Lit Madison

 

Because I'm fat and (per Travalon) a snorer, the doctor said I needed to get tested for sleep apnea. They said I'd have to do a home test, but if I passed that, I'd have to do a test in the sleep lab, because boy howdy, they are not going to stop testing me until I test positive for sleep apnea. I said let's cut to the chase and just do the test in the sleep lab, but they said insurance won't pay for it until I've had the home test. So they said they were going to send it in the mail and I'd get it last Thursday, but it never arrived, and nobody ever answered the phone at the place that was sending the test. Finally someone returned my messages and said it wasn't coming until the next Thursday, as in yesterday, so whatever. But then they started leaving me messages about why haven't I returned my test yet. I wasn't sure what to expect, but yesterday the test did arrive in the mail, and it was about as traumatic as I'd feared. You have to wrap a belt around yourself, stick this thing in your nose, and stick your finger in another thing, and then all three sensors have to light up green. One kept lighting up orange, but when you call their support line, you just get an answering service, and then nobody calls you back. Finally just after midnight I figured it out myself, so I called the answering service and said forget it, don't have anyone call me back. You had to sleep for six to eight hours, but then our condo board president sent a text at 6:30, and it buzzed on my FitBit and woke me up, so I was afraid I hadn't slept enough hours for the test. However, it lit up green, not red, so that meant it was a good test. I shipped it off this morning, and now I just sit back and wait for them to either tell me I need a CPAP or schedule the sleep lab test.

This evening was a lot more fun. Tiffy canceled our call at the last minute, so Travalon and I decided to check out this thing called Madison Lit, or Lit Madison, or something like that. It was supposed to be an R&B singer at the top of State Street, so we parked semi-illegally at the church (we should get a permanent parking spot there for all the money we give them) and headed up State Street. One of Travalon's favorite shops, Little Luxuries, was still open, so we stopped in and bought super necessary things like a book about "dumbass birds," an astrology coloring book, neon pens to color in it (because then it will glow under the blacklight!), a super bouncy ball, and a $10 tie-dyed chocolate bar.

(It's sort of white chocolate with fruit flavors.) Then we continued on to the party. A DJ was playing all sorts of Black music, and I was loving it. Travalon found some of it tolerable, but he enjoyed sitting outside, enjoying the more temperate weather. It has been a nearly perfect temperature all day long. There were people sort of dancing, and this guy juggling light-up bowling pins:

It was a lively scene, and people seemed really happy. I think, like Dane Dances, the idea is to get people of all sorts of colors to mingle. There were certainly all colors of people there, so I guess it worked...? If any of my readers would like to check out the next Lit Madison with me, it will be in two weeks, and this time there will be a salsa band. I'm not sure what happened to the live music tonight; we hung around for quite a while, until the DJ got weird and was just playing snippets of a song instead of the whole thing. One cool thing was that they had the whole top block of State Street blocked off, and vendors were there, so we got a travel mug that says: "Life is good - you should get one!" You can never have too many travel mugs, since they seem to break or disappear with alarming regularity.

Famous Hat

Christmas-Themed Thirsty Thursday

 

This morning Travalon and I took the garbage out, then we went for a walk. I had found my gardening hat in the garage, so I was carrying it, and then it occurred to me that I could just wear it over the other two hats I was already wearing. Travalon took a picture.

I'd say this photo makes me look old, but really it makes me look middle-aged, and I am middle-aged, so where's the problem? 

Back in the house, I noticed the face on my little stuffed Christmas tree was easier to see as it lay on my bed than it was in the first picture I posted of it.

On my lunchtime walk, I noticed some of the roofs in our neighborhood have a zigzag pattern in the snow:

I think it's from Christmas lights, but I'm not 100% sure. Then the neighbor I always walk with held a Thirsty Thursday in front of her garage, with homemade cookies and homemade eggnog. Yum!

Here is a picture of the spread without people in the way.

And here is the picture Travalon took with his cell phone.

Here is our neighbor Tiller, who was at the party but looked like he would rather be somewhere else.

My St. Nicholas Day present arrived today. Travalon had already given me a T-shirt because this hadn't come yet, so I thought he was going to give this to me for Christmas, but he just gave it to me today. It's a little doll of Notorious B.I.G.

I also got my mystery box today. The "secret" club I'm in had a Box of Random Awesomeness exchange, where you were supposed to take the smallest flat rate box, stuff it with random things around your house, and mail it to the person whose address you got. We put ours in the mail Tuesday, and then mine arrived today... and it was in a much larger box and was full of stuff that it looked like the person had just purchased. Way to totally not follow instructions! Unless this person has a lot of brand-new stuff she doesn't want sitting around her house...

Famous Hat

Ode to the Willy Street Fair

(Sung to the tune of "I Went to the Animal Fair")

I went to the Willy Street Fair,
I met my friend Mama Step there.
The local folk dancers and all sorts of prancers
Were dancing around in a square.
They danced to a klezmer band,
Doing fancy steps hand-in-hand,
Wearing wigs and wings and outrageous things
In colors both bold and bland.
And then someone caught my eye:
The daughter of Denii.
So we wandered around and many things found
She, Mama Step, and I.
We ate lots of organic food
And it tasted really good
And, never fear, there was plenty of beer
In that crazy neighborhood.
A tuba blew bubbles in the air,
Loud bands were playing everywhere,
Alternative news, temporary tattoos,
And all of the trade was fair.
I took a chance and spun
The Pet Shelter Wheel of Fun,
And to my surprise they had just one prize
Of rabbit treats, which I won.
Later who should pass by
But a pink rabbit six feet high!
I said to him, “Sir, I have rabbit treats here,”
But he didn’t bat an eye.
So next year don’t be a square –
Stop by the Willy Street Fair!
Some folks even came just to watch the game:
There’s something for everyone there!

Famous Hat