Chapter 119: Fever

So, yesterday I made the decision that if I woke up feeling shitty again I would not go to work today. Well, while lying in bed last night I suddenly found myself breathing a little easier. Then my ear seemed to pop and I could hear properly again. It dawned on me – it was actually slightly possible that I might wake up in the morning feeling better. I have spent the past week or so saying, “Gee, I hope I feel better in the morning,” but this was the first time it seemed like it might actually happen! As I tried to fall asleep, I kept focused on this idea and really tried to force myself to believe that it would happen. When I woke up this morning, I wasn’t sure what to think. When I spoke, my voice didn’t sound as weird and crappy as it had been recently. When I breathed through my nose, I didn’t only breathe in one side. I could hear properly in both ears. It was a very good feeling. I still said that I wouldn’t put too much stock into these feelings until after working out, but I felt good enough that the idea of working out was really appealing and didn’t seem like something I would fall down and die in the middle of. That was a really good feeling, as well. Despite not wanting to commit to either idea until after the workout, I was pretty certain I would be going to work today, which was a very good thing. I’ll admit, there was definitely a part of me that felt a little disappointed that I wouldn’t get to stay home today, but a much bigger part of me was glad I wouldn’t be losing out on money on another paycheck. I’m not going to lie, I am kind of concerned about what my check is going to look like tomorrow. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will wake up in the morning and it will be in my bank. It should be, I assume, because it was 3 weeks ago that I submitted the forms for Direct Deposit at work. This will be my second paycheck since then, so I am pretty sure that is enough time for it to have taken effect. We’ll see in the morning, I suppose. Still, I am concerned about how much my check is going to be – I missed 12 hours of work. That’s approximately $129 I lost. I have about $129 in the bank right now, so I’m thinking I’ll be fine. I’m back to my normal financial state. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose. I don’t have the extra hundred I had initially planned on keeping aside to pay for my music lessons, but that’s not that big of a deal. I will just have to pay for them out of my regular money. All that means is no more spending sprees. I have managed fine without them for a long time now, so that shouldn’t be a problem. They have been really nice lately, though. Oh well, I will get back to that place where I can afford a spending spree all the time. I am already on my way to it, actually, (more on that later.)

So, my Mom and I worked out this morning after missing yesterday and it was actually a really fun workout. Our soundtrack for the morning’s workout was Kylie Minogue’s album, “Fever,” featuring some of her biggest hits here in the US, like “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head,” “Love At First Sight” and “Come Into My World.” It is a brilliant album and one of my favorites from her. It also makes for an excellent workout soundtrack and my Mom and I both felt a little extra motivated for the workout today with this album on. My Mom even thanked me for picking to play that album because it really helped push us a little harder than we may have if I had played Ke$ha or Sugababes or something else along those lines. It was perfect. It was a pretty rough workout this morning, but it went really well. It was very intense, but I pushed myself all the way through the full mile and my Mom pushed herself all the way through the second mile like we normally do, even though we were both still getting over sickness. By the time I finished my mile I was really sweating my ass off, which is kind of the point. However, as I ate breakfast, showered, dressed and put on makeup for the day afterwards I couldn’t seem to get myself to stop sweating. I’m not sure what it was, but I just couldn’t seem to cool down until well after I got to work today.

On the topic of makeup, though, I had a song stuck in my head this morning that kind of inspired the makeup look I did today. The song was a lesser-known B-Side by the Spice Girls called “Outer Space Girls,” and it really was the inspiration for my look today. I did a really bright pink on the inside corners of my eyes and blended it into blue on the rest of the lids, then did a glittery, metallic silver over the top and under the eye. I also used this as a good excuse to finally try using my silver chrome eyeliner, which looked really great with this look. I have this t-shirt by Surplus Clothing that incorporates pinks, blues and silvers in it’s design, so I decided to wear that to match it and I felt like I was looking pretty cute today. Aside from looking cute, though, I was really happy to have done something slightly more unique and artistic with makeup and to have drawn inspiration from music. I mean, every day I draw inspiration for my makeup from music in one way or another, but today I had a specific song in mind that really was the basis for the look and it made me feel extra artsy about it all. I even got complimented on the look by a couple different strangers today, which I always appreciate. I am a firm believer in compliments and I try to give them out as often as possible. I feel like if you see something in somebody else’s look or demeanor that you genuinely appreciate, it is always a good thing to tell them – it is sure to brighten up their day and make them feel a little better about themselves than they normally would. Plus, I love receiving compliments and, as they say, you only get what you give.

The workday wasn’t anywhere near as bad as the past few have been, but it wasn’t great. First of all, a few hours into the day I started feeling really strange pressure around my eyes and it gave me a really bad headache. This pressure didn’t go away for the rest of the day and my eyes were watering a bit all day long. Fortunately, my eye makeup is pretty heavy duty and didn’t get messed up at all during this. That, of course, was the only plus of the situation. When I got to work my sister was like, “Thank God you’re here,” because 2 of our night crew people called in sick and we were pretty much bare bones this evening. It helps, of course, that today was completely dead. We spent most of the day just sitting around. I finished reading, “The Science Of Getting Rich,” which I will say was definitely a really interesting book. It is basically Rhonda Byrne’s “The Secret,” except strictly focused on the money. What this book has done for me, though, is reminded me of the principles of “The Secret” and how well they had worked for me before. I am absolutely certain that I could make them work for me again. All it takes is some focus and certainty – two qualities that I posses a great deal of but don’t seem to use as often as I should. This is something I am going to be working on moving forward, as I think it could make some immense changes to my life like it did back in 2007. I think I may even start keeping a gratitude journal again for a while, which I always felt was a really good tool to remind me of the positive sides of life.

I also spent a little while this afternoon doing concept drawings of possible makeup looks for the future. I remember when Lady Gaga was on Oprah and they gave a look backstage at one of her concerts – one thing that they didn’t discuss, but that I noticed and found really interesting were drawings she had done of different looks she has done throughout her career so far. Since they didn’t discuss them, I can’t be too sure, but my thought was that these were drawings that she did before doing the looks – they were like her conceptualizing looks that she wanted to do. I found that a very interesting concept and was very into the idea of trying that for myself. It was a fun way to pass time at work, if nothing else. I was also thinking a lot today about the concept of hand painting t-shirts and I really think, depending on the size of my paycheck this week, I may go out this weekend and pick up some plain white t-shirts and some fabric paint and glitter to work on that this weekend and see what I can come up with. I am really excited about that idea and would love to do something with it. I have a bit of an added objective for that at this point, as well. You see, today I received a package in the mail – the pair of Limited Edition Van’s designed by Richie Rich of Heatherette that I purchased on Ebay. These shoes were designed strictly as a part of the gift bag for people attending Richie Rich’s Fall/Winter 2009 fashion show. There were only a few hundred pairs made. I have to say, they are the most beautiful shoes I have ever seen – at least, the most beautiful MEN’S shoes I have ever seen. The thing is, though, that they are black with bright pink laces and blue inner lining. They also have lips in red, green and blue all over them. As soon as I looked at them, the first thing I thought was, “The shirt I wore today is the only shirt I have that will really go with these shoes.” So, I want to try to make myself some shirts that will go with these shoes. I have always loved the idea and look of DIY (do-it-yourself) clothing, but never really put too much thought into actually doing it for myself. I am really excited to give this a try. Another thing I want to do this weekend, depending on the size of my paycheck, is order some eyeshadows from a company that Whitney introduced me to, called Sugarpill. I am thinking I will probably wait on these, though, because the eyeshadows are $12 each, and I want to order at least 3 or 4. There are some colors I feel like I am really lacking right now, like a darker shade of pink, like a hot pink, as well as a more “neon” looking pink, and purples and reds. Sugarpill also has this green color called Absinthe that I completely fell in love with after watching some drag queen do a tutorial using it on YouTube. Like I said, though, I will probably wait on that until I get my next FULL paycheck. There ARE 3 paychecks in April, so that could wind up helpful with having a little extra money to buy the fancy makeup. In the meantime, Maybelline works for me. Either way, I really want to do some creative work this weekend. I am feeling more inspired than I have in a while lately and I don’t want to lose momentum with that.

Speaking of inspiration, Rachel and I have made plans for this Sunday again – we are planning to go to the Ringling Museum of Art. I am really excited for this because I have been dying to go there. In 5 years of living here in Sarasota, it is random that I have never actually gone there. I feel like there is a lot of really awesome stuff to do in this city and I have never actually gone out and taken advantage of most of it. I recently joined this Facebook group called 365 things to do in Sarasota, and it has given me a lot of cool ideas for things that I would like to go out and try here in town. For now, though, I will start off with Ringling. I also need to remember to save money for next weekend for our sushi dinner after the Gaga Flash Mob. I am still really excited for that and cannot wait to go do it – Rachel and I both discussed it and even if there aren’t many people who show up, we will still find a way to make it a completely epic evening. I can’t wait.

Right now, though, I need to get to bed. It is 11:49pm and I have to get up a little earlier than usual tomorrow morning – my alarm is set for 7:15am instead of 7:30am, because my Mom has a doctor’s appointment at 9am and if we want to workout tomorrow, we are going to have to do it earlier than we usually do. I told her I would have no problem waking up earlier to do it because no matter what, we need to be dedicating ourselves to doing this every day. If that means we need to wake up a little earlier than usual, that is a sacrifice I am willing to make. For that reason, I need to try to get to bed ASAP. So, I am off to bed to contemplate what the music for tomorrow morning's workout will be. I am think Kylie again, but maybe this time we will go with "Body Language" or "X" or maybe even "Light Years." Hell, we could just go with "Fever" again - it was pretty perfect. I think my Mom and I were both "feeling the fever." We'll see. For now, Goodnight.