Strange phone call

I had a bit of a fright yesterday when a freaky call showed up. This afternoon I got a call and so I checked the caller id as per usual. There was a name there that I didnt recognize hooked to a number that I was pretty sure not in our local calling area. I kind of ignored it until later. When I was starting the prior entry, I needed a picture of that one ring and thought I still had it handy in my doc file. While I was looking for it (and no I didnt have it anymore I had to find out what site was selling it and then grab it from there), I came across a couple letters I had written. One was in late 2004 (November) and the other was in early 2005 (January)........


Let me take a brief moment now to catch those not familiar with the Padded Room ramblings up at this point. It's common knowledge among my friends that this is my second marriage. What some may not know is the background on the first. The first time around I was married to the most obnoxious, verbally/mentally/emotionally abusive, manipulative sorry ass excuse of a piece of kahuna sized turd that one could ever imagine. Well...maybe some of you can imagine because you've seen someone as bad or worse. Anyhow, in 2003 I ran. I couldnt handle it one more minute and so I ran. I ran for my sanity and I ran for self-preservation. Up til that point, the only thing good about him was that he'd never raised a hand in anger but once to me. Like I said, up until then. Once I got away and settled, I had to wait 6 months before I could file for divorce. During that time I was convinced by one of my family members to open an email addy for communication with the kahuna turd, so that the divorce could be done amicably. Ok fine. For the first little bit, things were amicable. He told me that he'd moved in with his sister and their family which was a really good step for him. He needed the structure of a family. Later he told me he'd moved out on his own and gotten a new job at a school. This all I confirmed with a few keystrokes on my computer. I saw his bio on the school's website and found his addy in 411.com. Then things got wonky. He told me that he'd "moved on and found a new love in his life" and to "go ahead and file for divorce and get it over with". I told him that it was going to take a bit to do that because I had a waiting period where I was at and it would be faster if he filed in Pennsylvania because he already had the residency requirements. You think he would? Nope. Said I wanted it so I had to file. During my waiting period, I got no fewer than 3-4 letters from him every damn day. I told him, I really didnt need to know everything that was going on in his life and that one email a day would really suffice. At one point, I gather he'd had a very bad day and decided to take it out on me via email. I wrote him back that the next time he did it I was going to 01) file a complaint with the FCC because what he was doing is highly illegal and is considered harrassment even though it wasnt face to face and 02) I'd close down the email and he'd have no way to talk to me ever again. For the first time ever, I got an apology that actually LOOKED like he meant it.

So when the 6 months passed, I filed....then I sent the paperwork to his job with a delivery confirmation attached to it and instructions on what needed to be done...I even sent a money order to pay for notarization. Several weeks went by and he'd gotten quieter on the emails which was fine by me. So I dropped an email and told him if the paperwork wasnt in my hands and signed I was going to send it by courier and have him served in his classroom. I didnt give a damn if he had to pay the extra to overnight it at this point because I was footing the cost on everything else anyhow. I got the waiver, signed, in a few days. I go to court with the signed waiver, thinking things will just keep rolling when the clerk tells me that they needed the final decree signed as well and not just the waiver....WHAT?? They couldnt at least be helpful and let me know this when I'd been to file paperwork before?? *sigh* So I sent the paperwork to the school again with a letter he needed to sign ALL the papers. The envelope came back....he no longer was working at the school. I decided to play it smart, if he wasnt there then he may have gone to one of three homes to live because things were tight. I packed up 3 envelopes and sent them to all of those places. I sent separate instructions a week prior regarding what I was sending, how it was coming and if he wasnt there if they'd kindly just refuse the package so it came back to me. I was due to make a trip to Pa for my PaSis's wedding September 2005. The day before we left, all 3 managed to show back up...all RTS (return to sender). Needless to say I was really upset. I called my mom and she suggested that I make copies of the paperwork and have it on me, just in case he showed up anywhere I was (which was entirely possible because I was going to be in the town that I had run from). He wasnt there, and I had a peaceful visit. When we got back to Texas, I went to the courts and had a posting put up that I was looking for this man to sign some paperwork (more money out of pocket...this was beginning to suck). A couple days after putting the listing up, I was online with a mutual friend and she let me know the reason why I couldnt find him is because he'd been sent to prison....she just had no clue why. A few keystrokes and having an idea of where to look proved that yes he'd been arrested. Another mutual friend was kind enough to buy the archived article and damned if the bugger had been in prison since July 2004 for 5 counts harrassment and 3 counts stalking with the intent to do harm (said he'd kill them with a knife or gun after raping them). With some help from a friend of mine, I was able to get an addy for him and a prisoner number. I was given the info on who to contact and how to go about things. I left him a letter telling him that he either signed or I went and got the divorce without him, there were other ways around his signature now that he was in prison. The same day I dropped a letter to the DA over his case and introduced myself. The letter was 15 pages long and detailed life with the jerk over the period of 1990-2003. I dropped a message to the lady over the office I was dealing with in the courthouse and let her know that I did indeed manage to find him and that I was sending the papers along to him to sign. I was in contact with that office DAILY for weeks afterwards. Again, on the last possible day...I got the envelope with the divorce decree in it and signed. Unfortunately, there was another envelope with it. I wont go into details with it because I'll eventually be typing the letter in it's entirety in the Padded Room later. Just let's say that the letter was definitely beyond creepy. The critter is definitely psychotic. That day I wrote the DA and sent him a letter expressing my concern and sent along a copy of the letter idiotboy sent me as well as a photocopy of the envelope it was sent in. The handwriting on the envelope...wasnt his. This told me that someone else there had my address....plus it had a drawing of a flower on it....he cant draw worth shit. I got an email from the DA's office a few days later. It basically said I had enough to press charges if I care to and what that would entail. It also basically told me that since he did this from behind bars that it would add on to his already existing sentence (his sentence at the time was 7 months to 7 yrs for a first offense). Im thinking that letter and the fact I contacted the DA added onto his sentence and he wont be out until at least 2011. I thought about it for a day or so and wrote the DA back that he should place the stuff in the prisoner's file for review during his future parole hearings....that I was going to court the next day and having things finalized. After then, I wouldnt be family and after what he'd pulled I definitely didnt consider him a friend any longer so it would be illegal according to the rules of the prison for him to contact me. Once the divorce was finalized I filled out envelopes to the DA, the dingbat, the Superintendant of the prison and the mail room clerks. I told them that under code number whatever in that prison that the prisoner should be having no more contact with me. I also sent along copies of the finalized decree and letters that I had sent to everyone else so all were on the same page. In dingbat's letter I told him I'd contacted all of the others and sent him a copy of the email correspondence between me and the DA. I got a letter a couple weeks later from the prison....he'd been brought to the Super's office and officially ordered to never contact me again while behind their walls.


....ok that said...back to the phone call. The caller id name MATCHED the name of the DA over kahuna turd's case. You can pretty much guess exactly how freaked I was. The first thing I did was pull up the prison's site to make absolutely certain they still had him listed there. He was and considering the time difference between when the site had last been updated and the time I was checking, I was fairly certain he wasnt calling from that location. I did, however, suspect it was the DA because it was a Pennsylvania number (thank goodness for 411.com) and the addy hooked to it was a mere 90 minutes or so from the prison (thank goodness for Mapquest), so I called.....



are you ready for this?




It was someone who pays those that deliver our phone books wanting to be certain that it had indeed arrived on our doorstep a couple weeks back. I told them no and laughed (Ive since found out that it did arrive...hubby had brought it in and forgot to tell me... so I'll have to call later and let them know). The guy's wife (who'd picked up the phone) wanted to know what was funny so I told her why I hadnt picked up in the first place and the only reason why I even called back was because I'd been going through some old files and seen the name in my files. That yes, there was another man in Pennsylvania roughly in their area with the same doggone name that was a DA. She found it strangely funny too. It must have made an awesome share when the husband got home.

Rings

Here's a pic of the rings I mentioned in my last blog entry. The one that is on the index finger was originally bought as an engagement ring for Christmas 2005. It wasnt even close to what I had my heart set on, but he wanted me to have something for that all important finger. The plan was to use it as an engagement one and then buy one closer to what I wanted and use the first one as a wedding band (this is the ring I had resized recently..it's a hugs and kisses ring with diamonds in the hugs positions). We went shopping around Valentines Day 2006 because we saw one that was even closer to what I wanted but when we got to the store, the particular model I was wanting (a single ruby heart with diamonds on either side) was all sold out and they werent offering rainchecks. *sigh*. So hubby picked out the one that's on my hand right now. It's kinda close enough, still not what my heart was truly set on, but close enough. At least HE bought it and didnt take an already existing ring of mine to resize and use (if that doesnt sound familiar...take yourself over to my Padded room to see whom Im talking about). It is part of a set that included earrings and a necklace. I hope to get a chain I feel comfortable in to replace the one in the set for the pendant so I can wear it for special occassions. I've yet to get a good picture of that ring...no matter how hard I try. It's two ruby hearts with two diamond flecks on either side of them. When I tried the ring on my pinkie finger (they only stocked 2-3 sizes and those of us with bigger fingers had to have it resized...stupids) with the already existing band, I realized it was gonna look wonky. As such, I decided it might be best to find a "V" band to act as the wedding band and maybe use the first ring as a "capper" ring. Well as a capper ring, it still looked freaky so I've opted to resize it so I can wear it on the same hand as the others. I didnt buy it and it wasnt a gift for a friend so it really shouldnt be treated as a right-hand ring.

This next picture on the right is closest to the one I really Really REALLY want. When I first moved to Texas, hubby and I were in the local WalMart and my attention was drawn by the little table they had set up of costume jewelry. The one ring that got my attention the most was one that looked like that one to the right, but the only difference was that the one at WalMart was done with a yellow gold plated band. Granted it was only $9.97 or so, but it was the first ring he ever bought me. I wore it proudly daily until it got to the point where the acid in my skin started eating away at the gold plating and tarnished it. He was going to bring it to a jeweler's that was connected to his work and see if he could have it custom made in 14k yellow gold with the genuine sapphires and diamonds. Somehow, between the time he'd decided and the time he got around to asking a jeweler...the ring got lost. I usually kept it in a shotglass on the kitchen window sill, but I know a couple times he'd had it in his pocket to remind him to check on it. We think that he'd had it in his pocket and it fell out. I was terribly upset when I realized it was missing because it was the first piece of jewelry he gave me and ...well fact is, I have a terrible track record with rings (the more expensive the piece the worse the record gets...). They're forever getting lost. I was miserable for days afterwards when it was lost. I thought for sure while we were packing that it would turn up and it never did.

I cant remember where I was cruising the other day...it was either in the comics on the Seattle paper page OR it was a quirky note on my MSN page...but I came across some photos. Within the photoshow was this one that I found of particular interest. Why is it of interest? Because ~someone~ posted yet another truck orgy picture AND I was reminded of a certain car spindle. In anycase, I thought I'd share this picture I found of Carhenge.The link Im leaving takes you to an interesting site regarding this and other such odd places...like The Cadillac Ranch.

The weather is quite lovely today. It was warm but not overly hot and it was DRY. Not only dry because there was no rain today, but dry humidity-wise. Oh I could just kick myself though. Yesterday I was in one of ya'll's blogs and had said something about us being due for rain again and damned if it didnt do just that! It actually rained twice. The first time was an odd one. It came out of nowhere, the precip fell straight down and it only hit my house and the townhouses on either side of me. Every other property got no rain at all !! Later in the afternoon it rained again. We lost power for about 10 seconds or so, but that's about it. It was mostly rain, very little thunder and barely any lightning (thank goodness).

Im in contact with my allergist. The results came back yesterday. The ratings are 0 (zero) for not allergic through 6 for very allergic. I have a very minor allergy to the cat, dog and dust mites...a 0 (zero) on the molds (which I suspected otherwise I wouldnt be able to take penicillian and I can take that stuff). The ones that I reacted worse to, yet again, were the weeds and the grasses (3 and 4 respectively). I noticed that none of the tests included the flowering trees and plants so I wrote and she answered there is nothing they can do about those. The pollen that come from them isnt considered an allergin because it's not airborne. she explained that a non-airborne pollen is considered an irritant. What's the difference? From the pamphlet I was given:

"Although irritants dont cause nasal allergies, they can bother the nose and make allergy symptoms worse. Cigarette smoke, perfume, aerosol sprays, smoke from wood stoves or fireplaces, car exhaust and strong odors are examples of irritants."

Ok....so this explains the year round allergy symptoms now. Im allergic to the grass and weeds with a mild allergy to everything else. Top things all off my husband's smoking, the car exhaust (that I get exposed to because we dont have an a/c in the truck and my husband insists on smoking in there) and any other strong odors exasperate the symptoms. Strong odors such as any perfumes I may wear (or in any of my detergents), bbqs, campfires, etc etc... It looks likes the shots won't completely rid me of the allergy problem but should at least reduce the symptoms to the point where I wont need to take the meds as often. The dr will be putting in the order for the shots and have them shipped to the clinic. In 2 week's time, I'll be getting a call from the clinic to arrange for my appointments.

While we were out today, we swung by a jewelry repair shop. I havent been able to wear my engagement ring for several months now (since before we moved) because the band broke on it. Strange thing, it just snapped on the back part of the band and if you didnt know better, you'd think that it was one of those cheap-assed adjustable costume rings with that break in the back. It was an inexpensive fix, thank goodness. It seems as though when I had it sized through JCPenney's, they did it the quick fix method and just hammered it out to the new size and then polished it up thereby making the back part of the ring thinner than it should be. The jeweler here added a bit of extra gold to it to not only patch the split but thicken the band a touch in the back. Awesome. A $10 fix. While I was there I decided to have another ring (the ring that was originally bought to be the engagement ring) resized to fit another finger. This one was a bit more expensive because it was being resized 3 and a quarter sizes larger to fit my index finger. They had to add quite a bit more gold so it cost me $50. It's worth it though because now I can wear all the rings my dear hubby has bought me at once now. I could have left it the same size and stacked it on top of the engagement and wedding bands, but it looked really tacky that way.

Not much else going on. For those of you who cannot access my front page, I've added some to my jokes area, my inspirational area and an entry in the padded room. I may actually add another entry there tomorrow. For those of you just joining the padded room, I suggest you go all the way back and catch it all from the beginning.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there!!

medical update

So Monday I went in for blood work up at the dr's office. Boy, I need to remember never to go in on a Monday again because it's hella busy. I stopped over at the pharmacy counter and put in a request for a refill on one of my medicines. It could have been done online but their way of doing refills is different. With Cigna, I could get my meds at WalMart and WalMart's way of doing refills is sooooo much easier. On their site, it gives the listing of all your meds, their 'script number and how many refills each has left. All I have to do is click the one I need refilled and tell it ok. You can even go to another section on the site and get a listing of which scripts you got for a given time and how much you spent. With KP (Kaiser Permenante), you need to have the 'script number at hand to order online. If I had known this the last time I got refills, I would have made sure to write down all the numbers and put them with my file number. Now the meds that come in the transparent orangish bottles, this isnt a problem with as the number is on the label. However, my nasal sprays dont have this because the label's placed on their cardboard outer cartons. Since I dont travel on a regular basis and usually keep them in a drawer at my bedside, I tend to throw the boxes away....along with the labels ON the boxes. So anyhow, I put in a refill and went to sign in at the lab. Man was the waiting area PACKED! While we were waiting, hubby decided to go over to the counter for the dr's office and see if they could squeeze him in because he hadnt been feeling well for weeks now. They got him right in, which was wonderful. About 20 minutes later, I got called to the lab counter and surprised when the clerk asked me if I was giving blood for a certain test (cant remember the name of it) and I said no...that I was there to have my blood drawn for allergy testing. I was given my number (remember certain things are done DMV style) and several pieces of paper to bring in when my number got called. Within a few minutes I was called in. I let the tech know right up front Im not fond of needles so they need to be as quick but painless as possible and that my skin is sensitive so the band will be leaving a bit more than the usual marks so not to worry and because of my sensitive skin not to use tape on me...pressure would be more than plenty. He warned me there would be a slight pinch but I never really felt it and that it would take a tad longer than usual because the needle he was using was the smallest possible. I said.. "oh, you're using the butterfly...that's why I've hardly felt it" at which point he confirmed that yes he was indeed using that needle. I'll have to remember to be asking for that one because it left hardly a mark on me....and this time they drew 3 vials. If it wasnt for the little bit of blood (which was clotted by the time I got to the door), you wouldnt know that I had bloodwork done. They'll be doing a detailled analysis for the following allergins:

grass, weeds,trees, mold,cockroaches, dust mites (2 different kinds!), cat and dog danders

I went to the pharmacy counter after and got my meds. The tech there looked shocked at the price of the medicine I was picking up ($70). I told her I went in for bloodwork for my allergies so maybe I wont need to fill it again but that it was a good med and well worth the extra dollars to be able to breathe now and again. All this happening and ya know, I was finished before hubby was done with his appointment. When he got out, he had a 'script to fill and bloodwork to do also. Since this was his first appointment with this place, I steered him to the pharmacy counter first...reminding him it'll take time to fill anyhow and that he could be getting his blood done while he waited on the meds. Two months and Im already getting to be a pro here..LOL. I've had 3 blood work ups, 2 appointments and 2 medicine orders in this building so far. I had to remind him to keep his id and card out because that's the first thing they ask for at every counter. He got his bloodwork done and we only had a minimal wait for his meds after that which was good. Now for the good news...the dr is wanting him to quit smoking. It's the first and foremost thing on his paperwork. ~grinz~ The dr also wants us to get rid of the cat. From what hubby told me, he told the dr no way, it wasnt an option. Awww. I had told him after we'd had her for two weeks that if we had to get rid of her it would be fine. Now, 4 yrs later, you're damn right it's not an option. It's not fair to him, me or the cat....not to mention I think Katy would miss her too. He may end up in the same boat as me....may need to get tested for allergy shots. I told him it may end up being the best thing for him.

Monday night I got an email from KP saying my test results were in and that I had a note from Dr N. Dr N??? I know I'd changed that dr a couple weeks back....hmm. Well surprise there were tests results for a CBC in my online file and a note from Dr N that the blood came back good this time. huh? I went in for an allergy workup?? Well the results were good...even my white cells were down where they should be. Well the high side of where they should be but enough in the normal range to count as good. I dropped a note to Dr N asking about the test and how I'd just gone in for my allergies...was this a standing order he had now or what? I got a call on my cell on Tuesday (I didnt get the message until Wednesday because I'd had the phone off) saying that the dr had just issued the tests that morning (Monday) as a follow up for when I saw the next dr. I suspect he'd seen me in the waiting area as he was passing through and decided that it might be prudent to do another check just to be sure. Now mind you, I'd only seen him twice but Im pretty sure that even with all the patients he sees that Im more than likely one of the unforgettable ones. I mean come on, first appointment with him I have a 2 page listing of stuff to look at and the second appointment I can tell him exactly all that's in my medical file and then some....then I proceed to tell him that although Im sure he's good I'd rather have a female dr....kinda hard to forget that. So anyhow, he'd issued the extra test to be certain. Well that explains why I was confused at the lab check in counter.

weather

So this is pretty much what is outside my office window right now. Bright, sunny, oh so blue skies and 90 some odd degrees. As much as I'd love to say the weather's been wonderful like this everyday, I wont because that would just be a big ole lie and then some. In the little more than 2 months we've been here we've had no fewer than 5 tornado warnings. Wait...arent we a tad bit east of the Appalachians for this crap??? Seems like every few days we can be absolutely certain of storms....guaranteed once a week but many times it's been twice a week. Needless to say, I've been an unhappy camper.

On the 4th of June, I got a call from my SCSis. Are you sitting? It was the first time in 4 weeks I'd talked to her. Yeah...I said FOUR WEEKS. We talked about 10-15 minutes. Up until her call, we'd had skies like pictured above. Next thing I know...the sky went a ~lovely~ shade of steel grey. Then the thunder could be heard. I told her I loved her but damn I was gonna simply have to go and right now. I had not even gotten the phone into it's cradle when it started pouring...dumping buckets of water everywhere. It didnt even have the courtesy to sprinkle first. In the first one, I shot that from the bedroom. The townhouse I mentioned in the previous entry is the one you see and I think you can see the tree the "Charlie" was in. The wood there is the sash of the window...sorry. I was trying to get a shot of the sidewalk so you could see how narrow it was but I didnt want to go into the lower part of the frame due to the screen. The second one is thru the sliding glass door. You get a real good shot of the damn bamboo we're fighting (you can see it poking up over the fence from the neighbor's side as well...their yard is pretty much being over taken by it). The yard's since been mowed. All the rain lately has made it hard to keep up with it at times. Oh...and this storm was a bit milder than the ones that had been hitting...definitely milder than the ones that hit us on the 10th or so and then headed up north to mess with Pennsylvania. That particular storm (the one on the 10th) had a couple of flashes of lightning (complete with a bright bolt) and thunder at the same time that I knew the bolt was closer than I'd care to have.

As you can see...Katy wasnt fond of them either!!

flowers

Some of the fkn flowering crap in the area. It's pretty but damn the havoc it's been playing on the sinuses. Im sure I posted the iris one before. These are the ones I'll be facing everytime I go out the front door in spring....unless I rip them all out. However, this is a rental place so Im not certain we'll be allowed to. Just past the irises in the one pick is a dogwood and to it's left just out of frame is some other fkn flowering tree. Those are on the neighbor's property and there's not much I can do about them. I really shouldnt complain much about the bigger tree (the one out of frame) as it shades the front part of the house a bit. Im thinking how nice it'd be to have a rockgarden in the front...then I wont need to worry about the weeds or plants in my yard...

a local Charley

As I was getting out of the truck a week or two back, a bit of movement grabbed my eye. Instinctively, I grabbed my camera and got a few shots. You can see our townhome behind him in one of the pix. He's sitting in the tree located in the corner of the lot that the townhouse across the sidewalk from us sits on.

medical

Since the last time I updated my blog, I've been in to see the dr once more and also had an appointment with an allergist.

The dr appt took place on May 13th. I had dropped 1 pound between visits, which is pretty cool. Now if I can curb this sweet-tooth and keep that drop in weight I'll be happy. My bp was 120/80 which really good too. He decided to send me to play with the vampires one more time to see how my white blood cells were doing. The results showed that they were just slightly elevated, but not as bad as 4 weeks prior. Since my allergies were going slightly that day, we've chalked it up to that. Not much we can do about it as antibiotics only work so long on a person , then quit. All I can do is keep up with my meds and the local honey. The honey seems to be helping somewhat....not great but better than nothing at all.

On the 19th, I had an appointment with an allergist. *Ugh* The nurse took my BP and became concerned that it was rather high (132/78). I told her she'd have a high bp too if she didnt like needles and knew she was going to be used as a human pincushion!! LOL. She explained what all was going to happen and which allergins I was going to be inflicted with. On one wrist I'd have a control which contained nothing but saline and on the other I'd have one with a straight histamine which would show whether I'd been taking my pills or not (and I wasnt supposed to be so you can be sure there was a reaction there). It also acted as a control for the opposite end of the scale. The nurse talked a blue streak asking me questions about where I was from and all. I see all my friends who have experienced me in a chatroom laughing now because they all know that's not the question to ask me. Where Im from and where Im at are two different stories and the one dealing with where Im from is a mile long. She got to laughing (just like everyone else does) when I went into where I was from. LOL. Well I gotta give her credit...it hurt like hell being poked more than 4 dozen times or so BUT she worked FAST.


What one needs to know about me right now is that I have very sensitive skin that likes to break out with the slightest provocations. That said, I can say this....EVERY LAST POKE got a reaction of sorts....yeah....even the saline. The reactions all showed up within seconds of being administered. Now, this isnt to say that all of them were allergic reactions, but they all did welt up a little bit. Whatever she nicked me with on my right arm wasnt so bad. It itched like a mild sunpoisoning...nothing I couldnt really handle. If nothing had been going on with my left arm it would have bugged me somewhat. I hardly noticed the itching when I compared it to my left arm that simply blew up in spots. The histamine spot blew up like a horsefly bite, which was to be expected. Some of the other spots on my left arm were pretty much as bad as the histamine one. The two that were the worst, however, increased to twice the size of the histamine spot EACH and then proceeded to merge into one large welt. When the nurse left, the left arm was just reacting and was definitely a nice shade of hot pink. By the time she got back, I was sniffling , eyes watering, scratching the table (because I itched badly and knew I shouldnt scratch myself) and wasnt sitting still at all in the chair. She took notes on the results and then let me wash up in the sink. I cant tell you the mess I made trying to get all that crap washed off!! She then gave me an alcohol wipe and some cream that was supposed to make the itching all better. Yeah RIGHT!


The specialist came in a bit later. Poor lady...would have been nice to meet her before I was so damn miserable. We discussed what could be done to deal with these allergies of mine. The biggest problems are grasses and weeds, the next is the flowers and trees. Basically, if it pollenates, Im allergic. She told me that she was going to recommend allergy shots but was going to leave the decision up to me. Allergy shots means that I need blood work-up first to narrow down exactly which allergies are the problem (the prick testing was more a broad spectrum to give an idea where to look for problems). Then they'll make a serum of the allergins geared for my body. The serum would be made into 5 different strengths. Each vial of the serum would be 10 times stronger than the one before. Each vial would be 5 shots worth. I'll need to go in once a week for the next 25 weeks for a shot and once those are done, I go in once a month for the next 3-5 years. The big problem is that the allergist said each one was going to be a co-pay for the insurance. *ugh* That's a bit much. I told her I needed to talk it over with hubby so she wanted me to call back in a week. *laffz* I've been so distracted lately I forgot to call her and didnt remember til yesterday. OOOPSIE! Why did I call? Because I was absolutely miserable.


This past Sunday hubby's work had a company picnic. It was an hour out...I really didnt want to go to be honest. I never quite know what to do with myself because invariably everyone there knows everyone else and has been to these things scads of times. Personally, I'd love to go to one of these things and not feel like everyone was looking down their nose at me. I always felt that way with hubby's old job too....with the exception of one couple. I felt like I could just let loose around them and not worry about anything. When hubby said we had an event to go to, my first question was always "are so and so going to be there?" Well here, we dont have that yet so needless to say I sat by myself a good part of the time. I probably came across as a snob. LOL. His boss was really nice though and Im thinking his wife was ok too. She was a bit rushed though as she had to get back to work. I've made a mental note to try and get to know her better next time.


For a few hours, I did fine out in the fresh air. I had to bounce around a bit to make sure my skin didnt get too much sunlight (I tend to get sunpoisoning really bad...didnt used to...but as I get older it gets worse). Things were fine...until the wind shifted and the pollen that was being kicked up by the guy on the riding mower (who was til then downwind of us) wafted over to our picnic area. Within minutes I was starting to feel the effects. The flowers have been doing a number on my sinuses (as you all well know) but the weeds (which took to pollenating this week) made things so much worse. My eyes itch and water like nothing Ive had before and the sneezing! Im so miserable now that I swear at least one of my meds stopped working on me...I havent figured which yet though. I stayed in all day Monday and left only to go shopping on Tuesday (mistake there). By yesterday, I was so miserable I called the allergist's office. No answer so I dropped an email as to how I was feeling. She reiterated she recommended the shots so I talked it over with hubby. I told him that it says alot that Im even considering taking them with how I feel on needles and all. He said it was my decision. So Monday I go in for more bloodwork. I suspect more blood than usual is going to get pulled which means I'll be a very unhappy camper by then. A week after that I have to call the allergist and see what the next step is. Thankfully, I can get my bloodwork and shots done at the clinic near us and not go all the way into Springfield for them.



Benefit for Tori: The comic up there had a guy in a dr's office. The dr is preparing to give the dude a shot and the dude's saying "Man, I hate needles". The funny part of the comic is the dude is COVERED with tatoos..... ~grinz~

Ummm thanks Chicago....

Yeah...it arrived faster than expected:


Tornado Alerts Severe T-Storm Alerts Special Weather Alerts

Tornado Alerts
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TORNADO WARNING FOR CHARLES COUNTY, MD FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA

Severe T-Storm Alerts
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SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR CHARLES COUNTY, MD PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, STAFFORD COUNTY, VASEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING UPDATE FOR CHARLES COUNTY, MD PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, STAFFORD COUNTY, VA

Special Weather Alerts
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SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT FOR GOOCHLAND COUNTY, HANOVER COUNTY, POWHATAN COUNTY, HENRICO COUNTY, VASPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT FOR KING WILLIAM COUNTY, KING AND QUEEN COUNTY, ESSEX COUNTY, MIDDLESEX COUNTY, VA


This is the 4th time since we moved into this townhouse (a bit over 2 months now??) that we've had tornado watches/ warnings in or around our area....mind you...we aint in "Tornado Alley". May as well be at this rate though!!! Top things all off...oh ya'll ~LOVE~ this one. At 7:55pm we got the beeps on tv to change the station to 21 for an alert...so I change over and it's a TORNADO WARNING for Fairfax....a bit down the road but damn well close enough for me. It was "issued" (those quotes will become apparant in a sec) for 6:32-7:33pm. I'll wait til you recheck the time on that....a bit LATE dontcha think???? Not a couple minutes later we got another warning so I turn it to channel 21 and it's ANOTHER TORNADO WARNING timed for 6:37-7:45pm. I look at my watch and it says 8pm. I turn to hubby and said..."ya know...a fkn tornado could be heading down mid-town Manassas and we wouldnt know it for 30 more minutes!" The question now is...is Comcast fkn stupid everywhere...or just in Virginia?