I don't like my blinds when they're keeping light IN. Only when they keep light out. If I close them in the afternoon because the sun is shining straight in and blinding us, the blinds are useful. A shield. And I can still see that there is light outside, it's just not glaring straight from the sun into my eyes. But at night, the blinds become confining, it makes the room seem smaller, almost claustrophobic. What little light there is inside is trapped. It struggles to be free and is repelled by the reflective blinds. It cannot escape out into the cool night. I don't like that.

My new pillows are great... although getting used to new pillows is always a challenge, isn't it? I have a crick in my left shoulder today as a result of my unfamiliarity with my pillows. It sucks, too, because your bed should not ever be the least bit unfamiliar. But it sometimes is... like when you get new pillows.

Taking the iron supplement everyday has really made a vast improvement in my fatigue level. I never would have thought I was low on iron or that if I were, it would be so physically noticeable. The supplement bottle says that iron deficiency is the most common dietary deficiency there is. I believe it, too, because our lives are so filled with things that fatigue us it's easy to mistake iron deficiency for a particularly stressful day or week or whatever. But, seriously, if you're a woman (of childbearing years) and you frequently find yourself just exhausted... get your iron level checked. Maybe improvement is as easy as that, it was for me! How much easier it is to get through your days, how much LESS stressful they seem when you're not saturated in fatigue.

I ended up staying up late last night downloading and searching and sampling from Napster. I've had it in my mind for weeks now that I wanted to make a mix CD for the morning. I wanted morning themed songs on it, happy songs. Greet the day happy, stay happy songs. Morning Has Broken by Cat Stevens. Good Morning from the Singin' In The Rain Soundtrack. Stuff like that. I found a BUNCH of great music, including what could be my favorite: Ray Charles singing "Oh, What A Beautiful Morning" with the Count Basie Orchestra. Few things in life are as wonderful as that and if that doesn't make your day and get you off to a good start, nothing will.

I also discovered a new artist who is simply jaw-droppingly amazing. He's a guitar player and I can't imagine having discovered this guy under ANY other circumstances because he's listed under the Folk genre and I don't typically search for stuff there. Although... now I'm gonna. One of the things I love most is that the vast majority of his stuff has no vocals. I'm finding that I really enjoy instrumentals because then I can really let my imagination run while listening to the music. I picture myself other places, I let the music tell me my daydream.

Anyway, one of his pieces is called "Vaseline Machine Gun" and is one of the most perfect, entertaining and impressive pieces of music I've ever heard. If you don't picture Clint Eastwood mosey-ing confidently through a bone-dry, boiling hot desert filled with cactus and the sizzle of rattlesnakes and cicadas... something is wrong with you. Oh is it good!

I made my morning blend mix CD and listened to it this morning on the way to work and was just so happy. I even made myself a pretty CD cover with track list that also makes me happy.

Here's the track list for my morning blend CD. If you think of a song that really belongs on a morning blend CD that isn't listed here, please let me know because I need to go download it right away. And if you're a close friend and if you say something nice about my blog I could be persuaded to send you a morning blend CD, too.

Good Morning - Singin' in the Rain Soundtrack
Bright Side of the Road - Van Morrison
Morning Has Broken - Cat Stevens
Oh, What a Beautiful Morning - Ray Stevens & the Count Basie Orchestra
Late Morning Lullaby - Brandi Carlisle
Morning - Cal Tjader
Morning is the Long Way Home - Leo Kottke
Domino - Van Morrison
Beautiful Morning - Ace of Base
Morning Dance - Spyro Gyra
Tuesday Morning - The Pogues
In The Morning - The Coral
Feeling Good - Michael Buble
Jackie Wilson Said - Van Morrison
Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding
One Misty Moisty Morning - Steeleye Span

I sent off my application package for the $5,000 Texas Conference for Women scholarship. I'll hear about that sometime in August I guess... I'll be sure to post what I find out about that.

Yesterday I stayed home with my sick kid again. I thought he was all better, but he woke twice in the night just crying and clinging. At first it seemed like he'd just had bad dreams, but then he said his throat was hurting and he didn't feel good. So I didn't feel good about sending him to school. So we stayed home. I did some work in the morning and then sent that off. Spent an hour or so watering... my mom has installed lots of new landscaping, plus our herb/tomato/pepper garden and many, many potted things need lots of water and it hasn't rained for days. I worked on my dad's recommendation letter for the scholarship. Ate some lunch. Played fetch with Jack for a long time. Caught up on blogrolling. Made dinner: baked tilapia filets and steamed broccoli with a lemon and red pepper oil. Put Michael to bed.

I'm glad Michael is feeling better and we're back to our usual routine, though. It was hard to get used to working all day everyday again after staying home with Michael for so long, but now that I have, it seems really boring and I feel semi-useless just hanging out at home. And staying home with him... well, he does require a bit of attention, but it's not the same as if I were sick.

Today I have an appointment to pay money to get my mouth stabbed and savaged again. Kinda not looking forward to that. The only thing I am looking forward to is getting it over with. I'm tempted to move the appointment again, but it's too late for that really and I might as well. I'm sure it won't take long, but I just HATE having my mouth numb.

Tonight for dinner I'm making sausage and roasted vegetable quesedillas. This week I'm trying very hard to use up leftovers and so far doing a great job of that. By the time my mom gets back from Florida, we should have the fridges cleaned out.

I will edit this post tonight to include links and list the tracks on my morning blend CD.