What Lies Beneath

Do not mean to continue discussing shingles but viral plague has now SERIOUSLY disrupted life ... Mardi Gras ball dress to be worn in a couple of weeks is virtually backless & will show hideousness of skin ... perhaps is like leprosy ...no, strike that ... have worn dress before (avert your eyes, red-carpet-walking fashion world) & is wonderful because is so comfy but must have Emergency Plan B ... afraid to adopt "wait & see" approach as could end in wild, desperate & disastrous dress choice with no time for alterations ... is horrible emergency ... am so concerned with important things in life ...

More, Please??

have used Annie's naptime in most productive way and cleaned out purse ... is like scavenger hunt almost ...

am also cursing, cursing, cursing steroid medicine am currently taking while in "shingle mode" ... creates ravenous appetite (could eat couch, I believe) and is NOT my fault I consumed half a bag of potato chips, half a can of french onion dip, an egg salad sandwich with cheese and lots of mayonaise, two glasses of milk and a bottle of water in the course of an hour ...

am still hungry. not good.

Say What Now??

Always spend Annie's naptime feeling I should be doing something earth-shattering, such as working on cure for cancer, turning home "green" so as to be more environmentally conscious, exercising or the like. But invariably I do the same things: domestic diva chores such as laundry while pondering (but not acting to actually accomplish) more contributing-to-the-world activities or, today, pondering the bizarre little conversation with Annie involving a bald-headed baby doll, a red-headed baby doll, a hairbow and why we couldn't move the red-headed baby's hair onto the bald-headed baby so the bald-headed baby would have hair and could wear the bow.

Must work on making home "green."

Facebook or Bust ...

ok, so blog is definitely suffering due to newfound addiction to Facebook ... is sad but true.

Not much to say on shingles front, except they are moving along (literally) ... is simple, miserable addition to list of strange medical maladies I have experienced. Super. Actually may not be so strange as have talked to lots of people who have had "the experience." But to continue whining, must say they are so awful ...

Good possibility of some winter precipitation tonight so must be on lookout ... will retrieve night vision goggles ...

shall see if Annie has Moms Day Out tomorrow morning or if it is cancelled ...

Images of the Weekend

Well, with all the not-so-fun-but-I'll-spare-you-the-details of having shingles, it's been a pretty quiet, making sure I'm taking the right medicine at the right time kind of weekend ... having said that, I occupied/distracted myself by just grabbing the camera and taking a bunch of pictures over the weekend ... I even managed to get a few of my birthday cards when Annie wasn't snatching them off the floor ... I know, super excitement but still I offer you the following:

Happy Shingles to You!!

And so I must report on my very special yesterday ... First, all was just super. I dropped Annie off at Moms Day Out and headed downtown for my 6-month post-op appt. with my OB/GYN. Since I absolutely love my doctor, I was actually looking forward to the visit and had just barely sat down in the waiting room to read the paper and learn all about the historical occurrences from the Presidential Inauguration (ok, fine, to read all about who designed Michelle Obama's fabulous clothes from the day) when I was called back.

Now this part is just lovely ... my doctor came in just as the entire paper I was trying to read while balancing those heinous and massive tablecloth things they give you to cover up came completely apart (the newpaper, I mean.) Anywho, he took one look at me and said, "wow, you really look amazing; I can just see how much better you feel since your surgery." People, it just doesn't get much better than that ... I felt that after being told I look amazing these days was an excellent point to stop the exam. But no. And, for the record, this is where my day began to go downhill.

He noticed a rash-type thingy on my left hip and immediately said, "You know, Laurie, I'm almost positive that's shingles." I sat basking in the earlier "you look amazing" comment and really didn't catch on at first. But then I did as he suggested a timely visit to my general practitioner. Again, just a super day.

So since my parents are here and were picking up Annie I just headed on down to my GP, who promptly looked at the rash-thingy and sent me straight upstairs to the dermatologist, where I sat in the waiting room with some people with very interesting bandaged areas. I got a bit nervous, but the doctor was a great guy, except that he did a hideous skin scraping of the area so he could look at the slide under the microscope and confirm (or not) the presence of shingles.

Of course he returned with the fabulous news that I have shingles. Great. He then returned with a free sample box of some medicine that specifically targets shingles. I opened the box, and this lovely little booklet fell out with a picture of an attractive couple rafting and a massive heading that said: "MANAGING YOUR GENITAL HERPES." Of course at this point I freaked out a bit, but the doctor said the medicine also treats herpes and all would be ok. Sure.

And the day moved on ...

So off to the pharmacy I went to get my prescriptions filled, and while I waited it seemed everyone in the pharmacy had a shingles story to tell. One person had a friend who died from shingles, one person knew someone who had shingles on her scalp and is now legally blind in one eye from complications. It was a great and grand experience, let me tell you.

So for the record I am now on seven thousand medications for shingles, am wildly uncomfortable, still trying to wrap my head around "Lost" from last night and preparing to celebrate my 23rd birthday tomorrow most likely in the least binding pajamas I can locate. Ok, ok, 23rd and then a whole lotta years ...

Nonetheless, yesterday was nothing if not entertaining, and as my uncle often says, "It's not nuclear war."

Life is good and interesting ...

Kindermusik Program

Here, for your viewing enjoyment, are a few million pictures from Annie's Kindermusik program on Saturday morning ... The very first picture is of our wonderful, wonderful teacher holding Annie in her lap ...

The Dance of Motherhood

So it continues to be a frozen tundra here in Nashvegas ... VERY cold ...

Anywho, Anthony had a meeting last night, so that left just us girls hanging out at the house for a bit. There Annie and I were (and all the dolls lined up beside us) watching that ever-magical "Mamma Mia" (and intermittently dancing), her in her pj's, me in my feetie pj's ... those moments remind me why it is so amazing to have a child, especially a little girl. I only say "little girl" because it is my single point of reference!! Still, there's something absolutely breathtaking about the whole situation ... They can drive you absolutely batty, but I suppose no one ever said motherhood would be easy. All in all, it's not such a bad way to end the day dancing around the living room with your daughter and laughing ... Not bad at all.

Russia From the Porch

And so now we have begun contruction of our igloo because it's so unbelievably cold ... when the wind chill is -1, I have a distinct feeling of living in Alaska and being able to see Russia from the front porch. At least when the beer-making project ends in some explosion we'll have extra heat from the flames ...

Don't Let It Snow

Well, the threat of snow is upon us once again ...

It occurred to me today (in between sipping champagne and eating bonbons whilst Annie sang gentle lullabies) that receiving this news brings a whole new reaction these days. Used to be (in the olden days) that hearing we might get snow meant visions of our family in the front yard building snowpeople with Mary and Hopie hurling themselves into the banks of snow to make snow-dog angels with their little paws. Ah, the beauty of it all ...

Now just hearing the words "chance of snow" from the dreaded weather people brings feelings of sheer terror. What if Annie's Moms Day Out is cancelled tomorrow? Not a pretty picture as Hopie has to go to the vet after I drop Annie off for allergy skin testing and, as usual, I have the normal Target-related errands to run and a meeting at our church tomorrow night.

Snow is just not part of that picture.

In mommydom, it's very important that the weather go along with whatever your plans are for the day. Or maybe I should say "what your plans WERE for the day."

The best-laid plans ...

Mr. Beer

Well, I hardly know how to start this blog, but I suppose I'll give it a whirl ... For Christmas (and per his request) Anthony got a beer-making kit from my cousin and her husband. It's actually called Mr. Beer. Now I have nothing against beer, mind you, but the idea of homemade beer scares me a bit.

But I digress a smidge.

In order for Anthony to make his own beer, the fermentation process (oh, Lord) must occur in a location that meets certain temperature criteria. This location was deemed to be our pantry under the stairs ... Harry Potter, anyone? Anyway, so that all the beer-making stuff could fit in there, we actually had to clean out the pantry for the first time in about three years. (explanation for Hopie wearing her Halloween mask from several years ago that we found in the pantry.)

So now we are set up to make our own beer. Yep, you may just call us the Barclay Brewery.

Annie's in her hat and mittens just because she wanted to wear them. No beer involved there ...