Off to Canada

Well, Mr. Chep and I head for Canada this afternoon around 1:00pm.

The first leg of our 635 mile trip will take us to Cloquet, MN which is just outside of Duluth (that is after a short stop in Owatonna, MN to visit Cabela's.

It should be a much needed vacation for both of us.

I just hope my dream I had last night about forgetting all my clothes but my PJ's doesn't come true!

See you in a week or so!

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Ah yes. The 10 million dollar question of this morning.

I went to the doctor yesterday because I have had a sore throat for about 4 days (not sore...Irritating - sore like...Please God don't make me thirsty because the fluid HURTS LIKE HELL going down!) I thought it was a severe ear infection (yes Mr. Chep and I have had them that bad) but it turns out it is either Strep throat or Mono. HMM....can you say...lesser of 2 evils?

Remember I am leaving for vacation in 3 days....

So this morning I awoke with a burning throat (as if 8 hours of antibiotics will kill what ails me) and I lay there pondering - do I go? Do I stay?

I fondly remember the day before (after my doctor's visit) my friends at work making their index finger crosses in my direction (with the exception of Lego that wanted me to kiss her if I had mono - apparently she lost 14 lbs last time she had it.) This memory was enough to convince me to call my boss and let him know that I was not going to make it in. OH yeah and I also did extensive research on the internet about the ailments - you know trying to diagnose myself before the doctor does...you've been there. Don't lie.

Well the stay at home proved to be in my favor.

You all know that I am leaving for beautiful Nestor Falls, Ontario (that's Canada for the geographically challenged) on Friday. We stay at a resort owned by the Uncle and Aunt of my dear friend "E".

ANYWAY....as I am nearly asleep on the couch watching pompous and Blonde - LIVE the phone rings. Arrowhead Resort? I am suddenly sick to my stomach.

"What if they accidentally overbooked and they are telling us since we haven't been coming up as long as the other guy that booked it we don't get the cabin."

Strangely - not too far from the truth of the call. Only - we still have A cabin. Just not the cabin we thought.

The cabin we had reserved is the smallest in the camp. It sleeps 2, it's a studio and frankly there isn't a lot to it. No bells, no whistles, just a place to sleep while we cruise the lake fishing. OH yeah and did I mention - it's the cheapest one.

So Clyde tells me that another guy had this cabin reserved awhile back and then decided to cancel. Well...now he has changed his mind and wants to stay for 3 weeks. He wants to know if he can move us to another cabin.

If any of you know me at all, I am a "pleaser" (some people call us pushovers...but whatever.) So I tell Clyde...sure, but we really aren't prepared to pay for the other cabin (which by the way is a 3 bedroom right on the lake, 2 doors down from the beach.) So he agrees that he will let us stay in the larger cabin - at the same cost! Clyde then proceeds to tell me that the fish are bitin' and the weather is great - so it should be a good trip. I feel like it's Christmas!

So now we have this big ole cabin, on the lake, for the same cost of the studio with a "view" of the lake. Not a bad deal.

Mr. Chep has already said he make fork over a little more for the bigger cabin - just because the owners are good people.

Good thing I chose to stay home.

Sweet Dreams - Hard to come by....

The last few nights I have been suffering from insomnia. I know, there are probably many of you that have been affected by the inability of sleep (yes I have noticed posting times on some on your blogs) but, this is a little different for me.

If you suffer from chronic insomnia please stop reading now or you may begin to seriously dislike me:

I am one of those people that is asleep when their head hits the pillow.

I am from a long line of "sleepers" (as Mr. Chep puts it - he is not a "sleeper" and often lies awake cursing me and my damn snoring...but anyway)

Growing up it wasn't uncommon to come into the family room to find my father asleep with the remote in his hand watching some SciFi program. Often my sister and I would take the remote when my father would awake and proclaim, "HEY - I was watching that" (yeah sure you were.) In his defense my father was diagnosed with sleep apnea a few years back and the sleeping isn't as often - but he does still "nap" on the couch with the remote in his hand!

My sister is also a "sleeper." I can't begin to count the number of times I have called my sister at 7:00 or 8:00pm to have her sleeping. I can't account for her day - as I am sure it is very mentally taxing - but come on. 7PM? Oye. I quit feeling bad about waking her up years ago.

It is also common knowledge that any family function will have at least one family member asleep before it's over. Nope - not just when we have turkey...it could be any number of food items - but mark my words at least one holiday has at least one of Chep's family passed out on a couch (yep - my mom and brother-in-law too!)

Now I have heard of this "insomnia"...in fact Mr. Chep suffers from it regularly. I however do not. So on Wednesday night I awoke at 2:15am staring at the ceiling I was dumbfounded. I didn't know what to do or think. SO I laid there. After awhile I checked the clock. 2:30am. DAMN. This went on for the next 2.5 hours. When I finally did fall back asleep, it was time for Mr. Chep to get up for work.

URGH!

This went on for 2 days, until Friday night when I had to take the medication for my pituitary tumor (knocks me out) and last night when I took 3 Tylenol PM for my head (damn allergies)

I do hope this phenomenon quits soon - Next week will be really long if I can't sleep and I am getting up at 5:00 am to fish!

Wish me luck!

OH yeah - and 4 more working days until I am on vacation!

WOO HOO!