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y’all may remember my very exciting and very adult trip to the doctor two weeks ago. Wherein they gave me some antibiotics and sent me on my merry way. I got better in, say, 4 days, and because I’m an antibiotics nerd I was very careful to finish up my course as prescribed. I then continued on and commenced to burn my candle at both ends, as per normal.

but then yesterday I woke up feeling crummy. and I felt crummier and crummier as the day went on. but I was primo busy yesterday, so I called and made a doctors appointment for today. wherein I had a throat swab (“nice job!” said the doctor, impressed at my squinty eye repression of gag reflex. he also said “wow!” again and said my throat was “beefy red.” um. yuck?) that told us rapidly that I tested positive for strep. STREP!

so here’s the fun part: I’m allergic to the major family of antibiotics that is preferred for treating strep (penecillian). I’m also allergic to the tier 2 standby, clindamycin. Which leaves, apparently, a fond cousin of CIPRO. EEK! I was totally saving cipro! I hate taking antibiotics, because what if I’m more allergic to them than I was other things? what if I find new ones that hate me? and then what if I get pneumonia? or worse, the terrorists win and I get ANTHRAX? what will I do then?

I guess more important than the potential catching of the ANTHRAX is the part where strep throat can turn into rheumatic fever, which can damage your heart valves. And I have to say, that would be the worst kind of irony ever. My cholestoral ratios are so good right now, and my heart seems to check out fabulously every time I have work done at the doctors. For me to have a damaged heart because of the strep, and not because of my family and it’s crummy heart heritage? that would just be icing. I am so taking these scary cousin-of-cipro drugs, and I will do it with a smile on my face. a big sleepy smile, because I am So Much working from home tomorrow.

on friday michelle and I geared up to drive to pittsburgh for the Fourth! Annual! Mardi Gras! Party! We were excited to go, and then michelle emailed me and asked if I’d heard that Rts 78 and 80 were closed in PA because of solid nasty sheets of ice that had stranded motorists for twenties of hours. No! I hadn’t! and then I mentioned it to mariss, and said that while I’d considered driving up to binghamton and driving south on 81 to 78, 81 was also closed so instead I would take 76 across PA. and then he sent me a news story about a tanker truck full of flammable xylene that had turned over and was being carefully pumped out prior to removal on Rt. 76. Leaving all east-west highways across the entire (very large) state of Pennsylvania shut down on Friday. Eek.

When we learned that all three highways were closed, really, it was like the beginning of a comedy routine. “the bartender says: I can’t serve you here!” you know. or maybe you don’t.
Of course, being the fine adventurers we are, michelle and I decided to go with it. if something bad happened we would stay in a hotel, we said. and besides, I had lots of snacks in the car. so we drove west on 78 until just before the highway closed, and then south on 476, and then west on 76 (which had opened by then). and we drove and drove and drove. it took almost 8 hours to get to Pgh, and partly because I had to stop and take a 30 min. nap on the way out. I was So. Tired!.

but the mardi gras party was so fun! and it’s lovely to see mariss and kelly again, and they’re always such wonderful hosts. speaking of hosts, man, that aurora and jesse throw a good party. and I lost my car keys at the sharrushalards house, so michelle and I had to go see them again on sunday morning! and then by the time we hit the road to go home Rt 78 was open again, so it only took 6 hours (as per normal) to get home! Plus, because we had to make sure we had emergency supplies for the trip home, we stopped at the co-op and stocked up on gluten-free goodies for our trip. tasty.
And here’s me in my crazy sparkle belly dress and associated accoutremonts. (courtesy mariss and kelly!) The theme of the party was “the crystal ball.” with michelle’s guidance and lead, I dressed as an, um, amateur chemist. Right.

Happy Day to my Valentines. Y’all know who you are. Smooch.

As I was going into nyc to meet my friend shannon on sunday for a nice meal of wild boar ribs and kangaroo, I felt kind of crummy. by the time I went to sleep (early) that night my throat was swollen on the left side and I felt pathetic! so I did (for once) the responsible, adult thing. I evaluated my activities for the week and decided I should really take care of myself. And I called in sick.

I’m so bad at calling in sick! but this week I have been really good at not doing any work. I went to the doctor on monday (he said “Wow!” when he looked in my mouth and prescribed antibiotics) and have been sleeping and watching netflix dvds and sleeping. it’s been, actually, kind of super.

I have to say though, this illness should not have been unexpected. I’ve had a whirlwind month of a bad cold, of funerals, of waking up with raw dry throats, of driving to long island and to albany and to albany, and of stressful and sad planning of itineraries. I’ll mention the stress again, there was lots of stress. and sad. and running ragged.

so of COURSE I have an infection in my throat. it still hurts today but the antibioitics seem to be kicking in because I don’t feel like I’ve got a big red hot mushy golfball lodged in my throat. and no hives yet, either, which is a serious concern with me and antibiotics. phew.

Another fine lady passed away after her struggle with the cancer. Cousin John’s Mom passed yesterday morning. She was a champ thorough it all. John, and Mariss, and Kelly: you all know I’m so very sorry about your (our) loss. I am happy to have known her, and I’ll think of her whenever I walk out of someone’s house with a can of coke for the drive.

they say that we make our own families as adults, and I’ve been so blessed with the family of friends that I’ve created. the deaths of two of my dear friends mothers in the last couple of weeks has emphasized to me how much each one of my friends means to me, and how truly important it is to be there for each other. I guess I figure that’s why we’re on this earthship cruising through space: we’re here to love one another, and to make the journey as comfortable for each other as we can.

Miz. Lois C, also known as michelle’s mom, also known as the reason for Team Lois, passed away on Wednesday morning after her marathon year+ battle with cancer. It’s so very sad. Michelle’s parents have always been so kind to me, and I’ve felt close to them over the decade+ that I’ve known them. Michelle and her family are in my thoughts and prayers.

And Godspeed, Lois C, on your latest run. I hope the wind is at your back, and I’m so glad to have known you.

last weekend daniel, dan aaron, and meredith came down for a visit. of course, it was either so cold or my camera really didn’t like being dunked in thai food, and my batteries vanished almost as soon as I put them into use. so I don’t have any pics of the weekend.

they drove down on friday night and we got the card table out and played flinch. I love that game. I have so many good memories of sitting with gramma and dan aaron at her dining room table at, like 9PM, when it felt so late because it was pitch dark outside and we’d been running around all day, playing flinch or rummy or muggins until we were so sleepy gramma sent us to bed. then we all went to bed early, because we had a big day ahead of us.

after a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs and a blown circuit and dan aaron getting a new one, we were finally out waiting for the bus at 10:40. once into nyc dan aaron and meredith went to the motorcycle convention and daniel and I had cupcakes at the cupcake cafe. then we were off to the natural history museum, where we saw dinosaurs (cool, but not interactive enough for daniel), the ocean life exhibit (he didn’t want to look at the giant squid but the whale was really awesome) and the space show (cosmic collisions – a hit, b/c it was technologically more in line with what daniel is used to, and also, because we could sit down). then back downtown where we met dan aaron and meredith on the train platform by port authority, and off to walk across the brooklyn bridge.

from meredith: us walking across the brooklyn bridge.

once across, we went for pizza at grimaldi’s. yum. they were refreshing the oven so we had a nice chance to look through flyers and pick out our motorcycles for our future motorcycle gang. I’d tell you the name, but it’s got our last name in it and I try not to put that on the internets. here, though it’s not as funny as the real thing: we’re going to be called “The Big LastNames.” heh.

pizza was great, and then we walked around the corner to Jacque Torres for the incredibly thick and sweet hot chocolate. we couldn’t finish it! and we’re all into sweets! then we took the train back to the bus and took the bus home and played yahtzee until daniel was so wiped out he was looking at us cockeyed. and then he slept for TEN HOURS.

such a lovely weekend!

as much as I’m all “do it yourself” and “cheap as heck” and “no sir, I don’t need to buy an ipod, because it won’t play books from the library,” I think that apple has finally done it. When I first got a cell phone I was obsessed with small and really used the heck out of my cutsie wee nokia. after I got used to the windows based PDA, I was obsessed with small, and moved to the handspring. I thought maybe the treo would be the phone of the future but it just wasn’t, and cell phones have just gotten bigger and boringer as time goes by.

and then! I find myself at work still, late at night, and instead of working, I’m watching the video introducing the iPhone. and holy cow. maybe I *do* need an ipod after all. it’s everything I ever wanted from a phone, a camera, and a pda (sort of, it’s got a calender) and it’s all fully integrated! and wee small! and smart! and so sharp looking! and so fancy! and offered through cingular, my current cell phone carrier! (though you wouldn’t know it from their webpage tonight, way to not market yourself, cingular.) wowza!

[[though, at $499, maybe I am still kind of cheap as heck. by the time they start shipping maybe my contract will be ready to re-up, so maybe it’ll be less spendy for me…]]

yesterday was so foggy and rainy! it was very warm, though, with temperatures between 50 and 55 degrees. I wore my bathing suit under my clothes and jaunted out to coney island. I caught a 10:20 bus, and got there by 11:45 – not too bad, considering I was coming from nj. I love that Q train. it is the best.

I met sangu, lisa, lorelei, and jenn at the beach. sangu knows a real polar bear! I don’t have a photo of him. at 1PM we all ran into the ocean like crazy women. it was amazing. so, at first it’s really cold. and then it’s really painful. and then it’s kind of like you’re on fire. but then the endorphins kick in, and it’s the most amazing fun experience you’ll ever have. Sangu and I ran in 5 times. We would get out, mill around, run back in, get out, dry off, run back in, rinse, repeat. I think I’m good for about 2 minutes in at 48 degrees before it wasn’t fun any more.

you can see how healthful and happy we look after our icy plunge. and PINK!

After that was the fun of getting dressed on the beach. the skirt was no problem, and the shirt wasn’t much of a hassle b/c I’d brought a loose wool sweater to cover the top of me in and I had room to work with undergarments under that. and it was warm. wool is so great, what with the insulating when wet. the issue was that everything was so damp – the clouds were low that day, and I couldn’t get un-clammy.

rocco and xenia showed up and whisked sangu and I back to manhattan, where we met michelle for our semi-traditional first meal of the year.

happy new year!

that fake made-up buzzword “syncrosity” is getting an invitation from one group of friends to go to the coney island polar bear swim, and finding out upon checking in with your tentative brunch friends that they had been secretly thinking of swimming too.

all reports seem to point towards it being awfully good weather for a swim (50s, perhaps rainy) too, so obviously this is something that is Meant To Be. I am so dorkily excited!