We're how far into November?

Today someone at work exclaimed that he couldn't believe it would be December 1 in a week. That means I will have my three month anniversary with my news station in one week. ... and my four month anniversary with the boyfriend the same day. It's a bit of a milestone.

Issues, issues...

I did make it in to see a doctor after spending that fateful Saturday in bed, convinced I was dying. It took my doctor just a few minutes to diagnose a stomach ulcer, most likely caused by a bacterial infection. I was promptly prescribed two different antibiotics and something described as "Super Prilosec".

In the meantime, I've finished off the prescriptions (which made me quite nauseous for 8 days) and am almost done with the acid reducer. I'm not entirely sure my stomach has healed, but I need it to. The doctor said if these pills didn't do the trick, then my ulcer wasn't caused by a bacterial infection. If that's the case, I have to have an endoscopy, and I don't really think I can afford that right now. Not even with the three days worth of holiday pay.

Some of ulcer side-effects haven't gone away yet, either. I still get dizzy on a daily basis, and I've been battling some serious migraines. I had one so bad last night the boy thought initially I might have had meningitis. Luckily, that was a misdiagnosis.

I need this stomach thing to go away ... soon. I have had a lot of difficulty focusing at work, and I accomplish practically nothing when I get home from work because I'm so tired and have stomach pain. A prime example is my Christmas tree--it took me two days to decorate it because I had to go to bed last night with a migraine. Fail.

Holiday Heartache

In just two days, I will reach another milestone--my first Thanksgiving away from home. Granted, my family will be here, so it's not like I won't see them. That big day will be Christmas. I'm excited about anchoring, but I can already tell I'll be a little homesick and blue. The boy will be hours away the whole weekend with his family, so I'm already a little down about not seeing him until the end of next week.

I'm also a little blue about working nine days in a row because of the holiday shake up. Of course, I did just get four out of the last five days off, but still, it's hard to keep my chin up knowing how high the wall I'm scaling will be. I'll get through it--four of those nine days are the equivalent to weekend shifts, which are rather relaxing--but, it's a tough idea to wrap my head around.

If I'm already this blue about Thanksgiving, I can't imagine how I'll be at Christmas. I won't see any of my family on the big day, and I definitely won't see the boyfriend. And the roommate is going to see her family right around then, so I will most likely be flying solo that day/weekend. I'm not trying to be downer about work--I'm just crabby. I think it's this headache I've got again tonight. It's not quite as bad as last night's, but it is very reminiscent. I just keep hoping that one of these days, I'll wake up and feel healthy and whole again.

On the job...

I also want to wake up and feel good about myself as a reporter. I just keep failing at different things at work. As soon as I correct one mistake and feel good about my progress, it is brought to my attention that something else needs my care and attention. I just need one story (preferably two) where everything just comes together and I get it all right. And I need someone to notice and say something. Not that I'm shallow enough to need compliments, but I need something to bring my self-confidence back. Maybe I am that shallow :)

I love my job, I really do, but there are always going to be days I don't like. That's what I told a friend tonight who called because he applied for an open reporter position with my station. I was honest with him about some of the things he wouldn't like, but I gushed about the things he would love. He deserved a real look at what he might be getting into, and luckily I don't think I scared him away.

Tomorrow is day two of the nine in a row. I will be finished both parts of my sweeps series about holiday toys, and I may have another package to put together on top of that. I've been promised a photographer to help me edit both sweeps packages, and if I can have him for the other story, I know I can pull it off. It just might be a longer day than usual is all. It will all get done though :)

Yay for Improvements!

Things have gotten much better at the station since my last post, as well as in my life-in-general...

Work, work, work...

My writing has much improved since that moment of embarrassment we last spoke of. I've made it a point to go out of my way to give my stories that little something extra (whether or not I've wanted to), and the extra effort does show up in my work. One of my stories about the H1N1 flu the week after I last wrote was requested for use by the national network. Who knows if any of the other affiliates actually used it, but it's nice to know it was wanted by someone.

The sad part about that whole newsroom shaming is that I should've been putting forth this much effort the whole time. It shouldn't have taken a chewing-out to light a fire under me. I guess we all need something to motivate us, I guess; it just sucks that this is what I need.

I found out this week that I won't get any of the major holidays--Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Years--off this year, but I will get to do some more anchoring for them. I guess it's bittersweet because I'm flattered that myself and the weekend anchor will be splitting the shows, but it's also sad because I will be missing those days with Tessa. I know she probably won't remember this year when she's 11 or 12, but she'll remember that I wasn't there for awhile, anyway.

I'm going home for my own version of Thanksgiving break next week, but who knows when I'll get to do my own Christmas. News Years I'm not as concerned about since I've never really done anything to celebrate it before. On the bright side, three days of holiday pay will help pay for those extra expenses that come up.

Too Soon for Christmas?

As usual, these few weeks between Halloween and Thanksgiving give me some level of stress, just in trying to decide when it's okay to start decorating for Christmas, to switch to the Christmas ringtone, etc. When I go home next week, I plan to pick up my tree and bring it back to Sioux Falls. How long do I let it stay in the box before I put it up? How soon do we need to get our Christmas card picture taken? When is it okay to start Christmas shopping? So many questions...

Tummy Aches

Today is a sick day. I've been battling some tummy troubles for the past couple weeks, but when I woke up this morning, the pain was at it's worst. I was dealing with a mix of nausea and sharp, stabby pains in my abdomen. After laying awake for a couple hours, I finally decided to call in sick to work. Luckily, today is football playoffs, so the anchor didn't need a whole lot of time devoted to news, but I still feel like I left her high and dry, without a lead story.

Research leads toward the diagnosis of a stomach ulcer, but I'm just not sure if I'm ready to go out of denial yet. At least, I wasn't sure until I woke up today. Now I've decided I'm going to try and see a doctor while I'm home on Thursday. Who knows what he'll have to say--it's probably nothing , and I'm wasting money on an office call, but at least I'll have the peace of mind in knowing it's nothing but a crazy digestive system.

Looking ahead...

The next few weeks look to be rather uneventful, aside from my trip home next week and a possible visit from my family for Thanksgiving. The idea of everyone coming to Sioux Falls and going out to dinner is still on the table, but I think it'll all depend on which shows I have to anchor since Dad has to be back in Winner to open the store the next day for Black Friday. It'd be nice to see them all, but who knows what that week will bring.