After numerous blood tests & medication changes, all to no avail, my doctor sent me to a sleep specialist to find out why I'm so tired all the time. Even after what many consider a full night's sleep, I'm completely exhausted when I wake up in the morning. Finding no obvious cause, the specialist sent me for a sleep study, which I went for last night. It was interesting, to say the least. They had nice little rooms with real beds (inasmuch as a motel bed is "real"), soft lighting and a TV. The nurse hooked up about a thousand wires on my head, upper body and legs and then I got to go to sleep. Except that - despite going before I got hooked up - I had to go to the bathroom about an hour after I lay down. That was a process unto itself, but I'll spare you the details. I had a little trouble getting used to having the wires everywhere, but worse was the fact that every time the A/C turned off, I could hear the person in the room next to me snoring like a freight train. (In my evaluation of the study before I left, I recommended sound proofing.) I woke up a few times but finally slept fairly soundly for what seemed like 10 minutes before the nurse announced over the intercom that she was coming in to get me up. Needless to say, I came home and went back to bed. And now I think I'll go take a nap.

I was all ready to babble on and on about my latest addiction (sushi) and how I got my fix last night and how delicious it was when Ollie points to the oriental rug in here and announces "Poop! Right here!". Fearing some catastrophic potty-training accident about to occur, I immediately turned my attention to the 3YO standing with one hand on her hip and the other pointing to the carpet. The good news is that potty-training (the child) hasn't derailed yet; the bad news is that apparently The Idiot struck again. So now I have to pull out the steam cleaner (which I just cleaned and put away a few days ago) and figure out how to steam clean the rug without ruining the hardwood floors. I am getting really sick of this so I'm taking her to the vet this afternoon. I don't want her to be sick but I do hope that can find a treatable cause for her "incontinence" or else The Idiot will be an outside dog very, very soon.

UPDATE: The vet was unable to make a definite diagnosis other than it's not worms or parasites. Thank God because that is beyond gross! She didn't think it was an ulcer or blockage but didn't rule it out based on The Idiot's age (49 in human years). She said it was most likely some kind of bacterial infection and gave me two prescription antibiotics - because I don't have enough fun in my day, I guess, I need to shove pills down my dog's throat twice a day. I have to take The Idiot back in 10 days for a follow-up, at which time I think I'll take her to the groomer, too. I've decided that it's well worth $25 a few times a year to have them spend 3 hours brushing out her undercoat.

A friend sent me a personality quiz from Dr. Phil - I should have known better right there - and I decided to see what the quack had to say about me. Based on my score, here's how I'm described:

Others see you as sensible, cautious, careful & practical. They see you as clever, gifted, or talented, but modest. Not a person who makes friends too quickly or easily, but someone who's extremely loyal to friends you do make and who expects the same loyalty in return. Those who really get to know you realize it takes a lot to shake your trust in your friends, but equally that it takes you a long time to get over if that trust is ever broken.

Actually, it's pretty accurate. Especially the clever, gifted & talented part.

I'm watching a movie called Undertow that was billed as a thriller, hence the reason I put it on my Netflix queue. However, I'm finding that it's more of a straight-up drama... and a depressing one at that. Not to mention Josh Lucas stars in it and he's usually a hottie, but he plays a gross, skanky ex-con so I don't even get any eye candy. Bummer.

Last night, we were eating supper at a local pizza place and a gentleman (presumably the manager) was bustling around refilling napkin dispensers, sweeping up dropped pizza, etc. Grover asked who he was and I said I didn't know his name. Grover replied, "No, no. I mean, is he like Mr. Krabs or is he like Squidward?"

If you don't know what I'm talking about, you on the other hand, do not watch enough TV.