Friends & Stomach Upset

Friends can be such a mixed blessing.

Last night my friend Ed and I went to hear our mutual friend Pamela King Cable speak to a rotary group about her journey, "Out of the Darkness & Into the Life of a Writer." It was a moving talk and Rotarians flocked (as they rightly should) to purchase Pam's new book, Southern Fried Women.

The club meets at a Thai restaurant and we were served a small but delicious salad with peanut dressing. After the talk, Ed, Pam, myself and Pam's husband Michael moved to a table in the restaurant for drinks and appetizers. Pam and I had wine, the men beer.  We all ordered spring rolls but instead of being served the fried delight we were hoping for, we were presented with shredded lettuce wrapped in a rubbery, transparent, and completely tasteless substance.

"A patty melt sounds good," sighed Pam.

"So do pancakes. Hey, there's an I-Hop up the street," said Ed.

Mike grabbed the check. "Let's go."

We downed our wine and trooped out to our cars, forming a mini-caravan to I-Hop. Once seated, we ordered chocolate-chip pancakes, a patty melt, fries, and coffee. Mind you, this is on top of peanut salad, spring rolls, and wine.

After two hours of laughter and conversation we stepped outside. "This was fun," said someone. "We should do this more often." We all nodded our heads and agreed.

"I think I'm going to barf," said someone else. We all nodded our heads and agreed.  

Would I ever eat such a gross combination of food on my own? Never!

Thank God for friends. They surely keep life interesting... 

Allergy Testing

In order to live in my large, dusty house with my large, dusty cats I am required to partake weekly in an allergy shot. And in order to receive said weekly shot, my allergist demands I visit him and cough up several hundred dollars once a year so he can say, "Doing okay?" and I can say, "Yes, fine thank you," and he can say, "Great. We'll keep going then. See you next year."

Such was the 3-minute scenario I expected this morning as I pulled in to my allergists parking lot at 10:45 for my 11 AM appointment (if I am anything, I am prompt).  But as luck would have it, the nurse taking my BP caught that this was my 5-year appointment which meant I was due to be retested. For anyone who's never been tested for allergies, this process involves you sitting in a cotton wrap big enough to house Detroit while a nurse uses a pen to write numbers up and down your back. Then she sticks a small needle containing an allergen next to each number and waits for you to swell up.

For the first time ever, I tested as more allergic to dogs than to cats. And according to the test, I will pretty much drop dead of asphyxiation if I am anywhere near a Black Walnut tree. Throw in dust mites and feather allergies and you've got yourself a party.

My allergist noted my animal allergies. "Got pets?" he asked.

"Two cats" I said, striking the indefensible Okinawa Crane Pose in the middle of his office. "And they're not leaving."

"So who's asking them to?" he said. "I gave up years ago on trying to convince people to get rid of their pets."

He then told me a horrible story about how the ONE patient he convinced to get rid of her cat gave the cat to him, and he had to tell her on her next visit that the cat, a Persian, had got out of his house and been killed by a dog. Why do people tell me these things???

I'm sitting in Panera (where else?) having just finished low-fat soup and an apple and trying to convince myself I don't need an apple tart to seal the deal. I'm also giving the evil eye to a truly nasty woman I worked with years ago who is sitting two tables up from me.  Her back is to me so her hair is receiving the brunt of  my evil-ward-offeness but that's the kind of back-stabbing gal I am. Hmmm... I better throw the sign of the cross out at her, just to be safe.

Happy Tuesday, all.

Ugliest Room Contest

Here's a fun little project I worked on before I left for my trip. The website in the attached link is holding an Ugly Room Contest and they needed someone to write the text for their site.  I won the bid for the project through Guru.com and had a ball pulling it together. You've got to like a career that has you looking up synonyms for "distasteful" and "offensive."

Sick or not, today it's back to work. I have three major articles due by mid-December and since my plan to have the article-fairy show up and write them doesn't seem to be panning out, I guess it's all on me.  If I am very disciplined today and get everything done on my list, I'll be in good shape for the week. 

I'm going to go make hot tea for my sore throat and then hit it.  If I'm very, very good, I might be able to sneak in a power nap before I run this evening.

 A happy and productive Monday to all.

Thanksgiving Flu

Hack. Wretch. Snort. Rrrrrrr...acccckkk--(spit).

 Such are the festive sounds of the holiday season around the Harris Household this week. We are playing host to "the-cold-that-wouldn't-die." Blair is going on two weeks of sore throat and coughing. I came down with it on Tuesday, rallied on Thursday, then admitted defeat yesterday and slunk off to bed.  The heartbreaking part of being sick, of course, is that our taste buds are deadened and while we typically celebrate for 72 hours the glorious carbfest known to others as "Thanksgiving," this year we had 2 meals and threw most of the leftovers out.

We did manage yesterday to pull out the Christmas trees and decorate the house, and I have about half the holiday cards addressed. But for the most part we've spent the last four days comatose on the couch, watching bad TV and getting headaches from lack of movement.

I forced myself on the treadmill yesterday and although it's the last thing on earth I feel like doing, will have to do the same today. The half-marathon is in 13 days! Thirteen days and I have totally slacked off these last two weeks. If I can put in at least 5 miles a day with a two longer runs thrown in, I might survive. My biggest worry at this point is the cold weather. I'm not used to running in the cold and it does make a difference in breathing and stamina.  But with my ears already plugged up and ringing, I don't really want to go outside and run, even though it is supposed to be a stunning 69 degrees today.

So just wanted to check in and note that we're still  here, although our breath smells of cough syrup and the cats have come to take it for granted that we have forsworn showering and any of our other normal grooming patterns. It's back to work tomorrow so we're going to take full advantage of napping today. 

There's plenty of bad TV out there and I aim to take advantage of it.