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 :)