M.I.A....

Yeah, OK...whatever. So I've been Missing In Action (versus Major Idiot Attack!) for a few days. It's been a VERY busy week already and it's only Tuesday...I'm afraid by the time my mother's other off-spring and family arrive, I could very well be D.O.A. (and no, that is NOT Disabled Old Arse!).

It has once again been warmer than the surface of the sun here in Seattle...and NO...for all of you who have, year after year, pleaded with me to get a portable air conditioner...I STILL have not. Therefore, I am NOT complaining (only a little bit) for my heat plight. :-) The evenings have fortunately cooled down into the 70's and 60's, but 90 degrees during the day is enough to melt my internal ice cream, so to speak. And, in spite of the heat advisory on Saturday and Sunday, I did foolishly continue my Sisyphean task of preparation for the coming of...well, uh...the SISTER.

I spent most of the weekend in utter HELL working in my yard...mowing, weeding, digging, trimming, and removing buckets of soil from one area, only to cart them up and down some steps into another. "Why?" you ask. I wish I had a grand answer for you! But alas...it is my plight of futility...somehow, in my most anal-retentive-compulsive manner, I decided EVERYTHING that I had been putting off doing in my yard MUST be done in near heat stroke weather BEFORE the Elder BRAINCHEESE Sib arrives. Because "somehow" this will matter...to someone...somewhere...sigh. LOL

What WAS a great surprise to note (as I checked my resting pulse of 150, trying to peer out of a left blurry eye, in which vision was only worsened by the POOLS of sweat collecting on my glasses) was the fact I HAD the energy to do such manual labor. AND, my fingertips were only stinging at a tolerable level of discomfort. Yes, this IS an improvement, my friends. I have also noticed the systemic joint pain lessening over the past week to 10 days...Virginia, not only is there a Santa Claus, there is a GOD, too!

And, since I've digressed into the Land O' MS (as usual), I will report I have *caved* into the scare tactics and demands of Dr. She Who Will Not Be Named (and her minions), and have also scheduled a FOURTH Tysabri dose the end of July...I just really couldn't fit an infusion in my jet-setting life before then. LOL After noticing a steady improvement over the past several days in my symptomology, I decided not to taunt the MS gods and go ahead with my current treatment plan...for now...until I get another hair up my butt and decide I'm flying to Latin America for some good ol' Columbian Coffee Colonics because someone somewhere in some obscure news report has discovered colonic therapy not only cures MS, but also turns gray hair back to its original color. Yep, I'll be signing up for THAT.

I went back to the *whipping post*, aka, my "work" on Monday after the weekend off (my gawd, but that picture in the last post here on CHEESE sure stirred up the likes of y'all?!?)...only to realize I had contracted some kind of stomach virus, which sent me running to the bathroom on more than one occasion, and leaving work early to *rest*. Oh, sure...some might say I really DID put myself into a state of heat exhaustion over the weekend. But I actually felt pretty good (aside from the sweltering temperatures) until Monday around 10:00AM...and then the nausea/upset stomach set in. I generally am not one to succumb to a little gastric upset, so I went on into work anyway...and, unfortunately had to sit in a satellite office, where the temperature of the west-facing window *closet* (that's about how BIG the office is!) rose to about 85 degrees...with me, perspiring under my suit of armor (work clothes and shoes...the "warm" kind...or at least warmer than the UNDERWEAR I had been sitting in at home), and becoming dumber and more nauseated by the minute. I finally gave up after 5 hours, called the Boss Man, and went home. A tepid bath, bordering on chilling, never felt soooo good.

Just as a follow up to the last post here (because I'm also feeling SMUG and self-righteous...typical), which was laden with *cryptic-speak*, what I CAN tell you is this: Ultimately, my best intentions/gut instinct worked out perfectly, which I discovered on Monday at work, and my Leo head is once again raised high into the air. I believe a well-placed NEENER is appropriate...followed by a raspberry, an "I told you so", and maybe even an eye roll...although the *eye roll* might trigger my vertigo, and them I'm back feeling lower than hammered fecal matter again...so I'll refrain. LOL

I'm sure you've already had a seizure looking at the flashing, worm-y count down clock over there on the CHEESE side bar...don't worry. It will go away after the 4th of July...as may what shred of sanity I cling to so desperately. I'm going to try to take my laptop to the ocean with me and maybe be able to post once or twice while the famn damily and I are on the coast...perhaps a photo or two will make its way onto the ol' blog...of course, doctored in PhotoShop! Lord knows there will be no photos of ME in a swim suit, waking with "bed head", or eating crab with butter running off my chin...

And here are some of the *fruits* of my weekend labor...because these flowers will matter to someone...somewhere...sometime: