I went to Niles’ last night to watch the season premier of LOST.  It was awesome.  I got there for 8pm to watch the hour long recap of the show.  It was good that I did, because there were lots of little things I had forgotten since it went off the air sometime in early 2008.  Then, it was on for two hours, which was an unexpected surprise.

So after LOST was over, somehow, Niles was talking and he said something along the lines of “Oh yeah, I *mumble mumble* while wearing my Snuggie.”

My heart stopped.

“You.  Have. A. Snuggie??????????”

“Oh my God, where is it?  Why didn’t you tell me you had one?? Haven’t you read all my blog posts about the Snuggie?”  (Yes, I swear to god, I said that).

And so, not only did Niles get a Snuggie for Christmas, he also got the LED book lamp that came with it.  Of course, Niles modeled it for me.  And he allowed me to take pictures for my blog.  And in true awesome Niles fashion, he posed for the pictures to show just how awesome the “blanket with sleeves”  really is.  I tried to get him to hold a remote or a telephone (”Look!  I don’t have to struggle with this cumbersome blanket!”), but he wanted to read a book to show off his book light as well.

And so, here is Niles wearing the Snuggie.

I told him about my idea that if they made it in black (and it had a back, which is does not - it is legit just a backwards fleece robe without a hood), I would wear it out side.

Here is my original blog post when I discovered the Snuggie, incase you missed it.  Then, I wrote another one when I saw that they were selling it at Walgreens (this I found out just last Saturday).  I won’t be buying a snuggie, because I already have my own blanket with sleeves.  Perhaps a picture will end up n here some day.  But perhaps not, because I won’t look as cool as Niles does.

I thought of a problem with my mini house idea.

Health Insurance.

I absolutely need health insurance, not just because I have a tendency to get sick…. but because I require a prescription to Synthroid for the rest of my life.  Without insurance, it’s about $40 dollars a month.  With insurance, I pay $22 (cause it’s a name brand - and has to be Synthroid cause of the cancer).  Plus, I’m also prone to tumors (thyroid and one in my left breast that was removed in 2004).  And I have GERD, which I have heard can cause esophegeal cancer.  Plus, I was a lifeguard in the hot sun for 40 hours a week for 7 summers, which isn’t good for skin cancer.  So…..  That could be a problem.

I know that in Massachusetts (where it is ILLEGAL to be without health insurance), they have Mass Health that anyone can get (please don’t question me about this, I’m still covered by my parents’ cause I’m still in school).  But I’m not sure about “down south” where I’d be living.  Could I use Medicaid?  Or, if I have a part time job doing MH stuff, then perhaps I could get it through my employer.  That is definitely something that I need to think about before moving off to my own little village.  Perhaps I should just move to southern Italy, Spain or Greece.  My guess is that they would have national healthcare.  Or perhaps by the time I’m ready to move down there (2010, 2011?)  President Obama will have some new awesome health plan.  My mom has just made me very aware of the fact that I can not let my health insurance lapse, because then people will refuse to cover me because of a “pre-existing condition”.  Which is bull crap!

So I need to think of that before I move.  Perhaps in my little village, I could have a doctor and a pharmecutical drug rep.  The rep could get me free drugs (the good kind), and the doctor could take care of my health.  It’s all about bartering, people.  Alissa proposed that she wanted to live in my village (and be the one with the real job), which is awesome.  But, I ask, what do you have to offer?

On a totally different note, I want a bowl of cereal.  I had dinner an hour ago (at 7:30), and I have been hungry ever since.  I had a serving of a Trader Joe’s vegetable lasagna, half a piece of Texas Toast, and a garden salad.  It wasn’t enough, especially cause the seving of lasagna was only 260 calories.   But, the good news is, that I now have tons of room for cereal!!!  I crave cereal every single night, and sometimes I have room for it, and other times not.  But when I get a craving, I can’t stop thinking about having a bowl of cereal until I actually eat it.  It’s weird.  Then, I’m done eating the serving, and I think “Oh no!  I want more!”  But I’m usually very comfortable on the couch, and can’t convince myself to get up and ger more (plus, I know my stomach can’t really handle it).

**Update, I ate a nice bowl of cereal at 9:30.  It was delicious.  I can’t wait to have another bowl tomorrow morning.  Yuuuuum.**

I wanted to write a little something about why I blog. Recently it’s come to my attention that I’m tending to blog about nothing (this isn’t due to others pointing it out - well, my mom questioned one of my posts - but no one else has commented on my boringness). I certainly don’t mind that, because I really think that I am using this medium to express my thoughts. I will think about certain things, or will accomplish things, and instead of just thinking about them, I have decided to write them down. Perhaps it makes me more aware of my accomplishments, no matter how small or trivial they may be (cleaning out the basement, my magazines, books, and clothes).

It was brought to my attention this past spring that I live mostly in my head. A friend of mine, who I was spending a lot of time with, told me that while everyone in the room is speaking about something, I would sit there quietly. It was obvious, to him at least, that I am taking in what everyone is saying, and I am thinking my own thoughts and opinions about it in my head. I usually don’t discuss them out loud, but my gears are clearly turning. Even when it would just be the two of us hanging out, I would still tend to be very quiet. I would do a lot of thinking in my head, and sometimes he had to drag my thoughts out of me. Sometimes I feel as though I have mini conversations in my head, or that my thoughts are constantly racing.

I find that blogging is a way for me to get the thoughts out of my head, and onto paper. Well, e-paper, I guess would be the term. I think that it is healthy to write about everything and anything, and as David Sedaris once said, he wishes that he could go back to his diaries and read about how much gas cost ($1.77), or how much it was to see a movie ($7.75 in Fitchburg, $9.50 in Worcester), or even how much a gallon of milk was ($2.99, abouts – I pay exactly that for my ½ gallon of organic). But instead of the things he is really interested in (the costs of things back then), he is stuck with the writing of how crazy his family was growing up. I would like to think that perhaps I will go back to this blog in 20 years, and I will be able to not only read about gas prices (because I’ve talked about them several times), but also about what other crazy things I was talking about (losing power for 12 days, mom driving me nuts about bottled water, etc.).

It will also be very interested to read about how I am doing both physically and mentally, it having been less than one year since I’ve gone through radiation treatment (and surgery) for cancer. When I am forty-four years old, how good will my memory be on what it was like to have radiation? I’m sure I will cherish the pictures I have. (When I was measured with the Geiger counter, I had to shout “Dad! TAKE A PICTURE!” Because, really, how often are you measured with a Geiger counter? I wanted a picture! – and he was just standing there like a doofus, camera in hand NOT taking pictures)

And so, because of my goals for blogging (expressing my thoughts and getting them out of my head, and just writing about my day to day life), my blog is a bit of a hodge-podge of topics. I understand that it may not be the most interesting blog to read, but it is what it is. I have found that I could not write a food blog, because I eat the same thing every single day. Honey Bunches of Oats, half a banana, ½ cup of skim milk, along with ¾ cup of egg whites. For lunch, I either have tuna or chicken salad, a vegan veggie burger or a mini pizza. All of which I make on a high fiber English muffin. Lunch also includes a spinach salad with sunflower seeds, a red pepper, and light honey mustard dressing. Dinner is my only meal of the day that is different and even dinner seems to just rotate day by day. That is why I’m trying to get more interesting with cooking, and I just took out three cookbooks from the library yesterday to study up and get ideas. But I enjoy what I eat, and I look forward to it. Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen from the You On a Diet! Book said that it is best to eat the same thing every day. That way, you’re controlling what you’re putting in your body, and you won’t slip up and have something bad for you. (Or something, I’m not sure what their real explanation is). I’m sure I could take really beautiful pictures of my cereal and my mini pizzas (and here is my mini pizza getting beautifully browned in the oven, and let me put it on this delicate china plate to make it even more beautiful) – but I won’t bore you with that (again).

And so, this is me. For better or for worse, this is my blog. Mostly I write it because I enjoy it. I’ve found myself writing three blog posts a day. I love it. I have things that I wish to write down, and for some reason, I publish them on the Internet.