)
-Honey and lemon juice, which can be used alone, or in the tea (honey soothes the throat and fights bacteria that cause infection while lemon acts as an astringent that breaks up mucus, plus lemons also have anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, and contain essential nutrients and vitamins that support the immune system)
-Apple cider vinegar (apple cider vinegar kills bacteria in your throat) -- you can mix it with honey or use it straight or in water -- mixed with Cayenne Pepper it's supposed to be effective (cayenne pepper soothes inflamed mucous membranes around the voice box)
-WATER!!! (hydration is essential)

I'm probably forgetting others. I've been drinking water WARM and tea luke warm -- nothing too cold or too hot!

Friend June was also very supportive when we talked and also feels bad for me. Everybody wants to do something, but there's nothing to be done. (sigh)

Regardless, I'm unable to talk, much less SHOUT the way I normally do at the parade. I guess we'll see how well it goes!

I'll really have to count on my helpers tomorrow...

Ken is in town and staying with Rob and Jeff (I talked to Rob this morning). Looking forward to seeing Ken -- his 49th birthday is tomorrow! And I always love seeing Rob and Jeff. They brought Voodoo doughnuts to the office today, and took special ones to Marilyn and me and got Marilyn a latte from Starbucks, too (a venti!).

Besides having laryngitis, apparently I have pink eye in my left eye. Good grief! That's a childhood ailment. What the f next???

The weather has improved, though, so that's something to be thankful for.

Also, I weighed on our Fitbit scale (I always call it the 'fancy' scale), and my weight was down 3 more pounds from Tuesday (when I last mentioned weighing). That's a good thing, anyway. Hahaha.

I did type up the PA Tower location list that needed to be done for this year, this morning (finally). I give that to my motorcycle cops who take results out on the route (float winners and the name of the new Queen).

I slept fitfully last night and during the day today, but at least I got some rest. Rest is also essential for feeling better.

I need to WASH MY HAIR before the morning -- and it's an early one. So I'm getting a nap and then doing that. And then going right to bed! Morning will come very, very early tomorrow.

Wish me luck. I'll be doing my best, voice or no voice.

Ultimately, Marilyn and I do see the humor in all this. 2016 has been a rough year, but tomorrow will go great, no matter what.

And we're excited about dinner on Sunday!!! (woo hoo)

It's now heading for 2:00 a.m. and I just woke up from my 'nap' from after dinner. I have a sore throat. Man, that feels lousy, I'm telling you. I cannot get a cold right now. I mean, I guess I can get a cold, but I sure wish I wouldn't! Because the show must go on, no matter what.

And, damn it, we're only days away from the end of festival for 2016. (Yes, yes. There are other things coming up during the year. But for NOW we're nearing the 'end.')

Today...

Marilyn had her trip up the Columbia River Gorge with Rich, Frank and Queen Kahedja for the Columbia River Highway Centennial Celebration. Marilyn and Rich have been going to meetings about this for AGES now. Our festival Queen was there when it opened in 1916 and Marilyn wanted our current Queen there for today's ceremony -- which she was.

So Marilyn was up REALLY EARLY for this trip.

I stayed home -- but I was at my computer answering emails by 8:30 this morning, believe me. I had another IT heavy day, as a matter of fact. I was dealing with a bunch of stuff via Remote and over the phone and in emails. 2016 has been a bear for IT issues, I have to say. And normally we don't have quite this many after the festival has actually started. (sigh)

Marilyn came home in the afternoon to get me. We went and picked up prescriptions, then headed to the office.

Marilyn wasn't hungry, but I went out and got a sandwich from McDonald's for lunch. I got back and Kris was there (I never really knew WHY), so I just had to eat in front of him. I was trying to get food down before it was time to pack up for our 4:00 PA Meeting.

Amusing IT moment: Christine and Carol couldn't get in to Quickbooks today. It turns out that Sheila turned OFF her computer last night. I think my instructions were very clear: Shut off all applications and log off the computer. WE NEVER SHUT DOWN OUR COMPUTERS, EVER. Period. Why was this important? Quickbooks currently resides on Sheila's machine. So if she's shut down, we're OUT OF BUSINESS for using Quickbooks. This was some brilliant Intuit thing with the latest version of the software that you couldn't have the data reside on the Server anymore. Kris swears he can fix that, so we'll see (maybe next week). Anyway, once Sheila came in and booted up, all was fine...

Kate phoned me about the eNewsletter. Our CoolerEmail service had to be re-upped today. This happens every year around now. That's my job, of course. And she also couldn't get the permalink to work again this time around. (Turns out she made a mistake naming the new edition at Cooler...)

So I was focused on a lot of IT things, needless to say, I guess...

The 'red wagon' we use to haul all our stuff to the PA Meeting was SUPER HEAVY. Hauling that around was my job, too. Hahaha. I don't mind -- I did it last week, too. But today it was MUCH HEAVIER than last time. We have TWICE AS MANY towers for GFP as for Starlight. We couldn't just lift the thing full into our car -- the handle wouldn't fit in the back! We had to unpack it and stick the wagon in the back seat (dirty track marks on our leather interior!!!). Then get there and pack it all up again. What a pain! Marilyn and I were talking about the old days when we'd yell at people (especially the men) to come outside and HELP pack the stuff in to the meeting. But now it's three women managing all this stuff alone -- Marilyn, Katie and me. Good grief.

Also, Gordon wanted the meeting changed to 4:00 -- but he didn't start it until 4:30. Seriously???

The best part of this meeting? Checking it OFF our list of things to do and heading back to the office.

Marilyn had piles of stuff to get ready for tomorrow morning's meeting -- the final GFP ops meeting. Another painful meeting for Marilyn, but Katie was excited about it. I teased her and told her that was because she'd never been to it before. Hahaha. I never attend that. I used to years and years ago, but it's really meaningless for me and my assistants...

We stopped at the Burrito House on the way home for tacos for dinner. What a nice treat!

We got home by 8:15 p.m. and ate dinner. Then both went down for naps. I just woke up a bit ago...

Not sure how we're doing tomorrow. Marilyn needs to go directly to that meeting, which I do NOT need to attend. So I'll stay home first thing, for sure. I need to get in before tomorrow night's event at 7:00 p.m. (IYSFF Awards Ceremony). But otherwise I can work from here at home. Marilyn and I have a huge project to work on tomorrow, but I don't need to be in the office to do it...

Fitbit Update: I got at least 7,000 steps today (now sure of the exact amount). I don't know what Marilyn got.

Exciting Moment: I got on our fancy new Fitbit scale and weighed myself today. I'd lost nearly 5 pounds since the last time I weighed! (4.8, to be exact.) That made me happy! Yeah, it's only five pounds, but I'll take it.

I haven't used any salt for cooking or on food in days and days now. That's a miracle for me, as I'm pretty salt-addicted. Just trying to get my swelling down, if I can. (sigh)

There's more, but I'm heading to bed (as it's now nearly 2:30 a.m.). Goodnight all!