Tag: Illness

“Say, brainless, don’t you know where coconuts come from?”

Sara Mazariegos

Welp.

There’s not much to say. The election yesterday has shown that there are too many misguided, uncaring people in America. I’m doing my best to keep taking deep breaths and focusing on my own life, the things I can control. And yes, I will vote again in two years. We have to keep going. We have to keep fighting.

My illness last week turned into laryngitis this week, so on top of everything else, I haven’t been able to talk much for the past few days. I finally got a bit of my voice back last night, but it’s raspy. I’m pretending I sound like Maya Hawke (Anxiety) so I feel better about it. Her voice is cute; my voice isn’t supposed to sound like that.

I’m resting my voice as much as possible. I put up a sign at work to let my coworkers know I can’t speak right now. So far, everyone’s been nice about it. I’m glad I don’t have a job that requires talking. I’d have difficulty with a job like that anyway, though.

Luis and I are watching this silly reality show called Claim to Fame — it features celebrities’ family members in a house and everyone’s objective is to guess who everyone else is related to. The hosts are Kevin Jonas (from The Jonas Brothers) and Franklin Jonas (a Jonas Brother.) Like all reality shows, it’s cheesy, but the mystery-solving aspect is fun.

I’m now convinced reality shows are as popular as they are because they’re comfort television. They don’t involve as much emotional attachment as scripted shows do. I’m not attached to any of these celebrity relatives*. That’d be kind of embarrassing.

As far as the writing’s going… It’s going pretty well so far. Speaking of comfort, my It’s A Wonderful Life story is comforting to me. It’s uplifting and warm and fuzzy, much like the film. That’s my goal, at least. So far, I think I’m tackling this draft better than the last one. It’s funny because no one else read my first draft, but I knew it needed retooling. Usually, I’d at least let Luis read it, but I didn’t want to waste his time when I knew it was going to be overhauled. I’m proud of myself for having the sense to just say, “You know what, this needs to be redone entirely. I’m going to take a break and try again.”

Last November was not a good time to try to write it, but this November might give me way more motivation. It’s certainly looking that way.

Ha. Heh. Haaaa. 😞


* Except for Pepper. She’s my favorite and I hope she wins, but she probably won’t.

You only meant well (well, of course you did.)

Sara Mazariegos

We had an awesome Halloween party last weekend. “Awesome” in the original meaning of the word.


Luis created a Riddler (and Batman) themed escape room with a bunch of riddles and puzzle boxes. Everyone had a lot of fun. I was mostly proud and in awe of him. He made videos for the introduction and the ending, and everyone thought they’d been provided by an escape room company or the company that made one of the puzzle boxes. But it was all him. 😊 I helped, but it was awesome because he is awesome.

FRIEND AT PARTY: Are you anxious?
ME: Always.
FRIEND: No, but like, not just because you’re Anxiety. Are you feeling anxious?
ME: Yes.
FRIEND: Would you like a hug?
ME: I always want a hug*.

Halloween being on a Thursday is a bummer, though. I’m not wearing my costume at work, because I think it’ll become uncomfortable (especially the boots) after eight hours in an office and I’d want to just change out of it when I get home. Instead, I’ll change into it when I get home, and be Anxiety for a few hours. Mostly while watching Arachnophobia with Luis. Seems fitting.


On Sunday night, we watched Late Night with the Devil, which was a perfect movie to watch for Halloween. I wish it embraced the 1970s aesthetic more, and I thought the introduction “documentary” wasn’t necessary, but otherwise, I liked it. I had no idea it was mostly Australian, too. Indie films like that are always good to promote.

We’ve been watching a lot of movies that take place in the 1970s lately.

I caught a cold and took the day off yesterday, sleeping as much as I could and being generally lazy. For some reason, at about five AM, I was having panic attacks that kept me from being able to fall back asleep. I’ve never experienced THAT side effect before. I definitely do not recommend it. I had to go downstairs and read a book for a while, next to one of our cats, in the cool living room. Then I was able to take a nap and eventually go back up to bed.

I made the executive decision to stop writing the cat romance novel for now (after giving it an ending that works, even if it’s at the 76,000-word point instead of the 80,000 I was going for.) I was feeling pretty burnt out with it. I plan to fix it and retool it next year unless a newer, shinier idea presents itself.

For now, I’m taking a brief break. Next week, I will resume the rewrite of my It’s A Wonderful Life-inspired romance novel.

Hopefully November will be calmer.


* Unless you’re a stranger. I don’t want hugs from people I don’t know.

Who shot the hole in my sombrero?

Sara Mazariegos

I don’t have to tell YOU folks about scuba diving. So that’ll save some time.

-Emo Philips

To say my vacation didn’t entirely go as planned would be putting it mildly. I didn’t make a video this week because there’s a lot to try to parce down into a short video and I also feel too blah to want to appear on camera.

Disney World was great! The Grand Floridian spoiled us and I want to stay there again someday. (Darn it, Disney.) We rode the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean three times, then dined with princesses in the castle as the fireworks went off right by our window seat. The Magic Kingdom day was certainly magical.

The rest of it was also great. Mid-April is a good time to go, because the crowds aren’t as big and the temperatures aren’t as hot.

Universal was also fun, though it really does pale in comparison with Disney. My favorite part was The Simpsons, and they’re probably going to replace it soon with Nintendo stuff. I like Nintendo, but… I wish they could just have both. Or Disney would literally take the Simpsons stuff over to Hollywood Studios.

Anyway. Enough theme park stuff.

My husband caught something by the time we were in Guatemala for the wedding. Then I caught it from him literally the evening of the wedding reception. I fell asleep at nine and slept TWELVE HOURS. At first, I thought it was just my body trying to catch up on lost sleep over the past few days, but then my stomach started feeling sick.

The wedding was so nice and it was great to see everyone in Luis’s family there, but it was a bit of a blur because we were both so sick. I think now, today, I’m finally starting to be better. *fingers crossed*

I had a Grand Plan to work on rereading and plotting a novel this week, but that’s out the window. I’ve barely gotten any of my day job work done, between taking a sick day on Tuesday and working (slightly) from home today. But next week! I have faith in next week.

Don’t let this make you think I don’t still love Disney, though. If anything, I blame Universal for getting us sick. 😉

I’m already lightly planning our next trip to a Disney park.