Valen’s Vanity Square

I have been living like a pig for the past 2 days. Haha! Thanks to the medicine I’m taking.

As mentioned in my previous post, I am having cough. Though the fever came and go one day, I felt feverish again the next day. To be on the safe side, I went to see doctor. If it was H1N1, than I rather got diagnosed earlier than later!

Fortunately, it wasn’t anything like that. I had some kind of throat infection, that’s why it’s itchy and a little swollen. I was on the verge of catching a flu though, said the doctor. So the medicines I got are mainly for my cough and throat infection. Since I told the doctor I’m not working, he gave me medicines that cause drowsiness. That’s why I couldn’t work or even surf the internet these couple of days, except to sleep and eat.

Luckily I’m not working as an insurance agent, otherwise I would have lost my clients. Imagine, should they call me up to inquire for a home insurance quote or life insurance plan, how could my spinning head do an accurate calculations on the quotes?

The effects of the medicines are quite long lasting. I didn’t take any medicine this morning, but the grogginess from the dose I took last night seem to linger until now. Jeez, I must stop typing now and go lie down on the sofa!

I called up New York Skin Solution center this morning to cancel my facial appointment originally scheduled at tomorrow afternoon. I am having coughs and itchy throat, so better not go out and spread germs, whether its H1N1 or not! Even I am not infected now, I am more susceptible to get infected through other people considering my current health condition.

I was in a seminar for 3 days, and sat in a chilly air-conditioned room for long hours. My throat started to feel dry and sore after the first day, started to cough after the second, and I was feverish on the third. Luckily, the next day after the seminar ended, my fever subsided after a good night rest. I think it must be the cold air and insufficient rest over the 3 days of seminar. Oh, may also be due to lots of coffee, haha!

I’m still coughing a bit now, so I figure it’s best to stay at home and not out and wandering. But I need to go to the supermarket tonight to get some groceries, so better put on my mask!

I sort of took a break from my usual internet activities today and immersed myself into an almost 8 hours of non-stop DVD session, hehe. I was watching a mixture of DVDs, including a traveling program on Vegas vacations, an old movie, as well as a new drama series from Singapore.

Saw myself in the mirror just now, and realized that 8-hours of ‘inactivity’, i.e. TV watching, can make one look so tired and haggard. Must be some kind of radiation emitted from the TV, it’s worse than working on the laptop for 24 hours! I can also feel that thousands of cellulite cells have been formed on my butt and thighs over the past several hours.

Jeez, I think I can use a facial mask. My skin is really in need of rejuvenation! And tomorrow, I better do some housework to burn off some fat!

Have you been to the US, whether it’s for work or for holiday, and would love to be back again? I have not been to any part of the US, so I don’t know if I will like it there. But my gal friend who went to New York once, loved it so much (note: ‘Sex and the City’ influence), that she was so excited when her company recently assigned her a working trip to NY again. Unfortunately, the trip was canceled due to some changes in her project.

If you ask me which city or state in US I would like to visit, I would say San Francisco - the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, steep roads, historical architecture, climate, etc. Somehow I have a liking to ‘old’ things, haha!

Of course, there are many more interesting places in US worth visiting. North Carolina seems like a good place. Have heard about its island and beach vacation hot spots at the Outer Banks. It’s no wonder that some people actually bought Outer Banks homes, moved there, and started running their own holiday rental homes or motels so that themselves can be ‘on a beach holiday’ everyday!

All said, I don’t really have plans to visit US for the next 10 or 20 years, haha! Two main prohibiting factors - money and long-distance traveling. Even if the money issue is out of the way, I can’t persuade myself to do a 20-hour flight. It’s agonizing!

My next writing assignment has a pretty comfortable deadline, which is three weeks later. That doesn’t mean I can totally relax and not do anything. I still have personal projects that I need to accomplish, but I don’t have to rush for deadlines or burn midnight oil (for 24 hours!) for at least another 2 weeks.

I will also take this opportunity to rest more, for the sake of my skin! I think my skin must have aged a million years due to one 24-hours of non-stop work. Lines are obvious now, eeeks! Luckily there’s no acne breakout, otherwise I have to tackle several skin issues at one time.

I found out that sometimes certain simple things that I do everyday or regularly can help prevent acne breakout or stop it from getting worse, such as:

• Changing the pillow case. It helps curb ‘mysterious’ acne breakouts.
• Replacing used towels with cleans ones regularly.
• Dabbing off the sweat on my forehead and around the nose otherwise these areas will get oily.
• Keeping my hair away from my face when I am awake and sleeping. Sometimes I can get so irritated by my own hair, because it makes my face, neck and shoulder itchy! The scratching usually causes rashes or triggers acne.

So, while I’m not too tied up with work this week, I’d better change the bedding in my room.

Hubby has ‘officially’ become an online shopper, like me. Haha!

He has recently bought several items from eBay - a sonic wave mosquito repeller, a wireless USB adapter, a mini torchlight (don’t know why!), and watch with heart rate monitor. Men stuffs. He seemed to like the challenge of bidding for items. Alas, he didn’t win any. All the items he bought was Buy It Now items.

I like to buy things online, but not bidding. When I decide to buy online, I already have a target in mind. This is very different from real life shopping, which I can be very spontaneous and buy things unexpectedly, haha! So far, I have bought beading supplies from eBay, books and beauty items from Acmamall, and more beading supplies from my favourite local online merchant.

I have yet to become a customer of Amazon due to the costly postage from US to Malaysia. Actually, Amazon books are also available at www.buy.com. I found out that they are currently having a discount promotion for some of the bestsellers. If I’m not mistaken, the Harry Porter series is one of them. I have not checked out the delivery charges though.

Why buy books online? Well, mainly because the books are not available here. Sometimes, it’s simply for the joy of shopping online. Haha!

Hehe, I bought one of the Polo handbags I saw 2 weeks ago at the Jusco Sales. Thought I want to take a photo of the bag, but my digital camera battery just went flat! Couldn’t find its photo on the internet too, perhaps it’s quite an ‘old’ model. Haha!

Anyway, there were initially two options; they have the similar checkered print, but slightly different in design. I finally chose the one that I have now based on hubby’s opinion because the design looks younger, so he said. The original price of the Polo handbags were both RM399, but with a 70% discount, the final price is about RM120. A good offer I would say.

It’s quite some time that I bought something above a hundred bucks for myself, except the netbook, which is different because it is a gadget, not fashion or beauty stuffs. I consider the Polo handbag a reward for myself, after working so, so, so hard on a writing project last week. Come to think of it, I have undercharged that project. I should have charged 3 times more so that I could sign up for a miami vacation package for my next holiday. Haha!

I’m now waiting for a couple of pay checks to arrive so that I can continue with my shopping list.

Wow! I have set my first record in life - staying awake for 24.5 hours without sleep or a short nap!

I don’t think this is a record that I will attempt to break ever. Haha! Finally my work is done and sent in half an hour before the deadline. Really, I have never in my life worked 24 hours non-stop, excluding time for meals and shower of course. That’s why I described myself working like a mad cow in my previous post!

I don’t need what best weight loss supplements now. I just wish there is a pill that I can swallow and put myself to sleep for the next 10 hours or so, haha! Not only I need to take a good, long rest. My laptop needs it to. My SKIN needs some real rest now for rejuvenation; million of my skin cells must have been killed for the past 12 hours.

Okay, that’s so much work for this week. I, now, go to bed! ZZzzzzzzz…….

Stress, stress, stress…. And I think I’m going to be overdosed with caffeine!

My project deadline is tomorrow morning, 10 am. I have about 20-30% more to work on for my project, but this last 20-30% is SO, SO, SO tough! I think I will work until tomorrow 6 am morning before I can close the case!

I wonder if my medical insurance will cover for me if I ended up in the hospital due to this type of physical AND mental overexertion! Haha! If you are living in North Carolina, US, and have been working like a mad cow, just like me, you can check out the Blue Advantage health plan and see if it covers for such hospitalisation cost due to overwork.

Meanwhile, I need to take a break. I foresee another 6-8 hours of work. And the time now is 8.30pm! Eeeeeks!